tipping - Poker Player Newspaper

Transcription

9
Celebrity Crossword PAGE
tribute to
Daniel Negreanu
12
36
14
17
20
iPods are fun, but PAGE
winning one at
Poker is better!
PAGE
Entertainment
Best Bets
34
44
POKER PLAYER
Vol. 9 Number 18 March 6, 2006 A Gambling Times Publication www.pokerplayernewspaper.com Copyright ©2006 Bi-Weekly $3.95 USA/$4.95 CANADA
LAPC
Breaks
Records
Card
Player
magazine
Advances
Poker’s
Image
Nhut Tran
of Scottsdale, AZ wins
$114,268 in LAPC
event 26
Calvin Ayre congratulates Player of the Year Men Nguyen
As we get on press the final
day of the Los Angeles
Poker Championship at the
Commerce Casino will be
in its last day. It’s too early
to bring you the winner,
but, we can tell you that
first prize will be nearly
$2.4 million, almost reaching 2004’s WSOP championship prize of $2.5 million
won by Chris Moneymaker.
Second prize will be over
$1,000,000, The 28 events
of the LAPC dominated
poker action in February,
as per usual. Last issue
(Continued on page 7)
Swede Takes EPT French Open
The beautiful seaside
town of Deauville, France
hosted the EPT (European
Poker Tour) French Open
at the Casino Barriere
de Deauville. The final
table included profes-
sional poker players well
known in Europe and the
US. Ram Vaswani of the
English based Hendon
Mob, a regular at all of
the bigger buy-in tournament events throughout
Wow! Satellites for the
Heavyweight
Championship
of Poker—
Now in
Los Angeles
& Las Vegas!
on creating a highly successful, first class event, that has
surely raised Poker to a higher level. Produced by Calvin
Ayre, CEO of Bodog.com,
in their always outstanding
style, this congenial bringing together of poker’s icons
for an awards ceremony has
earned Shulman a host of
kudos. Although this was a
A Word from the
“Mad Genius,”
Mike Caro
Today’s word is...
“TIPPING”
Turn to page 6 for more
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SEE PAGE 29
the world. Everyone’s
favorite Canadian lady
player, Isabelle Mercier,
stayed close to the chip
lead though out the event
to become only female on
the final day. A player that
is always a strong competitor is the young Russian,
Kirill Gerasimov. Kirill
is part of the Luske stable
and his serious approach to
the game has established
him as a contender. The
final table included some of
Europe’s finest.
Short stacked player
By Stanley R. Sludikoff
When a person does something outstanding for the
poker industry, he deserves
to be feted for his achievement, even if he happens
to be your biggest competitor. So, on the occasion of
the highly successful Card
Player, Player of the Year
Awards, I am pleased to
congratulate Barry Shulman
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5
Caro’s Word: “Tipping”
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
S
ometimes in poker,
things that seem
unimportant make a
shocking difference
to your bankroll. Tipping
the dealer is an example.
Most of us tip routinely
and appropriately. And I’m
in favor of that, as you’ll
soon discover.
But one thing that’s
seldom discussed is that
tipping changes the value
of poker hands and often
dictates which ones we can
profitably play.
I’d feel honored if you
listened closely to this
obscure lecture I delivered
online years ago.
The odd truth about
tipping
Sooner or later, if you’re
going to play poker seriously, play to supplement
your income, or play to
earn your living, you’re
going to have to think
about tipping.
Well, actually, if you
play poker online, tipping
is not an issue. On the
Internet, human dealers are
non-existent – you meet
virtual, imaginary ones and
they wouldn’t know what
to do with a tip if you gave
them one.
How much should you
tip when you win a pot?
Should you tip at all?
Some professional players
never tip, but I believe you
have an obligation to do
so. Why? It’s because dealers in real-world casinos
are paid very low wages
and expect to make up the
difference through tips.
Ah, I hear you wondering – why is that MY
problem? Why doesn’t the
casino pay dealers more?
Actually, if you’re a winning player, you probably
should be happy that the
casinos don’t pay dealers
more. The tip method most
likely works in your favor.
Who pays most?
Paying the dealers more
would actually work
against the better players, because they win
fewer pots and, therefore,
tip fewer times. If dealers would be paid more
and tipping were not customary, the house would
charge more, and everyone
would pay the difference
equally. The way the system works now, it’s the
weaker, looser players who
are paying tips dispropor-
tionately, because they win
more pots. Strong, moreselective, long-term winning players get a break.
They play fewer pots, win
fewer pots, and pay less
in tips, even if they tip the
same amount as the weaker
players each time they win
a pot.
So, how much should
you tip? Oddly, the lowerlimit games are sometimes
more lucrative for dealers
than the big games. Lowlimit players who are less
sophisticated about the
long-term nature of poker,
usually tip larger portions of the pots they win.
They may tip $3 out of a
$45 pot, when they won
$30 and the other $15 was
theirs to begin with. Let me
tell you right now, if you
tip $3 out of each $30 you
win, you won’t be around
long without constantly
replenishing your bankroll.
Just one dollar is the
usual tip for $3/$6 limit
and up games. Fifty cents
is fine at lower limits.
When I say $3/$6 and up
games, I mean way up! A
dollar tip today is customary for even $100/$200
games and larger. I usually
tip a dollar and sometimes
two dollars for any hand
that has many extra bets in
it. If it’s a small pot with
little betting, I don’t tip
at all, and you probably
shouldn’t, either.
They tell me that the
average amount I tip in
a night is considerably
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MARCH 6, 2006
higher than most other
professionals. But, I feel I
can survive the extra tax,
and it makes me feel good.
But, if you’re only winning marginally, excessive
tipping can make the difference between surviving
and staying at home sulking. So, don’t feel pressured into making tips you
don’t want to make. If you
want my guidelines, tip
nothing on small pots in
$3/$6 games, tip 50 cents
on medium pots, and a dollar on large ones. In $5/$10
games and up, usually tip
a dollar, if the pot’s big
enough. There is no sliding
scale that requires larger
tips in the bigger games.
That just isn’t customary.
The theory is that you’re
adding to the dealer’s
income equally, regardless
of the limit of the game.
POKER PLAYER
A Gambling Times Publication
3883 West Century Blvd.
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(310) 674-3365
www.pokerplayernewspaper.com
Stanley R. Sludikoff
EDITOR/PUBLISHER
[email protected]
A. R. Dyck
ASSISTANT PUBLISHER
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John Thompson
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR
FOR idrome INFO DESIGN
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Joseph Smith
WEBMASTER
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Mike Caro
SENIOR EDITOR
[email protected]
Byron Liggett
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
[email protected]
H. Scot Krause
PROMOTIONS EDITOR
[email protected]
Len Butcher
ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
[email protected]
Wendeen H. Eolis
EDITORIAL CONSULTANT
Less money
Phil Hevener
Even some dealers understand that it’s not a good
idea to encourage excessive tipping. Players may
be generous for a single
night, but too much tipping
and they might not be able
to afford to play as often,
and that means less money
overall for the dealers.
The monumental concept behind tipping is that
it often means you can’t
play marginal hands. Many
hands would be worth 25
to 50 cents in profit if you
didn’t tip, but when you do
tip, you’ve got to factor in
how often you’re going to
win the pot and how often
you’re going to pay the
dollar tip. Often it overwhelms the tiny profit on
these marginal hands and
turns them from small winners into small losers. This
can mean you shouldn’t
play them at all. So, tipping can make your best
strategy tighter.
In bigger games, some
players just pay a dealer
upfront and say, “That’s
for the next half hour, win
or lose.” Sometimes, they
pay as the dealer leaves
the table. As long as the
amount they pay is the
same, win or lose, they can
then play marginal hands.
That’s because they won’t
pay any more if they win
many pots than if they
don’t win any – so they can
pursue all pots with mar-
Contributing
Columnists
CONSULTANT
Nolan Dalla
George Epstein
“Oklahoma Johnny” Hale
Ashley Adams
Diane McHaffie
James McKenna
I. Nelson Rose
John Vorhaus
Poker Player will be published Bi-Weekly
by Gambling Times Incorporated,
Stanley R. Sludikoff, President.
Volume 9 Number 18.
Copyright © March 2006 by Gambling
Times Incorporated. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without
written permission is prohibited.
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PUBLISHER’S STATEMENT
This notice will certify that 49,000 copies of Volume
9, Number 18 of Poker Player were printed at Valley
Printers, 16230 Filbert Street, Sylmar, CA 91342.
Distribution to newsstands, card clubs, poker rooms and
other distribution points throughout the United States,
Canada, the Caribbean, Central America and Europe.
Record-setting LAPC at Commerce
we brought you the first 14
events, Here are the next
13, leading up to the final
event, which will be filmed
for television by the World
Poker Tour. Our thanks to
Max Shapiro for his sterling commentary as found
below.
Male Nurse From
Tampa Wins Tag
Team Event
Two friends from Tampa,
Florida took down the $500
no-limit tag team event, the
27th tourney of 2006 LAPC,
and the final one before the
six-day, $10,000 championship event. Steve Diamantas
is a pro player with a win at
the Bellagio Five Diamond.
His partner for the evening
was Barry Clancy, a registered nurse who, along with
Diamantas, has several wins
at the Seminole Hard Rock
in Tampa.
Their final team opponents were “Super” Mario
Esquerra, who has best allarounds at virtually every
casino he has played at, and
Jon LeMone, a small business owner from El Paso,
Texas.
This event had a strange
ending. With only a few
players left at the final table,
and the normal cut-off time
of 3:30 a.m. approaching,
tournament director Cheri
Dokken allowed them to
play until 5 a.m. With that
new deadline nearing, the
remaining two teams, fairly
even in chips, agreed that
after 5 a.m. they would just
keep going all-in until one
team busted. But, moments
before 5 o’clock, with a
board of Ah-Js-9h-Qh,
Esquerra moved in with a
Jh-8s flush draw. Diamantes
called with Qs-8d with
slightly more chips and the
paired queens held up.
This was LAPC’s first
tag team tournament. It was
structured so that each team
member rotated at every
new level. Blinds started
at 1,500-3,000 with 16:48
left. Diamantas/Clancy had
the chip lead with 202,500.
At the other end, Mario
Fahimivad and Roland Viola
had only 10,000, and were
gone in an eye-blink.
With blinds at 4,000-
8,000, Anthony Reategui,
who was making his third
final table, tried to steal the
blinds by moving in from the
cut-off seat for 40,000 with
only 10d-9h. Daniel Cordi,
teamed with his father,
Joseph Cordi, called with
pocket 10s. Four hearts gave
Reategui a miracle flush and
his team survived..
The team of Kirby
Rogers and Chris Overgard
went overboard when
Esquerra put Overgard all
in with an 80,000 raise.
Super Mario’s A-K prevailed
against As-Js.
With blinds of 3,0006,000, and 1,000 antes, the
Diamantas/Clancy team
remained chip leader with
173,000.
Poker player Tony
Nguyen and his teammate,
Joey Clapper, finished
eighth. On hand 36, with
his team down to 30,000
and just two away from the
blinds, Nguyen moved in
with K-5. Casey Smith had
an easy call from the button with A-Q, and an all-rag
board changed nothing.
Smith and teammate Andy
Richards are both L.A.-area
students studying communications and business administration, respectively.
Joseph Cordi, a retiree,
and his son, Daniel, comprised another team. Joseph
was playing when his team
ended seventh two hands
later. Clancy opened for
24,000 and Cordi moved in
for 25,000 more with K-9.
Clancy had A-2, and father
and son were out of business
when a flop of 5-4-3 gave
the Clancy/Diamantes team
a straight.
Moving right along,
another team went out
two hands later. Adam
Spiegelberg is a Vegas pro
with various final tables,
and his cohort, Joe Tehan,
won the $300 no-limit,
rebuy event earlier here.
Spiegelberg lost his team’s
last 40,000 in a hand against
Ryan Hughes, a Phoenix pro
and partner of Reategui.
When blinds went to
4,000-8,000 with 1,000
antes, Richards sat down to
a lead his team now enjoyed
of 230,000. Diamantes
returned to 195,000; while
(Cont’d from page 1)
Esquerra had 170,000;
Reategui 95,000, and David
Baker, teamed with fellow
Texas pro Cornel Cimpan,
was down to 30,000.
A big pot developed on
hand 51. Esquerra opened
for 20,000 and was called by
Richards and Reategui. On
a flop of 10h8s-6s, Reategui
moved in for 68,000 with J-9
and Richards, with a Qs-Js
flush draw, called. Esquerra
had to fold, but his pocket
7s would have won a big
pot, as Richard’s queen-high
knocked out the Reategui/
Hughes team.
The Texas team finished
fourth. Richards raised
with 8-6 to put Baker all
in. Baker had K-4 and lost
when an 8 flopped. As play
went on, Diamentes/Clancy
regained the lead and still
had it when blinds went
to 5,000-10,000. Clancy,
now in the seat, began putting pressure on with a lot
of raises. Play went on at
length until hand 87, after
blinds went to 6,000-12,000
with 2,000 antes and a new
team came in. On hand 87,
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7
Poker Therapy: Deserve
Psychologists and counselors have long researched
and studies human motivations and behaviors. While
POKER COUNSELOR
By John Carlisle, MA, NCC
much of what we do as human beings (and why we
do it) is still only explained in loose theory and general concepts, we do
see and understand definitive patterns in many psychological processes
and outcomes. The understanding of these theories combines with
experience to afford mental health professionals insights that many in
the general public might not easily grasp. An example of this is when
we see women who seem mired in abusive and harmful relationships.
Most people that know of women who stay with hurtful men simply
shake their heads in disbelief while scoffing that the woman should
know better and make better decisions. Those of us who are trained
and experienced in the mental health realm understand the myriad of
personal, social, and familial pressures that bind these women to such
terrible circumstances.
We should never be so hasty as to pass judgment onto others. You
see, many of us make similar foolish psychological errors at the poker
table. My email inbox is filled everyday with readers of my articles who
are in the midst of a serious funk. Their poker game has hit tough times.
They’ve suffered tons of consecutive losses. They fall into a cycle of selfpity and mental justification, making the downward spiral only compound
upon itself. They write me and post bad beat stories online, looking for
someone to boost them and their faltering confidence. They look for a
push to keep them going, and to get them onto the right path. When I
see these confused, tired souls I see a psychological snapshot similar to
many of the clients I’ve seen in the counseling realm.
Many battered women suffer from extremely low sense of self-worth.
Often, they’ve spent their childhood feeling that they were failures.
They may have had distant or unloving environments which had them
grow accustomed to being unworthy of love and affection. In their damaged hearts and minds, a psychological misnomer takes hold which has
them somehow believe that they “deserve” to be treated poorly. My
experiences tell me that many poker players hold the same basic poor
mental self-talk. I find that many players who lose often (or who are
in the midst of a poker “rut”) also have a disproportionately low sense
of self. Since they do not feel good about themselves or their abilities,
they find an odd comfort in losing. You see, losing is subconsciously
expected. The individual is compelled to live up to (or down to) their
deeply rooted self-perceptions. Poker players who are inexperienced
at the game carry the burden of self-doubt. Players who are unsure
of themselves and their ability carry it as well. The same players that
bemoan their habitual losing are often actually seeking the loss.
I know this is a tough concept for some to get a handle on due to
the paradoxical nature, so allow me to provide further examples. I
bet we all know a player who would be wildly successful at poker, but
he seems to blow his bankroll often on idiotic plays. Or maybe you
know players who grind out nice profits playing hours of tight-aggressive poker only to lose their winnings on long-shot bets at the horse
track or at the roulette wheel. Many of these types of individuals are
frozen by the prospect of success. They have an overriding longing to
lose. Losing reaffirms their negative self image. Losing is comforting.
Losing is them.
Clawing oneself from these self-defeating chains is no easy task.
Like abused women, deflated poker players must work tirelessly to
break the cycle. They must seek support internally and externally to
change their assumptions of their game and themselves. This is why
I remind players that poker is indeed a game of psychology, but that
does not always mean that we should be looking for tells from our
opposition. The first piece of poker psychology comes from serious
introspection. Look within yourself first, before you ever worry about
figuring out your tablemates.
Now go make it happen.
In addition to being an avid poker enthusiast, John is a
certified Counselor in the state of Pennsylvania. He has
a Master of Arts degree in Counseling from West Virginia
University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a
minor in Sociology from Lock Haven University.
You can ask the “Poker Counselor” your
question at [email protected].
8
MARCH 6, 2006
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Steve Jacobs . . . . . . $132,308
Jody Garaventa . . . . $96,224
Herbert Cheng . . . . . $84,196
Ed Corrado . . . . . . . $72,168
Ernest Shepherd . . . $60,140
Harry White. . . . . . . $48,112
Jianhua Zhou . . . . . . $36,084
2/10/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
$249,000
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Chris Reslock . . . . . . $82,170
Adam Green. . . . . . . $45,318
John Gilcher . . . . . . $24,900
Mike Davis . . . . . . . . $19,920
Evan Glaser . . . . . . . $14,940
Troy O’Neal . . . . . . . $12,450
Tom Martelli . . . . . . . $9,960
Dennis Comey . . . . . . $7,470
Attilio Bitundo . . . . . . $4,980
Stuart Nash went out in the
first two hands of the TV
final table and then the play
continued seven handed to
the dinner break with tight
play and few chips being
risked. Following the break
Isabelle moved all in and
was all out leaving in seventh place. Mats Iremark
of Sweden finally topped
the field of quality players
despite his youthful 23 year
old age. Mats played solid
poker and most of the time
he appeared to have a read
on the table that allowed
him to play a mistake free
game. Pushing when he
had the best of it and laying
down went he didn’t. Mats
hauls away almost a half
million Euros for his victory plus he has an all paid
berth in the EPT final in
Monte Carlo. The following list the final table eight
with their country and prize
money.
1- Mats Iremark, Sweden,
€480,000 plus a €10,000 buyin into the EPT final in Monte
Carlo
2 - Mark Boudewijn, Holland,
€259,000
3 - Kirill Gerasimov Russian,
€155,500
4 - Theo Jorgensen, Denmark,
€118,300
5 - Ram Vaswani, UK, €97,700
6 - Patric Martenson, Sweden,
€76,800
7 - Isabelle Mercier, Canada,
€60,800
Mats Iremark of Sweden,
after his €480,000 win
8 - Stuart Nash, UK, €43,500
HARRAHS AC—
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
EVENT #7
2/13/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $200 + $30
PLAYERS 219
PRIZE
POOL
$43,800
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Michelle Ferrante . . $13,827
Lua Tran . . . . . . . . . . $7,626
Ashley McClenon . . . $4,190
Kimberly Demare . . . $3,352
Gail Ellspermann . . . $2,514
Sharla Lehrmann . . . $2,095
Li Gaeta . . . . . . . . . . . $1,676
Kim Bye . . . . . . . . . . . $1,257
Kelly Pasierb . . . . . . . . .$838
HARRAHS AC—
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
EVENT #6
2/12/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $2,000 + $100
PLAYERS 125
PRIZE
POOL
$236,500
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Shawn Yesko . . . . . . $90,000
Adam Green. . . . . . . $50,000
Lou Esposito . . . . . . $27,500
Dennis Perry . . . . . . $20,000
Vinod Vangimalla . . $17,500
Mike Sica . . . . . . . . . . $1,500
Mike Barletta . . . . . $12,500
John Spadavecchia . $10,000
Paul Schmidt . . . . . . . $7,500
HARRAHS AC—
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
EVENT #5
2/11/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
The Mirage Poker Showdown – A World Poker Tour Event
May 4 – 17, 2006
May 4
May 5
May 6
May 7
May 7
May 8
May 9
May 10
No Limit Hold’em
No Limit Hold’em
No Limit Hold’em
No Limit Hold’em
LIPS Tour Ladies Event (3 p.m.)
Limit Hold’em
No Limit Hold’em
Heads Up – Day 1
$500 + $50*
$1,000 + $60*
$1,500 + $70*
$2,000 + $80*
$500 + $50**
$500 + $50
$2,500 + $100*
$7,500 + $200
May 10
May 11
May 11
May 12
May 12
May 13
May 14 – 17
Limit Hold’em (3 p.m.)
No Limit Hold’em
Heads Up – Day 2
Super Satellite
Heads Up – Day 3
Super Satellite
WPT No Limit Hold’em Championship
$1,000
$1,500
+ $60
+ $70*
$1,500
+ $70
$1,500 + $70
$10,000 + $200***
BUY-IN $1,500 + $90
PLAYERS 195
PRIZE
POOL
Super Satellites 7 p.m. nightly • May 3 – May 13 • $200 + $30 (w/$200 unlimited rebuys)
$292,500
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Todd Terry . . . . . . . . $96,525
Dao Lin . . . . . . . . . . . $53,235
Gary Gibbs. . . . . . . . $29,250
Raymond Millard . . $23,400
Vanessa Rousso . . . . $17,550
Joseph “Black Cat” Lopes . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $14,625
7. Wes Daub . . . . . . . . . $11,700
8. Geoffrey Creagh . . . . $8,775
9. Avdo Djokovic . . . . . . $5,850
For Room Reservations 800-77-POKER (800-777-6537) • Tournament Information 702-791-7291 • mirage.com
All main events start at noon (except where noted). All events (except Super Satellites, LIPS Tour Ladies event and the Championship event) will play down to 9 players. Heads Up event is limited to 128 entries. Final table play
will begin at 3 p.m. the following day. Registration for all main events will begin at 3 p.m. on May 3, 2006. All Super Satellites will seat as many entries as possible for the Championship event. *Champion receives $10,200 entry
(non-negotiable, non-refundable, non-transferable) into the May 14, 2006 Championship event. **$1,500 will be withheld for a seat in the WPT Ladies Circle of Champions event and the LIPS Tour Grand Championship event.
***Champion receives a $25,500 seat (non-negotiable, non-refundable, non-transferable) into the WPT Finals at Bellagio in April 2007. 3% of the prize pool will be withheld for the poker room staff. Management reserves the
right to modify, suspend, or cancel this promotion at its sole discretion and without prior notice. All tournaments are subject to table availability. The Mirage endorses responsible gaming. If you or someone you know has a
problem gaming responsibly, please call the 24-hour Problem Gamblers HelpLine at 1-800-522-4700. ©2006 MGM MIRAGE®. All rights reserved.
MARCH 6, 2006
9
Internet Gaming: U.S. Beats
Antigua In WTO
POKer AND
THE LAW
By I. NELSON ROSE
In 2004, a World Trade Organization panel ruled in favor of
Antigua against the United States on the issue of Internet gambling, igniting worldwide speculation that the U.S. would soon
have to let Americans bet with foreign online operators, including
Internet poker.
The Report is 145 pages long, long enough to contain something for everyone. Antigua is claiming victory. But the truth is
that this is a big win for the U.S., in the short run.
First, the WTO decided not to look at U.S. state laws, which
outlaw all unlicenced commercial gambling.
As for federal law, with just a little tweaking of the Interstate
Horseracing Act, the U.S. could be in complete compliance with its
WTO treaty obligations.
The entire controversy can be traced back to a mistake the
U.S. federal government keeps making: It does not take gambling
seriously.
Nations that sign trade treaties like the ones creating the WTO
agree that they will let in some types of goods and services of
other signatories. One category was “Recreational, Cultural &
Sporting Services,” which included everything from circuses to
news agencies. Some other countries expressly stated that they
were not agreeing to open their doors to foreign gambling operations. But the U.S. agreed to let in every recreational service,
“except sporting.”
“Sporting” services were undoubtedly excluded to keep out
foreign sports teams. The U.S. had to argue that “sporting”
includes gambling. The WTO didn’t buy it.
The funny thing is that the U.S. did want to keep out gambling.
And all it had to do was say so.
But the U.S. could still keep out Internet gambling if it could
show that this was “necessary to protect public morals or to
maintain public order.”
The WTO held that the U.S. had presented evidence showing “a
link in relation to money laundering, fraud, compulsive gambling
and underage gambling.”
This does not mean that any of this is true. Only that the
federal government was able to show that it had reason to be
concerned about foreign operators taking bets from at-home
Americans. It emphasized the speed and ease of remote gaming
on the Internet.
But the U.S. laws had to pass one more test. A nation cannot
discriminate against foreigners. One federal law failed this test.
In December 2000, Congress had amended the Interstate
Horseracing Act (“IHA”) to allow parimutuel betting on horse
races by phone or computer. But the law on its face is limited to
states in the U.S. where it is legal to place and accept bets.
Since foreign operators were expressly excluded, the WTO
found the U.S. had failed to show there was no discrimination.
Once again, the government did not bother to talk to anyone
in the business. If it had, it would have learned that international
betting on horseracing has been around for decades. Betting on
the Kentucky Derby is very big in Canada and France, and I personally saw Hollywood Park taking bets on races in Hong Kong.
The solution is easy. Congress should immediately amend the
IHA to expressly allow what is happening anyway: Let Americans
bet on foreign races and foreigners bet on American races.
In fact, to comply with the WTO decision Congress only has to
let Americans bet with Antigua’s licensed racebooks, which would
have no impact on the U.S. After all, is the average horse bettor
going to bet with an unknown operator in the Caribbean, or with
Hollywood Park?.
Professor I Nelson Rose will be teaching International
Gaming Law as part of Whittier Law School’s Summer
Abroad Program in France in July 2006. For more information, contact Prof. Rose through his website,
www.gamblingandthelaw.com.
10
MARCH 6, 2006
Record-setting
Richards opened for 67,000
with A-8 and got called by
Super Mario with As-10s.
The board came 7-5-3-K-J,
and Esquerra’s bigger kicker
got the tag team event headsup.
It was very close, something like 370,000 for
Esquerra/LeMone to 350,000
for Diamantes/Clancy. The
two teams decided to chop
the money even up and play
for 8,000 and the two horses.
Ten hands went by with D/C
now holding a slight edge
oveer E/L. As 5 a.m. neared,
they made their showdown
agreement. But, moments
before that happened,
Esquerra moved in, missed
his flush draw, and this tag
team event was over.
COMMERCE CASINO
L.A. POKER CLASSIC
EVENT #27
2/14/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
TAG TEAM
BUY-IN $500 + $40
2 OPTIONAL REBUYS
PLAYERS 153
REBUYS 210
PRIZE
POOL
$176,055
1. Steve Diamantas, . . . . . . . . .
Barry Clancy . . . . . $66,900
2. Jon LeMone, . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Mario Esquerra . . . $33,450
3. Casey Smith, . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Andy Richards . . . . $16,549
4. Cornel Cimpan, . . . . . . . . . .
David Baker . . . . . . $10,563
5. Ryan Hughes, . . . . . . . . . . . .
Anthony Reategui . . . $7,042
6. Adam Spiegelberg, . . . . . . . .
Joe Tehan . . . . . . . . . $6,162
7. Joseph Cordi, . . . . . . . . . . . .
Daniel Cordi . . . . . . . $5,282
8. Tony Nguyen, . . . . . . . . . . . .
Joey Clapper . . . . . . . $4,401
9. Kirby Rogers, . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chris Overgard . . . . $3,521
Nhut Tran Returns
to Poker After Long
Break to Win #26
Nhut Tran, a long-time
pro who took a seven-year
break because of family problems, returned
to poker a week ago and
promptly scored his biggest win ever when he
captured the 26th event
of 2006 LAPC, $500 nolimit hold’em. Tran, who
has been in the nail business during this time, has
a best all-around at the
Trump Taj Mahal, along
with a number of other
wins and seconds in tournaments. The key hand for
him came when he won
a 400,000 pot with aces
against A-K.
Tran had a slight chip
lead over billiards manufacturer Ishan “Shawn”
Momamed when the six
finalists divided up the
prize pool, playing for
$6,000 and the Remington
trophy. Normally, a deal
can’t be made with more
than four players left, but
since none of them was
involved in the all-around
points race, an exception
was made.
To sign up,
contact:
Stan Sludikoff
310-674-3365
[email protected]
Jerry Reed
650-327-4810
[email protected]
Dick Gatewood
702-456-7777
*ASK FOR POKER ROOM
[email protected]
Ante Up
The Apache Gold Poker Room Shark Club. As a member, you’ll get official jackets, shirts
& hats. Quarterly free-rolls. Paid entries in our weekly tournaments. $100 cash on your
birthday. Hotel discounts. Cash promotions every Wednesday through Sunday, and
cash drawings the first Saturday of each month. Tournaments every Wednesday and
Thursday at 6 pm, and Sunday at 3 pm. In San Carlos, five minutes east of Globe on
Hwy. 70. For hotel or FunBus® reservations, call 1-800-APACHE 8. Go For The Gold.
Poker room closed Monday and Tuesday. Must be 21 or older to participate in any gaming activities. apachegoldcasinoresort.com
g LAPC at Commerce
COMMERCE CASINO
L.A. POKER CLASSIC
EVENT #26
2/13/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500 + $40
PLAYERS 693
PRIZE POOL
$336,105
Nhut Tran
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Nhut Tran . . . . . . . . $114,268
Ishan Mohamed . . . . $60,499
Anthony Toscano . . . $30,249
Jan Winterbotham . $20,166
Jamey Ekerling . . . . $15,125
Michael Miller . . . . . $11,764
Steve Tourouk . . . . . . $8,403
John Thai . . . . . . . . . . $6,722
Hieu “Tony” Ma . . . . $5,378
Chris Bigler is The
Last Man Standing in
Shootout Event
Chris Bigler, a Swiss Chris
Bigler, a Swiss national
who now makes his home
in Las Vegas, was declared
the winner of event 25 of
2006 LAPC, $500 no-limit
hold’em shootout, after a
four-way deal ended the
proceedings.
At the end, Bigler
had 25,100 in chips and
his calculated payout
was $37,730. Manfred
Jaschkowitz, a Kentucky
nightclub owner, had
20,500, worth $33,000.
David “Chino” Rheem, a
Miami poker player, had
19,300, for $31,770. And
An Tran, a pro player from
New York, had 17,100,
worth $29,510. After some
negotiating, Bigler agreed
to take $35,000 and the
rest about $32,000 each.
As a bonus, Tran got to
keep the custom designer
sunglasses accompanies
the Remington “Bronco
Buster” trophy that Bigler
took home.
In explaining his strategy, Bigler said he played
very, very solid poker to
win his first table, and then
just played good poker at
the final table. “It was a
good table, not too crazy,”
he observed. He said he had
great confidence in himself,
but also admitted he got
lucky at the right time.
Bigler is a veteran pro.
Among his numerous cashouts are a win in $2,500
no-limit at the Mirage
Poker Showdown, and two
seconds in Professional
Poker Tour events, along
with a fifth in the World
Series championship event.
Europe was also represented by Chris Bjorin and
Thomas Birmingham, both
from England. (And this
wasn’t even a pot-limit
event.)
COMMERCE CASINO
L.A. POKER CLASSIC
EVENT #25
2/12/06
SHOOTOUT - NO
LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500 + $40
PLAYERS 410
PRIZE POOL
$198,850
Chris Bigler
1. Chris Bigler . . . . . . . $67,190
2. Manfred Jaschkowitz . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $35,790
3. David “Chino” Rheem . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $17,100
4. An “The Boss” Tran $11,930
5. Matthew Milliken . . . $8,150
6. Martin Bader . . . . . . . $6,165
7. Chris Bjorin . . . . . . . . $4,970
8. Khanh Hua. . . . . . . . . $3,975
9. Tom Birmingham . . . $3,190
of this tournament, David
Plastik came to the final
table low-chipped, went
all in several times, then
went on a rush in late
action, flopping two sets
in a row when the table
was six-handed. By the
time this million-dollar guarantee tournament
got down to four players,
he had a big lead with
805,000 of the 2,395,000
chips in play, and a deal
was made.
This is the biggest
prize money to date for
the Vegas pro, who just
had a big cash-out at the
Bellagio in December.
Plastik was playing his
normal solid game, waiting for spots, trying to get
in with the best cards.
The 24th event of
2006 LAPC, $1,500 limit
hold’em, drew 434 players who generated a prize
pool of $1,393,890.
COMMERCE CASINO
L.A. POKER CLASSIC
EVENT #24
2/11/06
LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,500 + $80
PLAYERS 434
REBUYS 524
PRIZE POOL
$1,393,890
David Plastik
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
David Plastik . . . . . $515,750
Kieu Doung . . . . . . $264,840
David Bach . . . . . . . $132,420
Louis Pagnotti . . . . . $83,630
Hung Tran . . . . . . . . $62,730
Bassan “Sam” Alsharairi . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $48,790
Plastik Blows Up Final
Table After ShortStack Comeback
Short-stacked for much
MARCH 6, 2006
11
What and Who Wins in a Tight Game
Viva La Difference
POwer POKER PSYCHOLOGY
By JAMES A. M C KENNA, P H D.
I hear a lot of “poker babble” at the tables.
Some players talk about tells and bluffs
like they are the same thing. And then it may sound like
everything is a trap. You will here that word mentioned
like it’s a bluff. Not all tells are bluffs and not all bluffs are
traps. So, let’s do some defining to see how to distinguish
tells from bluffs from traps.
First of all, a “tell” is defined as something that a person does outside of their awareness. It’s an unconscious
behavior, like splashing the pot or placing bets in softly.
Ordinarily, such actions would reveal (tell) something about
the player. If he or she is not doing this on purpose, it’s
usually a “tell.” If they are purposely splashing the pot
to get your attention, then that stops being a “tell” and
becomes a bluff. Bluffs are conscious actions and “tells”
are things people unconsciously do. You can be sure that a
lot of veteran players know that you are trying to read their
actions. So, they will give you false tells. In other words,
they will throw you a bone and hope that you are hungry.
They know all the “tells” that have ever been discussed
and they know that you are looking for them. They will
do things like talk as though they have nothing when they
actually have nothing. They will represent nothing because
they are on a bluff and want you to read their “false tell”
as if they have a strong hand. If acting strong represents
weak and acting weak represents strong, it can become
difficult to know whether the strength or weakness is a
bluff or a trap. Both bluffs and traps are conscious moves
to manipulate other players. When an action is conscious,
then, it is a bluff and as opposed to a “tell.” If you mistake
it for a “tell” you may have stepped into a trap.
Not all bluffs are traps. Sometimes a person is bluffing to see what others might have. For example, if there
is a possible straight or flush on the board and a player
has trips, he or she may just check. You can say that the
check is a bluff to raise if someone bets. It may just mean
that the trips player is taking the “table temperature” to
see if anyone has a straight/flush or a draw for one. Now
here’s where it is sometimes hard to tell the trappers from
the bluffers. Suppose you check your trips into someone
who has the nut flush and the nut flush bets into your trips
that you checked. Who’s the trapper? That’s right. The
original trapper became the trapped. So, regardless of
who’s doing what (trapping, bluffing, or telling), that’s just
good poker—anyway you look at it.
Trapping is usually a conscious move. When you get
trapped by a poor player, who stayed too long and drew out
on you, it’s not really a trap. As opposed to a conscious
move, the player’s failure to lay down a bad hand becomes
your bad beat. Most other traps are conscious moves.
Check/ raise moves are planned and they are aggressive.
That’s why most players moan when the trap is sprung.
Another trapping move is to let others do your betting
when you have the nut hand. It’s just a matter of when
you are going to spring it. This is close to players whose
normal style is to just call and trap you in the end with
the best hand. Finally, the players that are referred to as
“call stations” are usually trapping you accidentally. Their
unaware play is what trapped you.
So, you are not likely to hear a lot of “psychobabble”
at the tables—unless you are playing with me at the table.
You are more apt to hear a lot of “poker babble” from players who confuse bluffs, “tells,” and traps.
James A. McKenna, PhD., has been a practicing individual
and group therapist for over thirty-five years. His knowledge of human behavior combined with over thirty years of
gaming experience gives him a unique perspective on the
psychology of the gamer. His book, “Beyond Tells-Power
Poker Psychology,” was recently published by Kensington
Press. Write to him at [email protected].
12
MARCH 6, 2006
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].
In
my last article we
compared two different loose tables to see what
kind of player would dominate
and what hands would win.
Unquestionably the tighter
players outperform the looser
players. Before you continue
reading, jot down how many
hands per hundred dealt, you
play. If that number is too high
for you to work with, count the
number of hands you play in
a single round with ten seated
players at the table. If all else
fails just jot down how many
hands you play per hour. If the
dealer is good you may get
20 to 25 hands per hour. The
number for Hold-Em is around
30 and maybe as high as
35/40 per hour with a shuffle
machine. Honesty counts. Go
write it down. Ok let’s continue. Do not take into account
tournament play.
One measure of how tight
a player is counts the number
of hands played with respect
to the number dealt. The lower
the percentage the tighter the
player. Someone who plays
20% of the hand dealt, (2
Table
Type
Tight
What and Who
What and Who
hands per round at a
full table) is tighter Wins in a Tight Game
played. This is conclusive
then someone who plays 3
hands per round or 30%. If you proof that it is not the number
play 2 hands per round, or 5 or of pots you win but the amount
of money you win that counts.
more hands per hour you are
As a former blackjack player
not a tight player.
I can tell you the winning
As in my previous article I
strategy is to “win the majority
dealt 10,000,0000 hands to a
of your large bets, while loostight table consisting of 7 various tight players and 3 average ing the majority of your small
bets”. Translated to poker you
players. Presented below are
want to win the majority of
the dollars won, (loss) for each
the few pots you enter while
player. Please note that not
avoiding the majority of hands
all tight players are the same.
They all are selective to varying dealt to you. The advice I usually offer people is to look for
degrees with respect to their
reasons “not to play a hand” as
starting hand requirements.
opposed to looking for reasons
Tight is good. Tight is less
to “play a hand”.
then 4 hands per hour. You
definitely should be playing
Tight Table
less then 2 hands per round
Plyr Type Played % Win Loss
at a full table. Remember you
Tight
14.5%
216,187
are the big blind and small
Tight
16.2%
85,466
blind twice each round. If your
Tight
16.3%
(313,731)
dealer is dealing 20 hands per
Tight
17.2%
(809,916)
hour, and you play both blinds
Tight
17.5%
(1,881,757)
that is 4 hands per hour or
Tight
21.6% (1,991,590)
20%.
Tight
22.0% (4,565,893)
In the chart on the right it
is clear that the ratio of money Average 23.9% (6,381,538)
not to play
Average
21.8% (7,474,494)
won or lost is directly related
to the percentage of hands
Average
25.3% (12,988,086)
Hands Won With
Bust
Pair
2 Pair
Trips Straight Flush
Full
Fours St Flsh Royal
4.55% 11.05% 27.36% 12.77% 18.34% 14.42% 13.96% 1.24% 0.18% 0.04%
Loose 0.12%
2.09%
15.77% 13.06%
In the chart above we can view
the difference between winning
hands at a tight table and those
of the loose tables from last
time. Note that a large disparity
occurs in the lower end hands
between the tight and loose
table. At the tight table almost
43% of the hands are won with
a Bust, Pair or 2 Pair. Only
about 18% win at the loose
Table
Type
Tight
Sam Mudaro is the...
2 Pair
36.94%
Trips
7.79%
Loose 6.48% 46.77%
83.13%
22.47%
19.41% 24.86% 2.71%
table. One logical explanation
is that at a loose table more
people are staying around after
the flop and hence you need a
much better hand to win with.
On average 4.1 people fold
before the flop at the loose
tables while 6.8 fold at the tight
tables. The more people in the
pot and the longer they stay in
the greater the chance to draw
Bust
Pair
4.83% 29.87%
Here we see a different pattern.
The loss percentages are less
for all categories at the tight
table. You will loose half as less
on a tight table with 2-Pair and
almost one third as less with
Trips, Straights, Flushes and
Full house. With fewer people
in the pot all your hands have a
greater propensity to hold up.
Ok I think you have the
point by now. Your hands are
worth more in a game with tight
players. Does this apply to low
27.28%
Hands Lost With
Straight Flush
6.54%
4.25%
20.85%
0.06%
out to a better hand.
One may also infer from the
above chart, in a looser game
there are generally weaker players who tend to play far too
many drawing hands. They will
chase a low with only one low
card on the flop and back into
something more on the river.
Let’s take a look at the other
side of the coin.
Full Fours St Flsh Royal
2.05% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
13.12% 7.18% 0.01%
hand? Will there be more low
winners in a tight game or less?
In our loose game the low hands
won on average 56.4%. At our
tight table the low only won
46.9%, some 17% less often.
The answer here is quite simple.
There is always a high winner!
When the low does not get there
on the flop a player must draw
to it. In a tight game there is less
drawing. Less back door lows
are chassed
So what have we learned? It
0.38%
0.00%
0.00%
is better to play tight then loose.
Most pros will advise to play
just a little tighter the tightest
player at the table. In Omaha
H/L if we are playing 20% or
more of the hands we are dealt
we a probably playing too loose.
Hand values go down in a loose
game. In a loose game you will
probably need to show down
the best hand to win. There are
less low winners at a tight table.
Next time we will look at what
happens at an average table.
Poker and Fly Fishing / Passion and Pleasure
By Byron Liggett
Poker and the art of
fly fishing have much in
common. Both require
patience, skill, cunning,
you can start of your visit
with a trip to the Lolo
Hot Springs to relax and
soak in the famous mineral waters. The next day
and deception to land a
big one. Done well, each
can be very satisfying. Not
surprisingly, those with a
passion for one, often find
pleasure in the other.
Now, for the first time,
you can experience the
best of both worlds.
World class River Otter
Fly Fishing Outfitters, are
offering special packages
that include fly fishing
the world famous trout
streams of the Bitterroot
Mountains, around Lolo,
Montana. This is where
the movie, A River Runs
through It was filmed.
Then you can join everybody at the local Black
Jacks Casino for an evening of poker.
“A few days of fly fishing and poker in God’s
Country,” says Bernie
Luger. “We tailor the
excursions to those who
want to learn fly fishing,
as well as to those who
are experienced anglers,”
he explains, “Although we
can’t guarantee everyone
will catch a trophy fish,
we’re certain they’ll have
one of the most naturally
beautiful outdoor experiences of their life.”
Like the fishing, the
emphasis on poker is fun
and camaraderie. The
poker games are $2 - $6
Texas Hold’em or $2 - $10
Dealer’s Choice. “There’s
nothin’ like sittin’ ‘round
in the evening swapping
whoppers ‘n floppers,”
Bernie laughs.
Spring packages are
now available. They
include airfare from Las
Vegas or other key departure cities, transportation
to and from you the airport to the Days Inn, in
Lolo, MT, and three nights
lodging.
On your arrival day,
you’ll fish the Bitterroot
River guided by River
Otter Outfitters. Each
evening poker players are
transported to and from
Black Jacks Casino in
Lolo, or The Point After
Casino, in Missoula.
Poker has a long tradition with the rough ‘n
rugged. The game was
popular on the frontier
and among the men who
opened the West. Teddy
Roosevelt loved the outdoors and explored much
of the West as a young
man. Throughout his
life Roosevelt cherished
most fondly those days
he spent hunting and
fishing, and nights playing poker. Likewise, late
Chief Justice William
Rehnquist was another
avid fisherman who spent
many memorable moments
fly fishing the Bitterroot
River.
So treat yourself to
an American original - Montana fly fishing
and poker playing. If you
don’t catch a big one on
the river by day, you can
try again that evening at
the table. For booking and
contact information call:
(406) 273-9113 or go to:
d
www.montanafishandgaming.com
It doesn’t get any better
than Bitterroot. Bet on it.
Diamond Jim’s Casino
118 20th St. West
Rosamond, California
Exit A 14 Freeway
The Best Little No-limit Tournament in Southern California
The Last Sunday of Each Month $155 Buy-in–No Rebuys $10,000 in Tournament Chips
Call for more info: 661-256-1400
MARCH 6, 2006
13
The Good Humor Woman
STRAIGHT SKINNY
By RICHARD G. BURKE
Sitting at the bar, Bill spied me
leaving the poker room and waved
for me to join him. An attractive blonde still
in her twenties, the bartender fixed me with a
warm smile as she served me a small draft beer.
Watching her bustle about the busy bar, Bill
mused that her sole experience at Hold’Em had
been unsuccessful. Interested, I asked for the
details.
Several years ago, Bill said, she sat down at
his $4-8 Hold’Em table, paying for a rack with
crumpled small bills. She didn’t play a hand for
hours, except for her big blind in an unraised pot.
She had won one small pot from the big blind,
but after five hours of posting the $20 per hour
blinds, her stacks had shrunk to about $25.
On the button, she raised pre-Flop after everyone had limped to her. Every player at the table
knew she had pocket Aces or Kings. The Small
Blind folded. Everyone else foresaw a big pot and
called her raise. The dealer flopped Kd-9s-8d.
Everyone checked to her; she bet $4; five called.
The Turn was the 3f. They checked to her; she
bet $8; four called. The River was the 2a. She
bet her last $6; three called. She tabled her Aces.
Bill tabled his 9a-8a. When the dealer shoved
the $154 pot to Bill, she started crying. She left
the room sobbing.
She was lucky to have been dealt pocket Aces
before she was blinded off, I said. The dealer
will deal pocket Aces roughly once in 7 hours in
a real poker room: like the Good Humor truck
they appear but once a day. It was just a 50-50
chance that she would be dealt Aces sooner than
5 hours. Even so, Aces surely aren’t invincible.
She was lucky that after all the cards were out,
there was no possibility of a Straight or a Flush
on the unpaired tableau. Two Pairs or a Set were
a danger because if one or more players had two
of the fifteen danger cards, a 67.3% chance, then
she would lose, as she did. All in all, Aces stand
up about 1/3 of the time. Bill nodded.
I asked Bill if she ever played Hold’Em again.
Not to his knowledge, he replied. She had run
short paying her bills, he said, and she thought
she would wait for a cinch hand, win a nice pot,
and get her young family through a tight spot. If
only it were that easy, I sighed.
I asked him how he knew so much about her.
He stopped by the bar nearly every day and chatted with her when business was slow. He enjoyed
talking with her, he said. (I had noticed when Bill
wasn’t looking at me, that his eyes tracked her
every move like a heat-seeking missile.)
She borrowed money from her brother to go to
Bartending School, Bill continued. She earned her
license and hired on here soon afterwards. She’d
like to remarry, he said, and she figured that she
would meet a lot of eligible men while tending bar.
Yes, I opined, but since they’re mostly poker players, sports bettors, horse players, other gamblers,
and/or booze hounds, a young woman with little
kids would do better shopping elsewhere.
My pager started vibrating. “C’mon Bill,” I said,
finishing my beer, “Aces await us. Let’s go play
some Hold’Em.” Bill said he’d be along directly.
Mr. Burke is the author of Flop: The Art of Winning at
Low-Limit Hold ’Em, available from amazon.com,
gamblersbook.com, and kokopellipress.com. E-mail your
Hold ’Em questions to [email protected]
14
MARCH 6, 2006
and was never seen again.
Legend has it that if any card
cheat ever sits at this table
again, The Red Queen will
return to kill him. Only I’m
never going to know if she
ever comes back because
tip looks cheap.”
“You could have let him
kill me and saved yourself
the trouble.”
“I’m not here to kill you,
Jackie,” Steve says, putting
his gun down, “only to ask
Vigorish
A Poker Player Murder Mystery by Robert Arabella
Since the early 1960’s, Club
Flush, know to its regulars
as “The Toilet Flush,” spread
the highest limit, wildest
poker games in town. The
best poker players of their
times—the Docs and Tex’s
and Slims—once filled these
tables, as did the greatest
poker cheats like “Mike The
Mechanic,” “Joey Fingers,”
and “Steve The Sleeve,”
who, before his right hand
was hacked off for cheating,
was the greatest “now-yousee-’em/now-you-don’t” card
thief ever to steal a game.
Famous people passing
through town also played
for their own high stakes
at these tables. On my left
the now missing Table
3 (rumored to be in the
Smithsonian) is where, supposedly, then Vice President
Richard Nixon “lost” an
unnamed Caribbean Island to
a bearded revolutionary. (The
story goes “Tricky Dick”
left whining, “What am I
going to tell Ike?”) On my
right is the now overturned
Table 5 where, so another
story goes, John F. Kennedy
lost Marilyn Monroe to his
brother Bobby.
At Table 9, which has its
own dark history, sits Steve
The Sleeve, poker cheat
turned mass murderer.
I walk up to the table
slowly, showing Steve
my empty hands, “I’m
unarmed.”
“Me too,” he answers,
touching the severed hand
lying in front of him. As I
walk closer Steve suddenly
draws a gun which he aims
at my head, says “Don’t
move, Jackie,” and, taking
careful aim, fires at me point
blank.
Club Flush’s Table 9 is
known as The Red Queen’s
Table. The story goes that
one night, many years ago, a
mini-skirted redhead entered
The Flush, asked to have a
famous card cheat pointed
out to her, and, finding out
where he was seated, walked
up to this table, drew out a
revolver, and shot him dead.
She then calmly walked out
I’m splattered with blood.
It takes me several long
seconds to realize the blood
isn’t mine.
Steve has shot the tire
iron-wielding cabby who,
sneaking up behind me, had
just been about to bash my
brains in.
“I guess,” says Steve,
“when there’s a $1,000,000
reward on your head, a 15%
you to do an old friend a
favor.”
I tell him my “old friend”
would never have blown
up five poker rooms full of
players.
“I’m not the Mad Poker
Room Bomber but, if you
do me this favor, I’ll tell you
who is.”
I go silent, acting like I’m
thinking about calling this
bluff.
“I’ll even,” he says, sweetening the pot, “give you
back this.” He puts Calamity
Jane’s $5,000 “chocolate
chip” on the table. “All I ask
is a favor in return.”
I take brown chip off the
table and ask, “What favor?”
Steve touches the severed
hand in front of him, “I
need you to pry my World
Heavyweight Championship
Of Poker™ Ring off my
finger.”
I’m still deciding whether
to laugh or cry when The
Red Queen, a redhead in a
mini-skirt, steps out of the
shadows and shoots Steve
The Sleeve in the back.
MARCH 6, 2006
(To be continued in the next
issue of Poker Player)
15
DEBBIE BURKHEAD INTERVIEWS...
Doing What I’m
NOT Supposed To
Ron Carbaugh
So I go to get my teeth whitened with
a laser, like the ones on T.V. The rules
C A R D R O O M M A N AG E R AT C H U M A S H
FRESH YOUNG FACE OF Poker
By Jennifer Matiran
say after the treatment I am not to
drink coffee, tea, and smoke or consume anything that will stain my grill. I guess your
teeth are vulnerable after such a procedure. So
what do I do?
Ding! The elevator sounds I walk out the front door
to my car and with a quick “should I do it” to myself
very quick, I proceed to do exactly what I AM NOT
SUPPOSED TO.
At least I drank the coffee with a straw. “Don’t
smoke, don’t smoke” I smoked. Yes, I do light up
on occasions throughout the day and I think you
should be proud of me for admitting it in front of a
gazillion readers. I’m working on it all right. Sorry,
forgive me. Do you know how many prospective
boyfriends I’ve turned off now? Who cares, they
were not worth me to begin with. Okay enough with
the rambling BUT the ones who love me love the
rambling too, can’t live without it, kidding…Back to
the story, nothing damaging happened to my teeth,
so I think?
It’s damaging when you don’t follow the rules…You
weren’t supposed to chase down to the river, why
did you?!!! You weren’t supposed to lose that much
money, why did you risk it?!!! You weren’t supposed
to call with those whole cards, why did you?!!! You
weren’t supposed to lose your cool at the table,
why did you?!!! You weren’t supposed to throw your
hand in the muck, why did you?!!! You weren’t supposed to call with the two pair, you knew he had
a flush, why did you?!!! You weren’t supposed to
cuss when you lost, why did you?!!! You weren’t
supposed to go in with ACE, TWO off suit, why did
you?!!! You weren’t supposed to, supposed to, supposed to, supposed to, why did you?!!!
I quit smoking by the way, hope it lasts ;)
Ron Carbaugh was born in
Battle Creek, Michigan in
1941 and raised in Denver,
Colorado. He attended
Colorado University in
1961 but left after his first
year to return to Battle
Creek. Once back in his
home town he went to work
as a grocery store manager.
In 1968 he took a sales
position with Kellogg’s
of Battle Creek Ron was
immediately transferred to
Los Angeles, California. In
1970 he was transferred to
Santa Barbara, California
and in 1976 he was promoted and transferred to
Las Vegas, Nevada.
He received another
promotion in 1978 and was
transferred again, this time
to Salt Lake, City, Utah.
In 1979 they transferred
him one more time to the
Baltimore, Washington area
and that was the last time
he was transferred. With
his family tiring of all the
transfers he left the Kellogg
Company and went to work
for a Pepsi Cola Bottling
Company in Baltimore as
an area sales manager.
Six months later Ron
resigned this position, moving his family back to Santa
MARILYN BRODER was a friend of mine. She was a
self proclaimed Jewish girl from New York who liked
to play poker. It was her dream to play in the World
Series of Poker. Ms. Broder died last week. She was
diagnosed with cancer a week before. God did not
want her to suffer in my opinion so he took her to
heaven. Marilyn believed that “beads are love.” If
you knew her, you know what I’m talking about, if
you didn’t maybe you’ll meet her in heaven one
day…I LOVE YOU MARILYN, SEE YOU…
My father says “we’re all going to die one day, sooner or later, hopefully later.” Marilyn Broder, God rest
your soul…I loved you like a Grandmother. Pechanga
misses you; the whole damn world misses you…
Until next time, “Sometimes I wish I could cure
death.” Hmmm?
Changing the world one sentence at a time, Jennifer
Matiran believes the pen is, and always will be, mightier
than the sword. She hopes to emerge into the tournament circuit of Poker. Contact her with questions, comments or interesting material at matiran@sbcglobal.
net. Ms. Matiran has just completed her latest screenplay, her other passion (besides Poker!).
16
MARCH 6, 2006
Barbara. He took a Sales
Manager’s position with a
liquor and wine wholesaler.
In 1988 Ron bought a
market & deli in Lompoc,
California then sold it in
1992 with the plan of semi
retiring.
His retirement only
lasted a short time and in
1993 he took a part time
floor position in the poker
room at the Player’s Club
in Ventura, California.
In 1996 he accepted a
floor position in the card
room at Chumash Casino
Resort in Santa Ynez,
California and in January
of 2005 he was promoted to
card room manager.
DB: How many poker
tables are in the Chumash
poker room?
RC: At the moment we
have 14.
DB: Does that mean there
is an expansion in the
works?
RC: There is a tentative
plan to move upstairs but
nothing has been finalized.
The move would double the
size of our current room.
DB: Have you made any
major changes since taking
over the room?
RC: No, the current facility has only been open for
a little over two years so
we continue to run the way
we always have with the
exception of some promotional changes.
DB: What live games are
offered in the Chumash
Casino Resort poker room?
RC: We spread two versions of no-limit, one with
a $300 minimum buy-in
and a $500 maximum
buy-in and one with a
minimum $100 buy-in and
a $200 maximum buy-in.
We spread a $3-$6 Omaha
high-low with a full kill
and our limit hold’em
games range from $2-$4 to
$6-$12 with a half kill.
DB: Are you offering any
daily tournaments?
RC: Yes, we run daily
tournaments at 10:15 a.m.
and we add money to many
of our daily tournaments.
Sunday’s tournament is
no-limit with a $60 buy-in
and a $10,000 guarantee.
Monday is limit hold’em
with a $25 buy-in, Tuesday
is Omaha high-low with a
$25 buy-in, Wednesday in
no-limit with a $25 buy-in,
Thursday is limit until the
final table then it is nolimit, live money. Friday is
no-limit with a $25 buy-in
and Saturday is no-limit
with a $10 buy-in and
unlimited $10 rebuys for
the first three levels, $6,000
guaranteed prize pool. We
LESSON 70:
Poker Awards in Hollywood
I attended a major poker awards ceremony last
night, February 15 in Hollywood. Mike was invited to
Lessons from mike caro
university of poker
BY DIANE M C HAFFIE
present Doyle Brunson with the prestigious Lifetime
Achievement Award.
I was amazed how well the diverse people in poker relate to one
another. For one evening, well-known poker players put aside their
egos. Mike tells me that often their personalities have a tendency
to collide, but not on this night. Although the Bodog.com-produced
awards ceremony was sponsored by Card Player magazine, Stan
Sludikoff, the publisher of Poker Player, was gracious enough to attend.
Voting. One thing about this event bothers me. The category
choices seemed under control of the sponsors. Some of the winners,
not surprisingly, were decided by a vote of the sponsoring magazine’s
readers. I’m wondering if this provided an unintended bias toward
players who are featured in or write for that magazine. Maybe all
poker-related magazines and newspapers, including their readers,
should come together in a massive campaign to decide who is most
deserving of the selected awards.
I was personally disappointed when Mike Caro wasn’t nominated for
the Most Entertaining Player Award. As I’ve written before, I think he’s
the most fun to watch of any player and keeps his table mesmerized.
I overheard several people blurt out his name, before the nominees
were announced. Mike doesn’t agree with me on this, but I always
thought that the requirements for someone to be entertaining would
be that they possess good grace and humor, instead of a deliberately
aggravating nature (which is what I think award winner Mike Matusow
employs). Mike Caro thinks anything can be entertaining if it gets your
attention.
Results. I wonder whether the results might have been different in
several of the categories had this been a ceremony that was governed
by all magazines and all readers. There was, however, one choice that
was made that everyone agreed upon and the sponsors got right. That
was the Lifetime Achievement Award for Doyle Brunson.
Prior to the event, I overheard Mike and Doyle discussing whether
they should mention Doylesroom.com, which they both endorse and
which is named after the legendary poker master himself. In my
opinion, everyone would have taken such a mention in stride. After
all, there were others on stage that plugged online poker sites other
than Bodog.com. However, Doyle and Mike thought it would be in poor
taste to mention Doyle’s Room, and kept their silence. I think that is
admirable! This further raises Doyle’s stature in my mind.
An Honor. In presenting The Lifetime Achievement Award, Mike
Caro said it was more than an honor and a privilege to be the poker
representative that handed the award to Doyle, it was also an act of
admiration and was one of the most fitting things he’d ever done.
Mike said, “Not only is Doyle unquestionably the best recipient for
the award, but no one else even comes close.” Mike then told a story
about how Louise, Doyle’s wife, had to be the one to inform Mike that
Doyle had been hurting badly because he needed a hip replacement,
but wouldn’t tell anyone. Mike confronted Doyle about why he hadn’t
said anything and Doyle responded, “Complaining wouldn’t make it
hurt any less.” I think that’s something to think about.
Doyle took the stage, and talked about the celebrity status that
now goes with top name poker players. He said that pretty young
women often approach him nowadays, but unfortunately they say
something like, “You remind me of my grandfather.” Then he paused,
dramatically, as if cherishing the moment, and quipped, “That sucks!”
This brought on a round of laughter that rivaled the reaction to emcee
Brad Garrett’s many funny lines throughout the evening.
All in all this award show was a first class event, but I still wish it
could be handled in a less proprietary manner. It’s possible Mike might
be a little sensitive about this column because when I ran it by him,
he said, “I don’t think I’d say it that way, but it’s your column.”
The Aces Ale
Goddess
A Joe & Hobby fiction by
David J. Valley
Hobby sidetracked a game
of gin rummy to ask about
my writing. Conversation
didn’t last long. “Joe, you
write freelance, right?”
“Yep. That’s what I do,
stories and some ad copy.”
Hobby said, “You think
you’re good at it?”
“Fair-to-midlin’.”
“An’ you get paid?”
“Yep. I get paid.”
He grinned. “It’s your
deal”
“I’m a-dealin’.” And that
was the end of that discussion.
Long ago I discovered
that there were more kinds
of writing than competitions
in the Olympics, and lucky
for me, some are within
reach of my meager talents.
My first job after college
was writing ads for a neighborhood newspaper. Three
decades later—as a moderately successful writer—I
still do some ad work, under
the right circumstances.
Bill Witman of WitmanStone, one of L.A.’s premier
ad agencies, was an old
friend and sometime poker
competitor. He called me
last week.
“Our client has a small
brewery,” he began, as usual
Diane McHaffie is Director of Operations at Mike Caro
University of Poker, Gaming, and Life Strategy. Her
diverse career spans banking, promotion of major financial seminars and the raising of White-tailed Deer. You
can write her online at [email protected].
18
MARCH 6, 2006
without any time-wasting
pleasantries. “Their ale is
excellent, but the problem—
and our challenge—is brand
recognition. We’d like to use
the public’s current interest
in poker in some clever way
to promote our client’s product, Aces Ale. I know you’re
a poker freak and always
had a knack for the weird,
unexpected, off-the-wall
approach. That’s what we
want. And…oh, yeah, our
research shows that Ace Ale
is becoming a favorite with
female drinkers. Play up that
angle. They want to build on
that market.”
Bill wanted to create several theme-related 30-second
slots. “I hope you don’t
expect something off the top
of my head,” I replied.
“I know you’re good, Joe,
but even so I’ll give you
some time to think about it.
Get back to me next week.”
I was on the fantail of
Hobby’s yacht, Lazybuns.
My week was almost up.
“What’s with you Joe?
You’ve been moping around
the last couple of days. Still
looking for a gimmick for
the beer commercial?”
“Ale, Hobby, not beer.
And actually I’ve got a few
ideas, but I’m not crazy
about them.”
Hobby was looking across
the marina where divers
were cleaning a hull and
casually asked, “Joe, would
you like to work underwater?”
I didn’t expect anything
brilliant from Hobby, so it
took an extra series of mental synapses before I realized
he’d given me an interesting ingredient—underwater. It was weird. It was
off-the-wall. It was perfect.
“Hobby! I think that’s a
great idea.”
“Huh ?” Hobby answered.
“What’s a great idea?”
“Underwater poker. I’ve
got to work it out, but I like
it.”
“Well, if you use it, get
me a part in the commercial,
Joe.”
I met Bill for lunch and
pitched the scenario: “Guy
comes home with four of
his buddies. His wife braces
him and says, ‘I hope you
don’t think you’re going to
play poker this afternoon.
You’ve got to clean the
pool today.’ He says, ‘Sure,
honey, we’ll clean the pool.’
They exit to the backyard.
“Next scene shows the
pool. In the center there are
five snorkel tubes extending above the surface.
Camera goes underwater
showing the guys wearing
snorkel masks and playing poker. Guy writes on
a slate, ‘Guess we fooled
your wife.’ Next scene: the
sexy, bikini-clad Aces Ale
MARCH 6, 2006
19
The Aces Ale
Goddess
(Continued from page 18)
Goddess swims into the
picture holding a try full of
Aces Ale and a card saying:
‘Can’t play poker without
Aces!” She swims off and
the men throw down the
cards and swim after her.”
“I like it, Joe. So what’s
the theme for the series?”
“Much as it hurts me to
make fun of our otherwise
superior gender—you’ve
got to admit—we’re a prime
target. We’ll show the dumb
things guys will do to have
a poker game—only to be
lured away by the Aces Ale
Goddess.”
“Not bad, Joe, but give
me another example.”
“Okay. The scene is
a wilderness park. Guys
put up a tent, set up a
table and chairs and start
to play poker. Someone
asks, ‘Did you bring the
drinks?’ A guy answers,
‘You bet!’ and opens a large
cooler. Everyone looks and
screams, ‘Bottled water!’
Then the Aces Ale Goddess
appears with her tray full of
Aces Ale. She tickles one
guy under the chin and says,
“You can’t play poker without Aces!” and she drifts off
into the woods. The guys
throw away the cards and
chase after her, a-hootin’ an
a-hollerin’….”
That’s good, too. We’ll
do a pilot of the pool bit and
see if the client likes it. Can
TUSCANY
Suites & Casino
you put it together for us?”
“Sure. It’ll be fun. I’ve
already got an extra lined
up. Hobby wants a part.”
It had been a while since
I’d done any production
work, but I knew the people
who could get the job done
right. I rented a furnished
home in Brentwood for the
day. It had a good-sized
pool. I hired cameramen,
actors, and a guy to chase
down the necessary props.
I prepared the scripts and
planned to direct the action.
We started rehearsing late
in the morning. By early
afternoon, when the light
was right, we were ready to
shoot. Hobby was having a
grand time, hamming it up
for the camera. After two
hours and many takes, I felt
we had enough to put in the
can for editing.
“Joe, that was the most
fun I’ve had in a long time.
Maybe I was cut out to be
an actor.”
“Sure, Hobby. I’ll be on
the lookout for a revival of
the three stooges. Maybe
you could get a part.”
“Really, Joe!”
“No, not really, Hobby.
They had talent.”
Bill came by to see how
we were doing. “Hi Joe,
Hobby. Looks like you’ve
finished already.”
“Yep. All done, boss.” I
confirmed.
“Seems a pity to waste
such a set up,” Bill said.
“Anyone interested in playing poker for real? I’ll
spring for drinks and pizza.”
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20
MARCH 6, 2006
Hobby volunteered for
both of us, “Yeah. We will.
I’ll ask some of the other
guys.”
“How about me?” Sally,
the Aces Ale Goddess asked.
Jim, one of the extras
said, “Sure you know how
to play?”
She smiled slyly and said,
“I’ve been watching Texas
Hold ‘Em on TV.”
“Great,” he said missing the irony, “I hope you
brought your bankroll,
honey.”
Sally was one cool player.
She repeatedly suckered Jim
into playing bad hands, and
losing. The combination of
too much booze and embarrassment over losing was
getting to him.
He said, “I can’t believe
this stupid poker slut is beating me.”
Hobby, all five feet-seven
inches of him, jumped up.
“That’s out of line. You better apologize to Sally.”
Jim, a 46 extra-long,
stood up next to Hobby,
looked down and said, “You
going to make me, stump
chump?”
I was about to witness
another big man being
wiped out by the unimpressive looking Hobby—a multiple black belt champion.
But, surprise, surprise, it was
not to be. Sally, standing
behind Jim, reached between
his spread legs, grabbed a
handful, and twisted. Jim let
out a ghastly scream.
“Wrong, big boy. I’m the
one’s going to make you,”
Sally said.
“No way, bitch,” he
screeched.
She just smiled and
turned up the hurt.
“Okay, Okay. I apologize.
Let me go.”
After Jim left, we tried
to resume the game, but the
fracas put a damper on it. It
was time to fold ‘em.
On the way back to
Marina del Rey, Hobby
asked, “Can you imagine a
girl making a move like that,
Joe?”
“Yeah, I can. Sally’s not
one to take lightly. Hell,
it’s the same way she plays
poker. She just gets you by
the balls and twists.”
Hobby laughed. “Ouch…
and you’re right, Joe.
Sometimes poker can be
painful!”
Write to author David Valley
at: [email protected]
Caro’s Word: “Tipping”
CONT’D FROM PAGE 6
ginally profitable hands.
That kind of bulk tipping is
something you might consider, but it isn’t customary in smaller games. You
might try it, though.
The concept is the same
as with collection vs. rake.
Collection is table rent.
Once you’ve paid it, you
can win as many pots as you
want without penalty. But if
it’s a rake game, you pay the
house its money only when
you win a hand, so you’ve
got to play more conservatively. If you consider a tip
part of the rake, then you
can voluntarily switch over
to the collection method
manually, if you want. Just
pay the dealer in advance
for the time to be dealt
– and announce that you’re
giving that amount win or
lose – so, in case you never
win a pot, the dealer will get
something. They appreciate
that and don’t expect further
tips. In this case, three dollars is plenty for a half hour
in a large game. That’s six
dollars an hour, and if all
the players at the table did
that, 10 handed, it would be
sixty dollars an hour extra
for each dealer. So, three
dollars might be excessive.
Two dollars might be a better amount.
How much?
How much to tip in a tournament? Four percent is in
the high end for first place
in a large tournament. I
believe subsequent places
should tip, too, but subtract
your entry fee, your buy-in,
and your rebuys and tip only
from your profit (unless
you’re feeling generous).
In smaller tournaments,
you can tip as much as five
percent. In fact, if the prize
pool is below $20,000, I
recommend a tip of five percent. Above $20,000, three
or four percent.
So, again, if you’re a winning player who is selective
about the hands you play,
you’re better off tipping
the dealers than having the
house pay full wages. You
should not over tip, but you
should tip. Oddly, $1 is customary, even in big games.
And if you pay your tips to
each dealer in advance, you
don’t need to avoid playing some marginal hands.
Otherwise, you do.
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.
MARCH 6, 2006
21
Tournament Time
in Reno & NW
Quizzes from Mike Caro University of Poker
NORTH BY NORTHWEST
By Byron Liggett
The focus of this column, “North by
Northwest”, is poker throughout northern
California, northern Nevada and the Northwest. Over the next
two months, the three biggest annual poker tournaments of the
season in this region will occur in succession. If you’re a player,
here’s your agenda -It’s PEPPERMILL poker time. The annual “Spring Poker
Tournament” blossoms Feb. 26th and continues through March
5th. There’ll be two events a day; the main event at noon and a
second feature at 7pm. Promises a frenzy of flops fulfilled and
flops failed.
Poker at the Peppermill has a long tradition of success and
the annual Spring Poker Tournament has always been a popular
favorite. No where are players treated to more luxury, comfort
and class.
Nevertheless, a distinguishing feature of the annual
Peppermill tournaments is that all the events are affordable.
For this reason, every event attracts a lot of players, making
the prize money exciting for everyone who gets to a Final Table.
No matter how bad you play, the overlay alone makes it worth
the chance.
The Peppermill has invested heavily to make poker a paramount feature of the resort which recently announced a $230
million dollar expansion. “Poker is a game enjoyed by folks
throughout our market area,” explains Poker Manager, Ira Cohen,
‘so we make sure when the come here they get the best”.
The RENO HILTON “World Poker Challenge 2006” gets
underway March 9th and continued through March 30th. No
matter how you measure it, this is the biggest, longest, and
heaviest spring poker tournament north of Las Vegas.
This event will bring out Super Stars, wanna’-be stars, shooting stars, and some who’s only hope is to wish upon a star.
They’ll all be there – pros, celebrities, up-‘n-comers, down-‘nouters, the floppy ‘n sloppy. It’s wonderful!
Poker pro and tournament champion Vince Burgio will be
just one of the well known names at the World Poker Challenge.
He just published Pizza, Pasta and Poker. Delightfully entertaining as well as informative, this is a book any player would enjoy
and learn from… and not just about poker. Not a how-to, the
work is Vince’s honest, often humorous and insightful memoirs
of his life in poker.
Throughout much of March, the Reno Hilton is Ground Zero
for the Poker Brotherhood. Single table satellites and Sit ‘n
Go contests begin daily at 8am; $100 Super satellites start at
9am. Winner of the final, 4-day, $5000 Championship event will
receive a $25,000 buyin to the World Poker Tour Championship
at the Bellagio, in Las Vegas.
After that, poker players saddle up for the “Spring Poker
Round-up”, April 12-22, at the WILDHORSE Resort & Casino,
in Pendleton, Oregon. Like its rodeo namesake, this is the biggest, wildest, and by far the best poker tournament in the
Northwest.
With more than five or six hundred players for every event,
the Spring Poker Round-up has become an important Northwest
tradition. Poker Manager, “Sheriff” Roland Waters, makes sure
every chip kicker gets an inexpensive room at the bunkhouse
and plenty of good grub.
Keep in mind, too, that there’s $70,000 added to the prize
money. Plus, there are five All-Around Championship prizes
worth an additional $15,646! If that’s not enough, you can get
the rest of it in a live game! The live action is terrific!
The Spring Poker Round-up has become one of those “in”
events. If you’ve been in the game long you know this tournament is special. Even if you’ve been-there, done-that, you still
do this. See ya’ in Wildhorse partner.
Byron Liggett, originally from the Northwest, lives in Reno
and has been a gaming & poker writer, columnist and consultant for 25 years. email: [email protected]
22
MARCH 6, 2006
asked & answered:
This series was based on the MCU library of research and advice found at Poker1.com.
Each issue, Mike Caro presented 10 new questions covering a category of poker, targeted
for beginner, intermediate, or advanced players. The questions for Quiz #39, the final
quiz, were printed in our last issue and were a review of selected questions covered in
quizzes 27 through 38 for advanced players. Below find the answers for that final quiz.
answers
to last issue’s
If you do not remember the questions, you
will find them on our website—Download
previous issues at-questions http://www.pokerplayernewspaper.com/
backissues
Q #1 ANSWER: (a). Yes, in
seven-card stud it’s true that
it’s easier to make a flush when
you have four suited cards than
to complete a straight when
you’re open ended. This is true
of most other forms of poker,
too, because – even though
a flush is higher-ranking and
harder to get dealt to begin
with in five cards – there are
nine remaining suited cards out
of the original 13 to complete
a flush and only eight (four
at each end) to complete an
open-end straight.
Q #2 ANSWER: (c). In hold
’em the distribution of cards
in the deck does not make it
much more likely that you’ll
flop three-of-a-kind when you
begin with 5-5 than when you
begin with 2-2. So, that reason
to prefer 5-5 over 2-2 didn’t
belong on the list.
Q #3 ANSWER: (b). If you
begin a hold ’em hand with A-A
and flop is K-Q-J, no flush possible, you’ll finish with just the
aces you started with 41.4 percent of the time after seeing
the river card.
Q #4 ANSWER: (a). . It’s true
that you should be more eager
to buy coffee for the player on
your left than the one on your
right. The player on your left
has a positional advantage by
acting after you, and anything
you can do to reduce his urge
to exercise that advantage
could work in your favor. Make
friends with those on your left;
declare poker war with those
on your right.
Q #5 ANSWER: (b). One of the
advantages of a solid, tight,
stable image is that you’ll
tend to have fewer day-to-day
fluctuations in your bankroll.
A lively and loose image may
sometimes win more money in
the long run, but it also invites
much bigger swings of fortune
along the way.
Q #6 ANSWER: (a). It’s true
that the odds against something happening twice in a row
can be found by multiplying
one more than the odds-toone against it happening once
times that same number and
then subtracting one from the
answer. For instance, we know
that the odds against being
dealt aces before the flop in
hold ’em are 220-to-1 against.
So, you add 1 to 220, get 221,
multiply it by itself (221 x 221),
get 48,841, subtract 1 from
that and we discover that
it’s 48,840-to-1 against being
dealt aces before the flop on
both of your next two hands.
Mathematically speaking, it’s
the chances-squared-minusone to one against.
Q #7 ANSWER: (b). If an opponent puts a blind or ante very
exactly in front of him, you can
sometimes get an advantage
by subtly readjusting it. That’s
because the exact position
is probably a clue that the
player is superstitious about
the placement. If you make the
player feel unlucky by “accidentally” moving the chip, he
might play poorly out of frustration and negative feelings.
Q #8 ANSWER: (b). It’s false
that female player make less
money by calling, on average,
than male players. Exactly
the opposite is true. While
there are, of course, exceptions to the situation and
both chemistry and resulting
interactions vary, in general men take more shots at
women than at other men.
Since most of their opponents
are men, women instinctively
call more often because of
this. And since men are trying
too often to run over women,
these calls – within reason
– net a long-range profit.
Women should be aware that
some men act just the opposite; they go out of their way
to “take it easy” on women
– sometimes just to be nice,
sometimes to avoid humiliation in their minds. But that’s
the exception. Mostly, women
can profit from calling a little
more often than men.
Q #9 ANSWER: (a). In a 1982
tournament, Jack Straus bet
what he thought were all the
chips he had in front of him,
without declaring himself all-in.
His opponent called the exact
amount of the wager. Then, it
was discovered that Straus had
a single $500 chip remaining,
and he used it to rebuild and
win the tournament. Thus, the
expression, “All you need is a
chip and a chair,” was born.
Q #10 ANSWER: (d).
Opponents who seek sympathy
by complaining about missing many flushes in a row are
likely to surrender if they miss
again and then show their
futile cards to you, proving
they were right – they missed
again. That’s why you often
need much more powerful
hands to call when a player
who’s been complaining about
bad luck and seeking sympathy suddenly bets.
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26
MARCH 6, 2006
Time. Some events
C start after the hour
...........AM, PM
O A,WkP................Week
..... Additional gameD &.times
on this day. Call.
E ........Hold’em
.No Limit Hold’em
.Limit Hold’em
N .............No Limit
L ................... Limit
.............Stud
..7-Card Stud
..5-Card Stud
........ Omaha
H/L .High/Low Split
Pi...........Pineapple
Po...........Pot Limit
Pn.........Panginque
Mx ..Mexican Poker
DC .Dealer’s Choice
MONDAY
•GOLD BAR DENOTES ADVERTISER
TIME
|
HH ...... Headhunter
B ............ Bounties
Sp .............. Spread
Al .........Alternates
Z........... Freezeout
Cz ................ Crazy
E..........Elimination
TUESDAY
GAMES BUY-IN| TIME
Q ............... Qualify
Sh ...........Shootout
+ ..Re-Buys and/or
Add-Ons allowed
F ............... Freeroll
Lad ..... Ladies Only
Men ........Men Only
DAILY TOURNAMENTS
NOW! Get Tournament Listings at our website:
Note: All tournaments are subject to change. Check with the Cardroom for any updates. Cardrooms—
please send your schedules to Tournament Editor A.R. Dyck, [email protected]
| WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
|
FRIDAY
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
| SATURDAY |
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
SUNDAY
GAMES BUY-IN
Aladdin
Arizona Charlie’s
CALIFORNIA—
LOS ANGELES NEVADA NORTH
LAS VEGAS & NEVADA SOUTH
Caesars Palace
Cannery Casino (11)
Circus Circus
Col.Belle-Laughlin
Flamingo Laughlin
Golden Nugget
Harrah’s Las Vegas
Luxor
Nevada Palace
Oasis-Mesquite
Plaza Casino
Rio Suite Casino
River Palms
Speedway
Stardust
Virgin River Casino
Wynn Las Vegas
Atlantis Casino
Boomtown
Cactus Petes-Jackpot
Carson Valley Inn
Circus Circus
Eldorado
Harrah’s Reno
Harvey’s Tahoe
Rainbow Cas. W Wendover
Club One Casino
Commerce Club
Hawaiian Gardens
DA I LY TO U R N A M E N T L I ST I N G S CO N T I N U E O N PAG E 28
Debbie Burkhead interviews Ron Carbaugh
also run evening tournaments at 7 p.m. On Monday
we have a $25 buy-in nolimit event with a 40 player
maximum. The top four
players from each Monday
night for five weeks
advance to week six to play
for a $10,000 seat into the
World Series of Poker plus
$1000 in cash. On Tuesday
it’s no-limit with a $30 buyin, one $20 re-buy and one
$20 add on. On Wednesday
we hold a ladies limit event
with a $25 buy-in that is
limited to 50 players. We
add $500 to the prize pool
with a $1,000 guarantee.
Thursday’s event is a $30
buy-in with one $20 rebuy
and starts with limit and
changes to no-limit at the
final table but with a twist,
the final table is played
with real chips.
DB: What incentives does
Chumash offer it‘s poker
players?
RC: We send out monthly
mailers with incentives to
play at Chumash. Some
of our mailers have a cou-
pon for a gas card and if
the player shows the gas
card he receives an extra
$10 when he buys into a
cash game. Other mailers
offer players to get $60
for a $40 buy-in to a cash
game. We also have daily
drawings, on weekdays we
MARCH 6, 2006
27
Time. Some events &. ........ Additional
Limit Hold’em
start after the hour
gametimes. Call. N ..........No Limit
A, P ....... AM, PM
..... Hold’em L ................ Limit
Wk .............Week
.No Limit Hold’em
..........Stud
MONDAY
CALIFORNIA—SAN DIEGO CALIF—
& INLAND EMPIRE
L.A.
TIME
B ......... Bounties
Sp ........... Spread
.7-Card Stud
..... Omaha Pi........Pineapple Pn......Panginque DCDealer’s Choice Al ......Alternates
.5-Card Stud H/LHigh/Low Split Po........Pot Limit Mx .Mexican Poker HH ...Headhunter Z........ Freezeout
DAILY TOURNAMENTS (CONT’D FROM PAGE 27)
|
TUESDAY
GAMES BUY-IN| TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
|
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
FRIDAY
Cz ............. Crazy + .......... Re-buys
E...... Elimination and/or Add-ons
allowed
Q ............Qualify
Sh ........Shootout F ............Freeroll
| SATURDAY |
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
SUNDAY
GAMES BUY-IN
Hustler Casino
Normandie Casino
Casino Morongo
Casino Pauma
Harrah’s Rincon
Lake Elsinore
Lucky Lady
Oceans Eleven
Sycuan
Viejas
Village Club
CALIFORNIA—NORTH
Artichoke Joe’s
Bay 101
Cache Creek
California Grand
Casino San Pablo
Garden City
Gold Rush
Golden West-Bakersﬁeld
Kelly’s Cardroom
Lucky Chances
Lucky Derby Casino
Oaks Card Club-Emeryville
Sonoma Joe’s
Blue Water Casino
Bucky’s Casino
AZ
Casino Del Sol
Cliff Castle
Fort McDowell
SOUTHWEST
Gila River/Wild Horse Pass
CO
Gila River-Vee Quiva
Harrah’s Ak Chin
Hon-Dah Casino
Paradise Casino
Gilpin Hotel & Casino
Midnight Rose-Cripple Crk
Ute Mountain
KS
Harrah’s Prarie Band
NM
Cities of Gold
Isleta Casino & Resort
Route 66 Casino
OK
PACIFIC NORTHWEST
Comanche Red River Cas.
OR
WA
Chinook Winds Casino
Wildhorse Casino Resort
Blue Mountain Casino
Chips Bremerton
Chips La Center
Chips Lakewood
Chips Tukwila
DA I LY TO U R N A M E N T L I ST I N G S CO N T I N U E O N PAG E 29
Debbie Burkhead interviews Ron Carbaugh
hold a drawing worth $50
every half and hour from
1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and
at 5:00 p.m. the drawing
is for $100. We have the
same drawing from 9:00
p.m. until midnight. On
Saturdays and Sundays we
28
give away $50 every half
an hour from 4:00 p.m.
until 10:30 p.m. and at
11:00 p.m., 11:30 p.m. and
11:45 p.m. the drawings are
worth $100 each.
DB: Where do most of your
MARCH 6, 2006
player hail from?
RC: Most of our players
are locals, we offer free bus
service from Lompoc and
Santa Maria every other
hour. We also bus in from
Santa Barbara and Goleta
three times a day.
DB: How do you staff your
poker room with dealers?
RC: We seldom hire dealers from the outside, we
bring people in as brushes
and we train them to deal
in house but most of our
dealers our locals and
come form within the
casino.
DB: Who is responsible
for making your job a little
easier?
RC: The supervisory staff
I have is very competent.
They do an excellent job
of training new hires and
seeing that tournaments
and live games are properly
handled.
SATELLITES FOR THE HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP OF POKER!
$10,000,000 PRIZE POOL - $5,000,000 FIRST PRIZE*
*BASED
UPON 100
ENTRIES
ONLY 100 Players • A $100,000 Buy-in event + $5,000 Entry Fee • Final Event to be held at Sam’s Town®, Las Vegas. Dec 20-23, 2006 • Super Satellites on Dec 18 & 19, 2006
In Las Vegas...
at Sam’s Town
EVERY SATURDAY Buy-in & Fee $1,100
Winner receives a Super Satellite seat—
seat—Super
Super
Satellite Winner receives Buy-in and Entry Fee
for the Main Event. Contact: Dick Gatewood, Poker Manager, 702-454-8092
FURTHER RULES AND
D E TA I L S W I L L B E
F O U N D AT :
In Los Angeles... EVERY WED AT 10 PM Buy-in $1,050 + $50
Table event • Winner receives a Super
at Hollywood OneSatellite
seat—Super Satellite Winner
Park Casino receives Buy-in and Entry Fee for Main Event.
DAILY TOURNAMENTS (CONT’D FROM PAGE 28)
MONDAY
MIDWEST
NORTHEAST
NORTHWEST
PACIFIC N’WEST
TIME
WA
|
TUESDAY
GAMES BUY-IN| TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
|
FRIDAY
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
| SATURDAY |
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
SUNDAY
GAMES BUY-IN
Final Table Cas., Everett
Goldie’s
Little Creek Casino
Muckleshoot Casino
Northern Quest
Suquamash Clearwater
Wild Grizzly
MN Fortune Bay Casino
Northern Light Casino
Shooting Star Casino
MT Black Jack’s Casino
4 Bears Casino
ND Dakota Magic
NE Rosebud Casino
SD
Dakota Sioux
Gold Dust Cas., Deadwood
Rosebud Casino
CT
Foxwoods
NJ
Caesar’s Atlantic City
Harrah’s Atlantic City
Tropicana
Trump Taj Mahal
Akwesasne Mohawk
NY
IA
Turning Stone
Catﬁsh Bend
Isle of Capri
Winn-A-Vegas
IL
Hollywood Casino-Aurora
IN
Belterra (Florence)
Caesars Indiana
Trump Indiana
MI
Chip-In’s Island
MO
MS
FLORIDA
MISSISSIPPI RIVER
Grand Coushatta
Horseshoe CasinoShreveport
Harrah’s St Louis
Isle of Capri
Copa Casino
Gold Strike Casino (Tunica)
Grand Casino(Tunica)
Pearl River Resort
Dania Jai-Alai
Derby Lane
Hard Rock
Palm Beach Kennel Club
Palm Beach Princess
Pompano Park Casino
Seminole Hollywood Cas.
St Tropez Cruise
CANADA Casino Regina
LA
Fast Answers About
Anything POKER!
pokerplayernewspaper.com
Get us on the web!
MARCH 6, 2006
29
PART 67,
Monkey in the Middle
Most of us have heard the expression
Monkey in the Middle or have played
improving performance
Tod Sloan
By TOM “TIME” LEONARD
the game as children. How I relate this
phrase to poker is holding a medium
strength hand where you must realize that you are
either way ahead or possibly buried by your opponent’s
holding. The trick, of course, is figuring out which of
these two possibilities is reality. The way to help determine where you stand is to analyze the betting coupled
with the board cards and knowledge of your opponent’s
tendencies Admittedly, this is many times easier said
than done. It is certainly not an exact science.
Let’s imagine that you arrive at the river with the
absolute monster holding of a pair of eights with a
couple of over cards sitting on the board. You’ve been
leading all the way and a single opponent has been
calling each of your bets. You are now first to act and
pause to consider your predicament of either being well
behind to a higher pair or holding the winning hand. For
simplicity, we’ll assume that no straights or flushes are
possible. Well, do you fire one more time or dog it, hoping to win in a showdown?
Many players abhor the “dogging it” course of action
and believe it demonstrates weakness. They feel,
believe, hope and/or pray that one more bet will possibly make their opponent either lay down a superior
hand or, better yet, call with a losing hand so they may
gain another bet. I’m certainly an advocate of aggressive play but if there was ever a time to dog it, this is
it There is little positive expectation to betting in this
situation. Most any hand your opponent will call with
will most likely be the winner. He will fold most hands
that you can beat and will raise with hands that will
beat you. Those so-so, “Monkey in the Middle” hands
on the river are the times to embrace the old adage of
“Discretion is the better part of valor”, and to check
hoping to prevail in a showdown.
If you check you can either win or lose the showdown
if your opponent checks behind you If your check results
in a bet from your opponent, you can decide if your
adversary is making a move or has you beat. At most
you will be risking one bet should you decide to call. If,
on the other hand, you lead out with your “Monkey in
the Middle” holding your opponent can fold, call or raise.
Most folds should not be construed as a victory to your
bet as you most likely would have prevailed in a showdown. Your bet did not gain you anything but put you at
risk to a raise which would result in losing you one bet
should you fold and most likely two bets should you call
the raise. When you analyze the possible ramifications
to leading out with a marginal hand, you should realize
there just isn’t much positive expectation.
Our goal for this session is to realize that betting on
the end should be reserved for two main reasons. First,
if you believe you hold the winning hand you should
bet for value and hope to pick up an additional bet.
Secondly, if you believe you cannot survive a showdown
then you might consider a bet as a bluff in the hopes
of stealing the pot with a losing hand. Remember, if
you’re the Monkey in the Middle then checking and hoping to survive the showdown is many times the best
course of action.
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].
30
MARCH 6, 2006
America’s First
Sports Super Star
By Byron Liggett
An individual who altered
his sport so significantly
that the game would never
be the same, Tod Sloan
was a Super Star. With a
gambler’s determination
and innovation for winning,
he rode his way into the
Racing Hall of Fame.
Tod Sloan was a jockey
during the early development of modern thoroughbred horse racing. His innovative style overturned 200
years of tradition and set the
stage for racing and wagering to become big business
entertainment.
Born in 1874 in Indiana,
Tod was five when his
mother died. Fostered out
to another family, he left
home and was on his own
at 13. As a vagabond boy,
his biggest liability was his
size. Fully grown, he was
less than five feet tall and
weighed less than 90lbs.
As a carnival worker,
young Tod came into contact with horse racing. His
size attracted attention and
became for the first time an
asset. He determined that he
would become a jockey.
In 1893, he started racing in California and soon
developed a reputation as a
courageous risk-taker. He
had an incredible 31% winning average and became
the darling of bookies and
bettors alike. Wyatt Earp
owned a small stable and
Sloan rode his colors, navy
blue polka dots on a white
field, to the winner’s circle
twice in one day.
Sloan always had an
exceptional sense of pace
and a keen intuitive understanding of his horse’s ability and the strengths and
weaknesses of his competition. But it was a simple
innovation in riding style
that made him a great jockey and changed the sport of
horse racing forever.
For 200 years jockeys
had ridden upright, back in
the saddle, using long reigns
and long stirrups. Tod Sloan
adopted a riding style more
characteristic of African
Americans and Native
Americans who usually
rode without a saddle. He
shortened the stirrups and
reins until he was high on
the horse’s back, between
the shoulder blades, leaning
out over the horse’s neck
looking down over its head.
Sloan’s radical new riding style was largely met
with doubt and ridicule.
Racing traditionalists derisively referred to his way
of riding as the “monkey
seat” method. Nevertheless,
the little jockey was certain
his way was best and that
his record would speak for
itself.
Having conquered
California racing, the little
legend headed for the big
time -- New York, the
center of East Coast racing. Sloan’s early success
soon attracted the attention
of one of the most famous
gamblers of the Gilded Age,
George “Pittsburgh Phil”
Smith.
“Pittsburgh Phil” made
his living picking winners.
After watching Sloan ride,
he took the jockey aside
and told him that he would
pay him $400 every time
he rode a winning horse,
whether or not Phil bet on
the horse. The deal freed
Sloan from any need to
participate in the corrupt
practices that dominated
much of racing. For the
gambler, it was well worth
knowing there was at least
one jockey “trying to win
every race against half a
dozen who were manipulating horses….”
The secret deal between
the gambler and the jockey
proved to be very lucrative
for both men. Sloan went
on to some of the greatest
winning years in racing. In
June, 80 races were run at
the Coney Island Jockey
Club. No jockey won more
than 7 races, except Sloan,
who won 26! While only
the world’s best jockeys
came close to winning 20%
of their races, in 1896 Sloan
won nearly 30% of his
races, in 1897 he won 37%,
and in 1898 he was victorious 46% of the time.
Having conquered
American racing, Sloan
turned his sights to the
very throne of the “sport of
kings”, England. Of course,
horse racing in England
was the pastime of royalty
and home of the traditional,
classic, upright style.
However, Sloan was soon
capturing British purses if
not their hearts. He won 23
of 50 races his first season.
In his second season he
won 43 races out of 98, or
44%. Within two years, the
British were crediting Sloan
with introducing “a new era
in racing”. Thereafter, the
traditional or classic style
of riding was all but extinct,
replaced by what today is
known as the “American
style”.
Tod Sloan was an
American character. His
indifference to tradition, his
practical adaptability, his
willingness to change and
to take chances, his confidence and his assertiveness
were often misinterpreted
as conceit and arrogance.
Although it was common
practice among jockeys to
bet the races, Sloan was
singled out and prohibited
from renewing his license
by British racing authorities. Perhaps they were
resentful of the brash little
American’s success.
In the years that followed, Sloan embarked on
a number of careers and
business deals. Few were
successful or fulfilling.
Gambling and drinking
became the focus of his life.
His personal finances were
decimated. “When we are
gambling we do not pay
much attention to a little
matter like daily expenses,”
he wrote.
Tod Sloan came to epitomize the old adage: “All
horseplayers die broke”.
Destitute and largely forgotten, the man who changed
horse racing and helped
usher in the sport’s era of
big business and entertainment died anonymously of
cirrhosis in 1933.
e-mail: [email protected]
Card Player magazine Advances Poker’s Image
formal occasion, and I did
wear a suit and tie, next year,
I will don my tux for this
great contribution to poker’s
image. I trust some of the
raggedy dressed nominees
will also choose to dress up
this otherwise spotless affair
on its second occurrence.
The ceremony was hosted
by the hilarious Brad Garrett
and featured dancing and
rock music, which these septuagenarian ears could have
done without, but, despite the
minor flaws, this was a highly professional engagement.
I would hope that even more
invitations go out next year
and a larger arena can be
arranged to hold an even bigger audience. In addition,
this could be a time to award
other people who work every
day to keep our card rooms
functioning so well.
I urge Barry Shulman to
enlist the cooperation of the
other publishers in this field,
to make this an even bigger
event. Barry, you can count
on my help, if you want it.
Men Nguyen took the
stage to accept the coveted
2005 “Card Player, Player of
the Year Award” at the illustrious Henry Fonda Music
Box Theater on February
15 that marked a landmark
moment for the game.
The first Card Player,
Player of the Year Awards
Gala will undoubtedly be
one of the most talked about
events of the season. And
Nguyen will always be
remembered as the recipient of the coveted top prize
on the night poker went
Hollywood and honored professional poker players with a
celebration unprecedented for
a game that has vaulted out
of casinos and card rooms,
and into the mainstream.
Alongside such legends as
Doyle Brunson, the masterful recipient of Card Player’s
“Lifetime Achievement
Award”, presented by
Poker’s “Mad Genius”, Mike
Caro, Nguyen and many
other stars were honored in
the event that marked top
achievements during a breakthrough year for poker.
Brunson, a legend and fan
favorite for his seemingly
endless energy and passion
for poker, personifies the
spirit of the game like no
other player. Widely considered to be the most respected
man in poker, Brunson was
honored for his dedication to
the game and his extraordinary talents.
Nguyen, who chalked up
more than 1,000 points in
November and another 500
points during the first week of
December, accepted his fourth
“Player of the Year” title – but
first in front of a star-studded
theater audience. He won the
award after totaling 4,604
points (plus an impressive
$973,620 in total earnings and
16 final tables to his credit).
This year’s honors come with
a $10,000 buy-in to the 2006
World Series of Poker.
Although produced
with much of the glitz and
glamour that follows any
high-profile celebrity awards
show, the Card Player, Player
of the Year Awards Gala
was unlike any other. At the
Bodog-produced event in
Old Hollywood, the majority
of the honors that were handed out were voted on by professional poker players. Two
of the awards – the “Best
Celebrity Poker Player” and
“Favorite Overall Poker
Player” – are “People’s
Choice Awards”. Votes for
these two categories were
cast at Cardplayer.com.
The list of nominees for
each category is full of high
achievers. While the pros
have a hard time playing
against their top peers, they
found it even more difficult
to choose between them.
Award winners are listed
below with an asterisk. (*)
PLAYER OF THE
YEAR AWARDS
NOMINATIONS LIST
Phil Ivey*
Daniel Negreanu
MOST ENTERTAINING
PLAYER
Phil Hellmuth
Mike Matusow*
Daniel Negreanu
BEST HEADS-UP PLAYER
Todd Brunson
Phil Ivey*
Phil Hellmuth
BEST CASH GAME PLAYER
Barry Greenstein
Chip Reese*
Phil Ivey
BEST MIXED GAME
PLAYER
Phil Ivey
Barry Greenstein
Chip Reese*
POKER AMBASSADOR
Daniel Negreanu
Mike Sexton*
Doyle Brunson
BREAKTHROUGH PLAYER
Michael Mizrachi
Michael Gracz*
Tuan Le
BEST NO-LIMIT PLAYER
Phil Hellmuth
Time to Ram-and-Jam at Monte Carlo.
[Ram-and-Jam: to bet, raise, and re-raise aggressively in order to intimidate opponents]
Introducing No Limit Hold’em Tournaments
at Monte Carlo Resort and Casino, Las Vegas.
Join us every Thursday for our new No Limit Hold’em Tournaments
$40 Morning Tournaments start at 9:00 a.m.
The winner advances to the 6 p.m. $100 Tournament
For more information, call 702.730.7780.
Convenient parking
parking and
and easy
easy access
access off
of Frank
Convenient
Frank Sinatra
Sinatra Drive.
Drive.
montecarlo.com
MARCH 6, 2006
31
Perks and Picks
Harrah’s Entertainment wraps up its national “Treasure
Hunt” promotion this month on March 19. Participants can
instantly win up to $1,000 cash, jewelry, or even a finalist
spot for the $1 Million Treasure Hunt. Las
Card Room Roundup
The Bargain Bin
By H. Scot Krause
Vegas Strip hotel casinos including Caesar’s
Palace, Harrah’s, Flamingo, Paris, Bally’s
and the Rio are all participating. On April 23,
the $100,000 Search the Strip Finale will be held. Finalists
will search the Strip high and low in a unique scavenger hunt
of epic proportions. Clues given along the way will lead them
to multiple checkpoints on the Strip and eventually each
finalist will be lead to a treasure chest -- one of which will
contain the $1 million grand prize. For complete details visit
the Total Rewards at any Harrah’s.
Also in Las Vegas, Fiesta Rancho has added a third
poker table and now features a Texas Hold ‘em Daily Poker
Tournament Monday through Saturday at 12 noon. The new
and improved Festival Buffet is open too. Priced from $5.99
when you present your Amigo Club card, it is open daily for
lunch, dinner and weekend brunch. The new buffet features
booth style seating, a self-serve beverage station and an
improved dessert station.
Sister casino, Fiesta Henderson across town has a $1.49
Baja Beach Breakfast Special. It includes two eggs, bacon,
hash browns, and toast. This special is served Monday
through Friday from 6:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. only.
Sam’s Town in Las Vegas “Young at Heart Lunch Buffet” is
another great value for those age 55+. Simply join the Prime
Rewards Club and receive a Young at Heart Sticker, (55+) for
your card, and you will enjoy the Firelight lunch buffet for
only $4.99 Monday – Friday.
When you’re ready for a break from the tables to do
some sightseeing, the Mirage Volcano now erupts at the
top of each hour from 6:00 p.m. to midnight. The volcano
is scheduled to undergo an extensive transformation later
this year. Wet Design, the firm responsible for the Fountains
of Bellagio, is enhancing the iconic volcano with fire explosions that will blast taller, lava, which will appear hotter, and
sounds, which will boom louder than ever. The project is set
for completion in 2007. The nightly show is free to the public.
The opening of Hooter’s Casino Hotel (formerly the San
Remo) last month was a madhouse. The casino is girls, girls,
girls with a hip theme resembling the Palms or Hard Rock.
The four-table poker room is located in the back of Pete and
Shorty’s Book and Bar. They will spread just about any game
that players may request; however, popular demand thus far
has been for No-Limit Texas Hold’em. Currently they spread
a low-limit $3-$6 Texas Hold ‘em game with a $3 maximum
rake. The most popular No Limit games are $50 to $200
with $1.00 and $2.00 blinds and $100 to $500 with $1.00 and
$2.00 blinds.
Comp rates for poker players at Hooter’s weren’t available
at press time but their Club Orange (player’s club) is quite
generous. $1 coin-in = 1 point on slots. $2 coin-in = 1 point on
video poker, keno and “other specialty games”. 1000 pts =
$10 comp towards rooms, food or merchandise. Points must
be redeemed in minimums of 1000 increments and expire
13 months after the day they’re earned. To get casino rate
rooms, a player must earn 1500 points per day. Table players
need to be betting a minimum of $25 per hand for at least 4
hours per day to be rated for comps and rooms.
That’s it for this week!
3700 W. Flamingo Rd., Las Vegas, Nevada 89103
702.777.7777, toll free 800.752.9746
www.harrahs.com
Harrah’s Rio All-Suite
Resort located just off the
Las Vegas Strip opened
with a party that continues
to this day. Walk through
any entrance and you
are part of the party that
began back in 1990 when
Marnell Carroa Corporation
opened the resort on West
Flamingo. The distinctive
tower sheathed in brilliant
red and blue glass becomes a
spectacular neon light show
every night. The property
was acquired by Harrah’s
and continues to build its
party reputation with the
young set. The Rio hosted
the 2005 World Series of
Poker Tournament in the
attached Rio Pavilion.
The hotel offers 2556
rooms, all suites. The
Masquerade Village tower
and casino are party central
with the sky floats high
above circling the casino
loaded with dancers and
guests. The casino floor
has a troupe of entertainers
that regularly perform for
guests, from a convincing
Charlie Chaplin to a two
story tall unicycle. Have
your photo taken with one
of the Chippendales or a Rio
Showgirl. A fixture at the
Rio is Rio Rita, the scantily clad, fruit laden head
H. Scot Krause is a freelance writer, gaming industry analyst and researcher, originally from Cleveland,
Ohio. While raising his three year-old son, Zachary, Scot
reports, researches, and writes about casino games,
events, attractions and promotions. He is a ten-year
resident of Las Vegas. Questions or comments are welcomed. Card room managers are also invited to send
your specials and promotions to: [email protected]
32
MARCH 6, 2006
dress wearing casino host.
Specialty shops line the
Masquerade Village casino
offering guest a break from
the gaming.
More than a dozen restaurants are available offering everything from a quick
pastry and coffee all the way
up, and I mean really up on
the 50th floor, to the VooDoo
Lounge. The outdoor deck
on top of the tower provides
diners with one of the best
Las Vegas views in town.
Rio Rita is your host
The VooDoo Lounge serves
some of the best steak and
seafood in town. Perhaps you
prefer to stay a little closer
to the ground then stop by
Buzio’s Seafood and enjoy
seafood at its best while
enjoying a great view of the
tropical pool area. Want the
best All American hamburger
in town? Then head into the
All American Café and have
The Rio’s 14-table cardroom
one of the many variations
of their All American burger.
The AA Café’s aged-onpremises steaks served in the
back room are some of the
best. The Fiore Steakhouse
and Cigar Lounge provide
guests with an unforgettable
evening of dining pleasure
and relaxation. You can satisfy your cravings for some
India cuisine at Gaylord’s,
sample the Mexican offerings
at Bamboleo and get your
pasta fix at Antonio’s Italian
Restorante. Hamada’s Asiana
Restaurant gives diners the
trill of exhibition cooking and
Asia delicacies. The Village
Seafood Buffet has a legendary reputation so be prepared
to stand in line for a reservation number. It’s worth it.
Harrah’s Rio All-Suite
Resort is the place that will
be hosting the 2006 WSOP
from day #1 through the
final table of the Main Event
placing the Rio Poker Room
squarely in the limelight of
the big poker show. The 14
table room is located next
to the sports book at the
Carnaval Court entrance
to the casino. During the
WSOP event the card
room moves to the tournament area in the Pavilion
and expands to 53 tables.
The existing poker room
is scheduled for a massive
overhaul during the 2006
shutdown for the WSOP.
Glass walls are being added
to give the room a defining
personality without scarifying views of the casino and
they will be enclosing an
even larger more comfortable
area. During this renovation the room will be adding
state-of-the-art features to
make the Rio poker experience as good as it gets.
Robert Daily is the Poker
Room manager for the Rio
and has more than three
decades of gaming experience with the last ten years
spent working for Harrah’s.
In a recent WSOP press
release it was announced
that Robert was named the
Tournament Director for the
2006 World Series of Poker.
During our conservation
Robert told me that the 2006
WSOP has greatly benefited
from lessons learned at the
2005 event. Player’s concerns and complaints have
been addressed and solutions
have been implemented
guaranteeing the upcoming
2006 WSOP a smooth ride
for all of the record-setting
crowds of thousands of players, including poker’s very
best of the best. We can also
expect to see much improved
close-in food service in a
better location, well planned
facility layouts, plenty of
rest rooms, and my favorite,
much cleaner air.
Typical games spread in
the Rio Poker Room include
limit hold’em $4-$8 and $6$12 blinds, a very popular
unstructured $2-$10 anytime
limit hold’em and the most
popular game offered in the
room, no-limit $5-$10 blinds
with a $200-$500 buy-in. Of
course, the room will spread
any game if a sufficient number of players request it. The
Rio offers a Noon no-limit
tournament every day with a
$40 buy-in and one $40 rebuy. The event draws close
to a hundred players most
days and well over a hundred
on weekends. Jerome Stone
handles the tournament coor-
dination duties for the poker
room. Players earn food
comps at the rate of $1 per
hour of play with no daily
limit on hours. The comp
policy is being standardized
among all of Harrah’s poker
rooms.
The Rio holds a monthly
Freeroll tournament and a
player can gain a free entry
by playing 80 hours in the
poker room during the designated month long qualifying
periods, or play and win two
of the daily tournaments.
Now for the really good
news, the monthly freeroll
awards the winner a $10,000
seat in the 2006 World Series
of Poker main event. Play a
few hours of poker in a poker
room located in one of the
most exciting casinos on the
planet and you’re rewarded
with a free ticket for a shot
to play for fame and fortune.
Doing the arithmetic based
on speculation for the upcoming 2006 WSOP, if you won
the big one after gaining your
entry by playing 80 hours
your rate of pay would work
out to something close to
$100,000 an hour. Now that’s
a good reason to play the Rio.
The Rio’s Pool and Casino areas are MASSIVE!
Poker Room Manager
Robert Daily
MARCH 6, 2006
33
The State of Stud, PART 2
STUD SENSE
PokerFantasy.com: Points &
Premium Prizes for Playing
By ASHLEY ADAMS
You can still find a stud game in Las Vegas – but
they’re few and far between. The Bellagio usually (though not
always I discovered) has a $20/40 game – but my attempts to
get into it proved unsuccessful because of the long list for the
one game. Former oasis of stud action like the Orleans, the
Mirage and the Luxor were completely dry when I stopped in
and called (though the Mirage told me they had a $1-5 game
sometimes). I did manage to get into one game (that I’ll write
about later) at the El Cortez. And I was told that they spread
low limit stud at Sam’s Town and at the Excalibar. But when I
called they had nothing. And forget stud tournaments. There
used to be at least one a week at the Orleans – and a few others
sprinkled around the city. Not anymore. A recent scan of all of
the hundreds of weekly tournaments revealed that not one was
a stud game.
There are private clubs opening up all over the place. I have
found six in Manhattan, and have been told that there are over
a dozen now. None of them spread stud. Similarly, in my home
town of Boston there’s a new club in Chinatown. You’d think
that they would offer something for the many stud players who
travel down to Foxwoods to play. Nothing doing. They spread
no limit hold ‘em ring games and tournaments. But the closest
you’ll get to a stud game is the occasional “S” of a small rotation game of “HORSE”.
To play stud these days you have to be a HORSE’s S. Funny, no?
But all is not bleak. First of all, though familiarity may breed
contempt, I revel in the great stud action I get without leaving
New England. Foxwoods regularly spreads $1-3, 1-5, 5/10, 10/20,
20/40 and 75/150 action. On a recent Saturday night there were
nine low limit games of $1-3 or $1-5, three 5/10 games, four
10/20 games, four 20/40 games and two 75/150 games. Am I living in the right part of the world or what?
Even so, the trend toward hold ‘em is evident here as well.
Though it’s true that there were twenty-two stud games going
– there were sixty-five hold ‘em games at the same time. That
doesn’t count the many tables of tournament hold ‘em that were
going at the same time. Even Foxwoods no longer spreads a weekly stud tournament. It’s all hold ‘em. And we’re down to just one
or two events at the bi-annual major tournaments in the room.
Similarly, in Atlantic City there’s still excellent stud at the Taj,
the Tropicana and at the Borgota. I haven’t visited lately, but
the reports are that there are no signs of stud weakening any
time soon. So there will always be one stud road trip I can take.
Last but not least, I also had a great stud experience in
Elizabeth, Indiana of all places, home to Caesar’s Indiana casino
– just across the river from Louisville, Kentucky. I suppose it’s
fitting that the best stud poker action is in the stud horse capitol of the United States. They had a $30/60 game that went from
Friday afternoon until Sunday late morning. It was enormously
profitable for me. I was told that it runs like clockwork every
week. It’s an incentive to visit this lovely area.
Stud is also prevalent in home games and on the Internet. I
play regularly on Party Poker and on Poker Stars. I also get
many emails from players all over the United States asking me
strategy questions. Many of these players are very young and
have taken up stud after starting with hold ‘em. They want variety and stud is an appealing alternative.
Is stud going the way of draw or is it just being temporarily
obscured because of the explosion of interest in hold ‘em? I
remain hopeful.
By Byron Liggett
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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]
34
MARCH 6, 2006
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LAPC at Commerce
7. Matthew Glantz . . . . $34,850
8. Todd Bleak . . . . . . . . $27,880
9. Stacy Matuson . . . . . $22,300
Cowboy Kenna
Outguns The Grinder
In Big Heads-Up Duel
Two of the big-name and
most colorful stars of the
tournament trail, “Cowboy”
Kenna James and Michael
“The Grinder” Mizrachi,
engaged in a tough, 27hand heads-up finale, with
the cowboy finally lassoing the Remington cowboy
trophy as he won event 23
of 2006 LAPC, $2,500 nolimit hold’em.
James came to the final
table with a big lead and
held it most of the way
until Mizrachi beat him
with A-J versus K-10 to
double through and pull
about even. After that,
James slowly ground the
Grinder down.
“I knew it would be a
tough match,” James said
later. “I just hoped the cards
would break even.” He
said he took one shot with
the K-10 to try to take out
his opponent. When that
didn’t work, “I just chipped
away.”
James’ biggest cash-out
was the $588,218 he took
home for finishing second
in last year’s Legends of
Poker/WPT championship.
Other big cashes include
the Crown Australia Poker
Championship and the
$25,000 no-limit Monte
Carlo Millions. Mizrachi
won last year’s LAPC/WPT
championship event, worth
$1,859,909. He also has
wins in the $1,500 heads-up
championship at the Mirage
Poker Showdown and the
Five-Diamond World Poker
Classic limit hold’em event.
COMMERCE CASINO
L.A. POKER CLASSIC
EVENT #23
2/10/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $2,500 + $90
PLAYERS 270
PRIZE POOL
$675,000
Kenna James
1. Kenna James . . . . . $242,251
2. Michael “The Grinder” . . . .
Mizrachi . . . . . . . . . $124,403
3. Kelly Kim . . . . . . . . . $62,201
4. Tommy San . . . . . . . $39,285
5. Robert Durant . . . . . $29,464
6. Michael Woo . . . . . . $22,916
7. Reza Payvar . . . . . . . $16,369
8. Jan Olav Sjavik . . . . $13,095
9. Julian Studley . . . . . $10,476
David Baker, Al
Barbieri Chop Money;
Baker Takes Trophy
David Baker, a pro from
Texas, had just a few chips
more than fellow pro Al
Barbieri when they got
heads-up. It was getting
close to 7 a.m., so rather
than play on, they agreed
to an even-money chop,
with Baker taking the handsome Remington “Bronco
Buster” replica trophy.
“I’ve got no room for it,
anyway,” Barbieri joked.
This is the first major
win for Baker, who has
been playing professionally
for less than two years and
plays mainly cash games.
Before that, he was in sales.
His only prior win was in a
$300 Holiday Bonus event.
He also has final tables in
three other events, including the earlier $1,000 nolimit. His strategy tonight,
he said, was to keep changing he gears.
But while Baker got
the victory, Barbieri’s finish was perhaps the more
noteworthy. While Baker
was one of the chip leaders
from the opening bell, and
held steady all through this
tournament, Barbieri got
very short-chipped at the
final table, went all in six
times, yet managed to stay
in action and win enough
key pots to forge ahead to
his near dead-heat finish.
Barbieri, who was tutored
by the legendary John
Bonetti, is noted for doing
a dead-on imitation of his
mentor.
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PRIZE POOL
$225,525
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MARCH 6, 2006
35
Beat-the-Pro, PART 2
NEVER PLAY Poker with
a man CALLed “DOC”
By Dr. Scott Aigner, M.D.
In part one, I discussed a key hand
in which I had doubled up. Having
a relatively large stack is a definite advantage
as it allows a player the flexibility to play different strategies. Unfortunately, I ended up with few
opportunities to exploit this advantage I had over
my opponents because only a few minutes after I
won my first key hand my original table broke up.
No matter how good you are in the game of poker it
takes a few rounds to get acquainted to everyone’s
play when you first sit down at a new table. How
well you do in adapting to your new surroundings
is even more important in fast structured tournaments. It would have been nice to have caught a
few hands as soon as I sat down but luck was not
on my side. I did steal a few blinds here and there
but overall my stack dwindled in comparison to the
average stack size as a result of not having very
many opportunities to play either due to the situation, my hand, or bad position. The few times I had
a good situation develop I missed my hand and had
to fold as a result. I remained patient.
With the blinds at t150-300 and t50 antes the
UTG player made a minimum raise to t600. This
player had been playing fairly solid overall but
she was also a little predictable as well. I felt her
raises were a reflection of her hand values. She
had limped in UTG with aces and won a pot by trapping in a prior situation against a smallish stack.
She also made a minimum raise with A_K before.
She made a standard raise all of the other times
she raised preflop. She had a few opportunities slip
through her hands too including losing a fairly large
pot when her opponent caught a lucky 2 pair on
her.
I felt her minimum raise in this situation represented an ace queen or even an A_J type of hand
as she acted a little differently when she raised this
time compared to when she had the A_K. The table
composition in this particular hand was in my favor
when everyone folded to me and I looked down at
a pair of pocket 10’s in late position. I thought for
a minute or two and accessed my situation. My
stack had dwindled down to t3600 and based on
my read and her stack size I thought I could win the
pot preflop. She was solid enough to fold the two
most likely hands I put her on. She only had t5000
herself so a loss here was going to be very costly
indeed. The fold equity loomed large so I moved all
in. Everyone else folded. She took a long time to
make her decision and I thought she would fold just
based on how long she took. Usually the longer a
player takes the less likely they will call. Reluctantly
she finally called and I won the race against her
A-Q off suit. I was surprised with her call and after
the hand was over she ended up saying out loud
that she should have folded her hand. It wasn’t
just because I won this race. She could have been
in much worse shape here. In addition, there was
still time left for a better situation than this hand
presented. I am sure she learned from this experience. Next time I will discuss the final two tables as
promised. So much to say but so few words allowed
in my column…..
Dr Aigner is a board certified Urologist. He has multiple final table finishes in major tournaments including a WPO bracelet in 2001. You can contact him at
http://www.PokerStrategyForum.com
36
MARCH 6, 2006
X
X
X
X
Poker Player
Each issue’s crossword puzzle
honors a poker celebrity and will
be about that person’s life.
Today’s puzzle honors poker
pro Daniel Negreanu. Crossword by Myles Mellor.
ACROSS
1. Hotel that hired 17 across
as their “poker ambassador”
7. Each, for short
Word
38. Defeated
19. Degree
39. Puts money on the hand
20. What?
40. Venus __ Milo
21. 17 across was the 2004
ESPN ____ __ ___ ____
(goes with 26 across)
41. Rush
9. Player with the last
option to bet
42. Predict
15. Leaning Tower location
22. Car for winning poker
players?
DOWN
16. Inside prefix
1. Major poker tournament
24. ___, oh ___!
17. Contributor to Super
System 2 (goes with 30
across)
2. Unbeatable hand- crazy?
26. See 21 across
3. Fib
19. Make a play
4. Check over
27. Where 17 across went
to school
5. Swallow up
28. ____ house
6. Jill ___Spaulding
31. E-mail subject line intro
8. Website of 17 across
32. Are you a ___ player or
a feel player?
23. Steak or poker?
25. Betting cap
28. ___ cat!
10. Veto
29. __ __ Sisterhood
35. European, for short
11. Tricked
30. See 17 across
12. Celebrity poker player
Afleck
36. Certificate of Insurance
(abbr.)
34. One of the great skills
of 17 across: he is a ____
of other players
13. Single, prefix
37. Louisiana University
14. Approve
39. “Walk on __!”
36. Match the bet
18. __ and behold!
40. Daphne __ Maurier
33. Zodiac sign
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
9
10
11
12
15
8
13
14
16
17
21
18
22
23
25
19
24
26
27
29
30
28
31
32
34
20
33
35
36
38
37
39
41
40
42
The correct solution to the puzzle will be found only at:
www.pokerplayernewspaper.com. It will be posted on the cover date.
Record-setting LAPC at Commerce
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
James Gorham. . . . . $27,063
Tom McCormick . . . $15,786
Khalid Hameed . . . . $12,403
Peter Placey . . . . . . . $10,148
Matthew Szymaszek . $7,893
Gavin Smith . . . . . . . . $5,638
Bill Seber . . . . . . . . . . $4,514
Tavares Talks And
Yells His Way To Win
In $1,500 No-Limit
Jose Tavares, a young
investor who’s been playing
poker seriously for less than
a year, played a boisterous
and talkative brand of poker
as he surged into an enormous lead with three players left, then lost it to Thor
Hansen, regained it, and
then got very lucky on the
last hand, beating Hansen
with a runner-runner
straight. Hansen, with two
bracelets, two European
championships and two
LAPC titles, was far the
more experienced player.
$1,500 no-limit hold’em,
after a marathon, 87-hand
heads–up match with
Graham Duke, a softwear
developer from Vancouver,
British Columbia. Poker
player Frank Sinopoli had
been leading the tournament until two consecutive beats left him shortchipped. When he busted
out soon after, Duke and
Hua were close to even and
their lengthy battle began
and didn’t end until 2 a.m.
Hua’s long list of tournament cash-ins include a
$185,000 win in last year’s
$1,500 no-limit event at
LAPC and a $192,000 win
at the Borgata/WPT championship the same year.
COMMERCE CASINO
L.A. POKER CLASSIC
EVENT #19
2/6/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,500 + 840
PLAYERS 246
PRIZE POOL
$357,930
9. Agop “Jack” Boghossian . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,727
COMMERCE CASINO
L.A. POKER CLASSIC
EVENT #18
2/5/06
SHOOTOUT - NO
LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,000 + $60
PLAYERS 110
PRIZE POOL
$106,700
Can Kim Hua
Jean Gaspard
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Can Kim Hua. . . . . $132,432
Graham Duke . . . . . $68,007
Frank Sinopoli . . . . . $34,003
Carlos Fuentes . . . . . $21,476
Shawn Buchanan . . . $16,107
Paul Vinci . . . . . . . . . $12,528
Jeffrey Yoak . . . . . . . . $8,948
Makram Merham . . . $7,159
1. Jean “Prince” Gaspard. . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $40,890
2. Michael Gillian . . . . $23,440
3. Kevin Song . . . . . . . . $12,800
4. Albert Ng . . . . . . . . . . $7,470
5. Paul Vinci . . . . . . . . . . $5,865
6. David Levi . . . . . . . . . $4,800
7. Steve Hohn . . . . . . . . . $2,665
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,135
9. Chris McCormack. . . $1,650
Schleger crushes table
to score huge win in
no-limit
Shane Schleger, who has
been a pro for just over
a year, ran off with the
17th event of 2006 LAPC,
$300 limit hold’em. He
came to the final table as
leader with 796,000 chips,
knocked out players left
and right, and when a threeway deal ended festivities,
he owned 1,526,000 of the
2,589,000 chips in play and
COMMERCE CASINO
L.A. POKER CLASSIC
EVENT #21
2/8/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,500 + $80
PLAYERS 294
PRIZE POOL
$427,770
Jose Tavares
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Jose Tavares . . . . . . $158,270
Thor Hansen . . . . . . $81,275
Tad Jurgens . . . . . . . $40,635
Farzad Bonyadi . . . . $25,665
Max “Italian Pirate” . . . . . .
Pescatori . . . . . . . . . . $19,250
Tim Lyons . . . . . . . . $14,970
Bill Edler . . . . . . . . . $10,695
Tony Hasrouni . . . . . . $8,555
Steve Hohn . . . . . . . . . $6,865
COMMERCE CASINO
L.A. POKER CLASSIC
EVENT #20
2/7/06
POT LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,500 + $80
1 REBUY OPTIONAL
PLAYERS 90
REBUYS 44
PRIZE POOL
$194,970
James Carroll
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
James Carroll . . . . . $77,988
Anthony Reategui . . $44,843
Ted Leva . . . . . . . . . . $23,396
Jose Torres . . . . . . . . $13,648
Scott Bohlman . . . . . $10,723
Michael Carson . . . . . $8,774
Lance Tahata . . . . . . . $6,824
Dante Pugilese . . . . . . $4,874
Joseph Branderburg $3,900
Can Hua Wins $1,500
No-Limit After 87Hand Heads-Up Play
California pro Can Hua
took home $132,432 in
event 19 of LAPC 2006,
No Limit Hold ’Em Sunday Shootouts
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MARCH 6, 2006
37
CP’s Player of the LAPC at Commerce
Year Awards
(Cont’d from page 31
BEST FEMALE PLAYER
Cindy Violette
Jennifer Harman*
Mimi Tran
MOST FEARED PLAYER
Johnny Chan
Phil Ivey*
Daniel Negreanu
PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD:
BEST CELEBRITY PLAYER
Jennifer Tilley*
Gabe Kaplan
Tobey Maguire
PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD:
FAVORITE PLAYER
Doyle Brunson
Chris Ferguson
Daniel Negreanu*
Phil Ivey
Mike Matusow
MOST UNDERRATED
PLAYER
Allen Cunningham*
David Benyamine
Todd Brunson
Cunningham was not only
underrated, he was underrepresented as all the other
nominees were there to
accept their awards in an
outstanding turnout of
poker talent.
collected $219,030.
Sang Pham, with
771,000, won $142,720,
while Danny Walker,
with 297,000, took home
$94,810.
All kinds of records were
smashed for this quartermillion guarantee event,
which drew an astounding 879 players who made
1,710 rebuys and add-ons.
When all the figures were
added up, official first place
alone paid more than the
entire guarantee!
Schleger, who cashed out
fifth in a WSOP no-limit
rebuy tournament last year,
until recently had been
playing mostly “sit and go”
and multi-table tournaments
online. In this event, he
made an amazing comeback after being down to
700 chips in early first-day
action when blinds were
400-800.
COMMERCE CASINO
L.A. POKER CLASSIC
EVENT #17
2/4/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $300 + $30
REBUY UNLIMITED
PLAYERS 879
REBUYS 1710
PRIZE POOL
$753,400
Shane Schleger
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Shane Schleger. . . . $256,155
Sang Pham . . . . . . . $135,611
Danny Walker . . . . . $64,792
Scott Fischman . . . . $45,203
Joe Gordon. . . . . . . . $30,889
Jae Bae . . . . . . . . . . . $23,355
7. John Hoang . . . . . . . $18,834
8. Daniel Burke . . . . . . $15,067
9. Gagik Zhamkochyen $12,077
Liz Lieu Makes A
Trophy Deal So That
Charity Gets Money
Liz Lieu, a very tough,
high-stakes cash game
player who only recently
began playing tournaments,
had played 20 hands headsup with Jason Heidema,
a designer for eBay.in the
16th event of LAPC, $1,000
limit hold’em. Lieu had him
crippled at one point, but
then he won about 10 hands
in a row. Earlier, a threeway deal had been made
where Heidema was to get
$45,013 to $37,453 for
Lieu and $23,466 for Jack
Boghossian. They agreed
to play for $10,000 and the
trophy, and Lieu announced
she would donate 20 percent of her winnings to
charity if she won the tournament. Now, to make sure
that the promised money
did go to charity – mostly
to multiple sclerosis, the
remainder to Vietnam aid –
she offered to let Heidema
take $7,000 of the $10,000
if she could have the win
and trophy that went with
it, or play on, and he took
the deal.
Lieu, who basically plays
$400-$800 hold’em, entered
her first tournaments at the
2005 World Series and had
two cashes. The majority
of her charity donation, she
said, would go for multiple sclerosis, the remainder to help “my country”
(Vietnam).
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1. Liz Lieu . . . . . . . . . . $66,348
2. Jason Heidema. . . . . $33,174
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $16,412
4. Andre Woloszym . . . $10,476
5. Tom Ellsworth . . . . . . $6,984
6. Anthony “bbwolf” Guadagni
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $6,115
7. Jordan Rich . . . . . . . . $5,238
8. Todd Witteles . . . . . . . $4,365
9. Larry Ross . . . . . . . . . $3,492
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David Nguyen
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
David Nguyen . . . . $126,328
Daniel Fuhs . . . . . . . $64,873
Udi Perez . . . . . . . . . $32,436
Gevork Kesabyan . . $20,486
Asa Davis . . . . . . . . . $15,364
Michael Simhai . . . . $11,950
Michael Navarro . . . . $8,536
Partha “Spiderman” Data . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $6,828
9. Casper Hansen. . . . . . $5,463
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WHAT HAS YOUR POKER ROOM
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Steven Seiden . . . . . . $62,465
Jim Downend . . . . . . $32,240
John DeFrancis . . . . $16,120
Carlos Colon Jr . . . . $14,105
Chris Tryba . . . . . . . $12,090
Edward Alberts . . . . $10,075
James Weston . . . . . . $8,060
Leon Brown . . . . . . . . $6,045
Al Pistone . . . . . . . . . . $4,050
PLAYERS 438
PRIZE
POOL
$195,000
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Mike Montuori . . . . $60,450
Scott Auerbach . . . . $31,200
Mike Purdy . . . . . . . $15,600
Leonard Green . . . . $13,650
Peter Lios . . . . . . . . . $11,700
Rory Edward McHugh $9,750
Hoa Nguyen . . . . . . . . $7,800
Thomas Clark . . . . . . $5,850
Alexander Ossip Jr . . $3,900
$219,000
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Nick Frangos . . . . . . $67,890
Mike Hofeld . . . . . . . $35,140
Louis Del Brocco . . . $17,520
Vitaly Kouyazin . . . . $15,330
Dean Schultz . . . . . . $13,140
Michael King . . . . . . $10,950
John Zoldak . . . . . . . . $8,760
Nick Feoli . . . . . . . . . . $6,570
James Lewis . . . . . . . . $4,380
BACK ISSUES, SPECIAL FEATURES & UP-TO-THE MINUTE POKER INFO—
38
MARCH 6, 2006
MARCH 6, 2006
39
Ulysses is a Hero
Meta
SENIORS SCENE
Charlie Shoten
S
Contro
By George “The engineer” EPSTEIN
This column is different from any I
have ever written before. It is about
a man who you probably never heard
of, and probably don’t remember
even if you have seen him before.
You won’t see him playing poker on
the WPT or a big-time tournament.
Yes, he is a poker player, but he can
afford to play only at $2-$4 games.
He loves the game of poker. And he
is a hero.
The other evening my family was
dining at the famous Lawry’s Prime
Rib restaurant on La Cienega Blvd.
in Beverly Hills to celebrate my
granddaughter Esther’s 10th birthday. Wow! You may recall that
Esther is the charming young lady
about whom I have written three
previous columns. (There is even a
special way of bluffing named after
her!) Even though Esther isn’t a big
eater – and Lawry’s portions are
huge, it is her favorite restaurant.
We were just finishing our salads
when suddenly there was a commotion at a nearby table. A middleaged man was standing up and
gasping for air; apparently he was
choking on some food he had tried
to swallow. Someone at his table
jumped up and starting slapping him
on the back. It didn’t help. Then he
pounded him on the back. It didn’t
help. The man was in trouble.
Suddenly Jose Ulysses Pineda,
a bus boy, ran into the scene. He
knew just what to do. He applied the
Heimlich maneuver with skill. The
choking man suddenly coughed up
a huge portion of meat, as his body
seemed to go limp – sigh of relief
Ulysses, the bus boy, had saved his
life!
The man sat back down at his
table and relaxed as he recovered.
I am sure he was genuinely thankful for Ulysses’ speedy and skillful
actions on his behalf. After the man
was seated and apparently comfortable, without any further ado,
Ulysses went back to his chores in
the restaurant. No tumult. No big
deal. A few minutes later, it was like
the near-choking-death had never
occurred. Diners sat and chatted,
as they enjoyed their meals. The
smartly dressed waitresses tended to
the guests at their assigned tables.
The carver served up huge portions
of Lawry’s specially prepared prime
rib. And Ulysses cleared the dishes
and refilled the water glasses. Like
nothing had happened. . .
I made it my business to meet
Ulysses. Having served in the
Navy during WWII, I recognized and
admired the genuine concern and
skill displayed by that bus boy. I
wanted to meet him.
Jose Ulysses Pineda came to the
40
MARCH 6, 2006
U.S. from El Salvador
25 years ago at age
19. Lacking education, he has been
employed as a bus boy at Lawry’s
Prime Rib for 25 years. “Is this the
first time you have saved someone’s
life?” I asked him. Modestly, he
replied, “No, this is the seventh
time.” Imagine, this unassuming
immigrant has saved the lives of
seven people! Seven human beings
are alive today because of him.
He loves to play poker. We got to
chatting a bit – not much because
Ulysses had his duties to perform;
and he is very conscientious. What I
learned is that Ulysses loves to play
poker. His favorite game is sevencard stud. Mostly he plays at the
Commerce Casino which is not far
from where he lives near downtown
Los Angeles. The game he plays is
$2-$4 because he can’t afford to
play for higher stakes. Besides, he
usually does not win; but he loves to
play the game. He knows the limits
he can afford. Certainly, he’d like to
become more skilled.
Later I chatted with Anthony
McCarthy, the restaurant manager.
He acknowledged that Ulysses is
an excellent employee. And he told
me that all employees are given the
opportunity to learn CPR – just in
case. What a wonderful policy. I
recall that Ulysses had told me that
he had learned how to handle such
situations while employed at Lawry’s.
What makes a real hero? How
often do we put the big-name poker
players on pedestals and admire
their expertise. . . Just like movie
stars and basketball professionals,
they become our idols – our heroes.
To me, Ulysses deserves to be
lauded. I am proud that a fellow
poker player is a real hero. And I
am so pleased to have made the
acquaintance of Jose Ulysses Pineda.
I am sending him a complimentary
copy of my Poker for Winners! book;
and I will sign it “To a real hero.”
And I will invite him to attend my
poker classes as my guest – whichever he can attend when he is not
working to earn his living. I hope
Ulysses develops into a highly skilled
poker player. Maybe, one day he will
be playing – and winning – at the
World Series of Poker. . .
So, readers, what’s your opinion?
George “The Engineer” Epstein is the
author of The Greatest Book of Poker for
Winners! (T/C Press, PO Box 36006, Los
Angeles, CA 90036). His new algorithm
booklet, Hold’em or Fold’em?, is a big
hit. He is currently writing a new book on
Rules & Strategies for WINNING at Texas
Hold’em. George can be reached by e-mail:
[email protected].
Why
passionate desires is resigam I writnation’s solution. It keeps
ing about
us from experiencing emo‘Aliens’ in Poker Player
tional pain and disappointNewspaper? Almost any
ments. It really destroys
topic I write about can
the essence of who we are
improve our poker game
and cuts off our
because poker
inherent creis a metaCommitment #2:
ativity and
phor for
“I focus on my inner self
our most
what goes
and look after it and
passionate
on in all
care
for
it”
desires.
areas of our
Sci-Fi movlives. Better
ies show aliens
health certainly
taking over and controlimproves our poker game
and will bring our game to ling the minds and bodhigher levels of excellence. ies of people. This alien
mind-control is the same
Freedom from poisonous
as the mind-control by
memories, ideas, thoughts
our poisonous memories,
and beliefs, which cause
ideas, thoughts and beliefs
stressful feelings like resignation, will also improve that cause resignation and
all of the other painful
our game. This freedom
and destructive feelings
will allow us to think and
act outside the box, consid- we experience. Despots,
er all of the pertinent infor- like the aliens in our movmation available, make the ies, want to control our
minds. They need to take
best decisions, and domiaway individual freedom
nate the poker table.
by creating an aura of fear
Are you playing your
and imposing mindless
cards at the poker table,
obedience. These despots
or are your cards playare unfortunate people
ing you? If your cards
who have been taken
are playing you, you are
over by poisonous memoplaying mindlessly. And if
you are playing mindlessly ries, ideas, thoughts and
beliefs. They have very
you are probably living
little humaneness left in
your life mindlessly. Until
them. They only look like
you stop living your life
us. Many despots can be
mindlessly, other forces
found in politics. Despots
will dictate your life to
now rule and have ruled
you. Resignation, one of
many societies. Despots
our most destructive feelare controlled by thought
ings causes mindlessness.
terrorists (poisonous
Resignation causes us to
memories, ideas, thoughts
sit back and watch televiand beliefs), which cause
sion rather than pick up
fear, anger, resentment,
the phone and call that
beautiful person you would hatred and vindictiveness.
Ruthlessness is their greatreally love to take out to
est strength and keeps
dinner. Fear of rejection,
them in power for a long
becomes an overwhelmtime.
ing obstacle and we just
Thought terrorists are
can’t pick up the phone.
despots that control your
So we resign ourselves to
mind your poker game and
stay home and watch TV.
your life. When you realThe opportunities for a
ize this, you will be able to
more fulfilled and happy
notice and let go of these
life are lost and the years
despots to free your mind,
go by. At some point we
improve your poker game,
wonder where the years
went. Resignation holds us and live a happier life.
Human beings who are not
back from living our life
to the fullest. Setting aside controlled by TT can see
our creativity and our most right through despots and
aphysical Poker & Life
Science Fiction… Are We
olled by Despotic Aliens?
identify them in person
or even on TV. One whiff
of these empty shells by
a free human being and
the stench smells from the
bench. Their titles, medals,
robes, and statues, instead
of disguising them, give
them away. The louder
they preach, the bigger the
stench, and the more they
assure you that they care
about you, that they are in
the right, that their way is
the only way, that they are
pious and generous, the
easier it is to identify them.
We must identify them
because we must identify
the despot in ourselves.
Not only is our freedom at
stake but our very existence
as well. We must identify
them and sever ourselves
from them in every way we
can. Even through the violence that they knowingly
inflict on us.
I hope now you can see
the despot in yourself,
that tyrannical judge who
watches over you to keep
you in line if you don’t
measure up, and to keep
you under his control so
It never
occurred
to me that
the TT are
controlling me.
It never occurred
to you that
you could do
something
about them
either.
that you don’t undertake
your most passionate
desires. Many of us live
our whole lives in fear of
the terrible feelings that
are created when we judge
ourselves or treat ourselves
unkindly and unmercifully.
We must begin to treat
ourselves more kindly. If
bringing your poker game
up a few levels is your
motivation that is fine. But
you must bring your life
up a few levels to bring
your poker game up along
with it.
Mind-control and the
thought terrorists that
cause it are passionate
interests of mine. Living
a fuller and happier life
is what I care about. To
improve your poker game
you must improve your
poker mind. To improve
your poker mind you must
clear your mind of the despots I call thought terrorists. A mind free of thought
terrorists will focus clearly
at the poker table. I use
my Ten Commitments to
free my mind from these
thought terrorists by noticing and letting go of them.
A mind free from thought
terrorists feels better than
any other win I have ever
experienced. Can you think
of anything you would
prefer other than having
a clear mind at the poker
table?
Comments, Questions
and Experiences:
[email protected]
Read “No-Limit Life”:
www.nolimitlife.net
NO-LIMIT
NO-LIMIT
LIFE
LIFE
♥♣ ♦ ♠
DA N G E R O US
C O N T E N TS :
MAY CAUSE A RADIANT
CONTAGIOUS SMILE,
A JOYOUS MINDSET,
PROFITABLE
POKER AND A
WINNING LIFE!
♥♣ ♦ ♠
C
CH
HA
AR
R LL II E
E SS H
HO
O TT E
EN
N
LEARN THE ART OF POKER FROM
ONE OF THE WORLD’S TOP-RANKED PROS
Future Articles will hopefully include readers’
responses, questions and
requests...
(Best Book Award: USA
Book News 2005) Category:
Psychology/Mental Health
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More info: phone: 702 270-4877, e-mail:
[email protected], web: www.nolimitlife.net
MARCH 6, 2006
41
The OK-J Open is Coming
BacK in the saddle Again
Book reviews
Harrington on
Hold’em, Vol. 2:
The Endgame
By OKLAHOMA JOHNNY HALE
Yes, folks, poker is now being played
in my home town of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The Cherokee Nations Enterprises is the name of
the Casino in Cartoosa, Oklahoma where a lot of
poker is now underway.
This casino poker room is just a short ride from
the Tulsa international airport. It is a large poker
room with thirty poker tables in operation and a
side room with five more poker tables that can
accommodate the overflow of poker players that
are coming from all over the world to play poker in
the birthplace of Hold’em No Limit Poker
Yes, Oklahoma is in the HEARTLAND OF POKER—
right in the middle of the USA—and all roads lead
to Tulsa. The mother road—old US 66, a/k/a main
street USA and now known as I-40, runs right
beside this poker room.
I played poker on this property sixty years ago,
when it was a country club known as Rolling Hills!
Of course my church did not approve of me playing
poker—way back then. (Oklahoma is the buckle on
the bible belt).
During that time, and we invited the local sheriff
and county judge to sit in and play with us and we
made sure that they never lost and that the food
was good—and if they wanted a cool one, it was
right there for them.
The CNE (Cherokee Nations Enterprises) bought
the old Rolling Hills country club and golf course
and renamed it Cherokee Hills. Last September I
was honored to have the CNE host my 78th birthday poker party. (You can see all the pictures of
this event—and a lot of WSOP pictures—by coming
to my website, www.ok-j.com). Sal—The VIP host of
the CNE—built me a birthday cake as big as a poker
table. It was the best birthday party of my lifetime.
Now—this year, on April 6 thru the April 9, the
Poker Room is holding “The Oklahoma Johnny
Hale Open poker tournament.” Yes, most of the
time, I host only seniors & charity events, at “The
Seniors” @ WSOP & at The Orleans Open & at
Foxwoods during their World Poker Finals & The
European Seniors at the Aviation Club on the
Champs Elysee in Paris France. But I did just return
from hosting the OK-J Open No Limit Championship
at The Seneca Nation of Indians at Niagara Falls,
New York—which was open to all poker players.
Yes, at the OK-J open in Tulsa, there will be a
seniors-only no limit poker tournament on Friday,
April the 8th. (You must have attained the age of
50 to play in this seniors event). There will be a
ladies-only tournament on Thursday the 6th. But
the OK-J Open poker tournament will be open to
all who are approved to play in the Cherokee Poker
Room.
The OK-J Open Championship is scheduled for
Saturday, the 8th of April and the final table will
be on Sunday the 9th. I promise not to sing ”Back
in the Saddle Again,” but the beautiful “Oklahoma
Sarah”—mine and Carol’s daughter—will sing for
you.
If you like to play poker, fish and eat good country food, you are invited to come and be with me at
the OK-J Open.
Until next time, remember to Stay Lucky!
Editor’s Notes: You may contact OK-J at his e-mail
[email protected], or play poker LIVE, ONLINE
with Johnny, Carol and Sarah at www.OK-J.com.
Johnny’s book, “The Gentleman Gambler,” is in its
third printing. Contact Johnny for your copy.
42
MARCH 6, 2006
by Dan Harrington
Two Plus Two Publishing, 2005
ISBN: 1-880685-35-3
450pp, $29.95
Dan Harrington has repeatedly demonstrated that he
deserves to be counted
among the elite no-limit
hold’em tournament poker
players. Moreover, he has
also demonstrated that he
can communicate winning
poker concepts in Volume 1
of this book series. While
Volume 1 discussed play
during the early and middle
stages of tournaments,
Volume 2 focuses on play
near a tournament’s end.
Solid poker is almost
always the right way to
play hands early on, but
once a player approaches
the money the most profitable tournament strategy
can deviate significantly
from optimum poker play.
This book considers many
of these sorts of situations.
The first section of this
book is really a continuation of the topics found in
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Volume 1, an extended exegesis on the topics of bluffing and slow-playing. Just
about every conceivable
bluffing situation is covered here although, perhaps
strangely, less consideration
is given to making large
semi-bluffs with high-quality draws than I might have
expected. There’s a lot of
good stuff here, and anyone
who plays the bigger buy-in
tournaments or cash games
will eventually be
exposed to all of
these moves.
Harrington
begins his endgame analysis with
an explanation
and examination
of what he calls
“inflection point
theory”. Basically,
his thesis is that as players’
stack sizes change relative
to the blinds and antes different strategic considerations apply. This is wellknown and has previously
been addressed in the poker
literature, but never with
this level of depth. Much
of this is understood, at
least instinctively, by many,
if not most, tournament
veterans, but Harrington’s
analysis is extremely
detailed and meticulously
thought out. This may not
be as revolutionary an idea
as it is presented here, but it
is important and well worth
understanding.
Harrington goes on to
cover short-handed and
heads-up
no-limit
hold’em.
As we have
come to expect, Harrington
is exceptionally thorough
in his coverage of this
topic. It’s my opinion that
this information is the best
in this book, and maybe
the best in this series. His
analysis of these situations
is carefully constructed and
exceptionally well-considered. I especially
liked his play-byplay commentary
of the heads-up
confrontation
between John
D’Agostino and
Phil Ivey at the
conclusion of the
Turing Stone tournament in 2004. I
suspect that there are few
tournament players who
won’t benefit from what
Harrington has to offer here.
Perhaps it’s my personal
preference for cash games
over tournaments, but if
I had to choose, I’d rate
Volume 1 slightly higher
than Volume 2. This takes
nothing away from Volume
2, however, as it is an
exceptional book. Anyone
who is playing regularly in
no-limit hold’em tournaments who hasn’t read what
Harrington has to say on the
topic is missing out, plain
and simple. I highly recommend this book as part of an
exceptional two volume set.
—Nick Christenson
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Entertainment RePORT
By LEN BUTCHER
I don’t know how they do it, but the Rolling
Stones keep doin’ just that -- rolling. They
rocked the joint on the half-time show at this
year’s Super Bowl and now they’re getting ready to do the
same March 4 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
It’s a wonder these guys are even alive, never mind getting up on stage for several hours and displaying more energy
than groups half their age. If I walk up a flight of stairs I feel
like my heart is going to pop out of my chest. And forget
about going out on the town partying. One night -- and it
wouldn’t have to be a very late one either – I’d be dragging
my ass for days.
Yet Mick (Jagger) and Keith (Richards) have been living life
to the fullest for more than 40 years, when the two of them
started the band in 1962. Throughout those years, this dynamic duo, and the rest of the talented members of the group,
have probably done more drugs, drank more booze, and laid
more women than most of us can even fantasize about. Mick
and Keith’s friendship has also been tested over the years
and very few in the business ever thought they would have a
long ride together. They proved everyone wrong, and along
the way became one of the greatest songwriting teams in the
history of rock.
The Rolling Stones also became the longest surviving rock
and roll band in history. This would be an honor in itself, but
when you add to that fact that they still perform to packed
venues around the world and are the largest grossing band
whenever they tour, it’s an amazing accomplishment. If you’re
wondering how the name came about, it was part of a lyric in
the Muddy Waters song, “Mannish Boy”
Forward to today. On February 18 of this year, they will perform a free concert on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro,
where 1,000,000 spectators are expected. A special overpass
is currently being constructed directly between the hotel,
where they will be staying, and the stage across the street, to
ensure their safe passage to and from the concert.
Jagger still knows how to poke a little fun at the band.
Before performing “Satisfaction” at the Super Bowl, he commented on their longevity, saying, “We could have played this
one at Super Bowl I.” To give you an idea of how well they still
do on the road, their “A Bigger Bang” tour last year made a
record-shattering $162 million. This breaks the previous North
American record, held by the Stones themselves for their 1994
Voodoo Lounge tour, which grossed approximately $120 million.
It should, however, be noted that the North American leg
of the A Bigger Bang tour is far from finished; there are still a
number of confirmed shows remaining. Also, ticket prices for
the tour are rather high; they average about $200 for a single
seat. Am I in the wrong business, or what?
Be that as it may, if you’ve never seen them perform,
you’re in for a treat and as they very seldom play a hotelcasino, try to catch them at the MGM Grand March 4.
If you want to see a guy who’s got it all together, catch Earl
Turner Thursdays thru Sundays at 8 p.m. at Palace Station in
Las Vegas. I haven’t seen him in a few years, since he played
the Copacabana showroom at the Rio, but Turner has got it
all. This talented singer puts on a high-energy show with a
wide range of styles and songs, backed up by some great
musicians.
And does he know how to work his audience. Often, he
will come out and personally greet members of the audience
before he starts his show. But it‚s his talent that wins us
over, from swing to rock and his ability to touch our hearts. I
interviewed him when he was at the Rio, his first big gig since
playing bars and lounges and he was a very grateful young
man, knowing how hard it is to get a shot in a town with the
toughest competition in the world.
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]
44
MARCH 6, 2006
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
Fort McDowell Casino
CALIFORNIA
Bad Boy Boxing
Feb 24-25, 7 p.m.
Agua Caliente Casino
Comedy Shop
8:30 p.m. Featuring three top comedians
weekly.
Joker’s Comedy Club, Karaoke Thursdays 8 p.m.
Sunday-Wednesday, 9 p.m.
Fridays & Saturdays, 9 p.m.
Thursdays 8 p.m. to Midnight, Sundays 2-6 p.m.
Fridays 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Thursday through Monday
Presents Banda Nortina Sats 8 p.m.-3 a.m.
Mar 12, 8 p.m.
Mar 11, 9 p.m.
Live Jazz, Tues. 8 p.m.
Mar 10, 7 p.m.
Arena Patio
DJ / Karaoke
Live Bands
Ballroom Dance Party
Crystal Park Casino & Hotel Cambodian Dance Party
(20)
Karaoke
El As De Oros Night Club
Allison Krauss
Fantasy Springs Resort
Tito Puente Jr.
Harrah’s Rincon
Finish Line Lounge
Hollywood Park Casino (5)
Pechanga Resort & Casino (33) Bill Cosby
CONNECTICUT
Juanes
Foxwoods Resort Casino
Michael Buble
Mohegan Sun Casino
NEW JERSEY
Amr Diab
Taj Majal Hotel & Casino
Tropicana Casino & Resort
Toni Braxton
(Atlantic City)
NEW YORK
Tom Jones
Turning Stone Casino
NEVADA-LAS VEGAS
Beauty & The Beast
Aladdin Hotel & Casino
Magician Steve Wyrick
Donn Arden’s Jubilee!
Bally’s Resort & Casino
O
Bellagio Resort & Casino
Binion’s Gambling Hall (26) Live Music in Keno Bar
Boulder Station Hotel &
Trick Pony
Casino (8)
Celine Dion
Caesar’s Palace
Sixties Mania
Cannery Hotel & Casino
Thunder From Down Under
Excalibur Hotel & Casino
George Wallace
Flamingo Las Vegas
The Second City
Commerce Casino
Mar 3, 9 p.m.
Mar 1, 7:30 p.m.
Mar 11, 8:30 p.m.
Mar 10, 8 p.m..
Feb 25, 8 p.m.
Feb 1-5, 8 p.m.
Ongoing, Wednesday through Monday, 7 & 10 p.m.
Sat-Thu, 8 p.m.
Fridays through Tuesdays, 7:30 & 10:30 p.m.
Fridays & Saturdays 8:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m.
Mar 11, 8 p.m.
Gold Coast (35)
Forever Plaid
Thru Mar 27, 8:30 p.m.
Mar 3-4, 8 p.m.
Fridays through Wednesdays. 8:30 & 10:30 p.m.
Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 p.m.
Thursdays through Tuesdays, 8 p.m.
Tue thru Sun (dark Mon), 7:30 p.m.,
Sun 3 p.m. & 7 p.m.
Golden Nugget Hotel &
Casino
Harrah’s Hotel & Casino
Imperial Palace Hotel &
Casino (7)
Gordie Brown
Fri thru Tue, 7:30 p.m.
Las Vegas Hilton
Luxor Resort & Casino
Mandalay Bay Resort &
Casino
Clint Holmes
Monday through Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Legends In Concert
Mondays through Saturdays, 7 & 10 p.m.
Kenny G
Menopause, the Musical
Hairspray
Carrot Top
Mar 8-9, 9 p.m.
8 p.m. nightly Sat thru Thu
Ongoing, Thu thru Tue, 7 p.m.
Sun thru Fri (dark Tues), 8 p.m. & Sat, 7 & 9 p.m.
7 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Sundays; 8 p.m.
Fridays; 7 & 10:30 p.m. Saturdays, Mondays.
Mar 24, 7 p.m.
Mar 4, 8 p.m.
Fri thru Tue, 7:30& 10:30 p.m.
8 p.m. (Monday thru Friday)
Mar 3-4, 10:30 p.m.
Tuesdays thru Saturdays, 7pm; Tuesdays &
Saturdays. 7 & 10 p.m.
Mar 2-5, 8 p.m.
Thu thru Sun, 8 p.m.
Tuesdays thru Saturdays, 7 p.m.
9 p.m. Tuesdays thru Sundays.
Wed thru Mon, 9:30 p.m.
Wed thru Mon, 7:30 p.m.
Tue thru Sun, 9:30 p.m
Sun thru Thu, 7 p.m.
Mon-Sat, 9 p.m.
Fri-Wed, 10 p.m.
Mamma Mia
UB40
Rolling Stones
KA.
Impressionist Danny Gans
The Mirage Hotel & Casino (9)
Jay Leno
MGM Grand (43)
Monte Carlo Resort & Casino (31) Magician Lance Burton
The Orleans Hotel & Casino
Palace Station Hotel &
Casino (8)
Plaza Hotel & Casino
Riviera Hotel & Casino
Sahara Hotel & Casino
Sam’s Town Hotel & Casino
(42)
Silverton Hotel & Casino
Stardust Hotel & Casino
Stratosphere Hotel &
Casino
Sunset Station (8)
Texas Station (8)
Tropicana Casino & Resort
Wynn Las Vegas
Donny Osmond
Earl Turner
Laugh Trax comedy club
The Comedy Zone
Crazy Girls
La Cage
Splash
Neil Diamond Tribute
Buck Wild
The Amazing Jonathan
The Platters, Coasters and
Drifters
8 p.m. nightly
Red Rock
Mar 2-5, 4:30 & 8:30 p.m.
Eddie Money
Jose Feliciano
Rick Thomas
Bite
American Superstars
Viva Las Vegas
Al Stewart
The Whip-Its
Oak Ridge Boys
Love Shack
Extreme Magic starring
Dirk Arthur
Folies Bergere
Le Reve
Avenue “Q”
Mar 11, 8 p.m.
Mar 3-4, 7:30 p.m.
Ongoing, Thu thru Tue 2 & 4 p.m.
Ongoing, 10:30 p.m.
Ongoing, 6:30 & 8:30 p.m.
Ongoing, 2 & 4 p.m.
Mar 25, 8 p.m.
Nightly, 10:30 p.m.
Mar 3, 8 p.m.
Fridays and Saturdays, 10 p.m.
Sat-Thu, 2 & 4 p.m. p.m.
Ongoing, 7:30 p.m. & 10 p.m.
Ongoing, 8 p.m.
Ongoing, 8 p.m.
LAUGHLIN
Riverboat Ramblers Strolling
Colorado Belle Hotel Casino Dixieland Jazz Band
Ramada Express Hotel Casino Dublin’s Irish Cabaret
Glen Campbell
Riverside Hotel Casino
RENO
The Palmores
Atlantis Casino Resort
Smokey Joe’s Cafe
Eldorado Hotel Casino
Alison Krauss
Reno Hilton Hotel Casino
Silver Legacy Hotel & Casino Johnny Mathis
Fridays & Saturdays, 8 p.m.
Mar 21-23, 8 p.m.
Mar 7-12, 7 p.m.
10 p.m.-4 a.m.
Ongoing, 8 p.m.
Mar 9, 8 p.m.
Feb 24-25, 8 p.m.
5IF#JHHFTU(BNCMF
:PV4IPVME5BLF
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s /NEOFTHEWORLDSTOPBIGGESTPOKERROOMS
s 4HE5+SLEADINGBETTINGCOMPANYnLISTEDONTHE&43%
s TOLLFREE5+BASED#USTOMER3ERVICES
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ALTERNATIVELYYOUCANCONTACTOUR#USTOMER2ELATIONSDEPARTMENTON
LAYOFF
2006 WORLDWIDE
POKER TOURNAMENTS
In a perfect world, we’d get to play
poker as much as we want. In a perfect world, the game would always be
NOW! Get Tournament Listings at our website: www.pokerplayernewspaper.com
KILLER Poker
>Denotes Advertiser; Poker Association Events also denoted: t=World Poker Tour,
s=World Series of Poker and e=European Poker Tour.
By John Vorhaus
To list your 3-day events contact: A.R. Dyck, Assistant Publisher, at: [email protected]
on and the game would always be soft. In a perfect
world, there would never be family obligations or
work-related travel or gridlocky traffic jams to
block the straight line between poker desire and
poker bliss. In a perfect world...
Well, last time I checked this wasn’t a perfect
world, and, for most of us at least, there’s inevitably a gap between the amount of poker we want
to play and the amount of poker we get to play.
To quote the phrase, the problem is not: playing
poker; the problem is: not playing poker. This problem amplifies after a long layoff, when we’re particularly at risk for bad play.
Say you’ve been traveling, or otherwise forced
away from the table. Now you’re back, and you
storm into the club with a “Look who’s home from
the wars, boys!” attitude, ready to take no prisoners in pursuit of the poker buzz you’ve missed lo
these many weeks. Can you name five mistakes
you’re likely to make in this frame of mind? I can...
easy.
1. In the name of making up for lost time, you’ll
play way too many hands.
2. A feeling of entitlement (it’s been so long since
you’ve dragged a pot) will cause me to overplay
those hands.
3. If you suffer early setbacks, you’ll try to get well
quick because, gosh, losing’s not the feeling you
sought when you rushed here so.
4. If you get ahead early, you’ll push your rush too
far and wreck it, as the euphoria of winning after
so long a layoff overwhelms your common sense.
5. Win or lose, you’ll play too long. In the name of
making up for lost time.
DATE
POKER
If you don’t have that strength, don’t despair.
You’re human, that’s all. But help your cause by
reminding yourself that the game will be there
tomorrow, and the game will be better because
you will be better. Cook up any excuse to delay
your play until you’ve recovered from your layoff
or your other obligations or whatever has taken
you away from the game you love. I know it’s the
game you love; I love it too, and I can’t wait to get
back in there and mix it up again. But I must wait;
you must too. It’s the only way we can keep the
layoff from kicking us in the ass.
ON
TV
Celebrity Poker Showdown. Feb
22-25, 27-28, Mar 1-4, 6-10. (Check local
listings for times). Bravo.
E! Hollywood Hold’em.
Thursdays. 10:00 PM. E!
FullTilt.net Poker Challenge.
(Check local listings for times). Fox Sports
High Stakes Poker. (Check local listings for times). GSN
Inside Poker. (For local times/stations, check www.insidepoker.tv).
Learn From the Pros. (Check
local listing for times). Fox Sports.
National Heads-Up Poker
Championship. (Check local listing
for times). CNBC.
[John Vorhaus is the author of Poker Night and
the Killer Poker book series, and news
ambassador for UltimateBet.com.]
46
MARCH 6, 2006
LOCATION
Feb 22-23
World Poker Tour Invitational
tCommerce Casino, Commerce, CA
Feb 26-Mar 7
World Series Event
sHarrah’s Rincon, San Diego, CA
Feb 27-Mar 3
Bay 101 Shooting Star
tBay 101, San Jose, CA
Mar 2-5
March Madness
Turning Stone Resort Casino, Verona, NY
>Mar 2-26
Winnin’ O’ the Green
Bicycle Casino (AdPg 3), Bell Gardens, CA
Mar 7-11
EPT Grand Final
eMonte Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort, Monaco
>Mar 12-18
PartyPoker Million IV
PartyPoker Cruise to Mexico
Mar 21-31
World Series Event
sCaesars Atlantic City, NJ
>Mar 27-30 World Poker Challenge
tReno Hilton, Reno, NV
Mar 27-Apr 9
Foxwoods Poker Classic
Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, CT
>Mar 29-Apr 9 Oklahoma Johnny Hale Open Cherokee Casino in Tulsa (AdPg 17), Cartoosa, OK
Apr 3-14
World Series Event
sCaesars, Las Vegas, NV
Apr 5-26
Five Star World Poker Classic
Bellagio, Las Vegas, NV
>Apr 10-30
Stars & Stripes
Apr 18-24
WPT Championship
tBellagio, Las Vegas, NV
Apr 20-24
Oasis Open
Oasis Hotel & Casino, Mesquite, NY
Apr 28-May 11
World Series Event
sCaesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV
Apr 29-May 8
St. Maarten Spring Poker Showdown Sonesta Maho Beach Hotel & Resort, St. Maarten, N.A.
May 3-7
Western Canadian Poker Classic Casino Yellowhead, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
>May 4-17
The Mirage Poker Showdown tMirage (AdPg 9), Las Vegas, NV
May 5-21
Heavenly Hold’em
Commerce Casino, Commerce, CA
May 18-28
World Series Event
sHarrah’s New Orleans, LA
>May 22-Jun 4 America’s Poker Classic
>May 26-Jun 19 The Mini Series
Jun 6-16
World Series Event
sHarrah’s Lake Tahoe
>Jun 8-19
Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge II Cherokee Casino in Tulsa (AdPg 17), Cartoosa, OK
>Jun 24-Jul 27The Mini Series
Jun 25-Aug 10 World Series of Poker
sRio, Las Vegas, NV
Jul 25-29
Grand Prix de Paris
Aviation Club of France, Paris, France
>Jul 28-Sep 1 Legends of Poker
Aug 30- Sep 3 Edmonton Poker Classic
Casino Edmonton, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Sep 5-24
Calif. State Poker Ch’ship
>Sep 28-Oct 15 Big Poker October
Oct 4-8
Canadian Poker Championship Casino Yellowhead Edmonton, Alberta
Oct 5-21
Fiesta al Lago V
Bellagio, Las Vegas, NV
Nov 3-19
Holiday Bonus
>Nov 23-Dec 10 Turkey Shoot/Ho-Ho Hold’em Bicycle Casino (AdPg 3), Bell Gardens, CA
Dec 1-19
5 Diamond World Poker Classic Bellagio, Las Vegas, NV
>Dec 18-23
Heavyweight Championship of Poker Sam’s Town (AdPg 42), Las Vegas, NV
Am I wrong? Okay, then I’m wrong: You’re one of
those sensible blessed few who can come off a
long layoff and play perfect poker. You rule. I commend your strength.
So the next time you’re thinking of rushing off to
play a session you know you’re not quite ready for,
ask yourself this simple question: “What would JV
do?” Well, he’d probably rush right off and play,
and since my favorite piece of poker advice is,
“Don’t play like I play,” I urge you to profit from
my mistakes. At least one of us should.
EVENT
Poker Royale: Celebrities vs.
Poker Pros. Fridays 10 PM. GSN.
Poker Royale: Comedians vs.
Poker Pros. (Check local listing for
times). GSN.
Poker Superstars Invitational.
(Check local listing for times). Fox Sports.
Ultimate Poker Challenge.
(check local listings for times/channels).
Fox Sports.
World Poker Tour. (Check local
listing for times). Travel Channel.
World Series of Poker. (Check
local listing for times). ESPNC/ESPN2.
Get ’em!
Six latest poker books:
The
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Hold’em
Series
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Transcription

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