HALF - Poker Player Newspaper

Transcription

9
Celebrity Crossword PAGE
tribute to
Ash Hussein
12
Phi Nguyen
profile by
Phil Hevener
34
14
17
20
PAGE
Doyle Brunson’s
new column—
Power Poker!
16
PAGE
20
POKER PLAYER
Vol. 10 Number 18 March 5, 2007 A Gambling Times Publication www.pokerplayernewspaper.com Copyright ©2007 Bi-Weekly $3.95 USA/$4.95 CANADA
D’Amato to
Chair PPA
By Wendeen H. Eolis
Editor’s Note: This story
is part of material that may
be incorporated in Ms. Eolis’
forthcoming book, Power
Poker Dame (publication
2008).
“Signed or unsigned, the
deal is sealed,” insists my
confidential source, a key
player in the global gaming
industry. The die has
been cast; former
New York Senator
Alfonse D’Amato
has been tapped to
sit as the Chairman
of the Poker Players
Alliance.
Unlawful Internet
Gaming Enforcement Act
of 2006. The three-term
senator from New York has
been courted by the PPA
to represent the interests of
(Continued on page 28)
Restaurateur Sengos Cooks
Up Victory at
WSOP Circuit—
Council Bluffs
Gus Sengos of
Sioux Falls, SD
takes final event
for $219,576 prize
By Max Shapiro
He won his seat in a bar
league and never won more
than minor events in local
tournaments, but 23 year-old
Kosta “Gus” Sengos won the
championship event of the
first WSOP Circuit tour ever
held at Horseshoe Casino
Council Bluffs. He got into
the $5,000 event by winning
a bar league tournament in
Harrah’s
Rincon
WSOP
Circuit in
Full Swing
his hometown of Sioux Falls,
South Dakota, where he
works in his father’s Greek
restaurant. His victory was
worth $219,576, a $10,000
Chris DeFalco
wins $11,640
in H.O.R.S.E.
event
Harrah’s WSOP Circuit
Event at their Rincon
Casino and Resort located
outside San Diego in
Valley Center got under-
0
74470 05299
9
1 0>
remaining to be played,
including the 6-day World
Poker Tour event scheduled
for February 24-March 1.
Event 20, a $1,000 no-
A Word from the
“Mad Genius,”
Mike Caro
Commerce Casino’s LA
Poker Classic Rolls On.
The Commerce Casino’s
LA Poker Classic is under
a full head of steam. As we
go to press, 20 events are
complete, with 10 more
way on February 11. It’s
an 11-event tournament,
with the $5,000 buy-in
no-limit hold’em cham-
Today’s word is...
“HALF”
limit hold’em event was
won by Ryan Hughes of
Pheonix AZ, who captured $111,255 by beating
Turn to page 4 for more
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w w w. p o ke r p l a y e r n e w s p a p e r. c o m
MARCH 5, 2007
P O K E R P L AY E R
1
2
MARCH 5, 2007
MARCH 5, 2007
3
POKER NEWS
By John Caldwell
NETELLER ‘FREEZES’ MILLIONS IN
U.S. PLAYER FUNDS
The saga of NETeller continues. The one time
‘eWallet’ of choice among U.S. online poker
players has made it impossible for players from America
to do anything – including withdraw their own money from
their accounts. In a statement published on the company’s
website, NETeller said that they have ‘pledged to cooperate’
with U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) inquiries into U.S. customers accounts. This ‘pledge’ also includes turning over documents relating to transactions from U.S. customers accounts.
Essentially, the company says the USAO has warrants allowing it to seize funds pending the investigation of transactions. The end result of all this for U.S. players is if they
have money still in a NETeller account, they shouldn’t count
on seeing it anytime soon, if at all.
JAMIE GOLD/CRISPIN LEYSER LAWSUIT
SETTLED OUT OF COURT
One of the many dramas surrounding the 2007 WSOP was
settled recently, as the lawsuit surrounding the ‘other half’
of 2006 WSOP champ Jamie Gold’s winnings came to a
close. Both Gold, and plaintiff Bruce Crispin Leyser agreed
to amicably settled their dispute out of court, and ‘split’
the winnings as was part of the original agreement. An
unnamed source in the matter had only this to say “Jamie
always intended on sharing his winnings with Crispin. Jamie
and Crispin are happy to report they have fully settled this
matter.” The speculation and gossip around this settlement
seem to indicate the sticky issue was the resolution of how
the taxes were paid, so that no man was ‘stuck’ with the
other guys tax bill. The two parties have come to an agreement, and one of the many ‘issues’ surrounding last year’s
Main Event has been put to bed.
WHERE’S DOYLE?
One of the more silly Internet fiascos played itself out
recently, with the Legend himself, Doyle Brunson, at the
center of the heat. On a Saturday night, rumors started to
leak that Doyle had been ‘detained’, allegedly for his dealings
with Internet Poker. Those rumors turned into all out ‘arrest’
rumors, and the whole thing whipped into a frenzy the likes of
which only the Internet can create. By Monday morning, nearly every pundit was out on a mission to confirm the news one
way or the other. By Monday afternoon, it had been revealed
that the whole thing was simply a product of the internet, and
the gossip crazed people who sit behind those keyboards fanning the flames. We can’t help but think that Doyle may have
just sat back, and had a big laugh over the whole thing.
DUTCH STATE RUN POKER ROOM TO RE-LAUNCH
Cryptologic Software has announced they have secured
the contract to power the official online Poker Room of
Holland. The room was formerly powered by the software
of Access Gaming. The room will be run by and carry the
brand of Holland Casino, the official state run casino of The
Netherlands. Only Dutch people will be allowed to play at the
room, which will re-launch in June.
WORLD’S FIRST POKER HOTEL TO OPEN IN LA
Johnny Chan is partnering with a hotel firm to create ‘5th
Street’, which is being billed as the ‘world’s first poker
hotel’. The hotel is expected to open in the Los Angeles area
later this year. This hotel company has done specialized
hotels before, opening ‘The Block’, which is geared toward
snowboarding and extreme sports. The rooms in the poker
hotel will reportedly include 70-inch plasma screens, in-room
safes, free wi-fi internet access, 500 watt custom sounds
systems, full service computers and much more.
John Caldwell is the Editor-In-Chief of PokerNews.com,
a leading poker information portal. Prior to PokerNews,
John spent 15 years in music artist management, working
with artists like Stone Temple Pilots, and Hootie and the
Blowfish. Originally from Redondo Beach, CA, John lives
in Los Angeles, and spends about 4 months a year in Las
Vegas.. Reach him by e-mail at [email protected].
4
MARCH 5, 2007
Caro’s Word: “Half”
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
B
efore we jump into
today’s pool of plentiful poker profit, here’s
an announcement. In
either my next column or
the one after, I’ll declare
the winners of December’s
“Finish My Lecture
Contest.” I expect to finish
grading all the entries by
next week.
If you’re not sure what
I’m talking about, that’s
because you didn’t enter the
contest or read the column
four issues ago. Briefly,
when sifting through my old
documents, I came across
a strange lecture transcript
that seemed incomplete. It
was about the benefits of just
calling, rather than raising, in
the small blind. I suggested
that there were times when
raising was, indeed, the best
solution, but that just calling was underrated. After
posting the transcript, which
covered several major points,
I invited readers to complete
the lecture for prizes.
Why raise?
The contest is now closed
to entries. But, just so you’ll
have something to ponder
while I’m judging the winners, here are four important
considerations that weigh
on the side of raising when
you’re in the small blind.
1. You help establish a
domineering image that can
often work in your favor.
TUSCANY
Suites & Casino
(Applies to both limit and
no-limit hold ’em.)
2. It’s significantly more
likely that you can win the
pot when the flop disappoints
you. When you’ve put the
last raise on the initial betting
round and then bet into your
opponents when first to act
after seeing the flop, they’re
more inclined to fold than
they would be had you just
called. (Applies to both limit
and no-limit hold ’em.)
3. You can sometimes
limit the field by chasing
away early position callers when someone else has
raised. The reraise makes it
much less likely that they’ll
stick around to beat you.
Of course, if they’re actually taking the worst of it,
you usually want them to
stick around. But you want
them to fold when they’d
have an expectation of
long-range profit by calling.
You can sometimes elicit
this type of fold by raising.
(While this is obviously
true in no-limit hold ’em, it
particularly applies to limit
games. There, the difference between calling just
one fixed-size amount from
a single raise two fixed-size
amounts from a reraise can
seem compelling. In limit
games, a raise is not likely
to chase players out who are
already committed to the pot,
but a double raise is.)
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Wendeen H. Eolis
EDITORIAL CONSULTANT
Phil Hevener
CONSULTANT
Contributing
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“Oklahoma Johnny” Hale
Ashley Adams Diane McHaffie
James McKenna
I. Nelson Rose John Vorhaus
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MARCH 5, 2007
5
Bluffing on the Level
KRIEGER’s CORNER
By Lou Krieger©
You can always bluff in a poker game. Sometimes you’ll
scarper away with the heist; other times you’ll be
caught red-handed. You can look like a donkey or a genius. It all depends.
The cool thing about bluffing is that the cards you have don’t matter at all, except for the fact that they’re crummy. After all, if you have
something as good J-J or A-K, you’re not really bluffing unless you’re
pretty sure you’re making your play with the worst hand. And if you
do have the worst hand, you could make the same play holding 3-2. It
doesn’t matter.
The key is determining whether your bluff stands a good chance of
succeeding, rather than doing the old crash and burn when your opponent calls with something “anything” as long as his hand beats yours.
For the purposes of this column, we’ll ignore all those wonderful
opportunities to semi-bluff by betting a drawing hand like a four-flush
or open-ended straight draw that can win if your opponent folds to your
bet or raise, or win by catching one of his outs on the turn or river. Semi
bluffs are terrific betting opportunities because they give you two ways
to win. But we’re not interested in those hands right now; right now
we’re concerned only with weak hands that really have no chance of
improving on the next card and need to make one of those miraculous
runner-runner catches to win the pot in a showdown.
When you dig deeply into poker, you’ll find three levels of play, and
each of these levels supports bluffing to a greater degree than the one
that precedes it, so if you’re going to give yourself the very best bluffing
opportunity possible, you ought to avail yourself of the best information
you can garner and put it to good use.
First-level players concern themselves only with the cards in their
hand. They might as well be playing video poker where the idea is to
make hands of a predetermined strength in order to win. In poker the
strength of your hand is relative, not absolute, and sometimes your
hand’s relative worth isn’t even determined by its inherent strength; it’s
determined by what your opponent thinks you have.
But if all you think about are the two cards in your own mitt you won’t
have any idea other than a hunch, whether your bluff stands a chance of
succeeding.
Second-level players look at their own hand first, then they try to
determine how strong their opponent is by way of betting patterns and
the nature of the exposed community cards. Based on whether your
opponent is aggressive or passive before and on the flop, and the nature
of the communal cards, a savvy player will develop a pretty good idea
about his opponent’s hand.
If a second-level player thinks his opponent is weak, he can bet right
into him, and he can do so predicated on the assumption that his opponent is likely to fold his bad hands to a threatening board and an aggressive bet from an adversary.
And that usually works. But not always. It’s doomed to fail when your
opponent is also a savvy player and he puts you on a weak hand too.
Then he’ll come over the top when you bet or raise, and take the play
away from you—and the pot too—because you’ve been caught stealing
and will have to credit the guy who reraises you with a good hand or
more guts than you usually find at the poker tables.
Level-three thinkers take this one step further. They consider their
own hand and their opponent’s hand too. But they add one more ingredient to this mix. They also spend some time thinking about what their
opponent thinks they have, based on the common cards and how you’ve
played your hand on previous wagering rounds.
If your are able to determine that your opponent puts you on a better
hand than he has, your bluff stands a terrific chance of succeeding, as
long as your adversary doesn’t also think that he might raise when you
bet, and even if you have a good hand, you’ll release it to a raise.
That’s a rare occurrence, and if it isn’t, you might want to find a game
that’s a bit softer. In most games, if you can get far enough into your
opponents head that you have a good take on what they might be holding
and how they perceive you and your hand, you’ll do just fine if you confine your bluffs to those occasions when you perceive your opponent as
weak and you think he believes you have a strong one.
Visit Lou Krieger online and check out all his
books at www.loukrieger.com. You can read his
blog at http://loukrieger.blogspot.com and write
directly to him at [email protected].
6
MARCH 5, 2007
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MARCH 5, 2007
7
Random Thought About Poker
NORTH BY NORTHWEST
By Byron Liggett
Poker games come in a variety of names
and types of games. Here, then, are some
random thoughts about the lot.
Texas Hold’em seems like a simple
enough game. Everybody gets two cards down and five
common cards are turned up in the center of the table.
Sound easy? So does hang-gliding.
No-Limit isn’t a game for the timid. Cards, cash and
casualties are what it’s all about. Most encounters are of
the brief kind. When two players go into a hand, there’s a
good chance one of ‘em won’t be coming back.
No-Limit is like running through a mine field. If you’re
wrong, you’re gone.
Unlike No-Limit in which a player tries to disable an
opponent with one big strike, or Limit Hold’em in which
you nibble away, in Pot-Limit you bludgeon them into
submission with a few hard blows.
In Pot-Limit, players are bashed and beaten cent-less
in every scene. Because of its violent content, Pot-Limit is
recommended for adults only.
Omaha Hi-Lo is a most difficult game; possibilities,
probabilities, odds ‘n ends come in multiples. Because
there is more than one way to win, you should know right
away there is a lot that can go wrong.
Omaha Split is a strange game in which a player can set
off in one direction only to arrive at the opposite destination. Sometimes an Omaha Hi/Lo player will even go in
two directions at once… and get there!
Omaha Hi-Low is poker for psychotics. These players
never know where they are, or where they’re going, or
how they’re going to get there. What’s more, they don’t
care who they hurt along the way!
The game has been around about 20 years. Tacoma/
Seattle players Bernie Salter and Gwen Pham (“The
Dragon Lady”) are credited (blamed?) with the game’s
creation. They called it “9-card Hold’em”. But as the
game began to spread (like a virus), it became known as
“Omaha” to distinguish it from Texas (7-card) Hold’em.
7-Card Stud is hard-hitting, straight-ahead poker. It’s
not a game for the sloppy ‘n floppy.
Stud is like a western movie. Players square-off on the
main street of Potsville and march toward each other.
With each card they draw and fire. It’s a favorite of the
“Old Bunch”, a group of experienced wise ol’ chip rustlers.
7-Stud Hi/Lo offers players a double-dose of anxiety.
It’s not a game for players with paranoid tendencies.
You’re never really sure where the other player is coming
from, what he’s carrying, or what he’s going to do with it.
“Razz” is a four-letter word for 7-Stud low. The game
attracts the kind of people who prefer to look through the
wrong end of the telescope. It’s poker for wimps, players
who get a nose bleed if they get higher than sea level.
Lowball Draw is best described as three-yards-in-acloud-of-dust poker. It’s the perfect game for players who
complain they never catch any cards.
Lowball is poker for those who don’t have much to be
proud of; in which the player with the smallest gets the
most.
Lowball is a game for sneaks and peeping-toms. You
never know where a player is or what he might be up to.
It’s most popular with people who prefer to look through
the wrong end of the telescope.
Women players won’t hesitate to use affirmative action
to get the pot. They know that the weaker sex is anyone
with the second-best hand. When ladies play poker it’s a
beauty contest and the best looking hand wins.
Byron Liggett, originally from the Northwest, lives in Reno
and has been a gaming & poker writer, columnist and consultant for 25 years. email: [email protected]
8
MARCH 5, 2007
Animal
Totem
A Joe & Hobby fiction by
David J. Valley
obby was seated next
to me at the Bike in
a Texas Hold ‘Em game.
“Look at that chunk of
glass,” he said as he gestured toward a player at the
end of our table.
The object was cut like
a diamond, but about the
size of an egg. The player
put it atop his hole cards
as he contemplated his bet.
This is not unusual as many
players, top pros among
them, use such devices.
“I should have something
like that,” Hobby said.
“It’s a bit garish, don’t
you think? Maybe you
could have something more
subtle, like a miniature of
your yacht or Rolls?” I said,
tongue-in-cheek.
“That’s gauche, Joe. I’d
like something personalized, but not gaudy.”
“I’ll think about it,
Hobby.”
As we drove back to
Marina del Rey, I recalled
an article I read recently.
It told about a NativeAmerican woman from
Santa Monica, known as
Morning Mist, whose specialty is animal totems.
According to Indian folklore everyone has a unique
animal spirit they are akin
to. There are apparent
benefits in knowing your
animal. “Hobby, I’ve got
an idea for the thingee that
you can put on top of your
cards. How about an animal
totem?”
“Like a totem pole?”
I explained what I knew
of totems. Hobby was very
interested.
“How about a Koala
bear? They’re cute.”
“No. It doesn’t work
that way, Hobby. You don’t
choose your totem, they
have to choose you.”
“Huh? How does that
work?”
“Tomorrow we’ll visit an
Indian lady who will unlock
that mystery for us.”
Morning Mist’s studio
was in her home, a small
cottage circa 1930, a few
blocks from the beach. A
H
large attractive woman, say
fiftyish, in a floor length
robe greeted us. Her hair
was in a single braid worn
in front almost reaching to
her waist.
“I am Morning Mist. Are
you Mr. Crest?”
“Yes, and this is Hobby
Newton.”
A man appeared from
around the corner of the
building, an old unruly
looking fellow with grey
hair. “What do you want?”
he shouted.
“Edgar, don’t you be
scaring off my customers.
You go away now!” the
lady answered back.
“Totems not for white
men,” he said as he turned
and walked away.
“I’m sorry about that.
Please come in. The old
one does some work for me
and thinks he’s the Indian
expert.”
“I’d like a totem, but
I know very little about
them,” Hobby said with his
disarming boyish grin.
“We’ll sit and have some
tea while I explain.”
Morning Mist was a
wonderful expositor. Hobby
and I were fascinated with
her story about animal
totems. She then asked
Hobby questions about his
life and interests. Taking
Hobby’s hands into hers,
she closed her eyes and
chanted for several minutes.
When she released Hobby’s
hands she said, “I have
seen him. He is a cougar, a
mountain lion.”
“Wow. That’s cool. A
cougar. I like that.”
“And he likes you, too.
That is what makes a totem
special. I will carve your
totem from synthetic ivory.
Would you like a pendant
or a free-standing form?”
“Free-standing and about
this big,” Hobby indicated
with a spread of his fingers.
“How soon?”
“It will be ready in about
two weeks. I will call you.”
As we walked toward
the car the old Indian man
appeared from behind a
bush and said, “White men
not wanted here.” We
ignored him.
A few weeks later when
we were entering the
Commerce Casino Hobby
said, “Tonight I shall use
my new totem.” It was an
impressive carving which
had the brownish color of
an old Japanese netsuke
piece.
“We’ll soon find out if it
will bring you any luck,” I
commented.
Who can say what influences Lady Luck, but
Hobby was enjoying her
full measure. He was on a
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Sengos Cooks Up Victory at WSOP Circuit—Council Bluffs
seat in this year’s WSOP
championship event, and a
stunning gold trophy ring.
The young champion had
to climb back from being
down to a couple of thousand
dollars on the first day, along
with never winning a race-off
until late the second day.
But he persevered, overcame a huge chip disadvantage on the final day, and
finally rode to victory to
become tournament champion in the first WSOP Circuit
tour event ever held here. His
victory was worth $219,576
plus a 10,000 seat in this
year’s WSOP main event.
Sengos is single and
learned poker four years
ago playing with friends.
Probably the key hand for
him came when he picked
off a bluff in a big pot with
just ace-high. He was also
aided by a big, loud, cheering
section of poker buddies.
Kraus, who collected
$115,209 for second, is 35
and from Los Angeles where
he buys and sells commercial
aircraft. He learned poker
four years ago playing with
friends, and his biggest thrill
was playing short-handed
aganst Doyle Brunson,
Layne Flack, Chris Ferguson
and John Juanda at a WSOP
event two years ago. Kraus,
who is single and enjoys
deep sea fishing, adds that
“I’m keeping my day job.”
the seventh event of the
WSOP Circuit Tour at
Horseshoe Casino Council
Bluffs, $300 limit hold’em.
This was the only limit
tournament in the line-up,
and the final event before
the start of the three-day,
$5,000 buy-in championship that gets underway
tomorrow.
Hoffman has been playing poker for 20 years,
learning by ‘taking expensive lessons from the
best players in Lincoln.’
Normally he plays no-limit
cash games, but decided on
a whim to take a short at
this limit tournament. First
place tonight brought him
$14,520 and a handsome
gold trophy ring. Hoffman
is married with two children, has a college education and his other hobby is
classic cars.
Hoffman’s final opponent was Curt Aust, a
25-year-old accountant
from Omaha. Aust hung
on for a while, once doubling up when he was all
in with Q-9 and flopped
a 9 to outrun Hamilton’s
K-3. But he couldn’t get
close to Hamilton’s chip
total. He finally went out
quietly holding 8h-4s.
Hamilton was way ahead
with Jd-10c. Aust pulled
ahead briefly when the
flop brought 7-7-4, but
his paired 4s were beaten
when a jack on the river
gave Hamilton the higher
pair.
Aust learned the game of
poker 10 years ago from his
grandfather. This is his first
Circuit event. He enjoys
golf and baseball and
wants the ladies out there
to know that he’s ‘single,
available and lonely.’ He’s
also $7,618 richer after his
second-place finish, so go
get him, girls. He needs a
dependent for an income
tax write-off now.
(Cont’d from page 1)
HORSESHOE CASINO
COUNCIL BLUFFS
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
EVENT #7
2/3/07
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PLAYERS 154
PRIZE POOL
$44,814
Tom Hoffman
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Tom Hoffman . . . . . $14,520
Curt Aust . . . . . . . . . . $7,619
Brett Evertson . . . . . $4,481
Gary Starrett . . . . . . $3,585
Duane Capes . . . . . . . $2,689
John Beane . . . . . . . . $2,241
John Evans . . . . . . . . $1,793
Shawn Ng . . . . . . . . . $1,344
Paul Beveridge . . . . . . .$896
Where fortunes have been made.
And more than a few legends, too.
HORSESHOE CASINO
COUNCIL BLUFFS
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
EVENT #8
2/7/07
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
CHAMPIONSHIP
BUY-IN $5,000 + $150
PLAYERS 142
PRIZE
POOL
$688,700
1. Kosta Sengos AKA
“Gus” . . . . . . . . . . . $219,576
2. Paul Kraus . . . . . . $115,209
3. Sam Von Duhn . . . . $67,770
4. Jeff Banghart . . . . . $54,216
5. Douglas Carli AKA
“Rico” . . . . . . . . . . . $40,662
6. Larry Vance . . . . . . $33,885
7. John Kincaid AKA
“JohnnyK” . . . . . . . $27,108
8. Thadd Wolf . . . . . . . $20,331
9. Everett Carlton . . . . $13,554
Live action with great game selection.
Sit-n-Go’s 24/7
The Poker Zone Tournaments
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
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7
7
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.$430
.$230
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NLH
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Hoffman in winners
circle for event #7
mirage.com
For Room Reservations
800-77-POKER
(8OO-777-6537)
Tournament Information
702-791-7291
Thomas Hoffman, a 45year-old tool maker from
Denton, Nebraska, had a
fairly easy time of it as
he built up a big lead and
roared ahead to a win in
MARCH 5, 2007
9
LESSON 96:
Overcoming Deceptive
Opponents
Lessons from mike caro
university of poker
BY DIANE M C HAFFIE
Do you find yourself regularly going to the same
casinos and playing against the same opponents?
Among those players are there any that you dread playing against
because they’re unpredictable and too aggressive? Do they raise too
frequently, usually when you’d prefer that they didn’t? Do they bluff
too often? Are they interfering with your concentration when you’re
trying to profit from the weaker players? Do you find it hard to read
what they are going to do and when? It’s frustrating, right?
Well, guess what? These players are afflicted with what Mike
refers to as the “Fancy Play Syndrome.” They are trying to impress
you and others with their creative play. They can be dealt with, however. No longer do you have to split your concentration between the
weak and the deceptive. No longer is it necessary for your play to
suffer because you’re trying to meet their challenges.
Control. When you find yourself sitting at the table with these
imaginatively deceptive players, you should reduce your betting
and raising -- and instead call more. Do not raise just as frequently!
I know that is your initial temptation against opponents who make
you dizzy by their aggressive play, but don’t give in to it. These are
players that you shouldn’t value bet against. Mike says borderline
bets usually aren’t going to stand up to their aggressive raising.
Borderline bets require timid opponents who won’t get extra value
when they have you beat.
When playing against super-aggressive opponents, you should
choose your seat carefully, if you can. You don’t want them to your
left, as it gives them positional advantage over you. It’s going to be
difficult to manipulate their play if they act after you. When a superaggressive player sits on your right and folds before you make your
decision, it gives you the opportunity to play marginal hands aggressively against the weaker opponents remaining. Your position also
allows you to play more cautiously, if at all, when he enters the pot.
If he is to your left, the best strategy is frequent checking and
calling. This isn’t what they want you to do, so it’s going to disrupt
their technique. If they are frequent bluffers, checking and calling is
also a great tactic for you. You’ll profit more from their misguided
bluffs.
Medium hands. Against these types of players, Mike discourages
betting with medium hands. Because they are playing aggressively,
they’ll take maximum advantage of the times they have you beat.
This is unprofitable for you. And, besides, you’re responding to their
challenge, instead of teaching them a lesson.
The weaker players at the table bring you the most profit. Because
you’re concerned about how to deal with these tricky players, you’ve
allowed your attention to slip from making the most money. Instead
you’re concentrating on how to deal with these undesirable players,
therefore allowing them to manipulate you and sway you from your
goal of profiting from the weak.
Mike advises that you let the tricky players “have the stage.” Let
them try their strategies, but refuse to be goaded into action by their
aggressive, annoying play. They are trying to work you like a puppet.
If you allow that, if you value bet or make marginal raises against
them to dictate your play and they’re going to be the ones to profit.
Restrain. If you restrain yourself by checking and calling often,
as Mike teaches, then you aren’t playing their little game any longer.
This is the best way to “get even” or to “show them.” Now they are
no longer in charge. You have now taken the reins back and by checking and calling against these deceptive players, you can now concentrate more on profiting from those weak players who are going to
add to your bankroll.
So, bet less and call more against aggressive players, or players
who bluff too frequently. Then you can be the conqueror.
Diane McHaffie is Director of Operations at Mike Caro
University of Poker, Gaming, and Life Strategy. Her
diverse career spans banking, promotion of major financial seminars and the raising of White-tailed Deer. You
can write her online at [email protected].
10
MARCH 5, 2007
Sam Mudaro, BA, MBA, is a practicing tax
accountant and financial executive originally
from New York with over 35 years of analytical business expertise. He and his wife Eva
are nine-year Las Vegas residents. Sam uses
simulation software to analyze and develop
strategies for Omaha Hi/Lo and other forms of
poker. Reach Sam at: [email protected].
T
Sam Mudaro is the...
A-4 in the Hands of a
The action may be
initiated by a play- Loose Player in a Tight Game
act in front of him, to fold a
er and as is common
hand or check anticipating a
in pot and no limit games.
bet or raise from the angler.
A player may also declare
The angler is generally not
their self “all-in” when it is
looking to bet or raise.
their turn to act and they do
Ante–An ante most frenot have enough chips to call
quently refers to a forced
the bet in front of them. A
bet which each player puts
player who is “all-in” does
into the pot before any cards
not forfeit their hand. The
hand is played to conclusion are dealt. The amount of the
ante is generally small in
with the all-in player able
comparison to the betting
to win only those chips that
structure. It should not be
Hand Win % Net High Low Scoop are equal to the
confused with blinds which
amount
he
has
A-2
36.4% 10.96 5.2% 9.4% 13.3%
are defined later and are live
invested
includA-4
26.8% (2.37) 6.3% 4.3% 9.7%
ing the calls of the bets. Ante, is sometimes
A-2
35.9% 11.40 5.0% 9.0% 13.5%
used to define the minimum
other players. He
A-4-5 27.2% (4.98) 6.8% 4.7% 10.0%
will not share any amount to be brought to the
A-2
36.8% 11.80 5.0% 9.1% 13.4%
table in a high stakes or pripotential chips
A-4-6 24.0% (5.35) 6.3% 4.3% 8.2%
added subsequent- vate game.
A-2
38.7% 11.27 4.9% 9.1% 13.2%
Apple–An apple is a big
ly to the pot, even
A-4-7 19.5% (3.91) 5.3% 3.4% 6.7% if he has the best
game and usually refers to
A-2
39.2% 11.53 4.9% 9.1% 13.5% hand.
the biggest game in a parA-4-8 18.3% (4.48) 4.8% 3.1% 6.3%
During Internet ticular club.
A-2
40.2% 13.75 5.2% 9.6% 13.9% play a player may
Aquarium–A poker
A-4-9 17.8% (6.23) 4.2% 3.0% 6.5% find himself “allroom full of fish, (live or
weak players) is sometimes
Our loose player at this loose in” due to being disconnectreferred to an aquarium.
table lost on average a mini- ed from the Internet. This is
Assault Riffle–Used to
mum of $2.37 per hand with as a means of protecting his
refer to the Omaha starting
investment in the hand.
A-4 and two random cards
hand of A-K-4-7 of any suit.
Alligator Blood–A perto a maximum of $6.23 with
It stems from the Russian
A-4-9 and one random card. son is said to have alligator
made rifle known as an
blood when he plays fearThe A-4 lost over four and
AK47.
lessly while short stacked
a half million in this tight
Avatar–Many Internet
game in the hands of a loose and wins. They also tend to
poker sites allow you to
last a long time while short
player. The hand won over
choose an image or figure
stacked by winning just
$195 thousand when played
by a tight player in the same enough to keep from busting to represent yourself at the
table. This image is called an
out of the game.
game. The oddity here is
Avatar.
American Airlines–A
that our loose player won
Away-from-the-table–In
term used to refer to holding
over 5% more hands. Even
a brick and mortar tournastranger is that he won more two Aces. The same holdment you are considered
ing is also known as Pocket
hands in every category;
away from the table when
Rockets and Bullets.
high only, low only and
you are not in your seat to
Ammo/Ammunition–
scooping. This is about the
act upon your hand. In tourRefers to a player’s chips
best example I have seen to
nament play you are dealt in
and/or money in play.
prove: It is not how often
on every round regardless of
Angling–Angling is the
you win, but how much you
your presence. Your blinds
art of using a ploy to either
win that counts. At the end
will be posted and your
of the day it makes no differ- elicit an action or reaction
hands folded. On the Internet
from another player which
ence if you won 80% of the
pots, if you lost 80% of your may have been different had you will be considered away
from the table if you are
the angler not performed
bankroll.
Our loose player lost over their charade. It is important disconnected, take too long
to make a decision and are
to note that most anglers
$54.6 million with all of the
timed out or simply elect to
are not engaging in cheatabove hands while our tight
be away.
player lost only slightly over ing but their actions are
So what have we
frowned upon. Angling is
$24 million. This all happened while our loose player most characterized by appar- learned? Net win per hand
won over a half million more ently acting out of turn, as in is the real key to measuring
performance at the poker
feinting a bet. The angler is
hands across all categories!
table, not the winning percareful not to act out of turn
All-In–Other then playcentage - how often you win.
but will excitedly reach for
ing on the Internet, “all-in”
A bad hand will perform
refers to a condition where a and grab a stack of chips as
worse in the hands of a loose
if to bet or raise. The intent
player pushes all the money
is to cause a player who is to player.
in front them into the pot.
oday I will conclude
my analysis of A-4
with 2 million simulations
with a loose player in a tight
game starting with various A-4 hands. The format
will follow that of my last
two articles. If you missed
the first two articles in
this series or any articles,
you may view them at:
http://www.pokerplayernewspaper.com/articles.
php?sort=author&id=8.
The Moneymaker Effect
has reached even far-away
Estonia, as a tidal wave of
young players has trudged
through the cold Estonian
winters to try their luck.
“A couple of years ago,
we had mostly older players with very deep pockets
and playing cash games,
usually,” Majumaa says.
“Nowadays, there are very
many new players, who
are average income, and
regular young people who
come to the casino poker
room to have fun in lowlevel buy-in poker tournaments. Smalllevel cash
games are
Commerce
LAPC
Philadelphia’s Al “Sugar
Bear” Barbieri who won
$57,135 for his efforts.
Other notable names on
the pay ladder in this
event included Matt Dean,
Harley Hall, and Serious
Baghchehsaraie.
Results for events 1
through 7 appeared in our
last issue. Results for events
8 through 20 follow below.
COMMERCE CASINO
L.A. POKER CLASSIC
EVENT #20
2/13/07
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,000 + $60
PLAYERS 310
PRIZE POOL
$300,700
Ryan Hughes
1. Ryan Hughes . . . . . $111,255
2. Al Barbieri AKA
“Sugar Bear” . . . . . $57,135
3. Edward Hansen . . . $28,565
4. Chau Hong Le . . . . $18,040
5. Alan Meyerson . . . . $13,530
6. Andrew Lee . . . . . . . $10,525
7. Kenny Chanthamalo $7,520
8. Jon Dull . . . . . . . . . . . $6,015
9. Peter Rho . . . . . . . . . $4,810
COMMERCE CASINO
L.A. POKER CLASSIC
EVENT #19
2/12/07
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $2,500 + $90
PLAYERS 235
PRIZE POOL
$569,875
Peter Tran
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Peter Tran . . . . . . . $210,830
Juan Alvarado . . . $108,275
Greg Wynn . . . . . . . $54,140
Tom A Hover . . . . . . $34,195
Hieu Luu . . . . . . . . . $25,645
Tae Baik . . . . . . . . . $19,945
James English . . . . . $14,245
Justin Bonomo . . . . $11,400
Gary Najaryan . . . . . $9,120
COMMERCE CASINO
L.A. POKER CLASSIC
EVENT #18
2/11/07
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $300 + $30
PLAYERS 1012
PREBUYS 1934
PRIZE
POOL
$857,286
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Daniel Barnett . . . $274,320
Bradley Grimmett $132,880
David Cai . . . . . . . . $68,585
David Tuchman
AKA “Friar Tuck” . $51,435
Loc Hoang . . . . . . . . $38,580
Daniel Martin . . . . . $29,060
Geoffrey Wright . . . $21,430
Nam Le . . . . . . . . . . $17,145
Erich Karle . . . . . . . $13,716
T
his week begins a
three-nation tour
of the Baltic states,
all of which are tiny and
all of which have a thriving poker scene. Estonia,
Lithuania and Latvia pack
a lot of poker into their
small spaces.
First up is Estonia, the
uppermost Baltic state.
Since the turn of the century, poker has changed
hands several times, first
starting at Viktoria Casino
back in 2001, then moving to Astoria-Palace.
Both of these casinos are
closed, leaving only the
# ON
MAP
1
CASINO
LOCATION
“Most popular
poker games in
Estonia are No
Limit Hold’em and
By Steve Horton
Pot Limit Omaha,”
becoming more
says Majumaa, talking
popular day by
about Olympic Casino at
Reval Park Hotel & Casino day.”
Though Estonia may
in Estonia. “Cash games
are usually played Dealer’s not be well known in
the states, it’s a hotbed
Choice (Hold’em, Omaha,
of special poker events.
Seven Card Stud, Five
European poker sites seem
Card Stud) or No Limit
to love it there. “We’ve
Hold’em if foreigners are
had Ladbrokes, Expekt.
also playing at the table.”
com, and William Hill
What are the highest
private tournaments,” says
limits played there and
Majumaa. “NordicBet
the range of tournament
has an open tournabuy-ins? “Regularly, we
ESTONIA
OPEN HOURS
# OF
TABLES GAMES NL?
HIGH
LIMITS
TOURNAMENT S/NS HOTEL
BUY-IN
N, PLO, Y 25/50 EEK
Reval Park Hotel
Tallinn
7 days 4p-7a
7
RbyR
& Olympic Casino
1 EEK = $0.08, =
C1 = $1.29
S/NS – Poker room allows smoking (S), non-smoking (NS) or both (B)
Days open, hours of operation, games offered and tables may vary
Olympic Casino at Reval
Park as the sole provider of
poker among the dozens of
Estonian casinos.
Estonians made a strong
showing at the 2006 World
Series of Poker; look for
them to make a splash in
2007. Marek Kolk took
81st in the $1,500 Pot
Limit Hold’em, 41st in the
$1,000 No Limit Hold’em,
and 27th in the $2,000
Hold’em shootout event.
Imre Leibold scored a 63rd
place finish in the $2,500
short-handed Hold’em
event – he had taken 7th at
a Harrah’s circuit event the
year before, his best finish
to date.
I spoke to Priit Majumaa,
poker manager for Olympic
Entertainment Group, about
poker in Estonia. Note
that just because currency
in Estonia is abbreviated
EEK, doesn’t mean poker
players there are afraid of
anything.
special events, which
go all through the Baltic
states (Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania). These are: the
Olympic Hold’em Series
in February-March, the
Baltic Open Championship
in April-May, the Summer
Festival in July-August and
the Anniversary Tour in
October-November. These
tournament series have five
day tournaments in each
country, and the buy-ins
vary from 1000 EEK rebuy
to 15,600 EEK freezeout.
The number of participants
have usually been between
have 10/20 EEK or 25/50
EEK cash games,” he says.
(Note: 1 EEK or Estonian
Kroon = $0.08.) “In special events, we also have
50/100 EEK or higher cash
games if applied by the
players.”
“Daily tournament buyins vary from 100 EEK
rebuy to a 3000 EEK freezeout,” he says. “The highest tournaments we have
are a twice-a-year €1,000
buy in. One Ladbrokes
private event was $2,000
buy-in.”
“Poker is spreading
very fast in Estonia,” says
Majumaa on Estonia’s
poker popularity. “As the
Internet is widely used
in Estonia, we have very
many new online players.
Olympic Casino doesn’t
have an online casino, but
it’s visible how many of
these online players come
to have fun also in our live
events.”
3,000 EEK
NS
Y
ment here every month.
Additionally, we have,
4 times a year, our own
Day
80 to 90 per tournament.”
Majumaa believes
Estonia is in the right place
at the right time for poker.
“As being in a good geographic position, we have
many Finnish, Swedish and
Norwegian players coming
to us for special events,”
he says. “The base of local
players is growing fast, and
legally everything’s set (we
don’t work in a gray area).
We have a very good position to become a ‘poker
paradise of Northern
European countries.’”
Look for Lithuania and
Latvia in the next two columns, not necessarily in
that order!
Game
Buy-in
Sun. nite/Mon. am ♦ Spread Lmt Hold’Em ♦ $120
Mon. nite/Tues. am ♦ Spread Lmt Hold’Em ♦ $120
Registration begins 12am. Tournaments begin 1:45am.
Limited seating.
1801 Bering Drive, San Jose, California (408) 451–8888 bay101.com
Play with your head, not over it. Is gambling a problem? Call 1.800.GAMBLER
MARCH 5, 2007
11
Harrah’s Rincon
WSOP Circuit
GARY SHENFELD INTERVIEWS...
Spencer Gauthier
pionship event beginning
February 20 and concluding February 22.
Results and commentary
for the firat five events
follow below, courtesy of
Nolan Dalla.
Pawnbroker DeFalco
Cashes Ticket
“H.O.R.S.E.” is an acronym for the five most popular poker games played
inside American cardrooms today. H.O.R.S.E.
tournaments include
a rotation of games -including Hold’em, Omaha
High-Low, Razz, SevenCard Stud, and Stud HighLow (also called Eight-orBetter). Many poker purists consider H.O.R.S.E.
to be the ultimate test
of skill, since it requires
that a competitor play all
games well in order to
win. This was proven at
the 2006 World Series of
Poker, where H.O.R.S.E.
returned to the tournament schedule after a long
hiatus. For more than two
decades, Chip Reese, the
winner of the $1.7 million
top prize in that event, had
been widely regarded as
the best all-around player
in the world. But there
was nothing on his resume
to prove that fact until
last summer’s event in
Las Vegas. Appropriately,
he won the largest buy-in
poker tournament in history (costing $50,000 to
enter) and became the
world “H.O.R.S.E.” champion for 2006.
This was the third time
a H.O.R.S.E. competition
has been offered this season as part of the World
Series of Poker Circuit
menu. The Harrah’s
Rincon Casino Resort
hosted the $1,000 buy-in
H.O.R.S.E. championship, which attracted a
modest field of 24 players (a no-limit hold’em
event held the same day
attracted a far greater
number). Given the limit
structure of H.O.R.S.E.
and the more deliberate,
structured pace of play, it
took ten hours and a full
day of playing to eliminate
just 15 players. In fact, six
players at the final table
12
would not make it into the
money. Only the top three
spots were paid. The runner up was David Boyett,
a 40-year-old mortgage
broker from Vista, CA.
Mr. Boyett made it to a
final table there last year
as well, coming in 7th in
WSOP Circuit Harrah’s
Rincon’s $1,000 buy-in
hold’em event. For second
place, Mr. Boyett received
$6,984 in prize money.
Chris DeFalco is a 36year-old pawnshop owner,
from Murrieta, CA. He
actually owns two stores.
Mr. DeFalco has been
playing poker for several
years. He has won poker
tournaments at casinos
throughout the San Diego
area. He also won seats to
play in the main event at
the World Series of Poker
in Las Vegas, in both 2004
and 2005. He cashed in
2005 in the main event.
However, this was his first
major tournament victory.
Mr. DeFalco’s win netted a payoff of $11,640.
He also received the coveted WSOP-crested gold
ring, which is presented to
all Circuit winners. Given
his jubilation after winning, it’s doubtful this ring
will end up in a pawnshop.
HARRAH’S RINCON
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
EVENT #5
DIRECTOR OF POKER OPERATIONS FOR THE SENECA CASINOS
Falls has 24, and Salamanca
has 16.
Spencer Gauthier began his
career in gaming in 1992 as
a dealer at the Menominee
Casino in Wisconsin. Since
then he has worked in various casinos in Wisconsin,
California and New York
before rising to Poker Room
Manager at the Seneca
Casino Niagara last year.
In October he presided
over the expansion of the
Niagara’s poker room and
recently took time out from
his busy schedule to answer
questions from Poker
Player’s Gary Shenfeld.
GS: Spencer, tell me about
the poker operation the
Senecas run? How many
poker rooms do you have,
where are they, how many
tables in each?
SG: Seneca Gaming and
Entertainment operates three
Poker Rooms in Western
New York. Two are located
in full-service casinos –
Seneca Niagara Casino and
Hotel in Niagara Falls, NY
and Seneca Allegany Casino
in Salamanca, NY. The
third is at our Irving Class
II Gaming Center (Bingo,
Class II video gaming
machines) in Irving, NY.
Irving has 8 tables, Niagara
2/15/07
H.O.R.S.E.
BUY-IN $1,000 + $60
PLAYERS 24
PRIZE
POOL
$23,280
1. Chris DeFalco . . . . . $11,640
2. David Boyett . . . . . . . $6,984
3. Teddy Nassif . . . . . . . . $4,656
HARRAH’S RINCON
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
EVENT #4
2/15/07
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 119
PRIZE POOL
$57,715
Ken Berliner
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Ken Berliner . . . . . . $18,700
Michael Souza . . . . . . $9,812
Shawn Hart . . . . . . . . $5,772
Mike Lancaster . . . . . $4,617
David Williams . . . . . $3,463
Ed Tucker . . . . . . . . . . $2,886
William Ullauri . . . . . $2,309
Laurie Swaney . . . . . . $1,713
Jeff Tecca . . . . . . . . . . $1,154
MARCH 5, 2007
w w w. p o ke r p
- l a y e r n e w s p a p e r. c o m
GS: What games do you
spread?
SG: In our rooms we offer
Texas Hold’em, Omaha, 7Card Stud, Razz, and Crazy
Pineapple.
GS: What games do your
players prefer?
SG: Most of our players
prefer to play No-Limit
Texas Hold’em. It is the
most popular game in the
rooms at present.
GS: What is unique about
your poker offerings?
SG: We are introducing
a dealer’s choice game at
our Irving facility, with the
player on the dealer button
choosing the game. I think
it’ll be a great game and
the players will have fun
with it.
GS: What special tournaments do you run during
the year?
SG: We host a Seneca
Poker Circuit event each
month at one of our locations. We have set up a
rotation whereby each
location hosts a Circuit
event every three months.
We also host “Queen of
the River,” an all-ladies
circuit at our Niagara Falls
location.
GS: What got you interested in poker in the first
place?
SG: It was when I was
in California, which was
approximately the time
that the movie “Rounders”
was released. Poker
seemed so “cool.”
GS: What do you see as
the future for poker?
SG: I see poker becoming more institutionalized.
Comparable to the game
of golf, it could be a place
where a business deal is
made – a poker game will
be just as acceptable and
become a norm in society.
I see more technology
being applied to poker –
our players’ online familiarity with poker and their
ever-present mp3 players
show that they are techsavvy and will embrace
the new technologies that
will arise in the industry.
There are some companies
doing exciting things with
this, but it is in the early
stages.
GS: Will we see poker
continue to grow, or will
new games arise?
SG: We are still riding the
no-limit wave, but poker
will continue to evolve
as it always has – meeting the demands of our
patrons.
A Poker Player Murder Mystery by Robert Arabella
THE POKER POLICEMAN
The Thought Police eliminated
the few individuals who were
judged capable of becoming
dangerous.
—George Orwell
[This article is based on Robert
Arabella’s Decline And Fall Of
The Poker Empire, published in
2026 by Poker Player.]
Delia, “is this about?”
“The weather,” she replies
evenly. “It’s all about not having to be a weatherman to know
which way the wind is blowing.”
Winston cringes and waits for
Delia to be beaten senseless. It
doesn’t happen.
Officer Boots runs his
Redberry’s scanner over the
book’s bar code, which checks
the List of Forbidden Poker
Books. “No poker content.”
Another book is taken out at
random. “Huxley. Brave New
World. Miss Gray?”
“History of the Havana
Braves. Did you know they
played in Atlanta, Milwaukee,
and Boston?”
Winston watches the Poker
Policeman’s face. Apparently he
didn’t know that. The Redberry
reports, “No poker content.”
“What else do you have in
here?” asks Officer Boots, taking books out one by one. “The
Book by Goldstein. Koestler’s
Darkness at Noon. Heinlein’s If
This Goes On. We by Zamyatin.
Moore’s V For Vendetta. Hold
on! What’s this one?” The
Policeman reach towards the
illegal copy of Super/System and
(Smith dares not breathe a sigh
of relief) reaches past it.
“Orwell. Animal Farm. Wait,
don’t tell me! It’s a book about
cows, chickens, and goats?”
“And pigs. Mostly it’s about
pigs.”
Officer Boots turns to
Winston, whose stomach twists
into a knot. “Is she right, Mr.
Smith? Is Animal Farm about
cows, chickens, goats, and
pigs?”
Winston, who has no idea,
makes no reply.
The Poker Policeman scans
Animal Farm into his Redberry.
“Warning! WARNING!
Warning!” flashes the screen.
“Poker content detected!”
“What kind of dangerous
book?” the Poker Policeman
asks Winston Smith.
Poker players instinctively
understand the “fight or flight”
response. When faced with an
aggressive raise, a poker player
will either turn to face the threat
(re-raising), or turn away from
the threat (folding). Winston
Smith, who is no poker player,
freezes, paralyzed by a guilty
conscience.
The female bookseller, who
has either a totally clear conscience or no conscience at all,
speaks up for the dumbstruck
Smith, “What business is it or
yours, Officer …?”
“Boots. Poker Policeman
Jack Boots. All dangerous books
are my business.” He takes out
his Police Redberry, “Right
thumb! Right now!” Winston
presses his right thumb onto the
screen.
“Smith, Winston. 39.
Schoolteacher. No known poker
crimes,” reads Officer Boots
before turning his attention to
the woman, “Gray, Delia. 44.
Unemployed. Known poker
player!”
Winston flinches. Delia
Gray does not. “I played when
poker was legal.” The Poker
Policeman waits for more of an
explanation. Delia Gray offers
none.
This time Smith speaks up, if
only to ask, “Officer, may I go
now?”
A violent headshake, “No.
I want to see what dangerous
book this woman sold you.”
Smith can almost hear the
Judge’s sentence, “Twenty
years!”
Jack Boots rummages
through the box and pulls a
book out at random, “Bradbury.
Fahrenheit 451. What,” he asks
Jack Boots draws his weapon. “Delia Gray. Winston Smith.
I am placing you both under
arrest for possession of a forbidden poker book. You do not
have the right to remain silent.
All things you have said will be
used against you. You have no
right to speak to a lawyer, and
no lawyer will be present during
your interrogation. If you cannot afford a lawyer, you will be
required to defend yourself. Do
you understand that poker players have no rights?”
[This is a work of poker fiction set ten thousand hands in
the future. Any resemblance to
persons living or dead is coincidental.]
(To be continued in the next
issue of Poker Player)
GO ALL-IN.
ANY DAY.
Sunday WSOP qualifier
Tournaments begin at 10 a.m.
March 4th, March 18th,April 1st,
April 15th,April 29th, May 13th,
May 20th, May 27th
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Saturday, March 10th
Daily No Limit Hold ‘Em
tournaments
Monday 11:15 a.m.
Tuesday 11:15 a.m. & 7 p.m.
Wednesday 11:15 a.m. & 7 p.m.
Thursday 11:15 a.m.
Friday 11:15 a.m.
Last Saturday of every
month 10 a.m.
Graveyard Bonus Jackpots
Monday-Friday, 3 a.m.-8 a.m.
Aces Cracked
Monday-Friday, 3 a.m.-9 a.m.
Management reserves the right to modify or cancel these promotions
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.
MARCH 5, 2007
13
Just Ducky
STRAIGHT SKINNY
By RICHARD G. BURKE
We were playing a half-kill at a $4-8
Hold’Em table in my local poker room on a spring
Tuesday. I was The Button. I saw both black Deuces;
decided my position was worth raising, and raised.
Only the three blinds called, and we saw the Flop
four-handed.
The Flop came Qd-9d-2a. Hot diggity dog, I had
flopped a Set! They all checked to me: I bet $6. Mac,
the Small Blind, raised. The Big Blind cold-called
both bets. The Half-Kill Blind folded. What was happening, I wondered? Slowing down a bit, I called.
The pot held $79 at that point, after the house rake,
bad-beat drop, and the dealer’s toke-to-be.
The fourth card on the tableau was the measly,
tiny, magnificent 2d. I had that fabulous poker
hand, Quadzilla! The third diamond on the tableau
meant that a Flush was possible, and the Pair meant
that a Full House was also possible. Mac led with
$12. The Big Blind raised! I said, “What the hell, I’ll
re-raise.” Mac capped the betting at $48. The Big
Blind called both bets, and of course I called Mac’s
last raise. Mac muttered under his breath that he
hoped no one had four Deuces, so it was clear to me
that he held a Full House. I suspected the Big Blind
had a Flush.
The dealer laid the 8f on the table. Mac bet his
last $3. The Big Blind folded. (Why would he decline
to risk $8 with $227 in the pot?!) I called. By that
time, the other players at our table were standing
up to see what we would show down. Mac tabled
his pocket Queens and held his breath until I turned
over my Deuces, whereupon he jumped up and ran
out of the poker room. Didn’t say one word, just
bolted.
Of course Mac and I each flopped Sets. I happened
to be lucky with my four little Ducks, and thereby
stacked $229 after toking the dealer. The Big Blind
never did disclose his hand. Because he raised on
the Turn with those two Deuces on the table, I’m
pretty sure he had Jd-Td, a Flush with an openended Straight Flush redraw.
There are a couple of pointers here. One is that
you need to have enough chips for a big hand at any
time. I had no idea I would need 80+ chips at the
start of that hand. If you’re nursing a smallish number of stacks, then you won’t be able to maximize
a big hand when it arises. Since you never know
when big hands will occur, you will profit by keeping
enough ammo at hand to make the most of them.
Two, I think Mac was too eager to raise with
his Set of Queens. If I had been he, then I would
have slow-played my Set and waited until the Turn
to check-raise, when the bets doubled. Then the
Button’s ensuing raise would have alerted me to the
possibility of his having Quads.
You have to give your opponents some credit
once in a while: when they raise your check-raise,
they probably have something pretty nice, and you
should take notice. Unless I have the stony nuts, I
gear right down when my check-raise is re-raised.
If I had been Mac, then I would still have lost of
course because I would never fold the top full house
in a limit game. By slowing down on the Turn and
River, I would have lost less than Mac did. A bet or
two saved spends just as well as a bet or two won.
Mr. Burke is the author of Flop: The Art of Winning at
Low-Limit Hold ’Em, on sale at amazon &
kokopellipress.com. E-mail your Hold ’Em questions to
[email protected]
14
MARCH 5, 2007
Harrah’s Rincon WSOP Circuit Event
HARRAH’S RINCON
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
EVENT #3
2/13/07
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,000 + $60
PLAYERS 89
PRIZE POOL
$86,330
Justin Hagan
1. Justin Hagan AKA
“The Juice” . . . . . . . $31,079
2. Chris Bonita . . . . . . $17,266
3. Jacob Frank . . . . . . . $9,496
4. Jason Stern . . . . . . . . $6,906
5. Joseph Ochoa . . . . . . $6,043
6. Don Fryer . . . . . . . . . $5,180
7. Rick Fox . . . . . . . . . . $4,317
8. Charles Chan . . . . . . $3,453
9. Mike Heintschel . . . . $2,590
HARRAH’S RINCON
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
EVENT #2
room to full capacity. A
total of 646 players braved
a drizzly Sunday afternoon
and made a definitive statement that the World Series
of Poker is very much alive
in San Diego County.
Fittingly, the outcome
of the inaugural tournament was just as memorable. Canadian Duane
Mills, from Langley,
British Columbia earned
a hard-fought, but muchdeserved, first-time victory.
Incredibly, it was the first
time Mr. Mills had ever
entered a WSOP-related
tournament. He had arrived
in San Diego to visit friends
over the weekend and
was talked into coming to
Harrah’s Rincon and entering his first major American
poker tournament. What a
great decision that turned
out to be for the 36-year-old
owner of an Internet company.
Mills Cinderella-like
victory quelled what might
have been the greatest
comeback in WSOP Circuit
history. Justin Froyd, a
salesman from Arizona,
almost pulled off the comeback of the year. He was
down to a single chip at one
point at the final table, and
then managed to survive
several all-ins before settling ultimately for the runner-up spot.
Runner-up Justin Froyd
collected $27,258 as an
official payout. His comeback in this tournament is
one of the great stories of
the 2006-07 WSOP Circuit
season and is something
unlikely to be matched for
a long time. Mr. Froyd
is the owner of an online
website which markets
and sells poker apparel
(t-shirts, caps, etc.). The
site is called “R.A.G.S,”
which stands for “Rounder
Acquiring Great Stacks.”
The site can be found at
www.pokerags.com.
The winner was Duane
Mills. He started the final
table second in the chip
count and ended up winning his first major poker
tournament. “This was the
first time I have ever played
at the World Series,” Mills
stated afterward. “To come
here and win, that’s really
special.” His official payout amounted to $52,636.
He was also presented with
a WSOP gold ring, awarded
to each tournament winner. Mills was cheered on
by a few friends and said
he would celebrate the
2/12/07
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 186
PRIZE POOL
$90,211
Eric V. Abate
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Eric V. Abate . . . . . . $29,228
Joe Griffith . . . . . . . $15,336
Unknown . . . . . . . . . . $9,021
Michael Jukich . . . . . $7,217
Darius Hastings . . . . $5,413
Michael Parshall . . . . $4,511
Ray Blodgett . . . . . . . $3,608
Steve Yamamuro . . . . $2,706
Al King . . . . . . . . . . . $1,804
Canadian Wins
Largest Major Poker
Tournament in San
Diego History
For the third consecutive
year, the Harrah’s Rincon
Casino-Resort hosted a
stop on the World Series of
Poker Circuit. Nestled in
a lush mountainous valley
50 miles north of beautiful San Diego, Rincon is
located on tribal reservation land. Under the
joint management of the
Rincon Tribal Council and
Harrah’s Entertainment,
the mammoth casino complex has blossomed into a
world-class resort destination, not only for southern
Californians -- but for
poker players nationwide as
well who make the trek to
Rincon every winter.
Rincon’s first poker
event this year surpassed
all expectations and broke
the existing record for San
Diego’s largest major poker
tournament in history.
They filled up the poker
room. They jammed the
casino with added tables.
They filled the grand ball-
Get in on the action at the
Foxwoods Poker Classic, March 19-April 4, 2007.
Last year’s prize pool exceeded $6,800,000.
Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation
Conveniently located off I-95 in the Mystic Country region of southeast Connecticut. For more information,visit foxwoods.com.
MARCH 5, 2007
15
Limit Hold’em Leaks:
Suited Connectors
NEVER PLAY Poker with
a man CALLed “DOC”
By Scott Aigner, M.D.
Playing suited connectors is not as common of a
hold’em leak as some of the other group of hands
I have discussed. Still, there are some players
who will not fold these hands despite the fact that
they are unfavorable in most situations. The only
time that they should be played is when the game
is loose passive. The truth is that in most typical middle limit games there are rarely enough
pot odds to play these hands profitably. The table
composition is usually tight and aggressive with
no more than three or occasionally four players
seeing the flop in a raised pot setting.
There will be a few occasions where playing a
suited connector in a raised pot can be a profitable
play. My requirement to play one of these hands is
when there are at least 4 players seeing the flop,
I am in last position, the suited connector is no
worse than 5-4, and there is no gap.
The reason for the 5-4 minimum holding that
can make 4 different straights, from a wheel (5-43-2-A) to an 8-high straight (8-7-6-5-4). The high
end of the maximum stretch connectors is J-10.
It can make the Broadway (A-K-Q-J-10) down to
the J high (J-T-9-8-7). Having a full spectrum of
the straight potential with your suited connectors
is important. Straights are more deceptive than
flushes and win extra bets as a result.
I rarely play a one-gap suited connector (or the
lowly 4-3 and 3-2) in a raised pot. The only time I
make an exception to this rule is when I am one of
the blinds and the raiser is the first player to open
the pot. I can call knowing that the betting will
be closed (except if I am the small blind in which
case the big blind could reopen the betting with a
reraise) and I’ll receive excellent pot odds.
One advantage to suited connectors is that you
usually have a fairly easy decision about whether
to play beyond the flop (this also holds true with
small pairs too). Although on occasion you might
flop a pair, this is a hand that I am not going to get
too excited about and will fold it if I can’t improve
to anything other than two pair or trips, and the
betting is fast and furious. The main reason to play
suited connectors is to catch a primary draw — a
draw to a straight, a flush, or both. Sure, you might
actually get lucky and flop two pair or trips, but
you can do this with any hand that is not a pocket
pair.
One potential risk that you might make a flush
and end up losing to a higher flush. Most poker
players do not realize how often this actually
occurs in a multi way pot. In fact, when you make
a flush there is about a 24 percent chance that
another player also made one. Most of the time
you are going to end up paying the opponent off
because the pot is extremely large. I might slow
down when I am raised but I certainly am not
going to fold it in a fixed-limit game. Folding the
winning hand is a huge mistake compared to losing
an additional bet or two. Next time I will continue
with off suit connectors and the any two suited
hands.
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
16
MARCH 5, 2007
oker professional and
Hawaiian Gardens
host Phi Nguyen learned
how to hold them and
when to fold them as a refugee from the most daunting of circumstances.
He and some of his
family fled the hard times
associated with life in
post-war Vietnam – this
was 1980 – and eventually
P
almost devastated him.
“I got addicted . . . I
was young and stupid,” is
the way he was explaining it recently, giving the
memory a wry grin.
Which eventually led
him– ironically, some
would say – to a life-
California’s Hawaiian
Gardens card club that he’s
proud to spend time talking
about.
Nguyen has been hosting some of the top section action at the Gardens
since shortly after he won
his first World Series
bracelet. His official
tournament money now
totals $1.1 million and he
PLAYER
PHI
BY PHIL HEVENER
Nguyen
Profile
made it to the U.S., via
stops of several months
each in Malaysia and the
Philippines where they
soaked up the basics of
such necessities as learning
the English language. He
was in his mid-teens when
the family arrived on the
west coast and Nguyen was
quickly immersed in an
American approach to life.
He went to school thinking he’d study to become
an engineer. Not a bad
idea, or so it seemed, but
circumstances got in the
way.
So how did he make
his way to the happy ending that the 40-year-old
Nguyen says now defines
his life?
Nguyen makes it sound
like one of those things,
just a matter of being
in the right place at the
right time, just a matter
of reaching down for the
courage and awareness
that enabled him to climb
over obstacles and grip the
opportunities that drifted
within his reach.
It was a long story,
according to Nguyen.
Life took one of those
unexpected left turns when
he made a trip to Las Vegas
with a friend. Relating this
experience years after the
fact, he notes that he was
under age at and was therefore content to stand back
and watch the friend do his
thing at the games.
Nguyen had discovered
the big, exciting world of
gambling and over a period
of time, as he explained
it recently, the experience
changing discovery, the
world of poker, a game
that seemed to exist in a
universe of its own, very
different from other casino
games.
A solid attitude, good
strategy and an understanding of poker’s dynamics
could make a difference,
he concluded.
Hmmmm . . .
Definitely worth a closer
look.
Nguyen picked up some
poker books, the first one
he remembers getting
some good stuff from was
by David Sklansky whose
writings have guided a
generation or more of serious players. Sklansky had
a lot to say. Nguyen digested it and looked for more.
Nguyen studied the
people who appeared to
be making a comfortable
living at poker tables. He
developed what was for
him a new foundation of
discipline and awareness
that began to make a difference.
Good things began to
happen.
He’s earned a sold reputation on the pro poker circuit with two World Series
of Poker bracelets, both of
those first places posted
in hold ’em events during
the 2003 and 2004 World
Series, final table appearances on the World Poker
Tour and Professional
Poker Tour and has an
employer in Southern
Poker Player is pleased to welcome Phil Hevener back to its pages.
Hevener was the Managing Editor of Poker Player from July 1983 to
December 1985. Phil wanted to produce his own publication, which he
did with Larry Hall. They called it, “Las Vegas Style.” A popular journalist who writes for many major publications, Phil was replaced in 1985 by
Gary Thompson, who is now the spokesman for Harrahs Entertainment.
can be found in some of
the biggest tournaments
anywhere, thanks to his
Hawaiian Gardens association.
Internet poker does not
interest him. Live games
are where he finds satisfaction.
“I think I have become
pretty good at reading
people at the table, the
things they to, the way
they move, the way their
attitudes change depending
on what they have . . .
“But what is there to
read on a computer?” He
seems to give the issue a
shrug that suggests there is
nothing more to say on the
subject.
Nguyen enjoys talking
to the people he meets
during his hours at the
Gardens. He enjoys talking about poker or being
an American, a subject that
might seem trite to those
who take for granted the
things that Nguyen says he
will never take for granted.
There’s a sad shake of
his head as Phi Nguyen
thinks about the number of
Americans taking so much
for granted.
“If only they knew
how much they have,” he
muses, a thought that is the
result of listening to people
, the things they say, and,
the things they do not say.
“They take America for
granted.”
Even as he embraces
American style success
he has not forgotten his
roots, that boat ride out of
Vietnam.
The thoughts first came
to life in his mind the year
he won his first World
Series bracelet in a no limit
hold ‘em event in 2003 and
was interviewed by reporters who peppered him
WSOP Circuit at Council Bluffs
Did Jeff Heiberg Win
it On 1st Hand, Or did
Jeff Siler Just ‘FBomb’ Out?
This final table had everything. Draw-outs, double
draw-outs, an excruciating length of well over
six hours, an explosive
first hand that gave Jeff
Heiberg a huge lead, and
a controversial ending
which runner-up Jeff Siler
blamed on an ‘f-bomb’
penalty that he said rattled
him and threw his play off,
while Heiberg maintained
that he won it by better
play. Take your choice.
Where to start? Well,
let’s start by introducing
the winner, go to the first
hand, then jump to the
dramatic ending. Heiberg
is a 58-year-old ‘petroleum landman’ who does
title searches for oil companies. He’s from Buffalo,
Wyoming, learned poker
playing satellites and live
games four years ago, and
his tournament cash-outs
include a fourth in an
Aussie Millions $1,000
event, a 10th in a $2,000
no-limit shootout at the
World Series, and a second
in a pot-limit Jack Binion
World Poker Open event.
His win tonight was worth
$62,227.
On hand 137, Everett
Carlton went out, muttering ‘Unbelievable, unbe-
lievable.’ With 8c-6c, he
flopped two pair when
the board came 10-8-6
and raised all in when
Siler, with pocket aces,
bet out. But then a 10
turned, giving Siler acesup. Carlton, 52, is from
St. Paul, Minnesota, and
is toying with turning pro.
He’s been playing four
years and has had several
cash-outs, notably $92,715
for finishing seventh in
a $1,000 no-limit event
at the WSOP last year.
Third place tonight paid
$19,206.
Heads-up, Siler led with
about 250,000 to 150,000
for Heiberg. Play dragged
on, even more since Siler
sometimes thought very
long before acting, once
for about 10 minutes.
After Heiberg doggedly
climbed back into the
lead, came the penalty and
conclusion. Siler, 36, is
a pro from Kansas City,
Missouri. He’s been playing 25 years. A graduate of
the U.S. Military Academy
at West Point, he saw service in the in the Mideast
as an Army captain. Siler
has several small tournament wins and a $33,830
cash-out at a WPT
Bellagio event. Despite his
grumblings, he still made
$32,227 for second.
HORSESHOE CASINO
COUNCIL BLUFFS
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
EVENT #6
2/3/07
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,500 + $70
PLAYERS 132
PRIZE POOL
$192,061
Jeff Heiberg
1. Jeff Heiberg . . . . . . $62,227
2. Jeff Siler . . . . . . . . . $32,650
3. Everett Carlton . . . . $19,206
Ultimate Blackjack Tour Honors Cory Lidle’s Legacy Of Charity
By Jennifer Matiran
New York Yankees pitcher
Cory Lidle hosted poker tournament fundraisers for the
Make-A-Wish Foundation for
the past two years, before his
untimely death on October
11, 2006. Ultimate Blackjack
Tour (UBT), along with
Lidle’s family, friends and
colleagues kept his poker tradition alive with the inaugural
Cory Lidle Memorial Poker
Tournament. After hours
of poker at the Hollywood
Park Casino on Sunday,
January 28th, Chris Welch
was the last man standing
after outlasting 270 players
and taking home the first
place prize of $12,560. But
the big winner was Make-AWish Foundation of Greater
Los Angeles, which raised
$58,000 for a wonderful
cause.
Showing support in Lidle’s
honor were San Francisco
Giants’ ace pitcher Barry
Zito, who won the 2002
American League Cy Young
Award while playing with
Celebrities abound: (top, l to r) Kevin Lidle with Dodgers
pitcher Randy Wolf; (bottom l to r) Tournament winner
Chris Welch , S.F. Giants pitcher Barry Zito, and
Dodger catcher Mike Lieberthal.
Lidle in Oakland, Dodgers
catcher Mike Lieberthal,
Dodgers pitcher Randy Wolf,
and Hollywood director John
Landis. From the gaming
world, poker greats/Team
UBT members Annie Duke
and Freddy Deeb played for
charity along with Ultimate
Blackjack Tour founder and
1994 World Series of Poker
Main Event champ Russ
Hamilton.
$200,000
No-Limit Hold ’em
Saturday, April 28, 9 am
Over $200,000 Cash Guaranteed
First Prize $60,000
Pays up to 100 places
$320 Buy-in/Service Fee, No Rebuys
Field Limit 630 Players
Registration begins March 12 at:
Chumash Casino Box Office ChumashCasino.com
800 585 3737
3400 East Highway 246, Santa Ynez, CA
MARCH 5, 2007
17
ePoker is Here!
There’s More Than
One Way to Skin a Cat
SENIORS SCENE
By George “The engineer” EPSTEIN
Have you ever heard that expression? I
don’t know why anyone would ever want to skin a cat, but it
is true that there often is more than one way to accomplish
an objective. On Friday, October 13 (are you superstitious?),
President Bush signed into law the Unlawful Internet Gambling
Enforcement (UIGE) Act, effectively banning online poker in
the U.S.A.
Millions of people have been enjoying playing online. There
is a variety of reasons why many prefer it over playing in
a brick-and-mortar casino. For example, the elimination of
human errors by the dealer. These can be so exasperating and
really slow down the game, especially if you have folded and
are anxious for the hand to be completed so you can get to
the next deal. And, of course, the game is so much faster than
dealer-operated games – perhaps 40 to 50 percent faster.
That gives us more chances to be dealt pocket aces! Further,
since there is no human dealer involved in online games, we
don’t have the expense of tipping the dealer; that could make
the difference between a winning and losing session.
Well, the UIGE Act may discourage online poker, but we
can still get these benefits in a brick-and-mortar casino. . .
Last October 12 (coincidentally, just the day before President
Bush signed the Act into the law of the land), I attended the
opening of the ePoker Room at Hollywood Park Casino in
Inglewood, Calif. PokerPro electronic tables, developed by
PokerTek, Inc., are used. The players are seated just like at a
regular oval-shaped poker table. But here’s the thing: There’s
no dealer at the table! Each player has a touch screen in front
of him, clearly displaying his virtual chips, his hole cards, the
board, and actions during the play of the hand. As a player,
you select the action with a touch of the screen in front of
you. It’s designed so that only you can see your hole cards.
Advantages over online poker. So, even if our Congress
and President won’t allow online poker, we can get some of
those benefits using ePoker. What’s more, it offers a real
advantage over online poker: We can actually see our opponents! I like that. We can observe their reactions and expressions, their “tells” and more. And we have the benefit of
social interaction with real live human beings who are seated
at the table with us – just like in a casino. Don’t underrate
that aspect. Whether or not you realize it, we are social “animals,” requiring interaction with other human beings.
Since it opened on October 12, the ePoker Room at
Hollywood Park Casino has been growing in player acceptance.
Recently two more electronic tables were added. Other casinos are bound to follow suit.
I spoke to Allan, a long-time poker player who regularly
plays hold’em at the Hollywood Park Casino. The first time he
tried ePoker, he was given a short tutorial. It’s really quite
easy to play, he told me. He observed that it is a “clean environment” – no handling of actual chips and cards. (In these
days when colds and flu threaten us, that’s a real plus.) He
found the transition quite easy, he said. And the fact that he
has won 2/3rds of his ePoker sessions makes it all the more
satisfying.
Yes, ePoker may offer us some of the best features of playing online – and then some – and we can play it in a brick-andmortar casino.
So, readers, what’s YOUR opinion?
Greed is an ugly thing.
Avarice is a virtue not a vice.
Two aphorisms that seem
diametrically opposed. So
which is right? My favorite
treatise on the subject of greed
comes from the movie Wall
Street when Gordon Gekko,
the Wall Street legend speaks
PART 93,
MARCH 5, 2007
Greed
IMPROVING
PERFORMANCE
By Tom “TIME” Leonard
at Teldar Paper Company’s
annual stockholder’s meeting.
In part he states that, “Greed,
for lack of a better word,
is good. Greed is right….
greed works, greed clarifies
and cuts through and captures
the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its
forms….greed for life, for
money, for love and for knowledge has marked the upward
surge of mankind.” Michael
Douglas who played Gordon
Gekko won an academy award
for his performance and his
speech touching on greed
became the mantra for many
of the young guns on Wall
Street in the 80’s. The way we
keep score in poker is by how
much money is won and lost.
Does that mean poker players
are greedy? I’m not going to
attempt to answer these questions. I believe we all need to
supply our own answers.
Greed can get you into
trouble in poker by coming
back and biting you. Getting
greedy by being cute and giving free cards which allow
opponents to catch up may
George “The Engineer” Epstein is the author of The
Greatest Book of Poker for Winners! and Hold’em or
Fold’em? – An Algorithm for Making the Key Decision
(T/C Press, PO Box 36006, Los Angeles, CA 90036) He
teaches poker courses and the Poker Lab at the Claude
Pepper Sr. Citizen Center under the auspices of the City
of Los Angeles Dept. of Recreation and Parks. George can
be reached by e-mail: [email protected].
18
well permit them to overtake
you. How about limping with
pocket rockets in an attempt to
trap one or more opponents?
These actions are rooted in
greed aimed at maximizing
profit but we all know that
most strategies need to pass
through a risk/reward filter.
While tricky, creative play
may well increase profit it
carries with it inherent risks.
Often times it is wiser to win
a small pot instead of risking
losing a large one.
I recently witnessed a situation where a player’s greed
came back to bite him right
on his derriere. I don’t fault
our hero’s actions at all and
the outcome should just reinforce that anything can
happen in poker. I folded
pre-flop and four players
watched a flop that contained a
pair of fives with a suited six.
Conventional wisdom holds
that if you’re lucky enough to
hit quads on the flop that you
check as not to chase away
your customers. Our hero hit
quad fives and checked. He
then watched as a suited seven
hit the turn and a suited eight
hit the river. Of course, one
of his opponents held a nine
of that suit and his quads were
crushed by a straight flush.
Should he have raised his
opponent off his hand earlier?
I don’t think so but it was his
greed to maximize his expect-
ed win that caused him to lose.
But hey, that’s poker.
In the final analysis these
questions speak to playing
style and a player’s risk tolerance While the risk takers
may book larger wins they
also book larger losses versus the more conservative
approach of plodding along
and booking more modest but
more regular wins. So, again
which is right? Again, the
correct answer is your answer
Some people enjoy roller
coasters while others would
prefer the smoother ride of a
carousel.
Regular readers of my
columns know it always ends
with a goal we can take away
to help improve ourselves.
You may be asking yourself
what that goal might be when
I’ve just rambled on and on
about greed. I will answer this
one and that goal would be to
accentuate our greed for life,
love and knowledge and hopefully the financial upsides will
follow. 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].
WSOP Circuit at Council Bluffs
4.
5.
6.
7.
Paul Elfelt . . . . . . . . $15,365
Mark Lessin . . . . . . $11,524
David Seidman . . . . . $9,603
Patrick Sweeney
AKA “Dr” . . . . . . . . . $7,682
8. Deb Blair . . . . . . . . . . $5,762
9. Rick Benish . . . . . . . . $3,841
A ‘Sellers Market’ as
Justin Sellers Scores
Easy Victory
“I’m friendly, like to talk to
other players and love to have
a great time playing,” is how
Justin Sellers describes himself. It’s an apt description of
the 26-year-old professional
player from Bismarck, North
Dakota, and tonight he really
had a “great time” playing as
he arrived at the final table
second in chips, quickly took
a huge lead and then coasted
to an easy victory in just 21/2 hours.
He took home $57,513
for winning the fifth event of
the Harrah’s WSOP Circuit
Tour at Horseshoe Casino
Council Bluffs, $1,000 nolimit hold’em. It was his
biggest win ever. His biggest
accomplishment before that
was coming in first, third and
fourth out of six events at
Canterbury Park Casino, winning a best all-around.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
HORSESHOE CASINO
COUNCIL BLUFFS
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
EVENT #4
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 282
PRIZE
POOL
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
$136,770
2/2/07
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,000 + $60
PLAYERS 183
PRIZE POOL
$177,519
Justin Sellers
1. Justin Sellers . . . . . . $57,513
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Jeff Doane . . . . . . . . $43,766
Erik Albertson . . . . $24,072
Ray Flavin . . . . . . . . $12,309
David Marazzo . . . . . $9,574
Edward Nassif . . . . . $8,206
Dennis Otto . . . . . . . . $6,839
John Love . . . . . . . . . $5,471
Richard Klein . . . . . . $4,103
Jerry Shields . . . . . . . $2,735
Harrah’s Rincon WSOP
Circuit Event
1. Duane Mills . . . . . . . $52,636
HARRAH’S RINCON
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
4. Paul Smith AKA
“BigBuffet” . . . . . . . $13,159
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
5. Andrew Gillette . . . $11,279
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PLAYERS 646
6. Joseph Ochoa . . . . . . $9,399
EVENT #1
2/11/07
PRIZE POOL
HORSESHOE CASINO
COUNCIL BLUFFS
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
EVENT #3
1/31/07
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $300 + $50
PLAYERS 394
PRIZE
POOL
$114,660
1. Cody Slaubaugh AKA
“Thugmoneymaker” $35,543
2. Danny Walker . . . . . $18,345
3. Mike Armstrong . . . . $9,172
4. Dave Kerrigan . . . . . $8,026
5. Gary Turille . . . . . . . $6,879
6. Todd Bentley . . . . . . . $5,733
7. Josh Wininger . . . . . . $4,586
HORSESHOE CASINO
COUNCIL BLUFFS
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
EVENT #2
1/30/07
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 271
PRIZE
POOL
$186,452
1. William Drumm . . . $42,059
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
William Lamb . . . . . $23,133
Tom Wentzel . . . . . . $11,829
Richard Klein . . . . . . $9,200
Kevin Ratliff . . . . . . . $7,886
Clint Lilienthal . . . . . $6,572
Brian Cole . . . . . . . . . $5,257
Larry Davis . . . . . . . . $3,943
Bob Slezak . . . . . . . . . $2,629
HORSESHOE CASINO
COUNCIL BLUFFS
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT
EVENT #1
1/29/07
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PLAYERS 531
PRIZE
POOL
$154,521
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Rafal Boduch . . . . . $44,805
Lee Gardner . . . . . . $23,639
Khanh Nguyen . . . . $12,362
William Wagner . . . $10,816
Fred Walker . . . . . . . $9,271
Randy Stephenson . . $7,726
Kristopher Meek . . . $6,181
Larry Christensen . . $4,636
Cesar Hernandez . . . $3,090
A
unlikeliest of victories with
a bottle of Dom Perignon.
“Or two” – he confided.
2/1/07
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
HORSESHOE CASINO
COUNCIL BLUFFS
EVENT #5
Reed Hensel . . . . . . $30,177
Rodney Horton . . . . $17,751
Mitch Schock . . . . . $14,201
Abraham Watkins . $10,651
Ernest Lessard . . . . . $8,876
Bart Ness . . . . . . . . . . $7,110
Steve Federspiel . . . . $5,325
Curtis Connors . . . . . $3,550
2. Justin Froyd . . . . . . $27,258
3. Tim Frostad . . . . . . $15,039
7. Frankie Marino . . . . $7,519
$188,459
8. Danny Hsu . . . . . . . . $5,640
Duane Mills
9. Michael Arents
AKA “Scott” . . . . . . . $3,760
Results from
Casino Innsbruck - Austria:
Texas Hold’em Triple
CASINO INNSBRUCK - 2/10/07
TEXAS HOLD’EM TRIPLE
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN 500 EURO + 25 EURO
PLAYERS 94
PRIZE
POOL
€44,650
1. Konstantinos Apostolou
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .€12,493
2. Sebastian Behrend . .€8,921
3. Bernd Rygol . . . . . . .€6,689
4. Anton Krottmayr . . .€5,349
5. Werner Oberbauer . .€4,010
6. Francesco Caliano . .€2,670
7. Luca Girelli . . . . . . . .€1,777
8. Emanuel Zgraggen . .€1,331
9. Adrian Breuer . . . . . . €884
NO LIMIT HOLD’EMREBUY 1 OPTIONAL,
ADDON
PLAYERS 121
REBUYS 128
PRIZE
POOL
€47,310
1. Francesco Caliano .€13,247
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Roy Riedel . . . . . . . . .€9,462
Markus Taglieber . . .€7,097
Nicola Molignoni . . .€5,677
Johann Weiss . . . . . .€4,258
Emanuel Zgraggen . .€2,839
Michael Joring . . . . .€1,892
Josef Reinstadler . . .€1,419
Roland Schweissgut . . €946
NO LIMIT HOLD’EMREBUY UNLIMITED
60 MINS, ADDON
PLAYERS 112
REBUYS 172
PRIZE
POOL
€26,980
1. Adrian Breuer . . . . .€7,554
2. Alexander Moosburner . . . .
€5,396
3. Michael Fankhauser €4,047
4. Unknown . . . . . . . . . .€3,238
5. Mario Wimmer . . . . .€2,428
6. Alexander Zaya . . . .€1,619
7. Daniel Platter . . . . . .€1,079
8. Silberto Rose . . . . . . . . €809
9. Sascha Berndt . . . . . . . €540
PLACE
PRIZE
PLACE
PRIZE
1
$500,000
11th - 20th
$1,750
2
$250,000
21st - 30th
$1,500
3
$100,000
31st - 40th
$1,250
4
$60,000
41st - 50th
$1,000
5
$35,000
51st - 60th
$750
6
$25,000
61st - 70th
$500
7
$20,000
71st - 80th
$250
8
$15,000
9
$10,000
10
$5,000
MARCH 5, 2007
19
No-Limit Confusion
POWER POKER
By DOYLE BRUNSON
The difference between limit and no-limit
poker can be as broad as a Texas pasture
stretching from here to the horizon.
Rochester Ricky didn’t understand that
difference. He was from New York and talked his way into
our game in Fort Worth in the late sixties. He strutted in
proud – some local champ from far away – and sauntered
away quite sadly. He’d chosen a tough game. Besides me,
there was Amarillo Slim, Puggy Pearson, Johnny Moss,
and Sailor Roberts. All would turn out to be world champions in the future.
Slim kept chatting at him, seeming friendly, but really
trying to unravel the mystery of this stranger. Usually,
the more you can get a man to talk, the more he’s likely
to give you the keys to his destruction. And Slim was
the best at extracting such information. Rochester Ricky
revealed that he was quite a local star and was proud
of the fact that he had brought $10,000 to our table. In
fact, he’d slapped it down in front of us as if expecting
surprise. Mostly, we stifled yawns. We’d seen that kind of
money often.
No-limit hold ’em : What we discovered was that he
played a wide variety of poker games, but he always used
language like, “I bet the $50 limit” or “He called my $100
and raised, so I reraised once more, making it $300.”
Well, it was powerfully clear that he wasn’t accustomed to
no-limit poker. So, that’s what we dealt from then on – nolimit Texas hold ’em. And Ricky just couldn’t handle it.
Once he called a $400 bet that Slim had aimed at a
$400 pot and announced that he didn’t expect to win,
but it was worth the 2-to-1 odds ($800 to $400). What
he failed to realize was that, although what he said had
merit, you don’t figure it the same way in no-limit games.
You have to suspect that the bettor has a stronger hand
than he would in a limit game. The difference is that in
limit games, you can wager with the luxury of knowing
the worst that can happen is that you can face a raise the
same size as what you wagered. Considering the size of
the pot, that’s often an easy call.
In no-limit, you suddenly can get raised a fortune,
and you’ve got to take that into consideration when you
wager. So, you need a stronger hand to call in no-limit,
because the bettor is representing a stronger hand himself. Ricky didn’t grasp this.
Adapting : Also, he didn’t understand the art of bluffing in no-limit. I’ve known some successful players in limit
poker who almost never bluff. But, you can’t succeed in
no-limit poker like that. Bluffing is a primary element of
no-limit. You’ve got to do it, and Ricky didn’t do it. He
didn’t know how.
To adapt to no-limit:
1. You need stronger hands to bet.
2. You need stronger hands to call — or to raise with an
advantage.
3. You need to bluff more often and more wisely.
Rochester Ricky left the game with words I still
remember: “Don’t bother looking me up if you come to
Rochester. I’ll never play hold ’em against Texans again
as long as I live.” For his sake, I hope he stuck to that
promise.
Upstate N.Y. Plays Online
Poker While Snowed In
The season’s first arctic
blast left parts of northern
New York shivering as temperatures dipped well below
0° F. With schools, offices
and roads closed, the public
searched for an entertainment outlet, and found one.
Absolute Poker – one of the
world’s largest online poker
sites – noted a 32 percent
player increase.
20
MARCH 5, 2007
senior vice president for
AbsolutePoker. “When
temperatures drop and
snow begins to fall, our
numbers rise.”
New York routinely
accounts for about eight percent of Absolute Poker’s clientele in America, but those
numbers grew substantially
after the cold front froze any
signs of outdoor comfort.
Commerce LAPC in Full Swing
COMMERCE CASINO
L.A. POKER CLASSIC
EVENT #17
2/10/07
COMMERCE CASINO
L.A. POKER CLASSIC
EVENT #14
SHOOTOUT NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
REBUY UNLIMITED
BUY-IN $1,000 + $60
PLAYERS 250
PRIZE
POOL
$242,500
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Anthony Lamarra . $88,090
Saifuddin Ahmad . . $46,075
Randy Holland . . . . $23,280
Mark Cruz . . . . . . . $14,550
Kenneth Kun . . . . . $12,125
Edward Applebaum . $9,700
Stephen Applebaum . $7,275
Alex Golshanara . . . . $4,850
William Lin . . . . . . . . $3,395
2/7/07
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500 + $40
PLAYERS 342
PRIZE POOL
EVENT #10
Brian McCann . . . . $63,045
Marcel Sabag . . . . . $31,515
James Van Alstyne . $15,590
Jason Stern . . . . . . . . $9,950
Miami John Cernuto $6,635
Gayk Dermendznyan $5,805
Eitan Nisali . . . . . . . . $4,975
L.A. POKER CLASSIC
EVENT #13
L.A. POKER CLASSIC
EVENT #16
LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500 + $40
BUY-IN $1,000 + $60
PLAYERS 279
PLAYERS 226
PRIZE POOL
$135,315
PRIZE POOL
$219,220
Frank O’Dell
Jui Chang
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Jui Chang . . . . . . . . $81,115
Charlie Art . . . . . . . $41,650
Gioi Luong . . . . . . . $20,825
Jan Olav Sjavik . . . $13,155
Bob Pacleb . . . . . . . . $9,865
David “C4” Plastik . . $7,675
Kirby Rogers . . . . . . $5,480
Edward Jung . . . . . . $4,385
Phyllis Whitlock . . . . $3,510
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
L.A. POKER CLASSIC
EVENT #12
BUY-IN $1,000 + $60
PLAYERS 450
PRIZE
POOL
2/8/07
$436,500
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
PLAYERS 379
PRIZE POOL
$551,445
1. Alexander Jung . . $204,035
2. Jon Eaton . . . . . . . $104,775
3. Kirill Leonid
Zagalsky . . . . . . . . . $52,385
4. Tom Lee . . . . . . . . . . $33,085
5. David “Dragon”
Pham . . . . . . . . . . . . $24,815
6. Franco Brunetti . . . $19,300
7. Shan Jing . . . . . . . . . $13,785
8. Joanne “JJ” Liu . . . $11,030
9. Thor Hansen . . . . . . . $8,825
2/5/07
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
L.A. POKER CLASSIC
BUY-IN $1,500 + $80
Frank O’Dell . . . . . . $50,065
Hang Lam . . . . . . . . $25,710
Eddie Ngo . . . . . . . . $12,855
Jeff Peterson . . . . . . . $8,120
Allen Kim . . . . . . . . . $6,090
Hae Cheong . . . . . . . . $4,735
Don Halpern . . . . . . . $3,385
COMMERCE CASINO
COMMERCE CASINO
EVENT #15
2/6/07
OMAHA HI/LO
2/9/07
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Liz Lieu . . . . . . . . . $148,370
Raz Mael . . . . . . . . . $78,570
Chris Bjorin . . . . . . $39,285
Phillip Luong . . . . . $26,190
Joseph Ochoa . . . . . $19,645
Anthony Lee . . . . . . $15,280
Thu Nguyen . . . . . . $10,915
James Killeen . . . . . . $8,730
Mayen Grigorian . . . $6,985
COMMERCE CASINO
L.A. POKER CLASSIC
EVENT #11
2. Russell Salzer AKA
“The Muscle” . . . . . $11,775
3. Lam Hang . . . . . . . . . $5,950
4. George Rechnitzer . . $3,720
5. Hassan Kamoei . . . . . $3,100
6. Graham Duke . . . . . . $2,480
7. Fred Dakduk . . . . . . . $1,860
L.A. POKER CLASSIC
Brian McCann
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
COMMERCE CASINO
$165,870
COMMERCE CASINO
COMMERCE CASINO
Alexander Jung
Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson stands unchallenged as the
most celebrated poker player who ever lived. In 2005,
at age 72, he won an unprecedented 10th championship
gold bracelet at the World Series of Poker. He is among
the few living members of the Poker Hall of Fame, and
his books are the bibles for poker professionals. Through
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teamed with Mike Caro, today’s premiere poker educator,
to offer a free learning experience to players worldwide.
This column is founded on those collaborative teachings.
Many accounts that are
routinely dormant during
business hours went active
over the past week as players “worked from home”
rather than choosing to face
Mother Nature’s wintry
wrath.
“For us, a sure sign of
winter is a dramatic uptick in online poker activity,” said David Clainer,
2/4/07
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24
MARCH 5, 2007
Time. Some events
C start after the hour
...........AM, PM
O A,WkP................Week
..... Additional gameD &.times
on this day. Call.
E ........Hold’em
.No Limit Hold’em
.Limit Hold’em
N .............No Limit
L ................... Limit
.............Stud
..7-Card Stud
..5-Card Stud
........ Omaha
H/L .High/Low Split
Pi...........Pineapple
Po...........Pot Limit
Pn.........Panginque
Mx ..Mexican Poker
DC .Dealer’s Choice
MONDAY
•GOLD BAR DENOTES ADVERTISER
TIME
|
HH ...... Headhunter
B ............ Bounties
Sp .............. Spread
Al .........Alternates
Z........... Freezeout
Cz ................ Crazy
E..........Elimination
TUESDAY
GAMES BUY-IN| TIME
Q ............... Qualify
Sh ...........Shootout
+ ..Re-Buys and/or
Add-Ons allowed
F ............... Freeroll
Lad ..... Ladies Only
Men ........Men Only
DAILY TOURNAMENTS
NOW! Get Tournament Listings at our website:
www.pokerplayernewspaper.com
Note: All tournaments are subject to change. Check with the Cardroom for any updates. Cardrooms—
please send your schedules to Managing Editor A.R. Dyck, [email protected]
| WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
|
FRIDAY
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
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Excitement at the Speed of Hound
MARCH 5, 2007
25
Online Legends: Gobboboy
ONLINE POKER
Paul “Dr. Pauly” McGuire
Jimmy “Gobboboy” Fricke from Champaign, Illinois
has been playing poker for about two years and
dropped out of school to play full time. He recently made a name for
himself after he cashed in two major events inside of eight days. The
19-year old internet pro took 22nd place at
the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the
Bahamas then flew halfway around the world
to Melbourne, Australia where he took down
second place at the Aussie Millions. Although
he lost to Gus Hansen heads-up, Gobboboy
won $1 million (Australian dollars) in the process. I had a chance to interview Gobboboy
shortly after his epic run.
Pauly: I heard that you dropped out of
Jimmy “Gobboboy”
Fricke
high school to play poker. Is that true? What
did your family think about your decision to go pro?
Gobboboy: I graduated from high school. I dropped out of college
because I hated college. Poker was just my backup plan. I don’t think
my family liked it too much, but my mom has always let me do whatever I want. She knew I hated college and was unsure of how well I
could do. Now, she knows I’ll be fine. My dad didn’t really accept it
until the Aussie Millions.
Pauly: What was the point in your arc as a young poker player
when you knew you could play poker for a living?
Gobboboy: Hell, I still don’t know now. I’ve had success, there’s
so much variance in poker that I could still be a losing player. I think
that I make correct decisions, and as long as that’s true and I keep
good bankroll management, I definitely can be a professional.
Pauly: What was the hardest obstacle that online poker players
have to overcome in live events?
Gobboboy: Keeping their patience. Most online players will
admit that playing live is more fun. However, when you’re playing
approximately one-tenth the hands or less than online, keeping your
patience is extremely important at all times. It took me a decent
number of live tournaments to get good at this, including one WPT. I
still get a little impatient sometimes.
Pauly: What’s your favorite aspect of online poker?
Gobboboy: I love being able to do other things while playing
online. Being able to have a game going in the corner of my monitor
while I do something else is awesome, and in most computer games
it’s impossible to do.
Pauly: How would you best describe your style of play?
Gobboboy: I don’t really have a style of play. I adapt to the table
around me, because every decision you make at the poker table is
an independent decision. If I take each decision by itself and make
the absolute correct play, I could either be playing tight or super
loose by no fault of my own, just the cards and they way they are
falling. In tournaments, you have to be aggressive, so I’m going to be
that either way.
Pauly: Which online poker players do you admire?
Gobboboy: Eric “Rizen” Lynch is a friend of mine and I admire
him because he’s young with a family. He wasn’t sure he was going
to be a professional until he realized just how profitable he was at
MTTs. He has so much discipline that he’s going to be one of the
best MTT players in the world when he can start playing more often.
Jason “Strassa” Strasser is a genius and one of the best players in
the world. Yet, he’s always been focused on school and isn’t even
going to be a professional poker player after he steps into the corporate world.
Pauly: What’s the coolest thing about being a young poker
player?
Gobboboy: Being able to travel everywhere is great, but honestly
it’s just the ability to not care about money at all. I don’t blow my
money buying stupid things, but I mean if anything happens and I
need $1,000, I can give it up and barely care. It’s security without
walls.
Paul “Dr. Pauly” McGuire is a writer, poker player, and avid
traveler from New York City. He’s the author of the Tao of
Poker blog which can be found at taopoker.blogspot.com.
Feel free to contact him at [email protected].
26
MARCH 5, 2007
The latest news in the
United States Department of
Justice’s war against Internet
gambling is not good news
for online poker players.
Up until 2006, most of the
was arrested at JFK for violating a Louisiana state law,
which seemed broad enough
to cover poker.
In the last days of the
Republican-controlled
A Surge In The War
(Of Intimidation)
POKer AND
THE LAW
By I. NELSON ROSE
attacks by law enforcement
were against sports betting
sites. The DOJ has publicly
taken the position that the
Wire Act, the main federal
anti-gambling law that might
apply to the Internet, outlaws all forms of gambling.
However, a couple of courts
have ruled the Wire Act is
limited to bets on sports
events and races. The DOJ
does not want to lose its
power of intimidation by
losing a case, so it has not
brought any charges against
pure poker sites.
But in April 2006, the
House of Representative’s
Judiciary Committee and
later the full House approved
a bill to amend the Wire Act
to cover all gambling, including poker.
At least it was limited to
operators not players.
But in June 2006, the state
of Washington passed a law
to clearly make it a crime,
even a felony, to merely play
poker online.
Then there were the dramatic arrests. The CEO of
BetOnSports, flying from
England to Costa Rica, was
nabbed while changing
planes in Dallas and charged
with violating the Wire Act.
Then the CEO of SportingBet
POKER
ON
TV
Congress, then-Senate-majority leader Bill Frist rammed
through the Unlawful Internet
Gambling Enforcement Act,
designed to stop any “game
subject to chance.”
The sites of the largest
publicly traded operators, like
PartyGaming’s PartyPoker,
immediately announced that
they would no longer accept
players from the U.S. Online
poker players were forced
to switch to one of the many
privately-owned sites which
continued to take bets from
Americans.
Getting the money to the
operator became more of a
problem with payment processors like FirePay also cuting off the U.S. Fortunately,
Neteller, the largest e-wallet,
announced it would wait to
see what the eventual regulations looked like.
Now Neteller is gone. Its
founders, who no longer had
active roles in the business,
were arrested in the U.S. The
company announced that,
“Due to recent U.S. legislative changes and events,
effective immediately, U.S.
members are no longer able
to transfer funds to or from
any online gambling sites.”
This left the company’s
640,701Amercian account
Heartland Poker Tour. (Check
local listings for times/stations).
High Stakes Poker. Mondays 8, 9
& 10 PM, Tuesdays & Wednesdays 2 AM,
Thursdays 9 PM EST. GSN.
Inside Poker. Fridays 2 PM EST. FSN.
Learn from the Poker Pros.
Wednesdays 6 PM & 10 PM EST. Fox Sports.
holders supposedly able to
get their money back from
Neteller, but unable to get
their money back to Neteller
from the gambling sites.
Neteller claimed this sudden change was due more
to the timing and content
uncertainty of future regulations. But a few days later it
was also disclosed that the
financial banks, attorneys
and accountants responsible
for companies like Neteller
going public had received
subpoenas from the DOJ.
Even Google was told to stop
taking paid ads from Internet
gambling sites (Yahoo had
quit three years ago). Another
payment processor, Citadel,
read the writing on the wall
and also cut off Americans.
The most recent skirmish was timed to coincide
with the SuperBowl, by far
the largest betting event of
the year. And it worked:
Pinnacle, the leading sports
betting site, also pulled out
of the U.S. market. American
bettors have to struggle to
find a site, and then figure
out how to get the money
there.
The only good news is
that prosecutors will never go
after mere players.
And in the long run, the
government’s war against
Internet gambling will be
merely a blip. The first
Prohibition did not stop
people from drinking.
Prohibition 2.0 will not stop
players from betting.
Professor I Nelson Rose is recognized as one of the world’s
leading experts on gambling
law. His latest books, Gaming
Law: Cases and Materials
and Internet Gaming Law, are
available through his website,
www.gamblingandthelaw.com.
Poker Superstars Invitational.
Mondays 6 AM & 4 PM & Fridays 8 PM
Fox Sports.
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Wednesdays & Thursdays 3 AM EST. ESPN.
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Saturdays 8 PM & 11 PM EST. Travel.
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World Series of Poker. (Check
local listing for times). ESPNC/ESPN2.
DAILY TOURNAMENTS (CONT’D FROM PAGE 25)
Time. Some events &. ........ Additional
Limit Hold’em
start after the hour
gametimes. Call. N ..........No Limit
..... Hold’em L ................ Limit
A, P ....... AM, PM
.No Limit Hold’em
Wk .............Week
..........Stud
MONDAY
TIME
DIEGO & CALIFORNIACALIFORNIA—NORTH CALIFORNIA—SAN
LOS ANGELES
INLAND EMPIRE
B ......... Bounties
T ............... Turbo
.7-Card Stud
..... Omaha Pi........Pineapple Pn......Panginque DCDealer’s Choice Sp ........... Spread
.5-Card Stud H/LHigh/Low Split Po........Pot Limit Mx .Mexican Poker HH ...Headhunter Al ......Alternates
|
TUESDAY
GAMES BUY-IN| TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
|
FRIDAY
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
Z........ Freezeout Sh ........Shootout
Cz ............. Crazy + Re-buys and/or
E...... Elimination Add-ons allowed
Q ............Qualify F ............Freeroll
| SATURDAY |
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
SUNDAY
GAMES BUY-IN
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MARCH 5, 2007
27
Loose Cannon Fires
on All Cylinders
By JONATHAN RAAB
While London’s Gutshot Poker Club recently
lost its case and owner Derek Kelly was
found guilty of breaching the 1968 UK Gaming Act by charging fees and a rake for poker games in unlicensed premises,
another poker club has just opened for business. This new
club is the Loose Cannon Sports Bar and VC Players Lounge
based in the financial district of London. It has been set up
by legendary tournament director Roy Houghton with the
help of an ex-nightclub owner turned poker consultant who
goes by the name of
Catman.
Unlike Gutshot,
Loose Cannon avoids
being in breach of UK
gaming legislation by
not charging any rake
or fees to play in the
club. Instead they
charge a quarterly
membership fee which
Roy Houghton and Catman
entitles their private
members to play for free whenever they visit.
They recently held their official opening and in conjunction with club sponsors VCPoker.com they put on an invitation only freeroll with $10,000 in prize money up for grabs. I
was lucky enough to receive an invite so I went down to try
my luck against 200 or so other players. The premises are
situated under a railway arch and are very well equipped.
There are 20 state of the art tables in a spacious playing
area as well as two bars, a restaurant and an internet café.
Chess and backgammon are also played in the club, but on
this particular night everyone was there for the poker.
When I first got there I found out that my name was missing from the list of entrants, but after tracking down the
very congenial host Catman, it was soon rectified. My name
was on the list after all and I would be playing.
On my starting table was none other than WSOP bracelet
winner Willie Tann and two other well respected UK professionals. It’s not often you find yourself up against such
tough opposition in a freeroll, but I was determined not to
let this put me off. I played a tight aggressive game and
by 2am I was rewarded with a place on the final table and
guaranteed a share of the prize money. My eventual 5th
place finish netted me $800. Not bad for my first live game
of 2007.
Roy Houghton is well known on the UK poker scene, having run successful card rooms in several London casinos
over the last 20 years. He was also instrumental in getting
the Gutshot club up and running. Like many other players I
am delighted to see Roy getting back into the business, having been off the scene for much of the last two years due to
illness.
Catman is a flamboyant character, with an eye for the
ladies and while I was happy to make the final table, he was
delighted, as his poker playing girlfriend Alina Salnikova
eventually finished in 2nd place. The winner was Matthew
Wilson, another journalist, who will now play in a one off
match against two of VCpoker.com’s sponsored celebrities
for a seat in the VC Poker Cup - a prestigious televised
event with a £5,000 ($10,000) buy-in.
Loose Cannon is a welcome addition to the list of UK
poker venues. As Arnold Schwarzenegger would say, “I’ll be
back.”
Jonathan Raab is a poker consultant and tournament reporter. He works for online poker site Blue
Square as their representative at live poker events in
the UK and Europe and is the Tour Manager for the
GUKPT. Email: [email protected]
MARCH 5, 2007
A genius
move—the
right blend of street smarts,
charm, and chutzpah to
go with his experience in
Congress and every other
corridor of political power.
Treading Water. I decided to hold up a report of this
news as result of a discussion with Michael Bolcerek,
president of the PPA. He
explained there were sensitive issues to be worked
through in the proposed
transaction. I also learned no
contract had yet been signed.
In the past days, however,
the well-founded rumors
of a deal were rampant.
I was holding a disintegrated secret. Then there
were logistics issues: I was
obliged to share the facts
as I knew them with the
publisher of Poker Player.
Based on my conversation
with Mr. Bolcerek, I planned
to break the story when the
official news was rolled out
to certain mainstream press.
I expected to do a story for
the same day with the PPA’s
cooperation and in front of
any other poker publication.
The Decision to Report
the Deal. Several developments sent me to my word
processor, last Friday, making Poker Player the first
to report that the PPA had
tapped Mr. D’Amato as its
chairman prior to “official
confirmations.”
On February 15th, an
online site raised the curtain
on the rumors of a planned
relationship between Mr.
D’Amato and the PPA.
The next day, Mr. Bolcerek
responded to a query from
New York Newsday, making formal acknowledgement of the talks. I had not
expected this to happen
prior to publishing my story.
Then I learned that Mr.
D’Amato was slated to give
an exclusive interview to a
poker media executive/journalist, before Poker Player
would have an opportunity
to interview him. Lastly, the
unsigned contract was beginning to look like a façade,
once I heard it was a done
deal from a major gaming
company CEO who was
familiar with the negotiations. There was no longer
any way to convince Poker
Player‘s publisher that a further delay was responsible
Wendeen H. Eolis
POKER IN EUROPE
28
D’Amato to Chair PPA
the deeppocketed online poker
businesses in the aftermath
of the enactment of the
Unlawful Internet Gaming
Enforcement Act of 2006.
I’ll leave it to the legal journalists and law professors to
opine on the complexities
and debatable interpretations
of its provisions. Suffice to
say the new law attempts
to end online betting by
American-based players.
Lawyers around the country say online gaming entrepreneurs that now take bets
from American-based players are operating with significant peril of prosecution
by an increasingly combative
Department of Justice. Law
firms will likely become
the biggest beneficiaries of
UIGEA, unless the law is
repealed or a carve-out for
poker is obtained post haste.
I have yet to find a single
CEO of a public gaming
company who believes relief
is in the cards—anytime
soon.
Reporter Disclosures.
Enter Alfonse D’Amato on
behalf of the PPA. Before
proceeding further, I should
say here, there was a time
when Mr. D’Amato and
I had a strained nodding
acquaintanceship over my
dual friendship with Rudy
Giuliani (who I strongly
support for the presidential
nomination) and George
Pataki (for whom I continue
to have great respect). It
was during the period I took
a leave from my business
to do a short stint in Mr.
Pataki’s first administration as the Governor’s first
assistant and senior advisor.
I operated as an independent
thinker. I never kissed any
Republican’s ring, and I was
on a different page from
many of the Senator’s close
friends. With that said, and a
reputation for calling issues
as I see them, I offer fair
warning to my friends who
are D’Amato skeptics, you
will not be happy here.
The Poker Industry Has
Flopped The Nuts With
Alfonse D’Amato. More
than two weeks ago, I came
to learn that Mr. D’Amato’s
role as Chairman of the PPA
had been ratified at a meeting of its Board of Directors.
journalism. The business of
online poker is on a straight
path to headline news.
PPA Takes to the Stage.
Now, let me take a step back
to last spring to set the stage
for the pending arrival of
Alphonse D’Amato on the
scene. With well-founded
fears of anti-gaming legislation on the near-horizon, the
nascent PPA united leaders of several major online
poker sites. The purpose
was single-minded; a bid to
convince Congress to separate poker from variously
proposed legislation that had
labored in both Houses for
years, without resolution.
The San Francisco-based
and Washington savvy Mr.
Bolcerek got moving quickly. In addition to gaining the
services of lobbying counsel,
the PPA President chaperoned high profile poker players Howard Lederer, Chris
Ferguson, and Greg Raymer
to the Capitol to learn the
ropes of schmoozing with
movers and shakers on the
Hill.
During the festivities of
the 2006 World Series of
Poker, the PPA hosted a
reception .The Washingtontraveled poker pros sounded
promising notes as they
told an SRO crowd of the
positive reception they had
received in the nation’s
august legislative chambers.
They also cautioned that the
PPA was dependent upon
grass roots support to make
the industry’s voice loudly
heard in Congress. Mr.
Bolcerek called the assembled guests to arms, pleading
for checks in support of the
looming battle.
Dirty Tricks in Congress.
The collective efforts of
PPA lobbyists and poker
pros Lederer, Ferguson,
and Raymer proved no
match for the wily, hi-stakes
smooth calls of Bill Frist.
The UIGEA of 2006 was
tacked on to a popular Safe
Port security bill which after
passage in the House, Mr.
Frist successfully rammed
through the Senate in the
very last moments of the
Congressional session
—without an iota of debate.
The UIGEA, legislation
was signed into law by the
President, October 13, 2006.
To be sure this could not
Limit Hold’em
..... Hold’em L ................ Limit
A, P ....... AM, PM
.No Limit Hold’em
Wk .............Week
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T ............... Turbo
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Gold Rush
Golden West-Bakersfield
Kelly’s Cardroom
Limelight Cardroom-Sac’to
Lucky Chances
Lucky Derby Casino
Oaks Card Club-Emeryville
San Pablo Lytton Casino
Sonoma Joe’s
Apache Gold
Blue Water Casino
Bucky’s Casino
AZ
Casino Del Sol
Cliff Castle
Fort McDowell
SOUTHWEST
Gila River/Wild Horse Pass
AZ
CO
Gila River-Vee Quiva
Harrah’s Ak Chin
Hon-Dah Casino
Paradise Casino
Gilpin Hotel & Casino
Midnight Rose-Cripple Crk
Ute Mountain
KS
Harrah’s Prarie Band
NM
Cities of Gold
Isleta Casino & Resort
Route 66 Casino
OK
Thunderbird Casino, Norman
$
$
$
$
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 1
MARCH 5, 2007
29
St. Croix Poker Room
Changes Tournament Venue
From HPT to WPT
MIDWEST MILIEU
By bonnie demos
Located in Northern Wisconsin, near
the Minnesota border, the St. Croix
Casino poker room has earned its reputation
as a No-Limit Texas Hold’em tournament “hotspot.” Many of the Midwest’s best players from
Minneapolis, Chicago and points beyond flock to this
northwoods location to compete for some of the
most lucrative prize money available.
Dave Hinrichsen, the poker room manager attributes his success to the fact that he knows his customers and gives them what they want. A rather talented poker player himself, Dave recently calculated
the pot odds, and played a hunch, which resulted in
a winning hand for both the poker room and its customers.
In previous years St. Croix Casino had been a
major player in The Heartland Poker Tour circuit,
hosting numerous events as well as generating
some of the largest HPT prize pools. Although St.
Croix’s last HPT event in August of 2006 was a
huge success, generating the largest HPT prize pool
to date, Dave felt he could offer his players even
more. He made the bold move to structure his own
tournaments and forego HPT Season III, launching the first St. Croix poker room WPT Satellite
Tournament in January 2007 to rave reviews from
players.
The event was St. Croix’s best ever; the 24-hour
poker room was bulging
at the seams with poker
players throughout the
entire tournament.
Three lucky players
emerging from a field of
349 players are on their
way to achieving WPT
fame and fortune. The
$2,500 + $250 main
event began at 8AM on
Sunday, January 21. Three
$42K+ winner Cody Slaubaugh
WPT seats were awarded
plus cash prized to the top 25 places (100% pay
back on buy-ins was awarded to players).
Congratulations to all the winners, and thanks to
Dave for conjuring up such an exciting event! The
top three winners were:
1st. Cody Slaubaugh, Rugby, ND . . .$42,330
(WPT seat Bellagio Las Vegas, travel, and
lodging). Remember this name, my bet is
that you will be seeing more of him in the
future.
2nd. John Hayes, St. Paul, MN . . . . .$21,165
(WPT seat Foxwoods, CO travel and lodging).
3rd. Daniel Quade, Maplewood, MN . $12,699
Congratulations also to Random Draw winner Olga
Carlson (WPT seat Foxwoods, travel and lodging).
If you missed your chance in January, there
will be another action packed WPT Satellite in the
warmer months, dates to be announced. Plus Dave
has some other great tournament opportunities in
the works. It looks like 2007 is going to be a very
exciting year in Turtle Lake, Wisconsin!
Animal
Totem
(Continued from page 8)
run the likes of which I’d
never seen before. I dropped
out of the game to watch as
he took on some top competitors and continued to
best them. Soon, one after
another they left the game
until Hobby was heads up
with a well-known player.
After a half-hour Hobby had
taken most of his chips and
the man gave up.
“You had one hell of a
night, Hobby,” I said as we
were driving home.
“Joe, it must be the totem.
I’ve never been so hot.”
“Don’t get carried away,
Hobby. It’s just a coincidence. But there was something strange. While you
were playing I saw the old
Indian guy that was at the
cottage. He was watching
your table. I’m quite sure it
was him.”
“Just a coincidence, Joe,
forget about it. I can’t wait
to try my totem again. Want
to go to Morongo tomorrow
night.”
“Sure.”
Bonnie Demos from the midwest, Gambler, poker player and
award winning chef, has enjoyed working in the gaming industry
for the past several years. Write her at [email protected]
30
MARCH 5, 2007
It was just like at
Commerce. Hobby was
cleaning up the table as I
watched from the sidelines.
There was someone else
watching too, the old Indian.
Suddenly he moved toward
Hobby, snatched the totem,
threw it to the floor and
crushed it under his boot.
“This is wrong, white man,”
he shouted. Security quickly
moved in and subdued him.
Hobby was shocked. We
picked up the pieces as best
we could. Hobby cashed in
and we left. “That crazy bastard destroyed it. What am I
going to do?”
“We will visit Morning Mist
and find out, Hobby.”
She met us at the door to
her cottage. “I heard what
happened at Morongo. I
am very sorry. I told Edgar
never to come here again.
Please, (she motioned)
inside.”
Hobby put the pieces of
his totem on the table. “I
don’t think we got all the
pieces. It was badly crushed.
Can you make another
one?” he asked.
She put her hands over
the pieces, shut her eyes and
chanted for several minutes.
When Morning Mist
opened her eyes they bore
witness to her name as tears
flowed. “Your totem has left
you. There is still much pain
and sorrow in our relations
with white men. You are a
good man and you did no
wrong, but your totem cannot return.”
“I can’t get another one?”
Hobby asked.
“I cannot help you anymore,” she said sadly.
I sprung for lunch at
Bernie’s Seafood House to
compensate for Hobby’s
grief.
“It’s a bummer, Joe.”
“So’s life, Hobby, but
look at it this way. You’ve
had great luck. And you may
still be on a run!”
“Yeah. Maybe I am,” he
replied with some enthusiasm.
When we came out of
the restaurant we saw that
someone had broken the tail
light of Hobby’s Rolls.
He shook his head and
said sadly, “Maybe I can
find another Indian lady and
get a new totem.”
Write to author David Valley
at: [email protected]
Coming
Soon!
Meeting All Your Travel Needs...
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PPNTravel.com
Limit Hold’em
..... Hold’em L ................ Limit
A, P ....... AM, PM
.No Limit Hold’em
Wk .............Week
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MONDAY
NORTHWEST
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TIME
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|
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Chinook Winds Casino
Wildhorse Casino Resort
Blue Mountain Casino
Chips Bremerton
Chips La Center
Chips Lakewood
Chips Tukwila
Drift-On-Inn
Final Table Cas., Everett
Goldie’s
Little Creek Casino
Muckleshoot Casino
Northern Quest
Point Defiance Cafe & Cas., Tacoma
Suquamash Clearwater
Wild Grizzly
MT Black Jack’s Casino
4 Bears Casino
ND Dakota Magic
NE Rosebud Casino
SD
Dakota Sioux
Gold Dust Cas., Deadwood
Rosebud Casino
Silverado Casino Deadwood
NORTHEAST
CT
NH Seabrook Greyhound Park
NJ
NY
MIDWEST
IA
Turning Stone
Catfish Bend
Isle of Capri
Winn-A-Vegas
IL
Hollywood Casino-Aurora
IN
Belterra (Florence)
Caesars Indiana
MI
MN
WI
LA
MO
MS
FLORIDA
MISSISSIPPI RIVER
Caesar’s Atlantic City
Harrah’s Atlantic City
Tropicana
Trump Taj Mahal
Akwesasne Mohawk
Majesty Casino Boar
Chip-In’s Island
Lac Vieux Desert Cas., Watersmeet
Canterbury Park
Fortune Bay Casino
Northern Light Casino
Shooting Star Casino
Menominee Casino, Keshena
Oneida Casino, Green Bay
Potawatomi Northern Lights, Carter
St Croix Casino, Turtle Lake
Grand Coushatta
Horseshoe CasinoShreveport
Harrah’s St Louis
Isle of Capri
Copa Casino
Gold Strike Casino (Tunica)
Grand Casino(Tunica)
Horseshoe Casino (Tunica)
Pearl River Resort
Dania Jai-Alai
Derby Lane
Hard Rock
Mardi Gras Gaming Ctr, Hollywd
Palm Beach Princess
Pompano Park Casino
St Tropez Cruise
CANADA Casino Regina
MARCH 5, 2007
31
Denver, CO
The First 40 Years
were the Wildest
ENDLESS SUMMER
BINIONS LAS VEGAS
ULTIMATE POKER CHALLENGE
EVENT 36
1/27/07
NO LIMIT TEXAS
HOLD’EM
1. Michael Jacobs . . . . . . $3,945
BUY-IN $600 + $60
PLAYERS 37
ENDLESS SUMMER
PRIZE POOL
1. David Teklehaimanots . . $2,690
$21,534
ENDLESS SUMMER
Doug Dearborn
1. Doug Dearborn . . . . . $8,661
Toronto, Ontario, CANADA
2. P.T Hayes . . . . . . . . . . $5,383
Las Vegas, NV USA
3. Blake Buffington . . . . $2,799
Little Rock, AR USA
4. Ted Fender . . . . . . . . . $1,508
Chino, CA USA
1. Stacee Evans . . . . . . . . $4,665
5. Tony Toscano . . . . . . . $1,292
Henderson, NV USA
6. Shawn Rice. . . . . . . . . $1,076
ENDLESS SUMMER 2/8/07
Labbock, TX USA
7. Terry Sanders . . . . . . . .$816
Sand Point, AK USA
BINIONS LAS VEGAS
EVENT 35
1/22/07
NO LIMIT TEXAS
HOLD’EM
1. Michael Scovottis . . . . $2,920
BUY-IN $300 + $40
ENDLESS SUMMER
PLAYERS 47
PRIZE POOL
$15,423
Michael Black
1. Michael Black . . . . . . $6,169
Las Vegas, NV USA
2. Joe Mitchell . . . . . . . . $3,856
1. Solo Scotts . . . . . . . . . . $3,605
Eugene, OR USA
3. Tim DeByl . . . . . . . . . $2,005
Madison, WI USA
4. Rick Lucas . . . . . . . . . $1,080
ENDLESS SUMMER
1. Keenan Smiths . . . . . . $3,215
Boston, MA USA
5. Chris Smith . . . . . . . . . .$925
Clitheroe, ENGLAND
6. Rob Gittelman . . . . . . . .$771
Kamuela, HI USA
7. Michael Foley. . . . . . . . .$617
Wilmington, NC USA
BINIONS LAS VEGAS
EVENT 34
1/21/07
NO LIMIT TEXAS
HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $600 + $60
1. Robert Kuhar . . . . . . . $3,530
PLAYERS 51
PRIZE POOL
$29,682
James Kelly
1. James Kelly . . . . . . . $11,872
Ormond Beach, FL USA
2. Glenn Land . . . . . . . . $7,420
3. Steve Gray . . . . . . . . . $3,860
1. Makya McBee . . . . . . . $2,530
1. Michael Scovottis . . . . $4,250
Hemphill, TX USA
4. Andrew Brock . . . . . . $2,078
Las Vegas, NV USA
5. Daniel Gilpin . . . . . . . $1,781
Nome, AK USA
6. Blake Buffington . . . . $1,484
Little Rock, AR USA
7. Dave Doak . . . . . . . . . $1,187
Arlington, VA USA
ADVERTISE IN
POKER
PLAYER
By Byron Liggett
Almost ten years after the
fabled California Gold
Rush, traces of the precious metal were found
at the foot of the Rocky
Mountains in 1858, where
Cherry Creek meets the
South Platte River. It was
here that the mining camp
that was to become the
City of Denver, Colorado
was established.
Two more gold discoveries in the mountains near
Denver ignited a Rocky
Mountain gold rush. The
first year, the town had
a thousand men and half
dozen women.
By 1860, more than
100,000 fortune seekers
flooded into Colorado.
Almost from its inception,
Denver was dedicated to
supplying and “servicing”
the miners. Saloons, gambling houses, dance halls
and bordellos dominated
the town.
According to one historian, early Denverites “bet
on everything from dog
fights to snowfall. During
the slow winter months,
city fathers amused themselves playing poker. They
used town lots as poker
chips” winning and losing
“whole blocks of downtown Denver.”
In its first couple of
years, the Denver House,
one of the most famous
frontier gambling halls,
was the town’s principal
action attraction. It was
a one-story log building,
130-ft. long and 36-ft.
wide. It had glassless
windows and a dirt floor
frequently sprinkled with
water to keep the dust
down. It featured a few
rough benches and half a
dozen gaming tables. The
principal games by which
players were swindled
were Faro and 3-Card
Monte.
Ed Chase owned the
Denver House and was
Denver’s first major gambling operator. Within ten
years he’d built a gambling empire in the town,
including The Progressive
IT WORKS!
32
MARCH 5, 2007
Club, The Palace, and the
Cricket Club. Chase kept
order in The Palace by sitting on a high stool above
the bar with a double-barreled shotgun across his
lap.
In 1873, the railroad
connected “The Mile
High City” to the world.
Three years later, Colorado
became the 38th state and
Denver its capital. The
new state’s constitution
gave the vote to Blacks,
but not to women.
As Denver developed,
several other gambling
houses, luxurious by frontier standards, appeared.
Among these were the
Bucket of Blood, the
Morgue, the Chicken
Coop, and the Slaughter
House (so called because
of the frequent shooting
incidences there).
In 1894, Ed Chase
opened the Inter-Ocean
Club, said to have been
Denver’s most luxurious gambling house. It
featured fine paintings,
engravings, Oriental rugs,
reading rooms and free
drinks at the bar. The Club
had forty employees and
was the foremost place for
high stakes gambling.
Gambling and corruption grew with the city.
Almost every game and
operator was dishonest; the
law looked the other way.
One historian wrote that
the politicians in Denver’s
earliest days were “as corrupt a gang of office-holding crooks as ever infested
an American city.”
Early Denver’s most
notorious gambler was
Soapy Smith. He arrived
in Denver in 1888 and
soon became an underworld kingpin. He ran
several crooked clubs; the
best known was the Tivoli
Saloon and Gambling
Hall, where suckers were
fleeced at 3-Card Monte,
Seven-Up, and Poker.
Soapy was Colorado’s
leading con man and
crooked gambler. Caught
rigging Denver elections, he was run out of
town, only to become
the principal figure in the
boomtowns of Leadville,
Creede and Central City.
That was before the Yukon
Gold Rush attracted him
to Skagway AK, where
he again became boss of
crime and corruption.
Among the well known
gamblers of the West who
set up shop in Denver was
Belle Siddons, the former Confederate spy who
now went by the name of
Madame Vestal.
Madame Vestal had a
large tent on Blake Street
and was considered by
some to be the most skillful Blackjack dealer in the
country. She was a complete professional. She had
shills to lure players to her
roulette wheel, Faro table,
Keno, and Poker games.
After Tombstone, Dodge
City, and other boomtowns, Denver became
home to Bat Masterson,
a professional gambler
and sometimes lawman.
Writing to a friend, Bat
summed up his life as a
gambler, “I came into the
world without anything
and I have about held my
own.”
Prizefighting was an
emerging sport in the
1880s. Out West, gunslingers and gamblers
were important to the
fight game. Fair play was
maintained by a “display
of force on both sides”
explains a leading ring
historian. Gamblers were
often promoters as well as
bookies.
Attracted to the action,
Bat Masterson became
a well respected boxing
authority. In the 1890’s,
while he worked as a
manager or dealer in the
many gambling houses
of Denver, he promoted,
judged or was a celebrity
guest at every major fight
in the US. Eventually, he
moved to New York City
and became a newspaper
sports writer.
By 1890, Denver, the
fifth largest city west
of the Mississippi, had
become the commercial
Player Profile: Phil Nguyen
with questions intended to
explore his view of what it
was like to come from so
little and achieve so much.
“If you’re willing to
work hard (in America)
then you can have a good
life.”
Nguyen quickly learned
how to project an impish
sense of humor. “I must
be Superman,” he joked
after another tournament.
“I knocked out Spider Man
(film star Tobey Maguire)
and only Superman can do
that.”
Nguyen considers that
he became a professional
poker player about 11
years ago. He had posted
his first tournament cash
two years before in 2001 at
the LA Poker classic.
How did he develop his
style? With a little help
from his friends, naturally.
“In the beginning I was
a tight player, very, very
tight because I had to make
a living.”
The time came when he
wanted to take a shot at
tournaments because he
recognized that the tournament scene was going to
be generating some very
attractive action.
So he sought went looking for those friends. He
approached Men “The
Master” Nguyen, a very
respected Vietnamese-born
professional who had also
fled his homeland illegally
a couple years before Phi.
Men told Phi to relax a
little, and while he was at
it, look for those moments
when it was good to be
aggressive. In other words,
don’t play “tight, tight,”
as Phi describes it, all the
time. Vary the pace.
“I learned from him,”
Phi says, “and also, I
have another friend,
(Vietnamese-born) David
Pham. I learned from him
too.”
Nguyen was off and running.
After his World Series
win in 2003, he accepted
a position as host at the
Hawaiian Gardens. The
respect that he’s earned
there has led to further
changes.
“My title now,” he says
with obvious satisfaction
is Hawaiian Gardens Poker
Ambassador. They let me
go anywhere I want to go
and to play in the tournaments as long as I wear the
Hawaiian Gardens outfits.”
It is an explanation
that suddenly has Nguyen
sounding a bit like, uh,
well . . . an ambassador.
“Let me tell you about
Hawaiian Gardens,” he
says. “It is a good place ,
it is a very good place to
come to because it is like
a social club more than a
casino.”
There is plenty of time
to visit with his customers, to talk about whatever
interests them. They come
to him looking for advice
on how to play in a variety of circumstances. It’s
conversation he enjoys, the
kind of conversation that
builds relationships, that
build business, that work to
everyone’s advantage.
“People ask me what to
do and I tell them exactly
how I play.”
What’s a friend or
ambassador for, he seems
to ask. He’ll also, of course
be happy to talk to anyone
and everyone about the
$500 and $1,000 minimum buy-in no limit hold
’em games that Hawaiian
Gardens has recently been
promoting.
But when Nguyen is
through being the genial
teacher, when he is left to
his own devices and turns
his focus to the cash games
that help fatten his bank
account, he can be found
at a limit hold ’em game.
When he’s been knocked
out of somebody’s tournament, for instance, he’ll
look for maybe a $40-$80
or a $100-$200 hold ’em
game. Something along
those lines.
“That’s my specialty. It
is how I make my money.”
Over the last year and
a half or so, Nguyen’s
name and face have been
less obvious at tournaments as he devoted more
time to real estate investments in the San Diego
area. But that area of his
life requires less attention
now and Nguyen promises, “During 2007, you’re
going to be seeing a lot
more of me on the lists of
top players.”
For instance, he was
recently spending a lot of
time at a Commerce Club
tournament. Beyond that
and his regular duties at
the Hawaiian Gardens, he
will be getting ready for
the World Poker Tour’s
Five Diamond event at the
Bellagio as a prelude to
this year’s World Series.
This kind of travel gives
him lots of opportunities to
discuss the merits of playing poker at his home away
from home, the Hawaiian
Gardens.
It’s a good life, he says.
ST. PATRICK’S DAY BOUNTY TOURNAMENT
This St. Patrick’s Day, feel the green at Casino Arizona in our No-Limit
Hold ’Em Bounty Tournament.Win your share of a possible $60,000
prize pool, plus $25 for each player you knock out. So get in, and may
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Management reserves the right to modify or cancel this promotion at any time. See Poker Room for complete details.
Owned and operated by the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.
Please gamble responsibly.
MARCH 5, 2007
33
My Most Memorable
Poker Hands, PART 3
THE EIKS’ VIEW
BY Mike Eikenberry
1. A CHIP, A CHAIR, AND AN
IMPROBABLE PAYDAY. At the final table
at Binion’s Hall of Fame 7-stud eight or better championship. Tournament director, Jack McClelland, called
the action, “Unless Mason gets a heart or an ace, Mike
will scoop the pot with a 6-high straight and become
our new chip leader.” When Mason turned over the Ace
of Hearts, the crowds roar of disbelieve signaled my
exit in 7th place. Nevertheless, it was a hand over 12
hours earlier that was even more memorable.
I made Aces up on 4th street. On 5th street, my only
remaining opponent’s board showed the 7 of diamonds,
the J of diamonds, and the K of hearts. When he called
my $100 bet, I was convinced that I was going to see a
flush. Down to my last two $100 chips, I checked on 6th
street. My opponent also checked after receiving the
6 of hearts. Still anticipating the worst, I checked the
river in the dark. When my opponent fired a $100 chip
in the pot, I disgustedly tossed one of my last two black
chips in the pot (again in the dark.) Sure that I had lost,
I quickly rolled over my river card. It was an Ace-giving
me Aces full.
Before my opponent exposed his hole cards, I had
that sick realization that I HAD PLAYED THE HAND
WORSE THAN ANY OTHER PLAYER WOULD HAVE. They
would have bet on the end or raised when their opponent bet. And they would have gone broke, too! My
opponent did not just make a flush, he made a straight
flush. My luck and cards turned around. 12 hours later
I’d gone from one chip to the money.
2. BLACK CHICAGO. During college I played in a
dealer’s choice game and one fellow always dealt Black
Chicago, where the high hand and the highest spade in
the hole split the pot. Although the dealer won a disproportionate number of these hands, I never worried
about it since I was a consistent winner in the game.
However it was a little strange when this fellow’s son
started coming with him every week only to “observe
and learn.” Then two players ended up with the ace of
spades in the hole (a cold deck gone wrong). As players
started to make accusations of cheating, the son pulled
a Colt 45 out of his snack bag and had us all empty our
pockets. The two men headed into the night with several thousand dollars and “Black Chicago” was thereafter
barred as an acceptable dealer’s choice.
3. THE –$40,000 QUESTION. I was one of five
players left. First Place would win $40, 000 more than
fifth. I was in third chip position when dealt two kings
in the big blind. Everyone folded to the big-stacked
small blind, who put in a standard raise. I re-raised all
in and was called. The flop came 5-6-9 with two spades.
I turned my two red kings face up. My opponent said he
was in need of a queen to win. The turn and river were
small cards but both spades. My opponent, who had
never shown his hand, then started to throw his hand
away. At that point, the player with the fewest chips,
but not in the hand, said, “Don’t you have a spade to
make a flush?” Barely saving his cards from the discard
pile, the big stack re-checked his hand, and then turned
over the queen of spades and the queen of hearts making a winning flush. My protests got only a warning to
the player.
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 Ash Hussein. Crossword by Myles Mellor.
Word
1. Don’t flash this around!
(money to play with)
6. Get the last card to complete a hand
10. Sex or versity
12. Matrix character
13. Card that does not help
the hand could be said to be
of __ __
14. 2005 WSOP
Tournament of Champions
winner, Mike ___
15. Wear down
17. Level
18. Finished at the top of
European rankings (goes
with 30 across)
19. Audience surprise reaction at a game
24. Howdy!
25. Bullet
26. Dealer’s position (chip
tray in front of the dealer)
27. Many casinos have this
form of relaxation now
29. Ahead
30. See 18 across
1
2
34
MARCH 5, 2007
DOWN
1. Michael ___ (3rd in
the 37th WSOP No limit
hold’em event)
2. Scotty ____ (top poker
player)
3. Regrets
4. Put someone __ a hand
5. Enters the hand by calling and without raising
7. In _____ (in the extreme)
8. Zodiac sign
9. Not a high card for sure!
3
4
5
11. In the money, for short
16. Airline, abbr.
20. Three face card flop
21. ___ “___” Ma:
Vietnamese player: won the
California state poker tournament in 2005
22. Loose and aggressive
player
23. Leading
26. Rhett ___
28. Steelers locale
30. Fooled
31. Surinder ___: the
embodiment of a “poker
face”
32. Lexus __
34. Exaggeration
37. While
38. You and me
40. Possess
41. Mafia
42. Crowd disapproval
sound
45. Teacher’s assistant for
short
6
10
11
13
15
17
8
9
12
16
18
19
21
23
20
22
24
25
26
27
29
30
31
34
36
7
14
32
28
33
35
37
43
Mike Eikenberry got his undergraduate and law degrees
from the University of Virginia, where he played varsity
tennis and basketball. Founder of one of the leading
national tennis camps, Mike is an avid amateur who has
played both tournaments and live games for over 25
years. He can be reached at [email protected]
33. Oakland baseball team
34. Cap, for example
35. Land of the 2nd prohibition?
36. Decision to fold a good
hand against strong opposition
39. Table in which different
types of poker are played in
rotation
43. Special perception
44. Cool
46. Romance
47. 3 or 4 cards of different
suits
ACROSS
38
39
44
45
40
41
42
46
47
The correct solution to the puzzle will be found only at:
www.pokerplayernewspaper.com. It will be posted on the cover date.
Wendeen: D’Amato to Chair PPA
enhance birthday celebrations that day for tournament
player extraordinaire T. J.
Cloutier, or Henry Orenstein,
creator of the popular High
Stakes poker show on GSN,
not to mention Yours Truly,
who spent the day fielding
calls from international gaming clients far beyond the
world of poker.
Fallout Expands.
Numerous online gaming
businesses, particularly public companies determined
with their counsels that
they were on the ropes in
America. The remaining
active players were put into
a tailspin, scrambling for
the most prompt and savvy
advice to help them through
the maze of the new legislation. There has also been a
domino effect. Related businesses are evaluating the
economic fallout, as pressures mount for online gaming companies to abandon
the American market.
Senator D’Amato Knows
his Stuff. Enter Alfonse
D’Amato. The PPA is putting big chips in the pot,
looking to Senator D’Amato
as the best advocate for the
poker industry. If he and the
Federalist Group with whom
he will collaborate are able
to succeed in their efforts,
the benefits will be felt far
beyond the interests of big
online gaming companies.
Senator D’Amato is wellknown for his commitment
to the little people among
his constituents as well as
big business and his interest
in poker is sincere. He has
been an avid player in home
games for years.
The Senator will bring
to the table his credentials
as a mover and shaker
about town and on the
Hill, and likewise his passion for winning. He will
also bring sincerity to the
more global cause of the
estimated 140,000 members of the PPA. Indeed,
with Alfonse D’Amato
on board, PPA President,
Michael Bolcerek’s chances
of attracting the million-plus
members he seeks, may be
exponentially increased.
Who could be a better pick
to advocate for the right to
play poker in your pajamas
if you are so inclined—in the
privacy of your home?
D’Amato Can Be
Charming. Alfonso, as
he has introduced himself
to more than a few ladies
during his dating days, following separation and then
divorce from his first wife,
remarried in 2004 the youthful Katuria Smith. A lawyer,
she has been described as
the front and center cheerleader of his new career,
while bringing him the wisdom one might expect from
someone far beyond her
years.
A Proven Lobbyist. A
review of his company’s
lobbying income shows
that since marrying Katuria
Smith, lobbying revenues
have more than tripled.
There may be many explanations for Mr. D’Amato’s
post-Congress success, but
no one describes his formidable talent as an advocate
better than the Senator,
himself.
In a penetrating interview
with New York Magazine,
Mr. D’Amato summed up
his value as a consultant and
lobbyist. He said, “In the
Senate, I loved the battles.
I loved winning things that
everyone thought were
impossible to win. Now I do
the same thing for clients.
I’m the best. I am. If you
want an advocate, and you’re
bein’ wronged, you want me,
because I’ll find where to go,
how to go, and what to do.”
The PPA is banking on
Senator D’Amato.
Wendeen Eolis is CEO of
EOLIS International Group
a legal/business consultancy.
A longtime confidante and
advisor to Rudy Giuliani,
she also served as first assistant to Governor George
E. Pataki. She is consulted
d
by law firms, companies,
and governments around
the world. In her spare
time Wendeen became a
poker ace; she was elected
to the WPT’s Inaugural
Professional Poker Tour and
has cashed in five WSOP
events. She has written articles for various law journals
as well as the poker industry.
Visit eolis.com for info on
her book, and availability as
a speaker.
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 Sun of Each Month, 2pm $200 Buy-in–No Rebuys $10,000 in Tournament Chips
Call for more info: 661-256-1400
First Place Wins $50,000
Play 40 hours of Texas Hold ‘em any time between
now and February 28, 2007, and qualify for our
$100,000 Super Poker Tournament, March 2-4, 2007.
For more information, call 702.730.7780
or visit the Poker Room.
Monte Carlo Resort & Casino reserves the right to discontinue this promotion at
any time and limit participation at its discretion. If you or someone you know has a
problem gaming responsibly, please call the Problem Gaming Helpline
at 800-522-4700. © 2006 MGM MIRAGE®. All rights reserved.
playersclub.com
MARCH 5, 2007
35
Perks and Picks
Card Room Roundup
The Bargain Bin
By H. Scot Krause
At Harrah’s Ak Chin Casino Resort in Arizona,
poker players can now earn 20 base Reward
Credits for each hour of play in a live poker game; earn 55 bonus
Reward Credits for each hour of play in a live poker game.
Stay tuned for a “Free Pull your way to $1,000,000” promotion
coming up at the Silver Slipper Casino in Lakeshore, Mississippi
from March 23-31.
In Las Vegas, poker excitement continues this March with
The Venetian Poker Room’s latest tournament, Deep Stack
Extravaganza. The tournament runs February 21st - March 11th.
Over a three week period players can win big with their favorite games including No Limit Hold’em, Omaha 8 or Better, P.L.O.
(Pot Limit Omaha) and H.O.S. (Hold ‘Em/Omaha/Stud). All events
start players with a significant amount of chips, very generous
blind structures and 40-minute levels.
“The Deep Stack Extravaganza offers both the novice and
professional player a chance to win big,” stated Kathy Raymond,
director of poker operations. “With the variety of the games
being offered and the substantial amount of starting chips, this
tournament is sure to attract poker players from all over. Our
daily satellites for these events will make this tournament even
more affordable.”
For complete tournament details contact The Venetian Poker
Room at (702) 414-7657 or visit www.venetian.com You can also
sign up to receive e-mail exclusive Internet offers and the latest news on Venetian promotions and special events at: http://
secure.venetian.com/EmailSignUp/
Arizona Charlie’s Boulder and Arizona Charlie’s Decatur
have launched a new player program called A.C.E. Rewards. A.C.E.
Rewards replaces the Ultimate Rewards program and features
greater player benefits based on coin-in play including same day
cash back.
“A.C.E. Rewards is designed for the avid player with rewards
based on coin-in play. We made the program easy to understand
with enhanced benefits including same day cash back and a weekly cash/dining offer,” said John Moran, vice president of customer
relationship marketing for American Casino & Entertainment
Properties.
For most machine play, every $1 coin-in equals one point
earned and every 600 points equals $1 in cash back with a minimum balance of $4 required to redeem cash back.
A.C.E. Rewards is also currently available at the Aquarius
Casino Resort in Laughlin, a sister property to both Arizona
Charlie’s properties. The Stratosphere Casino Hotel has not yet
converted to A.C.E. Rewards. Full program details are available by
visiting the A.C.E. Rewards Center at any property.
“Money Madness” is a scratch card promotion running at the
Plaza in downtown Las Vegas through March 31. Every 500 earned
points ($500 coin-in) gets the player a scratch card. Players then
scratch and reveal 5 squares looking to find five symbols. Prizes
are as follows: 0 symbols, 1 symbol and 2 symbols are eligible for
the $500 2nd Chance drawings to be held nightly at 8:30 p.m., 3
symbols wins $3 cash, 4 symbols wins $100 cash, and 5 symbols
wins $1000 cash. The $500 2nd Chance drawings will have five
(5) $50 winners drawn and ten (10) $25 winners drawn. Winners
have 2 minutes to claim their prize at the drawing site. Drawing
winners that are not present have 24 hours to claim their prize at
the Main Casino Cage. A winner’s list will be posted at the Plaza
Play Club and the Main Casino Cage. Call in inquiries will not be
permitted. The “Money Madness” 2nd Chance drawing barrel will
be emptied every night once the drawing has been completed.
That’s it for this week!
Wynn
Las Vegas
3131 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Las Vegas, NV 89109
Toll free: 1.877.321.WYNN Local: 702.770.7100
www.wynnlasvegas.com
Wynn Las Vegas is quite
simply the plushest destination resort and casino on
the planet. The magic that
produced this Las Vegas
landmark comes from the
Wizard of Las Vegas, Steve
Wynn. The tallest building
in Nevada provides 2,716
luxurious rooms and magnificent suites for the most
discerning guest. Located
center stage on the famous
Vegas Strip, the magic
is just behind a curbside
Alpine mountain range that
has a great copper hued arc
of a building rising above
it all.
The Wynn Las Vegas
represents the state-of-theart in accommodations,
entertainment, food, customer service, world class
shopping and gaming.
Steve Wynn brought all of
the best from building his
previous generations of
Vegas luxury resorts and
combined them to create
H. Scot Krause is a freelance writer, gaming industry
analyst and researcher, originally from Cleveland, Ohio.
While raising his four year-old son, Zachary, Scot reports,
researches, and writes about casino games, events, attractions and promotions. He is a twelve-year resident of Las
Vegas. Questions or comments are welcomed. Card room
managers are also invited to send your specials
and promotions to: [email protected]
36
MARCH 5, 2007
this striking fourth generation property. Typical of
Wynn designs, he provides
the guest with a visual
overload of colors, internal
and open air vistas and art.
Pleasing gardens with
flowers always in bloom
fill the public spaces.
Artistic use of living trees
combined with a variety
of exotic plants are found
throughout giving visitors unmatched splendor.
Attention to the smallest of
details is quite apparent in
this latest Las Vegas project. Guest accommodations
are lavish, amenities are
extensive and cutting edge
high-tech digital including
big screen plasmas with
in-room programming and
super speed Internet access.
Guests can shop from
famous designers’, appraise
crown sized jewels, consider priceless art, even
buy an Italian rocket at the
Wynn’s full service Ferrari-
Maserati dealership. Stroll
along the mosaic flowered
paths fronted by exclusive
names including Cartier,
Dior, Louis Vuitton, Brioni
and dozens more.
Wynn Las Vegas includes
22 restaurants and a staff
of world renowned chefs
creating dining experiences
that are unsurpassed. You
will find an endless variety of culinary offerings
ensuring Epicureanism to
be an art form practiced
at the Wynn. Your Wynn
dining experience can be a
once-per-lifetime evening
marked with dozen dollar
signs, a hundred dollar truffle rich hamburger or just a
cup of rare coffee, whatever
you choose, it will be the
best you’ve ever had.
The Wynn Las Vegas
Poker Room has the best
parking in town making
for quick and convenient
access. The spacious poker
room has 26 tables offer-
Find 26 tables in the Wynn’s poker room.
Pechanga Poker
Stroll along the Wynn’s magical interior courtyards
ing a variety of games and
limits including some of the
biggest in town. The Nolimit Hold’em crowd will
find games with blinds $1$3, $2-$5, $5-$10, $15-$30,
$30-$60, $100-$200 and
up. The No-limit Hold’em
games have no maximum
buy-in cap. Limit Hold’em
is offered with all of the
popular blind structures:
$4-$8, $8-$16, $15-$30 and
$30-$60. The poker room
usually has a $10-$20 ‘mix’
game in progress. The room
will spread most poker
games with player interest.
Poker operations for
the Wynn are under the
expert guidance of Deborah
Giardina, Director of
poker Room Operations.
Deborah has more than
fifteen years in the poker
industry including nine
years with Lyle Berman
Enterprises. Her management style keeps the room
filled with poker players.
Typical Wynn elegance and
upscale décor combine with
digital room management,
Shufflemaster equipped
tables and a friendly, well
trained room staff makes
this a must play Vegas
poker room. Players can
order food served at the
table. The Wynn’s Red
Card provides $1.50 in
food comps per hour of
play with no daily cap. It is
generally known the Wynn
poker room has a very liberal comp policy.
Tournament Director
David Eglseder brings 15
years of poker tournament
management experience
to the Wynn’s daily poker
tournaments. $300 + $30
buy-in No-limit Hold’em
tournaments are offered
at Noon on Tuesday,
Wednesday, and Thursday
plus Friday’s Noon event
is a $500 + $40 buy-in.
The Tuesday thru Friday
Noon tournaments have a
guaranteed $5,000 prize
pool. Single table satellites
are available on tournament days beginning at
8:00AM. Phone the room at
702.770.7654 for complete
details information including any recent changes.
The Wynn Classic
brings major tournament
poker action to the resort.
Beginning with satellites on
February 21 and concluding
on March 11 when the nine
survivors from the $10,000
buy-in Championship event
meet to determine a champion. This inaugural event
marks Wynn’s entry into
the world of big-time multievent tournament poker.
Expect all the professionals
to be in town for the fun at
the Wynn.
The Wynn Las Vegas is
the only resort in the world
to have a Mobil 5 Star rating and a AAA 5 Diamond
rating. So what do they
do for an encore? They do
Encore, the $2 billion plus
super luxury tower expansion to double existing
space while establishing a
new world benchmark for
luxury resorts. Stop by this
magnificent joint on the Las
Vegas Strip and play poker
in one of the world’s best
poker rooms in the heart of
Las Vegas.
—Joseph Smith, Sr.
APRIL 17, 2007 • 6:30PM
APRIL 20, 2007 • 6:30PM
CASINO EMPLOYEE TOURNAMENT*
No Limit Hold’em • $15,000 Guarantee
*Open to employees of all casinos
$100 Buy-in + $25 Entry Fee
Multiple Re-buys
*must show employee ID to enter
No Re-buys
APRIL 18, 2007 • 6:30PM
APRIL 21, 2007 • 5:00pm
$1,000 Buy-in + $80 Entry Fee
No Re-buys
$5,000 starting chips, 40 minute rounds
Final table will receive Championship Ring
No Re-buys
APRIL 19, 2007 • 6:30PM
No Re-buys
CHAMPIONSHIP
TOURNAMENT
Satellites for all events run daily 2PM - 6PM & 7PM-11PM through start of
last event on 4/21/07. Registration begins March 1st. Register before April
13, 2007 and receive a free jacket. Limited quantities. See a Poker Room
Floorperson for more information. Management reserves the right to cancel
or modify promotions without notice. Must be 21 or older to enter Casino.
MARCH TOURNAMENT SERIES
THURSDAY, MAR 1ST
6:30 PM
$5,000 Guarantee No-Limit Holdʼem
FRIDAY, MAR 2ND
6:30 PM
SATURDAY, MAR 3RD
4:00 PM
SUNDAY, MAR 4TH
4:00 PM
THURSDAY, MAR 8TH
6:30 PM
Ladies Only No-Limit Holdʼem
1 Place: $1,000 Buy-in seat 2007 World Series Ladies Only Event
st
THURSDAY, MAR 22ND
6:30 PM
FRIDAY, MAR 23RD
6:30 PM
SATURDAY, MAR 24TH
4:00 PM
2007 Big Showdown Series Tournament
SUNDAY, MAR 25TH
4:00 PM
1st Place: $10,000 Buy-in seat to the 2007 World Series, Guaranteed
DAILY TOURNAMENTS
DAILY DOUBLE JACKPOTS • Mon. thru Fri. 1-5PM • 9PM-12AM • 1:30-5AM • 6-9AM
Monthly $7,500 Free Roll – Last Wednesday of Each Month • 6:30 PM • 40 hours to qualify
NO-LIMIT HOLDʼEM TOURNAMENTS
Tuesday Night Special • 6:30PM • $0 buy-in + $5 entry Fee • $2,000 Guarantee
Friday Morning Special • 10AM • $0 buy-in + $5 entry Fee • $2,000 Guarantee
Monday and Wednesday • 6:30PM • $50 buy-in + $5 entry fee
•1st Place: Guaranteed Entry to Pechanga Masters of Poker Tournament
SPLASH THE POT
Tuesday & Thursday • 4AM - 8AM • $200 drawings at the top
of every hour
$40,000 HOLDʼEM JACKPOT
RING
NOW OFFE
IVE
PROGRESS
JACKPOTS
Friday • 6PM to 8PM • All Holdʼem Games • Stud and Omaha Doubled
HIGH HAND OF THE HOUR
Thursday • 1PM - 11PM • $200 for all Holdʼem and $50 for Omaha
DOUBLE JACKPOT
Sunday • 1PM to 3PM & 6PM to 1AM
All Weekday AM/PM Tournaments have an Entry Fee. No tournament re-buys unless specified otherwise. All Jackpot promotions
reset and doubled until end of promotion time. Tournament Series replaces Daily Tournaments on dates shown. Hotel Poker Rate is
subject to availability Monday thru Thursday and no discounts on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Please see a Poker Room Floorperson
for promotion details. Management reserves the right to cancel or modify promotions without notice. Must be 21 or older to enter
Casino. SMOKE FREE POKER ROOM.
Tournament Director David Eglseder and Deborah
Giardina, Director of poker Room Operations
45000 PECHANGA PARKWAY • I-15 • TEMECULA, CA • 877.711.2WIN
WWW.PECHANGA.COM
MARCH 5, 2007
37
7-Card Stud Home
Game Variations, PART 2
STUD SENSE
Book reviews
Poker Protection—
Cheating and the
World of Poker
By ASHLEY ADAMS
In my last column I began by looking at a stud home game
variation known as 7-Card Stud hi-lo declare. It is very different from the standard casino game of 7-Card Stud – and
also very different from the less common casino hi-lo game
of 7-Card Stud 8 or better. In 7-stud/8 after the fifth round of
betting, when all seven cards are dealt, the remaining players
expose their hands. The best high hand splits the pot with the
best low hand – if the low hand is at least an 8 low or better. If
there is no qualifying low hand then the high hand wins everything.
In stud hi-lo declare, after the fifth round of betting, when
all of the cards are dealt, the players make a declaration of
whether they are going to compete for the high half of the
pot, the low half of the pot, or both high and low. There is no
qualifier. The game is most commonly played with simultaneous declares. After the last card is dealt and the fifth betting
round is complete, each player places one, two or three chips
in his hand, under the table, and then brings his closed fist
out on top of the table and then, simultaneously, each player
opens his hand to reveal how many chips he holds and thereby
whether he is going high, low or both. One chip indicates he
is going for low; two chips indicates he is going for high; and
three chips in his hand indicates that he is going for both high
and low – in which case he has to either win or tie in both
directions. If he doesn’t, he is not eligible to win either the
high half or the low half of the pot.
A player must win in the direction he declares. If two or
more players declare high then the player with the best high
hand wins half the pot. If all of the remaining players declare
the same way then the winner wins the entire pot. If a player
declares high and low, then he must either win or tie in both
directions or he wins nothing.
In the limit game I play in, after the declare round there
is another round of betting between or among the remaining
players – assuming that there isn’t exactly one person declaring each way – in which case they just split the pot.
So, for example, if after the last round of betting, four players remain, two high and two low, they have one last betting
round, with the pot being split between the higher of the high
hands and the lower of the low hands.
Consider the following end game situation. You hold, (Ad
4d)6d 8c 8s 3d (7d). Your sole opponent holds (x – x)5c 5s 3s
Ah (x). How do you declare? High with your flush? Low with
your 8 low? Or both high and low – hoping your opponent will
lose to you each way?
There are obviously many factors to consider including what
your opponent is likely to have, and how he is likely to declare
(which involves your consideration of how he views what you
have). As you can see this can become very complex.
In the above example you have to think a little more deeply
to know how to declare. If you declare the wrong way it could
cost you half or even all of the pot.
All these questions are exactly what the expert player wants
in a game. It means that the proper play cannot be easily discerned but must be skillfully deduced. Deduction is something
that a good player should be able to do better than a poor
player – giving him an edge that will turn into profit at the end
of the night. And he exploits that edge by first making the correct assessment and then making the correct declaration.
Ashley Adams is the author of Winning 7-Card Stud,
(Kensington Press 2003). He has been playing 7-Card
Stud for 40 years—and profitably in casinos for the past
10 years. He has played in casinos all over the world,
including England, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Hungary,
Canada and the United States, but plays most frequently
at at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard Connecticut.
Professionally, he is a union organizer and an agent for
broadcasters. He can be reached at: [email protected]
38
MARCH 5, 2007
by Steve Forte
SLF Publishing, 2007
ISBN: 0975986414
360pp hardcover, $49.95
With poker’s accelerating
popularity and millions of
new players nationally and
internationally looking to
get in on the excitement
of live action at the tables
and computer games on
Internet, people will always
wonder about cheating.
They will argue, they will
question the rules, they will
suspect that some crossroader is sitting across the
table from them just waiting
to snap them off and take
their money. While we have
some access to cheating in
video format, few books go
into deep detail about how
cheaters operate in poker
games, probably because
there are few authors who
are experts in the field.
In his book Casino
Games Protection, published three years ago,
Steve Forte covered cheating at all casino games
including (a small section
on) poker. Because we now
see poker as a major player
in gaming, many individuals inside and outside the
industry asked Forte to
expand that section to a
stand-alone book on protecting America’s hottest
game. He’s done just that
with Poker Protection—
Cheating…and the World of
Poker. Forte draws a small
portion (about 30 pages)
of this book from Casino
Games Protection, which
sells for $200, and adds
more than 300 more pages
to create this vital resource
for everyone who specializes in this game.
Until the new wave of
televised gaming arrived,
casinos pretty much ignored
poker when they set up
their surveillance because
they believed they didn’t
need to protect something
in which they had no vested
interest. After all, the house
didn’t have any cash interest, other than the rake,
because the money at stake
belonged to each individual
player. The players themselves where the house, so
it’s likely the casino figured
they should protect themselves. Now, however, with
the growth of multi-million
dollar tournaments and the
eyes of the world watching
on TV, with many corporate
sponsors nervously following the action, casino
management should pay
more attention to the game
for the protection of their
new customers, for their
own reputation as an honest establishment, and for
future need, should they
become involved in the
bigger poker picture. And
that’s where Forte’s book
becomes a must-read.
Important Information
For Protecting Poker!
In the ground-breaking effort, Forte explains
how cheaters operated a
century ago and how they
operate today. He discusses
the opportunities for cheating, including collusion
in tournaments. He points
out how, for instance, how
final table deals occur and
how this can result in chip
dumping. He points out
why deliberate slow play
should alert novice players,
supervisors and tournament organizers to actions
that could devastate their
casino or reputation. In the
online area he discusses the
“core of every online poker
hand,” the RNG (random
Denver, CO
(Continued from page 32)
and industrial center of the
Rockies. With urbanization came the demand for
reform.
William Byers, Editor of
Denver’s Rocky Mountain
News, waged war on
the gamblers. So many
attempts were made to
burn down the newspaper
that employees worked
with revolvers strapped to
number
generator),
including
an explanation of how serious security issues surfaced in 1999
allowing astute computer
players to dissect one site’s
technology to predict the
hole cards of all players and
what cards would hit on
fourth and fifth street.
Forte is not intimating
that poker is riddled with
fixers and cheaters. In truth,
he expresses an optimistic
opinion and he praises those
responsible for watching
and supervising the game
for their diligence in keeping the action—live and on
the net--clean and honest for
the most part. At the same
time, he presents a checklist
for those who prefer home
and private games. This list
includes questioning who is
hosting the game and where,
how long the game has been
running, who is dealing,
who are the other players,
are the cards shuffled and
cut properly, are the discards
safe, who supplied the cards,
what kind are they and have
they been opened prior to
the start of the game. Each
of these (and other) segments leave room for
cheating.
All in all this work
should steer readers away
from trouble games and put
them on the alert for potential scamsters. But it should
also allow supervisors,
dealers, gaming enforcement personnel in every
state and in every nation the
opportunity to keep their
games above reproach by
making them aware of danger zones.
—Howard Schwartz
their waist and shotguns
stood next to their desks.
The “civilized” community of Denver managed to
outlaw gambling in 1915,
along with prostitution and
gambling. Although all
three businesses continued
well into the 20th Century,
Denver’s boomtown
beginning and frontier
character was destined for
history.
e-mail: [email protected]
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MARCH 5, 2007
39
Entertainment
Listings
Entertainment RePORT
By LEN BUTCHER
I’m happy to hear that one of my favorite shows
is back at the Gold Coast following a short holiday
hiatus. It will remain there through April 1. I’m
talking about Forever Plaid, a show that played to a full house for
years at the Flamingo before leaving for a few years and returning to
the Gold Coast about two years ago. Unfortunately, it will be leaving
again following their April 1 performance unless they can find a gig at
another hotel.
If you’ve not seen it, the show is a story about an endearing harmony group whose dreams of musical glory ended suddenly one fateful night en route to their professional debut in 1964. The group was
slammed broadside by a school bus of Catholic teens on their way to
see the Beatles make their television debut on the Ed Sullivan Show.
These nerdy crooners with angelic voices have been dead for more
that 40 years when they miraculously return to Earth on the Las
Vegas stage to perform the show they never got to do in life.
The music is great and will bring back lot of memories and their
spoof of the Ed Sullivan show will have you rolling in the aisles. Put
this on your must-see list. Tickets are only $39.95, and for $44.95,
you get dinner thrown in. A great deal.
The Las Vegas Hilton is now home to the largest hand-painted
mural in Las Vegas, with the 128’ X 56’10” image of Hilton headliner
Barry Manilow on display on the property’s main tower. The mural
was installed over a five-day period using a grid system to prepare
the image and three painters using brushes and rollers to complete
the finished mural last weekend.
Sky Tag, the company responsible for the mural, specializes in
spectacular images in metropolitan areas. This is the biggest superstar mural the company has painted in Las Vegas. Manilow opened
“Music and Passion” at the Las Vegas Hilton on Feb. 23, 2005, and
in March 2006, the resort extended his exclusive long-term engagement through 2008. Great show if you like Manilow. Speaking of
the Hilton, funnyman and all-around nice guy Joe Piscopo began
an unlimited engagement a few weeks ago in the resort’s Shimmer
Theatre,
Nightclubs have become the rage in Las Vegas and now we’re
going to see yet another one. This time at the Stratosphere, where
Polly Esther’s will open its first mega club in Las Vegas, bringing all
of its signature nightclubs under one roof. Opening is planned for
next month. Polly Esther’s combines four clubs, depicting four separate eras. The highly successful signature clubs of “Polly Esther’s,”
“Culture Club” and “Nerve Ana” are popular throughout North
America, so they tell me, although I can honestly say I’ve never heard
of them. Of course I’m not one of the 20-somethings that frequent
clubs.
Now maybe if they were talking about opening another Stork Club
or Copacabana, I could relate. Anyway, Polly Esther’s Las Vegas will
also debut “Suite 2000,” an ultralounge themed around this decade
and specially designed for Las Vegas.
This new quad-club will allow guests to travel through time reigniting the feelings of their youth by moving from one club to another
all in the same location. The facility will be one-story, 26,000 square
feet, with a capacity for 1,300 people, and will feature state-of-theart lighting and sound systems, lighted dance floors, live shows and
DJ music every night with frequent special events throughout the
week.
The signature clubs of Polly Esther’s, Culture Club and Nerve Ana
will feature the trademark elements of the predecessors -- largerthan-life statues and murals of icons such as John Travolta and
Sharon Stone, shrines guests can have fun with such as a Brady
Bunch display where one can step into Alice’s place, a “Back to the
Future” DeLorean suspended from the ceiling, imposters such as Bill
Clinton working the crowd, a Partridge Family bus converted into a
bar, themed cocktails in every room and much more. Gotta admit,
sounds like a fun place. The club will be located just inside the main
entrance of the Stratosphere and each room will have different hours
of operation and cover charge rates throughout the week.
Len Butcher, a 25-year resident of Las Vegas, is an
online columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal
and a former Managing Editor of the Las Vegas Sun
and of Gaming Today. Reach him at [email protected]
40
MARCH 5, 2007
Poker Player Advertisers are shown in RED along with their ad’s page number
To list your event, contact Len Butcher, Entertainment Editor at [email protected]
ARIZONA
Richard Marx
May 1, 7 & 9 p.m.
Casino Arizona (13)
CALIFORNIA
Mar 1, 8 p.m.
Chumash Casino Resort (17) Styx
Ballroom Dance Party
Thursdays 8 p.m. to Midnight, Sundays 2-6 p.m.
Cambodian Dance Party
Fridays 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Crystal Casino & Hotel
Karaoke
Thursday through Monday
El As De Oros Night Club
Presents Banda Nortina Sats 8 p.m.-3 a.m.
Live Jazz, Tues. 8 p.m.
Hollywood Park Casino (5) Finish Line Lounge
Mar 10, 8 p.m.
Pechanga Resort & Casino (37) Wynonna
CONNECTICUT
Foxwoods Resort Casino (15) Jay Leno
Mar 9, 7 & 9:30 p.m.
NEW JERSEY
Diahann Carroll
Hilton Hotel & Casino
Feb 18-22, 7 p.m.
Blue Man Group
Trump Taj Majal
Mar 10, 8 p.m.
NEW YORK
Seneca Niagara Casino (29) Johnny Lang Live
Mar 2, 8 p.m.
NEVADA-LAS VEGAS
Magician Steve Wyrick
Aladdin Hotel & Casino
Ongoing, Wednesday through Monday, 7 & 10 p.m.
Donn Arden’s Jubilee!
Sat-Thu, 8 p.m.
Bally’s Resort & Casino
“The Price is Right” Live Stage Show Tues, Thurs & Sat, 2:30 p.m. & Fri, 8 p.m.
Mar 9, 8 p.m.
Boulder Station Hotel & Casino (6) Boney James
Celine Dion
Caesar’s Palace
Mar 1-4, 8:30 p.m.
Confederate Railroad
Mar 9, 8 p.m.
Cannery Hotel & Casino
Steve Connolly
Thurs thru Mon, 10:30 p.m.
Fitzgerald’s Hotel & Casino
Tue thru Sun (dark Mon), 7:30 p.m.,
Forever Plaid
Gold Coast (27)
Sun 3 p.m. & 7 p.m.
Rita Rudner
Harrah’s Hotel & Casino
Ongoing (dark sundays), 8 p.m.
Legends In Concert
Mondays through Saturdays, 7 & 10 p.m.
Imperial Palace Hotel & Casino
Troubador Lounge-Live Entertainment Fri & Sat, 9 p.m.
Joker’s Wild (8)
George Lopez
Mar 2, 9 p.m.
Joe Piscopo
Las Vegas Hilton
Sundays thru Tuesdays. 9:30 p.m.
Menopause, the Musical
8 p.m. nightly Sat thru Thu
Carrot Top
Luxor Resort & Casino
Sun thru Fri, 8 p.m. & Sat, 7 & 9 p.m.
Mandalay Bay Resort &
7 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Sundays; 8 p.m.
Mamma Mia
Casino
Fridays; 7 & 10:30 p.m. Saturdays, Mondays.
Bob Seger
Mar 3, 8 p.m.
MGM Grand Hotel & Casino
KA.
Fri thru Tue, 7:30& 10:30 p.m.
Impressionist Danny Gans
8 p.m. (Monday thru Friday)
Mar 2-3, 10:30 p.m
The Mirage Hotel & Casino (9) David Spade
The Beatles LOVE
Thursdays thru Mondays, 7:30 & 10:30 p.m.
Monte Carlo Resort & Casino
Tuesdays thru Saturdays, 7pm; Tuesdays &
Magician Lance Burton
(35)
Saturdays. 7 & 10 p.m.
Earl Turner
Thu thru Sun, 8 p.m.
Palace Station Hotel &
Casino (6)
Gabe Kaplan’s Laugh Trax
Tuesdays thru Saturdays, 7 p.m.
Playboy Comedy Club
Saturdays, 8 & 10:30 p.m.
Palms Casino & Resort (19)
Evanesence
Mar 17, 8 p.m.
Zowie Bowie
Nightly, 8 p.m.
Red Rock Hotel & Casino
Crazy Girls
Wed thru Mon, 9:30 p.m.
La Cage
Wed thru Mon, 7:30 p.m.
Riviera Hotel & Casino (18)
Splash
Tue thru Sun, 9:30 p.m
Neil Diamond Tribute
Sun thru Thu, 7 p.m.
The Scintas
Tue-Sat, 7 p.m.
The Amazing Jonathan
Fri-Wed, 10 p.m.
Sahara Hotel & Casino (12)
The Platters, Coasters and
8 p.m. nightly
Drifters
Feb 15, 8:30 p.m.
Sam’s Town Hotel & Casino (17) Kari & Jerry
Lee Ritenour
Mar 3, 8 p.m.
Santa Fe Station (6)
Bite
Ongoing, 10:30 p.m.
Stratosphere Hotel &
American Superstars
Ongoing, 6:30 & 8:30 p.m.
Casino
Viva Las Vegas
Ongoing, 2 & 4 p.m.
The Whip-Its
Saturdays, 10:30 p.m.
Sunset Station (6)
Latin Xpress
Thursdays, 9 p.m.
70s Soul Jam
Mar 9, 8 p.m.
Texas Station (6)
Mystere
Ongoing, Wednesdays thru Saturdays 7:30 p.m.
Treasure Island
Phantom of the Opera
Nightly, 7 & 10 p.m.
Venetian Hotel & Casino
Blue Man Group
Nightly, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m.
(39)
Gordie Brown
Ongoing, 7:30 p.m. (dark Wed & Thu)
LAKE TAHOE
Anita Mann’s Party Girls
Harrah’s/Harvey’s Lake Tahoe
Ongoing (dark Mondays) 10 p.m.
RENO
Brooks & Dunn
Mar 15, 8 p.m
Peppermill Hotel & Casino
Caro’s Word: “Half”
4. When no other players have entered the pot and
it’s just the small blind vs.
the big blind, a raise has
excellent chances of chasing away the only remaining
player and securing a small
immediate profit. (Applies to
both limit and no-limit hold
’em.)
Why call?
And here are three important
considerations that weigh on
the side of just calling when
you’re in the small blind.
1. If you just call with a
strong hand, you add an element of deception that can
assist you in maximizing
profit on the later rounds
of betting. (Applies to both
limit and no-limit hold ’em.)
2. You’re getting better
pot odds when you just call.
One common definition of
“Pot odds” is the amount of
chips in the pot right now
weighed against the size
of your bet. We’ll use that
definition for this example,
although “pot odds” can also
be based on an estimate of
how big the pot will eventu-
the notion that you should
“always” raise if you’re
going to play. (This example
applies mostly to limit, but
is important in no-limit as
well.)
3. The flop will usually
disappoint you. Perhaps
that’s the saddest fact in hold
’em. No matter what hands
you start with, you’ll wish
you had a different flop most
of the time. Because of this,
the flop is so speculative that
it’s often more profitable to
see it cheaply. (Applies to
both limit and no-limit hold
’em.)
ally be and how much it will
probably cost you to pursue
it.
Using the first, simpler
definition, let’s say you’re
playing a $10 fixed-limit
hold ’em game, with blinds
of $5 (your small blind) and
$10. When the action returns
to you, there’s $45 out there,
consisting of the $10 big
blind, three $10 calls, and
your $5 small blind. If you
just call $5 and the big blind
doesn’t exercise his “live
blind” right to raise, you’re
getting $45 to $5 or 9 to 1
on your money. If you raise,
making it $20 and everyone
calls (which often won’t be
the case), you’ll have added
$15 to a pot that will have
grown to $100. You will
have invested $15 against
$85, and the pot odds will be
only 5.67 to 1. The reduced
pot odds mean that there
are many hands you cannot
justify playing for a raise,
because the odds against
them succeeding exceed the
proportional size of the pot.
This is a hard mathematical reality that disproves
Today’s word
Now let’s examine today’s
word: “Half.” It used to
be that I was apprehensive
whenever I wrote about
hold ’em. Too many readers didn’t fully understand
how it was played, and I
felt compelled to explain
the procedures each time.
Nowadays hold ’em has
become so popular I worry
that readers may lose interest
if I talk about any other type
of poker.
Nonetheless, I’ll risk it,
because this next point is
short and important. It’s
about any form of high-low
split poker. This is the text
of a quick lecture I gave
many years ago. In fact, it’s
one of the earliest in my
series of vintage lectures
that I’ve been sharing with
you over the past two years.
Here goes…
The truth about
high-low
Here’s the most important
thing I teach about the nature
of high-low split poker. You
need to usually play hands
that have a chance to win
both high and low.
Many players make the
mistake of thinking that half
a pot is worth half as much
as whole pot. It isn’t. You
need to win more than two
split pots to equal the profit
of one whole pot. Listen. I’ll
make it clear.
Imagine that you’re at the
showdown. The pot is $200
and $50 is what you invested to get there. If you win
the whole pot, you’ll earn
$150 profit, right? That’s the
$200 in the pot minus the
$50 that was yours to begin
with. But what happens if
you only win half the pot?
Then you collect half of
$200 or $100. But you still
invested $50, so your profit
is only $50 – one hundred
minus fifty.
You can see that, in this
case, winning that whole
pot was worth three times as
much in profit as winning
half the pot. Remember, in
high-low split, winning half
a pot twice is never worth
as much as winning a whole
pot once. That’s why you
have to play mostly hands
that have a chance of winning it all.
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.
Start qualifying now for
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April 22nd & 23rd 2007
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Time
Event
RB/AO
Entry Fee
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Feb 24 Saturday 1 PM
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Mar 11 Sunday
Mar 17 Saturday
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Mar 24 Saturday
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Mar 31 Saturday
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Day
Wednesdays
Thursdays
Fridays
2 PM
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1 PM
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Sunday Tournament
St Patrick’s Day
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Saturday Tournament
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Ladies Tournament
Saturday Tournament
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41
More Truths About 2007-08 WORLDWIDE
POKER TOURNAMENTS
Online Poker
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, Managing Editor, at: [email protected]
Last time we were talking about some
things we know to be true about online poker play.
Since then, the online poker landscape has suffered
yet another tectonic shift with the arrest of two
Neteller executives and this reliable cash conduit to
online play subsequently sinking beneath the waves.
Yet online poker continues to be played, and while
you can still log in and cash out, here are a few
more truths of the game you would do well to keep
in mind.
THE MONEY IS REAL. Again and again we see
people playing for real money (even big real money)
as if they were at the play money tables. They just
can’t seem to connect the digits they see on the
screen with the green stuff they put in their wallets, and it causes them to make horrendous playing decisions. This is great for us, of course, but
remember two things. First, when people are making
senseless decisions, you’ll sometimes suffer mindbogglingly bad beats, and you must be able to take
these beats in stride. Second, don’t you lose your
discipline, just because no one around you seems to
have any.
PEOPLE HAVE ASTOUNDINGLY BAD MANNERS. I’ll
never forget the time someone wrote these words
to me in a chat box: “I hate you, I hope you die!” I
thought that my foe must be some sort of psychopath, but it turns out that he’s a very common breed
of cat. Safe behind his online screen name and mystery avatar, he’s free to spew the most amazingly
rude and confrontational things. When you encounter rude or angry or profane chat, you need to make
sure you don’t let it rattle you. Remember that the
guy who chats ugly is revealing something profound
about himself: He’s a hothead; he’s out of control;
he’ll likely call too much, push too hard, and pay off
every strong hand you have. Stay calm. Stick with
your game plan. Make this victim of testosterone
poisoning pay and pay and pay.
MAKING BOOK IS LESS USEFUL THAN WE
THOUGHT. Online poker is such a wide-open and
dynamic playing community that we rarely see the
same players often enough to make taking notes
on them a directly worthwhile use of our time.
Nevertheless, it continues to be indirectly useful, if
for no other reason than that making book on our
foes tends to keep our own heads in the game. Plus,
there are certain corners of the internet where you
do tend to see the same opponents over and over
again. Heads-up sitngos are one example of this, for
fans of heads-up play tend to find a happy home and
linger there. Is your book useful then? You bet it is.
There’s a saying I like that goes like this: For years
I said the sky was falling and everyone said I was
crazy. Then the sky fell. Well, at least I wasn’t crazy.
Is the sky of internet poker falling? Maybe. If it is,
make sure that you don’t squander its last days on
bad play. Whether you’re quitting the game or the
game is quitting you, it’s definitely best to quit winners.
[John Vorhaus is the author of Poker Night and
the Killer Poker book series, and news
ambassador for UltimateBet.com.]
42
MARCH 5, 2007
DATE
EVENT
LOCATION
LA Poker Classic
tCommerce Casino, Commerce, CA
The Wynn Classic
The Wynn, Las Vegas, NV
WPT Invitational
tCommerce Casino (AdPg 43), Commerce, CA
Spring Poker Tournament
Peppermill Casino (AdPg 33), Reno, NV
Heartland Poker Tour Event
Lucky Nugget Card Club, Deadwood, SD
Winnin’ o’ the Green
The Bicycle Casino (AdPg 24), Bell Gardens, CA
March Madness
Turning Stone Resort Casino, Verona, NY
Celebrity Invitational
tCommerce Casino (AdPg 43), Commerce, CA
National Heads-Up Poker Ch’ship Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV
WSOP Circuit Event
sCaesars Atlantic City, Atlantic City, NJ
Grand Final
eMonte Carlo Bay Resort, Monte Carlo
Spring Poker Festival
Concord Card Casino, Vienna, Austria
Hohensyburg Open
eCasino Hohensyburg, Dortmund, Germany
Ultimate Poker Challenge
Binion’s Gambling Hall (AdPg 22), Las Vegas, NV
17-Day Poker Extravaganza
Peppermill Casino, Reno, NV
Bay 101 Shooting Star
tBay 101 (AdPg 11), San Jose, CA
Polish Open
eHyatt Regency, Warsaw, Poland
Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel, Tama, IA
Rock ‘n’ Roland Poker Tournament Cherokee Casino, Roland, Roland, OK
World Poker Challenge
tGrand Sierra Casino Resort, Reno, NV
WSOP Circuit Event
sCaesars Indiana, Elizabeth, IN
EPT Grand Final
eMonte Carlo Bay Resort, Monte Carlo
Sport of Kings
Hollywood Park Casino (AdPg 5), L.A., CA
Foxwoods Poker Classic
tFoxwoods Resort Casino (AdPg 15), Mashantucket, CT
5-Star World Poker Classic
tBellagio, Las Vegas, NV
Shooting Star Casino & Hotel, Mahnomen, MN
Stars & Stripes
Bicycle Casino (AdPg 24), Bell Gardens, CA
Spring Poker Round-Up
Wildhorse Resort & Casino, Pendleton, OR
WPT Championship
tBellagio Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV
WPS Caribbean Poker Cruise
Mariner of the Seas, Port Canaveral, FL
WSOP Circuit Event
sCaesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV
Western Canadian Poker Classic Casino Yellowhead, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Mirage Poker Showdown
Mirage Hotel & Casino (AdPg 9), Las Vegas, NV
Heavenly Hold’em
Commerce Casino (AdPg 43), Commerce, CA
WPS Bahamas Poker Showdown Crystal Palace Casino, Cable Beach Resort, Bahamas
NPA Tour
Hollywood Park Casino (AdPg 5), L.A., CA
Oasis Open Poker Tournament Oasis Resort & Casino, Mesquite, NV
Spring Festival (incl. Nat’l Sit’N
Go Ch’ship May 12, 12 noon)
Hawaiian Gardens Casino (AdPg 23), Hawaiian Gardens, CA
May 11-16
Grand Prix de Paris
tAviation Club of France, Paris, France
May 11-21
Spring Pot of Gold
Grand Sierra Hotel & Casino, Reno, NV
May 12-21
Turning Stone Classic
Turning Stone Resort Casino, Verona, NY
May 14-23
WSOP Circuit Event
sHarrah’s New Orleans, New Orleans, LA
May 16-20
Leelanau Sands Casino, Peshawbestown, MN
>May 17-29
Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge III Cherokee Casino Resort, Tulsa, OK
>May 19-23 Mirage Poker Showdown
tThe Mirage (AdPg 9), Las Vegas, NV
May 19-25
CEO Poker Tournament
Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City, NJ
>May 21-31
Mini Series Warm Ups
May 25-Jun 4
Spring Fling
Sycuan Resort & Casino, El Cajon, CA
tMandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, NV
May 29-Jun 3
Mandalay Bay Poker Ch’ship
>June 1-July 8 Mini Series
June 1-July 17
World Series of Poker
Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV
June 10-17
Turning Stone Casino, Verona, NY
June 12-16
Casino Poker Masters
Casino Seefeld, Tirol, Austria
>Jun 16-17
Poker’s #1 Family Tournament Hollywood Park Casino (AdPg 5), L.A., CA
July 21-29
Majestic Star Casino, Gary, IN
Aug 20-27
Grand Casino Mille Lacs, Onamia, MN
>Aug 25-29 Legends of Poker
tBicycle Casino (AdPg 24), Bell Gardens, CA
Aug 29-Sep 2
Edmonton Poker Classic
Casino Edmonton, Edmonton, AB, Canada
>Sep 4-23
California State Poker Ch’ship Commerce Casino (AdPg 43), Commerce, CA
Sep 12-16
Northern Lights Casino, Walker, MN
Sep 16-20
Borgata Open
tThe Borgata, Atlantic City, NJ
Sep 27-30
California Ladies State Ch’ship Oceans 11 Casino, Oceanside, CA
>Sep 27-Oct 14 Big Poker Oktober
Oct. 7-13
North American Poker Ch’ship tNiagara Fallsview Resort Casino, Niagara Falls, Canada
>Nov 2-18
Holiday Bonus Tournament
Commerce Casino (AdPg 43), Commerce, CA
Nov 6-18
Fall Poker Round-Up
Wildhorse Casino, Pendleton, OR
>Nov 8-13
World Poker Finals
tFoxwoods Resort Casino (AdPg 15), Mashantucket, CT
>Nov 22-Dec 9 Turkey Shoot/Ho-Ho Hold’em The Bicycle Casino (AdPg 24), Bell Gardens, CA
Dec 13-18
Bellagio 5 Diamond World Poker Classic tBellagio, Las Vegas, NV
>Jan 5-8
Poker Stars Caribbean Poker Adventure tAtlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas
Jan 25-Mar 5
Feb 21-Mar 11
>Feb 22-24
>Feb 23-Mar 4
Feb 28-Mar 4
>Mar 1-23
Mar 2-5
>Mar 3-5
Mar 3-6
Mar 5-14
Mar 7-11
Mar 7-18
Mar 8-11
>March 9-18
>Mar 9-25
>Mar 12-16
Mar 14-17
Mar 14-18
>Mar 24-Apr 1
Mar 25-28
>Mar 26-Apr 4
Mar 28-Apr 1
>Mar 28-Apr 8
>Mar 30-Apr 4
Apr 7-27
Apr 11-15
>Apr 12-29
Apr 18-28
Apr 21-27
Apr 22-29
Apr 23-May 2
May 2-6
>May 4-17
>May 4-20
May 6-16
>May 8-20
May 10-14
>May 11-13
MARCH 5, 2007
43
A MILLION BUCK
GRABS EVERY SS UP FOR
UNDAY
(THAT'S THIS PA
GE x 333.33, JUST
SO Y
OU KNOW)
SUNDAY MILLI
ON
THE WORLD'S L
ARGEST WEEKL
Y POKER TOUR
NAMENT

HALF - Poker Player Newspaper

Transcription

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