Casino Openings Tournament Results

Transcription

Tom “Time” Leonard PAGE
tells how—Improve
Your Performance!
10
Chris Moneymaker PAGE
PLAYER PROFILE
by Phil Hevener
PAGE
Entertainment
Best Bets
20
42
POKER PLAYER
Vol. 8 Number 16 February 7, 2005 A Gambling Times Publication Copyright ©2004 Bi-Weekly $3.95 USA/$4.95 CANADA
Tournament Casino
Results
Openings
•Kiwi wins
$1 Million
Aussie
Millions
From left, Agua Caliente Chairman Richard Milanovich, former
CA Governor Gray Davis, Cabazon Chairman John A. James.
Final
Event winner Jamil “The
Real Deal”
Dia
Jamil “The Real
Deal” Dia from
Wellington in New Zealand, a self-employed food
manufacturer and Lebanese
Bakery owner, has just won
the lionʼs share of Crownʼs
2005 “Aussie Millions”
$2.63 million prize pool,
walking away with the win-
nerʼs purse of $1 Million,
and the Australian Poker
(Continued on page 15)
•Jack Binion’s WPO in Full Swing
Another 12 events at the Jack Binion World Poker
Open in Tunica, Mississippi have been finalized
as we go to press with this
issue of Poker Player. The
first two events were covered in the last issue, while
the final events, including
the Championship, will be
• Bike’s Americas Poker Classic at Halfway Point
As we go to press, the Americaʼs Poker
(Contʼd on page 31)
•Successful Poker Derby Gets Hollypark Off To Good Start
Hollywood Park Casinoʼs 3rd annual Poker Derby (Contʼd on page 18)
•Fantasy Springs Expands
The Cabazon Band of Mission
Indians has indeed come a
long way since their 1987
landmark Supreme Court
decision that opened the
door to Indian Gaming
•Harrah’s Rincon Expands
Owned by the Rincon San Luiseno
Band of Mission Indians
and operated by Harrahs
Entertainment, the Rincon
Casino and Resort, nestled
in the rolling hills of north(Continued on page 43)
A Word from the
“Mad Genius,”
Mike Caro
•Tran Takes Harrahs First Circuit
Today’s word is...
•Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure Concludes
The annual Pokerstars.com Caribbean adventure
Nghi Van Tran took home $780,615 to Toronto, (Contʼd on page 19)
•Tunica Grand American Nearly Complete
Turn to page 4 for more
0
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F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
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F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
3
Caro’s Word: “PRICE”
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
It’s
easier to
understand
the nature of
poker if you
think about price.
Caroʼs Law of Poker
Economics states: “Poker
is the art of trading chances.
To win, buy chances at a
low price and sell chances
at a high price.” In fact,
that simple truth defines the
core of poker success.
Perhaps youʼve heard
people talk about the secret
to success in the stock
market. Theyʼll say, “Buy
low, sell high.” Sometimes
theyʼre dead serious when
they say this, and sometimes theyʼre just amusing
themselves, because they
realize thereʼs no real way
to know for certain – at
the moment of purchase or
sale – whether a stock is
low or high. It may seem
low, but could go lower;
and it may seem high, but
could go higher. If either of
those things happen, buying
“low” didnʼt work, because
your purchase lost value;
and selling “high” didnʼt
work, because you sold
too soon and would have
earned more by waiting.
Still, the concept is profound in its simplicity.
Retail business is based
on the notion that you need
to buy merchandise at the
lowest price you can and
sell it at the most profitable
price. Poker is the same
way, but instead of buying
and selling physical merchandise, youʼre buying and
selling chances.
Letʼs examine what this
means.
What Does it Mean to
“Buy Low” in Poker?
Iʼm betting most people
donʼt think theyʼre buying
anything when they play
poker. But they are. When
you sit down to play poker
seriously, youʼre not out to
just win pots. Youʼre out to
win pots only if the price
is right and the risk is warranted. Again, itʼs the same
as in any other business
where you buy and sell.
Youʼre looking for the best
price. If something is too
expensive, you wonʼt buy
it at all.
In poker, youʼre looking for good deals. Youʼre
out to buy opportunity. If
youʼre serious about winning, you sit in a game
believing you have an
expectation of earning a
profit. And profit is all
about price. Buying low
means you called a bet with
an advantage. You bought
a chance, and you paid a
cheap price.
Overpriced Hands
Now hereʼs a really
important concept, and I
want you to think about it
long and hard: Tight players usually overprice their
chances, so you should seldom buy from them; loose
players usually under price
their chances, so you should
often buy from them. Got
it?
Let me get sidetracked
for a minute. Weʼre talking
about “buying” here, which
means calling when an
opponent has bet. Weʼre not
talking about the fact that
you can raise a tight opponent more liberally, because
they fold more often. In that
sense, you can play some
hands more often against
a too-tight opponent than
a too-loose one, but those
hands tend to be specifically your bluffs. Conversely,
you play more mediumstrong hands against loose
opponents, because they
often call with even worse
hands. Against them, the
secret isnʼt bluffing more,
itʼs betting semi-strong
hands more.
Anyway, back to todayʼs
discussion.
Like I said, tight players
overprice their hands. When
they wager, they have
stronger hands, on average,
than typical players would
have in the same situation. Because of this, you
need a stronger-than-usual
hand to call. Remember,
whenever you call, youʼre
buying an opportunity. The
purchase is always specu-
lative, unless you have a
hand that canʼt possibly be
beat. So, in essence, youʼre
buying an opportunity – a
chance. And against tight
players, chances are sold
at a premium, so you need
to be selective about when
you buy.
A Million Calls
Keep in mind that you
want that chance to be
profitable in the long-run. A
chance is theoretically profitable whenever you would
expect to make money if
you could make the same
call with the same hopes
and the same doubts a million times. If the average
expected outcome for each
one of those million calls
averaged together is greater
than nothing, youʼre getting
a good deal. If itʼs considerably greater than nothing,
youʼre getting a bargain.
But, if you call tight
opponents with the same
hands with which you call
loose opponents, youʼll lose
money, except on your better hands. That means that
your call is overall worth
less than nothing. And since
nothing is the break-even
point, that means youʼre
losing money. You paid too
much. You didnʼt buy at
a low-enough price. Your
chance wasnʼt worth the
money.
So, you can see, in poker
you are truly buying chances. And you need to get a
good deal in order to win.
Selling Chances High
The other half of this
concept is selling. When
you have an advantage
over your opponents, you
have something to sell, and
you need to get your most
profitable price. In limit
games, thereʼs usually only
one price (unless someone
is short of money). Itʼs
whatever the designated
betting increment is. In
a $200/$400 game, for
instance, it will be $400 or
later betting rounds. Thatʼs
the only price you can sell
an opportunity for, so that
greatly simplifies your
decision. Itʼs now a matter of determining whether
youʼll get a good deal if an
opponent calls. If you will,
you should often bet. If you
wonʼt, you should often
check.
4
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
POKER PLAYER
A Gambling Times Publication
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EDITORIAL CONSULTANT
Phil Hevener
CONSULTANT
Contributing
Columnists
Nolan Dalla
George Epstein
“Oklahoma Johnny” Hale
Ashley Adams
Susie Isaacs
Diane McHaffie
James McKenna
I. Nelson Rose
Nic Szeremeta
Rich Wilens
John Vorhaus
Ernie Kaufman, Sports
Poker Player will be published Bi-Weekly
by Gambling Times Incorporated,
Stanley R. Sludikoff, President.
Volume 8 Number 16.
Copyright © February 2005 by Gambling
Times Incorporated. All rights reserved.
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F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
5
Linda Johnson—The First
Lady of Poker PART II
CHIP CHATTEr
By SUSIE ISAACS
In the last issue of Poker Player we followed the
life and career of Linda Johnson, the First Lady of
Poker, from a very successful career in the post office to that of a
low-limit professional poker player. Her postal career was unique
because she was a high-ranking woman in a man’s world. She also
blazed a new trail for women in poker becoming one of the first
successful female professional poker players.
Linda continues her saga; “In those days (1980) there were no
poker magazines, books, videos, or seminars so one could study
poker so not many of my opponents were very well versed. I absolutely loved what I was doing. You can’t believe
how happy I was. However, I did miss my family
and I always said that when they legalized other
games in California, I would move back and I did,
in 1985. I had moved up in limits every couple of
years and I played regularly at the Bike and the
Linda Johnson Commerce.
“In 1997 a dream came true for me when I became only the second woman to win an open event at the World Series of Poker.”
It is apparent that Linda loves poker. She seemed to glow as she
reminisced about her life. “I never had any doubts about succeeding and I never had any goals except to play poker professionally.
That changed in 1992. I took my first Card Player Cruise along with
my best friends poker players Denny Axel and Scott Rogers. We had
a ball! On the last morning we were sitting around talking about
what how much fun we had. We wondered if we could somehow
get involved in this business so that we could take all the cruises.
Perhaps we could join forces or become partners with the Fields.
[June and Phil Field owned Card Player magazine and Card Player
Cruises at the time.] We set up a meeting with the Fields, posed
our questions and Phil shocked us when he said that they where
thinking about selling the whole business. That was the beginning
of a new career for all three of us. We were three professional
poker players. None of us knew anything about running a magazine. Part of the deal was that the Fields stay on for six months
and teach us! Our first issue came out on April Fool’s Day in 1993,
68 pages black and white on newsprint with color on the cover. We
didn’t make any money the first year and we knew that we needed
to go full color and glossy to turn this venture prosperous. All we
needed to do was add $100,000 to the overhead! That wasn’t an
easy decision but we were gamblers. It turned out to be a winning
bet. All of a sudden poker was opening in different states and we
had a big and beautiful poker magazine. We were off and running.”
Linda continued, “I want to be sure and convey my appreciation
to June Field for having established the magazine. She birthed the
first poker magazine and we raised it to adulthood.”
In addition to her success with Card Player magazine and
Card Player Cruises, Linda Johnson also spearheaded the World
Poker Conferences, the World Poker Player’s Conferences, and the
Tournament Director’s Association. Her latest venture is her participation in the World Poker Tour. She tells us that wonderful poker
tale. “Steve Lipscomb, Mike Sexton and I were tourists in Costa Rica.
We were in a rain forest talking about poker, of course. Steve told us
his vision for the WPT. You might say that the World Poker Tour was
born in the jungle! All Steve needed was funding. Mike was with Party
Poker, which was a nice fit, as they became a charter member. We
went to see Lyle when we got back to Vegas. He said that we would
need six or eight charter members. We had six months to get them.
We got them in six weeks and the deal was on!”
Linda really thought the World Poker Tour would be a homerun.
It turned out to be a grand slam! And the poker world is forever
changed because of visionaries in the jungle, one who would be
crowned “The First Lady of Poker.”
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Susie Isaacs has written about poker and poker
players since 1985. She is the first woman to win
back-to-back titles at the World Series of Poker.
Her latest venture is a line of “Designer Gaming
Jewelry.” Visit www.susieisaacs.com.
6
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
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F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
7
X-Ray Vision
POwer POKER PSYCHOLOGY
By JAMES A. M CKENNA, PH D.
If you could see what the other players are
holding face down, you would play each hand
differently. Also, if other players could see your cards in
the hole, they will have the advantage. The ability to read
what other players are likely holding is a skill no successful
poker player lacks. Some players seem to have X-ray vision
to know when to call, to raise, or fold. These “Clark Kent”
players will fold when you have a good hand and call you
when your hand has slim odds. How do they know!?
There’s an inverse relationship between surprise and the
ability to read other players. In other words, the more you
are surprised by what other players are holding, the less
you are accurately reading their hands. The important skills
here are to know how to read other players and to avoid
being read by other players.
A lot of players are busy reading the cards they have
and the cards showing. That only part of the job for good
players. They are also reading people and how they may
be thinking and what their actions mean. Every action has
a meaning. “Clark Kent” players seem to know what such
actions mean and how they apply to a particular player. Yes,
the same action may have an entirely different read for different players. Reading these tells will increase your X-ray
vision to figure out what other players are holding. Most
of these signs have to do with betting patterns and how
aggressive the bettor is. In other words, when an aggressive
player is slow playing you can expect him or her to have a
good hand. Similarly, when a more emotional, passive player
gets aggressive with his or her bets, don’t worry too much.
At the same time, if an ordinarily aggressive player throws
his or her bet in, don’t be surprised if he or she is still chasing a hand. After reading this article, such a player may
have the nuts.
The ability to spot such things as semi-bluffs (knowing
when a raise means a good hand or a draw to a hand) is an
important X-ray skill. Spotting hands also includes reading
the board in games like Texas Hold ‘Em. Knowing what’s
possible when the board shows a pair, or two of the same
suit, or small cards and the blind bets are equally important.
Clark Kent was a mild mannered reporter who would
change into a Superman when needed. This means that
players with X-ray vision can be aggressive or passive. They
can be tight players as well as loose ones. The common
denominator is their abilities to figure out the actions of
other players. So, in a sense, they are not seeing through
your hole cards. Rather, you are showing them what you
have by your actions.
It’s common knowledge that lead will stop X-rays. So, how
can one put lead around a hand to prevent being read? For
one thing, discover your routine ways of playing and stick to
them. This is lead to players who are reading you. To suddenly change your style is like turning your hand over so
everyone can see it. Here’s an example: you check or call all
the way to the river when a third suited card comes. Then,
you suddenly seem to wake up and bet your obvious flush.
You are surprised when everyone except those with two pairs
fold. What would happen is you checked your flush? Right!
You’d make a little more money and you’d surprise others.
Sticking with your routines is like lead protecting your hand.
Remember, there’s an inverse relationship between surprise
and the ability to read other players. The more you can surprise a “Clark Kent” player, the more you are protecting your
hand and keeping your hole cards a secret.
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,” will be published soon by Gambling
Times. Write to him at [email protected].
8
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
Sam Mudaro, BA, MBA, is a practicing tax
accountant and financial executive originally
from New York with over 35 years of analytical business expertise. He and his wife Eva
are nine-year Las Vegas residents. Sam uses
simulation software to analyze and develop
strategies for Omaha Hi/Lo and other forms of
poker. Reach Sam at: [email protected].
T
oday we will look at
a little known fact of
Omaha H/L split. What
happens to the value of our
Hand
A-A-2-3
A-2-3-K
A-2-K-K
2-3-4-5
T-J-Q-K
What Happens to our
the hands performed when they Hand Value in a Raised Pot
were played separately. The pot when the low doesnʼt
results are presented below. get there. Remember, we
Base Hands
Suit
W Rate
1PDS
64.65%
DSHM
47.44%
1PBS
47.59%
DSHM
29.87%
DSHM
14.40%
hand when we enter a pot
and the pot is raised and
re-raised and ultimately
capped? Let me set the stag
for you. You are first to act
and are holding the very
powerful A-2-3-K double
suited or A-2-K-K suited
with net wins of $26.41 and
$24.82 respectively. You
throw in a raise and before
it gets back to you the pot
is capped. What should you
do with your hand?
In Omaha H/L, low
hands dominate. Most players will only raise with a
low hand or a hand that can
work both ways. It should
be pretty obvious that you
are up against 2 or 3 other
low hands especially if you
play in a game that allows
a bet and 4 raises. You are
probably up against the
nut low. Does you hand
go down in value in these
situations or does it go up?
How much change, if any
can you expect? Can it turn
a winning hand into a losing one? To test out what
happens I set five players up with the following
hands; A-A-2-3, A-2-3-K,
A-2-K-K, 2-3-4-5 and TJ-Q-K and dealt 5 million
hands with each player
playing one of the hands
one million times. I then
compared the results to how
Sam Mudaro is the...
Net
44.06
26.41
24.82
3.89
1.23
In those hands containing pairs, the ace is suited
to the deuce. The others
3 hands are double suited
with the two highest cards
suited to the two lowest
cards. This allows the player to make the two highest
flushes he is capable of
with his hand.
Under the “Base Hands”
caption I have the hands
ranked by their single net
performance, which ranges
from $44.06 down to $1.23
for a non-low hand. Under
the “Multiple” caption
we see what happens to
the net when all the listed
hands face each other. The
“% Change” represents
the percentage change in
the net either up or down.
It ranges from a positive change of 817% to a
decrease of 979%. All the
changes are drastic and well
over 100%. The best starting hand improves itʼs net
by more than double. The
worst starting hand of the
group, the high only hand
improves over 9 fold.
Is there a pattern to these
results or are they simply haphazard? It should
be obvious that the high
hands improved. Is the
best starting hand a high
hand? It sure is. The pair
of aces may alone win the
Multiple
Net
% Change
104.74
137.71%
(39.86)
-250.97%
(43.81)
-276.48%
(34.21)
-979.44%
11.28
817.00%
have two nut flush draws
in addition to a straight
draw. The 2-3-4-5 has very
little high potential, a poor
flush and limited straight
potential. It lost the most at
-979.44%. The other hands
are a little less obvious. The
A-2-3-K is similar to the AA-2-3, or is it? First there is
only one nut flush draw and
with all that action you can
assume the Ace is out there.
Second it does not have the
pair of aces. If the flop is
a total bust it will lose to
the aces. The same may be
said of the A-2-K-K. The
A-2-3-K has a better low
draw and some counterfeit
protection.
So what have we
learned? A-A-2-3 is still
the best. High hands go up
in value when there are a
number of lows vying for
position. This also reduces
the chance of making a
low and/or the chance of
the lows splitting while the
high enjoys half the pot.
You may want to consider
folding some lows, especially when not connected
with the best of high draws.
Next Time I will warp up
the Poker Foundations
series with a discussion
tournament vs. ring game
play, game selection and
tracking your results.
Whatʼs this “often” stuff?
I hear you. Youʼre saying
that if youʼll get a good
deal if an opponent calls,
you should always bet, not
often bet. But thatʼs not
true. Sometimes you might
check because you can lay
a trap and get an even better deal later – sort of like
advertising a product at
below cost to get people
in your store in hopes
theyʼll buy something much
pricier. And if youʼll get a
bad deal if someone calls,
that doesnʼt necessarily
mean you shouldnʼt bet.
Remember, they might not
call. Youʼre offering them
a good price to call the bet,
so youʼre offering to sell a
chance at the pot unprofitably, but youʼre hoping
your opponent doesnʼt realize this, will decline the
purchase, and will make
the mistake of folding. This
happens – especially in
NEVER Play
Poker with a
Man Named
“DOC”
By Dr. Scott Aigner
HOW TO PLAY
AGAINST THE
LOCALS AT LAS
VEGAS CASINOS
well as other various
factors that can decimate
your dreams and your wallet.
First off, remember that
there is a time zone change
for a number of you. It takes
at least a day
for each time
zone difference to
recover from the jet lag.
Although this does not affect
you quite as much when
going to Las Vegas as it does
when getting back home, I
find that a good nightʼs rest
after a day of travel is essential if you are planning a
long stay at the poker table.
Do not allow the anticipa-
tion to affect your game. The
game will be there every day
and every hour you want to
play for the most part. The
games go around the clock
at the bigger rooms. Start
your game off right. Even
a power nap of an hour can
improve your ability to play
a 4 hour session. You should
also abstain from the use
of alcohol. I believe this is
a definite no no if you are
serious about winning but
even more so on the first
night you are there.
When you do go to play,
I recommend that you start
out at a smaller limit than
your usual game until you
are acquainted with the play
of the opponents. I find that
the games are definitely at
least a level higher in the
quality of players when
in comparison to the local
rooms I frequent. It could
even be slightly higher than
this depending on the room
you are playing at. I find a
world of difference in the
play of the 15-30 game
when compared to the 3060 game in a very popular
poker room in Las Vegas.
In the 15-30 game, you will
find a few more weaker
players on average than in
the higher mid limit games.
The passive, looser, and less
aggressive players are easier
to play against, easier to
read, more predictable, less
deceptive, and easier to win
extra bets from. I also find
A number of recreational
poker players have their
dreams and their poker
bankroll shattered when
they visit Las Vegas. There
are a number of reasons for
this occurrence. It really is
not just bad luck. The main
factors that stack the odds
against you from being a
winner are traveling, a short
bankroll, the caliber of play,
the table composition, as
Play the Circuit
5 Events. 5 Cities. 5 Months.
2005 Tournament Circuit Events:
Harrah’s Atlantic City*
January 7 – 18
Harrah’s Rincon San Diego February 20 – March 1
Rio® Las Vegas
March 12 – 22
Harrah’s Lake Tahoe
April 26 – May 10
Harrah’s New Orleans
May 21 – 30
HOSTED BY GAMBLING ICON
JACK BINION
Call 1-877-367-9767 or visit worldseriesofpoker.com
*Pending C.C.C. approval. Must be 21 years or older to participate in event. Official rules and details available at the Total Rewards® Center.
Must be 21 or older to gamble. Know When To Stop Before You Start.® Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-522-4700. ©2005, Harrah’s License Company, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
5090-026-05
9
PART 40,
Focus
improving performance
By TOM “TIME” LEONARD
In past installments of Improving
Performance, we’ve concentrated on a
variety of situations which are paramount to winning
play. Through examples of various situations we’ve
stressed that playing a tight, aggressive and disciplined
game coupled with a deep knowledge of the odds and
their application should take down the money. Today
let’s discuss focus. Certainly a basic truism for any competitive endeavor is to remain focused to the task at
hand. Many sports embrace the mantra of “Keep your
eye on the ball”. What should we be keeping our eyes on
since there isn’t a ball in poker? Well, duh, your opponents! OK, but what should we be watching? Aside from
their tendencies to play what kind of hands from what
positions, we need to watch their physical mannerisms
which can yield a wealth of information.
I’ve advised in the past that watching the flop be
dealt is not your best use of time. Instead of watching
the cards, which are not going to change, you should be
watching your opponents. Watch their eyes and attempt
to see a reaction to the flop that they are busy staring
at. As the action begins to unfold watch for hand movements and other body language to help interpret what
actions are likely to be taken. Many players readily give
off signals as to their interest in the current hand and if
they plan to call, fold or raise. The more important keys
to what likely is about to happen are to your left. Being
able to determine what players in front of you are about
to do is not as important as what players behind you
plan to do. We’re all familiar with the patented fake chip
reach but it doesn’t take long to identify who you can
gain information from and who is playing fake tells.
Here’s a fairly common tell which weaker players give
off in a situation where the board contains three suited
cards with at least one more card to come. Better players
look at their pocket cards once, commit them to memory,
place a chip or protective weight on them and then don’t
feel the need to keep referring to them. How about the
player who sees a third suited card hit the board and then
needs to check his hole cards. He’s obviously checking to
see whether he now has a flush draw. He doesn’t as yet
have a flush because he would have remembered if his
cards were suited. This is the kind of information which is
available to the observant player. If you’re busy checking
your own hand, which should not be the case, you’ll miss
information that opponents may be offering.
Another thing to focus on in your observation of
opponents is who else is watching opponents intently,
including you. These, of course, are your more savvy,
dedicated opponents as they are working to enhance
their expectation, not just sitting there playing their
own cards. These better opponents are also the ones
whom you may be able to induce folding a better hand
with a well timed bluff or semi bluff. After all, it’s the
clueless that won’t ever lay down a hand. There is much
to be learned by remaining alert and keeping your focus
on your opponents.
Well, our goal for this installment is evident. If you’re
already a focused, observant player, great, give yourself
a pat on the back. If you think you need to improve in
this area, set a goal to do just that and begin to improve
your edge in games through garnering information
about your opponents. 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].
10
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
Blind Luck
“An Elk? You saw an
Elk? Raise.”
“Yeah man, this huge
bull. Reraise! Like he had
a rack about 4 feet tall,”
replied the kid. “Cap it at
40,”I said, “I have to go
check it out. Iʼve never seen
a wild Elk; especially by a
casino parking lot.”
“I call,” he replied,
“I have the ace high nut
flush!” “Figured that,” I
said, “but it doesnʼt beat my
6 high straight flush.” His
jaw dropped as the dealer
stopped him from dragging
in the pot.
I held my own for the
next couple of hours, but
wasnʼt adding much to my
stack. Mean-while, someone else was having phenomenal luck and I wondered if anyone has ever
written about what to do
when another player is on
an unstoppable rush. That
day, it was Lori from Big
Springs, Texas.
She was a real sweetheart, a nurse on holiday
with her family at Casino
Apache in Ruidoso, New
Mexico. They were here to
ski at the casinoʼs beautiful
ski resort of Sierra Blanca.
She had decided to spend
her evening playing poker
in a casino for the very
first time, and was obviously having a great time.
Trouble was, she couldnʼt
see the community cards
too well because she forgot her reading glasses!
On several occasions, she
called or overcalled with
not even a pair. Yet, despite
her playing a little on the
silly side, not seeing the
cards too well, and losing a
few hands, she was running
over the table! I recall one
hand in particular when she
called 40 dollars preflop to
draw to a 5/8 offsuit. Yup,
the final board had a 4. 6
and 7 to give her the nut
straight!
Another unforgettable
hand was three handed
with the other two players
holding pocket rockets and
pocket kings. The flop was
Q, 2, 8, and it was capped
at 40 dollars. The turn was
a 6 and it was capped again.
Our Lori called all the way,
joking about giving some of
the money back. The river
brought another cap and
another 8 to go with her 7/8
Fiction by Lionel “Cool Hand Lee” Garcia
offsuit, and you can imagine the look on everyoneʼs
face as her set won another
huge pot. Her comment
was, ”I thought you had
a straight.” It was hilarious because there was no
straight possible! She really
could not see the cards
well at all, but that sure
didnʼt stop her from playing
almost every hand.
Well, the question that
this game brought up was
what would I suggest to
someone who is playing
against a player on such a
hot rush. My personal plan
of action is derived from
Monty Python and the Holy
Grail. When the knights ran
into the killer rabbit, they
all hollered “Run away!
Run away!” Thatʼs exactly
what I did then and the only
hands I played were my
paid big blinds. Forget the
odds and probabilities in
these situations. They mean
nothing when someone is
catching hand after hand. I
sat back and watched everyone else go on tilt attacking
her with a variety of hands.
I wasnʼt surprised to see
player after player talking
to himself after she outdrew
them with whatever two
cards she happened to have.
Within three hours, she
cashed out over 5 hundred
dollars, tipped the dealer
an extra 20 bucks, and said
sheʼd be back for the grand
opening of the beautiful ,
new Inn Of The Mountain
Gods hotel and casino on
March 15th. She laughed
as I told her Iʼd be in the
poker room just to see
if she forgot her glasses
again!
So the truth of the matter
is that I really canʼt suggest much when up against
a rushing player. It is sheer
suicide to attack them in
most cases, so you donʼt
want to play less than your
premium hands. Naturally,
if the board doesnʼt hit
you, be careful about calling any bets. Donʼt waste
any bets trying to keep this
person out of a pot; it just
wonʼt work and you may be
burning up your own chips.
If you can change tables,
donʼt hesitate. Take a walk,
be patient and above all,
donʼt get caught up in the
action of the moment. What
good is great action if you
are not the one raking in the
chips?
Later, as I approached
the parking lot, there in the
moonlight was this magnificent 6 by 6 bull Elk,
5IFXPSMEGBNPVT/FX:PSLEFMJ
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&OKPZPWFSTUVGGFETBOEXJDIFTTVNQUVPVTNBU[PI
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F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
11
DEBBIE BURKHEAD INTERVIEWS...
Novice wins A$80,000
The only poker experience pub landlord Graham Smith had
ever had was watching his friend Marty Wilson—aka “Mad
Marty”—playing on his laptop at the bar at the Black Horse
in Bridgenorth. But an odd set of circumstances found him playing for the first time
Bob Corona
CARDROOM MANAGER AT HARRAH’S RINCON
employees and still growing.
Poker in Europe
By Nic Szeremeta
in his life in the $10,000 buy-in PacificPoker.
com no limit hold’em tournament on TV.
Marty was helping out with the production of the event and
Graham went along for the ride.
Well, one of the players refused to sign his contract,
refused to do an interview and refused to have a trade
logo on his short covered over. Net result was that he got
kicked out of the event. But that left the tournament short
of a player at the last minute. So Graham was “put in” by
Marty and another player anteing up half the buy-in each.
The terms of the deal were that if Graham managed to
survive the first round in the series of one table satellites,
his backers would get their cash back and he would be on
a freeroll for anything else. Not keen on dropping $5,000
in cold blood, Marty gave him the benefit of his 15 minute
crash course on no limit hold’em—the main lesson of which
was this: “If you don’t know what to do stick it all in.”
Although Graham had never even picked up a poker
chip in his life he remembered the lesson well. So when he
found himself in the last three at his table and up against
a raise from tournament expert John Shipley, he was not
quite sure what he should do with his 6-3 off suit.
He gazed up at the camera (which he knew Marty was
watching), shrugged his shoulders and went all in. John
Shipley’s A-J of clubs got cracked as Graham pulled a small
pair. This crippled John, who went out shortly after and
Graham then saw off German pro Roland Herring.
In the six player semi-final, he kept up his good work
knocking out Jac Arama, Tim Flanders, Irish Open champ
Ivan Donnachie and George Geary. With two players going
through, he found himself in the final where he finished
fourth collecting A$80,000. Not surprisingly Graham has
become a bit of a poker fan.
Both Graham and his mentor Marty had some success
in the recent Aussie Millions series in Melbourne. Marty
won the pot limit Omaha for 29,000 Australian dollars
and Graham finished third in the pot limit hold’em winning
A$8,800.
Europeans won a total of five events down under (outside
of the main event which was in progress at time of writing).
Londoner Richard Ashby, a regular in Melbourne, won the
opening A$200 no limit hold’em competition from a field
of 212 players and took his A$17,600 (EURO 12,000) prize
money to the A$300-600 omaha cash game where at one
time he was racking up a six figure profit. Norwegian Anders
Berg picked up A$17,600 for runner-up spot.
Tony Bloom, winner of the Aussie Millions title a year
ago, showed that Melbourne was a happy hunting ground
for him by winning the A$1,500 omaha hi-lo hours after
arriving in town. It was off the plane and onto the table for
a profit of A$24,600.
Marcel Luske ended a four month drought of tournament wins by taking the A$5,000 pot limit Omaha event.
The Flying Dutchman collected A$47,000 for his efforts.
And 20-year-old Swede Michael Thuritz of Stockholm won
the inaugural World Speed Championships and A$100,000
from a field of 212. This latter event, which featured two
dealers at each table and a maximum decision time of 15
seconds, was made into a nine-part TV series which will be
broadcast later this year.
Nic Szeremeta is managing editor of Poker Europa
magazine, the monthly news and views publication from
the Euro side of the pond. To subscribe ( EURO 55 /
$70) email: [email protected], and to find out
what goes on in Europe, go to www.PokerInEurope.com
12
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
Native Californian, Bob
Corona, makes the trip back
to the Long Beach area
frequently to visit with his
folks that still reside in the
home he was raised in more
than 50 years ago. After high
school and a couple of years
of college Bob took a position as a Material Control
Coordinator with the Hughes
Aerospace Corporation and
eventually worked his way
up to Program Manager. At
the time Bob was the only
Program Manager without a
degree.
Bobʼs career ended 14
years later when General
Motors bought Hughes. GM
began losing Government
contracts and started downsizing their operation. Bob knew
it was only a matter of time
so he took a voluntary lay off
and moved to Las Vegas.
In 1984 Bob was in Las
Vegas playing poker and betting sports while looking for
work. He enrolled in dealer
school and within two weeks
he had his first audition at the
Poker Palace and was hired
on as a poker dealer. After
his stint at the Poker Palace
there was the Aladdin and the
Fremont.
In 1993, while working
at the Fremont Bob was
approached to assist in the
opening of a riverboat in
Tunica, Mississippi. In 1994
when Samʼs Town opened
Bob left his Cardroom
Managerʼs position with the
President Riverboat to manage the new cardroom at
Samʼs Town.
In 1997 Bob left Tunica
and moved back to California
to work as a dealer and
eventually floor at the newly
opened Viejas. In 2000 Bob
took the position of cardroom
manager of the new poker
room at Puama but in 2002
they reduced their staff from
seven days a week to three
days so Bob left to work the
floor when Barona opened.
In March of 2004 Harrahʼs
Rincon opened a poker room
and hired Bob as cardroom
manager. Bob oversees an
eight table cardroom with 28
Debbie Burkhead: What
area of California do you
draw from?
Bob Corona: Mostly Valley
Center and Escondido but
because we have hotel
accommodations people
come from everywhere. From
February 20 through March
1, during our WSOP Circuit
event the weekday rate is $69
per night and the weekend
rate is $89 per night.
DB: Could you explain how
the WSOP Circuit event
works?
BC: We are one of five
Harrahʼs throughout the
United States that are running
tournaments that lead up to a
$10,000 buy-in event that will
be televised on ESPN. Prior
to the WSOP Circuit event
we are running $40 one-table
satellites daily. The winner
receives a $330 buy-in to
the Super Sunday tournament, second place gets their
$40 back, these are no juice
satellites and $30 goes to the
dealers. The winner of the
Super Sunday event will win
a $10,000 seat in the WSOP
circuit event to be held on
Sunday, February 27.
DB: How many events make
up the WSOP Circuit tournament?
BC: Nine, including the nolimit Championship event.
The other events range from
$200 to $1,000 buy-ins. There
is also a ladies no-limit event
and a no-limit super satellite
day on Saturday, February 26.
DB: Has television had a positive affect on your business?
BC: Itʻs done nothing but
make it better and itʻs just the
tip of the iceberg. I believe
we will see continuous
growth over the next five
years. Itʼs help take away
the intimidation factor, we
are seeing more women
and younger people playing
poker.
DB: What affect has the
Internet had on the world of
poker?
BC: It has really helped the
brick and mortar rooms by
introducing people to poker
that would not normally venture into a poker room. They
come in now knowing about
the blinds and how to bet.
My wife, Katt, is a perfect
example, she now feels very
comfortable playing in a cardroom after learning how to
play online.
DB: What makes you job
enjoyable?
BC: My staff, we have a
super friendly staff with
several new to the business
thatʼs mentally very refreshing. We hired some from
within and others right out of
dealers school. Linda came
from the cage, Richard was in
security and Rita came from
dealer school. These and all
my other dealers are just so
enthusiastic and really enjoy
what they are doing which
makes my job so much easier.
Someone else that makes my
job easy is my boss, John
Sebastian, Director of Table
games, heʼs very supportive
and very firm but fair. John
was skeptical about poker and
now he sees that poker players are crossover players that
are valuable customers and
thatʼs something they hadnʼt
seen before.
DB: What live games do you
offer your players?
BC: We will spread any
game that our customers would like to play. We
spread $3-$6 and $4-$8 limit
holdʼem with a kill and we
spread two no-limit games
on a regular basis, one with
two $1 blinds and one with
$1-$3 blinds. The first has a
maximum $40 buy-in and the
second has a $100 maximum
buy-in.
DB: What other incentives do
you offer your players?
BC: We have a bad beat jackpot. Aceʼs full of 10ʼs beaten
by any 4 four of a kind or
better gets 50% of the jackpot, the winning hand gets
25% and the table share is
25%. We also have one-half
rack attacks every two hours,
Sunday through Thursday
from 1:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.
We pick a table during those
times and add $50 to the pot.
DB: Do you offer daily tournaments?
BC: Not at the moment but
after the WSOP Circuit event
we will be.
Gravediggerʼs Shovel out
of my cheaterʼs sleeve and
holding it up to his face,
“this Spade?”
The Ugly Man yells,
“Yes!” and grabs for the
card. Jake shoots him.
The Ugly Man clutches
the rumors, ʻThe House
of Cards is coming back
to town.ʼ I went to Honey,
Thumbs, and Wheels and
said, ʻBeating the House
will be our revenge!ʼ If
theyʼd put up the buy-in,
Iʼd be willing to play the
“T” is for Tell
A Poker Player Murder Mystery by Robert Arabella
Honeyʼs not talking about
the House of Cards. Her
bodyguard, “Big Elmo,”
lays sprawled, half-in and
half-out of the front door of
“The Girls,” Honeyʼs Strip
Club/Poker Room. Whatʼs
left of Honey herself is
splattered all over her front
steps.
Neither is Thumbs.
The City Morgueʼs “Meat
Wagon” is parked in the
alley behind “The Cat Flush
Card Club.” Thumbs lays
under two white sheets ten
feet apart.
Or Wheels. The Limp Inn
has burned to the ground.
The twisted remains of a
melted wheelchair, and its
charred-beyond-recognition
owner, sit in the ruins.
“Weʼre too late,” says
Jake. “All the injured
House of Cards players are
dead.”
“Yes,” I say.
“No,” says The Ugly
Man as he comes up behind
me and slashes at my
throat.
I donʼt feel the knife
make its shallow cut
through my flesh - must be
the pain killers.Jake aims
his shotgun . . .
“Drop your gun,” says
The Ugly Man.
. . . raises it to eye level . . .
“Iʼll cut deeper!”
. . . and says to me, “Itʼs
a 50-50 shot. Your call.”
Iʼve drawn to far worse
odds. “Take the shot!”
“Wait!” says the Ugly
Man.
Jake waits.
“I have the girl,” he
says to me. “Give me your
invitation to the House Of
Cards. Iʼll let her go.”
“You donʼt have the Girl.
I donʼt have the Invitation.”
“Stop lying to me! I
know you killed four poker
players to get it! Give it
to me or Iʼll finish cutting
your throat right now! Give
me The Spade!”
The knife cuts deeper
into my flesh. Jake begins
to squeeze his trigger.
“The Spade?” I ask.
“You mean,” pulling the
the As to whatʼs left of his
chest. He drifts in and out
of consciousness. “I didnʼt
always look like this,” he
says, putting a hand to his
disfigured face, “The House
of Cards scarred me just
like they mutilated Honey,
mangled Thumbs and crippled Wheels. They made us
into freaks! Then we heard
game.”
He takes out a bloodsoaked check. Itʼs for
$250,000. “I had the
money. All I needed was
an Invitation.” He coughs
up a gush of blood, “Then
I found out you had The
Spade!”
“Who told you I had. .
. .”
He talks over my question, “Now they have to let
me play! Itʼs in the Rules.
You show the Spade, you
play. The gameʼs tonight.
All I have to do now is
stand on the corner. . . .”
He drifts away. I shake
him, ask, “What corner?”
“. . . Winslow, Arizona
and such a fine sight to see
. . .” and drifts away again.
I sit there helpless as
the Ugly Man bleeds out.
Suddenly he opens his eyes,
shakes The Spade in my
face, yells, “Gyp told me
his partner had an invitation to play at the House Of
Cards. That was you, you
lying son of. . . .” and dies.
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
(To be continued in the next
issue of Poker Player)
13
WHAT Was I Thinking?
(Part 1 of My No-Limit Hold’Em Experience)
I walk towards the double doors of the casino.
I step on the black mat and they automatically
FRESH YOUNG FACE OF Poker
By Jennifer Matiran
open, inviting me in. I, for the first time step into
a world, I knew existed but had never experienced before. I hear
voices, conversations, loud speakers then I wonder, what’s that
clack, clack, clack sound? Oh, it’s just the chips, ahh, people playing with their chips, saw it on television but never heard it before.
That might take a bit getting used to. There were players whose
chips, on cue, glided and rolled in between their fingers, effortlessly. They shuffled their chips better than I can shuffle a deck of
cards. This ain’t their first trip to the local casino, can’t possibly be
with such, such…chip poetry?
My pocket vibrates startling me, good lord, I’m more anxious
than I think. I answer my mobile. “Hello, oh hi Dad…um it’s, I’ll
explain later, hey Dad, I’ll call you back in a couple hours, is everything okay, Mom okay? Okay then I’ll talk to you in a few, I’m in the
middle of something.” I’m actually on the verge of blowing away
some cash. I chuckle at my own thought. Just a walk in the park,
you can handle it, be positive.
“K.C. for 4-8 Hold ‘em, K.C.” I hear on the loud speaker. About
twenty feet off in the distance an older gentleman, a Tony Soprano
type in a suit and tie with a microphone is calling a player’s name.
The man waves and says, “Lock it.” “Table 29, lock it up for K.C.”
Ahh, that’s where I should begin. I walk towards the floor man
and guess what his nametag says? Tony. I’m so good. The board’s
divided into several sections; each section it seems represents a
different game. There are people waiting around. For what?… Their
turn genius, oh yeah.
I get to the podium and Tony hurriedly points at me with his
marker. “Yeah” he grunts. Fine and how are you doing? Thinking
much quicker than I’m able to speak, I finally spit out “um.” And just
as the sound is coming out of my mouth Tony’s on to the next person.
The guy says, “K.Z. for no-limit, $100 buy in.” Tony turns his back
and puts the man’s initials on the board. He turns back towards me
and I quickly say, “same please.” “Name?” “JM” “JM?” he says. Did I
stutter? “Yes sir, JM.” Tony puts my initials on the list; I’m about the
eighth one down. “Do I have time to go get something to drink?” I
ask. “You should be all right JM.” He answers.
As I approach the bar, a table to my left cheers loudly and a
crowd starts to gather around them. “What are they so happy
about?” I ask the bartender who it seems is a ‘surfer dude.’ “They
just hit the jackpot.” “Jackpot?” “Yep, Aces full of tens or better
beat by quads or better.” He continues. “Dude, my table was so
close to hitting it the other night, the table share alone would’ve
been 2 g’s EACH.” “No way?” I say, trying to act like I knew what
the heck he was talking about. Next, I order a beverage, one to
calm my nerves. What’s the worse that could happen, it’s only
money. You’re, you know what to do, you’re gonna-the bartender
(Jake) places my drink in front of me, breaking me away from my
thought. “This is your first time playing huh?” What do I have a
sign on my forehead? Say no, say no, and act cool. I end up saying “yes” instead. “It’s all good, maybe you’ll have beginners luck,
just play solid and don’t let them intimidate you girl.” Just as I’m
about to speak I hear “JM for no-limit Texas Hold’em” over the
loud speaker. I quickly consume my drink; drop a ten on the counter “thanks you” I say as I set the glass back down. I get up and
quickly head back towards Tony.
Stay tuned for part 2 of What Was I Thinking? And until next
time, “play solid and don’t let them intimidate you.”
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 PO Box 2331,
Corona CA 92878, or by e-mail at matiran@sbcglobal.
net. Ms. Matiran has just completed her latest screenplay, her other passion (besides Poker!).
14
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
JOE
MEETS
HOBBY
We
just finished a long
session of
poker on Hobbyʼs boat at
Marina Del Rey when one
of his snooty pals said to
me, “Poker brings together
an unlikely group of people.
Have you known Hobby
long?”
I was sure it was a put
down and answered, “Yeah,
we kind of grew up together.”
“Really, I canʼt imagine.
Tell me about it,” he replied
with a bit of a sneer.
“Itʼs a long story and
already 3 oʼclock in the
morning, but Iʼm a writer so
maybe Iʼll write about it.”
“Sure, Iʼll bet you will,”
he said over his shoulder as
he walked off.
“Did you get that, Hobby?
Your friend Chris pizzes me
off.
“Heʼs an ass and a persistent one at that. Iʼll bet you
$100, if you see him again,
heʼll ask for the story.
“Well maybe I will document our history, Hobby.”
This is how it began:
“Fall in, shut up, and
shape up!” A tough-looking
sergeant bellowed at our rag
tag group of draftees. All
day long it was hurry up and
wait. Weʼd run from place to
place then wait in lines for
medical exams, shots, clothing, field equipment and
testing. When our task master said, “Take five, smoke
if youʼve got ʻem,” we collapsed any place we find.
A baby-faced kid next to
me looked totally befuddled.
He said, “I didnʼt know it
was going to be this hard.” I
thought: Kiddo, you havenʼt
seen anything yet. He pulled
a pack of Chesterfields from
his pocket only to have it
grabbed by a big guy on the
other side of him who said,
“I need a smoke.” “Sure,
help yourself.”
“Yeah, I will,” the big
guy said with a laugh as
he shook one out and put
the pack back into his own
pocket. The kid started to
object, but after a snarl from
the bully, he backed off. Heʼs
in for a bad time I thought,
but itʼs not my problem. Iʼve
got my own butt to look
after.
I snagged a good spot in
our assigned barracks, an
upper bunk at the end of
a row. And wouldnʼt you
know it, who shows up to
take the lower bunk but the
baby-faced kid. “Would you
mind?” he asked. I shrugged
my shoulders and said, “I
donʼt own the place, you
donʼt have to ask me.” As
the barracks filled up, the
late comers were scurrying around trying to find an
empty bunk. They say chickens attract hawks so I wasnʼt
surprised when a tough
looking bird threw the kidʼs
gear off the bunk saying, “I
like this one.” The little guy
began to pick up his gear to
move on. I could have left
things as they were, but I
hate a bully. I dropped down
off my bunk into the face
of the intruder. “My buddy
doesnʼt want to move,” I
said forcefully. He sized me
up and mumbled something,
but he picked up his gear
and left. It helps that Iʼm
over six feet, and can project a mean ready-to-rumble
look.
The kid was awestruck,
looking at me like I was
Jesus Christ. It was time to
have an understanding. I
wasnʼt about to become his
baby sitter. “Cʼmon outside,”
I said.
As we walked behind the
barracks he said hopefully,
“Are we buddies.”
“I just said that to get rid
of the guy, I donʼt like bullies. But Iʼve got news for
you; Iʼm not going to be
your buddy if you canʼt hold
your own.”
I was afraid this guy was
hopelessly soft. Better to
find out now than later. With
my open hand, I slapped him
hard across the face. He was
shocked and looked like he
was going to cry. “What did
you do that for?” he said,
trying to hold back the tears.
“Iʼm trying to find out if
A
Joe
Joe &
& Hobby
Hobby
fiction by
David J.
Valley
you have any balls!” I made
like I was going to slap him
again and watched his eyes.
He didnʼt flinch; there was
a hardness in his look. I
wasnʼt bluffing and let loose
another swing. I was stunned
when I felt a smack on my
wrist. He stopped my arm in
midair. I was impressed. Iʼve
done a lot of street fighting,
growing up in West L.A., but
I never met anyone quick
enough to cut off my delivery.
“How the hell did you do
that,” I asked.
“I didnʼt want you to slap
me again.”
“Yeah, but how did you
grab me so fast.”
“I donʼt know. Iʼve always
been quick with my hands.”
“Okay kid, listen up.
Maybe we can be buddies.
I like it that youʼre willing
to defend yourself, and your
quickness is impressive. Iʼve
never seen such fast reflexes.
You could be a fighter, but
youʼve got to develop and
stand up to others like you
just did to me. Youʼll probably get knocked around
some, but with your speed
and some training I think
you can hold your own.” It
wasnʼt much of a speech,
but it was like air filling out
a balloon, he expanded and
looked like he could take on
the world.
“Gee, thatʼs great. Iʼll
do my best,” he said as he
flashed a cockeyed grin.
“Whatʼs your name, kid?”
“Hobart Newton, but people call me Hobby. Whatʼs
yours?”
“Crest, Joe Crest. Just call
me Joe.
A hand shake sealed our
pact to be buddies. To me
it was no big deal, but I
suspected it meant a lot to
Hobby. I considered him
like a kid brother. I wouldnʼt
worry about being nice, but
Iʼd kept an eye on him. I
wouldnʼt fight his battles
either, but might help out if
he got in over his head.
Write to author David Valley
at: [email protected]
Kiwi Wins Aussie Millions
Championship title, surviving a gruelling marathon
three days of card play and
beating an international
field of the worldʼs best for
the honors. The final hand
saw him triumph Heads Up
against Mike Simkins, a
PartyPoker qualifier from
the United States, with
George “The Tasmaniac”
Mamacas bowing out in
third spot.
Crownʼs 2005 “Aussie
Millions” has created poker
history this week as the
richest poker festival staged
outside of the United States,
and the most prestigious
poker event ever held in the
Southern Hemisphere, placing Crown Poker squarely
on the international poker
circuit as one of the top
tournaments worldwide.
263 poker guns from
around the globe weighed
in $10 000 each for a piece
of the action. It has been
a battle of endurance, of
fierce skill and will, with
the best man emerging on
the day.
“I am thrilled with the
win. I have played cards
all over Australasia and
even in Russia, but to win
the Aussie Millions here
at Crown is very special. I
have a large family, a wife
and four children, and the
$1 Million will come in
very handy. It is a little life
changing, but I wonʼt be
giving up the day job just
yet,” said Dia when asked
about his Aussie Millions
earn.
The final table of the
Aussie Millions has been
filmed by i2i Television, to
be post-edited for broadcast
on Fox Sports Network
U.S. and locally. See
results below.
Australia
5. Steve McLean . AU$110,000
Ireland
6. Warwick DunnettAU$80,000
United States
2. Sam Khouiss . . . AU$31,500
Australia
3. George Boutkaris AU$21,000
Australia
United States
Australia
9. Marcel Luske . . . AU$50,000
Amsterdam, Holland
10. James Potter . . . AU$30,000
Australia
Australia
Australia
4. Nick Assioti . . . . AU$10,500
7. Jonathan Paul . . AU$70,000
8. Gary Benson . . . AU$60,000
4. Larry Johansson AU$18,500
5. Mel Judah . . . . . . AU$9,250
CROWN CASINO
AUSSIE MILLIONS
1/15/05
6. Leo Boxell. . . . . . . AU$2,400
Australia
7. Vegard Tunby . . . AU$2,000
8. Ashish Gupta . . . . AU$1,600
Australia
9. Tony Trimarchi . . AU$1,200
CROWN CASINO
AUSSIE MILLIONS
1/16/05
TAG TEAM LIMIT
HOLD’EM
POT LIMIT OMAHA HI
2-DAY EVENT
BUY-IN AU$500 + AU$50
CROWN CASINO
AUSSIE MILLIONS
1/14/05
WPP WORLD
SPEED POKER
CHAMIONSHIP
3-DAY EVENT
PLAYERS 80
BUY-IN AU$5,000 + AU$200
CROWN CASINO
AUSSIE MILLIONS
1/17/05
PRIZE POOL
AUSTRAILIAN
MANLIA
CHAMPIONSHIP
BUY-IN AU$5,000 + AU$200
PLAYERS 37
AU$40,000
PRIZE POOL
James Potter
AU$185,000
AU$105,000
1. Carlo Larosa . . . AU$42,000
Australia
PLAYERS 204
Australia
Marcel Luske
2. Jeff Brown . . . . . . AU$8,400
Amsterdam, Holland
PLAYERS 21
PRIZE
POOL
BUY-IN AU$1,500 + AU$100
1. James Potter . . . AU$13,200
1. Marcel Luske . . . AU$74,000
2. Mike Manttan . . AU$50,875
Australia
3. Frank Callaghan AU$32,375
Ireland
(Continued from page 1)
Australia
3. Ben Chan . . . . . . . AU$4,400
4. David Hatzis. . . . . AU$3,200
Australia
PRIZE POOL
AU$306,000
Michael Thuritz
1. Michael Thuritz AU$100,000
5. Tod Sik . . . . . . . . . AU$2,800
Australia
Sweden
CROWN CASINO
AUSSIE MILLIONS
1/18/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
MAIN EVENT
BUY-IN AU$10,000 + AU$300
PLAYERS 263
PRIZE POOL
AU$2,630,000
Jamil Dia
1. Jamil Dia . . . .AU$1,000,000
New Zealand
2. Mike Simkin. . . AU$465,000
United States
3. George Mamacas . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . AU$250,000
Australia
4. Martin Comer . AU$170,000
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
15
LESSON 42:
Simple, Powerful Key to Poker Success
The latest lesson Mike has taught me is easy to apply to limit poker
games. Here’s the concept behind it. You can focus on a poker decision in two primary ways.
Conservative approach. Approach 1: Begin with the assumption
that you should check or fold every hand and then gather evidence to
the contrary. Only if the evidence is strong enough
Lessons from mike caro
university of poker
BY DIANE MCHAFFIE
to outweigh the argument that you should check or
fold do you take an aggressive action, by betting,
calling, or raising.
Liberal approach. Approach 2: Assume that you will always take
assertive action if possible – raising, betting, or calling. (Sometimes
the most assertive play can be checking with the intention of raising
if you’re bet into, but usually it’s just a simple bet or raise.)
Once you’ve decided what the most assertive play would be, then
you always take that action unless there are strong reasons to do differently. If you successfully argue against raising, then calling is the
next most assertive action – and you should do that unless you can
successfully find arguments to fold.
You see, whether you use approach 1 or 2, you’re always beginning
with a firm action in mind, then arguing against it.
Mike says, “It’s much easier to find evidence rejecting the aggressive
presumption than it is to find evidence rejecting the most conservative
one. Therefore, if you choose the first, conservative approach, you usually won’t find enough evidence to make a more aggressive choice in
full-handed games. For instance, you might begin with the assumption
that you’re going to fold, weigh arguments to the contrary, and usually
fold anyway. However, if you choose the second, liberal approach, it will
be easier to find reasons not to bet, raise, or call. You often will defeat
that initial choice, especially if it’s to bet or raise.”
Mike teaches that in limit poker games, where the wagering is
by a single unit, on early betting rounds, and by double that amount
on later betting rounds, there’s an effective way to use these two
approaches.
Common Weakness. He advises, “When the betting and raising
is by single units, such as $10 in a $10/$20 game, you should use
the first approach. You should make up your mind to check or fold,
whichever the situation merits, unless you can find a powerful and
convincing reason to do otherwise. In other words, you need to argue
yourself out of folding or checking. This will keep you on the right
track, by helping you avoid an average player’s most common weakness – entering too many pots and calling or betting too often.”
He suggests that when your betting doubles, such as $20 rounds
in a $10/$20 game, you should do exactly the opposite. After you successfully argue against raising, you should prepare to call unless there
is strong evidence that a fold would save you money.
You’ll usually be able to convince yourself not to raise, unless you
have a strong hand under favorable circumstances. But, it will be more
difficult to convince yourself that you shouldn’t call.
Folding too often. And that’s a good thing. While average players
don’t fold often enough on later rounds, players trying to win, like us,
strangely have a tendency to fold too often. That’s because, in our
zeal to make solid decisions, we don’t adequately take into consideration that the pot is so large on late betting rounds, relative to how
much it costs to call, that we’re supposed to usually call, even though
we’re going to usually lose. By using the second approach on later
rounds of betting, you will usually call correctly if your hand has any
reasonable chance of winning.
In summary: On early rounds of betting, begin with the assumption
that you’re going to check or fold. On later rounds of betting, begin with
the assumption that you’re usually going to call, if bet into. Then you
can alter your play if there is strong evidence to the contrary.
Mike convinced me that this system works like a charm, so I thought
I’d just pass it along to you, in the hopes that you’ll profit from it.
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].
16
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
Jack Binion’s
included in the next issue.
Tunica card rooms have
been filled with poker players creating long waiting
times for games during this
time of year, as the WPOʼs
popularity has grown rapidly in stature. See below
for the latest results.
Chris Savage
Cannibalizes Final
Table:
Online Poker Whiz
Runs Wire-to-Wire in
First Major ‘Live’
Tournament Win
The real danger is not that
computers will begin to
think like men, but that
men will begin to think like
computers.
—Sydney J. Harris
In the not too far distant
past, the general mindset
of flesh and blood poker
players towards online
adversaries was one of contempt. They play too many
starting hands. They have
no ʻpeople readingʼ skills.
They canʼt beat a real poker
game.
Then, along came an
accountant from Tennessee
named Chris Moneymaker
and the poker world
turned upside down.
Moneymaker, true to his
name, did the unthinkable
– parlaying a $37 online
tournament win into the
2003 world championship.
The unlikeliest of winners
ignited a fuse on a global
powder keg, exploding into
a worldwide proliferation
of online poker sites, many
with hundreds of games
going 24/7 and thousands
of players around the clock.
Proving that online poker
as a training ground for
tournament success was no
fluke, a Connecticut-based
attorney, Greg Raymer,
repeated the same feat
again in 2004.
Now, another online
poker whiz, Chris Savage
from Baton Rouge, LA
has completed the technotrifecta. Savage, who
achieved astonishing results
online over the past year,
won the $1,500 buy-in
Limit Holdʼem event at the
2005 Jack Binion World
Poker Open. First place
paid $78,706 in cash, the
coveted gold and diamond
bracelet, and a $10,000
entry into the championship event, which starts
next week. Savageʼs online
tournament record alone
would be enough to make
him the envy of 99.9 percent of all poker players.
Consider that he won an
unprecedented 12 seats to
the $10,000 buy-in Aruba
event last year, just from
his online play. Savage
won eight other major
online tournaments in 2004,
as well. Now, heʼs broken
into new territory – live
tournaments.
“When I first started
playing poker online, I lost
more money than anyone,”
Savage said following his
victory. “Then, I decided to
take the game seriously. I
started studying. I talked
to friends on the phone for
hours about poker strategy,
and learned about all the
things you need to become
a good tournament player....
The most important this
is – Iʼm not afraid to (get
knocked out). I donʼt play
to move up a notch in the
prize money, I play to win
first place.”
Indeed, Savage never
once let up in a relentless
pursuit of his first live tournament win. “Iʼm able to
fire the second shell and the
third shell and make people
fold the best hand,” Savage
explained. “Iʼm going to
keep firing bullets when I
have the chip lead and itʼs
very difficult for someone
to call in their position.”
6TH ANNUAL JACK BINION
WORLD POKER OPEN
EVENT #14
1/19/05
LIMIT TEXAS
HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,500 + $70
PLAYERS 176
PRIZE
POOL
$239,447
Chris Savage
1. Chris Savage . . . . . . $78,706
and $10,000 entry into WPT
Baton Rouge LA
2. Mike Haney . . . . . . . $43,407
Marion, AR
3. Robert Perry . . . . . . $23,850
Highland Beach, FL, United States
4. Raja Kattamuri . . . . $19,080
Dallas, TX
5. Chris Tsiprailidis . . . $14,310
Syracuse, NY, United States
6. Dr Max Stern . . . . . . $11,925
Las Vegas, NV, United States
7. Frank Kassela . . . . . . $9,540
Germantown, TN, United States
8. Tom Franklin . . . . . . . $7,155
Gulfport, MS, United States
9. Gerard Johnston . . . . $4,918
St Charles, MO, United States
‘The Great Unknown’
New Orleans Business
Owner Eddie Ameen
Wins Top Prize in PotLimit Hold’em Event
Standing out in the hallway in front of the tournament room at the 2005
Jack Binion World Poker
Open, two men were having a discussion. One
of those men happened
to be Hans “Tuna” Lund
– one of the greatest
poker players of the last
thirty years, and certainly one of the gameʼs
top intellects. Tuna was
lamenting the fact that
winning at poker today
is much tougher than in
yesteryear. “If you make
a big bet, now they come
right back over the top
of you,” Tuna grumbled.
“You used to be able to
make a bet and take the
pot, but today, no one is
afraid anymore.”
Tuna is right.
The final table of
Event #13 confirms
the worst fears of Tuna
Lund, and many top pros
who once dominated
the tournament poker
circuit. The nine finalists in this event were
names and faces that,
for the most part, no one
would recognize. All
of the money spots --18
in all -- were comprised
of relatively ʻunknownʼ
players. This is not to
say these individuals
arenʼt good, perhaps even
great players. Indeed,
thatʼs the scary part. The
ʻgreat unknownsʼ have
become so good so fast
that they have just as
decent a chance to win a
tournament as any poker
superstar. Chalk it up to
the influence of televised
tournaments and countless poker websites, strategy discussion groups,
books, videos, seminars,
and articles and what you
have is poker egalitarianism – a large assembly of
devoted and near-equally
WPO in Full Swing
talented tournament players who are separated not
so much by differences
in skill, but by public
awareness and perception. Itʼs as though there
are two groups of poker
players – the discovered
and the undiscovered.
The undiscovered winner of this event was
Eddie Ameen, a 57-yearold businessman from the
New Orleans suburb of
Metarie. Ameen owns
a jewelry store as well
as a successful personnel management firm.
Ameen describes himself
mostly as a ʻhome gameʼ
player, but his performance in this event was
way beyond what anyone
would expect in your
average Wednesday night
poker game. Ameen collected first-place prize
money of $69,392, an
entry into the $10,000
buy-in championship
event, and the coveted
gold and diamond bracelet given to each event
winner at the Jack Binion
World Poker Open.
World Champion Mads
Andersen masters a
‘new’ game—Danish
player wins first
poker tournament and
$118,379
WORLD POKER OPEN
EVENT #13
1/18/05
POT LIMIT TEXAS
HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,000 + $60
PLAYERS 234
PRIZE
POOL
$210,979
Ed Ameen
1. Ed Ameen . . . . . . . . . $69,392
New Orleans, LA, United States
2. Chad Moore . . . . . . . $38,270
Frankfort, IN, United States
3. Amnon Filippi . . . . . $21,028
New york, NY, United States
4. Chad Moore . . . . . . . $16,822
Frankfort, IN, United States
5. Larry Keene . . . . . . . $12,617
Fitzgerald, GA, United States
6. Mark Fledderman . . $10,514
St Louis, MO, United States
7. Pete Bigelow . . . . . . . . $8,411
Moose Lake, MN, United States
8. Russell Burns . . . . . . . $6,308
DeKalb, IL, United States
9. Salem Helou . . . . . . . . $4,336
Lafayette, LA, United States
The Great Dane:
Former Backgammon
Experts in any one field
tend to be extraordinary
in other areas, as well.
For instance, those with
a special talent for languages can learn a third
or even a fourth language
much easier than the rest
of us. Great thinkers tend
to understand multiple
sciences – physics, chemistry, and mathematics,
for example. Inventors
are likely to initiate multiple discoveries, not just
one. Intellectual aptitude
extends to game theory,
also.
As proof – consider the
winner of Event #12 at the
2005 Jack Binion World
Poker Open. Danish-born
master gamesman and
2002 Backgammon World
Champion Mads Andersen
topped a highly-competitive field of 135 players
and earned his first poker
victory. Not since Paul
Magriel has any backgammon expert broken into the
sanctified winnerʼs circle
of a major poker tournament. Magriel, renowned
for his backgammon
expertise and achievements during the 1970s
and 80s, made a number
of poker tournament final
tables in recent years.
Now, Mads Andersen
has invaded the poker
world and is taking no
prisoners. He arrived at
the final table sixth in
the chip count, overcame
several short-stacked situations, staged a startling
comeback, and by wiping
out one of the worldʼs best
Pot-Limit Omaha players, made a bold statement
that he has arrived on the
poker scene.
WORLD POKER OPEN
EVENT #12
1/17/05
POT LIMIT OMAHA
BUY-IN $1,000 + $60
PLAYERS 135
REBUYS 225
PRIZE
POOL
$328,829
Mads Andersen
1. Mads Andersen . . . $118,379
Copenhagen, Denmark
2. Robert Williamson III . . . . .
$65,766
Dallas, TX, United States
3. Karl Limbert . . . . . . $36,171
Margate, United Kingdom
4. Dale Morrow . . . . . . $26,306
Tunica, MS, United States
5. Larry Kozlove . . . . . $23,018
Louisville, KY, United States
6. Sherkhan Farnood . $19,730
Afghanistan
7. Tony Lay . . . . . . . . . $16,441
Oklahoma City, OK, United States
8. Ayaz Mahmood . . . . $13,153
Houston, TX, United States
9. Raul Paez . . . . . . . . . . $9,865
Barcelona, Spain
Ruben Ybarra
Wins First Poker
Tournament, tops
UK-champ Jac Arama
in heads-up play for
$138,647 prize
History has a strange way
of repeating itself. The
Pot Limit ~ No Limit
Poker Players
Monday Night
Football Special
Beginners
Lessons Daily
exclusively at the
11:00 a.m.
6:00 p.m.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA • CENTER - “STRIP”
• Poker players earn “Comp Dollars”
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• No limit tournaments
Mon. 1:00 p.m. $40 Buy-In
Tues. 7:00 p.m. $50 Buy-In
Wed. 1:00 p.m. $40 Buy-In
Wed. Midnight $40 Buy-In
Thurs. 7:00 p.m. $50 Buy-In
Sun. 1:00 p.m. $50 Buy-In
All tournaments have re-buys and add-ons!
For tournament info, contact the Poker Room at 702.731.3311 ext. 3750
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
17
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Aussie Millions
2005 - Melbourne
TRUE POKER
By Peter “The Poet” COsta
This event has proven so good for me over the last two
years, I fully expected it to provide me with further
material to work with. Well, that didn’t very look like
likely as I looked in danger of being first out.
Having taken my second-chance chips after just 40 minutes, and then losing almost half of them immediately - I
was on the verge of dreaming about next year’s event.
I then got what was a very lucky break when I bet 200
after the flop and got called twice. However, the second
caller had accidentally thrown in two $500 by mistake.
I called and so did the other player. I won the pot and
increased my stack to 6,000 and back into the game.
As the field of 263 began to dwindle, I began to slowly
build to over 23,000. To say I was feeling confident,
was an understatement. Down to just over 100 players
remaining, two young internet qualifiers had the big
stacks on my table. One in particular had become my
target. He seemed to be raising far too many times and
far too often UTG (under the gun). Everyone’s suspicions
about the strength of his starting hands was proven
correct when he was forced to call a re-raise by the BB
after he again had raised UTG. Showing the 4-5 diamonds was about to make him everyone’s target.
As you do, you wait and you wait until the right moment
comes….
He again raised UTG and I called in late position with 88. The flop came three hearts and he bet out. I mucked
and he showed the 6-7 hearts.
With blinds of 300-600, he again raises UTG and makes
it 2,000 to play. I called with 5-5. It was so sweet to see
the flop of 8h-5c-Th. He bet 2,000 and I raised 4,000.
He moved all-in and I beat him into the pot. The funny
thing was that he actually had a hand this time as he
throw over A-A. My chance had finally come. But a funny
thing happened on the way to the next hand and to a
stack of nearly 50,000 - runner runner hearts to give
him the nut flush! It’s not often I’m stuck for words, but
this was one of those times.
And so I can finally dream of next year and of the Aussie
Millions 2006. For those who have yet to make this trip
- next year’s schedule is going to be changed with some
very imaginative additions. I suggest that you keep an
eye out for developments and make plans to visit these
wonderful Aussie people.
As for these Internet players - they sure add fun to the
game. It seems that not having a mouse to click - makes
no difference to their overall play. But I must add that
most of them show a lot of guts and they don’t seemed
fazed by their introduction real live tournaments. OK,
so they create a minefield for the pro to overcome. But
they also help to boost this years first prize to $1M.
Bless them all and their clicking finger.
Next stop is the Commerce in LA and to a hard month of
tournaments - what a tough life this is! Until then—play
well, get lucky and enjoy life.
d
Diamond Jim’s Casino
118 20th St. West
Rosamond, California
Exit A 14 Freeway
The Best Little No-limit Tournament in Southern California
POKER DERBY
EVENT #6
1/12/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
tournament concluded on
January 16 with 2,094 total
participants and a total prize
pool of $555,800 over 10
events. It was no surprise
that the turnout for holdʼem
events exceeded expectations and helped push the
total prize pool well over
the original estimate.
The Poker Derby traditionally appeals to a local
crowd however four of
this yearʼs winners hailed
from out of state, or up the
coast, including Detroit,
Colorado Springs, San Jose
and Walnut Creek, CA.
The player with the hot
hand turned out to be John
Hoang, a local player out of
Alhambra, CA. John won
the limit holdʼem event on
January 16 and captured
enough points in other
events to win the $10,000
Best All-Around Player
contest. See the charts
below for other winners and
details.
The next major tournament at Hollywood Park
Casino is the 8th annual
Sport of Kings, scheduled
for March 30 - April 10,
2005.
POKER DERBY
EVENT #10
1/16/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
P
POKER DERBY
EVENT #9
1/15/05
LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PLAYERS 111
PRIZE POOL
$32,300
John Hoang
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
John Hoang . . . . . . . $12,885
Khiem Nguyen . . . . . . $6,445
Ronald Drew . . . . . . . $3,215
Chad Miyamoto . . . . . $2,085
Bruce Brown . . . . . . . $1,600
Michael Christian . . . $1,115
Frank Digiorgio . . . . . . .$795
Antoine Hasrouni . . . . .$630
Tom Noel . . . . . . . . . . . .$470
POKER DERBY
EVENT #8
1/14/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $200 + $30
PLAYERS 221
REBUYS 241
ADD-ONS 104
PRIZE POOL
$109,800
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Joel Kop . . . . . . . . . . $40,050
Jeff Stroiman . . . . . . $20,865
Sung Yi . . . . . . . . . . . $10,430
Daniel Dahan . . . . . . . $7,135
Jacky Lee . . . . . . . . . . $4,940
John Hoang . . . . . . . . $3,845
Robert Fowlkes . . . . . $2,745
Franco Brunetti . . . . . $2,195
Michael Lucas . . . . . . $1,755
LIMIT HOLD’EM
$84,100
BUY-IN $200 + $30
Adham Mackie
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
PLAYERS 152
Adham Mackie . . . . $30,695
William Greenberg . $15,980
Joel Kop . . . . . . . . . . . $7,990
Alan Myerson . . . . . . $5,465
Frank Schram . . . . . . $3,785
Maria Ho . . . . . . . . . . $2,945
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PLAYERS 361
PRIZE POOL
$70,035
George Panagakis
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
George Panagakis . . $25,560
Joel Tushnet . . . . . . . $13,305
Jill Siegel . . . . . . . . . . $6,655
Michael Lucas . . . . . . $4,550
David Sacks . . . . . . . . $3,150
Ba Minh Tran . . . . . . $2,450
David Daneshgar . . . . $1,750
Hiam Salmon . . . . . . . $1,400
Chellie Campbell . . . . $1,135
POKER DERBY
EVENT #5
1/11/05
OMAHA HI-LO
BUY-IN $100 + $25
PLAYERS 133
REBUYS 111
PRIZE
POOL
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Joel Kop
POKER DERBY
EVENT #7
1/13/05
PLAYERS 63
REBUYS 114
ADD-ONS 97
PRIZE POOL
Call for more info: 661-256-1400
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
P
7. Lance Allred. . . . . . . . $2,100
8. Fodil Moussa . . . . . . . $1,680
9. Henry Khauv . . . . . . . $1,355
BUY-IN $300 + $40
Poker Games at Sea
BUY-IN $200 + $30
The Last Sunday of Each Month $100 Buy-in–No Rebuys $8,000 in Tournament Chips
18
Danny Morgan. . . . . . $2,950
James Wardell . . . . . . $1,915
George Shahrezay . . . $1,475
Daniel Torla . . . . . . . . $1,030
George Brinson . . . . . . .$735
Gregory M. Pierce . . . . .$595
Scott Silverman . . . . . . .$440
$23,670
Jeffrey Han . . . . . . . . $9,480
Errol Davidson . . . . . $4,735
John Hoang . . . . . . . . $2,365
Ronald Holborn . . . . . $1,540
Jeffrey Niedelman . . . $1,185
Michael Christensen . . .$830
Gary Mandell. . . . . . . . .$590
Jim Calcagno . . . . . . . . .$475
Cecil Belda . . . . . . . . . . .$355
POKER DERBY
EVENT #4
1/10/05
7-CARD STUD HI-LO
BUY-IN $100 + $25
PLAYERS 129
REBUYS 109
PRIZE POOL
$23,085
Feridoun Farboud
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Feridoun Farboud . . . $9,220
Mark Taylor . . . . . . . . $4,615
James Wardell . . . . . . $2,310
Joseph Schulman . . . . $1,385
Brett Freeman . . . . . . $1,155
n/a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$925
Sam Sanusi . . . . . . . . . . .$695
Phillip Penn . . . . . . . . . .$460
PRIZE POOL
$29,490
POKER DERBY
EVENT #3
1/9/05
Mark Taylor
1. Mark Taylor . . . . . . . $11,795
2. William Behrens . . . . $5,900
LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $100 + $25
PLAYERS 227
REBUYS 200
PRIZE
POOL
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
$41,420
Brian Kim . . . . . . . . $15,100
Bruce Brown . . . . . . . $7,870
Tony “TNT” Nasr . . . $3,930
Costas Hager . . . . . . . $2,690
Yong Woo Chung. . . . $1,865
Bahman Fathi . . . . . . $1,450
Seymour Sundell . . . . $1,035
Feridoun Farboud . . . . .$830
Tran Takes Harrahs First Circuit
Canada by wining the
main event at Harrahʼs
Atlantic City. This was
the first in a series of six
Circuit Tournaments held
at Harrahʼs properties in
the USA.. Notables at
the final table included
Erik Lindgren, who came
in 2nd and former world
Champion Chris Ferguson.
Another person named
Tran, Mimi of Torrance,
California took fourth
place. There were twelve
events in all at this tournament which began on
January 7th and ran through
the 18th.. See the results in
the following charts.
HARRAHS ATLANTIC CITY
WSOP CIRCUIT TOURNAMENT
1/18/05
CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
2-DAY EVENT
BUY-IN $9,500 + $500
PLAYERS 249
PRIZE
POOL
$2,365,000
5. Aaron Bartley . . . . $141,930
2. Martin Julius . . . . . . $20,400
8. John Brown . . . . . . . $10,000
5. Alan Goodman. . . . . $12,495
6. Stan Goldstein . . . . $118,275
3. Alexandra Vuong . . . $11,220
9. Allen Cunningham . . $7,500
6. Allen Kessler . . . . . . $10,710
Los Angeles, CA, United States
Ranco Palos Verde, CA, United States
Ventura, CA, United States
7. Chad Brown . . . . . . . $94,620
4. Nick Frangos . . . . . . . $8,160
Cary, NC, United States
Hassleholr, Sweden
Mars Landing, NJ, United States
8. Chris Ferguson . . . . $70,965
5. David Chiu . . . . . . . . . $7,140
9. Michael Esposito . . . $47,310
Pacific Palisades, CA, United States
Seaford, NY, United States
1/15/05
L I P S
NO LIMIT
LADIES EVENT
BUY-IN $200 + $30
PLAYERS 168
PRIZE
POOL
$33,600
1. Esther Ludwig . . . . . $11,088
Edison, NJ, United States
Westminster, CA, United States
Yonkers, NY, United States
6. Ted Forest. . . . . . . . . . $6,120
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
La Jolla, CA, United States
7. Robert Mackie . . . . . . $5,100
BUY-IN $500 + $60
Rowland Heights, CA, United States
Staten Island, NY, United States
PLAYERS 99
8. Anthony DeAngelo . . $4,080
Sewell, NJ, United States
9. Daniel Shak . . . . . . . . $3,060
Rosemont, NJ, United States
PRIZE
POOL
$49,500
1. Rohit Chopra . . . . . . $17,820
1/13/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
2-DAY EVENT
BUY-IN $2,000 + $80
Wadsworth, OH, United States
Leonia, NJ, United States
$250,000
7. Tory Keomanivong . . $2,475
Upper Darby, PA, United States
Marlboro, NJ, United States
Ridgewood, NJ, United States
7. Terry Smith . . . . . . . . $1,344
1/11/05
Laurel, MD, United States
8. Bonnie Kornstein. . . . $1,008
Wyncote, PA, United States
Lighthouse Pt., FL, United States
$57,000
5. Alan Flaisman . . . . . . $3,465
6. Patricia Galasso . . . . . $1,680
$102,000
PRIZE
POOL
NV, United States
Fairview Village, PA, United States
1. John Spadavecchia . $36,720
PLAYERS 57
New York, NY, United States
4. Jim Miller. . . . . . . . . . $3,960
Munroe Falls, OH, United States
PLAYERS 51
BUY-IN $1,000 + $60
6. Sang Tae . . . . . . . . . . . $2,970
PLAYERS 125
PRIZE
POOL
Douglassville, PA, United States
9. Robert Jaffe . . . . . . . . $1,485
PRIZE
POOL
LIMIT HOLD’EM
2-DAY EVENT
3. Jon Kinkel . . . . . . . . . $5,445
Moncks Corner, SC, United States
BUY-IN $2,000 + $80
1/10/05
Corona, CA, United States
5. Gina Saladino . . . . . . $2,016
LIMIT HOLD’EM
2-DAY EVENT
Brooklyn, NY, United States
9. Dan Alspatch . . . . . . . $5,355
2. Ronald Rhoads . . . . . $9,900
8. Dean Schultz . . . . . . . $1,980
1/14/05
Huntington Valley, PA, United States
7. Douglas Gardner . . . . $8,925
4. Kathleen Hartman . . $2,688
9. Kathryn Dowling . . . . . .$672
Brooklyn, NY, United States
8. Freddy Spour . . . . . . . $7,140
3. GiGi Dong . . . . . . . . . $3,360
Lake Grove, NY, United States
1/12/05
2. Kathy Liebert . . . . . . $6,115
Newark, DE, United States
Nghi Van Tran
1. Nghi Van Tran . . . . $780,615
Alan Schein
1. Alan Schein . . . . . . . $90,000
3. Adam Green. . . . . . . $27,500
2. Warren Karp . . . . . . $11,400
Lake Forrest, CA, United States
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
2-DAY EVENT
3. Alan Miller . . . . . . . . . $6,270
BUY-IN $1,500 + $70
4. Robert Rector . . . . . . $4,560
Nth Miami, FL, United States
2. Jon Finkel. . . . . . . . . $50,000
Nick Frangos
1. Nick Frangos . . . . . . $20,520
Bridgeport, WV, United States
PLAYERS 119
PRIZE
POOL
Sharon, MA, United States
5. Sal Accard . . . . . . . . . $3,990
$178,500
Dix Hills, NY, United States
6. Gino Yu. . . . . . . . . . . . $3,420
4. Chris Reslock . . . . . . $20,000
1. Anthony M Tagliaferri . . . . .
$64,260
Atlantic City, NJ, United States
Williamsport, PA, United States
5. Frank Giaramida . . $17,500
2. Michael Borovetz. . . $35,700
N Massapequa, NY, United States
Carson, CA, United States
8. Mike Dellaratto . . . . . $2,280
6. Brian Mogelefsky . . $15,000
3. Douglas Carli . . . . . . $19,635
Huntington, NY, United States
Alliance, OH, United States
9. Alan Flaisman . . . . . . $1,710
7. James Keller . . . . . . $12,500
4. William Blanda . . . . $14,280
Reston, VA, United States
Fayetteville, NC, United States
Torrance, CA, United States
7. Craig Gray . . . . . . . . . $2,850
Portland, OR, United States
Galloway, NJ
Humble, TX, United States
Wadsworth, OH, United States
North York, ON, Canada
2. Erick Lindgren . . . $430,521
POWERFUL ADVERTISING REACH...
3. Nick Frangos . . . . . $236,550
POKER PLAYER
4. Mimi Tran . . . . . . . $189,240
Torrance, CA, United States
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F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
19
Compounding
Mistakes
STUD SENSE
By ASHLEY ADAMS
I’ve seen it happen hundreds of times. After an hour or
two of tight you’re down to about $300 after staring with
$500. You still think you’re playing well, but you’re getting a little bored and frustrated at the bad run of cards
and the resulting lack of meaningful action. You decide to
bust out of your tight image, at least for a hand. You’ve
committed yourself to some aggressive play as soon as
you get anything close to a playable hand.
You’re dealt (9h Th)Ks. A 3d is the bring-in and is four
or five to your right. She brings it in for the $3.00 and
gets a caller before the action gets to you. Three players remain plus the bring-in. You decide to complete it
to $10—certainly a bit of a wild raise for you. But no Aces
are exposed and you figure you might win the antes and
the bring-ins.
No luck on the ante steal. You get called by two players—the bring-in with a 3d and the person who initially
called the bring-in with a Js. A nine and a ten folded but
your King is fully live as are the cards of your callers.
You get a Queen of Hearts on Fourth Street giving you
(9h Th)Ks Qh. The Jack gets an 8 and the 3 gets a suited
Ace. The 3h-Ah bets; the Js-8d calls and it’s to you. You
figure you have a Straight draw and a Flush draw and four
cards that are all at least pretty high. It’s still the lower
tier of betting and there are two other players in. With
the pot odds and your outs you figure it’s a borderline
call. But you haven’t played many hands lately – so you
convince yourself to make the call.
On Fifth Street you pair your 9 with (9h Th)KS Qh 9c.
You see (xx)3h-Ah-Kd and (xx) Js-8c-Qs. The Ace is high
and bets. The Jack calls. You figure that you have a shot
at trips, two pair or even a straight or a flush. And it’s
three-way action. So you call too.
On Sixth Street you don’t improve. But apparently neither do your opponents. The Ace bets, the Jack calls, and
you figure that the pot is so large you’re committed to
calling now. On the River you catch another Ten for two
pair. The Ace bets. The Jack folds. And you figure that
the pot odds justify a call. So you do, only to lose to Aces
over Threes.
What you’ve done is compounded your small mistake on
Third Street with a series of compounding mistakes that
ended up costing you a bundle. It’s not that any single
decision was a colossal mistake. But incrementally you
stumbled into a bankroll depleting error. How’d it happen?
Simply put, you got stuck in the momentum of the
hand. When your ante steal didn’t work you should have
quit. But you became improperly committed to pushing
the hand until you won. And so you lost eight small bets
instead of only one.
Let’s face it. It’s hard to admit defeat when you began
as the aggressor. And yet, to win in the long run, we frequently have to do just that. If our raise on Third Street,
which may have been ill conceived to begin with, doesn’t
work, we should check and fold on Fourth Street if we
don’t hit the right card. And if by Fifth Street we still
haven’t improved, we shouldn’t just bet in an attempt to
win. Sometimes a tactical retreat is the best move to
avoid a huge compounding error.
Jack Binion’s WPO
$1,000 buy-in No-Limit
Holdʼem event at the 2005
Open featured yet another
stunning comeback victory
and a breakthrough win
for a new poker champion.
Ruben Ybarra, a 36-yearold mortgage broker from
Chicago, IL made his first
final table ever after more
than 20 tries. He ended
up with first-place prize
money of $138,647, the
coveted gold and diamond
bracelet, and an entry into
the $10,000 championship
event. He did it the hard
way.
Consider the hand he
won early on Day One,
way prior to making it to
the final table: With 200
players remaining, Ybarra
started with pocket Aces,
made a pre-flop raise, and
was inexplicably called by
a player holding 2-3. A
deuce came on the flop,
and Ybarra bet out. The
opponent called. The turn
brought another deuce, and
Ybarra made a bet and was
check-raised ʻall in.” He
called. The river brought a
beautiful Ace.
“If I wouldnʼt have
caught that Ace yesterday,
I wouldnʼt even be here,”
Ybarra said. That turned
out to be the biggest hand
of Ybarraʼs life.
WORLD POKER OPEN
EVENT #11
1/16/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,500 + $70
PLAYERS 314
PRIZE
POOL
$435,200
Ruben Ybarra
1. Ruben Ybarra . . . . $138,647
Chicago, IL, United States
2. Jac Arama . . . . . . . . $76,256
London, United Kingdom
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]
20
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
3. Leo Boothe . . . . . . . . $38,994
Fairriday, LA, United States
4. J C Tran . . . . . . . . . . $30,329
Sacramento, CA, United States
5. Tom Komulainen . . . $25,996
Iron River, MI, United States
6. Glyn Banks. . . . . . . . $21,664
Smithville, TN, United States
7. Jeff Burns . . . . . . . . . $17,331
Mt Juliet, TN, United States
8. Davood Mehrmand . $12,998
Frankfurt, Germany
9. Jo Handman. . . . . . . . $8,665
Persistence Pays Off:
After 20 tries and six
straight years at the
JBWPO, Nick Yobbagy
wins first poker
tournament, defeats
newcomer Hung Ly in
four-hour heads-up
marathon
The game of poker can be
divided into two distinct
eras – before and after.
In the before era, Limit
Holdʼem was king. All live
holdʼem games were limit.
Limit Holdʼem tournaments attracted the largest
fields and generated the
vast majority of tournament
circuit prize money. NoLimit was a distant second
in popularity, and was nonexistent as an option inside
virtually all cardrooms
within the United States.
From Tunica to Las Vegas,
it was easier to find a professional full-time keno
player than to find a NoLimit Holdʼem cash game.
Then came televised
poker – and everything
changed.
After the revolution,
No-Limit Holdʼem became
the game. Todayʼs poker
neophytes are drawn to
No-Limit. As proof, look
no further than this yearʼs
Open. The first two NoLimit events at this yearʼs
tournament – comprised
mostly of new faces -- set
all-time attendance records.
Indeed, No-Limit games of
all sizes have popped up
in cardrooms from coastto-coast – including games
with tiny blind structures
all the way up to the biggest games in the world.
Strangely enough, Limit
Holdʼem now seems to be
pokerʼs proverbial stepchild, still part of the family
of course, but no longer the
most desired and loved of
the bunch.
The winner of Event #10
at this yearʼs JBWPO was
a throwback to the ʻbeforeʼ
era. “I learned how to play
poker when everything was
Limit Holdʼem,” said Nick
Yobbagy, a former executive with Eastman-Kodak
and now a newly crowned
poker champion. “The first
time I played was back
in 1969 at the Stardust
(Las Vegas). I grew up on
limit poker. I like limit
poker because I can manage myself better. I know
what a hand is going to cost
me. So, itʼs a very different game than No-Limit
where one hand can cost
all of your chips. In Limit
poker you can take more
chances.”
WORLD POKER OPEN
EVENT #10
1/15/05
LIMIT TEXAS
HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,000 + $60
PLAYERS 310
PRIZE
POOL
$283,214
Nick Yobbagy
1. Nick Yobbagy . . . . . . $90,171
plus $10,000 entry into WPT
Fort Collins, CO, United States
2. Hung Ly . . . . . . . . . . $49,594
3. Gene Bowden . . . . . . $25,361
Yuma, AZ, United States
4. Norm Ketchum . . . . $19,725
Rockford, IL, United States
5. Sam Oliverio . . . . . . $16,907
Bridgeport, WV, United States
6. Minh Nguyen . . . . . . $14,089
Lake Elsinore, CA, United States
7. Matthew Palmer . . . $11,271
ON, Canada
8. Jose Rosenkrantz. . . . $8,454
Miami, FL, United States
9. Matt Overstreet . . . . . $5,810
Oxford, MS, United States
‘Paint Drying Contest’
won by Johnny
Landreth: Alabaman
Makes Deal with
Opponents, then Wins
Bracelet
On the broad spectrum of
poker tournament final
tables, there are ʻlegendaryʼ clashes such as the
Chan-Seidel rematch at
the 2001 World Series of
Poker. There are ʻgreatʼ
final tables, such as Sirous
Baghchehsaraieʼs stunning
comeback win after being
down 87 to 1 against Scott
Fischman at this yearʼs
JBWPO. There are ʻgoodʼ
final tables, such as gadfly Avner Levyʼs victory
over Maria Stern here last
week. There are ʻaverageʼ
final tables – which constitute many of the mid-level
Tran Takes
Harrahs First
Circuit
1/9/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
2-DAY EVENT
BUY-IN $1,000 + $60
PLAYERS 254
PRIZE
POOL
$254,000
1. Daniel Beers . . . . . . . $81,280
Canal Fulton, OH, United States
2. Salvatore Simeone . . $44,704
3. John C Zapinski . . . $12,400
Madison Heights, MI, United States
4. Jason Ruotolo . . . . . . $9,920
Smithfield, RI, United States
5. Anthony Hill . . . . . . . $7,440
Columbia, CT, United States
6. Michael Cacaj . . . . . . $6,200
Sterling Heights, MI, United States
7. Jose Luis Gomes . . . . $4,960
New York, NY
8. James Kinney. . . . . . . $3,720
Matthews, NC, United States
9. Ralph Ferro Jr. . . . . . $2,480
Ridgewood, NJ, United States
Florham Park, NJ, United States
3. Sang Tae . . . . . . . . . . $22,860
Leonia, NJ, United States
4. Neal Gersony . . . . . . $17,780
Rocky Hill, CT, United States
5. Michael Candido . . . $15,240
Flourtown, PA, United States
6. Stephen Frame. . . . . $12,700
Cape May, NJ, United States
1/7/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
2-DAY EVENT
BUY-IN $500 + $50
7. S J Giambrone . . . . . $10,160
PLAYERS 628
Staten Island, NY, United States
8. Scott Neuman. . . . . . . $7,620
Lakehurst, NJ, United States
PRIZE
POOL
$314,000
9. Patrick Kelly . . . . . . . $5,080
New Hope, PA, United States
1/10/05
LIMIT HOLD’EM
2-DAY EVENT
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 248
PRIZE
POOL
$124,000
Michael Pascullo
1. Michael Pascullo . . . $91,060
Syosset, NY, United States
2. Wiliam Cole . . . . . . . $48,042
Murietta, CA, United States
3. James J Grogan . . . . $25,120
Deland, FL, United States
4. Konstantino Pashos . $21,980
Flushing, NY, United States
5. John M Botticello . . $18,840
Floral Park, NY, United States
6. John J Milone . . . . . $15,700
Babylon, NY, United States
Casey Peters
1. Casey Peters . . . . . . . $40,920
7. Airy Sysouphan . . . . $12,560
Philadelphia, PA, United States
8. Michael Hickman . . . $9,420
Brick, NJ
Media, PA, United States
2. Eric Rosica . . . . . . . . $22,568
9. Seth Gomes . . . . . . . . $6,280
Warminster, PA, United States
Jack Binion’s WPO
events. And occasionally,
there are lackluster final
tables, which happen every
so often. Then -- there is
Event #9, the $1,000 buy-in
No-Limit Holdʼem event
at this yearʼs Jack Binion
World Poker Open – which
stands alone in the colorful kaleidoscope that is the
poker world.
To say that this final
table lacked drama would
be a gross understatement. There were few big
hands, no turning points,
no amazing comebacks, nor
lively banter that normally
characterizes just about
every tournament finale.
It wasnʼt necessarily the
playersʼ fault. They played
well, and deserved to be
here, having topped a very
tough field of 677 entrants.
Most of them were relative newcomers to the final
table experience, having
never played for these
stakes before. It certainly
wasnʼt the fact that the
stakes were below par – this
event awarded the thirdhighest prize money pool
so far this year, including a
whopping $175,597 for first
place. Fact was -- the final
table was so utterly without
drama that the sparse crowd
gradually got fed up with
the match, especially when
play became short-handed,
and drifted off to watch the
NFL playoffs on television
or play in live games.
It all comes down to
deals and dealmaking.
When play became four
handed, the remaining
players cut a deal. They
reportedly took $90,000
and change each. Such is
the case with poker tournaments, where as long as the
prize money is being put up
exclusively by the players,
they have the right (in most
cases) to cut up the loot as
they wish, whenever they
want. We can debate the
practice of dealmaking, and
whether itʼs good or bad for
poker. Or, we can simply
say that deals are a part of
the game and acknowledge
the fact. They happen.
WORLD POKER OPEN
EVENT #9
1/14/05
NO LIMIT TEXAS
HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,000 + $60
PLAYERS 667
PRIZE
POOL
$630,818
Johnny Landreth
1. Johnny Landreth . . $175,597
Lanett, AL, United States
2. Charlie Dawson . . . . $90,929
Lexington, KY, United States
3. Lee Grove . . . . . . . . . $50,167
4. Larry Butler. . . . . . . $43,896
Colorado Springs, CO, United States
5. Tracey Phan . . . . . . . $37,625
6. Karl Limbert . . . . . . $31,355
Margate, United Kingdom
7. Vince Byrd . . . . . . . . $25,084
Dayton, TN, United States
8. Steve Hohn . . . . . . . . $18,813
Overland Park, KS, United States
9. Gio Rocca . . . . . . . . . $12,542
Toronto, ON, Canada
Reversal of Fortune
Redux: Sirous
Baghchehsaraie
Stages Greatest
Comeback in Jack
Binion World Poker
Open History
What are the chances that
any poker player down
87 to 1 in the chip count
would come back and win?
Add the obstacle that the
player holding the chip
lead just so happened to
be one of Englandʼs top
poker pros, having finished
high in several big tournaments recently -- including the 2004 World Series
of Poker. Then, consider
the game they were playing – Omaha High-Low
Split, normally not a game
contusive to massive chip
swings. Finally, what are
the odds this unprecedented
reversal of fortune would
all happen within a lightening-fast 35-minute period?
Oddsmakers would certainly lay some pretty long
odds on that proposition.
At 9:52 pm CST, on
January 14, 2005 a hun-
Superior, NE, United States
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
21
The Spring Poker Round-up, March 23-April
2, at the Wildhorse Resort & Casino, outside
Pendleton, OR, should be on every tournament
NORTH BY NORTHWEST
asked & answered:
Quizzes from Mike Caro University of Poker
By Byron Liggett
rider’s schedule. Like its namesake, the world
famous “Pendleton Rodeo Round-up,” it’s an annual poker ‘rodeo’
that attracts Card Cowboys and Cowgirls throughout the West.
Everybody will be there—the good, the bad and the ugly.
There’ll be lots of action everyday at the Spring Poker Roundup. The days will be filled with the sound of players firing live
chips and tournament chips. There’ll be man-to-man shootouts,
gang fights and ambushes. At every table will be gunslingers,
gold seekers and gamblers. They all want some of the $1,000,000
guaranteed prize money. Live games run from low limit to all-youcan-eat or be eaten.
Sheriff Roland Waters, the Poker Manager, does a good job of
keeping the peace. He doesn’t use force; he kills ‘em with kindness. The only Colt .45 Waters wears is a beer. “I figure if we just
treat everybody like Roy Rodgers and Dale Evans they’ll have a
good time,” the Sheriff explains.
Indeed, the Spring Poker Round-up is affordable for the average
cardhand. Buy-ins to tournament events range from $150 to $500
for the No-Limit Hold’em Championship. The tournament features
more than $80,000 in added money! The Gaming Commission
doesn’t allow signups over the phone or with a check. “You gotta
be in person,” Sheriff Waters says, “or have someone be in person
to sign up for you.” He adds, “But everyone who shows up will get
in.” And, a lot of folks show up!
Located in northeast Oregon, Pendleton is equal distance from
Portland, Seattle, Spokane and Boise. This is the West. Wagon
Trains on the Oregon Trail passed through here. Visitors to the
Wildhorse Resort can have the complete Western experience,
including poker games and good grub. If you want to ride the
internet range and check it out, the trail is: www.wildhorseresort.
com So, all you poker rodeo riders, saddle-up and move ‘em out!
Northstar Casino, by SeaTac International Airport in Tacoma
WA is a good spot to land a hand if you’re flying around Seattle
or Puget Sound. You can park your plane at any of a dozen table
games, including poker. Northstar is fast becoming a popular landing
field for both local poker pilots and fly-by players as well. “This is a
great place to spend a lay over,” a voice from the Hold’em hangar
hollered, “I’ve been here three days!” They fly flops low and not so
low at Northstar. Games range from light flights to long hauls, but
they’re all first class seats. Captain Raymona Pendleton is in charge.
She directs all table take-offs and landings.
The man who runs the Control Tower is owner Dale Whitney.
“We don’t keep our poker passengers waiting long to take-off,” he
says. Controller Dale proudly points out that while Northstar has
state-of-the-art security, no one has to pass through metal detectors, be fondled by home casino agents or has to take their shoes
off. “It’s easy,” he says, “All you gotta do is buy your chips, taxi
up to table and wait for take-off.”
A lot of poker surfers are on their way to San Jose. They hope
to catch the perfect flop and ride it to the Final Beach during the
upcoming Shooting Star Tournament at Bay 101.
Competitors will have plenty of opportunity to get their boogie
board in shape before the tournament starts March 4th. World
Poker Tour satellites will be held the week preceding the tournament, Feb. 20 to Mar. 1. You could ride the boards to glory before
the Shooting Star Tournament lights up the night!
If action’s the attraction, the 2005 World Poker Challenge, March
10-April 1 at the Reno Hilton, is where it’s at. It’s a 3-week drama.
There’ll be card crashes, shoot-outs, narrow escapes, tragedies and
triumphs. The Reno Hilton always produces a first class, big-budget
epic. There are poker stars, card celebrities, great actors, and villains. If you want to be discovered, this is a good place to do it.
Byron Liggett grew-up in the Northwest, working as a
journalist and consultant for cardrooms in the early 1970s.
Moving to Nevada in 1984, he became a gaming writer, editor and columnist for major player and trade publications.
He has also acted as a consultant for most major poker
tournaments to produce press & PR materials.
Write him at [email protected]
22
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
This series is based on the MCU library of research and advice found at Poker1.com.
Each issue, Mike Caro presents 10 new questions covering a category of poker, targeted for beginner, intermediate, or advanced players. Quiz #12 is about poker rules and
etiquette, targeted at beginners. (Answers and explanations appear in the next issue.)
Poker Rules and
Etiquette
(level: beginner)
1. If there’s a showdown
after the betting is completed and you see that your
hand is beat...
a. You should always
throw your hand away immediately without exposing it;
b. You must show your
hand to anyone who was
dealt in and asks to see it;
c. You have a right to
spread your hand face up
and make your opponent
verbally announce that his
hand beats yours;
d. You should expose your
losing hand only to players
who are sitting next to you,
but not to the whole table.
2. How much do you need
to win before you’re allowed
to remove some of the
money from the table?
a. There is no set amount
of win, but traditionally you
must have at least three
minimum buy-ins on the
table before you can take
any chips or money out of
play;
b. You can always take
money that you’ve won off
the table, but you must
always leave your original
buy-in;
c. It varies from casino
to casino and home game to
home game, but in general,
you can only remove chips
in excess of what the next
highest player has on the
table;
d. Most house rules state
that you can’t remove any
chips from the table, except
to buy food or beverages
– or to tip the dealer or
servers.
3. It’s considered unethical to slow down your play in
the late stages of a tournament in order to have a better chance of advancing into
the money when players at
other tables are eliminated...
a. True;
b. False.
4. Leaning over to get a
better look at an opponent’s
secret cards is considered...
a. Unethical or even
cheating;
b. OK, as long as you
don’t lose your balance;
c. OK, if you only do it
once or twice an hour, but
not if you do it constantly;
d. Fair in tournaments,
because opponents are supposed to hide their hands
from every conceivable
angle.
5. If what you say about
the hand you spread in a
showdown doesn’t matter
and only the exposed cards
on the table determine who
wins, the rule is called...
a. Cards speak;
b. Show-and-shut-up;
c. Poker vision;
d. Words are wild.
6. Criticizing the play of
opponents at the table is...
a. Impolite and usually
unprofitable;
b. A powerful weapon
that most pros find necessary;
c. Expected of players
who compete against each
other often;
d. Worth about seven
small bets an hour, on average, as a psychological tactic.
don’t get called, you’ll get
the pot, so it’s a free chance
at winning;
d. You should immediately quit the game.
8. It’s OK to throw your
chips directly into the pot if
there’s a professional dealer
seated, because the dealer
has an obligation to see that
the amount you wagered is
right and can count the pot,
if necessary...
a. True;
b. False.
9. Some casinos have a
rule that states “verbal declarations are not binding.”
This means...
a. The game is set up
as one where psychological warfare is enjoyed, and
you and your opponents
should try to say things at
the showdown that will get
the winner to foul his or her
hand;
b. You must use hand signals to indicate fold, check,
call, and raise;
c. You aren’t allowed to
speak at the table, except
during the shuffle.
d. Anything a player
says is ignored as a choice
of action. Only the actions
themselves matter.
10. Tipping professional
dealers when you win a
meaningful pot is...
a. not done by most professional players;
b. theoretically optional,
but expected;
c. something you do only
if you’re winning;
d. not allowed in most
public cardrooms.
7. If you ever end up with
two cards of the same rank
and suit in your hand...
a. It’s a sure sign that
you’re being cheated;
b. You should immediately announce the problem to
the table, show your hand,
and expect a new deck and a
re-deal;
c. Keep quiet and try to
WATCH FOR
bluff. If your get called, you
ANSWERS IN OUR
can show the hand and then
NEXT ISSUE!
it will be a misdeal. If you
If you do not remember the questions, you will find them on our web site,
www.gamblingtimes.com/poker_player
When you arrive at the page, click on the “curto last issue’s questions
rent issue” and scroll to page 35
answers
Q #1 ANSWER: (d). The
largest and oldest “main
event” among poker tournaments is the World Series
of Poker.
Q #2 ANSWER: (a). It still
costs just $10,000 to buy into
the World Series of Poker main
event, while some other tour(Continued on page 34)
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24
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
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26
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
Time . Some events H ...... Hold’em
L ................. Limit
N ...........No Limit
7. 7-Card Stud
O .......Omaha
H/L ...... High/Low
C start after the hour
O A, P ........ AM, PM
..............Week
D Wk
gametimes
E & . Add’l
on this day. Call
•Denotes Advertiser
REGION/Cardroom(Ad Pg.)
NV Aladdin
SOUTH Cannery Casino
Circus Circus
Club Fortune
Col.Belle-Laughlin
Golden Nugget
Split
Pi ....... Pineapple
Po.........Pot Limit
Pn.......Panginque
S........... Stud
5 ...Five Card
MONDAY
Time Games
10A& N H
10A
NH
11A
L/N H
12P
7P&
11A
7P
•Horseshoe
2P
•Imperial Palace (p17) 1P
•Mandalay Bay (p19) 10A
6P
•Mirage (p11)
7P
10A
11A
7P
$60RB(1)$40 2P
$40RB$10 7P
H
NH
NH
NH
12P& L H Sh
7P
Pi
Circus Circus
Eldorado
Harrah's Reno
4P
H
Buy-in
$30
$25
$40AO$3
$60RB(1)$40 2P
$50RB$25 7P
12A
$18 10A
$15RB(1)$15 11A
$120 7P
$27RB$10
$40RB$20
$50RB(1)$50
$50RB(1)$50
$25 11A
NH
$50 7P&
NH
$25 12P& L/N H Z
$25 11A
NH
$50 7P&
NH
$25 12P& L/N H Z
H
NH
$18 10A
$15RB(1)$15 11A
H
NH
7 Sh
NH
$27RB$10
$40RB$20
$50RB(1)$50
$50RB(1)$50
12P
7P
12P
8P&
$18 10A
$15RB(1)$15 11A
$25RB$10
NHB
HB
NH
NH
$40RB$20
$27RB$10
$50RB(1)$50
$50RB(1)$50
12P
HB
7P O H/L B
12P
NH
8P&
NH
$27RB$10
$27RB$10
$50RB(1)$50
$50RB(1)$50
12P
7P
12P
8P&
$25RB$10AO$20 6P&
$40RB$20 7P
NH
NH
$25RB$10AO$20 6P&
$40RB$20 7P
7P
H
NH
NH
$40 10A
$18AO$2 10A
$32(30M)
F
NH
NH
$40
$23AO$2 10A
LH
$23AO$2 11A
6P
NH
$20RB$10
$15 12P& L H Sh
$22RB$10
7P
NH
$15 10A&
$25RB$10AO$20 6P&
$40RB$20 7P
$45RB$20AO$20 7P
7 Sh
$15 12P&
7P
$25 10A
$40AO$3
12P
10A
11A
7P
$60RB(1)$40 2P&
$25 11A
SUNDAY
Buy-in Time Games
NH
$25 10A
NH
$24
Pi Z
$12
L/NL $30RB$20AO(1)$20
$330RB$200AO(1)$200
NH
12P
10A
11A
7P
$60RB(1)$40 2P&
1P
NH
$25 11A
$25 12P& L/N H Z
O H/L
NH
NH
NH
$25
NH
$24
Pi Z
$12
L/NL $60RB(1)$40AO$40
N H $125RB$100AO$100
NH
NH
$60RB(1)$40
$50RB$25
NH
$25
$25 12P& L/N H Z
$25
$30(30M)
5P
O H/L B
NHB
NH
NH
Buy-in
$18 10A
$15RB(1)$15 11A
$40RB(1)$20
$60RB(1)$40
$50RB(1)$50
$50RB(1)$50
H
NH
12P
7P
12P
8P&
HB
NHB
NH
NH
$25RB$10AO$20 6P&
$40RB$20 7P
$45RB$20AO$20 7P
Po H
NH
NH
$18 10A
$15RB(1)$15 3P
$50RB(1)$20
$125RB(1)$100
$50RB(1)$50
$50RB(1)$50
12P
7P
12P
8P&
$25RB$10AO$20 6P&
$60RB$40 7P
$45RB$20AO$20 7P
N H$330RB$200AO(1)$200
H
NH
NHB
HB
NH
NH
NH
NH
NH
$18
$25RB$10
$50RB(1)$20
$60RB(1)$50
$50RB(1)$50
$50RB(1)$50
$25RB$10AO$20
$40RB$20
$45RB$20AO$20
NH
$23AO$2 11A
NH
$23AO$2 Varies Varies
Varies
L H Sh
NH
$15 10A&
$22RB$10
7 Sh
$15 12P& L H Sh
7P
NH
12P
H
$15
$22RB$10
F RB$20
F RB$10
$15 4P
$22RB$20
$25 10A
H
$15 4P
H
$15 4P
H
$15 10A
H
$15 10A
H
$15
NH
H
NH
NH
NH
$25 10A
NH
$25 10A
NH
$25 10A
NH
$25 10A
NH
$25
NH
6P
$25AO$10 1P
H
NH
$25RB$20
$25AO$10 1P
7P
NH
LH
$25AO$10
$65 7P
2P
NH
$33RB$30
NH
$115RB$100 6P
8P
NH
LH
$110 6P
$25RB$20
NH
$110
6P
NH
$50
4P
$15RB$10AO$10 10A&
$17RB$5AO$5 10A
H
NH
O H/L
$5RB$5AO$10B$5
$15RB$10AO$10
NH
$25RB$20
$15RB$10AO$10 10A&
$17RB$5AO$5 10A
NH
LH
$15RB$10AO$10 10A&
$17RB$5AO$5 10A
NH
NH
NH
LH
$35 10A
$15 6P&
NH
NH
LH
NH
$12 10A
$12B$5 10A&
CA Casino Morongo
10A
10A
5O
O H/L
LH
NH
$10RB$10AO$10 7P&
$17RB$5AO(2)$5 6P&
$15RB$10 12P
$60 7P&
NH
O H/L
H
H
NH
NH
$15RB$10AO$10 10A&
$17RB$5AO$5 10A
$12 10A 7 H/L Sp
$12B$5 10A& N H
$30RB$10AO$20 10A
F RB$10AO(2)$10 10A
$15RB$10 12P
$25RB$20 7P
N Cz Pi
O H/L
NH
NH
Club One Casino
7P
Commerce Club
•Crystal Park Casino (p29)
NH
$27RB(2)$15 10A
NH
•Diamond Jim’s (p18) 6P
O Pi H
$25RB$10 6P
LH
Hawaiian Gardens
12P
•Hollywood Park (p5) 11A
7P
NH
7 H/L
LH
$15RB$10 12P
$17RB$10 11A
$35 7P
O H/L
NH
NH
•Hustler Casino (p13) 7P
Normandie Casino
10A
Village Club
NH
L H $28RB(1)$20AO(1)$20 11A
11A
12P
H
6P
NH
Pn
$15RB$10 12P
$17RB$10 11A
$35 7P
S H/L
O H/L
LH
NH
NH
$35 10A
$25 10A
LH
H
10A
$35 11A
$25 10A
$12 6P&
$12B$5 10A&
H
O
F 6P&
$12B$5 10A&
LH
NH
$22 6P&
$12B$5 10A
H
O H/L
$60 10A
DC
$17RB$5AO(2)$5 6PWk2/4&
$10RB$10AO$10 11A
F 5P&
$15RB(1)$10 12P
$60RB(1)$10 7P
8P
NH
LH
NH
$15RB$10 12P
$25RB$10 7P
$60RB(1)$50
$27(80M)RB(2)$15 10A
$40
NH
$14RB$5/$10AO$20 10A
7P
7P
$20RB$10 6P Wk4LadiesL H
$15RB$10 12P
$17RB$10 11A
$35 7P
H
H
NH
$15RB$10 6P
$17RB$10 11A
$35 8P
7P
NH$30RB$20AO(1)$50B(20)$5 10A
LH
Sp L H
H
NH
$30RB(2)AO(1)
O$30RB$20AO(1)$50B(20)$5 10A
$25 6P LH/L OH/L $50RB$20AO$40 11A
$36RB$20 11A
H
$77 11A
$25RB$20 12P O H/L
$55 6P
O$30RB$20AO(1)$50B(20)$5 10A
LH
H
H
$48
$36RB$20 11A
$10
H
$20RB 7P
O
$50RB$20 7P
H
$50
Sp L H
$40RB$40 6P
H
$40RB(1)$40 6P
LH
$40RB$40AO$40 6P
H
$60RB$40
6P
10A
NH Sh
NH
1P
$20
$40RB(1)$40 6P
11A
H
H Sh
O H/L
$15 1P
6P
$88 10A
H/O H/L
6P
11A
$20RB$20(1) 7P
LH
H
H
6P
H
$10RB$5AO$10
7P
AZ Apache Gold
12P
Casino Arizona-Scottsdale
Casino Del Sol
Cliff Castle
11A
10A
6P&
NH
HZ
S Sh
Fort McDowell
Gila River/Wild Horse Pass
Gila River-Vee Quiva
12P&
12P
11A
NH
NH
7B
Harrah’s Ak Chin
Hon-Dah Casino
Paradise Casino
6P
Flop
HH N H
HH N H
7P
NH
Pn
NH
LH
NH
NH
H
NH
LH
$5RB$5AO$10B$5 4P
$15RB$10AO$10 10A&
$17RB$5AO$5
H
NH
O H/L
LH
LH
$22RB$11 10A
$25RB$10AO$20
$15 10A
H
$22RB$11
H
$20
NH
NH
$12RB$10AO$10 6P&
$25B$5 10A
LH
NH
$17
$12B$5
H
H
$10RB$10AO$10 12P
F RB$10AO(2)$10 3P
H
O H/L
$5RB$5AO$5
F RB$10AO(2)$10
7P
HH L H
$30RB$10
H
$20RB$10
$20RB$10
$20RB$20
$14RB$5/$10AO$20 7P& N H (80M)
$40 1P
Pn
$15 7P
NH
$25
$50 7P
Blue Water Casino
Bucky’s Casino
$5RB$5AO$10B$5 4P
$15RB$10AO$10 10A&
$17RB$5AO$5 10A
1P
LH
$25RB 6P
$17RB$10 11A
$225RB(1)$200 8P
Mx
7
Po H
$27RB(2)$15 12P
$40 1P
$15
LH
Pn
$19RB$5/$10AO$20
$40
$25RB$10 1P
1PWk4
F RB$10
$17RB$10 11A
$330RB(1)$300 4P
NH
NH
$50
$100
LH
N H Sh
$22RB$10
$120
$125RB(1)$100
O$30RB$20AO(1)$50B(20)$5 10A
7P
$14RB$5/$10AO$20 7P&
7P
NH
LH
$55 10A
$20 10A
$10RB$10AO$10 7P&
$17RB$5AO(2)$5 10A
•Club Caribe (p40)
Oaks Card Club
•Palace Indian Casino
Sonoma Joe's
$25 11A
NH
$50
$25 12P& L/N H Z
H
NH
NH
$15RB$10
10A
10A
Gold Rush
Kelly’s Cardroom
Lucky Chances
NH
H
NH
NH
$19 10A
$15RB(1)$15 11A
$120RB(1)$100 6P
SATURDAY
Buy-in Time Games
NH
$24
O H/L B $25RB$10AO$20
L/NL $60RB(1)$40AO$40
N H $230RB$200AO$100
HZ
$40 10A
NH
$18AO$2 10A L O High
7P& O H/L
$20RB$10 6P
NH
Sycuan
Viejas
California Grand
Casino San Pablo
Garden City
$60RB(1)$40 2P&
$50RB$25
NH
L/N H
$30(30M) 10A
$60(30M)
$230RB(1)$200
7 H/L
NH
$35 10A
$15 6P&
Cache Creek
NH
NH
12P
7P&
11A
7P
Games
HZ
NHZ
NH
$25RB$10AO$20 6P&
$40RB$20 7P
LH
NH
11A
12P
NH
$24
7P& O H/L B $25RB$10AO$20
11A
L/NL $60RB(1)$40AO$40
7P
L H $125RB$100AO$100
$60RB(1)$40 2P
$50RB$25 7P
$40RB$20
FRIDAY
Buy-in Time
$30
$25 10A
$40AO$3 11A
HZ
$30(30M) 10A
NHZ
$60(30M) 6P
L H $130RB$100AO(1)$100 7P
HB
NHB
NH
NH
•Lucky Lady (p18)
Oceans Eleven
10A
•Pechanga (p26) 6P&
CA Artichoke Joe’s
NORTH Bay 101
THURSDAY
Time Games
10A& N H
10A
NH
11A
L/N H
HZ
$30(30M) 10A
NHZ
$60(30M) 6P
N H $130RB$100AO(1)$100 7P
12P
7P
12P
8P&
$15 10A&
7P
DAILY TOURNAMENTS
Note: All tournaments are subject to change. Check with the Cardroom for any updates.
Cardrooms-please send your schedules to Tournament Editor Joel Gausten,
[email protected]
$15 4P
6P
$25 10A
CA Casino Pauma
SAN •Harrahs Rincon (p19) 10A& N H
10A O H/L
DIEGO Lake Elsinore
CA •Bicycle Club (p5) 12P
7P
L.A.
NH
$25 11A
NH
$50 7P&
NH
$25 12P& L/N H Z
HZ
$30(30M) 10A
NHZ
$60(30M) 6P
L H $130RB$100AO(1)$100 7P
Cactus Petes-Jackpot
INLAND Lake Elsinore
EMPIRE
Time Games
10A& N H
10A
NH
11A
L/N H
NH
NH
NH
NH
LH
8P
WEDNESDAY
Buy-in
$30
$25
$40AO$3
NH
NH
Stardust
10A
•Sunset Station (p6) 10A
•Texas Station (p6)
Virgin River Casino
6P
Rainbow Cas. W Wendover
Games
NH
NH
L/N H
NH
NH
O H/L
NH
Harvey's Tahoe
•Peppermill (p37) 1P
Time
10A&
10A
11A
NH
$24
H
$110
L/NL $60RB(1)$40AO$40
N H $125RB$100AO(1)$100
River Palms
6P&
•Sahara (p21) 7P
•Sam’s Town (p38)
10A&
TUESDAY
Buy-in
$30
$25
$40AO$3
#M ..# of players
maximum
RB ......... Re-buys
AO ......... Add Ons
Cz .............. Crazy
E....... Elimination
$24 12P
7PWk1&
L/NL $60RB(1)$40AO$40 11A
L H $125RB$100AO$100 7P
•The Orleans (p35) 12P O H/L B
7P
NHB
•Plaza Casino (p21) 12P
NH
8P&
NH
NV Atlantis Casino
NORTH Boomtown
Al ...... Alternates
F .............Freeroll
Z......... Freezeout
Q .............Qualify
Sh .........Shootout
NH
$24 12P
HB
$25RB$10AO$20
L/NL $60RB(1)$40AO$40 11A
N H $125RB$100AO(1)$100 7P
•Jokers Wild (p31) 11A
NH
7P&
NH
Luxor
12P& L/N H Z
Nevada Palace
Oasis-Mesquite
Stud
Mx ..Mexican Poker
DC Dealer’s Choice
HH ... Headhunter
B .......... Bounties
Sp ............ Spread
$60 7P
$10RB$5 10A
$15 11A
$13RB$10AO$20 12P&
$25RB$20
$20 11A
$10 6P
H
NH
O H/L Z
H Sh
NH
HB
H Sh
NH Sh
NH
$15 1P
$20
$40RB(1)$40
H Sh
$15 1P
$60RB$50AO$50
$10RB$5AO$10
$20RB$20(1)
$25RB$15 7P
7P
3P&
NH$30RB$20AO(1)$50B(20)$5 10A
O H/L
H Sh
10A
LH
11A
H
$13RB$10AO$20 12P&
$15+$5 11A
H Sh F
DA I LY TO U R N A M E N TS CO N T I N U E O N PAG E 29
7P&
F 6P
NH
HB
O H/L
H
$130 11A
$10RB$5 10A
$30 11A
$30RBAO
$25RB$20AO$50
$99 11A
Sp L H
6P
$70RB(1)$60 11A
NH
H
$49RB$20AO$40
$70RB(1)$60
2P
10A
7P
H
NH
Sp L H
$50 2P
$25RB(1)$20 10A
$120RB(1)$100 7P
H
NH
H
$50
$25RB(1)$20
$60RB$40
$15 1P
5P
$55 10A
H Sh
NF
H
$15
F 6P
$55 6P
12P
Varies
$65RB$50AO$50 1P
O H/L
HB
NH
NHZ
H Sh
$20
$25
$60 11A
$10RB$5 10A
$15 11A
$13RB$10AO$20 12P& N H
$13RB$10AO$20 12P&
12P Men H/N A I$25RB$10AO(1)$20
$15+$5 11A
HB
$15+$5
$25RB$15 7P&Ladies H Cz Pi
$10 6P
O H/L
$20RB(2)$10 1P
$25
NH
Pi
H Sh
NH
H
3P
2P
$25RB$10AO$30 1P
$60 4thWk10AN H
$10RB$5
$15
LH
$20
$220
$65RB(2)$50
$13RB$10AO$20 12P&
12P
NH
$25RB$15AO(1)$10 12P
3P
1P
O H/L F
H
O H/L
7F
RB$10
$20RB$10
$25
$150
11A
$13RB$10AO$20 12P&
11A
NH
NH Sh
NH
$10RB$5AO$10
12P
NH
Cz Pi Z
O H/L
NH
LH
6P
$25RB$5AO$25
$130 7P
$10RB$5 10A
$15 6P&
Pai Gow
F 5P
O$30RB$20AO(1)$50B(20)$5 10A
H
H
O H/L
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
$25RB$15 12P
$10
$13 1P
H Sh
$15
NH
$13RB$10AO$20
HB
$15+$5
H
$40
H
$13
27
You Gotta Have Mazel...
In a recent column, we discussed “gambling.” What is gambling and how is it manifested it in both life and in the game of
poker? We concluded that gambling is simply taking a chance
– risking something of value. Today. Let’s
address “mazel.” That’s a Yiddish word that
SENIORS SCENE
Mark Twain
American Poet
and Poker Player
by Byron Liggett
By George “The engineer” EPSTEIN
has become part of our vernacular; you’ll
even find it in some dictionaries, usually as “mazel tov,”
meaning good luck. (It’s also an expression of success or
good fortune.)
Two Factors in Winning at Poker: You need to have both
skill and mazel – good luck – to be a winner at the poker table.
Skill helps you make the right decisions: Should I call or fold?
Should I raise? Should I slow-play this hand? Should I checkraise? And there are many more decisions you will need to
make while playing poker. The more skilled you are, the better
will be your decisions.
But no matter how prudent your decisions, if you don’t have
some mazel, you probably will not go home a winner. How many
times have you seen someone – perhaps yourself – go all the
way to the river with a pair of kings; then a king falls on the
river. Now you have trip kings! The player across the table who
has been betting all the way, turns over pocket aces. Your trip
kings take a nice pot! You were lucky; you had mazel!
Another Example: Playing middle-limit hold’em at the
Hustler Casino the other night, I was dealt pocket queens. I
raised preflop from a middle position to try to force out a few
opponents so my queens would have a better chance of holding up. The flop brought a third queen and two diamonds. An
early-position player made the bet; and I decided not to raise
yet because trip queens is most likely to win the pot, and I
wanted to keep them in to help build the pot. On the turn,
the dealer dropped a third diamond on the board. I studied
the board: No pairs; not likely a straight draw. But three
diamonds looked dangerous. After all, a flush beats threeof-a-kind. . . There was a bet and a raise before it got to me.
Of course I had to call – as I prayed to the poker gods to pair
the board for me so I could have a full-house. No, the dealer
didn’t pair the board, but he did turn up a fourth diamond, the
ace of diamonds. I took another look at my hole cards; I was
sure I had the queen of diamonds. Yep! Was I ever lucky. I
had mazel – maybe. . . I had hit a queen-high flush! Again
there was a bet and a raise before it was my turn to declare.
The only card that could beat my queen-high flush was the
king of diamonds. The chance was small that one of the two
bettors had it, I thought; so I reraised. The original raiser
called me. I sighed with relief when he didn’t reraise; that
sort of confirmed he didn’t have the king for the nut flush. I
turned up my two queens – including the beautiful queen of
diamonds. He showed his Jack-Ten of diamonds. He had made
the flush on the turn. That fourth diamond had done the job
for me. It was a huge pot, putting me well ahead. I really had
mazel, didn’t I?
I know I played the hand skillfully; but, in the final analysis,
if I didn’t have mazel – when the fourth diamond fell on the
river – I would have been second-best. Thanks to mazel, I was
a winner!
. . . So readers, what’s YOUR opinion?
George “The Engineer” Epstein is the author of “The
Greatest Book of Poker for Winners!” A retired engineer
who received many industry and government awards and
commendations, he continues to be active by consulting,
editing an international technical newsletter, teaching an
engineering course at UCLA, and serving as an officer
in a professional engineering society. One engineering
society has a scholarship in George’s honor. In writing his
poker book, he applied the lessons learned while working
as an engineer to solve problems. He is currently writing
his next book on The Four Rules for Success in Life and
Living. He can be reached by e-mail: [email protected]
28
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
“There are few things that are
so unpardonably neglected
in our country as poker. The
upper class knows very little
about it. Now and then you
find ambassadors who have
sort of a general knowledge of
the game, but the ignorance of
the people is fearful. Why, I
have known clergymen, good
men, kind-hearted, liberal,
sincere, and all that, who did
not know the meaning of a
ʻflushʼ. It is enough to make
one ashamed of oneʼs species.”
—Mark Twain
Mark Twain (Samuel
Langhorne Clemens), the
author of Tom Sawyer,
Huckleberry Finn, Life on the
Mississippi, Roughing It, and
The Gilded Age, to mention
only some of his best known
works, became a legendary
figure in American Life and
Literature.
Humorist, satirist, social
pundit, Mark Twain wrote
about an America on the
make; from the riverboat era,
to the California Gold Rush
and opening of the West,
through the Civil War and
the nationʼs emergence as a
world industrial power during
the Gilded Age of the 1880s
and ʻ90s. He crafted stories
of adventure, tragedy and
humor from the fabric of the
American experience in the
latter half of the 19th Century.
Twain wrote in a uniquely
American style, one that captured the character, courage
and contradictions of his generation. Using the vernacular
– the language, slang and
colloquialisms of common
Americans -- he dissected
society, exposing its hypocrisies and laying bare its injustices in a manner that captured
the countryʼs adoration.
The first important author
from the heart of America,
Samuel Clemens was born in
the Mississippi River town of
Hannibal, Missouri in 1835.
As a young man he earned a
riverboat pilotʼs license and
worked the Mississippi until
the Civil War erupted in 1861,
closing all river traffic.
Clemens next headed West
to the Nevada Territory to
strike it rich as a prospector. Unsuccessful, he started
writing for the Virginia City
Territorial Enterprise to make
ends meet. He took his pen
name, “Mark Twain”, which
meant two fathoms of safe
depth from his riverboat days.
In 1865, Twain rewrote a
tale heard in the gold fields.
Called “The Celebrated
Jumping Frog of Calaveras
County”, it told of a contest in
which one frog was filled with
lead shot so it couldnʼt win.
Twainʼs story became a sensation and he became a nationally recognized writer. Over
the next 25 years Mark Twain
would write the books that
made him an American icon.
From the riverboats of
his youth, to the gold fields
of the West, to the financial speculation of a young
industrial nation, gambling
was an inherent feature of
the America that Mark Twain
knew, wrote about, and of
which he was so much a part.
Steamboat races were a
favorite spectator and gambling event. Mark Twain
considered a horse race
“pretty tame and colorless in
comparison.” He wrote, “Two
red-hot steamboats raging
along, neck-and-neck, straining...every rivet in the boilers, quaking and shaking and
groaning from stem to stern,
spouting white steam from the
pipes, pouring black smoke
from the chimneys, raining
down sparks, parting the river
into long breaks of hissing
foam – this is the sport that
makes a bodyʼs liver curl with
enjoyment.”
He condemned hustlers
wherever he found them.
In his work, Life on the
Mississippi, Twain tells the
story of card cheats who try
to rob a backwoods farmer.
When the big pot developed,
the sharpers bet all they had to
get all the farmer had. “Four
Kings, you damned fool!”
declared the ringleader. “Four
Aces, you ass!” thundered the
farmer, pulling out a cocked
revolver, “Iʼm a professional
gambler myself and Iʼve been
laying for you duffers all this
voyage!”
Cockfighting, popular
throughout frontier America,
was criticized as barbaric by
the British. In his typically
tongue-in-cheek style, Twain
responded that while he considered it “inhuman sort of
entertainment... still, it seems
a much more respectable and
far less cruel sport than foxhunting for the cocks like it;
they experience, as well as
confer enjoyment; which is
not the foxʼs case.”
Mark Twain described
Baccarat as “a game whereby
the croupier gathers in money
with a flexible oar, then rakes
it home. If I could have borrowed his oar I would have
stayed.” He keenly observed
that “a dollar picked up in
the road brings more satisfaction to us than the 99 which
we had to work for, and the
money won at Faro or the
stock market snuggles into our
hearts in the same way.”
For his money, Mark Twain
preferred Poker. Draw was
his game. He learned it in
his youth on the Mississippi.
Apparently, the writer was a
strong player; a contemporary who considered himself
a good player remarked that
Twain “can play poker equal
to any man.”
Late in life, Standard Oil
magnate Henry Rogers and
Mark Twain became good
friends when he helped the
writer to avoid bankruptcy.
Both shared a fondness for
poker, billiards and liquor.
On one occasion, Rogers
invited Twain, Congressman
T.B. Reed, and few business
friends aboard his yacht for a
cruise through the Caribbean.
Poker and politics were
paramount topics. In his
notes, Twain reports that Reed
won 23 pots in succession!
After that, he says, they made
no more stops. When the
shipʼs captain announced an
approaching port he was told,
“sail on and do not interrupt
the game!”
Clearly, when Mark Twain
died in 1910 at the age of 75,
America lost a Son and poker
lost a player.
e-mail: [email protected]
Time . Some events Wk ..............Week H ...... Hold’em 7. 7-Card Stud Pi ....... Pineapple S........... Stud DC Dealer’s Choice Sp ............ Spread Z......... Freezeout #M # of players max DAILY TOURNAMENTS
(CONT’D FROM PAGE 27)
start after the hour & . Add’l gametimes L ................. Limit O .......Omaha Po.........Pot Limit 5 Five Card Stud HH ... Headhunter Al ...... Alternates Q .............Qualify RB ......... Re-buys
A, P ........ AM, PM
on this day. Call N ...........No Limit H/L High/Low Split Pn.......Panginque Mx ..Mexican Poker B .......... Bounties F .............Freeroll Sh .........Shootout AO ......... Add Ons Cz .............. Crazy E....... Elimination
● Denotes Advertiser
REGION/Cardroom(Ad Pg.)
MONDAY
Time Games
CO Midnight Rose
TUESDAY
Buy-in Time Games
12P
H
7P
$10 12P
8P
LH
$100 8P
NH
Derby Lane
Palm Beach Kennel Club
1P
12P
NH
H
6P
$45 6P
$45 6P
NH
LO H/L
H
Palm Beach Princess
Pompano Park Casino
Seminole Hollywood Casino
St Tropez Cruise
6P
H
$55 6P
H
12P
8P
NH
O H/L
7P
10A
NH
DC
Ute Mountain
CT Foxwoods
FL Dania Jai-Alai
IA Catfish Bend
Isle of Capri
Winn-A-Vegas
$75 6P
$70RB$30AO$50
$20RB$20M24
$10RB$10 6P
WEDNESDAY
Buy-in Time Games
NH
S
$40 7P
$10 12P
$150
O H/L
NH
$45
$45 1P
$45 12P
$55 6P
12P
$70RB$10 6P
6P&
NH
$25RB$5AO 6P&
LA Grand Coushatta
6P
NH
H
MI Chip-In's Island
Gold Strike Casino Resort
4A,6P& LH
MN •Canterbury Park (p39) 10A
Northern Light Casino Hotel
Shooting Star Casino
12P
7
NH
$35RB$15AO$25 4A,6P& NH
MS Copa Casino
Grand Casino(Biloxi)
Grand Casino(Gulfport)
H/O
$15RB$10
12P
H
$10RB$15AO$25 6P&
NE Rosebud Casino
7P
NH
NJ Tropicana
7P
6P
NH
S
$30RBAO 7P
$40 6P
6P
7P&
NH
F RB(1)$15AO$100 6P
$20RB$20 2P
7P
Trump Taj Mahal
NM Cities of Gold
Isleta Casino & Resort
•Sandia Casino (p4)
NY Turning Stone
$100
6P
$45 6P
$45 6P
NH
NH
H
NH
$55
$45
$65RB$10 6P&
7P
N H/O
$10RB$10AO$10
1P
NH
$150
NH
$10RB$10AO 7P&
6P
Pi
$35RB$15AO$25 4A,6P& LH/NH
Varies
NH
$10RB$5 6P
$35RB$15AO$25 11A
$10 12P
S
$45
$45 1P
$45
NH
$45 1P
NH
6P
$45 1P
12P
$300 6P
8P
N H Sh
NH
L/N H
NH
12P& N H Sh
$75 12P& N H
$40RB$20AO 12P
LH
NHZ
F$5RB(2)$5AO$5 12P
$25 12P
NH
NH
$25Z 5P
H
12P
H
$5RB$15 12P
$5RB$15AO$25 12P
H
$35RB(1)$15 12P
7
NH
$30RBAO 7P
$30 6P
NH
Varies
Cz Pi
H
Varies
$20RB(1)$10 6P
$15RB(1)$15 7P&
$35
H
NH
$25 6P
$20RB(1)$20 2P
$50RB$20 1P
F RB$10 7P
NH
7P
$30RB$10 7P
7
S H/L
OR Chinook Winds Casino
4P
H
$25RB(1)$5AO(1)$5 4P
6P
O H/L $25RB(1)$5AO(1)$5 4P
H
$18RB$10
NH
H
NH
NH
$45
$45
$45
$130RB$20
$40RBAO 7P
$40 6P
$10RB$5 7P
F RB$10 7P
$25RB$5AO$10 4P
6P
$35 7P(1st Wk) H
$110 7P
N H/O
$10RB$10AO$10
$10RB$10 10A
NH
$10RB$10
NH
LH
$25RB$10
$35RB$15AO$25
10A
H Sh
12P Wk1 N H
$10RB$10AO$10 12P
7
$50RB$10AO$10 12P
$12
$120
$10RB(3)$5AO$5
$30RB$10AO$10
Varies
$25RB$10 3P
$35RB$15AO$25 2P
$50Z
NH
$95
HB
$15RB$15
O H/L
$10RB$15AO$25 10A
5P
LH
NH
$60RB(1)$50 10A
$10
NH
$60RB(1)$50
7P
NH
$30RB$10AO$10 7P
NH
$30RB$10AO$10
$30RBAO 4P
$75 6P
NH
NH
$60RBAO 12P
$170
NH
LH
NH
1P
O H/L $20RB(1)$10AO$50 6P
H
$15RB(1)$15 7P&
S H/L
O H/L
H/L Sp Z
$10RB$5 7P
$25 7P
Tahoe H/L $25RB(1)$5AO(1)$5 4P
N H $33RB(2)$15AO$15
H
2&7P
H $30RB(1)$20AO$200 5P
N H $50RB(2)$25AO(1)$35 2P
$25RB$5
6P
7P
Varies
12P
$25 2P
Pi
S
12P
Varies
$25Z 4P
7P
$10RB$5
$50
$10
2P
NH
NH
LH/NH
7
Dakota Magic
$30RB$10AO$10
$100 10A
$40RB$20 1P
$35RB$15AO$25 11A
NHZ
NH
NH
NH
NH
LH/NH
$30RB$10AO$10
S H/L
Buy-in
NH
S
$20RB$20M24
$30RB$20 6P
$35RB$15AO$25 11A
$25 12P
$35RB$10 7P
6P
Gold Dust Casino, Deadwood
Rosebud Casino
7P
$45
$65 6P&
$70RB$30AO$50
NH
LH/NH
NH
H
SD Dakota Sioux
Buy-in Time Games
S H/L
10A
$25 12P
$25RB$5 7P&
Wildhorse Casino Resort
SUNDAY
12P
$10 12P
12P
NHZ
H
Buy-in Time Games
F RB$15AO$15/$30
H
WA Blue Mountain Casino
NH
$20RB$20M24
1P
ND 4 Bears Casino
10A
SATURDAY
$60
11A
12P
Grand Casino(Tunica)
Pearl River Resort
NH
NH
7P
5P
H
N H Sh
NH
Buy-in Time Games
$20 7P
$10
7P
$40 12P
$20RB$10AO$10
$25 12P
NH
H
Buy-in Time Games
FRIDAY
$15RB$5AO$10
IL Hollywood Casino-Aurora
KS Harrah’s Prarie Band
NH
S
THURSDAY
H
NH
H
S H/L
H
H
$65RBAO 12P
$20RB$10 5P
$15RB(1)$15 2P
12P
11A
NH
$25RB$5
$10RB$5 2P
2P
H
NH
$20RB$10
$30RB$10 3P
$25RB(1)$5AO(1)$5
$10RB$5 4P
O H/L
$50
7P
NH
S
$15RB$10
O H/L
NH
O H/L
H
Varies
H
$10
$55RBAO
$20RB(1)$10
$15RB(1)$15
$35
F RB$10
4P
1P
NH
H
$25RB$5AO$50
$18RB$10
$10RB$5 4P
2P
$30RB$10AO$10 6P
V
H
NH
$20RB$10
$40
$30RB$10AO$10
Chips Bremerton
Chips La Center
1P
9A
12P
N O H/L
NH
NH
$20RB(1)$10 1P
$20 9A
$20 12P
NH
NH
NH
$20RB(1)$10 1P
$20 9A
$20 12P
NH
NH
NH
$20RB(1)$10 1P
$20 9A
$20 12P
N O H/L
NH
NH
$20RB(1)$10 1P
$20 9A
$20 12P
NH
NH
NH
$20RB(1)$10 1P
$20 9A
$20 12P
N O H/L
NH
NH
$20RB(1)$10 1P
$20 9A
$20 12P
NH
NH
NH
$20RB(1)$10
$20
$20
Chips Lakewood
Chips Tukwila
Goldie’s
9A
4P
11A
NH
NH
NH
$20 9A
$20 4P
$13RB(1)$10 11A
NH
NH
NH
$20 9A
$20 4P
$13RB(1)$10 11A
NH
NH
NH
$20 9A
$20 4P
$13RB(1)$10 11A
NH
NH
NH
$20 9A
$20 4P
$13RB(1)$10 11A
NH
NH
NH
$20 9A
$20 4P
$13RB(1)$10 11A
NH
NH
NH
$20 9A
$20 4P
$13RB(1)$10 11A
NH
NH
NH
$20
$20
$28RB(2)$10
Little Creek Casino
Northern Quest
Suquamash Clearwater Cas
Wild Grizzly
7P
10A
11A
5P
LO
NH
NH
NH
$15RB(2)$10
$25RB(2)$10
$20
$13RB$10
7P
10A
11A
5P
L/N H
NH
NH
NH
$25
$25RB(2)$10 10A
$20 11A
$13RB$10 5P
NH
NH
NH
7P
$25RB(2)$10 10A
$20 11A
$13RB$10 5P
NH
NH
NH
NH
$45
$25RB(2)$10 10A
$20 11A
$13RB$10
NH
NH
5P
$15RB(2)$10 10A&
$20 11A
2P
NB
NH
NH
NH
$35
F RB(2)$15 10A
$20
$25RB$20
NH
$25RB(2)$10
8P
V
$25RB$20AO$20
But, in general, think
of poker as a game where
you want to buy chances
cheaply and sell them
expensively. In no-limit,
this comes into play all the
★ $12+$3 Buy-in (Multi-rebuys)
FRID
No-Lim AYS
it Hold
’em
SATUR
No-Lim DAYS
it Hold
’em
Starting
at 7:00
PM
E
Expensive, but Not
Too Expensive
time. You donʼt necessarily
want to move all-in to protect a strong hand, you want
to sell that hand at itʼs most
profitable price. Maybe allin really is the most profitable price, but usually it
isnʼt. If you overprice the
chances youʼre selling in
no-limit, youʼll get a call
once in a while, but you
probably wonʼt make as
much profit as you would
selling for less and getting
lots of bad calls averaging
more modest profit each.
Itʼs all buying and selling. Life. Business. Poker.
You buy. You sell. And ultimately you succeed according to your skill at the game
of price – which just happens to be todayʼs word.
BLUE LIN
limit games -- when youʼre
weak or bluffing and also
when you have a hand that
will likely win if called, but
will be more profitable if
you take the pot right now.
So, you see, you shouldnʼt
always bet, even if your
opponent will get a bad
deal by calling. And you
shouldnʼt always check,
even if your opponent
would get a good deal by
calling.
Mike Caro is widely
regarded as the worldʼs
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.
Alameda Blvd.
CAN Casino Regina
123 E. Artesia Blvd., Compton, CA 90220
(310) 631-3838 ♠ www.crystalparkcasino.com
h E B R UA RY 7, 2i 0 0 5
F
f E R P Li AY
f ER
i
PfO K
29
Tunica Grand American Nearly Complete
in Tunica, Mississippi is
nearly complete with the
finish of event # 15. Just
two events remain at press
time for this tournament
that parallels the World
Poker Open. Winning
results are listed below.
GRAND CASINO TUNICA
GRAND
AMERICAN
POKER CLASSIC
EVENT 16
1/21/04
4. Brian Wiegand . . . . . . $7,280
United States
5. Todd Tucker . . . . . . . . $6,370
United States
6. Pete Bigelow . . . . . . . . $5,460
Moose Lake, MN, United States
7. Michael Borovetz. . . . $5,460
Carson, CA, United States
8. Jody Garaventa . . . . . $5,460
Chapel Hill, NC
9. Faye Sonntag . . . . . . . $5,460
GRAND CASINO TUNICA
GRAND
AMERICAN
POKER CLASSIC
EVENT 15
1/20/04
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,000 + $60
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 25
PLAYERS 91
PRIZE
POOL
PRIZE
POOL
$91,000
1. Charlie Townsend . . $27,300
Rehoboth Beach, DE
2. Edward Ross . . . . . . $13,650
CT, United States
3. Ronald Long . . . . . . . $9,100
United States
$15,000
1. Pam Bigelow . . . . . . . $4,500
2. John Napoli . . . . . . . . $2,250
9. Michael Gisondi. . . . . . .$900
Eddie Schwett . . . . . . $2,388
Charles Gilbert . . . . . $2,094
Marvin Lightfoot . . . . $1,260
Andy Karon . . . . . . . . $1,260
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500 +$50
PLAYERS 70
PRIZE
POOL
$35,000
1. Colin Gordon . . . . . . $10,500
9. Sammy Noore . . . . . . $1,260
GRAND CASINO TUNICA
GRAND
AMERICAN
POKER CLASSIC
EVENT 10
1/15/04
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PRIZE
POOL
1. Abraham Watkins . . $24,900
United States
2. Tom Komulainen . . . $12,450
4. John Hurst . . . . . . . . . $1,200
8. Jonathan Green . . . . . $2,100
9. Joseph Mobley . . . . . . $2,100
6. Jimmy Fedorkevich. . $2,490
7. Jerry Quinn . . . . . . . . $2,490
Brooklyn NY
5. Garner Robertson . . . $1,050
RI, United States
Worcester, MA, United States
Pendleton, KY
United States
6. Bradley Scuville . . . . . . .$900
GRAND CASINO TUNICA
GRAND
AMERICAN
POKER CLASSIC
EVENT 13
1/18/04
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $300 + $30
PLAYERS 97
PRIZE
POOL
$29,100
Mt Juliet, TN, United States
Blue Springs, MO, United States
8. George Jackson . . . . . $2,490
9. Adam Ranck . . . . . . . $2,490
GRAND CASINO TUNICA
GRAND
AMERICAN
POKER CLASSIC
EVENT 9
1/14/04
3. Billy Williford . . . . . . $2,910
Beaumont, TX, United States
4. Richard Jacobs . . . . . $2,328
5. Richard Mims . . . . . . $2,037
Houston, TX, United States
6. Danny Ward. . . . . . . . $1,746
7. Greg Benoit . . . . . . . . $1,746
8. Mack Ham . . . . . . . . . $1,746
Atlanta, GA, United States
9. Loukas Tseudos . . . . . $1,746
LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $300 + $30
PRIZE
POOL
$55,200
1. Larry Coleman . . . . . $8,280
2. David Shoop . . . . . . . . $8,280
3. Abraham Watkins . . . $8,280
United States
4. Jerry Quinn . . . . . . . . $8,280
5.
6.
7.
8.
William Watts . . . . . . $2,760
Robert Thomas . . . . . $1,656
Campbell Davis . . . . . $1,656
Scherrie Matthews . . $1,656
9. David Collins . . . . . . . $1,656
GRAND CASINO TUNICA
GRAND
AMERICAN
POKER CLASSIC
EVENT 8
1/13/04
PLAYERS 90
PRIZE
POOL
Hill Top Lakes, TX, United States
Greenville, MS, United States
Darren Brandes . . . . . $3,622
Gerald Krosnowski . . $1,610
Timothy Scully. . . . . . $1,380
Jerry Quinn . . . . . . . . $1,380
8. Erwin Kline . . . . . . . . $1,380
9. Scherrie Matthews . . $1,380
Indianapolis, IN, United States
GRAND CASINO TUNICA
GRAND
AMERICAN
POKER CLASSIC
EVENT 11
1/16/04
POT LIMIT OMAHA
BUY-IN $200 + $20
1. Seth Baker . . . . . . . . . $4,170
2. John Sparrow . . . . . . $3,650
3. Bryan Jenkins . . . . . . $3,650
Chattanooga, TN, United States
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Knoxville, TN, United States
3. Larry Kozlove . . . . . . $2,543
30
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
United States
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Byron Scally . . . . . . . . $8,400
Todd McKellar. . . . . . $5,040
Robert Redman . . . . . $3,360
Bob Selman . . . . . . . . $2,800
Robert Landauer . . . . $1,680
Burt Madden . . . . . . . $1,680
Michael Johnson . . . . $1,680
Brent Carter . . . . . . . $1,680
GRAND CASINO TUNICA
GRAND
AMERICAN
POKER CLASSIC
EVENT 5
1/10/04
LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $200 + $20
PLAYERS 207
PRIZE
POOL
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
NV, United States
9. Charles Witherspoon $1,782
United States
GRAND CASINO TUNICA
GRAND
AMERICAN
POKER CLASSIC
EVENT 4
1/9/04
OMAHA HI-LO
BUY-IN $100 + $10
PLAYERS 241
PRIZE
POOL
PLAYERS 215
1.
2.
3.
4.
$64,500
Tony Boyette . . . . . . . $7,866
Robert Redman . . . . . $7,866
Brian Lewis . . . . . . . . $7,866
Wayne Tyler . . . . . . . . $4,500
Ft. Atkinson, WI
$41,900
1. Marion Busch . . . . . $12,937
United States
2.
3.
4.
5.
Benjamin Gerard . . . $6,469
Phil Stelzer . . . . . . . . . $3,881
Paul Powers . . . . . . . . $2,587
James Ellis . . . . . . . . . $2,199
TX, United States
6. Jack Johnston . . . . . . $1,257
7. William O Donnell . . $1,257
IL, United States
8. Charles Walker . . . . . $1,257
United States
9. Unknown . . . . . . . . . . $1,257
GRAND CASINO TUNICA
GRAND
AMERICAN
POKER CLASSIC
EVENT 3
1/8/04
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
$200 + $20
PLAYERS 248
BUY-IN $300 + $30
PRIZE
POOL
$59,400
Ron Bowers . . . . . . . $17,820
Branham Biggers. . . . $8,910
Dave Shatunoff . . . . . $5,346
Regette Bechara. . . . . $3,564
Lenny Duvdivan . . . . $2,910
Clayton Mareno. . . . . $1,782
Joe Rasori. . . . . . . . . . $1,782
Martin Virgen . . . . . . $1,782
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
$21,000
1. Leon Averett . . . . . . . . $4,135
2. Norman Collingsworth . . . . .
$3,540
Scott Rybka . . . . . . . . $3,650
Frank Bialik . . . . . . . . $3,600
James Rye . . . . . . . . . $3,650
Greg Benoit . . . . . . . . $3,650
George Andell . . . . . . $3,650
Mark Peters . . . . . . . . $2,130
GRAND CASINO TUNICA
GRAND
AMERICAN
POKER CLASSIC
EVENT 7
1/12/04
PLAYERS 105
PRIZE
POOL
$35,500
$56,000
1. Kendall Gennick . . . $16,800
BUY-IN $300 + $30
1. James Rosser . . . . . . . $3,622
4.
5.
6.
7.
PLAYERS 230
PRIZE
POOL
LIMIT HOLD’EM
$23,000
2. Marc Freud . . . . . . . . $3,662
3. William McCool . . . . $3,622
BUY-IN $200 + $20
PLAYERS 184
PLAYERS 59
PRIZE
POOL
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $300 + $30
Indianapolis, IN, United States
GRAND CASINO TUNICA
GRAND
AMERICAN
POKER CLASSIC
EVENT 12
1/17/04
GRAND CASINO TUNICA
GRAND
AMERICAN
POKER CLASSIC
EVENT 6
1/11/04
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
1. Phil Stelzer . . . . . . . . . $8,730
2. Claude Sigmon. . . . . . $4,365
Biloxi, MS, United States
East Falmouth, MA, United States
$83,000
7. Carlo Sciannameo . . . $2,100
Clearwater, FL
NC, United States
PLAYERS 166
2. Pat Heneghan. . . . . . . $5,250
6. Ralph Gonnella . . . . . $2,100
Allen, TX
9. Ann McTiernan . . . . . $3,500
Lafayette, LA, United States
Golden, CO, United States
3. Pena Abelardo . . . . . . $3,500
4. Brian Wiecamp . . . . . $2,800
5. Larry Kozlove . . . . . . $2,450
Alvarado, TX, United States
6. Seth Baker . . . . . . . . . $4,500
8. Salem Helou . . . . . . . . $1,260
Duluth, MN, United States
GRAND CASINO TUNICA
GRAND
AMERICAN
POKER CLASSIC
EVENT 14
1/19/04
5. Jeffrey Chernosky . . . $4,500
7. Tim Lavalli. . . . . . . . . $4,500
8. Thomas McGrath . . . $3,500
3. Daniel Mogavero . . . . $1,500
ADVERTISE IN
IT WORKS!
NC, United States
4.
5.
6.
7.
3. Joshua Love . . . . . . . . $7,470
4. Anthony Bryant . . . . . $4,980
5. Jeff Burns . . . . . . . . . . $4,150
Jacksonville, IL
POKER
PLAYER
7. Bobby Jones . . . . . . . . . .$900
8. David Notaro . . . . . . . . .$900
PRIZE
POOL
$71,800
1. Robert Burcham . . . $21,540
2. William McGee . . . . $10,770
3. Tom Komulainen . . . . $6,462
Bike’s Americas Poker Classic
Classic, a series of 10
events held at the Bicycle
Casino in Bell Gardens,
California, I halfway
through. These events
favored by local players
have buy-ins ranging from
$100 to $300. See results
below:
BICYCLE CASINO
BICYCLE CASINO
THE AMERICAS
POKER CLASSIC
THE AMERICAS
POKER CLASSIC
EVENT #4
1/20/05
EVENT #2
1/18/05
LIMIT HOLD’EM
POT LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $100 + $20
BUY-IN $100 + $20
PLAYERS 317
PRIZE
POOL
PLAYERS 219
PRIZE
POOL
$31,700
$21,900
1. Mario Moreno . . . . . $11,890
WE ARE YOUR PLACE TO PLAY POKER TOURNAMENTS!
Costa Mesa, CA, United States
2. Mick Brown . . . . . . . . $6,025
BICYCLE CASINO
THE AMERICAS
POKER CLASSIC
EVENT #5
1/21/05
OMAHA HI-LO /
STUD HI-LO
BUY-IN $200 + $25
PLAYERS 128
PRIZE
POOL
$25,600
6. James Wardell . . . . . . $1,110
Nghia Nguyen
DAILY AT 11:00 A.M.
$25 No Limit Hold’em Tournament
DAILY AT 2:00 P.M.
$25 No Limit Hold’em Tournament.
$10 Rebuys
$250 GUARANTEED TO FIRST PLACE
MONDAY – THURSDAY AT 7:00 P.M.
$50 No Limit Hold’em Tournament.
7. Heung Lee . . . . . . . . . . .$795
1. Nghia Nguyen . . . . . . $8,215
Rules and structure sheets are available in the poker room. Management reserves
all rights to change or alter these promotions at any time.
8. Josh Rihenberg . . . . . . .$635
2. Frederich Shonder . . $4,160
3. David Garbowski. . . . $3,010
Cardiff, United Kingdom
4. Edgar Garong . . . . . . $2,060
Cerritos, CA, United States
5. Omar Campolongo . . $1,425
La Verne, CA, United States
Westminster, United Kingdom
Anaheim, CA, United States
9. Lamar Mitchell . . . . . . .$475
Vista, CA, United States
WV, United States
United States
3. Frank Blanco . . . . . . . $2,080
United States
4. Lance Brukman . . . . . $1,425
Long Beach, CA, United States
BICYCLE CASINO
THE AMERICAS
POKER CLASSIC
EVENT #3
1/19/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
Eric Plounkett
1. Eric Plounkett . . . . . $10,240
BUY-IN $100 + $20
PLAYERS 437
REBUYS 344
PRIZE
POOL
5. Tran Tran . . . . . . . . . . . .$985
Garden Grove, CA
6.
7.
8.
9.
Derek Soulakis . . . . . . . .$765
Lewis Concha. . . . . . . . .$545
Vincent McBride . . . . . .$440
Tony Grand . . . . . . . . . .$330
BICYCLE CASINO
THE AMERICAS
POKER CLASSIC
$78,100
Buellfon, CA, United States
EVENT #1
1/17/05
2. Omar Campolongo . . $5,120
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
3. John Messick . . . . . . . $2,560
BUY-IN $100 + $20
La Verne, CA, United States
Cincinnati, OH, United States
PLAYERS 575
PRIZE
POOL
4. Abraham Edusma . . . $1,535
$57,500
San Gabriel, CA, United States
5. Walter Smiley . . . . . . $1,280
Gardena, CA, United States
6. Rodolfo Cruz . . . . . . . $1,025
Covina, CA, United States
7. David White . . . . . . . . . .$770
Orange County, CA, United States
8. Hung Nguyen . . . . . . . . .$510
Cerritos, CA, United States
Gary Stant
1. Gary Stant . . . . . . . . $28,900
Tunica
Grand
American
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Vashon Tidwell . . . . . $4,308
Joe Pittman . . . . . . . . $3,590
John Pettibone . . . . . . $2,154
Curtis Chambers . . . . $2,154
Harold Key. . . . . . . . . $2,154
OH, United States
Feridoun Farboud
2. Thai Tran . . . . . . . . . $14,260
United States
3. George Shahrezay . . . $7,030
Paramount, CA
4. Steven Moss . . . . . . . . $4,690
United States
5. Richard Myers . . . . . . $3,520
United States
6. Chester Burnett . . . . . $2,735
Ladera Ranch, CA, United States
7. Paramjit Gill . . . . . . . $1,950
Diamond Bar, CA
8. Giouvanni Donofrio . $1,560
Little Rock, AR, United States
9. Mike Heintschel . . . . . $1,170
Escondido, CA
1. Feridoun Farboud . . $20,700
Walnut Creek, CA, United States
2. William Tran . . . . . . $10,070
Montebello, CA, United States
3. Andrew Wang . . . . . . $4,945
Hacienda Heights, CA, United States
4. Jeremy Scharf . . . . . . $2,935
Valley Village, CA, United States
5. Ulises Molina . . . . . . . $2,300
Bell Gardens, CA, United States
6.
7.
8.
9.
David Kim . . . . . . . . . $1,725
Joseph Harmatz. . . . . $1,440
Nicholas Dileo . . . . . . $1,150
Raffi Soulian . . . . . . . . .$865
GRAND CASINO TUNICA
GRAND
AMERICAN
POKER CLASSIC
EVENT 2
1/7/04
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $100 + $10
PLAYERS 240
REBUYS 112
PRIZE
POOL
$48,900
1.
2.
3.
4.
Darrell Prossil . . . . . $14,670
Mark Erdberg . . . . . . $7,335
David Meany . . . . . . . $4,401
Bob Walker . . . . . . . . $2,934
Las Vegas NV
5. Larry Etter. . . . . . . . . $2,445
6. Tom Sawyer . . . . . . . . $1,467
Marysville, OH, United States
7. R Scott Sailors . . . . . . $1,467
8. John Parker . . . . . . . . $1,467
9. Pat Chadwick. . . . . . . $1,467
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
31
Perks and Picks
February in Las Vegas is shaping up as a great month
for excellent specials and promotions around town.
Besides the great poker room at the Palms, slot and
video poker players who earn 300 points on penny or
nickel machines receive a free buffet or $10.00 off food
credit at the Sunrise Cafe or Garduno’s
valid until February 28, 2005. The offer
is good for one per person per day.
The Bargain Bin
By H. Scot Krause
New members signing up for the
Horseshoe Club at Binion’s in downtown Las Vegas can
collect a WSOP (World Series of Poker) sandstone coaster after earning just 500 points ($250 coin-in). Sign up
and earn 500 points in the first 24 hours of joining the
club and receive a free souvenir coaster. Existing club
members may have received a post card in the mail for
a free coaster but can also earn them (up to four) for
every 500 points accumulated on their account.
In addition, “50 Reasons to play at the Shoe,” is
the new drawing promotion currently running at the
‘Shoe through February 28th. Four cash drawings are
held each day at 4:20 p.m., 5:20 p.m., 6:20 p.m. and
8:20 p.m. with five winners each collecting $50 for a
total of $1000 given away each day. The twenty daily
winners are then automatically entered into a drawing
at 9:20 p.m. for $1,000. All winners are also entered
into the Grand Prize Drawing on March 7th. The grand
prize is a whopping $50,050. The casino will also give
away runner-up cash prizes on March 7th of $10,050,
$8,050, $6,050, $4,050 and $2,050. Pictures of all
$1,000 winners in cut outs of a man or woman holding
$50,050 will be given away as a souvenir at the grand
prize event. The 1000 daily winners will be invited
back on March 6 and 7 to compete for the big money
and will receive two complimentary hotel room nights.
Customers earn drawing tickets playing slots and
video poker. One ticket is awarded for every 200
earned points. Table games and keno players are also
eligible to earn drawing tickets. Staying at the hotel
or dining in the restaurants will also get you a drawing
ticket. Visit the Horseshoe Club for complete rules and
details. In March, new owners MTG Gaming will take
over the reins of the Horseshoe.
The Cannery in North Las Vegas began with just
two poker tables about a year and half ago. The
number of tables have quadrupled since that time.
They are now spreading $2-$4 Limit Hold’em, $4-$8
Limit Hold’em and $2-$5 Blind No Limit Hold’em. In
addition, the Cannery hosts a $23 buy-in No Limit
Tournament that begins daily at 10:00 a.m.
Across town on the Southeast side of town, Nevada
Palace is giving away Teddy Bears for Valentine’s Day
on Sunday, February 13th to players after earning
50 points on your Player’s Circle club account. For
President’s Day, pick up a free logo t-shirt after earning 50 points on Monday, February 21. It’s also double
points for all machine play on Tuesdays, Thursdays and
Saturdays in February.
Coast Casinos (Barbary Coast, Gold Coast,
Orleans and Suncoast) are all offering double
points on Valentine’s Day, Monday, February 14th and
President’s Day, Monday, February 21st.
That’s it for this week!
H. Scot Krause is a freelance writer, gaming industry
analyst and researcher, originally from Cleveland, Ohio.
While raising his two year-old son, Zachary, Scot reports,
researches, and writes about casino games, events,
attractions and promotions. He is an eight-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
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
Card Room Roundup
Palms Casino Resort
4321 W. Flamingo Rd., Las Vegas, NV 89103
(702) 942.7777
www.palms.com
One of the most sought-after
destinations in the entertainment capital of the world, the
Palms Casino Resort offers
Las Vegas a major destination getaway with a relaxing,
affordable resort atmosphere.
The $265-million property
boasts a diverse mix of restaurants and bars, a spa and
salon, a 14-theatre Cineplex
(including IMAX), a 1,200seat, multi-use entertainment
venue, over 20,000 square
feet of meeting space and a
95,000-square-foot casino. The
Palms Casino Resort is located
on a 32-acre site just west of
the Las Vegas Strip and I-15
on Flamingo Road, minutes
from the Forum Shops and the
Fashion Show Mall.
Since its grand opening in 2001, the Palms has
thrived under the guidance of
president George Maloof. As
President of Maloof Hotels
since 1989, George also oversees the operation of hotels
throughout the Southwest and
California, including the Fiesta
Casino Hotel in Las Vegas and
the Central Palace Casino in
Central City, Colorado. Known
vative race and sports book.
The casino has received “The
Best of Las Vegas” awards for
Best Paying Slots, Best Locals
Hotel and Best Place to Play
Slots in the Las Vegas ReviewJournalʼs “Best of Las Vegas”
annual readerʼs poll.
Of course, the center of all
this great action is easily found
inside the Palms poker room.
The casinoʼs 10-table, 24-hour
room is constantly packed,
as even the most experienced
Vegas veteran can find something new and exciting at the
Palms. Last March, the Palms
responded to the soaring popularity of No-Limit Holdʼem
by opening an exclusive NoLimit room with four tables.
Not surprisingly, the room is at
full player capacity each and
every day. Upcoming special
events at the Palms include a
special small buy-in No Limit
tournament slated to run June
1 through mid July.
Although the great poker
boom has helped numerous
casinos pick up their cardroom
business, the Palms was one
of the cityʼs greatest success
stories long before the World
his crew to ensure that a trip to
the Palms is never forgotten.
These efforts are highlighted
by the Palmsʼ hugely successful Club Palms promotion
(which awards prizes and cash
to players for continued play)
and daily high-hand contests.
Like any successful enterprise, the Palms recognizes
the importance of keeping its
marketing fresh and innovative. Dedicated to appealing
to players of all ages, the
Palms mixes the thrill of poker
with the glitz of Hollywood.
Anyone who has watched
“Celebrity Poker Showdown”
on Bravo knows that it is not
uncommon for a casino guest
to share green felt glory alongside rocker Dave Navarro or
sports giant Dennis Rodman.
And where else can someone
walk away with beautifully
designed Kiss and Playboy
collectible poker chips?
When visiting the Palms,
players are encouraged to
spend time at any one of the
Palmsʼ breathtaking hotel
rooms. The casinoʼs 42-story
hotel tower holds 430 finely
appointed and oversized guestrooms and suites, all with
extraordinary views of the
Strip. Beautifully decorated
with natural woods, soft color
schemes of beige and taupe
and stylish furniture, every
guestroom includes televisions with high-speed Internet
access, convenient data ports
and stocked mini bars.
Inside and out, the Palms
was built for poker!
for his hands-on involvement
in the everyday operations of
the Palms, George has earned
a reputation among employees
and patrons alike for his downto-earth style and personable
nature. Unlike other large gaming businesses, the Palms is
a place where everyone from
poker players to casino personnel are made to feel right at
home.
Despite the Palmsʼ many
other amenities, the establishmentʼs 95,000-square-foot
casino remains its true heart
and soul. The casino includes
over 2,200 slot machines, 55
table games, keno and an inno-
Poker Tour created a media
frenzy. Since day one, the
Palms has maintained phenomenal business thanks in
large part to cardroom manager Gene Trimble. A lifelong
poker enthusiast, Trimbleʼs
many industry credits include
being the person who helped
launch Caribbean Stud in Las
Vegas. Still passionate about
the game, Trimble works with
Just when you thought
youʼd seen it all in Las Vegas,
the Palms always offers something new. Whether you live
in Las Vegas or have visited
the city 100 times before, a
trip to the Palms guarantees
an experience you wonʼt have
anywhere else.
For more information on the
Palms, please call (702) 942777 or visit www.palms.com.
Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure Concludes
tournament was
won by John
Gale of Bushey
in the United
Kingom, who
took home
$865,600 plus
a $25,000 seat
in the WPT
final event later
in the year.
There were 461
entries in this
field where
the prize pool
was just short
of $3.6 million. Players
won their way
into this event
by winning satellites on
Pokerstars.comʼs web
site. The events which
concluded a week that
began on January 5th and
ended on the 11th, were
held at the Atlantis Resort
on Paradise Island in the
Bahamas. See final results
below.
plus...$25,000 Seat into WPT
Championship
Bushey, United Kingdom
2. Alex Balandin . . . . $484,700
New City, NJ, United States
3. Michael Westerlund$306,400
Gothenburg, Sweden
4. Patrick Hocking. . . $207,700
#2 Alex Balandin
Medford, OR, United States
5. John Cernuto . . . . . $155,800
6. Nenad Medic . . . . . $112,500
Canada
7. Greg Debora . . . . . . $91,700
Toronto, ON
ATLANTIS RESORT & CASINO
1/11/05
CARIBBEAN ADVENTURE
8. Christian Kruel . . . . $73,700
#3 Mike Westerlund
Rio De Janeiro Brazil
9. Steve Zolotow. . . . . . $65,800
WPT FINAL EVENT
(4 DAY EVENT)
#4 Patrick Hocking
#5 John Cernuto
BUY-IN $7,800 + $200
#6 Nenad Medic
PLAYERS 461
PRIZE
POOL
$3,595,600
1. John Gale . . . . . . . . $865,600
Englishman John Gale goes
home with $865,600!
9. Ernesto Rojas. . . . . . . . .$665
POKER DERBY
EVENT #2
1/8/05
7-CARD STUD
BUY-IN $100 + $25
PLAYERS 120
REBUYS 101
PRIZE POOL
$21,435
Daniel Reed
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Daniel Reed . . . . . . . . $8,570
David Ristick . . . . . . . $4,285
Michael Fetter . . . . . . $2,140
John Mehrassa. . . . . . $1,285
Daniel Torla . . . . . . . . $1,070
Norman Lapin . . . . . . . .$855
Robert Koffroth. . . . . . .$640
Shant Kuyumjian . . . . .$430
POKER DERBY
EVENT #1
1/7/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $100 + $25
PLAYERS 351
REBUYS 415
ADD-ONS 214
PRIZE POOL
$95,060
Sherrill Sipes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Sherrill Sipes . . . . . . $34,695
Charles Miller . . . . . $18,060
Michael Fetter . . . . . . $9,030
Chanveacha Kong . . . $6,180
N/A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $4,280
Lewis Young . . . . . . . . $3,325
Norman Wheatcroft . $2,375
Zdenek Zborovsky . . $1,900
Michael Vitullo . . . . . $1,535
Just make the final table and be one of nine to win
a $10,000 entry to the major poker event in Las Vegas.
Come play in Casino Arizona’s No Limit Hold ‘Em Points Challenge.
Tournaments are held every Monday - Friday and the last Saturday of the
month, now through April 30, 2005. Qualifying players will go on to
compete in the Semifinals, held May 7th, 2005, with top players
advancing to the Championship Challenge on May 8th, 2005. The top nine
players receive a $10,000 entry to the major poker event in Las Vegas.
Call Casino Arizona for details.
Casino Arizona reserves the right to cancel or alter this promotion at any time. All winners will be responsible
for any tax liabilities.
WE’VE GOT YOUR GAME
101 & Indian Bend Adjacent to Scottsdale
480-850-7777 www.casinoaz.com
Owned and operated by the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.
Please gamble responsibly.
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
33
Bad Memories…
We all recognize the simple fact that we must learn from
our mistakes, both in life and at the poker table. We also
know that we must learn from our successes, always trying
to remember what we did to produce the outcomes that we
desired. Unfortunately, relying on our memories to handle
these tasks is a dangerous proposition, as
what we remember and how we remember is
often skewed, incomplete, and inaccurate.
POKER COUNSELOR
By John Carlisle
Many players aim to have their sessions at
the table last between four to six hours. During that time,
hundreds of hands will pass, with most of those leaving no
lasting impression upon the player. Most of the time, we will
learn very little from an individual hand. Instead, we learn,
and evaluate ourselves the most on those few key, tough
hands within that long session. Maybe it is the time of the
successful bold bluff, the time you were scared away from
your winning hand, or the bad beat that you took.
Psychologists have found that we tend to remember
events with a self-fulfilling slant. When we are beaten, our
minds try to protect our psyche by rationalizing the beat.
We find a way to pass blame onto something or someone
else, thus ensuring continual self-confidence. The railbirds
moaning about a run of unlucky cards are amongst those
using these techniques. On the other side, we generally
take full credit for success; we don’t easily recall our own
fortunate luck or poor play from opponents after a big win.
When we win a pot, we are content. One of the biggest
areas of under-evaluation is pots won, but not maximized.
We easily forget that we can be making many costly mistakes on winning hands, too.
Internet poker players are enjoying an amazing tool to
help evaluate their own play: hand histories. With a few
clicks of the mouse, internet players can see each bet and
action on any hand that they’d like to review. You might
think that this would alleviate the mistakes in memory
that I’m focusing upon. Don’t fool yourself, as the hand
histories show only a piece of the puzzle. What you neglect
to take into account is the emotional state that you were
in during those moments -- were you confident, nervous,
or plain scared? You don’t always correctly remember
what you were thinking at the time about your opponent’s
hand and the flow of play. In casinos and card rooms, we
now see some players touting a notebook to jot down
highlights of key hands. This is another outlet to attempt
to combat the fallacies of our memory, but again we must
remember that there was much more to the situation than
the few notes we had time to scribble onto the paper.
The key is to not passively rely on your memory to later
evaluate your play. Your mind is trained and experienced
in fooling you to protect or boost your psyche and confidence, making it nearly impossible to clearly and objectively evaluate yourself. Continue to use the internet hand
histories or hand-written notes, but try to attach accurate
self-evaluations with them. Take your self-evaluations to
a deeper level, checking emotions and thoughts as much
as bet amounts, raises, and calls. Enlist a playing buddy to
observe you while you play, as his evaluations of you will
not be shrouded by self-protection rationalization techniques. Your experiences will indeed lead you to become a
different player, but will the experiences that you remember be the actual reality? Focus on faulty memories to play
smarter, wiser, and harder while raking in more pots than
ever. 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].
34
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
More Than 160-Grand Up
for Grabs at Pechanga
To kick off the opening of
its brand new, state-of-theart, 54-table poker room
within its expanded resort
area, Pechanga Resort &
Casino has geared up to
host a tournament series
in which players have the
chance to win more than
southern California. Each
of the dayʼs tournaments
take place in the spacious
Poker Room. The excitement builds over the five
days and culminates on
February 13th, giving
players the final chance
to cash in on the high
advantage of a special $79
room rate on Wednesday,
February 9th, Thursday,
February 10th and Sunday,
February 13th, and $129
on Friday, February 11th
and Saturday, February
12th. To sign up to play
in the tournaments with or
$160,000 in prize pool
money. >From Wednesday,
February 9, 2005 to
Sunday, February 13,
2005, the Pechanga Open
Tournament will be one of
the hottest poker tickets in
stakes with the eventʼs
final round, the guaranteed
$100,000 No Limit Hold
ʻEm tournament. Players
wanting to be a part of
this exciting action may
register early and take
without accommodations,
call the Pechanga Resort
& Casino hotel reservations department toll free
at (877) 711-2WIN. See
the ad on page 26 for additional details.
asked & answered:
C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E
naments have had $25,000
entry fees, and one recent
invitational event—Poker
SuperStars II—is priced at
$40,000 per player.
Q #3 ANSWER: (c). Events
where first place must win
all the chips and gets only a
predetermined share of the
prize pool, the rest going to
close finishers, such as 2nd,
3rd, 4th, and 5th, are called
proportional payout tournaments.
Q #4 ANSWER: (d). If first
place is $100,000 and second place is $60,000, then
the last two players already
won $60,000 each and are
fighting over the remaining
$40,000 – winner take all.
Q #5 ANSWER: (b). A single-
22
table tournament in which
the winner wins an entry to a
larger event is called a satellite tournament.
Q #6 ANSWER: (a). It’s true
that you can’t tell the truth
about your hand in most
major tournaments held in
the last four years or so. This
ridiculous rule means that—in
those tournaments—you
must be lying when you say
anything specific about your
hand, so you are giving information about your hand that
opponents can figure out
by process of elimination.
If you could randomize and
sometimes tell the truth for
deception, rationality would
return to the poker tournament circuit. (OK, that’s just
a Mike Caro opinion, but it’s
right on the money.)
Q #7 ANSWER: (d). Over
2,500 players entered
the 2004 World Series of
Poker main even and most
experts are predicting
more this years. The exact
count was 2,576 entrants
at $10,000 each.
Q #8 ANSWER: (c).
Johnny Moss became the
first modern poker world
champion by being voted
the title by his peers. He
later repeated the championship in actual competition.
Q #9 ANSWER: (c). Doyle
Brunson won his first
WSOP main event championship in 1976.
Q #10 ANSWER: (b). The
common term used to
describe a tournament
in which table winners
advance is “shoot-out.”
Aussie Millions
2. Emad Tahtouh . . AU$52,000
Jack Binion’s WPO
3. Kevin Kelsall . . . AU$40,000
CROWN CASINO
AUSSIE MILLIONS
1/10/05
4. Anders Berg . . . . AU$30,000
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
Australia
Australia
Norway
BUY-IN AU$1,000 + AU$100
5. Richard Piper . . AU$20,000
United Kingdom
PLAYERS 159
6. John Dwyer . . . . AU$10,000
United States
CROWN CASINO
AUSSIE MILLIONS
1/13/05
Han Luu
LIMIT OMAHA HI-LO
BUY-IN AU$1,500 + AU$100
1. Han Luu . . . . . . . AU$47,025
Australia
2. Jovan Skekic . . . AU$29,925
Australia
PLAYERS 50
3. Steve Hegyi. . . . . AU$15,675
PRIZE POOL
4. Daniel Holm . . . . AU$11,400
Australia
AU$75,000
Sweden
5. George Mamacas . AU$9,975
Tony Bloom
Australia
1. Tony Bloom . . . . AU$24,650
6. Wes Bugiera . . . . . AU$8,550
Australia
2. Bill Risch . . . . . . AU$15,750
7. Peter Mordaunt . . AU$7,125
Australia
Melbourne, Australia
3. David Gorr . . . . . . AU$8,250
8. David Chanduloy AU$5,700
Australia
United States
4. Daniel Holm . . . . . AU$6,000
9. Arul Thillai . . . . . AU$4,275
Australia
Sweden
5. John Warrener. . . AU$5,250
Australia
6. Steve Hegyi. . . . . . AU$4,500
Australia
7. Richard Ashby . . . AU$3,750
United Kingdom
8. Mel Judah . . . . . . AU$3,000
Australia
9. Michael Marcos . . AU$2,250
Australia
CROWN CASINO
AUSSIE MILLIONS
1/12/05
CROWN CASINO
AUSSIE MILLIONS
1/9/05
POT LIMIT OMAHA
PLAYERS 83
REBUYS 96
PRIZE POOL
AU$89,500
POT LIMIT HOLD’EM
2-DAY EVENT
BUY-IN AU$1,000 + AU$100
Mad Marty Wilson
1. Mad Marty Wilson . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AU$29,535
UK
dred or so spectators were
gathered around the final
table of Event #8 at the Jack
Binion World Poker Open.
After nearly six hours, the
outcome seemed to be a
foregone conclusion. Sitting
at one end of the table, with
a massive chip count of
$437,000 was steely-eyed
Brit, Gary Jones. At the
opposite end of the table
was the well-known Los
Angeles touring pro Sirous
Baghchehsaraie clutching
onto his last five chips like
an illegal alien gripping bus
fare – a paltry five chips in
all. Baghchehsaraie didnʼt
have enough chips to post
the big blind, let alone
wait for a playable hand.
Everyone rose to their feet
and watched, anticipating
the final hand of the night.
Instead, what they witnessed was quite possibly
the single greatest comeback
in poker tournament history.
It was baseballʼs Boston
Red Sox upsetting the hated
Yankees after being down
0-3, pro footballʼs Buffalo
Bills overcoming a 32-point
second-half deficit to stun
Houston in the playoffs,
basketballʼs Los Angeles
Lakers rallying from 33points down to shock Dallas
-- all rolled up into one
whale of a poker tournament
that is sure to be discussed
for years to come. Recall
pokerʼs famous ʻchip and a
chairʼ story from the 1982
World Series. Jack Straus,
may God rest his soul, now
has a rival. His name is
Sirous Baghchehcaraie.
WORLD POKER OPEN
EVENT #8
1/13/05
LIMIT TEXAS
HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 442
PRIZE
POOL
$209,224
Sirous Bagchcehsaraie
1. Sirous Bagchcehsaraie . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $64,467
PRIZE POOL
3. Steve Hegyi. . . . . . AU$9,845
AU$175,000
35 TABLE CARDROOM
4. Tino Lechich . . . . AU$7,160
NON-SMOKING BETWEEN
9AM AND 3AM
Australia
Tino Lechich
1. Tino Lechich . . . AU$52,305
Australia
2. Edward Harris. . AU$33,285
Australia
3. Crocodile Bill Argyros . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AU$17,435
Australia
4. Mike Comer . . . . AU$12,680
Australia
5. David Gorr . . . . . . AU$6,265
Australia
6. Mick Stanton . . . . AU$5,370
Sydney, Australia
7. Matt Spratt . . . . . AU$4,475
Australia
Australia
Australia
Australia
7. Tod Sik . . . . . . . . . AU$7,925
Australia
8. Ray Sanchez . . . . . AU$6,340
Sweden
LIVE GAMES
Sydney, Australia
5. Michael Guttman AU$11,095
6. Gary Benson . . . . AU$9,510
Various Promotional
Giveaways All Year
8. Martin Comer . . . AU$3,580
9. Kevin Khouiss . . . AU$2,685
CROWN CASINO
AUSSIE MILLIONS
1/12/05
$1- $5
• 7-Card Stud
$2- $4 • Texas Hold’em
$4- $8- $8 • Texas Hold’em
POT LIMIT HOLD’EM
$10- $20
PLAYERS 177
AU$88,500
7-CARD STUD
Michael Guttman
No Limit • Texas Hold’em
4- $8- $8 • Omaha High
with a 1/2 Kill
1. Michael Guttman AU$26,480
2. Peter Mordaunt . AU$16,853
Australia
PRIZE POOL
3. Graham Smith . . . AU$8,828
AU$39,000
United Kingdom
4. Eddie Schwerdt . . AU$6,420
Lee Nelson
Australia
1. Lee Nelson . . . . . AU$15,600
5. Mel Judah . . . . . . AU$5,618
New Zealand
Australia
2. John Wylie . . . . . AU$10,725
6. Asle Gjesteland . . AU$4,815
New Zealand
Norway
3. John Homann . . . AU$6,825
7. Ray Walter . . . . . . AU$4,013
Australia
Australia
4. Richard Holmes . . AU$3,900
8. Joe Huminicki . . . AU$3,210
Australia
Australia
5. Joe Cabret . . . . . . AU$1,950
9. David Chanduloy AU$2,408
Australia
Winter Haven, FL, United States
5. Mark Dickstein . . . . $12,476
6. Dustin Sitar . . . . . . . $10,397
7. Luis Velador . . . . . . . . $8,318
Lake Elsinore, CA, United States
8. Billy Woodrum . . . . . $6,238
9. Andy Karon . . . . . . . . $4,287
Duluth, MN, United States
David Eller Seizes
Second JBWPO
Victory: Floridian
stages formidable
comeback and defeats
WSOP multi-winner
Scott Fischman in
heads-up duel
Skilled poker players have
a tendency to gravitate to
games like Seven-Card
Stud High-Low Split,
because there is a common
feeling that the player has
more control over the outcome. Unlike poker games
like Texas Holdʼem, where
“any two cards can win,”
Stud High-Low tends to
reward patience, hand-reading skills, card memory,
The Orleans is the “Home” of the
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
POKER TOUR™
Memorial Championship of Poker
TM
Schedule of Events
Thursday, January 27 • 8pm
WPPA Qualifier Satellite™
BUY-IN
$500
Friday, January 28 • Noon & 8pm
WPPA Qualifier Satellites™
Saturday, January 29 • Noon
WPPA Memorial Championship
of Poker ™
$500
$5000
$
Australia
PLAYERS 39
• Texas Hold’em
with a 1/2 Kill
PRIZE POOL
BUY-IN AU$1,000 + AU$100
• Texas Hold’em
with a 1/2 Kill
CROWN CASINO
AUSSIE MILLIONS
1/11/05
4. Hilbert Shirey . . . . . $14,556
with a 1/2 Kill
$6- $12
9. Joe Humunicki. . . AU$4,755
Melbourne, Australia
London, England
3. Dr Max Stern . . . . . . $16,635
♥♠♦♣♥♠♦♣♥♠♦♣♥♠♦♣♥♠♦♣♥♠♦
2. Lee Nelson . . . . . AU$18,795
Australia
2. Gary Jones . . . . . . . . $33,270
PLAYERS 105
REBUYS 70
New Zealand
United States
$
4- $8- $8 • Omaha High-Lo
WPPA CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT IS
EXPECTED TO BE TELEVISED WITH 100%
OF EARNINGS GOING TO WPPA MEMBERS
with a 1/2 Kill
$
$
10- 20 • Omaha High-Lo
with a 1/2 Kill
Player’s Rewards Card Comp
Tracking System
Earn Comp Dollars for Food When
Playing in “Live” Games
Two Tournaments Daily at
12 Noon and 7PM
LAS VEGAS, NV
(702) 365-7150 • (888) 365-7111
orleanscasino.com
[email protected]
Room Reservations: (800) 675-3267
A player does not have to be a WPPA member to enter tournaments.
♥♠♦♣♥♠♦♣♥♠♦♣♥♠♦♣♥♠♦♣♥♠♦
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
35
Bad Beat
In a typical poker room you’ll usually find the same reoccurring theme. A player sitting down to his/her chosen
game in hopes of playing their level best to extract the
chips from the table. In my opinion, most of the really
beatable games are located in the top sections of the
casino. Usually these players in question will have some
Dealer Vibes
By Donald W. Woods, Jr.
sort of plan to divest the table of their
resources. UNTIL, the inevitable bad
beat. Bad beat in theory, bad beat in
mindset, bad beat in reality, but bad beat
no less. Now comes the truth in advertisement. Are you the type of player who now succumbs to
adversity? Can you handle the smirk? What smirk? The
one from the player that called the raise out of position with a piece of rag hand, caught runner-runner to
a gut shot straight beating your 3 of a kind on the last
card? Well some players in an effort to keep their sanity say, “nice hand”. Nice hand? I can’t stand that reply
from a player whom obviously is frustrated and upset,
remembers where he read that player A says, just say
nice hand, mumbles nice hand then blurts out DEALER
GET A SET-UP! Yeah right, trying to be politically correct
while taking it out on everybody else. You don’t really
mean nice hand. What you really mean is: you moron how
could you put that horrid beat on me right in the middle
of my little run that I was trying to put together, to the
tune of a $1,000 pot! I’m not advocating you get nasty or
anything; just don’t say anything in rebuttal as opposed
to the “nice hand” quip. Some of the most noteworthy
occurrences with respect to tough tables happened while
I was a dealer.
I was dealing a happy go lucky type of table one evening, when Jerry Springer broke out. A player whom
caught one of those runner-runner straights to win a gargantuan pot decided to gloat about it. The losing player
took exception to the verbal rehashing and reminded the
player that he was lucky to win the pot. Well, replied the
winning player I’m lucky in everything I do. In that case,
says the losing player you had better not say another
word or I’ll be over there on you to try your luck. Now I
must say at this point I do like these testosterone types
of confrontation except the guy doing all the crazy talking was about, 5 foot nothing! This guy probably needed
a pillow to sit on to drive his car. Now, that’s not the
kicker! The kicker was the winning player whom all this
was directed to must have been 6 ft. 4 or better. The
floor man came over and told the two combatants to go
outside. Well, I’m thinking the little guy better not go out
there with this gladiator, when the little guy says, with
an air of confidence, let’s take it to the streets. Everyone
got really excited about the impending (W.W.F.) showdown
and ran outside to lay witness. Well, since everyone left I
gathered up my tray and went to the door. Well, to make
a long story short it was a complete drubbing suffered
by the…………drum roll please, …little guy! Not that the
result was so shocking, it’s that the little guy could not
fight a lick! Wow, he didn’t get in as much as a punc
Here’s the moral of the story, if you can’t fight do not
invite the player to go outside. Instead it’s ok to turn to
the player and say, “nice hand”. Because that’s the only
BAD BEAT I want you to take in 2005!
Jack Binion’s WPO
and selective-aggression.
Seven-Card Stud HighLow Split players donʼt
tend to tell as many ʻbad
beatʼ stories. Thatʼs
because ʻbad beatsʼ arenʼt
nearly as common. They
happen. But, in the long
run, good starting multiway high-low hands tend
to rake the most pots.
On this night, a 41-year
old Florida man usually had the best starting hands, and ended
up winning the most
pots. The seventh event
of the 2005 Jack Binion
World Poker Open, $500
buy-in Seven-Card Stud
High-Low Split, was
won by David N. Eller,
from Port Orange, FL.
Eller topped the largest
ʻEight or Betterʼ field
in JBWPO history, topping 272 players. Eller
joined the exalted ranks
of a select few, becoming
only one of a dozen players who have won multiple titles as the JBWPO.
In 2001, Eller won the
Omaha High-Low Split
event. Since then, Eller
has continued to refine
his poker game – playing tournaments live and
online – which has now
paid handsome dividends
to the tune of $40,047 in
first-place prize money.
WORLD POKER OPEN
EVENT #7
1/12/05
7-CARD STUD
HI-LO SPLIT
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 272
PRIZE
POOL
$128,836
David Eller
1. David Eller . . . . . . . . $40,047
United States
2. Scott Fischman . . . . $22,393
3. Rick Abrell . . . . . . . . $13,436
Terre Haute, IN, United States
Donald W. Woods, Jr. is a 9 year professional dealer.
Some of his diversified interests include, track and
field coach at the high school level yielding a championship in 2002. He is currently penning an original
script, outside the poker arena, for his maiden voyage
to movie-land. For more information, contact him at
[email protected]
4. Tony Seco . . . . . . . . . . $9,597
Myrtle Beach, SC, United States
5.
6.
7.
8.
Jeff Richman . . . . . . . $7,934
Derek Taylor . . . . . . . $6,270
Jim Hagen . . . . . . . . . $5,145
Eddie Ragl . . . . . . . . . $3,694
Fitzgerald, GA, United States
9. Larry Evans . . . . . . . . $2,375
Yellville, AZ, United States
WORLD POKER OPEN
EVENT #6
1/11/05
POT LIMIT TEXAS
HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 284
REBUYS 399
PRIZE
POOL
$312,810
three hours to top the other
eight finalists, as he never
was in serious danger of
losing the chip lead. This
marked Paezʼs first major
tournament victory.
WORLD POKER OPEN
EVENT #5
1/10/05
LIMIT TEXAS
HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 244
PRIZE
POOL
$115,463
Raul Paez
1. Raul Paez . . . . . . . . . $99,657
and a $10,000 seat in the
WPT Final
Barcelona, Spain
2. Tony Cousineau . . . . $54,811
Daytona Beach, FL, United States
3. Mike Lutz . . . . . . . . . $28,028
4. Jack Ward . . . . . . . . $21,800
5. Robert Hooten . . . . . $18,685
Kansas City, KS, United States
6. Dave Cung . . . . . . . . $15,571
Calgary, AB, Canada
7. Vince Ballinger . . . . $12,457
Greenwood, IN
8. Chris Grigorian . . . . . $9,343
Panama City, CA, United States
9. Calvin Crain . . . . . . . $6,228
Toro! Toro! Toro!
Spaniard Tops PotLimit Hold’em Event:
Raul Paez captures
first major poker title
and $99,657
The wonderful country of
Spain is known for many
things -- Pablo Picasso,
Flamenco guitar, Sangria
wine, arch-style architecture,
and bullfighting, to name a
few. It may be time to add
ʻpoker playersʼ as one of its
greatest exports. After all,
Spain produced 2001 World
Series of Poker Champion
-- Carlos Mortensen. His
wife, Cecilia De Mortensen,
from Madrid, won an event
at the 2003 Jack Binion
World Poker Open. Fellow
countryman Carlos Fuentes,
from Pamplona, finished
second in an event here
last year. Now, Raul Paez,
from Barcelona, added his
name to the talented list of
Spanish poker champions.
He won the $500 buy-in
Pot-Limit Holdʼem event
and collected $99,657 as top
prize in JBWPO Event #6.
Paez arrived at the final
table with a decisive chip
lead. His closest adversary
(Jack Ward) was outchipped
by 2 to 1. It took Paez
Avner Levy
1. Avner Levy . . . . . . . . $37,308
Boca Raton, FL, United States
2. Maria Stern . . . . . . . $20,662
3. Michael Bernstein . . $12,626
Cherry Hill, NJ, United States
4. Dan Smith . . . . . . . . . $9,183
Corydon, IN, United States
5. Mike Purdy . . . . . . . . $7,692
Chesapeake, VA, United States
6. Mickey Sisskind . . . . . $5,917
Detroit, MI, United States
7. Randy Lowery . . . . . . $4,734
Macon, GA, United States
8. Brian Taylor . . . . . . . . $3,550
Macon, GA, United States
9. David Rabbi . . . . . . . . $2,130
Las Vegas Nv
WORLD POKER OPEN
EVENT #14
1/19/05
LIMIT TEXAS
HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 628
REBUYS 869
PRIZE
POOL
$697,527
Anthony Hellmann
1. Anthony Hellmann $201,365
2. Pat Heneghan. . . . . $106,238
3. Freddy Deeb. . . . . . . $55,550
4. Davood Mehrmand . $48,606
Frankfurt, Germany
5. Jeremy Tinsley . . . . . $41,662
Beaumont, TX, United States
6. Zeb Strawn. . . . . . . . $34,718
Charlotte, NC, United States
7. Darrell Struck . . . . . $27,775
Dallas, TX, United States
8. Alan Katzen . . . . . . . $20,831
Memphis, TN, United States
9. Jack Ward . . . . . . . . $13,887
Never Play Poker With a Man Named Doc
that the conversation in the
15-30 games are a lot more
friendly and the tables are
much more enjoyable The
lower you go in the limits
the less professionals are
playing as well as the least
experienced players that you
will be playing against. The
number one rule in winning
at poker is table selection.
Use it to your advantage. If
you do well on the first trip,
you can always move up a
level on the next one.
When traveling, it is
almost impossible to bring
a proper bankroll to play
poker effectively. The locals
know this fact too. If you
are not adequately bankrolled, the effect on your
game will definitely take
itʼs toll. I find that bringing a personal check along
that can be cashed in a few
minutes time is essential
if you plan to play poker.
Travelerʼs checks can also
be cashed, but each one has
to be signed and the biggest denomination is only
one hundred dollars. Most
Casinos have limitations on
the number they will cash
in a 24 hour period as well.
Although a credit card can
also be used, the price one
pays is pretty steep. Most
Casinos will cash a personal check for $500.00,
some even higher. I recommend calling ahead and ask
about debit cards and ATM
machine fees as well.
There is another disadvantage I see is in the amount of
cash the recreational player
has available to play with.
Most players will buy in for
at least twice the minimum
and usually higher. The
minimum buy in is only 20
times the big blind (or ten
big bets). That is way too
small of a buy in to play
an effective game. A lot of
the locals who see a player
buy in for the minimum as a
person who is playing with
scared money. If they target
you collectively only for this
reason, your volatility will
skyrocket. Try to minimize
any appearance of that of
a tourist unless you are so
good that you welcome it.
I personally have used this
very ploy to my advantage
at times, but it requires
a very strong disciplined
game, an ability to advertise
early with a really bad hand,
and a nice run of cards afterwards to exploit it. I suggest
you have 50 times the big
bet available in your pocket
anytime you sit down at the
poker table. Anything less
will definitely affect your
psyche. That is $1500.00 for
the 15-30 game.
If you lose twenty big bets
then you have lost too much
to play effectively at the
limit you selected. At home
you can make up this loss.
In Las Vegas, you are most
likely overmatched. I do not
care how good of a player
you are. Poker is a game
of short term luck and long
term skill. If you are being
beaten like a drum, it is time
to step away and accept the
loss as a learning experience
and either step down a level
or else come back at another
time. I also suggest that you
minimize trying to get even
right before your plane is
ready to leave. Playing when
behind is one thing. Playing
when behind and your plane
is going to be taking off in
three hours is a sign of a
desperate person.
If you plan to play only
a day or two I recommend
that you play in the middle
of your stay if possible. Sure
there are some people who
can go to Las Vegas and
play every waking moment
at the poker table from the
time they arrive to the time
they leave. I have also seen
these same people lose their
shirt and continue despite
the fact that their opponentʼs
are well rested and taking
advantage of their sloppy
play. Donʼt over extend your
play unless you are winning
in the game. My basic rule
when I play is that I stop
playing if I can recognize
two mistakes within the last
hour of play. If I find two
mistakes then how many
did I make that I did not
even recognize? There are
very few players who can
continue to win consistently
with that many errors. If I
cannot determine whether
I made a mistake then I am
either doing very well or I
am totally oblivious to my
surroundings. I am sure
everyone should be able to
tell the difference between
the two.
Finally, there are certain
time periods where one
might do better based on
their playing style. The day
shift starts around 10am
and the evening shift begins
around 8pm. The day shift
is filled with more conservative players. The evening
shift (especially on the
week ends) is filled with
loose aggressive players as
well as people out to enjoy
themselves. The night shift
(2am to 10am) is filled with
a mixture of different players but tend to be the action
junkies, the stuck players,
and loose tourist. There are
also a number of pros who
exploit these players during the night shift. These
are generalizations and a
number of different table
compositions can exist at
anytime in Las Vegas. I hope
these tips will help you have
a more enjoyable experience
in Las Vegas. In the future I
hope to expand on a few of
these tips as well as add several more. Good Luck!
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26 thru SUNDAY, MARCH 6, 2005
• Registration for:
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start @ 9 am
Evening Tournaments
start @ 6 pm
• Gold Bracelet for the winners of each
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For Tournament Players
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When registering, please use reference code: ETSPR05.
• Weekly Tournaments and Bad Beat Jackpot
suspended during Spring Poker Tournament
• For more info call: (800) 648-6992, ext. 7275
or for complete tournament information
go to www.PeppermillReno.com
*Subject to Availability. The management reserves the right to modify or cancel this promotion at any time.
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
37
atch for Chris
Moneymaker.
The 2003 World Series
of Poker champ is coming
soon to a retail store shelf
near you as he strives to
leverage the recognition
factor that has made him
one of pokerʼs most visible
personalities.
The 28-year-old
Nashville accountant
became emblematic of
every personʼs desire to
strike it rich with a small
W
championship at the 2003
World Series, well . . . that
was the first time he had
ever tried his hand at a live
tournament.
And then he looks to one
side and thereʼs two-time
World Series champ Johnny
Chan and on the other side
thereʼs that highly regarded
big money pro Phil Ivey.
PLAYER
Profile
These are the things that
can cause a tournament
rookieʼs stomach to do a
few flip-flops.
But letʼs take it from the
beginning, about four years
ago when he started playing
on-line.
“I was doing poorly as
I was learning the games,
then I got on to Pokerstars
and started playing their
tournaments. Started off
real rough. Never made
much money,” shrugs,
“hardly ever made it into
the money.”
Better times eventually
began to arrive as his skills
improved. He began to win.
But he was still light
years away from any
thought of abandoning his
Nashville lifestyle for Las
Vegas.
“I finally reached the
point, I think it was a
Saturday afternoon and I
had about seventy dollars
in my (Pokerstars) account
and I decided to try my luck
at a two-table forty-dollar
satellite tournament.”
The winner would move
on to a bigger tournament
where the rewards would
include seats in the World
Series of Poker.
He ended up winning that
and admits to feeling pretty
good about that, but honestly . . . it would have been
nice to have a little prize
money. Winning was nice,
Poker Player is pleased to welcome Phil Hevener back to its pages.
Hevener was the Managing Editor of Poker Player from July 1983 to
December 1985. Phil wanted to produce his own publication, which he
did with Larry Hall. They called it, “Las Vegas Style.” A popular journalist who writes for many major publications, Phil was replaced in 1985 by
Gary Thompson, who is now the spokesman for Harrahs Entertainment.
38
CHRIS
Moneymaker
BY PHIL HEVENER
investment as he parlayed a
$40 on-line poker win into
a seat in the $10,000 buyin and an eventual $2.5
million first prize at the
Horseshoe Casinoʼs annual
poker classic.
So whatʼs a guy to do for
an encore?
A couple of things, such
as continuing to play poker
and improve the skills that
helped give him the look
of an overnight sensation.
He and his partners are
also prepared to power up
a new company launching a variety of products
Moneymaker hopes poker
buffs everywhere will
decide they cannot live
without.
Such as customized
poker chips, an assortment
of poker memorabilia, a
book and vodeos.
Will it all work?
Who knows, the stillraging poker boom has
Moneymaker and other
freshly minted stars of the
game convinced that nowʼs
the time to take their best
shots.
Moneymakerʼs story
retains an attractive sparkle
even after countless tellings. He projects a downhome charm that complements his successful but
unlikely leap toward overnight success on big time
pokerʼs best known stage.
He was well into his 20s
before he took his first serious look at poker and when
he sat down to the first day
of the no limit hold ʻem
but Moneymaker was not
yet seeing himself going
heads-up against Chan or
Doyle Brunson.
He considered himself
a hardheaded realist and
when the next level of
competition arrived, he was
aiming for the eight thousand dollars earmarked for
the fourth place finisher.
Yes, fourth place looked
like a good idea. The free
World Series seats for the
first three finishers . . .
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
well, those could go to people who might be able to
imagine themselves doing
something like that.
“I had some bills to pay,”
he says,
What happened was that
the on-line tournament
got down to the final table
and surprise, surprise . . .
Moneymaker was the chip
leader.
“I started dumping to
get myself in position for
that eight thousand and my
buddy who was watching
calls me and asks what the
hell was I doing?”
Mooneymakerʼs response
was that he was trying to
win himself some prize
money.
“What did he think I was
doing?”
He could not imagine
himself playing in the
World Series against the
best in the world.
His buddy shrugs, says,
“Well, I think youʼre good
enough to at least give it a
shot.”
“Yeah, but the (prize)
moneyʼs important to me.”
His buddy says okay,
what heʼll do is buy half
his action and give him five
thousand.
Moneymaker thinks
about that, finally saying,
okay, heʼs gonna go for it.
Heʼll see if he can wrap up
the satellite win.
“At that point I had such
a big chip lead that I could
have won if I did not play
another hand.”
He wins and a week later
Moneymaker is hit with
the real shocker. His friend
call, says sorry but he canʼt
give him the five thousand.
Something came up.
So Moneymaker goes to
his dad and another friend
for the five grand to finance
the trip to Las Vegas.
“I got out to Las Vegas
about a week early,” he
said, “played some live no
limit just to sort of acclimate myself to some of
the pressures I knew I was
going to be facing in that
environment. What I had
played till then was mostly
10-20 or 20-40, but I had
never played no limit.”
At what point in the
tournament did he begin to
think maybe, just maybe he
could win?
“Not until the last day,”
Moneymaker says. “I got
down to the third day
of this four-day tournament and when I knocked
out Chan I thought I had
a chance to make some
money but, but never in a
million years was I thinking
I might win.
By the time he got to the
final table on the fourth
day, Moneymaker was feeling some confidence. “I
just really liked what I saw.
I felt like I had pretty good
reads on most of the others there. I was a rookie till
I got to the final table but
all of a sudden I wasnʼt a
rookie any more.”
Moneymaker remembers,
“The first day I was real,
real cautious. The second
day I was pretty cautious.”
But he was thinking at
night about his strategy,
having to loosen up some
and learn a lot in a hurry.
Since the World Series
ended and had been
repeated countless times on
ESPN, Moneymaker guesses he has probably seen it
a couple of times, maybe
three times.
What is the first thing he
treated himself to after the
World Series as he suddenly
became a millionaire?
Moneymaker forces
a short laugh. “It wasnʼt
really planned but I went
out and bought myself a
new car, a BMW ʻcause the
week after I won I wrapped
by Infiniti around a tree”
He plays now maybe
three times a week on-line.
“As far as tournaments go,
I probably play 10-12 a
year.”
Whatʼs the chance of a
repeat in the World Series?
“Repeating is obvious
very difficult, but Iʼve got a
lot more faith in my skills.
I have obviously learned
a whole, whole lot the last
year and a half.”
Moneymaker says he
likes the bigger than ever
fields associated with the
World Series. The nearly
2,600 players in this past
yearʼs World Series was
roughly three times the
number when he won.
Estimates have this yearʼs
championship event topping
5,000 players.
“As long as you donʼt
step on a land mine the
first day or so. Thereʼs so
many amateurs, so many
new guys. As long as you
can use the first day or so
to get yourself chips, itʼs
easier than some of these
cut-throat, 180-player fields
Prospecting for
WSOP Gold at
Boomtown
By Byron Liggett
Want a ticket to a
gold mine? Boomtown
Hotel/Casino, in Reno, is
going to send one Poker
Prospector to the World
Series of Poker.
Boomtownʼs Poker Mine
is giving ten gold-seekers
two opportunities every
Thursday from January
27th through April 28th, at
2pm and 7pm, to pan for
hand full of nuggets and a
chance to go for all the gold
at the World Series of Poker
in July.
Twice every Thursday,
10 poker prospectors will
pay $100 & $25 entry fee
to enter the mine shaft that
leads to the World Series.
Each player gets $1,000
with which to work the
mine. They can chip away
or blow away; one will holler “Eureka!” -- The other
nine get glitter. “Thatʼs the
mining business,” says Boss
Bennett, “some get gold,
others get lost.”
The lucky Thursday
poker prospectors who
win nuggets get $100
and become part of the
small, elite, pickʼn shovel
brigade at the Poker
Minerʼs Final, April 30th.
There they will sluice the
“River of Holdʼem-orNo-Return”. The one who
gets the gold will receive
$2,000 cash and a seat in
the richest gold field in
poker, the World Series in
Las Vegas. Striking it rich
there could mean more $3
million dollars!
Runner-up in the
Boomtown World Series
Final doesnʼt go home
broke. That miner gets
$1,600 in gold dust to put
in their saddle bags. In fact,
every prospector at the last
table will get some gold.
There you have it. The
World Series mine shaft
is open every Thursday
at 2pm and 7pm at
Boomtown. Bring your
dynamite!
Player Profile: Chris Moneymaker
with nothing but the best
players in the world. With
these bigger fields, at least
youʼve got people who are
giving off some chips.”
Pokerʼs continuing growth
and exposure on television
means Moneymaker gets
recognized just about everywhere he goes.
“Never in a million
years did I believe that
would happen. Youʼve
gotta remember, I was
just this humble guy from
Tennessee. I was kinda shy,
wasnʼt a public speaker. I
didnʼt do well in front of
the camera or in front of a
large group. You know, that
was never my forte.”
When he learned he
was going on the David
Letterman show, “I was
probably more nervous
there than I was at the
World Series.”
But he learned how to
relax. “It gets easier as you
do one or two of them . .
. As far as this celebrity
thing goes, itʼs good and itʼs
bad. It has its benefits. You
get recognized pretty much
everywhere and you get
treated pretty good.”
He heaves a sigh, “But
sometimes you just want to
be alone with your family
or get away by yourself or
just take a break from it.”
Hard to do when strangers approach him as though
theyʼre good buddies, wanting to talk about this or that
asking for autographs.
Moneymaker field a lot
of endorsement offers after
his win, but he generally
said thanks but no thanks.
“What they wanted me to
put my name on was either
a piece of junk or I just
wasnʼt real comfortable
with the product.”
The end result of the
planning by he and his partners in this plan to create
products for the retail market was an assortment of
items that will be unveiled
in early February and sold
either on-line or at retail
giants such as Target.
The nature of efforts
to exploit the widespread
interest in poker may
change – Moneymaker
thinks the TV coverage
is pretty much saturated
– “You wonʼt see so many
tournaments on television,
but the numbers of people
who want to play . . .”
This is a figure that, he
believes, is not going to go
anywhere except up.
“When I walk through
an airport,” he says, “I get
approached by a wide range
of kids, 14-year-olds, 17year-olds. I mean, these
kids are sitting at home and
playing.”
Looking into 2005,
Moneymaker talks generally
of video games, a biography,
a film venture and other possibilities intended to stamp
the Moneymaker image
across the consciousness of
poker buffs everywhere.
Makes it hard to imagine the shy Nashville
accountant could have once
thought fourth place money
looked like a good idea.
Play world class poker at the Mississippi Gulf Coast’s two
biggest and best beach front casino resorts, Grand Casino
Gulfport & Grand Casino Biloxi
APRIL 12-17, 2005
MIKE SMITH
Poker Room manager,
Grand Casino Biloxi
1-800-WIN-2-WIN Ext. 2923
TED VAUGHAN
Poker Room manager,
Grand Casino Gulfport
1-800-WIN-7777 Ext. 5667
DEALERS WANTED.
PLEASE APPLY
BY MARCH 1.
EVENT #
DATE
1
Tues., April 12
EVENT
PROPERTY ENTRY FEE ENTRIES
NO LIMIT HOLD ’EM
Both
$500 + $40
400
Final tables will be played at Biloxi April 13
2
Wed., April 13
NO LIMIT HOLD ’EM
3
Thurs., April 14
NO LIMIT HOLD ’EM
Gulfport
$200 + $20
200
Both
$500 + $40
400
Final tables will be played at Gulfport April 15
4
Fri., April 15
NO LIMIT HOLD ’EM
Biloxi
$200 + $20
200
5
Sat., April 16
NO LIMIT HOLD ’EM
Both
$1,000 + $60
400
SPECIAL ROOM
RATES START
AT $65! CALL
1-800-354-2450
FOR RESERVATIONS
AND MENTION
THE SOUTHERN
CLASSIC.
Final tables will be played at Biloxi April 17
Registration for Events 1, 3 & 5 available at both properties. Connection Card required. Sign-ups will be cut off at midnight prior
to those events. Both properties will be non-smoking for the duration of the Southern Classic.
SATELLITES Beginning February 6, one table satellites to Events 1 & 3 ($65 entry), Event 5 ($125)
Biloxi: Tues. & Thurs., 7–10 p.m.
Gulfport: Sun. & Wed., 5–7 p.m.
All tournaments start at 11 a.m. Alternates will not be accepted to Events 1, 3 & 5. Each location will start with approximately
half the tournament field. Play will continue until a predetermined number of players remain. Final players of each event will
reconvene at alternating locations. Finals for the main event will be at Grand Casino Biloxi.
grandcasinos.com
Gambling Problem? Call 1-888-777-9696.
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
39
Most of the time I do not write about how to play--Most
of the time I try to remember how the game was played-but today I would like to give you folks a little poker tip...
Position--Position--Position!
First let me tell you folks that I made a
little money in buying and selling real
BacK in the saddle Again
By OKLAHOMA JOHNNY HALE
estate, and I have also had a lot of fun and
made a little money playing poker. There
is a great similarity in dealing in real estate and the playing of poker.
In real estate the key word is LOCATION—LOCATION—
LOCATION. The price of a piece of property varies
greatly with where the property is located in relationship
with the distance to the city: to the utilities, to the flood
area, to the places of employment (jobs), to shopping, to
schools, to recreation, and many other factors as well.
In poker, the value of your poker hand varies greatly
with your POSITION at the poker table. Your position at
the poker table is determined by many factors. Assume
that you are playing in a ten-handed no-limit poker game.
The dealer (Button) will be # 1, the small blind will be #
2, and the big blind will be # 3, and then, in a clockwise
direction going around the poker tables, each player’s
position will become 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10.
Now if all the players are of equal playing ability—and
of course they are not—the strength of your position as
the dealer would be the best and the strength or value of
the other players positions would decrease in this order:
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, (Big Blind # 3), (Small Blind # 2).
Do you ever play a little Blackjack? And do you know
one of the reasons that the house, most of the time, wins
the money? Well, the reason is that the dealer has the
strongest position—he is the last to act. All the other
players must make their decisions—and stand or hit their
hands trying to get to 21 before the dealer ever has to
make a decision or take a risk of going broke (over 21).
After all of the players have acted, the blackjack dealer follows a strict rule of the casino. The dealer must
stand on hard 17 or hit soft 17 (i.e., A + 6 = soft 17) or
stand on 10 + 7 or any combination of hard 17 (without
an A). The dealer has no decisions to make—all the decisions are made for him by the rules of the casino.
Now let’s go back to the poker game and assume that
you are the dealer—here is why the dealer position is
the strongest position in the poker game. Similar to the
blackjack game, all of the players in front of you, # 4
thru # 10 must all act on their hand before you! Now you
are in the catbird seat after players # 4 thru #10 have
made their decisions. You can react to their action. You
have just been waiting for them to make all those decisions and you have no risk in this hand—you may either
throw your hand away, or call, or raise.
When I was in the real estate business, I followed a
simple rule, I called it BLASH. Now let me break that
down for you: BL=Buy Low and SH=Sell High—therefore,
Buy Low & Sell High becomes simply BLASH.
I practiced a lot of BLASH in the real estate business
and I have used the same rule in playing poker—get in
the hand cheap, then, when you make the hand that is a
winner, you should sell it high.
If you would like to read more about how to play your
position in a poker game, email me at Oklajohnny@aol.
com, or just keep reading my columns in Poker Player
and I will tell you more about why position is so important when you are playing poker.
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.seniorpoker.
com. Johnny’s book, “The Gentleman Gambler,” is in
its third printing. Contact Johnny for your copy.
40
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
Book reviews
Play Poker Like
Johnny Chan
by Johnny Chan and
Mark Karowe
239 pp; $29.95
Texas HoldʼEm
Study Guide
by Nick Gullo
Laminated 2-sided 8.5x11 sheet
Chan’s Poker Book
Colorful, Instructional
Johnny Chan is considered
to be one of the all-time
great poker players. (He
won the World Series of
Poker No-Limit Hold em
title in 1987 and 1988.) He
has now satisfied his fans
by joining the ranks of
high-profile players with a
book geared to beginners
and experienced players
who might one day challenge him.
Chan, nicknamed the
Oriental Express, has coauthored Play Poker Like
Johnny Chan with Mark
Karowe (239 pages, paperbound, $29.95). The book
is both biographical and
instructional, printed on
slick paper with examples
of hands and flops in color.
The wily Chan, who began
gambling in Las Vegas at
age 16 (he looked older),
discovered poker four
years later at the Golden
Nugget and ran $2,500
into $30,000 (later blowing it all at a 21 table).
When he moved to Las
Vegas from Texas in 1979,
it took him three years to
perfect his game. After
that there was no looking
back.
He remembers what
it was like being a rank
beginner, paying his
“dues” and learning from
mistakes.
This book contains 14
chapters. The first four
cover the basics like
explaining hand rankings, general poker concepts (the importance of
patience is emphasized)
and what to expect the first
time you enter a casino
card room. This chapter
should help the home
player making that first
big step. Chan and Karowe
explain poker etiquette
(dos and donʼts), such as
what “string bets” are and
how “cards speak” and
why English is the only
language allowed at the
tables.
The fifth chapter begins
with coverage of limit
holdʼem, followed by
seven-card stud; seven
card stud high low split,
then Omaha and Omaha
high low split. There is
one chapter on no -limit
holdʼem (23 pages) and a
small section on tournament play (five pages).
His advice is good and
thereʼs logic to what he
says about gaining valuable experience in smaller
tournaments.
The book contains a 12page section on Internet
poker, and his views on
bluffing and money management should guide the
novice through dangerous straits. One section
describes Chanʼs opinions
of the great players like
Doyle Brunson, Chip
Reese, the late Stu Ungar,
Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey
and Gus Hansen. For some
reason the authors got the
spelling of Bob Stupak
wrong; they have it as
Stupack.
Chan has
25 color
photos in the
book also.
Overall, a good book
outlining the fundamentals
and some advanced concepts, with excellent analysis and illustrated examples
of hands and flops, with an
inside look at what Chan
sacrificed in his early years
to become a respected,
feared, table legend.
Gullo’s Hold ‘Em
Guide Perfect For
Beginners
Nick Gullo, a Las Vegas
casino veteran, who knows
the games and the industry, has produced a timely,
easy-to-use Texas Hold
ʻem Study Guide (laminated 8x11-sized sheet, in
color, two-sided) for the
beginner or forgetful experienced player who needs
a quick reference source
for Hold ʻem poker.
His guide quickly helps
the novice know the hand
rankings, starting hand
information, lists 20 good
starting hands, explains
the importance of position,
offers question to ponder as the action begins
(things to watch for before
and after the flop, on the
turn and on the river).
The guide explains key
terms like kicker, pot and
implied odds, connectors,
outs. Thereʼs a mini-chart
on the odds of making
hands after the flop, a
quick list of the types of
games you may encounter (loose, tight, passive,
aggressive), some general advice about winning
playersʼ traits, what to do
when losing. Overall, a
nice collection of advice
and guidelines for the
greenhorn who needs
quick advice at his or her
fingertips.
—Howard Schwartz
Fantasy Springs
Results
LAKE ELSINORE HOTEL & CASINO
1/6/05
OMAHA HI-LO SPLIT
BUY-IN $35 + $5
1 $35 RB
PLAYERS 104
REBUYS 90
PRIZE
POOL
$6,340
Gerardo Felix
1. Gerardo Felix. . . . . . . .$2070
2. Amer Dardar . . . . . . . .$1035
3. Jim Bates . . . . . . . . . . . .$545
4. Ledonna Garbani . . . . .$435
5. Dave Totten . . . . . . . . . .$380
6. Ruben Vera . . . . . . . . . .$325
7. Max Steele . . . . . . . . . . .$270
8. Bill Eisenberg. . . . . . . . .$215
9. Randi Verin . . . . . . . . . .$165
in the United States. On
January 13th, the Cabazon
dedicated their new
$200M expansion with a
grand opening celebration
attended by many dignitaries from current and former
California state politicians
to other tribes in the Palm
Springs region. Fantasy
springs now has a 12 story
250 room hotel, a new
Special Events center, a
renovated 100,000 square
foot casino, off track betting facility, a bowling alley
and four dining venues.
Their poker room is managed by Mark Pickering.
The ambitious plans
for additional development include a golf course
subdivision, a major shopping center, and additional
resort development that
will take this tribe way into
the future with huge success. There is no doubt that
gambling has turned this
formerly struggling group
of native Americans into a
great Horatio Alger story
that typifies what is hap-
pening all over the country.
Mark Nichols is the CEO
of the Cabazon who has
guided them so well during
this time.
Featured at the opening
celebration were an outdoor
arena performance by Kool
and the Gang and the west
coast premier of Balagon, a
cirque-style entertainment.
Balagon is Russian for
“marketplace circus.” The
performance was highly
entertaining which followed
an outstanding dinner that
began with a full lobster tail
appetizer.
PRIVATE CLUB
DISTRIBUTION
Several private clubs that have poker tables have contacted
Poker Player requesting copies for distribution, and are now
carrying this newspaper in their rooms. We have now implemented a policy that will make Poker Player available at any
private club that requests them. Issues will be shipped in lots of
25, 50 or 100 only, to those private clubs who pay the postage
and handling charges for these shipments. Full payment must be
made for 13 issues, currently 6 months of publications, in advance.
There is no charge for the paper itself, just the shipping charges.
Charges for US shipments of 25 copies of 13 issues are about $10
per shipment. These charges DO NOT apply to public cardrooms.
Contact Assistant Publisher, Joel Gausten at the listing below, for
precise details and costs:
Joel Gausten, Managing Editor, Poker Player newspaper, 3883 W. Century Blvd., Inglewood, CA 90303.
Phone: 310-674-3365 Fax: 310-674-3205.
e-mail: [email protected]
7. Maverick Snook. . . . . . .$360
8. Bob Davis . . . . . . . . . . . .$285
9. Jon Eoyang. . . . . . . . . . .$215
ENDLESS SUMMER 1/19/05
LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $20 + $15
PLAYERS 63
REBUYS 114
ADD-ONS 97
PRIZE POOL
ENDLESS SUMMER 1/20/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $20 + $15
PLAYERS 149
REBUYS 387
ADD-ONS 210
PRIZE
POOL
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
$14,175
Zeke Darrett . . . . . . . $5,670
David Kim . . . . . . . . . $2,835
Ian Herzon . . . . . . . . . $1,420
Damian Ross . . . . . . . . .$920
Brent Carlon . . . . . . . . .$715
Mike Shearer . . . . . . . . .$495
$5,205
Joseph Pace
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Joseph Pace . . . . . . . . $2,080
Cammeron Truesdale $1,195
Leo Kay . . . . . . . . . . . . .$625
Benjamin Savage . . . . . .$365
Keith Morris . . . . . . . . .$285
Larry Stone . . . . . . . . . .$235
O.J. Alcaraz . . . . . . . . . .$185
Steve Hearst . . . . . . . . . .$130
Darrell Woods . . . . . . . .$105
Blind Luck
munching on apples from a
tree in front of the Apache
hunting lodge. As he wandered over to the cabin
window and looked in, I
couldnʼt help but wonder if
he thought he was part of
the herd of trophies hanging
cont’d from page 11
on the wall. “Hey thereʼs
uncle Charlie and cousin
Billy.........Grandpa?”
Then I realized, ”Smart
Elk.” When he heard
gunshots in the forest, he
grunted,”Run away! Run
away!”
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
41
Entertainment
Listings
Entertainment RePORT
By LEN BUTCHER
Country fans are in for a real treat come Feb.
4 as Tim McGraw takes the stage at Mandalay
Bay in Las Vegas. He’s almost as famous for
marrying fellow country star Faith Hill, but there’s no denying
this guy’s the real thing.
Born in the little town of Delhi, Louisiana, he moved to
Nashville in 1989 when he was 21, but didn’t release his first
album until 1992, which didn‘t make much noise in the music
world. Two years later, however, he came out with another,
Not A Moment Too Soon, that featured a controversial song
called Indian Outlaw and it’s been all uphill since then.
Especially in 1996, when McGraw teamed up with recording artist Faith Hill for the Spontaneous Combustion tour. It
proved to be just that, as McGraw and Hill were married in
October of the same year.
The hits that followed are too numerous to mention, but
ask any McGraw fan and they’ll rattle them off for you.
Not afraid of controversy, he and his touring band, the
Dancehall Doctors, recorded the 2002 studio album, Tim
McGraw and the Dancehall Doctors. The first single, Red
Ragtop, suggested an abortion-related story line, a risky
thing to talk or sing about, no matter what you’re doing or
who you are. His not suffering any setbacks from this just
shows how popular McGraw is.
Maybe it’s because you couldn’t find a nicer guy -- and
that goes for his wife as well. I had the pleasure of watching
them both perform and meeting them here in Las Vegas, so I
speak firsthand. If you like country music, you’re gonna love
Tim McGraw.
Now let’s move from country music to musical comedy,
performed by two of the best. The Smothers Brothers are
bringing their particular brand of laughs to the Riverside
Resort in Laughlin Feb. 15-20.
The older crowd will well remember the folk-singing, comedy
duo of Tom and Dick Smothers, from their popular TV show that
debuted in 1967. Why the date’s important is that this was a
simpler, more conservative time, despite women burning bras,
the increased use of drugs and Vietnam on everyone’s mind.
These elements made The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
one of the most controversial television shows in history.
Questions of taste and the Smothers’ oppositional politics led
to very public battles over censorship. As you might expect,
the people that pay usually win out, and this was the case
when in 1969, CBS said “enough” and threw the show off the
air. It was a real loss, both for the network and the viewers.
Even the influential New York Times, took up their cause,
but to no avail, but while they were unsuccessful in forcing
CBS to reinstate the show, the Smothers did eventually win a
suit against the network for breach of contract.
Throughout the years, except for a time when the brothers were going their own ways, they have been performing
to sell-out audiences around the country and attracting new,
younger fans.
I ran into Dick, who lives in Las Vegas, having lunch on the
patio at one of the popular local joints in town. He was with
his wife, and adorable little dog, having a conversation about
nutrition (Dick’s a health nut) with someone who had stopped
by their table to ask for an autograph. Dick had invited the
guy to sit down for a few minutes, which turned out to be a
half hour, as they became totally engrossed in trading views
on nutrition and health.
I just mention this to show you the kind of guy he is and
give some insight as to why he and his brother are so popular with people, aside from their talent. If you’re anywhere
around Laughlin mid-February, catch the show. You won’t be
disappointed.
Len Butcher, a 25-year resident of Las Vegas, is
an online columnist for the Las Vegas ReviewJournal and a former Managing Editor of the Las
Vegas Sun and of Gaming Today. Reach him at
[email protected]
42
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
Poker Player Advertisers are shown in RED along with their ad’s page number
To list your event, contact Len Butcher, Entertainment Editor at [email protected]
CALIFORNIA
Agua Caliente Casino
Comedy Shop
Commerce Casino
Arena Patio
Ballroom Dance Party
Crystal Park Casino & Hotel Cambodian Dance Party
(29)
Karaoke
El As De Oros Night Club
Steve Miller Band
Fantasy Springs Resort
Doobie Brothers
Harrah’s Rincon (19)
Finish Line Lounge
Hollywood Park Casino (5)
Pechanga Resort & Casino Moody Blues
(26)
CONNECTICUT
Joe Cocker
Foxwoods Resort Casino
Josh Groban
Mohegan Sun Casino
MISSISSIPPI
Gold Strike Hotel Casino
Pam Tillis
(Tunica)
Aaron Tippin
Grand Casino (Biloxi) (39)
Terri Clark
Grand Casino (Tunica)
Grand Casino (Gulfport) (39) Kansas
Glen Frey
Horseshoe Casino (Tunica)
NEW JERSEY
Brooks & Dunn
Taj Majal Hotel & Casino
Tropicana Casino & Resort Beth Tinnon
(Atlantic City)
NEW YORK
Bill Engvall
Turning Stone Casino
NEVADA-LAS VEGAS
Donn Arden’s Jubilee!
Bally’s Resort & Casino
O
Bellagio Resort & Casino
Binion’s Horseshoe Hotel & Honky Tonk Cowgirls
Casino
Vinnie Favorito
Boulder Station Hotel &
Night Ranger
Casino (6)
Heat of the Night
Cannery Hotel & Casino
Thunder From Down Under
Excalibur Hotel & Casino
Gladys Knight
George Wallace
Flamingo Las Vegas
Bottoms Up
The Second City
Golden Nugget Hotel &
Tony Bennett
Casino
Clint Holmes
Harrah’s Hotel & Casino
Imperial Palace Hotel &
Legends In Concert
Casino (17)
Blue Man Group
Luxor Resort & Casino
Midnight Fantasy
8:30 p.m. Featuring three top comedians
weekly.
East L.A., Live Wednesdays 9 p.m.; Top comics,
Karaoke Thursdays 8 p.m.
Thursdays 8 p.m. to Midnight, Sundays 2-6 p.m.
Fridays 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Nightly, except Tues., Wed.
Presents Banda Nortina Sats 8 p.m.-3 a.m.
Feb 7-8, 8 p.m.
Jan 29, 8 p.m.
Live Jazz, Tues. 8 p.m.
Jan 28-29, 8 p.m.
Feb 2, 9 p.m.
Feb 8, 8 p.m.
Feb 11, 9 p.m.
Feb 5, 8 p.m.
Feb 5, 8 p.m.
Feb 11, 8 p.m.
Feb 12, 9 p.m.
Feb 18-19, 8 p.m.
Ongoing, Tango’s Lounge, 8 p.m.
Jan 29, 8 & 10 p.m.
Sat-Thu, 8 p.m.
Fridays through Tuesdays, 7:30 & 10:30 p.m.
Ongoing, 7 & 11 p.m. (dark wednesdays)
Ongoing, Tue-Sat 8 p.m., Fri-Sat 8 p.m.
Feb 11, 8 p.m.
Feb 4, 8 p.m.
Fridays through Wednesdays. 8:30 & 10:30 p.m.
Tuesdays through Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 p.m.
Mondays through Saturdays, 2 & 4 p.m.
Thursdays through Tuesdays, 8 p.m.
Feb 18-20, 9 p.m.
Monday through Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Mondays through Saturdays, 7 & 10 p.m.
Mandalay Bay Resort &
Casino
Mamma Mia
Monte Carlo Resort & Casino
Magician Lance Burton
7 p.m. Nightly
Tuesdays through Sundays, 8:30 p.m.
7 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Sundays; 8 p.m.
Fridays; 7 & 10:30 p.m. Saturdays, Mondays.
Feb 4, 8 p.m.
8 p.m. (Monday thru Friday)
Feb 18, 9 p.m. & Feb 20-21, 10:30 p.m.
Tuesdays thru Saturdays, 7pm; Tuesdays &
Saturdays. 7 & 10 p.m.
The Orleans Hotel & Casino
(35)
Art Laboe
Feb 5, 7:30 p.m.
Palace Station Hotel &
Casino (6)
Laugh Trax comedy club
7:30 & 10 p.m. Tuesdays thru Saturdays.
Plaza Hotel & Casino (21)
The Comedy Zone
9 p.m. Tuesdays thru Sundays.
Sahara Hotel & Casino (21)
The Platters, Coasters and
Drifters
8 p.m. nightly
Sam’s Town Hotel & Casino
(38)
The Verge
Feb 2-6, 8 p.m.
Tim McGraw
Impressionist Danny Gans
The Mirage Hotel & Casino (11)
Dana Carvey
Stardust Hotel & Casino
Sunset Station (6)
Texas Station (6)
LAUGHLIN
Wayne Newton
Jan 24-Feb 9, 8 p.m.
The Temptations &
Feb 24-27, 8 p.m.
The Four Tops
Rock ’n’ Roll Hypnotist Thom Kaz Fridays, 10 p.m.
Love Shack
Fridays and Saturdays, 10 p.m. & 2 a.m.
Riverboat Ramblers Strolling
Colorado Belle Hotel Casino Dixieland Jazz Band
Little Anthony & the
Flamingo Hilton Hotel Casino
Imperials
Ramada Express Hotel Casino Todd Luxton & The Cadillacs
Smothers Brothers
Riverside Hotel Casino
RENO
The Palmores
Atlantis Casino Resort
Tony Vee
Boomtown
Larry the Cable Guy
Eldorado Hotel Casino
Harry Connick
Reno Hilton Hotel Casino
Fridays & Saturdays, 8 p.m.
Feb 12, 7 p.m.
Feb 13-16, 8 p.m.
Feb 15-20, 7 p.m.
10 p.m.-4 a.m.
Jan 15-30, 7 p.m. & 4 a.m.
Feb 5, 8 p.m. & 10 p.m.
Feb 17-18, 8 p.m.
Harrahs Rincon EXPANDS
ern San Diego county, some
17 miles east of Interstate 5,
recently opened their doors
to a $168 million expansion. Additions to the property include a 21 story hotel
tower bringing the total
number of rooms to 651.
Another feature is a 7,500
square foot Spa. The two
tiered pool is surrounded
by a lush garden of private
Jacuzzis with 8 private
cabanas. New restaurants
afford a wide variety of dining. The new poker room
is run by popular veteran
Bob Corona, who has a
well trained exceptionally
friendly staff.
The World Series of
Poker Circuit, owned and
operated exclusively by
Harrahʼs, will include six
major tournaments, at
Harrahʼs Atlantic City, NJ;
Harrahʼs Rincon Casino
and Resort (San Diego,
CA); Rio All-Suite Hotel
and Casino (Las Vegas,
NV); Harrahʼs Resort
(Lake Tahoe, NV); and
Harrahʼs New Orleans, LA.
The circuitʼs grand finale
will be the 36th annual
World Series of Poker in
Las Vegas, most of which
will be played at the Rio
All-Suites Hotel and
Casino.
The first circuit date
concluded at Harrahʼs
Atlantic City, running from
January 7 to 18. See the
story beginning on page 1.
The second stop on the circuit will be at the Harrahʼs
Rincon Casino and Resort
in San Diego. The Harrahʼs
Rincon Poker Tournament
runs February 20 through
March 1 and will include
nine events .
The WSOP Circuit
ends in Las Vegas at the
Rio All-Suites Casino
and Hotel, making it the
only venue which will
host two stops. The 36th
annual World Series of
Poker begins on June 2
and ends 41 events later,
with the world championship of poker main event.
The championship event is
expected to draw as many
as 5,000 entries (or more)
and will last an unprecedented nine days. The first
42 days of the WSOP will
be held in the Rioʼs convention facility. Only the
final two days (July 14 and
15) will be held at Binionʼs
in downtown Las Vegas.
Jack Binion will act as
tournament host. Binion
brings his proud family
name and decades of experience in the gaming industry to the World Series of
Poker Circuit, which unites
the treasured traditions of
the past with the excitement of the present, making for a triumphant future
ahead for all poker players
and people who love the
game.
Players will earn points
based on their performance
in all circuit events at each
of the venues. At the con-
clusion of the circuit, the
top 100 point-earners will
receive a freeroll invitation
into the 2005 World Series
of Poker “Tournament of
Champions,” where a single winner will take home
a top prize of $2 million.
The 2005 Tournament of
Champions will take place
soon after the conclusion
of the World Series of
Poker Championship event,
and will be held at the Rio.
All championship events
will be taped and aired on
ESPN.
“This circuit is going
to set a new standard of
excellence in poker,” said
Ken Lambert, World Series
of Poker Circuit Director.
“For the first 35 years,
players had to travel to Las
Vegas to play in the best
tournament in the world.
Now, we are taking the
World Series directly to
them. This way, even more
players and fans of poker
will have a chance to come
and experience the excitement of the fastest-growing
sport in America.”
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
43
Teach Your Children
Saw a thing on the Today show not long ago
about the downside of poker’s current rampant
popularity. Seems that teenagers
have been watching the game on TV
KILLER Poker
By John Vorhaus
and have now taken it up at home.
Sanctimonious “experts” are, of course, crawling
from the woodwork to decry this trend, noting
that people who gamble are more likely to go on
to other high risk activities. Yeah? No kidding.
And more than 90% of all heroin addicts once
drank milk.
As someone who recognizes that poker and
gambling are two different animals to begin with,
I find that this sort of public hand-wringing really
toasts my cheese. I tried to contact the Today
show to tell them so, but -- and you may find
this hard to believe -- major network television is
pretty much a one-way medium. Had I been able
to reach them, I would have presented them with
this, my manifesto on youth and poker:
“To endow a young person with a clear understanding of poker is to do that child a great
service. Beyond the obvious instruction in basic
math, probability and money management, poker
teaches psychology and human nature, and gives
us deep insight into our own nature. It tests us in
a certain crucible. It tempers us.
“Poker is a survival skill. Just ask Richard
Nixon, who funded his first congressional race
with poker winnings racked up during a stint in
the South Seas. Or ask any of my nieces or nephews whose expertise at hold’em kept them in
CDs and sub sandwiches throughout their college
years.
“Poker is a social skill. If you know how to play
the game, you can sit down at a table with strangers and walk away friends. Deals are negotiated
over poker games. Strategic alliances struck.
Careers advanced.
“More than anything, poker builds character. It
teaches us how to win with grace and how to lose
with dignity. It teaches us how to get along with
people of wildly different temperaments and backgrounds. It teaches us how to keep our head when
all around us are losing theirs.
“Am I concerned about raising a generation of
degenerate gamblers? To the contrary. A young
person who knows what it means to bet with the
best of it is far less likely to throw away his money
on no-win propositions like keno or carny games.
Poker players, schooled in odds and steeled by
outcomes, have a healthy disdain for that which
seems too good to be true. Per Damon Runyon:
“Son”, a father tells his boy, “no matter how
far you travel in this world or how smart you get,
always remember this. Someday, somewhere, a
guy is going to come to you and show you a brand
new deck of cards on which the seal is never broken, and this guy is going to offer to bet you that
the jack of spades will jump out of this deck and
squirt cider in your ear. But son, do not bet him,
for as sure as you do, you are going to get an earful of cider.”
“A poker player would know better. If you have
kids, it’s never too soon to clue them in.”
For what it’s worth.
[JV’s latest books, POKER NIGHT and THE KILLER
POKER HOLD’EM HANDBOOK are available now in
bookstores or through www.vorza.com.]
44
F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
2005 WORLDWIDE
POKER TOURNAMENTS
To list your 3 day events contact: Joel Gausten, Managing Editor at: [email protected]
DATE
EVENT
LOCATION
>Jan 5-27
6th Ann. Jack Binion World Poker Open Gold Strike Casino Resort, Tunica, MS
Jan 24-30
January Sales
Rendezvous Casino, Brighton, Brighton, UK
Jan 26-29
Seven Card Winter
Challenge 2005, Casinos Austria, Seefeld, Austria
Jan 26-30
The Scandinavian Open
Casino Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Jan 26-Feb 24
LA Poker Classic
Commerce Casino, Commerce, CA
Jan 27-Feb 6
The San Diego Super Bowl of Poker Sycuan Casino, El Cajon, CA
>Jan 27-29 Memorial Ch’ship of Poker
The Orleans (AdPg 35), Las Vegas, NV
>Jan 27-29 Texas Hold'em Poker Challenge Imperial Palace (AdPg 17), Las Vegas, NV
Feb 1-13
Euro Finals of Poker
Aviation Club de France, Paris, France
Feb 9-13
Pechanga Open
Pechanga Resort Casino, Temecula, CA
>Feb 11-13
Sweethearts Wknd/Queen of Hearts Bicycle Casino (AdPg 3), Bell Gardens, CA
Feb 15-20
French Open
Deauville Casino, Deauville, France
Feb 20-27
Bregenz Open
Casinos Austria, Bregenz, Austria
>Feb 20–March 1 Harrah’s Rincon Poker Tourn (ESPN) Harrah’s Rincon (AdPg 19), Valley Center, CA
>Mar 3-20
Winnin’ o’ the Green
Bicycle Casino (AdPg 3), Bell Gardens, CA
Mar 4-11
Bay 101 Shooting Star Tourn. Bay 101, San Jose, CA
Mar 10-12
No Limit Hold’em EPT Event
Concord Card Casino. Vienna, Austria
Mar 10-12
E-WSOP Trial
Concord Casino, Vienna, Austria
Mar 10-Apr 1
World Poker Challenge
Reno Hilton, Reno, NV
>Mar 11-28
Masters Ch’ship of Poker
Mar 12-22
Rio Las Vegas Poker Tourn (ESPN) Rio Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV
Mar 15-20
EPT Grand Final
Casino Monte Carlo, Monte Carlo, Monaco
Mar 22-Apr 2
Spring Poker Roundup
Wildhorse Resort Casino, Pendleton, OR
Mar 29-Apr 3
The Poker Classics
Grosvenor Victoria Casino, London, England
>Mar 30-Apr 10Sport of Kings
Hollywood Park Casino (AdPg 5), Inglewood, CA
Mar 31-Apr 24
3rd Ann. 5-Star World Poker Classic Bellagio, Las Vegas, NV
>Apr 11-May 1 Stars and Stripes
Apr 20-May 17
Plaza World Poker Classic
Plaza Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV
Apr 24-May 2
WSOP Warm Up VI
Garden City Casino, San Jose, CA
Apr 26-May 10 Harvey’s Lake Tahoe Poker Tourn (ESPN) Harvey’s Resort Casino, Stateline, NV
>May 1-31
World Ch’ship of Poker
May 5-10
Oasis Open
Oasis Casino, Mesquite, NV
May 6-22
Heavenly Hold’em
May 8-15
Paris Open of Poker
May 11-15
Western Canadian Poker Classic Casino Yellowhead, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
May 12-22
Spring Pot of Gold
May 21-30
Harrah’s New Orleans Bayou Poker Challenge (ESPN) Harrah’s Casino New Orleans, New Orleans, LA
June 1-5
Estonian 5th Open Ch’ship
Astoria-Palace Casino, Tallinn, Estonia
>Jun 3-Jul 8 MSOP
Jun 3-Jul 15
World Series of Poker 2005
Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV
Jun 6-12
The World Masters
Grosvenor Victoria Casino, London, England
Jun 18-30
Fiesta al Lago
Bellagio, Las Vegas, NV
>July 1-31
U.S. Open Ch’ship of Poker
>Jul 2-17
Larry Flynt’s Grand Slam of Poker IV Hustler Casino (AdPg 13), Gardena, CA
Jul 11-29
Rendezvous a’ Paris
Aug 4-Sept 4
Legends of Poker
Aug 29–Sept 18 Borgata Poker Open
Borgata, Atlantic City, NJ
Sept 6-25
Calif. State Poker Ch’ship
Sept 26–Oct 2 The European Championships Grosvenor Victoria Casino, London, UK
Sept 29-Oct 10 Fall Pot of Gold
Sept 29-Oct 16 Big Poker October
>Oct 17-30
Nat’l Ch’ship of Poker
Hollywood Park Casino (AdPg 5), Inglewood, CA
Nov 2-12
Fall Poker Roundup
Wildhorse Resort Casino, Pendleton, OR
Nov 4-20
Holiday Bonus Tournament
Nov 13-20
The Hold’em Series
Nov 24-Dec 11
Turkey Shoot/Ho Ho Hold’em Bicycle Casino (AdPg 3), Bell Gardens, CA
Nov 29-Dec 18
Five Diamond World Poker Classic Bellagio, Las Vegas, NV
Nov 30-Dec 5
Campionato Italiano di Poker
Hit Casino, Nova Gorica, Slovenia
POKER PLAYER:
IT’S ON THE INTERNET!
The entire publication of Poker Player, ads and all, is now available on
the internet. You can read the Current issue and all of our back issues, in
their entirety, by going to: www.gamblingtimes.com/poker_player.
to the town or even seen it
on television; after all, there
arenʼt many buildings
shaped like old-fashioned
paddlewheel boats. The
Belle, along with the
poker room, opened
in 1987, and current poker room
manager James
Vincent has
been there
since almost the
beginning, moving up
to room manager five years
W
hile thoughts of
poker in Nevada
usually turn first
to the many rooms in Las
Vegas, there are several
others located throughout the area in southern
Nevada. Some of the larger
rooms are in the Las Vegas
suburbs of Henderson and
CITY
By Jason Zinzilieta
ago. Vincent said while
Laughlin has seen a few ups
and downs over the years, he
expects new players to come
along with the surging real
estate market happening in
southern Nevada.
OPEN
HOURS
# OF
TABLES
GAMES
NL?
HIGH
LIMITS
Daily 10:30a
Daily 10a
Daily 1p
Wed 6p
Thur-Sat 6p
Daily 11a
Daily 10a
Daily 10a
Fri-Sun 6p
7
4
3
1
1
4
3
4
1
H
H Oh/l
H 7
H
H
H Oh/l
H
H
H 7
Y
Y
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
10-20
10-20
4-8
1-7
1-3-6
4-8
1-6
2-6
1-4
N
N
N
S
S
S
S
S
S
Y
Y*
Y
Y
Y
Y
N
Y
N
S/NS HOTEL
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Southern Nevada
Oasis
Eureka
Virgin River
Exchange Club
Stagecoach
Pahrump Nugget
Terrible’s Town
Buffalo Bill’s
Searchlight Nugget
10
11
North Las Vegas
Texas Station
N Las Vegas
Cannery
N Las Vegas
10
8
H Oh/l
H
Y
Y
6-12
4-8
S
S
Y
Y
12
Ramada Speedway
2
H
Y
4-8
S
Y
13
Poker Palace
24/7
24/7
3p;
N Las Vegas Su,TueM,W,Th
4p; Fri,Sat 2p
N Las Vegas
Daily 4p
2
H
N
3-6
S
N
14
15
16
17
Henderson
Sunset Station
Club Fortune
Fiesta Henderson
Joker’s Wild
Henderson
Henderson
Henderson
Henderson
24/7
Daily 2p
Daily 11a
Daily 10a
12
3
3
3
H O
H
H
H
Y
Y
N
Y
6-12 (O)
4-8
3-6
5-10
S
S
S
S
Y
N
Y
N
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Laughlin
Colorado Belle
Riverside
River Palms
Harrah’s
Edgewater
Flamingo
Ramada Express
Avi
Laughlin
Laughlin
Laughlin
Laughlin
Laughlin
Laughlin
Laughlin
Laughlin
24/7
24/7
Daily 7a
Daily 12p
24/7
Daily 7:30a
24/7
24/7
13
10
6
5
4
4
3
2
H 7 Oh/l
H Oh/l
H
H
H
H
H
H
Y
Y
Y
Y
N
N
N
N
10-20
4-8
Any
10-20
2-4
4-8
2-6
2-3-4
N
N
N
N
S
N
S
S
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Mesquite
Mesquite
Mesquite
Beatty
Beatty
Pahrump
Pahrump
Primm
Searchlight
Hotel - Hotel/motel physically attached to casino
* - Hotel on property, not attached
S/NS - Smoking (S) or non-smoking (NS) poker room
Days open, hours of operation and tables may vary
North Las Vegas; others
can be found in Mesquite
to the north or Nye County
to the west of Las Vegas.
However, the largest concentration of poker rooms
in southern Nevada outside
of Las Vegas can be found
about 100 miles to the
south along the Colorado
River in the small town of
Laughlin.
According to the
Laughlin Visitor Center
version of the Strip along
the Colorado River, most
of which support at least a
few poker rooms today. An
eleventh casino, the Avi, is
located several miles south
of Laughlin, and also offers
poker to its patrons.
Laughlinʼs largest poker
room is located almost halfway down the Strip in the
Colorado Belle, an easilyrecognizable casino to anyone who has ever traveled
segment because the snowbirds are retirees, but we
are seeing more (players).”
“Our tournaments are
stronger than they ever
have been,” Vincent said.
“We run 50 seats in a tournament, and itʼs not the
easiest thing to get into.
Youʼve got to be down
here early to get into these
NEVADA-PART II
web site, it was Don
Laughlinʼs purchase of a
motel in 1964 and reopening it as the Riverside
Resort that began the
transformation of the area
soon to become the town
of Laughlin. Forty years
later, this small town contains ten casinos on its own
Poker Rooms in Southern Nevada, excluding Las Vegas
MAP # CASINO
Laughlin right now.”
“Since the poker boom
has been going on, last
year at this time there were
only four card rooms, and
now thereʼs eight,” Vincent
said of Laughlinʼs growing
poker scene. “The Belleʼs
always had a lionʼs share of
the market share, so weʼre
kind of known as the place
to go, you
can always
find a game
at any given
“Ten or fifteen years
ago, we used to have a lot
of Arizona and California
money coming in to meet
up in Laughlin – they were
playing pot limit and no
limit games,” Vincent said.
“When they started opening casinos in their backyards, we did experience a
decrease, but the way the
marketʼs going now with
the real estate boom, thereʼs
a lot of growth potential in
time of the
year.”
According
to Vincent,
while their
poker business
is generally
split between
tourists and locals, he has
two different definitions of
what a “local player” is.
“Local players maybe
represent 20 percent of the
room as far as business,”
Vincent said. “We have
whatʼs called a ʻregularʼ
player. Laughlin is a very
seasonal town, and weʼve
got the same people who
come every January and
stay in January, people who
come in February and stay
in February. Itʼs the same
people annually that come
into Laughlin, and everyone
knows each other.”
Vincent also said while
the sudden increase in pokerʼs popularity has helped
his roomʼs business grow, it
hasnʼt been as big a boom
in Laughlin as it has in
other areas of the country.
“In Laughlin, weʼre not
feeling the full impact of
the television coverage,”
Vincent said. “What Iʼm
seeing is that television is
driving them to the Internet,
and from the Internet into
the card rooms, and the
majority of that segment is
age 21 to 35. In Laughlin,
we donʼt really fare that
well with that particular
tournaments, because
theyʼre very popular.”
“Television has
definitely helped out,”
Vincent continued. “Thereʼs
more new players because
of it. Pokerʼs one of those
games that takes a minute
to learn and a lifetime to
master, and weʼre getting
a lot of new players to get
in. Ten to fifteen years ago,
people were reluctant to sit
down because they were
always afraid there was a
shark on the table that was
going to take their money,
and that wasnʼt always
the case, especially in
limit poker – the best five
cards are going to take the
money. When we do poker
lessons, thatʼs what we tell
them. If we can get you
past your first half-hour,
this will be your game of
choice.”
To say poker is growing quickly in Nevada
is an understatement; it
seems every day thereʼs a
new card room opening,
or a casino is adding a few
poker tables to the main
casino floor. If your favorite casino hasnʼt offered
poker, even in the recent
past, be sure to check again
the next time youʼre in
Nevada – you might get a
pleasant surprise.
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48
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F E B R UA RY 7, 2 0 0 5
Home of the Largest Tournaments Online

Casino Openings Tournament Results

Transcription

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