SIZE - Poker Player Newspaper

Transcription

9
Celebrity Crossword PAGE
tribute to
T.J. Cloutier
12
40
14
17
20
Hollywood rolling PAGE
out another
Poker Movie!
PAGE
Entertainment
Best Bets
11
48
POKER PLAYER
Vol. 9 Number 19 March 20, 2006 A Gambling Times Publication www.pokerplayernewspaper.com Copyright ©2006 Bi-Weekly $3.95 USA/$4.95 CANADA
Two Big DrawOuts are Key to
Alan Goehring’s
LAPC/WPT Win
By Max Shapiro
Alan Goehring, a retired junk
bond analyst from New York,
overcame a 2-1 chip deficit when
he got heads-up with cash game
player Daniel Quach as he took
down the championship event of
LAPC/WPT 2006, $10,000 no-limit
hold’em. His $2,391,550 win.was the
largest first-place payout for any regularseason WPT event.
(Continued on page 10)
and Here’s
ANOTHER
Greenstein
FIRST!
Greenstein
Scoops
$100,000
for Charity
with WPT
Invitational
Victory
level. But Barry Greenstein,
eschewed fun, playing his
typical all-business style of
poker to ultimately outlast the
field and take the $100,000
first prize and the $25,000
Nam Le walks home with $1,198,300
By Byron Liggett
San Jose, CA – One of the
brightest lights in the Poker
Galaxy is the “Shooting Star
Tournament” at BAY 101.
Just concluded, the 2006
event was a celestial success.
A premier annual event,
participants are among many
of the most accomplished
names in the game. The
Shooting Star Tournament is
among the most prestigious
competitions in the game.
The unique, two event,
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A Word from the
“Mad Genius,”
Mike Caro
Today’s word is...
“SIZE”
Turn to page 6 for more
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The Heavyweight
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is pleased to announce
that Barry Greenstein is
the first player to sign
up and pay his $5,000
entry fee to play in the
main event on December
20-23rd at Sam’s town
in Las Vegas. Barry will
deposit his $100,000
buy-in with Sam’s Town
30 days before the final
event begins. HCP
founder, Jerry Reed,
said, “We are delighted
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M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
5
Caro’s Word: “Size”
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
No-
limit poker is
much more
complicated
than limit
poker. If analyzing when to
bet, raise, call, or fold with
precisely which hands in
exactly what situations isn’t
enough to keep you busy,
try adding the option to
choose the size of your bets
and raises. That’s no-limit.
And I can tell you with
absolute certainty that this
makes finding the right
decision significantly
harder. I know, because I’ve
programmed both limit and
no-limit. What’s the perfect
bet? Is it moving all-in,
$300, $5,000, what? And
let’s say it’s about $300. Is
$325 a little better or a little
worse?
Of course, no-limit is
more complicated than
limit, despite frequently
published opinions to the
contrary that center on the
fact that you can often just
move all-in in no-limit, saving you the burden of making refined betting choices.
That’s silly. Listen to this
lecture I gave years ago, and
you’ll know why…
Betting the right
amount
If you’re a serious or professional player, sooner or
later you’re probably going
to play no-limit poker. Nolimit poker used to be my
favorite form of the game,
and I spent several years
researching it when I developed the first world-class
artificially intelligent computer player, called Orac, in
the early 1980’s.
Unlike fixed-limit games
where you can only bet
exactly the amount specified, in no-limit you can
bet or raise any amount you
want up to however much
money and chips you have
on the table. By the way,
there’s no such thing as
the scenario you’ve seen
in many Old West movies
where a player with a sixshooter unexpectedly calls
a pot and raises the deed
to the ranch, then – if the
opponent can’t come up
with anything of equal value
– that poor under-funded
cowboy loses the pot by
default. That’s stupid, and I
doubt that it happened very
often. All no-limit games
that I know about are actually limited by the amount of
money an opponent has on
the table. The risk is never
any greater than that.
But, I got sidetracked.
Today, I want to talk about
an important concept that
applies to no-limit. It’s
about the appropriate size
of bets. Now, many players
and even experts have said
that the appropriate size of a
typical bet is about the size
of the pot. That’s wrong. I
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know it’s wrong, because,
first, there’s no magical
mathematical reason to
make this so, and, second,
I did a lot of research in
developing Orac, including
full-handed game analysis,
and a smaller than pot-size
bet turned out to be the most
effective for the vast majority of hands where betting
was reasonable, but strength
was not overwhelmingly
great. That’s important, so
I’ll repeat it: The most reasonable size of a no-limit
bet with typical betting
hands that are not overwhelmingly strong is less
than the size of the pot.
There, I’ve said it, and
I’m prepared to suffer the
scorn of those who believe
that, for some magical reason, the perfect size bet is
the same as the size of the
pot. Once again, it isn’t. It’s
usually less.
Now this doesn’t mean
you shouldn’t vary your
bets with typical strength
hands. You need to do that,
otherwise you’ll be betting progressively more,
by formula, when you
have strong hands. An alert
opponent could gauge the
approximate strength of
your hand just by examining the size of your bets.
A small bet would mean
a barely bettable hand; a
medium bet would mean an
average bettable hand; and
a large bet would mean a
very big hand. You might
as well give up poker, if
you do that, because you
probably won’t win, except
against naïve opponents.
What you’ve got to do is
apply some camouflage.
Sometimes bet more with
your barely bettable hands;
sometimes bet more and
sometimes less with average bettable hands; and vary
the amounts of your bets
with your highest quality
hands from all-in to small
and everywhere in between,
while averaging biggerthan-normal wagers.
Keeping in tune
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That’s the secret. Your
bets should average amounts
that are in tune with the
strength of your hands, but
they shouldn’t always be
in that range. That way, an
opponent can’t rely on your
bet size as a pure indication
of how strong your hand is;
but, on average, you’re risk-
ing more for more gain with
your stronger hands, which
is the way nature intended
it. Throw in some prudent
bluffs, and you’ve potentially got control of your
opponents.
Now, you might
ask– what if I bet the same
amount all the time? Won’t
that take away any chance
my opponent has of determining how strong my hand
is based on the amount I
bet? The answer is, yes, that
would do the trick, but that
isn’t the most profitable way
to proceed. That’s because
when you have weakish
betting hands, you don’t
want to usually risk a lot if
you do decide to bet. And
when you have strong hands
that might be worth more,
you often want to bet a lot.
Much of it depends on what
your opponent is willing to
call – which brings us to our
next great concept regarding
no limit.
Many players believe that
when they have the best
hand and are afraid of being
drawn out on, they should
move all-in – bet everything
they have in front of them,
bet the ranch. Now that’s
often the best bet, especially
if your opponent is very
likely to call. After all, when
you have the advantage, the
more money your opponent
calls beyond what’s profitable for him to call, the
more money you theoretically earn. And all that theoretically earned money adds
up over time and becomes
real money, even if you get
unlucky in the short term.
So, here’s the key. From
a game theory standpoint,
the amount you should bet
is whatever is exactly breakeven for your opponent.
It won’t matter if he calls,
folds, or raises. In the long
run, you’ll both break-even,
because you’re both playing
the same perfect strategy.
But that doesn’t really happen in poker, because players aren’t perfect. The superior player can take advantage of a lesser opponent by
manipulation, through tells,
and by maneuvering and
betting more efficiently.
Fair deal
So, how much should you
really bet? Well, try to estimate the point at which your
opponent would get a fair
POKER PLAYER
A Gambling Times Publication
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(310) 674-3365
www.pokerplayernewspaper.com
Stanley R. Sludikoff
EDITOR/PUBLISHER
[email protected]
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PRODUCTION DIRECTOR
FOR idrome INFO DESIGN
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WEBMASTER
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SENIOR EDITOR
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Byron Liggett
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
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H. Scot Krause
PROMOTIONS EDITOR
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Len Butcher
ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
[email protected]
Wendeen H. Eolis
EDITORIAL CONSULTANT
Phil Hevener
CONSULTANT
Contributing
Columnists
Nolan Dalla
George Epstein
“Oklahoma Johnny” Hale
Ashley Adams
Diane McHaffie
James McKenna
I. Nelson Rose
John Vorhaus
Poker Player will be published Bi-Weekly
by Gambling Times Incorporated,
Stanley R. Sludikoff, President.
Volume 9 Number 19.
Copyright © March 2006 by Gambling
Times Incorporated. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without
written permission is prohibited.
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PUBLISHER’S STATEMENT
This notice will certify that 49,500 copies of Volume
9, Number 19 of Poker Player were printed at Valley
Printers, 16230 Filbert Street, Sylmar, CA 91342.
Distribution to newsstands, card clubs, poker rooms and
other distribution points throughout the United States,
Canada, the Caribbean, Central America and Europe.
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M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
7
Poker Training Drills
I am finding that most poker players do very little
to help improve their overall game. A huge major-
POKER COUNSELOR
By John Carlisle, MA, NCC
ity believe that they’ll miraculously improve simply
by logging lots of hours playing online, dabbling in home games, and
taking a few trips to the casino each year. While time at the tables
is indeed an important factor, it is not always an optimal or effective
means to personal poker betterment. I always try to encourage poker
players to seek out alternate means of poker training. I compare this
mentality to that of a coach of any sports team. The coach would
never be so foolish as to think that the team will improve by merely
scrimmaging. Instead, the coach would have a myriad of drills to promote the fundamentals of the game. We poker players can take these
lessons to heart, as well. Let’s take a look at a few possible poker
drills that have been a tool for some players in the past.
ESPN’s coverage of the WSOP included a humorous glance of a relatively silly game called “Blind Man’s Bluff.” This is a simple game of
Texas Hold ‘Em with a twist: you hold your hole cards on your forehead
for your opposition to see & you have no idea what you have. While this
might seem like a goofball game reserved for drunken frat parties, it
can actually be an excellent poker training drill. Without any knowledge
of your own cards, all of the other important factors in poker reach
heightened levels of importance. Position, bluffing, reading your opposition, and calculation of the variations of possible hands are the keys
to this interesting and exciting game. When played seriously, this game
can be a great exercise in poker psychology. Each player’s eyes roam
between the hands of each opponent. The length of the gaze at your
forehead may be a tell. The way your opposition glances at the flop and
then instantly looks at your hand may indicate that you have a flush
draw. At the same time, you are concentrating at not giving off tells
on the strength of the hands that you can see. Put some money on the
table and try some serious Blind Man’s Bluff for a new poker drill.
I encourage players to have a good poker book and a deck of cards
in their possession. That way, idol moments waiting at the doctor’s
office can be morphed into productive poker time. Take some time to
work the deck of cards. Deal out a few dummy hands and see what
might happen with the Flop, Turn, and River. With each card and each
hand, see how well you can “feel” the odds and predict the outcome.
Too many players have become mired in memorization of charts, or are
used to living through the percentages that appear on the TV screens
when watching tournaments. Dealing out hands helps us to get a
better feel for the cards and the game. The brain processes these
hands more intensely than hands read in a book, simulated online, or
even played in live play. The brain soaks in the visual stimuli while it
compares expectations to the reality. In live games, we never know
the hole cards of the opposition and we are distracted by seeking tells,
money management, blind level, etc. Dealing dummy hands is a pure
learning experience that old school pros swear by.
Reading people is what we all dream of being able to accurately do
at the table. Luckily, there is no shortage of subjects to aid you with
this endeavor. Daniel Negreanu used to hone his people reading skills
by watching people at the local mall. He’d attempt to identify the
emotions and mental state of passers-by by watching their faces, mannerisms, and posture. Joe Navarro is an ex-FBI counterintelligence
expert who is using his insights into human behavior to become a wellrespected poker insider. You can work to sharpen your reading skills
by watching the world through a different perspective. Watch people
from afar in a restaurant or at work. Without hearing their voice, see
if you can use their physical cues to identify the emotions. Find a way
to always work on your poker skills in new and creative ways. Playing
a lot of poker is not enough. Find some poker drills to get you toward
your poker targets. .
Now go make it happen.
In addition to being an avid poker enthusiast, John is a
certified Counselor in the state of Pennsylvania. He has
a Master of Arts degree in Counseling from West Virginia
University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a
minor in Sociology from Lock Haven University.
You can ask the “Poker Counselor” your
question at [email protected].
8
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Greenstein Scoops $100,000 for Charity
seat in the WPT World
Championship.
Among the celebrities
who sought a seat at the final
table were James Woods,
Jason Alexander, Mimi
Rogers, Stephen Collins, Jon
Favreau, Jennifer Tilly, Sara
Rue, James Garner, Kevin
Weisman, David Sutcliffe,
Lou Diamond Phillips, Anne
Heche and husband Coley
Laffoon, Ron Livingston,
Adrian Young, Gavin Maloof,
Marissa Jaret Winokur,
Camryn Manheim, Joshua
Morrow, Kathy Griffin,
Carlos Bernard, Shannon
Elizabeth, Mimi Rogers, Tom
Everett Scott, Christopher
Rich, Danny Masterson,
Chris Masterson, Willie
Garson, Cheryl Hines, Ricki
Lake, Norm McDonald and
Wil Wheaton. Wheaton (Star
Trek: The Next Generation)
came closest, going out 21st,
and claiming the $10,000
donation for the charity of his
choice, The City of Hope.
But by Friday night, the
field of 315 poker luminaries and Hollywood stars
partaking in the $200,000
freeroll had been whittled
down to Greenstein, Tom
Lock (Henderson, NV), Blair
Rodman (Las Vegas), Jesse
Jones (Las Vegas), Allen
Kessler (Huntington Valley,
PA) and Ugur Marangoz (Las
Vegas) after three days of
play. Greenstein came in as
the chipleader.
Marangoz was short
stacked and was the first
to leave. The chip lead
changed hands multiple
times, with Lock, Jones and
Kessler bowing out, until
it came down to Rodman
and Greenstein. Going into
the final hand, Rodman had
$900,000 to Greenstein’s
$2,000,000. With Greenstein
on the button, he raised to
$90,000, Rodman re-raised
All-In for $746,000, and
Greenstein called with AdKs. Rodman had Ac-10s.
The flop paired each of
their kickers: Ks-10s-7h,
but didn’t give Rodman the
cards he needed to overcome
Greenstein’s hand. The turn
was the 4s and the river card
was the 2h. No celebritylike celebration for Rodman,
as he took second, earning
$50,000.
Said Greenstein, ”It’s not
as big a pot as the rest of
the WPT tournaments, but
I would have been disappointed if I didn’t win.”
Greenstein will contribute
much of his winnings to his
favorite charity “Children,
Incorporated,” a child sponsorship program which
is affiliated with schools,
orphanages, and welfare centers around the world and in
the United States, helping to
provide food, clothing, and
educational needs to children
deep in poverty.
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WPT INVITATIONAL
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
PLAYERS 315
PRIZE
POOL
1.
2.
3.
4.
$200,000
Barry Greenstein . . $100,000
Blair Rodman . . . . . $50,000
Allan Kessler . . . . . . $20,000
Jessie Jones . . . . . . . $15,000
5. Tom Lock . . . . . . . . . $10,000
6. Ugur Marangoz . . . . . $5,000
The event at Commerce
Casino, to be televised May
31 on the Travel Channel,
is one of the 17 stops on the
WPT, which goes to prestigious casinos from Paris to
the Behamas to Las Vegas.
“Congratulations to Barry.
With his commitment to charity, he sets a great example
for all of poker. He becomes
(Cont’d from page 1)
the latest in our list one of
our two-time WPT champions,” said Steve Lipscomb,
CEO and Founder of WPT
Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:
WPTE). Greenstein also won
the WPT’s Tunica tournament in Season Two.
The WORLD POKER
TOUR airs on the Travel
Channel, every Wednesday
night at 9 p.m. ET/PT in the
U.S.
Greenstein First to
Sign Up for HWCP
(Continued from page 1)
to have Barry Greenstein,
as our first contender in
this event. We are expecting more players to sign up
than we can accommodate,
based upon our initial discussions with the top pros,
so, it will strictly be first
come, first served for the
100 seats this year.”
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M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
9
Who Owns Tokens Left In
Slot Machine Trays, Or How
To Turn 5¢ Into A Fortune—
By Suing The Casino!
POKer AND
THE LAW
By I. NELSON ROSE
Stella Romanski found a nickel token in a slot machine tray
and won a jackpot, thanks to a runaway jury and judges who think
casinos have too much money.
Stella, 72, had paid $9.00 for bus rides and a lunch buffet at
Detroit’s MotorCity casino. After playing nickel slots with no luck,
Stella apparently decided to do a little “slot-walking,” looking in
the trays for spare change. She found one nickel token.
Stella claims she was then accosted by uniformed officers,
led to an interview room without windows, seated at a desk and
informed that she had stolen a coin from the slot machine tray.
They even took her nickel. The trial judge, Lawrence Zatkoff,
bought her story. “Ms. Romanski began to cry at the thought that
she, a grandmother of nine children, could commit a crime.”
Actually, the first and only security officer at the scene,
Marlene Brown, testified she was in plainclothes, not in uniform.
Stella, far from being the shy little elderly lady, was loud, hostile
and “even belligerent,” so she was led off the floor.
The jury found there was no defamation and no intentional
infliction of emotional distress. So this left only a civil rights
claim and false arrest. Damages were thus limited to what happened to Stella from the time she was approached by Officer
Brown to the time she left the interview room.
Since she never needed psychiatric care for this traumatic
incident, the jury awarded Stella $9.00 for the bus trip and lunch,
$270.00 for compensatory damages for being detained, five cents
for the nickel token, and $850,000.00 in punitive damages.
Civil rights claims can only be brought against someone “acting under color of state law.” Some courts have held private
security guards, and their deep-pocket employers, can be sued if
they act like agents of a state. They have developed complicated
“public function” tests, to see if the guard has the power of a
government policeman. What has gotten lost is the reason for
the tests. Private guards can be sued for state violations of civil
rights only because the state has decided to delegate its police
power to those private individuals.
Does anyone really think the security guards at casinos were
acting for the state in this case?
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals held that Officer Brown had
“arrested” Stella. A real cop can make an arrest when there is
“probable cause” to believe a crime has been committed. But
here there could be no crime, because the casino was wrong in
thinking the nickel token was its property.
The Court ruled the slot token was abandoned property. Since
the real owner could not be found, the law of finders-keepers
kicks in. Stella, being the first person to find the abandoned token
had a superior title over everyone else, including the owner of
the place were the property was found.
The Court held that $850,000 was excessive, but $600,000 in
punitive damages sounded right. It got that number by looking at
cases where victims had been strip-searched, falsely convicted
and even beaten to death.
It noted that Wal-Mart had been hit for $600,000 in a horrendous case of a pregnant woman falsely convicted and sent to jail,
as if that were the same as Stella’s half-hour in the interview room.
This windfall all belongs to Stella and her lawyer. With a onethird contingency fee, he gets $200,000 and Stella walks away
with $400,000. Personally, I would put up with being questioned
by security guards, even called a thief, for $400,000.
Professor I Nelson Rose will be teaching International
Gaming Law as part of Whittier Law School’s Summer
Abroad Program in France in July 2006. For more information, contact Prof. Rose through his website,
www.gamblingandthelaw.com.
10
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
Alan Goehring’s LAPC/
WPT Win
Two very big draw-outs
helped propel Goehring
to victory. The first came
when he hit a one-outer on
the river to knock out J.C.
Tran in fifth place. The second came on the final hand,
when he had a bare chip
lead over Quach. Goehring,
with K-8, was on the ropes
against Quach’s A-J when
the flop came Q-J-9. Then a
king turned to give him the
pot and the title.
This is Goehring’s second WPT win. He also has
a $1 million victory in the
first season of the Bellagio
Five-Star/WPT $25,000
championship event, along
with a second-place finish
at the WSOP championship
in 1999. Quach, who rarely
plays tournaments, finished
190th in this year’s WSOP
main event.
Final-day action started
with 5,000 antes and
25,000-50,000 blinds. None
of the six finalists arrived
short-chipped. Counts
ranged from 1,505,000
for Steven Simmons to
3,720,000 for chip-leader
JC Tran. In all, over 13 million chips. There would be
numerous chip-lead changes
duiring this seven-hour, 144hand final table.
The first all-in didn’t
come until hand 14 when
Simmons opened for
150,000, Tran re-raised to
400,000, Simmons moved
in for over 1 million, and
Tran folded. The first allin call came when Quach
raised to 200,000, Tran reraised to 600,000 and Quach
moved in for 1,820,000.
Both had A-K suited and the
pot was split.
After the next break, players returned to play with
blinds of 40,000-80,000
with 10,000 antes. Tran still
led with just over 3 million. The first massive chip
exchange came two hands
later when Per “Nemo”
Ummer opened for 225,000
and Simmons raised
1,220,000. Simmons had
pocket queens to Ummer’s
pocket jacks, and moved
into the lead after the board
came A-4-3-10-10 Four
hands later, Ummer opened
for 500,000 with pocket aces
and was called by Tran with
10-7. A flop of Q-9-8 gave
Tran an open-ended straight
draw, but he missed and lost.
Then Goehring took a
big pot from Tran with a set
of 9s agaist Tran’s missed
straight draw.
Chips continued to move
around the table. By hand
39, Ummer had taken a
slight lead with 3.8 million
to 3.5 for Simmons. With
blinds at 60,000-120,000
with 15,000 antes(costing
each player 270,000 chips
a round), four players were
in a close race wth between
2.3 and 2.7 million, while
Goehring and Tran (who
had survived an all in with
A-K against Goehring’s KJ) were low with 1 and 1.5
million respectively.
Tran would then go all in
three more times. He was
called once and won with
trip 5s. Next it was Nemo’s
turn to survive. He had KQ to Goehring’s A-Q and
flopped two pair.
We were now playing
with 100,000-200,000 blinds
and 20,000 antes. Finally,
on hand 80, we lost our first
player. Ummer moved in for
1.5 million with Ac-7c. Tran
had him just covered and
button-called with Ah-Kh.
The board came 10-10-4-J2, and Nemo was finding the
cashier to collect $199,296.
As play continued, Woo
doubled through to over
3 million against Tran, 9s
against 77s. Then, on hand
95, came the most heartstopping hand of the night.
Tran opened for 600,000.
Goehring moved in with
5c-5h and Tran called, for
just 5,000 less, with As-Ad.
With a board of 9s-7s-2s-2h,
Goehring could win with
only one card, the offsuit
5...and it came! Tran got
$265,728 for fifth.
A few hands later, blinds
went to $150,000-300,000
with 30,000 antes, and
with Quach leading with
6.4 million. Immediately
after, Simmons busted out
in fourth place. He moved
in with Jh-10h. Goehring
called with Kh-Jh and won
with king-high when the
board came 5-4-3-6-Q.
Fourth paid $338,803.
The approximate count
now was Quach, 6.5 million;
Goehring, 3.9 million; Woo,
3.2 million.
On hand 112, Woo raised
to 1 million with 5d-5h,
and Quach put him in with
Ks-Qd. With a board of
As-Ah-Qs-10s, Woo, just
like Goehring, could only
be saved by a non-spade 5,
Goehring squares off against runner-up Daniel Quach
Poker Plays Major Role in Upcoming Film
Jack Mitchell studies his
opponent, watching for
a facial tic or that everso-slight hesitation. Both
are tells Jack has seen in
his opponent before. This
time, nothing.
Then he considers his
own position. Jack knows
the number of outs. His
odds are slim. Normally,
an easy decision -- muck
it. But this time is different. The stakes are too
high.
His opponent is a coldblooded killer, with a gun
pointed at Jack’s head,
and a finger on the trigger.
Is it a bluff? The first to
blink loses.
Jack Mitchell, one of
the most respected players
on the Las Vegas Strip, is
paying for sins in his past.
But this time he’s all in.
And playing for his life.
If you haven’t heard of
Jack Mitchell, or seen him
in a game, that’s because
he’s a character in the new
noir thriller, “Poker Face.”
“There have been plenty
of movies about poker
players,” says producer
Rachel Rothman, of 38/39
Films, the Los Angeles
company that is co-producing the movie. “But
never has there been a
film where poker skills
play as important a role in
the overall story as they
do in this one.”
Without giving away
the film’s biggest surprises, the main character,
Jack Mitchell, happens
onto a murder outside a
major Strip hotel. The
murder turns out to be
part of a conspiracy,
involving the intricate
twists and turns of a
gaming scheme, casino
security and corruption
in the Las Vegas Police
Department.
Jack is forced to use
a perfect poker face to
conceal his knowledge
of the murderer’s identity—from the police, from
the casino’s wily female
insurance investigator, and
from the killer himself,
who is one of the hold
‘em regulars. Jack must
use all his skills at bluffing and reading opponents
to save his life—and the
lives of those he cares
about.
“At the story’s core is a powerful
tale of redemption,” says Alan Shafer,
whose company, Careyes Entertainment,
is partnered with 38/39 Films on the
movie. “The lead characters are clever
and complex, and will test any actor’s
mettle.”
“The screenplay, by poker player
Robert Ingraham, came to our attention
when it became semifinalist in several
major script competitions,” says Shafer.
The writer has previously sold options
on movie scripts to Hollywood entities
such as actor Ashton Kutcher’s production company, Katalyst Films, and also
to Avenue Pictures, last year’s Golden
Globe Winner for the HBO series,
“Angels In America.”
Rothman and Shafer are planning a
late summer start date in Las Vegas.
To sign up,
contact:
Stan Sludikoff
310-674-3365
[email protected]
Jerry Reed
650-327-4810
[email protected]
Dick Gatewood
702-456-7777
*ASK FOR POKER ROOM
[email protected]
The Mirage Poker Showdown – A World Poker Tour Event
May 4 – 17, 2006
May 4
May 5
May 6
No Limit Hold’em
No Limit Hold’em
No Limit Hold’em
May 7
May 7
May 8
May 9
$500 + $50*
$1,000 + $60*
$1,500 + $70*
May 10
May 10
May 11
Heads Up – Day 1
Limit Hold’em (3 p.m.)
No Limit Hold’em
$7,500
$1,000
$1,500
+ $200
+ $60
+ $70*
No Limit Hold’em
$2,000 + $80*
LIPS Tour Ladies Event (3 p.m.) $500 + $50**
May 12
May 13
Super Satellite
Super Satellite
$1,500
$1,500
+ $70
+ $70
Limit Hold’em
No Limit Hold’em
May 14 – 17 WPT No Limit Hold’em Championship $10,000 + $200***
$500 + $50
$2,500 + $100*
Super Satellites 7 p.m. nightly • May 3 – May 13 • $200 + $30 (w/$200 unlimited rebuys)
For Room Reservations 800-77-POKER (800-777-6537) • Tournament Information 702-791-7291 • mirage.com
All main events start at noon (except where noted). All events (except Super Satellites, LIPS Tour Ladies event and the Championship event) will play down to 9 players. Heads Up event is limited to 128 entries. Final table play
will begin at 3 p.m. the following day. Registration for all main events will begin at 3 p.m. on May 3, 2006. All Super Satellites will seat as many entries as possible for the Championship event. *Champion receives $10,200 entry
(non-negotiable, non-refundable, non-transferable) into the May 14, 2006 Championship event. **$1,500 will be withheld for a seat in the WPT Ladies Circle of Champions event and the LIPS Tour Grand Championship event.
***Champion receives a $25,500 seat (non-negotiable, non-refundable, non-transferable) into the WPT Finals at Bellagio in April 2007. 3% of the prize pool will be withheld for the poker room staff. Management reserves the
right to modify, suspend, or cancel this promotion at its sole discretion and without prior notice. All tournaments are subject to table availability. The Mirage endorses responsible gaming. If you or someone you know has a
problem gaming responsibly, please call the 24-hour Problem Gamblers HelpLine at 1-800-522-4700. ©2006 MGM MIRAGE®. All rights reserved.
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
11
Sam Mudaro, BA, MBA, is a practicing tax accountant and financial executive originally from New York with over 35 years of
and nineWho Wins
analytical business expertise. He and his wifeWhat
Eva are
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].
A
fter reading my last two
articles we now know
what wins when playing at a
loose table and what wins at
a tight table. If you missed
either of my last two articles
in this series, or any articles,
you may want to visit http://
www.pokerplayernewspaper.com/backissues.php and
read them.
Today we will look at the
results of 10,000,000 hands
dealt at an average table. Will
the numbers be an average
of the result attained from
the loose table and the tight
table?
Before I begin I will
address a concept that is
pretty widespread in most
high/low games. It is tied
somewhat to the concept of
four cards working together
which I have previously
addressed. Ask any Omaha
High/Low player what is the
most important concept of
the game. Inevitably you will
be told to play for scoopers.
A scooper is a hand that
wins both the low and high
halves of the pot without
having to split either the high
or low. It may occur when
you have the best high hand
and there is no qualifying
low, either because no low
can be made or your opponent was counterfeited on his
low. The other way to scoop
is to have the best high and
best low with no one else
having a similar or better
hand. Lets take a look at who
won the money at our average table.
Ranked by Scoop Percentage
Type
Scooped Scp% Win Loss
Loose
73,493 16.9% (2,832,249)
Average 47,843 11.0%
(134,656)
Average 46,291 10.7%
24,831
Average 45,812 10.5%
(929,738)
Tight
44,907 10.3%
189,940
Average 44,845 10.3%
(536,633)
Tight
38,667 8.9%
(373,991)
Tight
32,144 7.4%
65,529
Tight
30,160 6.9%
614,542
Tight
30,101 6.9%
233,607
The results here are ranked
by the percentage of pots
Sam Mudaro is the...
in an Average Game
What and Who Wins
Average Game
scooped by the
in a
players. Note that
the results would have been
the same had I ranked them
by the number of pots
scooped. I chose the percentage method because not all
the players chose to play the
same number of hands. Thus
a player who scooped 2
hands out of 10 (20%) is
properly weighted against a
player who scooped 10 out
of a 100 (10%). Clearly the
loose player who scooped
more then twice as much as
the top money winning tight
player was the biggest loser
at the table!
Is conventional wisdom
wrong? Should we not play
to scoop? Why does a player
who scoops more then twice
as many hands develop into
such a titanic underdog?
Many factors come into
play here. Clearly it is advantageous to scoop and play
four cards working together
than not to. When you scoop
you win more money. When
you play four cards working
together you have a better
chance of scooping. These
are general guidelines and
not meant to be the sole
criteria for selecting starting
hands. Playing four cards
working together or hands
that scoop does not, in and
of itself, guarantee a winning
session.
Our loose player above
who happened to scoop the
most pots is first and foremost a loose player. He/she
will therefore play more
hands and hence will scoop
more and win more pots. We
already know that the key
to success is not winning
more pots but winning more
money. Our more conservative tighter players will play
fewer hands, not chase as
much and scoop less. They
will however win a larger
percentage the pots they
enter with the stronger hands
they play.
Lets take a look at the
combined results:
The hands that win at
an average table do indeed
fall somewhere in-between
those at a tight table and
a loose table. It is not the
arithmetic mean of both
tables though. The best winning hand at the average
table is the same as the tight
table, 2 Pair. If we eliminate
some of the rare hands, four
of a kind and above, the
least winning hand for both
the tight and average player
is the Bust. While there is a
substantial drop from tight
to average there is still a
huge difference when com-
pared to the loose table.
At the average table we
find pretty much what we
would expect. Each hand
type shows a lesser loss
percentage then those at
the loose table. Each hand
type shows a higher loss
percentage then those at the
tight table.
Tight Table
Plyr Type Played % Win Loss
Tight
14.5%
189,940
Tight
15.6%
614,542
Tight
15.6%
65,529
Average
20.0% (134,656)
Average
22.0%
24,831
Tight
22.8%
233,607
Average
23.5% (536,633)
Tight
23.7% (373,991)
Loose
26.0% (2,832,249)
Average
40.6% (929,738)
Turning our attention to dollars won and
the percentage of hands
played we again see that
it is unhealthy for our
bankroll to play more
then 22% of the hands we
are dealt. Selectiveness
does count. Notice that
even a tight player who
strays and plays more
than 22% runs into trouble. Remember it is not
just about being selective but being selectively
aggressive.
So what have we
learned? The player who
scoops the most is not
necessarily the player
who wins the most.
Scooping is great when
it happens. It should not
be used as the sole criteria for selecting starting
hands.
The hands that win
at an average table fall
somewhere in-between
those of a tight table and
a loose table.
Next time we will take
a look at which hands
win a showdown. A
showdown being a game
in which each player
keeps his or her hand
to the river and the best
hand wins.
Table
Type
Tight
Loose
Average
Bust
Pair
4.55% 11.05%
0.12% 2.09%
1.39% 7.26%
Table
Type
Bust
Tight
4.83%
Loose 6.48%
Average 5.22%
Pair
29.87%
46.77%
34.79%
2 Pair
27.36%
15.77%
24.28%
Trips
12.77%
13.06%
13.65%
Hands Won With
Straight Flush
18.34% 14.42%
27.28% 19.41%
21.58% 16.49%
Full
13.96%
24.86%
17.58%
2 Pair
36.94%
83.13%
49.24%
Trips
7.79%
22.47%
11.40%
Hands Lost With
Straight
Flush
6.54%
4.25%
20.85% 13.12%
9.84%
6.48%
Full
2.05%
7.18%
3.20%
Fours St Flsh Royal
1.24% 0.18% 0.04%
2.71% 0.38% 0.06%
1.68% 0.24% 0.05%
Fours
0.00%
0.01%
0.01%
St Flsh
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
Royal
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
BAY
contest, a $2,000 buyin NoLimit Hold’em affair attracted 245 players. When the
smoke cleared, Lam Hoang
was the winner and collected
$123,000 for 1st Place.
The main event, the
$10,000 buyin WPT event
drew 502 participants, the
greatest names in the game
among them. The prize
money totaled $4,677,300.
When the four day event
ended, Nam Le, of Hunting
Beach CA, proved he had the
Right Stuff, landing 1st Place
for $1,172,800 and a $25,000
entry into the WPT. Like
many of the competitors, Le
is a highly decorated tournament winner with dozens of
cashes to his credit.
The Shooting Star is the
only WPT tournament with
bounties. Each table starts
with a bounty player and
whoever guns down the
bounty receives $5,000.
Those with bounties on
their head include the most
respected names in poker,
including Doyle Brunson,
Phil Ivey, Tom McEvoy,
Scotty Nguyen and Phil
Laak.
Indicative of the Shooting
Star Tournament’s level of
quality, class and cash is its
Tournament Director, Matt
Savage. He’s also served
as Tournament Director for
the WSOP for the last three
years. In addition, Savage
conducts major poker events
worldwide and is a frequent
guest of television.
BAY 101 CASINO
2/26/06
SHOOTING STAR
WPT EVENT
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $9,600 + $400
PLAYERS 502
PRIZE
POOL
$4,677,300
1. Nam Le . . . . . . . . .$1,172,800
d
Diamond Jim’s Casino
118 20th St. West
Rosamond, California
Exit A 14 Freeway
The Best Little No-limit Tournament in Southern California
The Last Sunday of Each Month $155 Buy-in–No Rebuys $10,000 in Tournament Chips
Call for more info: 661-256-1400
12
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
Huntington Beach, CA, USA
2. Ravi Udayakumar . $629,500
San Jose, CA, USA
3. Danny Smith . . . . . $340,000
Folsom, CA, USA
4. David Williams . . . $280,000
Las Vegas, NV, USA
5. Fabrice Soulier . . . $240,000
Avignon, France
6. Chad Brown . . . . . . $200,000
Los Angeles, CA, USA
7. Tony Sin . . . . . . . . . $160,000
Las Vegas, NV
8. Bruce Feldman . . . $130,000
9. Jeff Kimber . . . . . . $100,000
10. William Gustafik . . . $80,000
San Ramon, CA, USA
11. Brian Hua . . . . . . . . $80,000
12. Randy Gil . . . . . . . . . $80,000
USA
13. Salim Bashon . . . . . $65,000
14. Robert Mizrachi . . . $65,000
Sunny Isles Beach, FL, USA
15. Farzad Bonyadi . . . . $65,000
Aliso Viejo, CA, USA
101 Shooting Star
16. Harry Thomas . . . . . $65,000
30. Brad Booth . . . . . . . . $35,000
42. Geoffrey Wright . . . $15,000
4. Tam Nguyen . . . . . . . $35,000
Hamilton, OH, USA
Las Vegas, NV, USA
USA
Salem, OR, USA
USA
17. David Stamm . . . . . . $65,000
31. Amnon Filippi . . . . . $25,000
43. Vineet Sharma . . . . . $15,000
5. Jason Heidema. . . . . $30,000
18. Maciek Gracz AKA . . . . . . .
“Mike” . . . . . . . . . . . . $4,000
Granite Bay, CA, USA
New York, NY, USA
USA
San Jose, CA, USA
18. An-Nan Chen . . . . . $65,000
19. Stuart Fahmy . . . . . $50,000
20. Bob Slezak . . . . . . . . $50,000
32. Joe Sebok . . . . . . . . . $25,000
44. Kelly Zoudo . . . . . . . $15,000
6. Mike Carroll . . . . . . $25,000
San Francisco, CA, USA
Glenview, CA, USA
Ranche Santa Fe, CA, USA
33. Ralph Macri . . . . . . $25,000
34. Ben Sarnoff . . . . . . . $25,000
45. Luong Trinh . . . . . . . $15,000
7. Scott Martin . . . . . . . $20,000
CA, USA
USA
Omaha, NE, USA
21. Larry Elliott . . . . . . . $50,000
35. Allen Kessler . . . . . . $25,000
22. Dan Harrington . . . . $50,000
Huntington Valley, PA, USA
23. Mickey Seagle . . . . . $50,000
36. Chris “Armenian Express” .
Grigorian . . . . . . . . . $25,000
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Santa Monica, CA, USA
24. Kent Lin . . . . . . . . . . $42,500
8. Jerri Thomas . . . . . . $15,000
CO, USA
37. Kirk Morrison . . . . . $15,000
San Jose, CA, USA
Wichita, KS, USA
25. Kyle Tapp . . . . . . . . $42,500
26. David “Chip” Reese $35,000
38. Gabe Thayler . . . . . . $15,000
USA
2/26/06
Ham, OH, USA
SHOOTING STAR
WPT EVENT
9. Larry Anderson . . . . $10,000
BAY 101 CASINO
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
USA
11. Robert Fox . . . . . . . . . $7,000
BUY-IN $2,000 + $80
PLAYERS 245
PRIZE
POOL
Los Gatos, CA, USA
$447,400
Las Vegas, NV, USA
39. Jeff Stone . . . . . . . . . $15,000
1. Lam Hoang . . . . . . $123,000
27. Stephan Ovepyan . . $35,000
28. Steve Kwak . . . . . . . $35,000
29. Bill De Rego . . . . . . . $35,000
Dallas, TX, USA
40. Christian Kruel . . . . $15,000
2. Frank Perasso . . . . . $70,000
Rio de Janiero, Brazil
USA
41. Tony Nguyen . . . . . . $15,000
3. Minh Nguyen . . . . . . $44,400
Lake Elsinore, CA, USA
San Jose, CA, USA
San Jose, CA, USA
10. David Bertelsen . . . . . $7,000
12. Dave Thomas . . . . . . $7,000
13. Melissa Hayden . . . . . $5,000
Las Vegas, NV, USA
14. Felix Delo Santos . . . . $5,000
USA
15. Dan Casetta . . . . . . . . $5,000
Morgan Hill, CA, USA
17. Randy Gil . . . . . . . . . . $4,000
Raleigh, NC, USA
19. Mickey Seagle . . . . . . $3,000
Las Vegas, NV, USA
20. Chris “Armenian Express”
Grigorian . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,000
21. Ben Sarnoff . . . . . . . . $3,000
22. Ron Melrose . . . . . . . . $3,000
Redwood City, CA, USA
23. Richard Knibbler . . . $3,000
24. Sean McCabe . . . . . . . $3,000
Sunny Isles Beach, FL, USA
25. Buffalo Joe Baldwin . $3,000
Palo Alto, CA, USA
26. Henry Wong . . . . . . . . $3,000
San Jose, CA, USA
27. Thanh Chau . . . . . . . . $3,000
San Jose, CA, USA
16. Raymond Lee . . . . . . . $4,000
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poker player
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
13
Time Spent Vs Time Invested
POwer POKER PSYCHOLOGY
By JAMES A. M C KENNA, P H D.
In my book, Beyond Tells, I detail the six
ways of spending time when you are with
other people, whether visiting or playing poker. You can spend your time being
Withdrawn, Ritualistic, Pastiming, Working,
Playing Psychological Games, or being
Genuine. The least risky way to play is to
be withdrawn. The most risky way to be at
the tables is to be genuine. Here’s how I
described each:
1. Withdrawal. We can get off to
ourselves and have very little
to do with others and spend our
time being withdrawn. Some sulk.
Others just play their cards, silently
observing others and preferring to
avoid conversations
2. Rituals. We can be very ritualistic and routinely repeat whatever
casino or playing rituals we prefer.
Some players have a ritualistic
strategy for every event. Rituals can
be “tells” as well as useful habits.
3. Pastimes. We can just pass time
with others about how we are playing and about some of the “good
old hands.” Pastiming is a useful
way to scope out opponents to
anticipate what to expect.
4. Activities. We can invest our time
wisely and participate in the activ-
ity of gaming, paying
attention to what we
know and being responsible.
5. Games. We can play psychology
games and use gaming to be a victim or to victimize others. Some
like to corner others, while others
prefer to be cornered. Finally,
6. Genuineness. We can be ourselves,
being genuine about our beliefs and
open to the differences in others
and their ways of gaming. When two
or more players are being genuine,
poker can become an intimate life
experience.
I use what I call a “Timegram” to measure
how couples spend their times together.
How much are they withdrawn, ritualistic,
etc. So, I natually created the “Poker Player
Timegram.” I have noticed that winners will
score high on the Activity of poker and on
playing is genuine fashion. They will be low
in pastiming and in playing psychological
games
You can rate yourself or better have
someone who plays a lot with you rate you
on the following “Poker Time Gram.” After
ranking each category from 0-10, you will
have a clearer picture of how you use time
at the poker table. How genuine do you
come across to others?
C H A R T 1 — T I M E G R A M F O R P O K E R P L AY E R S
SCORE (0-10)
Score each way of spending time at the poker table for each player. 1=very little; 10=the maximum in that particular way.
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
TIME SPENT WITHDRAW
RITUALS
PASTIMES
ACTIVITIES
GAMES
GENUINE
Chart 2 will give you a sample and what a timegram might look like.
C H A RT 2—SA M P L E T I M EG R A M FO R P O K E R P L AY E RS
7
2
2
8
4
1
SCORE (0-10)
Score each way of spending time at the poker table for each player. 1=very little; 10=the maximum in that particular way.
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
TIME SPENT
WITHDRAW
RITUALS
PASTIMES
ACTIVITIES
GAMES
GENUINE
What would this mean? First of all, this player
is mostly withdrawn from others, perhaps
focused on the activity of playing. However,
this also shows that he or she uses poker a lot
to play psychological games. Finally, this player doesn’t come across as being very genuine
since that is the least amount of time spent.
To improve this timegram for better
poker skills (not to mention people skills), it
would be important to look at the low areas
and change them. Here, the low areas are
Rituals, Pastimes, and being Genuine. By
spending more time talking about things
with others and being genuine, you will find
that you are #1 less withdrawn from others,
14
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
and #2 you will be playing less psychological games. At least that’s the way it works
with couples when they change their timegrams with each other.
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].
Poker is NOT
Gambling!
PART ONE
BY VICTOR ROYER
entire history
of the United
States, particularly the
Western lore, were all about
gambling, and in particular
all about poker. Even though
for many years playing poker
was not considered something that nice people would
want to do, the fact remains
that many presidents of the
United States going back to
the Revolutionary war, and
soon thereafter, and for all
the years since, all played
poker.
Poker played well is
not a gamble, but a game
of skill and knowledge.
Although there is a significant element of luck, such
is present in all aspects
of human life, and not
relegated only to poker.
Success in business, or the
success in your job, or your
career, or whatever it is that
is your primary endeavor
and the source of income,
is always, and has always
been, a combination of
knowledge and skill. The
more knowledge you have,
the better equipped you are
to be successful. The better
your skills in transferring
that knowledge into action,
the equally better your
chances of success. In all
these endeavors, luck will
always be present, both
good and bad.
Sometimes no matter
how knowledgeable or how
skilled you are, bad luck
will simply happen to you
and you have to learn how
to overcome it. Doing that
is also part of your knowledge and your skills, and
how well you do it also
directly determines your
success. On the other side
of the coin, equally so good
luck will also visit you
many times during your
life, no matter what your
endeavor might be. So it is
for poker, where there will
be many times during your
poker playing career where
it will appear that you can
do no wrong. Those will
be the great and wonderful
times, because everything
that you do will always
The
work out your advantage,
all hands you play will
always be winners, and all
your draws will come to be
and win you the pot. And
so it is also in life. Poker
is a microcosm of life, and
it equally reflects all that
is good and bad in human
nature.
Not all people in the
world are good and not all
poker players will be nice
people. Not all people in
the world will be equally
successful, and not all
poker player will be equally
as profitable as others.
How well you handle your
life will be reflected in how
well you handle your poker
playing success. If you
have learned how to discipline yourself in life, you
will not have trouble disciplining yourself in the play
of poker. If, on the other
hand, you don’t know what
personal discipline is, then
you will have lots of trouble in poker no matter how
much you learn. Learning
the theory of poker, or the
theory of games, is alone
not enough. In fact, learning the theory of anything is
alone not enough. In order
for the theory to have any
practical meaning, it has to
have what is called “practical application”. This practical application is the skill
by which a human person is
able to transcend the theory
into the actual doing of it,
commonly called “putting
the theory into practice”.
In my books I have often
called this “the workability
principle”.
What this simply means
is the ability to be able to
take the knowledge and
actually apply it to realworld situations successfully. Many people have
the ability to be able to
apply knowledge into realworld situations, but very
few of them have the ability
to be able to do it successfully on a consistent basis.
Being a consistently successful and profitable poker
player is very difficult, and
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M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
15
Suited Omaha Starts
STRAIGHT SKINNY
By RICHARD G. BURKE
Hakim was taking a break from his Omaha/8
game on a cloudy Monday afternoon in midwinter. He looked glum so I went over to lend him some
cheer. After some pleasantries, he asked me about suited
starts in Omaha. It seemed to him that his suited starting
hands weren’t standing up. When there were three or more
trumps on the table, there was often a pair on the table,
making someone else a Full House; when there wasn’t a
pair, then his Flush would lose to a higher one.
He said he had played As-2a-9a-Tf, figuring the
two hearts added value to his marginal, bare Ace-Deuce.
He was pleased with the Flop, Ka-3a-8s, which gave
him a draw to the nut Low and a Flush draw. The Aa on
the Turn made his Flush and counterfeited his Low. The
River was the 5f. At the showdown, Hakim’s Flush lost
to a higher one. “Those darn hearts cost me $36,” he
groused.
I asked Hakim about how often he would have a suited
start in Omaha. About half the time, he thought. I told him
he wasn’t even close, it’s about 90%.
The chance that your four cards will be rainbow is
52*39*26*13/4!/C(52,4) = .105. The probability that your
hand WON’T be rainbow is (1 - .105), or .895. More than
89% of the time you’ll have a single- or double-suited
hand, I told him. The chart shows the distribution.
Suited Om aha Starts
Suited Omaha Starts
0.135
Double Suited
Suited - 4
0.011
0.165
Suited - 3
0.584
Suited - 2
Rainbow
0.000
0.105
0.200
0.400
0.600
0.800
Hakim thought that even the smallest Flush would
win often enough to show a profit. When the tableau is
unpaired, I told him, in ten-handed Hold’Em the smallest
Flush wins 76% of the time, but not in Omaha. Because
four cards are dealt in Omaha, I told him, it’s quite likely
that someone else also has two trumps. Only if no one
else had two trumps would the smallest Flush prevail. In
a ten-handed Omaha game, there are eight other trumps
that could have been dealt among your nine opponents, so
your only hope is that they’re all singletons: that chance is
.1221, about 1 in 8.
In spite of that bad news, Hakim became even more
excited about having suited starts: with a suited Honor and
fortuitous tableau, he would have much better than 12.2%
chance for High; plus, he might occasionally win an “emergency High” with low-ranking trumps,
I warned Hakim not to go wild. With a single-suited
starting hand, it’s only one chance in 104 that he’d flop a
Flush, and even then he’d have to worry about the tableau
pairing on the Turn or River. He’d flop a Flush draw about
1 time in 9, I told him, and not only must another trump
appear, but also the board mustn’t pair. His chances for
three or more trumps on an unpaired tableau are about
4.5%. A double-suited hand would double his Flush chances, still less than 10% after all the cards were out.
I told him he should think of suited starting hands just
as having some extra values. He thanked me for the information and hustled back to his Omaha/8 game with a smile
on his face and a spring in his step.
“De nada.”
Mr. Burke is the author of Flop: The Art of Winning at
Low-Limit Hold ’Em, on sale at amazon, gamblersbook,
& kokopellipress.com. E-mail your Hold ’Em questions to
[email protected]
16
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
amaz o n, g am blersbook ,
kokopellipr es s.c om
full of players.
“I’m not your Mad Poker
Room Bomber but, if you
do me a favor, I’ll tell you
who is.”
I go silent, acting like
I’m thinking about calling
ered hand in front of
him, “I need you to pry
my World Heavyweight
Championship Of Poker™
Ring off my finger.”
I’m still deciding whether to laugh or cry when
Wagers Of Sin
A Poker Player Murder Mystery by Robert Arabella
“Steve The Sleeve” waits
for me at Club Flush, an
old abandoned card room.
I need to get back from
him the $5,000 “chocolate
chip”—the only clue to
the kidnapping of my girlfriend, Calamity Jane.
Years ago Club Flush
spread the highest limit
poker. The best poker
players once filled this
room, as did the best poker
cheats. First among them
was “Steve The Sleeve,”
who, before his right hand
was hacked off for cheating, was the greatest card
thief ever to steal a game.
I pay off the cab and walk
into wrecked poker room.
Steve sits at The Red
Queen’s Table. I say to
him, “I’m unarmed.”
“Me too,” he answers,
touching the severed hand
lying in front of him.
Suddenly Steve draws a
gun, yells, “Don’t move!”
and fires at me point blank.
The story of The Red
Queen goes that one night
in the 1960’s a redhead in
a mini-skirt walked into
Club Flush, asked to have a
famous card cheat pointed
out to her, and, finding
out where he was seated,
went up to this table and
shot him dead. Legend has
it that if any card cheat
ever sits at her table again
The Red Queen will return
to kill him. Only I’m not
dead. I look around to see
who is.
Steve has shot the tire
iron-wielding cabby who,
sneaking up behind me,
had just been about to bash
my brains in. When there’s
a $1,000,000 reward on
your head, I guess the 15%
tip looks cheap.
“You could have let him
kill me and saved yourself
the trouble.”
“I’m not here to kill you,
Jackie,” Steve says, putting
the gun down, “only to ask
you to do a favor for an old
friend.”
I tell him my “old
friend” would never have
blown up five poker rooms
this bluff.
“I’ll even,” he says,
sweetening the pot, “give
you back this.” He places
Calamity Jane’s $5,000
“chocolate chip” on the
table. “All I ask is a favor
in return.”
I take brown chip off
the table and ask, “What
favor?”
Steve touches the sev-
The Red Queen, a redhead
in a mini-skirt, steps out
of the shadows and shoots
Steve The Sleeve in the
back.
By the time the gunsmoke clears, The Red
Queen is gone. Steve lets
out a dying moan.
“Jackie,” he whispers,
holding out his hand,
“My ring! Please. ” I pull
the WHCP ring off the
severed hand and give
it to Steve. He close his
fist around it and smiles,
“I won this unfair and
unsquare. It’s the payoff to
all my wagers of sin.” He
coughs up blood, struggles
for breath, and continues
weakly, “You and I are
poker cheats, born to lie
and steal, but not to kill.
I didn’t bomb those poker
rooms,” another coughing spasm, “but I know
who did.” He stops, gasps
for air, and says, “Jack,
you fool, the mad poker
bomber is ….” Steve’s eyes
slowly roll up in his head
and he’s gone.
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
(To be continued in the next
issue of Poker Player)
17
DEBBIE BURKHEAD INTERVIEWS...
“Age is something that
doesn’t matter—unless you’re
a bottle of wine.”
FRESH YOUNG FACE OF Poker
John T. Stewart
POKER ROOM MANAGER AT TACHI PALACE HOTEL & CASINO
By Jennifer Matiran
So it doesn’t matter, if you are 19 or a 105,
discipline is a practice, you gain it through
experience and practice.
Playing the right cards in the hole I find, is thee, most
important part of the game, don’t play manure cards,
that’s why you’re losing dumb, dumb. I’m the first, number one and biggest dumb, dumb, so don’t think I am only
addressing YOU. Yeah you! Have patience, wait, read,
talk, eat, wait for the right cards, you know what they
are; you know which ones you should play, wait, then,
ATTACK.
You see, Poker is war but not really. That is why I find
it so fascinating. Poker’s better than chess, yes it is.
Kidding, don’t really know how to play chess.
I, again, became carried away and lost it ALL, my
friends. Don’t do it, learn from me…I will not do it again,
even, if I have to write it on my hand, I will write “dumb,
dumb” so I could remember to leave when I have won.
“In poker, as in life, discipline trumps guile.” The “Man”
said that, I’ll tell you about him later, I forgot to ask him
what “guile” means.
The Man is based on a real person; the Man represents
self discipline and strength of character. So the next
time you feel weak and you feel like you’re going to get
carried away and lose it all, draw strength from your
Man, even, if you’re a woman…Remember sister that man
is within the wo-man…We are one. If you’re a woman
who doesn’t get this, PLEASE DO NOT READ ON, let’s
call it right here, I’m not the right columnist for you, no
hard feelings.
Draw strength from your Man and other Men who are
wise and strong. The following is by one of the best Man
I have in my life:
“One of the difficulties we face in our industrialized
age is the fact we’ve lost our sense of seasons. Unlike
the farmer whose priorities change with the seasons, we
have become impervious to the natural rhythm of life.
As a result, we have our priorities out of balance. Let me
illustrate what I mean:
For a farmer, springtime is his most active time. It’s
then when he must work around the clock, up before the
sun and still toiling at the stroke of midnight. He must
keep his equipment running at full capacity because he
has but a small window of time for the planting of his
crop. Eventually winter comes when there is less for him
to do to keep him busy.
There is a lesson here. Learn to use the seasons of life.
Decide when to pour it on and when to ease back, when
to take advantage and when to let things ride. It’s easy
to keep going from nine to five year in and year out and
lose a natural sense of priorities and cycles. Don’t let one
year blend into another in a seemingly endless parade
of tasks and responsibilities. Keep your eye on your own
seasons, lest you lose sight of value and substance.”
Until next time—“Striving for perfection is the greatest stopper there is. It’s your excuse to yourself for not
doing anything. Instead, strive for excellence, doing your
best.”
—Sir Laurence Olivier
John Stewart was born in
Santa Cruz, California in
1971 and lived the life of a
self-proclaimed beach bum.
At the age of 16 he moved
to Central California with
his family.
John began his career
in the gaming industry as
a security guard at the age
of 18 at another Native
American property in the
central valley. At the age
of 19 he began dealing in
the pit for casino gaming
legend Steve Forte. John
broke into poker at the age
of 20 and spent the next 13
years dealing and working
the floor in the poker room.
This is where he met a beautiful fellow dealer and his
future wife Rebecca. They
are blessed with a gorgeous
three year old named Jordan.
John was also working
as a professional musician
as a singer in his 20’s, but
eventually had to make a
tough decision concerning
his future. He found himself
having to make a choice
between staying in the gaming business and moving to
Los Angeles to follow his
dream of pursuing a music
career. It wasn’t easy, but he
eventually chose the more
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!).
18
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
secure career and stayed in
the gaming industry.
In February 2003 John
recognized an opportunity for professional growth
and took a Dual/Rate
Supervisor’s position with
The Tachi Palace Hotel &
Casino, formerly Palace
Indian Gaming Center, and
within six months he was
promoted to full time Poker
Room Supervisor.
In mid 2005 John was
promoted to Poker Room
Manager and now oversees
a 16 table poker room and a
staff of 40.
DB: Have you made any
major changes since taking
over the room?
JS: I have instituted a
weekly promotional schedule that has boosted our
play, while giving away a
lot of money in the process.
In the month of January
we paid out nearly $90,000
in jackpots and bonuses.
I have also created a new
structure for our super satellites for the main event at
the World Series of Poker.
We are excited to be sending 10 players this year. We
run the super satellites on
the first Sunday of every
month. The 1st place prize
package includes airfare,
hotel accommodations, and
spending money. We have
changed the room to a nonsmoking room and we are
instituting table side dining
in the very near future.
DB: Are there any plans to
expand the poker room?
JS: The expansion of our
room from 10 tables to 16
is fairly recent, so nothing
is being discussed as far as
expanding the poker room.
However, we just completed
a stunning new 177,000
square foot wing called the
Casino of the Sun which
houses a beautiful Bingo
Hall that doubles for an
event center, as well. It also
is home to two of our three
Table Games pits, including
an exclusive high limit pit.
DB: What live games are
offered in poker room?
JS: Our main games are nolimit with $1-$3 blinds with
a $60 minimum buy-in and
a $500 maximum buy-in.
We also spread $2-$4 and
$3-$6 limit hold’em. I am
eager to spread whatever
limits the players would like
to play.
DB: What daily tournaments
does the Tachi Palace offer
its poker players?
JS: We run a no-limit event
on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m. with
a $70 buy-in and on Friday
at 11 a.m. we run a no-limit
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LESSON 71:
Poker Has Arrived!
Mike Caro left Los Angeles a little over four
years ago to retire to the Ozarks and live the
Lessons from mike caro
university of poker
Home Game
A Joe & Hobby fiction by
David J. Valley
BY DIANE M C HAFFIE
life of a hermit. He spent two years researching
places in the United States that could provide friendly, caring
people, lakes and forests full of fish and animals, seasonal, mild
weather, and a focus on low crime. The Ozarks scored highly in
his search for the perfect place.
And so he ended up on Table Rock Lake near Branson,
Missouri, in the same region I’ve lived all my life. You can find
over 50 music theaters here, spotlighting mostly country music,
some gospel, a Russian comedian, and Chinese acrobats. There
is also a dinner show, complete with horses, an ostrich race, and
a pig race, featuring a meal where the silverware is glaringly
absent. You should have seen Mike’s face when he couldn’t find
the soup spoon. That’s because you tip the bowl up and drink out
of it. You can also visit Silver Dollar City, a family theme park.
Culture shock. For a go anywhere, anytime, twenty-four
hours poker player, it must have been culture shock. On the
other hand, he seemed surprised that he could get up at 2:00
am in the morning and go shopping at the local 24-Hour Wal-Mart
Supercenter and purchase anything his heart desired. It amazed
me that he couldn’t do this in LA. After all, you can go for a meal
at midnight or 2:00 am in LA. Here, after 8:30 pm you’re going to
cook, unless you’re willing to drive for an hour to eat at Denny’s
or IHOP.
What Mike didn’t find, at that time, in his beloved Ozarks
retreat, was poker. He didn’t understand that this was the Bible
Belt and bragging about being a poker player wasn’t going to
endear him to the community, no matter how successful he was.
No, they would probably set out to save his poor, gambling soul.
Poor Mike! What an impression he must have received when he
first arrived. His realtor asked him if he owned any guns. When
Mike said no, the realtor quickly provided him with several, one of
them being a AK-47, to protect him. Wow, he’d just escaped from
one of the most violent cities in the US, to retire to the peace and
quiet of the Ozarks to have his realtor hand over guns for his protection. I’ll bet he didn’t sleep well his first nights here. In truth,
it’s much less dangerous here than in the big cities.
His first question to me was, “Are there really Baldknobbers
around here?” The Baldknobbers were a vigilante group formed
in the 1880’s. Of course, they no longer exist, but I can understand his concern, after he related the gun episode.
Poker catches up to Mike’s retreat. If Mike wanted to play
poker at that time, he had to travel to Kansas City, St. Louis, or
Tunica, or play online. So, he settled down to do some serious
writing, and communing with the animals, and fishing.
Almost overnight poker was everywhere -- kitchens, bars,
Community Centers, and TV. Mike was swamped with initiations
for TV appearances, tournaments, requests to do seminars, and
college tours. The Outlaw Poker Society from nearby Joplin,
Missouri – where Mike was born and spent the first week of his
life -- invited Mike to do a seminar, prior to a charity tournament..
You can now drive down the local highways and see marquees
advertising Texas Hold ‘em Tournaments (charity tournaments).
Local families are watching poker on TV, many of them to see the
neighborhood celebrity, Mike Caro.
Solitude gone. Mike’s peaceful solitude evaporated, becoming
merely a sought-after dream. The phone won’t be silenced. The
fishing poles grow dusty. The animals sit lonely and bored, no
longer entertained by that fuzzy-haired city slicker.
Mike once asked where poker was in the Ozarks. Ask and you
shall receive. Well, Mike, I believe poker has found the Ozarks!
It’s everywhere now!”
My cell phone buzzed.
It was Hank Roberts, an
Army buddy from Nam.
“What’s up, Hank? You
still hustling real estate in
the Valley?”
“Hi, Joe. Matter of fact I
am—and doing well. How
are you?”
“I’m fine and dandy. So
what’s up? You didn’t call
just to inquire about my
health.”
“Ah, you’re so perceptive, Joe. You’re right; I’m
calling on you as a poker
expert.”
“Not confusing me with
Mike Caro, are you?”
“Hell, I don’t even know
him, but you have more
poker savvy than anyone I
do know.”
“My dubious credentials aside, what’s this all
about?”
“We’ve got a poker club
and play at each other’s
houses. It’s $5/10/20
games, but a guy can
lose a thou or more on a
bad night. That’s not the
problem; we’re all pretty
well heeled. But what’s
happening recently, one
of the guys is consistently
winning. He used to be
the schmuck, but all of a
Diane McHaffie is Director of Operations at Mike Caro
University of Poker, Gaming, and Life Strategy. Her
diverse career spans banking, promotion of major financial seminars and the raising of White-tailed Deer. You
can write her online at [email protected].
20
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
sudden he’s golden. The
last couple months, I don’t
think he’s had a losing
night.”
“You think he’s cheating?”
“Let’s say I’m damn
suspicious. Funny thing
though, he shows us poker
books, tells how he’s learning all these techniques.
Think that’s possible?”
“Well…possible, but
I’d be suspicious, too. The
books could be a ruse…”
I paused, waiting. “Is that
it, Hank? You gonna let me
get back to my nap?”
“All I’m askin’ is for
you to come to one of our
games and check him out.”
“Aw, Hank. I don’t
know. I probably can’t tell
you anything.”
“But you’ll try. Won’t
you, Joe?”
No matter if my prospects were nil. What mattered—we were buddies.
“Yeah, I’ll give it a
shot.”
“Great. Can you make
it tomorrow night? And
listen, were short two players. You can bring Hobby.”
“I don’t know about
Hobby, but I’ll be there.”
Hobby was game and
darned if he didn’t make a
great suggestion.
“Why don’t we stop at
the Bike and have Charlie
give us tips on how to spot
cheaters?”
“Brilliant, Hobby. I’ll
give him a call.”
Charlie’s an old timer
who’s been working poker
rooms since I was a kid.
He knows every trick ever
invented to give a player
an advantage. Hobby and
I took his Cheating 101
crash course. In a little
more than an hour Charlie
showed us card manipulations, card marking, and
various gadgets used for
sneaking a peek.
“That’s about all I can
teach you in such a short
time. If this guy’s an amateur, you might catch him.”
Hank was standing in his
driveway when we arrived.
He was the host for the
evening.
“Thanks for coming,
guys. I hope you can help.
You might even make a
buck playing with us local
yokels. I didn’t tell the
guys you’re into poker—
big time; just said you
were an old Army buddy.
Glad you came early. I’ll
show you around.”
“So, who’s this guy you
want us to watch?”
“I’ve been thinking
about that, Joe—I don’t
want to prejudice your
thinking, so—I’d rather not
say. How ‘bout you just
check out everyone, see if
there’s any hanky-panky.”
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
21
Home Game
“Whatever you say,
Hank. Hobby and I’ll
keep our eyes open, but
no promises. We’re not
experts at this sort of
thing.”
“You say that Joe, but
I’ve got a lot of faith in
you.”
“Yeah, sure…and I see
you’re still suffering from
shell shock.”
The guys seemed to be
playing fair, but early on I
had my suspicions about a
wimpy guy named Jerry. I
was almost certain he was
using a shiner to see the
underside of cards being
dealt. This is a slender
prism-like device hidden
under an arched hand. It’s
most effective against dealers across the table from
the cheat. It has the effect
of putting the peeking eyes
at the level of the felt.
The way he was looking
intently through the fingers
of his cupped hand was a
giveaway.
When we took a pizza
break, Hobby and I
huddled with Hank in the
garage.
“What do you think,
Hobby,” I asked.
“I’ve spotted him; I’m
sure.”
“Me, too. Is it Jerry you
suspected, Hank?” I asked.
“Jerry?” Hobby interrupted. “No. It’s the big
guy, Chris, in the red
shirt!”
“What the hell! Don’t
tell me there’s two of
them,” Hank gasped.
Hobby and I agreed to
signal if we confirmed our
suspicions. Then we had to
catch them with the goods.
I’d concentrate on Jerry
and Hobby would cover
Chris. We wanted to get
them into the garage before
they could ditch their hardware. When we were ready,
I nodded to Hank.
“I heard something in
the garage, guys. I’ll be
right back,” Hank said. A
minute later he shouted,
“Chris and Jerry, can you
give me a hand?”
As they headed for
the garage, Hobby and I
brought up the rear.
When I shut the door
behind me, Chris looked
around suspiciously and
said.
“What the hell’s going
on, Hank?”
“We’ve got a problem,”
Hank answered. “You guys
have been cheating.”
“That’s bullshit,” Chris
shouted.
“It’s not bullshit,” I said.
“You’ve got a shiner in
your pocket. You too, Jerry.
Hand it over.”
Jerry looked sheepish,
guilt written across his
puss. He gave it up to
Hank and moaned a pitiful,
“I’m sorry.”
Chris wasn’t about to
cooperate. “You’re wrong
about me and I’m leaving.”
Hobby stood squarely
between him and the door.
Chris is a big guy. When
he swept his forearm
across Hobby’s chest to
brush him aside he had no
idea what he was getting
into. Hobby grabbed his
wrist and elbow, spun him
around, and splayed him
on the floor.
“Check his jacket pocket, Hank, I saw him put it
there,” Hobby said. It was
identical to the shiner Jerry
used.
Jerry was blubbering and
practically in tears. “What
are you going to do?” he
asked.
Hank said, “For openers, you two are finished
with us, but you owe me
and the other guys you’ve
been cheating. It may not
be enough, but you’re both
going to pay two thou to
each of us. If you don’t,
your names will be dog
shit in this town. Now get
out of here!”
When they left I said to
Hobby, “I just love it when
you do your karate thing.”
“Actually, it was an
Akito move. It’s called oh
te shaku…”
“Enough, Hobby. Spare
me the nomenclature. Let
me just enjoy the moment.”
“Yeah, I get it, Joe. It’s
kind of a Zen thing.”
“No, Hobby. You’re too
deep into Eastern mysticism. This is just good ol’
fashion satisfaction when
the bad guys get their asses
kicked.”
Write to author David Valley
at: [email protected]
Debbie Burkhead interviews
John Stewart (Cont’d from page 18)
DB: Is The Tachi Palace
planning on holding any
major tournaments in the
future?
JS: We plan on continuing
to run our Super Satellites
for the WSOP. This tournament has grown every year.
Next year we plan to run
official World Poker Tour
Satellites with hopes to
parlay that into a televised
event within a year or two.
Our bingo hall/events center would make the perfect
venue for such an event.
DB: What incentives does
Tachi Palace offer its poker
players?
JS: I’d like to think our
incentives are superior customer service and a very
strong promotional schedule.
We may be a 16 table room,
but we want to know all our
players on a first name basis.
DB: What promotions are
available to poker players?
JS: On Monday from 11
a.m.-5 p.m. the highest
hand wins $100 every two
hours. On Tuesday from 11
a.m.-7 p.m. the highest hand
wins $50 every hour. On
Wednesday we play “MidWeek Madness”, where
the high hand of the hour
spins a prize wheel and can
win up to $500 in cash. On
Thursday it’s “Prize Wheel
Payday”, where a player
qualifying with aces full or
better spins the wheel for
up to $500 in cash. Friday
we play “High Hands to
the Hilt”, where high hand
of the hour wins $100. On
Saturday it‘s “Win your
share of $1,550 during the
Cash Giveaway”. Players
earn entry tickets all week
with hourly play. On Sunday
it’s “Aces Cracked Wins a
Rack”, where players receive
$100 when they lose with
pocket aces. We have a badbeat jackpot set at $15,000
that takes four-of-a-kind
beaten to win and a mini
bad-beat jackpot for $1,000
that can be won with aces
full of eights beaten. We also
pay $500 cash for a royal
flush using both hole cards.
DB: Where do most of your
players hail from?
JS: We draw from as far
south as Bakersfield and as
far north as Merced. We also
draw west and have regulars
from up and down the coast
from Santa Barbara to Santa
Cruz. Our player’s patronage
and loyalty is very much recognized and appreciated.
DB: Does Tachi Palace offer
hotel accommodations?
JS: We are in the process of
building a 256 room hotel
which is projected to open
in the late summer of 2006.
It’s shaping up to be quite
an amazing building. It will
feature a spa, piano bar, and
a gym, just to name a few
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23
Who Really Wa
Stud at the El Cortez, PART 1
STUD SENSE
By ASHLEY ADAMS
I just spent a week playing poker in Las Vegas.
What a great time. I stayed at the Orleans Casino, off the strip.
They provide a beautiful room at a reasonable price – around $50 a
night with the poker player’s rate.
It used to be that the Orleans spread a $1-5 stud game and had
two stud tournaments a week: a Stud8 and a Stud high event. Not
anymore. I had to go elsewhere for my stud fix.
I’m sorry to report that the state of stud in Las Vegas is not
very good. There’s a game at the Bellagio some of the time – a
$20/40 game which had a long waiting list. And you might find a
low limit game at the Mirage, the Excalibar or Sam’s Town – though
they weren’t spreading it when I called. The only place that I actually found a live game of stud was at the El Cortez in downtown Las
Vegas.
Ah, the El Cortez. It was a great room once upon a time, with
five games going nearly all the time, a busy clientele, and a perky
attitude. I didn’t play there in the 70s during its best days. But
I’ve heard stories. It was one of the early rooms with poker. And
it was well run by Ross (the boss) Ferraro.
I stumbled into more as a lark than as part of a plan to find a
stud game. I was visiting the gambling museum located on 450
Fremont Street (a nice respite from playing poker – and for only
$2.50). I was done in about an hour and decided to walk around.
I saw the dated El Cortez sign and decided to see if they had
anything going on – having recalled that they occasionally spread
some poker. What I saw was, at first at least, disappointing.
The casino now is, to be frank, somewhat depressing. It’s in a
neighborhood where I felt uncomfortable walking around at night –
a block or two away from the walkway that turns into the “Fremont
Street Experience” after dark. It’s somewhat dark interior, lessthan-clean rugs, and somewhat seedy regular clientele are a bit off
putting to those who feel more comfortable in the glitzy and glamorous strip casinos. It’s not up to the level of ambiance of other
downtown locales such as the Golden Nugget or even Binions.
I found the poker room. I was pleased to see that they had two
games going. At first I figured they’d be the typical fare of low
limit hold ‘em. But I found to my delight that one of the two games
was 7-Card Stud. It was a very low stakes version, to be sure. But
after surveying nearly every other casino in Las Vegas for stud
and coming up empty I was pleased to at least be able to find my
favorite game.
The game was not quite filled. I was the seventh player – and
quickly the sixth player as someone got up to leave just as I was
sitting down.
The game was $1-3 spread limit stud, with no ante and a $.50
bring-in from the low card. It was raked at 10% with a $3.00 max,
though I don’t think the dealer raked more than $2.00 out of any of
the pots that I saw. They were taken out in $.50 increments.
The players were an interesting group. The shift manager was
playing – a middle aged, heavy set jovial sort of a guy who went
through his stack while he was there. There was also a chain smoking woman who was friendly and aggressive at times. A young
dealer sat in the game. He seemed to recognize me from one of
the publications I write for and was very pleasant – as well as being
tight and aggressive. There was one rather peculiar man in the
game, who unbuttoned his shirt to his navel so he could scratch,
in a very nervous sort of way, his chest. He had the bizarre habit
of moving his lips to repeat what he had just said aloud – and also
seemed to talk to himself while scratching his chest.
(To be continued in our next issue)
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]
24
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
Several different prominent
members of the media and
poker community compile
Player of the Year rankings, usually based on the
players’ tournament performances during a particular
calendar year. ESPN does
in association with Bluff
magazine, as do Card
Player and TopPair magazines, and the International
Poker Federation, or IPF.
Even Phil Hellmuth computes his Poker Champion
of the Year rankings that
appear in ALL IN magazine, but more on that
later. Poker Player is wise
enough not to get involved,
as doing so can be the basis
for some controversy, as
you will see below.
It’s important first to differentiate between rankings
and polls. For the most
part, rankings are based on
some sort of predetermined
criteria usually associated
with a points system that
rewards players depending
on how they finish in major
tournaments. On the other
hand, polls are generally
opinion-oriented, and not
necessarily based on fact.
Think Gallup and Harris,
for example, and you’ll get
my drift.
Rank
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
#11
#12
#13
#14
#15
#16
#17
#18
#19
#20
Card Player
Men Nguyen
John Phan
Allen Cunningham
Michael Gracz
Michael Mizrachi
Tony Ma
Ted Forrest
Gavin Smith
Max Pescatori
John Hoang
Amir Vahedi
Scotty Nguyen
Erick Lindgren
Freddy Deeb
Mark Seif
Tom Franklin
Quinn Do
Phil Ivey
John Gale
Minh Nguyen
Bluff/ESPN
John Juanda
Phil Ivey
Chris Ferguson
Allen Cunningham
Erick Lindgren
Michael Mizrachi
Men Nguyen
Scotty Nguyen
Erick Lindgren
Lee Watkinson
Kathy Liebert
Tony Ma
Kenna James
Barry Greenstein
Ted Forrest
Eric Seidel
James Van Alstyne
Antonio Esfandiari
Alan Goehring
Young Phan
I thought it might be
interesting to see how the
final 2005 Player of the
Year rankings compared
when laid out side-by-side.
Those players highlighted
in red appear in the Top 20
of all five of the rankings
compiled; those in yellow
show up in four; those in
green make it into three;
those in blue qualify in
two, and those not highlighted only appear in one.
As you can see, only two
players, Phil Ivey and Allen
Cunningham, finished in
the Top 20 in all five of
the player rankings. Both
had outstanding years, and
certainly are deserving of
being acknowledged for
their exceptional achievements by all those evaluating their play.
Five players finished
in the Top 20 in four of
the five player rankings,
including Chris Ferguson,
Men Nguyen, Scotty
Nguyen, Michael Gracz,
and Michael Mizrachi.
Consistently in the money
in major tournaments, it
comes as no surprise that
these fine players would
find themselves ranked by
most as among the world’s
best in 2005.
Seven more players
amassed enough points
to finish in the Top 20 in
three of the player rankings.
They were Gavin Smith,
Tony Ma, Ted Forrest,
Erick Lindgren, John
Gale, Antonio Esfandiari,
TopPair
Chris Ferguson
Phil Ivey
Micheal Gracz
Gavin Smith
Men Nguyen
Ted Forrest
Tony Ma
Minh Ly
Michael Mizrachi
Allen Cunningham
Vinnie Vinh
Patrik Antonius
Kido Pham
Nick Schulman
Joseph Hachem
Erick Lindgren
Freddy Deeb
Doug Lee
Chris Reslock
John Gale
attain this high level of recognition.
Those who finished
in the Top 20 in two
of the player rankings
include John Phan, John
Juanda, Eric Seidel, Ming
Ly, Vinnie Vinh, Nick
Schulman, Freddy Deeb,
Doug Lee, and Steve
Dannenmann. The other 31
players who are listed on
the above chart were recognized as being a 2005 Top
20 player by only one ranking body.
Surprisingly, only Chris
Ferguson was ranked #1
more than once, and then
only twice. So obviously,
discrepancies exist among
those involved in determining the overall Player of the
Year. For kicks, I dug a little deeper to reveal some of
the more interesting ones.
Let’s start with John
Juanda, who was rated #1
in Bluff magazine’s power
rankings at year-end and
#17 by Phil Hellmuth.
Juanda finishes number #22
according to TopPair, but
you have to go all the way
to #122 to find him in Card
Player’s rankings, and you
won’t find his name at all
among the 100 players that
the IPF ranks.
Int’l Poker Fed.
Micheal Gracz
Raja Kattamuri
Scotty Nguyen
Eric Seidel
Chris Ferguson
John Phan
John Stolzmann
Paul Maxfield
Allen Cunningham
Joseph Hachem
Antonio Esfandiari
Tuan Le
Phil Ivey
Chad Brown
Jamil Dia
Walter Chambers
Nghi Van Tran
Steve Dannenmann
Marcel Luske
Rafi Amit
and 2005 WSOP World
Champion Joseph Hachem.
While certainly no one
could touch Hachem’s earnings in 2005, all of these
outstanding pros accrued
the points necessary by
three different compilers to
Phil Hellmuth
Chris Ferguson
Phil Ivey
Allen Cunningham
Joseph Hachem
Minh Ly
Vinnie Vinh
Phil Hellmuth
Gavin Smith
Steve Dannenmann
Michael Gracz
Thang Pham
Nick Schulman
Men Nguyen
Scotty Nguyen
Michael Mizrachi
Doug Lee
John Juanda
Antonio Esfandiari
John Gale
Doyle Brunson
While not attempting to
be critical, I found Bluff’s
rankings somewhat confusing, because they are based
on the results of a trailing
24-month period rather
than everyone else’s who
are based on the calendar
as
The Poker Player of the Year in 2005?
A C O M PA R I S O N O F T H O S E
year. As evidence of this,
the results reported here
are as of 1/24/2006, and
are updated about every
two weeks. Their previous
rankings from two weeks
earlier, which one would
assume should have been
year-end results, had Juanda
#1 and Ivey #2, the same
way they are listed here.
Yet on January 17th, Bluff
announced that Ivey was
their Player of the Year!
The press release states,
“The Bluff Player of the
Year is awarded to the
player that accumulates
the most points in the
Bluff/ESPN Poker Power
Rankings.” So even though
Juanda had 100+ more
points than Ivey under their
power ranking system at
year’s end, the honor was
given to Ivey instead. One
can only interpret this to
mean that Ivey must have
accumulated more points in
2005 than Juanda did, while
over the trailing 24-month
period Juanda had more,
but the reader has no way
of really knowing for sure.
Another interesting
example is John Phan, who
led Card Player’s leader
board for much of the year,
only to finish second to
Men Nguyen. While his
sixth place ranking by the
IPF is somewhat consistent with Card Player, Phil
Hellmuth has him tied for
37th, TopPair has him #38,
and he comes in a rather
distant 61st according to
Bluff.
Raja Kattamuri, ranked
#2 by the IPF, lands 133
places down TopPair’s list,
is 140 places down on Phil
Hellmuth’s, finds himself
#357 in Card Player’s rankings, and is not ranked at all
among the 250 players that
Bluff ranks.
Perhaps the most interesting of all was that of Phil
Hellmuth himself. Now
I really like Phil’s criteria
for determining rankings,
as it is simple and straightforward. According to his
website, only WSOP and
WPT events are considered,
with different multipliers
used to establish points
I N V O LV E D I N D E T E R M I N I N G W H O I S # 1
depending on the significance of the event and the
amount of the buy-in, the
minimum being $5,000.
But then I noticed that Phil
ranked himself #7 in his
own poll, while not appearing in the Top 20 of any
of the others, so I thought
it might be interesting to
explore this in more detail.
Here’s how the poker
icon ranks according to the
others:
TopPair: #52
IPF: unranked out of 100
Bluff/ESPN: unranked
out of 250
Card Player: #683
Hmmm. What gives?
So I delved a little
deeper. It appears that
Phil gave himself 400
points for winning the
2005 National Heads-Up
Championship and its first
prize of $500,000, although
it is not a WSOP or WPT
event. Now I’m not trying
to minimize the significance of Hellmuth winning
this prestigious title; it just
seems that awarding himself points for it is not con-
sistent with the criteria that
is posted on his website.
In fairness, it looks as if
Phil gave the other top ten
finishers in this event points
in his rankings also. But
there’s more.
In the 2005 Tournament
of Champions, Phil finished 3rd, collecting
$250,000. Now this is a
WSOP event, but it is a
freeroll, which seemingly
violates Hellmuth’s $5,000
minimum buy-in requirement. In fact, Phil did
not even qualify to play
in this event; he was one
of three players invited
by Harrah’s to participate,
a move on Harrah’s part
that spawned quite a bit of
controversy. According to
his points system, it would
once more appear that Phil
gave himself 240 points for
his 3rd place finish, which
is what he accords players
for that particular finish
in a $10,000 buy-in event.
Again, in fairness, Hellmuth
also gave the other top ten
finishers points under his
system for their respective
finishes in the TOC.
Phil’s only other qualifying finish under his own
parameters in 2005 was
an 8th place finish in a
$5000 buy-in WSOP Pot
Limit Omaha event, worth
75 points according to his
ranking system. Adding
the three events together,
one arrives at 715 points,
the amount he has posted
to determine his 7th place
ranking. But by adhering
strictly to the qualifiers that
are listed on his website,
Phil seemingly finished
with only 75 points rather
than the 715 points he
claims.
If Hellmuth is going to
include the results of these
events or ones similar in
his Poker Champion of the
Year standings, perhaps he
might want to clarify this
on his website to avoid conjecture in the future. The
ambiguity of his rankings
makes one question their
validity. One could even
make an argument that Mr.
Hellmuth, particularly in
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25
2/14/06 10:44:34 AM
Luck & Nonsense
NORTH BY NORTHWEST
By Byron Liggett
Poker players have an intimate relationship
with Lady Luck. They seek her blessing and
curse her when she favors another lover.
She has no sense of justice. All evening long she will
lavish her charms on the most undeserving suitor, leaving
others frustrated and spent.
Some believe the secret to controlling the Temptress
of Timing is a special hat. When the lucky hat is working,
these players often try to stimulate it by lifting it up, turning it around, or fidgeting with it in order to try to get it to
respond.
A few players even have the whole good luck outfit
– lucky shoes, lucky socks, lucky pants, lucky shirt, lucky
underwear, and lucky ring. Guess they believe the clothes
make the player?
A poker tournament is like a clash of the Forces of Faith
and Fate. Every kind of trinket, troll, totem, and talisman rests
before its Lord or Lady. During a Peppermill poker tournament
a few years ago Billy V found it necessary to announce that
“Any lucky charm had to be small enough to see over and light
enough to carry when the table broke down”.
Matt Savage, one of the premier tournament directors
in the world of poker, says when it comes to lucky pieces
he uses the same rule as the airlines, “I tell them it has to
be able to fit in the luggage rack or under the seat.”
Among the poker passionate are the True Believers.
They’re easy to spot. They’re the ones who are convinced
they simply have to find a Holy Seat. They’re often the
ones preyed for first.
Of course, poker has its Agnostics. They try to straddle
the matter. One player summed it up well. “I don’t really
believe in luck,” he explained, “But just in case, I always
where the same socks I wore when I won the weekly freeroll five years ago.”
Some of the greatest gamblers have been “Luck
Atheists”. Two-time World Poker Champ Doyle Brunson is
unequivocal. He says, “The worst thing a player can bring
to the poker table is a rabbit’s foot.” Similarly, author
John Scarne agrees that gamblers are superstitious “due
to ignorance”.
Some players are more philosophical. In one tournament, after going all-in for the “pot of the night” and losing it on the river, the loser showed his class when he told
the winner, “I hope you have more luck with my money
than I did.”
Jack McClelland, the George Washington of poker
tournament directors who helped guide the World Series
to what it’s become today, has a keen understanding of
the culture and craziness of tournament competition. Only
half-kiddingly, Jack’s described a poker tournament as “an
asylum. If you don’t run it, the inmates will.”
One of the most accomplished poker tournament directors in the world is David Lamb. According to rumor, a
t-shirt worn by Lamb during tournaments declares, “I’m
knee-deep in sheep”?
Another quick wit is Oklahoma Johnny Hale. While hosting his annual “Seniors World Poker Championships one
year he was asked it is the older we get the luckier we
are? He responded that “It’s because we don’t need it as
much.”
Nevertheless, most gamblers seek to embrace Madame
Luck. They know she is fickle and fleeting. Still, they hope
for an occasional kiss and even fantasize that she’ll spend
the night.
French author Jean Cocteau may have said it best: “We
must believe in luck for how else can we explain the success of those we don’t like?”
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26
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These No Limit Hold ‘Em
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Dustin Blanton wins $1,960
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WSOP Winner
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We will provide the same hospitality that has brought poker players downtown for over three decades. We hope
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Your hosts,
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Blind structures and rules can be found at: www.americanpokerplayerchampionship.com.
Any questions concerning rules or events can be directed to Director of Poker Operations, Jim Delorto or Alison Woodward at
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For accommodation packages visit: www.AmericanPokerPlayerChampionship.com or call
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Management reserves the right to modify or cancel this promotion at any time, for any reason, subject to any applicable regulatory approval, provided that such modification shall not, as of the date
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30
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
Time. Some events
C start after the hour
...........AM, PM
O A,WkP................Week
..... Additional gameD &.times
on this day. Call.
E ........Hold’em
.No Limit Hold’em
.Limit Hold’em
N .............No Limit
L ................... Limit
.............Stud
..7-Card Stud
..5-Card Stud
........ Omaha
H/L .High/Low Split
Pi...........Pineapple
Po...........Pot Limit
Pn.........Panginque
Mx ..Mexican Poker
DC .Dealer’s Choice
MONDAY
•GOLD BAR DENOTES ADVERTISER
TIME
|
HH ...... Headhunter
B ............ Bounties
Sp .............. Spread
Al .........Alternates
Z........... Freezeout
Cz ................ Crazy
E..........Elimination
TUESDAY
GAMES BUY-IN| TIME
Q ............... Qualify
Sh ...........Shootout
+ ..Re-Buys and/or
Add-Ons allowed
F ............... Freeroll
Lad ..... Ladies Only
Men ........Men Only
DAILY TOURNAMENTS
NOW! Get Tournament Listings at our website:
Note: All tournaments are subject to change. Check with the Cardroom for any updates. Cardrooms—
please send your schedules to Tournament Editor A.R. Dyck, [email protected]
| WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
|
FRIDAY
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
| SATURDAY |
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
SUNDAY
GAMES BUY-IN
Aladdin
Arizona Charlie’s
Caesars Palace
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Harrah’s Reno
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DA I LY TO U R N A M E N T L I ST I N G S CO N T I N U E O N PAG E 32
Debbie Burkhead interviews(Continued
John from
Stewart
page 20)
amenities.
DB: Who is responsible
for making your job a little
easier?
JS: Director of Table
Games, Chris Charlwood
by giving me his confi-
dence and freedom to run
the room as I see fit. Our
Marketing Department
headed by Director of
Marketing, Jeff Bray, and
Marketing Coordinator, Lisa
Zagornik. They have given
me tremendous marketing
support. My shift supervisors, Kris Sullivan, Brian
Kooyman and Janet Svoboda
are a major key to my success. Mike Milligan and
Michelle Lawrence have
done a terrific job as my
WSOP tournament direc-
tors. Of course, I must also
recognize the dealing staff
for their continuous efforts
in making The Tachi Palace
Poker Room a first class
place to play. Kricie Malott
runs our training department
and she really helps lighten
my load in processing and in
training the new-hires. One
of our Table Games Shift
Managers, Mark Hayes was
formerly in charge of poker
room operations and he has
been very helpful during
the transfer of operational
management. These people
are without a doubt the reason my job is not only easy,
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
31
Time. Some events &. ........ Additional
Limit Hold’em
start after the hour
gametimes. Call. N ..........No Limit
A, P ....... AM, PM
..... Hold’em L ................ Limit
Wk .............Week
.No Limit Hold’em
..........Stud
MONDAY
TIME
CALIFORNIA—SAN DIEGO CALIF—
& INLAND EMPIRE
L.A.
B ......... Bounties
Sp ........... Spread
.7-Card Stud
..... Omaha Pi........Pineapple Pn......Panginque DCDealer’s Choice Al ......Alternates
.5-Card Stud H/LHigh/Low Split Po........Pot Limit Mx .Mexican Poker HH ...Headhunter Z........ Freezeout
DAILY TOURNAMENTS (CONT’D FROM PAGE 31)
|
TUESDAY
GAMES BUY-IN| TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
|
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
FRIDAY
Cz ............. Crazy + .......... Re-buys
E...... Elimination and/or Add-ons
allowed
Q ............Qualify
Sh ........Shootout F ............Freeroll
| SATURDAY |
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
SUNDAY
GAMES BUY-IN
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Normandie Casino
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DA I LY TO U R N A M E N T L I ST I N G S CO N T I N U E O N PAG E 3 3
Debbie Burkhead interviews John Stewart
but most enjoyable. I must
also recognize our General
Manager, Adam Gonzalez.
With his visionary leadership, The Tachi Palace is
well on our way to becoming
the premiere gaming property on the west coast. I must
32
say that working for the
Tachi Yokut tribe has been a
very positive and rewarding
experience. They truly value
their people. It is an incredibly exciting time to be part
of the team at The Tachi
Palace.
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
DB: What is your main goal
as a Poker Room Manager?
JS: To provide the highest
level of customer service possible and cultivate an exciting,
positive, and fun atmosphere
for our players and employees
alike. Maintaining a high level
of employee morale is very
important to me, as it is paramount to customer service.
I ran a super satellite during
our “Associate Gaming Day”,
where we recognize the hard
work and dedication of our
entire casino staff. We are
sending two team members
to the casino employee event
at the World Series of Poker
for their chance to win a gold
bracelet. I will continue to do
my very best to make The
Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino
the only place anyone would
want to play poker between
Los Angeles and the Bay
Area. It definitely “pays” to
play here.
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DAILY TOURNAMENTS (CONT’D FROM PAGE 32)
MONDAY
WA
|
TUESDAY
GAMES BUY-IN| TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
|
FRIDAY
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
| SATURDAY |
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
SUNDAY
GAMES BUY-IN
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Harrah’s Atlantic City
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M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
33
PART 68,
The Dreaded Ace
I think we would all agree that pocket
aces are a wonderful sight to behold.
improving performance
By TOM “TIME” LEONARD
They are the absolute best starting hand even though many players
approach them with a certain degree of dread as
they always seem to get cracked. Of course, that
is mainly confirmation bias. Even a single ace,
depending upon your kicker, is a decent hand What
about when you hold pocket Kings or Queens and
just as you’re imploring the Poker Gods not to even
see an ace during the entire hand a big, fat ace falls
right in the middle of the flop? This, of course, is
not such a beautiful sight to behold. However, it
does seem to occur with surprising and annoying
regularity That may be confirmation bias as well.
When that “Dreaded Ace” falls, some players
immediately say to themselves, “OK, so what. I’ve
finally been dealt a decent hand for the first time
in the last hour. Pocket Kings or Queens don’t
come around that often and I’m certainly not going
to muck them. Hey, I could hit my set on the turn
or the river with these beauties”. Blinded by their
hopes, dreams, fantasies and prayers they seem
able to talk themselves into almost anything. Even
though it’s about a 22-1 shot to hit their set on the
turn they convince themselves that they have two
shots at it. “Hey, let’s not forget about the river….
I‘ve got two shots to hit this puppy!” They also convince themselves that maybe, just maybe, no one
holds an ace anyway. If you have three other opponents who seem to be ignoring your pre-flop raise
since that big, fat ace hit the board, the likelihood of
no one holding an ace is pretty far fetched. In this
situation, do you know what is the actual likelihood
that no one holds an ace? Well in round numbers
the answer would be 0% of the time! Come on,
everyone else can see that ace also but it is not the
“Dreaded Ace” to everyone.
Must you really muck that beautiful pair of paint?
Of course not…..two outers are hit all the time. You
see your opponents do it constantly, especially
when you’re the one holding the pocket rockets.
However, if you’re actually planning to turn a profit
playing poker you must face reality and possess the
discipline to throw away that beautiful pair of paint
and save your ammunition for a better spot. They
certainly were beautiful pre-flop but are now not
worth much more than 7-2 off suit. Do you possess
the discipline to muck Kings or Queens in the face
of an Ace which is being aggressively bet by one or
more opponents? If you don’t, you have a serious
leak in your game that needs to be addressed if you
plan to hold onto any of your chips at the end of the
day, week or month
Our goal for this session is to not become enamored with the apparent strength of our holdings but
to recognize that poker is a game of relative values.
When you know you’re out gunned you need to summon the discipline not to throw good money after
bad in the long shot hopes that you’ll hit a miracle
card on the turn or river. In the long run if you possess this discipline you’ll be chips ahead.
See you next “TIME”.
No stranger to the green felt, Tom “Time” Leonard has played
poker for more than 30 years and has been a serious student of
the game and writer on the subject since 1994. He has regularly
played the cardrooms of Atlantic City, Las Vegas and California.
His experience as a sales and marketing professional have
helped him hone his skills at “selling” a hand and “buying” a
pot. Tom can be contacted at: [email protected].
34
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
Dona Maria Barceló
—“La Tules”
Gambler, Risk-Taker,
American Heroine
By Byron Liggett
Despite a popular misconception, men did not win
the West alone. Women
were there too.
Gambling, almost
exclusively a male activity
thrived among the miners, cowboys and loggers
of the American frontier.
“Gamblin’,” as one boomtown bartender remembered it, “was a man’s
job, like fightin’ and steer
ropin’.”
Yet, there were a few
women whose circumstances, inclination, or both led
them to become professional gamblers. These ladies
were not only a very small
minority, but they were
often colorful, independent,
exceptional women. They
met the frontier on its own
terms. They were women
who competed, won and
lost with the courage,
tenacity, and foolishness
equal to any man.
Dona Maria Barceló,
“La Tules”, was one of the
earliest gamblers and heroines of the American West.
Born in Sonora, Mexico in
1800, she married a hunter
and scout who took her to
Santa Fe to live. A couple
of years later he failed to
return from one of his frequent forays leaving her
with two small children to
support.
In order to take care
of family, Dona Maria
started dealing Monte in
a Santa Fe gambling hall.
An ancient Spanish game
having a strong percentage
against the player, Monte
was popular throughout
Mexico, which at the time
included Texas, California
and much of what is now
the American southwest.
A Monte deck uses 40
cards; the eights, nines and
tens are removed. Before
play began, the Banker
would pile his stake high on
the table, usually in silver
dollars. After shuffling and
cutting the cards, the Monte
dealer, holding the deck
face-down, drew off two
cards from the bottom and
placed them face-up on the
table. This was called the
“bottom layout”. Then the
dealer drew two cards from
the top of the deck and laid
them face-up above the
other two. This was called
the “top layout”. The deck
was then turned face-up
exposing what was called
“the gate” card. If the gate
card matched any card in
the bottom or top layouts,
the Banker paid all bets.
Beautiful and charming,
“La Tules” soon became
the gamblers’ favorite
dealer. Within a few years,
she’d accumulated enough
winnings to buy her own
gambling hall. By the time
the forces of history found
her, La Tules was already a
prominent Santa Fe institution known for her gambling skills as well as her
beauty.
In the U.S., contrary to
all expectations, James K.
Polk won a narrow victory in the Presidential
election of 1844. He had
campaigned on a platform to expand the United
States to the Pacific Ocean.
For much of the country
it was an article of faith
that westward expansion
was America’s “Manifest
Destiny”.
The young nation’s 11th
President was determined to
fulfill his promise. He went
to war with Mexico and
won Texas, the Southwest
and California. In a showdown with Great Britain
for the Oregon Territory
he threatened to go to war.
Polk was bluffing but he
knew his opponent. Britain
folded without a fight.
President Polk doubled
the size of the country.
By the end of his term,
gold was discovered in
California. Gamblers,
gunslingers and gold hunters led the opening of the
American West.
Historian Herbert Asbury
says that when the card
cheats followed the victorious American Army into
Mexico City, they were
surprised to find Mexican
Monte games were honest! Bankers relied on the
game’s strong house advantage to make a handsome
profit.
One group of crooked
American gamblers tried
to introduce specially
manufactured marked
cards into Mexican towns,
but the scam failed. There
was only one Mexican
manufacturer of cards and
his product was exquisite,
far superior to the cheap
American decks. Hence,
players preferred the much
finer Mexican cards.
La Tules dealt Monte
to the first Anglo trappers,
traders and miners who
began moving west along
the Santa Fe Trail in large
numbers in the 1840s and
‘50s. An accomplished
gambler, she set no limit
at her table. One visitor to
Santa Fe wrote, “This fine
lady had become wealthy
by dealing Monte… and
her bank was open almost
every evening….”
Perhaps Dona Maria’s
finest hour came during the
Mexican / American War in
1846. As 1,700 American
soldiers approached Santa
Fe, the Mexican Governor
assembled a force of
4,000 to defend the city.
However, Senora Barceló
was able to convince the
Governor, her intimate
friend, to withdraw and
leave her behind to spy and
report to him.
On August 19, 1846, the
American Army marched
into Santa Fe without a shot
being fired. In the months
after “La Tules” loaned
large sums of money to the
American Government to
finance several successful
military campaigns.
New Mexico became
a territory of the United
States in 1848 with the
Treaty of Guadalupe, ending the War with Mexico.
Senora Barceló, the richest
woman in Santa Fe, continued to be very influential in
the politics of New Mexico
until her death in 1852.
e-mail: [email protected]
How Poker Has Changed—PART 1
By Victor H. Royer
Poker has always been the
measure of the man. Men and
their cards are as synonymous
with the battles fought by
mankind over the centuries
as the gun fights of the old
West. Tough men sitting over
tables covered with booze,
cash, coins, chips, money and
cigars have been the subject
of the folklore tales both tall
and other for as long as stories
have been told. Such perceptions of poker, and poker players, have remained with the
general public – and its opinions of poker and gambling in
general – for decades, and perhaps even centuries. The game
of Poker was always known to
be a contest of skill between
the players, and perhaps for
that reason it wasn’t really a
very popular casino game at
all. It was mostly played by
the cowboys of the old West
and, in the first half of the 20th
century by the road gamblers
that roamed those states that
at one time were part of the
old West themselves. The
road gamblers of Oklahoma,
Louisiana and Texas are perhaps best know in general,
as are many of their players,
some still alive and others
already part of history.
Casinos didn’t much like
poker. The casino owners of
the new West, those who gave
up their days as road gamblers in Texas and Oklahoma
and moved to Las Vegas in
the late 1940’s and 1950’s,
still played poker, but mostly
among themselves. It was not
a game that the general public
played very much, even if
it was offered in the casinos
founded by such greats of the
old-time gamblers, the likes of
Lester “Benny” Binion and his
contemporaries. Even Benny
himself wasn’t convinced that
Poker was a game that many
casual gamblers who visited
Las Vegas in the days of the
late 1940’s and early 1950’s
would want to play.
Although Benny would
later be credited with establishing the World Series of
Poker in 1970—it actually
started in Reno/Tahoe in 1969,
at least as the idea—it didn’t
really begin to be the WSOP
as we know it until 1971. The
first game of this championship was held in 1970 which
was won by Johnny Moss
who was “elected” as the
champion. He won again in
1971, but by that time he did
it by actually winning the
event, instead of simply being
elected the winner. That event
in 1971 was, therefore, the
true birth of the WSOP as we
now know it. But even Benny
at that time still didn’t consider poker as much of a casino
game. This may seem strange,
looking at it now, but the road
to greatness for poker wasn’t
paved with gold, good intentions, nor recognition. While
Benny Binion recognized
the allure of big-time poker
played by big time gamblers,
even he was surprised by its
popular appeal.
This road to poker’s birth as
a major tournament event and
a casino game actually began
in Benny’s mind in the later
1940’s. In 1948 he agreed to
host a heads-up match between
Johnny Moss, even then
known as perhaps the world’s
best-ever poker player, and the
famous gambler Nick “The
Greek” Dandolos. Benny put
the poker table up front in his
casino, where people could see
them playing, and every day
he marveled at the crowds that
would gather to watch these
two guys play poker. For the
several months these two great
poker gamblers played each
other. Eventually, as the lore
of gambling goes, Nick “The
Greek” Dandolos went broke
with the now-famous words:
“Mr. Moss, I have to let you
go.” It was rumored at the
time that Nick lost about $2.5
million to Johnny Moss during
the months of that game.
Benny Binion at the time
considered this game and it’s
popular public appeal as so
much of a fluke. For more
than 20 years thereafter not
even Benny thought much of
poker as a casino game, and
neither did anyone else. When
Howard Hughes bought into
Las Vegas in the late 1960’s
and ushered in the era of
corporations, corporate ownerships and publicly traded corporations that owned and operated the casinos, the new casi-
no bosses and managers didn’t
like poker either because it
wasn’t a house-banked game
and, therefore, not a game
that they could control. In all
casino games, the casino, the
“house”, controls and banks
the game. Therefore, the casino can alter the game’s rules
to assure itself of a steady winning percentage. That’s why
all casino games have what’s
called a “house edge”, which
is that mathematical percentage by which the casinos have
altered the true payouts of
each game’s events to gain an
advantage.
It is primarily for this reason that casinos don’t like
poker. But can they? We will
continue in the next issue.
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M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
35
Perks and Picks
Pick of the month: $200,000 Pechanga Open. Pechanga
Resort & Casino in Temecula, California will host the 2nd
annual Pechanga Open beginning April 12. Poker players have the chance to win a guaranteed
Card Room Roundup
The Bargain Bin
By H. Scot Krause
$200,000 in prize pool money. With low
buy-ins and high stakes, the Pechanga
Open is sure to be an exciting, thrilling
and action-packed tournament series not to miss.
The Pechanga Open starts Wednesday, April 12th with
the $20,000 No Limit Hold ‘Em Tournament at 6:30 p.m.
The tournament’s buy-in is $100 with a $45 entry fee.
Thursday, April 13th at 6:30 p.m., players will want to
be sure to get a seat in the $50,000 No Limit Hold ‘Em
Tournament. Buy-in is $250 with a $45 entry fee. April
14th at 6:30 p.m., poker enthusiasts have the chance to
play for a $30,000 prize pool in that evening’s No Limit
Hold ‘Em Tournament. Buy-in is $150 with a $45 entry
fee. The grand finale, the $100,000 No Limit Hold ‘Em
Tournament, will be played on April 15th at 4:00 p.m. The
buy-in for this one-of-a-kind tournament is $500 with
a $45 entry fee. Re-buys are not allowed for any of the
Pechanga Open tournaments.
To enter any or all of the Pechanga Open tournaments, sign up inside the Pechanga Poker Room starting
at 11:00 a.m. on the day of the tournament in which you
want to participate. Single table satellites for all events
will also allow players to win buy-ins to the respective
tournaments. Satellites will be held Monday through
Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Ten players must
play in each single-table satellite. The breakdown of
single-table satellites is as follows:
---$20,000 Pechanga Open No Limit Hold ‘Em = $30
per person Satellite buy-in • 1st place wins $140 buy-in
and $50 cash, 2nd place wins $30 cash.
per person Satellite buy-in •1st place wins $295 buy-in
and $75 cash, 2nd wins $50 cash.
Here’s an update on Hooter’s Casino Hotel in Las
Vegas, (formerly the San Remo). Rick Newman, VP of
Casino Operations, checked in with us and said, “We actually have three tables for now, and we offer live poker
24/7. Players are comped at a pretty standard rate of
$1 per hour of play to a maximum of $12 per day. We
are also putting together some specials from the Pete &
Shorty’s menu and including Hooter’s famous wings.”
In other Las Vegas news, The Texas Hold ‘Em Poker
Room at the Imperial Palace Hotel & Casino has been
relocated from the third floor and is now located on the
main casino floor in the space previously occupied by
the Kabuki Lounge (no longer operating as a lounge.)
And if downtown Las Vegas is in your plans this
month, stop by Binion’s Gambling Hall and sign up for
a Binion’s Club card. After earning just 50 points ($25
coin-in) on any machine, you’ll receive a collectable logo
key chain.
That’s it for this week!
H. Scot Krause is a freelance writer, gaming industry analyst and researcher, originally from Cleveland,
Ohio. While raising his 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]
36
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
4111 Boulder Highway, Las Vegas, Nevada 89121
702.432.7559, toll free 800.683.7777
www.boulderstation.com
Boulder Station HotelCasino is one of the Station
Casino’s families of off-strip
Las Vegas casinos. Located
on the Boulder Strip at
the junction of US-95 and
Boulder Highway, Boulder
Station was aimed at the Las
Vegas local’s market but
quickly became a favorite
with Las Vegas visitors. The
modern open design featuring high, vaulted ceilings
painted to resemble a blue
sky with puffy white clouds
adds to the casino’s appeal
and luxurious up-scale atmosphere.
The Boulder Strip resort
offers 300 hotel guest rooms
and luxury suites that have
recently been renovated to
offer guest all the amenities expected from a Station
Casino property. Five award
winning restaurants await the
hungry visitor. Everything
from a fast food burger joint
to the elegance of white table
cloths and silver service
can be found in the Broiler
offering a selection premium aged steaks and fresh
seafood prepared to please
even the most discriminating diner. The Guadalajara
has a complete menu of
Mexican specialties and a
self serve salsa bar, perhaps
your craving is for the Italian
offerings of the Pasta Palace.
The Café Coffee Shop is
available twenty-four hours
everyday and has a complete menu that rivals a New
York diner in its variety
of selection. Chinese fast
foods available at the China
Express and quick bites of
standard Mexican fare are
at the Viva Salsa with items
as low as a $1.99. Pizza
selections by the piece or
the pie are available at the
Pizza Palace. Can’t decide
what you want? Head to
the Feast Action Buffet featuring for all-you-can-eat
offerings numbering in the
dozens. Action cooking stations are staffed by chef’s
that prepare specialty items
to your order while you
wait. The Boulder Station
Resort’s Feast Buffet is one
of the most popular buffets
in the city that perfected buffets and is often voted the
best Las Vegas casino buffet.
Lines can be long attesting to
the quality of the food.
The casino is large and
spacious with more than
2,800 state-of-the art slot
and video poker machines
including a wide variety
of your favorites. The pit
games are well represented
with Blackjack, Pai Gow
poker and Baccarat. The
bingo crowd is regularly
entertained in the 600 seat
Bingo Parlor and if you’re
one of those believes-inmiracles gamblers (what
gambler isn’t?) then take a
seat in the Keno lounge and
try your luck at hundreds of
thousands of dollars with
the right choice of numbers.
The Sports and Horse betting crowd will be pleased
with the spacious, comfortable Book featuring a video
wall of all the sports and
racing action around the
world. Individual monitors
at the player’s stations in
the book add to the bettor’s
comfort and convenience.
The Railhead offers live,
big-name entertainment in an
intimate setting; but, we’re
at Boulder Station to play
poker so let’s head over to
the poker room.
The ten table room is
located in the main casino
behind as wall of glass
that provides some sound
insulation from the action
of the casino. All of the
tables feature the speed and
random shuffles of shuffle-
Entrance to Boulder Station’s 10-table cardroom
masters. The Poker room is
under the expert guidance of
manager, Steve Devel. With
more than three decades in
the poker industry Steve
guarantees the poker player
a positive playing experience. The poker room offers
players Limit Texas Hold’em
with blinds of $2-$4 and $4$8 with a ½ kill. No-limit
Hold’em comes in $1-$2
blinds with a $100min$200max buy-in and a $2-$5
with a $200min-$500max
buy-in. Omaha High is
played with a $4-$8 betting
structure and a ½ kill.
Boulder Station Poker
Room is a part of the
Stations Casino’s progressive Bad Beat Jackpot that
recently set a record when
it was hit for almost a half
million dollars. Satellites
for the WSOP and the WPT
tour events are offered where
players can win a free $10K
buy-in for the WSOP main
event or WPT championships. Stop by and play one
of the satellites, the first step
toward becoming a multimillionaire and poker icon. Call
the poker room direct for
details and dates of the satellites at 702.432.7577. Play
50 hours in the Boulder
Station Poker Room during
April and May and you are
qualified for the Poker Plus
Tournament. The Poker Plus
is a freeroll with a $300,000
prize pool and guarantees
the winner $75,000, a nice
haul from a freeroll tournament. The 2005 version of
the Poker Plus drew a crowd
of more than 2,000 players
making it the second largest
poker tournament ever held,
just behind the WSOP main
event.
Complimentary pastries
are offered to players every
morning and a self service
gourmet coffee bar is available all the time. Players
earn comps at the rate 0f
$1 per hour with a $7 daily
limit. The food comps are
good throughout the Station
properties casinos with your
Boarding Pass player’s
cards. Free poker lessons are
offered daily at 2:00 PM.
I asked shift supervisor
Rex Gurnick what the Poker
Room at Boulder Station
offers poker players and he
was quick to reply with that
the service accorded to players will keep you coming
back. A professional staff
that is dedicated to giving
players a consistently pleasurable playing experience
and floor decisions that favor
the player. All of this in a
room that gives poker play-
ers a comfortable setting and
easy parking with valet and
self-park only steps away.
Stop by the Boulder Station
Poker Room and sample
some of the friendly atmosphere of one of Las Vegas’
most comfortable poker
rooms.
Enjoy Boulder Station’s huge casino, and check out the entertainment at in-house nightclub, the Railhead
Keepin’ Boulder rollin’
are Poker Room Manager
Steve Devel (top) and Shift
Supervisor Rex Gurnick
(bottom)
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
37
Wake Up and Put
the Money In
Many times when I lay down to sleep, I find that my memory of
isolated instances comes flashing back. Not as far back as who
I should have taken to my senior prom, or as embarrassing as
when my “fly” popped open to reveal me in all my wonderful
Dealer Vibes
By Donald W. Woods, Jr.
splendor, during class. No, it probably falls
somewhere in between. More importantly,
my memory focuses on a decision that may
have altered my way of life, concurrently.
See, independent decisions that we make without
regard to the long-term repercussions come back and bite us
sometimes the only way it can, in a reoccurring nightmare of
things that could have been.
Second guessing ourselves comes as natural as watching TV,
and it is a good thing in moderation. However, you had better
not dwell on the “what could have been too long” because it
could have the opposite affect. Reflecting on a decision so that
the information used - and the subsequent result achieved can be dissected, is a good thing, if applied properly. However,
dreams have their own set of terms that attack your mental
psyche at a vulnerable time, while sleep. We make many decisions on a daily basis, whereby only a few come back in our
unconscious psyche for editing. That sounds like a good percentage to me. Never mind that 99% of all decisions made
during the day resulted in a good night sleep, ONE bad apple
has us tossing and turning at night. For me that one bad apple
appeared in a subtle dream, warmed up to a lightweight nightmare, and then graduated into a full-blown made-for-TV-drama.
You see, I had an opportunity to make some money in
a venture that would have placed me in the “safety zone”
Remember, when we were kids, and we played hide-and-seek?
Well, touching home base before they could tag us placed us
in the “safety zone”. I certainly could use e-v-e-r-y dollar of
that money, but I am scared to take a chance, for fear of falling further in the hole. Therefore, I only took half a chance,
risking a smaller portion of money trying to recoup the same
return. Duh, hello? Either there is the risk, or it is not. I been
engaged in gambling ventures all of my life, I understand
gamble. However, as I got older and came to understand the
risk versus reward theory a little better I have discovered that
I have less heart than I used to. Well, now, I need for the plan
to promise a 90% success ratio, compared to a whole lot less
when I was much younger, more heart and bravado, less introspective reasoning. For those readers who might be drawing
their own conclusions; I had “pudding in the drawls”, I’m soft
as cotton, I can’t run with the big dogs, or “I’m b-tching’ up”
to name a few choice words to describe my trepid behavior.
The truth is: I am a hard as I ever been with many, more of
life experiences to back me up, and that is where the problem
arises. I have seen too many scenarios where the stuff just
does not turn out right. Obviously, at this point you have figured that had I invested the full amount required to maximize
chances of success, I would be sitting on “mount safemore”
right now.
Whether you are playing the one-armed-bandits – which
require 5 – 20 coins – go ahead and put them all in. Lastly, if
your inclination says, to play the biggest poker game in the
house and quit when you win a giant pot, by all means, put the
money in. Remember, “Broke now or broke later is the same
gaddam broke!”
Book reviews
Catching Poker Cheats show A.D. Livingston coverby A. D. Livingston
The Lyons Press, 2005, 232pp
ISBN: 159228874X, $11.95
The hot topic during Sweeps
Week for a local TV station
at the end of February was
poker cheating. Their feature
story appeared shortly after
the book Catching Poker
Cheats (Illustrated Methods
of How Hustlers Take Your
Money) came across my
desk. It took only a short time
for me to realize I’d seen
this book before but I knew
it wasn’t entirely new. Turns
out, this is a reprint of a book
called Dealing With Cheats,
which was originally published in 1973 and has now
been reprinted with a new
title, and a new chapter keyed
to online poker.
The previous version of
the 219-page paperbound has
been a collector’s item, which
makes me sorry the publisher
hadn’t clarified the previous
status and title of the book.
This is especially important
since only the newly added
chapter covers hold’em and
Omaha, two games that didn’t
become popular until recently.
Aside from those criticisms, I think for the $11.95
price, you’ll find great value
here not just for poker players. The book might be helpful in identifying players and
dealers who have a touch of
larceny in other card games
such as blackjack, bridge and
gin rummy.
The contents pages outlining the book’s 16 chapters
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 mrexcite20032000@
yahoo.com
38
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
ing many old-time cheating
techniques such as peeking, spying and signaling;
followed by marked cards
luminous readers and belly
strippers.
And that’s just for starters.
Slick dealers; false shuffles;
shifty cuts and haymaker stacks get
a close look along
with palming, holding out and ringing
in. Information on
how people steal
or “cop” chips will
make the reader
smarter, especially
for those who participate in home games or
country club or fraternal organization where those “friendly” games often attract crossroaders (cheats) looking for
easy pickings. Those friendly
games -- the “smokers” and
Thursday night games with
the boys (or the ladies) -- offer
cheating opportunities, so
there’s a need to understand
the proper way to shuffle or to
make sure someone shuffles.
In a small but colorful
chapter, Livingston covers
how to avoid being an easy
target for someone with a gun
based on past experiences of
professionals and world class
players who, in the “good old
days” were often robbed by
some “good ole boys” who
knew just where the games
were or where the participants
traveled after the action was
over.
But perhaps the most valu-
able material,
balanced by
excellent
descriptions and
details of what you’re seeing,
are the black and white photos of cheaters in operation,
showing how the cards can be
marked, bent, warped, hidden,
added to a hand or
removed.
After reading
Catching Poker
Cheats, you’ll
understand better than ever, why
professional dealers
are so valuable -and why one man
dealing in a private
game or each person dealing
in a similar situation can offer
such a dangerous situation.
The online cheating section
brings up many questions.
It may make the novice nervous, yet it explains why a
certain segment of the population is still reluctant to make
the move from live game to
Internet action.
If you’ve never read the
original, then this is a fine
addition to your poker or
cheating detection library.
—Howard Schwartz
LADIES’CHOICE
BY LEE “COOL HAND” GARCIA
Two years ago, I was
knocked out of a tournament at the Peppermill
Casino by a cool, calm
lady. I’ll never forget that
because it was the first time
a woman did
that to me in over 40
years of playing poker! She
played superbly that day,
and I couldn’t put a read on
her to save my soul or my
chips. On my last hand, I
called her bluff--- only to
lose to her kings up.
That lady was Cathy
Liebert, and every time I see
her on the TV poker circuit,
I’m proud to say she kicked
my behind( even though
she doesn’t know me from
Adam)! Since then, I have
given a lot more respect to
women at the table, and I
have noticed more and more
women playing Hold’em in
local casinos.
If you ever played at
the old Speaking Rock
Casino, in El Paso, Texas,
you would have seen many
4/8 tables that were mostly
women! My point is that
they are definitely here to
stay and growing in numbers daily. I give classes in
Hold’em, and my current
class of 5 is all women of
varied ethnicities, ranging from age 19 to 55. So
is this affecting how we
men play at the tables? I’ll
tell you later, but here’s a
sampling of responses I
received from players all
across the country.
There are still some hardnoses out there that feel a
woman doesn’t belong at a
poker table. As a result, they
try to chase them away by
aggressive play, being rude,
and sometimes making offcolor comments or jokes
at the table. I believe this
might have worked up until
the nineties.
In today’s world, however, I would caution those
so inclined that a couple
of things can happen with
this sort of behavior. First,
the women can report you
and have you kicked out,
or at least reprimanded
and made to look like a
fool. Secondly, you will
put yourself on tilt because
your game is not your main
focus anymore. And lastly,
there’s the chance that the
woman will curse with a
sharper tongue, play aggressively at the right times,
and take your chips because
she’s more patient! In any
of those scenarios, you will
look like a fool. Remember,
Hell hath no fury like a
woman attacked on a poker
table! Isn’t that how the saying goes?
Some guys said that they
get distracted when a cute
gal sits at their table; especially if she doesn’t seem
to know what she’s doing. I
would remind those players
that in a couple of previous
articles, I wrote about such
women winning pot after
pot and leaving with all the
chips. I’ve also wondered,
at times, if a woman just
happened to have on a loose
blouse or was it part of her
game plan ! I’m the first to
admit that some things do
affect my focus, so what I
do is concentrate on playing
my A game, being polite,
and not getting into conversations at the wrong time.
I tell myself that I am not
looking at a woman; I am
looking at a poker player.
I don’t believe that’s disrespectful, on the contrary, I
think women have generally
liked it when I told them
how I viewed them at the
table.
Then we had several guys
that said women play just
about any two cards! That is
a huge generalization that I
believe has no basis in truth.
One guy said that he missed
most of his flush draws, but
swears that women always
make the nut flush with
only the suited ace in their
hand. If that were true, then
we have to conclude that the
ladies have a phenomenal
instinct that tells them when
to stay in for a hand like
that. Myself, I don’t believe
they do that any more than
men do, otherwise I would
have to believe that women’s intuition gives them an
edge at my table. If that’s
the case, then I certainly
would not play at a table
with women!
I can point to several
men in my circle of players
that play just about any two
cards if they can see a flop
cheaply. That type of player
believes that any hand has
potential. Women have the
same right to play that way,
and that is a style of play
utilized by several top pros
in no-limit. I believe that the
percentile of loose players
among us is not affected by
gender, so don’t criticize the
ladies for doing what our
brothers do.
I’ll probably get tons of
e-mail chewing me out, but
I believe that at least half
of us do change our play
somewhat when a woman is
involved, most of us change
our behavior, but only about
ten percent of us will admit
it! I happen to like women
at my table because, in general, men behave better in
their presence. That makes
it a more pleasant experience when I sit there for
a few hours. Women can
drive race cars, go into outer
space, and control the board
rooms, so why not poker? I
say more power to them!
Maybe it’s also because
I’m single and there’s
always the chance that I’ll
find a rich widow that will
sponsor me in the World
Series----- just kidding!
Write to Lee Garcia at
[email protected]
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
39
Beat-the-Pro, PART 3
NEVER PLAY Poker with
a man CALLed “DOC”
By Dr. Scott Aigner, M.D.
A little while after doubling through
with the 10’s we redrew for seats for
the final two tables. I doubled up soon after when I
flopped a gut shot straight draw/ flush draw and an
over card and hit the straight on the turn. My opponent had a pair of jacks and hit a set on the turn.
It was the classic two over cards vs. pair situation
that occurs in tournament poker. This was my last
favorable situation in the tournament. Luckily, the
players were dropping out quickly due to the high
blind vs. stack ratios and as a result I didn’t need to
gamble.
There was a player at our table who was not only
playing just about every hand but also hitting the
flop on just about every hand. As a result, he accumulated a huge chip stack that was 5 times larger
than everyone else. I had few opportunities to play
along due to my position and my stack size. I did
take a chance or two when I had pot odds, position,
and a decent starting hand but I just could not catch
anything on the flop and had to fold as a result.
There are huge fundamental differences in tournament play in the later stages as compared to live
ring game play when there is a player limping in frequently. This concept is that you rarely have implied
odds late in a tournament. There are just too many
short stacks that will move in to try to win those
few extra chips and you will have to fold when they
do make this move. One just cannot play speculative
hands too often unless you also have a huge stack
or you have a short stack and have to take a shot.
You cannot exploit players’ mistakes when you have
a medium sized stack. Some players have gained a
reputation at playing a short stack extremely well.
Interestingly, you never hear anyone say “He/She is
a great medium stack player”. To me, the medium
stack is by far the toughest stack size to play especially when you are close to the money.
X
X
X
X
Poker Player
Each issue’s crossword puzzle
honors a poker celebrity and will
be about that person’s life.
Today’s puzzle honors poker
pro T.J. Cloutier. Crossword by Myles Mellor.
ACROSS
1. What makes 32 across
such a great tournament
player
9. __ __ carte
10. Leave
11. Japanese mountain
13. 32 across played football for the ____ Argonauts
15. Pair of jacks face down
17. Knock out
18. Drinks station
19. You, old way
37. Dine
39. Do very well at
42. _____ limit (pair of
fives in the hole)
44. Grab the chips!
46. Actress, Derek
47. Has to play first, in
bridge
48. See 31 down
DOWN
1. Chances based on money
in the game
Word
18. The right way to __ is
to __
21. __ of the worlds
24. Sign given by a player
about his hand
25. ___ Farha WSOP heads
up player in 2003
27. Opponent
28. See 31 across
30. 30 across was a ____
Rounder after he retired
from professional sport
20. Take a card
2. Feeling: a bad basis for
poker play usually
22. Coauthor of
“Championship Holdem”
3. Rock group from the 70’s
31. The hand with the
same name as 30 across
(goes with 28 down and 48
across)
4. Standing
32. Navy ship
25. Compass point
5. Self concept
26. Frightening card from
the flop
6. St Louis locale
33. ___ pair: best pair to
have!
7. Chinese basketball star
34. Diamond color
27. Weakness
8. 30 across played in this
College Football stadium
before he retired to play
poker
35. For each one
12. Blue __
41. Deceive
14. First name of 22 across
43. Pipe bend
35. Podded vegetable
15. Possess
45. Nope!
36. Relative
16. Gold in Madrid?
46. __ King! (R and B
23. They were __ odds
28. __ limit holdem
29. Milliliter, abbr.
30. One of the greatest
poker tournament players of
all time
38. Deuces
40. Slippery creature
As per usual, most of the situations preflop were
desperate attempts by short stacks to double up
by moving in. I did have one situation where I made
a raise in late position with a big ace but the flop
totally missed me and after one player moved in and
another one called I was done with my hand. That
hand did cost me 25% of my chips though and after
the smaller stacked player lost the confrontation (to
the chip leader of course) we drew for seats at the
final table.
My survey revealed that I was in an unfavorable
position with all of the big stacks to my left. I was
not the shortest stack but it was going to be a crap
shoot none the less. When one of the other short
stacks proposed a 9 way deal it didn’t take too long
to reach one despite the fact that the chip leader
had a huge lead. I was happy with the deal but normally I do not make deals at final tables. I just could
not pass on this one given the situation at hand. I
would like to thank the Gold Coast, Tag, and Jack on
a job well done and hope to see more “Beat the Pro”
tournaments in the future.
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
40
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
The correct solution to the puzzle will be found only at:
www.pokerplayernewspaper.com. It will be posted on the cover date.
POKER
BABY
BY LOUISE LEA
Let me preface this by saying that I have no poker
playing experience whatsoever. So, it was quite
a surprise, when over the
holiday I took third in a
family poker tournament.
That taste of victory is all it
took to whet my appetite for
more.
What I do have is a personal coach, in the form
of my husband, Jim, who
has vast experience in both
tournaments and live games.
Jim advised me that a good
place to start is to read
books on poker play. Now,
much of the writing about
poker talks about managing
skill and confidence, since I
don’t have either, this is not
a problem.
Since I consider myself a
kinesthetic learner, in other
words, I learn by doing, I
(we) decided that my logical first step would be to
take the daily poker clinic at
the Boulder Station Casino.
Steve Doyle the poker room
manager puts on the class
every weekday at 2pm.
Doyle puts on a great class
covering everything from
hand ranking to money
management all laced with
entertaining anecdotes from
his 30 years in the poker
business.
This class bolstered my
confidence, and I was able
to buy into a 2-4 Hold’em
game with $40. My strategy was to play solid. I
would only go into a hand
with pocket pairs of 10’s
and above, or A-K, A-Q, AJ, and K-Q, suited or not.
Let me say that I was nervous. Sitting in such close
proximity to other players, I
felt vulnerable and exposed.
I just knew they could smell
my fear. I quickly decided
the only way to face the
fear was head on. I held my
head up and determined to
stay up with the action and
to make sure I didn’t act out
of turn.
Acting out of turn, making a motion before it is
time is my current pet
peeve. When I get
better at the game,
I am sure I will
learn to have more
sophisticated pet
peeves. Because
of this, I was determined to make sure
it was my turn before I
made any sort of move.
Just my luck, I had
to get put at a table with
aggressive players who
loved to be in the action.
Five or more players in a
hand was common. It was
too much information for
me to manage, player style,
possible hands, and keeping
up with the action, I was
quickly in overwhelm. My
strategy lasted about ten
hands.
My strategy gone, I
started playing hands that I
shouldn’t. Luckily, I knew
enough to muck my cards
once I knew I had been
beat, so the rest of the table
didn’t know exactly how
bad I was playing. I did
manage to win a pot, I sure
wish I could tell you what
I had, but the cards became
a blur. The pot was only
worth about $15, so it didn’t
go far towards bringing me
back from the brink. When
I finally got dealt pocket
kings, I had a measly $3.25
in front of me, just enough
to go all in, not enough to
try scare any other players
off the hand. In the end, my
kings were beat by a pair of
aces, one of which was on
the turn.
My first experience at a
poker table lasted less than
an hour. It was a lot of fun
and I am looking forward to
my next adventure.
As I left the card room I
told Steve that I had made
my $40 deposit. He asked
me if I learned anything,
and I said I did. I learned
it is hard for me to play
with so many players in
the hand, this forced me to
abandon my strategy. In the
end, I learned to stay with
my game, to learn from my
mistakes, forgive myself for
my mistakes and there is
always tomorrow.
Taking classes offered by
the casinos is a great start
for new players. Don’t
limit yourself to one class.
I plan to take some more
around town. There are
always gems to be mined
from the experience of the
card room personnel and
the seasoned players around
you. Have fun.
A sampling of classes
offered around town include:
Group Lessons
Binion’s . . . . . . . Daily . . . .11am
Boulder Station . M-F . . . . . .2pm
Imperial Palace . Daily . . . .11am
Mirage . . . . . . . . Daily . . . . .1am
Palace Station. . . M-W. . . . .11am
Palms . . . . . . . . . M-F . . . . .Noon
Sunset Station . . Mon.. . . . .11am
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sun. . . . . . .2pm
Individual lessons offered time
permitting
Jokers Wild . . . . Daily . . . .10am
Santa Fe Station Daily . . . . . AM
Tuscany . . . . . . . Daily . . . . .9am
No Limit Hold ’Em Sunday Shootouts
Tournaments begin at 11:30 a.m., March 19th, April 2nd, April 16th,
April 23rd, May 21st, and June 4th
Top two places in each tournament receive a $10,000 paid entry to the
World Series of Poker in Las Vegas
Sign-ups begin at noon the Monday prior to each tournament
($150 buy-in, $20 fee, limited to first 180 entries)
Voted Best Texas Hold ‘Em 2005
Casino Arizona reserves the right to modify or cancel this promotion at any time. See Poker Room for complete details.
WE’VE GOT YOUR GAME
Adjacent to Scottsdale
480-850-7777 casinoaz.com
Owned and operated by the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.
Please gamble responsibly.
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
41
Caro’s Word: “Size”
CONT’D FROM PAGE 6
deal if he called. Then add
something extra to it and
try to sell the hand. If an
opponent will often call $1
more than that fair bet, then
you’re getting an edge on
that extra dollar and that’s
profit. If an opponent will
often call $1,000 beyond
that break-even point,
you’re getting an edge on
that extra $1,000. How to
price it is an art, just like
trying to determine what
the most profitable price is
to put on a product in your
store. If you price it above
cost, but too low, you won’t
make as much money. And
if you price it too high,
you won’t sell as many and
won’t make as much money,
either – just like you won’t
get as many calls in poker,
by betting too much.
Yes, sometimes the most
profitable strategy is to
move all-in and hope to
get called with your strong
hands, but often that’s betting too much, and you lose
profit in the long run by
doing it.
Also, there are rare situations where the most profitable bet is below break even.
This can happen when your
opponent might make the
mistake of folding and you
might secure the whole pot,
rather than your theoretical
share of it, with minimal
risk by making a small,
teasing bet. Of course, if he
calls, he’s getting the best
of it, because you didn’t bet
enough.
But, usually, you need to
bet at least as much as breakeven and as much more, giving you an extra edge, as you
can sell to your opponent.
That’s how to play when you
have a hand with an advantage in no-limit. Any other
strategy is less profitable. So,
why do it?
Again, we’ve learned
that, in no-limit poker, the
most reasonable average
bet for a typical hand with
an advantage is usually less
than the size of a pot. And
we’ve learned that going allin to secure an edge in nolimit is not always the most
profitable play. Often, all-in
is too much to make the
sale, and you’ll be making a
bigger profit by betting less
– as long as it’s more than
what would be break-even
for your opponent to call.
This is “The Mad Genius
of Poker” Mike Caro and
that’s my secret today.
Mike Caro is widely regarded as the world’s foremost
authority on poker strategy,
psychology, and statistics. A
renowned player and founder of Mike Caro University
of Poker, Gaming, and Life
Strategy, he is known as
“the Mad Genius of Poker,”
because of his lively delivery of concepts and latest
research. You can visit him
at www.poker1.com.
FOXWOOD
First WPT-Branded Poke
Now, when you go to
the casino, you’ll be
able to play in a WPTbranded poker room.
WPT Enterprises, Inc. and
Foxwoods Resort Casino,
the word’s largest casino,
announced today that
Foxwoods’ newly expanded poker room, set to open
in late March, will bear the
WORLD POKER TOUR
name.
“It’s a very exciting
landmark for the WORLD
POKER TOUR,” said
Steve Lipscomb, “This is
the point when our brand
truly moves into the casino
in a major way. We’ve
licensed our name to slot
machines and gaming
tables, and this is the next
significant step—the evolution of the WPT brand
at the casino level. Poker
players will experience the
WPT excitement first hand
in an environment that
evokes the cool, classy,
charismatic character of
our show. We applaud our
partners at Foxwoods for
continuing to expand the
benefits of our mutual relationship.”
A charter member of the
WORLD POKER TOUR,
Foxwoods has staged
some of the largest events
in WPT history over the
Tour’s four years. In fact,
Foxwoods was the very
first casino to sign onto the
Tour. Slated to debut in
late March, the WPT World
Poker Room at Foxwoods
will boost the number of
poker tables at the resort to
114 from its current total
of 76. This is a more than
WHO REALLY WAS
The Poker Player of the Year in 2005?
WHAT HAS YOUR POKER ROOM
DONE FOR YOU LATELY?
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hours – any live game, any limit, any time.
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(702) 567-8474
42
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
light of where he finished
in the other rankings, might
be engaged in yet another
form of self-promotion by
deceptively manipulating
his own rankings for his
personal benefit.
Readers can draw their
own conclusions. I’ve
already arrived at mine.
ALL IN magazine also
conducted a poll by asking
15 top professional players who they believed was
the Player of the Year. I
want to emphasize that this
was a poll, based on opinion, rather than a simple
or complicated method of
determining a player’s ranking based on performance
as the others listed above.
The results are listed below:
#1 Phil Ivey
#2 Chris Ferguson
#3 John Phan
#4 Allen Cunningham
#5 Mike Matusow
#6 Ted Forrest
#7 Michael Gracz
#8 John Juanda
#9 Tuan Le
#10 Minh Ly
While Phil Ivey admitted to ALL IN that he was
too lazy to participate
in this poll, he nonetheless emerged as the landslide winner amongst his
peers. These results, with
the exception of Mike
Matusow, who despite
having a terrific year did
not finish in the Top 20 in
anyone else’s rankings, are
extremely consistent with
most of the others and in
fact lend some measure of
credibility to them all.
So who really was the
rightful Player of the Year
in 2005? Unfortunately,
until a unified ranking system is put into place that
everyone agrees to abide
by, the reader will have to
draw his or her own conclusions.
DS:
ker Room
Poker is NOT Gambling!
you should have no illusions about it. Yes, there
will be times when you
begin to play poker and you
will get enormously lucky,
something that is very often
called “beginners luck”.
This happens with startling
regularity, and I have witnessed this amongst novice
players many, many times.
But such luck is fleeting,
and if you do not learn to
tampered it with knowledge
and skill, your overall endresult experience is bound
to be unlucky.
The world of card rooms
and casino poker rooms is
full of graveyards of the
hopeful who came equipped
with a little knowledge, a
little skill, a lot of hope,
and a great deal of beginners luck, only to discover
that such luck is fickle, and
that a little knowledge and
little skill is not enough,
and is in fact very dangerous. Such players very
often experience enormous
highs as they glory in their
initial success, and quite as
often erroneously attribute
their initial success to a
misperceived sense of their
own skills and abilities, as
well as their own sense of
greatness and invincibility. Such are signs of early
danger, and if the player
does not understand them
he or she is heading for
an inevitable disaster. In
fact, any poker player who
allows himself or herself to
experience such great highs
opens himself or herself up
to equally deep lows.
We will continue with
this discussion in the next
issue.
(Cont’d from page 14)
in all major book stores,
or from The Gambler’s
Book Shop at 1-800-5221777, or at Amazon.com.
For more details, visit his
web site at: http://hometown.aol.com/vicnvegas/
myhomepage/newsletter.
html
Victor H. Royer is the
author of 22 books on
casino gaming. His newest series of 13 books –
including the new release
Powerful Profits from
Poker – are now available
40% increase in the capacity of the existing poker
room. The expansion will
allow expanded tournament
offerings, which will result
in greatly increased prize
pool totals. It also solidifies Foxwoods as one of
the largest and most prestigious casino poker rooms
in the country and the only
venue for poker in New
England.
“This is a significant
step for poker and further proof that the WPT
and Foxwoods are a
formidable team,” said
Kathy Raymond, Director
of Poker Operations at
Foxwoods. “We continually strive to lead the way
when it comes to poker,
and this new expanded
state-of-the-art room will
give our players a truly
memorable experience.”
The new WPT branded
poker room at Foxwoods
will move to a more expansive space located near its
current poker area. New
poker technology will also
add to the player experience, including use of LED
table components, automatic card shufflers and
a state-of-the-art seating
system. The poker room
will be smoke-free and
will offer a new 100+ seat
restaurant, adjacent to the
poker area.
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
43
Learn the Rules; Learn
from Your Mistakes
SENIORS SCENE
By George “The engineer” EPSTEIN
Years ago, I developed a special Lessons
Learned program for the Air Force Space
& Missile Systems Center. The idea was to help Air Force
contractors and major subcontractors avoid errors that
had previously occurred on other programs, to prevent
costly program/mission losses, plus subsequent corrective
actions. The Air Force Manufacturing Problem Prevention
Program (MP3) has saved literally billions of tax-payer dollars. (I received an award from a professional engineering
society for this contribution.)
The fact is that we all make mistakes. No one is perfect.
What is important though, is to learn from our mistakes. . .
That’s true in poker as well as life!
It happened at a freeroll tournament: Recently I participated in a freeroll jackpot hold’em tournament at the
Normandie Casino in Gardena, Calif. (To qualify, you need to
make a Jackpot bonus hand while playing in a ring game.) I
almost pulled a Phil “The Brat” Hellmuth thing when I arrived
after the tournament had already started – right on time. I
didn’t mean to be late; it just worked out that way. . .
The very first hand dealt to me was A-9 offsuit. On the
button, I called to see the flop: another ace and two small
cards: 7 - 3. When the betting got to me after the flop, I
raised and was called by two opponents. The turn was a
blank. The player to my immediate right bet out; again I
raised. Then he went all-in. For emphasis, let me repeat:
He went all-in! I considered the possibilities; he could have
two-pair or a set. He was in the small blind, so he could
have started with almost anything. I decided to call. He
turned up two-pair, sevens and threes. And he took the pot
when the river didn’t help me.
That left me with just one chip. The next hand I entered,
I made a big straight and won the main pot. The trouble
was the side pot was huge. Had I not been short-stacked,
I would have been in great shape. As it turned out, shortly
after that I was knocked out of the tournament when I
started with a premium draw that failed to improve – and
ran out of chips. Too bad because it was a good tournament.
Where Did I Err?: When my opponent went all-in, I just
went along with his bet and matched it. Later, as other
hands were dealt, I realized that this was NOT a no-limit
game. During the first round, the stakes were $50 - $100.
That improper all-in bet cost me about $400 in chips
– instead of $100. (Each player started with $500 in chips.)
I would have been left with about $300 in chips, rather than
just one $25 chip. Then, when I won with the straight a few
hands later, I would have built my stack to well over the
starting $500 in chips – and been in good shape to earn my
way to the final table, hoping for the top prize of $700!
I discussed this with a floor manager; he explained that
I should have made an issue when it occurred, not several
hands later. Of course, he was 100% correct. It was my
own fault. I goofed.
I should have learned and understood the rules for
this tournament before I sat down to play.
By the way, I intend to include this bit of advice in my
poker class lectures – both for beginners and experience
players; and I will include it in my next book, Rules &
Strategies for WINNING at Texas Hold’em.
So, readers, what’s your opinion?
George “The Engineer” Epstein is the author of The
Greatest Book of Poker for Winners! (T/C Press, PO
Box 36006, Los Angeles, CA 90036). His new algorithm
booklet, Hold’em or Fold’em?, is a big hit. He is currently
writing a new book on Rules & Strategies for WINNING
at Texas Hold’em. George can be reached by e-mail:
[email protected].
44
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
SPRING
TOURNAMENT
PEPPERMILL CASINO
3. Dan Heller . . . . . . . . . $2,830
SPRING POKER TOURNAMENT
3/2/06
Ashland, OR, USA
Seattle, WA, USA
4. Andy Pham . . . . . . . . $1,790
3. Bob Fitzgerald . . . . . . $1,865
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
Sacramento, CA, USA
Sherwood, OR, USA
5. Frank Ready . . . . . . . $1,220
4. Spiro Sarantakis . . . . $1,165
BUY-IN $200 + $25
PLAYERS 99
REBUYS 93
PRIZE
POOL
$38,400
Yamhill, OR, USA
Reno, NV, USA
6. Hank Thornton . . . . . . .$895
5. Russel Edwards . . . . . . .$780
Auburn, WA, USA
Truckee, CA, USA
7. Wayne Hursey . . . . . . . .$695
6. Kameron Petsche. . . . . .$560
Carmichael, CA, USA
Travis AFB
8. Cliff Smothers . . . . . . . .$565
7. Paul Evans . . . . . . . . . . .$425
Carson City, NV, USA
Mt. Shasta, CA, USA
9. Allen Kwong . . . . . . . . .$475
8. Jeff Sampson . . . . . . . . .$340
Diamond Bar, CA, USA
PEPPERMILL CASINO
2/28/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
Russ Carlson
1. Russ Carlson . . . . . . $14,830
Blackhawk, CO, USA
2. Ed Gardner . . . . . . . . $7,815
Bend, OR, USA
3. Sonny Savolt . . . . . . . $4,575
Garden City, KS, USA
4. Cosimo Cricchio . . . . $2,940
Salinas, CA, USA
5. Marc Christy . . . . . . . $2,205
North Highlands, CA, USA
6. Allen Kwong . . . . . . . $1,540
2. Chris Spears. . . . . . . . $3,260
BUY-IN $100 + $20
PLAYERS 161
PRIZE
POOL
$16,100
1. Ross Kline . . . . . . . . . $6,110
Reno, NV, USA
Ft. Mohave, AZ, USA
9. Jason Boprstede . . . . . .$200
PEPPERMILL CASINO
2/27/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $200 + $25
PLAYERS 85
REBUYS 76
PRIZE
POOL
$32,220
2. Donald Grove. . . . . . . $3,180
Dallas, OR, USA
3. Mike Romanos . . . . . . $1,820
4. Allan Salberg . . . . . . $1,135
5. Karin Bochenek . . . . . .$765
Diamond Bar, CA, USA
7. Donald Grove. . . . . . . $1,225
6. Scott Sherwood . . . . . . .$545
Dallas, OR, USA
Beverly Hills, CA, USA
8. Gerald Price . . . . . . . . $1,020
7. Aaron Clark . . . . . . . . . .$415
South Lake Tahoe, NV, USA
Owensboro, KY, USA
9. Doug Koepke . . . . . . . . .$885
8. Errol McElroy . . . . . . .$330
Fallon, NV, USA
9. Del Rounds . . . . . . . . . . .$275
PEPPERMILL CASINO
3/1/06
OMAHA HI-LO
BUY-IN $100 + $20
PLAYERS 106
PRIZE
POOL
$10,600
1. Ilene Schefman . . . . . $4,085
Phoenix, AZ, USA
2. Chuck Price . . . . . . . . $2,140
Colorado Springs, CO, USA
Chris Wong
1. Chris Wong . . . . . . . $12,585
Sacramento, CA, USA
2. Austin Bryant . . . . . . $6,695
Sutter Creek, CA, USA
3. Carl Sanford . . . . . . . $3,980
Reno, NV, USA
PEPPERMILL CASINO
4. Ernie McKinnon . . . . $2,610
2/28/06
5. Eric Washburn . . . . . $1,865
OMAHA HI-LO
6. Mark Booth . . . . . . . . $1,430
BUY-IN $100 + $20
PLAYERS 117
REBUYS 118
PRIZE
POOL
$22,500
Granger, WA, USA
Grant Pass, OR
Reno, NV, USA
7. Jerry Van Horton . . . $1,170
Reno, NV, USA
8. Ivan Holmes . . . . . . . . $1,000
Reno, NV, USA
Granite Falls, NC, USA
9. Peter Fisher . . . . . . . . . .$885
3. Sonny Landrum. . . . . $1,245
Seattle, WA, USA
New Orleans, LA, USA
4. Bob Beasley . . . . . . . . . .$795
PEPPERMILL CASINO
Walnut Creek, CA, USA
Federal Way, WA, USA
2/26/06
6. Michael Stelmach . . . . .$410
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
5. Min Nam . . . . . . . . . . . .$550
Scottsdale, AZ, USA
7. Eric Danson . . . . . . . . . .$320
Ashland, OR, USA
8. Donald Mayes . . . . . . . .$265
Reno, NV, USA
9. Rane Zimmerli. . . . . . . .$230
Sparks, NV, USA
Ernie Sardella
1. Ernie Sardella . . . . . . $8,630
BUY-IN $100 + $20
PLAYERS 247
PRIZE
POOL
$24,700
Reno, NV, USA
2. Joyce Remsen. . . . . . . $4,520
Reno, NV, USA
PEPPERMILL CASINO
3. Dan Porter . . . . . . . . . $2,620
3/1/06
4. Marie Gabert . . . . . . . $1,665
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $100 + $10
PLAYERS 130
REBUYS 120
PRIZE
POOL
$22,740
Ione, CA, USA
Carson City, NV, USA
5. Doug Koepke . . . . . . . $1,145
Fallon, NV, USA
6. Michael Pollowitz . . . . .$840
Shoreline, WA, USA
7. Joan Pollack . . . . . . . . . .$660
Bellingham, WA, USA
8. Jaye Gold . . . . . . . . . . . .$540
Santa Barbara, CA, USA
9. Dennis Derge . . . . . . . . .$460
Reno, NV, USA
Chris Rorem
1. Chris Rorem . . . . . . . $9,390
San Antonio, TX, USA
2. William Huo. . . . . . . . $4,880
Seaford, WA, USA
3. Randy Ritter . . . . . . . $2,790
Reno, NV, USA
4. Oren Altimus . . . . . . . $1,740
PEPPERMILL CASINO
Mark Booth
1. Mark Booth . . . . . . . . $9,370
Reno, NV, USA
2. Matthew Kursar . . . . $4,900
Rancho Palos Verde, CA, USA
Reno, NV, USA
2/27/06
5. Louie Ropallo. . . . . . . $1,170
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
6. Gerald Price . . . . . . . . . .$840
BUY-IN $100 + $20
PLAYERS 165
PRIZE
POOL
$16,500
1. Chris Naylor . . . . . . . $6,270
Brunswick, ME, USA
South Lake Tahoe, NV, USA
7. Marlene Stein. . . . . . . . .$635
Las Vegas, NV, USA
8. Mark Wilhite . . . . . . . . .$505
Farifield, CA, USA
9. Linn Sayre . . . . . . . . . . .$420
Portland, OR, USA
Players Take “First Chance” to Win Big at Pechanga
stream of chips throughout
the tournament and at the
very end, dominated his
competition to take the
first place position. Dustin
emerged as the victor of the
tournament, earning him
$1,960 in winnings.
Friday, February 3rd saw
even more players than the
night before make their
way to the Pechanga Poker
Room. One hundred and
seventy one poker hopefuls sat down to play for
the guaranteed prize pool
of 10-grand in the $10,000
“First Chance” No Limit
Hold ‘Em Tournament.
Greg Hastings made the
short drive from the coast
at Huntington Beach to
play in this tournament.
Being a former Pechanga
tournament winner in 2004,
Greg knew the competition
would be stiff, though his
previous win gave him the
some of the skills needed
to pull out another big triumph. Once again, he came
out the player with the most
chips, $3,633 to be exact,
and won the tournament.
One hundred and eighty
the “First Chance” $15,000
Guarantee No Limit Hold
‘Em tournament. Riverside,
CA resident Bradley Adams
said he didn’t know what
his chances were against
so many players but gave
the competition the best
bluffs he knew how. With a
winning hand of Ace-Ace,
Bradley was able to knock
out the final players and
won $5,250.
On the final day of the
“First Chance” tournament
series, February 5th, 102
players made their way to
the Pechanga Poker Room
for the chance to take home
cash prizes in the $5,000
(Cont’d from page 26
Guarantee No Limit Hold
‘Em tournament. The competitors appeared optimistic
about their possibilities of
coming out the last man
or woman standing. Jason
Dannewitz was the lucky
player who edged out the
other contenders.
Greg Hastings wins $3,633
one players who gathered in
the Pechanga Poker Room
on Saturday, February 4th
knew that $15,000 is no
small amount of pocket
change. The prospect of
winning the fifteen-grand
prize pool was exactly what
drew the nearly 200 players to the Poker Room in
Final day winner Jason Dannewitz
THERE’S MORE... ONLINE!
Bradley Adams wins $5,250
www.
pokerplayernewspaper.
COM
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
45
Today let’s talk a little about poker from the novice poker player’s point of view...
Poker is a VERY mathematical game.
BacK in the saddle Again
By OKLAHOMA JOHNNY HALE
The Good News: The math is pretty
simple and if you can do 5th grade
math you will be able to compute the
odd’s well enough to win.
Fact 1: There are 52 cards in the
deck.
Fact 2: There are 4 suits in the
deck, 13 cards in each suit. Unlike
bridge, suits do not count. In other
words all four aces are of equal value.
Given the above facts you can begin
to calculate a little about odds and
to begin to understand a little about
probability.
1. What is the probability of randomly drawing the Ace of spades?
Answer: 1/52 or, expressed as a ratio,
51:1. There are 52 cards in the deck
and only one of these cards is the Ace
of Spades. So your chances of drawing the Ace of spades is one and your
chances of drawing one of the other
cards is 51. What this means is that in
exactly 1 out of 52 draws you should
draw the ace of spades.
2. How does this relate to betting?
Answer: If you wanted to bet on this
proposition you should be paid 51: 1
just to break even. This means that
your bet would be structured—Hey, I
will randomly draw a card and if I draw
the ace of Spades you pay me $51.00
and if I do not draw the ace of spades
in one try I will pay you $1.00.
Now I know that you folks don’t just
want to break even. I never wanted
to just flip coins in a dead even bet
and I am sure you are like me and
most gamblers. You want the odds in
your favor. To be a successful poker
player, you should make this your rule
NUMBER ONE.
So what you would look for is another gambler who does not understand
this simple math and you would be
looking for a gambler who would lay
you 52:1 or 53:1, or, if they are really
dumb, 60:1. This is the essence of playing poker and being a winner!
In my new poker book—Yes, I have
two are three books in the works—I will
be trying to teach you folks how to get
the best of it. So I am now going to
write a few “Back in the Saddle Again”
columns here in Poker Player about
how to get the best odds and when
you will know in a poker hand that you
have the best of it.
I plan to try to tell you how to do
this from the very simple, as I have
just stated, to the very advanced—such
as implied odds, and how to get the
best odds for your money.
This is what built all the big Billion
Dollar hotels here in Las Vegas—the
house or casino always has the best of
it—The odds are always in favor of the
house.
This is the reason some poker players win and some poker players lose. A
46
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
losing poker player does
not know the difference
between a good bet and a bad call. A
winning poker player always knows the
PC—or the odds of winning and losing—almost each time his money leaves
his hand to go into a poker pot. When
making call, or a bet, or a raise, he will
know his chances of winning.
Now here is another baby step...
3. What is the probability of drawing any ace on your first try? Answer:
There are 4 Aces in the deck. There
are 48 other cards. Now the odds on
this is 48:4. If you reduce this number to lowest terms this is 12:1. So the
probability of drawing any one of the
four aces are 12:1.
4. If I have drawn an ace, what is
the probability of pairing my ace on
the next card? Answer: You have one
Ace—This means there are 3 Aces left
in the deck. There are now 51 cards left
in the deck. So the probability of drawing that second Ace is 51/3. Expressed
as a ratio this is 48:3. Divide the 3 into
51 and you get 17, so, expressed as a
ratio, the odds of drawing that second
ace are 17:1
Now here is a little test—You will
find my email address at the bottom
of this column. I will give a copy of my
book, “The Gentleman Gambler,” to
all who score 100% on the following
test, when you respond to me by email
within 10 days of the publication date
of this column.
Test question #1. What are the odds
of drawing a diamond from a full 52
card deck on your first try?
Test Question #2. What are the
odds of drawing a fourth ace on a twocard draw if you are playing five-card
draw poker and discard two and hold
the other three.
Test Question #3—Smarty Pants
Bonus Question—What are the odds of
drawing all four aces in red dog poker?
(When playing Red Dog--you only
receive four cards).
Now this is the last question, # 4,
and it is a little more difficult: You
hold a pair of Aces. You have a pocket
pair of aces in a no-limit hold’em
game! (See, I give you good hands!)
What are the odds that you will receive
at least three aces on the flop? And
what are the odds of you making at
least three aces when all five cards
have been dealt into the flop?
Until next time, remember to Stay
Lucky!
Editor’s Notes: You may contact OK-J
at his e-mail [email protected], or
play poker LIVE, ONLINE with Johnny,
Carol and Sarah at www.OK-J.com.
Johnny’s book, “The Gentleman
Gambler,” is in its third printing.
Contact Johnny for your copy.
PokerStars Announces Million-Dollar Guarantee
played against. Now, each PokerStars would grow
PokerStars.com, the world’s world’s largest land-based
time I log on at PokerStars. in such a short period of
casino has 243 poker
largest poker tournatime.”
tables. On a typical week- com, it’s like walking into
ment website, reached the
In response to its growthe world’s largest sports
day evening, PokerStars.
100,000-player milestone
ing popularity, PokerStars.
stadium. There might
com has up to forty-times
last week. The occasion
com is introducing an
be 100,000 people there.
as many games going.
marked the first time ever
unprecedented guarantee.
Players are logged in from
“I started playing online
that 100,000 poker players
Beginning February 27th,
were logged on simulall Sunday afternoon
taneously in games
no-limit hold’em
at PokerStars.
tournaments
com, or any- with buys-ins
where else. To
of either $215
give the mileor $530 - will
stone some perWhere Poker Players Become World Champions
pay out at least
spective -- less
$1,000,000 in prize
than three years
money to the top finishago, PokerStars broke
ers.
countries all around the
the 10,000-player mark for at PokerStars back in
On the final Sunday of
world. It’s amazing. I
2001,” said Joe Hachem,
the first time. Now, ten
every month, the buy-in is
don’t think anyone could
the reigning World Series
times as many players and
$530. For all other weeks,
games are going around the of Poker champion. “Back have possibly foreseen
it’s $215. PokerStars also
then, I recognized many of how popular poker would
clock at PokerStars.
offers a quarterly tournabecome and how fast
the opponents I regularly
Another fact: The
Alan Goehring’s LAPC/WPT Win
but one miracle a night was
enough. It didn’t come, Woo
was out in third place, worth
$571,375, and we were
heads up.
There was now the traditional, bringing-in-the-cash
ceremony, the honors performed by a bevy of beauties led by WPT hostess
Courtney Friel. Defending
champion Michael “The
Grinder” Mizrachi was
introduced, and announced
that he became the father of
a baby girl two weeks ago.
Play resumed with Quach
leading, 9.3 million to 4.5
TUSCANY
Suites & Casino
million for Goehring. After
blinds went to 250,000500,000 with 50,000 antes,
Goehring came very close to
even after Quach opened for
1.5 million, then folded after
Goehring moved in for 3.4
million more.
Over the next 20 hands,
Quach increased his lead,
then Goehring, chipping
away, gradually moved in
front. On the final hand,
Quach moved in with AdJh, and Goehring, barely
covering him, called with
Kd-Qh and hit a turn-card
king.
255 E. Flamingo Road
Las Vegas, Nevada
702-947-5917
COMMERCE CASINO
L.A. POKER CLASSIC
EVENT #28
2/21/06
WPT NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
CHAMPIONSHIP
BUY-IN $10,000 + $100
PLAYERS 692
PRIZE POOL
3. Michael Woo . . . . . $571,315
12. John Gale . . . . . . . . . $73,075
Desert Hot Springs, CA, USA
Bushey, United Kingdom
4. Steve Simmons . . . . $338,803
Mesa, AZ, USA
13. Juha Helppi . . . . . . . $59,789
Helsinki, Finland
5. J C Tran . . . . . . . . . $265,728
Sacramento, CA, USA
6. Per Ummer. . . . . . . $199,296
14. Danny Noam . . . . . . $59,789
Cave Creek, AZ, USA
Cyprus
7. Anahit Galajian . . . $199,296
15. Brian McCann . . . . . $59,789
Glendale, CA, USA
Reseda, CA, USA
$6,676,416
8. Kevan Casey . . . . . $132,864
Alan Goehring
9. Michael McClain . . . $99,648
1. Alan Goehring . . .$2,391,550
ment with a $1050 buy-in.
The starting time for all
million dollar tournaments
is 4:30 pm EST.
“A year or two ago, a
$1 million guarantee on a
weekly poker event would
have been unthinkable,”
said Lee Jones, PokerStars
Cardroom Manager.
“Now, thanks to PokerStars
and its players, it’s become
a reality. Players have
responded to the quality of
our tournaments, and we
have recognized that by
increasing our guarantee,
from $750,000 to $1 million. We’re delighted to
do it, and look forward
to some monster final
table prizes in the coming
weeks.”
Houston, TX, USA
Davis, CA, USA
10. David Chiu . . . . . . . . $73,075
16. Jon Kelley. . . . . . . . . $46,502
17. Kelly Kim . . . . . . . . . $46,502
Whittier, CA, USA
Henderson, NV, USA
Rowland Heights, CA, USA
2. Daniel Quach . . . .$1,162,560
11. Mark Weidmann . . . $73,075
18. Bill Gazes . . . . . . . . . $46,502
Marina Del Rey, CA, USA
Monrovia, CA, USA
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Coming Soon!
Bi-Monthly Free Roll Tournaments
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The Apache Gold Poker Room Shark Club. As a member, you’ll get official jackets, shirts
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See Tuscany Poker Room for Rules and Details on all Promotions
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M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
47
Entertainment
Listings
Entertainment RePORT
By LEN BUTCHER
There are not many performers who can remain
at the peak of their game over the span of
more than 40 years, but that’s just what Dionne
Warwick, who appears March 30 at Harrahs Rincon, has done.
Since recording her first single in 1962, Warwick has always
enjoyed a huge audience, although it‚s a little difficult to define
her style. In some ways, it is easier to define her by what she
isn’t, rather than what she is. Although she grew up singing in
church, she is not a gospel singer. And although Ella Fitzgerald
and Sarah Vaughan are clear influences, she is not a jazz singer.
R&B is also part of her background, but she is not really a soul
singer, either. So, if I really had to put a name to her style, I’d
say she was a pop singer and it was songwriters Burt Bacharach
and Hal David who recognized this in her.
But it wasn’t until after she had earned a music scholarship
to the Hartt College of Music in Hartford, CT, that she decided
that music might be her career. Bacharach heard her sing and
asked her to do some demos, singing songs he and David had
written. This led to her first single, “Don’t Make Me Over” in
1962, cracking the Top 20 on the pop charts.
Over the next 10 years she followed this with hits like “I
Say a Little Prayer,” “Do You Know the Way to San José,”
“This Girl’s in Love With You,” and “I’ll Never Fall in Love
Again” Unfortunately, Bacharach and David split up in 1972 and
Warwick’s career suffered.
But in 1985, back with Bacharach, she came back with the
major hit, “That’s What Friends Are For” and has never looked
back.
Remember Saturday Night Fever? Weren’t you just a little
jealous of a young John Travolta strutting his stuff on the dance
floor? Well, if you want to feel that beat again, Silverton Casino
Hotel in Las Vegas is the place to be March 24-25. None other
than disco pioneers KC & the Sunshine Band, will “shake shake
shake” their way onto the stage at 8 p.m. and bring back what
are hopefully fond memories for you.
The band was responsible for creating many of the disco
anthems of the mid to late ’70s. The racially-integrated group,
led by Harry Wayne “KC” Casey and Richard Finch, represented
a cultural revolution and drove one of the decade’s biggest
music legacies.
They released their first single, “Blow Your Whistle” in 1973
and that success led to such classic dance floor hits like “Shake
Shake Shake (Shake Your Booty),” “That‚s the Way (I Like It),”
“Get Down Tonight,” “I’m Your Boogieman,” “Keep It Comin’
Love,” and “Boogie Shoes” — featured in Saturday Night Fever ,
as well as “Do You Wanna Go Party” and “Please Don’t Go.”
Unfortunately, in the early ’80s, despite selling millions of
records and winning three Grammys, disco music was on its way
out and the group disbanded.
But music, like fashion, has a way of going full cycle and
there has been a resurgence of disco music. KC & the Sunshine
Band didn’t wait to be told the news, reuniting for several concert performances and releasing several “best of” collections of
their works. Tickets for KC & the Sunshine Band are a reasonable
$40. Call 1-866-946-4373.
I know you want to save your money for playing poker, but
it helps if you push yourself away from the table for a while
to see some good entertainment, and it won’t cost you a cent,
other than a few drinks. I’m talkin‚ Chuy & Company, featuring
Danielle, who are performing in the Celebration Lounge at the
Tropicana in Las Vegas. This band, which has performed all over
the world, opening for entertainers like Tony Bennett, Johnny
Mathis and Paul Anka, are hot. The music ranges from top hits
and classic rock to jazz, Latin and even a little country. Great
stuff. They perform Tuesday and Thursday from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.,
Wednesday from 9 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., and from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.
on Friday and Saturday. Sunday and Monday nights are dark.
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Thursday through Monday
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Mar 12, 8 p.m.
Mar 11, 9 p.m.
Live Jazz, Tues. 8 p.m.
Mar 10, 7 p.m.
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El As De Oros Night Club
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Harrah’s Rincon
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Pechanga Resort & Casino (37) Bill Cosby
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Mar 16, 7 p.m.
Mar 11, 8 p.m.
Mar 11, 8:30 p.m.
Mar 17-18, 8 p.m..
Mar 16, 8 p.m.
Mar 25, 8 p.m.
Ongoing, Wednesday through Monday, 7 & 10 p.m.
Sat-Thu, 8 p.m.
Fridays through Tuesdays, 7:30 & 10:30 p.m.
Fridays & Saturdays 8:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m.
Mar 11, 8 p.m.
Gold Coast (26)
Forever Plaid
Thru Mar 27, 8:30 p.m.
Mar 10, 8 p.m.
Fridays through Wednesdays. 8:30 & 10:30 p.m.
Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 p.m.
Thru April, 7:30 p.m.
Thursdays through Tuesdays, 8 p.m.
Tue thru Sun (dark Mon), 7:30 p.m.,
Sun 3 p.m. & 7 p.m.
Golden Nugget Hotel &
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Harrah’s Hotel & Casino
Imperial Palace Hotel &
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Gordie Brown
Fri thru Tue, 7:30 p.m.
Clint Holmes
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Legends In Concert
Mondays through Saturdays, 7 & 10 p.m.
Kenny G
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Hairspray
Carrot Top
Mar 8-9, 9 p.m.
8 p.m. nightly Sat thru Thu
Ongoing, Thu thru Tue, 7 p.m.
Sun thru Fri (dark Tues), 8 p.m. & Sat, 7 & 9 p.m.
7 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Sundays; 8 p.m.
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Mar 11, 8 p.m.
Fri thru Tue, 7:30& 10:30 p.m.
8 p.m. (Monday thru Friday)
Mar 10-11, 10:30 p.m.
Tuesdays thru Saturdays, 7pm; Tuesdays &
Saturdays. 7 & 10 p.m.
Mar 9-12, 8 p.m.
Thu thru Sun, 8 p.m.
Tuesdays thru Saturdays, 7 p.m.
9 p.m. Tuesdays thru Sundays.
Wed thru Mon, 9:30 p.m.
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Fri-Wed, 10 p.m.
Las Vegas Hilton (43)
Luxor Resort & Casino
Mandalay Bay Resort &
Casino
Mamma Mia
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Magician Lance Burton
The Orleans Hotel & Casino
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Laugh Trax comedy club
The Comedy Zone
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The Mirage Hotel & Casino (11)
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Silverton Hotel & Casino
Stardust Hotel & Casino
Stratosphere Hotel &
Casino
Sunset Station (8)
Texas Station (8)
Tropicana Casino & Resort
Wynn Las Vegas
8 p.m. nightly
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Mar 16-19, 9:30 p.m.
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Extreme Magic starring
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Nightly, 10:30 p.m.
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Fridays and Saturdays, 10 p.m.
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IF...
2006 WORLDWIDE
POKER TOURNAMENTS
I’d like to turn over my space today
to British poet Rudyard Kipling, who
penned the following beauty back in
NOW! Get Tournament Listings at our website: www.pokerplayernewspaper.com
KILLER Poker
>Denotes Advertiser; Poker Association Events also denoted: t=World Poker Tour,
s=World Series of Poker and e=European Poker Tour.
By John Vorhaus
To list your 3-day events contact: A.R. Dyck, Assistant Publisher, at: [email protected]
1895, at the height of Victorian stiff-upper-lip-ism,
as a paean to the stoic and the steadfast. Though
certain not written with poker in mind, the poem
resonates on a lot of relevant poker frequencies:
sticking to your guns; keeping your spirits high;
taking losses in stride; showing courage; showing
virtue; having honor; and much, much more. I’d like
you to read this poem -- it works much better if
you read it out loud -- and see if it doesn’t speak to
the experience of poker as you know it. If you can
take the ideas of this poem on board, well, I don’t
know if “you’ll be a Man, my son,” but you’ll sure
be a better poker player, and you can take that to
the bank.
IF-By Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream - and not make dreams your
master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your
aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn out
tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and
sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on”;
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common
touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And - which is more - you’ll be a Man my son!
It tickles me to think of poker players all over the
cardroom reading Kipling’s “If” out loud. I have no
illusions that it’ll happen, for we’re all pretty much
shy guys at the end of the day. Nevertheless, thank
you, Rudyard, for reminding us how “right mind”
is so much more important than “right action,” in
poker, and in life.
DATE
EVENT
>Mar 2-26
Winnin’ O’ the Green
Bicycle Casino (AdPg 3), Bell Gardens, CA
Mar 7-11
EPT Grand Final
eMonte Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort, Monaco
>Mar 12-18
PartyPoker Million IV
PartyPoker Cruise to Mexico
Mar 21-25
Station Poker Classic
Casino Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Mar 21-31
WSOP
sCaesars Atlantic City, NJ
>Mar 27-30 World Poker Challenge
tReno Hilton, Reno, NV
Mar 27-Apr 9
Foxwoods Poker Classic
Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, CT
>Mar 29-Apr 4 Sport of Kings
Hollywood Park Casino (AdPg 7), Inglewood, CA
Apr 3-14
World Series Event
sCaesars, Las Vegas, NV
Apr 5-26
Five Star World Poker Classic
Bellagio, Las Vegas, NV
>Apr 6-9
Oklahoma Johnny Hale Open Cherokee Casino in Tulsa (AdPg 19), Cartoosa, OK
>Apr 10-30
Stars & Stripes
>Apr 12-22
Spring Poker Roundup
Wildhorse Casino (AdPg 35), Pendleton, OR
Apr 18-24
WPT Championship
tBellagio, Las Vegas, NV
Apr 20-24
Oasis Open
Oasis Hotel & Casino, Mesquite, NY
sCaesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV
Apr 28-May 11
World Series Event
Apr 29-May 8
St. Maarten Spring Poker Showdown Sonesta Maho Beach Hotel & Resort, St. Maarten, N.A.
May 3-7
Western Canadian Poker Classic Casino Yellowhead, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
>May 4-17
The Mirage Poker Showdown tMirage (AdPg 11), Las Vegas, NV
May 5-21
Heavenly Hold’em
Commerce Casino, Commerce, CA
>May 10-24 American Poker Player Ch’ship Binion’s Gambling Hall & Hotel (AdPg 30), Las Vegas, NV
May 18-28
World Series Event
sHarrah’s New Orleans, LA
>May 22-Jun 4 America’s Poker Classic
>May 26-Jun 19 The Mini Series
Jun 6-16
World Series Event
sHarrah’s Lake Tahoe
>Jun 8-19
Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge II Cherokee Casino in Tulsa (AdPg 19), Cartoosa, OK
>Jun 24-Jul 27The Mini Series
Jun 25-Aug 10 World Series of Poker
sRio, Las Vegas, NV
Jul 25-29
Grand Prix de Paris
tAviation Club of France, Paris, France
>Jul 1-Aug 18 Legends of Poker
Aug 30- Sep 3 Edmonton Poker Classic
Casino Edmonton, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Sep 5-24
Calif. State Poker Ch’ship
>Sep 28-Oct 15 Big Poker Oktober
Oct 4-8
Canadian Poker Championship Casino Yellowhead Edmonton, Alberta
Oct 5-21
Fiesta al Lago V
Bellagio, Las Vegas, NV
Nov 3-19
Holiday Bonus
>Nov. 8-18
Fall Poker Roundup
Wildhorse Casino (AdPg 35), Pendleton, OR
>Nov 23-Dec 10 Turkey Shoot/Ho-Ho Hold’em Bicycle Casino (AdPg 3), Bell Gardens, CA
Dec 1-19
5 Diamond World Poker Classic Bellagio, Las Vegas, NV
>Dec 18-23
Heavyweight Championship of Poker Sam’s Town (AdPg 33), Las Vegas, NV
POKER
ON
TV
Aussie Millions. 11 PM Sat Mar 18.
First of a 10-part series. (Check local listings for stations). FSN.
Celebrity Poker Showdown.
Mar 8-11, 13-18, 20-25, 27-31. (Check local
listings for times). Bravo.
Poker Royale: Celebrities vs.
Poker Pros. Fridays 10 PM. GSN.
E! Hollywood Hold’em.
Thursdays. 10:00 PM. E!
Ultimate Poker Challenge.
(Check local listings for times/channels).
Fox Sports.
High Stakes Poker. Mondays 9, 8
c. GSN
Inside Poker. (For local times/stations, check www.insidepoker.tv).
Learn From the Pros. (Check
local listing for times). Fox Sports.
[John Vorhaus is the author of Poker Night and
the Killer Poker book series, and news
ambassador for UltimateBet.com.]
50
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
LOCATION
Poker Royale: Comedians vs.
Poker Pros. (Check local listing for
times). GSN.
World Poker Tour. (Check local
listing for times). Travel Channel.
World Series of Poker. (Check
local listing for times). ESPNC/ESPN2.
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Metaphysical Poker & Life
Charlie Shoten
H
iding your feelings
and playing your cards
close to the vest are necessary to succeed at poker.
Living your life, hopefully,
should be very different.
Expressing your true feelings and being honest and
open with your friends
and those in your life
you love are the traits
that make your life rich
and worth living. I have
made the conscious decision, at my ripe young age
of 68, to step out of my
poker mode and share from
my heart my life, my hopes,
my dreams and my ideas in
this article. I do ask for an
exception to this when you
meet me at the poker table.
Cigarettes cause cancer over a long period of
time and many continue
to smoke. Compulsions
like overeating, drinking
and drugs cause all sorts
of fatal diseases. We also
know somewhere within
ourselves that we are controlled in various degrees
by internal force that hurt
us by causing stressful and
painful feelings. We also
are well aware, even though
we don’t usually think
about it, that we, humankind, have always been
killing ourselves as well as
each other. We do this in
the most painful and grotesque ways. This has been
going on ever since Adam
bit into the apple and created and stepped into his
own world and gave up his
naturally inherited world.
I have spent much of my
life wanting “TO FEEL
BETTER”. I knew I was
not totally free, but to a
great extent a prisoner of
my stressful feelings. These
feelings sabotaged aspects
of my poker game and my
life. I tried to free myself
and went about it mindlessly with all of the force
and youthful energy I could
muster. I did this every day
in every way and on any
path I could find. I asked
for help and even visited
a psychiatrist. He listened
to me, was sympathetic,
52
Heaven on Earth is
FEELING BETTER
believed in me and shared
his ideas and perceptions
with me in an effort to help
me. He was my port in a
storm at that time and I
thank him.
“Who looks
outside, dreams;
who looks inside, awakes”
—Carl Gustav Jung
“Stay asleep or wake up.
The choice is yours”
—Charlie Shoten
No one ever told me
about my thought terrorists. Not my family, peers,
teachers, doctors or media.
When I read William
Shakespeare’s words “Our
remedies oft in ourselves
do lie,” I got the clue where
to look, in myself. This put
me on the path I now walk.
It is my path to personal
freedom from the hurtful
memory’s, ideas, thoughts
and beliefs I was harboring
that I now label thought terrorists. Many of my efforts
in the past were focused
on avoiding the feelings
that were caused by these
thought terrorists. It was
scary and painful to go
there. I avoided many experiences that I passionately
desired to engage in. Many
of my efforts were counter
productive. They created
more thought terrorists and
more stressful feelings. To
avoid experiencing painful
feelings I gave up many of
my passionate desires and
spent great efforts working
towards becoming successful in terms of external
accomplishments.
One of the feelings
that these thought terrorists caused was resignation. Resignation was my
father’s main response
to a difficult life and his
resignation was passed on
to me just as a contagious
disease. He was a very kind
and decent man who loved
me. He was just unaware of
how his resignation affected
me. Resignation held me
back from being all I could
be, limited my ambitions
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
and reduced my happiness.
Many of my efforts to feel
better made me feel worse.
The cycle continued and
by the time I reached age
65 I had lived a limited
and less fulfilling life than
if I hadn’t suffered from
resignation. The knowledge of not living my
life to the fullest
is something that I
regret now because
it wasn’t necessary.
I hope others can benefit
from my roadmap and Ten
Commitments so they don’t
also have to look back at
their lives and have regrets
for lost opportunities.
I can’t give up
resignation,
I won’t get
anymore sleep.
A blow to your
head will also put
you to sleep.
If you read my book and
my previous articles linked
to Poker Player Newspaper
on my website, www.
nolimitlife.net you will
learn all about thought terrorists and how to notice
and let go of them. Heaven
on earth for me now is
experiencing personal
freedom. When I let go of
a thought terrorist I free
myself from experiencing
hurtful and stressful feelings. I continually ask for
and pray for my intentions
to help me notice and let go
of any hurtful memories,
ideas, thoughts or beliefs I
am holding onto. Thought
terrorists will only appear
and lose their cover when I
embrace the stressful feelings that they cause. When
I do this the thought terrorist that causes stressful feelings appears. When I identify it, I feel like I hit the
lottery because now I know
how to let go of it. Noticing
and letting go of thought
terrorists is the most constructive activity I can
engage in because when I
let go of one, the stressful
feeling it causes goes away
forever. This baggage that
we all carry to some degree,
is the force that keeps us
from feeling better. This is
the baggage that also prevents us from maintaining
focus. It can only be let go
“Such Bugs and
Goblins in my Life”
—William Shakespeare
“Now we know what to do
with them, Bill—
Notice and Let Go”
—Charlie Shoten
of one thought at a time.
Each one I let go of frees
me to reach further, jump
higher and maintain my
focus in all life activities.
Maintaining focus is the
essential KEY to playing
better poker.
This is where my Ten
Commitments comes into
play. Just like a musical instrument allows you
to play music, my Ten
Commitments are my tool
that helps me notice and
let go of thought terrorists.
Another analogy might be
a vacuum cleaner because
the Ten Commitments are a
cleaning or purifying tool.
I have memorized them
and repeat them as a mantra whenever I experience
stress or just want to feel
better. I keep them at the
forefront of my mind for as
long as I can. It takes commitment to memorize them
and make them a permanent
mindset. I rely on them all
the time now. This is the
most important thing I can
do for myself, and everyone I come in contact with.
The rewards are immediate
and life fulfilling. I look
forward to each new day,
have more energy and have
a better outlook than the
day before. I now have a
tool that helps me diminish
the baggage I carry such as
doubts and fears.
I don’t need to search
anymore because all that
I am and all that I am
not is ok with me now.
I know who I am, where
I am going, what is in my
way, how to identify it, and
what to do about it. I am
more calm, clear, confident,
and at peace than at any
other time in my life. My
Ten Commitments are my
Rod and my Staff and they
comfort me and will be
with me all the rest of my
days. I am where I am supposed to be. Are you?
Future articles will hopefully include reader’s
Responses, Questions,
Requests, Comments and
Experiences: [email protected]
NO-LIMIT
NO-LIMIT
LIFE
LIFE
♥♣ ♦ ♠
DA N G E R O US
C O N T E N TS :
MAY CAUSE A RADIANT
CONTAGIOUS SMILE,
A JOYOUS MINDSET,
PROFITABLE
POKER AND A
WINNING LIFE!
♥♣ ♦ ♠
C
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HA
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R LL II E
E SS H
HO
O TT E
EN
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Read “No-Limit Life”:
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(Best Book Award: USA
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If you like Charlie’s articles and his book
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ONE DAY POKER CAMP:
SATURDAYS WITH CHARLIE
Saturdays 9:30-4:30, in Charlie’s Residence
Library in Las Vegas
$250, Add Spouse for $50 additional
For both Players & Non-Players of Poker
Also, Charlie now teaching at the Learning Annex
April 18th-San Francisco, April 19th-San Diego,
April 20th-Los Angeles—6PM-9:30P
More info: phone: 702-270-4877, e-mail:
[email protected], web: www.nolimitlife.net
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*See Web site for details. Enjoy the free games and before playing in the real money games, please check
with your local jurisdiction regarding the legality of Internet poker. ©2006 Full Tilt Poker. All rights reserved.
M A R C H 2 0, 2 0 0 6
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Chris Moneymaker
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Joe Hachem
2003 WSOP Champion
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2004 WSOP Champion
Qualified at PokerStars.com
2005 WSOP Champion
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Where Poker Players Become World Champions
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