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NEW, Easier, PAGE
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27
Mike Sexton
Player Profile
by Phil Hevener
PAGE
PAGE
Entertainment
Best Bets
17
42
POKER PLAYER
Vol. 9 Number 13 December 26, 2005 A Gambling Times Publication www.pokerplayernewspaper.com Copyright ©2005 Bi-Weekly $3.95 USA/$4.95 CANADA
Bikers Chuckle
at Ho Ho
Hold’em
Driven
to Win!
Atlantic City Poker Pro
Chris Reslock Defeats
John Juanda in
Grueling 7-Hour
Heads-Up
Marathon
By Nolan Dalla
Back in 1998, Chris
Reslock was in his mid40s and was working
what many would consider to be a dead-end job.
Reslock was driving a taxi
in Atlantic City. Reslock
wanted more. He started
playing poker part-time to
make extra money. Then
one day, Reslock decided to
take a chance. He made an
investment in himself.
Reslock parked his taxi
inside a casino parking
garage and started playing
poker professionally. He
vowed that he could always
go back to the garage, hop
in the cab, return to the
streets, and start making a
living by driving again if
he went broke. Now seven
years later, after winning
(Continued on page 7)
The annual Ho Ho Hold’em
event has brought another
happy group of poker players to the merry halls of
the Bicycle Casino in Bell
Gardens, California. As
we go to press some 15 of
the 18 events have been
concluded. All had modest
buy-ins, ranging from as
little as $100 to as much
Inside Poker, a magazine format show
that takes a look
behind the scenes
of the poker world,
will be airing starting Deember 17th..
You will see player profiles,
visit poker rooms and learn
playing tips all in a face
paced thrity minute show.
Hosted by Matt Savage. For
channels and times, visit
www.insidepoker.
tv or check your
local listings of the
regional sports networks in your area.
Poker Player newspaper will be part of
one of the segments of the
show on a regular basis in
A Word from the
“Mad Genius,”
Mike Caro
Today’s word is...
golf course or relaxing poolside, there is truly something
for everyone.
“OPEN”
“While in the planning
stages and throughout con-
Turn to page 6 for more
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D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
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D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
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D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
5
Caro’s Word: “Open”
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
S
ome players get married to open-end
straights. They over
bet and over raise.
They call big bets that break
their bankrolls. It’s a sad, sad
thing.
I could write several books
dealing with the nuances
of open-end straight draws.
Today, I want to share some
of the issues that were included in a lecture I gave many
d
years ago. It went like this…
Open-end wisdom
If you could take all the cases
where an open-end straight
try is possible after the flop
and average them together,
guess what you’d find? Think
about it. I’m talking about
all the times in the history of
hold ’em that some player
held an open end straight
draw after the flop. How do
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you think those players fared
on those hands?
I’ll tell you how they
fared. They won money. OK,
but, wait! If you go back to
the beginning of the hand,
you’ll find something much
different. Of all the hands
played that could potentially
flop an open-end straight –
whether it actually happened
or not – players lost money.
Don’t misread me here.
I’m not saying they lost
money after they flopped
the open-end straight draw
– clearly, in some situations
they did and some they
didn’t. I’m saying if you
averaged together all the
times that an open-end
straight draw was flopped,
added together all the money
won with similar hands
played, starting before the
flop, subtracted all the money
lost, and divided by the number of incidents, you’d get a
net loss. No profit for you.
I’m so very sorry.
So, what am I saying? Are
you never supposed to play
those hands and never end
up with an open-end straight
draw? No, you can play some
of those hands sometimes.
You might win by making
a pair, two pair, three-of-akind, a full house, or four-ofa-kind. You just never know
how luck will treat you. But,
because all hands averaged
together that have a potential
to flop an open-end straight
result in an average loss if
played, and even all such
hands that are selected to be
played result in a loss, you
need to be quite careful about
how you select and play
these hold ’em hands.
Important tips
See the Palms Poker Room for complete rules. Must be 21. Management reserves all rights.
4321 West Flamingo Road
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702.942.7777 • www.palms.com
© 2005 Fiesta Palms LLC. All Rights Reserved.
6
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
I’m going to give you some
important tips about this
today.
First, you should know
that if you begin with hands
most likely to connect for
a four-card straight on the
flop, unless the ranks are
very large, you need them
to be suited in most cases to
show a profit. A hand like
9-8 of mixed suits typically
will not show a profit, even
if there are a lot of players
already in the pot, making
your odds more inviting.
But, when 9-8 of mixed suits
is not profitable, 9-8 of the
same suit often is. By the
way, what I’m telling you
isn’t just based on speculation. It’s based on actual
analysis, including a comprehensive ongoing Mike Caro
University of Poker research
endeavor called MCU Project
Y-06.
Hands with the ranks
immediately adjacent and
the suits matching are often
called “suited connectors.”
Can you play suited connectors smaller than 9-8? Yes,
especially if you’re calling
many opponents.
Now, there’s one monumental tip I want to give you
today. Sometimes you will
play non-suited connectors
– hands like 7-6 or 8-7. This
usually happens when you’re
in the blinds and can call
cheaply or can see the flop
totally for free. Then what
happens when you flop an
open end straight?
Well, for one thing, you’re
better off if you’re holding
the high two cards of the
four-contiguous ranks than
the low two cards. There are
several reasons for this. One
is that if you hold the low
two cards and next board
card hits the high end to
complete your straight, there
are three higher adjacent
cards on the board and you
could be beaten in a costly
collision with bigger ranks
that make a bigger straight.
For this reason, you’re also
well off if you hold the middle two ranks – for instance
your 9-8 with a 10 and a 7 on
the board.
Which pairs win?
Now listen closely. Another
powerful reason you should
prefer holding the two top
ranks with an open-end
straight draw is often overlooked. You might make
a pair and win, especially
against only a few opponents.
But someone else might
already have flopped a pair.
This means, if you have the
high two cards in the straight,
it’s more likely that the pair
you might make will beat
the pair that your opponent
already holds. With the top
end of the straight, your
opponent may have paired
one of the smaller straight
cards. But with the bottom
end, his pair is more apt to
be higher than yours, even if
you do subsequently pair.
Now here’s a final tip. If
you’re in doubt whether to
proceed with your open-end
straight draw, you should do
so only if there are three dif(Continued on page 34)
POKER PLAYER
A Gambling Times Publication
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www.pokerplayernewspaper.com
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PROMOTIONS EDITOR
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ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
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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
Nic Szeremeta
Rich Wilens
John Vorhaus
Poker Player will be published Bi-Weekly
by Gambling Times Incorporated,
Stanley R. Sludikoff, President.
Volume 9 Number 13.
Copyright © December 2005 by Gambling
Times Incorporated. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without
written permission is prohibited.
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PUBLISHER’S STATEMENT
This notice will certify that 49,000 copies of Volume
9, Number 13 of Poker Player were printed at Valley
Printers, 16230 Filbert Street, Sylmar, CA 91342.
Distribution to newsstands, card clubs, poker rooms and
other distribution points throughout the United States,
Canada, the Caribbean, Central America and Europe.
Reslock Wins WSOP Circuit Showboat in AC
$335,235 in the World
Series of Poker Circuit
Showboat Atlantic City
championship event, it
appears Reslock won’t have
to worry about hustling for
fares.
From the very start of
this tournament, it seemed
Reslock was destined to
win. He was the chip leader
at the conclusion of both
Day One and Day Two.
However, after Day Three
when he arrived at the final
table in fourth place, he
must have feared that his
momentum was slipping
away. Reslock faced a formidable challenge, facing
nine very tough opponents.
Of these players, three
were former WSOP gold
bracelet winners – Mickey
Appleman (with 4 wins),
John Juanda (with 3 wins),
and John Spadavecchia
(with 1 win).
New TV Show
The final table included
two very distinct phases.
The first phase went by
in a flash, at least when
compared with most major
poker tournaments. Eight
players were eliminated in
a lightning-fast pace -- just
(Continued from page 1)
under three hours. But if
anyone in the audience was
thinking of making early
dinner reservations, such
arrangements would be
rudely postponed. It might
have been wiser to make
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River questions the merits of Celebrity Poker
Episode #1 - begins airing
December 17th:
• Feature interview with
Johnny Chan
• Event feature from Vince
Neil’s Off the Strip at
the Hard Rock Hotel and
Casino
• Head to Head with Mike
Matusow
• Playing Tip with Greg
Raymer
• Poker Time tip with Lou
Krieger
• Matt Savage On the
Episode #2 - begins airing
December 31st
• Feature interview with
Chris Moneymaker
• Event Feature from the
Howard Lederer and
Annie Duke Fantasy
Camp
• Playing Tip with Annie
Duke
Head to Head with Ho •
ward Lederer
• Poker Time tip with Lou
Krieger
• Matt Savage on the River
By Ann-Margaret Johnston, CPA
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D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
7
Shorthanded Play
STUD SENSE
By ASHLEY ADAMS
It was Thanksgiving night at Foxwoods. I
played short-handed $20/40 stud for a few
hours. My experiences there might prove instructive for you.
The house cut the rake down to $2.00 maximum instead
of the customary $4.00. Even so, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to
play. My game is built around extracting profit from bad players. Were the other three players who remained bad enough
for me to make a profit?
I determined that they were. Even so, my general strategy
had to change. Moves that make sense at a full table don’t
make sense short-handed – and vice versa. Let me share the
differences with you here.
A full table is largely a practice in patience – as you wait for
the very strong conventional hands. You bet those strongly –
exploiting the tendencies of your bad opponents to call along
with lesser hands – chasing with lower pairs or flush draws
primarily. They catch sometimes and you lose. But more often
you win. The difference is, generally, a profitable hourly rate.
You need to throw in a bluff every now and again because
stealing the antes and bring-in can be profitable. And you
need to bet with sub-premium hands from time to time lest
your opponents figure you out as a rock and refuse to give
you action.
Short-handed is different! You cannot just wait for the same
high quality starting hands – the premium pairs and trips. But
you do not bluff more either, though many think that this is
correct. They are wrong. Let me explain.
You should bluff less because stealing the antes and the
bring-in is less profitable as a tactic. Unlike hold ‘em, the size
of the initial pot is smaller, the fewer players you have. A full
$20/40 game has $29 in it to start ($3 in antes per player
plus $5.00 bring-in). A four-handed game has only $17. Your
ante steal will win you only about 45% less in the short game
– making it less worthwhile.
But you will be playing many more hands than in a conventional game. This is because you will be betting more hands
for value. You can raise, for example, with your medium pairs
like 9s and 8s and 7s – especially when they have big kickers
like Kings and Aces. If you are in late position and it is folded
to you, you can also raise with any pair, regardless of your
kicker (though a kicker bigger than your opponent’s hand is
always a plus).
You also need to be more aware of the specific tendencies
of your opponents. In a full game, this is usually less important, as having the large number of opponents makes each of
them relatively less important. But with only three opponents,
you have many more opportunities of exploiting each of their
weaknesses.
For example, some players will bluff more frequently when
it is short-handed. Play back strongly against them if it’s just
you and he. Many players will fold to any counter pressure
when they are on a bluff.
You may also be against players who haven’t adjusted at all
to the short structure. Bet aggressively against them as well
– bluffing more to take advantage of their ultra-tight play. Be
careful, of course of the other people still left to act. But be
willing to push around those who are too tight for short play.
Some players refuse to play in anything but a full game.
With some adjustment to your play, however, these shorthanded games can be even more profitable than a full game
– because of all of the extra hands an hour you will be playing.
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Ashley Adams is the author of Winning 7-Card Stud,
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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]
8
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
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Must be 21 or older. Management reserves all rights. ©2005 Station Casinos, Inc., Las Vegas, NV.
Know Your Limits! If you think you have a gambling problem, call 1-800-522-4700.
Bikers Chuckle at Ho Ho Hold’em
Headhunter bounty event in
each category and two No
Limit shootouts. The series
kicked off on November
24th with a $100 buy-in
Turkey Shootout. Results
of completed events will be
found below.
BICYCLE CASINO
HO-HO-HOLD’EM
EVENT 15
12/8/05
LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 65
PRIZE
POOL
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
$32,500
Rick Conlon . . . . . . . $13,000
Unknown . . . . . . . . . . $7,475
Jake Panzeri. . . . . . . . $3,900
Le Banh . . . . . . . . . . . $2,275
Randy Holland. . . . . . $1,780
Kevin Daniels . . . . . . . $1,460
Tammy Yu . . . . . . . . . $1,135
Henry Minasyan . . . . . .$810
Jose Truares . . . . . . . . . .$665
(Cont’d from page 1)
BICYCLE CASINO
HO-HO-HOLD’EM
EVENT 14
12/7/05
BICYCLE CASINO
HO-HO-HOLD’EM
EVENT 12
12/5/05
BICYCLE CASINO
HO-HO-HOLD’EM
EVENT 10
12/3/05
BICYCLE CASINO
HO-HO-HOLD’EM
EVENT 8
12/1/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $300 + $40
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
TOYS FOR TOTS /
M.A.D.D
LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PLAYERS 220
PLAYERS 94
PRIZE POOL
PRIZE POOL
$66,000
$28,200
Huy Pham
Ted Fruchtman
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Huy Pham . . . . . . . . $24,430
Grant Peacock . . . . . $12,215
Eddie Yade . . . . . . . . . $6,270
Charlie Satoor . . . . . . $4,290
Phillip Penn Sr. . . . . . $2,970
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Ted Fruchtman . . . . $11,280
Antonio Abesamis . . . $6,485
Masis Moradi . . . . . . . $3,385
Haytham Shamaoun . $1,975
Goitom Gebrehiwet . . $1,550
BUY-IN $200 + $30
PLAYERS 147
BUY-IN $200 + $30
PLAYERS 147
REBUYS 198
PRIZE POOL
$29,698
PRIZE POOL
$62,100
Antoine Hasrouni
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Antoine Hasrouni . . $24,850
Roland Viola . . . . . . $11,800
Eric Palladino . . . . . . $5,900
Jonathan Ing . . . . . . . $3,725
Harvey Hunnicutt . . . $2,795
Jesus Garcia
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Jesus Garcia . . . . . . . $11,760
David Jerome . . . . . . . $5,585
Doyle Simon . . . . . . . . $2,795
Michael Harbson . . . . $1,765
James Fujita. . . . . . . . $1,325
BICYCLE CASINO
HO-HO-HOLD’EM
EVENT 7
11/30/05
BICYCLE CASINO
HO-HO-HOLD’EM
EVENT 13
12/6/05
BICYCLE CASINO
HO-HO-HOLD’EM
EVENT 11
12/4/05
SHOOTOUT—
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
HEADHUNTER
BICYCLE CASINO
HO-HO-HOLD’EM
EVENT 9
12/2/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $300 + $40
BUY-IN $225 + $30
POT LIMIT HOLD’EM
PLAYERS 239
PLAYERS 160
BUY-IN $200 + $30
PLAYERS 316
PRIZE POOL
PLAYERS 170
$77,600
Steve Kahn
PRIZE POOL
PRIZE POOL
$48,000
$63,200
PRIZE POOL
Araz Gharapetian
Magic Tran
$34,000
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Araz Gharapetian . . $19,200
Marla Schwartz . . . . . $9,600
Timothy Foley . . . . . . $4,800
Timothy Tunks. . . . . . $3,020
Bill McKenzie . . . . . . $2,160
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Magic Tran . . . . . . . . $23,700
Steve Burns . . . . . . . $12,010
Charles Charalabou . $6,005
Andrew Cohen . . . . . . $4,110
Christian Foster. . . . . $2,845
BUY-IN $200 + $30
William Duckworth
1.
2.
3.
4.
William Duckworth. $13,600
Vardan Dishchyan . . . $6,460
Louis Concha . . . . . . . $3,230
Ron Ryneal . . . . . . . . . $2,040
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Steve Kahn . . . . . . . . $29,100
Erich Karle . . . . . . . $14,740
Gary Phillips . . . . . . . $7,370
Peter Parker. . . . . . . . $5,045
Karen Kasabyan . . . . $3,490
BACK ISSUES, SPECIAL FEATURES & UP-TO-THE MINUTE POKER INFO—
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
9
Gathering Information
Since we were down to the bubble, action
had tightened up considerably. I told
I
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
mproving Performance
POKER COUNSELOR
By John Carlisle, MA, NCC
myself that I was playing for the win, not
the guaranteed cash for making the final table. Well,
my play did not follow that mindset. I took a chance
to steal a pot from the button with 2-3 of hearts. The
big blind reluctantly called. The flop came down with
all paint, and two more hearts. My opposition checked,
and my brain went into the toilet. I under bet the pot
in a meek fashion, making it an easy call for the guy
sitting across from me. I checked on the Turn when it
was a black 4, another error. The River did not bring
me my final heart, so I literally had nothing. It is never
a good sign when a hand of 5-high beats you, right?
My opponent checked, so I simply had to fire another
bullet. Again playing scared, I put out an odd smallish
bet in order to save myself chips if there was a call. My
veteran opponent thought for some time before calling
with his pocket 7’s. Our tablemates crooned that it was
a gutsy call, but I knew that I had basically handed the
guy the pot thanks to my myriad of errors. I mucked
without showing, glad to know that nobody saw the
cards that fueled my embarrassingly horrific play.
Many of us are scared of our mistakes. We allow
errors at the tables to attack our self-esteem and poker
confidence. I try to convince players to accept their
mistakes, and then work to learn from them. It has
been said that Thomas Edison failed over 1,800 times
in his attempts to produce the light bulb. Columbus
was looking for a passage to India when he discovered
the new world. And every legendary poker player that
I know will readily admit that they make mistakes every
time they play. In essence, nobody has ever played a
truly perfect session of poker. There are always small
mistakes that we could improve upon. There is always
work to be done.
So, a key in using our mistakes to our advantage is
to accept the errors. Since our mind automatically
acts to push our shortcomings into the recesses of
the mind, we have to resist the temptation to move
onward. Instead, take a moment to think through
the loss. Identify the error, as well as the emotions
and thinking that were accompanying that decision. Were you playing too conservatively? If so, what
thoughts or emotions were driving that conservative
mindset? Perhaps your mind was pushing you to coast
into the money. Perhaps you knew you could derive
innate self-satisfaction from just surviving to the final
table. Maybe you’ve subconsciously sold yourself short,
as you don’t really have the confidence that you could
win anyway. Unless you make the effort to inspect the
mistakes, you will never know.
Take a small notebook with you to the tables. Jot
down notes surrounding any hands that you would consider poorly played. Not only should you write down
the financial specifics of the hand, but also note your
emotional and thought status. Inspect these notes
while doing critical self-evaluations in order to learn
from your errors. Don’t run from your mistakes, as they
are sure to catch up to you. Mistakes are a valuable
tool in improving your overall game.
Now go make it happen.
In
this installment
of Improving
Performance, let’s discuss
reasons. There are normally reasons for most
everything. Even if an
event cannot be supported
by documented, scientific
evidence we can always
rely on faith to make sense
as to a “reason” for a particular event. Ever notice
how important “reasons”
are to people? People
tend to want some kind of
rationale for events. More
importantly, many people
feel compelled to offer
reasons to the world at
large to explain their own
actions. The reasoning that
intrigues me is the kind
that fellow poker players seem to feel obligated
to share with the rest of
the table to explain their
actions Of course, some of
this is intended misdirection but much of it is simply because people need
reasons in their own mind
to explain to others their
actions.
I’m talking about the
phrases that accompany
actions in a poker game.
An example that we’ve all
heard before would be a
player attempting to justify
a loose call by stating, “I’ll
look at one more card”. Is
this really necessary? Of
course not--if a player is
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].
10
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
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].
willing to look at one more
card, he’ll probably look
at two or three. Maybe
even go all the way to the
river. So what’s going on
here? “I’ve got the over
card, have to bet it”, “I’ve
got chips now”, “Gotta
play my rush”, “Have to
keep you honest”, “I know
I’m beat but I have to call
you”, “I guess this is a
compulsory call”, and my
all time favorite, “What the
hell, I need change”. This
certainly was not intended
to be an all inclusive list of
idiotic sayings that some
players utter with surprising frequency. That undertaking would of course
produce volumes. Let’s
explore some “reasons” for
all these articulated “reasons” that we so frequently
hear.
Many players seem to
need approval for their
actions. They need to
feel that others understand
that they have in fact a
plan or a valid reason to
justify their actions The
first thing to do when you
start to hear “reasons” is to
determine if they are just
flowing out of a player’s
mouth without forethought
or if the comment itself
is part of a plan such as
intended deception. If, as
most inane reasons like the
above, are just free flow-
PART 62
ing then your conclusion
should be that you are seated with
Reasons
some
weak, unskilled, and undisciplined players. This is
good, a place you want to
be!
If, on the other hand, the
inane reasons appear to be
intended misdirection as
part of a plan, then guess
what? You are seated with
some weak, unskilled, and
undisciplined players. This
is good, a place you want
to be! Is there an echo in
here? No, that’s not an
echo. It just means that it
really doesn’t matter what
is going through the mind
of a player who feels compelled to articulate a reason
for his actions Either way
you’re an odds on favorite
to be playing with a weak,
unskilled, and undisciplined player or players.
There’s that echo again.
Our goal for this session
is one we’ve had many
times before. Namely, to
pay close attention to your
opponents. Take off those
earphones so you don’t
miss the chatter which
takes place in most games.
When you start hearing
those inane “reasons” being
blurted out around you they
should be music to your
ears. They are to mine!
See you next “TIME”.
Bike Ho-Ho-Ho
BICYCLE CASINO
HO-HO-HOLD’EM
EVENT 6
11/29/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
3. Donald Vance . . . . . . . $6,045
4. Kirk Robert . . . . . . . . $4,035
5. Kevin Kiggins . . . . . . $3,015
BUY-IN $200 + $30
PLAYERS 321
PRIZE
POOL
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
$64,200
BICYCLE CASINO
HO-HO-HOLD’EM
EVENT 1
11/24/05
LIMIT HOLD’EM
TURKEY SHOOT
K.K McFarquhar . . $24,075
Masoud Sethyesh . . . $12,200
Edwin Jacinto . . . . . . $6,095
C.R Mcfarland . . . . . . $4,175
Graig Housenick . . . . $2,890
BUY-IN $100 + $25
PLAYERS 115
PRIZE POOL
BICYCLE CASINO
HO-HO-HOLD’EM
EVENT 5
11/28/05
LIMIT HOLD’EM
HEADHUNTER
BUY-IN $225 + $30
PLAYERS 149
$22,200
Thao Duang
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Thao Duang . . . . . . . . $8,230
Matthew Kirisits . . . . $4,210
Wilson Yuchougtian . $2,100
Phillip Rhee . . . . . . . . $1,440
Lorenzo Pelaez. . . . . . $1,000
WSOP Circuit Showboat in AC
breakfast reservations for
the following morning.
It was an 11-hour final
table that, despite an interesting mix of personalities
and obvious talent, did not
produce many exciting
moments. Oddly enough,
there were few, if any bad
beats, miracle draw-outs, or
emotional outbursts. It was,
for all intents and purposes,
perhaps the only final on
record where the smaller
stack (when ‘all in”) failed
to double up each and
every time. When the 1983
WSOP champion described
no-limit hold’em as “hours
and hours of pure boredom
punctuated by moments of
sheer terror,” he must have
been thinking about a final
table like this.
SHOWBOAT ATLANTIC CITY
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
12/9/05
8. Julian Studley . . . . . $37,250
9. Daniel Shak . . . . . . . $27,395
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
EVENT #7
12/4/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
L.I.P.S. EVENT
BUY-IN $200 + $30
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT
PLAYERS 164
PRIZE
POOL
$31,300
BUY-IN $9,700 + $300
PLAYERS 96
PRIZE
POOL
$931,200
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Chris Reslock . . . . . $335,235
Unknown . . . . . . . . $186,240
Chad Moore . . . . . . $102,430
Nick Schulman. . . . . $74,495
John Spadavecchia . $65,185
Daniel Tolly . . . . . . . $55,870
Eric Panayiotou . . . . $46,560
1. Sheree Bykofsky . . . $10,320
plus... $1000 WSOP Ladies
Event, and... $500 Expenses
2. Unknown . . . . . . . . . . $5,695
3. Janet Cillo . . . . . . . . . $3,130
4. Amy Anthony . . . . . . $2,505
5. Jennifer L Spangler. . $1,880
6. Kerri Rivers . . . . . . . $1,565
7. Kimberly Demarre . . $1,250
PRIZE POOL
$29,800
Kevin Blakey
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Kevin Blakey . . . . . . $11,920
Lawrence Babahekian$5,660
Art Hagopian . . . . . . . $2,830
Keith Barrett . . . . . . . $1,785
Sam Sanusi . . . . . . . . . $1,340
BICYCLE CASINO
HO-HO-HOLD’EM
EVENT 4
11/27/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $200 + $30
PLAYERS 407
PRIZE POOL
$81,645
Moshe Manzur
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Moshe Manzur. . . . . $30,000
Matthew Kirisits . . . $14,650
Paul Stewart. . . . . . . . $7,325
Nicholas Ronyecz. . . . $4,885
Doyle Simon . . . . . . . . $3,665
BICYCLE CASINO
HO-HO-HOLD’EM
EVENT 3
11/26/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PLAYERS 158
PRIZE POOL
$112,200
Danny Pourat
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Danny Pourat. . . . . . $44,880
Randy Holland. . . . . $21,320
Jerry Snell . . . . . . . . $10,660
Jason Levine . . . . . . . $6,730
Henry Antanesian . . . $5,050
BICYCLE CASINO
HO-HO-HOLD’EM
EVENT 2
11/25/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $200 + $30
PLAYERS 337
PRIZE POOL
$67,420
“Tony” Yoshida
1. Takashi “Tony” Yoshida . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $24,950
2. Allen Zuckerman. . . $12,290
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
11
Sour Whines
POwer POKER PSYCHOLOGY
By JAMES A. M C KENNA, P H D.
I like to play the lower limit Texas Hold ‘em
games because there’s more conversation
at these tables and I can get more stories of interest.
Things like what I am going to tell you happen at these
tables. Recently, while playing $3--$6, I noticed a young
man who was frequently whining about how the game
was going badly for him. Of course, you and I know that
nobody cares. In fact, such hard luck stories will get you
more attacks than sympathy in a poker game. So, after a
while, the therapist in me came out. I turned to the player
(a total stranger) and said, “Young man, I wonder what
your life would be like if you began noticing the good
things that happen to you?” He was more than a little
astonished. However, several other players looked at me
and smiled as they nodded their heads in agreement. The
whiner was turning his playing into sour grapes. He was
so focused on what was going wrong that he couldn’t see
the opportunities that were there for good plays.
Besides being overly focused on what could go wrong,
this player was one of the loosest players at the table.
There’s a saying that I borrowed from a more sophisticated one. It goes like this--Question: “Do you know the
difference between a loose poker player and a treacherous terrorist?” Answer: “You can negotiate with a terrorist!” Attempting to reason with any poker player is a
challenge. However, better players will listen; although
they seldom let you know that.
Well, I’ll get back to my story in a little while. For now,
let’s focus on what can happen when you notice good
things. I make it a habit to notice something good about
every hand that is dealt. That’s my way of staying on a
positive state of mind. For example, if I folded a small
pair and saw that the raiser won with a flush, I might say,
“The good thing about that is that I got out before you
got any more of my money.” Or, if someone else wins
with a full-house, I might say, “The only thing wrong with
that hand is that I didn’t have it. Good hand!”
Staying positively focused will definitely improve your
game—if not your mood. For instance, when I become
lax in my poker skills, I will give myself assignments
designed to improve my skills and my attitude. I might
say to myself, “I am going to notice how much better I
am playing.” Or, I might think to myself, “I am noticing
how well that I am reading other players.” I find that this
positive reframing will improve my mood and my game.
Why? As I have said before, the mind goes where you
send it. If you are continually noticing your mistakes,
chances are you will continue to make them. Of course,
as in developing any skill, I need to be sure that I have
the information I need to improve. To simply notice how
well I am playing and not changing my approaches would
be an exercise like doing pushups only in my mind.
Now back to my story. I mentioned earlier that I wondered whether I was getting through to the player who
was sowing sour grapes. Before I left the table, I said
to the distraught player, “Would you be surprised if you
began noticing how well things were going for you?” He
exclaimed, “I sure as hell would!” I can’t wait to meet
him again. I know that when he starts to notice what
good stuff is happening he will be a better player. He
might have to tighten up some, though, and start noticing the kind of hole cards that will turn his “horror stories” into “glory stories.”
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 [email protected].
12
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
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 nine-year 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].
Continuing with examining
the factors to consider when
formulating our decision
to fold or muck lets begin
with pot size.
How much is in the pot?
If you don’t know how
much is in the pot you don’t
know whether you are getting the proper pot odds to
call. Pot odds are useful not
only in our decisions post
flop, but can dictate whether we even enter the hand,
especially with a draw. The
more money in the pot the
more likely you want to
call with a marginal hand
that is capable of winning
a big pot if you connect.
Knowing the amount of
money in the pot is essential for no-limit and critical
for pot-limit.
How much may you bet
or raise? In a limit game
the answer is clear and
defined by the structure
you are playing in. In nolimit the answer is variable
and limited to the amount
of money in front of you.
Pot-limit is a little different.
The amount you may bet is
an ever-changing number
based on the size of the pot
when it reaches you. In pot
limit you may want to let
your opponent do the betting for you. You will then
be able to raise a larger
amount when the action
gets back to you. You
should know how much is
in the pot every time it is
your turn to act.
What kind of table are
you playing at: loose, tight
or average? One measure
of whether the game is
loose, tight or average is
the number of people seeing the flop, turn and river.
The higher the average the
looser the game is. Other
measures include: how
much raising and re-raising is going on, how many
players are calling a raise
and or a re-raise with less
then a premium hand, how
many persons are chasing
draws and how many will
bet and/or raise with less
then the nuts. If you are
in a loose game you will
want to call and raise with
premium hands and play
Sam Mudaro is the...
Should I Play
a little tighter then
This Hand? PART 2
your tightest oppob) Has your opponent
nent. You may raise freely
been pushing marwith little concern that all
ginal hands? You
your opponents will fold.
know the type. They
You also do not want to
are super aggressive.
bluff as you will get called
They will raise with
with less then the nuts. In a
draws, bottom pair or
tight game you may be able
when a scare card hits.
to bluff your opponents off
They hate to see a free
the best hand if a scare card
card. This is the perfalls. You may figure your
fect individual to have
opponent has the goods
at your table when you
when he bets into you.
are looking to checkDo you have position
raise or save a bet on
over your opponents? If
the turn.
you are last to act, position
c) Does your opponent
will let you know what it
consistently bluff?
cost to call since you are
This type of behavior
last to act. Position may
is also easy to spot.
let you represent a hand
Your opponent bets or
you don’t have when it is
raises on the river and
checked around to you.
when you call they
Position may let you buy
immediately muck
a free card on the turn
their hand without
when you raise from the
showing it. They may
button after the flop and it
even offer a comment
is checked around to you.
such as “I missed’
Acting last will allow you
or “Good call”. This
to raise the pot when everyplayer will usually stay
one has limped in, presumin the hand if you let
ably with a less then prethem do the betting.
mium hand. You may then
be able to steal the pot if all d) Does your opponent
bet draws? This indihigh cards fall and you lead
vidual will lead at the
into the field of limpers.
pot if they have 4 to a
What kind of read do you
flush, straight or low.
have on your opponent?
It sure is nice having
This is one of the areas
them in the hand when
where most players seem to
you have the nut flush
lack knowledge, skill and
draw and it gets there.
or discipline. A read is not
They are so concennecessarily the observance
trated on making their
of some subtle bodily funcflush they will also
tion such as a person’s
fail to notice that their
breathing rate or their pulse
flush card has also
rate determined by watchpaired the board.
ing the arteries in their
neck. There are indeed very e) Does your opponent
show down the nuts?
obvious tells as well as very
It doesn’t take long at
subtle ones. Let’s take a
a table to identify the
look at a few obvious ones,
rocks. They enter pots
which are only obvious if
with only premium
you know to look for them.
hands. They will bet
or raise with only the
a) Would your opponent
nuts. When a rock raisfold to a re-raise? We
es pre-flop and comes
have all seen this type of
out betting on the flop
player. They complain
you need to sit back
every time the pot is
and ask yourself what
raised. They have limitdo they have?
ed funds and don’t want
So what have we
to risk too much on any
learned? Pay attention
hand. A re-raise usually
to your opponents. What
drives them out unless
you observe may save you
they have a premium
money or allow you to
hand. Either way you
earn more.
gain information.
Bellagio Five Diamond
EVENT 11
12/9/05
BELLAGIO
FIVE DIAMOND
POKER CLASSIC
EVENT 7
12/5/05
BELLAGIO
FIVE DIAMOND
POKER CLASSIC
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $2,500 + $100
PLAYERS 135
PRIZE
POOL
BUY-IN $2,000 + $80
PLAYERS 297
PRIZE
POOL
$327,375
$576,180
5.
6.
7.
8.
Brian Stonoff . . . . . . $24,780
Ryan Hartmann . . . . $19,275
Doug Carli . . . . . . . . $13,765
Johan Storakers. . . . $11,015
EVENT 6
12/4/05
BELLAGIO
FIVE DIAMOND
POKER CLASSIC
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,500 + $0
PLAYERS 405
PRIZE
POOL
$589,275
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Tommy Lock
Tommy Lock . . . . . $137,195
Jim Meehan . . . . . . . $66,415
Paul Kroh . . . . . . . . . $33,205
Greg Back . . . . . . . . $18,100
Robert Miller . . . . . . $13,585
Victor Perches . . . . . $10,565
Phil Mathews . . . . . . $10,000
1.
2.
3.
4.
David Plastik
David Plastik . . . . . $212,730
Gioi Luong . . . . . . . $115,645
Robert Durant . . . . . $57,820
Clonie Gowen. . . . . . $33,035
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Jan Sjavik. . . . . . . . $194,635
Joe Tehan . . . . . . . . $101,480
Jae Bahn . . . . . . . . . . $53,560
Chris McCormack. . $30,960
Bill Croft . . . . . . . . . $22,550
Dan Alspach . . . . . . . $15,785
Morris Klevansky . . $11,275
Tom Franklin . . . . . . . $9,020
Phil Matthews . . . . . . $7,895
EVENT 5
12/3/05
BELLAGIO
FIVE DIAMOND
POKER CLASSIC
EVENT 4
12/2/05
BELLAGIO
FIVE DIAMOND
POKER CLASSIC
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $5,000 + $150
PLAYERS 200
PRIZE
POOL
BUY-IN $3,000 + $100
PLAYERS 233
PRIZE
POOL
1. Mark Teltscher . . . $374,965
1. Quinn Do . . . . . . . . $266,935
2. Emad Alabsi . . . . . . $207,790
2. Ben Roberts . . . . . . $143,555
3. Carl Olson . . . . . . . $103,895
3. Vernon Martin . . . . . $71,780
4. Michael Mizrachi . . $56,660
4. Loi Phan . . . . . . . . . . $39,145
$970,000
5. Lee Markholt . . . . . . $42,505
6. Francois Safieddine . $33,060
7. Ross Dove . . . . . . . . . $23,615
8. Salim Batshon . . . . . $18,890
$678,030
5. Young Phan . . . . . . . $29,365
6. Fabrice Soulier . . . . $22,840
7. Nam Le . . . . . . . . . . . $16,315
8. David Kim . . . . . . . . $13,050
9. David Brooks . . . . . . $10,440
9. Darrell Dicken . . . . . $15,110
EVENT 10
12/8/05
BELLAGIO
FIVE DIAMOND
POKER CLASSIC
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $5,000 + $150
PLAYERS 253
PRIZE
POOL
$1,227,050
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Tom Franklin
Tom Franklin . . . . . $434,025
John Gale . . . . . . . . $252,325
Scott Bohlman . . . . $126,165
Bill Corrigan . . . . . . $72,090
Peter Moore . . . . . . . $54,070
Kinjal Shah . . . . . . . $42,055
Johan Storakers. . . . $30,040
EVENT 9
12/7/05
BELLAGIO
FIVE DIAMOND
POKER CLASSIC
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $3,000 + $100
PLAYERS 248
PRIZE
POOL
$721,680
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Allen Cunningham $283,085
David Gee . . . . . . . . $153,160
Ryan Hartmann . . . . $76,580
Champie Douglas . . $41,765
Carlos Mortensen . . $31,330
David Tran . . . . . . . . $24,365
Jon Knauf. . . . . . . . . $17,405
EVENT 8
12/6/05
BELLAGIO
FIVE DIAMOND
POKER CLASSIC
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $2,500 + $100
PLAYERS 405
PRIZE
POOL
$664,450
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Don Barton. . . . . . . $242,745
Kris Fields . . . . . . . $134,180
Orlando Maldonado $67,090
Cory Carroll . . . . . . $38,325
Owen Crowe . . . . . . $28,755
Men Nguyen . . . . . . . $22,365
Curt Kohlberg . . . . . $15,975
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
13
Trust Your Opponent
Sometimes
STRAIGHT SKINNY
By RICHARD G. BURKE
Fred steamed out of my local poker
room on that Thursday afternoon in
early fall, muttering under his breath. The next day
he had calmed down enough to tell his tale of woe.
Holding Ad-Jd in middle position, Fred raised $4.
On the button, George, a veteran Hold’Em player,
called the $8. Two-handed they saw the Flop come
Kd-9d-2d. Fred thought that a splendid Flop and
opened with $4. George’s raise was a welcome surprise and Fred eagerly re-raised. The Turn was the
5d. Fred bet $8; George called. The River was the
2a. Fred bet $8; George raised; Fred called. When
George showed his 9s-9a, for Nines-Full-of-Deuces,
Fred stood, wished everyone good luck, and cashed
out. “Was that a bad beat, or what?” asked Fred.
I told Fred that it wasn’t a bad beat, just bad luck,
plus that he had played the hand poorly. “Did not,”
he sniffed. (Fred gets huffy when he thinks I’m criticizing his play.)
Follow me on this, I told Fred. Your re-raise on
the Flop convinced George you had a Flush, Aces
or Top Pair with a Flush redraw. Fred disagreed. He
would have also re-raised with Top Set, he said. With
those three diamonds on the table, would you really
have re-raised with Ka-Ks? Fred said he would’ve.
Could we agree at least that his re-raise narrowed
his hands to a Flush, Top Set, Aces or Top Pair with a
redraw? We agreed.
When the dealer turned the fourth diamond, you
bet right out. That convinced George you had the
nut Flush, I said. Fred agreed. Post-Turn, the pot was
offering George $57 for his $8, a bit more than 7
for 1. He knew you had the nut Flush and he had to
improve to a Full House or better.
If George had held Two Pairs, then he would have
only four outs to beat your Flush. There were 44
unknown cards remaining, so George’s cards odds
would have been 4/44, 1 chance in 11. With cards odds
much worse than pot odds, George would have folded.
With a Set, George had ten outs, and his cards
odds were 10/44, 1 chance in 4.4. With cards odds
much shorter than his pot odds, his call was correct.
You should have known, I said, that George
wouldn’t have called your bet on the Turn without a
Set. Fred stared at the floor; he knew what was coming. When the River paired the Deuce, you should
have known that he made a Full House! Fred said
nothing.
George knew you had a Flush. You knew George
had a Set, or at least suspected so. When the dealer
put the second Deuce on the table, why did you bet,
I asked. Fred didn’t answer. When George raised, why
did you call, I asked. No answer. You should have
checked the River, and then mucked when George
bet. That would have saved you $16.
Fred bridled at that: he would never muck the nut
Flush, he said. Okay, then you should have checked
when the River paired the board, and made a crying
call when George bet. That would have saved you $8.
George is neither a beginner nor a fool: he could
see four diamonds on the board. He knew he had the
better hand: that’s why he raised. You have to trust
your opponent sometimes, I told Fred, and maybe
most of the time in limit games.
Mr. Burke is the author of Flop: The Art of Winning at
Low-Limit Hold ’Em, available from amazon.com,
gamblersbook.com, and kokopellipress.com. E-mail your
Hold ’Em questions to [email protected]
14
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
little dog too!” All eyes
turn to the player on the
Button who I suddenly realize is me. I look at my hole
cards. I find AA. I call the
all-in bets and AAK falls
on the Flop. Quadruplets!
age and mangled bodies. I
come to lying under a poker
table. I wiggle everything
and everything wiggles
back. The force of the explosion must have rolled me
here like tumbling dice.
Poker Face
A Poker Player Murder Mystery by Robert Arabella
A poker face is a lying
face. I need the three
people threatening to kill
me—Nickel, Dime, and
Dorothy—to believe the
following lie: “I’ve got ten
sticks of TNT strapped to
my chest, and a death wish
to fulfill, and unless you all
want to be blown to rags
with me, EVERYBODY
BACK OFF!”
Nickel, Dime, and
Dorothy—like poker players
suddenly check raised all-in
on the river by a limper—
hesitate. I sense their indecision and quickly raise the
stakes.
“If you want to live get
out of here now!”
No one moves.
I start a countdown. “10
… 9 … 8 …”
Dime runs for the door.
“7 … 6 …”
Followed by Nickel.
“5 … 4 …”
Dorothy, her knife still
to my throat, says, “You’re
bluffing.”
“3 … 2 … 1 …”
“I knew you were bluffing!” she says. “I knew you
didn’t have the bal…”
I never heard her finish
the sentence. The Misdeal
had exploded.
Taking the advice of the
Munchkins, who found me
lying under a Full House,
I follow the Yellow Brick
Road into the Over The
Rainbow Poker Room.
There I find the Wonderful
Wizard Of Oz dealing
hold’em hands to the
Cowardly Lion, who, without courage to raise, calls
the big blind with KK. The
Scarecrow, who, without the
brains to fold, limps in with
55. The Tin Man, without
the heart to re-raise, calls
with JJ. “O my, Toto,” says
Dorothy, “holding 72, and
coming over the top with an
all-in raise,” I don’t think
we’re in a Kansas Fold’em
game anymore.” From the
cut-off seat the Wicked
Witch, holding green-faced
Queens, pushes all-in, telling Dorothy, “I’ll beat you,
my little pretty, and your
“O, Auntie Em,” I think to
myself, “there’s no place
like …”
“… home,” comes the cry
from Dorothy. “I just wanted
to go home!”
The Misdeal poker room
is in absolute shambles.
Dust and smoke swirl in the
air. Small fires are burning.
Everywhere the room is
strewn with smashed wreck-
I stumble to my feet and,
following the sound of her
cries, find Dorothy. She lies
face up with the knife she
was holding on me when the
room exploded now buried
in her chest. She raises one
tightly clenched fist up to
my face and, shaking it, says
to me, “I just wanted to go
home!”
Suddenly she goes still
and silent. Her balled-up fist
opens and my Chocolate
Chip, the $5,000 dark brown
poker chip from The Flop
House (left for me by my
girlfriend Calamity Jane as a
clue to her kidnapping) falls
out and rolls away.
On hands and knees I
scramble after the rolling
chocolate chip, crawling
through the wreckage, as it
wheels haphazardly away,
always just out of my grasp,
until finally it slows and
falls flat on the floor and is
picked up. But not by me. I
get to my feet and come face
to face with a ghost who,
instead of saying “Boo!”
says, “Hello, Jackie.”
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
(To be continued in the next
issue of Poker Player)
15
Futuristic POKER
DEBBIE BURKHEAD INTERVIEWS...
…Twas the night before Christmas and all through the hall, everything was crowded, the casinos, the malls. ---Cut! Well, you get the
picture. Welcome to futuristic poker. The time is approximately, 9:00
p.m. in the year 3010. Casino gaming has really changed in 1000
years plus, in addition, the Christmas promotional bonanza in now in
effect. The litany of gigantic neon placards placed intrusively close
Michael Matts
C A R D R O O M M A N AG E R AT C A E S A R S PA L AC E
Dealer Vibes
By Donald W. Woods, Jr.
to the highway is beckoning for your patronage.
“Twenty-four gaming, we never sleep, even
when you are, for your enjoyment pleasure. Easy
access, lavish surroundings, comfortable amenities, compliments the state-of-the-art décor. For the
finest in adult entertainment, make the switch to the place that
pays to be there.
In the year 3010, many things have changed. For beginners, when
arriving at the board to play in the poker section, there is no longer a line to be seated. Full automated state-of-the-art computers
record your name, initials, etc. to be seated when a seat becomes
available. In addition, while seated in the waiting areas, at the push
of a button located on the full leather lounge seats that you occupy,
free food and drinks are available. Full surround, wide-screen, floorto-ceiling plasma television sets, highlights the waiting area. So,
when your name is called for a seat the computer memory automatically remembers whom you are, sending a beam of light – like an on
stage performer – highlighting your presence. “Mr. X, your seat is
ready.” Once you have arrived at the designated table, you will find
that the dealer is now a relic of the past. The game is controlled by
a fully automated system that runs the game, dispenses the cards,
makes decisions – when applicable – and monitors the over-all
behavior of the table. Sort of like a self contained, miniature casino
in a casino. Unlike the shuffle - machines instituted in the 2000’s,
the Shuffle Master 9000BTM, scrambles, shuffles, and distributes
the cards with lightning speed precision guaranteed up to .9999988
in accuracy. Some of you naysayers may ask, “yeah, but what about
that .0000012 percentage, huh?” To you I say, “Go somewhere else,
quickly, and get help!”
Once arriving at the designated seat, the dealer –automated voice –
announces your arrival. Every seat entitled to a hand, receives – warp
speed, accurate – cards. Once the player discards a hand, the automated vacuum like machine, sucks them in a pile. The play proceeds as
normal with a couple of exceptions. After the hand is over the losing
player can actually access the automated 9000BTM for comments
on the winning hand. For example: by pressing a button by your cup
holder, access’ comments on the previous hand. “What did you think
about that hand?” Answer, “You did everything you could do on that
hand, the man got lucky, stayed in there taking all that pressure and
caught two perfect cards, Damn!” So, for all you players that need to
hear some words of encourage to supplement the fact that the chips
were rewarded elsewhere, the 9000BTM can be that outlet. A variety
of responses and comments are at the touch of a finger –by the losing player only! Now here is the downside of that, comments can be
accessed following a hand for three consecutive hands only.
The end results from this futuristic insight is the house makes
money, shares the proceeds with the players by way of expansive jackpots, monitored by all monies received and dispersed at
the ready on a 24 hour ticker tape, updated every three minutes.
However, be forewarned all you bad actors that any disturbance and
behavioral problems will be dealt with severely. Since the automated
system has recorded your name, or initials, the system merely
announces, “Mr. X has been disqualified from future playing for
tonight, goodnight sir!” An ejection button catapults the culprit out
to the parking lot.
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
[email protected]
16
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
Michael Matts was born
(April 19, 1966) and raised
in West Orange, New
Jersey. Michael graduated
from West Orange High
School in 1984 and went
on to Rutgers University
in New Brunswick, New
Jersey.
In 1988 Michael graduated from Rutgers with a
BS in Mathematics and
in September of 1988 he
accepted the position of
publicist for Rutgers athletic department.
In June of 1993 he left
Rutgers to pursue a career
as a math teacher for the
West Orange public school
system.
Michael’s fiancé lived
in Las Vegas and on
Memorial Day of 1998
he moved to Las Vegas to
get married. With no job
and no job prospects he
enrolled in dealer’s school.
In July of 1998 he was
hired as a blackjack dealer
at the Gold Coast.
Michael left the Gold
Coast in October of the
same year for a pit supervisor’s position at Boulder
Station.
In July of 2002 Michael
left Station’s to supervise
the high-limit section
at the Rio. Michael was
approached by the table
games staff at the Rio to
run a poker tournament
for their high rollers. At
the time the Rio had no
poker room, nor did any of
Harrah’s other properties
so Michael ran the tournament for 800 of their high
rollers on the main floor,
near the pit. The tournament was so successful
Michael was asked to run
four more between 2003
and 2004.
The popularity of those
tournaments led to the
Rio opening a poker room
on December 19, 2004.
Within six months of the
opening the Rio hosted the
World Series of Poker with
Michael as the Director of
the live section, overseeing
50 poker tables.
Everyone was extremely
pleased with the success of
the WSOP which led to the
decision to open a poker
room at Caesars Palace. In
August of 2004 Michael
was appointed Poker Room
Manager of the new room.
During the construction
period of the new room,
Michael was Tournament
Director for two WSOP
Circuit events, one at
Harrah’s and the other at
Bally’s/Paris. He was also
the Tournament Director
of the 2005 Tournament of
Champions which was the
first poker event held at
Caesars in 15 years.
DB: When will the new
room open and with how
many tables?
MM: We plan to open at
10 a.m. on December 21.
The seven-table high-limit
area will be railed off
from the main room of 23
live tables, along with an
adjoining room with 33
tournament tables.
DB: What prompted
Caesars to reopen a poker
room after 15 years?
MM: A couple of things,
first the popularity in
poker and second, Harrah’s
wanting to get involved in
poker again.
DB: Where is the new
room located?
MM: Next to the Race and
Sportsbook. The room is
convenient to self parking
and front valet. It’s fairly
convenient to the forum
valet as well.
.
DB: What special features
does the poker room offer?
MM: The poker room has
it’s own restrooms. We
will have tableside food
service from the Augustus
Café where players may
order off of a special poker
menu. The live room has
14 plasma screens and the
tournament room has 10
plasma screens for viewing
sporting events. We have
the Queue OS computer
system that electronically
displays the wait list on
two LCD screens in the
live section and displays
the tournament clock on
three LCD screens in the
tournament room. The
system includes the entire
tournament program and is
the same system that was
used at the WSOP
DB: What other features
does the room offer poker
players?
MM: Players may reserve
safe deposit boxes on a
first come first served
basis. Twenty of our
thirty tables have Shuffle
Masters, the top section
tables and three of the stud
tables do not have shufflers. We considered the
comfort of our players in
the planning of the new
room and spent $460 per
chair so our players would
be comfortable. Each chair
has up and down adjustments, tilts back and chairs
are on wheels with locks.
DB: How does Caesars
comp policy work?
MM: Live players earn
$1.00 per hour of play.
We will also be offering a
room rate of $119 weekdays and $199 on weekends with eight hours of
live play.
DB: What live games will
be offered?
MM: We will be spreading
$3-$6, $6-$12. $10-$20
and up, limit hold‘em. As
for no-limit, we intend to
spread a $2-$5 blind game
with a $100 to $500 buy-in
and a $5-$10 blind game
with an unlimited buy-in.
For the Omaha players it’s
$4-$8, $8-$16, $15-$30
and up. We will also cater
to the stud players with a
$2-$10 anytime, as well as
$15-$30, $30-$60 and up.
DB: What daily tournaments will you be running?
MM: Monday and
Tuesday at noon it’s nolimit with an $80 buy-in,
a $50 rebuy and a $50
add-on, and on Wednesday
and Thursday the buyin is $150 with a $100
rebuy. On Friday, Saturday
and Sunday the buy-in is
$150 with a $100 rebuy.
We will be running limit
hold’em events at 9 a.m.
on Friday, Saturday and
Sunday with a $60 buy-in
and a $50 rebuy. Monday
at 7 p.m. is no-limit with
a $125 buy-in and a $100
rebuy, Tuesday at 7 p.m. is
limit hold’em with a $125
buy-in and a $100 rebuy,
Wednesday at 7 p.m. is
pot-limit Omaha with a
$125 buy-in and a $100
rebuy, Thursday at 7 p.m.
is no-limit with a $225
buy-in and a $200 rebuy,
Friday at 6 p.m. is no-limit
freezeout with a $530 buyin, and at 11 p.m. it’s nolimit with a $120 buy-in
and a $100 rebuy, Saturday
at 6 p.m. is no-limit freezeout with a $1060 buy-in,
and at 11 p.m. it’s no-limit
with a $120 buy-in and a
$100 rebuy, Sunday at 6
p.m. it’s no-limit freezeout
with a $530 buy-in and at
11 p.m. it’s limit hold’em
with a $60 buy-in and a
$50 rebuy. We will also be
offering sit-and-go tournaments 24/7 in the tournament room. Players can
receive free poker lessons
every Friday, Saturday and
Sunday at 8 a.m.
DB: Would you tell our
readers about your staff?
MM: I have three shift
managers that all came
form the WSOP and did
a phenomenal job. Dave
Riedisser is the day shift
manager, Jeremy Dickens
is the swing shift manager,
and Bill O’Connell is the
graveyard manager. We
were able to offer up to
25 dealer and floor positions to victims of Katrina
and it warmed my heart to
do that. We have a great
mix of dealers made up
of 60 percent from within
the city and 40 percent
transient. All our dealers are experienced due
to the unfortunate effect
of Katrina. It was a great
tragedy but an awesome
opportunity for us to not
only help ourselves but to
help families that really
needed it.
DB: Who is responsible
he way Mike Sexton
tells his story, that
telephone call in
January of 2001 changed
everything.
Would he be willing to
fly to India, a country he
had never previously visited, and help some people
he had never heard of set up
an Internet poker site?
This was Sexton’s intro-
T
Party Poker’s bosses talked
about doing some commercials. The problem was no
one knew then whether the
WPT telecasts were going
to be a big hit or a big miss.
The first tournament had
not yet aired.
Sexton laid out the situation out as he saw it.
“I told them I did not
know any more than they
was the first site ever on
the Internet. By the time
we started developing our
site, Paradise Poker was far
and away the leader in the
industry.”
The big thinkers at Party
were not quite sure what
PLAYER
MIKE
Profile
Sexton
BY PHIL HEVENER
duction to what would be
known as Party Poker, the
largest of the Internet card
rooms.
Sexton was spending
time in the poker parlors of
Las Vegas at the time and
recognized the appearance
of opportunity when he saw
it.
This is also known as
being in the right place at
the right time.
Within two weeks he
was on a plane headed to
India, ready to help shape a
venture that would quickly
grow to a size no one had
anticipated.
As Sexton thinks of it
now, “One of the most successful business stories in
the history of the world.”
He continues, “I sat over
there for a couple of months
helping them develop the
software for this site.”
When the work was
finished in India, Sexton
headed for “another few
months” in the Dominican
Republic, where the customer support team was
located at the time.
Things began to happen
at supersonic speed. “We
launched Party Poker in
August of 2001 and in June
of 2005 they went public
for nine billion dollars.”
Even Sexton finds it difficult to believe how much
has happened over a relatively short period of time.
Internet poker existed in
2001, but it was very much
in its infancy.
“When I got involved
(with the Party team),”
Sexton explains, “the
whole business was not
all that big. Planet Poker
to expect from their new
creation. The first televised
WPT tournament, the event
that lit the fuse leading to
the explosion of interest in
poker, was not aired until
March 2003.
The best of everything
was still to come.
“We didn’t really feel we
could catch Paradise Poker
at that time. No one had any
real vision about what was
going to happen to Internet
poker.”
The company we now
know as Party Poker
already had an on-line
gambling site, Sexton
says. “They had the casino
side of things, and when
they got hold of me they
were thinking of just adding another division to the
company. No one thought
of poker exploding as it has.
They were just thinking that
having a full casino made
sense.”
That poker would take
over the party, so to speak
. . . well, talk about surprises.
“Where things really got
busy in a hurry,” Sexton
says, “is they were the first
Internet site to advertise on
television.”
Sexton had a lot to do
with this as plans were
made to crank up the World
Poker Tour with televised
poker tournaments.
Remembering the context within which decisions
about advertising were
being made, Sexton says
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.
did about whether World
Poker Tour telecast would
be success, but the fact
is everyone who watches
these things is going to be a
poker player. It was a builtin audience . . .
“I told them I thought
this was a perfect spot to
advertise and do it in a big
way.”
The bosses tossed this
around for awhile and came
back saying they thought
the thing to do would be to
buy a couple of ads and see
what happened.
Sexton shook his head at
this thinking. No, no, no.
He suggested buying as
many ads as the company
could get its hands on and
do it for the entire season.
He thinks about that,
remembering the way it
all went down. Because
this was a subject that was
new to everyone – would
the ads make a difference,
would anyone care about
the televised WPT tournament? – Party was able to
negotiate deals that to this
day have Sexton shaking
his head.
Party could buy two 30second ads per show, each
of them going for less than
$4,000. Sexton filmed them
in LA and quickly became
the face on the company.
“They not only bought
the whole season. They
bought the whole season
of re-runs as well and they
paid them cash up front for
all those ads. That’s something that had never been
done before and they got a
cheap rate because of that.”
The result: viewers saw
nothing but Party Poker ads
no matter what day or event
they happened to tune to.
“It’s the most phenomenal deal in terms of an
investment with a good
return I’ve ever seen
because they parlayed that
into billions of dollars.
Everything was suddenly
coming up roses for the
Party Poker executives who
had opened their cyber card
room with the intention of
doing nothing more than
complementing their existing casino.
Poker quickly became the
game everyone wanted to
talk about and Sexton was
even doing WPT commentary on the Travel Channel.
By 2001, Sexton had
been a poker player for
something close to 20 years.
Never did have a regular
paycheck in all that time.
The promise of a check and
a bonus, depending on how
things worked out, sounded
like a sweet deal that
would give him a chance to
visit some interesting places
for several months.
“My thinking was that
in case this goes over big
it will be real good for
me and if it doesn’t, well,
so what, at least I’ll have
some money for a period
of time. I was single then,
didn’t have a family to
worry about.”
Sounded like a nice break
from his Las Vegas routine.
“Part of the reason they
probably liked me, and I
don’t know what other people they might have interviewed, is that if a guy has
a family he has to pay attention to, he’s probably not
going to be able to spend
months in India and more
months in the Dominican
Republic.”
It’s worth a laugh now
as Sexton replays the scene
in his mind, that first meeting once he got to India.
“Within 15 minutes it was
absolutely clear none of
the five guys on the poker
team knew a thing in the
world about poker. It just
amaaaaaaazed me,” drawing
the word out, “that a company like this would want to
develop a poker site when
none of the guys assigned
to get the job done knew
one thing about it. They had
looked at the other sites and
saw what was happening
but they didn’t have any
sense of the game itself.”
They settled things with
the decision that Sexton
would simply tell them
what the computer had
to do to spread a game of
no limit hold ‘em and the
“poker team,” these five
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
17
Oh, Brother
LESSON 65:
Badugi Has Arrived
Lessons from mike caro
university of poker
Part 2
BY DIANE M C HAFFIE
A new and exciting form of poker has
come to town. Doyle Brunson has chosen—surprise!—
doylesroom.com to be the first online site to make the game
available. Well, actually, other sites in the Doyle Brunson
Poker Network also offer it, but all contribute to the same
virtual poker tables. The new game in town is called Badugi.
Beginnings. I’m not sure how this strange form of draw
lowball started. Some say it began in Korea and was called
Paduki. Badugi has become a hit in several of California’s
casinos, where they are even holding Badugi tournaments.
Here’s what Mike has to say about it: “It’s aggravating,
exciting, exasperating, and exhilarating. And then you play
the next 10 minutes.” He’s right! I’ve watched him play the
game. Wow! Just when you’re thrilled that you have all the
right cards, except for one, you realize that the remaining
card isn’t going to be easy to get. In Badugi, you’re dealt
four cards and it’s lowball with 4-3-2-ace being the best
hand. Well, not exactly. You can’t have any pairs, and, unlike
traditional lowball, you can’t have two of the same suit. If
you do, one card doesn’t exist. Then, you can only play three
cards, and any four-card hand beats you. Oh, and you get to
draw three times!
So, now imagine you only need one more card of a different rank and suit than what you are holding. Come on!
Noooo! Not that one! That’s the aggravating part! But if you
draw the right suit and don’t pair, you feel like jumping up
and down and yelling, badugi!
Low ranking cards. Like hold ’em, there are two blinds
and four rounds of betting, one after you first see your cards
and one after each of three drawing opportunities. At each
of those opportunities, you can take four, three, two, one, or
no cards (stand pat). If more than one player remains at the
conclusion of that final betting round, there is a traditional
poker showdown to determine who has made the lowest
badugi – or who holds the lowest hand when no badugi is
present, as I’ll explain. In limit games, the last two betting
rounds are double the stakes of the first two.
Badugi examples. You have a badugi anytime you can use
all four cards, meaning you hold four different suits and no
pairs. An example of a badugi would be an 4a 3s 2f Ad,
the best possible hand. Another example would be Kd Qa
Js 10f, the worst possible badugi. But even though that
badugi is the worst one, it’s still a badugi. And that means
it beats a much better-looking hand like 7d 3d 2a Af.
Why? It’s because if you look closely, that hand has two
hearts in it, and the biggest one—7a—simply doesn’t exist.
You can’t play four cards, so you don’t have a badugi, and if
someone else does, you lose. Of course, you do have 3-2-A,
so you’ll at least tie anyone else who fails to show badugi. If
you’re dealt 3-2-A of differing suits, it’s the best drawing hand
you can get, but if you don’t catch another low card of a different suit you can still lose to a K, Q, J, 10 of different suits.
Just remember: badugi – meaning four cards that are different suits and different ranks—will beat any three-card hand.
I dare you. Remember, too, that although this is a lowball
game, it’s unlike any you’ve ever played before. If you have a
K-Q-10-3 badugi and two players each draw a card against it
on the final try, you’re still likely to win!
You’ll find Mike playing badugi frequently at Doyle’s Room.
Maybe you and I should log on and give him a run for his
money. I’ll bet we can get badugis and beat him—at least
sometimes. Now wouldn’t that be something to brag about?
Come on, I dare you! Let’s play him!
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
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
A Joe & Hobby fiction by
David J. Valley
I
was on the fantail
of Hobby’s yacht,
Lazybuns, sipping a spicy
bloody Mary. “Hobby,
can you get a hold of your
buddy who won the 7-card
stud at the WSOP?”
“You mean Benny;
maybe. What’s up?”
“Get him on the speaker
phone, please. I’m still
working this out.”
After Hobby took care
of the preliminaries, I
spoke up. “Hi, Benny.
Maybe you can help us.
Two extraordinary things
happened yesterday. Well,
maybe just one; the second
is yet to be confirmed.
A stranger showed up at
my door who was the son
of my stepmother. I’m
overjoyed with the prospects of having some kind
of relative, and this guy,
Jimmy, who’s a really a
country boy seems to be a
nice kid. To top it off, he
tells Hobby and me that he
loves poker and has a habit
of winning. So, we put him
in a game at the Bike and
he cleans the table.”
“Really! What’s his
game?”
“That’s why we called
you, Benny. It’s 7-card.
We want to find out if last
night was just a fluke, or if
he’s got a magic touch.”
“Forget it, guys. I’ve
been playing for twentyfive years with all the
top players. No one has a
magic touch.”
“You’re probably right,
Benny, but we’d like you
to play with the kid and
see how he does. It’s worth
five-hundred to us, and
you can keep what you
win,” Hobby said.
He hesitated, and then
said, “I’ll do it, Hobby, if
you’ll give me a ride on
that fancy boat of yours.”
“Done deal,” Hobby said
gladly.
It was a couple days
before we got Benny
and Jimmy together on
Lazybuns. Hobby’s contribution was to provide
us with a panorama of the
California coast while the
old pro and novice went at
it, head-to-head. I did the
dealing. For an hour, the
momentum went back and
forth between them, Jimmy
wasn’t winning, but interestingly—against the top
player in the country—he
hadn’t lost much either.
When they took a break,
Benny said, “The kid’s
good—and lucky. I haven’t
been able to get in a
groove yet, but I will. It’s
just a matter of time.”
Benny was right about it
being a matter of time, but
it was Jimmy who found
the groove.
Just as we had seen at
the Bike, when Jimmy got
into big pots he almost
always won. We had
started them with $500 in
chips, each. Jimmy now
had them all.
“What do you think,
Joe,” Hobby asked.
“Let’s ask the expert,” I
answered. “How about it,
Benny?”
“I wouldn’t go up
against Jimmy again. He
reads me like a book.”
Hobby couldn’t wait
to grill Jimmy. “How do
you do it? Are you a mind
reader?”
“I don’t know what it is.
I study the down cards and
then try to think of what
the other guy might have.
If something doesn’t feel
right, I know he has better
cards and I fold. If I don’t
get that bad feeling, I bet.”
“Can you do it with
everyone?” I asked.
“No. Some I can’t read
at all, so I only bet against
them if I have a really
good hand.”
“I wish you could
teach us, but maybe it’s
like being psychic. You
either have it or you don’t.
Jimmy, I’m convinced
you’ve got something that
almost guarantees you’ll
be a winner. The question
is: what do you want to do
about it?”
“Do you think I could
make a living playing
poker?” he asked.
Hobby answered, “If
you could repeat what you
did at the Bike and here
today, you could make a
fortune.” I seconded that.
“I want to try,” Jimmy
said with passion, “how do
I start?”
“Jimmy, you can probably do it on your own. I’d
just caution you to start
slowly and be careful who
you associate with.”
Jimmy looked perplexed. “I wouldn’t know
where to start, or what
to do. Could you guys—
like—be my managers?”
We told Jimmy about
our success managing the
Third Eye team that won
millions and proposed we
manage and stake him for
a percentage of the winnings. He was thrilled,
chomping at the bit to get
started. We didn’t want
to over-expose Jimmy, so
we made a round robin
of casinos near our home
base, playing a few hours
at each. Jimmy, according
to our advice, kept a low
profile. He was a fairly
consistent winner and at
the end of the first week
had won about $10K.
At Commerce we heard
of a big seven-card cash
game being organized—
$50K entry, winner takes
all. Frankly, the money
was more of a commitment
than I was comfortable
with, but as a gambler, I
thought there was justification. Hobby, on the other
hand, would have gladly
put up much more.
The private game room
was spacious and brightly
lighted over the central
poker table. We were early
and stood off to the side
as others arrived. I recognized a couple of the guys
as heavy hitters at local
casinos. Suddenly Jimmy
grabbed my arm and
gasped, “Oh, no.” Then I
spotted him, too. He was
the loser who threatened
Jimmy at the Bike after
his first win. Hobby, after
enticing the guy to take
a swing at him, put him
down and had him thrown
out of the casino.
The players took their
seats and the games began.
It wasn’t long before the
troublemaker was head-tohead with Jimmy in a big
pot. He and Jimmy both
Sandia Unveils its New Expansion
struction, our guests’ needs
and wants remained top of
mind,” said Stuwart Paisano,
Governor of the Pueblo of
Sandia. “We wanted to provide luxurious amenities for
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golf course, guests will find a
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The new resort
expansion includes—
ACCOMODATIONS
198 guest rooms, 24
one-bedroom suites,
3 two-bedroom suites
er Albuquerque area and the
Rio Grande River Valley.
Meeting & Convention
Space
A spacious grand ballroom
boasts more than 27,000
square feet (divisible into
four smaller rooms). Six
breakout rooms add 5,700
square feet of additional
space and 15,000 square feet
of pre-function area. The
ballroom features a full, theater-style stage with the latest
in light and sound technologies. Each room includes
high-speed Internet access
offering both wired and wire(Continued on page 31)
Sandia’s picturesque desert setting
MEETING SPACE
50,000-square-foot
state-of-the-art
meeting space
RECREATION
Time to Ram-and-Jam at Monte Carlo.
12,000-square-foot
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Outdoor heated pool
with cabanas and fullservice bar
DINING
Bien Shur restaurant;
Bien Shur Rooftop
Lounge; The Council
Room Steakhouse;
P’a Shur Deli; Thur
Shun Buffet and Tlur
Pa Lounge
Construction on the resort
began in April of 2004. The
expansion added 434,284
square feet to the already
existing 70,000-square-foot
casino. Originally built in
2001 the casino will celebrate its fifth anniversary
this May.
Sandia Hotel
Sheltered by the magnificent
Sandia Mountains, the hotel
offers guests 228 spacious
guest rooms and suites. With
luxury designated as a top
priority, each guest room
is richly accentuated with
Southwest flavor, featuring
wood engraved bathroom
vanities and intricate ceramic
tiled entry ways to plush furniture and cozy beds. Rooms
are equipped with 32-inch
flat screen televisions, lavish
bathrooms with separate bath
tubs and walk-in showers.
Oversized picture windows
treat guests to breathtaking views of the panoramic
Sandia Mountains, the great-
[Ram-and-Jam: to bet, raise, and re-raise aggressively in order to intimidate opponents]
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D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
19
Oh, Brother
The Silent Nemesis
TRUE POKER
Part 2
By Peter “The Poet” COsta
I have many fond memories of playing poker at the Commerce Casino
in Los Angeles. Apart from tournaments, it has proven to become my favorite
place for the side action. Though the NL Holdem
has provided me with much article material in
the past - I just happened to recall a session of
Stud that took place back in January 2004.
Playing 200-400 limits - I had been having
a very good time during my month-long stay.
Having a good insight into my opponents was no
doubt helping in putting together a string of winning sessions. Then one day, a stranger came to
town…
He looked more of a businessman than a poker
player. However, that didn’t stop him from beating me in every hand that we played against
each other. The problem was, I started with very
strong hands while he seemed determined to call
every bet and raise on what mostly turned out
to be poor draws. What made it worse, was my
determination to make it as expensive as possible. But undeterred, he called each bet and then
either bet or raised on the river. I was wasting
my time that day. If it wasn’t for the fact that I
virtually won every pot when he was not in the
hand - it would have been a very expensive session. And anyway, I was also being stubborn that
day - I wanted to catch him at least one time.
OK…perhaps two or three.
Anyhow, it was late into the session and nothing much had changed. He is still turning over
a straight or a flush on the river. Why can’t I fill
up just once? I try to strike up some sort of conversation with him - but nothing. Not one word
from the guy. Not giving him any grief here - just
trying to be friendly etc. Suddenly…..I have a
chance to catch him at last.
The hand was four-way action as we get dealt
the fourth street. Starting with 4-4-4 - a suited
5 now makes me look as having a draw. I therefore just call the raise from my nemesis who
started the hand with open Ten’s. At this stage, I
obviously have to worry about him having another Ten in the hole. My worries disappeared as I
made quads four’s on fifth street. Finally, I have
him. We went to war before sixth street - I have
him beat. After the river, the war continued. But
something happened on the way to just playing
the hand as I should have - I simply forgot that I
could lose it!
By my fifth raise, we had attracted a small
gathering. I obviously should have known that
I was beat when he re-raised again. I suppose
that I allowed my image of him to get in the way.
However loose he was playing in calling a lot of
bets on a draw - it did not justify my fourth raise
- never mind the two that followed. I must have
lost about 40 big bets during the six hands that
he beat me in (probably 40% in that one hand
alone) - but serves me right for making him a
target. Now I don’t suggest that one should not
have certain targets during a game, however, it
does not change what should be plainly obvious!
And anyhow, if you cant beat the target once
during a session - its time for a different target!
The Bellagio Five Diamonds is now under
way for what should be a great three weeks of
poker—let’s see what stories we come up with! .
Until next time - play well, get lucky and
know when your beat!
20
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
had straights, but Jimmy’s
was one card higher. The
loser was livid and shook
his fist at Jimmy. After that
big loss to Jimmy, he was
on tilt and soon wiped out
and departed.
The game went on
into the wee hours of
the morning. Jimmy was
doing well and was one
of the last three players.
A hand Jimmy mucked
after the deal turned into a
Donnybrook as the other
two players bet heavily card after card until
one went all in. The loser
was out of chips, leaving Jimmy heads-up with
one player. An hour later,
Jimmy had it all. He took a
receipt for $450,000.
We were giddy with
Jimmy’s success and a
bit numb from the strenuous concentration on the
match. Jimmy was behind
us as we headed out of the
casino. A scream pierced
the air. We turned to see
someone hitting Jimmy
over the head with a club.
It was our sore loser, but
this time he was trying to
kill Jimmy. Within seconds, Hobby and I were
all over the guy, but I
was afraid it was too late.
Blood was streaming from
Jimmy’s head.
It was little consolation
to see the cops taking the
assailant away in handcuff.
We rode in the ambulance
with Jimmy as the medics
worked over him. He was
unconscious. There were
tense hours ahead with
Jimmy in the operating
room. At last a doctor still
in messy scrubs came to us
with the news. “We opened
the cranium to relieve the
pressure of accumulated
blood. He had a serious
concussion, but there may
not be any permanent brain
damage. We’ll know in a
day or too.”
Jimmy recovered completely, with one exception.
He had lost his knack for
reading other players. “It’s
a hell of a tragedy, Jimmy.
We’re really sorry,” I told
him after we learned he’d
lost the touch.
“It’s okay, guys. I don’t
think I was cut out for
that kind of life anyway.
The good part is that I
now have money to buy a
garage back in Kansas and
work on engines. I think
I’ll be happier doing that.”
“That’s great,” Hobby
said, “I guess poker isn’t
for everyone.”
Write to uthor David Valley at:
[email protected]
Player Profile: Mike Sexton
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17
guys who did not know
anything about poker would
create the necessary program.
So Sexton began telling
them that when this guy
raises, these other people do
this, this and this.
They were quickly working together like a welloiled team.
A bit more than four
years after the launch Party
Poker is – no doubt about it
– the biggest of all Internet
poker rooms.
“Every day we’ve got
something like 70,000
people playing poker . .
. It’s incredible when you
think of what cyber space
does, putting all those
people and tables in what
we think of one room. You
couldn’t ever come close to
something like that in a real
casino.”
Party’s current registration total is “over five million” or a good million and
a half more than second
place Poker Stars.
“When we first started,”
Sexton says, “Probably
90 percent of our business
was in the U.S. It’s about
80 to 85 percent (U.S.)
now. They’re going after
the international market
far more than they used to.
They recognize the potential
for the expansion of poker
around the globe.”
Other poker sites, he
adds, have put their own
spins on a similar strategy
as the rich menu of tournaments and big money
events from Monte Carlo to
Amsterdam and Las Vegas
have brought the globalization of poker to those with
something to sell.
Sexton was a well-established poker pro headquartered in Las Vegas when he
responded to Party Poker’s
call. As a commentator now
for the WPT telecasts, he
can no longer play there but
has recently participated
in multiple seasons of the
televised Poker Superstars
Invitational.
But more than anything
now he is called on to talk
about poker and what it is
becoming.
“There’s no telling
what the potential is in
Asia. As we all know, the
Asians are gamblers at
heart and they’re starting
to love poker now. The
World Poker Tour has even
franchised a tour in the
Philippines. That’s certainly
going to enhance on-line
poker in that area, but Asia
is probably going to be the
prime target for most online gambling sites because
of that potential . . .”
He hesitates, probably
looking for words that create a sufficiently large pic-
ture.
“It’s just endless.”
How long can it all go
on?
Sexton gives the question a “who knows” kind
of shrug. “My fear has
always been that you put
poker on television seven
days a week and people are
going to get tired of watching it after awhile. The
WPT shows on The Travel
Channel does as well in
re-runs as they do the first
time around. That’s why
all the networks like it, but
I’m thinking that’s only the
cream, the best shows are
going to stay on top. The
rest will fall by the way.”
The same goes for poker
sites.
“When we started,” he
says, “there was maybe only
three or four. Now there
must be a couple hundred of
them out there. They can’t
all survive but the top 10
will probably continue to do
well. The rest of them are
gonna struggle.”
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
21
The Poker Express Steams
Through Washington
Quizzes from Mike Caro University of Poker
NORTH BY NORTHWEST
By Byron Liggett
Once again, it’s that time of year when
players pack the POKER EXPRESS. When
last contacted by this columnist, it was winding through
Washington, the Evergreen State.
Every boy ‘n girl wants a good seat on the Poker Express.
Among the most popular stations where players can get tickets to ride is the Drift-On-Inn, in north Seattle. Its owner,
Mark Mitchell, is the Conductor on the Poker Express.
Conductor Mitchell understands what players on the Poker
Express want; he’s been ridin’ the rails a long time. “They’re
seeking adventure, excitement, action, and romance. Here at
the Drift-On-Inn we fulfill their fantasies”, he smiles.
And, if it’s fame and stardom you want, the Conductor will
be happy to let you off in Hollywood. It’s a multi-million dollar
gaming, dining and entertainment club right next door to the
Drift-On-Inn. In addition to poker, it features one of the most
impressive private collections of movie star autographs and
memorabilia in the country handsomely displayed throughout
the premises.
Traveling north, in Everett, the Flop Flyer stops at everybody’s favorite, the Final Table Casino. For a lot of players,
this is the only Final Table they’ll ever see. But it’s a good
one. There’s a fine restaurant (called “The Final Table”)
and a sexy nightclub appropriately called “Club No Limit”.
Remember, real players make it to the Final Table.
Grand Central Station for poker in the Seattle/Tacoma area
is the Muckleshoot Casino, in Auburn. Poker Manager Dennis
Willits is the Station Master. Whether you’re going to Omaha
or Texas, you won’t have to wait long at the rail.
What’s more, after the Holidays, the Muckleshoot intends
to greatly expand its Poker Round-House. They’re going to
more than double the number of tables, bringing the total
to about 35! According to Willits, players won’t have a problem catching the Hold’em Limited or even the much faster
Hold’em Unlimited.
The Poker Express has an exciting new stop in Olympia,
the state capitol. The Red Wind Casino blew in a couple of
months ago and it’s already become a favorite with breezy
bettors. Poker Manager Mike Pettigrew invites everyone to
fly flops in the Red Wind.
Next, the Poker Express pulls into La Center, where players can experience The Last Frontier. It’s like a gold mining town, packed with players all looking for a big strike.
GM Michael Holt is Sheriff. Casino Manager Elliot Peskin is
Marshall. The two men have made the Last Frontier popular
Poker Territory.
The Poker Express now follows the mighty Columbia River
east to the wheat fields and ranches of the Yakima Valley.
The next stop is no ordinary station; it’s the Legends Casino,
where players come to prey, or be preyed for.
The Lady of the Legends, Poker Manager April MosesHyipeer, tends to her flop flock, providing encouragement and
faith. She tells them they must go to the river to find The Truth.
Loaded with sinners and winners, it’s time to boogey. The
Poker Express heads north to Spokane, for the Classic Rock
Casino. This is where Elvis, Jerry Lee, and Fats Domino play.
Instead of Dick Clark, Poker Manager Mike Hansen is leader
of this American Hand-stand. There’s always a Flop Hop being
played and lots of rock’n rollers ready to do their thing… or
yours.
Every kid wants to take a ride on the Poker Express this
time of year. With visions of locks, big pots, and fantasy
flops stuffed in their heads, they can’t wait to get a seat.
So, to those of you who will ride the Poker Express over the
Holidays, may all your flops be hits!
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]
22
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
asked & answered:
This series is based on the MCU library of research and advice found at Poker1.com.
Each issue, Mike Caro presents 10 new questions covering a category of poker, targeted
for beginner, intermediate, or advanced players. Quiz #35 is about great players, past
and present, for advanced players. (Answers and explanations appear in the next issue.)
Great players—
past and present
(level: advanced)
1. Who was the youngest player ever inducted in
Binion’s Poker Hall of Fame?
a. David “Chip” Reese;
b. Stu Ungar;
c. Daniel Negreanu;
d. Amarillo Slim.
2. What Binion’s Poker Hall
of Fame member is credited
with bringing hold ’em to Las
Vegas?
a. Amarillo Slim;
b. Doyle Brunson;
c. Felton McCorquodale;
d. Oklahoma Johnny Hale.
3. In a 1984 poker exhibition at the World Series of
Poker, Mike Caro’s artificially
intelligent poker player, Orac,
went against two world
champions, winning one of
three matches. Who were the
two opponents?
a. Amarillo Slim and Stu
Ungar;
b. Johnny Chan and Dewey
Tomko;
c. Johnny Moss and Jack
Straus;
d. Tom McEvoy and Doyle
Brunson.
4. What famous poker playing entrepreneur beat Orac
on national TV in 1984 in a
$500,000 challenge?
a. Eric Drache;
b. Jack Binion;
c. Bob Stupak;
d. Steve Wynn.
5. Which famous woman
player holds a championship
world series of poker bracelet
in 7-card lowball (razz)?
a. Barbara Enright;
b. Linda Johnson;
c. Annie Duke;
d. Jennifer Harman.
6. Who was the 2005
inductee into the Binion’s
Poker Hall of Fame?
a. Crandell Addington;
b. Jack Binion;
c. Steve Forbes;
d. Bobby Baldwin.
7. Who was among the
first-year inductees into the
Binion’s Poker Hall of Fame in
1979?
a. Puggy Pearson;
b. Titanic Thompson;
c. Jack Keller;
d. Red Winn.
8. Which player has never
won the World Series of
Poker main event?
a. Doyle Brunson;
b. Bill Boyd;
c. Mansour Matloubi;
d. none of the above (all
have won).
9. Doyle Brunson’s most
famous hold ’em hand is K-3…
a. true;
b. false.
10. Maverick was an actual
old-West poker player who
wrote three books on the
topic…
a. true;
b. false.
WATCH FOR
ANSWERS IN OUR
NEXT ISSUE!
If you do not remember the questions, you will find them on our
web site—Download previous issues at
http://www.pokerplayernewspaper.com/
to last issue’s questions
backissues
answers
Q #1 ANSWER: (c). Doyle
Brunson, Johnny Chan,
and Phil Hellmuth have
won the most gold bracelets at the World Series
of Poker. Brunson and
Chan have won 10 each;
Hellmuth has won 9.
Q #2 ANSWER: (b). The
often-heard quip, “All
you need is a chip and a
chair,” is thought to have
been started when Jack
Straus won a tournament
in 1982. He bet what he
thought were all his chips,
without declaring “allin,” and discovered -- as
he was leaving the table
after losing the hand - that he had one chip
remaining. He quickly won
a pot with it and went on
the win the tournament.
Q #3 ANSWER: (c).
Modern poker is thought
to have evolved from a
French game called Poque.
Q #4 ANSWER: (b). Threecard lowball has never
appeared as a championship gold bracelet event at
the World Series of Poker.
Five-card draw, sevencard stud lowball (razz),
and deuce-to-seven lowball (Kansas City) have.
Q #5 ANSWER: (d). The
name of David Sklansky’s
milestone book that
defined the governing
concepts of poker is The
Theory of Poker.
Q #6 ANSWER: (c).
Doyle Brunson’s original
Super/System – A Course
in Power Poker was first
published in 1978 under
the title How I Made Over
$1,000,000 Playing Poker.
Q #7 ANSWER: (a). It’s
true that the sequel to
Super/System (Super/
System 2) wasn’t published until 2005 – 27
years after the original.
Q #8 ANSWER: (a). The
name of John Fox’s pioneering book on poker
was Quit Work, Play Poker,
and Sleep Till Noon.
Q #9 ANSWER: (c). The
Embassy was the name
of the Gardena card club
that sat on the site where
the Hustler Casino is
today. It was replaced by
the Eldorado Club, which
stopped operating in the
1990s.
Q #10 ANSWER: (b).
False. History does not
record a tournament of
23 top players, called
“The Gathering of Poker
Professionals,” held in
1958 – 12 years before the
birth of the World Series
of Poker.
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26
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
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 Tournament Editor A.R. Dyck, [email protected]
| WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY
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
LAS VEGAS & NEVADA SOUTH
Aladdin
Arizona Charlie’s
Caesars Palace
Cannery Casino
Carson Valley Inn
Circus Circus
Col.Belle-Laughlin
Flamingo Laughlin
Golden Nugget
Harrah’s Las Vegas
Luxor
Nevada Palace
Oasis-Mesquite
Rio Suite Casino
River Palms
Speedway
Stardust
CALIFORNIA—
LOS ANGELES NEVADA NORTH
Virgin River Casino
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
Club One Casino
Commerce Club
Hawaiian Gardens
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 28
Debbie Burkhead interviews Michael Matts
for making your job a little
easier?
MM: I receive great support from our President,
Gary Selesner and our Vice
President, John Unwin.
They have made a great
commitment to poker and
are very serious about
creating the best poker
room we can. Howard
Greenbaum, Vice President
of Specialty Gaming has
given me a wonderful
opportunity to run the
room and Jimmy Wike,
Vice President of Casino
Operations has spearheaded a great property
response to poker.
DB: Rumor has it that
Caesars will host the
WSOP in 2006, is there
any truth to that?
MM: No, we believe we
have a great location at the
Rio that works for everyone.
DB: Are the dates set for
the 2006 WSOP?
MM: Yes, kick off will
begin on June 25 and the
main event will begin on
July 27.
DB: Ok, now the big question. What‘s your prediction for the number of
entrants for the main event
of the 2006 WSOP?
MM: I’ll set the overunder at 7500.
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
27
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
CALIFORNIA—SAN DIEGO CALIF—
& INLAND EMPIRE
L.A.
TIME
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 27)
|
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
Hustler Casino
Normandie Casino
Casino Morongo
Casino Pauma
Harrah’s Rincon
Lake Elsinore
Lucky Lady
Oceans Eleven
Sycuan
Viejas
Village Club
CALIFORNIA—NORTH
Artichoke Joe’s
Bay 101
Cache Creek
California Grand
Casino San Pablo
Garden City
Gold Rush
Golden West-Bakersfield
Kelly’s Cardroom
Lucky Chances
Lucky Derby Casino
Oaks Card Club
Sonoma Joe’s
Tachi Palace Casino
Blue Water Casino
Bucky’s Casino
SOUTHWEST
AZ
Casino Del Sol
Cliff Castle
Fort McDowell
Gila River/Wild Horse Pass
Gila River-Vee Quiva
Harrah’s Ak Chin
Hon-Dah Casino
Paradise Casino
Midnight Rose
Ute Mountain
CO
KS Harrah’s Prarie Band
Cities of Gold
NM Isleta Casino & Resort
NM
Route 66 Casino
OK
PACIFIC NORTHWEST
Comanche Red River Cas.
OR
WA
Chinook Winds Casino
Wildhorse Casino Resort
Blue Mountain Casino
Chips Bremerton
Chips La Center
Chips Lakewood
Chips Tukwila
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 29
Gold Strike to Host
The World Poker Open
returns to Tunica for its seventh year and will be held
exclusively at Gold Strike
Casino Resort. Attended
by both nationally and
internationally renowned
poker players, the Gold
28
Strike World Poker Open
begins Jan. 9 and culminates with the World Poker
Tour’s championship event
January 19-23. Considered
one of the biggest and most
successful poker tournaments in the world, Gold
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
Strike is now the exclusive
site for the World Poker
Tour’s annual televised stop
in Tunica.
will include 10 tournament
events, with buy-ins starting
from $1000 up to $10,000
for the WPT championship
finale. In addition, there
will be 10 nightly no-limit
hold’em tournaments with
a $500 buy-in + $40 entry
fee. The popular Ladies No
Limit Hold’em tournament
is scheduled for Saturday,
Jan. 21 with a $300 buy in
+ $40 entry fee. All tournaments start with double
chips, including $20,000 in
Championship event.
In addition to a milliondollar prize pool, the winner of the final event will
O.C. Woman Counting Down To WSOP
Michelle Rovello of Irvine,
CA will find herself sitting
among the best of the best
card players in Las Vegas
this summer for the 2006
World Series of Poker. On
Thursday, November 10,
2005, Michelle and 103
other lady card players went
head to head to determine
who would emerge victorious in the Pechanga Ladies’
Only Hold ‘Em tournament.
The last lady standing in
this monthly tournament
wins a $1,000 entry to the
Ladies’ Championship event
at the 2006 World Series of
Poker in Las Vegas on July
9, 2006, plus whatever earnings she accumulates during
tournament play. After several hours of intense poker
play, Michelle came out
ahead of her competitors and
now reigns as November’s
Pechanga Ladies’ Hold ‘Em
Champion.
DAILY TOURNAMENTS (CONT’D FROM PAGE 28)
MONDAY
MIDWEST
NORTHEAST
NORTHWEST
PACIFIC N’WEST
TIME
WA
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
Final Table Cas., Everett
Goldie’s
Little Creek Casino
Muckleshoot Casino
Northern Quest
Suquamash Clearwater
Wild Grizzly
MN Fortune Bay Casino
Northern Light Casino
Shooting Star Casino
MT Black Jack’s Casino
4 Bears Casino
ND Dakota Magic
NE Rosebud Casino
SD
Dakota Sioux
Gold Dust Cas., Deadwood
Rosebud Casino
CT
Foxwoods
NJ
Caesar’s Atlantic City
Harrah’s Atlantic City
Tropicana
Trump Taj Mahal
Akwesasne Mohawk
NY
IA
IL
IN
MI
MISSISSIPPI RIVER
|
GAMES BUY-IN| TIME
LA
MO
Turning Stone
Catfish Bend
Isle of Capri
Winn-A-Vegas
Hollywood Casino-Aurora
Belterra (Florence)
Caesars Indiana
Trump Indiana
Chip-In’s Island
Gold Strike Casino Resort
Grand Coushatta
Horseshoe CasinoShreveport
Harrah’s St Louis
Isle of Capri
Copa Casino
MS Grand Casino(Tunica)
FLORIDA
Pearl River Resort
Dania Jai-Alai
Derby Lane
Hard Rock
Palm Beach Kennel Club
Palm Beach Princess
Pompano Park Casino
Seminole Hollywood Cas.
St Tropez Cruise
CANADA Casino Regina
World
receive a championship
bracelet and a $25,500 seat
in the World Poker Tour
Championship at Bellagio
in April 2006.
will be hosted by Jack
McClelland, one of the
Poker
world’s most respected
tournament directors, and
current director of poker
tournaments at Bellagio. A
25-year industry veteran,
McClelland spent 15 years
with the World Series of
Poker and was the director
for the Commerce Casino
in Los Angeles for nine
years.
“We are thrilled to once
again be hosting the highstakes action of the World
Poker Open,” said Kathy
Santiago, vice president
Open
of casino operations at
Gold Strike. “As one of
the newest additions to the
MGM MIRAGE family,
and sister property of the
Bellagio and Mirage, we
plan to take the tournament
to a new level this year. In
addition to providing superior service and a first-rate
event, by providing double
the amount of chips with
each buy-in, we are offering the players an opportunity to stay in action
longer.”
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
29
Seniors Scene
ene
Was I Just Plain Lucky, Finally?
Was
I Just Plain Lucky, Finally?
The Poker gods had not been good to me.
ust Plain
PlayingLucky,
$4-$8 hold’emFinally?
at the Normandie
By George “The Engineer” Ep stein
SENIORS SCENE
W.C. Fields
“The Engineer” Ep stein
The
gods
hadengineer”
not been go
od to me. Playing $4-$8 Humorist
hold’em at and
the Hustler
By Poker
George
“The
EPSTEIN
Normandie Casino in Gardena, Calif., I was losing. Then, inBy
an Byron
early Liggett
ods had not
been
good
to
me.
Playing
$4-$8
hold’em
at
the
“What
is
the chief end of
Casino
in
Gardena,
Calif.,
I
was
losing.
Then,
position, I was dealt A-10 offsuit. With several players in, the flop
asino inbrought
Gardena,
Calif.,
I
was
losing.
Then,
in
an
early
man?
To get rich.
in an early
position,
I
was
dealt
A-10
offsuit.
With
several
me what looked like th e solution to my problem:
as dealt A-10
offsuit.
With
several
players
in,
the
flop
In what way? Dishonestly
players in, the flop brought me what looked like the soluwhat loo ked like the solution to my problem:
if we can, honestly if
tion to my problem:
we must.”
I had trip 10s with
—Mark Twain
the ace kicker! Wow!
More than any other
I bet on the flop and
American entertainer, on
was raised by a late
stage, in silent films and
position opponent.
I had trip 10s with the ace kick er!I knew
Wow!
I bet
on the flop
and W.C.
was raised
talkies,
Fields, charhe was
fairly
byaggressive
a late position
opponent.
I
knew
he
was
fairly
aggressive
and
loose,
so
acterized and personified
and loose,
was on
notthe
too flop
worried. Surely,
my
s with the
ace not
kicker!
Wow!soI I Surely,
bet
wastheraised
I was
too worried.
my tripsand
were
best hand. To make a
trips were
the best
hand.
To
make a long storyand
short,
the so Twain’s tongue-in-cheek
ition opponent.
I knew
was
fairly
loose,
long story
short,hethe
turn
and aggressive
river brought blanks.
On the river, with
observation.
turn
and river
brought
blanks.
Onbest
the hand.
river, with
three
of us
worried.
Surely,
my
trips
were
the
To
make
three of us still in the pot, my trip tens lost to hisatens-full-of-fours. He
ort, the had
turn
and
brought
blanks.
On
the
river,
with
The statement
still10-4
in theriver
pot,
my
trip
tens
lost
to
his
tens-full-of-fours.
He
of diamonds in the hole, an d had flopped the full boat
at the sums-up
ill in thesame
pot,10-4
myoftrip
tens
lost
toIhole,
his
He
satirizes
“The Gilded
had
diamonds
in the
and
had flopping
flopped thetrip
full
time
that
I thought
wastens-full-of-fours.
lucky
tens. Iand
made
a
diamondsconscious
in the
andtime
had
flopped
the
full
boat
at
the
Age”,
the
name
Twain
boat
at hole,
theeffort
same
that
I
thought
I
was
lucky
flopping
not to go on tilt. In fact, I took a brisk walk to get some
at I thought
I
was
lucky
flopping
trip
tens.
I
made
a
gave
to
the
1880s,
‘90s
trip
tens.
I
made
a
conscious
effort
not
to
go
on
tilt.
In
fact,
fresh air.
fort not toI took
go on
tilt. walk
In fact,
took fresh
a brisk
and early 1900s, when
a brisk
to getI some
air. walk to get some
America’s Captains of
luck
abouttotochange?
change? A few hands after returnWasWas
my my
luck
about
Aing
few
hands
afterI was
returning
fromsevens.
my walk,
dealt pocket
sevens.
I the
Industry
harnessed
from
my walk,
dealt pocket
I wasI inwas
a late
about towas
ch ange?
in a late
position;
y there
five call erscountry’s
and no raises.
rich resources. It
position;
fortunately
therefortunatel
were five callers
andwere
no raises.
after returning
from
walk,
I wasodds.
dealt pocket
sevens.
I
That
gave
memy
good
implied
I waited
withbreath
baited
breath
flop,
was a for
newthe
game
and the
That
gave me
good
implied
odds.
I call
waited
with
baited
position;
fortunatel
y
there
were
five
ers
and
no
raises.
hoping
to
make
a
set.
Then
the
flop
cam
e:
aggressive, often ruthless
theodds.
flop, hoping
to make
a set.
Thenbreath
the flopfor
came:
e good impfor
lied
I waited
with
baited
the flop,
tactics of men like steel
That
gave
me
three
ke a set. Then the flop cam e:
magnate Andrew Carnegie,
sevens! I was pleased
railroad mogul Cornelius
to say the least. But, at
Vanderbilt, and oil czar
the same time. I was a
John D. Rockefeller
bit apprehensive, the
enabled them to accuway the cards had been
mulate
going
for
me,
one
of
my
opponents
might
be
sitting
there
That gave me three sevens! I was pleased to say the least.
But,incomprehensible
at the
wealth
sobriquet
with atime.
set ofI queens
against
my set of sevens.
I decided
to
same
was a bit
apprehensive,
the way
the cards
had
been…and
goingthe
for
e three sevens!
Iofwas
say
the of
least.
But,there
at the
Barons”.
“test
the
waters”
to seetowhat
kind
response
I would
get a set“Robber
me,
one
mypleased
opponents
might
be
sitting
with
of queens
was a bit
apprehensive,
the
way the
cards had
been
going
for
against
my setonofthe
sevens.
decided
to and
“test
the
to see
whatClaude
kind
William
when
I raised
flop.
No Ione
reraised;
now
wewaters”
were
y opponents might be sitting there with a set of queens
Dukenfield was born in
down to four players. I assumed my three sevens were in
et of sevens. I decided to “test the waters” to see what kind
Philadelphia, in 1880, the
the lead; hopefully they would hold up this time.
son of English immigrants.
The turn brought a small spade. Now there were two each
He grew-up poor on the
spades and hearts on the board – possible flush draws. They
mean streets of the “City
all checked to me. I was going to make them pay to draw,
of Brotherly Love” and
so I bet and was called by two opponents. Then the river
received little formal educame: another queen, and it was the queen of spades, putcation. Instead, he learned
ting three spades on the board. I had just made sevens-fullto live by his wits, wisdom
of-queens on the river, so I wouldn’t mind a flush out there.
and hard work.
But I would be second-best against queens full. The way my
When he saw his
luck had been going that evening, it was a strong possibility,
first juggling act as a
I thought. . . To say the least, I was apprehensive and fearboy, it changed his life.
ful, but hopeful.
Determined to learn the
An early-position player bet into us. The next player
trade, he ran away from
raised. The thought occurred to me: Was I about to lose to
home at 11 and joined
queens full? Of course I called the raise. The early position
a vaudeville troupe.
reraised and then it was capped by the other player. Oh, Oh,
Vaudeville was the popular
I thought, as I called – and watched with baited breath as
new entertainment industry
the last raiser turned up A-Q. He had trip queens. The earlythat emerged with indusposition better had made the spade flush on the river. My
trialization and the growth
sevens-full took the pot! And it was a good size pot, putting
of urban centers. A variety
me ahead for the first time that evening.
show, it threw everything
Was I just plain lucky??? . . . So readers, what’s
at the audience, including
YOUR opinion?
music, singers, jugglers,
animal acts, clowns, comGeorge “The Engineer” Epstein is the author of The
edy, magic, and acrobats.
Greatest Book of Poker for Winners! (T/C Press, PO
The young man spent
Box 36006, Los Angeles, CA 90036). His new algorithm
every free moment pracbooklet, Hold’em or Fold’em?, was a big hit at the recent
ticing juggling routines.
World Poker Players Conference. George teaches a poker
By the time he was in his
course for seniors at the Claude Pepper Sr. Citizen Center
twenties, he’d adopted
under the auspices of the City of Los Angeles Dept. of
the name W.C. Fields and
Recreation and Parks. He is currently writing a new book
was considered one of the
on Rules & Strategies for WINNING at Texas Hold’em.
George can be reached by e-mail: [email protected].
30
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
world’s greatest jugglers.
During these early
years in vaudeville, Fields
learned to shoot pool and
play poker from some of
the best pros and hustlers
on the vaudeville circuit.
He became a master of
both cue and cards. He
incorporated these skills
into his act, performing a
variety of skits using trick
shots, sleight-of-hand,
manipulation, and deception.
By 1920, radio, silent
films, and eventually
“talkies”, brought an end
to vaudeville. Talented
performers like W.C.
Fields, Buster Keaton,
Jack Benny, and the Marx
Brothers were among the
big vaudeville names that
were able to successfully
make the transition.
W.C. Fields made his
film debut in a 1915 silent
short called Pool Sharks.
It featured a pool ball
juggling routine from
his vaudeville show. It
launched Fields’ career
and established his public
persona as that of a wisecracking, understated hero
or hustler who always
knew the score.
Relying on exquisite
timing, a rapacious sense
of comedy, and highly
developed skills learned
during his vaudeville
years, W.C. Fields became
a leading American
entertainer. His loveable
and larcenous character,
surviving in a world of
sharpies, struck a sympathetic chord with Great
Depression Era audiences.
The climax of Fools for
Luck, in 1928, is a pool
game between Fields and
the bad guy with a large
wager riding on the outcome. Our hero wins the
game and vanquishes the
villain after putting on an
amazing display of trick
shots all performed without special effects or camera manipulation.
Throughout the 1930s
and ‘40s, W.C. Fields films
were often vehicles for
his loveable but larcenous
character. In Mississippi,
he’s a riverboat captain. A
highlight of the film is a
hilarious poker playing bit.
In Poppy, Fields manages
to deal himself four fours
in a Stud game and win a
$1000 pot even though he
wasn’t in the hand!
In another film Fields
watches a poker game
in saloon in a gold rush
town. Anxious to enter the
action, he announces he’d
like to play and proudly
puts a one hundred dollar
bill on the table. Without
even looking up from the
game, one of the players
says, “Give him a white
chip.”
Among film classics are
several films W.C. Fields
made with Mae West. In
one film, the sultry, sexy,
wise-cracking vamp delivered her most famous line,
one that seemed to capture
her persona for posterity.
As she’s approached by
an eager young man, she
asks, “Is that a gun in your
pocket, or are you just
glad to see me?”
In My Little Chickadee
(1940), Fields plays cards
and Mae West plays the
cowboys. She asks him,
“Poker, isn’t that a game
of chance?” To which
Fields replies, “No my
dear, not the way I play
it.”
Despite his public
image, W.C. Fields wasn’t
much of a gambler. One
biographer says, “He
shied away from the relaxing dedication to dice,
cards and horses that was
favored by many of his
successful friends.”
Instead, golf and tennis were the comedian’s
first loves. An excellent
athlete, he played well and
was known to bet heavy
on matches. He belonged
to a golf group called the
“Divot Diggers” who bet
heavily. In one day he won
two Lincoln sedans from
the same player!
Fields had a number
of ploys to protect his
interests. He always car(Continued on page 44)
Sandia
less capabilities.
When Hunger Calls…
Sandia Resort and Casino’s
wide variety of restaurant
options will temp taste buds
and make mouths water. The
expertise of Executive Chef
Salim Khoury assures all
dishes exceed guests’ expectations. Guests can chose
from dining at the Bien
Shur Restaurant, offering
unique Southwest cuisine, to
dining alfresco at the Bien
Shur Lounge located on the
seventh floor of the hotel. A
swanky steakhouse, the convenient P’a Shur deli or the
Thur Shan Buffet are other
options to satisfy guests’
hunger.
A Spa-tacular
Experience
The 12,000-square-foot, full
service Green Reed Spa will
offer ten treatment rooms
including a couple’s room, a
state-of-the-art fitness center,
and a full service hair and
nail salon.
Sandia Golf Club
The 18-hole, Scott Miller
designed golf course stretches 4,900 yards from the front
tees to more than 7,700 yards
from the back. The high
desert, rugged landscape features 48 strategically placed
bunkers that will challenge
golfers of all levels. Golfers
can perfect their swings at
the full-size driving range
or at the 10,000-square-foot
putting and chipping practice
green and bunker.
Make a Splash
After a long day of meetings
or a round of golf, relax and
soak in some rays by the
heated outdoor pool or whirlpool with a drink from the
full service bar.
Sandia Casino
Discover why more than
250,000 people visit the
Sandia Casino each month.
The 70,000-square-foot, Las
Vegas style casino offers
New Mexico’s largest poker
room with 15 tables, featuring Texas Hold ‘em, Omaha
and Seven Card Stud. Take
your chances with Blackjack,
Craps, Roulette, Mini
Baccarat, Pai Gow Poker,
Three Card Poker, Let it
Ride or Caribbean Stud. The
casino also features 1,700
slot machines and high-limit
table games.
Sandia Resort & Casino
is owned and operated by
the Sandia Native American
Tribe. The Sandia reservation
covers 22,877 acres on the
west side of the breathtaking
Sandia Mountains. The resort
is less than 10 miles from the
Albuquerque International
Airport. Minutes from
Historic Old Town and
downtown Albuquerque, it’s
conveniently located off of
Interstate 25, near Balloon
Fiesta Park. For more information visit www.sandiaresortandcasino.com.
WHAT HAS YOUR POKER ROOM
DONE FOR YOU LATELY?
$599
Earn $599 monthly when you play 126
hours – any live game, any limit, any time.
Earn DOUBLE HOURS from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. daily!
See or call the Jokers Wild Poker Room for details.
(702) 567-8474
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
31
Perks and Picks
Harrah’s Laughlin Casino & Hotel has opened the new
World Series of Poker Store located in the hotel lobby. The
store features World Series of Poker labeled merchandise
from apparel to glassware to chip sets and
Card Room Roundup
The Bargain Bin
By H. Scot Krause
more. Enter the World Series of Poker
Store through the tailored black and white
canopied door complemented by large World
Series of Poker illuminated chips. In a color palette of deep
green, black, white and buff, the outlet is equipped with a
plasma television showing footage of the 2005 World Series
of Poker event held earlier this year at the Rio All-Suite Hotel
& Casino in Las Vegas. A friendly cashier provides first-class
customer service at the poker table-shaped counter.
Before pulling up a seat at the Harrah’s Laughlin poker
room, a player may want to select some poker-themed
clothing. Apparel such as World Series of Poker leather
jackets, comfortable t-shirts and sweatshirts, fashionable
visors and caps are available. Players may hope to hide
their poker “tells” by purchasing popular novelty glasses
and trendy sunglasses.
Merchandise such as deluxe World Series of Poker 500and 300-piece chip sets, coffee mugs, glassware, duffel
bags, magnets and key chains in various designs and sizes
may be purchased at the outlet.
The Harrah’s Laughlin World Series of Poker Store hours
of operation are Sunday through Thursday from 6:00 a.m.
to 11:00 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 6:00 a.m. to
midnight.
Also in Laughlin, the Flamingo Laughlin is now conducting daily No-Limit Texas Hold ‘Em Tournaments at 8:00 a.m.
for a maximum of 24 players daily. The Flamingo Laughlin
is currently owned by Harrah’s Entertainment with a sale
pending to Carl Icahn’s American Real Estate Partners for
$170 million. American Real Estate Partners, owners of the
Las Vegas Stratosphere and two Arizona Charlie’s casinos
in Las Vegas and the Sands in Atlantic City, also bought an
undeveloped 7.7-acre parcel in Atlantic City in the deal. For
additional information on Flamingo Laughlin poker tournaments, call the poker room at (702) 298-5055.
Maybe due to the slower holiday season in Las Vegas,
Wynn Las Vegas is currently giving away two comp (free)
buffets to new Red Card (slot club) enrollees who earn just
50 points during their first visit. We can’t be certain how
long this special will last so call ahead or get there soon!
Accumulate 500 points and collect another two free buffets
plus $10 in free slot play. The free buffets cannot be used
on weekends.
Spending New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas? The New Year’s
Eve Downtown Fremont Street Experience party will feature Cheap Trick, the Gin Blossoms, and the Spin Doctors
performing on the outdoor stages throughout the evening.
Tickets are $40.
Last but not least, the Las Vegas Hilton has added
another promotion for poker players through December
31, 2005. A winning hand of a full house or higher will
receive a drawing ticket. On December 31, 2005, names will
be drawn every hour from 12:30 p.m. until 10:30.p.m. to
win $200. If a winner is not present, the prize will rollover
to the next drawing. The final drawing at 11:30 p.m. is for
$1000. You must be present to win. At the final drawing, a
name will be called until a winner is present.
That’s it for this week!
3131 Las Vegas Blvd. South
Las Vegas, Nevada 89109
702.770.7100 or toll free 877.321.WYNN
www.wynnlasvegas.com
Email: [email protected]
The Wynn Resort is the latest addition to the Las Vegas
skyline from master resort
designer, Steve Wynn. The
tallest building in Nevada
provides guest with 2,716
luxurious rooms and suites
to satisfy the most discerning visitor. Located on the
north end of the fabled Vegas
Strip tucked away behind the
only alpine mountain range
in the city the great curved
copper mirrored monolith
rises above it all. The Wynn
Resort represents the state-ofthe-art in accommodations,
entertainment, food, service
and shopping. Steve Wynn
brought all of the best from
his previous projects and
combined these elements to
create this imposing property.
Typical of Wynn designs, he
provides guest with a visual
overload of colors, views and
art. Plush gardens fill the
public spaces and extensive
use of live trees and exotic
plants throughout the resort
provides guests with an experience of unmatched splendor.
Steve Wynn’s attention to
even the smallest of details
is quite apparent in his latest Las Vegas project. The
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]
32
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
accommodations are not only
high-end but they offer cutting edge digital technology
from the flat panel digital
large screen displays to super
high speed Internet access, its
all here now in your room.
The highly anticipated
opening of the property was
only eight months ago and
already the Wynn has a Five
Star Restaurant included
among the more than two
dozen food offerings, there’s
always something to please
even the most fickle of international paletes. Strolling
along the mosaic tiled workof-art footpaths winding
through the gardens circling
the casino finds concourses
lined with exclusive shops.
Clothes from the great
designers, jewels to please
royalty, priceless art exhibits, trendy restaurants and,
yes, you can buy a Ferrari
or Maserati. Come to the
Wynn for dinner and a show,
perhaps some baccarat, and
then leave in your very own
200 mph, Italian bauble. A
full-service Ferrari-Maserati
dealership is located inside
the Wynn Resort and it has
quickly become a must-see
for Las Vegas visitors.
The Wynn Resort is behind
the heavily wooded mountain fronting the Las Vegas
strip. You have to come into
the property to experience
its’ many features and that
is by Steve Wynn’s design.
Waterfalls cascading down
the rocks into an alpine lake
bordered by restaurants and
bars provides each of the
eateries with its own unique
setting. The Wynn is the Las
Vegas Resort that quickly
becomes a world unto itself.
While you are mulling
over your decision of colors for your Ferrari walk
directly across the corridor
to the Wynn’s Poker Room.
Located a few short steps
from a parking garage the
Wynn Poker Room has the
most convenient access
around. Drive into the
garage, park and in less
than a minute you are in the
poker room. The room has
26 tables offering a variety
of games and limits. The
No-limit Hold’em crowd
will find $1-$3 blinds with a
$100 minimum buy-in, $2-$5
blinds with a $200 minimum
buy-in and $5-$10 blinds
Inside the Wynn Las Vegas poker room
with a $500 minimum buyin. The No-limit Hold’em
games have no maximum
buy-in cap. Limit Hold’em is
offered with all of the popular
blind structures: $4-$8, $8$16, $15-$30 and $30-$60.
The poker room usually has
a $10-$20 mix game going
that is typically a variety of
H.O.R.S.E. and will spread
can order from a menu and
have food delivered to directly to your seat at the table.
Players can earn food comps
by playing in the room. Rake
games provide $1 per hour of
play and timed games offer
$1.50 per hour. No cap is
placed on the comp amount.
Players staying in the
Wynn Hotel can put their
name on the waiting list
for any of the active games
and watch their progress on
the in-house poker channel
from the comforts of their
room. When you’re next
up, come down to the poker
room without having to stand
around waiting for your seat
to open. Monitors are conveniently located so waiting
Check it out—exclusive shops like Dior and Ferrari, and even an indoor waterfall!
any of the poker games that
have enough players for a
table.
Poker operations for
the Wynn are under the
expert guidance of Deborah
Giardina, Director of Poker
Room Operations for the
Wynn. Deborah has more
than fifteen years in the poker
industry including nine years
with Lyle Berman’s enterprises. She follows a simple
business plan of providing
every poker player with a
truly pleasurable playing
experience. The spaciousness
of the room, digital player red
cards, shufflemaster tables,
a well trained friendly room
staff and a rare Las Vegas
poker room commodity…you
players can check their progress. The layout of the poker
room provides great views of
the action from the rail and
there’s always a crowd watching the games and players.
Tournament Director
David Eglseder brings 13
years of poker tournament
management experience
to the Wynn’s poker room.
He constantly monitors the
feedback from the players and dealers to provide
the best tournament limits
and schedules. The Poker
Room offers three No-limit
Hold’em tournaments each
week: on Tuesdays at Noon a
$300 +$30 buy-in, Thursday
at Noon a $300 + $300
rebuy/add-on and Fridays
at 3:00PM a $500 + $30
buy-in event. Single table
satellites are available on
tournament days beginning
at 8:00AM. Phone the room
at 702.770.7654 for complete
information including any
recent changes. The Wynn
Poker Room is currently
working on plans to offer a
major tournament event that
will be offered at different
times throughout the year.
More details will become
available after plans are completed.
The Wynn Resort is the latest example of Steve Wynn’s
ability to create world class
destinations. A trip to Las
Vegas is not complete until
you take the time to visit and
experience this magnificent
resort.
Pechanga Poker
DECEMBER
DECEMBER
Shuffle Up
and Deal!
Every Tournament
Winner in December
Wins an IPOD Shuffle.
*Expires Christmas Day.
TOURNAMENT SERIES
THURSDAY, DEC. 1
6:30PM
Limit Hold’em Tournament
$5,000 Guarantee
$35 + $15 Buy-In
FRIDAY, DEC. 2
7PM
Limit Hold’em Tournament
$10,000 Guarantee
$60 + $15 Buy-In
SATURDAY, DEC. 3
4PM
No-Limit Hold’em Tournament
$15,000 Guarantee
$80 + $15 Buy-In
SUNDAY, DEC. 4
4PM
$5,000 Guarantee
$35 + $15 Buy-In
THURSDAY, DEC. 8
7PM
Ladies Only No-Limit Hold’em
$85 + $15 Buy-In • $100 Added per Table
1st Place $1,000 Buy-in seat to the World Series Ladies Only Event 2006
All New Event! 2nd Thursday Every Month
THURSDAY, DEC. 22
6:30PM
Last Chance No-Limit Hold’em
$10,000 Guarantee
$85 + $15 Buy-In
FRIDAY, DEC. 23
7PM
Last Chance No-Limit Hold’em
$6,000 Guarantee
$55 + $15 Buy-In
SATURDAY, DEC. 24
4PM
2005 Big Showdown Series
1st Place $10,000 Buy-in seat to the 2006 World Series Guaranteed
$200 + $25 Buy-In
SUNDAY, DEC. 25
4PM
$35 + $15 Buy-In
$5,000 Guarantee
D A I LY T O U R N A M E N T S C H E D U L E
DAILY DOUBLE JACKPOTS • Mon. thru Fri. 2-5PM • 1:30-3AM • 4-5AM • 6-9AM
MONDAY
10AM
6PM
6:30PM
6:30PM to 9:30PM
9:30PM to Midnight
TUESDAY
10AM
2PM to Midnight
6:30PM
WEDNESDAY
10AM
6PM to 1:15AM
6:30PM
THURSDAY
10AM
2PM to Midnight
4PM to 10PM
9PM to Midnight
FRIDAY
10AM
6PM to 8PM
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
$20 + $5 Buy-In
Hold’em Tournament
Free entry for TOC Players
High Hand of the Hour
$2,000 Guarantee
$20 + $5 Buy-In
Wacky Wednesday
$2,000 Guarantee
$1,500 Drawing
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$20 + $5 Buy-In
$300 Every Hour (Omaha $50)
$2,000 Guarantee
$20 + $5 Buy-In
$20 + $5 Buy-In
$20 + $5 Buy-In
$2,000 Guarantee
$20 + $5 Buy-In
High Hand of the Hour
$300 Every Hour (Omaha $50)
Single Table Sit-N-Go Tournaments
$85 + $15 Buy-In
Top three places paid, 1st $525 • 2nd $200 • 3rd $125
Triple Hold’em Jackpot Thursdays
Stud and Omaha Doubled
$2,000 Guarantee
$40,000 Hold’em Jackpot Fridays (All Hold’em Games)
Stud and Omaha Doubled
$20 + $5 Buy-In
10AM
$4,000 Guarantee
$20 + $5 Buy-In
10AM
No-Limit Hold’em Tournament*
*10 hours live play weekly = free entry
Double Jackpot Sunday
$2,000 Guarantee
$20 + $5 Buy-In
$5,000 Guarantee
$35 + $15 Buy-In
4PM
1PM to 3PM & 6PM to 1AM
Keeping things running—
Tournament Director
David Eglseder and
Deborah Giordina, Director
of Poker Room Operations
$2,000 Guarantee
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$250 per quarter and $1,000 at 10PM
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Check out California’s hottest spot for Table Games action
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All Weekday AM Tournaments have a $2,000 Guarantee, $20 Buy-in and a $5 Entry Fee. All Jackpot promotions reset and doubled until end of promotion time. Winner must
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45000 Pechanga Parkway • I-15 • Temecula • 877.711.2WIN • www.pechanga.com
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
33
January is Poker Month
POKer east
of the ROCKIEs
By DONNA BLEVINS
If poker had its own month, it would be January,
especially in 2006. The toughest decisions you face is
where to go to play. You’ll be able to find major tournament action in Mississippi, New Jersey and New York.
Mississippi: Who would have ever imagined that
Tunica, Mississippi would become such a keystone of
poker that two major events would take place virtually simultaneously – The Gold Strike World Poker
Open at the Gold Strike and the Jack Binion World
Series Circuit Event at the Grand.
Mississippi: Gold Strike World Poker Open, Gold
Strike Casino Resort, January 9-23, 2006: This is
the WPO’s 7th year, and it is again a televised World
Poker Tour event with the main event final table
filming on Monday, January 23. Players who thrive on
lively side action are sure to arrive on Friday, January
6, to take advantage of the first weekend’s play.
You can count on well run tournaments with
the Poker Room Manager, Robin Fisackerly, pulling
double duty as the Tournament Coordinator and Jack
McClellan as Tournament Director. This year all players start with double chips; that’s right, double the
amount of your buy-in. If the buy-in is $1,000, you’ll
start with 2,000 chips. For the main $10,000 event,
you’ll start with 20,000 chips.
The ten, $540 No-limit Hold’em evening events
begin on the 9th. The daily events start at noon on
Tuesday, January 10, with a $1,060 No-limit event. If
you plan on winning your entry into the main event,
the Super Satellite days are January 17 & 18, with
the main event commencing January 19th. The $340
Women’s No-limit Texas Hold’em event is scheduled
for Saturday, January 21. Room rates are $49 for the
event. Call the poker room for reservations. Check
out www.GoldStike.com.
Mississippi: Jack Binion WSOP Circuit Event,
January 5-27, 2006: This is the first year the World
Series of Poker Circuit Event will come to the
Tunica Grand Casino. In this 22-event series, ten are
$550 buy-in tournaments with an interesting variety
of games. Even though poker gained its current fame
through No-Limit Texas Hold’em tournaments, you’ll
also find Omaha, Seven Card Stud, Razz, Triple Draw
Low-Ball, Limit Hold’em plus a Women’s No-Limit
Hold’em event. The Women’s event will be held on
Sunday, January 22.
Satellites for the daily and main event run
throughout the tournament, however, Super Satellites
for the main event are scheduled for January 22 &
23. First place winners for the majority of the daily
events will also receive entry into the main event.
ESPN will be covering the entire tournament and
televising most, if not all, final tables of the various
events. The filming of the $10,000 main event will
take place on January 27. Johnny Grooms and Jack
Effel are the WSOP Circuit Tournament Directors and
will be announcing the final table.
When asked about the expected size of the tournament, Grand’s Poker Manager, Karen Kaegin, said,
“We are guaranteeing 114 tables for the Circuit Event,
possibly 120, which can accommodate 1,140 to 1,200
participants, and we have three hotels to accommodate guests at only $49 a night. Just call and
we’ll provide FREE transportation from the Memphis
airport. We also provide shuttles from the Grand to
the Horseshoe, our sister property.” Check out www.
Caesars.com/GrandCasino/Tunica.
NEW JERSEY: Borgata Winter Poker Open,
January 20 – February 1, 2006: This premier
34
event will mark the fourth time the World Poker Tour
has visited Borgata, and the second time in just
six months. The last Borgata WPT event was held
in September 2005, and Stan Stickland, Borgata’s
Director of Poker Operations, said the September
event exceeded their expectations. “We anticipate
that poker will play an even more significant role at
Borgata in 2006 when we more than double the size
of our existing poker room.”
No-Limit Texas Hold’em is the game of choice
for this 11-day event with one day of Limit Hold’em.
The Women’s No-Limit event is January 26. The
main event starts January 29, and the final table
WPT filming is on February 1. Borgata’s Director
of Tournaments, Tab Duchateau, will oversee this
Borgata Winter Poker Open.
In 2006 the Borgata’s poker room is moving to a
new location at the entrance to the casino floor and
expanding from its current 34 tables to 85 poker
tables. Check out www.TheBorgata.com.
NEW JERSEY: Atlantic City Hilton – While
you’re in Atlantic City, visit the brand new poker
room, just opened December 2005! Check out www.
AtlanticCityHilton.com.
NEW YORK: The Seneca World Poker Classic,
January 24 – February 2, 2006: Hosted at the
Seneca Niagara Casino and Hotel in Niagara Falls, this
event will be spearheaded by Seneca’s Poker Director
Mike Gainey, as well as Veteran Tournament Directors
Matt Savage and Dave Lamb along with Seneca’s
Tournament Director Carlee Hunter. Nine evening,
low buy-in second-chance No-Limit and Limit Hold’em
events will provide plenty of action for eager tournament players.
The Seneca World Poker Classic features an exciting combination of four, one-day events plus three
championship events . . . Oklahoma Johnny Hale’s
Championship, a $330 Limit Hold’em event on Friday,
January 27; Seneca World Poker Classic No-Limit
Hold’em Championship Event, a $5,100 three-day
event January 28-30; and the two-day Canadian/
American Poker Challenge Championship, a $1,580
No-Limit Hold’em championship on January 31 &
February 1.
Expect to see notables such as Linda Johnson,
Jan Fisher, Tom McEvoy, and Men “The Master”. As
a special bonus, Seneca Niagara Casino will host a
FREE Poker Seminar for tournament participants.
Developed and presented by Donna Blevins and Greg
Weitzel, this seminar, Poker, The Great Equalizer,
is to the point with segments designed to stimulate
the novice as well as challenge the advanced player.
Check out www.SenecaNiagaraCasino.com.
OKLAHOMA in February: Be sure to mark
February 6-12, 2006 for the Oklahoma State
Championship of Poker in Tulsa at the Cherokee
Casino. It’s sure to be worth the trip! Check out www.
CherokeeCasino.com.
Remember, if you can’t raise, don’t call.
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
A true entrepreneur at heart, Donna
Blevins is a marketing consultant, professional speaker and trainer, as well as
a poker journalist. She looks forward to
meeting you at the final table. Contact
Donna to advertise in Poker Player, to
cover your poker tournament
or with article ideas [email protected].
Caro’s Word: “Open”
CONT’D FROM PAGE 6
ferent suits on the flop. If two
cards are of the same suit,
your chances of losing to a
flush are increased slightly –
but just enough to often make
pursuing the pot unprofitable.
So, you should fold. I’m not
saying you should routinely
fold an open-end straight
attempt when there are two
suited cards on the flop. But,
I’m saying if the decision
is close otherwise, that’s
enough to be the deciding
factor.
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.
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No Tournament Christmas Day.
Juha Helppi risked life and
limb yesterday and made
poker history, as he emerged
from the briny deep off the
coast of St. Kitts the first
InterPoker.com Extreme Poker
Champion, having outwitted his opponents at 30 feet
below sea level in the first
ever underwater poker tournament. Helppi made short work
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of his competitors, including
seasoned tournament professionals Phil Laak and Kenna
James, as well as Internet qualifier Louise H. from Denmark
and InterPoker.com spokesperson Peter Marcus.
Snorkeling above, a host
of tournament spectators
silently watched the tournament, among them WSOP
Champions Kathy Liebert
and Todd Whiteles; and
InterPoker representatives
Mike de Halpert and Kristen
Makin. Also supporting her
boyfriend “The Unabomber”
Phil Laak was WSOP Ladies
Night Champion Jennifer Tilly.
Situated next to a spectacular
Caribbean reef, the tournament
was also visited by several
colorful fish and a curious
(and potentially dangerous)
stingray.
“I’ve been present at some
of the most electric moments
in poker history, but this one
tops them all,” said InterPoker
spokesperson Peter Marcus.
“After Juha’s amazing performance today, I challenge
anyone to argue that poker is
not a sport, and that Extreme
Underwater Poker should not
be admitted into the Olympic
games.”
In one of the most dramatic
moments of the tournament,
Helppi eliminated both Laak
and Kenna simultaneously,
calling both of their all-in bets,
sending the Unabomber and
the Cowboy floating back to
land. Eventually, only Peter
Marcus and Juha Helppi
remained. Marcus drew K-J
offsuit, and Helppi 2-9 offsuit.
Running dangerously low on
air both went all in, and the
flop turned up Q-6-2, giving
Helppi a pair of deuces. The
Turn gave Helppi two pair
with a nine, and the River
supplied a King, eliminating Marcus and sending Juha
Helppi into the record books
as the first Extreme Poker
Champion.
Despite a good-natured
feud between Helppi, James
and Laak, mutual respect prevailed as the contestants left
the water. “Although I went
out with one of the worst beats
in the history of undersea
poker, I congratulate Juha on
becoming the first Extreme
Poker champ,” said Phil Laak.
“I honestly thought that when
his mask filled with water that
I could take advantage of his
broken concentration, but in
the end he drew great hole
cards and bet very wisely, and
I give him credit for that.”
“Juha is one of the best
poker players the Caribbean
Sea has ever seen. Even
though it hurts to lose in a
historic tournament such as
this, I’m glad Juha was able to
claim the bracelet and become
the first InterPoker Extreme
Poker champ,” said Kenna
James.
Also feeling the sting of
elimination (possibly from
jellyfish) was Louise H., who
despite the loss was thrilled
to take part in the first underwater poker tournament. “It
seems like just yesterday I was
at home in Denmark, and then
all of a sudden I find myself at
the ocean floor playing poker
against Phil Laak and Kenna
James,” said Louise. “It was
a very fun, and very surreal,
experience that I will never
forget.”
Juha Helppi was awarded
the Caribbean Poker Classic
Extreme Poker Bracelet,
which is made from authentic
Caribbean seashells and beads,
at the InterPoker.com awards
ceremony on November 29.
“Without a doubt, this was
one of the most challenging
tournaments in which I have
ever competed,” said Helppi.
“Not only are Phil and Kenna
two of the best poker players I have ever faced, I also
had to overcome obstacles
such as water leaking into my
mask and staying away from
the stingray. I feel like I truly
earned this victory.”
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
35
I One-Upped Mike Caro
Some people would never do what I did several
weeks ago. A guy playing at our table
NEVER PLAY Poker with
a man CALLed “DOC”
By Dr. Scott Aigner, M.D.
had lost 3 buy ins of $500 at our 25 no limit hold em game. I won a fair amount of
that $1,500 including a hand that I trapped him on
when I picked up a gut shot straight draw, bottom
pair and a backdoor flush draw on the turn and
hit the flush on the river. I caught him in a perfect
trap with good implied odds and check raised him
all in on the river and he called for his last $290
after he had bet $100. As I was raking in the pot
he was reaching into his pocket. All he had left was
$100. The buy in was $200. A well dressed cowboy at the table then said “you really should give
him back his last hundred dollar bill”. I am sure he
was joking around more than actually meaning it.
I asked the guy where he was from and he said he
was from here. Bingo! I flipped a hundred dollar bill
to him immediately.
You should have seen everyone’s reaction at this
table. Why would I give this guy a hundred dollars? One thing that really made this move worth
it was seeing 5 jaws hit the table simultaneously.
This one upped Mike Caro’s psychological ploy
of burning a one hundred dollar bill at the table.
Psychological warfare at its best or just plain stupidity? One thing was for sure! I did not give him
that hundred dollar bill because I felt sorry for
him. I would check raise my own grandmother if
she was in the game (and she would probably slap
me if I didn’t).
The main reason I gave this guy the one hundred
dollars was to show the rest of the table that I did
not care about the money. I was there to play and
I was confident in my ability to win. I had no fear
in losing. It definitely had a psychological effect on
everyone sitting in the game. Who the heck would
try to bluff me after what I just did?
The guy who lost all of the money did not complain one time after he lost a big pot and was a
gracious winner when he won. He had definite
weaknesses in his game though that the better
players took advantage of all night. He could not
lay down a medium strength hand on the river
such as a big pair or even two pair when the board
was coordinated or a three flush was on the board
and the action suggested that the opponent who
raised him actually held the best hand. He did not
read boards very well and had other weaknesses
that the better players exploited including that he
overvalued the possibility of someone bluffing him.
He would do much better to move down to the
1-3 no limit hold em game and improve on these
weaknesses. The players at the 2-5 game were
much better than he was capable of playing and he
needs to gain some experience in no limit hold em
before playing higher.
I really enjoyed playing in this game and I also did
something that I had never even dreamed of ever
doing before. I gave a player a hundred dollars and I
felt good about doing it. I did something unique that
gave me a big psychological advantage in this game
as well. Oh by the way, don’t expect me to do this
should you find me sitting in your game.
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
36
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
PokerStars Caribbean Adventure
to be Held at the Atlantis
The new year will begin
with the first major poker
tournament of 2006, held
at one of the world’s most
luxurious casinos, attended by the biggest names
in poker. PokerStars.com,
the world’s largest tournament poker website,
will host the third annual
PokerStars Caribbean
Adventure (PCA) at the
Atlantis Casino-Resort,
Jan. 5-11, 2006.
The PCA will attract
many of the biggest names
in poker. The last three
world poker champions, Chris Moneymaker
(2003), Greg Raymer
(2004), and Joe Hachem
(2005) will compete.
Furthermore, Tom
McEvoy, the 1983 World
Series of Poker champion
will attend. John Gale,
from England, who won
last year’s PCA event, is
also expected to defend
his title.
The six-day poker spectacular offers multiple
daily tournaments, cash
games, satellites, single
table tournaments, and
the crown jewel of the
tournament – the PCA
championship. For the
third consecutive year,
the PCA will be taped
and broadcast as part of
the enormously-popular
World Poker Tour, shown
on the Travel Channel and
other television networks
around the world.
The buy-in to the
championship event is
$8,000 ($7,800 plus a
$200 entry fee). The prize
pool is projected to be
$5 million, making this
one of the world’s most
lucrative poker tournaments. Approximately 600
players – amateurs and
professionals alike – are
expected to participate in
the main event alone, with
hundreds more in attendance for the side action
and vacation fun.
PokerStars.com is giving away over $750,000
in free entries to players
at the site. All packages
include the entire $8,000
entry fee, one week for
two at the renowned
Atlantis Resort and
Casino, including meals,
plus $1,000 in spending
money. Super-satellites
and shootouts to the PCA
are now being held daily
at PokerStars.com. Other
qualifying satellites cost
as little as $2 – which
means two bucks can turn
into a seat on a World
Poker Tour event, and at
least a million dollars in
prize money. Many others
will qualify to play in freerolls (tournaments which
cost nothing to play).
“The PokerStars
Caribbean Adventure is
going to be a blast,” said
Joe Hachem, 2005 World
Series of Poker Champion.
“I hope poker players
everywhere will join me at
Atlantis. This is my first
opportunity to attend the
PCA and I look forward to
playing in one of the most
exciting events in poker.”
The Atlantis CasinoResort is located on beautiful Paradise Island in
the Bahamas. The poker
room has 40 tables and
will offer all of the most
popular forms of poker,
including no-limit Texas
Hold’em, the world’s fastest-growing poker game.
Atlantis also offers a multitude of other entertainment options, including
golf, tennis, water sports,
and many other outdoor
activities. The Atlantis
property includes 17 different restaurants and 18
lounges/nightclubs.
Ante Up
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
Bellagio Five Cory Lidle Pitches Poker
Diamond
EVENT 3
12/1/05
BELLAGIO
FIVE DIAMOND
POKER CLASSIC
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $2,500 + $80
PLAYERS 243
PRIZE
POOL
$589,275
Orlando Maldonado
1. Orlando Maldonado . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $234,095
2. Scotty Nguyen . . . . $124,030
3. Jeff Cohen . . . . . . . . $62,015
4. David Cossio . . . . . . $33,830
5. Rodeen Talebi . . . . . $25,370
6. JC Tran . . . . . . . . . . $19,730
7. Anthony Reategui . . $14,095
8. Eugene Katchalov . . $11,275
Philadelphia Phillies pitcher CORY LIDLE will be
holding the CORY LIDLE
CELEBRITY POKER
TOURNAMENT at The
Palms Hotel in Las Vegas
during the weekend of
January 13-14. The annual
tournament is being held to
benefit The Make-A-Wish
Foundation.
Lidle, who just completed his ninth major league
season as a starting pitcher,
has assembled some of
major league baseball’s top
young talent to play in this
year’s poker tourney in Las
Vegas. The tournament at
The Palms will include 20
tables, with ten players at
every table. There will be
a total of 20 sports celebrities in this year’s event,
with each athlete playing at
one of the 20 tables.
Along with Lidle, other
baseball notables who
have committed thus far to
this year’s event include
JASON GIAMBI (New
York Yankees), DAVID
WELLS (Boston Red Sox),
ERIC CHAVEZ (Oakland
Athletics), ADAM
DUNN (Cincinnati Reds),
MIKE LIEBERTHAL
(Philadelphia Phillies),
JIMMY ROLLINS
(Philadelphia Phillies)
and RANDY WOLF
(Philadelphia Phillies).
This year’s event
kicks off with a cocktail
party/reception on Friday
night, January 13 for all
the sports celebrities and
participants at the famous
Ghost Bar at The Palms
Hotel. The tournament
will take place from 12:00
PM-6:00 PM on Saturday,
January 14. There will
also be a silent auction
of sports and Hollywood
memorabilia.
Anyone wishing to
participate in this great
event and help The MakeA-Wish Foundation may
do so by registering either
online at www.corylidlecelebritypoker.com or by
phoning (615) 321-0726.
Participants get a seat at
the tournament, admission
and drinks at the cocktail
party/reception, reduced
rate hotel rooms at the
legendary Palms Hotel and
VIP check-in.
EVENT 2
11/30/05
BELLAGIO
FIVE DIAMOND
POKER CLASSIC
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $2,000 + $80
PLAYERS 261
PRIZE
POOL
$506,340
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Steve Diamantas
Steve Diamantas . . $188,985
Ken Einiger . . . . . . $100,975
Keith Gipson . . . . . . $50,490
Kelly Kim . . . . . . . . . $28,850
Chris McCormick . . $21,640
John Hoang . . . . . . . $16,830
Men Nguyen . . . . . . . $12,020
EVENT 1
11/29/05
BELLAGIO
FIVE DIAMOND
POKER CLASSIC
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,500 + $70
PLAYERS 370
PRIZE
POOL
$538,350
Just make the final table and be one of nine to win a
$10,000 entry to the premier poker event in Las Vegas.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Lars Bonding
Lars Bonding . . . . . $199,870
Tony Ma . . . . . . . . . $107,700
Scott Epstein . . . . . . $53,850
Mo Fathipour. . . . . . $30,775
John Harris . . . . . . . $23,080
Tom Pniak . . . . . . . . $17,950
Mike Gracz . . . . . . . $12,820
Come play in Casino Arizona’s no-limit Hold ‘Em Points Challenge. Tournaments
are held every Monday - Friday and the last Saturday of the month, now through
April 30th, 2006. Qualifying players will go on to compete in the semifinals, held
May 6th, 2006, with top players advancing to the Championship Challenge on
May 7th, 2006. The top nine players receive a $10,000 entry to the premier poker
event in Las Vegas. Call Casino Arizona for details.
Casino Arizona reserves the right to cancel or alter this promotion at any time. All winners will be responsible for any tax liabilities.
Voted Best Texas Hold ‘Em 2005
WE’VE GOT YOUR GAME
101 & Indian Bend Adjacent to Scottsdale
480-850-7777 www.casinoaz.com
Owned and operated by the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.
Please gamble responsibly.
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
37
When Social Engineering Is A Disaster
POKer AND
THE LAW
Metap
By I. NELSON ROSE
It took a hurricane destroying
Mississippi’s entire Gulf of Mexico gaming industry, but the Legislature finally
voted to allow casinos to be build on
solid land.
What were they thinking, to not only
permit, but actually require casinos to
float in a hurricanes zone? Hurricane
Camille, in 1969, had flung ocean freighters over Highway 90.
The answer helps explain why the
gaming industry is subjected everywhere
to bizarre laws that are never imposed
on any other business.
It is important to note that like the
New Orleans levees that President Bush
and Congress failed to reinforce, it was
well known that the Gulf casinos could
not survive a Category 4 hurricane.
Hurricane Katrina was Category 5; with
gusts of winds reaching 145 miles per
hour. The storm also sent a roaring wall
of water 30 feet high from the Gulf of
Mexico smashing into the Mississippi
coast.
But it wasn’t the shrieking wind and
storm surge that destroyed so many
casinos. It was bad laws.
The Mississippi Legislature is not
entirely to blame. Requiring casinos to
float was a political compromise necessary to overcome stiff opposition to
legalizing at all.
It is sometimes hard to remember
what it was like before state-licensed
and tribal casinos popped up in a majority of states, and state lotteries advertised in virtually every major media
market.
The under-regulated casinos of
Nevada in the 1940s and ‘50s were infiltrated by organized crime. Gambling
was seen as a dangerous vice. No politician would risk his career by supporting
the spread of legal gaming.
The state lotteries helped changed that
image because they were so well run,
and were promoted as a fun way to avoid
raising taxes. Nevada cleaned up its act,
under threat of federal intervention. But,
still, casinos were not churches.
Atlantic City was the first to limit casinos to a single resort city. But it was
Iowa lawmakers who hit upon the formula for overcoming public skepticism.
Iowa’s riverboats were sold as merely
a means to enhance the state’s tourist
industry. Locations were limited to the
Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, as images of Mark Twain and steamboats were
floated through the media. I heard one
proponent assert that Davenport, Iowa,
would soon have visitors flying in from
South America.
To force the industry to make gambling merely an adjunct to tourism,
boats were required to cruise for four
hours. Of course, operators quickly
learned how to slip a few feet from shore
38
and sail at exactly the
same speed as the river
so the boats stayed in one place.
The Iowa State Legislature was the
first to attempt wholesale social engineering. One of the perceived dangers
of legalizing casinos was the potential
harm to problem gamblers. So bet limits
were set at $5 maximum. This also was
designed to discourage Nevada casino
companies.
No one thought about what
would actually happen when a problem
gambler was stuck for hours on a boat
with nothing to do but stare at muddy
water or gamble.
Other craziness followed. My favorite
was “phantom cruises,” where the boats
were required to pretend to be on cruises, with locked doors, even though they
had never left the dock.
Some Mississippi entrepreneurs and
lawmakers saw the potential in riverboat casinos. The Gulf area’s two main
businesses, shrimp and timber harvesting, were in trouble. There already
were cruises to nowhere, but these
sometimes ran into rough seas. Patrons
can’t bet very much when they’re busy
throwing up.
For decades, Mississippi was known
as the poorest state in the nation. Like
impoverished Indian tribes, no matter
what problems legal gambling brought,
the situation could not be worse than it
already was.
But fundamentalist Baptists, who
oppose all legal gambling, are a powerful
political force in the South. The compromise was to isolate the boats and surround them with holy water.
It is interesting to see how little rational thought goes into decisions about
legalizing gambling. The only legitimate
reason for putting boats on water was to
limit access to their casinos, which can
be easily done on dry land. Instead, the
major argument is that going a few hundred feet inland is an attempt by the casino industry to expand. This ignores the
fact that the current law sets no limits.
The Mississippi Legislature once again
worked out a compromise. Casinos
wanted to move 120 feet inland.
Lawmakers would let them go only 80
feet, and of course insisted on raising
taxes.
Professor I Nelson Rose is recognized
as the world’s leading expert on gambling law. A full professor at Whittier
Law School in Costa Mesa, California,
Prof. Rose also works for governments
and industry as an expert witness, consultant and public speaker. His latest
books, Gaming Law: Cases and Materials
and Internet Gaming Law, are available
through his website,
www.gamblingandthelaw.com.
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
combination
to fit every situation. These
conceptual ways to play give
you a broader vision of the
poker table and allow you
to act with creativity and
strength of purpose. They
also help you understand the
strategies of the better players as they use the six conceptual ways to play a hand
against you. A game plan
with many different options
and strategies will make you
a better player.
You will recognize more
opportunities that arise where
you need to and you want to
invest your chips. There are
only so many opportunities
that arise, and missing one of
the best is the same as making a critical mistake. It is the
player that can see a hidden
opportunity that that the average player may never consider that has a big advantage.
During a long poker tournament, you are continually
looking for the best time to
invest your chips. Not a good
time, but the best time. Is it
now, or are you likely to find
a better spot in some future
hand? When you focus on
the following six conceptual
ways to play any hand, you
will have more strategies to
consider. You will see more
opportunities to increase your
chips and be more aware of
the thinking and strategies
of your opponents. This also
helps you protect the chips
you already have.
Charlie Shoten
We all agree that the ability to maintain focus at the
poker table separates the
truly great players from the
average ones. It enables you
to choose and act on your
best decision. I have shared
some of my strategies that
help me maintain my focus
in my previous four articles
in Poker Player Newspaper.
I hope that you are working
on your ability to maintain
your focus at the poker table.
Feeling well, being confident, and having a joyous
and optimistic mindset are
traits that help you maintain your focus. It is the
poisonous memories; ideas,
thoughts and beliefs that we
hold that interfere with our
ability to maintain our focus.
They distract us. I label
them Thought Terrorists and
in those articles explained
how I use my roadmap and
Ten Commitments to help
me notice and let go of my
Thought Terrorists. It is a
mind clearing process.
No limit poker is a game
of math, people, concepts,
situations and luck. There
are at least six conceptual
ways to play a hand. Every
professional player is aware
of these strategies. They can
be used individually and in
The Cory Lidle
Celebrity Poker Tournament
to Benefit Make-A-Wish
The Palms, Las Vegas
Cocktail Party 7-9pm, Friday, Jan. 13, 2006
No-limit Hold’em Tournamnent,
Noon-7pm, Sat., Jan. 14, 2006
$1,200 buy-in
of which $600 goes to poker pot,
$600 to Make-A-Wish and expenses
One $300 add-on/re-buy
200 player limit
Reduced room rates available for The Palms
Confirmed celebrities include:
David Wells, Jason Giambi, Adam Dunn,
Eric Chavez, Jimmy Rollins, Thomas
“Thunder” Keller and more
For information or to register, contact
Ellen at 615/321-0726 or see our website at
www.corylidlecelebritypoker.com.
physical Poker & Life
The Six Conceptual
Ways to Play No-Limit
Hold’em
from any hand very fast. If
you are out of position in
a hand with such a player,
Four players have limped
in and have called the fifth
players raise of 2 times the
blind. There is $6,000 in
the pot. You are last to act
1. Play your cards.
““One may smile. And
and you have a drawing
2. Play your position.
smile and still be a villain””
hand of Ace Queen, or
3. Play the board.
—William Shakespeare
you have a pair of Tens.
4. Play the money.
“A radiant contagious smile
Your chips of $5,000
5. Play the player.
cannot belong to any villain.
are way below average
6. Bluff.
Just your ordinary smile”
at this stage of the tournaExample 1:
—Charlie Shoten
ment. Players who called
Play Position,
an additional raise of $800
the Player & Bluff
are not likely to call another
check to let him act first and
study his action and manner- raise of $3800. If you win
Notice any players at the
the pot you will have douisms very closely. If you see
table you have observed
weakness bet or raise him. If bled up or better. Go all in.
that you feel are predictable.
You are likely to win the pot
Look for as many opportuni- you see strength, fold right
right there or be faced with
ties as possible to see the flop away.
at 1 or 2 opponents.
cheaply when those players
Example 2: Play Your looking
It is also likely you will be
are in the pot. You won’t
Position, Your Hand & face up with the original
need to have the best hand
The Money.
raiser with an equal or better
most of the time to win the
hand than you. Regardless
pot and you can get away
The blinds are $200-400.
of the flop, you will have all
five cards to draw to. This is
The Gold Coast Poker Room
Invites You To Come
the best time for you to take
a stand and risk your chips.
At blinds of $600 per round
you only have one round to
get your chips into the pot
before your remaining chips
are eaten away.
Example 3:
Play the Money,
Bluff the Bluffer
You are the chip leader and
have been playing very
aggressively. You have
raised the blinds 6 of the
last 10 hands. The blinds are
$500-1000. You are second
from the button and have
raised the pot $3000. The
big blind raises you $5000.
Re-raise him an amount that
if he calls will force him to
be committed to call for the
rest of his chips to the river.
This puts special pressure
on him. Only do this with
an amount that you are willing to lose if he re-raises. It
will be enough to stop him
cold if he is bluffing or has
a weak hand, while allowing you to get away from
the hand if he re-raises you.
Your judgment of the player
and the situation is critical
of course. Notice that this
strategy ignores the strength
of your hand. You might
even be bluffing with the
best hand and not realize it.
The other players will be
less likely to bluff at you in
future hands.
Comments? Questions?:
[email protected]
Don’t miss the book,
“No-Limit Life”:
www.nolimitlife.net
(Best Book Award: USA
Book News 2005) Category:
Psychology/Mental Health
BEAT THE PROS
January 19-22
Hosted By
Poker Player Newspaper
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D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
39
There is ALWAYS
Another Chance
BacK in the saddle Again
By OKLAHOMA JOHNNY HALE
Yes folks, I know that most of the time I put my
poker tip of the week near the bottom of this
column, but for today it will be on top.
“Oklahoma Johnny” Poker tip of the Week. Today’s tip
comes to us from Mary Pickford—who said (and I am sure she had
me and you folks in mind)—“If you have made mistakes—(in your
poker game & life)—there is always another chance for you. You
may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we
call “failure” is not the falling down (or losing a hand), but the
staying down.” (and not picking yourself up and trying again).
There will be another poker hand—forget the one you lost and
win the next hand. Folks, I would like for you to keep this tip in
mind today while you read this column here in the Poker Player
newspaper.
When I was a young lad I had six older brothers. Now that
was good, but sometimes it was a little too good. I never had
to worry about the local bully on the block or in the school
yard—my big brothers were always there to save and protect
me! No one would ever dare beat me up. Now my older brothers
would teach me a lesson or two, but no one else every gave me
any trouble.
I remember how they first taught me to ride—no, not how to
ride a horse—but goats—out in the rockiest part of the pasture
in back of the ranch house.
My big brothers did not allow me to cry—whatever we were
doing, they would not allow failure. They just picked me up,
cleaned my nose, and made me try again until I got it right. But
they would show me how to do it better and would make me get
right up and try to do it again and again until I got it right.
I remember one time they tied a rope really tight around the
middle of a goat (in ranch speak, a sir-single) and put me up on
the goat, and turned the goat loose in that rock pasture. Yes, I
did learn to ride that goat.
Then again they took me to the pond and threw me out in the
pond—Yes, I did learn how to swim.
Then they sat down with me and taught me how to play poker.
At first, they won all my paper route money, but then they
taught me too well and would not allow failure. I learned how to
play and got all of my money back from them—after I learned
how to play poker.
I was so lucky and I am thankful that I had big brothers—to
teach me and protect me—and who would not allow me to fail.
Years later when we were all in business together and I was
the one with the Oklahoma University degree in civil engineering
(BSCE class of 1952), they would let me head up the construction company and do all the office stuff and be the front man—
and do all the talking and compute the estimates for our bids on
hundreds of buildings that we built.
They just told me not to worry—if you made a mistake in the
numbers, we will just work extra hours so that we will not lose
money on the construction of the building.With brothers like
that, I could not fail
They are all playing in the big game in the sky now, but I
remember each and every lesson they taught me—and I am
reminded now of one of my favorite presidents, Teddy Roosevelt,
who said “Credit belongs to the man who really was in the
arena, who at best, knows in the end the triumph of great
achievement. And who, if he fails, at least fails while daring
greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and
cruel souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
When you lose a hand of poker, think on this and play better
next time.
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.
40
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
Book reviews
The book proceeds to
Low Limit Texas
Hold’em Poker more sophisticated moves
(Maximizing Winnings and strategies (check raise,
Through Optimization) semi-bluff, free card raise,
by Carlos and Carlo Abulencia
288pp paperbound, $19.95
A new book about poker
is always welcome, especially when it’s written
clearly and offers a way
to learn a game or a way
to become a dangerous,
competitive player who
understands the basics, or
if it helps teach a player
how to develop discipline
and stay in action.
trapping or slow playing,
representing a hand); then
follows with a vital section titled psychological
warfare. This includes
body language, reading
your opponents, delays,
changing gears. You’ll
see players make some of
these moves on television-now you’ll understand
why all the little moves
are designed to “smokescreen” your actual intentions.
Abulencia pen a good
book for low-limit
hold’em players
A short chapter on the
types of players you may
eventually face should
W.C. Fields
So it is with the arrival
of Low Limit Texas
Hold’em Poker, which
takes a potential player
from the basics to more
advanced concepts in 13
chapters.
This work is designed
for the $1-$2 up to the
$9-$18 player up to the
$9-$18, it while it contains
much about those limits
there’s nothing about tournament play.
If you’re already knowledgeable about the game’s
fundamentals you can skip
the first 86 pages that are
designed to take the absolute beginner through the
fundamentals including an
explanation of the value of
poker hands; the antes, the
flop, turn and river card
and bankroll requirements.
Some of the coverage
includes: What are the better starting hands? What
about position? What are
the table etiquette dos and
don’ts. The authors do a
fine job of preparing even
the most nervous, shy
player for what he or she
will face.
You’ll find a nice discussion of odds, outs and
the risk vs. reward equation.
prove helpful. These
include
people like
“the rock” and “the fish”
or “the maniac.” Learning
how to avoid their moves
and turning their weaknesses against them is a
sort of card playing judo.
It pays off in the long run.
Packed with ideas,
tables, charts, some mathematics, bits and pieces
the authors have learned
the hard way make this an
above average teaching
tool. It would make a good
gift for a college student,
relative or friend who
would truly love to learn
the game, but needs guidance through clear writing
and examples of situation
with sample hands.
—Howard Schwartz
sis and kidney failure.
Hospitalized, he was
(Continued from page 30) visited by a friend who
ried a pocketful of change was surprised to find the
lifelong atheist reading the
he loudly rattled and was
Bible. Asked about it, the
given to coughing fits or
comedian replied, “I’m
slapping at non-existent
checking for loopholes.”
bees at inappropriate
On Christmas Day,
times. One competitor told
him, “I’m going to get two 1946, America’s most
beloved gambler died in
caddies, one for me and
Pasadena, California. He
one to watch you.”
was 67.
A heavy drinker much
of his life, Fields eventually developed cirrhoe-mail: [email protected]
WSOP Circuit Showboat in AC
8. Tammy Brivdisc . . . . . .$940
9. Barbara Kolin . . . . . . . .$625
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
EVENT #6
12/3/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,000 + $80
PLAYERS 269
PRIZE
POOL
$269,000
1. Ronald Masey . . . . . $86,070
2. Unknown . . . . . . . . . $47,345
3. Khonesayanh Bouarouy . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $24,210
4. Glenn Davis . . . . . . . $18,830
5. Vinod Vagimalla . . . $16,140
6. Robert Mackie . . . . . $13,450
7. William Goff . . . . . . $10,760
8. Sandy Blecker . . . . . . $8,070
9. Glyn Banks. . . . . . . . . $5,380
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
EVENT #5
12/2/05
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
EVENT #2
11/29/05
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
EVENT #1
11/28/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500 + $60
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PLAYERS 250
PRIZE
POOL
$125,000
PLAYERS 548
PRIZE
POOL
$164,400
1. Alexander Waszilycsak . . . . .
1. Pierre Bergeron . . . . $49,295
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $41,250
2. Unknown . . . . . . . . . $26,470
2. Unknown . . . . . . . . . $22,750
3. Joseph Lopes . . . . . . $12,500
4. Dan Knopp . . . . . . . . $10,000
5. Shawn Ellis. . . . . . . . . $7,500
6. Shelby Thomas . . . . . $6,250
7. Michael Borovetz. . . . $5,000
3. Vipul H Kothari . . . $13,150
4. Jon Owen . . . . . . . . . $11,510
5. Ray DiDonato . . . . . . $9,865
6. Andrew Kwon . . . . . . $8,220
7. Sal Pena . . . . . . . . . . . $6,575
8. Terrence Ferentinos . $3,750
8. Bob Sichelstiel . . . . . . $4,930
9. Eric Bischoff . . . . . . . $2,500
9. Stephen Freda . . . . . . $3,200
AIAS Ups the Ante for
2006 D.I.C.E. Summit
The Academy of Interactive
Arts and Sciences (AIAS) has
raised the stakes for the 2006
D.I.C.E. Summit February 8
- 10 by adding a celebrity poker
tournament to its schedule
of activities. Following the
opening reception Wednesday,
February 8, 2006, the tournament will be held in the new
Tournament Poker Room at
Caesar’s Palace, the largest private poker room in the United
States. Slots are limited; registration for the tournament is $25
with a $200 buy-in and open to
all registered D.I.C.E. Summit
attendees.
Some of the top card sharks
from the World Series of Poker
are scheduled to appear: These
include: Thomas “Thunder”
Keller, Edward Moncada, Scott
Fischman,-Perry Friedman, Max
“The Italian Pirate” Pescatori,
and Chris “Jesus” Ferguson
“In the World Series of Poker,
these players are used to being
the hunters; in this tournament,
they’ll be the hunted,” said
Joseph Olin, president, AIAS.
“The AIAS has placed a ‘bounty’ on them all, and tourney participants have a shot at winning
some great prizes if they can
land one of these big fish.”
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500 + $60
PLAYERS 299
PRIZE
POOL
$149,500
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Lisa Pickell . . . . . . . . $47,860
Unknown . . . . . . . . . $26,310
Tom Kandris . . . . . . $13,455
Paul Schoeppler . . . . $10,465
Elizabeth Grey . . . . . . $8,970
Michael Savino . . . . . $7,475
Jason Rosenthal . . . . . $5,980
Ylon Schwartz . . . . . . $4,485
Emad Wahba . . . . . . . $2,990
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
EVENT #4
12/1/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500 + $60
PLAYERS 257
PRIZE
POOL
$128,500
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
DeeAngelo Seng . . . . $41,130
Unknown . . . . . . . . . $22,615
Eric Paul. . . . . . . . . . $11,565
Cameron Hamilton . . $8,995
Brent Keller . . . . . . . . $7,710
Jeff Frederick . . . . . . $6,425
John Connolly . . . . . . $5,140
Joseph Ferrigno . . . . . $3,855
Richard Welch . . . . . . $2,570
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
EVENT #3
11/30/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500 + $60
PLAYERS 216
PRIZE
POOL
$108,000
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Michael Cheng . . . . . $35,650
Unknown . . . . . . . . . $19,655
Chris Tryba . . . . . . . $10,800
Ben Lazer . . . . . . . . . . $8,640
Matt Baker . . . . . . . . . $6,480
Phillip Bass. . . . . . . . . $5,400
Timmy Byrd. . . . . . . . $3,240
William Goff . . . . . . . $3,240
Michael Kalfa . . . . . . $2,160
ADVERTISE IN
POKER
PLAYER
IT WORKS!
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
41
Entertainment
Listings
Entertainment RePORT
By LEN BUTCHER
Big news in our town last week was the
announcement that the Las Vegas Hilton has
signed country music and television star, Reba
McEntire, to a multi-week engagement in 2006. The superstar
begins the first part of her engagement on Wednesday, May 3.
This was a surprise announcement as many observers, when
hearing that the Hilton was going to make a major announcement,
thought it might be Bette Midler, who has been in town talking to
Steve Wynn about doing a permanent gig at his Wynn Las Vegas.
I had done a lengthy interview with Hilton CEO Rudy Prieto,
just days before the announcement, during which he told me the
hotel was just finalizing a five-year master plan for the property, that would include a major star, other than Barry Manilow,
performing at the Hilton. Along with Manilow and now, Reba,
comedian David Brenner also performs nightly, so the resort has
a formidable lineup.
Reba should be a huge draw for the Hilton, as much of her
music crosses over from country to pop, and her highly successful
television show, Reba, has a huge following of all ages and both
men and women.
Reba will perform Wednesdays through Sundays (over nonconsecutive weeks) at 9 p.m. (Sundays, 8 p.m.) in the Hilton Theater
beginning May 3. Tickets are $138 (plus tax and service charge),
$124 (plus tax and service charge) and VIP seating, which includes
a meet-and-greet with Reba, priced at $225 (plus tax and service
charge). Tickets can be purchased at the Las Vegas Hilton box
office or by visiting www.lvhilton.com or calling 702-732-5755 or
1-800-222-5361.
Caesars Palace has shown, with Celine Dion and Elton John,
that headliners can pack showrooms night after night and it looks
like the Hilton will be able to do the same.
As I’ve said before, it looks like Las Vegas is swinging away
from the Cirque du Soleil type shows, thank God. Four -- Mystere,
O, Zumanity and KA -- though all great, were enough. As can be
seen by Le Reve at Wynn. Although this wasn’t a Cirque show,
it was created by Cirque creator Franco Dragone and it falls far
short of his predecessors.
Le Reve opened with poor reviews, from both the media and
the public, and those reviews were well-deserved. I went to see Le
Reve again the other night, supposedly after it had been tweaked,
and found it just as bad. The idea for the show is that it’s supposed
to be an unfinished dream (Le Reve is The Dream in French), but
what it needs is some kind of thread to hold it together. I found it
very disjointed and lacking any sense of direction. Maybe that’s
what Dragone wanted, but it doesn’t work.
So I, for one, am very happy to see the days of the headliners
returning to Las Vegas, accompanied by Broadway-type shows,
although I’m told Avenue Q, also at Wynn, is not doing that well.
That would be a shame, if true, because it’s a funny, creative,
wonderful show. I think with more promotion for it, it will do fine,
as the reviews have been great from day one and I haven’t heard
a negative word about it from the many people I know who have
seen it.
Lots of stars, as usual, in town over the past few weeks. Singer
Gwen Stefani, enjoying herself at Wynn Las Vegas; Sylvester
Stallone took a break from shooting some Rocky VI scenes here
to have dinner at Aureole in Mandalay Bay; Drew Barrymore,
hanging out with some friends at La Femme in the MGM Grand;
Janet Jackson, also with friends at La Femme, but on a different
night; Dustin Hoffman enjoying a burger with wife Lisa at Mesa
Grill in Caesars Palace; Mick Jagger, showing he still has what it
takes on the dance floor at Light in Bellagio; The Killers having
dinner at Wolfgang Puck’s Bar & Grill in the MGM Grand; Following
the taping of the comedy festival, Earth to America, Ray Romano,
Steve Martin, Ben Stiller, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Tom Hanks and
wife Rita Wilson, Larry David and Albert Brooks, gathered at Pure
in Caesars for some relaxation.
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]
42
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
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-Salt River
CALIFORNIA
Neil Sedaka
Dec 31, 10:45 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.
Jan 19, 6 p.m.
Dec 25, 3 p.m.
Live Jazz, Tues. 8 p.m.
Dec 11, 7 p.m.
Arena Patio
DJ / Karaoke
Live Bands
Ballroom Dance Party
Crystal Park Casino & Hotel Cambodian Dance Party
(34)
Karaoke
El As De Oros Night Club
Jeff Foxworthy
Fantasy Springs Resort
Chinese Concert
Harrah’s Rincon
Hollywood Park Casino (5) Finish Line Lounge
Pechanga Resort & Casino (33) Kelly Clarkson
CONNECTICUT
Sean Paul
Foxwoods Resort Casino
Maroon 5
Mohegan Sun Casino
NEW JERSEY
Ojays & The Whispers
Taj Majal Hotel & Casino
Tropicana Casino & Resort Village People
(Atlantic City)
NEW YORK
Aaron Lewis
Turning Stone Casino
NEVADA-LAS VEGAS
Kanye West
Aladdin Hotel & Casino
Magician Steve Wyrick
Donn Arden’s Jubilee!
Bally’s Resort & Casino
O
Bellagio Resort & Casino
Boulder Station Hotel &
Harry Connick, Sr.
Casino (8)
Black Diamond
Cannery Hotel & Casino
Thunder From Down Under
Excalibur Hotel & Casino
Wayne Newton Holiday Show
George Wallace
Flamingo Las Vegas
The Second City
Commerce Casino
Dec 31, 10:30 p.m.
Dec 31, 8 p.m.
Jan 14, 8 p.m
Dec 30-31, 8 p.m..
Dec 22, 8 p.m.
Dec 31, 8 p.m.
Ongoing, Wednesday through Monday, 7 & 10 p.m.
Sat-Thu, 8 p.m.
Fridays through Tuesdays, 7:30 & 10:30 p.m.
Jan 6-7, 8 p.m.
Gold Coast (39)
Forever Plaid
Golden Nugget Hotel &
Casino
Harrah’s Hotel & Casino
Imperial Palace Hotel &
Casino (9)
Gordie Brown
Regis Philbin
Clint Holmes
Jan 13-14, 8 p.m.
Fridays through Wednesdays. 8:30 & 10:30 p.m.
thru Dec 23, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesdays through Saturdays, 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.
Jan 20-21, 9 p.m.
Monday through Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Legends In Concert
Mondays through Saturdays, 7 & 10 p.m.
Johnny Mathis
David Brenner
Rodney Carrington
Carrot Top
Dec 21-22, 10:30 p.m.
Nightly (dark Thursdays)
Dec 9 & 10, 8 p.m.
Sun thru Fri (dark Tues), 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.
Dec 31, 9:30 p.m.
Dec 30, 8 p.m.
Fri thru Tue, 7:30& 10:30 p.m.
8 p.m. (Monday thru Friday)
Jan 6-7, 9 p.m.
Tuesdays thru Saturdays, 7pm; Tuesdays &
Saturdays. 7 & 10 p.m.
Las Vegas Hilton
Luxor Resort & Casino
Mandalay Bay Resort &
Casino
MGM Grand
The Mirage Hotel & Casino
Mamma Mia
Goo Goo Dolls
Neil Diamond
KA.
Impressionist Danny Gans
Jay Leno
Monte Carlo Resort & Casino (19) Magician Lance Burton
Guy Lombardo’s Royal
The Orleans Hotel & Casino Canadiana
Palace Station Hotel &
Laugh Trax comedy club
Casino (8)
The Comedy Zone
Plaza Hotel & Casino (41)
Crazy Girls
La Cage
Riviera Hotel & Casino
Splash
Neil Diamond Tribute
The Platters, Coasters and
Sahara Hotel & Casino
Drifters
Sam’s Town Hotel & Casino Desert Outlaws
(40)
Hootie & The Blowfish
Silverton Hotel & Casino
Four Tops &
Shirley Austin Reeves
Stardust Hotel & Casino
Rick Thomas
Bite
Stratosphere Hotel &
American Superstars
Casino
Viva Las Vegas
The Whip-Its
Sunset Station (8)
Love Shack
Texas Station (8)
Tropicana Casino & Resort Folies Bergere
Le Reve
Wynn Las Vegas
Avenue “Q”
LAUGHLIN
Riverboat Ramblers Strolling
Colorado Belle Hotel Casino Dixieland Jazz Band
Tony Orlando
Flamingo Hilton Hotel Casino
Ramada Express Hotel Casino Country Music USA
Debbie Reynolds
Riverside Hotel Casino
RENO
The Palmores
Atlantis Casino Resort
Smokey Joe’s Cafe
Eldorado Hotel Casino
D. L. Hughley
Reno Hilton Hotel Casino
Dec 31, 7:30 p.m.
7:30 & 10 p.m. Tuesdays thru Saturdays.
9 p.m. Tuesdays thru Sundays.
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.
8 p.m. nightly
Dec 22-Jan 22, 8:30 p.m.
Dec 31, 10:30 p.m.
Dec 30-Jan 1, 8 p.m.
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.
Nightly, 10:30 p.m.
Fridays and Saturdays, 10 p.m.
Ongoing, 7:30 p.m. & 10 p.m.
Ongoing, 8 p.m.
Ongoing, 8 p.m.
Fridays & Saturdays, 8 p.m.
Nov 25-26, 7 p.m.
Thru Dec 22, 8 p.m.
Dec 27-30, 7 p.m.
10 p.m.-4 a.m.
Ongoing, 8 p.m.
Jan 14, 8 p.m.
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Profiling,
PART 2
KILLER Poker
2005-06 WORLDWIDE
POKER TOURNAMENTS
By John Vorhaus
NOW! Get Tournament Listings at our website: www.pokerplayernewspaper.com
Last time we profiled a few typical
denizens of online play. Let’s continue
our forensic investigation now.
WALLY. A Wally (short for cally Wally) is a weakloose player. Wallies call too much, fold and raise too
little, and chase all sorts of draws without regard to,
or indeed knowledge of, pot odds. They’ll routinely
call preflop raises with inferior values but, paradoxically, only raise preflop with premium hands. Get
against a Wally and you can bet for value forever
because he’ll never bluff-raise into you. On the other
hand, you can’t bluff a Wally because his calls-withbottom-pair will simply wear you out.
FRISKY. A frisky player is fearless, creative, difficult to gauge and difficult to put on a hand. He’ll
raise with anything or nothing, and can trap, bluff,
and drag (slowplay). He can play strong hands
strongly or weakly; he can play weak hands weakly
or strongly. Frisky players play a lot of hands and
play them well, but they can be beaten through trapping because their own friskiness will often get them
out ahead of their hands.
FEELIE. “Feelie” describes a broad class of players who are more interested in feeling good at the
table than in playing proper poker. Recognize them
by the pride with which they show you their successful bluffs and good laydowns. Feelies have ego problems. They need constant external validation, and
this need will make them reveal far too much about
their play. Do everything in your power to reinforce
their sense of smug superiority. Make them feel
good enough and they’ll stick around to lose all their
money to you.
ANGERBOT. Angerbots are feelies of a sort - but dark, bleak ones who try to feel good about
their play by telling you how bad yours is. While it’s
remotely possible that their enraged chatbox rants
are all an act, it’s much more likely that they’re emotionally out of control. We should not be surprised
at this, for the online community is full of players
-- young men especially -- who haven’t yet learned to
tamp their Vesuvian tempers.
BOOKBOT. A bookbot tries to play correctly
according to the starting hand requirements and
strategies he’s absorbed from his studies. He has
technical precision, but lacks finesse. He’ll play predictably, and miss opportunities that other, more
creative, players would seize. He won’t hurt himself
too badly in any game -- but probably won’t hurt you
either.
There are, of course, melds or hybrids of these
handles. You can, for example, have a bookbot-angerbot, who will play correctly until he loses his cool.
It really doesn’t matter what definition you give to
a player, and it doesn’t pay to become too obsessed
with fitting players into types. But the effort to
assign handles to your foes pays dividends no matter what words you use, and even no matter how
accurate you are, because it gets you into the habit
of thinking about how your opponents think, and of
analyzing the patterns of their play. So the next time
you play online, keep a notebook handy and assign
some handles to your foes. If nothing else, it will
give you a sense of confidence, the confidence that
comes from knowing you’ve got them named.
[John Vorhaus is the author of Poker Night and
the Killer Poker book series, and news
ambassador for UltimateBet.com.]
44
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
>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
LOCATION
Nov 29-Dec 18
Dec 12-18
Dec 13-17
Dec 16-20
Dec 18-22
Jan 2-6
Jan 2-15
>Jan 4-11
Jan 4-19
Jan 5-27
>Jan 9-23
Jan 19-22
Jan 20-Feb 1
>Jan. 24-Feb. 2
Jan 25-29
Jan 29-Feb 1
Feb. 7-17
Feb. 8-11
Feb 17-21
Feb 22-23
Feb 27-Mar 3
Mar 7-11
>Mar 11-18
Mar 21-31
Mar 27-31
>Mar 29-Apr 9
>Apr 2-8
>Apr 3-14
Apr 22-28
May 3-7
May 18-28
Jun 6-18
Jun 25-Aug 10
Aug 30- Sep 3
Oct 4-8
Five Diamond World Poker Classic tBellagio, Las Vegas, NV
Helsinki Freezeout
Grand Casino Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
5 Diamond World Poker Classic tBellagio, Las Vegas, NV
Anniversary Tour 2005
Olympic Casino Latvia @ Radison SAS Hotel, Riga, Latvia
St. Nick’s Christmas Countdown Lucky Chances Casino, Colma, CA
Ice Man Festival
Rendezvous Casino at the Kursaal, Southend-on-Sea, U.K.
European Finals of Poker
Aviation Club de France, Paris, France
PokerStars (AdPg48) Caribbean Adventure Atlantis Resort & Casino, Paradise Island, Bahamas
2006 Crown Australian Poker Ch’ship Crown Casino, Melbourne, Australia
Jack Binions WSOP Circuit Event sGrand Casino, Tunica, MS
World Poker Open (WPT)
Gold Strike Casino (AdPg 4), Tunica, MS
Scandinavian Open
eCasino Copenhagen (Radisson SAS Scandinavia Hotel), Denmark
Borgata Winter Open
tBorgata Hotel, Atlantic City, NJ
Seneca World Poker Classic
Seneca Niagara Casino (AdPg 7), Niagara Falls, NY
Alberta Poker Championship
Casino Edmonton, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Borgata Winter Poker Open
tBorgata Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, NJ
World Series Event
sHarrah’s Atlantic City, NJ
French Open
eCasino Barriere, Rue Edmond Blanc, Deauville, France
L.A. Poker Classic
Commerce Casino, Commerce, CA
World Poker Tour Invitational
tCommerce Casino, Commerce, CA
Bay 101 Shooting Star
tBay 101, San Jose, CA
EPT Grand Final
eMonte Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort, Monaco
PartyPoker Million IV
tPartyPoker Cruise to Mexico
World Series Event
sCaesars Atlantic City, NJ
World Poker Challenge
tReno Hilton, Reno, NV
Oklahoma Johnny Hale Open Cherokee Casino in Tulsa (AdPg 45), Cartoosa, OK
Heavyweight Championship of Poker Sam’s Town (AdPg 40), Las Vegas, NV
World Series Event
sCaesars, Las Vegas, NV
WPT Championship
tBellagio, Las Vegas, NV
Western Canadian Poker Classic Casino Yellowhead, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
World Series Event
sHarrah‚s New Orleans, LA
World Series Event
sHarrah‚s Lake Tahoe
World Series of Poker
sRio, Las Vegas, NV
Edmonton Poker Classic
Casino Edmonton, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Canadian Poker Championship Casino Yellowhead Edmonton, Alberta
POKER
Celebrity Poker Showdown.
Dec 12-17, 19-24, 26-31. (Check local listings
for times). Bravo.
ON
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local listing for times). Fox Sports.
Poker Royale: Celebrities vs.
Poker Pros. Fridays & Saturdays
(Check local listing for times). GSN.
Poker Superstars Invitational.
TV
(Check local listing for times). Fox Sports.
Ultimate Poker Challenge.
Friday, Saturday and/or Sunday (check
local listings for times/channels).
U.S. Poker Championship.
Tuesdays (check local listings for times/
channels).
World Poker Tour. (Check local
listing for times). Travel Channel.
World Series of Poker. (Check
local listing for times). ESPNC/ESPN2.
Fast Answers
About
Anything
POKER!
pokerplayernewspaper.com
Get us on the web!
Poker in Cana
T
to try a live game.”
“The explosion of
interest in poker has
been great for our poker
operations,” says Daryl
McCullough, senior manager, Poker Operations and
Development for Great
Canadian
Casinos, Inc,
which runs
three casinos
By Steve Horton
in Vancouver.
“The number of people
to 50 people.” Carr notes
playing the game now has
that the poker room at
ensured the success of
the Edgewater will soon
the rooms. Until recently,
as “Casino Edmonton” and expand from four to 12
casino for the first time.
River Rock has been the
tables.
“Great Canadian Casino.”
Canada’s gambling laws
only property in BC perBritish Columbia is
In fact, individuals and
differ from the States’s in a
mitted to host tournaments.
home to a big poker tourvariety of interesting ways. private corporations are
nament, and the Edgewater We’ve been running daily
prohibited from ownThe biggest difference is
and weekly tournaments
was right in the middle
ing a casino altogether in
the absence of tax on winthroughout the last year.”
of it. “We recently held a
nings in Canada. That alba- Canada. This law has preRiver Rock has Canada’s
number of satellite tournavented well-known casino
tross in the form of reportlargest poker room, and it’s
ments for the $2.5 million
ing winnings on your taxes chains from setting up
shop on Canadian land, but BC Poker Championships,” got tournaments to match.
is lifted! Unfortunately,
“River Rock Casino Resort
Carr says. “All satellites
it hasn’t stopped provinthis only applies if you’re
was the host casino for
sold out within days.”
cial casinos from offering
a Canadian citizen. If
the Inaugural BC Poker
Carr sees no limit to
you’re just visiting, too bad some of the same WPT
Championships Nov 17
and WSOP qualifiers that a the heights poker could
- you’ll have to pay taxes
reach. “I see poker continu- to 20,” McCullough says.
large chain would.
like the rest of us.
“Over 1100 participants
ing to boom - it continues
“OUTSTANDING!”
The other big difference
and a prize pool of over
says David Carr, Marketing to attract more and more
is that the government
$2,000,000. River Rock
Manager for the Edgewater interest,” he says. “I’m
either licenses, regulates
also hosted the Western
always hearing people
Casino in Vancouver,
or is directly involved in
Regional of the Degree
comment that they play
British Columbia, refercasino operations. Similar
Poker Championships
online and now feel ready
ring to his casino’s poker
to how lotteries are run
in June. WSOP & WPT
options are being considPoker Rooms in Western Canada
# ON
PROOPEN
# OF
HIGH
ered in partnership with
MAP CASINO
CITY
VINCE
HOURS
TABLES
GAMES
NL? LIMITS S/NS HOTEL
the British Columbia
1
Cash Casino–Calgary Calgary
AB
24/7
10
N, L, O, RbyR Y
4/8 NS
N
Lottery Corporation.”
2
Elbow River Casino Calgary
AB
24/7
8
N, L, O, 7, RbyR Y 30/60 NS
Y
Thanks to television,
3
Stampede Casino Calgary
AB
24/7
12
N, L, O, P
Y
3/6 NS
N
McCullough doesn’t
4
Casino Calgary
Calgary
AB
24/7
7
N, L
Y 8/16 NS
N
believe poker is going
anywhere. “I see contin5
Deerfoot Inn
Alberta
AB
24/7
8
N, L, O
Y 10/20 NS
Y
and Casino
ued growth and interest in
6
Baccarat Casino Edmonton
AB
24/7
6
N, L, O, RbyR Y 5/10 NS
N
the game as more people
7
Casino Edmonton Edmonton
AB
24/7
8
N, L
Y
3/6 NS
N
get involved and come to
8
Casino Yellowhead Edmonton
AB
24/7
12
N, L
Y 10/20 NS
N
understand the intricacies
9
Palace Casino
Edmonton
AB
24/7
5
N, L
Y
3/6 NS
N
of the game,” he says. “As
A
Boomtown Casino Fort McMurray AB
7 days 7a
2
N, L, RbyR
Y 5/10 NS
N
people learn that there is
Mon-Fri 7a-2a;
more to the game than
B
Great Northern Casino Grande Prairie AB
Sat 2p-2a;
3
L, RbyR
Y 15/30 NS
Y
luck, they develop a greater
Sun 2p-midnight
affection for the challenges
C
Casino Lethbridge Lethbridge
AB
7 days 12p-3a
6
N, L, RbyR
Y 5/10 NS
N
it presents.
Mon-Fri 6p;
D
Cash Casino-Red Deer Red Deer
AB
5
N,
L,
RbyR
Y
5/10
NS
N
Continued TV coverage
Sat 1p; Sun 2p
of
special poker events will
Mon-Thurs 7p-1a;
E
Jackpot Casino
Red Deer
AB
Fri-Sat 7p-2a;
2
L
N 5/10 NS
Y
help maintain the growth
Sun 7p-midnight
as people strive for their
Boulevard Casino Coquitlam
F
BC
24/7
12
L,
O,
7
N
10/20
NS
N
chance to win the big one.”
Coquitlam
“We offer any type of
Cascades Casino– Langley
G
BC
24/7
8
L
Y
4/8
NS
Y
Langley City
poker game, but primarily we play Hold’em with
River
Rock
Y
H
Richmond
BC
24/7
25
N, L, O, 7
Y 100/200 NS
Casino Resort
the lowest limit in the city
BC
Mon-Wed
9a-6a;
of Calgary at $3-$6,” says
I
Edgewater Casino Vancouver
4
N, L
Y
4/8 NS
N
Thurs-Sun 24h
Kevin O’Donnell, poker
Casino on Broadway Vancouver
BC
7 days 10a-6a
6
L
N 20/40 NS
Y
J
manager at the Stampede
hose moving to
our neighbor to
the north may get
a few unexpected shocks
upon entering a Canadian
in the States, all casinos
across Canada have ties to
provincial governments.
That may be why Canadian
casinos have names such
business. “The poker
room is almost constantly
full with an entire new
wave of players attending
- lots of younger players and women. With
four full tables, we often
have a waiting list of 40
WESTERN CANADA
46
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
Casino in Calgary, Alberta.
“We are also quite popular with our $100-$200
max buy-in, $1-$2 blind
no-limit games. On the
weekends, you can find a
dealer’s choice game that
brings Omaha Hi-Lo and
both versions of Pineapple
into play. Usually those
are pot-limit games with a
buy-in of $100-$500.”
Poker rooms in Alberta
have more freedom with
hours than other forms of
gaming. “Like all poker
rooms in Alberta, we offer
non-smoking comfort that
is open 24/7,” O’Donnell
says. “Although the casino
tables and slots are limited
in hours they can be open,
poker rooms are open all
the time.”
Calgary itself has staggering competition when
it comes to poker rooms,
according to O’Donnell.
“Being one of five poker
rooms in the city of
Calgary has been a challenge, but we have captured our share of the
market by holding the
lowest limit in the city,”
he says. “Our attention to
customer service, in my
opinion, makes Stampede’s
poker room the friendliest in the city. We usually
have two games going
every night with the room
at capacity on the weekends. Being that we are on
Stampede Park, we have
the advantage of on-park
events such as the Calgary
Flames (NHL), Calgary
Hitmen (WHL), Calgary
Roughnecks (Lacrosse) and
other large trade shows or
concert events. There is
always a game waiting to
happen.”
Poker’s surge in interest has had an impact on
the Stampede. “The recent
poker explosion has been
great for business with people of all ages and limits.”
says O’Donnell. “More and
more players are coming to
check out the game and are
having a blast.”
The Stampede has had
its share of big tournaments with lots of money
on the line - even account-
ada
ing for the exchange rate.
“In the past 8 months, we
have hosted many tournaments with some awesome
prizes,” O’Donnell says.
“At our opening tournament in April 2005, we
partnered up with Q107
Radio and put 360 people
through, with the grand
prize being an entry and
expenses to the 2005
World Series of Poker. Our
winner sat at the first table
with Raymer and fell to
an early out. This summer
during the annual Calgary
Exhibition & Stampede
in July, we hosted a tournament that boasted a
guaranteed first prize of
$50,000 and a unique
championship belt buckle
that will be given to all the
winners of this ‘Stampede
Classic.’ The winner of
the tournament this year,
Jesse Marion of Houston,
TX, donated the entire first
prize to a local charity.”
“He kept the belt
buckle,” O’Donnell says.
“From March 8 to 12 we
will be hosting a $5000
buy-in heads-up poker
tournament with the winner guaranteed $250,000,”
he says. “This is going
to be an awesome time.
The field is capped at 128
players. This is going to
be an exciting event that
will have two players at
the table. The winner will
move on, the loser goes
home.”
Some Stampede tournaments are fundraisers.
“Two of our tournaments
have benefited local charities,” says O’Donnell. “In
May we hosted a tournament where, for $200,
players received $2500
in tournament chips. If
the player donated a set
amount of food to the
Food Bank, we doubled
their starting chips. This
year, we raised almost 700
pounds of food and $300
in cash. Just recently, we
held a tournament under
the same principle for
CJAY 92’s Kids Fund.
We raised over $1900 for
them to benefit kids at
Christmastime.”
O’Donnell sees poker
leveling off somewhat in
the future, but never going
away completely. “In my
opinion, poker will always
have a place in the new
casino world,” he says. “It
is a game that promotes
interaction between players and meeting people.
As far as gambling goes,
it can be a low investment
with big potential and the
chance to play for several hours, unlike some of
the table games. In three
to five years, I can see
the game, as we know it,
hit a plateau and not set
records for attendance and
participation. The WSOP
has gone from hundreds
of players to almost 6000.
We will not see that number climb that dramatically
every year, and I can see it
touching 10,000 players in
the next 3 years.”
The presence of Internet
poker is offering significant competition to
Stampede’s live experience. “With tournaments
being the new wave of
poker, live casinos are
competing with Internet
gaming,” he says. “The
Internet sites have the ability to host tournaments
at any time for any limit
you desire. As a live poker
room we cannot compete
with the frequency and the
lower buy ins. Because we
have to pay staff, we are
really handcuffed by when
we can hold them and the
duration. There are many
comments from players
that most tournaments are
not as fair as our Internet
counterparts. Accelerated
blinds or weak starting
chips to keep tournaments
in a profitable window
sometimes makes it tough.
The new poker player only
wants to play tournaments
and we find it tough to get
them to try a ring game.”
“The biggest question
is how much of an effect
Internet poker will have
in the future,” O’Donnell
says. “With more and
more sites popping up,
casino poker may become
obsolete. Ten to 20 years
from now, I can see only
Internet poker being popular. Unfortunately, we
have hit a technology age
where people are more
comfortable sitting at home
in their pajamas rather than
going out to the casino.”
SATURDAYS AT10AM
$25 Buy-In Receives:
$1,000 In Tournament Chips
$20 To The Prize Pool
$3 Tournament Entry Fee
$2 Dealer Appreciation
Re-Buy InThe First Hour For $10
And Receive $500 In
Tournament Chips.
(Must Have Less Than $1,000 In Tournament Chips)
••••••••••
After The First Hour,
Add-Ons For $10 Receive
$500 InTournament Chips.
(Regardless Of Chip Count)
US 95 At N.Rancho
658-4900
Maximum 30 players. Must be 21 years of age or older. Management reserves all rights.
©2005 Santa Fe Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV a Station Casinos company
Know Your Limits! If you think you have a gambling problem, call 1-800-522-4700.
D EC E M B E R 26 , 2 0 0 5
47
From
to Poker Stars
Greg Raymer
Joe Hachem
Chris Moneymaker
2004 WSOP Champion
2005 WSOP Champion
2003 WSOP Champion
Before they won millions, before they were the kings of poker, they were Fossilman, JoeHachem and Money800 on PokerStars.
Qualify for the world's largest tournaments
Play for at least $500,000 every Sunday at 4:00PM ET
Poker's largest rewards program - Freerolls, cash and prizes
What can PokerStars do for you?
W o r l d ' s L a r g e s t To u r n a m e n t W e b s i t e

OPEN - Poker Player Newspaper

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