“TIME” “TIME” - Poker Player Newspaper

Transcription

9
Celebrity Crossword PAGE
tribute to
Chris Moneymaker
12
44
14
17
20
Kenna James PAGE
profile by
Phil Hevener
PAGE
Entertainment
Best Bets
24
54
POKER PLAYER
Vol. 9 Number 26 June 26, 2006 A Gambling Times Publication www.pokerplayernewspaper.com Copyright ©2006 Bi-Weekly $3.95 USA/$4.95 CANADA
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(Continued on page 9)
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A Word from the
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Mike Caro
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Today’s word is...
“TIME”
Turn to page 6 for more
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J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
5
Caro’s Word: “Time”
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
W
hen you make bad
poker decisions,
you lose money.
That’s obvious.
But the concept is so vague
in players’ minds that it
sometimes isn’t enough to
prompt them to improve.
I’ve found a better way to
motivate you to play better.
And I’m going to share it
with you today.
Sure, it’s just a psychological trick. Whenever you
condition yourself mentally
to play well, that’s really
what’s happening – you’re
tricking your mind. But
you’re tricking it in a good
way. Today I want you to
forget about losing money.
I want you think about
losing time. It’s a distinction that’s important only
because losing time will
scare you more than losing
money. Are you doubtful?
Well, you won’t be once
you’re done “listening” to
this lecture that I delivered
shortly after launching
Mike Caro University of
Poker in the late 1990’s.
Please pay particular
attention to this one…
Time after time
This is one of my most
powerful lessons, assuming you’re interested in
playing your best game
all the time and making
the most money possible.
Almost everybody who is
playing poker for a living
or seeking to be a professional player someday truly
believes they can control
themselves in a poker
game. It’s just a matter
of making the right decision time after time and
not yielding to emotional
stresses that might cause us
to play a substandard game.
Let’s talk about “tilt.” In
Las Vegas and some other
areas, when a player starts
to play poorly, because he’s
taken too many bad beats
or is otherwise emotionally distressed, they call it
“steaming.” They say you
can see the steam coming
out of a player’s ears as
he plays ridiculously in an
attempt to chase the money
he’s already lost.
But, I don’t use the word
steaming. I use a word
that’s more common today.
You know the word I’m
talking about. It’s “tilt.” If
you’ve ever played pinball,
you know that the word
“tilt” perfectly describes
what happens to many
poker players when they’ve
taken one too many bad
beats or are otherwise emotionally out of tune with
their best game.
Tilt comes from the
game of pinball. If you
shake the machine too
strongly, the lights go out,
the flippers don’t work,
and a sign flashes that says,
“Tilt, tilt, tilt!” Well, that’s
what happens to poker
players who lose too many
pots and get shaken too
badly. Their lights go out,
their flippers don’t work,
and the word “Tilt” practically flashes on their foreheads.
Dreaded disease
They say this happens to
everyone quite regularly,
but it doesn’t have to.
In just a few short minutes today, I’m going to
cure you once and for all of
this dreaded disease called
Tilt. Yes, I’m going to play
with your mind and use a
psychological trick, but let
me do it. You’ll be glad.
There are several reasons for tilt. But they all
have one thing in common
– the player on tilt doesn’t
really care about money at
that moment as much as he
previously did. Maybe he’s
passed what I’ve previously
defined as Caro’s Threshold
of Misery, beyond which
the loss is so substantial
that adding to it doesn’t
increase the pain – the pain
is already maximized. Or
maybe he’s suffered one
or more bad beats and he’s
trying to recover quickly.
Whatever the reason, a
player on tilt is playing
substandard poker, chasing
too many pots, making too
many calls, and often raising unwisely.
Here’s the psychological trick I promised you.
Money is not as much of a
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motivator as it should be at
those times. You feel you
can get it back somehow.
But, I’ve found that at periods like this when emotions
rule over logic, time penalties are much more threatening than money penalties.
That’s why I’m asking
you to start thinking of Tilt
as wasting time, instead of
money. Let’s say you’re a
$20 limit player of fairly
strong skills, making $25
an hour when you play
well. That’s not nearly
world-class profit, but at
least your making a living.
Let’s say you go on tilt
for two hours and throw
away $550 needlessly.
Sure, that’s just money and
maybe your bankroll can
afford the luxury – at least
that’s how you relate to it
emotionally. Maybe you’ll
get lucky in the next few
minutes by chasing pots
and you’ll get it all back.
That’s how people on tilt
think.
A deeper hole
But that’s destructive,
because by chasing, you
have the expectation of losing more money, whether
you actually get lucky
or not. You’re digging a
deeper theoretical hole by
taking the worst of it, no
matter what happens. You
should avoid this by thinking that you make so much
money per hour (which is
true, on average). In this
case, it’s $25 for the hours
POKER
PLAYER
A Gambling Times Publication
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Wendeen H. Eolis
EDITORIAL CONSULTANT
Phil Hevener
CONSULTANT
Contributing
Columnists
Nolan Dalla
George Epstein
“Oklahoma Johnny” Hale
Ashley Adams
Diane McHaffie
James McKenna
I. Nelson Rose
John Vorhaus
Poker Player will be published Bi-Weekly
by Gambling Times Incorporated,
Stanley R. Sludikoff, President.
Volume 9 Number 26.
Copyright © June 2006 by Gambling
Times Incorporated. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without
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7
Poker, Just for Kicks
Being a pretty avid sports fan, my TV seems
to usually be locked on one of the ESPN fam-
POKER COUNSELOR
By John Carlisle, MA, NCC
ily of networks. Although it is not on my
list of usual viewing, I got hooked into watching some UEFA
league soccer playoffs recently. Although there was some
back and forth action, in reality there were very few shots
taken at goal. Instead, the defenses appeared to be controlling the action. The coaches seemed to be attempting
to break through by using a variety of set plays. On corner
kicks, free kicks, and throw ins, players darted in exacting fashion in order to receive a pass and attempt to score.
Invariably, though, those well-planned plays fizzled before
they ever truly developed. I was certain that the game would
end in a scoreless draw. In the final moments of the second
half, though, a random mistake by a midfielder allowed the
ball to bounce toward his own goal. An opposing player gathered the ball and tried a shot. The shot bounced from another guy’s legs, changed directions, and ended up in a position
for an easy tap-in for a recipient hustling into the play. In a
flash, a small mistake had changed the entire complexion of
the match.
This soccer match heavily reminded me of a classic poker
game. After all, how often do we spend time and effort “setting up” our opponents for the big score but receive little
in return for our efforts. We salivate at the chance to use a
maniac’s aggressiveness against him. When you look down
to see pocket Aces though, he’s already folded in early position. Later you flop trips, but your only opponent is a supertight player who folds as soon as you reach for chips. Later,
though, you might find a sizeable “gift pot” via some incredible luck. Perhaps you are allowed to see the flop for free
with 7-2 from the big blind. When the flop rains down 7-7-A
and the Turn brings a deuce, you find yourself asking the floor
manager for another rack to hold your suddenly immense
chip stack! It is much like a fluke goal in soccer that assures
the team the victory. After all of the hard work & the attempt
to set-up the perfect situation, it often just comes down to
fortunes and circumstance for the key play.
We have to be prepared for that ball to bounce our way for
the easy goal, though. In poker, that means being focused
and prepared for every hand. It reminds me of the adage that
“you make you own luck.” You see, scoring a lucky goal in
soccer is impossible from your own end of the field. It is the
attacking team that often gets such fortuitous bounces. The
team that puts the most shots on goal has the best chance to
catch the lucky break, right? The same holds true upon the
felt. Put yourself in a position to get the easy goals that are
set in front of you. Pay attention to identify weak and meek
players. If you can isolate them, play any two cards and look
to outplay them on the flop and Turn. Be focused and ready
to play a good hand of poker, even if you are simply checking
your rags from the big blind to see a free flop. Be cool, never
allowing a tell to exude if that garbage hand turns into a monster due to some lucky cards on the board.
The guy who scored the easy soccer goal put himself into
a position to help his team. The ease of the goal did not
detract from the jubilation that the scorer felt when the ball
hit the net. The team’s win does not have an asterisk beside
it to denote the 1-0 win came via a lucky bounce. Put yourself into the position to catch a few lucky breaks at the poker
tables.
Now go make it happen.
In addition to being an avid poker enthusiast, John is a
certified Counselor in the state of Pennsylvania. He has
a Master of Arts degree in Counseling from West Virginia
University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a
minor in Sociology from Lock Haven University.
You can ask the “Poker Counselor” your
question at [email protected].
8
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
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Stars of the game who
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produce the starting pro
field for the July event
include Tony G, Marcel
‘The Flying Dutchman’
Luske, Michael Gracz,
John Gale, Kirk Morrison
and Gavin Smith.
In a format designed to
even the odds, the three
online contestants will
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the advantage of a deeper
chip stack than their pro
rivals, and each with a
coach in their corner.
These coaches fill the allimportant shoes of poker
‘wingman’. They will
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walk them through the
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The four hours of
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The three internet qualifiers will be flown to Las
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big game, to be marched
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Boot-Camp that will see
the online qualifiers and
pros playing Hold’em,
analyzing strategy and
preparing for combat.
A “Work Hard, Play
Harder” philosophy will
apply as each student of
the game will be privy
to an after hours itinerary usually enjoyed only
by poker’s crop of cool-
est card players, with
planned visits to the
city’s most exclusive
restaurants, access to the
most celebrated bars and
nightclubs in town, and
entry into some of the
biggest and most elite
games in town.
A fly-on-the-wall style
camera crew will tail each
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the blood, sweat and tears
spilt between mentor and
‘charge’ will be captured,
packaged and broadcast to over 100 million
households worldwide.
The MANSION
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the $1million prize pool.
The Way to Play
If you are not a Superstar
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Superstar Challenge Daily Qualifier Times,
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GMT
17:30
22:30
02:30
CET
19:30
00:30
04:30
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13:30
18:30
22:30
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10:30
15:30
19:30
The top 6 finishers from
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in a Final on Sunday June
18, for a $150,000 seat.
Superstar Challenge
Qualifier – Final,
June 18th, 2006:
(Cont’d from page 1)
$150,000 value seats
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J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
9
The Threat Of Reservation
Shopping
POKer AND
THE LAW
By I. NELSON ROSE
Anti-gambling activists use it to scare small children. Multibillion dollar casinos say this is why they need lower taxes. Even
some Indian tribes, especially those with competing businesses,
claim it’s an attack on tribal sovereignty.
But are there really going to be Indian casinos popping up in
the middle of cities across the nation?
The short answer is, “No.” The slightly longer answer is,
“Maybe a few, but probably not.”
Every situation is unique, because every piece of land has its
own legal history. And so it is with every tribe.
Still, it is possible to predict whether any particular proposed
urban casino will ever be built.
The federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (“IGRA”) is clear:
Only federally recognized tribes may operate any gaming, and
gaming is limited to “Indian Land.”
Existing reservations automatically qualify. If a tribe wants
to open a poker room on its land in a state with legal poker, it
almost always can do so immediately. What IGRA calls Class III
gaming - slot machines, casinos, parimutel betting and lotteries
-- can be slower, because the tribe first has to negotiate a compact with the state.
But if the tribe wants a better location, say in the middle of
a city, it has to get the agreement of the governor, which isn’t
going to happen.
The governor does not have this power if the tribe has no land.
Landless tribes are created by flukes. For example, a court
decided that the Lytton Band of Pomo Indians had been wrongfully deprived of its status and its land, and ordered tribal recognition restored. But houses, stores and even a college had been
built on the land, and the court would not order that it be given
back.
The Band was eventually able to find a Congressman to propose converting the San Pablo cardclub into a reservation. It
can and does offer poker and bingo. But the Band still does not
have a casino, and probably never will, because it still needs a
compact.
If a state, like California, agrees to talk with a tribe, it must
negotiate in good faith. If a state, like Florida, does not want to
talk, the U.S. Supreme Court has said it does not have to and the
tribe cannot sue the state. No one knows what happens next.
Maybe the Secretary of Interior becomes a super-czar of gambling and issues regulations, despite opposition from the state.
Or maybe the tribes have a right, but no remedy at all.
Governors have discovered that the Secretary will approve
compacts giving the state a large share of gaming revenue, if a
tribe has an exclusive right to gambling in a locale.
Gov. Schwarzenegger signed a compact with the Lytton Band,
letting the tribe have 5,000 slot machines, which would have
been the largest urban casino in the world. The state’s take was
to be 25%, so long as the Governor did not approve any casino
within a 35 miles radius.
But this compact, like most others, had to be approved by the
Legislature, which, in this case, is worried about traffic. Even
reducing the initial casino to “only” 2,500 slots -- still as big as
a Las Vegas casino -- did not appease opponents.
And the Secretary’s approval is no longer a rubber stamp. The
Secretary wants to see the normal safeguards for the environment, tribal members and the community.
So, just because someone announces that they are gong to
open an Indian casino near, say, Disneyland (a real proposal),
understand that wishes really sometimes do not come true.
Professor I Nelson Rose will be teaching International
Gaming Law as part of Whittier Law School’s Summer
Abroad Program in France in July 2006. For more information, contact Prof. Rose through his website,
www.gamblingandthelaw.com.
10
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
Mandalay Makes
Millionaire
was just over a million dollars. Details of the final
table are supplied below
by Eric Stein of the World
Poker Tour.
Final Day of the
Mandalay Bay Poker
Championship got off to a
furious start when 3 players
got eliminated within the
first 25 hands. All 6 players were making their WPT
Final Table debut. The chip
stacks were as following:
Alex Outhred 1,743,000
Burt Boutin 1,729,000
Brad Booth 1,659,000
Joseph Tehan 1,371,000
Al Stonum 263,000
Steve Vincent 219,000
Steve Vincent moved
ALL-IN on the 2nd hand
of the Final Day with
AsQd, but was called
by Joseph Tehan with
AfKa. Tehan’s big slick
held up and Vincent finished in 6th place earning
$94,075. Four hands later,
Al Stonum moved ALL-IN
with AaQa. Amazingly,
Tehan had big slick again
AdKd. The board comes
QsJdJsKaKf and
Stonum finishes 5th place,
earning $134,390. Then on
hand number 25, our WPT
hero Alex Outhred got
eliminated when he moved
ALL-IN with AdQa and
Burt Boutin calls him with
JaJf. The board comes
Js5a4fKfKa and
Outhred is out 4th place,
earning $184,745.
With 3 players left (Brad
Booth, Joseph Tehan, and
Burt Boutin), the pace of
play slowed down dramatically. Chips were just
circulating around among
the survivors. Then as the
blinds increased, Brad
Booth moves ALL-IN with
Kf5f and is called by
Boutin with 3a3d. The
board comes 8d7s2a
JaAf. Booth finished 3rd
place and earned $319,180.
When heads up started
both Boutin and Tehan had
LAS VEGAS
Poker Chips?
BY TOM GOLABEK
other day,
my friend
Jack was about to make
an online purchase of
a decent set of poker
chips, and asked me if I
had any particular brand,
make, or vendor to suggest. He stressed that
the guys in his weekly
home poker game were
goading him to upgrade
from his current cache
of cheap plastic chips to
something more professional. Jack said he completed a comprehensive
search and review of the
poker chip market on the
internet and decided to
equip his table with nothing less than what are
used at professional casinos and poker rooms in
Las Vegas. “Clay chips
weighing 11.5 grams!”, he
stated emphatically. My
friend had read ads using
such verbage as “Quality
Clay”, “Professional Las
Vegas Casino look &
The
feel”, “Heavy Weight”,
“Casino Style”, “Deluxe”,
and something called
“ABS Casino Quality
Chips”. All these chips,
he was informed, were
“clay” and weighed 11.5
grams...”just like the casinos and poker rooms in
Vegas and Atlantic City”.
Yes, Jack was going to
go 1st Class, professional
level, and purchase a set
of LAS VEGAS poker
chips.
He had the right idea in
stocking up with casino
grade chips. This type
of chip has a nice sound
when they clink against
each other, or when they
are pushed into the pot.
Clay chips at 11.5 grams
are also an ideal weight to
perform poker chip tricks
and flourishes (shuffling,
flips, twirls, rolls, etc.).
Yes, casino grade chips
will serve him well.
However, all is not as
THE
SUPR
IT’S
getting very
difficult to find
a time slot during the calendar year when a major
poker tournament is not
being held. In fact, it’s getting so difficult; something
that three years ago no one
would have ever thought
possible is starting to occur,
and this is overlap. Sheesh.
Who would have thunk?
The two major combatants in the world of tournament poker, of course, are
the World Poker Tour and
Harrah’s, who owns the
rights for the World Series
of Poker and all WSOP
circuit events. Evidence
of overlap occurred
recently in Las Vegas when
Harrah’s ran a circuit event
at Caesars Palace from
April 27 through May
12, while just a couple of
blocks north on the Strip,
the WPT’s Mirage Poker
Showdown took place on
May 4 through May 17.
While not quite overlapping, the newest WPT
event began on May 25
at Mandalay Bay in Las
Vegas, ending just over 2
weeks prior to the beginning of the World Series
of Poker at the Rio beginning on June 25. So action
on the felt in Las Vegas is
fast and furious during the
spring and summer as these
heavyweights battle for
poker supremacy.
There are similarities
in the way the WPT and
WSOP run their events,
but there are also differences. Poker Player had
the opportunity to speak
with the tournament directors of both the WSOP
circuit event at Caesars
and the WPT Mirage Poker
Showdown to get their
views on each of their
events.
Robert Daily was in
charge of the circuit event
at Caesars Palace. Mr.
Daily is a Harrah’s employee, and his official title is
Manager of Tournament
Poker for Las Vegas Poker
Operations, which includes
all of Harrah’s properties in
Las Vegas. This means he
BATTLE FOR POKER
REMACY IN LAS VEGAS
Some differences in the way the WSOP and WPT run their events
will also be the tournament
director at the World Series
of Poker at the Rio in June.
Another highly respected
and personable man is
Richard White, Tournament
Director at the Mirage and
for the WPT Mirage Poker
Showdown. Mr. White
also does outside tournaments on the weekends at
other properties owned by
the MGM Mirage, and has
been in the industry for 38
years.
When asked what percentage of the players
got into the main event at
Caesars through single or
multi-table satellites, Mr.
Daily estimated between
12-15%, with the rest buying in directly. No online
satellites were offered for
the event as far as Mr.
Daily was aware. This is in
sharp contrast to the WPT
main event at the Mirage,
where Mr. White felt that
half the field qualified
through their in-house satellite structures, and maybe
another 5% qualified
through playing online.
This might, to some
degree, account for the difference in the number of
players who entered each
venue’s main event. The
circuit event at Caesars
drew a field of 209 players for their championship event, while the WPT
championship event at the
Mirage drew 384 players,
nearly twice as many. The
other major contributing
factor to this discrepancy
can probably be attributed to the WPT’s event
being televised, while the
WSOP’s event at Caesars
was not. This illustrates
the influence that possibly
appearing at a televised
final table has among those
entering major tournaments.
Another significant difference in the two events
was in the payouts of prize
money. Mr. Daily says that
players are offered a choice
in how they are paid, which
can be in cash, by check, in
casino chips, or a combina-
tion thereof, but that W2G
forms are filled out for tax
purposes if the players have
a social security card and
a United States address. If
they are foreign players,
they are required to fill
out the form 1042S, which
withholds 30% of their
winnings.
W2G forms, however,
were not required at the
WPT event at the Mirage.
According to Mr. White,
“we take chips in, and we
pay chips out.” Mr. White
added that MGM Mirage
properties are able to
obtain an ITIN (Individual
Taxpayer Identification
Number) for a foreign player who comes from a country with a tax treaty with
the United States, but that
Report by Dennis Oehring
Harrah’s chooses not to,
even though they have the
capability. Foreign players
from those countries that
do not have a tax treaty
with the U.S. do have 30%
withheld by MGM Mirage
properties.
The next topic discussed
was that of tournament and
satellite structures. Mr.
Daily said that Harrah’s,
under the guidance of
Jack Effel, the new WSOP
Director of Operations for
the circuit tour, was moving towards standardizing
the format and structure
for all circuit event tourna(Continued on page 52)
Where fortunes have been made.
And more than a few legends, too.
The Mirage Poker Showdown – A World Poker Tour Event
May 4 – 17, 2006
May 4
No Limit Hold’em
$500 + $50*
Daylight Challenge
May 5
No Limit Hold’em
$1,000 + $60*
Monday – Thursday @ 1:30 p.m. No Limit Hold’em
May 6
No Limit Hold’em
$1,500 + $70*
Friday & Saturday @ 1:30 p.m. . .No Limit Hold’em
May 7
No Limit Hold’em
$2,000 + $80*
May
7
LIPS
Tour
Ladies
Event
(3
p.m.)
$500 + $50**
The Poker Zone Tournaments
May 10
May 10
May 11
Heads Up – Day 1
Limit Hold’em (3 p.m.)
No Limit Hold’em
$7,500
$1,000
$1,500
+ $200
+ $60
+ $70*
May 12
May 13
Super Satellite
Super Satellite
$1,500
$1,500
+ $70
+ $70
May
8 @Limit
Hold’em
$500
+ $50
May 14 – 17 WPT No Limit Hold’em Championship $10,000 + $200***
Sunday
5 p.m.
. . . . . . . . . . . .No Limit
Hold’em
May
9
No
Limit
Hold’em
$2,500
+
$100*
Monday @ 7 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . .No Limit Hold’em
Tuesday @ 7 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . .No Limit Hold’em
Wednesday @ 7 p.m.. . . . . . . . .No Limit Hold’em
Thursday @ 7 p.m. . . . . . .Super
. . . . Satellites
.No Limit7Hold’em
p.m. nightly • May 3 – May 13 • $200 + $30 (w/$200 unlimited rebuys)
mirage.com
For Room Reservations
For Room Reservations 800-77-POKER (800-777-6537) • Tournament Information 702-791-7291 • mirage.com 800-77-POKER
(8OO-777-6537)
All main events start at noon (except where noted). All events (except Super Satellites, LIPS Tour Ladies event and the Championship event) will play down to 9 players. Heads Up event is limited to 128 entries. Final table play
Tournament
Information
will begin at 3 p.m. the following day. Registration for all main events will begin at 3 p.m. on May 3, 2006. All Super Satellites will seat as many entries as possible for the Championship event. *Champion receives $10,200 entry
(non-negotiable, non-refundable, non-transferable) into the May 14, 2006 Championship event. **$1,500 will be withheld for a seat in the WPT Ladies Circle of Champions event and the LIPS Tour Grand Championship event.
702-791-7291
***Champion receives a $25,500 seat (non-negotiable, non-refundable, non-transferable) into the WPT Finals at Bellagio in April 2007. 3% of the prize pool will be withheld for the poker room staff. Management reserves the
right to modify, suspend, or cancel this promotion at its sole discretion and without prior notice. All tournaments are subject to table availability. The Mirage endorses responsible gaming. If you or someone you know has a
problem gaming responsibly, please call the 24-hour Problem Gamblers HelpLine at 1-800-522-4700. ©2006 MGM MIRAGE®. All rights reserved.
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
11
TI Opens Intimate
Poker Room
Position, Position, Position
POwer POKER PSYCHOLOGY
By JAMES A. M C KENNA, P H D.
In real estate sales, they say what matters
is “Location, location, location.” However,
the question remains as to whether position is everything in poker as it is in real
estate? There are basically three positions
in poker and they are early, middle, and late.
Weather you are playing Stud or Texas Hold
‘em, position will effect not only how you
play. It will also be influenced by the style
from which you usually play. Style can range
from passive to aggressive as well as from
structured to impulsive.
In my book, Beyond Tells, I quadrasized
these playing styles and identified six types
of players.
Rollers” and “Party Hardies”
like to bluff in early positions
(like “under the gun” to the left of the big
blind).
The “System Player” has a different betting, calling, and bluffing style for each position. For example, in early positions this
player will slow play before the flop and get
more aggressive when the flop helps his or
her hand. With good hole cards, the System
Player will play for value and may raise or let
others do his betting. The “Loner,” however,
prefers to let others do the betting in all positions.
Finally, we must consider the position plays
AGGRESSIVE
Aggressive &
Structured
Aggressive &
Impulsive
“High Roller”
&
“Party Hardy”
“Boss”
STRUCTURED
IMPULSIVE
“System
Player” &
“Loner”
Passive &
Structured
“Hunch
Player”
PASSIVE
The (left brained) players will play tight.
They are the “Boss,” “System Player,” and
the “Loner.” The best position is to have
these types of players to your left. Their
tight play will make them susceptible to
being bluffed and stealing their blinds.
The (right brained) players are the “Party
Hardy,” “High Roller,” and the “Hunch
Player.” The better position for these loose
players is to have them on your right side.
When you have a strong hand, for example,
you can use their impulsive raises to trap
them.
The opposite, however, may be true. When
you have a loose player on your left and a
tight player on your right, you can play them
differently—as long as you know their style.
You can more easily lay down marginal
hands when a loose player to your right
raises. With an aggressive player to your
left, you can raise and hope for a re-raise
when you want to go head to head. There’s
also something to be said about a loose
player having a positional advantage on
you. Namely, you are better able to predict
when a slow-play or a check-raise will work.
That’s because loose players will act more
like “calling stations.”
I’ve noticed that each playing style will
usually play their positions in predictable
ways. For example, the “Boss” will player
every position pretty much the same, except
for when he or she is on a steal. The button
(dealer position) is usually a place where
bluffing will occur by all these styles. “High
12
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
Passive &
Impulsive
of the “Hunch Player.” This player is probably
the hardest to read since he or she will be
moved more by intuition than by position. For
seasoned players who know a lot about their
opponents, this can be the most lethal player.
That’s because they put playing their opponents over playing position alone.
What I learned for watching how different playing style play position is that while
it’s important that play is based on position,
it’s a mistake, however, to let position be
the sole determinant. Other factors, like
your reads of other hands and your intuition
about other players, must be weighed in with
the position from with you are acting.
When I was researching poker players’
opinions about position, one of them made
the remark that a lot of players don’t even
understand the meaning of position. So, it
would be best for new players to learn that
lesson first. There is plenty of information
available when you Google for poker positions. In poker, position is almost everything.
James A. McKenna, PhD., has been a practicing individual and group therapist for
over thirty-five years. His knowledge of
human behavior combined with over thirty
years of gaming experience gives him a
unique perspective on the psychology of
the gamer. His book, “Beyond Tells-Power
Poker Psychology,” was recently published
by Kensington Press. Write to him at jim@
JimMckenna-phd.com.
Treasure Island welcomes
the newest addition to the
contemporary resort, an
intimate poker room with
a comfortable and relaxed
atmosphere for both amateur and professional poker
players.
The non-smoking poker
room is located steps away
from the TI parking garage
and features eight tables of
non-stop poker action. Eight
LCD plasma screens line
the room showing the latest
sporting events and upbeat
music plays throughout
the room creating a great
sense of energy. The poker
room also provides 24-hour
complimentary beverage
service. The non-traditional
table felts feature images
of Tangerine, the burlesque
nightspot, and the tempting
Sirens of TI.
TI President and COO
Tom Mikulich said, “We
are excited to open our
new poker room at TI. The
friendly staff, tremendous
service and entertaining
atmosphere offers our guests
an experience which is second to none. Due to the
success of poker at our sister
properties as well as the
overall increase in the sport’s
popularity, we realized it was
important for us to offer a
poker room to our guests.”
The TI poker room offers
players the opportunity to
participate in a “$50,000
Freeze-Out Challenge.” The
Challenge allows players
to compete against World
Series of Poker Champion
Johnny Chan and/or World
Poker Tour Champion Ming
Ly in a head’s-up No Limit
Hold ‘em contest. TI also
hosts daily Sit ‘n Go events,
tournaments where 10 players pay an entry fee of $50
and play until a winner is
crowned. The winner gets
50 percent of the pot, second
place wins 30 percent and
the third place finisher earns
20 percent.
VIP parking is available
for qualified poker players in
the main garage.
Coming
Soon!
Meeting All Your Travel Needs...
PokerPlayerNewspaperTravel.com
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PPNTravel.com
TUSCANY
Suites & Casino
255 E. Flamingo Road
Las Vegas, Nevada
702-947-5917
Daily Tournaments 7 Days a Week!
Registration 9:00 am * Tournament 10:00 am
$22.00 Buy-In Includes $5.00 Entry Fee
$10.00 Re-Buys First Hour
High Hands Daily!
24 Hours with Payoffs from $50 to $600
Friendliest Poker Room in Town
Summer Slam Free Roll Tournament
$25,000 Guaranteed Prize Money
See Poker Room for Complete Details
Must be 21 years of age or older. Management reserves all rights.
See Tuscany Poker Room for Rules and Details on all Promotions
to Host World
Poker Dealer
Championships
(Continued from page 1)
may either run a satellite event in each game at
their property and send the
winners to the championship, or, the card room may
select an employed dealer
and sponsor one player in
each of the four events.
Contestants may play in
more than one event, but,
only one representative
from each property may
play in any event. Buyins for each championship
event will be $1,000 and
entry fees are $100. 97%
of the buy-ins will be distributed to the winners in
cash prizes. Permanent
and traveling trophies will
be awarded and displayed,
along with smaller versions
for the winners.
In order to include those
regular dealers who are
not employed at any particular card room, but, normally deal the Tournament
Circuit, a special qualifying
event will be held around
the time of the World Series
of Poker final event. This
will be a modest buy-in
tournament to allow one
circuit dealer to play in
each of the four events.
Circuit Dealers who are
also employed at a public
card room are NOT eligible
for these events.
Further details will be
forthcoming in the next few
issues of Poker Player however, Card Room Managers
may contact Jim Delorto for
additional details. As soon
as they are available, full
details on the World Poker
Dealer Championships will
be posted on our web site:
www.pokerplayernewspaper.com Dealers who are
interested in playing in
these events should contact their own card room
manager and ask him/her to
schedule a series of satellites. Obviously, the more
dealers participating, the
lower the buy-ins and entry
fees will be at each card
room. On the other hand,
the lower the fees, the more
participants a dealer must
overcome to win entry.
POKERETIQUETTE
BY LEE “COOL HAND” GARCIA
Have you ever turned
your hand over at the river
because no one else did?
Did the last player to turn
his hand over have the winning hand? This irritating
practice has happened to all
of us at one time or another.
It’s called Slow Rolling,
and is one of the most
annoying moves a player
can make. There are players
that seem to get a kick out
of doing this repeatedly.
When the hand is over
and it was a bet and called
hand, the correct procedure is for the BETTOR
to turn his hand over first,
then proceed to his left in
the order that they called.
If there was no bet on the
river, it is proper for the
player who had the last
action to show his cards.
That means the last one to
check. Another courteous
move would be for the person who made the last bet
to turn over his hand first. I
do this often to save time.
Poker is a numbers game;
you want to play as many
hands per hour as possible.
When people stall, and hem
and haw about exposing
their hands, they are wasting time that could be used
by the dealer to start a new
hand. Play acting at this
point is not going to make
you any more money, so
you should act quickly.
Acting before it’s your
turn gives information, to
people ahead of you, about
the strength of your hand.
If you checked, they know
the board didn’t hit you and
it could prompt them to bet
and steal the pot. If you
bet prematurely you’re letting them know what your
intentions are. They could
then set you up for a check
raise. Either way, it pays to
follow the betting order and
pay attention to the action.
Getting your chips ready to
call before it’s your turn,
or preparing to throw your
cards, is also not fair to the
other players. Along the
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
13
Sam Mudaro is the...
Sam Mudaro, BA, MBA, is a practicing tax accountant and financial executive originally from New York with over 35 years of
analytical business expertise. He and his wife Eva are nineyear Las Vegas residents. Sam uses simulation software to
analyze and develop strategies for Omaha Hi/Lo and other
forms of poker. Reach Sam at: [email protected].
B
efore I continue with
my analysis of these
two hands let me state for
the record. Brian is one of
the best tournament directors I know. His tournaments
are always conducted in a
timely fashion. His decisions are fair and reasonable.
Unlike most poker room
management, if you ask
Brian questions he will take
the time to not only explain
his decisions but the logic
behind them. Additionally,
Brian is a great player and
his decision to choose the
A2AK should not be viewed
as taking anything away
from his game. His decision
parallels that of many other
players and professionals
alike. What seems intuitive
in Omaha, especially Hi-Lo,
is not always reality.
With that said, lets take
a look at the results when
these two hands are up
against each other at a full
table of ten players. I kept
all the other conditions the
same.
Ref Prfl
7
8
D1
D2
D1
D2
Hand
Seat
AƇ2ƇAƅKƅ
AƆ2ƆAƄ3Ƅ
AƆ2ƆAƄ3Ƅ
AƇ2ƇAƅKƅ
9
10
9
10
In this heads up match
both hands turn in a profit.
The Aa2aAs3s
still outperforms the
Ad2dAfKf by about
$2.20 net on average. The
difference in “High Only”
increased from about 4%
to 7% still in favor of the
Ad2dAfKf. Both
hands increased their “Low
Only” percentage while the
difference between the two
remained about the same.
The nut low wins about
2.5% more often in a showdown with 10 seated players.
An interesting fact which
I did not point out in the
first part of this article is
that in a showdown the
Ad2dAfKf actually turned the tables and
scooped more pots! The
spread here with 10 play14
CONT’D FROM PAGE 6
Ad2dAfKf vs.
ers actually increased from
about 1.5% head up to about
4.5% still in favor of the
Ad2dAfKf at a full
table. It is no wonder why
so many players feel the
Ad2dAfKf is superior.
This margin also reinforces
another misconception wildly held by players. That is,
the object of the game is to
scoop. The object in Omaha
Hi/Lo is no different then
any other form of poker,
namely to win money.
Let’s look at the high
hand distributions. The
chart to the right shows the
percentage of which high
Hand Type
Pair
2 Pair
Trips
Straight
Flush
Full House
Fours
Straight Flush
Royal
Win
Rate
Net
Win
hands won. With
Aa2aAs3s, cont’d
these two hands
in every deal, there is a low
our two players can possibly
winner almost 50% of the
draw to the nut flush.
time. The only players who
The Aa2aAs3s
can make a nut low are our
wins more flushes. 85%
two players who control all
of its winning high
four aces. If the nut low in
hands are flushes while
not shared, it will always be
it is about 74.5% for the
held by the Aa2aAs3s. Ad2dAfKf. Flushes
That means 10.2% of all
tend to win larger pots
the exclusive nut lows are
especially if there is a low
won by the Aa2aAs3s. draw that does not get
there. If a deuce hits the
These will tend to be large
flop with another low card,
pots, especially if the deuce
falls on the river counterfeit- the Aa2aAs3s will
ing the Ad2dAfKf.
have more draws then the
Ad2dAfKf when two
The Ad2dAfKf can
never scoop the low unless
of their suits hit the board.
The Aa2aAs3s will
AƇ2ƇAƅKƅ AƆ2ƆAƄ3Ƅ
have a better chance of
0.00%
0.00%
scooping. When it comes
to straight flushes, the
2.14%
1.37%
Aa2aAs3swins more
3.15%
2.51%
than double with 14,658 vs.
12.67%
3.38%
7,142.
74.61%
85.19%
So while the
5.85%
5.78%
Ad2dAfKf wins about
7 % more hands than the
0.54%
0.59%
Aa2aAs3, overall the
0.50%
1.17%
Aa2aAs3 wins 4.4%
0.53%
0.00%
more hands. 4.4% of 5 mil-
High
Only
Low
Only
19.1% 8.05 20.62% 46.86%
22.5% 11.27 13.43% 58.62%
22.5% 11.27 13.49% 58.62%
19.1% 8.06 20.57% 46.84%
hands each player won with.
Even though each hand has
the same statistical chance
of making the nut flush, the
Aa2aAs3s wins with it
over 10.5% more often while
trailing in most other categories. This happens primarily
because the Aa2aAs3s
is capable of making more
backdoor flushes due to its
superior low draws. A rainbow flop of a 2-9-4 offers
little low or high possibility
for the Ad2dAfKf,
while the Aa2aAs3s
will stick around. Each of
these hands does win with a
pair only. The percentage is
very small 16 times out of
5,000,000.
So why does the
Aa2aAs3s win more
money? First and foremost
is the difference in low only
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
Caro’s Word:
“Time”
Scoop
Low
Winner
32.52%
49.90%
27.95%
27.89%
49.90%
32.59%
the Aa2aAs3 would
fold. This is a showdown
and these two hands do not
fold. With a flop of 4-5-6
rainbow the betting will be
fast and furious. Without a
flush, the Ad2dAfKf is
only playing for half the pot.
The Aa2aAs3 will take
¾ of the pot if no one has a
higher straight. Guess what
happens if the turn brings a
deuce.
While the
Ad2dAfKf will win
more straights they will tend
to be smaller pots. With a
flop of J-Q-T all the low
draws will fold. No one
else has an Ace so the other
players will not be drawing
to or holding the nuts. The
Aa2aAs3s will probably stick around if two hearts
or spades flop. Again only
Nut
Low
Shared
Not
Shared
35.00%
10.20%
35.00%
10.20%
lion is 220,000 hands.
I am sure that even after
reading these two articles
some players will still prefer the Ad2dAfKf
over Aa2aAs3s. They
would rather have a shot at
the presumed better high.
After all how often do these
two hands wind up against
each other? They are both
indeed great starting hands
on their own.
So what have we
learned? Heads up or
separately the A2A3 is a
better starting hand then the
A2AK. The ability to capture the nut low is a very
important factor in Omaha
Hi/Lo. Next time I will continue with a look at Omaha
Hi/Lo misconceptions
and my review of Jennifer
Harmen’s article.
you play your best game
– so the more hours you
play well, the more $25
you’ll win.
But now, you’ve needlessly gone on tilt, played
badly, and surrendered
$550. Don’t think about
the $550 – that’s probably
a number you can tolerate.
Think about the hours it
will take you to earn this
money back at $25 an hour!
Now it’s a catastrophe.
It will take you 22 hours,
on average, just to get that
money back, plus the couple hours you’ve just wasted by playing bad. That’s
24 hours of actual play. If
you average six hours a
day, that’s four days – 80
percent of your work week.
A whole week
in two hours
All that time gone. Yes,
if you’re a regular professional player, you’re now
going to have to play for
almost a whole week just to
pay for the luxury of being
on tilt for two hours. And
for what? Did you enjoy it?
All I’m asking you to do
is, before you allow yourself to go on tilt the next
time, forget about the cost
in money – just think of the
time you’re wasting. All
that time that could be used
to push you ahead in life
completely wasted. Most of
the next week completely
shot down – a virtual jail
sentence waiting to punish
what you’re about to do. If
you think about it that way
– that lots of valuable time,
not just money, is about
to be wasted – I’m betting
you won’t go on tilt very
often.
This is “The Mad Genius
of Poker” Mike Caro and
that’s my secret today.
Mike Caro is widely regarded as the world’s foremost
authority on poker strategy,
psychology, and statistics. A
renowned player and founder of Mike Caro University
of Poker, Gaming, and Life
Strategy, he is known as
“the Mad Genius of Poker,”
because of his lively delivery of concepts and latest
research. You can visit him
at www.poker1.com.
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
15
Ace-pectations
STRAIGHT SKINNY
By RICHARD G. BURKE
Expected Value
Win Probability
On a chilly Friday in mid-winter Fred ranted
about pocket rockets. “I’ll never raise with
Aces again,” he swore. “I should just muck ‘em in the first
place, because they always get cracked!”
On the button in a $2-4 Hold’Em game, Fred raised with
Aa-Ad. Eight called. The Flop was Jf-Js-9f. After they
all checked, Fred bet. Three called. The Turn card was the 3a.
Fred bet; the Big Blind raised; Fred called. The River was a
blank; the Big Blind bet; Fred called. Fred mucked his Aces after
the Big Blind tabled Ka-Ja.
It’s about 50-50 to have a pair or better on the tableau after
all the cards are out, I told Fred. And the higher the pair’s rank
the more likely it is that someone will crack your Aces with
Trips or better. Even with an unpaired tableau, someone could
have a Straight, a Flush, even a Straight Flush. Fred said he
knew that!
Without resorting to simulation, I told Fred to consider a
special tableau such that no ranks are duplicated and neither a
Flush nor a Straight are possible, something like Ka-Qd-8s7s-3f. These are special cases, I told Fred, happening less
than 37% of the time. For special cases like that, the enemy
can crack your Aces only with Two Pairs or a Set.
I had done the
1.00
math and developed
0.80
the table above.
0.60
The table shows
0.40
for these special
0.20
cases where only
0.00
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Two Pairs or a Set
# Opponents
could beat A-A, that
with one opponent, Aces will win nine times out of ten. With ten
opponents, Aces will win one time in three. Generally, each additional opponent will lower your chance of winning about 7%.
The next graphic shows that your expectation for these
special tableaux increases with each opponent up to seven,
and then decreases slightly. Expectation is your profit on these
hands, I told Fred, and it would always be positive in these special cases. Even though your chance of winning decreases, the
additional chips from having more players more than makes up
for your diminished chances.
These findings
3.00
suggest some pre2.50
2.00
Flop tactics when
1.50
you have pocket
1.00
Aces. In early posi0.50
tion you would
0.00
raise in order to
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
induce players with
# Opponents
marginal hands to
fold, thus raising your win probability. In late position and in the
blinds, raising probably won’t cause many to fold: you would
raise in those positions to build a bigger pot, hoping that your
Aces will prevail. In middle position, you would raise to do both.
Limping is the WORST. That lets the opponents with marginal hands see the Flop cheaply, and the ensuing pot will be
smaller. I told Fred his pre-Flop choice with pocket Aces is
either to raise and re-raise in any position, or to muck. And,
why would he ever muck the best starting hand in Hold’Em?
Because the tableau will often be suited, paired, and/or
sequenced, the general win probabilities for Aces will be lower
than those shown. You can’t know in advance that the tableau
won’t be benign, so the principle applies, I told him, raise with
A-A, anytime, anywhere you can!
As he headed toward his Hold’Em table, I told him just to
ensure the tableau isn’t paired, sequenced, or suited. He heard
my little joke, but I’m not sure he heeded it.
Mr. Burke is the author of Flop: The Art of Winning at
Low-Limit Hold ’Em, on sale at amazon, gamblersbook,
& kokopellipress.com. E-mail your Hold ’Em questions to
[email protected]
16
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
boat and fell into a ‘friendly’
card game with a couple of
card sharps who bled him
white. When Jones found
out he had been cheated out
of his mortgage money, he
returned to the card room and
ing to Twain, no card sharp
was ever safe again. Mark
Jones’ avenging spirit stalked
the riverboat card rooms, killing poker cheats faster than
rotgut whiskey and vile cigars.
His victims became known as
Marked Men
A Poker Player Murder Mystery by Robert Arabella
I know what you’re thinking—the whole “Poker
Avenger” is just another poker
myth. There are many poker
players who will swear upand-down that these poker
room myths are the absolute
truth. They will tell you, “I
knew someone who heard it
from their best friend’s wife’s
sister’s boyfriend that “The
Killer Dealer” murdered a
room full of abusive poker
players. Or, from the same
type of highly reliable third
and fourth party sources,
people will swear that others
have, out of the corner of their
eyes, glimpsed “The Poker
Table Ghost.”
Until now I didn’t believe
in any of these poker room
myths. But, if seeing is believing, I’ve just seen “The Poker
Avenger” for myself.
Detective Sweeney has
asked, “Who the hell is The
Poker Avenger?” And, without
much hope that he’ll believe
a word, I begin to tell him the
greatest of all poker myths.
“Poker is a cheater’s game
and it’s cheaters that The
Poker Avenger supposedly
kills. The story is repeated
over and over in poker history. No one can be sure who
the first victim of The Poker
Avenger was, but according to
Mark Twain….”
Detective Sweeney holds
up his hand and I stop. “Mark
Twain?” he asks incredulously, and when I nod “yes”
he continues, “You want me
to believe that the flesh-andblood man, this so-called
‘Poker Avenger,’ who walked
in here tonight and shotgunned
a poker player, was a character
out of Huckleberry Finn?”
“No. Not Huck Finn or Tom
Sawyer either. Twain wrote
about The Poker Avenger—he
called him ‘The Card Sharp
Killer’—in a story from his
riverboat day’s called The
Marked Men.
Sweeney frowns. I con-
tinue. “Back in the 1880’s
a farmer, who Twain called
“Mark Jones,” was on his
way to St. Louis to make his
final mortgage payment. He
boarded a Mississippi river-
demanded his cash back. The
two gamblers laughed in his
face. Farmer Jones, realizing
he had bet, and lost, the farm,
drew a gun and shot them
both dead. He was sentenced
to hang for the murders. On
the scaffold, Jones is supposed
to have said, ‘I was cheated
out of my life. No card sharp
will ever be safe from my
avenging spirit.’ And, accord-
‘Marked Men’.”
“And you seriously want
me to believe,” says Detective
Sweeney, “that you, a modern
day card sharp, are one of
these ‘Marked Men’?”
That’s exactly what I want
him to believe, but it sounds
so crazy I say nothing.
When I don’t answer his
question, he tries another,
“What’s the moral of this
story?”
“The moral of the story is:
don’t bet the farm. But this
isn’t about gambling morality—it’s about the mysterious
murders of card cheats.”
“And what exactly does
this story tell us about the
mysterious murders of card
cheats?”
“That card cheats who
forget the lessons of poker
history are doomed to repeat
them.”
The Detective looks at me
suspiciously, “How is it you
know all about the history of
the murder of card cheats?”
I take a deep breath and tell
him, “I read it in The Card
Cheats Bible.
(To be continued in the next
issue of Poker Player)
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J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
17
DEBBIE BURKHEAD INTERVIEWS...
LESSON 78:
Small Blind Against the Big
Blind—How to Profit
Jerome Stone
P O K E R RO O M M A N AG E R AT T H E R I O
Lessons from mike caro
university of poker
Manager?
JS: When we return from
this years WSOP the room
will completely renovated.
BY DIANE M C HAFFIE
Today’s lesson is reaping big rewards as the small
blind against the big blind.
If you’re in the small blind and everyone before you folds, a strong
hand isn’t necessary to call or raise the big blind. Mike teaches, “If you’re
holding a 10-8 offsuit, you often should raise or call, and rarely fold,
unless the player in the big blind is very aggressive. However, I’d advise
against raising or calling with a 9-5 offsuit, especially if you’re up against
a skilled opponent. The dividing line falls somewhere in that spectrum.”
50 percent discount. Mike states, “If the small blind is $50, and the
large blind is $100, you can call for $50 and get 3-to-1 money odds at
this point, provided that your opponent doesn’t raise. In a sense, you’re
getting a 50 percent discount over what it would cost you if you had to
call that $100 cold.” I asked Mike what he meant by calling ‘cold’. He
says it means there has been a bet and a raise and you call with nothing already invested in the pot.
You should consider the 50 percent reduced amount of the call to be
a rebate. It means that any hand that would otherwise lose less than 50
percent, if you called cold, is likely to be profitable when that rebate is
factored in.
“One reason not to call with the 9-5 (or even with 10-8),” Mike
advises, “is because the big blind is still waiting to act.” The chances
of the big blind holding better cards than 9-5 or 10-8 are significant.
That’s one danger. You could also be against an aggressive or skillful
player who will diminish your chances by maximizing his. That’s an
argument for folding.”
Another reason not to call is that you’re at a disadvantage position-wise with the big blind, who’s waiting to act after you do. Keep
in mind, the big blind will act after you on each round, which puts him
at an advantage. Mike says, even considering all this, it can still be
worthwhile to call. He even suggests that if your opponent is a cautious
player you should try raising, because you can afford to challenge a
wary opponent easier than an aggressive one.
If your opponent doesn’t take advantage of being in the big blind,
you can go after him with potential success. Those are especially the
type of players that you want on your left.
Position matters. Against multiple opponents, you’ll usually lose
overall to the player to your left, whereas you’ll generally profit from
players to your right.
Mike says, “Position matters heads-up, even though it evens out deal
by deal.” When you’re playing in a heads-up game, and you’re the small
blind you don’t need significant cards to call or raise the big blind. The
reason is that, by convention, the small blind is in the dealer position
and the big blind acts first, except on the first round of betting. The
small blind has the advantage of acting last. This is a huge advantage
for the small blind and you’ll play differently than you would if you were
playing in a game with more opponents. You can play smaller cards
even more often in the small blind heads-up.
Mike advises against playing small cards in the small blind quite so
liberally in a full-handed game, since the ones that folded before you
did so because they probably didn’t have high enough cards. Therefore
the big blind is slightly more likely to have remaining high-ranking
cards. But, all-in-all, calling isn’t as weak a play as it seems, and raising
isn’t out of the question.
Mediocre hands. This reasoning regarding calling with mediocre
cards in the small blind extends to the big blind, too. Think about that
discount – that rebate. If you can call the small blind’s raise at a 50
percent discount over what it would cost you to call cold, you’ll profit
whenever that hand would have lost less than half your wager had you
been forced to put in the full amount.
To sum it up, position does matter and discounts are a major factor.
And there are times to take advantage, and times to beware.
Diane McHaffie is Director of Operations at Mike Caro
University of Poker, Gaming, and Life Strategy. Her
diverse career spans banking, promotion of major financial seminars and the raising of White-tailed Deer. You
can write her online at [email protected].
18
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
Jerome Stone was born
March 16, 1966 in Webster,
South Dakota. He graduated from Kadoka High
School in 1984 with a football scholarship to Black
Hills State University.
He left college in 1987
and moved to Watertown,
South Dakota to join the
family business.
When gaming was
legalized in South Dakota
in 1992 Jerome went to
work for Dakota Sioux
Casino as a poker dealer.
He was made Assistant
Poker Room Manager in
1993 and in 1994 he was
appointed Poker Room
Manager.
In 1997 Jerome left
Dakota Sioux Casino to
accept the position of
Poker Room Manager
at San Juan Casino and
Resort in San Juan, New
Mexico.
In 1998 he left the gaming industry to pursue a
career in Real Estate with
Mark Chacon.
In 2000 Jerome tendered
his Real Estate career to
join the tournament circuit
as a poker dealer. His first
stop on the tournament trail
was in Tunica and within
three years he was dealing at the World Series of
Poker and was promoted
to Shift Manager for the
WSOP in 2005.
In February of 2005 he
accepted a permanent position at the Rio as a poker
dealer. In April of 2005
he began the position of
Dual/Rate and after the
2005 WSOP he was promoted to Shift Supervisor
and in March of 2006 he
was appointed Poker Room
manager of the Rio.
At present Jerome is
overseeing a 14 table cardroom with a staff of 33
full-time employees and
19 extra board and temp
dealers.
DB: Have you made any
major changes in the poker
room since you were
appointed Poker Room
DB: Will you be increasing the amount of poker
tables?
JS: Actually we are downsizing to a 10 table room.
We are installing all new
chairs and tables and they
will all have the WSOP
logo on them. When the
new room opens we will
be instituting a new tracking system where the hours
played will transfer to the
players Total Rewards Card
just as if they were playing
in the pit or slots.
DB: What live action is
offered in the Rio poker
room?
JS: The main game is a
$2-$5 no-limit with a $100
to $500 buy-in, on weekends we spread four to
five tables. We also offer
a $1-$2 no-limit with a
$60 minimum buy-in and
a $200 maximum and a
$5-$10 no-limit with a
$200 minimum buy-in and
no maximum. We spread
three limit hold’em games,
a $2-$4, $4-$8 and $6-$12
and the closer we get to
the WSOP the more often
we spread $2-$5 pot limit
Omaha.
DB: Does the Rio offer any
daily tournaments?
JS: Yes, every day at noon
we hold a no-limit event
with a $40 buy-in and one
$40 add-on. First place
averages around $1,500
to $2,000. We also have a
monthly freeroll tournament that is open to all live
players that log in 80 hours
of play. We will be giving
away two seats in June for
this year’s main event at
the WSOP. We will continue running it every month
until next year’s event as
well.
amount of players coming
from the internet, that’s a
hard one.
DB: If players sign up now
for the main event can they
pick their start day?
JS: Yes, as long as the
days are available. We
are scheduled to run four
flights of 2,000 players per
flight but we are set up to
accommodate more that
9,000 players so if we need
to increase the flights to
2,300 we are ready for that.
DB: Some people have
predicted this year’s event
might be as large as 10,000
players, how will you handle that situation?
JS: I’m confident that
Harrah’s would find a way
to accommodate everyone.
According to the schedule
August 3 is a day off to
give the players a day to
relax after all the flights
have been played. I imagine if we do draw 10,000
players we could always
run an extra flight on that
day.
DB: The location of the
room in which the event is
being held cause several
problems last year, one
was the lack of bathrooms,
another was the lack of
convenient places to purchase food and last was the
problem of parking, has
anything been done regarding these concerns?
JS: Absolutely, as for
the bathrooms, we have
brought in the same trailers
that the Pro Golf tour used.
These are not your typical
portable toilets, they are
very upscale. We have built
a food court right outside
the event room within 50
feet that is air conditioned
and will offer a variety of
food choices. There will
also be a beer tent adjacent
NOW HIRING
DB: What is your prediction for this year’s main
event and how many do
you believe will come from
the internet?
JS: I believe it will be
close to 8,000 based
on information coming
out everyday. As for the
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healthy stacks. the were
able to see numerous flops.
chips were moving back
and forth. Then in perhaps
the most incredible gambling call for a WPT championship, Joseph Tehan
(holding 9f8a) calls an
ALL-IN bet by Burt Boutin,
who had Aa10f. The
flop came 10s9s9a
giving Tehan trip 9’s. The
turn brought an Ad giving
Boutin 4 live cards to win
the hand. The river brought
an 8f and Tehan wins the
1st ever Mandalay Bay
Poker Championship.
The win earns Tehan
$1,033,440 and an automatic seat to the end of the
season WPT Championship
event at the Bellagio.
Results of the other
events prior to the championship will be found below:
MANDALAY BAY POKER
CHAMPIONSHIPS
WPT EVENT SEASON 5
6/1/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $2,500 + $100
PLAYERS 189
PRIZE
POOL
2. Warren Karp . . . . . . $9,335
3. Jason Truong . . . . . . $4,855
2. Stephen Brown . . . . . $7,760
3. Joel Casper . . . . . . . . $4,035
MANDALAY BAY POKER
CHAMPIONSHIPS
MANDALAY BAY POKER
CHAMPIONSHIPS
WPT EVENT SEASON 5
WPT EVENT SEASON 5
$458,325
1.
2.
3.
4.
5/31/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $2,000 + $80
PLAYERS 160
PRIZE
POOL
BUY-IN $1,500 + $70
PLAYERS 159
PRIZE
POOL
Brian Haveson . . . $169,580
John Phan . . . . . . . $100,830
Avi Freedman . . . . . $50,415
Anthony Guadagni
AKA “bbwolf” . . . . $27,500
5. Justin Young . . . . . . $20,625
1.
2.
3.
4.
MANDALAY BAY POKER
CHAMPIONSHIPS
MANDALAY BAY POKER
CHAMPIONSHIPS
WPT EVENT SEASON 5
WPT EVENT SEASON 5
5/31/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500
PLAYERS 77
PRIZE
POOL
$37,345
1. Donald Webb . . . . . $13,820
$310,400
Michael Mizrachi . $114,850
Thomas Love . . . . . $68,290
Lasse Ubostad . . . . . $34,145
Joanne “JJ” Liu . . . $18,610
5/30/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500
PLAYERS 64
PRIZE
POOL
$31,040
1. Alan Uemura . . . . . $11,485
3. Tuan Nguyen . . . . . . . $5,105
MANDALAY BAY POKER
CHAMPIONSHIPS
WPT EVENT SEASON 5
$231,345
5/29/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
5/29/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,000 + $60
PLAYERS 281
PRIZE
POOL
$272,570
1. Billy McGowen . . . . $85,600
2. Tim Buffington . . . . $50,895
3. Brian Decater . . . . . $25,450
1.
2.
3.
4.
MANDALAY BAY POKER
CHAMPIONSHIPS
MANDALAY BAY POKER
CHAMPIONSHIPS
WPT EVENT SEASON 5
WPT EVENT SEASON 5
5/29/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500
PLAYERS 81
PRIZE
POOL
$40,500
1. Crayn Akina . . . . . . $14,535
2. David Sideris . . . . . . . $9,820
Gary Gibbs . . . . . . . $92,675
Hieu “Tony” Ma . . . $57,240
James Hoeppner . . . $28,620
Robert Mizrachi . . . $16,365
5/28/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500
PLAYERS 69
PRIZE
POOL
$34,500
1. Brett Weisner . . . . . $12,380
MANDALAY BAY POKER
CHAMPIONSHIPS
WPT EVENT SEASON 5
6/8/06
WPT MAIN EVENT—
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $10,000 + $200
PLAYERS 349
PRIZE
POOL
$3,490,000
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Joe Tehan . . . . . .$1,033,440
Burt Boutin . . . . . . $604,765
Brad Booth . . . . . . $319,180
Alex Outhred . . . . $184,745
Allan Stonum . . . . $134,390
Steve Vincent . . . . . $94,075
Thomas Koral . . . . . $67,195
Mike Landers . . . . . $53,755
Miami John Cernuto $47,035
MANDALAY BAY POKER
CHAMPIONSHIPS
WPT EVENT SEASON 5
6/3/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500
PLAYERS 62
PRIZE
POOL
$30,070
1. Paul Boulos . . . . . . . $11,125
2. Richard Velasco . . . . $7,520
3. Thamer Eramya . . . . $3,910
MANDALAY BAY POKER
CHAMPIONSHIPS
WPT EVENT SEASON 5
6/2/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500
PLAYERS 80
PRIZE
POOL
$38,800
Take your best shot at the big dogs – and the biggest prize in sporting history.
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Returning to the Rio June 25 – August 10, 2006. For more details, including
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1. Andy Lambo . . . . . . $14,355
2. Ezra Galston . . . . . . . $9,700
3. T.J. Price . . . . . . . . . . $5,045
MANDALAY BAY POKER
CHAMPIONSHIPS
WPT EVENT SEASON 5
6/1/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500
PLAYERS 68
PRIZE
POOL
$32,980
1. Michael Wright . . . $12,205
2. Michael Palmer . . . . $8,245
3. Aaron March . . . . . . $4,285
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J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
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19
Shaquille—A Bedtime Story
Once upon a time, in the magic kingdom of “Lost Angels” – or
L.A.- there lived a great team of basketball stars. As was the
custom of this elite basketball powerhouse - each year right on
schedule - advancing to the finals of the N.B.A. playoffs – or so it
seemed. So charismatic and entertaining were these gladiators
of the round ball that they would lure celebrities from all occupa-
Dealer Vibes
By Donald W. Woods, Jr.
tions to attend. So upscale and glitzy were the
playoff atmosphere proceedings that ticket
prices hikes were an acceptable part of the
package. It would be nothing to see a who’s who
list of the movie and entertainment scene, coupled
with a hodgepodge of sports fanatic’s celebrities outside of mainstream movie, television, and political agendas. Then one day the
owner broke up the group. Moreover, just like any other monopoly
in the music industry that decides to break up the group – for
whatever reason – the enchanted team from La La land fell on
immediate hard times. The owner decided that the M.V.P. (Shaq) of
the team must GO to make room for the heir apparent (Kobe) who
could no longer co-exists with this aging, overweight disruption.
(Little boy interrupts) “You mean they got rid of The Big Aristotle,
The Big Equalizer, The Big…a… they got rid of SUPERMAN!” Yes,
they did son, gone from the land of L.A. never to be heard from
again.
Flash-forward to the year 2006 and the N.B.A. playoff, what’s
this, Shaquille O’Neal is back and headed to the final round of the
playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks. Yes, Superman is back with
a new sidekick, a new Robin, in the form of Dwayne Wade. To be
honest, Dwayne Wade is the MVP of this team however; the Big
Aristotle or whatever he calls himself is the straw that stirs the
drink, STILL! How does all this sit with the L.A. Lakers fans? Well
like a form of practical math, they are divided into two groups, the
L.A. Lakers fans that appreciated Shaq’s contribution while he was
here and wish him well, and the undercover Kobe fans disguised as
Lakers fans that wish him everything bad except maybe death.
Yes, the Los Angeles Lakers fans are torn between an allegiance to a city that said goodbye to one of their beloved members only for him to return to rub it deep in the – (pick a word
here) of the owners, and management. However, these fans are
not the ones suffering, it’s the died-in-the-wool-staunch-Kobe’severything-Shaq’s-nothing-please-don’t-let-the-Dallas Maverickslose-who’s-ever-in-charge-knuckleheads, that claim that they
are - in fact -L.A. Lakers fans. Real L.A. Lakers fans recognize
the difference between good-natured ribbing at Shaq, but stop
short of ridicule and finger pointing. The L.A. Kobe’s however, are
a different story, with their vindictive, accusatory tone, pointing
at Shaq weight, age, tentativeness to assert the same dominating performance in past years with venomous hatred inaccuracy.
Never-mind since the break-up the L.A. Kobe’s have missed the
playoffs altogether - the first year – this year they were ousted in
the first round. While the L.A. Kobe’s were floundering the Miami
Heat - with Shaq at the helm- made it to the Eastern finals the
first year, and will play the Dallas Mavericks in the N.B.A. finals in
2006. One L.A. Kobe fan will be on 24 hr. alert (watch) during the
Finals. A police squad car will patrol his area before and after the
game.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls it’s a horribly sad
day in Mudville – to mix metaphors –if the Miami Heat wins and
Shaq in vindicated. However, like that campy 60’s Superman serial
began, “Look up in the Sky, it’s a bird it’s a plane, it’s Superman!
The Kobe lovers across the nation unite in their quest to lock up
all the phone booths in America, in vain!
Donald W. Woods, Jr. is a 9 year professional dealer. Some
of his diversified interests include, track and field coach
at the high school level yielding a championship in 2002.
He is currently penning an original script, outside the
poker arena, for his maiden voyage to movie-land. For
more information, contact him at mrexcite20032000@
yahoo.com
20
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
Air
Sailers
A Joe & Hobby fiction by
David J. Valley
“Hey, Joe, listen to this.”
Since I was enjoying the
sun on the fantail of Hobby’s
yacht, Lazybuns, I owed him
some attention.
“What’s that rag you’re
reading?” I said as I squinted
at the cover.
“Air Sailers, it’s about
skydiving. There’s going to
be a poker run dive at Perris
tomorrow.”
“Paris, like in France?”
“No, wise guy. You know
better, it’s Perris, California,
Joe. It must be a year or more
since the last time we jumped
there. We ought to do it again
before we lose the touch.”
I was thinking, maybe
I’m getting too old for such
thrills, but the poker bit
stirred some interest.
“How’re they going to do
a poker run?”
“It doesn’t say. Let’s drive
over tomorrow and see what
it’s all about.”
“How’s our equipment?”
“I’ll spread the sails on the
deck and you can check them
out,” Hobby said.
Hobby and I had been
through Ranger training in
the Army, which included
jump school. A few years
ago we transitioned from
parachutes to parasails. We
made dozens of jumps, but
then for no particular reason
it went by the boards. Despite
my aging and waning nerves,
however, I was fired up as
we headed for Perris.
The Jumpmaster waved
and hooted to get everyone’s
attention. “Here’s the deal.
It’ll cost you 50 bucks; half
for the jump and half for the
poker pool. Once at altitude,
Jenny and Bill will jump first
and do a slow glide. The rest
of you get out as fast as you
can to catch up and grab one
of these red ribbons attached
to them. There are two cards
on the end. Those will be
your hole cards for Texas
Hold ‘Em. Now, since there’s
twenty of you making the
jump, some may not catch a
ribbon. We’ll have a second
flight, but it’ll cost another 50
bucks.”
I was near the back of the
pack when we rushed out of
the old DC-3. The jumpers
trailing ribbons were below
about the length of a football
field. Starting at about 10,000
feet I had time to catch them
before I had to open my
sail. The problem was with
other divers I would have
to maneuver through. I was
closing in, only two more
in my way. I checked my
altimeter—2,200 feet—still
time, but not much. Just
another yard and I could grab
a ribbon, but suddenly I was
pushed away. I was now too
far off and running out of
altitude, I had to pull the rip
cord. It was a smooth sail
back to the airfield. When I
landed I spotted the guy that
had given me the shove and
didn’t waste any time bracing
him.
“Hey, you messed up my
catch!”
“What’s the matter, ol’
man. If you can’t hack it, you
better stick to your wheel
chair.”
“I’ll show you who’s an
old man!” I was ready to
lay out the young punk but
suddenly I was bear-hugged
from behind.
“Just cool down, everyone;
there’ll be no rough stuff
here.” It was the Jumpmaster
who held me in his grip long
enough for me to cool off.
Hobby came running over.
“What was that all about,
Joe?”
“That wiseass over there
pushed me off just before I
could grab a ribbon and we
had words.”
Hobby started off with
a look of vengeance on his
face, but I grabbed him and
said, “No action, I’d rather let
it go for now. Besides, I’ve
got to make another jump.
Of the five of us that took
the second flight, all but one
caught a ribbon. We joined
the others in the hanger for
the hold ‘em game. Hobby
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$10,000 Guarantee – First Prize $2,000
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every half hour, 4 — 11:45 p.m.
$60 Entry Fee, No Re-buys. Lunch and $20 Poker Coupon Included.
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Scotty Nguyen Cha
Poker legend Scotty
Nguyen is kicking off a
variety of poker and table
game events today at
Cherokee Casino Resort
in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The
Scotty Nguyen Poker
Challenge II (SNPC II) is
comprised of 19 different poker tournaments,
with the buy-in ranging
from $100 to $5,000.
Card games include Texas
Hold’em, 7 Card Stud,
Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo
with these games ranging
from no limit, pot limit
and limit tournaments.
Casino guests never know
which poker celebrities
will show up ready to
play.
“Last year, John Phan,
Layne Flack, Berry
Johnston and Tom “The
Captain” Franklin surprised Scotty Nguyen
by showing up ready to
play in the tournament,”
said David Stewart, CEO
of Cherokee Nation
Enterprises, which operates Cherokee Casino
Resort. “There is absolutely no telling who will
show up this year.”
Now Featuring...
Progressive High
Hand Jackpots!
Twice daily No-limit tournaments
2pm and 7:30pm Sun-Thurs
2pm and 6:30pm Fri & Sat
See or call the Jokers Wild Poker Room for details.
(702) 567-8474
Celebrities already confirmed for the event are
Poker Pros Mike “The
Grinder” Mizrachi, Mike
“The Mouth” Matusow,
David Phan, and William
Rockwell. Actor Lou
Diamond Phillips will also
play, as well as Wal-Mart
owner David Bogel, and
voice of the World Poker
Tour, Mike Sexton.*
There’s never a dull
moment at the table when
Mike “The Mouth” is
present. The two-time
World Series of Poker
bracelet winner’s brash
ways have given him a
reputation as being one of
the most entertaining players today, but also one of
the most explosive.
A true competitor, disabled Poker Pro William
Rockwell will amaze and
inspire tournament spectators. Rockwell lost the use
of both arms in a motorcycle accident 16 years ago,
but that hasn’t stopped
him from competing in
such tournaments as the
World Series of Poker—
using only his feet to hold
his cards.
Cherokee Casino Resort
is also proud to welcome actor Lou Diamond
Phillips to the SNPC II.
The veteran film actor
and avid poker player
has starred in more than
75 films and television
shows during his two
decades long career. He
continues to be a force
in Hollywood, with four
films on the verge of
release.
Remote championship
qualifiers for the SNPC
II Main Event have been
held at other Cherokee
Casinos over the last few
weeks. The winners of
these remote qualifiers
automatically clinched a
seat at the $5,000 buy-in
Main Event.
June 9 - 17, super satellite qualifiers for the
SNPC II Main Event
will be held nightly at
Cherokee Casino Resort at
9 p.m., with the two-day
main event beginning at 1
p.m. on June 18. Buy-in
for super satellite qualifiers is $125.
For those players who
qualify or register for the
SNPC II Main Event, an
exclusive celebration will
be held June 17 from 7pm
to 11 p.m. in the Grand
Hall of the Cherokee at
Cherokee Casino Resort in
Tulsa featuring Nguyen,
food, fun and live music
by Admiral Twin.
The winner of the SNPC
II Main Event will not
only win cash, this lucky
person will also walk
away with a custom-made
championship bracelet
designed exclusively by
Scotty Nguyen.
“I worked very close
with my friends at
Cherokee Casino on the
championship bracelet design for my main
event,” said Nguyen. “It
is absolutely beautiful, one
of a kind. Players should
make the trip to Cherokee
Casino just for an opportunity to win the bracelet.”
The second annual Scotty
Nguyen Challenge at
the Cherokee Casino
in Tulsa Oklahoma had
completed seven events
as we went to press. The
results appear below.
Twelve additional events
will take place running
through June 19th, culminating in a $5,000 buy-in
Championship that starts
on Sunday, June 18th.
Additional infomation will
be found on their web site
at www.cherokeecasino.
com.
Casino Arizona Sends
Ten Ladies to WSOP
(L-R: Wendy Cordiner, Junko Wilson, Vicki Gross, Pamela Mayer, Christina Caron,
Bonnie Jaeger, Doris Donovan, Jennifer McCracken,
Darlene Springman, Mandy Baumgarten)
SALT RIVER, Ariz. June 12, 2006 – On May
28 ten lucky ladies won
$1,000 paid entries to the
Ladies event of the World
22
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
Series of Poker (WSOP)
by participating in the
Ladies Double the Fun
Tournament at Casino
Arizona 101 & Indian
Bend. To date, Casino
Arizona is sending a total
of 21 women to the 2006
WSOP event in Las Vegas.
Congratulations!
P H O T O S C O U R T E S Y O F P O K E R FA C E P H O T O S , M O N I C A G R A L I A N
allenge II Underway
SCOTTY NGUYEN POKER CHALLENGE II
CHEROKEE CASINO 6/11/06
LIMIT HOLD’EM
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $100 + $20
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 240
PLAYERS 203
PRIZE POOL
PRIZE POOL
$24,000
$101,500
Kevin Kelsey
Bob Coates
1. Kevin Kelsey . . . . . . . $6,908
Broken Arrow, OK, USA
2. Geran Sanders . . . . . $3,802
Tulsa, OK, USA
3. Jeremiah Marsh . . . . $2,308
Joplin, MO, USA
4. Lance Tate . . . . . . . . . $1,512
Tulsa, OK, USA
Memphis, TN, USA
Las Vegas, NV, USA
6. Bruce Van Horn . . . . $4,668
Ada, OK, USA
7. Gary Maize . . . . . . . . $3,734
Justin Gardenhire
Kansas City, MO, USA
2. Lonnie Boeding . . . . $16,991
Lees Summit, MO, USA
3. Lee Grove . . . . . . . . . $9,336
Superior, NE, USA
PRIZE POOL
$52,660
Park Hill, OK, USA
Cushing, OK, USA
PLAYERS 304
5. Steve Watters . . . . . . $5,601
8. B Jerome Wheeler . . $2,801
1. Bob Coates . . . . . . . $30,806
plus... $5,100 Main Event Seat
8. John Hall . . . . . . . . . . $1,580
9. Ryan Yehle . . . . . . . . $1,053
4. Barry Schultz . . . . . . $7,468
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
1. Justin Gardenhire . $16,851
9. Andrew Aguire . . . . . $1,867
Tulsa, OK, USA
Tulsa, OK, USA
2. B Jerome Wheeler . . $9,268
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $200 + $30
BUY-IN $300 + $30
PLAYERS 242
PRIZE POOL
3. BJ Harrington . . . . . $4,739
$72,600
Kansas City, OK, USA
John Martin
4. Gary Starnes . . . . . . . $3,686
Tulsa, OK, USA
5. Jim Curtis . . . . . . . . . $3,160
6. Louis Barlow . . . . . . . $2,633
7. Ernie Slater . . . . . . . . $2,106
1. John Martin . . . . . . $20,828
Pittsburg, KS, USA
5. Larry McDaniel . . . . $1,296
Oklahoma City, OK, USA
6. Chris Dodge . . . . . . . $1,080
Tulsa, OK, USA
7. Jason Autrey . . . . . . . . .$864
Montgomery, TX, USA
8. Phil Church . . . . . . . . . .$648
El Reno, OK, USA
9. Mark Scacewater . . . . .$432
Orlando, FL, USA
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
THERE’S MORE... ONLINE! NOW THE #1 POKER WEBSITE!
=;JOEKH>7D:IED 7D?9;F7?H$
BUY-IN $300 + $30
PLAYERS 197
;nf[h_[dY[j^[_dj_cWj[i[jj_d]e\ekhd[m"[_]^j#jWXb["icea[#\h[[heec$
MWjY^j^[X_]]Wc["X_]\_]^jehX_]hWY[edWdoe\ekhi_n*(ÈfbWicWiYh[[dJLi$
PRIZE POOL
$59,100
Mike Cordell
1. Mike Cordell . . . . . . $17,173
FbWo_dekh,&De#B_c_jJ[nWi>ebZÉ;cjekhdWc[dji^[bZj^h[[j_c[iZW_bo0*W$c$"''W$c$WdZ-f$c$
Ehjhooekhia_bbi_ded[e\ekhdkc[hekii_d]b[#jWXb["I_j=ejekhdWc[dji$
Little Rock, AR, USA
2. Douglas Bobeck . . . . $9,469
Beaver, OK, USA
3. Bobby Ledford . . . . . $5,203
FbWoWdZgkWb_\o\ehekhcWdoif[Y_Wbfhecej_edi_dYbkZ_d]"\h[[#hebbjekhdWc[dji"
bkYaoZhWm_d]i"`WYafej]_l[WmWoi"WdZXedkiYecfb_c[djWh_[i$
Norman, OK, USA
4. Johnnie Blaze Short . $4,162
Joplin, MO, USA
5. Richard Nichols . . . . $3,122
9Wbbj^[J?Fea[hHeecWj-&(./*#-(/'\ehZ[jW_biedYkhh[djfhecej_edi$
Coffeyville, KS, USA
6. Rick Garren . . . . . . . $2,602
Friendswood, TX, USA
7. Casey White . . . . . . . $2,081
Springdale, AR, USA
8. Danny Butler . . . . . . $1,561
Sachse, TX, USA
9. Kim Benzel . . . . . . . . $1,041
Owasso, OK, USA
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $200 + $30
PLAYERS 386
PRIZE POOL
$77,200
Dan Eads
1. Dan Eads . . . . . . . . . $21,336
Oklahoma City, OK, USA
2. Joe Griffith . . . . . . . $11,012
Dallas, TX, USA
3. Jeremy Blank . . . . . . $5,506
Tunica, MS, USA
4. Bill McBride . . . . . . . $4,818
Joplin, MO, USA
5. Rick Rushing . . . . . . $4,130
Mounds, OK, USA
6. Charles Walker . . . . . $3,441
Humbolt, KS, USA
7. John Pierce . . . . . . . . $2,753
Des Moines, IA, USA
8. Charles Moore . . . . . $2,065
Dallas, TX, USA
9. Mark Heidenreiter . . $1,377
Tulsa, OK, USA
jh[Wikh[_ibWdZ$Yec
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
23
K
owned,” James says with
enna James was
a would-you-believe-this
going to be an
tone.
actor. No doubt
Life is good and getting
about it. He went to school
better.
with that in mind. The pasWaggoner, by the way,
sion propelled him forward.
is no stranger to the poker
Leaving school in
business with more than
Michigan he wondered
two-dozen final table tourwhether to try his luck in
nament finishes
New York or LA.
to her credit.
Decisions, decisions.
She was on the
“Los Angeles,” he jokes
years after the
fact, “seemed
like the better
idea. If things
BY PHIL HEVENER
got really bad
manageI figured the park benches
ment staff at
there would be warmer.”
Hollywood
So LA it was and for
Park when
close to 10 years he manJames
aged to get the jobs that
starfted there and still
kept him hopeful. There
retains her executive host’s
were roles in several indetitle.
pendent films and tv work
Poker has taken them
including soaps such as The
around the world with more
Bold and the Beautiful and
The Young and the Restless. travel to come, thanks to
James’ recent Internet deal
But cracking that “inner
with SunPoker.
circle” of casting directors
“The company has
and people of influence who
been around for awhile,”
make it possible for young
James says. “It used to
actors to even be seen for
be Caribbean Sun,” he
a role was a daunting challenge. He took other jobs as grins, “but most people
he waited for the big break, didn’t know how to spell
flipping fast food hamburg- Caribbean.”
So why not just simplify
ers and eventually found his
things.
way to a dealing job at the
The agreement with
Hollywood Park Casino.
Which was where his life SunPoker qualifies as a big
example of being in the
took a sudden, unexpected
turn, like God leaning down right place at the right time,
as it gives him a chance to
to whisper in his ear that
spend time on all of the bighe should pay attention,
because this was going to be gest stages big time poker
has to offer at the moment,
important.
“To have someone
What happened is that
believe in me enough to
he discovered people who
have me representing their
made a difference and he
became a professional poker company and putting up big
player, a pretty good one, if money to have me playing
his continuing accumulation in tournaments, well . . .”
James lets the subject
of tournament prize money
and myriad material posses- fill his mind, a slow smile
spreading across his face.
sions counts for anything.
Words are not big enough
The people who made
to describe how much this
a difference included the
rainbow of circumstances
woman who is now his
has touched his life, is what
wife, Marsha Waggoner
he seems to imply.
He’s near the top of
“It’s all so mind boggling.
this year’s competition
I’ve had a very successful
for Player of the Year and
seems to have been accumu- last few years and we have
lating those material posses- been traveling all over the
world.”
sions at a satisfying pace.
The traveling is how he
They recently moved into
a nice new Las Vegas home and SunPoker happened to
connect. Another example
– “the first house I ever
PLAYER
Profile
Poker Player is pleased to welcome Phil Hevener back to its pages.
Hevener was the Managing Editor of Poker Player from July 1983 to
December 1985. Phil wanted to produce his own publication, which he
did with Larry Hall. They called it, “Las Vegas Style.” A popular journalist who writes for many major publications, Phil was replaced in 1985 by
Gary Thompson, who is now the spokesman for Harrahs Entertainment.
24
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
of being in the right place at
the right time.
“I was at Monte Carlo
last November playing in
a tournament, the one that
Phil Ivey won, and I got
lucky enough to make the
final table. I was tired. We
had been doing a lot of
traveling,
so I said
to Marsha,
He finally got him and
the man said to James, “Are
you kidding, you mean
you’d like to come? Tell
you what, you get on the
plane and we’ll fly you at
no charge.”
Replaying the experience
months later, James gives it
a big grin, slapping the table
next to where he’s sitting on
his back patio in Las Vegas.
“I’m thinking
that we’re
suddenly living the jet set
life of big time
poker players. There we
are going from the cold of
Monte Carlo in November
to the sunny Caribbean.
James was riding high
on one of those life-doesnot-get-any-better-than-this
feelings.
But the best was still to
come.
It was there that he met
SunPoker chief executive
Rod Gallo and they began
the series of conversations
leading to James agreeing to
represent the company.
Timing is everything, one
thing leading to another, the
right place at the right time.
“The whole thing . . .
me talking to Phil when I
did and then meeting Rod
was just sheer chance. I
wasn’t even supposed to
be there . . .
“A few months later we
solidified the deal and here
I am as the company’s voice
and spokesman in the brick
and mortar casinos.”
What does SunPoker
expect from James?
“I promote them,” he
says. “I really believe in the
direction they are going,”
points that he makes in the
commentary and seminars
that he does.
Flashing the logo wherever James plays is clearly
part of the job description,
but the company also gets a
quality that James is slow to
put into words.
Maybe it is his streak of
aw shucks Midwest modesty. Maybe it is his years
as working as an actor and
projecting whatever the role
required,
In this case, sincerity and conviction, but
James is obviously able
to put a friendly, appealing and articulate face on
SunPoker.
As a personality, he does
not have the sharp edges
associated with some of
KENNA
James
well, what are
we going to
do?”
They talked
about a vacation
for a week or so on the
French Riviera. “Just kind
of getting away from it all.”
With plans still very
much up in the air, he happened to be in the hotel
lobby where he ran into
Phil Laak and his girlfriend
Jennifer Tilly. James asked
them what they were planning.
Laak said they were getting ready to hop a plane for
the Caribbean Classic, and
an upcoming tournament
there.
Really!
Laak said it was an
Internet tournament with a
big prize pool.
Hmmm. Sounded nice
and James lets himself think
about that for a few minutes.
“The idea of heading
off to the Caribbean suddenly was sounding pretty
good, because you’ve got
to remember that this was
November and Monte Carlo
was cold. “
James asked Laak how
he and Tilly planned to get
there.
“There was no direct
flight and Phil was saying
you normally had to fly
about 20 hours, changing
planes several times.”
But wait a minute. There
was a possibility. Laak
explained that there was a
charter flight leaving from
London the next day. He
had no idea whether there
was still room since it had
been chartered for tournament participants, but he
would be happy to steer
James toward the right man.
James and Waggoner
cought a plane for London
even as he was still trying
reach Laak’s contact.
poker’s other young lions.
What has it all met to
James?
There’s a recognition factor that did not exist not too
many months ago. Sun pays
his way into tournaments.
He’s also been able to translate the celebrity factor into
occasional personal appearance fees and is a writer for
Bluff magazine.
“They believe in me and
they trust my judgment,” he
says of the Sun strategy for
making itself visible in the
casinos where James spends
time.
“We talk and we strategize, covering topics like
what do we want to do at
this year’s World series of
Poker, but they are pretty
much letting me steer the
cart.”
James is SunPoker’s
sole celebrity spokesman
for the time being, but the
company is developing the
strategy that will eventually produce a team. What
James likes about this kind
of “grass roots strategy” is
that there will be opportunities for “the average Joe” be
involved, to be part of the
team.
James likes the idea of
strategy that teaches people
how to play and, what’s
MOST important, win.
“Because when they win
or feel like they are playing well, they are going
to spend more time on the
site.”
Isn’t this what successful
marketing is all bout? He
seems to ask,
“I’ll kind of be like the
sheriff, so to speak, and
kind of corral everyone,
making the team work.
There might be 10 or 20 of
us going in to something
like the World Series or a
big event and representing
SunPoker.”
James’ life seems to parallel the explosive evolution of poker during recent
years.
“It was 1997,” he says,
“when I started playing
$1-$2 poker at Hollywood
Park.”
He had previously taken
a dealing job there, figuring
it was an improvement over
his previous efforts to earn a
living wage, efforts that had
included flipping burgers
at Wendy’s and In-n-Out in
Southern California.
James eventually took a
6.
7.
8.
9.
Seyed Mazarei . . . . . . . .$390
Don Edwards . . . . . . . . .$305
Greg Cromer . . . . . . . . .$220
Golan Levi . . . . . . . . . . .$180
ENDLESS SUMMER 6/1/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $20 + $15
PLAYERS 133
REBUYS 461
ADD-ONS 171
PRIZE POOL
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $20 + $15
PLAYERS 113
REBUYS 427
ADD-ONS 156
PRIZE POOL
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $20 + $15
PLAYERS 118
REBUYS 429
ADD-ONS 160
PRIZE POOL
$13,440
Solo Scott
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Solo Scott . . . . . . . . . . $5,375
Alex Dimitrov . . . . . . $2,690
Sahab Sanjar . . . . . . . $1,345
Justin Greenberg . . . . . .$870
Erik Eiffler . . . . . . . . . . .$670
Matt Germaine . . . . . . .$470
Tekeste Aregaye . . . . . . .$335
Victor Kruglov . . . . . . . .$270
Matt Clemenson . . . . . .$200
$13,225
Michael Pierce
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
BUY-IN $60 + $15
PLAYERS 87
REBUYS 71
PRIZE
POOL
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Chad Adams. . . . . . . . $3,490
Zach Love. . . . . . . . . . $2,010
Charlie Miller . . . . . . $1,050
Matt Caruso . . . . . . . . . .$595
Sjarif Nasution. . . . . . . .$480
$9,005
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Steve Zellers . . . . . . . . $3,605
Tekeste Aregaye . . . . . $2,075
Richard Fry . . . . . . . . $1,080
Wayne Smith . . . . . . . . .$595
Ken Neeley . . . . . . . . . . .$500
Stuart Kinzey . . . . . . . . .$410
Brian Donahue. . . . . . . .$320
Sharon Mandelman. . . .$230
Warren Woodall . . . . . .$190
$13,130
Tom Lawrence
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Tom Lawrence . . . . . . $5,815
David Williams . . . . . $2,905
Daniel Dipasquo . . . . $1,455
Mike Shoenman . . . . . . .$945
Alberto Alsino . . . . . . . .$725
Matt Caruso . . . . . . . . . .$510
Dmitry Tsirkind . . . . . . .$365
Mor Liberty . . . . . . . . . .$290
Douglas Hill . . . . . . . . . .$220
Wayne Harman
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Wayne Harman . . . . . $5,255
John Ubia . . . . . . . . . . $2,625
Andy Ashtiani . . . . . . $1,315
Makya McBee . . . . . . . .$855
Tom Lawrence . . . . . . . .$655
Scott Worden . . . . . . . . .$460
Joe Nesser. . . . . . . . . . . .$330
Matt Davis . . . . . . . . . . .$265
Elmer Gonzales . . . . . . .$200
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $60 + $15
BUY-IN $60 + $15
PLAYERS 61
REBUYS 46
PLAYERS 80
REBUYS 69
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
$8,720
$14,535
BUY-IN $60 + $15
PLAYERS 85
REBUYS 68
PRIZE
POOL
Michael Pierce . . . . . . $5,290
Nasser Lahouti. . . . . . $2,645
Mike Shoenman . . . . . $1,320
Maurice Azoulay . . . . . .$860
Karen Hutson . . . . . . . .$665
Michael Maghsoudi . . . .$465
Guy Rahamim . . . . . . . .$335
Greg Hoeschen. . . . . . . .$270
Oswaldo Rios . . . . . . . . .$205
BUY-IN $20 + $15
PLAYERS 115
REBUYS 420
ADD-ONS 156
PRIZE POOL
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
PRIZE POOL
PRIZE POOL
$8,490
$6,100
Robert Ozeran
Steve Kahn
Robert Ozeran . . . . . . $3,395
David Escarcega . . . . $1,950
Houman Haddadnia . $1,020
Robert Setari . . . . . . . . .$595
Magar Artin . . . . . . . . . .$465
Ryan Bailey . . . . . . . . . .$380
David Miller . . . . . . . . . .$300
Darnell Horn . . . . . . . . .$215
Bruce Berlow . . . . . . . . .$170
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Steve Kahn . . . . . . . . . $2,440
Jim Henesy . . . . . . . . . $1,405
Gary Evans . . . . . . . . . .$730
William Christianson . .$425
Marc Dahan . . . . . . . . . .$335
Moshe Bouskila . . . . . . .$275
Kevin Kelly . . . . . . . . . .$215
Michael Cerezo . . . . . . .$150
Logan Monheit . . . . . . .$125
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
25
Specialize to be a WINNER!
SENIORS SCENE
By George “The engineer” EPSTEIN
Many professions have learned the benefit
of specialization. Certainly, you would not
expect a brain surgeon to treat your son’s
allergy; nor would you want him to do so.
A tax attorney doesn’t practice family law.
A mechanical engineer would never dare
design a chemical reactor. A college professor with a PhD in biochemistry probably
would refuse to teach a course in ancient
history. By focusing our energies and attention on specific endeavors requiring skill, we
are better able to become more expert in
the selected field.
As for the game of poker, there are many
varieties, all using the same basic format of
five cards to determine the best hand – the
winner. . . But each game of poker is different. Games using “wild” cards make luck
a bigger factor compared to skill. (That’s
why I avoid such games). The dissimilarities between 7-card stud and Texas hold’em
are substantial. And, in hold’em, there are
real differences in the strategies for winning
in limit games compared to no-limit games,
even with similar blind structures.
Consider, for example, in 7-card stud,
even before betting, you receive two downcards and one upcard, plus you get to see
the other players’ upcards. That gives you
lots of information – data that is not available when playing hold’em with only the
two downcards in the hole to start. Your
preflop betting decision must be made with
considerably less information. Furthermore,
“made” hands are more rare before the
flop; drawing hands are more common. As
a result, your best strategy preflop may be
quite different than would be the case if you
had more information to start as in stud.
Likewise, there are significant differences
in strategies for other games -- Omaha,
Razz, games with “kills,” pot-limit games,
heads-up games, and tournaments with and
without added buy-ins.
No-Limit Compared to Limit Hold’em.
Let’s consider the two most popular games:
Live (sometimes called “cash” or “ring”)
games of structured-limit and no-limit Texas
hold’em.
In no-limit hold’em, the size of your stack
compared to those of your opponents can
make a difference in your strategy; whereas, in limit hold’em, stack size has little
impact unless someone is almost all in.
An important difference is that limit
games require all bets be a specified
amount, with raises of the same amount
– usually with a maximum number of raises
per betting round; on the other hand, nolimit games permit you to bet or raise any
amount at any time so long as you have
enough chips in front of you. That leads
to big differences in playing strategies.
Furthermore, in limit games, the amounts of
the bets preflop and post-flop are just half
those on the turn and river; and strategies
must be geared accordingly. No-limit games
do not have this restriction.
Strategies related to probabilities – card
odds and pot odds – are much more important in limit games. Betting or raising with a
26
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
positive expectation based on
these odds, has considerably
more significance in limit games compared to
no-limit games. In no-limit, the opportunity
to go all-in gives the bettor enormous control over the pot odds, not possible in limit
games. Concomitantly, this freedom to bet
large amounts creates enormous opportunities for bluffing. By the same token, a single
bad beat could wipe you out in a no-limit
game if you have gone all-in.
Then too, the “luck factor” can have
much greater impact in no-limit compared
to limit hold’em games. You may be an 80
percent favorite to win the pot; but then
your opponent is lucky and draws the river
card that beats your hand. Luck is shortterm chance over which you have no control;
probability is long-term chance, on which
you often base your decision to bet, raise
or fold. With so much at stake in a single
hand when you are all-in, luck becomes all
important. Probability may assure you that
the odds are much in your favor, but even so,
one hand of no-limit could “knock you out of
the box” with the turning up of a single card.
(Frankly, that’s why I prefer limit hold’em
games).
Certainly there are many similarities, but
the differences as indicated here (and there
are many others) strongly suggest that a
prudent player – one who wants to be a consistent winner – should give serious thought
as to which game he or she wants to specialize in, and become expert in that game.
Specializing – Limit or No-Limit
Hold’em? Focusing on one type of poker
is sound advice. My Basic Poker Rule #2
(Reference: The Greatest Book of Poker for
Winners!), suggests that you “Carefully Select
Both the Game and Table at Which You Play.”
There are many factors in deciding which
game of poker you should play; all games
have pros and cons. But, in the final analysis,
as stated in my book, it is prudent to...
Specialize so you can excel! Select the
game you want to play and “know that game
like ‘the palm of your hand.’ Learn the strategies for that game so it becomes almost
second nature for you.”
Optimum strategies for different situations depend on the game; as indicated
above, strategies for limit hold’em are quite
different in many respects from those in nolimit games. Rather than try to be expert at
both types of Texas hold’em, select the one
in which you want to specialize and become
the best player at it that you possibly can. . .
and be a WINNER!
So, readers, what’s YOUR opinion?
George “The Engineer” Epstein is the
author of The Greatest Book of Poker for
Winners! (T/C Press, PO Box 36006, Los
Angeles, CA 90036). His new algorithm
booklet, Hold’em or Fold’em?, is a big
hit. He is currently writing a new book on
Rules & Strategies for WINNING at Texas
Hold’em. George can be reached by e-mail:
[email protected].
LAS VEG
Poker Ch
he thinks. First of all,
the “clay” chips he was
about to purchase were
really “acrylic composite
chips”. Many chips are
sold as “clay” but are
actually an acrylic (or
similar) composite. They
look and feel like clay,
and I’m not sure I can tell
one from another. It’s a
minor point to me whether the chips are made of
an acrylic composite or
tricks and flourishes.
Part of my research was
determining the best chipweight for doing such
table acrobatics. 11.5
grams was the winner.
The heaviest weighted
chip I tried was 13.5
grams which seemed,
well...a little heavy. I
also found that I need at
least 8 grams of weight
to perform the shuffles,
flips, twirls, and rolls
clay. I understand that
the acrylic composite
chips can expect a longer
lifespan than the pure
clay chips (which tend to
break).
Jack read on multiple sites that the “The
Standard” weight of the
poker chip used in Las
Vegas casinos was 11.5
grams. He just happened to be talking with
the right guy, at the right
time, regarding the weight
of Vegas (and other) casino poker room chips.
During the last year, I
started taking out of play
(and keeping) a $1 chip
from every casino and
poker room I had played
in. I now have 50, from
across the country, with
29 coming from Las
Vegas.
I had weighed each
chip on my hi-tech,
Ohaus scientific triplebeam scale. Before you
say, “Who brings poker
chips home...and weighs
them?!!”, poker chips
are part of my business.
I’m a Magician and use
poker chips in my closeup act. I also produced
an instructional DVD on
performing poker chip
with the profiency I’m
accustomed to.
Here’s the surpise of
this story...only two of the
50 casino and poker room
chips reached the weight
of 11.5 grams. All were
“clay” or more likely
acrylic composite chips.
The two chips that met
the 11.5 gram so called
“Standard Professional
Casino Grade” weight as
claimed on the internet
was found at a harness
racing track in Pompano
Beach, Florida, and at
The Stardust in Las
Vegas. The Stardust was
the only casino/poker
room with a metal insert
in their $1 chip.
It is true that I only had
one chip from each casino
and it might not be representative of the average
chip of that casino, but it
probably is. All the chips
I weighed were of average
looking quality for that
particular establishment,
with no defects. With
that said, below are some
interesting statistics.
Weight of a cheap plastic chip: 1.5 grams
Weight of an inexpensive “clay” acrylic composite chip: 8 grams
GAS
hips?
The following weights
are of $1 denomination
poker chips taken out of
play from corresponding
casino/poker rooms during 2004/2005.
LAS VEGAS:
Circus Circus . . . . . . 10.7 grams
Sahara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.3
The Mirage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.9
Plaza . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.3
Bellagio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.2
The Sands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.7
Luxor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.5
Gold Coast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.8
The Palms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Imperial Palace . . . . . . . . . . 10.7
Harrah’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.6
Orleans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Aladdin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.5
Monte Carlo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.7
The Stardust . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Sam’s Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.5
Boulder Station . . . . . . . . . . 10.9
The Flamingo. . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.8
Golden Nugget . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.3
El Cortez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.0
Excalibur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.5
Rio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.9
Binion’s Horseshoe . . . . . . . . 9.5
Mandalay Bay . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.7
Riviera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.5
Wynn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.7
Stratosphere. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.8
Palace Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
MGM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2
St. Tropez Cruise Ship,
Port Everglades . . . . . . . . 10.4
Calder Race Course,
Miami . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.8
Pompano Park,
Pompano Beach . . . . . . . . 12.1
Hollywood Greyhound
Track, Hollywood. . . . . . . 10.5
Miami Jai-alai, Miami . . . . 10.0
Dania Jai-alai, Dania . . . . . 10.0
Palm Beach Kennel Club . . 10.8
Flagler Dog Track . . . . . . . . 10.5
ATLANTIC CITY:
Borgata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.1
Trump Taj Mahal . . . . . . . . 10.9
Sands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.8
Tropicana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.8
Bally’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.7
MISSISSIPPI:
Grand Casino, Biloxi . . . . . 10.4
Palace Casino, Biloxi . . . . . . 9.8
Grand Casino, Gulfport . . . . 9.8
FLORIDA:
Seminole Hard Rock
Casino, Hollywood . . . . . . 10.7
Seminole Indian Casino,
Coconut Creek . . . . . . . . . 10.4
Seminole Indian Casino,
Hollywood . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.5
Miccosukee Gaming,
Miami . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.6
Wow! Satellites for the
Heavyweight
Championship
of Poker—
Now in
Los Angeles
& Las Vegas!
SEE PAGE 35
CONNECTICUT:
Foxwoods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.2
Tom Golabek is a long
time poker player, and
magician. He offers an
instructional DVD/VHS
entitled, “Poker Chip Tricks
& Other Fancy Flourishes
at the Card Table”, which
can be purchased at www.
pokerchipsvideo.com.
Day
Game
Buy-in
Sun. nite/Mon. am
♦
Wed. nite/Thurs. am ♦
Spread Limit Hold‘Em
Spread Limit Hold‘Em
♦
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$120
$120
Registration begins 12 a.m. Tournaments begin 1:45am. Limited seating.
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Morning tournaments begin Sun.–Fri. 9:45 am & Sat. 8:45 am.
Oct. 19 - Oct. 22 (start 10:15 am)
Winners, Oct. 21 & Oct. 22 receive
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Play with your head, not over it. Is gambling a problem? Call 1.800.GAMBLER
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
27
Seattle’s Hot Flop Spots
NORTH BY NORTHWEST
OVER
By Byron Liggett
The DRIFT-ON-INN Roadhouse & Casino, in
Shoreline, WA, a north Seattle metropolitan
community, has been a popular dining and entertainment stop
for 75 years. Its patrons have included President Harry Truman,
Will Rogers, and Bob Hope among countless celebrities.
Poker is a principal feature at the Drift-On-Inn. Owner Mark
Mitchell, a world class player who’s cashed in several WSOP
events over the years, understands “what players want and
how they want it”. The Drift is also the only place in King
County where folks can bet the horses.
The Roadhouse is a Seattle institution. It’s always been well
known for great food, lots of it and inexpensive prices. “Our
chicken fried steak was written up nationally,” Mitchell says
with pride. The milkshakes are still made the way they were
in the early Roadhouse days, by hand using real ice cream and
served in frosty silver beakers.
Another unique, handsome feature of the Roadhouse is the
1845 hand-carved bar still containing the original bar-back mirrors. It was purchased for the Drift-On-Inn and shipped from
Utica, NY.
Two years ago, Mark Mitchell opened a spectacular, multimillion dollar dining, gaming and entertainment club next door
to the Drift-On-Inn. It was custom built with a movie theme and
handsomely displays one of the world’s largest collections of
Hollywood memorabilia and autographs.
Mark Mitchell started collecting autographs and movie memorabilia when he was a little boy. His family lived in Hollywood
and his father, a journalist, took him to the weekly press club
meetings where stars often appeared to promote their films.
Today, he’s a walking movie encyclopedia and owns one of the
finest individual collections in the country.
The dinner, dancing and gambling CLUB HOLLYWOOD was
designed and built to display Mitchell’s fantastic, one-of-a-kind
movie star autograph and memorabilia collection. The Club also
features an exquisite steak and sushi restaurant. There’s live
entertainment and dancing.
Poker, of course, is a principal attraction. Although local regulations require casinos and card rooms close four hours each
day, Mitchell is able to offer round-the-clock games by simply
staggering closed hours between his two properties.
With two very different but very classy properties side-byside, Mark Mitchell has made the Shoreline community of north
Seattle one of the metropolitan area’s most popular gaming,
dining, dancing, and entertainment spots.
Another Seattle area poker institution is DIAMOND LIL’S.
Located in the City of Renton, on the south shore of beautiful
Lake Washington in the heart of Puget Sound, Lil’s is one of the
Grande Dames of Poker in the Northwest.
Beautifully dressed in brick, wood, glass, and gold brass,
Lady Lil’s has long been a favorite of players. They were playing Hold’em and Omaha here before Nevada or California ever
discovered it.
Lil’s spreads nine poker tables and by 10am there’s usually a
$4/8 and $6/12 game underway. If you’re looking for a serious
poker relationship, Lil can satisfy you.
The MUCKLESHOOT Casino, in the south Seattle community of Auburn features the largest poker room and some of
the strongest action in the Evergreen State. Opened in 1995,
it offers over 2,000 slots, more than 70 table games, a 5,000seat bingo pavilion, and an 18-table poker room.
The room is now open 24-7-365 and has become a no-smoking facility. Regular games include $4/8, $6/12, $10/20, and
$20/40 Hold’em. Most are played with a half-kill. For higher
limit players, there’s a $50/100 Hold’em game starting every
Tuesday and Thursday mornings.
So don’t go sleepless in Seattle. Just find a famous flop
house and play poker.
Byron Liggett, originally from the Northwest, lives in Reno
and has been a gaming & poker writer, columnist and consultant for 25 years. email: [email protected]
28
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
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Tier Two is open to all Tier One Satellite winners
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(562) 806-4646 • www.thebike.com
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32
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
Time. Some events
C start after the hour
...........AM, PM
O A,WkP................Week
..... Additional gameD &.times
on this day. Call.
E ........Hold’em
.No Limit Hold’em
.Limit Hold’em
N .............No Limit
L ................... Limit
.............Stud
..7-Card Stud
..5-Card Stud
........ Omaha
H/L .High/Low Split
Pi...........Pineapple
Po...........Pot Limit
Pn.........Panginque
Mx ..Mexican Poker
DC .Dealer’s Choice
MONDAY
•GOLD BAR DENOTES ADVERTISER
TIME
|
HH ...... Headhunter
B ............ Bounties
Sp .............. Spread
Al .........Alternates
Z........... Freezeout
Cz ................ Crazy
E..........Elimination
TUESDAY
GAMES BUY-IN| TIME
Q ............... Qualify
Sh ...........Shootout
+ ..Re-Buys and/or
Add-Ons allowed
F ............... Freeroll
Lad ..... Ladies Only
Men ........Men Only
DAILY TOURNAMENTS
NOW! Get Tournament Listings at our website:
Note: All tournaments are subject to change. Check with the Cardroom for any updates. Cardrooms—
please send your schedules to Managing Editor A.R. Dyck, [email protected]
| WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
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| SATURDAY |
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Aladdin
Caesars Palace
CALIFORNIA—
LOS ANGELES NEVADA NORTH
LAS VEGAS & NEVADA SOUTH
Circus Circus
Col.Belle-Laughlin
Flamingo Laughlin
Golden Nugget
Harrah’s Las Vegas
Luxor
Mandalay Bay
Nevada Palace
Oasis-Mesquite
Plaza Casino
River Palms
Riviera Poker Room
Speedway
Stardust
Virgin River Casino
Wynn Las Vegas
Atlantis Casino
Boomtown
Cactus Petes-Jackpot
Carson Valley Inn
Circus Circus
Eldorado
Harrah’s Reno
Harvey’s Tahoe
Peppermill
Rainbow Cas. W Wendover
Reno Hilton
Commerce Club
Crystal Casino
DA I LY TO U R N A M E N T L I ST I N G S CO N T I N U E O N PAG E 3 4
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
33
Time. Some events &. ........ Additional
Limit Hold’em
start after the hour
gametimes. Call. N ..........No Limit
A, P ....... AM, PM
..... Hold’em L ................ Limit
Wk .............Week
.No Limit Hold’em
..........Stud
MONDAY
TIME
CALIFORNIA—SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA& INLAND EMPIRE LOS ANGELES
B ......... Bounties
Sp ........... Spread
.7-Card Stud
..... Omaha Pi........Pineapple Pn......Panginque DCDealer’s Choice Al ......Alternates
.5-Card Stud H/LHigh/Low Split Po........Pot Limit Mx .Mexican Poker HH ...Headhunter Z........ Freezeout
DAILY TOURNAMENTS (CONT’D FROM PAGE 33)
|
TUESDAY
GAMES BUY-IN| TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
|
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
FRIDAY
Cz ............. Crazy + .......... Re-buys
E...... Elimination and/or Add-ons
allowed
Q ............Qualify
Sh ........Shootout F ............Freeroll
| SATURDAY |
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
SUNDAY
GAMES BUY-IN
Hawaiian Gardens
Hustler Casino
Normandie Casino
Casino Morongo
Casino Pauma
Harrah’s Rincon
Lucky Lady
Oceans Eleven
Sycuan
Viejas
Village Club
CALIFORNIA—NORTH
Artichoke Joe’s
Cache Creek
California Grand
Casino San Pablo
Club One Casino, Fresno
Colusa Casino
Feather Falls Cas., Oroville
Garden City
Gold Country Cas.-Oroville
Gold Rush
Golden West-Bakersfield
Kelly’s Cardroom
Limelight Cardroom-Sac’to
Lucky Chances
Lucky Derby Casino
Oaks Card Club-Emeryville
Sonoma Joe’s
Blue Water Casino
Bucky’s Casino
AZ
Casino Del Sol
Cliff Castle
Fort McDowell
SOUTHWEST
Gila River/Wild Horse Pass
CO
KS
Harrah’s Prarie Band
NM
Cities of Gold
Isleta Casino & Resort
Route 66 Casino
OK
PACIFIC NORTHWEST
Gila River-Vee Quiva
Harrah’s Ak Chin
Hon-Dah Casino
Paradise Casino
Gilpin Hotel & Casino
Midnight Rose-Cripple Crk
Ute Mountain
OR
WA
Comanche Red River Cas.
Thunderbird Casino, Norman
Chinook Winds Casino
Wildhorse Casino Resort
Blue Mountain Casino
Chips Bremerton
Chips La Center
Chips Lakewood
Chips Tukwila
Final Table Cas., Everett
11A
12P
H
NH
$35 11A
$30+ 12P
H
NH
$35 11A
$30+ 12P
H
NH
$35 11A
$30+ 7P&
H
Lad N H
$35 11A
$25+ 12P
H
NH
$35 11A
$30+ 12P
H
NH
$35 11A
$30+ 12P
H
NH
$35
$50+
DA I LY TO U R N A M E N T L I ST I N G S CO N T I N U E O N PAG E 35
Debbie Burkhead interviews (Continued
Jerome
Stone
from page 18)
to the food court. We will
also be offering valet parking in the back lot this year.
I believe the players will be
pleasantly surprised with
all of the changes we’ve
34
made to make this years
WSOP a pleasant experience.
DB: Will the main poker
room at the Rio be closed
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
during the WSOP.
JS: Yes but we will have
50 tables of live action
during the WSOP. We also
have a commitment that the
big game will be coming
back this year.
DB: What will your role be
at the WSOP?
JS: I will be the Poker
Room Manager of the live
section. My entire staff
will be working the WSOP,
Andy Rich will be the
Daytime Supervisor, Mike
Shaffer will be running
Swing Shift and Graveyard
will be handled by Dean
Whitted and Josh Trego.
Tony Sheldon will be coming in to run the big game.
SATELLITES FOR THE HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP OF POKER!
$10,000,000 PRIZE POOL - $5,000,000 FIRST PRIZE*
*BASED
UPON 100
ENTRIES
ONLY 100 Players • A $100,000 Buy-in event + $5,000 Entry Fee • Final Event to be held at Sam’s Town®, Las Vegas. Dec 20-23, 2006 • Super Satellites on Dec 18 & 19, 2006
In Las Vegas...
at Sam’s Town
EVERY SATURDAY Buy-in & Fee $1,100
Winner receives a Super Satellite seat—Super
seat—Super
Satellite Winner receives Buy-in and Entry Fee
for the Main Event. Contact: Dick Gatewood, Poker Manager, 702-454-8092
FURTHER RULES AND
D E TA I L S W I L L B E
F O U N D AT :
In Los Angeles... EVERY WED AT 10 PM Buy-in $1,050 + $50
Table event • Winner receives a Super
at Hollywood OneSatellite
seat—Super Satellite Winner
Park Casino receives Buy-in and Entry Fee for Main Event.
DAILY TOURNAMENTS (CONT’D FROM PAGE 34)
MONDAY
NORTHWEST
PAC. N’WEST
TIME
WA
MT
ND
NE
NORTHEAST
CT
MIDWEST
TUESDAY
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
|
FRIDAY
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
| SATURDAY |
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
SUNDAY
GAMES BUY-IN
Goldie’s
Little Creek Casino
Muckleshoot Casino
Northern Quest
Point Defiance Cafe & Cas., Tacoma
Suquamash Clearwater
Wild Grizzly
MN Fortune Bay Casino
SD
NJ
Northern Light Casino
Shooting Star Casino
Black Jack’s Casino
4 Bears Casino
Dakota Magic
Rosebud Casino
Dakota Sioux
Gold Dust Cas., Deadwood
Rosebud Casino
Silverado Casino Deadwood
Foxwoods
Caesar’s Atlantic City
Harrah’s Atlantic City
Tropicana
Trump Taj Mahal
Akwesasne Mohawk
Majesty Casino Boar
NY
IA
IL
IN
MI
LA
MO
MS
FLORIDA
MISSISSIPPI RIVER
|
GAMES BUY-IN| TIME
Turning Stone
Catfish Bend
Isle of Capri
Winn-A-Vegas
Hollywood Casino-Aurora
Belterra (Florence)
Caesars Indiana
Trump Indiana
Chip-In’s Island
Lac Vieux Desert Cas., Watersmeet
Grand Coushatta
Horseshoe CasinoShreveport
p
Harrah’s St Louis
Isle of Capri
Copa Casino
Gold Strike Casino (Tunica)
Grand Casino(Tunica)
Pearl River Resort
Dania Jai-Alai
Derby Lane
Hard Rock
Palm Beach Kennel Club
Palm Beach Princess
Pompano Park Casino
St Tropez Cruise
CANADA Casino Regina
Fast Answers About
Anything POKER!
pokerplayernewspaper.com
Get us on the web!
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
35
PART 75,
Luck
A question that has been bouncing
around the poker community forever
John Morrissey
improving performance
By TOM “TIME” LEONARD
is how much of poker is luck versus
skill. Depending on your thoughts on
this issue the question of whether you believe poker
to be a gambling game or skill game becomes clear.
Clear in your own mind, that is, as the debate will
rage on. I can’t even recall how many times I’ve
been involved in these discussions either with fellow
devotees or in an attempt to explain to an “outsider”
that I’m not just a “gambler”----not that there’s anything wrong with that. Sorry, I just couldn’t resist.
Many well known people in the poker community
have expressed their views on this subject. A top
tournament player and former world champion who
I can’t name but whose initials are Phil Hellmuth has
put forth some well known thoughts on this subject. The Hellmuth quote that I like best is “Poker
is 100% skill and 50% luck”. Of course his most
famous quote on the subject is pure Hellmuth: “If it
wasn’t for luck, I guess I’d win every tournament”.
The power of self image----a possible subject for
another column. Let’s just say that if you looked up
hubris in the dictionary you might find a little picture
of Phil Hellmuth. My favorite quote on the nuance
of whether poker is a gambling or skill game comes
from Anthony Holden, “Poker is not a form of gambling; on the contrary, gambling is a style of playing
poker---a loose and losing style, at that.”
At the core of this debate are the normal comparisons to other games of chance such as house games
with built in advantages to the house such as roulette and craps. Well, just like everyone else I think I
have the quintessential answer to this well worn luck
vs. skill debate. Before I just blurt it out, let’s review
some of the elements which help remove luck from
poker playing. In all games that involve some degree
of chance, knowledge and discipline will enhance
your likelihood of departing a winner. However, the
main difference between poker and a house game
with a built in house advantage is the number of trials. In poker, if you are a knowledgeable, disciplined,
skilled player the longer you play will flatten out
the short term luck that is inherent in the game.
Conversely, in gambling games with built in house
advantages, the longer you play the more certain it
is that you will lose.
As promised, I believe I have the quintessential
answer to this luck vs. skill debate and will now
share the Tom “TIME” Leonard view. If you are
truly a knowledgeable and disciplined poker player,
you have to be unlucky to lose while in a game of
pure chance you need to be lucky to win. Sure, luck
plays a role in poker and therefore it is gambling.
However, keep working on your game and the skills
that are required to be a winning player and all of a
sudden you won’t need to be lucky to win. Our goal
for this time together is just that….to continue to
work on the elements that separate solid, winning
players from the rest of the pack who are the ones
who provide the profit to those of us who are willing
to work hard enough to have to be unlucky to lose.
See you next “TIME”.
No stranger to the green felt, Tom “Time” Leonard has played
poker for more than 30 years and has been a serious student of
the game and writer on the subject since 1994. He has regularly
played the cardrooms of Atlantic City, Las Vegas and California.
His experience as a sales and marketing professional have
helped him hone his skills at “selling” a hand and “buying” a
pot. Tom can be contacted at: [email protected].
36
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
The Gambler who became
Heavyweight Champ and
U.S. Congressman
By Byron Liggett
For twenty years before
and after the Civil War,
John Morrissey was the
most famous gambler and
casino operator the country
had ever seen. And, he was
one of the most colorful
characters of his era.
Born in Ireland in
1831, Morrissey’s father
was a gamecock breeder.
His parents immigrated to
Troy, NY when he was a
child. He grew-up illiterate. His only education
came from the streets
and the city gangs. He
learned to fight, hustle and
gamble.
Morrissey epitomized
the tough Irishman of
myth and fiction. He was a
gorilla of a man. Just 5’8”,
180 lbs, he had exceptionally broad shoulders,
strong arms, big hands,
and a short temper.
With news that
California was littered
with gold, teenager
Morrissey headed West to
get his share of the riches.
He soon discovered it was
easier and more profitable
to work the prospectors
than the mines. He opened
a small but successful Faro
game.
One victim of dealer
Morrissey’s Faro finesse
challenged him to a duel.
He accepted. However,
when the Irishman showed
up with the choice of
weapons -- two meat
cleavers -- the horrified
challenger ran.
Young Morrissey also
decided to pursue a professional boxing career.
Although he lacked the
skills and finesse of a
professional pugilist, he
had what 19th century
fans called “bottom” – the
ability to endure pain and
even gain strength from it.
A distinguishing characteristic was his belief that
through will power and
perseverance he would
prevail.
Expected to be soundly
beaten, he got a match
with the California heavy-
weight champion for a
$2,000 purse. On Mare
Island in San Francisco
Bay, Morrissey won the
state title by decision.
Boxing was his ticket
back home to New
York for a title fight. In
1852, he won the U.S.
Championship title after
outlasting skilled professional boxer Yankee
Sullivan in a 37-round
melee. After successfully
defending his title in 1858,
Champ Morrissey retired
undefeated.
Using his fame and fortune, Morrissey returned
to the gambling business.
Eventually, he owned
and operated five gaming houses in New York
City. The wealthiest and
most powerful men in the
country were among his
regular patrons. Historian
Herbert Asbury tells us
that Morrissey “was an
expert Poker player, and in
private sessions with his
friends was noted for scrupulous fairness” but his
public casinos “were operated as skinning houses”.
Morrissey’s greatest achievement, the one
which forever secured for
him a place of importance
in the history of gambling in America, was his
development of Saratoga
Springs, NY as the foremost gambling resort in
the United States during
the latter half of the 19th
century.
He built a luxurious
casino, hotel, health spa,
opera house, theatre, and
elegant ball rooms. In
order to woo a daytime
crowd, he constructed a
track and introduced horse
racing in 1862. It remains
the oldest course still in
use today.
Morrissey spared no
expense on “The Club
House” casino. Ornate
chandeliers, statues, brass,
wood, and glass distinguished it as the most
elegant gaming house ever
constructed in America.
The first floor was open
to the public and featured
Faro and Roulette. The
second floor was reserved
for Poker and high-rollers.
Employees dressed in formal wear.
One visitor to Saratoga
reported that “Almost
every game of chance is
played… and the stakes
are very high and unlimited. Flocks of well-dressed
men of all ages pass in and
out all day and night; tens
of thousands of dollars are
lost and won; the click of
the markers never ceases”.
The casino was barred to
women.
Called the “Monte Carlo
of America”, Saratoga
became America’s first
gaming and entertainment resort. Some of
the foremost names of
the century were patrons
including Mark Twain,
Civil War Generals
Sherman and Sheridan,
several Presidents, and
early industrialists like
Cornelius Vanderbilt, John
D. Rockerfeller, “Diamond
Jim Brady” and “Bet A
Million” Gates.
A poor, uneducated
immigrant, John Morrissey
had become one of the
most wealthy and powerful citizens in the country.
Nothing of significance
took place in New York
without his approval.
Even President Lincoln
was aware of the gambler’s extensive control.
Frustrated with the lack
of initiative among his
generals during the Civil
War, Lincoln sarcastically
quipped, “they wouldn’t
dare order out the guard
without asking Morrissey.”
Success, fame and its
friends eventually convinced Morrissey to get
into politics. In 1866 he
ran as a Democrat and was
elected to Congress.
Tired of the casino business and facing a rising
tide of Christian conservatism opposed to gambling
and alcohol, Morrissey
sold all his gambling
interests by 1877. He was
content to confine his
Mandalay
2. Glen Questroo . . . . . . $8,365
3. Jacob Smith . . . . . . . $4,350
MANDALAY BAY POKER
CHAMPIONSHIPS
WPT EVENT SEASON 5
5/28/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
MANDALAY BAY POKER
CHAMPIONSHIPS
WPT EVENT SEASON 5
WPT EVENT SEASON 5
$36,500
1. Robyn Repetti . . . . . $13,100
2. Charlie Townsend . . . $8,850
3. Adam Kagin . . . . . . . $4,605
MANDALAY BAY POKER
CHAMPIONSHIPS
WPT EVENT SEASON 5
BUY-IN $1,000 + $60
PLAYERS 339
PRIZE
POOL
$328,830
1. Robert Goldfarb . . . $15,075
2. Scott Barrows . . . . . $10,185
3. Kevin Blakey AKA
“The Snake” . . . . . . . $5,295
MANDALAY BAY POKER
CHAMPIONSHIPS
WPT EVENT SEASON 5
5/26/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
$42,000
5/27/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,500 + $70
PLAYERS 202
PRIZE
POOL
$303,000
1. Mike Minetti . . . . . $108,745
2. Nam Le . . . . . . . . . . $64,660
3. Ryan Larson . . . . . . $32,330
SPRING FLING TOURNAMENT
EVENT # 7
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
John Gordon . . . . . $111,800
Amir Vahedi . . . . . . $69,055
Andy Robbins . . . . . $34,525
Shawn Chaconas . . $19,720
Marc Durand . . . . . $14,795
MANDALAY BAY POKER
CHAMPIONSHIPS
WPT EVENT SEASON 5
5/25/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500
PLAYERS 43
PRIZE
POOL
$20,855
1. Kevin Blakey AKA
“The Snake” . . . . . . . $9,385
2. James Leonard . . . . . $5,215
3. Don Belcher . . . . . . . $3,130
6/1/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $50 + $10
PLAYERS 154
PRIZE
POOL
5/26/06
BUY-IN $500
PLAYERS 73
PRIZE
POOL
5/27/06
BUY-IN $500
PLAYERS 84
PRIZE
POOL
SYCUAN CASINO
$6,950
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
$289,060
MANDALAY BAY POKER
CHAMPIONSHIPS
RESULTS: SYCUAN 3RD ANNUAL SPRING FLING
4. Lance Ingram . . . . . $17,630
5. Amos Sharpe . . . . . . $13,225
6. Jimmy Nguyen . . . . $10,285
BUY-IN $2,000 + $80
PLAYERS 149
PRIZE
POOL
1. William Franceshine
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $106,950
2. Scott Epstein . . . . . . $63,595
3. Mike Sica . . . . . . . . . $31,795
4. Donald Webb . . . . . $17,345
5. Rick Salomon . . . . . $13,010
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Richard Harthorn . . . $2,500
Richard Dorsha . . . . . $1,300
Ryan Miller . . . . . . . . . .$750
Logan Vignieri . . . . . . . .$600
Jose Gomez . . . . . . . . . .$500
Robert Miller . . . . . . . .$400
Faris Fetouhi . . . . . . . . .$350
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
EMPLOYEE EVENT
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $35 + $5
PLAYERS 132
PRIZE
POOL
$3,900
1. Michael Marks. . . . . . $1,200
2. Robert Verastigue AKA
“SadBoy” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$600
3. Jolene Le . . . . . . . . . . . .$500
4. Greg Johnson . . . . . . . .$450
5. Kevin Jacobson . . . . . . .$400
6. Betty Theobold . . . . . . .$300
7. Edy Torres . . . . . . . . . . .$250
EVENT # 4
BUY-IN $50 + $10
PLAYERS 122
PRIZE
POOL
$11,820
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
$10,520
Nathan Tsuchiya . . . . $4,000
Eli Cohen . . . . . . . . . . $2,000
Don Langston . . . . . . $1,200
Ryan Miller . . . . . . . . $1,000
Modesto Castro . . . . . .$856
Chris Beshlian . . . . . . . .$700
Fadi Yakou . . . . . . . . . .$600
Scott Loye. . . . . . . . . . . .$500
Younan Hallack . . . . . .$350
BUY-IN $50 + $10
PLAYERS 125
PRIZE
POOL
$9,800
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Alex Stepanion . . . . . $3,500
Nathan Tsuchiya . . . . $1,800
Bruce Rickard . . . . . $1,050
David Pitts . . . . . . . . . . .$900
Larry Graver . . . . . . . .$750
Daniel Phoman . . . . . . .$600
Diosdado Biso . . . . . . . .$500
Richard Ariessohn . . . .$425
Terence Elliott . . . . . . . .$275
SYCUAN CASINO
EVENT # 1
BUY-IN $100 + $15
PLAYERS 123
PLAYERS 62
PRIZE
POOL
$18,550
1.
2.
3.
4.
David Pontier . . . . . . $2,200
Sean Owens . . . . . . . . $2,200
Carl Hirsch . . . . . . . . $1,660
Markus Gonsalves . . . $1,660
5/25/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $50 + $10
PLAYERS 209
PRIZE
POOL
5/27/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
5/26/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
EVENT # 3
5/29/06
BUY-IN $30 + $5
PLAYERS 350
PRIZE
POOL
EVENT # 2
SYCUAN CASINO
SYCUAN CASINO
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
SYCUAN CASINO
5/28/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
EVENT # 5
Abel Espinel . . . . . . . $1,660
Steven Dell . . . . . . . . . $1,660
Tom Jorde . . . . . . . . . $1,660
Paul Miller . . . . . . . . . $1,660
Derek Molnar . . . . . . $1,660
SYCUAN CASINO
5/30/06
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
SYCUAN CASINO
EVENT # 6
Billy Rihab . . . . . . . . $2,800
David Burnette . . . . . $1,400
Rith Keo . . . . . . . . . . $1,000
Judy Migdol . . . . . . . . .$850
Lisa Prado . . . . . . . . . . .$700
Randy Kiser . . . . . . . . .$600
Ivan Gallardo . . . . . . . .$525
Yang Armentrout . . . . .$450
Bruce Rickard . . . . . . .$350
$10,450
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Robert Miller . . . . . . . $3,000
William West . . . . . . $1,500
Charles Fulgham . . . $1,000
Reyene Thomas . . . . . .$750
Doug Mercado . . . . . . .$600
Kevin McMahon . . . . . .$500
Gage Haggbloom . . . . .$450
Eric Gettlefinger . . . . . .$400
Travis Doyle . . . . . . . . .$350
Come See Why: Lake Elsinore is California’s Friendliest Poker Room
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
37
Perks and Picks
In Las Vegas, TI (Treasure Island) has opened its new Poker
Room. The non-smoking poker room is located near the TI
parking garage and features eight tables. Eight LCD plasma
screens line the room showing the latest
The Bargain Bin
By H. Scot Krause
sporting events. The poker room also provides 24-hour complimentary beverage service. Interestingly, the non-traditional table
felts feature images of Tangerine, the burlesque nightspot,
and images from the Sirens of TI.
The Las Vegas Hilton Poker Room has started No-limit
Texas Hold’Em tournaments every Saturday. The tournaments
begin at 1:00 p.m. with registration starting at 11:00 a.m.
The buy-in is $150 + $20 entry fee. Players start with $1,000
in tournament chips, the blinds start at $10 and $20 with 30minute levels.
Santa Fe Station Casino in Las Vegas is also now hosting
a variety of daily Poker Tournaments including: Omaha Hi on
Mondays, Ladies Only Hold’Em on Tuesdays, No Limit Hold’Em
on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. All tournaments start
at noon. On Saturdays at 10:00 a.m. they offer a Ladies Only
Hold’Em tournament and on Sundays at noon it’s back to No
Limit Hold’Em. All tournaments start with $25/50 blinds that
increase every 20 minutes. See the Poker Room for individual
tournament rules and details.
Downtown Las Vegas gets a new poker room opening this
month at Fitzgeralds. Bravo! We need more poker rooms
downtown! The room will include four plasma screen TV’s and
a large screen for sports viewing. While you’re there, try
your luck against the Tic-Tac-Toe-playing chicken. Club Fitz
members can play Tic-Tac-Toe with the chicken once daily.
The promotion runs from noon to 8:00 p.m. daily through
August 31. Besides a chance to win cash by beating the chicken, all daily participants will be entered for a nightly drawing
at 8:30 p.m. at the First Floor Stage. All winners must be
present to win the nightly drawings for cash and prizes.
Monte Carlo Resort & Casino in Las Vegas celebrates
its 10th anniversary this year. The celebration will continue
throughout June with special discounts, commemorative
coins, collectable chips and cash prizes. Monte Carlo’s One
Club members can qualify to win $10,000 every Saturday in
June. To reward its members, Monte Carlo will hold a drawing at 10:00 p.m. and give away $10,000 to three lucky cardholders. Visit the One Club booth for more information on all
of the specials going on this month.
Cool off with another pool party in Las Vegas! The
Tropicana Resort & Casino gives us “Wet,” a new pool party
concept that is sure to be filled with fun and entertainment.
Everyone 21 and older is welcome and admission is FREE.
A live band performs every Saturday night from the island
area in the pool and a disc jockey keeps the party going
throughout the evening. Drink and food specials are available, including 50-cent draft beers. All women are invited
to enter a winner-takes-all $1,000 cash prize bikini contest.
Also, swimming and dancing is encouraged. For those people
wanting to gamble, no need to leave the pool. The swim-up
blackjack tables are open during the parties. The parties run
from 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. and will continue weekly, every
Saturday, through September 2.
The Golden Eagle Casino in Horton, Kansas will host its
annual “Picnic In The Park” on Sunday, July 2. Bring the
family at 6:30 p.m. for free hot dogs and fireworks.
That’s it for this week!
H. Scot Krause is a freelance writer, gaming industry analyst and researcher, originally from Cleveland,
Ohio. While raising his three year-old son, Zachary, Scot
reports, researches, and writes about casino games,
events, attractions and promotions. He is a ten-year
resident of Las Vegas. Questions or comments are welcomed. Card room managers are also invited to send
your specials and promotions to: [email protected]
38
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
Card Room Roundup
Binion’s Gambling Hall and Hotel
128 E. Fremont Street, Las Vegas, Nevada 89101
Toll Free: 1.800.937.6537 Local: 702.382.1600
www.binions.com
Binion’s Gambling Hall and
Hotel located in downtown
Las Vegas is a must see for
every Las Vegas visitor. Stop
by one of the most historic
spots in town where the biggest bets were welcomed and
accepted. Walk in with a
million cash in your briefcase
and bet it all on one roll of
the dice, no problem. The
late Benny Binion had a
knack for appeasing gamblers
and he built a reputation of
accepting all bets for any
amount, the larger the better.
Benny is no longer running
the old Horseshoe, he died on
Christmas Day in 1989, but
his spirit is ever present in the
venerable downtown establishment.
Binion’s is now owned by
the MTR Gaming Group. It
was bought from Benny’s
daughter and brought out
of closure by Harrah’s
Entertainment for the sole
purpose of staging the 2004
World Series of Poker. A
quick rejuvenation job of the
“Horseshoe” for the 2004
tournament breathed new life
into the historic old property.
Harrah’s spun off the place
to the MTR people, and then
left downtown taking along
the rights to the ‘Horseshoe’
brand and the World Series
of Poker tournament. MTR
Gaming Group is busy transforming the “old” Binion’s
into a modern version of its’
self and fortunately they have
wisely chosen to include a
liberal amount of Benny’s
legendary treatment of his
customers.
The first time I walked
into the downtown joint
many years ago as a just
turned twenty-one old it was
two o’clock in the morning. Hardcore players were
stacked around the crap tables
shouting and jostling for a
look at the dice roll. We
headed straight for the small
coffee shop having driven
hundreds of miles across the
desert and we were warmly
greeted by the man himself,
Benny, sitting there in his
center booth wearing the
famous grey Stetson and
duster. He took one look at
the two of us and said, “You
boys look like you were rode
hard and put up wet, but I
can fix that.” He told the
waitress to bring us a bowl
of his trademark chili, a plate
of warm cornbread and a
pot of coffee, and then he
entertained the two of us with
Vegas stories while we ate
our first ever comped meal in
Las Vegas. That’s the kind of
special treatment that keeps
you coming back for a lifetime.
Located atop Binion’s
downtown tower is the
famous Binion’s Ranch
Steakhouse. Take the outside
glass elevator to the twentyfourth floor for a memorable
dining experience and some
of the best steaks and seafood anywhere. Remember
to make a reservation at the
popular restaurant for a view
that’s as great as the food.
Try the subterranean coffee
shop that continues to offer
a complete menu around the
clock in an atmosphere of
quaint charm away from the
casino floor. A buffet on the
second floor is sure to please
while two snack bars with the
best burgers and chili in Las
Vegas are located on the main
casino floor. You can always
belly up at the two bars for a
glass of liquid refreshment.
Binion’s is the place for
gamblers. No showroom
here to distract from the
games. The hotel offers 366
rooms for those wanting to
stay within easy walking distance of many of Las Vegas’
more famous joints. The
original old west rooms located on the east side above the
original Horseshoe have been
retained and refurnished. It’s
a great choice to experience
the old Vegas vintage lifestyle
first hand.
A large rambling casino
Inside Binion’s 18-table poker room
offers thousands of modern
slot machines, table games,
a sports book, keno lounge
and a large poker room.
Housed in the original low
ceiling casino, players get a
feel for an intimate vintage
Vegas when cars were cruising down Fremont just a few
feet from the front doors.
Now, Fremont Street is covered by the Fremont Street
Experience, the world’s largest video screen, offering free
light shows nightly. Gone are
the automobiles, replaced by
a pedestrian mall filled with
kiosks selling to the thousands of tourist. Air curtains
continue to separate the cool
interior of Binion’s from the
blazing desert summer heat,
just like the old days.
The original Binion’s
Horseshoe did not have a
poker room. A temporary
room was created for the
annual World Series of
Poker tournament and the
annual Hall of Fame Classic
by yanking slot machines
and replacing them with a
few poker tables. Binion’s
first permanent poker room
became a reality after Jack
Binion acquired the old Mint
Hotel, knocked a hole in the
adjoining wall and made it a
part of the ‘Shoe. Poker legend Johnny Moss moved into
the hotel and served as the
host for the poker room until
his death in 1997. You could
see him most days playing at
the high limit hold’em tables.
(Did you know the hold’em
starting hand of Ace-Ten is
named the “Johnny Moss?”)
Everyone that was anyone in
poker has played in Binion’s
poker room.
Fast forward to the present
and we find an 18 table poker
room at Binion’s. Another 24
tables in an adjoining tournament area and the second
floor Benny’s Bullpen can
hold another three dozen or
so tables. Poker continues to
be a big draw for Binion’s.
Poker operations are under
the management of Jim
Delorto. Jim has more than
three decades in the casino
business and he applies all
that knowledge to make
Binion’s the poker place. I
spent an interesting afternoon at the room with shift
supervisor Robbie Bostick
providing a tour. The room
spreads limit Hold’em with
blinds of $2-$4, $3-$6, $4-$8
and $10-$20 and all have an
on request half kill. No-limit
Hold’em is available with
$1-$2 blinds with a $100 min
no-max buy-in and a $2-$5
blinds with a $200 min nomax buy-in. call the poker
room direct at 702.366.7397
for complete details.
Binion’s is the birthplace
of poker tournaments and
that tradition continues today
under the guidance of tournament director Chuck Blain.
No-limit Hold’em tournaments are offered daily at 10
AM, 2 PM, 8 PM and 2 AM.
All events have a $60 buy-in,
a one time $10 bonus buy
for 50% more chips and one
optional $40 rebuy except for
the 8 Pm Friday, Saturday and
Sunday tournaments which
move up to $125 buy-n, a
one time $25 bonus buy and
one optional $50 rebuy. The
events are popular and attract
a large crowd of players making for some nice prize pools.
As an added bonus you’re
given entry into a monthly
$10,000 freeroll limited to
daily tournament winners.
Binion’s comp policy is
one of the most liberal in
Vegas. Play four hours and
receive an $8 dollar food
comp. Casino room rates are
available for poker players.
Play in the room and your
hotel stay is covered by one
small pot. Shufflemasters
are installed in the ring game
tables for faster action, more
hands per hour. Always free
valet parking is located just
outside the glass wall at the
back of the poker room and
self parking is conveniently
located in two large parking
garages.
Rumors keep circulating
that Binion’s will bring back
major tournament poker at
the property. Look for an
announcement covering
a first effort for an annual
tournament series that will
once again put Binion’s on
the poker pro’s tournament
schedule. Visit the downtown
casino and sample some
vintage Vegas poker history,
check out the wall of champions listing all of the past
WSOP $10 champions and
while your there try the chili
and cornbread, its really good.
—Joe Smith, Sr.
Ju ly To u rn a m e n t S e ri e s
PE CHANGA
POKER
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45000 Pechanga Parkway • I-15 • Temecula • 877.711.2WIN • www.pechanga.com
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
39
Air
Sailers
Internet Gaming
Prohibition
ONLINE POKER
Paul “Dr. Pauly” McGuire
There are two lingering thoughts on the minds of online poker
players right now. The first is, “Will I be able to win my seat into
the 2006 WSOP main event?” and the second is, “Will playing
online poker be illegal?”
On May 25, 2006, the House Judiciary Committee passed HR
4777 (Internet Gambling Prohibition Act) and HR 4411 (Unlawful
Internet Gambling Enforcement Act). Rep. Jim Leach (R-Iowa)
sponsored HR4411 and Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Virginia) has been
spearheading HR 4777 over the past few months. During the
committee hearings, Goodlatte mentioned, “I oppose gambling
because I think it causes many, many problems in our society.”
Both bills are headed to the floor of the U.S. House of
Representatives for debate, then possibly voted upon. Both bills
aim to strengthen the Wire Act of 1961, since many online gaming sites and customers have been testing the elasticity of that
law over the last few decades. Leach’s bill would make it illegal
for credit card companies to allow their customers to fund their
accounts at online gaming sites which covers poker, sports
books, horse racing, and casino sites. Goodlatte’s bill would
take legislation a step further and force credit card companies
and other financial institutions to report any of these transactions to the government.
The more disturbing part of Goodlatte’s bill is that they
would also force your internet service provider (ISP) to deny
their customers access to off-shore gaming sites. In the worst
case scenario, if the Goodlatte bill becomes a law, you will not
be able to access your favorite online poker site from your
computer and not be able to fund it through your credit card. If
your bank notices a wire transfer to or from an illegal off-shore
gaming site, they would be required by law to submit your name
and account information to the government.
Billions of dollars are generated every year overseas as
online gaming companies operate in countries such as Costa
Rica or Aruba. The majority of online gamblers are Americans
and their money is flowing into foreign banks. Those nations
and their financial institutions reap the benefits of our cash
flow, while our nation receives zero percent of the income and
tax revenue generated. In addition, thousands of online gaming
industry jobs are being filled by overseas workers. Legalizing
online poker would generate tax revenue and allow online gaming sites to set up a base of operations in America, thereby
creating jobs.
Poker is played by over 70 million Americans and a majority of
them play online. I’m the type of individual that doesn’t like the
government or Big Brother poking his nose into my personal life.
If hard-working Americans want to come home after a long day
of work to play poker online for a few hours a night, then they
should be allowed to do so. In my opinion, the government needs
to take time to conduct a thorough study on poker and internet
gambling before they can come to their own conclusions, just
like the American Gaming Association (AGA) suggested. Two of
the largest casino corporations, MGM and Harrah’s, decided to
apply pressure to Congress through the AGA and asked for a formal study of online gambling. If this happens, it would slow down
the legislative process. After some basic research, I’m positive
that the politicians in Washington will understand that poker is
a game of skill, and not chance. The government should legalize
poker, then set up an organization to regulate the multi-billion
dollar industry. Legalization would allow the government to levy
taxes on both the online sites, the financial institutions that are
involved, and the individual players.
Senator John Ensign (R-Nevada) recently told Bloomberg
News, “It doesn’t look like you can ban it. If it is being done offshore, why not bring it to the U.S., where it can be regulated?”
Paul “Dr. Pauly” McGuire is a writer, poker player, and avid
traveler from New York City. He’s the author of the Tao of
Poker blog which can be found at taopoker.blogspot.com.
Feel free to contact him at [email protected].
40
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
greeted me saying, “Glad you
made the cut this time, Joe.
Not to rub it in, but the guy
you pointed out to me has
been telling his friend, that
big guy standing next to him,
how he pushed you aside and
grabbed the ribbon. I was
tempted to go over there and
teach them some manners.”
“Forget it, Hobby. They’re
not worth the bother. Let’s
just wind this up and get out
of here.”
“Good idea. Here comes
the Jumpmaster. I think the
game is about to begin.”
“Okay, gals and guys. We
had a great jump. Most of
you caught a ribbon on the
first flight and all but one on
the second. I’ve got what’s
left of the deck of cards. I’ll
turn over the flop and then
the remaining two cards. It’s
just showdown, no more betting. Here’s your flop: 3 of
diamonds, queen of spades,
and ten of clubs.” Neither
Hobby nor I had good cards.
“The turn is the queen of
hearts and—are you ready
for this—the river is the two
of clubs. Anyone have a good
hand?”
Someone hollered, “I’ve
got three queens.” Wouldn’t
you know? It was the jerk
that I had the run-in with on
the first jump. After some
hoopla he made his way to
the front and picked up the
prize money.
“Let’s get out of here,
Hobby, “I said. We were
making our way to the door
when quite by accident we
came into the path of the
winner. Gloating over his
success, he had to rub it in.
“Hey, old man you’re just
unlucky. This money could
have been yours.”
Frankly, I could care less
about the money, but this
jerk was really pissing me
off. I was thinking of what
to say when Hobby stepped
in front and said, “You think
you’re lucky, bigmouth. I’ve
got a proposition for you. I’ll
bet you what you just won
that this “old man” and I can
make you and your friend
say uncle.”
“You’ve got to be kidding,
we’ll kill you,” he replied
with a lot of bravado.
“You think I’m kidding,”
Hobby said as he pulled out a
wad of bills. “Put up or shut
up!”
A crowd was gathering
when the Jumpmaster took
notice and said, “What’s
going on here?”
I explained, “It’s a friendly
contest. My friend Hobby
and I made a wager with
these two.”
He looked at them and us
skeptically and said, “You
sure you know what you’re
doing?”
“Don’t worry we’ll stand
the consequences. This guy
gave me an unfriendly shove
on the first dive, which I
could have excused, but he’s
been a real asshole since.
We’ve made a wager that I
can make him say uncle and
Hobby will do the same for
his buddy.”
Amused, the Jumpmaster
said, “If you all agree, it’s
fine with me. Okay folks,
give them some room.”
My opponent was prancing around flashing his fists,
looking very confident. I
walked up to him, nose-tonose, with my hands hanging loosely at my side. I was
too close for him to swing
at me. I said, “You ready
to say uncle?” Before he
could answer I brought a
short uppercut into his solar
plexus. He coughed up his
wind and doubled over. It
quickly crossed my mind
that I could knee his face,
but I didn’t want to seriously damage him. Instead,
I rabbit-punched him on
the back of his neck hard
enough to render him almost
unconscious. When he came
around I had a choke hold
on him. “Now you ready to
say uncle?”
“Yes,” he gasped, “but it’s
not over, Billy will destroy
your friend.”
Billy, standing a foot taller
than Hobby said, “Sorry
to hurt you, little fellow,
but your friend started it.”
He took an almost casual
swing at Hobby, who didn’t
give any ground, but neatly
ducked the punch. Annoyed
and embarrassed, his next
punch was launched with
intention to do bodily harm.
I thought it was going to
nail Hobby, but somehow
it missed entirely. As the
momentum of the swing
turned the big guy around,
Hobby leaped onto his back.
As the two hit the ground
the big guy was on his face;
Hobby bent the guy’s lower
legs backward in a painful
crunch. No prompting needed. “Uncle,” he screamed.
As Hobby and I were
walking to the car he said,
“We sure do hate to lose a
poker game!”
Write to author David Valley
at: [email protected]
Player Profile: Kenna James
shot at the $20 buy-in tournaments and figured he had
crossed a line, hit his stride
as someone who could more
than hold his own at a poker
table when he found himself
at the final table at a small
Lake Elsinore tournament
playing heads-up against
one of the old timers who
had probably been playing
poker since before James
was born.
“I didn’t win, finished
second, but I remember this
old guy giving me a smile
and reaching over to slap
me on the shoulder.”
Kind of like he was saying, you did all right.
There was a feeling
of immense satisfaction
as James realized he had
finally done something he
had not been able to do as a
wannabe actor.
He had cracked that
“inner circle.” It’s a good
place to be.
He seems to linger over
this feel-good realization
even as he notes that the
challenge now is to show
up each day and put in the
work that keeps him there.
Battle of the Bay Rages On
6/9/06
LUCKY CHANCES CASINO
BATTLE OF THE BAY
7. Jojo Pineda . . . . . . . . $2,390
Daly City, CA, USA
8. Sanjeev Bais . . . . . . . $1,910
San Jose, CA, USA
9. Romulo Aguilar . . . . $1,450
Benetia, CA, USA
6/7/06
BATTLE OF THE BAY
SPREAD LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $300 + $30
PLAYERS 177
PRIZE
POOL
$53,100
Dick Corpus
1. Dick Corpus . . . . . . $18,600
an Jose, CA
2. Tony Dedo . . . . . . . . . $9,560
San Fancisco, CA, USA
Tony Nguyen
1. Tony Nguyen . . . . . . $20,600
San Francisco, CA, USA
2. Barney Klein . . . . . . $10,600
3. Don McNamara . . . . $5,700
Menlo Park, CA, USA
2. Willie Petrali . . . . . . $11,454
Owasso, OK, USA
3. Jerry Quinn . . . . . . . $5,857
4. Amadeo de los Reyes $4,800
4. Buddy Williams . . . . $4,556
Walnut Creek, CA, USA
Lawton, OK, USA
5. Michael Persky . . . . . $4,200
5. Robert Wade . . . . . . . $3,905
Novato, CA, USA
2. Sudo Le . . . . . . . . . . . $9,000
6. Richard Santos . . . . . $3,600
3. Drake Levin . . . . . . . $4,760
San Francisco, CA
Freemont, CA, USA
7. Forrest McMahon . . $3,000
6. Thomas Witherspoon $3,254
Baton Rouge, LA, USA
7. Charles Moore . . . . . $2,603
8. Carlito DeGuzman . . $2,400
Dallas, TX, USA
San Francisco, CA
8. Brian “Frost” Foster $1,952
9. Chris Bailey . . . . . . . $1,800
6. Osias Lacayanga . . . . $2,870
Santa Clara, CA, USA
9. Brian Chaney . . . . . . $1,302
4. William Gustafik . . . $3,820
San Ramon, CA, USA
5. Cary Canoun . . . . . . $3,350
Daly City, CA, USA
Millbrae, CA, USA
6. Chuck Yeager . . . . . . $2,390
Corckett, CA, USA
7. Paul Britto . . . . . . . . . $1,860
Amadeo de los Reyes
1. Amadeo de los Reyes
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $17,500
2. Richard Defante . . . . $9,000
3. Jeff Spruitenburg . . . $4,750
4. Jonas Tobias . . . . . . . $4,000
5. Hung Ly . . . . . . . . . . . $3,500
6. Dean Sherrell . . . . . . $3,000
7. Ben Lopez . . . . . . . . . $2,500
8. Tahir Ahmad . . . . . . . $2,000
9. Sean Marshall . . . . . . $1,500
FREEROLL
TOURNAMENT PLAYERS
CHAMPIONSHIP
BUY-IN $0
PLAYERS 124
PRIZE
POOL
$50,000
Scotty Nguyen Challenge II
San Jose, CA, USA
Fremont, CA, USA
5. Gary Degliantoni . . . $2,920
6/5/06
BATTLE OF THE BAY
$60,000
$55,000
Oakland, CA, USA
4. Rudy Wong . . . . . . . . $3,720
8. Rex Hale . . . . . . . . . . $1,590
9. Larry Kern . . . . . . . . $1,320
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 113
PRIZE
POOL
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 110
PRIZE
POOL
3. Charles Duck . . . . . . $4,780
Bay Pointe, CA
SPREAD LIMIT HOLD’EM
“DOUBLE PLAY”
SHOOTOUT - SPREAD
LIMIT HOLD’EM
Doug Sheppard
1. Doug Sheppard . . . . $17,300
6/6/06
BATTLE OF THE BAY
LADIES NO LIMIT
HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $100 + $20
PLAYERS 166
PRIZE POOL
$16,600
Kristi Humphrey
1. Kristi Humphrey
AKA “devildoll” . . . . $3,315
Cement, OK, USA
Brandt, SD, USA
PHOTO COURTESY POKER FACE PHOTOS
As we go to press, the 8tha
Annual Battle of the Bay
Tournament held at the
Lucky Chances Casino in
Colma, California is still
raging. Below you will
find the results of the first
four events. The balance of
this tournament will be covered in our next issue.
2. Dawn Sallee . . . . . . . . $1,826
3. Dena Leath . . . . . . . . $1,004
Wichita, KS, USA
4. Charlene Stanton AKA . . . .
“Charlie” . . . . . . . . . . . .$803
heredia, Costa Rica
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Stephanie Melton . . . . .$602
Vicki Baker . . . . . . . . . .$502
Pat Uber . . . . . . . . . . . .$401
Ericka Ervin . . . . . . . . .$301
Devi Orfesa . . . . . . . . . .$201
ADVERTISE IN
POKER
PLAYER
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
IT WORKS!
41
Consumer’s Guide
to Poker, PART 3 OF 3
STUD SENSE
Metap
Charlie Shoten
M
I Know C
By ASHLEY ADAMS
We learned in the last two articles how to
evaluate what it costs to play poker in a
public card room. Here are some other
considerations for determining how consumer-friendly a poker room is.
Some places cut the rake or reduce the
time charge if the game is short handed.
This is more significant when there is a
rake. Smaller hands mean smaller pots
which means that it is more likely that
the maximum percentage will be charged.
Remember, the larger the pot, the more
likely it is that the maximum rake will be
met before the pot is won – meaning a
relatively smaller rake.
Other features may make the room better for the consumer. Some rooms give
the player credit for every hour of play –
credit that can be used for meals, rooms,
and gifts. My main room, Foxwoods,
gives players in $20/40 and higher games
$1.50/hour in credit. Lower games earn
players $1.00 or $.50/hour. These comps
can be deducted from the rake or time
charge when calculating your actual cost
for playing. So if I were to figure out my
actual hourly charge I’d start with the
$10/hour that, on average, I pay in rake
and then subtract $1.50 – netting me
$8.50/hour cost. Of course that assumes
that I’ll eventually redeem these points.
Find out whether there other bonuses
or perks that the poker room offers.
These are not always publicized. But
if you ask around you’ll surely find out
about them. Many of these are truly
insignificant when evaluated over time.
Some are more worthwhile.
For example, my room gives a nice jacket to players if they get a straight-flush.
Considering how long the odds of getting
that hand are, and how tightly I generally
play, this benefit is truly minuscule for me.
But they offered $3.00/hour in comps for a
few months – making the room much more
attractive to me. And they had a promotion a while back with a house-funded bad
beat jackpot. That was worth knowing
about. So too was the $50 that I won on a
special money giveaway promotion.
In other places, poker rooms offer free
or reduced price meals to players. Others
give out tickets or coupons good for other
promotions like match play or free giant
slot pulls. Some places offer reduced
priced rooms or merchandise to players.
Other places offer freeroll tournaments
to all players after they accumulate a
certain number of hours of play. You just
need to determine where and when the
good deals are. They’re often for only a
limited time.
There are other less tangible considerations as well. How friendly are the
staff? Do they treat you like they want
your business? How willing are they to
accommodate the interests and needs of
players? Do they listen to concerns? Do
they seem to be resistant to change or
42
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
open to suggestions for making the playing experience better for the player?
Do they give out free magazines? Do
they have comfortable chairs? Do they
offer free drinks? Are there chip runners?
Are the cashier windows convenient for
cashing out or buying in? Is there a long
wait for a game? How’s the lighting?
How’s the air quality? Is the temperature
comfortable? Are there TVs for viewing?
Do they have adequate dealers on hand to
start new games as new players arrive?
Are they flexible in spreading the games
you’d like to play?
Do they offer table side meal service
or is a restaurant nearby? How good is
security? Can you walk to your car safely
at night? Will they offer you a security guard to accompany you if you feel
uncomfortable? Are there safety deposit
boxes on site so you don’t have to transport large sums of cash? Do you feel safe
in the room? Have you ever had chips
stolen from the table? Did the casino
make good on what you had taken? Did
they offer you any compensation at all?
I once had money taken from my
stack while I was away from the table at
Foxwoods. The security cameras didn’t
catch the theft – there weren’t enough
cameras to focus on every table for every
minute of play. But I made my case to
the room manager. And though she didn’t
replace my stack – lacking physical proof
that it was in fact stolen – she did write
me out enough meal comps to more than
cover my losses. That was an example of
good customer service I thought.
The margins between winning and losing at poker are often very thin – much
closer for many of us than it may appear
after a particularly large win or loss.
Much of our ability to make a profit certainly has to do with the quality of the
games themselves – how many poor players are seated at our table. But after that
consideration, it’s the addition of all of
these other factors, starting with the rake
or time charge, which may often determine whether the game will be profitable
and pleasurable for us. We poker consumers pay the poker rooms a lot of money
for the service of having them spread our
favorite game. We surely deserve to get
our money’s worth.
Ashley Adams is the author of Winning
7-Card Stud, (Kensington Press 2003).
He has been playing 7-Card Stud for 40
years—and profitably in casinos for the
past 10 years. He has played in casinos
all over the world, including England,
Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Hungary,
Canada and the United States, but
plays most frequently at at Foxwoods
Resort Casino in Ledyard Connecticut.
Professionally, he is a union organizer
and an agent for broadcasters. He can be
reached at: [email protected]
I look forward to sharing
this question-and-answer
opportunity with my Poker
Player Newspaper readers. Meet Mr. Peter Ragnar,
author of 20 books including
“The Awesome Science of
LUCK”.
Charlie: Hi Peter. Would
you share a little with our
audience about yourself and
your background?
Peter: Well, Charlie, I’ve
gotta say it this way---once I
discovered the actual science
behind luck, I went from a
poor, unemployed construction worker to a millionaire.
Charlie: I always write
about what I am interested
in---usually important issues
in my life that I can relate
to poker. As a master jujitsu
instructor and teacher of
full-contact martial arts and
Qi Gong, can you speak to
any similarities you have
observed that might help a
poker player become a champion?
Peter: When you take on
opponents, either on the mat,
in the ring, or at the table,
you don’t really know their
skill level or how they’ll
play their game. To be too
concerned about this is a big
mistake. What matters is not
how they play their game,
but how you play yours.
Your techniques and skill
must be so firmly a part of
your subconscious mind that
you will effortlessly play at
your highest level of proficiency.
In order for this to happen, you must maintain
a relaxed, but conscious
awareness of every nuance
of your opponent’s body
language. You may not
block every strike that is
thrown. You don’t need to
try to be Mr. Perfection;
simply be patient, watch
and wait---your opportunity will come. Then, out
of nowhere, a little voice
inside you shouts “NOW!”
You play the final winning
hand, the match ends, and
you are crowned the champion.
Charlie: A major poker tournament is a marathon event.
It usually stretches over
two to five days of intense
focus and concentration. Any
impulsive play or choice of
action that is not well considered can be a fatal mistake,
ending many hours and days
of excellent play. It is a battle
of survival for the players
who can maintain their focus
throughout. It seems to me
that the ability to maintain
focus is something some are
reared with; they have had
tender loving care since birth
and have not been subjected
to crippling neglect or abuse.
Can you share your thoughts
on this subject? Can maintaining focus be learned?
Peter: Focus is like strength.
They both result from what
a muscle or gland can do.
To build muscle, you must
exercise. To build focus, you
must exercise---and not only
exercise, but supply your
body with proper nutrition.
The pineal gland is your
focus muscle. It requires
plenty of B vitamins to buffer stress. I personally take
DHEA for the day and melatonin for the night and add
the herb ginkgo for sharpening my memory.
Also, I have a deck of
memory flash cards and a
stopwatch. Each morning, I
test myself as to how fast I
can remember a deck of 52
playing cards and recall them
in perfect order. Once, after I
performed this feat before a
live audience, an avid gambler told me, “With that skill,
you’d probably be kicked
out of every casino I’ve ever
played in.”
Now, bear in mind, you
subconsciously already know
what cards have been played
and your bio-computer can
predict what cards are left to
fall. However, if your mind
is stressed, you don’t hear or
feel “the hunch.” But what
if you could stay conscious
of what cards have been
played?
physical
Poker
&
Life
y Conversation with the Luckiest Man
Continues: Meet Peter Ragnar
What I’d advise is to nourish your pineal gland and
practice memorizing a deck
of playing cards until you
can do it in under a minute.
I also wear a rare earth magnetic headband to stimulate
the magnetite in my pineal
gland. This keeps concentration razor sharp.
Charlie: I will follow your
advice. Everyone will soon
see me at the card table wearing a magnetic head band
in the future. Razor sharp
concentration sounds good to
me. I am a person who has
endured great stress for most
of my life. Until recently, I
have felt like I was punching
my way out of a paper bag.
You seem to be present in the
zone all the time. What is it
like to experience being in
the zone for so much of the
time? Most of us have had
short experiences of being in
the zone and have relished
and remembered those precious times. I assume we all
want to know where those
moments go and why we
can’t experience them all or
even most of the time.
Peter: For me, Charlie, it’s
like an extended state of
déjà vu. By that, I mean that
everything appears fresh and
new as if I am experiencing
life for the first time, but at
the same time, everything is
old and familiar.
The reason most people
have only glimpses of this
zone, is due to the chemicals
of thought. Folks have a way
of addicting themselves to
the narcotic effect of habitual
thinking. This destroys the
zone.
Charlie: I am studying your
book “The Awesome Science
of LUCK”. Can you share
your thoughts about instincts
and how we can learn to
use them to make our best
decisions? The titles of your
other books are enticing.
Which book do you think I
should read next? I assume
that excellence in the martial arts requires the same
principles as excellence at
the poker table. I am not
comparing the dedication and
effort required to become
a master in the martial arts
with the same in poker, but
excellence is excellence in
everything. I am going for it.
I love that to get there I need
to relax and enjoy. No more
concept of hard work or trying for me.
Peter: Quite simply put,
the more you know about a
subject, the more instinctive
your behavior becomes. It’s
like the difference between a
tone-deaf person and a musical virtuoso. All excellence
requires unbroken concentration, which in turn releases
instinct.
Charlie: In my book “NoLimit Life”, I simply and
honestly shared my thoughts
as I traveled through discoveries that allowed me to be a
happier person. I shared what
I noticed, and as I wrote,
I learned how to liberate
myself from the obstacles
(thoughts), that were sabotaging my poker game and
my life. After struggling for
so many years and making
progress in reverse (creating more stress), I relaxed
and the solutions simply
appeared. I discovered what
I already knew, but never
knew that I knew it or was
able to use it to help myself.
What advise can you
give to those of us who are
dead-set in our ways and
ideas, even if we have found
a comfort zone there? Are
the lost opportunities always
worth reaching for? I know
many who are now totally
lost because they achieved
great wealth and fame. I
myself acquired such in the
field of the computer and
life insurance industry, and I
spent many years and much
effort being self-destructive
and bankrupting myself. I
subconsciously knew I needed to hit rock bottom to have
any chance of finding myself
again.
never a time when one is
without an opportunity. A
new, fresh train of opportunities is always moving before
us. The problem never lies
in a lack of opportunity, only
in not knowing clearly what
you want. If you knew for
certain in your heart of hearts
that it was impossible to fail,
what would you do? Answer
that and you will manifest
the opportunity instantly!
Charlie: I see “No-Limit
Life” as an enjoyable,
simple, easy to implement
mind-clearing book. The
average person can read,
understand, enjoy and implement its ideas and concepts.
It somehow came out that
way. When I read “The
Awesome Science of Luck”,
it struck a cord in me. It
showed me what I needed
to address in my life, and
complemented my book perfectly. I guess that is why we
call them “THE DYNAMIC
DUO”. Both teach us how
to notice and clean out our
mental obstacles (thinking)
while teaching and freeing
ourselves to manifest (our
deepest desires).
What a lucky day when
my friend Boris, mailed me
your book. I am honored to
be associated with you my
friend. I thank you, Peter,
and am sure that all of the
Poker Player Newspaper
readers do also.
Future articles will hopefully include reader’s
Responses, Questions,
Requests, Comments and
Experiences:
[email protected]
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J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
43
Tournament Structure, PART 2
One of the problems in tournaments is that an average stack has very few options available to them after the first level. By
NEVER PLAY Poker with
a man CALLed “DOC”
By Scott Aigner, M.D.
the time the second level comes around players
are already behind the 8 ball. They might have
increased their stack size but actually lose ground
to the increased blind levels. If tournament directors
increased the starting stack sizes they would in fact
see more action and more flops as a result. The strategy of the average stack is not about playing poker
but about survival. Give players enough chips at the
beginning levels so that they are interested in playing
more hands preflop due to implied odds. By increasing implied odds to play it will increase action beyond
one level of play.
There are several ways to increase participation.
Let’s stop cramming 10 players around a table. A
decrease in the number of players lowers starting
hand selection. The players will be faced with the
blinds more often and waiting around is no longer as
viable of a strategy. No limit poker was meant to be
played 9 handed. Another aspect to this proposal is
that there might be more alternates at the beginning
of the tournament. This will also allow players to get
to know their opponents a little longer and reward
the players who do sign up early for the tournament.
It will lessen the luck of the draw at least for a while
by keeping tables together. By having more alternates and keeping the same number of tables there
won’t be a need for more dealers at the beginning.
Another way to increase action is to raise the size
of the antes. Antes that are 1/8th to 1/6th of the big
blind are not big enough. Increasing the antes also
increases the size of the pot. The incentive for players to steal the pot is higher but it also players will
need to defend their blinds more frequently as well.
Forcing more action with fewer players at the table
and bigger pots initially will insure that the tournament will progress at a slightly faster rate to make up
for the bigger stack sizes that players started with.
There is less incentive to wait. It forces the smaller
stack to gamble in a tournament rather than holding on by a string and hoping to get dealt a premium
hand.
Once the tournament does get down to the final
few tables then reverting to a slightly slower structure by allowing antes to stay at the same amount
until it is back to the 1/8th to 1/6th size is easy
enough to do. We need to give the final 18 to 27 players more time to play poker and even more play at
the final table. This is not that much to ask given
that there is less need for dealers with only several
tables in play and the overall cost to the poker room
is small. There will still be plenty of tables available
for the daily tournament to commence play and allow
some skill to return to tournament poker. Playing
hot and cold situations and coin toss situations was
never meant to be an important factor in major tournaments at the final table. For some reason, this is all
we do from the 2nd or 3rd level of play until the last
card is dealt. Poker Lottery should not determine our
fate. Let’s add some skill back into tournament poker
rather than just flipping coins all day.
Dr Aigner is a board certified Urologist. He has multiple final table finishes in major tournaments including a WPO bracelet in 2001. You can contact him at
http://www.PokerStrategyForum.com
44
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
X
X
X
X
Poker Player
Each issue’s crossword puzzle
honors a poker celebrity and
will be about that person’s
life. Today’s puzzle honors poker pro
Chris Moneymaker. Crossword by Myles Mellor.
Word
ACROSS
34. Passive and tight player
1. “Final Table” is his nickname (first name)
35. Inpsector General, abbr.
12. Giving ___, in a lowball game
13. Threesome
3. 2005 WSOP winner, first
name
36. Movie that got 16
across heavily involved in
poker
5. Trekkie who joined Team
Pokerstars, first name
40. Often a straight maker
17. Short ___: not having
many chips
42. Turn down
18. Expression of surprise
43. Listener
19. Position at bridge, for
short
9. French gold
10. Hand which 16 across
won with at WSOP 2003
event (goes with 25 across)
45. 16 across’s occupation
before he became a poker
pro
11. Counterfeit
46. You and me
DOWN
18. Request
22. Room, abbr.
24. Italian river
1. Queen
16. Winner of the 2003
WSOP (goes with 30
across)
20. Praise
23. 2006 PCA champion,
Steven-Paul
14. Infrared, for short
15. Barely makes a living
16. ____ de menthe
26. ___ City
2. TV channel showing top
poker
29. Wild cards
30. Esfandiari practices it?
3. ___ de vivre
21. Poker ploy to lure an
opponent into a bad situation
31. Guy
4. Lord of the Rings bad
guy
32. Donk
25. See 10 across
6. Conditional
37. Roman pot....
7. Always an element in
poker
38. Life basic
8. Accidental showing of
the bottom card of the deck
41. Cross-country, abbr.
27. Chips
28. Lower the lights
30. See 16 across
33. ___ Vegas
1
2
3
4
33. Mona ___
39. Long time
5
9
12
8
15
16
17
20
25
7
13
14
19
6
10
11
18
44. Gold symbol
21
26
22
23
24
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
40
36
41
45
37
38
42
39
43
44
46
The correct solution to the puzzle will be found only at:
www.pokerplayernewspaper.com. It will be posted on the cover date.
Pechanga Sharks To Swim At WSOP
Ten men and eight women
who won competitive No
Limit Hold ‘Em tournaments at Pechanga Resort
& Casino’s Poker Room
will be on their way to
sin city to take part in
the 2006 World Series
of Poker. The 18 poker
winners and their guests
gathered recently for a
WSOP send-off event,
courtesy of Pechanga
Resort & Casino. The
event brought all the winners together one last
time before the players
compete in the Ladies
Only tournament, or the
WSOP Championship
event from which the
final contender left at
the final table will take
home more than $7.5 million. They traded stories
of their wins during the
Pechanga Poker Room’s
Big Showdown events
and Ladies’ Only events,
enjoyed a catered dinner
and went home with a
‘goodie bag’ worth $250.
Nine male card competitors and one female player
took the casino’s “Big
Showdown” title from
July 2005 through May
2006. The Big Showdown,
held on the last Saturday
of every month, awards its
winner a $10,000 seat to
the World Series of Poker.
Pechanga’s Ladies Only
Tournaments, which began
in October 2005, will be
sending eight players to
compete in the Ladies
event of the WSOP. Ladies
tournaments are held at
the Pechanga Poker Room
on the second Thursday of
each month at 6:30pm and
award its winner a $1,000
buy-in to the Ladies Event
in Las Vegas. All of the
ladies from Pechanga’s
tournaments said they
have been studying
Jennifer Tilly, last year’s
Ladies Tournament winner. The roster of poker
players vying for the title
of WSOP champion and
ladies champion spans
southern California, and
even includes a couple of
players from out of state.
They will be giving their
all and putting on their
best poker faces, each
hoping to finish in the
money, make it to the final
table and come away the
number one player in their
respective competitions.
Ladies Only players
competing in the Ladies
WSOP event are: Linda
Trubee from Temecula,
Katie Roach from Santa
Ana, Chellie Campbell
from Los Angeles,
Carolyn Williams from
Prescott, AZ, Suzanne
Gray from Beaumont, CA,
Linda Thiele from Pacific
Palisades, CA and Yang
Armentrout from Chula
Vista, CA and Lisa Hong
from Escondido, CA.
Big Showdown players competing in the
Championship WSOP
event are: Doug Oakley
from Murrieta, JP
Mountain from Ft.
Lauderdale, Matt Gilsdorf
from Escondido, Michael
Knight from Escondido,
Duane Steen from
Michigan, Scott Shone
from Fontana, Edward
Hansen from Santa
Ana, Andrey Wilkins
from Long Beach, Scott
Takeshita from Chino, CA,
Chris Benites and Kristina
Battista from Temecula.
Wildhorse Resort & Casino in Pendleton, Oregon presents…
2006 Summer
Poker Rodeo
$20,000 Added!
$320,000 Prize Money!
Tuesday 7/18
No-Limit Hold’em
$100 + $10
$3,000 added
No re-buys
Noon start
$33,000 prize money*
Wednesday 7/19
No-Limit Hold’em
$150 + $10
$3,000 added
No re-buys
Noon start
Friday 7/21
No-Limit Shoot-out
$250 + $10
$5,000 added
No re-buys
Noon start
Thursday 7/20
No-Limit Hold’em
$200 + $10
$4,000 added
No re-buys
Noon start
Saturday 7/22
No-Limit Hold’em
$300 + $10
$5,000 added
No re-buys
Noon start
*Prize money is estimated based on simply repeating actual attendance of July 2005.
Poker Player Friendly!
•
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Entry fees always only $10 • No-juice satellites • More live games added
Players-only gourmet buffet – FREE • Newly remodeled Hotel
Affordable room rates available from $42 to $59
For hotel reservations call Billie Robbins at 541-966-1549 from 8am-4pm, Monday–Friday, PST, through July 17.
For information call Tournament Host & Director Roland Waters at 541-966-1573.
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%"
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J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
45
Boyd to Acquire Pechanga Announces
Dania Jai Alai Tournament Winners
The Aragon Group, a
privately held company,
which owns Dania Jai
Alai and approximately
50 acres of related
land, today announced
that it has agreed to be
acquired by Boyd Gaming
Corporation for approximately $152.5 million,
subject to certain closing
conditions and regulatory
approvals.
Boyd Gaming (NYSE:
BYD) is a leading diversified owner and operator
of gaming and hotel properties in 6 states ranging
from horseracing racinos
to riverboats to casinos.
Boyd was recently selected as Forbes Magazine’s
best managed company in
America in the hotel-restaurant-leisure category.
Dania Jai Alai is
located near the Fort
Lauderdale International
Airport and the Broward
County Convention
Center, and in close
proximity to the major
population centers of
South Florida. It is one of
four facilities approved
under Florida law to operate 1,500 Class III slot
machines. The enabling
legislation was signed
into law in January and
Florida Department of
Business and Professional
Regulation (Pari-Mutuel
Wagering Division) is
expected to approve final
regulations by July 2006.
Dania Jai Alai currently
offers off-track betting,
poker, and pari-mutuel
wagering on jai-alai,
called the fastest ballgame
in the world.
William S. Boyd,
Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of Boyd
Gaming, commented on
the acquisition, “We are
thrilled to have the opportunity to expand our brand
of entertainment into the
Florida market. Our facility will offer the latest in
slot machine equipment
as well as many new and
exciting amenities that
have become an important part of today’s casino
entertainment product.”
He went on to say, “ We
look forward to working with local officials in
making our facility the
best it can be.”
Boyd Gaming has initiated a master plan which
will include an expansive
gaming floor, a variety
of restaurants, poker, offtrack betting and wagering on live jai alai games.
“Boyd provides a wealth
of experience that will
contribute to a successful project,” said Steve
Snyder, President of The
Aragon Group.
Known for its fast-action
tournaments, friendly dealers and Four Diamond
environment, the Poker
Room inside Pechanga
Resort & Casino has
churned out more winners in style. Hundreds of
enthusiastic poker players made their way to the
state-of-the-art Pechanga
ing the $10,000 Guarantee
“Last Chance” No Limit
Hold ‘Em event. He bet
on the pair of ladies in his
hand, and claimed the top
spot with $5,149 in prize
money.
The following day, 119
players put on their poker
faces, but it was Bryon
Huffstutler from Wildomar,
sored seat in 2006 World
Series of Poker in Las
Vegas. One lady kept ahead
round after round. Kristina
Battista from Temecula, CA
was determined to make it
to the final table. With an
Ace-Three, this lady card
shark claimed top ranking, earning her $7,690 in
prize money and the cov-
Pechanga
winners:
Byron Huffstutler (top
left, $2,290),
Kristina Battista (top right,
$7,690, plus $10,000 WSOP
buy-in), Terry Barnett
(bottom left, $3,500) and
Paul Hunter (bottom
right, $5,149)
4000 W. Flamingo Road • Las Vegas
367-7111
SPREADING DAILY
$
2-$4
Limit Texas Hold’em
$ $
4- 8
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100 Buy-in No-Limit Hold’em
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June 12 - June 15
Every half hour player with the highest hand in any of our “live cash”
games will receive $50 and a chance to win a seat to one of the following
$1500 Buy-in W.S.O.P. events
#2 - No-Limit Hold’em
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Come join us in the poker room
P O K E R P L AY E R J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
7 days a week
Poker Room during the
final weekend of May for
the resort’s “Last Chance”
monthly tournaments. Over
the course the weekend,
players had the chance to
win more than $30,000 in
prize pool winnings.
Drawing 202 players,
the first tournament in the
series ran on Thursday,
May 25th. Paul Hunter
from Temecula, CA beat
out the competition dur-
CA who edged his way to
the final table of the $6,000
Guarantee “Last Chance”
No-Limit Hold’Em tournament. Huffstutler was the
last man standing with a
suited Jack-Ten, winning
$2,290 in prize money.
The tournament that
poker enthusiasts had waited for all month, the “Big
Showdown,” brought out
170 players who competed
for the last Pechanga spon-
eted $10,000 buy-in to the
2006 WSOP championship
event.
Wrapping up the weekend’s series, 258 players
battled for a piece of the
$5,000 Guarantee No Limit
Hold ‘Em “Last Chance”
prize pool. Terry Barnett
from National City, CA
held his ground and came
out victorious, winning the
$3,500 first place money
with a suited Ace-Seven.
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
47
POKERETIQUETTE
C O N T I N U E D F R O M PAG E 1 3
same lines, always protect your hand and don’t
let your neighbors see your
cards. Why give anyone
free shots?
One of the most annoying practices is the following. Let’s say we have
5 players in the hand. A
player at the front holds
his cards in such a fashion
as to hide them from view.
The players behind him all
check, as they didn’t realize he was still in the hand.
All of a sudden, he tells the
dealer that he hasn’t acted
yet and shows he still has
cards. The dealer calls the
Floorman and the ruling is
that he has a right to act on
his hand. He then makes a
P A L M S
bet knowing everyone else
is weak.
Two things could be
happening here. The first
is that he has the nut hand
and was going to check
raise. Since nobody bet, he
now wants to put money in,
hoping for a call. The other
scenario is that he has a bad
hand, and is now going to
try to steal the pot knowing
everyone else is weak. If I
see an individual doing this
more than once, I make it a
point to instruct the dealer
to have the player leave
his cards where we all can
see them, because I’m not
handing him that double
edged sword to use against
me!
P O K E R
R O O M
When the flop hits the
board and it’s your turn to
act, what are your options
if there is no bet ahead of
you? They are simply to
check or bet; NOT to fold!
You only fold after action.
To do otherwise is to give
people information. If there
are 4 people in the hand
and you throw your cards
away in 2nd position, two
people behind you know
there is one less caller to
worry about and it could
affect the betting. It is not
fair to the other players to
fold out of turn, yet many
people do this even in
the higher priced games.
Besides, what if your card
comes out on the next card?
P R E S E N T S
WIN A
SEAT
DRAWINGS ON JULY 9TH & 23RD - 8PM
Play in the Poker Room
June 1st - July 23rd to win entries!
Prizes:
1st - $10,000 World Series of Poker Seat
2nd - $1,000 Cash
3rd - $500 Cash
You are denying yourself
that opportunity.
Most ladies that play
poker are a pleasure to have
at the table, but every now
and then one comes along
and shatters that image. The
other day, a young lady at
an Oklahoma casino was
using the “F” word repeatedly. Every time she missed
the hand, it was the F’ing
card or the F’ing dealer or
“No F’------g way!” The
dealer asked her to please
stop that practice, to which
she replied; ”What are you,
a momma’s boy or what?”
He called the Floorman
over, and she was escorted
out of the room. Women
like her seem to think that
acting tough is somehow
going to improve their
game.
When men get rowdy,
it’s even worse. Have you
ever seen some of those
so-called Pros on TV that
abuse everybody verbally
and berate anybody that
beats them? There are
many players that want to
emulate that image, and
even when things are going
well for them, they stand
up and holler, ”YEAH
BABY”, or, ”THAT’S
WHAT I’M TALKING
ABOUT!” Don’t you just
want to strangle them?
It makes everyone very
uncomfortable when one
of these guys is throwing
menacing looks, insulting
players, yelling all day and
bragging about himself at
the table. The truth is, that
even with all his machismo,
he usually leaves all his
chips because he’s focused
on the wrong thing: trying
to make an impression.
Pocketing chips is called
”Going South With Chips”,
and is a no-no at any poker
table. Chips in action, stay
in action and you’re not
allowed to hide them in
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your pocket, or hand them
to a friend off the table. I
know of a case where two
such fellows were involved
in a hand, and didn’t get the
Bad Beat Jackpot because
they had rat-holed so much
money off that 2/4 table.
There was only $28 in the
pot instead of the mandatory $30! Served them right.
Another related issue is
passing them to a friend
that is also playing at your
table. Many casinos forbid
this, so it is best to ask the
dealer what the rules are.
Especially annoying is the
habit of passing a bet back
to a friend in the hand you
just won. If you gave a bet
back to ALL of the players in that hand, then there
would be no appearance of
collusion.
Another chip related
issue is hiding your large
chips behind stacks of small
chips. Even though it is not
usually a forbidden practice, common sense and
Poker Etiquette indicate
that you should allow the
other players to know how
many chips you have. The
only place this is mandatory
is at tournament tables, for
obvious reasons.
Whether you’re the table
bully or the fellow that
doesn’t care if he folds his
hand out of turn, you are
disrupting the game by
your behavior if you do
any these things. It would
serve you better to follow the rules of the room
you play in, respect the
other players, and gain
their respect for your play.
Help keep poker a pleasant endeavor for everyone
and remember that Poker’s
roots stem from its’ being a
“Gentlemen’s Game”.
You can write to
author Lee Garcia at
[email protected]
Weekly Qualifying Tournaments
• 2 p.m. Sundays, June 25 - July 16
• 11 a.m. Sunday, July 23
Championship Qualifier
• 7 p.m. Sunday, July 23
I-44 East, Exit 240 • Tulsa, OK • (800) 760-6700
Visit CherokeeCasino.com for buy-in amounts and more information.
Management reserves all rights. Gambling problem? Call (800) 522-4700.
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J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
49
Our Low Limit Poker Tour
BacK in the saddle Again
By OKLAHOMA JOHNNY HALE
Carol, I love to drive about this wonderful
country of ours with you and our daughter
“Oklahoma Sarah.” I love to visit small and
large poker rooms where we meet old friends
and make new ones as we play a little poker
and play in their poker tournament promotions.
This past week we decided to go up to our
Thousand Pines ranch which is in the high
country of Northern Arizona. Most of the time,
we take I-215, the new beltway under construction that kind of circles Las Vegas. Then
we cross over the Boulder Dam, now called
the Hoover Dam, but it will always be Boulder
Dam to me.
I am a retired civil engineer and love to
revisit Boulder Dam—one of the seven wonders of the world. I spent one whole year
learning how to design foundations for dams,
so I marvel each time I get the chance to see
this wonderful man-made construction and
work of art.
Now they are building a by-pass with a long
span cable bridge, like the Golden Gate, over
the Colorado River. This bridge is scheduled
for completion in 2008—I sure want to see
this bridge when it is completed. The bridge
will he high above the river—with the dam
below it.
But on this trip we turned south on
Highway 95 before we reached the town of
Boulder, Nevada and headed down to Laughlin.
I have to be really careful when I drive
Carol’s little car—it wants to go fast and
before I realized it, we were in beautiful downtown Searchlight. I stopped at the
Nugget Casino, the home of the 10-cent cup of
coffee.
I arranged for a table for us, and asked
Carol to order breakfast for me—after 60
years of marriage, she kind of knows what I
like for breakfast.
Of course I went over to the poker table
but sadly they did not have a game yet. They
told me that I would need to come back on
the weekend, when the miners came down out
of the mountains and they would have a really
wild poker game. So I drifted over to the
blackjack tables and played a few hands. After
winning enough to pay for our breakfast, and
enough for a tip and a tank of gas, I returned
to Carol & “Oklahoma Sarah” at the cafe
table. Yes, breakfast was really good—then
back on the road to Laughlin, the town that is
now a lot like old Vegas.
We arrived at the Colorado Belle, where
my friend James Vincent is the director of
poker operations. I have played many time in
the Colorado Belle poker room in Laughlin,
Nevada. Believe it or not, the action is
really good and the pots are sometimes large
enough to burn up a wet mule. There are a
lot of retired folks who play poker at the
Belle—they drive there in their RV and stay for
a part of their year in Laughlin.
I don’t really like to play high limit poker
anymore—just a friendly little game with nice
folks where I can win enough to pay for a tank
of gas, and a lot of the time my friends like
Jim make sure that everything is first class
for us while we stay at their properties.
50
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
But sometimes the folks
will say to me, “Why are you not playing with
the big boys in the big games?”
I like to tell them, “Well, I enjoy playing
with a better class of people like you folks,
and here at the Colorado Belle, I have a lot
of old dealer friends and get to meet a lot of
new folks.”
Then I go on to explain that the professional high limit players are all business when
they play very serious poker! These professional players have to win to eat! And that
most of the time, they are playing way over
their heads with everything that they can
borrow, beg or steal on the table!
I like to joke a little and relax as I play
poker with nice folks who are not making car
payments. I have the job—I do not need to
shout!
About seven on Tuesday night, Carol and I
paid $30 to enter the no limit hold em tournament. We received 1500 in chips and during
the first 20 minutes, you could re-buy for $10
and receive 1,000 poker chip reloads—then in
the next 20 minutes, you could reload each
time you were down to 2,000 chips—you
could reload 2,000 chips, then the final 20
minutes, you could have 4,000 in chips for
reloads.
Boy! Every one of the players took advantage of those low cost re-buys and then they
had some single, double, & triple add-ons.
Now after a 15 minute break, all the reloads
and add-ons are over and the real final part
of the no limit tournament began.
Carol was over at another table and fighting really hard to hang on and reach the final
table where I was the chip leader with 80,000
in chips.
Jim, a poker player himself who really
understands that it takes a lot of chips to
play no-limit hold’em poker, wanted his players to enjoy themselves—he served us complimentary fish and chips as we played. James
had trained his dealers really well, so they
could explain to the new or novice players
how the game was played.
The final table was paid, and Carol did hang
on and went out 10th and received a big $198
for her money prize.
When it got down to four of us, a split of
the money was suggested and I agreed, so
by chip count method, I finished in one of
my favorite tournament poker spots—second
place. I did not win as much as I won last
week at Tom & Susie’s big tournament at
Binion’s, where “Oklahoma Sarah” and I both
finished at the final table—but I could buy
another tank of gas!
Tune in next time for the rest of our low
limit poker tour. Until next time, remember
to Stay Lucky!
Editor’s Notes: You may contact OK-J
at his e-mail [email protected], or
play poker LIVE, ONLINE with Johnny,
Carol and Sarah at www.OK-J.com.
Johnny’s book, “The Gentleman
Gambler,” is in its third printing.
Contact Johnny for your copy.
Book reviews
Harrington on
Hold ’em Vol. III—
The Workbook:
Expert Strategy
for No-Limit
Tournaments
by Dan Harrington and
Bill Robertie
Two Plus Two Publishing, 2006
ISBN: 1880685361
352pp paperbound, $29.95
Poker champ Dan
Harrington and Bill Robertie
have met the demand with
the long-awaited third book
in their poker instructional
series. This book compliments the first two volumes
nicely. The early works
by this talented duo were
snatched off the shelves
faster than last year’s new
Harry Potter title by moms
and kids, with smart players hoping to sharpen their
skills for the biggest poker
tournament action ever this
summer. The highly-respected poker whiz Harrington
and backgammon expert
Robertie here present more
than four dozen teaching scenarios for no-limit
hold’em tournament play
-- live and on the Internet -with several illustrated problems drawn from televised
tournaments. The latter
allows the authors to analyze strategies and styles of
some the biggest names on
the circuit,
making the
book unique
and highly useful.
As the authors describe it,
the book “is laid out as a big
quiz,” it that it first presents
you with decisions someone
has to make in a particular
situation. Your job is to pick
the play you would make in
the specific circumstances,
with the hand continuing
through “many decision
points.” In many cases,
they will look at the incorrect play and follow that
with analysis, criticism and
a look at errors. The goal
overall is to improve postflop play.
Instead of chapter headings, the authors use the
words “problems” in examining areas like betting for
value; aggression meeting
aggression; facing an early
limper; avoiding the negative free-roll; calling with
good odds; maneuvering
with nothing; pot odds dictate; playing aces; evaluating
a weak hand; slow playing;
defending against a probe
bet; playing a small pair out
of position; to bet or check
on the river; calculating the
right raise and heads-up
play.
The book is indexed
uniquely by subject, concepts and names, so it’s easy
to research and isolate some
specific weakness you think
you suffer from.
Next to having Harrington
give you hourly lessons,
this may be the best way to
bring your game up a notch
or two. Get this one early
-- you’ll need time to study,
underline and synthesize
the advice. It’s a high value
book for the serious tournament player.
—By Howard Schwartz
he died at the age of 47.
The entire New York
(Continued from page 36) State Assembly attended
the services and an estiown need for action to
mated crowd of 12,000
the Stock Market. Not
stood outside the church
his game, he lost millions
to pay tribute to a great,
playing it.
notorious American
In 1878, Morrissey
gambler.
came down with pneumonia. Taken to the hospital in Saratoga Springs, e-mail: [email protected]
John Morrissey
CASH AND PRIZES
A u g u s t
3
—
A u g u s t
3 1 ,
2 0 0 6
2006 TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
DAY DATE TIME
Th
Fr
Sa
Su
Mo
Tu
We
Th
Fr
Sa
Su
Mo
Tu
We
We
8/3
8/4
8/5
8/6
8/7
8/8
8/9
8/10
8/11
8/12
8/13
8/14
8/15
8/16
8/16
EVENT
4:15p No Limit Hold’em
4:15p Limit Hold’em
4:15p Bounty No Limit Hold’em
4:15p XTRA Sports♦ No Limit Hold’em
4:15p Omaha Hi-Lo
4:15p No Limit Hold’em*
4:15p Stud Hi-Lo
4:15p Lowball World Championship
4:15p No Limit Hold’em Shootout (no points)
$100,000 GUARANTEED
4:15p No Limit Hold’em**
4:15p Omaha Hi-Lo
4:15p No Limit Hold’em*
12:00p Mega Super Satellite
7:00p Ladies Poker Party❖ No Limit Hold’em
➠
BUY-IN+ENTRY
DAY DATE TIME
$200+$30
$300+$40
$350+$40
$300+$40
$300+$40
$200+$30
$300+$40
$500+$50
$300+$40
$500+$50
$200+$30
$500+$50
$500+$50
$1,000+$20
$100+$25
Sa
Su
Mo
Tu
We
We
Th
(Cocktails 5:30 pm)
Th 8/17 4:15p No Limit Hold’em (2 Day event)
Fr 8/18 12:00p No Limit Hold’em (Day 2)
Fr 8/18 4:15p 7-Card Stud
$1,500+$80
$0+$0
$500+$50
8/19
8/20
8/21
8/22
8/23
8/23
8/24
Th 8/24
Fr 8/25
Fr 8/25
Sa 8/26
Su
Mo
Tu
We
Th
8/27
8/28
8/29
8/30
8/31
EVENT
BUY-IN+ENTRY
4:15p Sports Legends Poker Event▼ No Limit Hold’em
$150,000 GUARANTEED
4:15p No Limit Hold’em**
4:15p E. O. World Championship (Stud Hi-Lo, Omaha Hi-Lo)
10K WPT SEAT ADDED
10:00p Super Satellite Point Playoff
12:00p Legend of Legends & Media Invitational ▲
No Limit Hold’em
1ST PLACE 10K WPT SEAT
✛
7:15p Mariani/Buss No Limit Hold’em
(Mariani/Buss Cocktail Party 5:30 p.m.–7 p.m.)
2006 CADILLAC ADDED
4:15p Best All Around Point Playoff
1 & 8p Mega Super Satellites
➠
➠
➠
➠
2:00p
2:00p
2:00p
5:15p
5:15p
➠
$500+$50
$300+$40
$500+$50
$1,000+$70
$1,000+$70
$100+$25
$0+$0
$1,500+$80
$100+$25
$1,000+$20
$9,700+$300
$1,500,000 GUARANTEE 1ST PLACE
Championship Day 1A
No Limit Hold’em Championship Day 1B
No Limit Hold’em ChampionshipDay 2
No Limit Hold’em Championship Day 3
No Limit Hold’em Championship Final Day - Filming
WPT Ladies Night Out No Limit Hold’em - Filming
*One Optional Rebuy. **Multi-Rebuys. ▲ Legend of Legends is open to all past Legends winners✛ from 1995 to present and highest placing Legend wins a 10K WPT Seat /
Highest placing Media Winner gets $2,500 cash and $2,500 donated to his/her favorite charity . Mariani/Buss $150 from each buy in goes to the Lakers Youth Foundation
▼ Sports Legends Poker Event, $50 from each Buy-in goes to charity. ❖ Ladies No Limit Hold’em, $10 from each buy in goes to charity and the winner will play in the WPT
Ladies Night Out event. ♦ $2,500 will be witheld for championship round taking place in Las Vegas Dec. ‘06.Events date and times subject to change.
One-Table Satellites - 11 a.m. daily • Super Satellites - 8 p.m. daily
7301 Eastern Ave., Bell Gardens, CA 90201 ♦ (562) 806-4646 ♦ www.thebike.com
The Bicycle Casino reserves the right to cancel or modify this promotion at its sole discretion. All promotions and jackpots: no purchase necessary.
See the Welcome Center for Details.For a Complete Schedule of Events, call The BIKE at 562/806–4646, or visit www.thebike.com
THE BATTLE FOR
POKER SUPREMACY
ments and satellites across
the country, so that players
knew in advance what they
could expect wherever they
chose to play. Not so with
the WPT, where Mr. White
said that this was left to the
individual casinos’ discretion.
Mr. White stated that the
structures for tournament
events and satellites at the
Bellagio and the Mirage,
only a couple of blocks
apart and both owned by
MGM Mirage were similar, but not identical, and
that each casino reserved
the right to modify them
according to their individual needs. This includes
determining the length of
rounds, blind structure, the
number of starting chips in
both satellites and tournaments, and the cost of the
satellites and the amount of
juice extracted.
When reached by phone,
Jack McClelland, the highly
respected Tournament
Director for the Bellagio,
echoed Mr. White’s opinion, as did Lyle Berman,
CEO of World Poker Tour
Enterprises. Mr. Berman
believed some standardiza-
tion, such as certain rules
and the number of hours
played in a day might be
incorporated in all WPT
events, but that the WPT
only offers suggestions,
leaving the decisions
regarding format, structure,
and cost to the individual
casinos.
The big difference here
is that all WSOP circuit
events are held at properties
owned by Harrah’s, making
standardization more logical. The WPT events are
held at casinos all across
the nation and other parts
of the world that are owned
by several different organizations, making standardization less likely.
The single-table satellites offered by Caesars and
the Mirage were similar in
cost, but again there were
differences. Caesars spread
single-table satellites for
$35, $70, $130, $180, $225,
and $275, in which players
received $1000 in starting chips and the blinds
increased every 15 minutes.
They also offered a $525
single-table satellite, where
players received $2000 in
starting chips and the blinds
increased every 20 minutes,
as well as one for $1030,
where players began with
$4000 in chips and had 20minute rounds.
The Mirage offered single-table satellites for $60,
$125, $175, $225, $275,
$810, and $1060. The $60
satellite only allowed players $500 in starting chips,
and the blinds increased
every 10 minutes. The
$125 and $175 satellites
gave players $1500 in chips
with 15-minute rounds.
The rounds were also 15
minutes in the $225 and
$275 satellites, but players
received $2000 in chips
in the $225 and $2500
in chips in the $275. In
the $810 satellite, players
received a healthy $3500
in chips and had 20-minute
rounds, while the $1060
buy-in gave players 30minute rounds and a substantial $5000 in starting
chips.
Players who enjoyed
playing in the least expensive satellites suffered at
both venues. At Caesars,
$80 in juice was taken out
of the $350 prize pool collected for the $35 single-
table satellite, nearly 23%,
leaving entrants to play for
only $270 in cash. At the
Mirage, the $60 satellite
had the worst structure,
with blinds increasing
every 10 minutes and players only given $500 in
chips, but only $50 in juice
was taken out, giving a
$500 tournament entry chip
and $50 cash to the winner.
Checking in on the recent
action at the WPT event
at Mandalay Bay, the least
expensive single-table satellite offered was $130, so
players who enjoyed playing in satellites for less than
$100 didn’t even have that
option. And unlike last
year’s WSOP at the Rio,
the popular $50 single-table
satellites will not be offered
this year due to lack of
table space. According to
WSOP officials, the least
expensive will be $125 or
$130.
The final topic discussed
was that of the releases
that players must sign to
participate in WSOP or
WPT events. Mr. Daily
stated that there have been
some questions about the
WSOP release, but that
Ante Up d
their release is somewhat
different from that of the
WPT’s. He believed lawyers have made allowances
for those pro players who
have professional contracts
and endorsements by making small adjustments to the
release, but stated that the
pushback from the players
has been very minor. Mr.
White, on the other hand,
while regretting that there
were a few players boycotting WPT events because of
their releases, stated there
was currently no shortage
of up-and-coming players waiting in the wings to
replace them.
In general, the way the
events are conducted here
in Las Vegas, whether they
be WSOP or WPT sponsored, are very efficient.
While additional lesser
expensive satellites are
probably desired by those
with big dreams but small
bankrolls, the excitement
of being a part of the action
and the potential opportunities for fame and fortune
that these events provide
seemed to negate most of
the criticism that has been
expressed.
Diamond Jim’s Casino
118 20th St. West
Rosamond, California
Exit A 14 Freeway
The Best Little No-limit Tournament in Southern California
The Last Sunday of Each Month $225 Buy-in–No Rebuys $10,000 in Tournament Chips
Call for more info: 661-256-1400
The Apache Gold Poker Room Shark Club. As a member, you’ll get official jackets, shirts
& hats. Quarterly free-rolls. Paid entries in our weekly tournaments. $100 cash on your
birthday. Hotel discounts. Cash promotions every Wednesday through Sunday, and
cash drawings the first Saturday of each month. Tournaments every Wednesday and
Thursday at 6 pm, and Sunday at 3 pm. In San Carlos, five minutes east of Globe on
Hwy. 70. For hotel or FunBus® reservations, call 1-800-APACHE 8. Go For The Gold.
Poker room closed Monday and Tuesday. Must be 21 or older to participate in any gaming activities. apachegoldcasinoresort.com
52
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
PokerStars: Five Billion and Counting!
PokerStars.com, the world’s
largest poker tournament
website, dealt out its five
billionth poker hand on
May 29th.. The winner
of the lucky hand and a
$57,500 cash prize was a
30-year-old grocery store
manager from Germany.
The cash prize was part of a
$1 million celebration giveaway on PokerStars.com
and its companion free-play
site, PokerStars.net.
Manuela, who works at
Aldi, a popular grocery
chain in Europe, was playing at PokerStars late one
evening when the landmark hand took place.
Partypoker.
Com Offers
$1 Million
Every Sunday!
PartyPoker.com, the
world’s largest online
poker room, has announced
that there are now a
MILLION reasons to keep
your Sunday afternoon’s
free with the start of the
weekly Sunday Million
Guaranteed Tournament on
4th June.
Every Sunday at 4:30pm
ET players online will be
able to win a SHARE of at
least $1 million. To buy-in
directly costs $215 but special daily satellite tournaments start from as little as
$3. Other ways of getting
into the main event include
PartyPoker.com’s unique
double step method that
allows qualification 24/7
and Players Club Freerolls
that can be entered with as
little as 100 Party Points.
A PartyPoker.com
spokesman said “The
new weekly One Million
Guaranteed Tournament got
underway last Sunday with
hundreds of players guaranteed to finish in the money.
The introduction of the $1
million guaranteed means
it is curtains for the $500k.
A year ago our guaranteed
tournament on a Sunday
had a total prize pool of
$350,000 - it’s astounding
that the amount of money
on offer has nearly tripled
in just 12 months.”
At the time, more than
100,000 poker players were
logged in from all over the
world. Manuela (known at
PokerStars as “Marajade”)
was playing in a friendly
five and ten cent no-limit
hold’ em game and was
ecstatic to learn she had
won the key five billionth
hand.
For the winner, the prize
money came at an ideal
time and will be used for
a special purpose. “I was
born with an eye disease
(that could cause me)
to eventually go blind,”
Manuela said. “I need to
have an expensive eye sur-
gery. Thanks to PokerStars,
I can now have the surgery
without worrying about the
cost.”
PokerStars.com dealt
out its very first hand in
5 billionth hand Manuela
September, 2001, and has
been dealing fast and furious poker each day since.
To equal the number of
hands that PokerStars has
dealt, a typical poker dealer
(dealing by hand) would
have to deal 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week, for
over 16,000 years. In less
than five years, the popular poker site has attracted
more than five million players from all over the world.
“Thanks so much to
PokerStars,” Manuela said.
“I want to congratulate all
of the other winners. For
me, it was a very good
day.”
To sign up,
contact:
Stan Sludikoff
310-674-3365
[email protected]
Jerry Reed
650-327-4810
[email protected]
Dick Gatewood
702-456-7777
*ASK FOR POKER ROOM
[email protected]
Time to Ram-and-Jam at Monte Carlo.
[Ram-and-Jam: to bet, raise, and re-raise aggressively in order to intimidate opponents]
Introducing No Limit Hold’em Tournaments
at Monte Carlo Resort and Casino, Las Vegas.
Join us every Thursday for our new No Limit Hold’em Tournaments
$40 Morning Tournaments start at 9:00 a.m.
The winner advances to the 6 p.m. $100 Tournament
For more information, call 702.730.7780.
Convenient parking
parking and
and easy
easy access
access off
of Frank
Convenient
Frank Sinatra
Sinatra Drive.
Drive.
montecarlo.com
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
53
Entertainment
Listings
Entertainment RePORT
By LEN BUTCHER
One of my all-time favorite singing groups is
going to be performing a the Pechanga Resort &
Casino in Southern Cal on June 30 and I’m hoping
I’m going to be able to make it. The Beach Boys will be singing all
their great hits, from their first single Surfin’ in 1961, the year the
Rock and Roll Hall of Famers started the group in Hawthorne, CA.
The original group had singer-musician-composer Brian Wilson,
his brothers Carl and Dennis, cousin Mike Love, and friend Alan
Jardine, but there have been a number of change over the years.
The group went through Brian’s mental illness, drug addiction
and eventual withdrawal from the group; then came the deaths of
Dennis in 1983 and Carl in 1998. Today, as The Beach Boys continue
to tour, only one of the original members (Mike Love), and another
longtime member (Bruce Johnston) are still part of the group. But
they still play the same great music.
The Beach Boys actually started out as The Pendletones, but
Dennis, who was the only surfer in the group, suggested that
they do some songs celebrating his hobby and the lifestyle which
had developed around it in Southern California. >From there, they
took off with hits like “All Summer Long”, “Fun, Fun, Fun”, “Little
Deuce Coupe”, “Surfin’ U.S.A.,” “Surfin’ Safari,” and many others,
including one of my favorites, “California Girls” in 1965. This was
the year that Glen Campbell toured for several months with the
group, replacing Brian.
Despite the deaths of two of the original Beach Boys, and
changes in the band, it continues to be one of the busiest bands
on the circuits and one of the most successful. Just the fact that
there music has endured over 45 years says it all.
Another product of the ‘60s who has lasted over the years, but
in two different forms, is Ringo Starr, the drummer for The Beatles,
who will be appearing at Fantasy Springs Resort on June 25.
Both as a member of the Beatles for so many years and on his
own, Ringo has always been one of the most popular Beatles and
that popularity and his own talent as a musician, has carried him
through. But I was especially intrigued by his background, which I
really hadn’t known much about as all the publicity seemed to go
mostly to Paul McCartney and John Lennon.
Ringo was born Richard Starkey in 1940 Liverpool. He went
through two serious illnesses as a child and spent a total of three
years in hospital, losing so much school time that when he was 15,
he could barely read or write.
When he was 17, Ritchie, as he was known then, started his own
group with Eddie Miles called The Eddie Clayton Skiffle Group; then
he joined a quartet called The Raving Texans in 1959. This is where
he got the name Ringo, because of the rings he wore, and because
it sounded “cowboyish” (probably a reference to John Wayne’s
character in Stagecoach). Starr came from an abbreviated form of
his last name and Ringo Starr was born.
He first met The Beatles in 1960 and sat in for their drummer,
Pete Best, a few times. When the group got rid of Best in 1962,
they asked Ringo to replace them, and a few years later, as we all
know, The Beatles took the world by storm.
Although he never seemed to get the recognition he deserved
for his talent, many drummers list Ringo as a major influence,
including Max Weinberg of The E Street Band, Liberty DeVitto of
Billy Joel’s band, and singer Phil Collins, to name a few. According
to Collins, “Starr is vastly underrated. The drum fills on the song
“A Day in the Life” (from Seargent Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club
Band are very complex things. You could take a great drummer
today and say, “I want it like that and they wouldn’t know what to
do.” High praise indeed.
I’ve always felt that Ringo’s easy-going, everyman personality
played a major role in The Beatles’ success, combining very effectively with Lennon’s wit, McCartney’s charm, and Harrison’s quiet
seriousness. No wonder they became the The Fab Four.
This will be the first Palm Springs area concert by Ringo and His
9th All Starr Band, so try to make it. You’re in for a treat.
Len Butcher, a 25-year resident of Las Vegas, is an
online columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal
and a former Managing Editor of the Las Vegas Sun
and of Gaming Today. Reach him at [email protected]
54
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
Poker Player Advertisers are shown in RED along with their ad’s page number
To list your event, contact Len Butcher, Entertainment Editor at [email protected]
ARIZONA
Casino Arizona
CALIFORNIA
Restless Heart
Aug 14, 7 & 9 p.m.
Agua Caliente Casino
Comedy Shop
8:30 p.m. Featuring three top comedians
weekly.
Joker’s Comedy Club, Karaoke Thursdays 8 p.m.
Sunday-Wednesday, 9 p.m.
Fridays & Saturdays, 9 p.m.
Thursdays 8 p.m. to Midnight, Sundays 2-6 p.m.
Fridays 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Thursday through Monday
Presents Banda Nortina Sats 8 p.m.-3 a.m.
Jun 25, 6 p.m.
Jun 18, 8 p.m.
Live Jazz, Tues. 8 p.m.
Jun 30, 8 p.m.
Arena Patio
DJ / Karaoke
Live Bands
Ballroom Dance Party
Cambodian Dance Party
Crystal Casino & Hotel
Karaoke
El As De Oros Night Club
Ringo Starr
Fantasy Springs Resort
Melissa Etheridge
Harrah’s Rincon
Finish Line Lounge
Hollywood Park Casino (5)
Pechanga Resort & Casino (39) The Beach Boys
CONNECTICUT
Los Lonely Boys
Foxwoods Resort Casino
NEW JERSEY
Def Leppard and Journey
Borgata Hotel & Casino
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Taj Majal Hotel & Casino
Tropicana Casino & Resort
Johnny Mathis
(Atlantic City)
NEW YORK
Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo
Turning Stone Casino
NEVADA-LAS VEGAS
Young Guns of Comedy
Aladdin Hotel & Casino
Magician Steve Wyrick
Donn Arden’s Jubilee!
Bally’s Resort & Casino
“The Price is Right” Live Stage Show
“O”
Bellagio Resort & Casino
Binion’s Gambling Hall (32) Live Music in Keno Bar
Boulder Station Hotel & Casino (8) Charlie Pride
Celine Dion
Caesar’s Palace
Trisha Yearwood
Cannery Hotel & Casino
Thunder From Down Under
Excalibur Hotel & Casino
Anthony Cools, Uncensored Hypnotist
George Wallace
Flamingo Las Vegas
The Second City
Commerce Casino
Gold Coast (46)
Forever Plaid
Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino Gordie Brown
Clint Holmes
Harrah’s Hotel & Casino
Imperial Palace Hotel & Casino (9) Legends In Concert
Donna Summer
Las Vegas Hilton
Menopause, the Musical
Hairspray
Luxor Resort & Casino
Carrot Top
Mandalay Bay Resort &
Casino
Mamma Mia
Styx
David Copperfield
MGM Grand (21)
KA.
Impressionist Danny Gans
The Mirage Hotel & Casino (11)
Ray Romano
Monte Carlo Resort & Casino
Magician Lance Burton
(53)
The Orleans Hotel & Casino Craig Ferguson
Earl Turner
Palace Station Hotel &
Casino (8)
Gabe Kaplan’s Laugh Trax
The Comedy Zone
Plaza Hotel & Casino
ZowieBowie
Red Rock Hotel & Casino
Crazy Girls
La Cage
Riviera Hotel & Casino (6)
Splash
Neil Diamond Tribute
Buck Wild
The Amazing Jonathan
Sahara Hotel & Casino
The Platters, Coasters and
Drifters
Sam’s Town Hotel & Casino (52) Radio Rage
Kool & The Gang
Silverton Hotel & Casino
Headlights & Tailpipes
Stardust Hotel & Casino
Rick Thomas
Bite
Stratosphere Hotel &
American Superstars
Casino (41)
Viva Las Vegas
Lonestar
Sunset Station (8)
The Whip-Its
Johnny Rivers
Texas Station (8)
Mystere
Treasure Island
Extreme Magic starring
Dirk Arthur
Tropicana Casino & Resort
Folies Bergere
The Venetian
Blue Man Group
Wynn Las Vegas
Le Reve
Avenue “Q”
Jun 25, 9 p.m.
Jul 1, 8 p.m.
Jun 23, 8 p.m.
Jun 23-24, 9 p.m..
Jun 27, 8 p.m.
May 28, 8 p.m.
Ongoing, Wednesday through Monday, 7 & 10 p.m.
Sat-Thu, 8 p.m.
Tues, Thurs & Sat, 2:30 p.m. & Fri, 8 p.m.
Fri through Tues, 7:30 & 10:30 p.m.
Fridays & Saturdays 8:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m.
Jun 24, 8 p.m.
Jun 28-30, 8:30 p.m.
Jul 2, 8 p.m.
Fridays through Wednesdays. 8:30 & 10:30 p.m.
Thursdays thru Tuesdays, 9 p.m.
Tues through Sat, 10 p.m.
Thursdays through Tuesdays, 8 p.m.
Tue thru Sun (dark Mon), 7:30 p.m.,
Sun 3 p.m. & 7 p.m.
Fri thru Tue, 7:30 p.m.
Monday through Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Mondays through Saturdays, 7 & 10 p.m.
Jun 23-24, 9 p.m.
8 p.m. nightly Sat thru Thu
Ongoing, Thu thru Tue, 7 p.m.
Sun thru Fri, 8 p.m. & Sat, 7 & 9 p.m.
7 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Sundays; 8 p.m.
Fridays; 7 & 10:30 p.m. Saturdays, Mondays.
Jun 24, 9 p.m.
Jun 1-14, 7:30 & 10 p.m.
Fri thru Tue, 7:30& 10:30 p.m.
8 p.m. (Monday thru Friday)
Jun 23-24, 10:30 p.m.
Tuesdays thru Saturdays, 7pm; Tuesdays &
Saturdays. 7 & 10 p.m.
Jun 30-Jul 2, 8 p.m.
Thu thru Sun, 8 p.m.
Tuesdays thru Saturdays, 7 p.m.
9 p.m. Tuesdays thru Sundays.
Nightly, 8 p.m.
Wed thru Mon, 9:30 p.m.
Wed thru Mon, 7:30 p.m.
Tue thru Sun, 9:30 p.m
Sun thru Thu, 7 p.m.
Mon-Sat, 9 p.m.
Fri-Wed, 10 p.m.
8 p.m. nightly
Jun 29-Jul 2, 9:30 p.m.
Jun 30-Jul 1, 8 p.m.
Nightly. 7:30 p.m. (dark Monday)
Ongoing, Thu thru Tue 2 & 4 p.m.
Ongoing, 10:30 p.m.
Ongoing, 6:30 & 8:30 p.m.
Ongoing, 2 & 4 p.m.
Aug 12, 8 p.m.
Nightly, 10:30 p.m.
Aug 4, 8 p.m.
Ongoing, Wednesdays thru Saturdays 7:30 p.m.
Sat-Thu, 2 & 4 p.m. p.m.
Ongoing, 7:30 p.m. & 10 p.m.
Ongoing, Mon thru Sun, 7:30 p.m. & Sat, Sat
7:30 & 10:30 p.m.
Ongoing, 8 p.m.
Ongoing, 8 p.m.
LAUGHLIN
Riverboat Ramblers Strolling
Colorado Belle Hotel Casino Dixieland Jazz Band
RENO
The Palmores
Atlantis Casino Resort
Smokey Joe’s Cafe
Eldorado Hotel Casino
Tracy Lawrence
Reno Hilton Hotel Casino
Silver Legacy Hotel & Casino Carrie Underwood
Fridays & Saturdays, 8 p.m.
10 p.m.-4 a.m.
Ongoing, 8 p.m.
Jun 24, 8 p.m.
Jun 18, 8 p.m.
8FSFTFSJPVTBCPVUXBOUJOH
ZPVJOPVSQPLFSSPPN
8IJDIJTXIZXFSFPGGFSJOHPVS
/PSUI"NFSJDBOCBTFEQMBZFST
HSPTTSBLFCBDL
WEDONTTAKEFEESORCOSTSOUTUNLIKEMOSTOTHERPOKERROOMS
s 4HESECURITYANDREPUTATIONOFTHE5+SLEADINGBETTINGORGANIZATION
LISTEDONTHE,ONDON3TOCK%XCHANGE
s HOUR#USTOMER3UPPORTnCALLTOLLFREE
OREMAILCUSTOMERSERVICES WILLIAMHILLCOUKDAYORNIGHT
s /NEOFTHE7ORLDS4OPBIGGESTPOKERROOMS
4OCLAIMYOURRAKEBACKYOUMUSTREGISTERVIATHE52,BELOWBEFORE*ULYTH
8JMMJBN)JMM1PLFSDPNQPLFSQMBZFS
3%2)/53!"/540/+%2
7EAREPLEASEDTOACCEPT
/FFICIALSPONSORSOFTHE%UROPEAN0OKER2ANKINGS
0OWEREDBY
/FFEROPENTONEWPLAYERSONLYWHOREGISTERBEFORE*ULYTH2AKEBACKWILLBECREDITEDTOYOURACCOUNTONAMONTHLYBASISBETWEENSTANDTHOFTHEMONTH
!LTERNATIVELYCALLPLEASECHECKWITHYOURTELEPHONEPROVIDERASSOMECALLCHARGESMAYAPPLY
Prop Goes the Weasel
I recently got an email from a
guy asking, What about online
KILLER Poker
By John Vorhaus
propping, JV? Do you think it’s a
career path or what? This brought to mind my
own experience as a proposition player at the
now defunct Regency Casino in good ol’ Bell
Gardens, California. I thought it was just super
that they’d pay me eight bucks an hour to play
poker, and figured that with that kind of cushion there was no way I could lose. Well, I lost
$300 on day one, lost $500 on day two, called
in sick on day three, and gave up the pretense
on day four. With a win rate of minus $50 an
hour, I decided that this was a job I could not
afford to keep.
Online propping is a slightly different, well,
proposition. For one thing, getting stuck in a
short handed game is much less of a problem for online players than it is for realworld
players, since short handed games in casinos
are generally quite tough, but online even the
short games tend to be filled with a homogenous mix of good, bad, and really bad players.
Also, we online players have much experience
with and no particular fear of short handed
play. Many of us prefer it. So getting stuck in a
short, and therefore allegedly bad, game is not
that big a burden for the online prop.
You can work at home, so that’s good. You
don’t have any of the attendant realworld prop
expenses such as transportation, meals, tips
(taxes -- did I say that out loud?) Granted, you
still have the rake to deal with, though since
the anchor of most prop deals is a rakeback
scheme, this can be less of a problem for the
online prop, too.
Still, to be a successful online proposition
player, you have to be a winning online poker
player, and many people are drawn to propping
precisely because they can’t show a profit on
their own merit, and hope that the monetary
support of their prop deal, whatever it may
be, will push them from the red to the black.
Maybe. But you still have to put in your hours
-- lots of them if you intend to be the sort of
prop who gets work. And if your game has
leaks, even eensy-weensy tiny little ones, all
those hours will drain your bankroll far faster
than propping can prop it up. Not only that, if
you lose your bankroll entirely, you can’t quit.
Not unless you want to stop being a prop altogether and, you know, go flip burgers or something.
Bottom line, then: If playing poker is a hard
way to make an easy living, then propping is a
hard way to make a hard living. Should you be
one of the few who can regularly and consistently (and demonstrably over a span of years)
beat online poker for good money, then you
might be able to show a profit as a prop. But I
put it to you that if you’re really that good to
begin with, you don’t need propping. You can
probably make more money with canny site
selection and game selection, thereby exploiting the sort of options and opportunities that
being a prop precludes.
[John Vorhaus is the author of Poker Night and
the Killer Poker book series, and news
ambassador for UltimateBet.com.]
56
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
2006-2007 WORLDWIDE
POKER TOURNAMENTS
NOW! Get Tournament Listings at our website: www.pokerplayernewspaper.com
>Denotes Advertiser; Poker Association Events also denoted: t=World Poker Tour,
s=World Series of Poker and e=European Poker Tour.
To list your 3-day events contact: A.R. Dyck, Assistant Publisher, at: [email protected]
DATE
EVENT
>Jun 6-16
>Jun 8-19
World Series Event
Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge II
Jun 14-26
Gold Strike Poker Classic
Jun 18-26
Mid-South Summer Classic
>Jun 23-25 Poker 101 Tournament
>Jun 24-Jul 27 Mini Series
Jun 25-Aug 10 World Series of Poker
July 1-16
Orleans Open
Jul 10-16
Blue Water Open
Jul 14-16
Cardiff Classic
Jul 20-23
Newcastle Knockout Festival
July 24-Aug 10 Bellagio Cup II
Jul 26-29
Diamond Poker Classic
Aug 3-Sep 1
Legends of Poker
Aug 7-13
Grosvenor U.K. Open
Aug 12-20
Empire State Poker Series
Aug 14-21
Brighton Summer Shaker
Aug 28-Sep 20 Borgata Poker Open
Aug 30- Sep 3 Edmonton Poker Classic
Aug 31-Sep 3
Bolton Poker Extravaganza
Sep 5-24
Calif. State Poker Ch’ship
Sep 7-10
Welsh Masters
Sep 16-24
European Poker Championships
>Sep 23-28 World Poker Dealer Ch’ships
Sep 28-Oct 8
Fall Pot of Gold
>Sep 28-Oct 15 Big Poker Oktober
Oct 4-8
Canadian Poker Championship
Oct 5-21
Fiesta al Lago V
>Oct 18-29
Nat’l Championship of Poker
Nov 3-19
Holiday Bonus
Nov. 8-18
Fall Poker Roundup
Nov 9-12
Welsh Poker Festival
Nov 11-Nov 14
Foxwoods World Poker Finals
>Nov 23-Dec 10 Turkey Shoot/Ho-Ho Hold’em
Nov 28-Dec 19 5 Diamond World Poker Classic
Dec 4-10
Christmas Cracker
>Dec 18-23
Heavyweight Championship of Poker
Jan 4-25
Jack Binion World Poker Open
>Feb 19-Mar 2 Bay 101 Shooting Stars
Mar 8-30
World Poker Challenge
Apr 3-27
5-Star World Poker Classic
POKER
ON
TV
LOCATION
sHarrah’s Lake Tahoe, Lake Tahoe, NV
Cherokee Casino in Tulsa (AdPg 53), Cartoosa, OK
Gold Strike Casino Resort, Tunica, MS
Grand Casino, Tunica, MS
Imperial Palace Hotel & Casino (AdPg 9), Las Vegas, NV
The Bicycle Casino, Bell Gardens, CA (AdPg 3)
sRio, Las Vegas, NV
Orleans Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV
McMorran Place, Port Huron, MI
Grosvenor Casino, Cardiff, Wales
Grosvenor Casino, Newcastle, U.K.
Bellagio Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV
Casino Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
tThe Bicycle Casino, Bell Gardens, CA (AdPg 3)
Grosvenor Casino, Luton, U.K.
Turning Stone Resort & Casino, Verona, NY
Grosvenor Casino, Brighton, U.K.
tBorgata Hotel Casino & Spa, Atlantic City, NJ
Casino Edmonton, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Grosvenor Casino, Bolton, U.K.
Commerce Casino, Commerce, CA
Grosvenor Casino, Swansea, Wales
Binion’s (story, p.1) Las Vegas, NV
Reno Hilton, Reno, NV
Bicycle Casino (AdPg 3), Bell Gardens, CA
Casino Yellowhead Edmonton, Alberta
Bellagio, Las Vegas, NV
Hollywood Park Casino (AdPg 5), L.A., CA
Commerce Casino, Commerce, CA
Wildhorse Casino, Pendleton, OR
tFoxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, CT
Bicycle Casino (AdPg 3), Bell Gardens, CA
tBellagio, Las Vegas, NV
Grosvenor Casino, Luton, U.K.
Sam’s Town (AdPg 52), Las Vegas, NV
tHorseshoe Casino Hotel / Gold Strike Casino Resort, Tunica, MS
tBay 101 (AdPg 48), San Jose, CA
tReno Hilton, Reno, NV
tBellagio, Las Vegas, NV
Boston vs. New York Poker
Challenge. (Check local listings for
times/stations). Thursday 11PM EDT. YES.
Celebrity Poker Showdown.
Jun 14-17, Jun 19-23, Jun 25-July 2.
(Check local listings for times). Bravo.
High Stakes Poker. Mondays 9PM
EDT, 8PM CDT. GSN
Inside Poker. (For local times/stations, check www.insidepoker.tv).
listings for channels). Sunday 10 PM EDT.
FSN.
Poker Royale: Celebrities vs.
Poker Pros. Thursdays 2 AM EDT.
GSN.
Poker Superstars Invitational.
(Check local listings for times/channels). Fox Sports.
Ultimate Poker Challenge.
(Check local listings for times/channels).
Intercontinental Poker
Championship. (Check local listings
for channels). Saturday 5 PM EDT. WCBS.
U.S. Poker Championship.
(Check local listing for times). ESPN2
Learn From the Pros. (Check
local listing for times). Fox Sports.
World Poker Tour. Wed. 9 PM EDT,
Sat. 9 PM EDT. Travel
MansionPoker.net Poker
Dome Challenge. (Check local
World Series of Poker. (Check
local listing for times). ESPNC/ESPN2.
WEEKLY TELEVISED POKER TOURNAMENT
$1,000,000
winner-takes-all final in vegas
$2,000,000 prize pool
6 players per week, 216 seats to be won
want one?
mansionpoker.com
Offer subject to change. Terms and conditions apply. See site for complete details.
© Copyright 2006. MANSION is an internationally registered trademark. All rights reserved.
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
57
58
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
100% SIGN UP BONUS UP TO $600*. JUST ENTER PPLWSOP WHEN YOU SIGN-UP.
*See Web site for details. Enjoy the free games and before playing in the real money games, please check
with your local jurisdiction regarding the legality of Internet poker. ©2006 Full Tilt Poker. All rights reserved.
J U N E 26 , 2 0 0 6
59
GREG RAYMER, Patent Attorney
With more qualifiers to the WSOP than anyone else your day job could soon be a distant memory.
$5 million of free prize packages available, sign up now on pokerstars.com.
Home of World Champions

“TIME” “TIME” - Poker Player Newspaper

Transcription

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