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9
Celebrity Crossword PAGE
tribute to
Isabelle Mercier
12
26
14
17
20
Erik Seidel
profile by
Phil Hevener
PAGE
PAGE
Entertainment
Best Bets
12
40
POKER PLAYER
Vol. 10 Number 21 April 16, 2007 A Gambling Times Publication www.pokerplayernewspaper.com Copyright ©2007 Bi-Weekly $3.95 USA/$4.95 CANADA
Laguna Niguel’s
Tim Chauser
leaves the
Bicycle Casino
$186,000 richer.
Chauser Wins Foxwoods Poker
Classic
BIG GREEN
Underway
at the Bike
Now Executives say,
“Deal me in”
By Lou Krieger
CEOs and executives all
across America are throwing
away golf clubs for the thrill
of going all-in. Long regarded
as the sport of executives,
golf is taking a bit of a popularity hit and golf greens are
being substituted for the green
felt of the poker table as the
newest place to consummate
a deal.
“Poker is the new golf,”
according to William Peraza,
William Peraza, Jr.,
CEO of CEO Poker
(Continued on page 9)
The Bicycle Casino concluded its 6-week run
on March 25, when Tim
Chauser of Laguna Niguel,
CA beat 184 other players to take first place and
a prize of $186,000 after
defeating Tustin’s Edward
Hansen and Desert Hot
Springs’ Michael Woo.
Hansen and Woo came
away with $88,350 and
$44,175 for second and
third place respectively in
the $2,500 buy-in no-limit
hold’em championship.
While there are other
poker tournaments that pay
more, few tournaments
except the World Series
of Poker and Commerce
Casino’s LA Poker Classic
– which also plays for a
e Casey Griswold wins
$2,000 NLH Event
The Foxwoods Poker
Classic-World Poker Tour
Event Season V, running
from March 19-April 4, is
well underway. It began
By Lou Krieger
Carl Hostrup picked up
his $320,000 and became
the first poker player
to win the Asian Poker
Classic, the first professional poker tournament
around the country. Along
with the Circuit events,
each day also features 3
p.m. cash tournaments.
This tournament,
which runs from March
26 through April 6, was
opened by the World Series
of Poker’s Jeffrey Pollack,
held in India. The Asian
Poker Classic sponsored by
MaharajahClub.net, held in
the resort state of Goa, is
the first poker tournament
to be held in India.
A Word from the
“Mad Genius,”
Mike Caro
Today’s word is...
“CHARGE”
Turn to page 4 for more
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With Full Boat in WSOP Circuit Launch
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APRIL 16, 2007
P O K E R P L AY E R
1
2
APRIL 16, 2007
N E W S PA P E R P R E S E N TS . . .
The 2007 World Poker
Dealer Championships
AT
BINION’S GAMBLING HALL AND HOTEL
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA • SEPTEMBER 25-29, 2007
All public poker rooms,
worldwide, are invited to
send their EMPLOYEES
to the Second annual
World Poker Dealer
championships. This year
there are 4 events, all
are NO LIMIT HOLD ‘EM.
Players may NOT enter
directly, but, must be
the REPRESENTATIVES
of their card room, AND,
be employed there for
at least 3 months prior.
Winners will be required
to show proof of employment.
Participants may be
selected directly by the
card room, or through a
satellite event (preferable). Employees who
would like to play are
encouraged to bring
this event to the attention of their card room
SCHEDULE
Monday – September 24 – Evening
Registration, Orientation, Social Gathering –
Hors d’oeuvres, drinks
Tuesday – September 25 – Noon
Ladies Only event
(any female that works in a card room).
$500 buy-in - $50 entry fee
Wednesday – September 26 – 9:00 AM –
Finals of Ladies event (if needed)
Dealer’s Event – Noon
$1,000 buy-in - $100 entry fee
Thursday – September 27 – 9:00 AM –
Finals of Dealer’s event (if needed)
Supervisor’s Event – Noon
Friday – September 28 – 9:00 AM –
Finals of Supervisor’s event (if needed)
Owner’s and Manager’s Event – Noon
Saturday – September 29 – 10:00 AM –
Finals of Owner/Manager event
Champagne Celebration/Luncheon Banquet –
Awards – 2 PM
manager. All Card rooms
are requested to inform
Binion’s, at the earliest
possible date, of their
participation.
Cardrooms may send
a maximum number of
players to each event
based upon the size of
their regular card room:
1-9 tables
10-19 tables
20-29 tables
30-39 tables
40 or more
tables
1 player
2 players
3 players
4 players
5 players
Owner’s and manager’s
event includes shift
managers and above.
Supervisor’s event
includes all positions
between dealer and shift
manager, plus marketing, security and cashier
employees. Contestants
may only play in ONE
event.
Additional registration will take place at 10 AM – each event starting date.
For further details contact Gary DeWitt, Binions Poker Manager – [email protected] (702) 366-7525
APRIL 16, 2007
3
POKER NEWS
By John Caldwell
UK TAKES A STEP BACK
IN BEING “ONLINE GAMING
FRIENDLY”
UK Finance Minister Gordon Brown
announced a new “Remote Gaming Duty” (tax) of
15% - a move that makes it highly unlikely that any
online gaming firms would move to the UK in the
near future. Many online rooms were said to be mulling a move to the U.K., a break with their tradition of
being in tax friendly countries such as Gibraltar or
Malta. Brown also announced an increase in taxes on
land based casinos, which has some in the industry
predicting much tougher times ahead for the brick
and mortar casino business there.
NETELLER CASE GRANTED ANOTHER
EXTENSION
The case against NETeller co founders Stephen
Lawrence and John LeFebvre has been given another
extension, and the trial date pushed back yet again.
In order for an extension to be granted, both sides
must agree to it, so the delay does not appear to be
created by one side or the other. The new trial date
set is April 16th, which means many an online poker
player with thousands of dollars stuck in NETeller
will not be able to pay his or her taxes on time this
year.
GOVERNMENT SCORES VICTORY FOR
“GAMBLING MONOPOLY” IN HOLLAND
The Dutch Council of State ruled recently that the
practices of the Dutch government toward gambling
are “in principal a restrictive act.” However, the
Council also stated that there are “compelling reasons
in the general interest that can justify the restriction,” and as such upheld the current government
monopoly on gaming. The Dutch government currently operates the “Holland Casino” chain, with locations
spread around the country. A government run online
poker room is also part of the plan in Holland.
IN THE WORDS OF HOMER SIMPSON
“THEY’RE YEARS AHEAD OF US”
Sky TV in Britain has just launched a service called
“Sky Bet.” This new service allows viewers to play
online poker against each other whether or not they
are all connected to a computer. So, one player in
the North of England on a computer can be at the
same table with a player in the South, who is simply
using his television as his interface device. The technology, called “Open Bet” expects to have a myriad
of uses with respect to in home entertainment, but
Sky is starting with Poker. The cross platform technology includes all the normal online poker bells and
whistles, such as chat.
THIS JUST IN – BIGGER CHIP STACKS
ARE BETTER
One of the real bright spots in the recent teleconference with WSOP officials is increase in the size of
the starting stacks in WSOP events. A lot was made
on the conference call about the starting stacks in
the preliminary events being doubled, and that the
structures would be altered. Players in the Main
Event will start with 20,000 chips, with blinds starting at 50/100, and levels being two hours long. Poker
Forums have lit up with discussion about the new
starting stack size, and the effect it will have on play.
The response is generally very positive. Game on!
John Caldwell is the Editor-In-Chief of PokerNews.com,
a leading poker information portal. Prior to PokerNews,
John spent 15 years in music artist management, working
with artists like Stone Temple Pilots, and Hootie and the
Blowfish. Originally from Redondo Beach, CA, John lives
in Los Angeles, and spends about 4 months a year in Las
Vegas.. Reach him by e-mail at [email protected].
4
APRIL 16, 2007
Caro’s Word: “Charge”
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
N
o-limit poker is puzzling. You don’t just
bet or raise, as you
do in limit games.
You need to figure out how
much to wager. That makes
no-limit much more complicated, if you intend to play
it correctly.
If you hold a big hand,
you have something to sell,
and you need to charge the
right price. A lecture I delivered years ago will help you
understand the concepts
involved in establishing the
best price. And if you carefully consider the advice the
next time you’re involved in
no-limit hold ’em combat,
you’re apt to know how
much to charge. Then you’ll
make more profitable bets
and raises.
Here’s the transcript of
that lecture…
How much to bet in
no-limit
If you’re a serious or professional player, sooner or
later you’re probably going
to play no-limit poker. Nolimit poker used to be my
favorite form of the game,
and I spent several years
researching it when I developed the first world-class
artificially intelligent computer player, called Orac, in
the early 1980’s.
Unlike fixed-limit games
where you can only bet
exactly the amount specified, in no-limit you can
TUSCANY
Suites & Casino
bet or raise any amount you
want up to however much
money and chips you have
on the table. By the way,
there’s no such thing as
the scenario you’ve seen
in many Old West movies
where a player with a sixshooter unexpectedly calls
a pot and raises the deed
to the ranch, then – if the
opponent can’t come up
with anything of equal value
– that poor under-funded
cowboy loses the pot by
default. That’s stupid, and I
doubt that it happened very
often. All no-limit games
that I know about are actually limited by the amount
of money an opponent has
on the table. The risk is
never any greater than that.
But, I got sidetracked.
Today, I want to talk about
an important concept that
applies to no-limit. It’s
about the appropriate size
of bets. Now, many players
and even experts have said
that the appropriate size of a
typical bet is about the size
of the pot. That’s wrong. I
know it’s wrong, because,
first, there’s no magical
mathematical reason to
make this so, and, second,
I did a lot of research in
developing Orac, including
full-handed game analysis,
and a smaller than pot-size
bet turned out to be the
most effective for the vast
majority of hands where
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POKER
PLAYER
A Gambling Times Publication
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Phil Hevener
CONSULTANT
Contributing
Columnists
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Ashley Adams Diane McHaffie
James McKenna
I. Nelson Rose John Vorhaus
Poker Player will be published Bi-Weekly by
Gambling Times Incorporated,
Stanley R. Sludikoff, President.
Volume 10 Number 21.
Copyright © April 2007 by Gambling
Times Incorporated. All rights reserved.
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APRIL 16, 2007
5
Raising in
No-Limit
KRIEGER’s CORNER
By Lou Krieger©
Raising is much different in no-limit hold’em than it is in
a fixed-limit game. It begins before the flop. In fixed-limit
games it pays to try to capture the blinds whenever you think
you can, simply because they represent a larger percentage
of your wager.
With $5-$10 blinds in a $10-$20 fixed-limit hold’em game,
a raise to $20 before the flop wins $15 if all your opponents
fold. That’s three-quarters of the blinds. Not only that, raising can also limit the number of opponents you’ll have to play
against and gets more money into a pot you figure to win if
you are raising with a big pocket pair like kings or aces.
But a raise before the flop in no-limit hold’em is a very
different stroke. Most no-limit raises are more than the
minimum. Rather than simply twice the bet as a raise would
be in a fixed-limit game, no-limit hold’em raises tend to
be between three and five times the size of the big blind,
although they might be any amount. Small raises in no-limit
games are problematical because they offer opponents an
inexpensive chance to get lucky and beat you. In fact, the
more money you and your opponents have in play, the more
justified someone is to call a smallish raise and take a flyer
because the implied odds are so good.
In a no-limit game with $2-$4 blinds, a typical raise might
be $12 or $16 before the flop. It could be more, too, depending on your opponents’ playing styles. If you raise to $16, an
opponent choosing to reraise might make it $40 or $50 to
go — or more. Now you have an opportunity to act, and are
eligible to fold, call, or raise again. If you do reraise, you’ll
probably make it in excess of $100 to play, and if you’re close
to stacking off, you might decide to go all-in.
But even if you have a high risk tolerance, you shouldn’t
call a sizeable wager on one betting round unless you are
prepared to call an even larger bet after the next card has
been dealt.
This is very different than fixed-limit hold’em, in which the
betting on one round is almost unrelated to the next round’s
wagering. But in no-limit hold’em, if you call an opponent’s
raise on one betting round, you can anticipate that the
aggressor will wager even more — thus forcing you to go allin, or close to it — on the next round.
If you plan to call a raise in no-limit, you should usually do
so only if you intend to call a raise on the next betting round
too.
This leads to more calls and fewer reraises. After all, anytime you raise, you open up betting opportunities for every
other active player. If you’re last to act and call, your action
closes the wagering on that round, and closing the betting
usually has a much greater impact in no-limit hold’em than it
does in fixed-limit games. The threat of an opponent’s reraise
hangs over player’s heads like the sword of Damocles – especially when it represents an amount that you’re unwilling to
call – and keeps reraising down.
The ability to size a bet or a raise in no-limit means that
you have the opportunity to determine the nature of the
odds you will offer an opponent who appears to be drawing
to a straight or a flush. Because your bets and raises can
price an opponent off of his draw in no-limit hold’em, the size
of your weaponry and your willingness to deploy affords you
more control over an opponent’s actions.
If all of this sounds surprisingly like the theory of mutually assured destruction that the US and Soviet Union used to
keep each other at bay during the Cold War, you’re right on
point. Poker is played in real life too, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be played with cards.
Visit Lou Krieger online and check out all his
books at www.loukrieger.com. You can read his
blog at http://loukrieger.blogspot.com and write
directly to him at [email protected].
6
APRIL 16, 2007
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APRIL 16, 2007
7
Tournament Directors:
The Astronauts of Poker
Pool-ker
Anyone?
NORTH BY NORTHWEST
By Byron Liggett
In order to pilot a major poker tournament,
you’ve got to have the Right Stuff. It’s been
the privilege of this writer to have flown and
worked with some of the foremost Tournament
Directors in the Card Cosmos.
Jack McClelland, the John Glenn of poker tournaments,
pioneered many of the fundamental rules and procedures
for getting it in the air. Long before there was a professional
Tournament Directors Association, before poker on TV, software, laptops, and cell phones, Jack ran multi-million dollar
tournaments with pen ‘n paper.
He was Tournament Commander of the WSOP at the
Horseshoe for Jack Binion for 15 years and California’s
Commerce Casino for 9 years, before taking the Director’s
position at the Bellagio a few years ago.
In those early years, poker tournaments were still experimental aircraft, Jack was often flying by the seat of his pants,
having to make instant critical decisions with little more to
back him up than his sense of fairness and professionalism.
When it comes to TV, the “Alex Trebek of Poker” is Matt
Savage. He is Tournament Director for Bay 101, in San Jose,
including its prestigious “Shooting Star Tournament.” But
Matt’s not just a pretty face. He also is one of the Founders of
the Tournament Director’s Association.
If there’s a problem, and the crew has to call Houston, the
calm, collected and courageous guy they turn to is David
Lamb. A TDA Founder and respected tournament director,
David is a highly regarded expert. Whenever there’s a problem
and the tournament crew has to call Houston, David is guy they
turn to.
The guy who gets the Distinguished Flying Medal of is Jimmy
Sommerfeld. He’s done the WSOP, is tournament director for
the Cherokee Casinos in Oklahoma and the Hilton/Grand Sierra
in Reno, among others.
Also trained by McClelland years ago, Jimmy has not only
been one of the real innovators in the game, he may also be
its most popular tournament director. Players and poker room
personnel genuinely like, trust and respect him.
Nevertheless, it didn’t stop Card Player magazine writer
Mike O’Malley from shooting down Sommerfeld a few months
ago.
O’Malley played in a $2,000 buy-in no-limit shoot-out at the
WSOP. There were 100 tables and the players were to play to
the last player at each table. Then, the 100 winners would meet
to play for the money. That was how the event was publicized.
But the event attracted only 600 players. Consequently,
Jimmie started the tournament with 6 players at each of the
100 tables. Each 6-handed table would play to one player.
One player protested loudly about “the structure change.”
He thought they should play at full tables. O’Malley agreed. He
wrote, “If a tournament is going to be run differently than was
expected, it should be clearly identified.”
Sommerfeld explained to the players that the structure had
not changed. He pointed out the way the shoot-out works
– i.e. 600 players at 100 tables -- means everyone who wins
their table will get at least double their money back.” Instead
of having to beat 9 players to get to the second round and a
shot at major money, they only had to beat 5!
But O’Malley and the loud-mouth were upset. Something
hadn’t gone as expected! A poker player who can’t handle the
unexpected is in trouble. So, when they failed to win, it became
Jimmy’s fault. That’s a cheap-shot.
Tournament directors are like combat pilots. They’ve got a
million dollars in the air, a lot of passengers on board, and no
room for error. It’s a helluva job.
A Joe & Hobby fiction by
David J. Valley
obby and I were
planning to go to
Vegas for a tournament at
Bellagio’s. He’d fly us there
in his Bonanza. Nothing
against Hobby, but I’m
not crazy about flying in a
small plane. I’d have to grin
and bear it.
“Joe, how about stopping
in Barstow to see Hack?”
“Good idea, Hobby. It’s
been couple years since
we’ve heard from him.”
Hack was in the Army with
us, ‘way back when.’ After
he did a full hitch he bought
a liquor store in Barstow
and later a poolroom.
After an uneventful flight
(thank God!) from Burbank
to Barstow, a cab took us to
Hack’s poolroom.
“Hobby and Joe! What a
pleasant sight for these old
eyes!”
“Hey, Hack. It’s been so
long, we didn’t know if you
were vertically or horizontally disposed these days,”
Hobby said with a grin.
“Going for the big sleep
doesn’t seem like such a
bad thing lately,” Hack said
with a sigh. He evidently
saw our looks of concern
and added. “No, just kid-
H
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]
8
APRIL 16, 2007
ding, but this business is
getting me down.”
“You were doing so well
the last time we saw you,” I
commented.
“Take a look around, I’m
lucky to have two of these
five tables busy. Used to be,
people were waiting in line
to play.”
“What happened?”
“Mostly, it’s poker. The
last two years everybody’s
playing poker at the clubs
around town or going to
Vegas.”
“Maybe you ought to
open a card room.”
“Can’t get a license anymore, but enough of my
troubles. Come sit at the
bar, I want to hear what
you’re doing.”
After we brought Hack
up to date we digressed into
familiar memories and a
lot of laughs. It was getting
time for us to leave when
Hobby said, “Hack, don’t
worry about your business.
Joe will think of something
that will bring your customers back in droves.”
“Hobby,” I protested. “I
wish I could, but I wouldn’t
know where to begin.”
As we left Hobby said,
“Don’t worry Hack, he’ll
come up with something.”
Outside I said, “Dammit,
Hobby. Times like this you
really piss me off.”
“It’s okay, Joe. I know
that if I put you in a hole,
you’ll find a way to climb
out.”
Few words were spoken
as we completed our trip
to Vegas, but my mind was
working. Maybe there was
a way for Hack to pump up
his business.
We were both knocked
out in early rounds at
Bellagio. To get something
useful from our trip, we
decided to stay that night
for Celine’s show and head
back to L.A. in the morning.
Luckily, we caught her last
Vegas show. It turned out
that she was worth the trip.
At the airport Hobby
said, “I’ve got to file my
flight plan. Do we stop at
Barstow?”
“Might as well. If I can’t
come up with something by
then, we don’t have to stay.”
My mind was in high
gear. I was onto something. As the Bonanzas’
wheels touched down on
the Barstow runway I said,
“I’ve got it, Hobby.”
“I knew you could do it,
Joe. So what have you got?”
“I’ll explain it to you
and Hack together. I’m still
working out some details in
my head.”
“Jeez, I didn’t expect
to see you guys again so
soon,” Hack said with genu(Continued on page 32)
CEO Poker: “Deal Me In”
Jr. CEO of CEO Poker, who
just announced that the next
executive poker event will
take place at the Trump Taj
Mahal in Atlantic City, May
19-25, where executives will
battle for cash, prizes, and a
tournament bracelet.
“Poker has become a
mental challenge for executive players, as they use their
Board room skills in the
poker room to network and
battle against their executive
opponents,” says Peraza. “It
is a natural, because this is
one of the few games were
men and women compete
side-by-side in a level playing
field.”
The CEO Poker
Tournament at the Trump
Taj Mahal is a poker challenge and networking event,
as executives representing all
areas of industry: real estate,
business, hospitality, investor,
Internet, health, advertising,
and more, face off against one
another for the title of CEO
Poker Tour Champion.
“The Trump Taj Mahal
was the natural choice for a
location to hold this prestigious executive event, “says
Peraza. “We chose the Trump
Taj Mahal because we wanted
our players to enjoy an exclusive poker room, and a host of
amenities. Our players expect
a professional atmosphere,
in a casino that has experience holding exclusive poker
events.”
While more than 150 participants are already registered
for this tournament, you don’t
have to be a corporate bigwig to compete. The CEO
Poker Tournament at the
Trump Taj Mahal – one of the
largest poker room in Atlantic
City – is open to all players
wanting to compete and buyins range from $500-$5,000.
“Poker is similar to the
business world, with strategy,
knowledge, luck, and the
psychology of bluffing,” says
Peraza. “Poker for executives
is like going to the gym; they
exercise the skills they use
in the Board room to battle
against their executive opponents.”
When asked why he created a poker event focused
only on executives, Peraza
responded by saying, “The
most compelling reason was
I wanted to offer executives a
chance to exercise their business skills in a casual environ-
ment. Executives on a daily
basis, assess risk, read faces
of rivals, leverage strengths,
mask their weaknesses, and
cope with stress, the essentials
needed in a poker table.”
Peraza offers proof of
poker’s new found popularity
among executives— a survey taken last year by CEO
Poker Tour, which reported
that of 500 chief executives
surveyed, 65 percent said they
prefer a green felt poker table
to a putting green.
More than 50 million
people – roughly one-in-five
Americans – play poker in
the United States; making it
more popular than other, more
(Cont’d from page 1)
established sports such as
golf, billiards, or tennis.
Will more executives
resign from their 9 to 5 office
jobs, for the adrenalin filled
life of a professional poker
player? Peraza thinks not.
“This is an escape from the
daily grind for many of our
executive players, and we are
happy to provide a temporary
outlet to their stressed business lives.”
To register for the tournaments please log in to www.
ceopokertour.com or ceopoker.net and click “tournaments”
for more information and an
online registration link. Seats
are limited.
Hold’em Herd Heads
for Wildhorse “Spring
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By Byron Liggett
This Spring, April 18
– 28, chip-kickers throughout the West will be riding the Oregon Trail to
the Wildhorse Resort &
Casino, in Pendleton, for the
“Spring Poker Round-up
Tournament.”
This “Spring Poker
Round-up Tournament”
d
could exceed all previous
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Registration for all main events will begin at 3:00 p.m. on Monday, May 7, 2007. All main events start at noon. All Super Satellites will seat as many entries as
possible into the Championship Event (May 19, 2007). The Heads-Up NLH Tournament is a multi-day event and is limited to 128 entries. Each round in Heads-Up
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WPT Finals at Bellagio in April 2008. Management reserves the right to modify, suspend, or cancel this promotion at its sole discretion and without prior notice. All
tournaments are subject to table availability. The Mirage endorses responsible gaming. If you or someone you know has a problem gaming responsibly, please call
the 24-hour Problem Gamblers HelpLine at 1-800-522-4700. ©2007 MGM MIRAGE®. All rights reserved.
APRIL 16, 2007
9
LESSON 99:
Playing From the
Small Blind
Lessons from mike caro
university of poker
BY DIANE M C HAFFIE
Today we’re going to discuss how to play from
the small blind. I know; you don’t have to tell
me: Mike just held a contest on a similar topic. But since he
declared me ineligible, I’ll take this opportunity to talk about
related ideas that he’s taught me.
For those of you who are new to the game, the small blind is
located immediately left of the dealer. The big blind is the second seat to the left of the dealer. If you’re in the small blind and
everyone has passed, Mike encourages you to raise or at least
call the majority of the time to prevent the big blind acquiring
it for free. You don’t need as strong a hand as you might think
to justify playing. In fact, Mike says many players fold way too
often.
A good decision: Beyond the advice of not folding, Mike also
says most players raise too often, rather than just call. Why do
you want to call the big blind when you’re the small blind? Well,
if you’re in a $50-$100 hold’em game, the big blind has been
forced to put up $50 already, and as the small blind, you’ve had
to put up $25. So, since you’re already in for half, and your
other opponents have chosen to pass, except for the big blind,
you only need to call $25. You’re only risking $25 to pursue the
$75 already in the pot, and that’s 3-to-1 on your money. Now, if
you had to call the entire $50, it may not be such a bargain.
Suppose your opponent then raises? Mike says you’d still
call with most hands because, once again, you’re getting 3-to-1
money odds.
When raising from the small blind, you should consider whether your opponent passes frequently against a raise. Or does he
consider it a challenge and come after you? Unless you have an
extremely strong hand, the best case scenario, after you raise,
is that your opponent passes. If the big blind will surrender 20
percent of the time or more when you raise, Mike advises raising quite often with semi-weak to medium strong hands.
Secondary hands: If the opponent in the big blind is aggressive and doesn’t like to give up without a fight, then it’s usually not in your best interest to raise with secondary hands.
Consider calling instead. If your hand is rather puny, don’t
attempt a call, just fold.
As the small blind, if you have other opponents to contend
with, then you should enter the game as cheaply as possible.
You probably shouldn’t consider raising or reraising. Mike says
the reason is that you’ll be first to act on all future betting
rounds, and that makes you too vulnerable to justify the firstround raise.
If an aggressive opponent is in late position and has raised or
called, it is possible that he’s not holding the impressive hand
that he’s trying to portray. This allows you the chance to be the
aggressor in the small blind.
Daunting task: I’ll remind you once more: As the small
blind, if you raise or reraise, you’re going to be playing from an
unenviable position for the remainder of the betting opportunities. You are going to be the first to act. That makes it a rather
daunting task to become the aggressor.
Mike advises saving this tactic for when you’re holding huge
pairs. He goes on to suggest that although you may be holding
notable cards like Ace-King or Ace-Queen, they’ll make more
profit for you in the long run if you simply call.
Finally, you don’t want your opponents to find you predictable, so once in a while you may wish to throw your opponent a
curve ball, and raise. But usually, you should be quite content to
just call.
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].
10
APRIL 16, 2007
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].
T
wo issues ago I left
you to ponder the
question of whether you
would be better off scooping a pot and having to
post the kill or not. In the
example cited in that issue,
if you did not have to kill
the next hand and folded,
you would have won 83
percent of the pot compared to 30 percent by having to post the kill of $16.
But the fact remains that
you have as much chance
to win the kill hand as
any other player. So just
what does happen in a kill
Tight Game
Profile
Lt. Columbo
Richer Rich
Hercule Poirot
Solid Sammy
S. Holmes
W. Paladin
Fred C. Dobbs
Barnaby Jones
Sam Spade
C. Chan
With a kill
Win % $ Net
11.9% (0.85)
10.9% (0.94)
8.6% (0.03)
11.0% (0.51)
9.8% (0.14)
8.2%
0.22
12.5% (1.90)
8.8%
0.22
11.0% (0.07)
7.4%
0.38
game?
The chart above was
produced by running 5
million simulations using
Wilson’s Turbo Omaha
High-Low Split Software
set up to run with a full
kill, half kill and no kill.
The same line-up of players was used for all three
game types and the results
are presented by profile
name. This simulation was
run at a typical tight table
with mostly tight players.
Look at the player who
had the highest net across
all game types, C. Chan.
Without a kill he won 10
cents per hand on average.
With a half kill it doubled
to 20 cents and with a full
kill it rose to 38 cents per
hand.
Now take a look at the
player with the worst net,
Fred C. Dobbs. Without
a kill he lost on average
$1.33 per hand while with
a half kill he lost $1.53. In
the full kill game he lost
$1.90 per hand. These two
players demonstrate an
important concept.
Winning players tend
to do better or win more
as the kill requirement
increases. The reverse is
true for the players who
Sam Mudaro is the...
How does a Kill Pot
the Game? PART 2
lose most of the
Affect
time. Look at
Barnaby Jones. He
lost 2 cents per hand in the
regular game but manages
to win in both kill games.
It is a similar story for
W. Paladin. So is it safe
to say that better players
do better in kill games at
the expense of the less
skilled players who tend
to lose more? Next time
we will see if the results
are the same in an average game and loose game.
Continuing with our poker
glossary we have:
Half Kill
Win % $ Net
11.80 (0.69)
10.80 (0.88)
8.60
(0.08)
11.00 (0.50)
9.80
(0.15)
8.20
0.08
12.40 (1.53)
8.80
0.03
11.00 (0.10)
7.50
0.20
Without a Kill
Win % $ Net
11.8% (0.57)
10.8% (0.77)
8.7% (0.18)
11.0% (0.46)
9.8% (0.23)
8.3% (0.01)
12.4% (1.33)
8.8% (0.02)
10.9% (0.12)
7.5%
0.10
Back Door Flush – A
draw is typically defined as
four cards to a straight or
four cards to a flush. When
a player is holding cards
that form a three-card flush
in a flop game with two
cards to come, they are
said to have a back door
flush. It is referred to as
back door because the person is usually proceeding
with the hand and the flush
draw as only a secondary
possibility.
Bad Beat – A person is
said to suffer a bad beat
when entering a pot with
a high expectation hand
with excellent potential to
improve, pushes the pot by
betting and or raising only
to have a player with a
sub-marginal hand call all
the way to the river and hit
a low probability draw to
take down the pot.
Beer Hand – A beer
hand in hold’em refers to
the worse possible starting
hand which is generally
considered to be a 7-2 off
suit.
Belly Buster – This
phrase is used to refer to
an inside straight draw
where you need a middle
card i.e. you hold A-K and
the board shows a J-T.
This type of a draw is also
referred to as “gut-shot”
draw.
Bet – Bet, or betting,
is the action of putting
chips into the pot or the
announcement of your
intent to do so, as in “I
bet.”
Bet the Pot – A term
used to indicate the size of
a bet. It is typically used
in pot-limit games and to
a lesser extent in no-limit
games. The size of the bet
is a function of the amount
in the pot and in most
cases is an amount equal to
the size of the pot.
Bicycle – Is a name
referring to a low straight
which is also referred to as
a wheel, consisting of the
following cards 5-4-3-2-A.
Big Blind – The big
blind is a forced bet posted
before the cards are dealt
by the player to the left of
the player posting a small
blind. While it is most
typical to encounter one
small blind and one big
blind, some games feature
two small blinds, two big
blinds or a small blind
and two big blinds. The
big blind is usually twice
that of the small blind as
in a typical $10-$20 game
with blinds of $5 and $10,
or may be three times the
small blind as in a $3-$6
game with blinds of $1 and
$3. Blind are incorporated
into a game to encourage
action.
So what have we
learned? Kill games do
affect the amount won or
lost at the table. Is this
good or bad? It depends
on your skills compared to
those of your opponents, at
least in a tight game.
betting was reasonable,
but strength was not overwhelmingly great. That’s
important, so I’ll repeat it:
The most reasonable size of
a no-limit bet with typical
betting hands that are not
overwhelmingly strong is
less than the size of the pot.
Prepared to suffer
There, I’ve said it, and I’m
prepared to suffer the scorn
of those who believe that,
for some magical reason,
the perfect size bet is the
same as the size of the pot.
Once again, it isn’t. It’s usually less.
Now this doesn’t mean
you shouldn’t vary your
bets with typical strength
hands. You need to do that,
otherwise you’ll be betting progressively more,
by formula, when you
have strong hands. An alert
opponent could gauge the
approximate strength of
your hand just by examining the size of your bets.
A small bet would mean
a barely bettable hand; a
medium bet would mean an
average bettable hand; and
a large bet would mean a
very big hand. You might
as well give up poker, if
you do that, because you
probably won’t win, except
against naïve opponents.
What you’ve got to do is
apply some camouflage.
Sometimes bet more with
your barely bettable hands;
sometimes bet more and
sometimes less with average bettable hands; and vary
the amounts of your bets
with your highest quality
hands from all-in to small
and everywhere in between,
while averaging biggerthan-normal wagers.
That’s the secret. Your
bets should average
amounts that are in tune
with the strength of your
hands, but they shouldn’t
always be in that range.
That way, an opponent
can’t rely on your bet size
as a pure indication of how
strong your hand is; but,
on average, you’re risking
more for more gain with
your stronger hands, which
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APRIL 16, 2007
11
ven as a 12-year-old,
Erik Seidel could pull
a nice little bluff.
Like the night he got a
chance to make a few bucks
appearing on the old network television show “To
Tell the Truth,” pretending to
be the youngest of all comic
book illustrators.
Until that evening, what
Seidel knew about comic
books was that he had
E
vision audience.
“Poker is a game about
information,” Seidel would
argue. He felt very uneasy
giving away the sort of
information that could one
day be used against him.
“The more information people have, the more
prepared they are to play
PLAYER
ERIK
Profile
Seidel
BY PHIL HEVENER
enjoyed reading them.
But illustrating them?
Please!
He was a fast study,
managing to convince two of
the show’s four panelists that
he was indeed the youngest
ever illustrator. That added
up to $500 – $250 for each
wrong vote by the four panelists.
Not bad when you’re 12.
Flash forward a lot of
years and the 47-year-old
Seidel’s bluffing involves far
bigger stakes. There are big
games and big issues, and
as a thinking man’s poker
player he’s not inclined to
leave either alone.
Seidel was an unhappy
camper as he considered
the look of poker’s changing landscape several years
back. Those tiny cameras that let home television viewers see a player’s
hole cards were changing
the game, boosting poker
to heights of appeal it had
never visited before.
Poker was becoming a
spectator sport, thanks to the
stories told by those cameras. This was good for the
TV viewer, but bad for the
poker player whose stock in
trade was projecting impressions that might have nothing to do with the cards he
was holding.
A stone, cold bluff might
look like pocket aces until it
was laid out for all the world
to see on television.
Was the world of poker
ready for so much openness?
His first thought was there
was no way he was going to
show his hole cards to a tele-
against you.”
But there was this enticing upside. New technology
was attracting audiences and
players, creating bigger paydays than ever.
So Seidel grumbled but
eventually let his thinking
turn the corner. Life was full
of little trade-offs. He would
start showing his hole cards
if that was what the new era
of big money tournaments
was going to require.
The thing about Seidel .
. . he does not stand out in
a crowd of new era success
stories that often feature loud
talkers and trash talkers,
people with a personality
that enters the room 10 minutes before they do.
Highly regarded poker pro
and author Barry Greenstein,
who has publicly rated many
of the best-known poker talents, says of Seidel, “He is
a very down to earth person,
a trait that works against him
since buffoonery makes for
better television. He is easily
one of the top four or five
no limit hold’em tournament
players but is often overlooked.”
This may also have something to do with the fact
Seidel does not maintain an
agenda of high profile projects. There are no books,
film projects or DVDs in the
works.
“Not even a reality show,”
he grins. “What I’m doing
right now is trying not to
work too hard. What people
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.
12
see is the natural me. There
are people who are out there
promoting themselves, but in
many cases it is just an extension of their personality . . .
“Television certainly
seems to be attracted to charismatic players,” shaking
his head like there should
be a better way, “because
when I look at people
like John Juanda or Allen
Cunningham – they’re real-
APRIL 16, 2007
ly brilliant players – I think
it is too bad the public does
not get as much exposure to
them as the guys jumping
around making a lot of noise
trying to attract the attention
of the camera.”
More than a hundred tournament cashes and close to
$5.7 million in official tournament prize money helps
make this low-key approach
to life and poker possible.
He is a team member at Full
Tilt Poker. That’s where he
spends his online time.
The Full Tilt thing is
largely the result of his long
friendship with the website’s
main man Howard Lederer,
whom Seidel has known
since their long ago gameplaying days at New York’s
Mayfair Club.
Seidel has been so successful for so long – he
finished second in the World
Series of Poker’s 1988
main event, the first year he
played it – that many of the
scenes from the Seidel highlights reel are relatively well
known.
There are the seven first
place bracelets at the World
Series of Poker, the first of
them in 1992, as he shouldered his way toward the
heights occupied by professional poker’s elite.
There were the years spent
playing backgammon, and
later poker, at the Mayfair,
where he first became
acquainted with the likes of
Lederer, Dan Harrington and
Jay Heimowitz.
Seidel was a native New
Yorker who imagined he
would find some way to
follow his parents into the
documentary film business.
That’s the way he was looking at his future as he took
a shot at earning a degree
from Hunter College. But it
eventually became apparent
the college thing was not
going to work. Seidel’s passion for backgammon kept
getting in the way.
Okay, so forget college, which is what he did.
Backgammon was an irresistible distraction.
“I was making a good
living playing backgammon
and it was very hard to also
try and focus on school.
Eventually I just said . . .”
He shrugs and his words
trail off, as though there is
not much more to say on the
subject. Seidel was coming
to Las Vegas for the backgammon tournaments long
before he got serious about
poker.
“I knew and admired
people like Chip Reese, Stu
Ungar and Puggy (Pearson)
but I didn’t really have a
desire to focus on poker
when I first started coming
to Vegas. I just never thought
that I could be one of them
or that I could play poker
professionally. I knew Chip,
Stu and Puggy because they
were also guys who played
backgammon.
The transition to poker
came during one of his Las
Vegas backgammon trips
when he happened to sit
down in a game.
“It was tiny stakes, oneand two-dollar stuff, but
I loved it and went back
to New York and started
playing with a couple of
friends and a game kind of
developed out of that. This
is actually how the Mayfair
poker game got started.”
Thinking about this
and how everything came
together, he says, “It was a
great environment in which
to learn because, at least at
the beginning, there were a
lot of very bad players, but
we were all bad, you know,
and I was able to learn and
not lose money . . .
“Eventually, some great
pros started coming into the
game and we got to watch
people like Jay Heimowitz
and Howard (Lederer).”
Seidel went to work on
Wall Street in the mid-1980s,
but the 1987 crash mostly
wiped out his positions and
he woke up one day saying,
okay, what do I do now?
He headed back to the
Mayfair and the games there,
taking it cautiously at first.
“I did not a lot of confidence in my playing ability.”
But time goes by and his
confidence and bankroll
began to grow and by early
1988 things just, well, they
took off.
“I got on a real roll. I
was really winning a lot in
the game at the Mayfair.
Howard was a good friend
at that time and he was very
helpful in terms of helping
me understand the game. He
says to me that I really ought
to think of going out to the
World Series.”
“Yeah, sure,” was Seidel’s
first reaction.
“It seemed crazy to me,
but I went. Took a long list
of partners to finance my
entry in the main event, but
things worked out well and
I finished second. That was
kind of the start of me thinking of myself as a professional poker player.”
Seidel had been on Wall
Street for a couple years
before the 1988 World Series
as an options trader on the
floor of the American Stock
Exchange. After the Series
he played poker for a while
before deciding to go back
to Wall Street.
There was a lot of action
with this other kind of
gambling but remembering
the way he felt, “It was not
nearly as much fun as playing poker.”
And so he kept playing
poker, mostly tournaments,
and won the first of his
seven World Series bracelets
in 1992, at a limit hold’em
event.
Seidel focuses almost
entirely on tournament
action now, except when
playing on the Internet as
a member of the Full Tilt
team.
He does not miss the
chance to use his high profile to talk about changing
public policy as it concerns
poker.
“I think it is too bad that
poker has been caught up
in legislation that mostly
seems to be aimed at sport
betting. I wish there was
some kind of legal carve-out
for poker. Poker has been in
some cases a kind of innocent bystander in this battle
against sport betting . . .
“It would be nice to see
the justice department to
clarify its position.
“It’s so hypocritical for
legislators – at least some of
them – to be against poker
but to be in favor of betting
on horses.”
Who can explain it, he
seems to say.
A Poker Player Murder Mystery by Robert Arabella
NIGHTMARE ON FIFTH STREET
History is a nightmare from
which I am trying to awake.
—James Joyce
[This article is based on
Robert Arabella’s Decline
And Fall Of The Poker
Empire, published in 2026 by
Poker Player.]
who waits silently for his boss
to supply the right answer, “I’ll
tell you how by telling you
who: The First Street Gang!”
“The First Street Gang”
is Gus Stappo-speak for the
Supreme Court, located four
blocks away. The Court, hearing
arguments on the constitutional-
ity of the Poker Prohibition Act,
has stopped Stappo from busting heads. “Those pro-poker
activist judges are totally ruining this Nation.”
Ike Mann, who plays the
role of Stappo’s “yes-man,”
raises his voice to show just
how much in agreement he is,
“Right! Exactly! Ruination!”
and then lowers his voice to
ask, “You want me to hang a
vacancy sign on First Street?”
Stappo wants nothing more
than to hang the whole First
Street Gang. The Reverend
President’s Chief Advisor,
Silas Coldcoffee, has promised
they’ll soon replace the propoker First Street Gang with an
anti-poker Our Gang.
“Not yet. Old ‘Sly Sy’ thinks
it’s best to wait.”
“Waiting’s good,” says
Mann, in total toady agreement.
“If Mr. Coldcoffee wants us to
wait, we’ll wait!
“While we’re waiting,
though, we should be getting
ready.”
“I’m ready, boss! I’m ready
as ready can be!”
“Ike, have you ever read Sun
Tzu’s Art Of War?”
Mann had never read over
an eighth grade level. This had
never been a problem. You
didn’t need to be able to spell
sycophant in order be the sycophant. You only had to kiss-up
and kick down. “No, boss, but I
sure bet you have! Yes, sir! Art
Of War!”
“Old Sun Tze says, ‘Know
your enemy,’ and that’s what
we’re going to do while we’re
In 1926 to honor the founder
of the KGB, the Soviet Union’s
Committee for State Security,
Vladimir Lenin named the
street in front of their Moscow
Headquarters, Commissar Felix
Dzerzhinsky Square.
In 1942, to honor the founder
of the Gestapo, Nazi Germany’s
Secret State Police, Adolph
Hitler named the street in front
of their Berlin Headquarters,
SS-Obergruppenführer
Reinhard Heydrichplatz.
In 1984, to honor the founder
of the Thinkpol, Oceania’s
Thought Police, Big Brother
named the street in front of
their London Headquarters,
Inner Party Member O’Brien
Road.
In 2023, to honor the author
of America’s first piece of
anti-poker legislation, 2006’s
Internet Gambling Prohibition
Act, Reverend President Biggs
Brother, named the street in
front of the Washington, D.C.
Headquarters of the Poker
Police, Congressman Robert
Goodlatte Avenue.
Washingtonians don’t call
it Goodlatte Avenue. They
much prefer the old name, Fifth
Street.
“This report is my worst
nightmare,” grumbles Augustus
“Gus” Stappo, Chief of the
Poker Police.
The report’s official title is,
“Inter-Governmental Statistical
Analysis And Numerical
Hypothesis Of The General
Population Estimated To Be
In Non-Compliance With The
Poker Prohibition Act.” Its
unofficial title is “Number Of
Americans Still Playing Poker.”
“How can 10,000,000
Americans still be playing
poker?”
The question is directed to
Stappo’s Assistant, Ike Mann,
waiting.”
Stappo tosses the nightmarish report into the trash, “I don’t
want ‘Statistical Analyses’ or
‘Numerical Hypotheses. I want
names. If there are 10,000,000
poker players out there, then I
want 10,000,000 names.”
Even a yes-man can sometimes say, “No! How can we
get the names of 10,000,000
poker players?”
Gus Stappo smiles an ugly
smile, and answers, “One name
at a time.”
[This is a work of poker fiction set ten thousand hands
in the future. Any resemblance to persons living or
dead is coincidental.]
(To be continued in the next
issue of Poker Player)
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APRIL 16, 2007
13
NETeller, You and the Feds
POKer AND
THE LAW
By I. NELSON ROSE
The good news is NETeller has announced it is
going to give back money from U.S. players.
The bad news is... I don’t know exactly how much bad news
there is. But here is some:
1) The announcement on March 21 dealt only with the $55
million or so that was seized by the U.S. Attorneys. It does
not necessarily cover the other hundreds of millions of dollars from NETeller’s American patrons. On the other hand,
NETeller has always said it wants to give back all of its customers’ funds. And the money is safe. Not only is it held in
separate escrow accounts, but NETeller is so rich that it could
pay back everyone with its own cash.
2) The announcement mentioned 75 days, which is only
the time period for finalizing the plan. According to NETeller’s
statement, it “anticipates that within the next 75 days it will
announce a plan by which the funds will be distributed to US
customers.” It could be months before anyone sees any cash.
3) Most troublesome -- some sort of deal has been struck
with the U.S. Attorneys for the Southern District of New York,
which had arrested the two founders of NETeller. American
patrons’ funds will only be returned after they have been
scrutinized by an independent company, Navigant Consulting,
Inc. Navigant is going to “provide financial consulting and
forensic accounting services to the company, including oversight of the process of returning funds to U.S. customers.”
According to Investopedia.com, “Forensic Accounting”
“utilizes accounting, auditing, and investigative skills to conduct an examination into a company’s financial statements.”
Thus, providing an accounting analysis that is suitable for
court. Dictionary.com continues, “Investopedia Commentary:
Forensic accountants are trained to look beyond the numbers
and deal with the business reality of a situation. They are
frequently used in fraud cases.”
So why is the $55 million seized from U.S. customers’
accounts being subjected to this type of scrutiny? There is no
allegation that NETeller was involved in anything fraudulent.
It would be nice to think that the U.S. Attorneys are worried
about money laundering by Islamic terrorists. But the reality
is that the Department of Justice is running a war of intimidation against online poker players.
The DOJ wants to know who has been gambling on the
Internet, scare them, and, more importantly, see if they paid
taxes on their winnings.
I often get emails from players who want to know if they
are going to go to jail for betting online. The answer is no.
First, it is not against any federal law to make a bet, even
with an illegal bookie. Second, although some states do make
it illegal to gamble, none care enough to bring charges.
But taxes are a different matter.
Every American who had large amounts of money flowing to, and especially from, NETeller should figure their
tax returns for the past few years will be looked at. If the
accountants say a person had received thousands of dollars
more from NETeller than that person ever deposited, the I.R.S.
is going to want to see whether that income was reported.
So, big winners should immediately talk to their accountants. If you haven’t yet filed your tax return for 2006, make
sure it includes your gambling winnings (and you can deduct
your gambling losses of any kind up to the amount of your
winnings).
For prior years, look into filing a 1040X “Amended U.S.
Individual Income Tax Return” for any year your gambling
winnings were left out, “accidentally.”
Professor I Nelson Rose is recognized as one of the
world’s leading experts on gambling law. His latest
books, Gaming Law: Cases and Materials and Internet
Gaming Law, are available through his website,
www.gamblingandthelaw.com.
14
APRIL 16, 2007
Foxwoods Poker Classic
a prize pool of $286,926!
As is the case with poker
tournaments everywhere,
the fields were big and the
resulting prize pools were
a reflection of this event’s
popularity.
We have coverage in
this issue from the early
events, courtesy of Jeffrey
A. Toth. At press time,
206 players entered the
$10,000 Championship
Event. Play is still going
on at this five-day event, so
full results from Foxwoods’
World Poker Tour No-Limit
Hold’em Championship
will appear in the next
issue.
“The Kid” Griswold
cops $193,871 prize!
The 2007 Foxwoods Poker
Classic $2000 No-Limit
Championship began with
317 players and a prize
pool of $572,736, with first
place worth $193,871!
When the final table
began just before 3 pm, the
chip leader was Casey “The
Kid” Griswold and when
it was over 3 hours later,
Casey was the one with all
the chips! The Cortland,
NY, resident took home
not only the prize money
but also the Championship
Trophy and a commemorative jacket.
The first half hour of
play saw four players leave
the final table. Ray Ho
Lin of New York, NY, had
quickly built his stack to
230K and just as quickly
went all-in with AK; David
“The Lion” Singer called
with pocket 9’s. Ray got
no help from the board and
he was the 10th place winner of $8,877. John Davis
helped Casey add to his
stack when he was all-in
with A5 and Casey held
A9. Both were suited, but
Casey flopped a set of 9’s
and then caught the river
flush to send John home to
Tampa, FL, with 9th place
money of $11,455. Shortly
thereafter, Matt Boggio,
a resident of Windsor,
CT, pushed all-in with A9
and was called by Dino
Moustakis with A10. Dino’s
cards held up and Matt
finished in 8th position for
$14,318. The A9 hand was
also not friendly to John
Trifone of Newington, CT,
who ran up against Casey’s
pocket Q’s. With no help
from the board, John was
the recipient of $17,182 for
7th place.
Play slowed until David
Lewis pushed all-in from
the big blind with 65 after a
34Q flop; Casey called with
94. No aid from the turn or
river gave David, who hails
from Weston, CT, 6th place
money of $20,046. With 5
players remaining, Casey
“the Kid” had 3 times the
stack of the other players
and the play moved quickly
to a conclusion. David “The
Lion” Singer lost most of
his stack with pocket J’s
to AK when Horace York
turned a K.
“The Lion” took 5th
place money of $25,773.
Will “The Thrill” Failla
was at his 2nd final table
of the 2007 FPC. Will
improved on his 9th place
finish in the $600 Shootout by placing 4th in the
$2000. Will pushed all-in
with AJ but Horace called
with AQ and a KJ10 flop
left “The Thrill”, a resident
of Commack, NY, with
$34,364.
Three players remained
and Dino Moustakis of
Danvers, MA, was the
short stack. After a 972
flop, Dino was all-in with
A7; but Horace had 98.
The turn and river were
no help and Dino had 3rd
place and $54,410 for his
efforts. Horace and Casey
were almost dead even
entering heads up action
but Casey almost immediately began whittling into
Horace’s stack. Horace had
67 and after an A108 flop
he moved all-in with the
straight draw. But Casey’s
set of 10’s held and a cleanshaven Horace York of
Limington, ME, took 2nd
position and $97,365! And
Casey “The Kid” Griswold
was the 2007 FPC $2000
No-Limit Champion!
FOXWOODS RESORT CASINO
FOXWOODS PO KER CLASSIC
EVENT #8
3/26/07
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,850 + $150
PLAYERS 317
PRIZE
POOL
EVENT #6
3/24/07
EVENT #3
3/21/07
SHOOTOUT—
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $530 + $70
PLAYERS 599
PRIZE
POOL
$309,886
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
EVENT #7
3/25/07
$120,120
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Charlotte M Chabot $38,676
Deborah Wolak . . . . $19,546
Cynthia B Gast . . . . $11,253
Jennifer George . . . . $7,107
Ingrid Weber . . . . . . $5,331
Mary Anne
Levenduski . . . . . . . . $4,146
7. Debbie Kindt . . . . . . . $3,553
BUY-IN $530 + $70
PLAYERS 938
PRIZE
POOL
$484,166
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
David Nisby . . . . . . $135,567
Scott Beauregard . . $70,930
Nikola Curanovic . . $38,733
Albert Muir . . . . . . . $26,630
Joseph E Wise . . . . . $21,787
Kwang Soo Lim . . . $16,946
Damon M DeLuties $14,525
EVENT #2
3/20/07
7-CARD STUD
EVENT #5
3/23/07
BUY-IN $530 + $70
PLAYERS 198
PRIZE
POOL
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,100 + $100
PLAYERS 545
PRIZE
POOL
$584,939
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Joanne Dorin . . . . $184,387
Jason Ruotolo . . . . . $93,508
Steven Fiorentini . . $52,598
Tom Cope . . . . . . . . $35,065
Michael Perry . . . . . $26,229
Curtis Nunes . . . . . . $20,455
Charbel Azzi . . . . . . $17,533
Korte Yeo . . . . . . . . $14,611
Troy LaPointe . . . . . $11,688
EVENT #4
3/22/07
LIMIT HOLD’EM
LADIES—
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $260 + $40
PLAYERS 462
PRIZE
POOL
James R Caissie . . . $97,769
Stephen Lateano . . . $49,582
Eric D Rivkin . . . . . $27,890
Horace York . . . . . . $18,593
William Botchis . . . $13,945
Michael Pizzarella . $10,846
Joseph Ready . . . . . . $9,297
Stephen B Cotter . . . $7,747
$572,736
1. Casey Griswold
AKA “The Kid” . . $193,871
2. Horace York . . . . . . $97,365
3. Constantine
Moustakis . . . . . . . . $54,410
9. Will The Thrill
Emanuel Failla . . . . $34,364
5. David L Singer . . . . $25,773
6. David Lewis . . . . . . $20,046
7. John P Trifone . . . . $17,182
8. Matt Boggio . . . . . . $14,318
BUY-IN $530 + $70
PLAYERS 262
PRIZE
POOL
$136,634
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
David C. O’Donnell $47,139
David E Carleton . . $23,911
Len Greer . . . . . . . . $13,322
Louis Russo . . . . . . . . $8,198
Souvanh “Ronnie
Kevin” Vilayvanh . . . $6,149
6. Stanley L Harding III $4,782
7. John Pastrana . . . . . . $4,049
8. Lawrence M Martone $3,416
$103,792
1. Tom Noyes AKA
“Mark’em Down” . $38,404
2. Paul Mangine . . . . . $19,720
3. David L. Campo . . . $10,639
4. David L. Eagles . . . . $6,746
5. Tom Savitsky . . . . . . $5,190
6. Robey Rossi . . . . . . . . $4,151
7. Robert A Ferdinand . $3,114
8. John P Levins . . . . . . $2,595
EVENT #1
3/19/07
SHOOTOUT—
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $260 + $40
PLAYERS 1130
PRIZE
POOL
$293,800
1. Peter A Jr
MacLellan . . . . . . . . $77,901
2. Christopher
MacNeil . . . . . . . . . . $40,169
3. Christopher J
Griffin . . . . . . . . . . . $22,954
4. Michael P
Baranowski . . . . . . . $15,781
5. Cory Carroll . . . . . . $12,912
6. Farhad Sinaei . . . . . $10,042
7. Andrew Powell . . . . . $8,608
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APRIL 16, 2007
15
PART 96,
Do You Need Cards?
Do you need cards? What kind of a stupid question is that? Of course you need
improving performance
By TOM “TIME” LEONARD
cards. OK, let me clarify, do you need superior cards to win a certain hand? If you do,
then you’re just playing A-B-C poker and hoping you’ll get
more good hands than your opponents.
You need to be thinking about how to outplay your
opponents so that you can win pots without good cards.
When you’re really playing the game correctly, the adage
of poker being about people, not cards, becomes true. Of
course, the foundation upon which you build the ability to
outplay your opponents is knowledge of their tendencies
and approach to the game. So first get to work observing
your opponents in order to get inside their heads.
Let’s look at a fairly common scenario at the limit
hold’em table. Two limpers and both blinds watch a flop for
a single bet. The flop comes J-T-4 rainbow and three players check. The last player, holding position, fires in a bet.
Only the Big Blind calls and the turn is another four.
Now the Big Blind checks but then check raises. He could
have just about anything but if his hand contained a four,
he just improved to trips. We all see this situation occur
countless times, often to our dismay, because we’re holding an overpair and wind up getting run down by low trips.
When you’re in this situation seize the opportunity to
mimic this scenario and fire out a bet when the bottom
card pairs the board. You’ll be amazed at how many times
your opponent mucks. If he comes over the top, you’re
probably in trouble. However, unless he is holding a real
hand your bet puts real pressure on him. Many times your
opponent is just playing two over cards and will give it
up sensing you have now lucked into a hand. If he senses
your chicanery and fires back, so what; no hand at all is an
easy one to get away from.
You should always be on the lookout for situations that
can be turned to your advantage with a little imagination
and some moxie. Getting hit with the deck and getting
strong hand after strong hand is a rush we’ve all experienced, but those short affairs with Lady Luck are few and
far between.
In the absence of good hands we need to use our imagination to keep the chips coming our way. Learning your
opponents’ tendencies is critical to successfully playing
“outside the box.” Two main reasons that a “move” fails
is that it was either targeted against the wrong opponent
(such as a calling station) or your chicanery is being overused (always be aware of your current table image) and
someone decides that it is time to take a stand at your
apparent run of good cards. Picking up a few pots that you
don’t deserve can mean the difference of booking a win vs.
a loss at the end of a session.
Our goal for today’s session is to learn to identify
opportunities to win pots without good cards. Don’t go
overboard, however, because winning pots with nothing is
intoxicating and the less disciplined among us can have
a propensity to overdo it. It is at this point, of course,
that the trapper becomes the trapped. Set a goal to find
the appropriate spot to steal a pot a couple of times during each of your sessions. If you’re not caught, what you
are doing will not become obvious and as long as you
don’t over work this play your profit per session should
increase.
See you next “TIME”
No stranger to the green felt, Tom “Time” Leonard has
played poker for more than 30 years and has been a serious
student of the game and writer on the subject since 1994. He
has regularly played the cardrooms of Atlantic City, Las Vegas
and California. His experience as a sales and marketing professional have helped him hone his skills at “selling” a hand and
“buying” a pot. Tom can be contacted at: [email protected].
16
APRIL 16, 2007
WSOP Circuit Ev
who welcomed the players to “the best poker
room in the Midwest.” He
praised table games VP Joe
Barnett, marketing VP Marc
Oppenheimer, and lauded
Jimmie Allen as one of the
best and most enthusiastic
poker room managers in the
business. He also informed
the players that Harrah’s
Entertainment will be
launching WSOP Europe,
starting on Sept. 6 at three
locations in London.
Communication Skills
Aid Toby Clark As He
Wins Event #4
(Yes, the headline says
Toby Clark won this event,
while the payout list has
Christopher McMillian in
first place, but it’s not a
mistake. Read on and find
out why.)
Toby Clark has a bachelor’s degree in communications. He’s not sure yet
what he’ll do with it, but
he thinks poker is a good
start because he views the
game as a form of communication heavily dependent
on people skills. Those
skills helped him when he
got heads-up with Chris
McMillian. Because he
enjoyed a 3-2 chip lead,
Clark sensed his opponent
was pressing to catch up,
so Clark tended to call
with hands a bit weaker
than he normally would
call with.
This paid off on the
final hand when Clark
called a raise with K3. He flopped two pair,
made a small raise after
McMillian bet out, inducing McMillian to come
over the top all in with
just ace-high.
Clark, 27, is from
Elizabethtown, Indiana.
He had been working
for UPS, but left that job
to have time to explore
poker. He’s won two small
tournaments, but this is by
far his biggest cash. He
is single, taught himself
poker four years ago, and
he also enjoys tennis, basketball and “making sandcastles on the beach.”
First place in the fourth
event of the WSOP tour
here at Caesars Indiana
paid an official $43,205,
though Clark actually collected nearly $10,000 less
after agreeing to a complicated deal. After some
30 minutes of negotiation,
McMillian proposed that
he get $33,000 and sign
for first, Clark $36,968
and sign for second, and
then the two would play
for the coveted championship ring, title and $5,150
seat in the main event.
The big factor here is that
Circuit event rules call
for a player to sign for the
full official amount of his
finish, making that player
responsible for whatever
taxes apply.
CAESARS INDIANA
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
EVENT #4
3/29/07
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 289
PRIZE
POOL
$144,500
1. Christopher
McMillian . . . . . . . . $43,205
2. Toby Clark . . . . . . . $23,763
3. Dave Taylor . . . . . . . $12,151
4. Matthew Humphrey . $9,451
5. Bill Kanipe . . . . . . . . $8,101
6. David Seib . . . . . . . . . $6,751
7. Antonio Pansera . . . . $5,401
8. Hershel Callahan . . . $4,050
9. Donald Sinkhorn . . . $2,700
Driver/Player John
Garcia Wins 3rd
Indiana Circuit Event
Wire-to Wire
John Garcia started out as
an accountant, decided it
didn’t pay enough, became
a trucker, and now conveniently drives around
the country making pit
stops at various casinos.
His nickname is “Poker
Trucker,” and his girlfriend Cynthia, who travels with him, maintains
that poker is his job and
driving is his hobby.
Either way, things
worked out for him pretty
well today as he arrived
at the final table with
the chip lead, steadily
increased it and coasted
to a win in the third event
of the WSOP Circuit stop
at Caesars Indiana, $300
no-limit hold’em. His
payday for the win was
$39,399, probably more
than he made any one day
as either an accountant or
a trucker.
He made spectacular
catches along the way,
and ended with a flourish.
With his final opponent,
Justin “Rabbit” Stigger,
down to about 80,000 and
in the big blind, Garcia
decided to make a blind
all-in bet. Stigger, with
pocket 8s, had to call.
Garcia was behind with
As-3d, but then flopped an
ace and it was all over.
Garcia, 43, is from West
Palm Beach, Florida. He’s
divorced, with four children, his other hobby is
basketball. He taught himself poker and has been
playing four years. This
is his second time playing
a Circuit tournament, and
he’s won daily tournaments at Grand Tunica and
Foxwoods. He describes
his play as “moderately
aggressive,” and gives
credit to Ron Rose (author
of the book “Poker Aces”)
for improving his game.
He was playing at the
Wynn in a no-limit cash
game when Rose advised
him that he was betting
too weakly, allowing
opponents to chase him
down.
With 10 players left
at around 10 p.m., it
appeared as if we might
play through for the third
straight day. But when
it got down to nine, the
finalists voted to play one
more round and return at
4 p.m. (instead of 2 p.m.)
the next day. During that
round, John Hemphill got
knocked out when his QsJs was beaten by an A-K.
So, depending on one’s
perspective, we either had
a final table of nine players on March 28, or a table
of eight on March 29.
Let’s call it “Final Tables
A and B.”
Hemphill is a bar owner
from Westerville, Ohio.
He’s married with four
kids, has played 30 years,
and this is third Circuit
attempt. Last night he was
down to only 250 in chips
in early (100-200 blinds)
action but managed to
climb back to make Final
Table A.
When second-day
action began, there was
12:25 left on the clock
with 500 antes and 2,0004,000 blinds. Garcia,
with 161,500 chips, had a
strong lead. You might call
this a “dealer’s choice”
table, because three of
the players work as poker
dealers.
vent at Caesars Indiana
Heads-up, Garcia held
about 460,000 of the
704,000 chips. He had
to pull another rabbit or
two out of the hat to win
this tournament, and his
final opponent was Justin
“Rabbit” Stigger.
No problem. His first
hit came when he had K9 to Stigger’s pocket 6s.
With about 200,000 in the
pot, and a board of 8-7-5J, Garcia made a straight
when a 6 hit the river, and
he got another 40,000 bet
out of Stigger, now down
to 150,000.
Stigger had one final
reprieve when he beat
Garcia out of 111,000
after catching two aces to
his A-8 against Garcia’s
paired king. But 38 deals
later, on hand 98, the onesided contest ended. That
was when Garcia made
his unusual all-in blind
bet and outdrew Stigger’s
pocket 8s.
Stigger, 23, the third
dealer, is from Kokomo,
Indiana, and works at a
private establishment, the
Indiana River Club. He’s
engaged, has played poker
for nine years, learning to play in the back
room of a pool hall. This
is third year playing in
Circuit events. His motto
is “Family is always first.”
Tonight he was only second, but it was still worth
$21,144
CAESARS INDIANA
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
EVENT #3
3/28/07
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PLAYERS 469
PRIZE
POOL
$131,330
1. John Garcia . . . . . . $39,399
2. Justin Stigger AKA
“Rabbit” . . . . . . . . . $21,144
3. William Coyle . . . . . $10,506
4. Antonio Pansera . . . . $9,193
5. Robert French . . . . . $7,880
6. Jason Campbell . . . . $6,566
7. Shawn Conix . . . . . . . $5,253
8. William Disney
AKA “Joe” . . . . . . . . $3,940
CAESARS INDIANA
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
3. Daniel Quade AKA
“Quads420” . . . . . . . $11,383
PLAYERS 714
4. John Lanese . . . . . . . $9,960
5. Andrew Wade . . . . . . $8,537
PRIZE POOL
$202,624
6. Michael Tucci . . . . . . $7,115
William Latta
7. Robert Briggs . . . . . . $5,692
3/27/07
8. Jim Williams . . . . . . . $4,269
1. William Latta . . . . . $54,708
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
9. James Whitley . . . . . $2,846
2. Charlie Dawson . . . $28,671
EVENT #2
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 304
PRIZE
POOL
$182,000
1. Steve Miller . . . . . . . $44,110
2. Kevin Stammen . . . $22,766
3. Michael Egy . . . . . . $16,210
CAESARS INDIANA
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
4. William Sturgeon . . $14,184
3/26/07
5. Geoffrey Boes . . . . . $12,157
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
6. Steven Symsick . . . . $10,131
BUY-IN $300 + $40
7. Dwight Gurtz . . . . . . $8,105
EVENT #1
Wildhorse Roundup
all entry fees are just $10.
A special attraction will
be the Ladies Event, a $200
buy-in No-Limit contest. It’s
expected to attract a large
field. There is $7,430 in
added money, plus $1,000
entry into the WSOP Ladies
Event and $500 entry into the
LIPS Tour Finals.
Poker players receive an
inexpensive room rate and
the food is terrific. There are
several nearby golf courses
for those who need a break
from the hold’em herd.
Wildhorse “Poker Roundups” are the largest tournaments in the West outside of
Los Vegas or L.A. They are
must-not-miss poker events.
If you’re a player, this is
where you want to be.
Last November, the Fall
Round-up Tournament set
new records with more than
$1.3 million in prize money
and over 4,800 total entries.
Some events attracted more
than 700 participants and
most events drew well over
500 entrants.
For hotel reservations call
Billie Robbins at: (541) 9661549. See you at sundown,
partner.
BACK ISSUES, SPECIAL FEATURES & UP-TO-THE MINUTE POKER INFO—
Across the
street from
the Rio
A PROPERTY OF
Sunday To
Thursday* FROM
Completely non-smoking 24 hour Poker Room
Please call 1-888-402-6278
or book online at GoldCoastCasino.com
using poker code poker07
Friday To
Sunday*
FROM
* Based on double occupancy and availability. Valid June 1 thru July 17, 2007.
Management reserves all rights.
APRIL 16, 2007
17
From 45 to First
THE EIKS’ VIEW
Jamie Gold Avoids Retroactive
Penalty for Rules Infractions
BY Mike Eikenberry
Recently I played in an online 10-person $22
buy-in sit-and-go tournament. The format was
standard, but the play and results went from weird to weirder
to even weirder to the weirdest tournament I had ever been
involved in.
Hands 1-27 (WEIRD)—Seat Two saw all 27 flops, building his
stack to 4 times my $900. Meanwhile, I won only one hand with
a pocket pair of tens in the Seat One playing very tight and two
players busted out.
Hand 28 (WEIRDER)—I raised 3 times the Big Blind with A-Q
and Seat Two folded pre-flop for the first time. However, 2 other
players called my raise. The flop was Td-5s-5d. I bet $160 and
one player called. The turn was the 7s. I probably had the best
hand, but thought I could get the other player to fold by going
all-in. At least I thought I went all-in. After a long think, the
other player called. During his ponderings, I realized I still had
$45 in chips. We both checked on the end when another diamond
hit the board and his A-K won.
Chip Counts: Me $45, Seat Two had $3,867, for an 86-to-1 chip
lead over me. Thee other six players had chip stacks ranging
from $295 to $2,295.
Hands 29-32 (STILL WEIRDER)—I raised all-in with K-8 and was
called by four players. My $45 wasn’t enough to scare anyone.
But I quadrupled up when a King hit the river. Two hands later,
I tripled up to $675 when my pre-flop all-in bet with K-J outkicked the Seat Two’s K-9.
The very next hand, I raised all-in once again and was called
again by the player in Seat Two. My K-T caught a ten on the river
to beat his pair of sevens. I now had $1,400 in chips, was in third
place, and only 2-to-1 down to Seat Two. That wasn’t a bad comeback since not to long ago I was at an 86-to-1 disadvantage.
Hands 36-49. I went card-dead and was lucky to stay at
around $1,400 in chips while we lost two more players.
Hand 50. With the blinds at $50-$100, we dropped to four
players when Seat Two again took the worst hand to the flop and
his K-9 busted A-10. After this hand, these were the chip counts:
I was the short-stack with $1,480 in Seat One. Seat Two had
$4,290. .Seat Seven had $2,600 and Seat Nine had $1,630.
Hand 53. With blinds at $100-$200, Seat Two dropped to
$1,360 in chips by missing a flush draw after calling Seat Seven’s
top pair and all-in wager. However, on the very next hand he
bounced back to $2,820 when he flopped a set and won with it.
Hands 55-57—(WEIRDEST)—I went all-in with A-K and was immediately called by the Seat Two who had a pair of 3s. A King fell on
the turn and the man who had me all-in numerous times was now
down to $840 in chips and I took the lead with $3,600. Two hands
later, I was in the big blind with 6h-5s and saw an unraised flop
of Ts-4d-Th with Seat Two and Seat Nine, who was the small blind
and current chip leader with $140 more chips than me.
I bet the minimum and both opponents called. The turn was
the 6d and I bet $500. Seat Two called all-in while Seat Nine
folded. A queen on the river helped neither of us and Seat Two
(who earlier had me out-chipped 86-1) was eliminated one out of
the money.
Another 30 hands and I completed my biggest comeback in
my weirdest sit and go when my pair of pocket queens knocked
out pocket nines and I had gone from $45 to first place.
ONLINE PAYOUT UPDATE-The US Government has seized $55
million in NET-TELLER funds that was to be sent to US poker
players. I will be shocked if poker players get any of this money.
Full Tilt told a friend of mine that he could get his money by
overnight check for $25. However, they were overwhelmed by
requests and payments would be delayed 4-5 days. He paid the
$25 and got his overnight (sic) payment in 5 days.
Mike Eikenberry got his undergraduate and law degrees
from the University of Virginia, where he played varsity
tennis and basketball. Founder of one of the leading
national tennis camps, Mike is an avid amateur who has
played both tournaments and live games for over 25
years. He can be reached at [email protected]
18
APRIL 16, 2007
The World Series of Poker
ruled last week that they
will not penalize reigning champ Jamie Gold for
two rules infractions that
occurred during the 2006
WSOP Main Event.
In a recent interview with
The New York Times, Gold
said that he exposed a hole
card to an opponent. In a
separate incident, he told
an opponent he held top
pair and top kicker after the
opponent had bet. While
that kind of table talk is
common in cash games, it
violates WSOP tournament
rules.
Under the 2006 WSOP
rules Gold would have
been subject to a penalty
requiring him to sit out 10
minutes of play – if WSOP
floor persons had seen
either of those incidents
when they occurred. The
rules for the 2007 WSOP
call for a 10-hand penalty,
rather than 10-minutes away
from the table.
After The New York
Times interview was published, senior WSOP officials reviewed video footage
and spoke with Gold about
the incidents on two separate occasions. Gold freely
acknowledged these incidents and expressed contrition for the rules infractions,
attributing them to his exuberance and excitement at
participating in his first-ever
WSOP Main Event.
The WSOP officials
determined from the video
review and the discussions
with Gold that he did not
deliberately attempt to violate the rules and that no
penalties would be invoked
retroactively for the incidents.
“Not only were we
impressed with Jamie’s candor and contrition, but we
also recognized that tournament officials didn’t witness
the incidents or take appropriate action at the time of
the rules infractions,” said
Jeffrey Pollack, the man in
charge of the World Series
of Poker. “We share culpability in this case and are
satisfied that the actions in
question were inadvertent
mistakes. We look forward
to Jamie’s participation in
the 2007 WSOP.
“I do want to stress,
however, that we do not
condone any violations of
the rules and will make
every effort to enforce them
in every WSOP event,”
Pollack said.
FREE Chance to Win a $10,000 WSOP Seat
By Debbie Burkhead
A Southern Nevada
Company, The Tournament
Host, is bringing the pubs of
Nevada into the poker scene.
Several pubs in Las Vegas
and Mesquite are offering
free satellites for a chance
to win a $10,000 seat into
the main event at the World
Series of Poker.
“As we approach the
first event of a 10-week
satellite program, the first
event is sold out,” said
A. J. Berchielli. The first
event will be held on April
7, at Homeplate on Blue
Diamond Rd. in Las Vegas.
But future events still have
spots available.
At present there are
five pubs in Las Vegas;
Homeplate, Screwballs,
Cauldrun, Professor Frescos,
Bugsy’s Super Club, and
three in Mesquite: Playoffs,
Rio Virgin, and Stateline
that are joining together to
send a lucky poker player to
the WSOP.
Pubs and taverns are not
likely to have a poker room
therefore The Tournament
Host supplies the tables,
chairs, chips and the dealers.
Over a period of 10
weeks each pub will participate in nightly one-table
satellites. Each night the
pub will host five one-table
satellites and the top two
winners from each table will
advance to the quarter final.
The 10 quarter finalists
will play at the end of the
evening to determine who
will continue on to the semifinals on Saturday, June 3
at the same location. The
winner of each semi-final
will move on to the June 30
final event, with the winner
receiving a $10,000 seat at
the WSOP. The final event
location will be announced
at a later date.
Quarter final winners will
also receive a $25.00 gift
certificate to the pub where
they played.
The satellites are totally
FREE. There is no cost
whatsoever but you most
make a reservation to play.
To sign up, players must
contact Tournament Host;
see their ad in this issue for
more information.
Chauser Wins Big Green at the Bike
month and ends its run
about a week before the
Winnin’ o’ the Green kicks
off.
For poker tournament
aficionados in the Los
Angeles area, or those who
enjoy the cash game action
that’s always in place when
a tournament is in town,
this is the way to get the
year off to a ringing start.
You can kick the jams out
of half the winter by playing in these back-to-back
events, and if you’ve ventured to Southern California
from a colder climate, you
while away half the winter
playing poker and venture
home in spring.
BICYCLE CASINO
WINNIN’ O’ THE GREEN
EVENT #25
3/24/07
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
CHAMPIONSHIP
BUY-IN $2,500 + $100
PLAYERS 186
PRIZE
POOL
$465,000
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Tim Chauser . . . . . $186,000
Edward Hansen . . . $88,350
Michael Woo . . . . . . $44,175
Gerald Rechnitzer . $27,900
Jesus Delgadillo . . . $20,925
Robert Durant . . . . $16,275
7. Ut Nguyen . . . . . . . . $11,625
8. Amir Vahedi . . . . . . . $9,300
9. Unknown . . . . . . . . . . $8,145
BICYCLE CASINO
EVENT #24
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Jay Chang . . . . . . . . . $8,165
Gerald Rechnitzer . . $6,350
Robert Fisher . . . . . . $4,535
Chung Young Woo . . $3,630
Ben Nguyen . . . . . . . . $3,175
3/23/07
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
PLAYER
APPRECIATION
BICYCLE CASINO
EVENT #20
EVENT #18
OMAHA HI/LO
$75,600
David Foust
Russell Salzer
1. David Foust . . . . . . . $22,820
plus... 10K Legends Seat
2. Joe Sanchez . . . . . . . $11,340
3. Jason Loehoe . . . . . . $6,050
4. Charlie Yenokyan . . . $3,780
5. Elora Dorini . . . . . . . $3,025
6. Man Phung . . . . . . . . $2,270
7. Steve Pace . . . . . . . . . $1,890
8. Angeli Ross . . . . . . . . $1,510
9. Kevin Kiggins . . . . . . $1,135
1. Russell Salzer AKA
“The Muscle” . . . . . $20,250
2. Randy Holland . . . . $11,250
3. Glenn Cozen . . . . . . . $6,750
4. David Flores . . . . . . . $4,500
5. Spring Cheong . . . . . $2,250
BICYCLE CASINO
EVENT #19
LADIES—
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BICYCLE CASINO
BUY-IN $500 + $50
3/20/07
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
PLAYERS 91
BUY-IN $1,500 + $80
PLAYERS 121
PRIZE
POOL
PRIZE POOL
$181,500
Shan Jing . . . . . . . . . $72,600
Allen Le . . . . . . . . . . $34,485
Lance Tahata . . . . . $17,240
Trish LeBlanc . . . . . $10,890
3/18/07
EVENT #16
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 86
PRIZE
POOL
$43,000
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Henry Minasyan . . . $25,400
Matthew Kursar . . . $12,700
Michael Christian . . . $6,350
Jerard Rechnitzer . . $3,810
Paul Lee . . . . . . . . . . . $3,175
Sirous
Baghchehsaraie . . . . . $2,540
7. Domini Hofmann . . . $1,905
8. Franco Brunetti . . . . $1,280
9. Susan Genard . . . . . . . .$950
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Carla Strasburger . $17,200
Ablahad Salim . . . . . $9,890
Chiehtal Chao . . . . . . $5,160
Florentinus Ornelas . $3,010
Roland Viola . . . . . . . $2,365
Jeffrey Jerome . . . . . $1,935
Rick Munro . . . . . . . . $1,505
Brian Nadley . . . . . . . $1,075
Milton Giron . . . . . . . . .$860
BICYCLE CASINO
EVENT #15
BICYCLE CASINO
EVENT #17
Teresa Sanchez
Teresa Sanchez . . . . $18,200
Valeri Breiman . . . . $10,465
Linda Thiele . . . . . . . $5,460
Ruth Turobiner . . . . . $3,185
3/15/07
LIMIT HOLD’EM
3/16/07
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 147
REBUYS 63
PRIZE
POOL
BUY-IN $1,000 + $70
PLAYERS 156
PRIZE
POOL
1. David “Dragon”
Pham . . . . . . . . . . . . $62,400
2. Steve Borgo . . . . . . . $29,640
3. Colin Gordon . . . . . $14,820
4. Allan Enciso AKA
“Calypso” . . . . . . . . . $9,360
5. Steve Moreocly . . . . . $7,020
6. Bernard Ko . . . . . . . . $5,460
3/14/07
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
REBUY 1 ONLY
$105,000
$156,000
$45,500
1.
2.
3.
4.
BICYCLE CASINO
H.O.R.S.E
$63,500
PRIZE POOL
7. Ray B . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,900
8. Steve Crockett . . . . . $3,120
9. Men “The Master”
Nguyen . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,730
3/17/07
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 127
PRIZE
POOL
PLAYERS 45
$45,000
1.
2.
3.
4.
3/19/07
BUY-IN $1,000 + $70
PLAYERS 606
PRIZE POOL
Ann Natarelli . . . . . . $2,500
Chau Do . . . . . . . . . . $2,050
Roni Taylor . . . . . . . . $1,590
Amber Arafiles . . . . . $1,135
Erlene Geller . . . . . . . . .$915
BICYCLE CASINO
BUY-IN $100 + $25
EVENT #21
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
1. David “Dragon”
Pham . . . . . . . . . . . . $42,000
2. Jorge Pineda . . . . . . $19,955
3. Allen Le . . . . . . . . . . . $9,975
4. Kelly Kim . . . . . . . . . $6,300
5. Eric Le . . . . . . . . . . . . $4,725
6. Edwin Pairavi . . . . . . $3,675
7. Allen Calypso . . . . . . $2,625
© 2007 Station Casinos Inc., Las Vegas, Nevada.
TABLE GAME
CASH DRAWING
TWO WAYS TO ENTER:
Start Earning Entries On Sunday, April 1st
• Receive 1 entry for every $1o average
bet on any table game
• Receive 1 entry for every
hour of active Poker play
DRAWINGS WILL BE HELD ON:
Sunday, April 15th and Monday, April 3Oth at 6:15pm
Must 21 or older to participate. Winners have until 12:00am on day of drawing to claim prize at main casino cage. Employees of Station Casinos, Inc.
and members of their immediate household are not eligible to participate in this promotion. Management reserves all rights.
gvrstyle.com (702) 617 - 7777
APRIL 16, 2007
19
$500+K Tournament Action Explodes
at Chicagoland’s Majestic Star
MIDWEST MILIEU
By bonnie demos
Majestic Star Casino, Chicagoland’s
poker hot spot, lived up to it’s reputation this past weekend with a sold out
televised no-limit hold’em tournament with a total
prize pool of slightly over $500K. The competition
was tough and the strong field included some of the
area’s best players, as well as some past Heartland
Poker Tour finalists and winners (Dennis Dubay, Jack
Sears, Sean Thielman). Many excellent players from
afar were playing too, such as prior event finalist
Josh Schlein from Baltimore, MD.
Satellites ($65 & $125) and qualifiers ($500 +
$60) began March 17 and ran through the March 23,
culminating
in the March
24 final table
with a direct
buy-in of
$2,500 +
$200.
Six finalists emerged
from a field
of 210 players and the
televised final
table began
Finalist Jimmy Vegas with crew
at noon, Sunday March 25. After four hours of play
the match came down to Jimmy Vegas vs. Gio, with
Jimmy holding a significant chip lead of $2,450,000
to $660,000. Jimmy captured first with a full house
that he made with a starting hand of only J-2.
Finalists in order:
1) Jimmy Vegas. $140,963
2) Gio. . . . . . . . . .$70,482
3) Joey D . . . . . . . $45,310
4) Josh . . . . . . . . $35,241
5) Bret . . . . . . . . .$30,206
6) Tony. . . . . . . . . $25,172
Real Estate Broker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . New Lennox, IL
LPN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chicago, IL
Poker Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Merrillville, IN
(WPT Aruba, 2nd). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Baltimore, MD
(1st tournament; New player, 3 months). . . . Chicago, IL
Restaurant Mgr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chicago, IL
Accolades to Dom Niro, Majestic Star poker room
manager for his contributions and hard work in hosting a professional, high quality tournament.
Watch for the Majestic Star poker room to shine
even bigger and brighter in the near future, with two
additional major tournaments scheduled in 2007.
Additional plans are underway to facilitate a tiered
main event, enabling the Majestic Star to build the
prize pool to much larger than $500K.
Upcoming scheduled event dates at Majestic Star:
1) July 21, 2007-July 29, 2007, Qualifiers
$500 + $60, Direct Buy-In $2,500 +
$200
2) December 1, 2007-December 9, 2007,
Qualifiers $500 + $60, Direct By-In
$2,500 + $200
Registration for all tournaments is on a first come
basis, a players club card is required for tournament
registration, and cash pre-registration is available.
These tournaments sell out, so make your plans
early.
You may contact the poker room directly for additional information at 219.977.7444. Lodging on-premises is available. Call 219.977.7777 for reservations.
Bonnie Demos from the midwest, Gambler, poker
player and award winning chef, has enjoyed working in
the gaming industry for the past several years. Write her
at [email protected]
20
APRIL 16, 2007
Last year at this time I was
seemingly always counting
down the days until my next
regular home game. Not
only was our regularly scheduled get together a lot of fun
for me, it was also a chance
to boost my poker bankroll.
small but steady profits in
casino cash games over the
same amount of time. It is as
if the hiccup is only focused
directly on the otherwise
beatable home game.
I no longer excitedly check
my calendar in anticipation
Home Game Gut-Check
POKER COUNSELOR
By John Carlisle, MA, NCC
With more than 20 players
in this particular game, the
winnings added up quickly to
a rather nice sum. You see,
the conditions were perfect
for me to cash in nearly every
single tournament that we
played. I was playing well,
was dealt some pretty good
cards, and (most importantly)
had several regular attendees
who were poor players and
tended to bleed away their
chips into my stack.
My, how times have
changed. Over the past
five months I have fallen
on tough times. I have not
cashed one time over this
stretch, but I have been the
first one ousted twice! It is
not as if I have been on the
bubble every month. Instead,
I have been getting crushed,
and early, too. Needless to
say, my home game poker
buddies are enjoying my
demise almost as much as I
hate enduring the humbling.
Interestingly, I only seem
to be running bad in home
games. I was able to do fine
in my tournament play during a trip to Vegas last month.
I have also been grinding out
of the next
home game.
Such positive
expectations
are no longer associated with
these home games in my
mind. It does not take any
advanced degrees in psychology to understand that winning brings with it positivism
and momentum. We like to
say that poker is “fun.” Well,
poker is not always fun, but
winning always is. There
is little doubt that we enjoy
the game of poker during the
good times. It is during the
lean times that we have to
find extra challenges to push
through.
My old High School basketball coach used to call
such situations a “gut-check.”
It the tough times that we
face that truly tests our courage, determination, and our
character. It involves looking
within yourself to uncover
the roots if the problem.
Most of the time, the issue
lies within our own thoughts.
A losing streak, such as
the one that I am battling
through, presents a whole
bunch of different psycho-
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logical challenges. The
energy surrounding my
home game has dissipated
completely. I started questioning myself, my tactics,
and my abilities. It was
time for the proverbial gutcheck; a time to reset my
thinking, my self-evaluation,
and my overall game.
Poker is a fickle game.
It seems to give us great
highs, only to follow it up
with great lows. In reality,
though, it is not the cards or
the game that provides any
of the highs or lows. Instead,
it is our psychological interpretation of the outcomes of
the game that drives those
highs and lows. When you
are losing, that does not mean
that you are a terrible player.
Of course, if you are lucky
enough to be winning that
does not mean that you are
the next Johnny Chan, either.
If you find yourself discouraged, it might be time for
an old-fashioned gut-check.
Test your determination and
character before your next
deal. Get your mind straight,
and the poker will come back
into your comfort zone. Now
go make it happen.
John Carlisle is a
National Certified
Counselor with a Master’s
degree in Counseling
Psychology from West
Virginia University, and a
Bachelor’s of Psychology
from Lock Haven
University. Find out more
by emailing him at
[email protected]
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GAMES: H.O.R.S.E. Tag Team: Only
one member of the team may play
at one time. Players and games
will alternate between – Hold ‘em,
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Seven Card Stud, and Eight or better.
Team members Must alternate from
one event to the next. After each
team member has played each game
once, two switchouts will be granted
to each team.
ELIGIBILITY: All teams must be Parent/Child. Natural, adopted, step and
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Players wh encouraged to
te are
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In-law relationships are eligible. No
relationship less than three years
long will be permitted. Cash winners
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relationship to collect prize money.
DIRECT BUY-IN. Any qualified family, even those who may have lost
in a satellite event, may play in this
Final Event, when they supply the
buy-in and entry fee ($2,200)
SATELLITES: All public card rooms,
worldwide, are encouraged to send
their 2007 #1 Family. Card rooms
may produce only ONE representative family team, either by satellite,
or, by selection. Representatives
are encouraged to wear their card
room’s logo.
SATELLITE BUY-IN. Only one family team may represent each public
card room. Card rooms are invited
to hold one satellite event where
the buy-in will be determined by a
prize sufficient to cover the Final
buy-in and entry fee ($2,200) for
one team. An additional sum may
be added to the prize pool for
travel expenses and for the local
house tournament fee. For example, if 10 teams play and $1000
extra is to be awarded, the fees
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there are 100 families, the fees will
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TELEVISION COVERAGE: We
are working on television coverage, but, due to the short time
involved, we cannot make any
guarantees for this year.
May 3, 2007 at 6pm
Play a total of 60 hours during March and April to qualify.
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T H E U LT I M AT E G A M B L E
APRIL 26, 2007
FOR COMPLETE DETAILS, GO TO WWW.ULTIMATEPOKERCHALLENGE.COM
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Must be 21 years of age or older to participate. Management
reserves the right to change or cancel tournaments
at its sole discretion and without notice.
Know When to Stop Before You Start.®
Gambling Problem? Call 1.800.522.4700
©2007
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APRIL 16, 2007
Time. Some events
C start after the hour
...........AM, PM
O A,WkP................Week
..... Additional gameD &.times
on this day. Call.
E ........Hold’em
.No Limit Hold’em
.Limit Hold’em
N .............No Limit
L ................... Limit
.............Stud
..7-Card Stud
..5-Card Stud
........ Omaha
H/L .High/Low Split
Pi...........Pineapple
Po...........Pot Limit
Pn.........Panginque
Mx ..Mexican Poker
DC .Dealer’s Choice
MONDAY
•GOLD BAR DENOTES ADVERTISER
TIME
|
HH ...... Headhunter
B ............ Bounties
Sp .............. Spread
Al .........Alternates
Z........... Freezeout
Cz ................ Crazy
E..........Elimination
TUESDAY
GAMES BUY-IN| TIME
Q ............... Qualify
Sh ...........Shootout
+ ..Re-Buys and/or
Add-Ons allowed
F ............... Freeroll
Lad ..... Ladies Only
Men ........Men Only
DAILY TOURNAMENTS
NOW! Get Tournament Listings at our website:
Note: All tournaments are subject to change. Check with the Cardroom for any updates. Cardrooms—
please send your schedules to Managing Editor A.R. Dyck, [email protected]
| WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
|
FRIDAY
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
| SATURDAY |
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
SUNDAY
GAMES BUY-IN
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APRIL 16, 2007
25
WSOP
Satellite Fever
ONLINE POKER
X
X
X
X
Poker Player
Word
Paul “Dr. Pauly” McGuire
The World Series of Poker $10,000 buy-in championship main
event will be held from July 6th through July 17th at the Rio
Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV. Probably the most popular
place online to win a ticket into the most prestigious poker
tournament in the world is on PokerStars.
Ever since a mild-mannered accountant from Tennessee by
the name of Chris Moneymaker won the 2003 WSOP, players
have been flocking to various online poker rooms looking to
take a shot at the big time. Moneymaker had never played a live
tournament before he set foot into Binion’s Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas for the first time in 2003. He qualified online
at PokerStars with an initial $33 investment. Moneymaker won
a series of online qualifiers and satellites before he secured a
package that included a $10,000 seat in the 2003 Main Event.
Greg Raymer also won his seat through PokerStars in 2004.
“Fossilman” was not a complete unknown like Moneymaker.
He was a regular at Foxwoods casino in Connecticut and was a
frequent poster to the 2+2 forums. He won a double-shootout
to secure his ticket and the rest was history as he wore his now
infamous hologram sunglasses and survived a verbal spat with
Mike “the Mouth” Matusow. Fossilman’s run was just as inspirational and infectious as Moneymaker’s victory. Here we have
two middle-aged guys who look like your next door neighbor,
winning the Super Bowl of poker tournaments. And how did they
both qualify? Through PokerStars.
PokerStars officially launched their WSOP satellites where
you can win a package worth $12,000. That prize may or may
not include spending money or a free hotel, depending on
whether or not you exclusively wear PokerStars gear during the
tournament. PokerStars also added final table incentives to any
player who qualifies through their online satellites. First place
will take home a $1 million bonus from PokerStars. Second or
third place will net you a $250,000 bonus, and if you make the
final TV table you are guaranteed to win at least $100,000. Of
course that’s in addition to the WSOP prize money.
You can win your seat using frequent player points (FPPs)
or going the cash route. There are three ways to win a cash
qualifier to the WSOP: Cash Direct Path, Cash Satellite Path, and
Cash Shootout Path.
There are two ways to win daily entries. The direct path
starts as low as $2 where you can win your way into a $30 +
$3 rebuy satellite that pays out $12,000 prize packages. The
double-shootouts start as low as $5 where you can win your
way into a $150 shootout. The winners of that event pick up a
seat into the main event.
There’s a weekly $615 + $35 satellite that gives away prize
packages depending on the amount of money in the prize pool.
There are daily qualifiers to the weekly $615 tournament which
range from $3 rebuy events to $73 + $7 super-satellites.
You also have the opportunity to qualify to the WSOP for free
using your FPPs. There are two weekly options to win your seat
by going the 1,000 FPP path or the 4,000 FPP path. The best
part is that you don’t need a ton of points to win a free seat.
There are daily tournaments set up that cost as little as 40
FPP, 100 FPP and 400 FPP where you can qualify for the weekly
satellites.
Spring is here, but so is WSOP fever. Satellites are running
around the clock at PokerStars. Last year PokerStars qualifiers
represented almost 20% of the total field. I wonder how many
players they are going to send this year, even with the UIGEA
money wrench thrown into the mix?
Regardless, I know that I’ll be spending a large amount of
time chasing the ubiquitous dream that every online poker
player has... winning a seat to the World Series of Poker.
Paul “Dr. Pauly” McGuire is a writer, poker player, and avid
traveler from New York City. He’s the author of the Tao of
Poker blog which can be found at taopoker.blogspot.com.
Feel free to contact him at [email protected].
26
APRIL 16, 2007
Each issue’s crossword puzzle
honors a poker celebrity
and will be about that
person’s life. Today’s puzzle
honors poker pro Isabelle Mercier. Crossword by Myles Mellor.
24. Bet to increase the size
of the pot
ACROSS
1. “Have a ___” (be kind!)
26. Direction
4. Best couple? (2 words)
42. Rocket
DOWN
10. Go over again after the
game
27. Wall __
1. Unusual winners! (2
words)
28. See 19 across
2. ___ Romeo
11. Concerning
3. Threes
12. Bad mistake
30. You need it if you look
under 21!
13. Salt Lake city locale
32. Showing a place
14. Blind or button?
33. Takes part in the action
17. Santa __
34. Card that gets toasted!
7. Type of degree
19. “No mercy” - top ladies
poker player (goes with 28
across)
36. Poker author, Krieger
8. Retirement account
38. Vane direction
20. Belongs to something
40. Pretty girl
9. Only diamonds and
hearts? (2 words)
22. Transport
41. Ten beater
1
2
3
4
5
6
5. Cereal
7
8
9
11
13
14
6. Letter postscript
15. Ocean’s ___
10
12
4. Rule of ___
16. The best players get __
___ __ (3 words)
18. Time to arrive
15
21. Crafty
16
17
18
20
23. Single
19
21
22
24
25
25. ____ Ng - poker pro
23
29. Golden state
26
30. Computer department
27
28
29
31. Black suit
30
31
32
33
32. ___ Kournikova (AK)
34
36
37
40
41
35
38
39
35. Call
42
36. Weight measurement
The correct solution to the puzzle will be found
only at: www.pokerplayernewspaper.com.
It will be posted on the cover date.
POKER
Aussie Millions. Saturdays 11 PM,
Wednesdays 8:30 AM. Fox Sports.
ON
High Stakes Poker. Mondays 9 &
11 PM, Wednesdays 2 AM, Thursdays 9
PM. GSN.
TV
Learn from the Poker Pros.
Saturdays 10 PM, Sundays 1 AM, Wednesdays 6 PM, 7:30 PM & 10 PM. Fox Sports.
Heartland Poker Tour. (Check
local listings for times/stations).
National Heads-Up Poker
Championship. Sundays Noon-1 PM
EDT (3-4 PM PDT). NBC Sports.
Poker After Dark. Tuesdays
through Saturdays 2:05 AM, Sundays 2
All Times EDT AM. NBC.
33. Power of attorney, abbr.
37. District Attorney
39. Raleigh locale
Poker Superstars Invitational.
Mondays 6 AM & 8 PM, Wednesdays &
Thursdays 8 PM. Fox Sports.
Professional Poker Tour.
Saturdays 9 PM, Sundays 12 AM. Travel.
UPC Cash Poker. Mondays 12:30
AM. Check local listings for stations.
U.S.P.C. Mondays 1 & 2 AM & 9 PM,
Tuesdays 1:30 & 2:30 AM & 7:30 PM,
Wednesdays 2:30 AM, Thursdays & Fridays
9 PM, Saturdays 9, 10 & 11 PM. ESPNC/
ESPN2.
World Poker Tour. Wednesdays 9
PM, Thursdays 12 AM, Saturdays 12 PM.
Travel
World Series of Poker. (Check
local listing for times). ESPNC/ESPN2.
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
DIEGO & CALIFORNIACALIFORNIA—NORTH CALIFORNIA—SAN
LOS ANGELES
INLAND EMPIRE
TIME
B ......... Bounties
T ............... Turbo
.7-Card Stud
..... Omaha Pi........Pineapple Pn......Panginque DCDealer’s Choice Sp ........... Spread
.5-Card Stud H/LHigh/Low Split Po........Pot Limit Mx .Mexican Poker HH ...Headhunter Al ......Alternates
DAILY TOURNAMENTS (CONT’D FROM PAGE 25)
|
TUESDAY
GAMES BUY-IN| TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
|
FRIDAY
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
Z........ Freezeout Sh ........Shootout
Cz ............. Crazy + Re-buys and/or
E...... Elimination Add-ons allowed
Q ............Qualify F ............Freeroll
| SATURDAY |
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
SUNDAY
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN
Club Caribe
Crystal Casino
Hustler Casino
Normandie Casino
Casino Morongo
Casino Pauma
Harrah’s Rincon
Lake Elsinore
Lucky Lady
Oceans Eleven
Sycuan
Viejas
Village Club
Artichoke Joe’s
Cache Creek
California Grand
Casino San Pablo
Club One Casino, Fresno
Colusa Casino
Del Rio Casino, Isleton
Feather Falls Cas., Oroville
Garden City
Gold Country Cas.-Oroville
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
Start qualifying now for
the 2nd Quarterly
tournament to be held
April 22nd & 23rd 2007
Between April 1st and June 9th
You could win a seat into the Main Event
of the 2007 World Series of Poker
for as little as $25
Sunday April 8th
Ladies Tournaments are back!!
Join us for your chance
Last Saturday of every month
to win some Easter Cash!
$55 buy in + $15 entry fee
Easter Eggs will be given
Contact the poker room for details
away that will contain
random chips in the Poker Room offers Limit and No Limit Hold’em,
amounts of
$25 - $200!!
Contact the
poker room
for more details.
For more information on this or any other of our table games
promotions contact us at our toll free number 1-866-280-3261
Blackjack ext. 2132 or Poker Room ext. 2135
New Cash Game Buy In’s
$1-$2 No Limit $50 - $200
$2-$5 No Limit $200 - $1000
$5-$10 No Limit $400 - $5000
Cash plays on $5-$10 No Limit
Limit and Pot Limit H/L 8 or Better and Omaha
Poker Room Tournament Schedule
Date
Day
Time
Event
RB/AO
Apr 7 Saturday
1 PM
Ladies Tournament
N/A
Apr 8 Sunday
2 PM Easter Tournament
N/A
Apr 15 Sunday
2 PM Sunday Tournament
R/B
Apr 22 Sunday
N/A
Apr 28 Saturday
1 PM Ladies Tournament
N/A
Apr 29 Sunday
N/A
Daily Poker Room Tournaments
Day
Time
Event
RB/AO
Mondays
6 PM
No Limit Hold’em
RB/AO
Tuesdays
6 PM
$500 Added NLH
1 RB/AO
Wednesdays 6 PM
No Limit Hold’em
RB/AO
Thursdays 6 PM
$500 Added NLH
1 RB/AO
Fridays
2 PM
No Limit Hold’em
RB/AO
Entry Fee
$55+$15
$200+$25
$40+$25
$100+$30
$55+$15
$200+$25
Entry Fee
$15+$10
$50+$15
$15+$10
$50+$15
$15+$10
Comanche Red River Casino reserves
the right to alter or cancel any
tournaments as needed.
APRIL 16, 2007
27
TV Star Wins
Cardiff GUKPT
POKER IN EUROPE
By JONATHAN RAAB
I’ve written about the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour
(GUKPT) a few times now and yes, being the Tour
Manager is one of the reasons I am predisposed to do
so, but with good reason. For a brand new tour we have
done remarkably well selling out our first three events
and all signs are that this will continue for the rest of
the year.
As a recap for those who haven’t read my column
before, it’s a series of ten £1,000 ($1,940) four-day tournaments capped off with a £3,000 ($5,880) Grand Final
at the end of the year.
GUKPT is filmed for transmission on Channel 4 (a
major UK TV station) in the fall and the event has
attracted a lot of media interest over on this side of
the Atlantic. While not as big or as prestigious as the
European Poker Tour (EPT), it’s been well received by
the British poker playing population and is disliked only
by my long suffering girlfriend who now sees much less
of me than she would like to.
British TV actor Michael Greco won the third event,
held recently in Cardiff, the capital of Wales. Michael,
now a pro poker player
who is sponsored by Dusk
Till Dawn Poker was once
a familiar face on British
television, having played
one of the leading characters in Eastenders, the
most popular soap opera in
the UK. His TV character
was a disgraced ex-policeman called Beppe Di Marco,
but nobody managed to
arrest his development in
this event as he outlasted
over 300 other players to
take the trophy.
The nine-handed final
started
well for Michael,
British TV actor Michael Greco
who was short-stacked
going into it, but a couple of early double ups put him
right back in contention. Roberto Romanello, a Welsh
player who has turned many heads during his 18-month
poker career, dominated play for much of the final table.
His discursive style of always asking his opponents if
they will show him their cards if he folds seemed to be
paying off, but he suffered a couple of unfortunate setbacks and ended up in third place.
This left Michael heads up with Southampton IT specialist Hoss Parhizkar and holding a 2-to-1 chip lead.
After a 25-minute heads-up encounter, Michael prevailed
when his two pair trumped his opponent’s straight draw.
Having picked up almost $200,000 in prize money for
his win, Michael’s immediate future as a poker player is
now secured and his sponsors are delighted. Dusk Till
Dawn is the brainchild of Nottingham based Rob Yong. In
addition to their online poker room, they are set to open
the largest and most luxurious poker room in Europe
within the next two months. It will surely not be long
before the EPT, WPT or some other major tour makes
use of the venue, which will be “the closest thing in
Europe to the Bellagio, but bigger,” according to spokesman Simon Nowab.
Jonathan Raab is a poker consultant and tournament reporter. He works for online poker site Blue
Square as their representative at live poker events in
the UK and Europe and is the Tour Manager for the
GUKPT. Email: [email protected]
28
APRIL 16, 2007
is the way nature intended
it. Throw in some prudent
bluffs, and you’ve potentially got control of your
opponents.
Now, you might ask
– what if I bet the same
amount all the time? Won’t
that take away any chance
my opponent has of determining how strong my hand
is based on the amount I
bet? The answer is, yes, that
would do the trick, but that
isn’t the most profitable way
to proceed. That’s because
when you have weakish
betting hands, you usually
don’t want to risk a lot if
you do decide to bet. And
when you have strong hands
that might be worth more,
you often want to bet a lot.
Much of it depends on how
much your opponent is willing to call – which brings
us to our next great concept
regarding no-limit.
Bet everything.
Many players believe that
when they have the best
hand and are afraid of being
drawn out on, they should
move all-in – bet everything
they have in front of them,
bet the ranch. Now that’s
often the best bet, especially
if your opponent is very
likely to call. After all, when
you have the advantage, the
more money your opponent
calls beyond what’s profitable for him to call, the more
money you theoretically
earn. And all that theoretically earned money adds up
over time and becomes
real money, even if you get
unlucky in the short term.
So, here’s the key. From
a game theory standpoint,
the amount you should bet
is whatever is exactly breakeven for your opponent.
It won’t matter if he calls,
folds, or raises. In the long
run, you’ll both break-even,
because you’re both playing
the same perfect strategy.
But that doesn’t really happen in poker, because players aren’t perfect. The superior player can take advantage of a lesser opponent by
manipulation, through tells,
and by maneuvering and
betting more efficiently.
So, how much should you
really bet? Well, try to estimate the point at which your
opponent would get a fair
deal if he called. Then add
something extra to it and try
to sell the hand. If an opponent will often call $1 more
than that fair bet, then you’re
getting an edge on that extra
dollar and that’s profit. If
an opponent will often call
$1,000 beyond that breakeven point, you’re getting an
edge on that extra $1,000.
How to price it is an art,
just like trying to determine
what the most profitable
price is to put on a product
in your store. If you price it
above cost, but too low, you
won’t make as much money.
And if you price it too high,
you won’t sell as many and
won’t make as much money,
either – just like you won’t
get as many calls in poker,
by betting too much.
Yes, sometimes the most
profitable strategy is to
move all-in and hope to
get called with your strong
hands, but often that’s betting too much, and you lose
profit in the long run by
doing it.
Rare situations
Also, there are rare situations where the most profitable bet is below breakeven. This can happen
when your opponent might
make the mistake of folding and you might secure
the whole pot, rather than
your theoretical share of it,
with minimal risk by making a small, teasing bet. Of
Day
course, if he calls, he’s getting the best of it, because
you didn’t bet enough.
But, usually, you need
to bet at least as much as
break-even and as much
more, giving you an extra
edge, as you can sell to
your opponent. That’s how
to play when you have a
hand with an advantage in
no-limit. Any other strategy
is less profitable. So, why
do it?
Again, we’ve learned
that, in no-limit poker, the
most reasonable average
bet for a typical hand with
an advantage is usually less
than the size of a pot. And
we’ve learned that going allin to secure an edge in nolimit is not always the most
profitable play. Often, all-in
is too much to make the
sale, and you’ll be making a
bigger profit by betting less
– as long as it’s more than
what would be break-even
for your opponent to call.
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.
Game
Buy-in
Sun. nite/Mon. am ♦ Spread Lmt Hold’Em ♦ $120
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Play with your head, not over it. Is gambling a problem? Call 1.800.GAMBLER
Limit Hold’em
A, P ....... AM, PM
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T ............... Turbo
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GAMES BUY-IN| TIME
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FRIDAY
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APRIL 16, 2007
29
Mentality
POwer POKER PSYCHOLOGY
By JAMES A. M C KENNA, P H D.
I lost a big pot in a no-limit Texas hold’em game
because I had just left a $10-$20 limit game. That’s
right. I brought the mentality of a limit game to a no-limit table with
me. It cost me a big pot.
Here’s what happened. I had an A-K (unsuited) and limped in
before the flop. When the flop came with a king and two little cards,
a player before me bet $20. Since I had a big kicker, I raised with
the mentality of a limit player. Yes, that’s right, I only raised to
$40—doubling the original bet. Now in a limit game, that was all I
could have done. In a no-limit game I could have made a typical raise
of three times the big blind, although I could have raised any
amount as long as it equaled the previous bet. If I chose to, I could
have wagered all of my chips.
This limit mentality resulted in the original bettor calling, instead
of folding. It turned out that he had both a straight and a flush draw.
If I had gone all-in, it would have cost him too much to chase those
hands. As it turned out, I invited him to stay and in the end he made
a flush on the river. You could say that he “sucked out.” The truth is
that I made it easy for him to stay in with my limit mentality of only
doubling his bet.
So, I started to watch how many times another player made his
hand on the river. I also noticed how inviting others to stay in was
encouraged by players with a limit mentality. In fact, I began to
notice how professional players would call relatively small bets and
raises. I learned that mediocre bets and raises often reveal mediocre
hands. They could read when other players were not that proud of
their hands and they had a chance to outrun such mediocre hands.
Here’s a more specific example:
Before the flop, a player has:
And he bets $10.
The flop is:
That gives the player top pair with a
good kicker. He checked to set a possible
trap. Another player makes a mediocre
bet of $15. The
top pair only calls. This limit mentality
will prove to be a downfall. Here what the
bettor’s hole cards were:
So, he flopped two long shot draws—a runner-runner flush and a
runner-runner gut shot straight. He didn’t need to be encouraged
to stay and his bet was a bluff. Yet, when his opponent with top pair
merely called, he was encouraged
to stay and pursue his unlikely draw.
The turn brought another club, and
the board looked like this:
Now the original bettor had four to flush along with a gut-shot
straight. The top pair only had that, a pair of Queens with a good
kicker. In addition, the Queens were almost drawing dead. The best
that could happen was that the bettor didn’t make his hand. Dream
on! The river was another club and it didn’t help the top pair. In fact,
when the flush raised the top pair’s bet, the top pair made another
mistake and called—since it put him all-in. It was a mistake because
unless the raise on the river was a stone-cold bluff, the raiser either
made two pair or a flush—and the caller only had top pair.
That’s how important it is to leave your limit mentality to limit
games and come to no-limit tables prepared to go all-in when you
have the advantage. It’s called protecting your hand. What would
have happened if the pair of Queens with a King kicker would have
raised 5 times the bet or gone all-in instead of just calling? If you
can call, it’s a good idea to raise and make it strong enough to discourage chasing. Otherwise, expect to get “sucked-out” on more
often—you’re asking for it!
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Jim McKenna, better known in poker rooms as “Jimmy Mac,” has been
practicing psychotherapy for over thirty-five years. This knowledge of
human behavior combined with his many years of gaming experience
gives him a unique perspective on the psychology of the gamer. His
books, the acclaimed “Beyond Tells: Power Poker Psychology,” and
now “Beyond Bluffs: Master the Mysteries of Poker,” are published
by Kensington Press. Jim welcomes e-mail comments and suggestions
at [email protected]
30
APRIL 16, 2007
Limit Hold’em
A, P ....... AM, PM
..... Hold’em L ................ Limit
Wk .............Week
.No Limit Hold’em
..........Stud
MONDAY
NORTHWEST
PACIFIC NORTHWEST
TIME
OR
WA
T ............... Turbo
.7-Card Stud
|
TUESDAY
GAMES BUY-IN| TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
|
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
FRIDAY
| SATURDAY |
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
SUNDAY
GAMES BUY-IN
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Northern Quest
Point Defiance Cafe & Cas., Tacoma
Suquamash Clearwater
Wild Grizzly
MT Black Jack’s Casino
4 Bears Casino
ND Dakota Magic
NE Rosebud Casino
SD
Dakota Sioux
Gold Dust Cas., Deadwood
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NH Seabrook Greyhound Park
NJ
NY
IA
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IL
IN
MI
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Hollywood Casino-Aurora
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Lac Vieux Desert Cas., Watersmeet
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Harrah’s Atlantic City
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Hard Rock
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St Tropez Cruise
CANADA Casino Regina
APRIL 16, 2007
31
Pool-ker,
Anyone?
SHOW ME
STRAIGHT SKINNY
(Continued from page 8)
By RICHARD G. BURKE
Linda Mae thrust herself in my direction
muttering unpleasantries. Something upset her that
winter’s eve at her $4-8 Hold’Em table, and she wanted
to get it off her rather bountiful chest. I took a deep
breath, preparing myself for the calamitous tale to follow. She opened by saying, “How could he call when
he knew he was beaten? I showed him my hand and he
still called and then he rivered me! What an imbecile!”
She told me that on the button she raised with AdKf before the Flop. The Small Blind folded; the Big
Blind called; three limpers called.
Five-handed they saw the dealer flop Aa-3f-Ka.
They all checked to her; she bet $4. The Big Blind and
two limpers folded; the other limper called. At that
point, the pot held $46 after the house rake and badbeat drop.
The dealer turned the 3d, pairing the board. The
limper checked. With Aa-3f-Ka-3d on the tableau,
Linda Mae bet $8.
The limper asked for time. Ten seconds turned into
twenty; twenty turned into thirty; and still the limper
pondered. Impatient, Linda Mae said, “Here, I’ll show
you my hand,” and did so, whereupon he quickly called.
The River card, the 7a, made this board, Aa-3fKa-3d-7a. The limper bet $8. After a bit, Linda Mae
called. The limper showed down Qa-Ta for the nut
Flush and she went berserk.
“What did I think of that?” she asked. I asked her
to point out the limper to me, because I wanted to put
him on my danger list. I told her that he made a good
play running her down. “What?” she exclaimed, “And
you write articles for a poker magazine?”
“Not just any poker publication,” I answered, “Poker
Player newspaper, and anyway he made a good play.
Here’s why.
“He pondered whether you raised with pocket Aces
or Kings, or just Ace-King. The average low-limit
Hold’Em player automatically assumes that every raiser has A-K: an advanced player knows that those big
pockets are almost equally likely. Actually, it’s 57-43,
so he studied you to see if he could tell whether you
had the top Two Pairs, or a Full House.”
If you already had a Full House, then he had only one
out, the Ja. If you had only Two Pairs, then he had
eleven outs: seven for a Flush; three for a Straight; and
one for a Royal. When she asked why not eight outs for
the Flush, I told her he wouldn’t count the 3a, the only
card that would make his hand and also improve hers.
After you showed him your hand, he knew that he you
didn’t have a Full House.
Out of the hidden 44 cards, 11 cards would help him
without helping you, exactly a 25% chance. The pot
held 70 white chips and it cost him $8 to win $78,
nearly 10 for 1 pot odds. The pot odds were much larger
than the cards odds, so he had an easy call.
“I shouldn’t’ve shown him my hand,” she said,
“because that removed all doubts he might have had.”
“Good thinking,” I said.
Linda Mae, no longer so upset, was deep in thought.
Then she asked, “I always put a raiser on A-K. Are you
sure about those 57-43 chances?” I explained that
there are 28 ways to deal two hole cards from the
eight Aces and Kings: 16 ways for A-K; 12 ways for A-A
or K-K. 16/28 equals .571; 12/28 equals 0.429. Yes, I
was sure.
Mr. Burke is the author of Flop: The Art of Winning at
Low-Limit Hold ’Em, on sale at amazon &
kokopellipress.com. E-mail your Hold ’Em questions to
[email protected]
32
APRIL 16, 2007
ine warmth.
“I told you Joe would figure out a way to help your
business,” Hobby said.
“Really. Have you, Joe?”
Hack asked.
“Hey. No promises, but
I’ve got an idea. See what
you think. You’ve heard the
expression, ‘if you can’t
fight ‘em, join ‘em?’”
“Yeah,” Hack said, “but
if you’re talking about
poker, I can’t legally run a
game. I’ve need pool players.”
“I know that Hack. Just
bear with me. I’ve invented
pool-ker, a combination of
pool and poker. Here’s how
it works. To keep this legal
you charge each player
say ten bucks to play pool
and give him 100 chips.
There are four players to a
pool table. To start, each is
dealt two cards, their hole
cards. Each player antes
five chips and then bets.
They can bet, raise, or fold.
A round of cards is dealt
to determine the order of
play. The high card holder
gets to break. It’s straight
pool, so they can shoot any
ball. Here’s the key. The
balls numbered one through
thirteen represent the ace
to king in that order. For
example, the 10-ball is like
a ten card, the 11-ball is the
jack, 12-ball the queen, and
the 13-ball is the king. The
14-ball and 15-ball are wild
cards. Got it?”
Hobby and Hack both
looked a bit perplexed.
“Yeah,” Hack said, “I think
I’m with you so far, but I’ve
got a lot of questions.”
“That’s good; but hold
them for now. Let me
explain some more. The
idea is to sink balls that,
with your two hole cards,
will make the best 5-card
poker hand. A player can
sink both wild card balls,
but he may only use one
wild card to make his hand.
It’s possible to make a pair,
say if one of your cards is a
five and you sink the 5-ball.
You could make a set with
a wild card and even four of
a kind if you had a pocket
pair. Also, you can imagine that straights are quite
likely, but no flushes.”
“That’s good, Joe. I like
it,” said Hack. “So they
shoot pool until all the balls
are sunk, then what?”
“Each player puts the
balls he’s sunk at one of
the rails so all can see what
they have. After that, they
bet again and finally show
their hole cards. Best poker
hand wins.
“How about the payoff
for the winner, Joe?” Hobby
asked.
“Hack, you’ll have to
reward them with prizes.
You still have the liquor
store, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“I think a bottle or two
of Jack Daniel’s might be a
good prize, or even a case,
depending on how big you
want to scale it. I don’t
think you’ll run afoul of the
law if you give out prizes.”
“That’s good, Joe. I’m
already thinking about how
I can get this going. I’ve
still got some regulars here
that can test the game. If
it goes over, I’ll draw in
some more. Before long
I’ll be running tournaments
every day. What-da-ya call
it?”
“Pool-ker.”
“Yeah, that’s it. I’ll be
the Pool-ker impresario of
Barstow.”
For many weeks I got
progress reports from Hack
and helped him fine-tune
the game. His business was
going strong again and he
couldn’t be happier.
Hobby asked, “How’s
Hack doing?”
“Great. Do you feel like
flying to Barstow? We’ve
been invited to the Poolker World Championship
Tournament.”
Write to author David Valley
at: [email protected]
DERBY
DAYS
No Limit Hold’em
Tournament
April 25 - 29
$250,000
Estimated Prize Pool
Win Your Way In:
4 Qualifying Heats
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7:30 PM
Wed, 4/25
Heat #2
10:15 AM
Thurs, 4/26
Heat #3
10:15 AM
Fri, 4/27
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Must be 18 to play. 3% of prize fund withheld for tournament dealers.
Playing responsibly is always your best bet.
A new blend of poker and golf...
World Series of Golf,
a unique combination
of poker wagering and
golf, tees off in Las
Vegas May 13
By Lou Krieger
The World Series of Golf
tees off May 13 – 17 in Las
Vegas at the Primm Valley
Golf Club. The tournament
will combine golf’s skill with
the wagering savvy of poker
and gives amateur players an
opportunity to compete for
$750,000 in prize money on
NBC national television.
Similar to poker, in the
World Series of Golf format,
players must ante before
teeing off at each hole.
Depending on their tee shots,
players can check or bet, or
fold, call, or raise, with the
winner of the hole collecting the pot. Wagers on each
individual shot will depend
on the player’s position, their
confidence to make the next
shot, and the position of their
opponents.
Every shot counts in this
competition and wagering
strategy is just as important
as skill. As in poker, when
a player no longer has any
chips, he or she is eliminated.
The winner of each group
moves onto the next round
until the final group yields
the golfer who is crowned
the champion of the World
Series of Golf.
“The World Series of Golf
is a completely new way to
experience the game of golf.
It demands skill on the links,
betting savvy, and nerves of
steel,” said Terry Leiweke,
president of the World Series
of Golf. “For any golfer
who has ever said ‘I’d bet
anything that I can make this
shot,’ now is his chance to
prove it.”
Scott Sibella, president
of The Mirage, added, “The
Mirage is pleased to be the
first Las Vegas resort to part-
ner with the World Series of
Golf. We are excited to continue our tradition of hosting some of the city’s most
dynamic events. As one of
the leaders in the entertainment industry, we look forward to combining the elements of poker and golf and
believe this event will create
a unique experience for the
competitors and our guests.”
Registration for up to 180
amateur players is now open
at www.worldseriesofgolf.
com. The buy-in is $10,000,
which is immediately won
back by every player who
advances to the second
round. To ensure an even
playing field golfers must go
through an accreditation process to substantiate their golf
handicap.
Major Vegas Casino Confiscates $5,000 Chip from Nolan Dalla
By Lou Krieger
Like so many others in Las
Vegas, Nolan Dalla made
the unfortunate mistake of
assuming that casino chips
are liquid, just like cash. It
turns out they’re not, and the
lesson he’s learning might
cost him $5,000.
Dalla, who’s the media
director for the World Series
of Poker and for Harrah’s
WSOP circuit poker tournaments, received a $5,000
chip from a major Las Vegas
casino as payment for a gambling debt. When he tried to
cash it at the casino cage, it
all went horribly wrong.
When asked how he had
gotten the chip, Nolan told
the employee in the cashier’s
cage that he was given the
chip to settle a debt. They
person who gave Dalla the
chip was phoned, but he
told them that he received
the chip from someone else.
Because neither Dalla nor
the person who gave him the
chip could prove that it had
been obtained legally, it was
confiscated by a cage supervisor and all Dalla has to
show for his efforts and his
$5,000 chip is a receipt.
The sad truth of this fiasco
is that chips are not currency,
and today’s Las Vegas is
not the same as it was in the
good old days, when casino
chips were essentially paral-
lel currency. Though chips
still circulate as parallel currency throughout Las Vegas,
they are not legal currency.
The use of chips for any
monetary purpose outside the
casino is prohibited by law,
and while chips are considered a stand-in for cash, it is
only when they are used for
gambling.
According to Dalla, “…it’s
very scary for gamblers that
the burden of proof is on us.
It’s like the IRS. They think
everyone’s a cheat.”
Despite the seizure of his
$5,000 chip, there is some
light at the end of Dalla’s
dark tunnel. While the burden of proof is initially on the
person trying to cash a chip
to show how he obtained it
legitimately, once a chip is
seized and the customer complains to state regulators, the
burden shifts and the casino
must prove its case.
Still, it’s a sobering
and somewhat frightening
picture that’s prevalent in
many casinos today, particularly since the advent of
procedures designed to stop
money laundering, and we’ll
see how this all plays out
in the months to come. In
the meantime, it’s probably
advisable not to color-up
chips to denominations greater than $100. Better safe
than sorry.
APRIL 16, 2007
33
WHEN OTHER
POKER ROOMS
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34
APRIL 16, 2007
The Withdrawal Waters
BY E
“So, should I try to cash out some of my money?”
A few months ago, “Player
Z” asked me about withdrawing money from online
sites. Player Z is a fairly
successful online player
who doesn’t depend on
winnings at these sites as
a major source of income.
Instead, he looks at online
poker as recreation, something to pass time or relax.
Still, Player Z had built up
an impressive bankroll on
several sites and wanted
to withdraw some of his
winnings. When asked, I
responded that it was probably time to do so, given
the rather unsettled situation.
The first place to start
was Neteller. Soon after
two of Neteller’s founders
were arrested in January,
the firm’s subsequent
withdrawal from the US
market, and the seizure of
Neteller customer funds by
the US Attorney’s Office,
Player Z went to cash out
his “seed money” – the
money he used to venture
into new rooms.
Neteller had frozen all
American accounts by then
and that money is now in
legal limbo, pending future
action by U. S. governmental agencies. However, just
a few weeks ago Neteller
announced that they
reached agreement with the
U.S. Attorney’s office to
develop a plan for repaying
customers. That plan will
be complete in approximately 75 days. While
drifting in the wind might
not be significant for some
poker players, Player Z put
it best when he said, “Hey,
money is money. I’d like
to have been able to get
that money before everything went to hell.”
The next stop on the
good ship Online Poker
Withdrawal was Absolute
Poker, where a couple of
excellent tournament finishes had netted Player Z
a juicy chunk of change.
After asking to withdraw
approximately 90 percent
of what amounted to a
sizeable account, Player
Z sat back to wait for the
check. Continuous trips
to the mailbox were disappointing; they failed to put
a check into Player Z’s
hands. In February, Player
Z called Absolute’s customer service department
to find out the status of his
withdrawal request.
Calling an online poker
rooms nowadays can sometimes be quite a time consuming endeavor. Because
of the cutoff of e-wallets
that used to populate the
online gaming community,
many people in the United
States are calling up their
favorite internet poker
rooms to find out where
their money is.
During the first ten minutes of Player Z’s call to
Absolute, the phrase, “We
are currently experiencing
an increased call volume.
Your call is very important
to us…please stay on the
line and we will be with
you momentarily,” became
burned into his brains
– perhaps in perpetuity
– along with some Muzakinspired hold music they
played. We waited, however, and sure enough the
operator came on the line
to take care of the problem.
What happened next
was somewhat unexpected. After answering
all the appropriate questions required to ascertain
Player Z’s identity, “Z”
asked about the status
of his withdrawal. The
operator answered that he
couldn’t discuss anything
about withdrawing funds,
but he was more than willing to assist with making a
deposit to the site!
Although unable to
discuss the withdrawal,
Absolute’s operator provided an e-mail address
to assist with Player Z’s
withdrawal situation. After
sending an e-mail to the
correct department, a reply
was received that apologized for the problems with
Z’s withdrawal request.
Absolute also agreed to
send a check via FedEx,
and to send it on their own
dime. Player Z received
his money within a week
and was very pleased with
the quick action from
Absolute.
At Doyle’s Room the situation was somewhat similar, though the style was
brusque. Player Z enjoyed
the cash games there but
was pulling out anyway, in
order to reduce the number
of online money accounts
he had. The customer
service representative was
quite confrontational during the discussion, even
to the point of cutting off
Player Z while he was trying to explain his situation.
He provided an e-mail
address that had yet to be
answered three days later.
A second call was necessary, and that was much
more helpful.
The second customer
service representative
joined Player Z in an automated chat and worked
through the withdrawal
situation. The representative explained they did not
have a chance to update
their displayed withdrawal
methods and, after a fairly
short time, agreed to send
Player Z’s check within a
few days of the conversation. True to their word, a
check from Doyle’s Room
arrived within ten working
days.
Full Tilt was the next
stop on the carousel and
it was interesting as well.
Player Z hadn’t played
there very often and his
original deposit amount
was still there. After visiting the site, Player Z found
out that the minimum
amount for withdrawal by
check was $300. Because
he didn’t have that much
on deposit, Z was left with
the option of signing up at
ePassporte to try to retrieve
his money. ePassporte,
however, does take at least
a week to set up a new
account.
After setting up the
account with ePassporte,
Player Z attempted to withdraw his funds from Full
Tilt, but ran into another
problem that other players might be facing too.
Normally an online poker
room cashes out into the
same account that is used
to make the deposit, and
states this in their “Terms
and Conditions.”
Since the fall of Neteller
and the rush of players to
other e-wallet systems,
many players forget that
they need to make a depos-
EARL BURTON
it from their new payment
system before they can
cash out. Player Z faced
this same situation and
made an obligatory deposit
before cashing out funds
from that account back into
ePassporte, where it awaits
a move to an Americanfriendly poker site.
While it may look like
there was nothing but problems for Player Z’s cashout quest, two rooms were
exemplary. BoDog was
able to process the cash out
request via check and said
it would appear within ten
to fourteen working days.
Player Z received that
check on the fourteenth
working day, which was
right in line with BoDog’s
promise.
PokerStars also made
cashing out very easy and
sent a check to Player Z
that arrived without problems about seven working
days later.
When I asked Player Z
about traveling the turbulent waters of withdrawing from an online poker
accounts nowadays, he
had some great insights.
“When withdrawing from
poker sites, you need to
evaluate which sites are
easy to withdraw from and
which aren’t. I’ve also
learned that sometimes you
need to be proactive too,
and not rely on poker sites
to take the initiative.”
Being proactive often
involves numerous calls
and e-mails to customer
service or the other appropriate departments. As
far as playing online in
the future, Player Z told
me that his online playing time has seriously
declined, and that future
play would be predicated
on how rooms performed
at handling their cash out
procedures.
Because the online
poker world is currently
in a state of flux, the best
advice is to keep balances
at a minimum. Once the
waters of the online world
calm down, perhaps look
back to those rooms that
demonstrated excellent and
reliable customer service.
This is a time for all online
rooms that still cater to
American action to be on
their best behavior.
Asian Poker Classic
visit such a beautiful place
in such a beautiful country. I will remember this
forever and I look forward
“I thank the Asian Poker
Classic team for the great
tournament, hospitality,
and for the opportunity to
Asian Poker Classic top three finishers (l. to r.): Pranav Bathija
(India), Carl Hostrup (Denmark) and Samuel Lehtonen (Sweden)
to returning next year to
defend my title!” said Carl.
Samuel Lehtonen from
Sweden took second place,
but the morst compelling
story was that of India’s
third place finisher Pranav
Bathija, from Mumbai.
He learned to play poker
at the tournament’s sponsor site MaharajaClub.
net only four months ago,
yet managed to best five
international players, and
take a third place finish in
this $1,000,000 prize pool
event.
“If I can learn poker in
just four months and place
third in an international
poker tournament, then
I’ve proven that it is very
possible to be a successful poker player in India.
2007 will show that Indian
players can compete in the
game on an international
level,” said Bathija
“India has taken its
place among the poker
nations. We are proud of
the success of this year’s
Asian Poker Classic and
hope that it provides the
platform for future growth
and development of the
game in India,” according
to Imran Hassan, Director
of Operations for the Asian
Poker Classic.
5CF>BILM?1JLCHA.IE?L0IOH>3J
>>?>Tournament Schedule, April 18-28
#
Day
Date
Tournament
Buy in
Entry
Fee
Added
Money
Projected
Prize Money*
Entries
Last Time
ss
1
2
3
4
5
6
ss
7
8
9
10
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun
Mon
Tues
Tues
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
4-18
4-19
4-20
4-21
4-22
4-23
4-24
4-24
4-25
4-26
4-27
4-28
Super Satellite for #3
No-Limit Hold ‘em
Limit Hold ‘em
No-Limit Hold ‘em
No-Limit Hold ‘em
7-Card Stud/hi-low 8
Ladies No-Limit
Super Satellite for #10
Omaha Split 8
No-Limit Hold ‘em
No-Limit Shoot-out
No-Limit Hold ‘em
Totals
$100
$200
$200
$300
$200
$200
$200
$100
$250
$250
$250
$500
$10
$10
$10
$10
$10
$10
$10
$10
$10
$10
$10
$10
$5,000
$5,000
$5,000
$10,000
$5,000
$5,000
$6,500
$5,000
$10,000
$10,000
$10,000
$10,000
175 entries to #3
$153,400
$105,000
$228,000
$126,600
$39,800
$33,700
106 entries to #10
$76,750
$138,500
$139,250
$330,500
535
742
500
727
608
174
136
535
267
514
517
641
$86,500
$1,371,500
For Hotel reservations call Billie Robbins, Monday - Friday, 8am - 4pm at 541-966-1549.
For other information call Tournament Host & Director Roland Waters at 541-966-1573.
* Expected prize money minimum is based on simply matching the actual number of entries we had for Fall 2006 PRU.
All tournaments start at noon; except the Super Satellites start at 6:30pm and the Ladies start at 2:30pm.
4CH=? OLACICHPCN?MSIONI\%?NLC=B'N?FFS;]
No re-buys O No-juice satellites O $3 max live game rake O Entry fees always only $10
More live game tables added O More tournament tables added O FREE Players-only daily gourmet buffets
Affordable $59 room rates at Wildhorse O We can get you even lower rates at nearby hotels
Most events qualify: Card Player Magazine Player of the Year O Four Great All-Around prizes:
Seven-day cruise to Alaska, outside cabin O Three seats at WPT Boot Camp of your choice
www.wildhorseresort.com, click on “Poker Round-Ups”
Interstate 84, Exit 216, Pendleton, Oregon
Wildhorse reserves the right to alter, cancel, or change this
promotion in any way, including the prize money distribution
APRIL 16, 2007
35
Perks and Picks
Card Room Roundup
The Bargain Bin
By H. Scot Krause
The Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas is giving away
seats to the World Series of Poker (WSOP) to be
held at the Rio Suite Casino Hotel beginning in June. Anyone
over 21 can enter the daily qualifying games at the Sahara ($42
buy-in plus $5 entry fee) at 11:00 a.m., 7:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.
The players with the most chips will move on to the monthly
tournament where the winner will be determined. This promotion will run through May.
Throughout the month of April, play 20 hours of live poker
at your favorite Station Casinos or Fiesta Casino property
and receive a limited edition commemorative gold coin with
the property’s logo. There are nine in all if you plan to collect
them.
The Santa Fe Station Casino opened an all-new, 14-table
smoke-free Poker Room. Of the many tournaments offered,
one of the more unusual is the “Ladies Only Tournament” on
Saturdays at 10:00 a.m. Visit the Poker Room for more information on all tournaments.
Point discounts for the month of April are available to players at the Suncoast Casino. Guests can get 75 percent off
when paying with points in the St. Tropez Buffet and 50 percent
off for the Cafe Siena every Friday, Saturday and Sunday in
April.
The Gold Coast has a new “No Limit Texas Hold’em Evening
Tournament” offered every Monday through Thursday. Signups start at 5:00 p.m. and the tournament begins at 6:00 p.m.
The rules are: 40 players max freeze out; $35 buy in = $1500
Tournament chips; $5 optional dealer bonus = $500 extra chips.
The complete rules are available in the poker room.
With tax time upon us, consider cashing your IRS refund
check (or any government issued checks) at the El Cortez
Hotel Casino in downtown Las Vegas. They offer one of the
best check cashing promotions in town. Cash your check at the
main cage and receive 5 percent of your check in free slot play
- up to $50!
When you step away from the poker tables at the Cannery
Casino & Hotel (North Las Vegas) check out the sixth annual
Pure Aloha Festival at The Club on Friday, April 20 through
Sunday, April 22. The three-day festival will feature food and
crafts from the Hawaiian and Pacific Islands and entertainment
for the entire family.
The Pure Aloha Festival kicks off on Friday, April 20 at 6:00
p.m. with a concert hosted by Augie T., featuring Koauka, Pati
and Natural Vibes. Saturday evening features an evening concert at 6:00 p.m. with Ho’aikane and Braddah Walter. Festival
hours begin at 9:00 a.m. Saturday, April 21 and Sunday, April 22,
with culture performances as well as Polynesian and Hawaiian
specialty vendors selling food.
“Pure Aloha provides an opportunity for those who have
never been to the islands to experience the exciting culture,
music and food and is a favorite among Hawaiian and Pacific
Islanders in the Las Vegas Valley,” said Shawn Santana,
President for Vizzun Entertainment Inc., promoters of the
event. “It’s an event the entire family can enjoy.”
Admission is $5 at the door and $2 for children under 10,
military, and seniors 65 and older. Daytime festival tickets are
only available for purchase at the door. Tickets for evening
concerts are currently on sale for $26 in advance and $31 the
day of the show at the Cannery Casino & Hotel’s ticket sales
counter located at the front desk check-in, or by calling 1-866287-4643 (toll free). A portion of the proceeds will benefit
Positively Kids and Opportunity Village. That’s it for this week!
Caesars Palace
Las Vegas
3570 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas, NV 89109
Toll free: 1.800.338.2127
Local: 702-731-7110
Ask anyone anywhere to
name the Las Vegas resort
where they would most like
to stay and the responses
from around the world all
say, “Caesars Palace.” The
‘Palace became the instant
benchmark for Vegas luxury
when it opened in 1966 and
continues to be the gold
standard for today’s casino/
resorts around the world.
Five hotel towers provide
a selection of 3,350 guest
rooms. Guests have a wide
variety of accommodation
choices from the standard
rooms with a long list of
amenities to suites that
were designed, constructed
and furnished for the most
jaded royalty. A stay at
Caesars Palace will be an
unforgettable vacation in
Las Vegas and reservations
can be made on-line at the
www.caesars.com website or by calling toll free
1.800.338.2127.
Food at Caesars Palace
comes in a never ending menu of choices.
Legendary dining experiences can be had at Restaurant
Guy Savoy, Bradley Ogden
or Rao’s to a quiet cappuccino and pastry at the Cyprus
Street Marketplace. Guests
hungry for great southwest
specialties head for the
Mesa Grill, while Asian
H. Scot Krause is a freelance writer, gaming industry
analyst and researcher, originally from Cleveland, Ohio.
While raising his four year-old son, Zachary, Scot reports,
researches, and writes about casino games, events, attractions and promotions. He is a twelve-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]
36
APRIL 16, 2007
food connoisseurs enjoy a
visit to 808, Hyakumi, or
the Empress Court.
Neros remains one of
the best spots in town to
order a steak and those who
can’t decide can stop by the
fabulous Café Lago Buffet.
Coffee shop food with many
upscale menu items can be
had 24/7 at Augusta Café.
Guests can also order inroom white tablecloth service from a complete menu
twenty-four hours a day.
Numerous coffee and pastry
outlets are located throughout the property along with
a generous number of bars
and lounges.
Most shoppers that experience Caesars Palace for
the first time believe they
have found the holy grail of
shopping and, in fact, they
have. Known as a world
class shopping destination,
the Forum Shops at Caesars
Palace offer a range of items
not to be found anywhere
else and all of it is contained
within the most decadent,
luxurious mall in creation.
With more than 160 boutiques and shops and 13 restaurants the Forum offers a
unique shopping experience
for even the most jaded.
The restaurants include
many of my local favorites
including Joe’s Seafood,
www.caesars.com
Palm Steakhouse, B.O.A.
Steakhouse and Sushi Roku.
Nightlife includes the
famous Pure Nightclub that
is the favorite haunt of the
beautiful people and the
ultra trendy Pussycat Dolls
Lounge. And now the clubs
are joined by the Pussycat
Dolls Casino where playing
a Vegas casino game has
been redefined to something
much sexier and way more
fun.
A 250 seat Race and
Sports Book beckons to the
bettors from a cavernous
wall of video screens including more than half a dozen
theatre size giants. It’s a
favorite place to spend a day
at the races or to bet while
you watch all your favorite
sporting events. Caesars
contains almost 130,000
square feet of casino with
thousands of slots and video
poker machines. Every popular table game – Blackjack,
Craps, Roulette, Caribbean
Stud, Keno, Pai Gow Poker
are offered in the casino.
A live game poker complex located between Pure
Nightclub and the Sports
Book is our destination most
days, including today.
After a quick turn into
the garage off the Las Vegas
strip there was plenty of
close-in, easy parking, an
Get comfortable in Caesars’ Poker Room.
Every hour, these statues by the forum shops come
to life and perform for you.
elevator ride then a short
jaunt across the sports book
and we’re at the Caesars
Palace poker room. Though
the entry corridor hung
with original art work from
American painter LeRoy
Neiman and we’re into the
main poker room with 28
tables thoughtfully positioned in the spacious complex. I spent an enjoyable
afternoon in the poker room
chatting with Jim Medulla,
Caesars Casino Manager
- Poker and Chris Tessitore,
Poker Shift Manager.
Both were excited to
talk about the popular
poker room and the many
amenities offered to poker
players at Caesars Palace.
Players earn food comps
for hours of play with all
play time tracked through
your Harrah’s Player’s Card.
You can use some of those
earned comps for table-side
food service ordered from a
complete menu and served
on a white cloth on a larger
than average side table.
The poker tables have
Shufflemasters so players
are assured of a secure and
quick shuffle for a smooth
game with the maximum
hands per hour. Games typically include hold’em with
$3-$6, $4-$8 with a half kill,
$6-$12 betting limits. Nolimit hold’em comes in three
basic flavors…$1-$3 Blinds
with a $100-$500 Buy-in,
$2-$5 with a $200-NoMax
Buy-in, and $5-$10 with a
$500-No Max Buy-in.
Tournaments at Caesars
Palace are held in the sepa-
rate 33-table tournament
room adjoining the poker
room. Often the site of
major poker action such as
the recently concluded NBC
National Heads-Up Poker
Championship III or the
upcoming WSOP Circuit
event April 22 through
May 2, the daily schedule
of tournaments at Caesars
are under the direction of
Tournament Director Jason
Halperin.
Tournaments are offered
at 12:00 PM and 7:00 PM
every day. The 12:00 PM
tournament has an $80 Buyin with a $50 Rebuy and the
7:00 PM event is $120 Buyin with a $100 Rebuy.
An 11:00 PM tournament
is offered daily with a $60
Buy-in getting $1,000 in
chips while a dealer donation of $10 gets another
1,500 in chips.
Tuesday evenings at 6:00
PM features a Ladies Night
Tournament with a $75 Buyin for 1,500 in play money
and $5 Add-on gets another
500 chips.
The room recently added
a $330 Buy-in Saturday
afternoon event that starts
at 3:30 PM. Players begin
with 7,500 in tournament
chips and blind levels are
40 minutes. For complete
details of cash games, daily
tournaments and promotions including current
WSOP $10K seat giveaways, satellites, and high
hands that pay thousands
call the poker room direct
at 702.785.6566.
—Joseph Smith, Sr.
Pechanga Poker
APRIL 17, 2007 • 6:30PM
APRIL 20, 2007 • 6:30PM
CASINO EMPLOYEE TOURNAMENT*
No-Limit Hold’em • $15,000 Guarantee
*Open to employees of all casinos
$100 Buy-in + $25 Entry Fee
Multiple Re-buys
*must show employee ID to enter
No Re-buys
APRIL 18, 2007 • 6:30PM
No Re-buys
APRIL 19, 2007 • 6:30PM
No Re-buys
CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT
APRIL 21, 2007 • 5:00PM
$1,000 Buy-in + $80 Entry Fee
No Re-buys
$5,000 starting chips, 40 minute rounds
Final table will receive Championship Ring
Satellites for all events run daily 2PM - 6PM & 7PM-11PM through start of
last event on 4/21/07. Register for the April 21st Championship Tournament before April 13, 2007 and receive a free jacket. Limited Quantities.
See a Poker Room Floorperson for more information. Management reserves
the right to cancel or modify promotions without notice. Must be 21 or older
to enter Casino.
APRIL TOURNAMENT SERIES
THURSDAY, APR 5TH
6:30 PM
$5,000 Guarantee No-Limit Holdʼem
FRIDAY, APR 6TH
6:30 PM
SATURDAY, APR 7TH
4:00 PM
SUNDAY, APR 8TH
4:00 PM
THURSDAY, APR 12TH
6:30 PM
Ladies Only No-Limit Holdʼem
THURSDAY, APR 26ND
6:30 PM
FRIDAY, APR 27RD
6:30 PM
SATURDAY, APR 28TH
4:00 PM
2007 Big Showdown Series Tournament
SUNDAY, APR 29TH
4:00 PM
1st Place: $1,000 Buy-in seat 2007 World Series Ladies Only Event
1st Place: $10,000 Buy-in seat to the 2007 World Series, Guaranteed
DAILY TOURNAMENTS
DAILY DOUBLE JACKPOTS • Mon. thru Fri. 1-5PM • 9PM-12AM • 1:30-5AM • 6-9AM
Monthly $7,500 Free Roll – Last Wednesday of Each Month • 6:30 PM • 40 hours to qualify
NO-LIMIT HOLDʼEM TOURNAMENTS
Tuesday Night Special • 6:30PM • $0 Buy-in + $5 Entry Fee • $2,000 Guarantee
Friday Morning Special • 10AM • $0 Buy-in + $5 Entry Fee • $2,000 Guarantee
Monday and Wednesday • 6:30PM • $50 Buy-in + $5 Entry Fee
•1st Place: Guaranteed Entry to Pechanga Poker Championship Tournament
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Tuesday & Thursday • 4AM - 8AM • $200 drawings at the top
of every hour
HIGH HAND OF THE HOUR
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Thursday • 1PM - 11PM • $200 for all Holdʼem and $50 for Omaha
DOUBLE JACKPOT
Sunday • 1PM to 3PM & 6PM to 1AM
All Weekday AM/PM Tournaments have an Entry Fee. No tournament re-buys unless specified otherwise. All Jackpot promotions
reset and doubled until end of promotion time. Tournament Series replaces Daily Tournaments on dates shown. Hotel Poker Rate is
subject to availability Monday thru Thursday and no discounts on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Please see a Poker Room Floorperson
for promotion details. Management reserves the right to cancel or modify promotions without notice. Must be 21 or older to enter
Casino. SMOKE FREE POKER ROOM.
Your hosts at Caesars: Casino Poker Manager Jim Pedulla (l.)
and Poker Shift Supervisor Chris Tessatore (r.)
45000 PECHANGA PARKWAY • I-15 • TEMECULA, CA • 877.711.2WIN
WWW.PECHANGA.COM
APRIL 16, 2007
37
Striking it Rich
in Tunica
Book reviews
The Pocket Idiot’s
Guide to
Tournament Poker
STUD SENSE
By ASHLEY ADAMS
I covered the World Poker Open at the Gold Strike in Tunica,
Mississippi, which was a great tournament at a truly fantastic casino.
Brian Sumner won more than $900,000 for those of you who missed
it. But there is much more to the area than a great World Poker Tour
event. Let me tell you what I discovered.
Tunica is about forty minutes south of Memphis, in northwestern
Mississippi. Prior to the advent of casino gaming in the early 90s it
was known for cotton and soybean farming – and enormous poverty.
Casinos changed that. They were built on the northern border of
the county – in the flood plain of the Mississippi River. This satisfied
state law that permits gaming only on floating riverboats. By digging
canals and pumping in water they made sure that at least the gaming
floor floated on the Mississippi River.
It was impossible for me to tell that these enormous and glamorous casinos were any less stable than their counterparts in Las Vegas
or Atlantic City. If I hadn’t been given a tour I would have sworn that
the only thing these places floated on was money.
There are nine casinos in Tunica: Bally’s, The Gold Strike,
Horseshoe, Sheraton, Hollywood, Sam’s Town, Grand, Fitzgerald’s,
and Harrah’s. Together they have more than 530,000 square feet of
gaming space, 451 table games, 13,696 slots, nearly 11,000 employees,
and over 3 million square feet of total space. It is the third leading
gambling destination in the United States, trailing only Las Vegas and
Atlantic City.
To be sure, the city of Tunica (about ten miles south of the casinos)
still looks somewhat depressed. But local merchants tell me this is
deceptive, since anyone who wants to work can find a job in the vast
casino empire. Business is, they tell me, better than it has been for
many years. Plus, the public buildings that casino taxes have paid for
are new, large, and impressive.
The poker is impressive as well. There are five poker rooms all within two miles of each other, with a total of more than 100 tables – not
including the additional tables used during major tournaments. Though
the action isn’t as high as Las Vegas or Foxwoods, $10-$20, $20-$40
games and $5-$5 no limit hold’em games are regularly spread at the
Horseshoe and the Gold Strike, and $1-$2 and $2-$5 no limit, and $3-$6
limit is spread at all five casinos. Every room has daily, or nearly daily
tournaments. The Horseshoe even manages to get a stud game going
every so often (which I reported on in an earlier column).
There’s more here than just the excellent gambling, music, shows,
and restaurants associated with top-notch casinos. This is a very
southern place steeped in the culture of the Mississippi Delta. They
have a meticulously clean, new River Park that includes a walking
trail, a museum and an authentic riverboat, the Tunica Queen. For
other leisure activities there is also a world-class golf course, professional quality tennis courts, and an outlet mall.
I enjoyed experiencing those parts of Tunica that existed before
the boom in the mid-90s. I went to the gem-in-the-rough Hollywood
Café and had a great lunch of sweet tea, fried pickles, fried green
tomatoes, and fried catfish. I went to downtown Tunica, stopping to
eat a filling breakfast special at the classic Blue and White Restaurant.
And I even spent a little time checking email in the thoroughly modern
Tunica public library.
I enjoyed my week in Tunica, both inside and outside of the casinos. It’s close to Memphis and all that it offers (Graceland, Civil Rights
Museum, Beale Street music, great restaurants, and professional
sports). And it retains a rural southern quality that is unknown back
east. This was my third trip to Tunica. It will surely not be my last.
Next time I’m bringing my wife – and she hates gambling!
by David Apostolico
Alpha Books, 2006
ISBN: 1-59257-470-X
194pp, $9.95
Playing in a poker tournament for a first time can be
intimidating. Since the vast
majority of participants of
nearly any tournament are
experienced players, tournament staff generally assumes
that the players know what’s
going on. If that’s not the
case, tournament rules, procedures, and etiquette can
be bewildering. There is
a definite need for a book
that helps first-time players
understand what’s happening in tournament poker and
David Apostolico’s “The
Pocket Idiot’s Guide to
Tournament Poker” aims to
fill this gap.
The book is obviously
aimed at poker tournament
novices. It begins with a
chapter titled, “What Is a
Poker Tournament?” before
explaining the basics of NoLimit Hold’em and the basic
flow of a poker tournament.
Having the introductory
material is entirely appropriate here, although
given the title, I was a
little chagrined to learn that
only no-limit Hold’em is
covered.
The book moves on to
discuss different tournament
types, including those with
rebuys, add-ons, satellites,
shoot-outs, bounties, and
Ashley Adams is the author of Winning 7-Card Stud,
(Kensington Press 2003). He has been playing 7-Card
Stud for 40 years—and profitably in casinos for the past
10 years. He has played in casinos all over the world,
including England, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Hungary,
Canada and the United States, but plays most frequently
at at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard Connecticut.
Professionally, he is a union organizer and an agent for
broadcasters. He can be reached at: [email protected]
38
APRIL 16, 2007
online tournaments. All of
this is entirely appropriate,
and Apostolico does a good
job of covering most all the
bases here.
The book then provides
several chapters on poker
strategy before discussing poker etiquette. There’s no
way to do any semblance of justice
to poker strategy
in a book of this
size, and what is in
here resembles the
sort of vague platitudes about poker
that have been
floating around cardrooms
for decades. On the other
hand, the etiquette chapter is
absolutely excellent, probably the best material in the
book. This is information
that should be truly useful to
a novice player, and information that they may not learn
from other sources.
My biggest criticism
with the book is the general
imprecision in the language
used by the author. In a
great many places he makes
a statement that is often true,
but for which there are significant exceptions. So, most
of the time the situations
faced by readers of this book
will be what they expect, but
sometimes they will not be,
and I expect these situations
may be especially confusing
because the literal text of this
book states that they won’t
happen.
Additionally, in my opin-
ion the
strategy
chapters are
essentially
useless, even for a novice
player. If the publishers
wanted to make the book
short, they could
have just covered the rules and
mechanics of the
tournaments themselves. There’s a
lot of stuff that the
book doesn’t cover
that might be confusing to the novice, and could be
included to replace
the strategy sections. Some
of these topics include chip
racing, what happens when
players get knocked out in
the blinds, side pots, and
many other useful procedural
discussions could have been
mentioned as well.
I expect that experienced
tournament poker players won’t learn anything of
value from this book, but
they’re not the target audience. The question is, is this
book worthwhile for a novice player? For a complete
novice, I believe that they
would, indeed, be better prepared for playing in a poker
tournament having read this
book. Still, I don’t think that
group is as well served by
“The Pocket Idiot’s Guide
to Tournament Poker” as I
might have hoped. It fills a
niche, but I believe it could
have done so better.
—Nick Christenson
Entertainment
Listings
Entertainment RePORT
By LEN BUTCHER
Las Vegas, as its self proclaimed title of
Entertainment Capital of the World denotes, has
always offered a wide array of talent, from singing
headliners to magicians, to productions shows like those offered by
Cirque du Soleil, and more recently, Broadway shows. But it also has
been home to those acts that play to smaller audiences in smaller
venues, but are just as entertaining and in some cases have proved
their popularity through their longevity.
One that stands out is the very entertaining An
Evening at La Cage at the Riviera, starring Frank
Marino, now in his 22nd year with the show and
still impersonating his alter ego, Joan Rivers. But
he admits to having to go through a number of
reinventions. He likes to say, “I’ve gone through
so many reinventions. I should be called ‘Joan
Frank Marino
Reinvention Riviera’ Marino!” Don’t let him kid
you–he loves it and not only does he play the famous comedienne
onstage, but offstage as well. Marino is also one of the most giving
entertainers our town has ever had, always willing to show up to
help a good cause or raise funds.
He knows, however, that Rivers is the key to his success. “I’ve
always done Joan Rivers and thank goodness she is still around and
hasn’t left show business like many celebrities. Her shtick is timeless. If she had gotten Jay Leno’s job on The Tonight Show I would
even be bigger. When Joan plays Vegas, our room counts are phenomenal.”
Getting back to reinvention, Marino admits that it doesn’t always
work. “Reinvention doesn’t always work, but it’s the mother of success. I tried Fran Drescher and her career went down the toilet. But
I am always working on a new monologue and I love bringing new
costumes on stage. They help my reinvention. The cast members
also bring fresh, new approaches to numbers, which are superbly
choreographed. We may have the best dancers in Las Vegas. We are
currently the only show of its type in Las Vegas and the houses are
packed.”
Marino says that all of his reinventions can be seen on his fourcolor poster that celebrates his years in show business. “I used to
have it on sale on my website, but now you are lucky if you can find
one on eBay. I think I sign more autographs after the show than any
other performer on the Strip.”
Marino continued,” The show is one of the most successful in Las
Vegas, when you talk about filling the seats. I think that’s because
of three things: the price is reasonable, the entertainers are superb,
and we get repeat business from Middle America, believe it or not. I
think that a show about female impersonators would not appeal to
most people, but the fact that we are portraying superstars and are
pretty close to dead-ringers is what people are curious to see, and
when they see our acts, word of mouth gets out.”
You can see An Evening at La Cage nightly at 7:30 p.m. every
night except Tuesdays. Tickets are $65 plus tax and fee. The Riviera
also offers special dinner/show combinations. For information, call
702-794-9433 or 1-800-634-3420. And remember, children under 12
not admitted, and if they’re under 18 they’ll need to be accompanied
by a parent/guardian who is at least 18.
Stomp Out Loud, the new production from the creators of
Stomp, comes to Aladdin/Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in
Las Vegas beginning March 24 inside a new, $28-million theater
specifically created for this production. The show is a unique combination of percussion, movement, and visual comedy, creating a
journey through sound, a celebration of the everyday, and a comic
interplay of characters wordlessly communicating through dance
and percussion.
“We are very excited to bring Stomp Out Loud to Las Vegas
because it gives us the chance to do things with the show that we’ve
always wanted to do,” says co-creator Steve McNicholas. Stomp Out
Loud will perform in The Showroom Thursday through Tuesday (dark
Wednesday) with ticket prices ranging from $50 to $110.
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]
40
APRIL 16, 2007
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
Richard Marx
Casino Arizona (13)
CALIFORNIA
Chumash Casino Resort (30) George Thorogood
Ballroom Dance Party
Cambodian Dance Party
Crystal Casino & Hotel
Karaoke
El As De Oros Night Club
Hollywood Park Casino (5) Finish Line Lounge
Pechanga Resort & Casino (37) Wayne Brady
Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino (7) Ron White
INDIANA
Caesars Indiana Hotel & Casino Montgomery Gentry Concert
NEW JERSEY
Ron White
Trump Taj Majal
NEVADA-LAS VEGAS
Magician Steve Wyrick
Aladdin Hotel & Casino
Donn Arden’s Jubilee!
Bally’s Resort & Casino
“The Price is Right” Live Stage Show
Boulder Station Hotel & Casino (6) Eddie Money
Elton John
Caesar’s Palace
The Yardbirds
Cannery Hotel & Casino
Fitzgerald’s Hotel & Casino (29) Steve Connolly
May 1, 7 & 9 p.m.
Apr 6, 8 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.
Live Jazz, Tues. 8 p.m.
Mar 30, 8 p.m.
Apr 26, 8 p.m.
Apr 27, 7:30 p.m.
Apr 20, 8 p.m.
Ongoing, Wednesday through Monday, 7 & 10 p.m.
Sat-Thu, 8 p.m.
Tues, Thurs & Sat, 2:30 p.m. & Fri, 8 p.m.
Apr 20, 8 p.m.
Mar 27, 7:30 p.m.
Apr 6, 8 p.m.
Thurs thru Mon, 10:30 p.m.
Tue thru Sun (dark Mon), 7:30 p.m.,
Forever Plaid
Gold Coast (15)
Sun 3 p.m. & 7 p.m.
Green Valley Ranch Hotel & Casino (19) Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
May 18, 8 p.m.
Rita Rudner
Harrah’s Hotel & Casino
Ongoing (dark sundays), 8 p.m.
Legends In Concert
Imperial Palace Hotel & Casino
Mondays through Saturdays, 7 & 10 p.m.
Troubador Lounge-Live Entertainment Fri & Sat, 9 p.m.
Joker’s Wild (15)
Tony Bennett
Apr 13-14, 8 p.m.
Joe Piscopo
Las Vegas Hilton
Sundays thru Tuesdays. 9:30 p.m.
Menopause, the Musical
8 p.m. nightly Sat thru Thu
Carrot Top
Luxor Resort & Casino
Sun thru Fri, 8 p.m. & Sat, 7 & 9 p.m.
Mandalay Bay Resort &
7 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Sundays; 8 p.m.
Mamma Mia
Casino
Fridays; 7 & 10:30 p.m. Saturdays, Mondays.
David Copperfield
Mar 22-Apr 19, 7:30 & 10 p.m.
MGM Grand Hotel & Casino
KA.
Fri thru Tue, 7:30& 10:30 p.m.
Impressionist Danny Gans
8 p.m. (Monday thru Friday)
The Mirage Hotel & Casino (9) Jay Leno
April 13-14, 10:30 p.m
The Beatles LOVE
Thursdays thru Mondays, 7:30 & 10:30 p.m.
Tuesdays
thru Saturdays, 7pm; Tuesdays &
Magician Lance Burton
Monte Carlo Resort & Casino
Saturdays. 7 & 10 p.m.
Earl Turner
Thu thru Sun, 8 p.m.
Palace Station Hotel &
Casino (6)
Gabe Kaplan’s Laugh Trax
Tuesdays thru Saturdays, 7 p.m.
Playboy Comedy Club
Saturdays, 8 & 10:30 p.m.
Palms Casino & Resort (30)
Alajandro Sanz
Jun 6, 8 p.m.
Zowie Bowie
Nightly, 8 p.m.
Red Rock Hotel & Casino
Crazy Girls
Wed thru Mon, 9:30 p.m.
La Cage
Wed thru Mon, 7:30 p.m.
Riviera Hotel & Casino (8)
Splash
Tue thru Sun, 9:30 p.m
Neil Diamond Tribute
Sun thru Thu, 7 p.m.
The Scintas
Tue-Sat, 7 p.m.
The Amazing Jonathan
Fri-Wed, 10 p.m.
Sahara Hotel & Casino
The Platters, Coasters and
8 p.m. nightly
Drifters
Brian Culbertson
Santa Fe Station (6)
Apr 13, 8 p.m.
Bite
Ongoing, 10:30 p.m.
Stratosphere Hotel &
American Superstars
Ongoing, 6:30 & 8:30 p.m.
Casino
Viva Las Vegas
Ongoing, 2 & 4 p.m.
Al Stewart
Mar 24, 7 p.m.
Sunset Station (6)
Isaac Hayes
Texas Station (6)
Apr 28, 8 p.m.
Mystere
Ongoing, Wednesdays thru Saturdays 7:30 p.m.
Treasure Island
Phantom of the Opera
Nightly, 7 & 10 p.m.
Venetian Hotel & Casino
Blue Man Group
Nightly, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m.
(41)
Gordie Brown
Ongoing, 7:30 p.m. (dark Wed & Thu)
OKLAHOMA
Creedence Clearwater Revisited May 18, 8 p.m.
Cherokee Casino
Tin Pan Alley
Comanche Red River Casino
April 13-14, 8 p.m.
Mid-Limit Hold’em Players
If you’re a Mid-Limit Hold’em player who’s looking for better place to
play – look no further. The Venetian not only offers the luxury, comfort,
amenities and professional staff that you deserve but also provides, through
the end of 2007, a way to keep more money in your wallet.
Join us for these Introductory Promotions for the following game limits:
$8/$16 and $15/$30
Limit Hold ’em
April-May
June-July
Aug.-Dec.
$1 Rake
$2 Rake
$3 Rake
$30/$60 and $60/$120
Limit Hold’em
$2 Time Collection
$3 Time Collection
$4 Time Collection
DA I LY TO U R N A M E N T S C H E D U L E
DAYTIME
TIME
BUY-IN
CHIP COUNT
SundayThursday
Noon
$300 Buy-In + $30
$10 Staff Bonus
$4,500 Starting
$1,500 Bonus
Friday and
Saturday
Noon
$500 Buy-In + $40
$10 Staff Bonus
$7,500 Starting
$2,500 Bonus
EVENING
TIME
BUY-IN
CHIP COUNT
SundayThursday
8 pm
$110 Buy-In + $15 + (1) $50 RB $1,500 Starting
$5 Staff Bonus
$2,000 Rebuy
$1,000 Bonus
Friday
8 pm
$175 Buy-In + $20
$5 Staff Bonus
$10 of Buy-In Toward Bounty Pool
(No-Limit
Bounty Tournament)
$3,000 Starting
$1,000 Bonus
T H E N E W F A C E O F P O K E R .TM
For information call 702.414.POKR (7657) www.venetian.com
TDA rules apply to all poker tournaments held at The Venetian. Management reserves the right to cancel or change tournaments.
Three percent of total prize pool is withheld for poker room staff. Winners will be paid in casino chips. Residents of foreign countries
without a U.S. tax treaty will be subject to withholding. Registration begins in the poker room two hours prior to the start of the event.
Must be 21 years or older to attend. The Venetian management reserves all rights. *Applies to all live poker games.
APRIL 16, 2007
41
Betting Out
of Trouble
KILLER Poker
NOW! Get Tournament Listings at our website: www.pokerplayernewspaper.com
By John Vorhaus
“The best offense is often a good
pretense”
The game was $200 buy-in NLHE with $2 and
$5 blinds. I had about $250 in front of me and
a no-nonsense image. I was dealt As-Qs on
the button. A canny, frisky player limped from
under the gun and the cutoff seat made it $15
to go. I knew the cutoff to be someone I could
move off a hand, so I raised to $55, looking to
get heads up against him, then outplay him on
the flop.
My plan went astray when the big blind called
all-in for, as it happens, exactly his last $55,
which inspired the UTG player and the cutoff
both to call. Now my situation was grim. I wanted one caller but got three – including an all-in
player who was thus bluffproof. I figured there
was no way I had the best hand and would probably have to hit to win.
The UTG player was a worry. I had seen him
bet big into pots on pure steals, especially on
the turn, and wouldn’t want to see him do that
here. But if I could get him away from his hand,
I liked my chances against the clueless timmy in
the cutoff seat.
The flop came K-3-3 rainbow. UTG didn’t look
particularly happy, but didn’t seem to have given
up on the hand entirely. He checked, though, as
did the cutoff, and now I was faced with a choice.
I could check behind them and hope either that
my hand was the best or that it would improve.
Or I could bet, hope they both folded, and take
my chances against the all-in player, who could
have anything or nothing at all.
I chose to bet. Not only is it generally “better the bettor to be,” I figured that any hand
except a good king would have trouble calling
me here, and that the best place for me was
heads up against the all-in player. So I fired
$100 into the pot. UTG thought for a while and
let his hand go. The cutoff mucked also. Mission
(partly) accomplished! The turn and the river
were blanks, and my A-Q held up against the allin’s A-8. As I raked the pot, both UTG and the
cutoff claimed, with a mixture of admiration and
rue, to have been bet off the pot holding small
pocket pairs.
Part of what made me bet was the diminished
possibility of a “curiosity call.” The curiosity
call is the call you get sometimes from players
who should know better, but don’t -- which can
do evil things to your bluffs. But with an all-in
player in the pot, everyone’s curiosity about my
holding would be satisfied whether they called
or not. Many people will fold in this situation
and let the all-in player be their stalking horse.
People are also reluctant to call big bets that
open side pots, reasoning that you wouldn’t
be trying to build a side pot unless you had a
monster. In both senses, then, I used the all-in
player to leverage the strength of my bet.
Bottom line: When you bet yourself into trouble, the only solution is to bet yourself right
back out.
[John Vorhaus is the author of the Killer Poker book
series, including Killer Poker Online/2 and Killer
Poker No Limit! Visit him online at vorza.com.]
42
APRIL 16, 2007
2007-08 WORLDWIDE
POKER TOURNAMENTS
>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, Managing Editor, at: [email protected]
DATE
EVENT
>Mar 28-Apr 8 Sport of Kings
LOCATION
Hollywood Park Casino (AdPg 5), L.A., CA
5-Star World Poker Classic
tBellagio, Las Vegas, NV
Heartland Poker Tour Event
Shooting Star Casino & Hotel, Mahnomen, MN
Stars & Stripes
Bicycle Casino (AdPg 24), Bell Gardens, CA
Masters of Poker
Pechanga Resort & Casino (AdPg 37), Temecula, CA
Spring Poker Round-Up
Wildhorse Resort & Casino (AdPg 35), Pendleton, OR
Ozark Poker Championship II Cherokee Casino (AdPg 39), W. Siloam Springs, OK
WPT Championship
tBellagio Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV
WPS Caribbean Poker Cruise
Mariner of the Seas, Port Canaveral, FL
WSOP Circuit Event
sCaesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV
WSOP “Warm-UP” VIII
Garden City Casino, San Jose, CA
Western Canadian Poker Classic Casino Yellowhead, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Mirage Poker Showdown
Mirage Hotel & Casino (AdPg 9), Las Vegas, NV
Heavenly Hold’em
Commerce Casino (AdPg 43), Commerce, CA
WPS Bahamas Poker Showdown Crystal Palace Casino, Cable Beach Resort, Bahamas
East Coast Poker Ch’ships V
Turning Stone Resort & Casino, Verona, NY
Mirage Poker Showdown
tMirage Hotel & Casino (AdPg 9), Las Vegas, NV
NPA Tour
Hollywood Park Casino (AdPg 5), L.A., CA
Oasis Open Poker Tournament Oasis Resort & Casino, Mesquite, NV
Spring Festival (incl. Nat’l Sit’N
Go Ch’ship May 12, 12 noon)
Hawaiian Gardens Casino (AdPg 23), Hawaiian Gardens, CA
May 11-16
Grand Prix de Paris
tAviation Club of France, Paris, France
May 11-21
Spring Pot of Gold
Grand Sierra Hotel & Casino, Reno, NV
May 12-21
Turning Stone Classic
Turning Stone Resort Casino, Verona, NY
May 13-22
Nat’l Poker League Paris Open Cercle Gaillon Casino, Paris, France
May 14-19
Top of the Mountain
Spirit Mountain Casino, Grand Ronde, OR
May 14-23
WSOP Circuit Event
sHarrah’s New Orleans, New Orleans, LA
May 16-20
Leelanau Sands Casino, Peshawbestown, MN
>May 17-28 Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge III Cherokee Casino Resort (AdPg 39), Tulsa, OK
>May 19-23 Mirage Poker Showdown
tThe Mirage (AdPg 9), Las Vegas, NV
>May 19-25
CEO Poker Challenge (Atl. City) Trump Taj Mahal (AdPg. 11), Atlantic City, NJ
>May 21-31
Mini Series Warm Ups
The Bicycle Casino (AdPg 24), Bell Gardens, CA
May 25-Jun 4
Spring Fling
Sycuan Resort & Casino, El Cajon, CA
May 29-Jun 3
Mandalay Bay Poker Ch’ship
tMandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, NV
>June 1-July 8 Mini Series
June 1-July 17
World Series of Poker
Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV
June 8-17
Peppermill Summer Poker Ch’ship Peppermill Casino, Reno, NV
June 10-17
Turning Stone Casino, Verona, NY
June 12-16
Casino Poker Masters
Casino Seefeld, Tirol, Austria
>Jun 16-17
Poker’s #1 Family Tournament Hollywood Park Casino (AdPg 21), L.A., CA
>July 2-8
CEO Poker Challenge (Las Vegas) The Venetian (ad Pg 41), Las Vegas, NV
July 14-30
Orleans Open
The Orleans Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV
July 20-29
LA Summer Slam
Crystal Casino, Compton, CA
July 21-29
Majestic Star Casino, Gary, IN
Aug 20-27
Grand Casino Mille Lacs, Onamia, MN
>Aug 25-31 Legends of Poker
tBicycle Casino (AdPg 24), Bell Gardens, CA
Aug 29-Sep 2
Edmonton Poker Classic
Casino Edmonton, Edmonton, AB, Canada
>Sep 4-23
California State Poker Ch’ship Commerce Casino (AdPg 43), Commerce, CA
Sep 12-16
Northern Lights Casino, Walker, MN
Sep 16-20
Borgata Open
tThe Borgata, Atlantic City, NJ
>Sep 25-29 World Poker Dealer Ch’ships Binion’s Gambling Hall (AdPg 22), Las Vegas, NV
Sep 27-30
California Ladies State Ch’ship Oceans 11 Casino, Oceanside, CA
>Sep 27-Oct 14 Big Poker Oktober
October 3-8
Canadian Poker Championship Casino Yellowhead, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Oct. 7-13
North American Poker Ch’ship tNiagara Fallsview Resort Casino, Niagara Falls, Canada
Oct 15-20
Anniversary Series
Spirit Mountain Casino, Grand Ronde, OR
>Nov 2-18
Holiday Bonus Tournament
Commerce Casino (AdPg 43), Commerce, CA
>Nov 6-18
Fall Poker Round-Up
Wildhorse Casino, (AdPg 43) Pendleton, OR
Nov 8-13
World Poker Finals
tFoxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, CT
>Nov 22-Dec 9 Turkey Shoot/Ho-Ho Hold’em The Bicycle Casino (AdPg 24), Bell Gardens, CA
Dec 1-9
Majestic Star Casino, Gary, IN
Dec 13-18
Bellagio 5 Diamond World Poker Classic tBellagio, Las Vegas, NV
>Jan 5-8
Poker Stars Caribbean Poker Adventure tAtlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas
Jan 21-25
World Poker Open
tGold Strike Casino, Tunica, MS
>Feb 23-28 L.A. Poker Classic
tCommerce Casino (AdPg 43), LA, CA
>Mar 1-3
WPT Celebrity Invitational
tCommerce Casino (AdPg 43), LA, CA
>Mar 10-14
Bay 101 Shooting Star
tBay 101 (AdPg 28), San Jose, CA
Apr 19-25
WPT World Championship
tBellagio, Las Vegas, NV
Apr 7-27
Apr 11-15
>Apr 12-29
>Apr 17-21
>Apr 18-28
>Apr 19-22
Apr 21-27
Apr 22-28
Apr 23-May 2
Apr 27-May 7
May 2-6
>May 4-17
>May 4-20
May 6-16
May 7-13
>May 7-23
>May 8-20
>May 10-14
>May 11-13
APRIL 16, 2007
43
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charge - Poker Player Newspaper

Transcription

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