conditions - Poker Player Newspaper

Transcription

Charlie Shoten’s PAGE
Ten Commandments
for better poker
Joe Hachem
Player Profile
by Phil Hevener
39
PAGE
PAGE
Entertainment
Best Bets
17
46
POKER PLAYER
Vol. 9 Number 12 December 12, 2005 A Gambling Times Publication www.pokerplayernewspaper.com Copyright ©2005 Bi-Weekly $3.95 USA/$4.95 CANADA
WPF 1 Event,
2 New
Millionaires
By Jeffrey Toth
Nick Schulman, a
resident of the borough of
Manhattan in New York
City, took first place in the
2005 World Poker Finals
$10,000 No-Limit Hold’em
event exactly two months
Nick Schulman of
Manhattan wins
over $2 million!
after his 21st birthday. The
youngest player to win
a WPT event also won a
(Continued on page 7)
IVeY GROWS
IN MONTE
CARLO
Phil Ivey beat out British
player Paul Jackson to
win the 2005 Monte
Carlo Millions Ivey grew
$1 million richer and took
the coveted championship title of the first poker
tournament to ever be
held in the fabled Casino
de Monte-Carlo. The
tournament will be broadcast across the U.S. on
FSN and internationally
through its broadcast partners in early 2006.
For the past three days,
112 of the world’s greatest poker players from
22 countries gathered in
The Hand of
the
Year!
Kido Pham pulls off
stunning upset victory and wins his first
major poker tournament at Ballys-Paris
WSOP championship
Phil Ivey, trophy in
hand, cracks a smile on
the way to the bank
By Nolan Dalla
One single poker hand
can change a life. One
poker hand can create a
new star out of someone
previously unknown. One
poker hand can validate a
deeply personal decision
made years earlier, against
the well-intended advice
of parents and peers. One
A Word from the
“Mad Genius,”
Mike Caro
Today’s word is...
“CONDITIONS”
Turn to page 6 for more
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D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
5
Caro’s Word: “Conditions”
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
T
hree months ago I
shared a big secret
about value betting.
Value betting is the
act of pushing your hand
for every extra penny of
profit through aggressive
wagering. We discovered
that you should only do it
when you have psychological dominance over your
opponents.
When you’re losing or
you when haven’t established leverage over the
table, that’s a poor time to
value bet. At those times,
opponents are more deceptive and you can’t count on
getting calls borne of confusing – one of the ingredients that makes value bets
profitable. Also, at those
times, opponents dance
around dangerously, pushing
their own hands for maximum value. Their aggressive
raises also make your value
bets less effective.
Today, we’re going to
move along to another lecture I gave years ago on the
topic. As we dig deeper,
we’ll discover the definitive
conditions required to make
value betting work for you.
Listen.
Do your value betting
at the right time
Value betting is one of the
most profitable and most
costly weapons in poker.
You heard me. I said it
right. Value betting is one
of the most profitable and
most costly weapons in
poker.
I hear you wondering,
how can something be the
most profitable and the
most costly at the same
time? It can’t. And that’s
the point. You need to value
bet at the right times. If you
do, you’ll make a lot of
profit. I you value bet at the
wrong times, you’ll lose a
lot of money.
On balance, players who
don’t know when to value
bet and for what reasons
lose money overall, because
their gains when they guess
right are overwhelmed
by their losses when they
guess wrong. For that reason, many players would
be much better off if they
didn’t value bet at all.
So, what do I mean by
value bet? The term means
different things to different
people. One definition is
that a bet has value because
it can be effective in more
than one way. For instance,
a bet may succeed in chasing the potentially winning
hand out of the pot, or it
might get a call from a
weak opponent, or it might
confuse your opponent.
But those multi-purpose
bets are what I call utility
bets. Value bets, to me, are
different. Value bets are
ones where you’re trying
to extract every penny of
profit by taking maximum
advantage and not letting
your opponents skate for
free.
Playfulness and power
People learn to value bet
and they get excited. It
gives them a sense of
playfulness and a sense
of power. They’re stretching the limits, they’re in
action, they’re enhancing
their image. It can get to
be addictive, value betting can. But there’s great
danger. If you take these
hands that can normally be
bet for small extra profit or
checked safely and begin
to bet at the wrong times,
you’re not getting extra
profit, you’re often killing
your chances of making any
profit.
The wrong times to
value bet are when your
image isn’t controlling,
because you’re not winning or the cards haven’t
yet given you the opportu-
nity to assert yourself and
make opponents want to
stay out of your way. So,
if the psychological atmosphere at the table is such
that you’re a target, don’t
value bet. You’ll get raised
when your opponents have
small edges, instead of
you, and your attempts to
bet aggressively will backfire and cost you more on
balance. Only when your
opponents are somewhat
intimidated and will not
push their small edges is it
safe to value bet. And the
particular opponents you’re
value betting into must not
be tricky. When opponents
are tricky, they’ll set you
up by just calling with very
strong hands or by raising
unexpectedly to press edges
or even to bluff when you
might fold incorrectly. This
gives them the advantage
when you make these daring value bets, instead of
giving you the advantage.
The right times to value
bet are when your image
is good and controlling,
your opponents are passive and unlikely to assert
themselves by raising with
small edges, and those same
opponents are not especially deceptive. That’s the
time to value bet, and usually only then.
But all this applies to my
definition of a value bet.
That’s value betting defined
as being done with a borderline hand under typical
circumstances that you can
bet for value. Those circumstances make betting
attractive right now, but not
always. That means, when
I’m talking about value betting, I’m speaking as if the
value bet is a fixed entity
– a for-certain hand in a
for-certain situation whose
real strength is determined
by other factors, such as
how loose your opponents
are and how they perceive
you.
Sometimes worth
pushing
That’s what I mean by a
value bet. The term applies
to a specific, for-certain
hand that is sometimes
worth pushing for value
and sometimes not, as the
circumstances change. You
could, instead, change the
descriptions of the hands
that are considered for
value betting. For instance,
6
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
I consider world champion
and Poker Hall of Famer
Doyle Brunson a tricky,
aggressive, world-class
opponent – and everyone
agrees. So, I wouldn’t usually value bet into him with
the hands I would describe
as being value bet candidates for typical situations.
But, conceptually, there
can be a value bet for any
type of player, including
Doyle, and for any type of
circumstance. It’s just that
against sophisticated and
trick opponents, the hands
you value bet need to be
much more powerful. So,
it’s important for you to
understand that when I tell
you that you should value
bet in some situations and
not in others, I’m talking
about a pre-defined set of
hands in a pre-defined set
of circumstances. By using
a more flexible definition,
it’s always OK to value bet,
despite the fact that you
are doing it with hands that
would normally be outside
the range of the borderline
ones we’re talking about.
When I talk about value
betting, I’m talking about
hands that are just good
enough to bet for extra
profit under the right conditions. I’m talking about
when to value bet with
hands that, in typical situations, would be just slightly
better than break even.
The questions
So, what you need to ask
yourself is:
1. Is this a betting situation that would normally be
about break-even or a little
better, meaning it wouldn’t
usually matter much whether I bet or didn’t bet?
2. Are my opponents who
are still active in this pot
passive and not deceptive?
3. Are my opponents
who are still active in this
pot more likely to call than
most opponents.
If those three conditions
are true, you should often
value bet. Why not always?
Because you don’t want
to go to the well too often
with value bets or your
more astute opponents will
catch on and adjust their
strategies in ways that
might make value betting
unprofitable.
But, if those three conditions are not true, you prob(Continued on page 36)
POKER PLAYER
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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
Poker Player will be published Bi-Weekly
by Gambling Times Incorporated,
Stanley R. Sludikoff, President.
Volume 9 Number 12.
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This notice will certify that 48,000 copies of Volume
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Distribution to newsstands, card clubs, poker rooms and
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Canada, the Caribbean, Central America and Europe.
Foxwoods WPF—2 Millionaires in 1 Event
record prize for his victory; Nick takes home
$2,167,500 which includes
a $25,500 entry into the
WPT Championship event
in Las Vegas.
Six players sat down
a little after 4 PM and it
was not long before Lenny
Cortellino was the first
to depart. The Lewiston,
Maine, resident called Tony
Licastro’s all-in with pocket
8’s. When Tony turned up
pocket 10’s and, with no
help from the board, Lenny
was the sixth place winner of $276,000. One week
ago, Lenny had won the
$5000 No-Limit event and,
with his finish today, he
collected the Best Overall
Player Award for the 2005
World Poker Finals. Lyle
Berman, the Hall-of-Famer
from Minneapolis, MN,
was in 5th place when his
AJ all-in was called by
Nick with AK. Lyle was
hoping to finish higher than
his son, Bradley, who was
4th last year; Lyle took
home $354,000. With the
blinds going up quickly,
Allen Cunningham, Las
Vegas, NV, was all-in with
J10 but Nick was calling
immediately with K’s and
Allen had to settle for 4th
place money of $483,000;
not a bad day’s work! Bill
Gazes hung in for 3rd. He
lost a particularly difficult
pot with pocket A’s when
Tony flopped a straight
with a K10. In the end, his
K8 could not compete with
Nick’s AQ and he took
$759,000 back to Miami
Beach, FL. The last two of
783 players who started the
event were the chip leaders entering the final table.
Nick had maintained his
dominate position throughout the day and, only four
hands into heads-up play,
the competition was over.
Tony Licastro, who won
one of the last Act II’s and
then won his seat in the
final Act III, had 82; he
went all-in when he turned
two pair. But, at the same
time, Nick caught a flush
and Tony was in 2nd place.
Tony had turned his $225
investment into $1,035,000!
The youngest player to win
a WPT Championship event
was now the first player
to take home a prize over
$2,000,000 in a $10,000
event!
(Continued from page 1)
16. Peter Giordano . . . . $69,000
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22. Abraham Gray . . . . $34,500
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23. Kenneth N Selby . . . $34,500
Las Vegas, NV
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24. James M Pechac . . . $34,500
1. Nick Schulman. . .$2,167,500
25. Benjamin B Kim . . . $34,500
Manhattan, NY
Flushing, NY
2. Tony Licastro . . . .$1,035,000
26. Alex B Jacob . . . . . . $27,600
Parkland, FL
3. Bill Gazes . . . . . . . . $759,000
27. Dennis R Fabian . . . $27,600
Miami Beach, FL
Norwalk, CT
4. Allen Cunningham $483,000
28. Feming Chan . . . . . . $27,600
Las Vegas, NV
Cranbury, NJ
5. Lyle Berman. . . . . . $345,000
29. Felton Raphael. . . . . $27,600
Minneapolis, MN
Las Vegas, NV
6. Lenny Cortellino . . $276,000
30. Mark A Zulkiewicz . $27,600
Lewiston, ME
Amherst, MA
7. Samir Shakhtoor . . $207,000
31. Erik Seidel . . . . . . . . $20,700
Switzerland
Las Vegas, NV
8. Minh V Nguyen . . . $172,800
32. Edward C Pelham . . $20,700
Bell Gardens, CA
Stamford, CT
9. Avdo Djokovic . . . . $138,000
33. Ilya Liviz . . . . . . . . . $20,700
Staten Island, NY
Boston, MA
10. Steven B Jacobs . . . $117,300
34. Steve Wong. . . . . . . . $20,700
Ardmore, PA
Hoofdorp, Holland
11. Joshua E Ewing . . . $103,500
35. Jeffrey M Paquette . $20,700
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McGregor, MN
12. Bryan S Veach . . . . . $96,600
36. Andrew Black . . . . . $17,200
Hyde Park, NY
Dublin, Ireland
13. Eric B Haber . . . . . . $89,700
37. Eugene K Ji . . . . . . . $17,200
Syosset, NY
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14. Thomas Schreiber . . $82,800
38. Matthew Sahagian. . $17,200
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D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
7
Charity Tournaments Revisited
STUD SENSE
By ASHLEY ADAMS
®
Back about ten months ago I wrote an
article about running charity poker tournaments. I explained that they benefited the industry as a
whole while doing good for a bunch of worthwhile causes. I
recommended them highly.
Since then, the entire world has gone crazy with these
tournaments. Where I’m from, Boston, Massachusetts, there
are at least a couple of tournaments every night – for one
“charity” or another. But they’re not all created equal. Some
are pure fundraising events where the buy-ins are donations and the prizes are donated to the charity. The events
are run by volunteers. Only the charity makes money. I
work with Jason Daloia and the Multiple Sclerosis charity in
Connecticut running a tournament like this every year. They
raise $20,000 or so – and everyone has a good time.
On the other end of the spectrum are the charity tournaments run by the professional operators who bring in a paid
crew who deal, set up, and run the games – much as professional operators run Las Vegas Nights for charities. They
rent their equipment out, handle the money, and at the end
of the night, if the event has been profitable, after the professionals take their large cut, the charity makes money. I
played in a tourney like this a month or so ago where the
charity only made 20% of the buy-in. The professional
operator of the event took away 44% of all the money and
the charity was lucky to get about a third of the cash.
In between are events that bring in a professional tournament director for a fee who acts like a host, MC, and
speaker. But the game is self dealt, the charity sets up
the operation, collects the money, and hands out either
cash payouts or gift certificates. The charity doesn’t make
nearly as much money as in the first example, since there
are cash prizes and they do pay a tournament director, but
they make much more than in the second example.
When you play in these tournaments you need to consider your combined interests of benefiting the charity and
having a decent shot of making some money. Make sure
you know what percentage of the buy-in goes to the charity, what percentage goes to the prize pool and how much, if
any, goes to the professionals who run the event. Only you
can decide what the right mix is for you – but you probably
want to avoid events where neither the participants nor the
charity end up with the bulk of the buy-in.
When I run tournaments for rotary clubs, fraternal organizations, synagogues, foundations or churches I either
volunteer my time or charge a standard fee of $80. That
includes the use of my casino quality chips and cards, consulting with the charity on how to run and publicize the
event, set up, break down, and any auctioning or MC duties
that the charity wants. I also bring along an assistant to
help with all of these tasks. The charity usually makes
between $3,000 and $15,000 – depending on how large the
event is and how much they are charging. Typically, half
of the buy-ins and re-buys go out as cash prizes, with the
charity keeping the other half, minus their expenses.
Some charities have told me that they don’t want to
spend this much – and they have elected to run the events
themselves. I encourage them to do so, as it leaves them
with more money. But I’ve also received calls and ended
up running tournaments from groups that tried and failed
to run an event on their own.
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]
8
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Monte Carlo
Monte-Carlo to play in the
largest prize pool tournament
in European history. Prima
Network guaranteed the $3
million prize pool. The field
included 27 World Series of
Poker gold bracelet holders
and seven World Poker Tour
champions. The No Limit
Texas Hold’em final table
results are as follows:
1.
2.
3
4.
5.
6.
7.
Phil Ivey . . . . . . . . . .$1,000,000
Paul Jackson . . . . . . . $600,000
Marc Goodwin . . . . . $300,000
Bengt Sonnert . . . . . . $250,000
Richard Herbert . . . . $175,000
John Juanda . . . . . . . $125,000
Kenna James . . . . . . . . $53,000
“Coming to the final table
as the chip leader, I couldn’t
do anything less than win,”
said Phil Ivey. “I feel good;
I stayed extremely focused
and took my time.”Ivey had
amassed a five to one chip
lead on the underdog, Paul
Jackson, coming into the
head’s up match. Jackson,
who’d previously won a
satellite to the Bay 101
Tournament was no stranger
to tough opponents. But in
Monte-Carlo, playing in the
Private Salon in the most
(Cont’d from page 1)
exclusive poker tournament
in the world, Phil Ivey was
too intimidating a force. In
one intense hand Jackson bet
$80,000 after the flop turned
up J, J, 7. Ivey re-raised for
$150,000 followed by another
raise of $150,000 by Jackson.
An icy cold Ivey contemplated his next move for
what seemed an eternity and
finally pushed all-in, psyching
out “Action Jackson” who
instantly folded.
Ivey, a five-time WSOP
gold bracelet winner, grew
up in New Jersey and began
his pro poker career in
Atlantic City. In 2000, at the
age of 23, he won his first
WSOP title besting the likes
of Amarillo Slim and Phil
Hellmuth in the $2500 Pot
Limit Omaha tournament. He
has grown to become one of
the most feared and respected
poker players in the world.
“It was nice to be a part
of this and to play here was
amazing. I’m looking forward
to coming back next year and
defending my title. This has
been a superb tournament,”
glowed Ivey.
WHEN THE BOYS
ARE AWAY . . .
THE GIRLS
WILL PLAY!
Ladies! Let’s Play Poker!
Texas Station’s
Ladies Only Hold-Em Tournament
Come Join The Fun Every Sunday at 6 pm
$25 Buy In / $10 Re-buys The First Hour
See Poker Room for tournament structure and complete details.
2101 Texas Star Lane • North Las Vegas, NV 89032
©2005 Texas Station Gambling Hall & Hotel, a Station Casinos company.
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
9
Gathering Information
I try to gather as much information from my
opponents as possible. Anything and everything
POKER COUNSELOR
By John Carlisle, MA, NCC
can provide slight insights into their personality
and play. Clues may come from their clothes, their relative level
of comfort at the table, the amount they drink, what they drink,
how they interact with others at the table, etc. All serious poker
players make this an automatic habit. This is especially difficult
during online play, as the internet is nearly the perfect cloak to
mask personal characteristics and overall personality. In home
games and casinos, the atmosphere is conducive to gathering
tons of valuable information in the realm of poker psychology.
Getting to know your opponents is a sure way to quick dividends at the table. People play poker as their personality leads
them, in most cases. In other words, knowing a player away from
the table will certainly aid you in predicting their play at the table.
An accountant with three kids from the Midwest will often play
differently than an unmarried tattoo artist from Miami. You see,
these bits of information provide great insights into their personality. It takes a certain personality composite to be attracted to
these professions, lifestyles, etc.
I try to be the chatty, friendly guy at the table. Most of the
players assume that I am just making casual conversation as I
work in questions about their jobs, their hometown, or even their
favorite production shows. The question about the best show in
town is one of my favorites. Being a regular player in the area,
I know darn well all about all of the shows in town. My question
is not a genuine inquiry into a show recommendation. For that,
I’d be going to the hotel concierge. Instead, I am looking for
some more bits of personal information. This (and other) questions seem harmless to answer for even the most careful casino
poker player, but it can provide an opening for information to be
divulged. It tells me if they are tourists or locals, for one. This
tells me if the focus of their trip is gambling or entertainment.
For instance, if a player excitedly recommends an energetic,
trendy show like Zumanity or Blue Man Group, I anticipate an
aggressive or looser player who is looking to see many pots.
These players crave entertainment and excitement, and are not
likely to sit patiently to wait on monster hands. Players who
mention Vegas staples like Rita Rudner and Celine Dion are much
more likely to play tight, patient, and selective. On the other
hand, I get a solid read if the question is met with a scoff and a
reaction such as, “I don’t do the shows and such, because I stick
to the poker room.”
Home games make this even easier. Mingling and casual conversation is the norm, rather than the exception. Everyone feels
very comfortable talking about their family, hobbies, work, and
even their poker experience. Always plan to arrive at these informal games early to scout your opposition. Be sure to greet every
player and as you ask questions, you can gather information.
On the flip side, be sure to do your best to not expose too
much to the poker sharks at the table. I have never once
revealed myself at the casino’s poker table for being a poker writer or a mental health counselor. Instead, I’ve introduced myself
as everything from a politician to an organist at the local church.
I always attempt to exude misinformation as much as possible.
I’ll present myself as a tourist even if the floor manager and I
might be friends. I’ll wear wild clothing and drink hard liquor on
a night that I might be playing patiently and tight/aggressive. I
know these subtle clues will play a part in the table image that
is being perceived. It is all in tune with keen poker psychology
– know your opponent and don’t let them know you.
Now go make it happen.
Commerce Concludes Holiday Bonus Events
The Commerce Casino
in Commerce, California
completed the 17th and
last of its events in the
Holiday bonus series
of tournaments, which
ended on November 20th.
10
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
2. Minh Ly . . . . . . . . . . $14,005
Woodland Hls, CA
COMMERCE CASINO HOLIDAY BONUS
EVENT #15
11/18/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $485 + $40
PLAYERS 150
Temple City, CA
3. Mickey Mouse . . . . . . $7,005
Ocean Beach, CA
4. Kenneth Neeley . . . . . $4,425
Santa Monica, CA
5. Jerry Polevoi . . . . . . . $3,315
Simi Valley, CA
6. Tommy Wong . . . . . . . $2,580
Oakland, CA
7. Vladimir Cerin . . . . . $1,845
Bradbury, CA
John Hoang
8. Jonathan Gillespie . . . $1,475
Valencia, CA
9. Lang Lee. . . . . . . . . . . $1,180
Allen Kim of Los Angeles
took the Championship
event along with a nice
cash Thanksgiving.prize.
Although the total of17
events featured both No
Limit and Limit Hold
‘em, the last seven events,
covered here, were all No
Limit tournaments. The
prior ten events were covered in the last issue of
Poker Player, which may be
found on our web site at:
www.pokerplayernewspaper.com.
EVENT #17
11/20/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $2425 + $80
PRIZE POOL
Rosemead, CA
$72,750
1. John Hoang . . . . . . . $27,650
Garden Grove, CA
2. Gevork Kasabyan . . $13,825
Los Angeles, CA
3. Eric Rockey . . . . . . . . $8,140
EVENT #12
11/15/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
Boulder City, NV
BUY-IN $97 + $20
4. Ruy Heim . . . . . . . . . . $5,015
PLAYERS 336
Newhall, CA
5. Bahn Jae Hun . . . . . . $3,560
Beaverton, OR
6. Ramzi Daniel . . . . . . . $2,545
Joe Lim
Los Angeles, CA
7. Bahman Sabahi . . . . . $2,185
Los Angeles, CA
8. Brian McCann . . . . . . $1,820
Reseda, CA
9. Steve Tourouk . . . . . . $1,455
Sherman Oaks, CA
EVENT #14
11/17/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $291 + $30
PLAYERS 304
PRIZE POOL
$106,118
1. Joe Lim . . . . . . . . . . . $39,264
La Puente, CA
2. Saifuddin Ahmad. . . $20,162
Newport Beach, CA
3. Franco Brunetti . . . . $10,081
W. Hollywood, CA
4. Emad Rayyan . . . . . . $6,367
Fullerton, CA
5. Lawrence Hua . . . . . . $4,775
Alhambra, CA
6. Quoc Huynh . . . . . . . . $3,714
PLAYERS 171
Worcester, MA
Moise Tishbi
7. Garen Reshdouni. . . . $2,653
Monterey Park, CA
Allen Kim
8. Jacky Lee . . . . . . . . . . $2,122
PRIZE POOL
$88,464
$414,675
1. Moise Tishbi . . . . . . . $32,730
1. Allen Kim . . . . . . . . $157,575
2. Jerry Snell . . . . . . . . $16,805
PRIZE POOL
Riverside, CA
2. Robert Blechman. . . $74,640
3. Chris Karagullryan . . $8,404
Culver City, CA
Glendale, CA
3. Can Hua . . . . . . . . . . $39,395
4. Jose Tavares . . . . . . . . $5,308
Rosemead, CA
Commerce, CA
4. Hassan Kamoei . . . . $29,025
5. Lee Hoang Robinson . $3,981
Indio, CA
Midway City, CA
5. John Trussell . . . . . . $20,735
6. Scott Herz. . . . . . . . . . $3,096
Danville, CA
Los Angeles, CA
6. Jon Dean. . . . . . . . . . $16,585
7. Jorge Walker . . . . . . . $2,212
San Gabriel, CA
Cerrito, CA
7. Gioi Luong . . . . . . . . $14,515
8. Marcus Pruitt . . . . . . $1,769
Westminster, CA
Los Angeles, CA
8. Franco Brunett . . . . . $8,295
9. Gary Mcallister . . . . . $1,415
Santa Monica, CA
W. Hollywood, CA
9. Ron Miller . . . . . . . . . $7,260
Sant Fe Springs, CA
EVENT #16
11/19/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $485 + $40
W. Hollywood , CA
EVENT #14
11/13/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $194 + $25
PLAYERS 322
Salfuddin
Aamad
PRIZE POOL
$62,468
1. Salfuddin Aamad . . . $23,110
New Port Coast, Ca
EVENT #13
11/16/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $194 + $25
PLAYERS 380
2. Roland Weedon . . . . $11,869
Villa Park, Ca
3. George Rechnitzer. . . $5,934
Beverly Hills, Ca
4. Amir Gaazvinian . . . . $3,748
Reseda, Ca
5. Paul Kozusko . . . . . . . $2,811
PLAYERS 278
Los Angeles, Ca
6. Ramzi Scour. . . . . . . . $2,186
John
Chaptman
Burbank, Ca
7. Ricky Afalava. . . . . . . $1,562
Frank Earnest
Ogden, Ut
$73,720
8. Gebrehiwet Goitom . . $1,249
1. John Chaptman . . . . $27,270
9. John Hoang . . . . . . . . . .$999
PRIZE POOL
PRIZE POOL
Santa Ana , CA
9. Eric Prince . . . . . . . . . $1,698
Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles, CA
$134,830
1. Frank Earnest . . . . . $49,886
Chino, CA
2. Mitri Yazbek . . . . . . $25,618
Irvine, CA
3. Chris Elkins . . . . . . . $12,809
Carls Bad, CA
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].
9. Steve Castro . . . . . . . . $2,157
4. Keith Lebowitz . . . . . $8,090
Dallas, TX
5. Jerry Polevoi . . . . . . . $6,067
Simi Valley, CA
6. Joseph Mcgowan . . . . $4,719
La Quinta ,Ca
7. David Daneshgar . . . . $3,371
Westlake Vlg, CA
8. Romeo Pueblo . . . . . . $2,697
Covina, CA
La Mirada, CA
Los Angeles, Ca
Garden Grove, Ca
Canterbury Notice
Canterbury Park
Card Club is retiring its
$10 “Grand Opening 2000” Chip.
Any outstanding chips will not be
redeemed after December 31, 2005
and will have no cash value.
1100 Canterbury Road
Shakopee, MN 55379
1-866-MNPOKER
www.canterburypark.com
Pham Takes Bally’s Paris WSOP Circuit Event
poker hand can be riveting
to behold, and even more
extraordinary to analyze.
The poker hand of all
poker hands took place precisely at 4:20 pm PST on a
Tuesday afternoon in Las
Vegas. The loser of the hand
was destined to walk away
shell shocked in frustration
as the fifth-place finisher.
The winner of the hand was
to ultimately soar to victory
in the World Series of Poker
Circuit championship held
at Ballys-Paris – an event
which will be nationally
televised later by ESPN.
The hand essentially cost
one player $352,000. It was
– the hand of the year.
This final table promised
to be a crowd-pleaser. Two
World Series of Poker champions, including the reigning
world champ Joe Hachem
(chip leader) were present,
in addition to former WSOP
Circuit winners -- Doug Lee
and J.C. Tran. High-limit
cash game player, Minh Ly
was eliminated as the 9thplace finisher on the previous day.
Eventually it came – the
hand. What followed next
was a bombshell or an
abomination, depending
upon one’s perspective. The
hand clearly demonstrates
that poker tournaments can
be either won or lost within
seconds. It all started when
2005 world poker champion
Joe Hachem was dealt pocket Kings. After J.C. Tran
made an initial 18,000 raise,
Kido Pham re-raised another
50,000. Hachem must have
thought he was in final table
heaven. Pondering his move,
Hachem re-raised again up
to 150,000. Tran immediately folded and Pham moved
over the top with an all-in
re-raise, for 157,000 more.
Hachem later admitted that
he feared his opponent having pocket Aces. But there
was no way to lay down the
big hand. Hachem called
and Pham knew immediately he had made the wrong
move at the wrong time.
Pham sheepishly showed
J-10, a huge underdog to
Hachem’s powerhouse KK. With 650,000 in the pot
at stake (about half of the
chips in play), it was to be
the turning point of the final
table.
“I didn’t want to play a
big pot,” Hachem said later.
“But I made the right read
and was the leader by a
mile.”
When three cards fell on
the flop, the second floor
of the Ballys Casino was
rocked to its foundation.
It took a few seconds for
Hachem’s eyes to focus
on the horror he was about
to confront. Wham! J-J-2
(trip Jacks) twisted Pham
from a big dog into a huge
favorite and put the pocket
Kings into a meat grinder.
In an instant that will certainly haunt Hachem for
some time, the Australian’s
dreams of winning his second WSOP title were demolished. Hachem failed to
catch one of two remaining
Kings and was left with just
40,000 in chips. The damage has clearly been done.
Hachem looked like he had
been hit in the stomach with
a sledgehammer.
But poker champions
never go out without a
fight. Hachem managed
to win one more pot and
doubled-up to nearly
100,000 before finally running out of steam. He was
dealt K-8 in the small blind
and moved all-in hoping to
steal a round of blinds and
antes. Unfortunately, Lee
Watkinson was sitting in the
big blind with pocket Nines.
He called the raise. A Nine
on the flop effectively ended
any hope of Hachem mak-
ing a dramatic comeback.
The reigning world poker
champion walked away to
a standing ovation from
the crowd. Perhaps more
importantly, he proved the
$7.5 million win back in
July was no fluke. With this
impressive performance, Joe
Hachem demonstrated he is
a serious contender in any
event he enters. Fifth-place
paid. $88,172.
“I came here wanting
BACK ISSUES, SPECIAL FEATURES & UP-TO-THE MINUTE POKER INFO—
Poker at The Mirage is a beautiful thing
The warm, inviting atmosphere draws you in.
The people make you feel welcome.
All your favorite games spread ’round the clock.
And the only thing smoking is the hand you’re playing.
THE POKER ZONE SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Day / Time
SUNDAY / 5pm
MONDAY / 7pm
TUESDAY / 7pm
WEDNESDAY / 7pm
THURSDAY / 7pm
Game
NO LIMIT Hold’em
LIMIT Hold’em
NO LIMIT Hold’em
POT LIMIT Hold’em
NO LIMIT Hold’em
mirage.com
for room reservations
800-77-poker
(800-777-6537)
For tournament information, please call (702) 791-7291
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
11
How many players saw the flop?
Carnival Poker
POwer POKER PSYCHOLOGY
By JAMES A. M C KENNA, P H D.
There’s a good reason that you will not
likely find any “wild” poker games in
casino poker rooms. Good players would not show up.
I’ve noticed that the way to neutralize a good poker
player is to get him or she to playing in a home game
that if laced with what I call “phony poker games.”
These are carnival poker games that reduce the game
to pure chance. Games like “One-Eyed Jacks (are
wild),” “Doctor Pepper (10’s, 2’s, and 4’s are wild),”
“Low hole card is wild (and all like it),” and “Follow the
Lady (the card dealt after the Queen is wild, but could
change if another Queen is dealt up).” There are
some that are close to regular poker such as “Three
card poker.” In this game, though, a straight beats a
flush. Go figure! It’s explained that it’s harder to get
a straight in three cards than a flush. Another “almost
poker” game is a game of 7-Card Stud and the high
spade in the hole splits the pot. In the carnival version
of this, the low hole card is also wild.
Then, there are the carnival games that have nothing remotely to do with poker. Games like “In-between,”
where you get two random cards dealt up and bet that
the next card will be in between the face value of your
up cards. There’s a game called 7/27, where you get one
card down and two up and either go for a low hand (7) or
a high one (27). If you lose you have to match the pot.
As “home games,” these near poker games can be
a lot of fun, don’t take a lot of skill, and can be very
costly. These carnival games will build big pots, even
though the bets are anywhere from fifty cents to three
dollars. Even the purest of these games, such as “Jacks
or better, progressive to open,” can build big pots. Even
this game is mostly luck, even though some skill can
help this type of game. In order to open in a Jacks (progressive) draw poker game everyone antes a dollar. If
nobody opens the next round requires a pair of Queens
or better to open and everyone antes another dollar.
This goes on until someone opens. By the time it gets
to Aces to open, the rest of the contributors to the pot
are sitting ducks. And, it’s a lot of fun if you draw a set.
With the popularity of poker increasing, there are a
lot of home and campus games that are being created.
Most of them seem to be regular poker games, a lot
are Texas Hold ‘em, and some are these “near poker”
games are just an excuse to gamble. If you go to one
of these games, be careful if they say that it’s “Dealer’s
Choice.” That’s where you could walk into a “turkey
shoot” and where you are the turkey. Why? The dealer
is likely to choose to play one of these carnival games.
In all of them, it’s likely that the dealer has the edge.
That is, the dealer will choose to play the game that he
does best at. After all, you can find some of these table
games in a casino. And, guess who has the edge in
“Texas Shoot Out,” or “Blackjack plus 3-Card poker?”
If you go to one of these home games that are loosely referred to as poker and you are a good poker player,
the only edge that you will have is luck. Some dealer’s
favorite game may be the first time you even heard of
the game. So, if you want a night of surprises go play
dealer’s choice at some home game. If you prefer to
play more predictable poker, go to your favorite casino
or make sure that the home game that you go to is real
poker.
James A. McKenna, PhD., has been a practicing individual
and group therapist for over thirty-five years. His knowledge of human behavior combined with over thirty years of
gaming experience gives him a unique perspective on the
psychology of the gamer. His book, “Beyond Tells-Power
Poker Psychology,” was recently published by Kensington
Press. Write to him at [email protected].
12
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 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 examine
some of the factors to
consider when formulating our decision to fold
or muck. I outlined some
of the factors last time as
questions we should ask
ourselves. Today we will
look at why we ask these
questions and what do the
answers mean.
A tip before we get
started. When your cards
are being dealt, look at
your opponents. Watch the
expressions on their faces
and what the do with their
cards and hands. This is one
of the easiest ways to pick
up tells. You will always
have time to look at your
cards before you act.
Most of the factors discussed apply to Hold-Em
as well as Omaha H/L. I
will concentrate on Omaha
though. Lets start at the top.
How many players saw
the flop? This is important
in both Omaha and HoldEm. If for nothing else it
is essential for calculating
pot odds. If we are looking
at a draw we want enough
callers to render that draw
profitable. We do not want
to chase a 1 in 6 shot with
only one caller. Especially
if we are only shooting for
half the pot, or there is a
chance we could be quartered.
Certain hands play well
against few callers while
others demand more players. In Omaha when you
flop the nut high with no
chance of counterfeiting
you want as many players
in the pot as possible. Your
decision to call, bet, raise
or re-raise is driven by your
desire to keep your opponents in the pot. With the
nut low you must be mindful of counterfeiting and
getting quartered or worse.
The more callers you
have the higher the probability someone already has
the nuts or is drawing to
the nuts. With many callers
you can be assured most of
the aces and deuces are out
there, especially if the pot
is raised and re-raised. It
is also very common for a
player to have a wheel with
Sam Mudaro is the...
a flop containing three low
cards of 5 or less. If the
flop contains two or three
cards to a flush you are
probably looking at the nut
flush. On the other hand if
you are last to act and have
all high cards before the
flop, you may be looking
good.
Flop
A-2-3
A-2-4
A-3-4
A-2-5
A-3-5
A-4-5
2-3-4
2-3-5
2-4-5
3-4-5
Scoop
28.1%
28.7%
29.1%
31.1%
31.6%
33.7%
37.8%
39.3%
40.7%
41.1%
Nut Low
Share
6.6%
7.2%
7.4%
8.3%
8.6%
9.8%
15.9%
17.9%
19.9%
21.2%
Lets look at a chart of
how often the wheel will
get there with 3 cards to the
wheel on the flop. Contrary
to what some players may
think, the chance to scoop
the low goes up when an
ace does not hit the board.
Look at the 3-4-5 it will
scoop the low 41% of the
time and there will be a
low over 90% of the time.
The A-2-3 scoops 28% of
the time with a low occurring 80% of the time. The
combined Nut low is almost
double for the 3-4-5, 62.3%
vs. the A-2-3, 34.7%.
Remember, most people
play A-2 rather than 3-4.
There is much more sharing
when the A-2 is not counterfeited.
How many players to act
after you? This has a material effect as to whether you
want to call with a marginal
hand. The more players to
act behind you the more
likely the pot may be raised.
If the flop brings a made
low or low draw especially
if it does not include an ace
or deuce and you are sitting
there with a high draw it
may get pretty costly real
fast. You must ask yourself
why did all these players
call to see the flop in the
first place. Is it worth pursuing a high draw with two
pair, a set, a straight draw or
a flush draw?
The number of players
to act after you will affect
Should I Play
This Hand?
the pot odds you receive as
well. The key is being able
to estimate how many of
them will call. The earlier
offered tip should be very
useful.
How many players to
act in front of you? If you
Comb
34.7%
35.9%
36.5%
39.4%
40.2%
43.5%
53.7%
57.2%
60.6%
62.3%
Low
No Low
80.2%
80.9%
81.4%
82.0%
82.6%
83.8%
89.1%
89.7%
90.4%
90.6%
19.8%
19.1%
18.6%
18.0%
17.4%
16.2%
10.9%
10.3%
9.6%
9.4%
have a hand that warrants
a check raise you want few
people in front of you. The
more that are behind you
the more likely one of them
will bet. This works especially well when you have a
good high, (Ace high flush)
combined with the nut low,
(a wheel). Another opportunity arrives when you have
flopped quads. You want
as many people in front of
you as possible so you can
watch them bet and raise
while you wait to cap it.
How many players were
at the table at the start of
the hand? This concept is
valuable in both Hold-Em
and Omaha. The greater
the number of players that
are dealt in the more likely
you will run into superior
hands. The fewer opponents
dealt a hand, the easier it
will be to steal the pot. In
Omaha high/low the value
of a high hand goes up as
the number of players dealt
in goes down. I have written an entire article on this
subject. The reason behind
this is that there is always
a high hand winner. There
is not always a low winner.
One should always be cognizant of how many players
were dealt in as well as who
they are.
So what have we
learned? There are factors
other then our own 4 cards
to consider before entering a
pot or calling on the flop.
Fo x w o o d s
39. John V Lambiase . . . $17,200
87. Jeffrey B Henry . . . . $11,000
S Walpole, MA
Mitchellville, MD
40. Jason Decker . . . . . . $17,200
88. Dean A Hamrick . . . $11,000
Clifton, NY
Plymouth, MI
41. Michael May . . . . . . $14,000
89. Andrew Kelsall . . . . $11,000
New York, NY
Lutz, FL
42. Marco Savoni . . . . . . $14,000
90. Jerry W Young. . . . . $11,000
Windsor, Ont
Henderson, NV
43. Chris J Barbeisch . . $14,000
Poker Player is
pleased to announce
that our East Coast
representative, Donna
Blevins, took home
$11,000 for a 91st
place finish.
Greene, NY
44. Thomas Coan . . . . . . $14,000
Hauppauge, NY
45. Glyn W Banks . . . . . $14,000
Smithville, TN
46. Thomas D McCormick . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $14,000
Fargo, ND
47. Stephen Diamantas . $14,000
Vero Beach, FL
48. Hasan A Habib. . . . . $14,000
Downey, CA
49. Young V Phan . . . . . $14,000
Garden Grove, CA
50. Sean Michael Scott . $14,000
Kingswood, UK
51. Willie B Tann . . . . . . $12,000
Bovington, GBR
91. Donna L Blevins . . . $11,000
WPF
95. Chris K Karagulleyan. . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $11,000
West Enfield, ME
Glendale, CA
108. Kathleen H Liebert $11,000
96. Marsha Waggoner . . $11,000
Las Vegas, NV
Downey, CA
109. Joseph J Peruti . . . $11,000
97. Walter M Williams . $11,000
Cheshire, CT
Augusta, GA
98. Roy T Thung . . . . . . $11,000
White Plains, NY
99. Mark P Ader . . . . . . $11,000
110. Kenneth E Myers. . $11,000
113. William McKinney $11,000
Lutz, FL
Walden, NY
Princeton, WV
101. Ryan H Buckholtz . $11,000
114. Michael V Pascullo $11,000
San Diego, CA
Syosset, NY
102. Ralph E Porter. . . . $11,000
115. Anthony M Nader . $11,000
Bothell, WA
Milton, MA
103. Richard J Cairo . . . $11,000
116. Frank Cruess-Callaghan. . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $11,000
92. Arnold G Spee . . . . . $11,000
Agoura Hills, CA
Thomaston, CT
93. Sam Haddad . . . . . . $11,000
105. Ronald K Kirk . . . . $11,000
Warwick, RI
Lexington, KY
94. Mark A Seif . . . . . . . $11,000
106. Massoud Nikjouian $11,000
Woodbridge, VA
Rich Yarmosh Is The
Senior Champion!
Pittsburgh, PA
100. Anthony J Camillery . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $11,000
Highland Park, IL
Hollis, NH
119. Daniel D Sommer . $11,000
Burnsville, MN
112. Michael R Ramsey. $11,000
104. Frank Meaney . . . . $11,000
120. Christopher W Loveland . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $11,000
The 2005 Seniors
Championship event had a
record breaking number of
participants as 471 players
competed for a prize pool of
$237,500. Oklahoma Johnny
Hale was on hand once again
as the host of this annual
event. Oklahoma Johnny presented each of the final table
participants an autographed
copy of his autobiography,
“The Life and Times of a
Gentleman Gambler.” Rich
Shreveport, LA
111. Eric J Hutchens . . . $11,000
Farmington Hills, MI
Inverness, FL
Las Vegas, NV
107. Mark S Awalt . . . . . $11,000
Dublin, Ire
117. Matthew C Smith . $11,000
Tallahassee, FL
118. Andrew Wallach . . $11,000
Hasbrouck Hghts, NJ
52. Barry S Berger . . . . $12,000
Englewood, NJ
53. David F Scharf . . . . . $12,000
Columbia, SC
54. Daniel Yanofski . . . . $12,000
West Orange, NJ
55. Mohammad Berenjinataj . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $12,000
Arlington, TX
56. John Lakatosh . . . . . $12,000
Red Lion, PA
57. Michael M Menard . $12,000
N Smithfield, RI
58. Joanne Liu . . . . . . . . $12,000
Palo Alto, CA
59. Thomas M Fuller. . . $12,000
Boulder, CO
60. Carmen Menechella $12,000
Niagra Falls, Ont
61. John P Sousa . . . . . . $12,000
Pelham, NH
62. David B Thompson . $12,000
Bethlehem, CT
63. Erik Cajelais . . . . . . $12,000
Masc, Que
64. Hyon S Kim . . . . . . . $12,000
New York, NY
65. Michael J Mella . . . . $12,000
Armonk, NY
66. Mark Carlson . . . . . $12,000
Wilbraham, MA
67. Jason E Zausmer . . . $12,000
Burke, VA
68. James D Campbell . $12,000
Marlborough, MA
69. Scott G Wilson . . . . . $12,000
Victoria, BC
70. Spiro Mitrokostas . . $12,000
W Yarmouth, MA
71. William L Edler . . . . $11,000
Rodeo, CA
72. Amanda L Baker . . . $11,000
Boulder, CO
73. Brian T Batt . . . . . . . $11,000
Chicago, IL
74. Robert T Wittman . . $11,000
Dubuque, IA
75. Farzad Bonyadi . . . . $11,000
Aliso Viejo, CA
76. Steven W Dilliard . . $11,000
Malone, FL
77. John DiSandro . . . . . $11,000
Jamestown, RI
78. Temp D Hutter. . . . . $11,000
Charlottesville, VA
79. Abdol A Vahedi . . . . $11,000
Sherman Oaks, CA
80. Stafford A Woodley . $11,000
Bronx, NY
81. Kyle D Bowker . . . . $11,000
Walton, NY
82. William Krackomberger . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $11,000
Galloway, NJ
83. Peter F Campo . . . . . $11,000
Waterford, CT
84. Jerome L Saunders . $11,000
Orlando, FL
85. Jerry Burgess . . . . . . $11,000
Wake Forest, NC
86. Howard Elfant . . . . . $11,000
New York, NY
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
13
Two Goofs
STRAIGHT SKINNY
By RICHARD G. BURKE
On a dreary Saturday in the fall at my
local poker room, my poker gods were
napping, so I readily agreed when Fred invited me
to the bar to answer a limit Hold’Em question. While
partaking of an adult beverage, Fred asked if he
should have played the following hand differently.
As the Cutoff in an average, ten-handed $4-8
Hold’Em game, he peeked at his hand and saw 2a2f. He called. The Button called, the Small Blind
called, and the Big Blind checked. Seven-handed they
saw the dealer flop 6d-2s-6f. Everyone upstream
checked. Fred decided to bet $4, hoping that the
enemy would think that he was trying to steal, and a
few “customers” would call, but they all put him on
a hand like 8a-6a and folded. I nodded wisely and
affected a pensive look. A thoroughly good fellow,
Fred bought another round.
Raising with small pockets in late position has its
advantages, I told Fred. If there were only one limper
or raiser upstream, then your raise might isolate her.
Although a big dog to higher pockets, heads-up a
pocket Pair is a slight favorite against two overcards.
If there were three or more callers upstream,
then your raise might entice the Blinds also to call
because their pot odds, and yours, would be attractive. Barring Straights and Flushes, the chance that
you will improve to at least Trips is 0.192, about 20%,
so you want four callers, and more would be a plus.
If there were two or three callers, then you might
play your small pockets as if they were Top Pair or
an Overpair: if you win, then that’s great; if not, then
you’ve advertised a “wild” image. Fred stirred his
drink for a bit and agreed that he should have raised
pre-Flop.
The probability of flopping a Set and a Pair for
a Full House is C(2,1)*12*C(4,2)/C(50,3), about 1 in
136 times, I told him. Because they’re so rare and so
strong you want to make the most of your good fortune, I said.
If you had raised pre-Flop, I told him, then your
opponents would have put you on a hand like AaKf. One or two might have called your post-Flop
bet. Or you even could have checked, acting like you
needed a free Turn card.
If you had raised and the Flop had been something
like Kd-2s-Kf, then they might have put you on
Trip Kings, but almost certainly not a Full House. You
would have bet, hoping to elicit a call from anyone
holding a King, and maybe even a check-raise when
the bets doubled.
In your case, because you were so far ahead postFlop you should have checked, so that everyone saw
the Turn for free. When you’re way ahead, I told him,
a check is deceptive, and it gives the enemy a free
chance to make hands strong enough to call or raise
you when the bets double.
Slow-playing is always a gamble, I told him. You’d
be at risk to a bigger Boat if anyone had started
with 6d-2d, and/or Quads if anyone hit a fourouter like Ka-6a or Ad-6s, but that’s why we call
it “gambling.”
After the house rake and dealer toke, you stacked
$28. You’re always happy to stack chips, but those
two goofs forewent the opportunity to stack much
more. At these drink prices, you would welcome a
half-C or more. Fred agreed.
Mr. Burke is the author of Flop: The Art of Winning at
Low-Limit Hold ’Em, available from amazon.com,
gamblersbook.com, and kokopellipress.com. E-mail your
Hold ’Em questions to [email protected]
14
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
to kill me. In this no-wayto-win situation, I do what
that great poker philosopher
Hugo All-In suggests—I
show ’em my poker face.
I tell Nickel and Dime,
“Dorothy here is the thief
that I’ve bluffed half-in at
the pot, I have no choice
but to bluff my life all-in.
I yell, “I’ve blown up four
poker rooms tonight and this
one goes up next. I’ve got
ten sticks of TNT strapped
Poker Face
A Poker Player Murder Mystery by Robert Arabella
There are a lot of great
poker songs: Kenny Rogers’
The Gambler, Aerosmith’s
Deuces Wild, Bonnie Raitt’s
Luck Of The Draw, and
Jerry Reed’s Uptown Poker
Club all come to mind.
Right now, though, I’m
thinking about the rapper/
poker player Hugo All-In’s
Poker Face:
It don’t matter what cards
they holdin’ /Show ’em your
poker face
And soon they’ll be fold’in
Hugo All-in /There’s no
call’in
Play like you got an Ace
/Show ’em your poker face
I have, by badly overplaying a weak hand, delivered
Dorothy to certain death.
Any second now, Nickel—a
psychopath who doesn’t
know the difference between
right from wrong—and his
partner, Dime—a sociopath,
who doesn’t care about the
difference between right
and wrong—will recognize
Dorothy as the woman who
stole their laundered money.
“Don’t move, Thayer!”
says Nickel, aiming his gun
between my eyes.
Dime, his gun prodding
my chest, echoes, “Don’t
move,” adding, “there’s a
$1,000,000 reward out on
you for blowing up all those
poker rooms tonight and
we’re collecting it!”
“No, you’re not,” says
Dorothy, placing her knife
at my throat, “if there’s
a reward out for him, it’s
mine! I saw him first!”
“Who the hell are you?”
asks Nickel.
“Why the hell do you
want to know?” answers
Dorothy.
“What the hell, let’s kill
them both,” says Dime.
I don’t know why this
particular situation in which
no one can win is called
a “Mexican Standoff.”
(Although right now I’d like
to be South of the Border.)
I have two guns pointed at
me and a knife to my throat
and I know that, unless this
standoff ends very quickly,
one of these people is going
who stole from your laundry
account.”
The psycho killers blink
in disbelief.
I tell Dorothy, “Let me
introduce to you Mr. Nickel
and his friend, Mr. Dime.”
She lets out a desperate
cry.
The three people holding
weapons on me stand there
staring at each other. Now
to my chest and unless you
all want to be blown to
rags, GET OUT OF HERE
NOW!!”
A poker face is a lying
face. I need to make them
believe the lie. Nickel,
Dime, and Dorothy—like
poker players suddenly
check raised all-in on the
river by a limper—hesitate,
unsure of what to do next.
I sense their indecision
and quickly raise the stakes
by stating a countdown: “10
… 9 … 8 …”
Dime turns coward and
runs for the door.
“7 … 6 …”
Followed quickly by
Nickel.
“5 … 4 …”
But not Dorothy. Her
knife’s still to my throat. She
says, “You’re bluffing.”
I keep counting, “3 … 2
… 1 …”
“I knew you were bluffing,” she says. “I knew you
didn’t have the bal…”
I never heard her finish
the sentence. The Misdeal
had exploded.
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
(To be continued in the next
issue of Poker Player)
15
DEBBIE BURKHEAD INTERVIEWS...
An Accumulation
of Errors
FRESH YOUNG FACE OF Poker
Ira Cohen
C A R D R O O M M A N AG E R AT T H E P E P P E R M I L L
By Jennifer Matiran
A few errors in judgment repeated consistently can cost you a lot of money playing
poker. There are many important aspects to a live money ten
person game, position, limits, betting, calling and raising BUT
there are two others in my opinion that are the most important. My father who has been consistently playing profitable
poker all his life shared two key ingredients that are imperative to playing winning poker over a period of time.
The first is the two hole cards one chooses to play. Blinds
excluded, the person who plays ANY Ace for example, not
considering his or her kicker, will inevitably be a loser over
a period of time. For instance, an Ace, Four off-suit, should
not even be played to begin with, perhaps Ace, Four suited
(if pot hasn’t been raised) could be played. An Ace, Four
off-suit, at times, may win but the chances are slim, more
often it will be beat with a better kicker. So playing “any”
Ace over a period of time will cost a whole bunch of chips.
Always play strong cards which are even stronger when they
are together.
Secondly, always remember this “FLOP IT OR MUCK
IT.” It’s that simple. I start with a King, Queen for example,
beautiful King, Queen, it usually will mean nothing if the
flop’s 2, 3, 4, rainbow, muck it! This concept will save a player so much money in the long run. I start with two nines, if
the flop comes Ace, Queen, 8 and someone bets the nines
usually will mean nothing. Muck it! “Players want to get
married to their cards” my Dad always says “and that’s what
separates the winners from the losers.” He says “folding is
not like quitting, folding when appropriate is what separates
the pros from the amateurs.” “FLOP IT OR MUCK IT!”
Remember, the best players in the world usually play from
twenty-thirty percent of the cards that are dealt them.
Failure happens over a period of time in poker and in
life. One does not become 600 lbs. in one day, one does not
despise their spouse in one day, one does not burn their car
engine in one day, one does not become an alcoholic after
one drink, I could go on for days, but you get my point.
A wise man said something like this “Failure is not a
single, cataclysmic event. We do not fail overnight. Failure is
the inevitable result of an accumulation of poor thinking and
poor choices. To put it more simply, failure is nothing more
than a few errors in judgment repeated every day. Now why
would someone make an error in judgment and then be so
foolish as to repeat it every day? The answer is because he
or she does not think that it matters.
On their own, our daily acts do not seem that important. A
minor oversight, a poor decision, or a wasted hour generally
doesn’t result in an instant and measurable impact. More
often than not, we escape from any immediate consequences
of our deeds.
Those who eat too many of the wrong foods are contributing to a future health problem, but the joy of the moment
overshadows the consequence of the future. It does not
seem to matter. Those who smoke too much or drink too
much go on making these poor choices year after year after
year... because it doesn’t seem to matter. But the pain and
regret of these errors in judgment have only been delayed
for a future time. Consequences are seldom instant; instead,
they accumulate until the inevitable day of reckoning finally
arrives and the price must be paid for our poor choices choices that didn’t seem to matter.”
Changing the world one sentence at a time, Jennifer
Matiran believes the pen is, and always will be, mightier
than the sword. She hopes to emerge into the tournament circuit of Poker. Contact her with questions, comments or interesting material at matiran@sbcglobal.
net. Ms. Matiran has just completed her latest screenplay, her other passion (besides Poker!).
16
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
Ira Cohen was born February
6, 1960 in White Plains,
New York. At the age of
10 his family relocated to
Miami, Florida. Ira graduated from North Miami
Beach High School in 1978
with a football scholarship
to the University of Florida.
In 1980 he transferred to the
University of New Mexico in
Albuquerque.
In 1981 Ira left college to
pursue his dream of playing pro football in the USFL
for the LA Express. His
dream was shattered when
he incurred a knee injury that
forced him to give up football.
In 1984 Ira headed for
Las Vegas to pursue a career
in the gaming business. His
introduction into the world
of gaming came as a craps
dealer at the Dunes.
He left the Dunes in 1986
to deal craps and baccarat at
the Riviera.
In 1998 Ira decided to
leave the casino industry
to finish his education. He
enrolled in the University of
Nevada in Las Vegas (UNLV)
with the intention of earning
a degree in child psychology.
In 2001 Ira left Las Vegas for
Reno to attend University of
Nevada at Reno (UNR).
While attending school he
was also working part time
as a Casino Supervisor at the
Peppermill.
In March of 2005 Ira
was appointed Card Room
Manager of the Peppermill
poker room.
DB: How many poker tables
are available for live action at
the Peppermill?
IC: When I took over in
March we had eight and since
then we have expanded the
room to 12 tables. We also
have 20 plasma screen TV’s
for sports viewing.
DB: What other changes
have taken place since you‘ve
been assigned the room?
IC: The room has been
remodeled to accommodate
two shift manager stations for
easy access for our players.
We have installed a state of
the art computer system, we
are the only poker room in
Reno to have this system. It
has a computerized wait list
for viewing, a tournament
clock, structures and payouts. The system allows us
to swipe a player’s card and
it prints a tournament ticket
with their seat assignment
and table.
DB: What live games are
available on a daily basis?
IC: We spread $2-$4, $3$6, and $4-$8 $10-$20 limit
hold‘em on a daily basis. Our
daily no-limit game starts at 7
p.m. with $2-$3 blinds and $5
to open. The minimum buy-in
is $100 and the maximum is
$1500. We also spread a $20$40 limit hold‘em game on
Monday, Friday and Saturday
that starts at 5 p.m. .
.
DB: What daily tournaments
does the Peppermill offer?
IC: On Monday, Tuesday
and Wednesday at 1 p.m.
it’s no-limit hold’em with a
$25 buy-in and one optional
$13 add-on. On Wednesday
at 7 p.m. the event is limit
hold’em with a $65 buy-in.
Thursday at 7 p.m. it’s nolimit hold’em with a $115
buy-in with one $110 rebuy.
Friday and Saturday is nolimit hold’em at 6 p.m. with
a $110 buy-in. Sunday at 2
p.m. the game is no-limit
hold’em with a $35 buy-in
and one $30 rebuy. Monday
is a ladies only no-limit tournament with a $25 buy-in and
a $20 rebuy.
DB: Are you planning to add
any more tournaments in the
near future?
IC: Yes, beginning in January
we will have a monthly freeroll for our daily tournament
players. The top 60 point
earners from our daily tournaments will earn an entry into
the freeroll. Our daily tournaments will be separated in
three groups and the top earners from group one will play
in January, group two will
play in February and group
three will play in March.
DB: The Peppermill is
known for running two major
tournaments a year will you
be adding to that number?
IC: Last April we held a
Celebrity tournament where
we invited our top casino
pit players and slot players
to compete with our poker
players. It was our way of
introducing our casino players to our poker room and
because it was so successful it
will be a yearly event. As you
mentioned, we also run two
events a year, our Fall Poker
Classic that’s takes place in
November and our Spring
Poker Classic in March.
DB: What incentives does
the Peppermill offer poker
players?
IC: We have a bad beat jackpot that is currently more than
$100,000. Any four-of-a-kind
beaten by a higher hand with
both hole cards playing takes
home the cash. We have a
lightening Jackpot that takes
aces full beaten by a higher
hand with each player only
using one hole card, that’s
currently at $1500. We also
have a royal flush, straight
flush and four-of-a-kind jackpots. We offer our players
comps based on hours played
at .75 per hour but we have a
very liberal comp policy. We
offer poker room rates starting as low as $29 per night.
DB: What promotions are
offered at the Peppermill?
IC: We just completed an
event based on hours played
where players that accumulated more that 100 hours
of live play earned an entry
into a tournament to win a
$10,000 seat into the main
event at the World Series of
Poker plus $1,000 in cash.
We have Monday Night
Football Raffles where every
quarter we give away a manicure, facial, haircut and an
entry into either our Sunday
or Wednesday daily tournament.
DB: Who is responsible for
making you job as Cardroom
Manager a little easier?
IC: My team, I have the best
team. Because of my lack
of poker experience I placed
the best people in key positions. I have shift managers,
dealers and cashiers with
experience and personality.
Bobby Helman, my assistant
Poker Room Manager, brings
integrity along with 20 years
“It
still has not hit
home,” World
Series of Poker Champion
Joe Hachem says about this
business of becoming an
instant celebrity.
One minute he’s a reasonably successful but
unknown Australian, a former chiropractor who fancied himself a pretty good
gambler.
efits generated by his World
Series win could be very
big.
Sponsors anxious to
sink big money into pokerrelated events want to be
connected with people who
look like winners, who ARE
winners.
Life has been pretty
much become a non-stop
shuttle from one photo op
serious business of getting
the most out of opportunities that fill the horizons
of his life in almost every
direction.
“I signed with William
Morris,” the oldest of the
Hollywood talent agencies
PLAYER
JOE
BY PHIL HEVENER
Hachem
Profile
And then within a matter of days, he is the winner of the World Series
of Poker’s main event, a
man who outplayed 5,619
other wanna-be champs,
gets a $7.5 million first
prize and then jets off to
LA for some late night conversation with Jay Leno on
national television.
“It’s an awesome thing,
everything that’s happened,” he says, sitting in
the Golden Nugget’s coffee shop on a November
morning, telling a reporter
what it’s been like, this leap
from anonymity to being a
famous face strangers stop
on the street.
He shakes his head, smiling, perhaps at the crowded
panorama of experiences
that have filled his life
since the early hours of that
mid-August morning at the
Horseshoe when the final
hand was dealt.
With the victory still
fresh in his mind, Harrah’s
flew the 39-year-old
Hachem and his family
from Las Vegas to LA, put
them up in a hotel.
“The Leno people were
nice. It was a fun interview,” saying it casually, as
though he’s been getting the
star treatment all his life.
He’s done several other
television interviews and
has others coming up, so
Hachem understands, but
it’s best to skip the details
for the moment until everything has been firmed up.
There’s even an agent
now, which seems to be the
way it is for the winners of
big poker events, who are
suddenly plunged into the
which has been actively
looking for opportunities
to link gaming with other
complementary elements of
big business and entertainment.
“I was lucky enough,”
Hachem says of Morris.
“They actually came after
me. Being totally ignorant
about so many of the issues
I have to deal with now,
Morris seems like the way
to go. People told me it is
the biggest talent agency
in the world and I haven’t
found anyone walking away
from William Morris saying they didn’t look after
them.”
He gives this piece of
news a tight-lipped smile
and look that seems to say,
pretty cool, huh?
Hachem will have no
trouble staying busy with
big poker tournaments, perhaps up until the time when
he returns to Las Vegas next
summer to defend his title
at the next World Series.
Some kind of book deal
also seems likely. “I’ve had
a very interesting life,” the
Lebanese-born Hachem
says matter of factly. The
kind of conversations he
has so far had with the
Morris people range from
video games to TV shows.
The fact Hachem projects
an image that goes well
with television – an easy
smile, personality and good
looks – will work to his
advantage at a time when
the eventual ancillary ben-
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.
or poker event to another.
During the months ahead
he has tournaments scheduled in the Bahamas,
Copenhagen, Paris, Monte
Carlo and of course at several locations in the U.S.
After the World Series,
his thinking was that he
would go back home and
essentially be the same person he had always been.
“That’s the way I was
thinking,” he laughs, “but
it was naïve. Wherever I go
I’m gonna get media attention and a certain spotlight,
so I’m going to try and
enjoy what’s ahead of me
and give what I can back to
the poker world.”
Sitting at the Nugget coffee shop, he was between
tournaments, sipping a glass
of orange juice, working on
a piece of toast.
He had just finished the
Harrah’s Tournament of
Champions, a $2 million
free-roll event at Caesars
Palace that was open to
those who made the final
table at last year’s main
event and others who had
qualified by virtue of their
play in World Series circuit
events at various Harrah’s
properties over the last year
or so.
Hachem did not make the
final table at Caesars, but
he did get plenty of time in
front of the ESPN cameras,
a fact that is of no small
importance for a poker
champ who realizing the
importance of image and
quality exposure.
After breakfast he would
be getting ready for several days of activity associated with the third season
of the Poker Superstars
Invitational being filmed
at the Nugget for showing
over much of next year on
cable’s FSN.
He’s signed to play
in the second annual
National Heads-Up Poker
Championship to be filmed
in February at Caesars
Palace for later showing on
NBC.
And he’s also just
signed with PokerStars.
com, as have the previous
two World Series winners
Greg Raymer and Chris
Moneymaker. But unlike
Raymer and Moneymaker
who earned their main
event seats via PokerStars
satellites, Hachem bought
into the $10,000 tournament
with his own money.
But didn’t he try to win
one of the budget-priced online satellites that offered a
seat in the championship?
“Oh, of course I did,”
giving this a big grin. “I
didn’t suffer from a lack of
trying. Who wants to put
up that much of your own
money.”
The sequence of events
that brought him to Las
Vegas for the World Series
began this past March when
a friend played in a $30 online satellite and won.
Hmmmm, how sweet it
would be . . . so Hachem
decided to take a shot and
try his luck with several
PokerStars satellites, figuring he needed a win
because the price of getting
to Vegas would otherwise
be too expensive.
“The thing was, I wanted
to bring my whole family with me, you see, and I
have four children . . .
“So we’re sitting there at
the beach one day and my
wife, she turns to me and
says that she thinks I should
go with my friends.
But he wasn’t through
with the satellites, not yet.
In Las Vegas he tried a
thousand dollar satellite and
played poorly, not winning
anything. So he decided to
try one more thousand-dollar event. He placed 10th
out of 900 players and collected twenty-eight thousand.
He suddenly had his ticket to the main event.
What were his expectations as he sat down, one
man among more than
5,600?
“My first thought was
if I make it to the money
than I have done well but
three days later I had made
it into the money and I start
thinking about the (championship) bracelet. It’s on
the line and this is what
I’m here for and I stopped
thinking about the money, it
was no longer the point and
just played my heart out.”
On the final hand against
second place finisher Steve
Dannemann, Hachem started with a 7, 3 off-suit . . . 7
of clubs, 3 of spades.”
Thinking about how to
play this, Hachem knew
that any kind of significant
on the flop would probably
have Dannemann pushing
all his chips in.
“I wasn’t prepared to get
involved with him unless I
actually had it . . . had the
nuts. This was a plan I had
had in place for hours.”
At this point Hachem
had about thirty-six million. There was about
twenty million in front of
Dannemann.
Hachem had the two hundred thousand big blind and
Dannemann made it seven
hundred thousand to call.
“I’m figuring I had to
call, because if you get the
right flop,” and he shrugs,
as though the situation
speaks for itself.
“And then the flop comes
4, 5, 6.” Explaining this
months later, a slow smile
spread across his face.
“Now the situation I was
looking at was how do I get
all his chips?”
Hachem makes a bet calculated to get a raise from
Dannemann but he only
calls. Now he’s thinking
that what Dannemann has
is a couple of over cards,
maybe a pair.
“The turn comes an ace,”
Hachem says. There’s that
slow smile again, “and now
I know I have him, but how
do I get it.”
So Hachem bet two million into what at that point
was a six million dollar pot.
Dannemann studies the situation for a little bit and then
raises three million more.
“Before he’s even finished doing it I just said
stop. I’m all in.”
Dannemann did not
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
17
Speaking of Money
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in
the casino, BAM, right back at you! The time that
I have taken off to focus on some other matters
has rewarded me with a new perspective. In relation to life, this particular subject matter needs no
introduction. However, through personal observa-
Dealer Vibes
By Donald W. Woods, Jr.
tion I have arrived at one single note
theme pertinent to every thing that
we do. Therefore, without further
ado, here is my testimony: MONEY
TALKS!
Money talks in an unmistakable language universal to all who may have difficulty understanding
little else. Money can be even explicit or subtle as
each situation dictates. What money cannot be is;
ignored! Money will not have that. Money requires
continual attention, for without proper attention,
money troubles will escalate from subtle reminders
to explicit consequences. Money matters are at the
forefront of almost every single misunderstanding, many times leading to bitter lifelong decisions.
Money can be overbearing, intrusive, relentless,
and downright ruthless in its quest to dictate your
life. When other matters require attention, there is
money waiting in the wings for an intro to over-ride
the intended subject. Now, historically we can trace
money’s behavior as far back as the beginning of
time, but for this column, we only need to go back
to yesterday, to see how pertinent money’s effect
has on our daily routines. Too many times money
dictates in situations where it needs to be secondary. For, money is not a way of life, money has no
allegiance to anyone-if you do not believe that, put
some money in the bank, go around to the ATM to
retrieve it, it will spit out different money. Make no
mistake about it; the essence of man is not money!
Be forewarned, without it though, there had better
be a foundation in your life rooted in the greatest
soil. The reason that many calamities befall us-as a
people-is the constant rat race of the paper chase.
We cannot be sure that someone or some thing
is not trying to uproot us from our prized possession; money. Therefore, our universal guard is up for
intrusions into our accrued wealth. Sort of like a 24
hour security system on alert for anti good intentioned predators. Rest assured that those without
money are certainly on red alert to right that oversight, as Malcolm X says…”by any means necessary”. In our lives, no one has a blue print on how to
live life. In life, we find out-mostly through trial and
mostly error-what works best and move on.
In the casino, no matter how person (A) conducts
his/her finances enabling him/her to play the variety
of games, your personal finances are what should
dictate your playing structure. Too many times, we
collectively play above our means, which invites a
monetary calamity. That in and of itself is a mistake.
I am sure if we heed the words of that rap master,
Snoop Dogg, “keep your mind on your money and
your money on your mind”, that will go a long way in
keeping you above water, or felt, or poverty or….
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]
Pham Takes Bally’s
to avoid making any mistakes,” Hachem said in a
post-tournament interview.
“The fact is – I didn’t make
a mistake. I’m proud of the
way I played in this tournament, although it is very
painful not to win.”
When asked which emotion is more powerful in
poker – joy or despair,
Hachem was candid.
“Despair is more powerful,”
Hachem admitted. “It’s great
to win, but it takes some
time to get over losing. But
that’s poker – you have to
get over the tough beats.”
Down to four players,
Kido Pham enjoyed a sizable chip advantage. He
had 650,000. J.C. Tran had
280,000. Lee Watkinson had
170,000. Meanwhile, Scotty
Nguyen was on life-support. Down to about 75,000,
Nguyen found a playable
hand with A-J and moved
all-in. Kido Pham could not
have been more delighted to
call the raise, holding pocket
Kings. This time, the normally formidable cowboys
held up, and Pham dragged
the last chip from Nguyen’s
stack.
Scotty Nguyen, the 1998
world poker champion and
official host of this tournament on behalf of Harrah’s
Entertainment was in top
form at this final table. But
the $100,768 in prize money
was bittersweet.
“Second, third, fourth
– it’s all disappointing,”
Nguyen said afterward.
“First place is what it’s all
about. Money is good. But
there’s nothing like firstplace, baby.”
During his five hours
spent at the final table,
Lee Watkinson had been
the stealth player. While
other players openly talked,
laughed, and cheered for
themselves and each other,
Watkinson sat stoically,
rarely showing any emotion.
Down to his last 100,000 in
chips, Watkinson was dealt
K-Q. He raised and was
called by Kido Pham. The
flop, K-K-5, was a thing
of beauty to Watkinson.
Unfortunately, there was
danger on the horizon as
two clubs were on board.
Watkinson moved all-in.
Kido Pham had more than
enough chips to call the
raise and did so with J-9 of
18
clubs. Watkinson’s advantage was short-lived. A club
on the turn brought a scowl
to the emotionally-detached
Watkinson. Hoping to see
the board pair, all Watkinson
could do was watch hopelessly as another club fell in
the river. Third-place paid
$138,556.
Lee Watkins has enjoyed
a stellar year in tournament
poker that any other player
would envy. He has won
well in excess of a million
dollars with two secondplace finishes, netting over
$500,000 each time. Despite
financial success, Watkinson
has not fared so well in
tournament victories. This
would prove to be another
impressive showing, but
less than satisfying conclusion for the poker pro from
Washington State. That said
-- in stark contrast to Scotty
Nguyen, Watkinson had a
different view of his finish.
“I really can’t be disappointed with this,” Watkinson
said. “I was low in chips
from the start and never had
a big hand. I’ll take one of
the top three spots (finishes)
anytime I can get it.”
It would be an allVietnamese finale. Headsup play began with Kido
Pham (894,000) holding a
2 to 1 chip lead over J.C.
Tran (446,000). The two
finalists played for about 20
minutes before the relatively
uneventful ending.
On the final hand of the
tournament, Pham was
dealt A-8. Tran was dealt
K-8. The flop came A-K-6.
Pham bet out with top pair
and Tran called with second
pair. When a Queen fell on
the turn Pham moved all-in.
Tran thought for six long
minutes before announcing “call.” Everyone in the
audience rose to their feet
and when Tran saw Pham’s
Ace, he realized the end
was only seconds away. A
harmless Jack fell on the
river, sealing the victory for
Pham. J.C. Tran, decked out
in his trademark Sacramento
Kings (NBA) hat and jersey,
slam dunked second place
– good for $251,920.
If anyone deserved to
catch a few breaks and get
lucky, it was Thang ‘Kido’
Pham. His personal odyssey
is one of compassion and
inspiration. At the age of
eight, Pham fled his native
Vietnam on a wooden boat
and drifted out into the
South China Sea. He and
his family evacuated his
war-torn homeland with all
of their possessions tucked
inside a few knapsacks.
Pham’s family eventually
arrived in the United States
and settled down in Dallas.
Pham later married and
now has two children – ages
2 and 4. One of his children
is autistic and has special
needs. “I could not make it
this far in my life without
my wife,” Pham said. “I
owe everything to her. This
(win) is for her.”
When he started to take
poker seriously, his family
expressed their reservations about gambling. But
Pham believed in himself
and his talent. He studied
and started playing in poker
tournaments. Pham cashed
in two major tournaments
earlier this year, but this win
marked his biggest win ever.
First-place paid $453,456.
“My nickname is ‘freeroll,’ Pham said. (The reason is because) everything
for me has been a freeroll
in my life. I came here and
am freerolling. When I left
my home country, there was
shooting and was very lucky
to survive. Now, I can play
poker and nothing affects
me because whatever happens – I’m a winner.”
When asked about the
hand against Hachem, Pham
was brutally sincere. “I
played the hand very badly,”
Pham admitted. “That was
very lucky. I had already
committed half of my chips,
so I tried to steal the pot….
I caught a lot of cards today.
I think after what I have
been through (in my life), I
deserve to get a break.”
Who could possibly disagree?
2005 WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
AT BALLY’S-PARIS
FINAL EVENT
11/22/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
CHAMPIONSHIP
BUY-IN $10,000 + $0
PLAYERS 134
PRIZE
POOL
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
$1,260,000
Kido Pham . . . . . . . $453,456
JC Tran . . . . . . . . . $251,920
Lee Watkinson . . . . $138,556
Scotty Nguyen . . . . $100,768
Joe Hachem . . . . . . . $88,172
John Smith . . . . . . . . $75,576
Steven Hudak. . . . . . $62,980
s Paris WSOP Circuit Event
8 Doug Lee . . . . . . . . . $50,384
9 Minh Ly . . . . . . . . . . $37,788
AT BALLY’S-PARIS
EVENT #10
11/18/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
AT BALLY’S-PARIS
PLAYERS 124
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
$180,420
B. Hoover . . . . . . . . . $65,853
Brian Stonoff . . . . . . $39,692
Larry Wright . . . . . . $23,455
Douglas Carli . . . . . . $17,140
Mark Seif . . . . . . . . . $12,629
Glynn Beebe . . . . . . . . $9,021
Pete Bigelow . . . . . . . . $7,217
Scott Levy. . . . . . . . . . $5,413
AT BALLY’S-PARIS
EVENT #9
6
7
8
9
Wendy Hursh . . . . . . . $1,564
Anne Knight. . . . . . . . $1,251
Morgan Brashear . . . . .$939
Stacy Mucci . . . . . . . . . .$626
EVENT #4
11/13/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
LISP (LADIES ONLY)
BUY-IN $200 + $20
PLAYERS 169
PRIZE
POOL
1
2
3
4
5
$31,286
Jing Xia Yu. . . . . . . . $10,325
Nicole Schachrovsky . $5,694
Kandi Kroon . . . . . . . $3,129
Jennifer Farmer . . . . $2,503
Merri Perry . . . . . . . . $1,877
AT BALLY’S-PARIS
EVENT #2
AT BALLY’S-PARIS
EVENT #3
BUY-IN $1,500 + $50
PRIZE
POOL
Roland Ng . . . . . . . . $11,436
Sean King . . . . . . . . . . $8,895
David Justin . . . . . . . . $7,624
Brendan Watson . . . . $6,354
Russ Quick . . . . . . . . . $5,083
Larry Davis . . . . . . . . $3,812
Scott Hunter. . . . . . . . $2,541
BUY-IN $1,000 + $60
PLAYERS 205
PRIZE
POOL
$199,000
1 Danny Howze . . . . . . $65,621
2 Jimmy Tran . . . . . . . $36,191
3 Constantinos Maniatis . . . . .
$19,885
4 Zachary Marshak . . $15,908
5 Richard Harter . . . . $11,931
6 Jae Chul Chang . . . . . $9,943
7 Mark Wilds . . . . . . . . $7,954
8 Tuan Vu . . . . . . . . . . . $5,966
9 Daniel Starkey . . . . . . $3,977
AT BALLY’S-PARIS
11/11/05
EVENT #1
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $300 + $30
BUY-IN $300 + $30
PRIZE
POOL
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
11/10/05
LIMIT HOLD’EM
PLAYERS 154
11/12/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
PLAYERS 479
PRIZE
POOL
$74,690
Mark Hight . . . . . . . $24,646
Keith Barrett . . . . . . $13,594
Pablo Gonzales . . . . . $7,469
Nick Helm . . . . . . . . . $5,975
Christian Rasmussen $4,481
John Harris . . . . . . . . $3,735
David Kutcher . . . . . . $2,988
Yerushalem Yehuda . . $2,241
Harvey Vandeven . . . $1,494
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
$139,000
Michael Souza . . . . . $41,555
Aaron Donovan . . . . $22,301
Gary Cordeiro . . . . . $11,081
Todd Anderson . . . . . $9,696
Patrick Le. . . . . . . . . . $8,311
Marc Perea . . . . . . . . . $6,926
Mike Crowell . . . . . . . $5,541
Dariush Imani . . . . . . $4,155
Max Scharf. . . . . . . . . $2,770
BACK ISSUES, SPECIAL FEATURES & UP-TO-THE MINUTE POKER INFO—
11/17/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,500 + $70
PLAYERS 180
PRIZE
POOL
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
$261,900
Men Nguyen . . . . . . . $86,427
Scott Epstein . . . . . . $47,666
Jonathan Turner . . . $26,190
Adrian Pitts . . . . . . . $20,952
Mark Cole . . . . . . . . $15,714
Ron Stanley . . . . . . . $13,095
Jody Milhouse . . . . . $10,476
Filmore Humphreys . $7,857
William Gustafik . . . . $5,238
Time to Ram-and-Jam at Monte Carlo.
AT BALLY’S-PARIS
EVENT #7
11/15/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $300 + $30
PLAYERS 408
PRIZE
POOL
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
$134,640
John Cobb . . . . . . . . $36,806
Maria Stern . . . . . . . $18,996
David Hurley . . . . . . . $9,498
Thuy Nguyen . . . . . . . $8,311
Mike Young . . . . . . . . $7,124
Aaron Holye . . . . . . . . $5,636
Jason Alt . . . . . . . . . . . $4,749
Lance Hewitt . . . . . . . $3,662
Amble Mavad . . . . . . $2,375
AT BALLY’S-PARIS
EVENT #6
[Ram-and-Jam: to bet, raise, and re-raise aggressively in order to intimidate opponents]
Introducing No Limit Hold’em Tournaments
at Monte Carlo Resort and Casino, Las Vegas.
11/14/05
POT LIMIT OMAHA
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PRIZE
POOL
1
2
3
4
5
PLAYERS 43
Join us every Thursday for our new No Limit Hold’em Tournaments
$67,900
$40 Morning Tournaments start at 9:00 a.m.
Shafran Vitali. . . . . . $27,160
Michael Mizrachi . . $16,975
Chad Layne . . . . . . . $10,185
Jason Stern. . . . . . . . . $7,469
Ryan Hughes . . . . . . . $6,111
The winner advances to the 6 p.m. $100 Tournament
For more information, call 702.730.7780.
AT BALLY’S-PARIS
EVENT #5
11/14/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 262
PRIZE
POOL
$127,070
Convenient parking
parking and
and easy
easy access
access off
of Frank
Convenient
Frank Sinatra
Sinatra Drive.
Drive.
montecarlo.com
1 Ryan Gentry . . . . . . $40,664
2 Douglas Carli . . . . . . $22,364
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
19
LESSON 64:
World Poker Players Conference 2005
Lessons from mike caro
university of poker
BY DIANE M C HAFFIE
The conference was held at the
Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut. The
casino is breathtaking, set amongst
the woods of the Mashantucket
Pequot Tribal Nation. This annual allday educational opportunity is hosted
by Card Player Cruises and Mike Caro
University of Poker.
Mike Caro, the “Mad Genius of Poker,”
was emcee and kept everyone riveted
with his stories and tips. All speakers
were famous poker personalities and
players. Lee Jones was first, with his
presentation titled Heads-up Strategy
for No-Limit Hold ‘em Tournaments.
He covered “ES,” Equilibrium Headsup Strategy for No-limit Hold ‘em that
he and James Kittock developed. He
explained that most of us don’t consider how drastically the value of our
hands increases as the number of
players diminishes. This is critical in a
heads-up match. Lee unveiled a strategy for heads-up, no-limit play when
the smallest stack size is less than 10
times the big blind. The small blind
should go all-in more often than you’d
expect, and the big blind should call
frequently. While it didn’t surprise my
mentor, who has analyzed heads-up
play by computer, it did surprise me.
Lively learning. Barry Tanenbaum,
a leading professional poker player,
teacher, and columnist followed with
Earning One Big Bet Per Hour. “The
skills to keep in mind,” Barry says,
“are playing tight, folding early, incorporating position and strategy, reading hands, avoiding traps, winning
without the best hand, inducing calls
and bluffs, and playing the players.”
I understand why people flock to him
to be privately tutored. He’s humorous and makes learning lively.
Mark Gregorich taught in high school,
before poker. Now he’s a top player
and married father of three who’s
learned to juggle family and poker.
His topic: Keys to Surviving in the
Poker World. Mark advised simply,
“Play when you have an edge, and
quit when you don’t.” He showed why
you’re doomed if you don’t apply that
simple truth. He also stated, “Tilt can
be your friend.” Other players’ tilt
– he explained.
Chip and chair. During lunch, Mark
Tenner told how the poker expression, “All you need is a chip and a
chair” came about. Legendary world
champion Jack Straus went all-in at a
major tournament in 1982. As he was
leaving, the players discovered one
$500 chip that had gone unnoticed.
20
Straus was told to sit
back down. He ended up winning!
Kenna James, dressed in jeans and a
western hat, is a red-hot performer
on the professional poker tour. He
looked as if he’d just ridden into town
to play in an old west poker game. He
addressed the topic of Principles of
Tournament Poker.
Those included positional values,
situational values, knowledge and
application of hand values. He went
on to say that you should first identify and then exploit your opponent’s
mistakes. He said that you needed
to practice willpower, discipline, and
patience.
Kenna applied Vince Lombardi’s
quote, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s
the only thing!”
I learned that Clonie Gowen, one of
the favorite pros, was a member of
her varsity basketball team. In 2003
she won the WPT Ladies Night event,
the highest rated WPT show ever
broadcast. She is a columnist for the
All In magazine. Her presentation was
Advantages of Being a Woman at the
Poker Table and What Both Men and
Women Need to Know About It.
Men’s egos. She stated, “Women
have natural abilities and they need
to exploit those, especially when playing poker against men.” Men’s egos,
she said, will sometimes affect their
judgment, although professional male
players seem to have better control
and are less likely to play the flirt or
be a chauvinist. I bet men in the audience may be more wary when playing
against a woman next time.
The conference finale was a Question
and Answer session with experts
Mark Seif, Linda Johnson, Clonie
Gowen, and Mike Caro. Poker educator Jan Fisher was moderator.
Surprise guests and attendees were
Men the Master, Cathy Liebert,
Wendeen Eolis, Marsha Waggoner,
and Jim McManus. For a learning
experience, the World Poker Players
Conference excels. I’ll be there next
year.
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 Whitetailed Deer. You can write her online at
[email protected].
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
Oh, Brother
Part 1
A Joe & Hobby fiction by
David J. Valley
“H
ey, Joe. Shake a
leg; our reservation is for 7:30,” Hobby
shouted. I was still looking
for my keys when I heard
the doorbell.
“Get the door, Hobby.
I’ll be right there.”
Hobby was turned sideways to a young guy in
jeans and tee shirt. “He
says he’s your brother,
Joe.”
“What?” I said incredulously. “I don’t have a
brother.” I looked him up
and down and said, “Who
the hell are you and what’s
your game?”
“Well, if you’re Joe
Crest, I’m sort of your
half-brother.”
“And I don’t have a
half-brother, either. So
buzz off.” To Hobby I said,
“I don’t know him and
don’t care to find out what
he’s up to.”
I was closing the door
when I heard, “Do you
remember Mary Benton?”
I hesitated, and then
opened the door. “Okay.
I know Mary Benton, but
who are you and what’s
this all about?” Memories
were flashing back. After
my mother died, my father
had married Mary Benton.
I was just a teenager. A
few years later he had lung
cancer, and for a long time
was bad off. Mary took
care of him until he died.
I went into the Army after
that.
“My name is Jimmy
Morrow, Mary Benton was
my mother.”
“Was?”
“She died a few weeks
ago.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.
She was a good woman.”
He got choked up.
Softly, I said, “Come in
and sit down.”
I offered a drink, but he
waved it off. “Sorry about
the brother thing. I was
just hoping. I don’t have
any family now. I didn’t
even know about you until
I was going through Ma’s
things. She had a scrapbook about you. She wrote
notes like, ‘That’s my boy,’
so I thought she was your
mother, too.”
“No, Mary wasn’t my
mother. She was my stepmother, but I really liked
her. She was good to me
and she took good care
of my dad before he died.
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
21
Oh, Brother
Should begging be allowed?
TRUE POKER
Part 1
By Peter “The Poet” COsta
About 20 years ago back in the
UK, when Hold’em was still in it’s
infancy - PL 7- Card Stud was the
game when it came to playing cash. The games
in Nottingham at the time became extremely
lively as an influx of new faces came to play in
the biggest game in town. In truth, it was very
easy money as most of these fresh faces had
very little idea of how to play the game.
My brother Kim and I had very little choice
but to sit at the same table. It as never an ideal
situation but what can you do when with all this
loose money about? As usual, both Kim and I
played with the patience of Angels. After all, it
was always a matter of time before this patience
paid off for either of us. Suddenly, with barely
30 minutes to go before the Casino was set to
close - the biggest pot of the night was brewing
up nicely. On fifth street - there seemed to be
five major hands developing. I was not involved
in the pot - but Kim looks to be on a big draw.
Showing 4s-3s - it looked like the Jh on fifth
street was of no help to him. Open Kings now
bet the pot and the three players before Kim
call. Kim follows suit and happily call the bet big draw for sure!.
Sixth street is dealt and the big hands get
bigger. Kim hit’s the 2s for an obvious flush - but
I hate his hand in this spot. I am hoping that he
does not call the next bet. But with three players
to act before him - all hell breaks loose. It seems
that the players in seat 2 and 6 are heading for
a different kind of showdown. They had been at
each other all night! Their constant bickering
had finally reached the boiling point - it looked
like the table was going to be turned over during
the heat of the moment. Suddenly…..Kim stands
up and in the sweetest of begging tones calls out
“gentlemen… please”. You guessed it…..Kim had
just made a straight flush! Kim’s begging worked
and peace was restored. The hand was played
out and Kim had one of his biggest ever wins in
Stud!
The end of the night came, but the gentle ribbing for Kim had only just begun! “Gentlemen….
please” was now the new catch phrase in
Nottingham. Followed by the odd “Not now….now
that I have a straight flush!“. Fun times….
BTW - during the William Grand Prix event
in Cardiff - I heard one the greatest ever statements by a player. This guy was an Internet qualifier in one of the heats. Having just lost most
of his stack in the last hand before the break
- he tried to assure himself that all was not lost.
And in the most sincere of all tones…declared
that he….as he put it “had a lot of experience
at playing a short-stack”. And just as sincerely,
added …..“it’s just that I don’t last very long“.
Priceless!
He was gone immediately after the break but he did add to his vast experience at playing
a short-stack!
Here we again. Having spent the last few
months without playing much poker - the
Bellagio is set to get under way with a stream of
NL events. I will obviously try my best to get a
few good results - but the money is not important here ….I NEEED MORE MATERIAL!
Until next time - play well, get lucky and beg
if you need to!
22
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
After I went into the Army
I wrote to her, but never
got an answer.”
I had always been sorry
we had lost touch. She
was the last remnant of
my family. Now Jimmy
reminded me of the loneliness I had felt. I reached
for his hand and shook
it. “I’m glad to meet you,
Jimmy. We’re not blood
related, but as far as I’m
concerned, you’re family.”
He immediately brightened
up and Hobby, who had
been standing off to the
side taking it all in, suddenly seemed ecstatic. I
should explain that, like
me, Hobby is a virtual
orphan, too.
“That’s great!” Hobby
said with genuine enthusiasm as he shook hands.
“We‘ve got to celebrate.
You’re coming to dinner
with us!”
“Thanks, but you guys
are all dressed up and –”
Jimmy motioned to his
attire.
“I’ll get you a jacket.
You’ll be fine,” I said.
Jimmy was a country
bumpkin, but seemed to be
a nice kid. He kept looking at me like a puppy dog.
This is unnerving for a guy
who enjoys his independence. “So what’s in your
future?” I asked, half-hoping he was heading back to
Kansas soon.
“Not sure. I might work
here for a while and see if
I like it.”
“What do you do?” I
asked.
“I’m a VW mechanic.
A dealer in Santa Monica
offered me a job. I’m staying at the Y there.”
“Hey,” Hobby said.
“I’ve got a VW dune
buggy that needs work,
maybe…”
That launched a halfhour discussion about VW
engines, which bored me
stiff. I finally broke in to
ask Jimmy, “What do you
do for fun?”
“I like to play poker.”
“Really!” Hobby and I
said in unison.
“I love it, but my friends
stopped playing with me
because I always win.”
“Really!” we chorused
again.
“After dinner, let’s stop
at the Bike,” Hobby suggested.
On the way to Bell
Gardens we quizzed
Jimmy about poker. He
understood the game,
but wasn’t familiar with
advanced concepts. My
thought of finding a poker
genius in the rough was
fast evaporating. Likely
he was only a small town
whiz; hardly star potential,
but I’d show him a good
time for Mary’s sake.
“What’s your favorite
game?” I asked.
“7-card stud.”
“That’s a good game,”
Hobby said, “Why do you
like it?”
“I win more at seven,
maybe because I have
more time to think.”
“7-card it is then. We’ll
see how you do against the
local talent.”
“I don’t have much
money to lose; we only
play nickel and dime.”
“Don’t worry about it,
we’ll stake you. You’re our
guest tonight,” Hobby said.
We gave him two trays
of singles and got him a
seat at a $3/$6 pot limit
7-card game we could
watch from the sidelines.
He seemed uncomfortable
for a while, but it wasn’t
long before he caught on
to the play. He didn’t play
a lot of hands, and often
dropped out after a card or
two.
Jimmy was finally in his
first big showdown; the
betting had been heavy.
He had a goodly portion of
his chips in the pot. After
the down card was dealt,
a player bet about half
the pot; two others still in
folded. It was Jimmy’s turn
to call or fold. Our young
friend was looking intently
across the table at his older
opponent. The up cards
didn’t make clear who had
an advantage. There could
be straights or flushes in
contention. I was feeling
sorry for Jimmy, hoping he
knew what he was doing.
Then, darned if he didn’t
raise the bet and go all
in! The old fellow said, “I
hate to take all your chips,
Sonny.” He laid down a
queen high straight; Jimmy
showed a flush.
“Beginner’s luck?” I
asked Hobby.
“Let’s watch and see.”
We did for about two
hours. Jimmy played several big pots and only lost
one. He spooked the table;
players had been dropping off and after his last
big win those remaining
picked up their chips and
left. Hobby and I walked
over as the dealer was
helping Jimmy put his
chips into trays. He didn’t
know we had been watching. He smiled broadly and
said, “It’s like I was telling
you, even these guys don’t
want to play with me anymore.”
“It’s okay, Jimmy, that’s
enough for the night,” I
said.
When Jimmy cashed
in the chips, he couldn’t
believe he had won over
$4,000. “I never had so
much money, except when
I saved up for my truck,”
he said.
“Jimmy, Hobby and I
are going to talk to you
about playing poker. If
tonight wasn’t a fluke, you
might want to think twice
about taking that mechanic’s job.”
As we walked away
from the cage one of the
losers from Jimmy’s table
jostled him and said, “You
were lucky tonight, farm
boy, but don’t ever get in
my way again.” Hobby
was immediately on attack
alert, but I put a restraining
hand on him. “Forget it,”
I said loudly, “he’s just a
sore loser.”
“It’s okay, Joe,” Hobby
said, but he went to the
bully and whispered into
his ear. The guy turned red
and took a vicious swing.
Not even close; Hobby
ducked and with a couple
swift moves subdued the
man and turned him over
to security.
Jimmy said, “What did
you say to him?”
“I just asked if his
mother had any legitimate
children.”
(To be continued.)
Write to uthor David Valley at:
[email protected]
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
23
From Me in New York...
To Her L.I.P.S.
Quizzes from Mike Caro University of Poker
NORTH BY NORTHWEST
By Byron Liggett
The SENECA WORLD POKER CLASSIC, Jan.
24 – Feb. 2, at the Niagara Casino, in New
York, is going to be special. It promises to be one of those
memorable events in which participants will declare with
pride, “I Was There!”
Seneca Director of Poker Operations, Mike Gainey, one
of the most experienced, well regarded Quarterbacks in The
Game, has assembled a Dream Team. At key positions are
Super Stars Matt Savage, instrumental in the success of Bay
101, particularly it’s acclaimed “Shooting Star Tournament”,
and David Lamb, another of Poker’s MVP’s, who took the
Reno Hilton program to the top.
Tournament Director Carlee Hunter is one of the Game’s
premier Umpires. She keeps the players in line and the
action on time.
This columnist is proud to be invited to write and produce
the Daily Tournament Newsletter for the Classic. Each edition will report on who’s who, what’s what, where it’s at,
where it went, and who got it. It will capture the culture,
color and characters that will distinguish the World Classic
and make it a unique experience for all who attend.
Seneca intends to win the tournament playoffs by establishing the World Classic as one of the foremost events in
Pokerdom. A lot of legends have already signed-up, including
Men “The Master”, Tom McEvoy, and Oklahoma Johnny Hale,
to mention only a few. These are The Rulers of The Game;
the ones you measure yourself by. So come and get fitted.
A handsome new hotel will welcome participants. And hey,
if you lose everything you own, Niagara Falls is nearby.
LIPS sounds like a sexy acronym. It is. It’s the “Ladies
International Poker Series”. And the lady with the LIPS is the
brilliant, vivacious, energetic Lupe Soto.
Lupe may be the Joan of Arc of Poker. Through her passion for the game, her spirit for organization, and her knowledge of computer technology, she’s on the verge of making
women’s poker as big as women’s golf, maybe bigger.
In just two years, Lupe has launched LIPS, the women’s
poker tour, created women’s poker leagues, established an
online poker club for ladies called “Poker Chix”, and is about
to stage a “U.S. Ladies’ Poker Championship” in which the
winners of state championships will compete for the national
title.
Lupe markets LIPS ladies-only tournaments to casinos
across the country. Important poker tournaments like to
feature a ladies event. Now, they just contact Lupe. She has
the respect and affection (and contact info) of women poker
players coast-to-coast. When Lupe smacks her LIPS, women
show up.
The Wildhorse Resort & Casino, in Pendleton OR, featured
a LIPS event as part of its “Fall Poker Round-up”. Despite
being in the northeast corner of the state surrounded by
wheat farms and open range, 150 women warriors came
when Lupe called.
The LIPS ladies were also part of the recent “Fall Poker
Tournament” at the Peppermill, in Reno. So many women
came for the ladies-only No-Limit event that the casino
looked like a “Flop House”.
Caesars’, Hollywood Park, Paris Las Vegas, Bay 101, and
Harrahs, including the WSOP, all feature LIPS events at their
important poker tournaments.
Women have been flirting with the game for the past
couple of years. Asked why she thought Poker was becoming
so popular with women, Lupe explained, “We discovered that
in a poker game, the weaker sex is anyone with the secondbest hand.”
Women and Poker Tournament Directors may contact her
at: www.LIPSTour.com.
Byron Liggett, originally from the Northwest, lives in Reno
24
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
asked & answered:
This series is based on the MCU library of research and advice found at Poker1.com.
Each issue, Mike Caro presents 10 new questions covering a category of poker, targeted for beginner, intermediate, or advanced players. Quiz #34 is about poker history
for advanced players. (Answers and explanations appear in the next issue.)
Poker History
(level: advanced)
1. Which three players
have won the most championship gold bracelets at the
World Series of Poker?
a. Daniel Negreanu, Phil
Hellmuth, and Doyle Brunson;
b. Howard Lederer, Annie
Duke, and Phil Hellmuth;
c. Doyle Brunson, Johnny
Chan, and Phil Hellmuth;
d. Stu Ungar, Doyle
Brunson, and Johnny Chan.
2. How did the saying,
“All you need is a chip and a
chair” get started?
a. It originated in a scene
from a classic W. C. Fields
movie
b. In a 1982 tournament,
Jack Straus bet what he
thought were all the chips in
front of him without declaring all in. It was discovered
that he had a chip left, and
recovered to win the tournament.
c. It was quoted in the
classing poker Herbert O.
Yardley poker book, “The
Education of a Poker Player.”
d. It was a recurring line
from the TV series Maverick,
but was mysteriously left out
of the movie.
3. Modern poker is thought
to have evolved from…
a. Cribbage;
b. A bridge convention in
1922, when the key players
went on an informal strike
and held the first poker-like
tournament, featuring a
game they then called bluffand-run.
c. Poque – a French game;
d. An American Indian
game played to win honorary
beads supplied by the tribal
chief.
4. Which game has never
appeared as a championship
gold bracelet event at the
World Series of Poker…
a. five-card draw poker;
b. three-card lowball;
c. seven-card stud lowball
(razz);
d. deuce-to-seven (Kansas
City) lowball.
5. What is the name of
the famous book by David
Sklansky that defined the
concepts that govern poker?
a. Winning Theories of
Poker;
b. How to Beat Poker Using
Analytical Science;
c. Sklansky on Pro Poker
Technique;
d. The Theory of Poker.
6. In what year was Doyle
Brunson’s original Super/
System – A Course in Power
Poker published (first edition
had a different title)?
a. 1960;
b. 1967;
c. 1978;
d. 1984.
7. The sequel to Doyle
Brunson’s Super/System
(Super/System II) wasn’t published until 2005.
a. true;
b. false.
8. A pioneering book by
John Fox appeared a year
before work on Super/System
began. What was it called?
a. Quit Work, Play Poker,
and Sleep Till Noon;
b. Fox on Fierce Poker;
c. Draw Poker Concepts
Applied to Other Poker
Games;
d. Poker – Beyond Basic
Theory.
9. Before the Hustler
Casino was built in Gardena
California, there was a major
card room at that location
called the Eldorado. What was
the name of the card casino
that predated the Eldorado
on the same site?
a. Blue Velvet;
b. The Gardena Club;
c. The Embassy;
d. The Horseshoe Club.
10. There was a major
poker tournament among
23 top players, called
“The Gathering of Poker
Professionals,” held at
Binion’s Horseshoe Casino
12 years before the birth of
the World Series of Poker, in
1958…
a. True;
b. False.
WATCH FOR
ANSWERS IN OUR
NEXT ISSUE!
If you do not remember the questions, you will find them on our
web site—Download previous issues at
http://www.pokerplayernewspaper.com/
to last issue’s questions
backissues
answers
Q #1 ANSWER: (c). Part of
the MCU motivational teaching is to imagine that you’re
two people – one who stays at
home and makes rational decisions about your long-term
behavior and one who goes
out into the world to obey.
That way you won’t make irrational choices based on heatof-the-moment emotions.
Q #2 ANSWER: (d). It’s important to realize that you earn
money, not lose it, when you
correctly fold a hand – even
though doing so means you
lose the pot.
Q #3ANSWER: (c). You
shouldn’t talk about bad luck,
because – by doing so – you
motivate your opponents to
play better against you. That’s
because they believe you can
be beaten easily and they target your money.
Q #4 ANSWER: (a). Just
studying poker a little and
staying motivated doesn’t
mean you’re definitely going
to win.
Q #5 ANSWER: (a). It’s true
that if your image is conservative and you seem like a tight
player, you won’t be called as
often when you hold big winning hands.
Q #6 ANSWER: (a). It’s true
that if you have a loose, liberal, confusing image and are
fun to play with, opponents
will sometimes make extremely weak calls against you—calls
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D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
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28
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 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
& . Add’l gametimes
E on this day. Call
•Denotes Advertiser
Split
Pi........ Pineapple
Po.........Pot Limit
Pn.......Panginque
S........... Stud
5 ...Five Card
MONDAY
REGION/Cardroom(Ad Pg.)
Time Games
NH
1P&
7P
NH
Arizona Charlie’s
12P
NH
•Binion’s Gambling Hall (p28) 8P& N H
Cannery Casino
10A
NH
7P
NH
Carson Valley Inn
12P& H Sh
Circus Circus
11A L/N H
NV Aladdin
SOUTH
Col.Belle-Laughlin
•Gold Coast (p42)
Golden Nugget
7P&
10A
11A
7P
Flamingo Laughlin
8A
Harrah’s Las Vegas
11A
•Imperial Palace (p9) 1P
12A
Z
NH
NH
NH
Al ...... Alternates
F .............Freeroll
Z......... Freezeout
Q .............Qualify
Sh .........Shootout
TUESDAY
Buy-in
$50RB(1)$40
$50RB(1)$40
$22RB$10AO$10
$60RB$10AO$40
$25
$40RB$20AO$2
$15
$40AO$3
Time Games
1P&
NH
7P
NH
8P&
10A
7P
12P&
11A
HB
$25RB$10AO$20
NH
$22 10A
N H $60RB(1)$40AO$40 11A
N H $125RB$100AO(1)$100 7P
•Jokers Wild (p41) 2P
NH
7P
NH
Luxor
12P& L/N H Z
$17 8A
$30RB(1)$40 11A
$50RB$25AO$5 7P
$50RB$25AO$5
NH
NH
NH
H Sh
L/N H
NH
NH
NH
Z
NH
NH
$25RB(1)$10 2P
NH
$25RB(1)$10 7P
NH
$25 12P& L/N H Z
#M ..# of players
maximum
RB ......... Re-buys
AO ......... Add Ons
Cz .............. Crazy
E....... Elimination
WEDNESDAY
Buy-in Time Games
$50RB(1)$40 1P&
NH
$50RB(1)$40 7P
NH
12P
NH
$60RB$10AO$40 8P& N H
$25 10A
NH
$40RB$20AO$2 7P
NH
$15 12P& H Sh
$40AO$3 11A
L/N H
7PWk1&
$22 10A
$60RB(1)$40AO$40 11A
$125RB$100AO$100 7P
$17 8A
$30RB(1)$40 11A
$50RB$25AO$5 1P
12A
Buy-in
$50RB(1)$40
$50RB(1)$40
$22RB$10AO$10
$60RB$10AO$40
$25
$40RB$20AO$2
$15
$40AO$3
DAILY TOURNAMENTS
NOW! Get Tournament Listings at our website: www.pokerplayernewspaper.com
Note: All tournaments are subject to change. Check with the Cardroom for any updates. Cardrooms—
please send your schedules to Tournament Editor A.R. Dyck, [email protected]
THURSDAY
Time Games
1P&
NH
7P
NH
8P&
10A
NH
NH
12P&
11A
H Sh
L/N H
FRIDAY
Buy-in Time Games
$50RB(1)$40 12P
NH
$50RB(1)$40
$60RB$10AO$40 8P&
$25 10A
$15 12P&
$40AO$3 11A
H
$110 7P& O H/L B $25RB$10AO$20 7P&
NH
$22 10A
NH
$22 10A
N H $60RB(1)$40AO$40 11A
N H $60RB(1)$40AO$40 11A
N H $125RB$100AO(1)$100 7P
N H $125RB$100AO$100 7P
Z
$17 8A
$30RB(1)$40 11A
$50RB$25AO$5 1P
$50RB$25AO$5
NH
NH
$25RB(1)$10 2P
NH
$25RB(1)$10 7P
NH
$25 12P& L/N H Z
Z
NH
$25RB(1)$10 2P
NH
$25RB(1)$10 7P
NH
$25 12P& L/N H Z
NH
NH
H Sh
L/N H
SATURDAY
Buy-in Time Games
$100AO$10
12P
$125RB$25AO$50 8P&
$25 10A
NH
NH
NH
$15 12P&
$40AO$3
H Sh
O H/L B $25RB$10AO$20
NH
$22
N H $60RB(1)$40AO$40
N H $230RB$200AO$100
$17 8A
$30RB(1)$40 11A
$50RB$25AO$5
Z
10A
10A
11A
7P
$17 8A
$30RB(1)$40 11A
HZ
$30(30M) 10A
NHZ
$60(30M) 6P
L H $130RB$100AO(1)$100 7P
HZ
$30(30M) 10A
NHZ
$60(30M) 6P
N H $130RB$100AO(1)$100 7P
HZ
NHZ
NH
$30(30M) 10A
$60(30M) 6P
$130RB$100 7P
HZ
NHZ
NH
$30(30M) 10A
$60(30M)
$230RB(1)$200
HZ
$30(30M)
Nevada Palace
Oasis-Mesquite
10A
11A
7P
H
NH
NH
H
NH
NH
H
NH
NH
$18 10A
$15RB(1)$15 11A
$25RB$10
H
NH
$18 10A
$15RB(1)$15 11A
H
NH
$18 10A
$15RB(1)$15 11A
The Orleans
12P O H/L
7P
NH
12A& N H
7P
O H/L
12P& N H
Rio Suite Casino
$18 10A
$15RB(1)$15 11A
$120 7P
$40RB$20
$40RB$20
$65RB(1)$30
$45RB$20AO$20
$40RB(1)$40
River Palms
6P&
•Sahara (p20) 11A
7P&
•Sam’s Town (p40)
O H/L
NH
NH
Speedway
Stardust
•Sunset Station (p8)
Stratosphere
L/N H
$23RB$10AO$20
NH
$40
LH
$18AO$2
NH
$22RB(1)$20
N H $44RB(1)$40AO(1)$40
NH
$40
NH
(40M)
OS
$25RB$10
NH
$20RB$10
4P
10A
10A
9A
8P
•Texas Station (p8) 7P
•Tuscany (p35)
10A
7P
Virgin River Casino
6P
Wynn Las Vegas
NV Atlantis Casino
NORTH Boomtown
12P& L H Sh
Cactus Petes-Jackpot
Carson Valley Inn
7P
12P
Pi
N H Sh
Circus Circus
Eldorado
Harrah's Reno
4P
H
Harvey’s Tahoe
Peppermill
Reno Hilton
Rainbow Cas. W Wendover
CA Casino Morongo
SAN Casino Pauma
DIEGO Harrah’s Rincon
&
10A&
NH
2P
NH
7P Ladies N H
9A
NH
8P
NH
12P
7P
12A&
7P
12P&
$25RB$10AO$20 6P&
$40RB$20AO$2 11A
$40RB$20AO$2 7P&
10A
10A
9A
8P
7P
10A
7P
6P
12P
$15 10A&
7P
$15RB$10
$12 6P&
H
NH
NH
NH
NH
7 H/L
NH
NH
$19 10A
$15RB(1)$15 11A
$120RB(1)$100 6P
$40RB$20
$40RB$20
$65RB(1)$30
$45RB(1)$20
$40RB(1)$40
12P
7P
12A&
7P
12P&
NH
H
NH
NH
NH
$25RB$10AO$20 6P&
$40RB$20AO$2 11A
$40RB$20AO$2 7P&
NH
NH
NH
NH
$40
L O High
$18AO$2
NH
$22RB(1)$20
N H $44RB(1)$40AO(1)$40
O H/L B
$37RB$10
NH
(40M)
OS
$25RB$10
NH
F
NH
$330
7 Sh
NH
NH
4P
10A
10A
9A
8P
7P
10A
7P
$40RB$20
$40RB$20
$65RB(1)$30
$45RB(1)$20
$40RB(1)$40
12P
H
7P
O H/L
12A& N H
7P
NH
12P& N H
$25RB$10AO$20 6P&
$40RB$20AO$2 11A
$40RB$20AO$2 7P&
7P
L/N H $23RB$10AO$20
NH
$40
NH
$23AO$2
NH
$22RB(1)$20
N H $44RB(1)$40AO(1)$40
NH
$40
NH
(40M)
OS
$25RB$10
$15 12P& L H Sh
$22RB$10
7P
NH
$25AO(1)$20 6P& N H
12P
10A
9A
8P
7P
10A
7P
6P
12P
$15 10A&
Pi Z
NH
NH
SUNDAY
Buy-in Time Games
$22RB$10AO$10
$125RB$25AO$50 8P&
$25 10A
NH
NH
10A
10A
11A
7P
$17 8A
$30RB(1)$40 11A
1P
Pi Z
$12
NH
$22
N H $60RB(1)$40AO$40
N H $125RB$100AO$100
Z
5P
H
NH
$18 10A
$15RB(1)$15 3P
H
NH
$18
$25RB$10
$40RB$20
$40RB$20
$65RB(1)$30
$45RB(1)$20
$40RB(1)$40
12P
7P
12A&
7P
12P&
O H/L
NH
NH
NH
NH
$50RB(1)$20
$60RB(1)$40
$65RB(1)$30
$45RB(1)$20
$40RB(1)$40
12P
7P
12A&
7P
12P&
H
NH
NH
NH
NH
$50RB(1)$20
$125RB(1)$100
$65RB(1)$30
$45RB(1)$20
$40RB(1)$40
12P
7P
12A&
7P
12P&
NH
H
NH
NH
NH
$50RB(1)$20
$60RB(1)$50
$65RB(1)$30
$45RB(1)$20
$40RB(1)$40
$25RB$10AO$20
$40RB$20AO$2
$40RB$20AO$2
$45RB$20AO$20
6P&
11A
7P&
7P
O H/L
NH
NH
NH
$25RB$10AO$20
$40RB$20AO$2
$40RB$20AO$2
$45RB$20AO$20
6P&
11A
7P&
7P
Po H
NH
NH
NH
$25RB$10AO$20
$40RB$20AO$2
$40RB$20AO$2
$45RB$20AO$20
6P&
11A
7P&
7P
NH
NH
NH
NH
$25RB$10AO$20
$40RB$20AO$2
$40RB$20AO$2
$60RB(1)$40
4P
LH
F
LH
$23AO$2 11A
NH
$22RB(1)$20 9A
N H $44RB(1)$40AO(1)$40 8P
NH
$40
NH
(40M)
OS
$25RB$10 7P
NH
$20RB$10
NH
$330 3P
L/N H
$23RB$10AO$20 4P
L/N H
$23RB$10AO$20
7 Sh
L H Sh
NH
H
NH
NH
NH
F RB$10
$55 6P&
$15 12P&
7P
$25RB$10
OS
$25RB$10 7P
12P
$25RB$10 7P
NH
$540
$15 10A&
$22RB$10
$23AO$2 6P Ladies L H
OS
7 Sh
OS
OS
$15 12P& L H Sh
7P
NH
12P
H
$12 12P& N H
N H Sh
$12 12P
N H Sh
H
$15 4P
H
$15 4P
H
$15 10A
H
$15 10A
H
$15
NH
$25 10A
NH
$25 10A
NH
$25 10A
NH
$25 10A
NH
$25
6P
$25AO$10 2P
$35RB(1)$30
$15(24M) 9A&
$25RB$20
H
NH
$25RB$20
$25AO$10 2P
NH
$25AO$10
NH
$15(24M) 9A
NH
7P
$15(24M) 9A&
NH
NH
$115RB$100 6P
$15(24M) 9A
8P
NH
NH
LH
$110 6P
$15(24M) 9A
$25RB$20
NH
NH
$115
$25(30M) 9A
6P
NH
NH
$25(30M)
$50
H
H
NH
$5RB$5AO$5
$5RB$5AO$10B$5
$15RB$10AO$10
$22RB$11 10A
$65 10A
H
NH
$22RB$11
$40RB(1)$20
$30 10A
4P
$12RB$10AO$10 6P&
$25B$5 10A
$30
$30
$17
$12B$5
H
N Cz Pi
$10RB$10AO$10 7P&
H
$15RB$10AO$10 10A&
NH
$15RB$10AO$10 10A&
NH
$15RB$10AO$10 10A&
NH
$60 10A
4P
$15RB$10AO$10 10A&
DC
H
NH
Lake Elsinore
10A
O H/L
$17RB$5AO$5 10A
LH
$17RB$5AO$5 10A
6P
NH
NH
$17RB$5AO$5 10A
$20RB(2)$15
LH
$17RB$5AO$5 10A
O H/L
Lucky Lady
Oceans Eleven
10A
LH
$35 10A
NH
$35 10A
NH
$55 10A
NH
$35 10A
LH
10A
$35 10A
O H/L
NH
•Pechanga (p33) 10A
6P
Sycuan
10A
Viejas
10A
NH
NH
LH
NH
O
$30 10A
$30
$12 6P&
$12B$5 10A&
NH
$30 10A
NH
$30 10A
NH
F 6P&
$12B$5 10A&
LH
NH
NH
$22 6P&
$12B$5 10A
10A
NH
NH
O
$30RB$20AO(1)$50B(20)$5 10A
NH
NH
LH
NH
LH
1P
7P
NH
NH
7P
$20RB$10AO$10 1P
$40RB$30AO$30 7P
HH L H
Mx
NH
$30
$30
$12
$12B$5
10A
6P
10A
10A&
$30RB$20AO(1)$50B(20)$5 10A
NH
NH
NH
O H/L
NH
LH
NH
NH
$30RB$10 12P
$60 7P
F
NH
Club One Casino
7P
Commerce Club
•Crystal Park Casino (p41)
NH
$27RB(2)$15 10A
NH
•Diamond Jim’s (p40) 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
NH
$125RB(1)$100 7P
7P
$30
$30
$12
$12B$5
$30RB$20AO(1)$50B(20)$5
California Grand
Casino San Pablo
Garden City
Gold Rush
Golden West-Bakersfield
Kelly’s Cardroom
Lucky Chances
Lucky Derby Casino
Oaks Card Club
Palace Indian Casino
Sonoma Joe's
Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino
11A
L H $28RB(1)$20AO(1)$20 11A
9A& Sp L H
$70RB60 9A
12P
10A
6P
10A
11A
CO N T ’ D O N PAG E 3 1
Sp L
$14RB$5/$10AO$20 7P&
7P
NH
Pn
$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
S H/L
O H/L
LH
NH
NH
$40RB(1)$40 10A
Sp L
NH Sh
$20
NH $50RB(1)$50AO$15 10A
NH
$15 1P
$20RB(2)$15 6P
6P
$100AO$20 10A
H Sh
NH
NH Sh
NH
6P
NH
HH N H
HH N H
$10RB$10AO$10 11A
$5RB$5AO$10B$5 4P
$15RB$10AO$10 10A&
$17RB$5AO$5 10A
$30RB$20AO(1)$50B(20)$5
$15RB$10 12P
$17RB$10 11A
$35 7P
H
H
NH
$230 7P
NH
$15RB$10 6P
$17RB$10 11A
$35 8P
$15 1P
$58
$20
$50RB(1)$50AO15
LH
NH
NH
1P
LH
$25RB 6P
$17RB$10 11A
$225RB(1)$200 8P
Mx
7
Po H
LH
H
H
$65RB$50AO$50
$10RB$5AO$10
$20RB$20(1)
$10RB$10AO$10 12P
$5RB$5AO$10B$5 4P
$15RB$10AO$10 10A&
$17RB$5AO$5
H
H Sh
$48
$50RB40 9A
$10
$40RB$40AO 10A
$15 1P
10A
Sp L H
Sp L
H Sh
NH
11A
H
$40RB$10
$15RB$10AO$10
$30RB$15AO$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
3P
3P
F 5P
3P& Pai Gow
LH
Sp L H
H
$25RB$20AO$50
$27RB(2)$15 12P
$40 1P
$15
$125RB(1)$100
LH
N H Sh
$22RB$10
$120
Pai Gow
N H $125RB$100AO(1)$100
NH
$30RBAO
Sp L H
6P
$125RB$60 9A
NH
Sp L H
10A
NH
10A
$25RB(1)$20 10A
NH
$15 1P
2P
5P
$100AO$20
H Sh
LH
NF
$15
$5RB$10AO$10 2P
F 6P
10A
9A
12P
NH
Varies
$40 11A
$65RB$50AO$50 1P
Varies
LH
Varies
$100RB(2)$50
6P
O H/L F
RB$10
$110 9A
$49RB$20AO$40
$70RB$60
$55
$25RB(1)$20
$60RB$40AO
$55
6P
11A
$20RB$20(1) 7P
$70
LH
N H $14RB$5/$10AO$20 7P& N H(80M)
Pn
$40 1P
Pn
NH
$15 7P
NH
$30RB(2)AO(1)
$40RB$40AO 10A
H
H
NH
$30RB$10
$40RB$20
$25
$25 6P LH/L OH/L $50RB$20AO$40 11A
$50RB$40 9A Sp L HH
$55RB$40 9A&
$25RB$20 12P O H/L
$55 6P
H
H/O H/L
NH
$30RB$20AO(1)$50B(20)$5 10A
$30RB$10 12P
$60 7P
$20RB$10AO$10
H Sh
NH
7P
7P
H
O
O
NH
NH
NH
7P
$10RB$5AO$10
10A
$60RB$10 12P
$60 7P
$15RB$10AO$10 7P
NH$125RB(1)$100AO(1)$100 7P
LH
Sp L H
H
$30RB$20AO(1)$50B(20)$5
NH
NH
Mx
1P
6P
H
$60RB$40AO 10A
10A
NH
6P
NH
10A 7 H/L Sp
10A& N H
10A
O
$30RB$10 12P
$40RB$20 7P
7P
Normandie Casino
CA Artichoke Joe’s
NORTH Bay 101
Cache Creek
$15
$22RB$10
F RB$20
$25
$15 4P
$22RB$20
$25 10A
$10RB$10AO$10 7P&
•Hustler Casino
$25RB$10
$25RB$10
H
NH
NH
NH
•Club Caribe (p41) 7P
$25RB$10
$15 4P
6P
$25 10A
$30RB$10AO$20 10A
$25AO(1)$20 12P
NH
$23AO$2 11A
NH
NH
$22RB(1)$20
N H $44RB(1)$40AO(1)$40
6P Ladies N H
5O
CA •Bicycle Club (p3) 12P
L.A.
7P
$25RB(1)$10
$25RB(1)$10
$25
N H$330RB$200AO(1)$200
10A
10A
$17
$30RB(1)$40
$50RB$25AO$5
NH
10A&
Village Club
$125RB$25AO$50
$25
$15
$12
$22
$30RB$20AO(1)$20
$330RB$200AO(1)$200
Z
Buy-in
$25RB(1)$10 2P
NH
$25RB(1)$10 2P
NH
$25RB(1)$10 2P
NH
$25RB(1)$10 6P
N H $35RB(1)$10AO$10 6P
N H $35RB(1)$10AO$10 7P
NH
$25 12P& L/N H Z
$25 12P& L/N H Z
$25 12P& L/N H Z
•Mandalay Bay (p42) 10A
6P
•Mirage (p11) 7P
•Plaza Casino
INLAND
EMPIRE
Stud
Mx ..Mexican Poker
DC Dealer’s Choice
HH ... Headhunter
B .......... Bounties
Sp ............ Spread
NH
$5RB$10AO$10
NH Sh
$20
NH $100RB$60AO$60
$10RB$5AO$10
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
29
Play Poker; Stay Healthy
SENIORS SCENE
By George “The engineer” EPSTEIN
This is especially for senior citizens, but even
baby boomers and younger people can benefit
from our message here. . .
It was George Bernard Shaw who said: “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” Think about it. . . Have you ever wondered why this is so?
And what does this have to do with playing poker?
To answer these questions, I call your attention to a recent
feature story by Diane Scarponi for the Associated Press
(AP), entitled “Gambling Linked to Good Health.” She writes:
“According to a surprising Yale University study, older recreational gamblers (I read that as older poker players) seem to
be healthier than non-gamblers.”
She said this was a “SURPRISING” finding. Maybe it was
“surprising” to the Yale University researchers but not to me
and probably millions of other seniors who enjoy playing poker.
The Yale study actually interviewed 2,400 different people to
arrive at this conclusion. Hmm. . .
A phone call to me or a perusal of Chapter 8 in my book, The
Greatest Book of Poker for Winners!, could have saved them
a lot of time (and money). The chapter entitled “For Senior
Citizens: Playing Poker for Fun, $, and Good Health,” was based
on my own experience and observations of many other senior
citizens who play poker compared to others who lead a more
sedentary life after retirement. Older poker players are healthier than non-players.
In fact, I’ve lectured on this at senior citizen centers, retirement homes, two Elderhostels, and even on a luxury cruise
catering to older people. Before I started playing poker seriously, albeit strictly for recreation (the more money I win, the
more fun it is!), I found myself forgetting things, misplacing
my wallet, my car keys, etc. In case this hasn’t happened to
you, let me tell you how frustrating it can be to drive home,
park your car, go into the house – and then you can’t find your
keys. Egad! Since I started playing poker once or twice a
week, my memory has improved remarkably – even as I have
aged. (I turned 79 on November 9.) And my overall health
has improved, too. (No, playing poker doesn’t help my hearing
problem.) What’s more, a healthy mind leads to a healthy body
– and that makes for a happier family and love life.
Being an engineer, I was curious as to why this was so. I
found lots of good books that told me that our brains are made
up of neurons with tiny cylinders called synapses surrounding
sections of the neurons. These provide the means for transmitting impulses from one part of the brain to the next. We can
look at the brain as sort of a muscle. When we exercise it with
mental activity, it grows stronger by encouraging the growth of
the synapses, making it easier to transmit messages or impulses
within the brain. Playing poker requires us to make decisions
– lots of them -- which provides the exercise for our brains.
The Yale study did confirm my personal experience. The AP
article quotes a 73-year old retired state highway worker: “I’m
retired,” he said, “and it exercises my brain.”
There is yet another facet of why playing poker is healthy
for seniors. Getting out of the house and being with people
provides a psychological lift. Everyone needs to interact with
others.
Yes, playing poker keeps us seniors healthy, alert and socially active. I highly recommend it to all seniors. . .
. . . So readers, what’s YOUR opinion?
George “The Engineer” Epstein is the author of The
Greatest Book of Poker for Winners! (T/C Press, PO
Box 36006, Los Angeles, CA 90036). His new algorithm
booklet, Hold’em or Fold’em?, was a big hit at the recent
World Poker Players Conference. George teaches a poker
course for seniors at the Claude Pepper Sr. Citizen Center
under the auspices of the City of Los Angeles Dept. of
Recreation and Parks. He is currently writing a new book
on Rules & Strategies for WINNING at Texas Hold’em.
George can be reached by e-mail: [email protected].
30
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
Thomas “Tip” O’Neill
Poker, Politics,
and Power
By Byron Liggett
Thomas “Tip” O’Neill was
a 20th Century American
Hero. One of the last,
great, liberal New Deal
Democrats, he dedicated
himself to a lifetime in
politics fighting for the
working class and underprivileged.
He came from a family
of risk-takers, Irish immigrants who gambled everything to win a new life in
the USA. Born in 1912,
O’Neill grew up in the
poor, urban, Irish working-class neighborhood of
Cambridge, Mass. Here he
developed a lifelong love
for baseball, betting, cards,
and common folk.
He writes in his memoirs, “All through my
teenage years and into my
twenties, my life revolved
around a neighborhood
gang” whose clubhouse
was an abandoned basement barbershop. “There
was always a card game”,
poker or gin, “Nobody had
much money; so the games
were for a few pennies, a
nickel at most.”
Young O’Neill had a talent for numbers, counting
cards, figuring odds and
percentages. It proved to
be a valuable asset for a
poker player as well as a
politician.
According to one biographer, “O’Neill started
his serious card playing in
high school and college.”
He conducted poker games
under the baseball bleachers “to keep his father
from discovering he was
gambling”.
After graduating from
Boston College in 1936,
O’Neill successfully ran
for the State Legislature.
He credited his poker pals
for the victory “because
without their hard work,
I never would have been
elected.”
Tip O’Neill served 16
years in the Massachusetts
Legislature, eventually
becoming Speaker of the
House. He said, “It helped
enormously that I liked
to play cards. There was
always a game going on in
the basement of the statehouse.” Tip recalled, “It was
a nickel game and the players came from both parties.”
One participant remembered they would spend
most weekends “playing
cards, with our shirts off
and a bathtub full of beer.”
In 1952, O’Neill
won the Congressional
seat in the House of
Representatives vacated by
John F. Kennedy who was
elected to the U.S. Senate.
Here again, poker proved
important to O’Neill’s rise
to power and prominence.
He would later write,
“Poker provided me with a
great opportunity to meet
my fellow legislators,
which in turn enhanced my
political career.”
“When I went to
Washington I played cards
probably every night of
the week”, he says. The
University Club was a
favorite. They played a
variety of 7-Stud games
with raises limited to
three. $400 was a good
night. Among the regulars
were Representatives and
Senators, Democrats and
Republicans. “There were
no parties or factions in
that room. There was only
good fellowship”, Tip
fondly recalled.
Congressional
Democratic Leader John
McCormack, from Boston,
became O’Neill’s political
mentor. In his memoirs,
O’Neill says, “Perhaps the
most important place he
ever took me was Speaker
Sam Rayburn’s ‘Board of
Education’, where I met
some of the real powers in
Washington.”
Speaker of the House
Rayburn’s “Board of
Education” was like a
private, insiders club. The
room was unmarked and a
guard stood at the door. It
was the unofficial seat of
power in Congress. Here,
high end politics and high
limit poker was played.
O’Neill soon became
a Democratic leader in
Congress. In the late
1960s, he became a critic
of his party’s President,
Lyndon Johnson, over the
war in Vietnam. Tip writes,
“I began my investigation
of the Vietnam War during
a poker game at the Army
and Navy Club.” One of
the players was retired
Marine Corps Commander
General David Shoup
who’d resigned over the
Administration’s war policy. Eventually, Tip became
one of the strongest critics
of LBJ and the war.
Johnson was angry;
he considered O’Neill
a traitor. The President
said to Tip, “What kind
of a S.O.B. are you? You
and I have been friendly
since the day you came to
Washington. We were both
at the Board of Education
together.” O’Neill replied
honestly, “In my heart and
in my conscience I believe
your policy is wrong. You
can’t expect the country
to stand behind you while
you’re fighting a war that
can’t be won.”
Tip appreciated that
“poker and politics require
some of the same skills.
In each case, you need
to understand the people
you’re playing with, as
well as how to…calculate
the odds.” And, “it helps
enormously if you know
when to bet, when to fold,
and when to sit tight.”
Among regular
Washington players,
O’Neill thought very
little of Republican
Congressman Richard
Nixon’s game. One evening, after listening to
Nixon complain about
his bad luck, a disgusted
O’Neill told him, “You
know, I’m sick and tired of
reading what a good poker
player you are. As a matter
of fact, you’re one of the
worst poker players I’ve
ever seen.” Nixon replied,
“I was pretty good in the
Navy, but you fellows are
tough.”
Later, as Majority
Leader in the House, Tip
O’Neill became the most
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 29)
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.)
AZ •Apache Gold (p38)
Blue Water Casino
Bucky’s Casino
•Casino Arizona-Scottsdale (p39)
Casino Del Sol
Cliff Castle
Fort McDowell
Gila River/Wild Horse Pass
Gila River-Vee Quiva
Harrah’s Ak Chin
Hon-Dah Casino
Paradise Casino
CO Midnight Rose
Ute Mountain
CT Foxwoods
FL Dania Jai-Alai
Derby Lane
Hard Rock
Palm Beach Kennel Club
Palm Beach Princess
Pompano Park Casino
Seminole Hollywood Casino
St Tropez Cruise
IA Catfish Bend
Isle of Capri
Winn-A-Vegas
IL Hollywood Casino-Aurora
IN Belterra (Florence)
Caesars Indiana
Trump Indiana
KS Harrah’s Prarie Band
LA Grand Coushatta
Horseshoe Casino-Shreveport
MI Chip-In's Island
Gold Strike Casino Resort
MN •Canterbury Park (p10)
MO
MS
MT
NE
NJ
NM
NY
MONDAY
Time Games
OK
OR
SD
WA
Buy-in Time Games
11A
10A
6P&
12P&
12P
11A
4P
6P
NH
HZ
S Sh
NH
NH
7B
NH
Flop
6P
8A&
H
NH
1P
11A&
12P
6P
NH
NH
NH
H
6P
8P
7P
10A
NH
O H/L
NH
DC
1P
11A
7P
6P&
NH
NH
NH
NH
6P
NH
4A,6P& LH
10A
7
Fortune Bay Casino
6P
Northern Light Casino Hotel
Shooting Star Casino
12P
Harrah’s St Louis
1P
Isle of Capri
9A&
Copa Casino
Gold Strike Casino (Tunica) 4A&
Grand Casino(Tunica)
1P
Pearl River Resort
7P
Black Jack’s Casino
Rosebud Casino
7P
Caesar’s Atlantic City
3P
Harrah’s Atlantic City
7P
Tropicana
7P
Trump Taj Mahal
6P
Cities of Gold
6P
Isleta Casino & Resort
7P&
Route 66 Casino
11A
•Sandia Casino (p41)
•Akwesasne Mohawk
7P
•Seneca Allegany (p7) 10A
•Seneca Irving (p7)
7P
•Seneca Niagara (p7) 10A
Turning Stone
12P
4 Bears Casino
Dakota Magic
7P
•Cherokee-Cartoosa (p49) 10A
•Cherokee-W. Siloam
10A
•Cherokee-Roland
10A&
Comanche Red River Casino 10A
Chinook Winds Casino
4P
Wildhorse Casino Resort
Dakota Sioux
6P
Gold Dust Casino, Deadwood
Rosebud Casino
7P
Blue Mountain Casino
1P
Chips Bremerton
9A
Chips La Center
12P
NH
$60
$10RB$5
$15
$13RB$10AO$20
$25RB$20
$20
$30RB$10
$10
12P
H
7P
NH
10A O H/L Z
11A
H Sh
12P& N H
11A
4P
6P
HB
NH
H Sh F
7P
NH
$20RB$20
$60 8A&
NH
12P& N H
$45 6P
LO H/L
$100 Z 6P
NH
$45 6P
NH
$55 6P
H
$65 Z 12P&
$70RB$30AO$50
$20RB$20 7P
$10RB$10 6P
$40
$45RB$10
$100RB$40AO$60
$25RB$5AO 6P&
6P
$75RB$40AO$40
NH
Buy-in Time Games
$55AO 6P
NH
NH
NHZ
$25 12P
$100 30M 1P
$30 9A&
5P
NH
$65 5P&
NH
$80 50M 1P
N H $20RB$15AO$25/$50 7P
$25RB$5AO$25
$130
$10RB$5
$15
$13RB$10AO$20
H
$45 7P
$60
$45
$45
$150 Z
$45
$55
8A
12P&
1P
Buy-in Time Games
$25RB$15 7P
7P
7P
NH
10A Cz Pi Z
6P& O H/L
12P& N H
$15+$5 11A
$30RB$10 4P&
F 6P
THURSDAY
HB
NH
H
$30RB$10AO$10
$80RB$15
$150
$30RBAO
$120
F RB(1)$15AO$100
$20RB$20
$25 30M
3P
12P
7P
6P
6P
NH
2P
NH
11A
7P
NHZ
$67 7P
NH
$35RB$30AO$30 10A
NH
$60
N H $35RB(1)$30AO(1)$30 10A
LH
$60 7P
NH
$35RB$30AO$30
S
NH
NH
NH
NH
H
F RB$10
$20RB$10AO$10
$20RB$10AO$10
$20RB$10AO$10
F(100M)
$25RB(1)$5AO(1)$5
S H/L
$10RB$5
7P
7P
NH
H
7
$20RB$20 7P
$15RB$5AO$10
7P
1P
$100 8A
$45 12P&
$45 6P
NH
NH
NH
$60 8A
$45 12P&
$45 1P
11A
$45
$45 Varies N H
$55
$45
$75 Z 12P& N H
N H/O
NH
NHZ
$25
NH
$100 30M
NHZ
$30
7
$25Z
NH
$90RB$50
NH
$80 50M
N H $20RB$15AO$25/$50
12P
1P
9A&
4P
11A&
7P
NH
NH
7
NH
Cz Pi
H
NH
Varies
NHZ
NH
$80RB$15
$120
$30RBAO
$65
$20RB(1)$10
$15RB(1)$15
$25 30M
$35
$57
$60RB$50
NH
NLH
NHB
$60RB$50
$120
$50AO(1)$25
3P
7P
7P
6P
6P
7P&
11A
NH
$25AO$(1)$5
NH
NH
NHZ
Pi
NH
NH
$25AO
$100 30M
$30
$25Z
$35RB$15AO$25
$130RB$100 70M
O H/L $25RB(1)$5AO(1)$5 4P
H
$18RB$10
H
NH
NH
NH
NH
H
NH
NH
7P
NH
10A
NH
7P
NH
10A
NH
7P
NH
7P
7
7P
S H/L
10A& N H
10A& N H
10A& N H
7P
NH
NH
$35 7P(1st Wk) H
11A
5P
NH
NH
$20 11A
$13RB$10 5P
8P
NH
NH
V
$25
$110RB(1)$100 7P Wk2 N H B
$25RB(2)$10 10A
NH
$20 11A
$13RB$10 5P
$25RB$20AO$20
NH
NH
NH
NH
$40RB$20AO 12P
DB: Are there any future
plans for expansion of the
Peppermill?
IC: We are currently in a
$250 million expansion that
HB
NH
$15+$5
$60
11A
$60 12P
$10
$13 1P
12P
12P
NH
NH
NH
H
$13
$55
$15
7
$45 12P& N H
$45 1P
NH
$200 Z
Varies N H
$45
$45
$45
$45
12P& N H Sh
$45
12P&
S
$45
10A&
NH
$20RB$20 3P
NH
$60
2P
N H/O
$10RB$10AO$10
12P
NH
$85RB$15
$70RB$30AO$50
NH
$100 10A
12P
NH
Varies
$10RB$10 3P
Varies
NH
$200RB$20
$60 3P
$35RB$15AO$25 2P
10A
12P Wk1
5P
$10RB$10AO$10 12P
$50RB$10AO$10 12P
NH
LH
H Sh
NH
NH
7
$25RB$10
$35RB$15AO$25
$12
$120
$15RB$10AO$10
$10RB(3)$5AO$5
$30RB$10AO$10
12P
NHZ
12P
$25 2P
LH
NHZ
F$5RB(2)$5AO$5 12P
$25 12P
NH
NH
9A&
5P
5P&
1P
NHZ
H
NHZ
NH
NHZ
$30 9A&
NHZ
$30 9A&
NHZ
$30
NH
NH
N H Sh
$120AO$50 11A&
$120 70M 2P
$35
NH
NH
$35RB$15AO$25 1P&
$230 70M 2P
BNH
NH
$65RB$30AO$30
$100 50M
NH
NH
NH
NH
NH
H
H
NH
$30RB$10AO$10
$100RB$20
$560
$65RBAO
$340
$20RB$10
$15RB(1)$15
$18 30M
NH
NH
NH
NH
O H/L
H
NH
Varies
NH
$85RB$25
$1200
$55RBAO
$120
$20RB(1)$10
$15RB(1)$15
$25 30M
$35
$58
$80RB$15
$150
$40RBAO
$65
$25
$20RB(1)$20
$25 30M
3P
7P
7P
6P
6P
2P
11A
$30 9A&
$50Z
$120 5P&
$100 50M 4P
2P
N
F $100
7P
NH
$80RB$15 3P
NH
$150 8P
LH
$30RBAO 4P
NH
$120 6P
O H/L $20RB(1)$10AO$50 6P
H
$15RB(1)$15 7P&
NH
$25 30M 11A
$27RB$5AO$10
$60RB$50
$25RB$10
$35RB$10
$85AO(1)$40
$10RB$5
F RB$10
$20RB$10AO$10
$20RB$10AO$10
$20RB$10AO$10
7P
NHZ
$57 7P
NH
$37RB$50AO$50 12P
7P
NH
$60 7P
NH
$60 12P
NH
$20RB$5 7P
NH
$60
$50
$10RB$5 7P
$25 7P
$20RB$10AO$10 10A
11A
$10RB$5 2P
2P
$20RB$10AO$10
NH
H
NH
$85 11A
$20RB$10
$30RB$10 3P
NH
$120
H
NH
NH
NH
NH
H
$20RB$10AO$10
$45RB(1)$10 9A
$25RB(1)$5AO(1)$5
NH
S H/L
$10RB$5 4P
NH
N O H/L
NH
NH
$45RB(1)$10 9A
4P
1P
$10RB$5 4P
2P
$30RB$10AO$10 6P
$20RB(1)$10 1P
$20 9A
$20 12P
NH
NH
H
V
H
NH
NH
NH
NH
$45RB(1)$10
$25RB$5AO$50
$18RB$10
$20RB$10
$40
$30RB$10AO$10
$20RB(1)$10
$20
$20
9A
4P
11A
11A
NH
NH
H
NH
$20
$20
$35
$13RB(1)$10
9A
4P
11A
11A
NH
NH
H
NH
$20
$20
$35
$28RB(2)$10
5P
NB
$35
NH
F RB(2)$15 10A
NH
$25RB(2)$10
NH
NH
$20
$25RB$20
NH
$30RB$10AO$10
NH
$80RB$15
NH
$330
NH
$60RBAO
NH
$225
H $30RB(1)$20AO$200
N H $50RB(2)$25AO(1)$35
NH
$25 30M
7P
1P
12P
12P
6P&
5P
2P
7P
7P
12P
12P
6P
5P
2P
11A
12P
$87 7P
NHZ
$35RB10
12P N H Sh
7P
O H/L
7P H/L Sp Z
10A& Cz Pi
10A&
Cz Pi
$20RB$10AO$10 10A&
9A
$25RB$5AO$10 4P Tahoe H/L $25RB(1)$5AO(1)$5 4P
6P
N H $33RB(2)$15AO$15
6P
$110 7P
H
$50
N O H/L
NH
NH
$20RB(1)$10 1P
$20 9A
$20 12P
NH
NH
NH
7P
$20RB(1)$10 1P
$20 9A
$20 12P
NH
NH
H
NH
$20
$20
$35
$13RB(1)$10
9A
4P
11A
11A
NH
NH
H
NH
$20
$20
$35
$13RB(1)$10
7P
$135RB$20 7P
$25RB(2)$10 10A
NH
NH
NH
$45
$45RB$20
$25RB(2)$10 10A
$20 11A
$13RB$10 5P
NH
NH
$20 11A
$13RB$10
give them a better gaming
experience.
$15
$13RB$10AO$20
$50
Debbie Burkhead interviews Ira Cohen
of poker experience. I also
have 100% backing from
the Director of Gaming, Joe
Ayarbe to our Director of
Marketing all the way to our
CEO and owners. They want
to hear how to make our local
players more comfortable and
H Sh
NH
NH
LH/NH
$20
$20
$35
$13RB(1)$10
L/N H
NH
NH
11A
$13RB$10AO$20 12P&
$40RB$20 1P
$35RB$15AO$25 11A
NH
NH
H
NH
$15RB(2)$10 7P
$45RB$20 7P
$25RB(2)$10 10A
$20RB$10
$25
NH
LH/NH
$20
$20
$35
$13RB(1)$10
LO
NH
NH
H
O H/L
7F
NH
H
O H/L
$100
$45 12P&
$45 1P
$150 Z 11A&
$65 Z
L/N H
3P
2P
$25RB$10AO$30 1P
$150
$30RB$20 6P
$35RB$15AO$25 11A
NH
NH
H
NH
9A
4P
11A
11A
N H Sh
$30RB$20 12P
3P
1P
F
Buy-in
NH
LH/NH
$20RB(1)$10 1P
$20 9A
$20 12P
7P
7P
10A
12P
NH
NH
NH
NH
12P
H
$60 4thWk10AN H
$10RB$5
$15
$13RB$10AO$20 12P& N H
12P
SUNDAY
Buy-in Time Games
$10RB$10AO$10
$150
7P
6P
NH
$85RB$15
1P
N H $100RB$40AO$60
$40 12P
NH
$10RB$10AO 7P&
F RB$15AO$15/$30
11A
NH
$75RB$40AO$40
6P
Pi
$10RB$5 6P
$35RB$15AO$25 4A,6P& LH/NH $35RB$15AO$25 11A
7P Varies
Varies
$25AO 6P
Buy-in Time Games
$20RB$20
NH
NH
NH
Little Creek Casino
Muckleshoot Casino
Northern Quest
NH
NH
NH
NH
$20RB(1)$10 1P
$20 9A
$20 12P
9A
4P
11A
11A
12P
$110 2P
NH
NH
NH
$20
$20
$35
$13RB(1)$10
NH
Pi
H Sh
NH
NH
$30RB$10AO$10
$20RB(1)$10 1P
$20 9A
$20 12P
NH
NH
H
NH
11A
10A
11A
12P&
$35 7P
NH
SATURDAY
$20
$25
11A
NH
$60
10A N H Z
$10RB$5
11A
H Sh
$15
12P& N H
$13RB$10AO$20
12P Men H/N A I$25RB$10AO(1)$20
$15+$5 11A
HB
$15+$5
$30RB$20 12P& N H
$30RB$20
$10 6P
O H/L
$25
NH
N O H/L
NH
NH
9A
4P
11A
11A
O H/L
HB
NH
12P
NH
6P
H
12P N H Sh
$130ZB$20 12P& N H
7P
NH
$30RB$10
10A&
O
$20RB$10AO$10
7P Ladies N H $20RB$10AO$10
10A&
O
$20RB$10AO$10
4P
6P
Buy-in Time Games
$130
$10RB$5
$30
$13RB$10AO$20
7P
NH
NH
NH
NH
NH
FRIDAY
8P
NH
NH
$35RB$15AO$25 4A,6P& NH
$20RB$10AO(1)$10
Chips Lakewood
Chips Tukwila
•Drift-On-Inn (p44)
Goldie’s
Suquamash Clearwater Cas
Wild Grizzly
CAN Casino Regina
WEDNESDAY
6P
7P
ND
TUESDAY
will include a larger even
more luxurious poker room,
a 600 room all-suite hotel,
a convenient new parking
garage, a 50,000 square foot
convention and entertainment
center, a 21,000 square foot
casino expansion, a new spa
9A
4P
11A
11A
NH
NH
O H/L
$15RB(2)$10 10A&
$20 11A
2P
and salon, and new restaurants. The parking garage
will be complete in August
2006, the rest will open in
late 2007.
DB: I just attended the Fall
Poker Tournament and it was
held in the Tahoe Ballroom
which was quite nice, will
H
F RB$10
they continue to be held in
that room?
IC: Yes, they used to be held
in the Mahogany Room but
they will continue to be held
in the Tahoe Ballroom. The
room is classy and much
more roomy. We had 25
tables with plenty of room to
expand in the future.
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
31
Perks and Picks
Visiting or playing in New York? You can win a seat for the World Poker
Classic via satellite tournaments ($60 buy-in) held every Thursday at
Seneca Allegany Poker Room. The Seneca World Poker Classic will be
held on February 2, 2006 at Seneca Niagara Casino.
Card Room Roundup
The Bargain Bin
By H. Scot Krause
The confirmed attendees thus far for the Seneca
World Poker Classic include: Jennifer Tilly, Phil Laak
(aka Unabomber,) Tom McEvoy, Linda Johnson, Jan
Fisher, Miami John Cernuto, Scotty Nuygen, Men the Master, Antonio (the
Magician) Esfandiari and Jennifer Harman.
Also, players at Seneca Allegany or Seneca Niagara can participate in
“Punt, Pass & Pick,” a weekly football contest with more than $6800 given
out in weekly prizes. Pick the winners of the Sunday and Monday NFL
games for your shot at cash prizes. For those who are able to participate
every week, a grand prize of $10,000 will be given away to the player with
the most correct picks for the entire season.
Ready for an adventure? This year Canadian Mountain Holidays
(CMH), offering what many consider the greatest powder skiing in the
world, joins forces with the man who is reputed to be the greatest poker
instructor in the world for the first ever “Powder and Poker” trip - an
exclusive seven day retreat for snow and Texas Hold ‘Em fans.
Canadian Mountain Holidays invented Heli-Skiing forty years ago and
continues to offer the world’s most comprehensive and spectacular wilderness skiing experience. Their twelve distinct ski areas in the remote
mountains of British Columbia cover over 6,000 square miles. “Powder
and Poker” will take place at the Adamant Lodge.
Phil Gordon, (www.philgordonpoker.com) expert poker analyst and
co-host of television’s Celebrity Poker Showdown, is a world-class poker
player, author, adventure traveler, sports fan, and accomplished businessman. He took the poker world by storm at the 2001 World Series of Poker
championship event, where he finished fourth.
Phil has developed an in-demand series of lectures on many aspects of
playing Texas Hold ‘Em. From April 22 -29, 2006, he will be Heli-Boarding
with CMH during the days and teaching poker at night. Each lecture will be
followed by tournament play with a champion to be crowned at the end of
the week. For more information, visit: www.canadianmountainholidays.com
In Horton, Kansas, the Golden Eagle Casino is offering several exciting opportunities and holiday promotions throughout December with cash
giveaways on Monday and Friday, blackjack tournaments and the New
Year’s Eve Cash Blast. In addition to daily poker tournaments in the Eagle’s
Nest Poker room, Players’ Club members can enter the Stuff Your Stocking
with Cash Wind Tunnel filled with $2,500 in total cash. Players will test
their skills as they attempt to grab as much cash as they can and stuff a
stocking in 18 seconds. Stuff Your Stocking with Cash is set for Monday,
Dec. 12, and Dec. 19.
Golden Eagle will give away a total of $16,000 in cash prizes in
December in the Christmas Cash promotion. Guests can register for a
chance to win up to $1,000 in cash prizes each Friday. Between 7:00 p.m.
and 10:00 p.m., on Fridays, Dec. 16 and Dec. 23, drawings will be held each
half-hour and 21 winners will win cash.
For blackjack players, Golden Eagle will be the place to be in December
with two tournaments. A free tournament will be held Tuesday, Dec. 13
through Saturday, Dec. 17. Players will use Golden Eagle’s chips and cash
for a chance to win the first-place prize of $500. Registration begins at
8:00 a.m., Tuesday, Dec. 13. The monthly tournament is scheduled for
Wednesday, Dec. 28 at 7:00 p.m. Buy-in for the monthly tournament is $25
with a 100 percent payback.
Guests can ring in 2006 with the $7006 Cash Blast. Each half-hour
between 6:00 p.m. and 11:30 p.m., two winners will earn a chance to win
their share of $5,000. At 12:30 a.m., January 1, one winner will be selected
to win the grand prize of $2,006. See the complete details on all promotions posted at the Player’s Club booth.
That’s it for this week!
Number One Main Street, Las Vegas, Nevada
Toll free 1.800.634.6575 or 702.386.2110
www.plazahotelcasino.com
The Plaza Hotel opened
more than three decades
ago to much fanfare and
promotion. I was there for
the VIP opening preceding
the public grand opening as
a guest of one of the contractors that had helped in
the construction of this new
“Queen of Downtown.”
The Union Plaza was simply elegant and newer than
anything on the Las Vegas
Strip. The crowd was definitely upscale and the event
was one giant free party.
Trays of food were everywhere, Champaign was
flowing from fountains and
everyone was excited about
the future of downtown Las
Vegas with this new jewel
of a resort at Number One
Main Street. The original
Union Plaza housed the
train station for the passenger trains that serviced
Las Vegas then, bringing
visitors to downtown from
all points.
Fast forward to the pres-
H. Scot Krause is a freelance writer, gaming industry analyst and researcher, originally from Cleveland,
Ohio. While raising his three year-old son, Zachary, Scot
reports, researches, and writes about casino games,
events, attractions and promotions. He is a ten-year
resident of Las Vegas. Questions or comments are welcomed. Card room managers are also invited to send
your specials and promotions to: [email protected]
32
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
ent and even though the
property is into its fourth
decade and the trains no
longer bring passengers to
Las Vegas it remains the
anchor of Main Street and
the best place to view the
Fremont Street Experience
show. The 1037 hotel
rooms provide guests with
great accommodations at
rates that are much easier
on the budget than many
of the strip hotels. All of
downtown is within easy
walking distance to the
Plaza Hotel and Casino.
The property has changed
ownership over the years
and is now owned by the
Barrick Group. They have
begun a renovation program that has brought the
hotel up to modern standards without sacrificing
the friendly feel and comfortable atmosphere long
associated with the downtown Casino.
The spacious casino
provides visitors with a
selection of hundreds of the
newest slot machines, a full
compliment of table games,
Keno, Race and Sports
book, a fast food court, and
restaurants to please every
taste and budget. The
Center Stage Restaurant
located in the mirrored
dome covering the entrance
to the hotel is one of the
most filmed places in all of
Las Vegas. Many movies
have used the spectacular
setting to convey the spirit
of Las Vegas. During the
Fremont Street Experience
Light Show the lights in the
restaurant are dimmed and
the show’s music is piped
into the room. Next time
you’re in Las Vegas make
an effort to have dinner at
the Center Stage Restaurant
for one of the original Las
Vegas dining experiences.
The second floor of the
hotel is the location of the
men’s barber shop where
the master barber still
provides a straight razor,
Inside the Plaza’s immense cardroom
You can’t miss it—The Plaza’s unique exterior from the street
steaming towel shave,
another unique experience
that has become difficult to
find. Live lounge entertain-
Tournaments at the Plaza
are numerous with a 10 AM
to 5 PM daily, Single Table
$25 & $50 Sit-n-Go’s plus
$25 Shoot-Outs. Tuesday
through Sunday play in the
daily 7 PM $35 buy-in w/
rebuys No-limit Hold’em.
Monday’s at 7 PM the Plaza
Poker Room offers a $35
buy-in w/rebuys Omaha Hi/
Lo Split tournament. A $55
buy-in No-limit Hold’em
w/rebuys tournament is
offered at noon and every
night at midnight, a great
tournament for the late
night crowd.
The Plaza hotel is the
home of the Ultimate
Poker Challenge tournament series now into its
third season. The Ultimate
Poker Challenge is filmed
for broadcast on TV and
includes a championship
event that always draws
all the top name pros. The
2005 UPC is scheduled for
November 16th through the
29th at the downtown Plaza
Hotel with $500 No-limit
Hold’em buy-in events
offered daily. The Ultimate
Poker Challenge is a great
series of tournament to
break into major Las Vegas
poker tournaments and play
your best game for a shot at
a nationally syndicated TV
show.
The Plaza Poker Room
offers players comps at the
rate of $5 after 4 hours of
play, better than average.
Come to the Plaza Hotel
and Casino to experience
the personal service, hospitality and friendliness
of downtown Las Vegas.
Enjoy the historic old Vegas
spirit of gambling and
entertainment at Number
One Main Street.
Pechanga Poker
DECEMBER
DECEMBER
Shuffle Up
and Deal!
Every Tournament
Winner in December
Wins an IPOD Shuffle.
*Expires Christmas Day.
TOURNAMENT SERIES
Plaza Cardroom Manager
Kenn Bennett
THURSDAY, DEC. 1
6:30PM
Limit Hold’em Tournament
$5,000 Guarantee
$35 + $15 Buy-In
FRIDAY, DEC. 2
7PM
Limit Hold’em Tournament
$10,000 Guarantee
$60 + $15 Buy-In
SATURDAY, DEC. 3
4PM
No-Limit Hold’em Tournament
$15,000 Guarantee
$80 + $15 Buy-In
SUNDAY, DEC. 4
4PM
$5,000 Guarantee
$35 + $15 Buy-In
THURSDAY, DEC. 8
7PM
Ladies Only No-Limit Hold’em
$85 + $15 Buy-In • $100 Added per Table
1st Place $1,000 Buy-in seat to the World Series Ladies Only Event 2006
All New Event! 2nd Thursday Every Month
ment is always happening
at the Plaza, and always
free. The groups are typically well above average
including an Asian Rock
group that you won’t soon
forget.
The Plaza Poker Room
is located in the casino area
close to the main cashier’s
cage. Convenient to valet
and self parking makes
the spacious room popular with tourist and locals
alike. Plaza poker operations are managed by poker
industry veteran, Kenn
Bennett. The room has 9
pan tables and 19 poker
tables spreading all of your
favorite games. The Plaza
Poker Room is one of the
last places anywhere to
offer pan. The Plaza Poker
Room even offers the occasional pan tournament. The
poker room offers $3-$6
Omaha Hi-Low Split, Texas
Hold’em with $2-$4, $3-$6
or $4-$8 limit, and $1-$4
Seven Card Stud. A $1-$2
blind No-limit Hold’em
game with a $40 min up to
$500 max buy-in and a $2$5 blind No-limit Hold’em
with a minimum $100-No
max limit buy-in.
THURSDAY, DEC. 22
6:30PM
Last Chance No-Limit Hold’em
$10,000 Guarantee
$85 + $15 Buy-In
FRIDAY, DEC. 23
7PM
Last Chance No-Limit Hold’em
$6,000 Guarantee
$55 + $15 Buy-In
SATURDAY, DEC. 24
4PM
2005 Big Showdown Series
1st Place $10,000 Buy-in seat to the 2006 World Series Guaranteed
$200 + $25 Buy-In
SUNDAY, DEC. 25
4PM
$35 + $15 Buy-In
$5,000 Guarantee
D A I LY T O U R N A M E N T S C H E D U L E
DAILY DOUBLE JACKPOTS • Mon. thru Fri. 2-5PM • 1:30-3AM • 4-5AM • 6-9AM
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TUESDAY
10AM
2PM to Midnight
6:30PM
WEDNESDAY
10AM
6PM to 1:15AM
6:30PM
THURSDAY
10AM
2PM to Midnight
4PM to 10PM
9PM to Midnight
FRIDAY
10AM
6PM to 8PM
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
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Monday Night Football
$2,000 Cash Giveaway
$250 per quarter and $1,000 at 10PM
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Double Jackpot
Stud Double, Omaha Triple and Hold’em Quadruple Jackpot
$20 + $5 Buy-In
Hold’em Tournament
Free entry for TOC Players
High Hand of the Hour
$2,000 Guarantee
$20 + $5 Buy-In
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$2,000 Guarantee
$1,500 Drawing
$2,000 Guarantee
$20 + $5 Buy-In
$300 Every Hour (Omaha $50)
$2,000 Guarantee
$20 + $5 Buy-In
$20 + $5 Buy-In
$20 + $5 Buy-In
$2,000 Guarantee
$20 + $5 Buy-In
High Hand of the Hour
$300 Every Hour (Omaha $50)
Single Table Sit-N-Go Tournaments
$85 + $15 Buy-In
Top three places paid, 1st $525 • 2nd $200 • 3rd $125
Triple Hold’em Jackpot Thursdays
Stud and Omaha Doubled
$2,000 Guarantee
$40,000 Hold’em Jackpot Fridays (All Hold’em Games)
Stud and Omaha Doubled
$20 + $5 Buy-In
10AM
$4,000 Guarantee
$20 + $5 Buy-In
10AM
No-Limit Hold’em Tournament*
*10 hours live play weekly = free entry
Double Jackpot Sunday
$2,000 Guarantee
$20 + $5 Buy-In
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$35 + $15 Buy-In
4PM
1PM to 3PM & 6PM to 1AM
Check out California’s hottest spot for Table Games action
featuring Blackjack, Pai Gow, 3 Card Poker and more!
All Weekday AM Tournaments have a $2,000 Guarantee, $20 Buy-in and a $5 Entry Fee. All Jackpot promotions reset and doubled until end of promotion time. Winner must
be present to win Monday Night Football drawing. Hotel Poker Rate subject to availability Monday through Thursday and no discounts on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Please see
a Poker Room Floor Person for promotion details. Management reserves the right to cancel or modify promotions without notice. Must be 21 or older to enter Casino.
45000 Pechanga Parkway • I-15 • Temecula • 877.711.2WIN • www.pechanga.com
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
33
T
exas Hold’em has
infiltrated just
about every aspect
of human consciousness. Now it’s made it
and the Foxwoods World
Poker Championship,
according to the website.
The March 4 Eastern
Caribbean cruise, the May
we
charter
an entire boat and
have 2,000 poker players sail for a week,”
Fisher says, speaking of
the PartyPoker Million
cruise. “The highlight of
the week is a WPT event.
Last year’s event
had more than
$7 million in the
prize pool. All of
our cruises include
tournaments, live
games, seminars
and beginner’s les-
tion than a poker cruise,
and you can play as much
or as little poker as you
want.”
“Business was good
even before poker was on
TV,” says Herb VanDyke,
head of marketing for
Saloon Entertainment,
which runs the World
Poker Showdown
cruise. “We got all
these people coming on
the cruise – they saw it on
TV, they’ve never played!
They want to play. Greg
Raymer’s on there, and
he’s there to play, so if
you want to play against
the world champion...”
“We have $1/$2 teaching tables,” he says.
“People that want to feel
better pick up some tips.
Our whole purpose is, we
go after upper middleclass people where the
buy-in isn’t as huge as
the World Series. Our
biggest buy-in is $2,500.
SPECIAL POKER CRUISES
By Steve Horton
aboard two of the biggest cruise lines in the
world: Princess Cruise
and Carnival Cruise.
Every week at least one
new two-to-seven-day
cruise kicks off from one
of these cruise lines somewhere in the world, and
it’s a good bet that cruise
has Hold ‘em aboard.
And then there’s scheduled cruises just for
gambling: Card Player
Cruises, affiliated with
the magazine of the same
name, which includes
the PartyPoker Million
cruise; Classic Gaming
Cruises, run by Casino
Publishing Group (which
does Casino Player magazine); and the World Poker
Showdown, in its second
year, managed by Saloon
Entertainment. It seems
likely that some of the
newer poker publications
will get in on the casino
cruise action while the
getting is good.
Players aboard the
Classic Gaming Cruises
can earn a seat in the
World Series of Poker
34
13 Bermuda & Bahamas
cruise and the July 23
Alaskan cruise will award
entries into the ‘06 World
Poker Championship. The
Oct. 7 cruise to Canada
and Nov. 6 Mexican cruise
will offer entries into the
‘07 Foxwoods event and
the ‘07 WSOP, respectively.
“Business is booming,”
says Jan Fisher of Card
Player Cruises. “Most of
our cruises sell out far in
advance.”
As the demographics
have skewed younger,
poker players’ interests
are changing, according
to Fisher. “We have a lot
more interest in no-limit
tournaments and no-limit
side games,” she says.
We still get mostly recreational players for our
cruises, and our passengers are probably younger
than the average cruise
passenger, though we have
many senior citizens in
our group.”
Card Player Cruises
is also part of the World
Poker Tour. “Once a year
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
sons. We also have
private parties for
our passengers.
Card Player Cruises
also hosts an annual
World Poker Players
conference at a brick-andmortar cardroom.”
According to the
Card Player Cruises and
PartyPoker websites,
this year’s PartyPoker
Million V kicks off Mar.
12 and will offer a similar
prize pool. Players can
win a cruise package on
PartyPoker through super
satellites, multi-level
“cruise-step” tournaments, $675+$40 Gateway
tournaments with one
cruise package for every
20 players, or a freeroll
using 15,000 player’s club
points. The twist with
the big PartyPoker tournament is that it’s limit
poker – the biggest limit
tournament in the world.
Fortunately for no-limit
fans, there are plenty of
NL side events aboard the
cruise.
Fisher doesn’t see poker
cruises going anywhere
in the future. “I think that
cruising will continue
to be a popular pastime
for poker players,” she
says. “After all, there is
no more affordable vaca-
Affordable, yet we play
by TDA [Tournament
Directors Association]
rules and everything is run
very similar and close to
the World Series.”
VanDyke says the
crowd aboard his World
Poker Showdown is filled
with new players. “70%
of the people have never
played live. Online or in
a casino. I have a group
of retired people coming
– they’re entering every
event.”
Poker cruises are able
to run a little differently than land-based
casinos. “We’re trying
to keep our events fun,”
says VanDyke. “We have
a bounty in there occasionally. I’ll walk over
to a table to give a guy
a bonus – it’s a different kind of atmosphere
because we’re not restricted to Las Vegas gambling
regulations. It’s completely different. People
have a lot of fun. We
had one argument all last
year. The guy was drunk,
didn’t understand his hand
– that’s it. I used to run
poker in Russia, we’d
have an argument every
20 minutes!”
According to VanDyke,
it was online poker that
first led to the poker
explosion, then TV poker
was second. “I think live
and online interreact,” he
says. “Before TV there
was an expansion of
poker. Because of online
poker, it became a teaching platform and the casinos actually did better. It
was the first step. A lot of
people were intimidated –
I know people who, when
they first walked in and
they see all those people
with sunglasses – You’re
going to play against all
these sharks? That’s the
first impression you get
when you enter.”
The World Poker
Showdown in 2004 had
Chris Moneymaker as
co-host, and this year it’s
Greg Raymer. VanDyke
says he didn’t plan on
having two WSOP champions as hosts two years
in a row – it just worked
out that way. “They’re
doing it almost like a
favor,” he says. “Look,
the [Five Diamond World
Poker Classic] is the same
time ours is, and where is
Greg going? Not that he
won’t make money on the
cruise – he will, and the
players know it.”
The throng of new players with lots of money to
burn attracts poker players looking to make some
money and meet their
fans. “Last year, we had
Layne Flack and Chip Jett
onboard – they both won
a tournament! In the main
event, Moneymaker was
at the final table. He went
out third or something.
And then the cash games.
How many Vegas bookings do I have? One. We
have over 60 people from
Virginia. 20 from North
Carolina. We get a lot
from Florida. You can see
the demographics.”
“The one good thing
about a cruise – it’s the
same people on the ship,”
VanDyke says. “You get
to understand their play
and the types of players
they are.”
VanDyke believes that
paying out to a higher
percentage of players is
better. “We use a little
bit of a flatter payout to
make it fairer,” he says.
“For years, they were paying the top 3, which was
crazy. The way they’re
doing these things, it’s
time to change it. I’m
certainly going to reduce
what 1-2-3 pay, make it
more even. All day long,
you make it to the final
table, you make a little bit
back – it’s a joke.”
“I know one pro that
played – the leading player in the circuit, he was
first or second, I forget,”
VanDyke says. “At the
end of the year, he actually lost money. You have to
come out first or second to
make it worth it. You look
at NASCAR, they have
guys that become points
leader that haven’t won
an event. That’s where the
future has to go. I’ve been
fighting for it for a couple
of years. I’m going to
change it myself.”
2
Diamond Princess
Los Angeles CA
3
Diamond Princess
Anchorage
AK
4
Grand Princess
Galveston
TX
5
Sapphire Princess
Los Angeles CA
6
Sapphire Princess
Anchorage
CRUISESLINES
CARNIVAL CRUISE
7 Carnival Conquest Galveston
8
Carnival Legend
Fort
Lauderdale
9
Carnival Miracle
Tampa
A
Carnival Pride
Los Angeles
B
Carnival Spirit
San Diego
C
Carnival Triumph
Miami
D
Celebration
Jacksonville
E
Ecstasy/Elation
Galveston
F
Fantasy
Port
Canaveral
G
Fascination
Miami
H
Imagination
Miami
I
Paradise
Los Angeles
J
Sensation
Port
Canaveral
CARD PLAYER CRUISES
K Alaskan Explorer
Seattle
AK
CRUISE
DATES
May 11 – 13, 2006
Saturdays Sep. 23-Oct 21,
2006; Saturdays Nov. 4Dec. 30, 2006
May 20; June 3; June 17;
July 1; July 15; Aug 12;
Aug. 26; Sep. 9, 2006
Saturdays Dec. 3 – 31;
Saturdays
Jan. 7-Apr. 8, 2006
Saturdays Dec. 3 – 31;
Saturdays
Jan. 7-May 6, 2006
May 27; June 10; July 8;
July 22; Aug. 5; Aug. 19;
Sep. 2, 2006
2
1p – late
1
L
N 5/10
B
7
1p – late
1
L
N 5/10
B
7
1p – late
1
L
N 5/10
B
7
1p – late
4
L
N 5/10
B
7
1p – late
1
L
N 5/10
B
7
1p – late
1
L
N 5/10
B
Morning Tournaments
30 Player Maximum
$22 Buy-In ~ $10 Re-buys
Graveyard Tournaments
Mon thru Fri at 3 am - registration begins at 1 am
30 Player Maximum
$65 Buy-In ~ $20 Re-buys
And on the “Live” Games check out the
Payouts from
$50 to $599!
Progressive High Hand Payouts
for 4 of a Kind or Better
See Poker Room for All Details
947-5917
Dec. 4; Dec. 11; Sundays
7
Jan. 8-Dec. 31, 2006
Dec. 11; Dec. 19;
FL
Every eighth day from
8
Jan. 12-Dec. 26, 2006
Sundays Dec. 4 – 25;
FL
Sundays
7
Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2006
Sundays Dec. 4 – 25;
CA
Sundays Jan. 17
Dec. 31, 2006
Every eighth day
CA
8
beginning Dec. 2
Alternating 7-day Eastern
FL Caribbean and 7-day Western 7
Caribbean beginning Dec. 3
Alternating 5-day and
FL
4-day Bahamas
4-5
beginning Dec. 3
5-day and 4-day
TX
Western Caribbean
4-5
beginning Dec. 3
Alternating 4-day and
FL 3-day Bahamas beginning 3-4
Dec. 4
Alternating 3-day Bahamas
FL and 4-day Western Caribbean 3-4
beginning Dec. 2
Alternating 4-day and 5-day
FL Western Caribbean beginning 4-5
Dec. 1
CA Alternating 4-day and 3-day 3-4
Baja, Mexico beginning Dec. 19
FL Alternating 4-day and 5-day
Bahamas beginning
4-5
Mar. 23, 2006
TX
1p – late
1
L
N 5/10 NS
1p – late
2
L
N 5/10 NS
1p – late
1
L
N 5/10 NS
1p – late
3
L
N 5/10 NS
1p – late
1
L
N 5/10 NS
1p – late
1
L
N 5/10 NS
1p – late
1
L
N 5/10 NS
1p – late
1
L
N 5/10 NS
1p – late
1
L
N 5/10 NS
1p – late
1
L
N 5/10 NS
1p – late
1
L
N 5/10 NS
1p – late
1
L
N 5/10 NS
1p – late
1
L
N 5/10 NS
6
9a-3a 12-20 N,L,O,
RbyR
N,L,O,
9a-3a 12-20 RbyR
9a-3a 12-20 N,L,O,
RbyR
9a-3a 12-20 N,L,O,
RbyR
N,L,O,
24 hours 60 RbyR
6
6
6
6
7
24 hours
24 hours
24 hours
24 hours
24 hours
6
24 hours 27
WA
July 25-Aug. 5, 2006
10
Eastern Caribbean
New York
NY
Oct. 11 – 19, 2006
7
M
Mexican Riviera
San Diego
CA
Dec. 2 – 10
7
N
Mexican Riviera
San Diego
CA
Dec. 2 – 9, 2006
6
PartyPoker Million V Fort
Mar. 12 – 19, 2006
Lauderdale FL
CLASSIC GAMING CRUISES
P Alaska
Seattle
WA
July 23 – 30, 2006
Q Bermuda & Bahamas New York NY
May 13 – 20, 2006
R Eastern Caribbean Miami
FL
Mar. 4 – 11, 2006
S New England/Canada New York NY
Oct. 7 – 14, 2006
T Mexico
Los Angeles CA
Nov. 6 – 14, 2006
WORLD POKER SHOWDOWN
Poker
Port
U World
Dec. 11 – 18
Showdown II
Canaveral FL
* Open hours are only while at sea in international waters
S/NS – Poker room allows smoking (S), non-smoking (NS) or both (B)
Days open, hours of operation, games offered and tables may vary
255 E. Flamingo Road
Las Vegas, Nevada
No Limit Texas Hold ‘em Tournaments!
OPEN # OF
HIGH
DAYS HOURS TABLES GAMES NL? LIMITS S/NS
L
O
Suites & Casino
Mon thru Fri at 10 am - registration begins at 8 am
United States Special Poker Cruises
# ON
LAUNCH
MAP CASINO CRUISE
CITY
STATE
PRINCESS CRUISES
1 Diamond Princess San Francisco CA
TUSCANY
10
10
10
10
10
N,L,O,7
N,L,O,7
N,L,O,7
N,L,O,7
N,L,O,7
PA L M S
P O K E R
R O O M
P R E S E N T S
Bd]SPh<^]SPh=XVWcb
3daX]VCWT6P\Tb
$
FX]d_c^ 4eTahcX\TPcTP\bR^aTb
P]SPccWTT]S^UTeTahVP\T
Play in the Palms Poker room with your Club Palms Card while you watch the game.
At the end of each game and each time a team scores you could win
$100 to $500 instantly!
And Join Us In The Poker Room For
Y 20/40 NS
Y 20/40 NS
Y 20/40 NS
Y 20/40 NS
Y 20/40 NS
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
20/40
20/40
20/40
20/40
20/40
NS
NS
NS
NS
NS
See the Palms Poker Room for complete rules. Must be 21. Management reserves all rights.
N,L,O Y 30/60 B
4321 West Flamingo Road
Las Vegas, NV 89103
702.942.7777 • www.palms.com
© 2005 Fiesta Palms LLC. All Rights Reserved.
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
35
Bigger is Better–
Foxwoods
POKer east
of the ROCKIEs
By DONNA BLEVINS
“When you build it, they will come,”
is a famous line from the movie Field of Dreams.
Many people called it a baseball movie. I call it
is an amazing life lesson told around a baseball
theme.
This same belief was certainly shared by the
visionary who first built a high-stakes bingo hall
in the Connecticut woods in 1986 when Foxwoods
Resort and Casino was born. We heard a story
about a local resident who went to the first construction site and asked the workers what they
were building. When told it was a high-stakes
bingo hall, the resident laughed and said, “No one
will come all the way out here in the woods for
bingo.” No one could ever have been more wrong.
No one could have ever guessed that Foxwoods
would become the largest resort casino in the
world when they opened their first casino in 1992.
Or, that they would grow from that single casino
to today’s sprawling six casinos with 340,000
square feet of gaming in a complex that covers
nearly 5 million square feet? How big is that . . .
well, the playing area of a regulation football field
is 100’ X 300’ or 30,000 square feet.
Our first view of Foxwoods was breathtaking. We
flew into Hartford late in the day and rented a car.
We were given rather obscure directions. When
I asked for more specifics, the car rental agent
just smiled and said we would know when we got
there. That made about as much sense as directions like “take the last exit before the first toll”!
It was one of those cold and miserable days
when the rain is persistent and the wind is unforgiving. Less
than an hour
into our foggy
drive, we turned
a curve and, as
if by magic, this
amazing structure glowed in
the distance and
rose from the mist. It reminded me of my childhood vision of Camelot. I heard classical music
in my head, just like the music the helicopter
pilot played when we came over the crest and he
dropped us into the Grand Canyon for the first
time.
We drove another mile or so as the structures
grew larger and larger. I said, almost absently, “I
wonder how exactly we get there.” Greg responded, “Just follow the line of cars!”
When we arrived at one of the three hotels, the
Grand Piquot Towers, pronounced pee’-qwat, we
were greeted warmly . . . like returning dignitaries.
To say the architecture is expansive is an understatement. The glass domed entrance of the hotel
was massive and welcoming in the cold evening
36
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
air. We soon discovered that much of the development was treated like an art gallery with original
art honoring the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal
Nation, the owners and founders.
We made a game of eating out and deciding
which of the 25 restaurants we would visit for
each meal. Even though I generally shy away from
shopping, I enjoyed the selections in the retail
shops along the airy glass enclosed concourse.
This place is really, really big!
Big, however, is getting even bigger. Tribal and
Foxwoods officials broke ground November 15,
2005, on yet another $700 million development
project. The project will add 2,300 permanent
jobs, bringing total employment to more than
13,500 people at Foxwoods. The new development
will add an additional 2 million square feet bringing the total to nearly 7 million square feet under
one roof!
For us poker players, Foxwoods plans to open
a newly expanded state-of-the-art poker room in
the Spring of 2006. The project will boost the number of
poker tables from its current
76 to 114. Director of Poker
Operations, Kathy Raymond
says, “More tables and cutting
edge technology will translate into less waiting and more
action for our players, as well
as giving us an even greater
opportunity to host premiere
Kathy Raymond
poker events.”
We just returned from Foxwoods’ record breaking World Poker Finals where 783 people entered
the championship event. After winning a multitable satellite, I played in my first $10,000 event
and cashed at 91st. Even though I was blue for
a couple of days, Greg was so proud of me you
would have thought I won the tournament and
brought home the $2.1 Million first place prize!
Since Foxwoods’ World Poker Finals is a World
Poker Tour event, once the final table is down to
heads-up (two people), there is a money presentation. The remaining prize pool of more than $3
Million is ceremoniously brought to the final table.
At Foxwoods, we were delighted with the presentation by Red Bear Productions, a group of Native
Americans from differing tribes who honor their
roots with traditional attire, singing and dancing.
On our second trip to Foxwoods, we were
shuttled to the property from Providence airport
rather than having to rent a car. Once on property,
we had everything we needed. There is simply no
need for a car!
By the way, on one of our airport commutes,
the driver told us it would take one full day to just
tour all of the casinos, and three full days to tour
the entire complex. I wonder how long it will take
once the expansion is completed to nearly 7 million square feet.
“When you build it, they will come.” Foxwoods
did, and the people continue coming . . . to the
tune of more than 40,000 guests each day!
To sum up my overwhelming feelings of
Foxwoods in one word, “Wow!” To quote another
famous movie line, “I’ll be back.” Check out www.
Foxwoods.com.
Remember, if you can’t raise, don’t call.
A true entrepreneur at heart, Donna Blevins is a marketing consultant, professional speaker and trainer, as well
as a poker journalist. She looks forward to meeting you
at the final table. Contact Donna to advertise in Poker
Player, to cover your poker tournament or with article
ideas - [email protected].
Caro’s Word:
“Conditions”
CONT’D FROM PAGE 6
ably don’t have a situation in
which you should consider a
value bet. That doesn’t mean
you should never bet. Your
hand might be too strong to
meet the value bet definition,
and then you will be considering whether to bet out or to
check-raise. So, again: When
you can’t quite figure out
whether or not to value bet,
here’s the right time to do it.
The right time
1. The hand you hold is
marginally strong for the
situation and either a bet or
a check would seem reasonable to most experienced
players holding your same
hand.
2. The opponents you’re
about to bet into are passive
and not especially tricky.
3. The opponents you’re
about to bet into are more
likely to call than most
opponents.
If all three of those conditions are true, bet much
of the time, but check
sometimes to throw your
opponents off-guard. If all
three of those conditions
aren’t true, and your hand
is not especially powerful
or worth bluffing with, you
should decide to check.
Without those three elements being true, you’re
costing yourself money
by betting those normally
just-better-than borderline
hands. So, save yourself
money and don’t bet them
unless you’re against
relatively passive and nondeceptive opponents who
are more likely to call right
now than typical opponents
would be.
This is “The Mad Genius
of Poker” Mike Caro and
that’s my secret today.
Mike Caro is widely
regarded as the world’s
foremost authority on
poker strategy, psychology, and statistics. A
renowned player and
founder of Mike Caro
University of Poker,
Gaming, and Life Strategy,
he is known as “the Mad
Genius of Poker,” because
of his lively delivery
of concepts and latest
research. You can visit him
at www.poker1.com.
All About Home games
BY LEE “COOL HAND” GARCIA
Before I start, let me clarify what I consider home
games. These are poker
games that are put on for
profit by someone other
than a licensed casino. it
is not your brother Billy
Bob and the family, playing poker in the parlor for
a few bucks. It certainly
isn’t your buddies that get
together once in a while to
Poker Humor
Isn’t a
Contradiction
By Byron Liggett
Poker is a mean game.
It’s agony and ecstasy,
frustration and fulfillment, delight and despair.
Consequently, we find
Poker websites devoted
to news, views, how-to’s,
who’s who’s, and what-todo’s.
But what’s funny about
Poker? A lot. If you’re not
getting laughs out of your
game, there’s a special website for you: HoldemHumor.
com. It’s a flop house for
poker jokers.
“I was playing poker
with tarot cards the other
night. I got a full-house and
four people died” is typical
of the one-liners posted on
the website.
Another favorite asked,
“What is the difference
between a poker player and
a dog? In about ten years
the dog quits whining.”
Holdemhumor.com is
conducting a contest in
order to gather the largest
collection of Poker jokes.
The winner with the best
joke wins $500 when the
contest ends January 15,
2006. There are prizes for
2nd and 3rd place. Any
one who submits a joke
that’s used on the website
receives $25. Humor is
not accepted that contains
profanity or is disrespectful
of race, gender, religion, or
nationality.
So, if your humor is better
than your Hold’em, here’s an
opportunity to win a buyin.
Remember -- if you’re grinnin’, you’re winnin’.
play a game, drink some
beer and buy pizza! Those
are social games where
you may lose a few bucks,
but you’re glad you’re
there with all your close
friends etc.
What I’m talking about
are organized games that
you can find in just about
every city in the country.
A promoter buys a professional poker table and
chips, hires a couple of
dealers, and then spreads
the word it is by invitation
only. The latter is because
these games are quite illegal by virtue of their taking a rake for profit. if a
plainclothes officer were to
sit in on the game it would
be disastrous for all present. Hence, the security.
Some of these games
keep it simple, in that they
are held in someone’s
home and they post someone at the door to see who
is arriving. Others are very
sophisticated and go so far
as to install TV monitors
surveying the premises, an
electric gate that is opened
only upon recognition, and
membership cards that are
signed by the owner.
Every state has different penalties for hosting,
or attending, such a game.
In some states, certain
activities are considered
felonies, and in others,
simply misdemeanors. If
a licensed poker dealer
is caught at one of these
games, however, he could
have his license suspended. In general, I am not
in favor of home games
for several reasons. Some
of these situations could
apply to the games in your
town, and some may not,
but I’d like to point out
what you should watch for
in non-casino games.
These games take a
rake, in most cases, of
$4 or $5 per hand. I have
seen dealers take the rake
at the beginning of the
hand, then when the pot
gets bigger, drop another
rake. In years past, I
dealt a home game and
was told that my rake was
too low. I was taking in
$72 to $80 per 1/2 hour,
and the other dealer was
dropping over $120! It is
ludicrous to believe someone can deal out 30 hands
in a 1/2 hour! Sometimes
they play a round of each,
which means one round of
Hold’ em, then one round
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Ari Mizrachi
Poker Room Manager
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
37
How Could You Slow Play
Quads? -PART 3
NEVER PLAY Poker with
a man CALLed “DOC”
By Dr. Scott Aigner, M.D.
(This article is the last in a series on common mistakes that I see in no limit hold em by inexperienced and weak players).
A third mistake I see is betting the wrong amount
in no limit. It is rare that a calling station will bet. He
usually just calls but how many times have you seen a
calling station hit a draw and then when he makes it he
either moves all in or he check raises all in? The inexperienced player does this too. They over bet their strong
hands when the better play is to make a value bet that
will get called. The tight passive player also shares this
flaw. How many times have you seen this player type
move all in preflop when he holds aces or kings? A player
makes a standard raise and this guy moves in no matter
how many chips he has or his position. He doesn’t want
anyone to outdraw him. They’ll often even say that they
didn’t want anyone to call them had they made a smaller
raise and then have their hand get outdrawn post flop.
Be very happy they think this way as it makes it very
easy to read them and to get away from a hand that you
would have gone broke with had they played their hand
correctly.
Another mistake is not knowing the pot odds and/or
implied odds as well as overestimating their outs. They
will often draw to straights and flushes when the board is
paired and they are drawing dead or have a lot less outs
than they realize. They not only do not read boards very
well but don’t read opponents either. They don’t think
about what you might be holding, just what they have.
They don’t recognize what the bet size in relationship to
the pot could mean. It is whether they think the bet is
reasonable to call just based on the size rather than the
size in relationship to the pot that matters. This is why
value bets work very well against these opponents. They
just do not see betting patterns that the better players
see. It is also why _ pot bets work well in no limit and
pot limit structures. By always giving an opponent 3 to
1 on his call you are minimizing giving away information
about your hand to the better players and you are going
to receive a lot of calls from the weaker players who see
the bet as a reasonable amount to call. Of course I like to
vary my bets based on my opponent’s style of play and
their stack size but that is another subject for an article
in the future.
Another common mistake is the old “but it was suited”
flaw. They will often call a raise with their hand only
because the hand is suited. Overvaluing suited hands
is a huge leak in these player’s games. They just do not
realize how often they will actually make a flush or that
they are not going to have the right odds to catch a flush
against a good player who does understand them. They
are also not aggressive and they will just call rather than
push their chips into the pot which would give them the
right odds if their all in raise gives them ~2 to 1 pot odds.
Although these are not all of the mistakes that weak
players and inexperienced players share it is a good
overview of the most common ones that one will see in
no limit tournaments. The main difference between these
two groups of players is that the inexperienced player
will learn to avoid these common mistakes with experience. The weak players will continue to make these common mistakes over and over again.
Dr Aigner is a board certified Urologist. He has multiple final table finishes in major tournaments including a WPO bracelet in 2001. You can contact him at
http://www.PokerStrategyForum.com
38
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
All About Home games
CO N T I N U E D F RO M PAG E 37
of Omaha HiLo. They
will rake more for Omaha
because it takes longer, but
when the Hold’em starts,
they continue the higher
rake. These things won’t
happen in a casino.
Kris, a young friend of
mine who attends such
games, has a new bad beat
story every week. I politely asked him if there was
any chance that he was
being trapped by partners
in the game. He answered
with a resounding no, but
later admitted that he had
never given that a thought.
Most people are trusting in
this regard, and don’t look
for these combines as a
rule. Casino personnel do
that for you automatically.
How do partners work?
asked & answered:
C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E
they wouldn’t make against
other players.
Q #7 ANSWER: (a). You’re
more likely to beat poker
if you imagine you’re
being paid by the hour for
making the right choices,
rather than by pots won.
Q #8 ANSWER: (a). A
powerful way to win at
poker is to give opponents “permission” to
play poorly. You can do
this by showing them that
you play weak hands and
conveying that you enter
pots with more of those
inferior hands than you
actually do.
24
Q #9 ANSWER: (a). Suppose
your in an unfamiliar home
game. It’s true that you
should often quit that game
if you’re concerned about
cheating, even if those concerns are unwarranted. It’s
too hard to make quality
decisions when you’re worried about other things.
Q #10 ANSWER: (d). All of
the first three statements
were true. Skillful players
can motivate themselves by
believing in the long-term
power of probability, you
shouldn’t be concerned with
winning or losing streaks,
and most players exaggerate their bad luck.
Sometimes they will act as
if they are angry at each
other, even to the point of
swearing. If that happens
often but never escalates,
be on the lookout. If the
same two players and you
are repeatedly in a big
hand, and you never win,
be sure to ask the dealer to
cover the muck and show
all hands. That will tell
you if raising was legitimate. Most guilty players
will act offended by such a
request and make a scene.
An honest player won’t
mind that request.
In today’s casinos with
automatic shufflers, the
machine counts the deck
every hand. In most casinos without them, the dealers randomly count down
the stub often. A house
game doesn’t do that, and
that makes it possible for
a hold-out artist to hold
out an ace, substitute it
in another hand, and put
all cards back in the deck
without worrying that
the stub will be counted
short. And don’t think that
doesn’t happen! I know
a gentleman that makes a
living doing card tricks.
He doesn’t play cards, but
he says that anyone can
master making cards disappear and re-appear easily.
It just takes practice.
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All About
Home games
But the biggest threat
is still from partners signaling each other to raise
and re-raise. This is especially true in Hi Lo games.
They’ll do things like put
one chip on their cards for
a low hand and several
for a high hand. If they
have the nut hand, maybe
they’ll put on dark glasses
or touch their ear. There
are hundreds of possibilities for signals. A sharp
player watches for repetitive motions followed by
strong actions, and tries to
decipher what is happening.
In a casino, as soon as
a customer or employee
reports that two players
are possibly in cahoots,
they are monitored closely
by the eye in the sky. In a
house game, the promoter
doesn’t want to offend
anybody because he needs
the players to keep the
game going. For that reason he usually doesn’t say
a word to these sharpies.
In El Paso, a couple of
years ago, the competition
for customers was so great
that the promoters started
reporting the other games
to the police so they would
be raided! It worked, but
soon players started backing off for fear of getting
arrested. Many people
had to pay fines and lost
their equipment, chips
and cards. Some dealers
lost their jobs in the New
Mexico casinos because of
the charges.
The last thing I wish
to point out is that there
is always the danger of a
house game being held up
or players mugged outside.
This is especially true in
an isolated location such
as a ranch or a deserted
industrial area. The bad
guys know there is money
there and you don’t want
cops around!
As I said before, these
situations may not present
themselves in your area,
but nonetheless,
it pays to keep a sharp
eye at all these games. You
just never know........ do
you?
Metaphysical Poker & Life
all have Thought Terrorists cause
watched feelings such as fear and
anxiety that cause us to
many play, whether in
lose our focus. The best
poker, basketball or golf,
players are not distracted
focus at the highest level.
by Thought Terrorists.
But, few of them can
Focusing at the highest
maintain their focus day
in and day out,
“How poor are they
month after month
who
have not patience”
as Phil, Michael
—William Shakespeare
and Tiger do.
In my first
“He who exercises discernment
three articles
is a patient man”
in Poker Player
—Charlie Shoten
Newspaper, I
level, they
introduced the concept of
take their time, allowing
Thought Terrorists, which
their instincts and sixth
destroy our ability to
sense free play, and then
focus throughout an entire
consider all of their choicpoker tournament. These
Charlie Shoten
In poker and life people
find it very difficult to
focus for long periods of
time. I once overheard
Phil Ivey giving someone
advice where he emphasized focus, focus, focus.
Like Michael Jordan and
Tiger Woods, what separates Phil Ivey from the
rest of the field is his ability to focus at the highest
level while playing. We
es and the consequences
of each. When they make
their decision, they act
decisively. To improve
your poker game you must
train yourself to focus at
the highest level while you
play.
Poisonous memories,
ideas, thoughts and beliefs
are the Thought Terrorists
that cause feelings which
destroy our focus and
interfere with our ability
to make our best decisions,
have a joyous mind-set set
and a radiant smile. Even
though people hold onto
Thought Terrorists, and
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D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
39
Joe Hachem
Keeping Out Legal Gambling Player Profile:
POKer AND
THE LAW
By I. NELSON ROSE
Licensed online poker rooms, casinos,
sports books and lotteries are now a multibillion-dollar-a-year industry. Yet, for most
governments, they are not dreams come
true, but public policy nightmares.
States and countries that permit their
operators to take at-home wagers from
foreigners gain tax income and create
jobs. But the governments where the bettors live usually get nothing. Worse, they
suffer the negative side-effects created
by underage and compulsive gamblers. For
a jurisdiction like the federal government
of the United States, cross-border gaming means exporting money and importing
social problems.
So, while the issue of whether to legalize is being debated, law enforcement officials face a more fundamental question:
Can a state or nation keep out foreign
legal gaming?
We now may be able to answer that
question, or at least make educated
guesses, due to recent decisions from
the United States Supreme Court, the
European Court of Justice and the World
Trade Organization.
The first step is to find a statute or
regulation that might apply. Most fights
against remote betting stop here, because
lawmakers simply have not enacted the
necessary laws.
The anti-gambling laws that are on the
books were designed for specific problems
from other eras. The Wire Act, for example,
the major federal barrier to overseasbased gaming, was passed in 1961 as part
of Attorney General Robert Kennedy’s
“war on organized crime.” It was designed
to help states fight illegal bookmakers who
took sports bets by telephone. No one at
the time thought about the possibility of
playing poker on home computers.
The federal Department of Justice,
which is charged with enforcing federal
laws, asserts the Wire Act covers all forms
of interstate and international gambling.
But the three courts that have looked at
the issue have ruled the Wire Act is limited
to bets on sports events and horse and
dog races. So, if these courts are correct,
the question of whether the U.S. Congress
has the power to bar foreign, licensed
Internet poker, need not be answered,
because Congress has not yet passed such
a law.
Assuming there is a law in place that
makes it illegal to accept bets on a particular form of gambling, there is no doubt
that a state can keep out illegal gambling.
The situation gets much more complicated if the operator is acting legally under
its local laws.
Still, states start with the right to bar
the importation of all goods and services,
even if these come from places where it
is legal to sell and ship these products.
The problem arises when a government
has agreed, sometimes unintentionally, to
40
eliminate its trade barriers.
Usually when a state
joins a federation, like the states of the
United States or Australia, or signs a treaty organization, like the European Union,
it finds it has opened its borders to goods
and services from its sister states or trade
partners. The United States discovered
that it had consented to allow in legal
gambling from other member states of the
World Trade Organization (“WTO”) when it
signed the WTO treaties. Its major mistake
was failing to do what some other member
states did: specifically list “gambling” as
an activity it wanted kept out.
But decision-makers have unanimously
agreed that gambling is different from
other legal businesses. A government can
bar foreign gaming, if it can come up with
good reasons for doing so.
This is easy if the state has a complete
prohibition. Utah does not have to allow in
California State Lottery tickets if it does
not permit anyone to sell lottery tickets to
its residents.
States that want to exclude legal foreign
gambling always raise the same arguments: fear of fraud, money laundering,
organized crime, underage and problem
gambling, and because it offends local
morality. Governments cannot rely solely
on the real reason – to keep out competition.
It is almost impossible to successfully
argue that a state has the right to exclude
a legal activity from its sister states or
trade partners when that state allows only
local operators to do the exact same thing.
This is what happened to the U.S. in its
fight with Antigua in the WTO. The WTO
ruled that the U.S. had agreed to let in
legal gambling from other members of the
WTO. But it then bought the argument that
federal laws against remote gambling were
necessary to protect Americans. So, the
U.S. would have won . But Antigua raised
the Interstate Horseracing Act, which
allows Americans to bet on races from
their homes, but only with operators in
other U.S. states. Since there is no reason
for this discrimination against Antiguan
horsebooks, the U.S. was held to be in violation of the WTO treaties.
The same type of analysis can be done
with any two countries and any form of
gambling, for anyone willing to spend large
amounts of time and money.
Professor I Nelson Rose is recognized
as the world’s leading expert on gambling law. A full professor at Whittier
Law School in Costa Mesa, California,
Prof. Rose also works for governments
and industry as an expert witness, consultant and public speaker. His latest
books, Gaming Law: Cases and Materials
and Internet Gaming Law, are available
through his website,
www.gamblingandthelaw.com.
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
waste time calling and then
turned over an ace, 3.
The river card did nothing for Dannemann.
A friend listens to this
description and shakes his
head slowly, saying, “This
talk of twenty million and
thirty six million dollar
bets. It just doesn’t sound
like the sort of thing that
happens in the real world.”
But that’s the way it is at
the World Series of Poker.
Hachem nods, “Yeah, it’s
a bit crazy,” thinking about
this for a moment then saying, “And to think it wasn’t
many months ago that I was
back home just struggling
to get any kind of decent
game together. No one
wants to play at a reasonable limit.”
What was a reasonable
limit?
“You know, something
like 25 and 50 no limit.”
Another pause and a
can-you-believe-this shrug,
“And now here I am playing with the biggest players
in the world on TV.”
The line-up scheduled at
d
his tournament table later
in the day would include
Carlos Mortenson, Johnny
Chan, Todd Brunson and
Mike Sexton.
Hachem figures his
Middle Eastern roots probably help explain his fascination with poker. “Being
born Lebanese as I was and
playing cards, it’s a combination that’s natural. Most
of us enjoy card games and
many of us are also very
aggressive players.”
He mentions Sammy
Farha and Freddy Deeb as
examples of other successful high limit poker players
with Lebanese roots.
“So what does it take to
play hold ‘em successfully?
“The most powerful piece
of advice anyone’s given
me is that in hold’em you
have to be the aggressor.
You can’t be the caller. If
you’re in the habit of calling then you’re losing. You
need to be the person forcing other people to make
big decisions …
“It’s the way a champion
plays.”
Diamond Jim’s Casino
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Rosamond, California
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Yarmosh was the chip leader
when the table began and
he was the last one standing
when the night was over.
Rich, who related that he
last won a tournament 15
years ago, will return to his
home in Glen Head, NY,
with the first place prize of
$74,813.
Rich tangled right off
the bat with John Parker,
Weston, CT. John, only
slightly behind Rich in chip
count, went all-in with Q’s
after a KJ10 flop. Rich
called immediately with
KQ. John did not improve
and he was 10th with
$4,750. Ninth spot went to
Fred Brockunier, Yorktown
Heights, NY, whose J10
could not top Richie Bell’s
pocket 6’s; Fred left with
$5,343. Richie was all-in a
short time later with AQ. He
got no help from the board
and Terry Ferentinos’ pocket
9’s were good; Richie would
head back to New York, NY,
in 8th with $5,938. John
Pelton, Flushing, NY, was
all-in with pocket 8’s but
David StLaurent paired his
A and John was relegated to
7th place worth $7,125. Tom
WPF
Mucci from Brewster, NY,
had pocket 10’s but Rich
Yarmosh, with Ac, caught
a flush on the turn and Tom
had 6th position and $8,906.
David StLaurent, a resident
of Exeter, NH, could not
improve his AJ and lost to
Ray Tortorigi’s pocket 3’s.
David took home $10,688
for 5th. Bob Dow, from
New Hartford, CT, did well
to come back from the second lowest chip position to
finish near the top. When
Rich Yarmosh called his
KQ with pocket 5’s, Bob’s
run ended with 4th place
money of $15,437. Ledyard
resident, Raymond Tortorigi,
lost most of his stack to
Rich when Rich caught a
straight on the turn. Shortly
thereafter, he was all-in with
92 which could not compete
with Rich’s Q’s; Ray took
3rd and $21,969. Rich had
a dominant chip position
and Terry Ferentinos from
Alpharetta, GA, stayed with
Rich for a few hands but
was soon all-in with A9.
Rich paired his Q on the
flop and Terry was the 2nd
place finisher and the winner of $39,781.
Rich Yarmosh had come
back to the tournament trail
to claim the first place crystal trophy, commemorative
leather jacket and $74,813!
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D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
41
PART 61,
Kill Pots
Foxwoods WPF
improving performance
By TOM “TIME” LEONARD
In this installment of Improving
Performance let’s discuss limit Hold’em
games that employ what is known as a kill pot. For the
uninitiated, a kill pot occurs when one individual wins
two pots in a row and then the stakes for the ensuing
hand are doubled. Some card rooms have a specific
threshold that the pot must reach in order for the next
pot to be a kill but others view any two wins in a row
as good enough to qualify. There are also games that
employ a half kill which only raises the stakes by 50%.
The kill pot feature adds another dimension to the
game and another very good reason to always remain
observant of your opponent’s tendencies.
Recently I was playing in a limit Hold’em kill pot
game with my friend Jon when he leaned over and
made an observation about how he felt most of the
table reacted to the stakes being doubled on occasion.
Jon said, “Notice how most of the players loosen up
when they have a leg up to a kill (having won one pot
and if they win the next they will be required to post
a double blind) when they should really be tightening
up”. Jon’s reasoning was that if you win that second
pot, you will be required to post the double blind.
Also, once there is a kill pot many players significantly
change their playing style relative to looseness vs.
tightness. Aside from giving me further insight as
to how Jon approaches his game, it got me thinking
about what the proper strategy for kill pot games
should be.
Should you significantly loosen up or tighten up
when you’re either a leg up to a kill pot yourself or
just playing a hand with double the normal stakes?
The players who loosen up seem to do so for two reasons. They see the opportunity to win a much larger
pot than normal and they feel that some of their
opponents have just been forced outside their comfort
zone and therefore can be pushed off all but their very
best hands. Others, who may well be temporarily out
of their comfort zone, tighten up considerably requiring top premium hands to participate and then play
weak/tight.
Obviously, neither of these approaches is optimum
play unless, of course, you have a significant read on
the opposition which would dictate your course of
action. Without a strong read to convince you there
is an opportunity to be taken advantage of, you should
ignore the doubling of the stakes and play your normal
game. If the kill pot situations force you to tighten up
because you’re uncomfortable, then maybe you’re in
the wrong game because you can and will be bullied.
You need to put your powers of observation to full use
to identify who the loose cannons are and who plays
the kill pots weak/tight because they’re uncomfortable.
The most profitable opportunities in these type
games require identifying the loose cannons who
play marginal hands and build pots which you can win
with your superior holdings Our goal for this session regarding kill pots is to catalog your opponents’
reactions to the doubling of stakes while not letting
the increase effect your play. If you do your homework, you can take advantage of both these prevalent
behaviors in kill pots. Stay observant and I hope you
kill them!
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].
42
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
11/11/05
SENIORS NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500 + $65
PLAYERS 471
PRIZE POOL
$237,500
Rich Yarmosh
1. Richard J Yarmosh . $74,813
Glen Head, NY
2. Terrence J Ferentinos . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $39,781
Alpharetta, GA
3. Raymond J Tortorigi $21,969
Ledyard, CT
4. Robert D Dow . . . . . $15,437
New Hartford, CT
somewhat.
Lenny and Gene squared
off head to head with virtually identical chip positions. Gene, a resident of
Brooklyn, NY, who had the
slight edge in chips, went
all-in with K4 after a 494
flop; Lenny called with A4
to take huge pot.
Now down to the felt in
the next hand, Gene could
not connect and he collected $203,300 for 2nd
place. Lenny happily took
the crystal trophy, commemorative leather jacket
and $377,175!!
5. David StLaurent . . . $10,688
(Cont’d from page 41)
11/10/05
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $5,000 + $200
PLAYERS 212
PRIZE POOL
$1,070,000
Leonard Cortellino
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Leonard Cortellino $377,175
Gene Todd . . . . . . . $203,300
Lee Markholt . . . . . $112,350
Nicholas J Laudano. $74,900
Elizabeth Lieu . . . . . $53,500
Kalyan Gullapalli . . $42,800
James Bernard. . . . . $32,100
Thomas I Franklin . $26,750
Frank Selldorff . . . . $24,075
Exeter, NH
6. Thomas E Mucci . . . . $8,906
Brewster, NY
7. John H Pelton . . . . . . $7,125
Flushing, NY
8. Richard Bell . . . . . . . . $5,938
New York, NY
9. Alfred Brockunier . . . $5,343
Yorktown Hts, NY
Lenny Cortellino
Takes The Title—Wins
$377,175!
Lenny Cortellino, a “regular” in the Foxwoods Resort
Casino Poker Room, captured the $5000 No-Limit
Hold’em championship by
outlasting 212 competitors. Lenny, who hails from
Lewiston, ME, has played
in almost every Act III
tournament leading up to
the World Poker Finals; he
won his $10000 seat and 4
times since then. He earned
$377,175 from the prize
pool of $1,070,000. The
total prize pool for the 2005
World Poker Finals is now
over $4,000,000!
After two hours of
play five were gone and
it would be another three
hours before Liz Lieu of
Los Angeles, CA, took 5th.
Liz had survived an earlier
all-in against Nick Landau
by catching a flush on the
river; however, he returned
the favor shortly thereafter. Liz was short stacked
and all-in with 10’s; Lee
Markholt called with J4 and
caught the J on the river
to leave Liz with $53,500.
Nick Landau, Branford, CT
captured 4th spot when Lee
caught a river flush; Nick
took home $74,900. Lee,
who resides in Eatonville,
WA, lost a huge pot with
A4 to Gene with A10. The
next hand Lee was all-in
and lost to Lenny with
two pair. The $112,350 for
3rd place soothed the pain
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Metaphysical Poker & Life
blanket, crutch
or anything else,
but my Ten Commitments
work for me.
It takes effort and commitment to maintain focus.
Poisonous memories, ideas,
thoughts and beliefs have
been implanted in all of us.
Being neglected or abused
has caused other thought
terrorists. We have been
carrying this baggage all
of our lives, never noticing the damage it does to
our hopes and dreams. No
more, need you experience
alienation, resentment,
vindictiveness, despair,
hopelessness, resignation,
Charlie Shoten
defend, sustain,
feed, nurture and
obey them, most never
notice them or realize how
they affect their poker
game. And even if they
notice them, they don’t
know what to do about
them. My following Ten
Commitments help me
notice and let go of them.
I happily share them
with you:
1. My attitude is gratitude.
2. I focus on my inner self
and look after it and
care for it.
3. I notice any memory,
idea, thought or belief
I hold onto that causes
stressful feelings.
4. I ask for and pray for my
intentions to help me let
go of them.
5. I believe and trust in
myself.
6. I am calm, confident and
clear, and I wait for my
best choice to appear
after considering all my
choices and the consequences of each.
7. I am not attached to outcome.
8. I humbly ask for forgiveness from those I have
knowingly or unknowingly, through thought,
word or deed, neglected
or abused, and I forgive
those who have abused
or neglected me.
9. I notice the next
Thought Terrorist
when it appears and
repeat commitments #3
through #8.
10. I maintain my attitude
of gratitude.
depression, anxiety, or any
other hurtful feeling. You
must notice and let go of
the thoughts that cause
each of them. Only then
will you free yourself from
those terrible feelings.
Continue to smoke or take
drugs and alcohol and you
will never be free of them.
Notice and let go of each
Thought Terrorist one at a
time. To free yourself from
them you must go where
Angels fear to tread. You
must embrace your worst
feelings. When you find
the thought that creates
the feeling you can let go
of it. Do this and the feel-
ing will go away. My Ten
Commitments can help you
free yourself from them by
noticing and letting go of
them.
Focusing throughout an
entire poker tournament
will improve your play and
bring you a joyous mindset and a radiant smile.
Now you know how to
do it. Noticing and letting
go of a Thought Terrorist
is your ticket to freeing
yourself from hurtful feelings. Embrace your stressful feelings to find and let
go of the thoughts hidden
behind them. Now is the
time to act.
Questions or comments:
[email protected]
& www.no-limitlife.net
and don’t miss his book,
“No-Limit Life”,
(Best Book Award 2005:
USA Book News, Category:
Psychology/Mental Health)
I refer to my Ten
Commitments before, during and after each tournament. Having memorized
them, they are always at
the forefront of my mind
where they are ready to
help me notice and let go
of any Thought Terrorist
that cause harmful feelings
which destroy my focus at
the poker table. When my
mind thinks, ‘Will I know
what to do when it is my
turn to act?’ or when any
other thought arises that
causes fear or anxiety, my
Ten Commitments help me
let go of such thoughts.
Call them my security
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
43
Which Comes First—The
Egg or the Chicken?
BacK in the saddle Again
By OKLAHOMA JOHNNY HALE
...or do you get your poker hand first and
make the pot later? Or do you make the
pot and then get your hand?
Ab ovo—would you play the poker hand different if you
could start it again? Ab ovo usque ad mala—the translation is “From the eggs to the apples”!
It was first penned by the Roman poet Horace—and in
poker talk, it would mean—starting with one thing and
ending up with another.
Horace, in the account of the Trojan War, began with
the mythical egg of Leda, from which Helen (whose
beauty sparked a war) was born.
Carol, I know you will say, “Johnny,” what in the hell’s
(Hale’s) half acre does this have to do with poker?
Well, this is going to require you, the reader, to think a
little. If you want to know that an A will sometimes beat
a K, go read that other Writer’s stuff in the Reader’s
Digest. If you want Jell-O, go over there, but here
in Poker Player, you get something different—the meat
and potatoes.
First, when you lie in a poker game you are not lying—
you are just playing poker. You are just “Hoodwinking.”
You are trying to dupe the other poker players into
believing something is different than the facts. You are
trying the best you can to make the other poker player
believe something that may or may not be true.
Odysseus was the ruler of the island kingdom of
Ithaca and was known like Johnny Moss, Bill Boyd or
OK-Johnny, or you, or a thousand other poker players,
for their cleverness and cunning. He was a suitor of
Helen of Troy.
But Menelaus was married to Helen and during the
wedding, Iris, the goddess of strife, had a little too much
wine and threw a golden apple (Ab ovo usque ad mala)
into the middle of the wedding. Later on, Menelaus
became the ruler of Helen’s homeland Lacedaemon.
Now into this love triangle comes Paris, who was
the son of King Priam of Troy. Paris was playing a little
poker with Odysseus and Menelaus and the minute that
Helen walked into the poker room, he just knew that she
was better than A’s in the pocket. Paris, abducted Helen
and sailed off with her to Troy.
Well, folks, Menelaus was a little upset with Paris for
kidnapping his wife Helen. So much so that he got all of
Greece to declare war on the city of Troy. At one point,
Menelaus wanted to settle the conflict by single combat
with Paris.
Yes, Paris got out of Lacedaemon and took Helen with
him back to Troy. Menelaus called in a few of his markers and enlisted the aid of Odysseus and some of the
original suitors of Helen to come with him and help him
fight to get his wife, Helen, back from Paris at the city
of Troy.
The Greeks all got together and build a great giant
wooden horse (The Trojan Horse), and during a daring
nocturnal raid, fooled Paris and his boys into letting
the Trojan Horse inside the gates of the city of Troy.
They hoodwinked Pairs and his troops into thinking that
the Trojan Horse was a Deuce/Seven off suit.
So the stratagem of this column is: if it waddles like a
duck, acts like a duck and quacks like a duck, it may not
be a duck! But that’s the way I would bet.
Until next time, remember to STAY LUCKY!!!
Book reviews
Kill Phil
by Blair Rodman and
Lee Nelson
2005, 275pp, $24.95
Kill Phil is
Right on Target
Don’t be surprised if you
hear some poker player or
poker fan declare that Phil
Hellmuth’s arrogance and
ego could put King Kong on
tilt. Many claim. that The
“Poker Brat,” as he likes
to refer to himself, usually
lives up to his name and
rep. To take advantage of
his persona, Blair Rodman
and Lee Nelson have come
up with a book title worth
remembering. It’s Kill Phil,
and while the focus of the
book isn’t totally Phil, the
subtitle -- The Fast Track
to Success in No-Limit
Hold’em Poker Events -pretty much explains why
the title fits.
Russ Hamilton, who won
the World Series of Poker
at Binion’s in 1994, says
of this work, it’s “the best
book on no-limit hold’em
I’ve ever read.
“The Kill Phil strategy
is designed to take advantage of what we, and many
others, feel is a weakness
in no-limit hold’em tournaments -- the overemphasis
on the all-in move in the
later stages,” the authors
emphasize.”
In a way, it questions
whether or not the hype
and quick-off-the-hip poker
instructions as seen on TV
really explain how to play
properly in certain situations.
But This is an interesting
Editor’s Notes: You may contact OK-J at his e-mail
[email protected], or play poker LIVE, ONLINE
with Johnny, Carol and Sarah at www.OK-J.com.
Johnny’s book, “The Gentleman Gambler,” is in its
third printing. Contact Johnny for your copy.
44
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
work in other ways as well.
It’s both instructive overall,
by analyzing players and
their styles, and it covers
much territory often neglected or skimmed over by
other books and theorists.
Rodman, well-known in
blackjack circles for his skill
at that game, and Nelson,
one of Australia’s best players, examine “small ball”
players who “chip away
with a variety of intricate
strategies” including being
involved in many pots “ …
waiting for the fattest opportunities,” especially those
which occur after the flop.
The “long ball” players
(similar to home run hitters), usually apply their
skills before the flop.
The serious, calculating players will learn more
about concepts like the
“chip-status index” and how
to calculate the CPR (cost
per round).They will get
insight into playing aces
or kings early with small
blinds and a large stack;
basic post-flop play. A small
(two pages) section on sit-ngo tournaments and singletable satellites, two pages on
online play, an interesting
section (three pages) on
how to avoid
tells, and a
discussion
of “downtime
to learn” (meaning when
you’re not in action, don’t
get lazy; observe your opponents’ play) help flesh out
the book.
Rodman and Nelson
also examine how to play
according to your stack size;
the power of the re-raise;
table image and how to
change gears.
By the ninth chapter the
book is a fast-moving fighter pilot with deal aim on
things like Advanced PostFlop Strategy, Heads-Up,
Unraised Pot, You Act First
or You Act Last; Counting
Outs; Trapping and
Avoiding Traps; Avoiding
Pre-Flop Traps and Trapping
Post-Flop.
Players and fans often
ask about “final-table deals”
(sometime they’re allowed,
sometimes not) where players agree to split tournament
prizes so the authors devote
four pages to this controversial area.
The book also contains
pre and post-flop matchup
tables based on expected
value; the odds of making
your hand with two cards to
come; pair probability (A-A
through 2-2).
This book has much to
offer, and I’m sure anyone
playing in some major tournament will want a copy
on the table the next time
Hellmuth faces them. They
can use it like garlic repelling a vampire.
Overall, an intelligent,
original effort with many
new tournament table survival tips.
—Howard Schwartz
of 81, the old New Deal
Democrat died.
Senate Republican
powerful Democrat in the Leader Bob Dole, who
admired his adversary,
House to push for invesdeclared that Tip O’Neill
tigation and impeach“will go down in history
ment of President Nixon.
as one of the great politiUltimately, in 1974,
cal leaders of our time.”
Nixon resigned.
And he might have added,
O’Neill was the unanione of the nation’s most
mous choice for Speaker
important poker players.
of the House in 1977 and
served until he retired in
1987. In 1994, at the age
e-mail: [email protected]
Thomas “Tip” O’Neill
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D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
45
Entertainment
Listings
Entertainment RePORT
By LEN BUTCHER
Went to see the Folies Bergere at the
Tropicana recently, first time I’ve seen
it in about 10 years. I have to say, I was
impressed, and I didn’t even go to the 10 p.m. show, which is
topless. The costumes, sets and dance numbers were great,
and the showgirls were gorgeous. Not that
I noticed, of course.
On my way out, I was thinking what it
must take to put a show like this together,
and even more fascinating, how has the
Folies been able to endure for 45 years in a
town that eats up and spits out shows at an alarming rate.
You heard me right. The Folies Bergere has been running
continuously at the Tropicana for 45 years and shows no
signs of slowing down. Okay, so what do I do about it? Being
a trained journalist, I thought a good way to start would be
to talk to the people who put this show together.
Picture my surprise when I find out there are no “people”, just a “person” in the name of Jerry Jackson. Jerry
writes, choreographs, designs the costumes, writes special
music, directs and co-produces the show, which he’s been
doing since 1966. To say this guy is talented is like saying
President Clinton was monogamous.
I caught up to Jerry when he was in the midst of redoing
a part of the show, and therein lies part of the answer to
its longevity. “We keep it fresh,” he says, “and replace anything that’s not working.”
But it’s much more than that, as I soon found out talking
to this man, who at 67 has more energy and enthusiasm than
most people half his age. “A traditional show would quickly
become dated. You always have to come up with something
fresh, something new. When I do a show, I’m also commenting on it. I like to instill the essence of each period and style,
much like the movie ‘Moulin Rouge’. The costume designer
and set director in that movie did not adhere to history or
authenticity, but they captured the spirit of the period.”
Let me explain something about the show, for those of
you who haven’t seen it. It is a celebration of women and
how they have changed from 1850 to the present day. This
transformation is shown through dance and music, from
a minuet set in 19th century France, through the Roaring
‘20s and rock ‘n’ roll, with many other stops along the way,
but let me warn, you there are new numbers all the time,
Jerry’s idea of keeping it fresh.
He does exhaustive research when he has to choreograph
a particular dance style and will actually study with whoever’s a master at it. “I want all of my choices to be based on
authenticity. I think it’s the underlying substance that gives
the show longevity. In other words, it’s not just tits and
feathers.”
The pace of the show has also changed over the years,
says Jerry. “It’s become very important, even more so
since the advent of MTV. In the first five minutes of the
show there are three or four costume changes. I don’t like
anything to stay on stage longer than 45 seconds to a few
minutes before it is changed, whether it be the introduction
of a new person, or a change of costume, set, or music. The
audience’s attention span isn’t what it used to be.”
In selecting the dancers, Jerry looks for their ability to
act and their stage presence. “They don’t have to be technically brilliant, although that helps, but they must be able
to act and project on stage. I want them to have what I call
a dancer’s spirit, and lots of energy.” Then he adds with a
smile: “And, of course, pretty doesn’t hurt.”
If you want a fun night out, next time you’re in Las Vegas,
catch this show. It runs nightly, except Sunday, with covered
(not topless) at 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. (topless).
Len Butcher, a 25-year resident of Las Vegas, is an
online columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal
and a former Managing Editor of the Las Vegas Sun
and of Gaming Today. Reach him at [email protected]
46
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
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CALIFORNIA
Agua Caliente Casino
Comedy Shop
Arena Patio
DJ / Karaoke
Live Bands
Ballroom Dance Party
Crystal Park Casino & Hotel Cambodian Dance Party
(41)
Karaoke
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Casino (8)
Black Diamond
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Wayne Newton Holiday Show
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Flamingo Las Vegas
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Commerce Casino
8:30 p.m. Featuring three top comedians
weekly.
Joker’s Comedy Club, Karaoke Thursdays 8 p.m.
Sunday-Wednesday, 9 p.m.
Fridays & Saturdays, 9 p.m.
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Thursday through Monday
Presents Banda Nortina Sats 8 p.m.-3 a.m.
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Dec 10, 7 & 10 p.m.
Live Jazz, Tues. 8 p.m.
Dec 11, 7 p.m.
Dec 16, 9 p.m.
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Gordie Brown
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Fridays through Wednesdays. 8:30 & 10:30 p.m.
thru Dec 23, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 p.m.
Thursdays through Tuesdays, 8 p.m.
Tue thru Sun (dark Mon), 7:30 p.m.,
Sun 3 p.m. & 7 p.m.
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Mondays through Saturdays, 7 & 10 p.m.
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David Brenner
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Dec 21-22, 10:30 p.m.
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Dec 9 & 10, 8 p.m.
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Fridays; 7 & 10:30 p.m. Saturdays, Mondays.
Dec 30, 8 p.m.
Dec 30, 8 p.m.
Fri thru Tue, 7:30& 10:30 p.m.
8 p.m. (Monday thru Friday)
Dec 9-10, 9 p.m.
Tuesdays thru Saturdays, 7pm; Tuesdays &
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Dec 15-18, 8 p.m.
Las Vegas Hilton (37)
Luxor Resort & Casino
Mandalay Bay Resort &
Casino (42)
Mamma Mia
Black Eyed Peas
Neil Diamond
MGM Grand
KA.
Impressionist Danny Gans
The Mirage Hotel & Casino (11)
Leann Womack
Monte Carlo Resort & Casino (19) Magician Lance Burton
The Orleans Hotel & Casino Dionne Warwick
Palace Station Hotel &
Laugh Trax comedy club
Casino (8)
The Comedy Zone
Plaza Hotel & Casino
Crazy Girls
La Cage
Riviera Hotel & Casino
Splash
Neil Diamond Tribute
The Platters, Coasters and
Sahara Hotel & Casino
Drifters
Sam’s Town Hotel & Casino Gregg Peteron
(40)
Hootie & The Blowfish
Silverton Hotel & Casino
Four Tops &
Shirley Austin Reeves
Stardust Hotel & Casino
Rick Thomas
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Stratosphere Hotel &
American Superstars
Casino
Viva Las Vegas
The Whip-Its
Sunset Station (8)
Love Shack
Texas Station (8)
Tropicana Casino & Resort Folies Bergere
Le Reve
Wynn Las Vegas (45)
Avenue “Q”
LAUGHLIN
Riverboat Ramblers Strolling
Colorado Belle Hotel Casino Dixieland Jazz Band
Tony Orlando
Flamingo Hilton Hotel Casino
Ramada Express Hotel Casino Country Music USA
Debbie Reynolds
Riverside Hotel Casino
RENO
The Palmores
Atlantis Casino Resort
Smokey Joe’s Cafe
Eldorado Hotel Casino
Riders on the Storm
Reno Hilton Hotel Casino
7:30 & 10 p.m. Tuesdays thru Saturdays.
9 p.m. Tuesdays thru Sundays.
Wed thru Mon, 9:30 p.m.
Wed thru Mon, 7:30 p.m.
Tue thru Sun, 9:30 p.m
Sun thru Thu, 7 p.m.
8 p.m. nightly
Dec 14-18, 8:30 p.m.
Dec 31, 10:30 p.m.
Dec 30-Jan 1, 8 p.m.
Ongoing, Thu thru Tue 2 & 4 p.m.
Ongoing, 10:30 p.m.
Ongoing, 6:30 & 8:30 p.m.
Ongoing, 2 & 4 p.m.
Nightly, 10:30 p.m.
Fridays and Saturdays, 10 p.m.
Ongoing, 7:30 p.m. & 10 p.m.
Ongoing, 8 p.m.
Ongoing, 8 p.m.
Fridays & Saturdays, 8 p.m.
Nov 25-26, 7 p.m.
Thru Dec 22, 8 p.m.
Dec 27-30, 7 p.m.
10 p.m.-4 a.m.
Ongoing, 8 p.m.
Dec 16, 9 p.m.
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Profiling,
PART 1
With the warp-speed pace of internet
poker play, it becomes important not
KILLER Poker
NOW! Get Tournament Listings at our website: www.pokerplayernewspaper.com
By John Vorhaus
just to profile your foes but to do so quickly and efficiently, so that you know how to respond to them in
the moment. This is not so much about storing longterm information on an enemy (though you can do that,
and it’s helpful) but about observing a player’s patterns, assigning those patterns a label, and then using
the label to clarify what kind of player you’re dealing
with right here, right now. Players will switch gears, of
course -- and when they do, you amend your label. But
your first order of business is to assign a label, so that
you can assign a probability of someone playing a certain way.
Yes, you’re making a number of assumptions, and no,
those assumptions are not backed by massive statistical
support. Yet I contend that a player who has demonstrated the ability to check-raise bluff deserves a different designation -- even if it’s a tentative, speculative one
-- from a player who has shown strong tendencies to call
and fold. So I watch the patterns to crack the codes, and
then sum up my sense of my foes by labeling them.
In this column and the next one I’m going to share
with you some of the labels I use, along with associated
characteristics and characteristic plays. Take a moment
to amplify my definitions. Guess, in other words, what
you would expect to encounter from a player with a
certain label. Note how much information about a player
is implied just by his handle and not much more. Don’t
be afraid to be wrong in your assessments. It’s learning
to make assessments that’s important -- and more than
most players bother with. “To name a thing is to own a
thing,” says the sage; if so, then to define an opponent,
and to extend and expand your definition, is to own the
deed to his house.
KOSHER. A kosher player is simply simple.
Straightforward and honest, he plays his own hand and
doesn’t think much about yours. Offering little or nothing in the way of deception, he bets, calls, raises, or
folds according to the real strength of his holding. Take
his actions at face value. About the trickiest play in
his repertoire is the check-raise; a check-raise bluff is
beyond him.
TIMMY. Short for “timid Timmy,” this player is weak,
passive, and unlikely to make any sudden moves for fear
of startling himself. Timmies don’t play to win; rather,
they play not to lose. Therefore you find them liberally
inhabiting the middle stages of tournaments, but rarely
the final table. Aggressively attack uncontested flops
against a Timmy. He won’t play back unless he has a real
hand.
SPEEDER. A speeder is a dangerous player. He plays
fast in every sense of the word, and part of his motivation for playing fast is to get you to play fast, too. If
he’s better able than you to analyze and act on the fly,
he can make money on the margin, so he attempts to
increase the pace of play not just through fast choices
but through promiscuous raises and re-raises. Take
your time against a speeder. Pause to consider your
decisions. This will not only ensure that you’re thinking things through, it will frustrate him by breaking his
rhythm.
I’ll be back with more profiles next time; in the meantime, why not start compiling a list of your own? Trust
me, to name a thing is to own a thing indeed.
[John Vorhaus is the author of Poker Night and
the Killer Poker book series, and news
ambassador for UltimateBet.com.]
48
D EC E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5
2005-06 WORLDWIDE
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tBellagio, Las Vegas, NV
Hit Casino, Nova Gorica, Slovenia
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Grand Casino Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Olympic Casino Latvia @ Radison SAS Hotel, Riga, Latvia
Rendezvous Casino at the Kursaal, Southend-on-Sea, U.K.
Aviation Club de France, Paris, France
Atlantis Resort & Casino, Paradise Island, Bahamas
Crown Casino, Melbourne, Australia
sGold Strike Casino (AdPg 51), Tunica, MS
tBorgata Hotel, Atlantic City, NJ
eCasino Copenhagen (Radisson SAS Scandinavia Hotel), Denmark
Jack Binion Horseshoe Casino/Gold Strike Casino, Tunica, MS
Seneca Niagara Casino (AdPg 7), Niagara Falls, NY
Casino Edmonton, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
tBorgata Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, NJ
sHarrah’s Atlantic City, NJ
eCasino Barriere, Rue Edmond Blanc, Deauville, France
Commerce Casino, Commerce, CA
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tBay 101, San Jose, CA
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Cherokee Casino in Tulsa (AdPg 47), Cartoosa, OK
Watch for venue announcement!
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Casino Edmonton, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Casino Yellowhead Edmonton, Alberta
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