mini-series of poker - Poker Player Newspaper

Transcription

9
Celebrity Crossword PAGE
tribute to
Barry Greenstein
12
44
14
17
20
Mark Seif
profile by
Phil Hevener
PAGE
Wendeen Eolis on PAGE
the poker magic of
Thomas Kremser
24
9
POKER PLAYER
Reese
Rides
H.O.R.S.E.
to VICTORY!
There are many fascinating stories coming out of
the World Series of Poker
in this issue, but few as
dramatic and spectacular
as longtime poker pro,
Chip Reese, winning the
$50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event.
Chip is well known as an
outstanding high stakes
cash and ring game player,
who hasn’t won a WSOP
bracelet in over a quarter of a century. Perhaps
none of the prior times
he entered had stakes big
enough to get his undivided attention. This
time they did. Below you
will find coverage of that
even and the other WSOP
events that have happened
in the two weeks since
we last published Poker
Player. Our thanks to
WSOP Media Director,
Nolan Dalla and his usual
outstanding writings for
the narratives that follow.
W
S
O
P
(Continued on page 12)
Chip Reese of Las Vegas, NV clutches just a handful of the
$1,784,640 he just won in the WSOP H.O.R.S.E. event
Players Sue WPT
By Stanley R. Sludikoff
Seven Major professional
poker players have filed a
lawsuit against the World
Poker Tour claming violations of the anti-trust act,
and various other State and
Federal regulations. These
players are: Phil Gordon,
Andy Bloch, Howard
Lederer, Annie Duke, former
World Champions Chris
Ferguson and Greg Raymer,
Wildhorse:
Hot Players,
Hot Tables,
Hot Weather
Wildhorse Resort & Casino
has put on another great
event for poker players. The
2006 Summer Poker Rodeo
concluded late Saturday
night, July 22nd, 2006,
or more accurately, about
1:00 a.m. Sunday morning.
Players from all over the
Pacific Northwest braved
during a record heat wave
to duke it out for their share
of the five-day event’s
$252,650 in prize money.
The tournaments were all
very low buy-in events
ranging from only $100 to
$300, yet they averaged
better than $50,000 apiece.
The Summer Poker
championship event. Some
30 events, which began on
June 24, will end on July
27th to allow players to
get to the main event at the
WSOP. Last issue we gave
Rodeo was pretty well dominated by legendary poker
player, Ralph Morton of
Yakima, Washington. The
two-time World Series Of
A Word from the
“Mad Genius,”
Mini Series Holds
Sway at Bike
The Annual Mini Series
at the Bicycle Casino in the
Los Angeles area provides
low limit events during the
big games at the WSOP in
Las Vegas. Buy-ins range
from $50 to $1000 for the
Wildhorse Event 5 winner
Steve Deinhardt
Mike Caro
Today’s word is...
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PHOTO COURTESY IMAGE MASTERS PDI & THE 2006 WSOP
Vol. 10 Number 3 August 7, 2006 A Gambling Times Publication www.pokerplayernewspaper.com Copyright ©2006 Bi-Weekly $3.95 USA/$4.95 CANADA
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AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
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AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
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5
Caro’s Word: “Expand”
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
S
ure, I’m the one
who creates solid
guidelines governing which poker
hands you can play profitably. That’s me. But,
even though I stress these
standards that tell you
which hands to call with,
raise with, and fold with
in which positions under
which circumstances, I
don’t usually stick to them
myself.
I expand on these standards and define more
hands as playable. How
come?
Well, today I’m going
to tell you why that’s so.
If you’re still an average
player or a beginner, I
want you seldom to stray
from a predetermined,
conservative set of standards. But you still need to
understand what I’m about
to say for the future. And
if you’re already a sophisticated poker player, please
pay particular attention.
This is the transcript of
one of my lectures…
Winning by playing
hands you shouldn’t
One thing I teach beginning players is to stick to
a rigid set of standards.
Don’t vary from them.
These beginning standards are necessarily tight,
because I don’t want students who are unfamiliar
with the subtleties of poker
to encounter difficult situations that may cost them
money.
Fine. But as you progress as a player, as you
begin to grasp the subtleties, something almost the
opposite happens. Instead
of staying away from danger by avoiding hands that
require more finesse, you
play these hands and the
beginning players, inexperienced players, and poor
players all lose money to
you on the very hands that
they themselves cannot
profitably play. You play
and win with the same
hands they lose with.
So one of the key secrets
to mastering poker isn’t to
just play those same hands
for more profit, it’s to
find more hands that you
can play profitably. The
truth is, you can play more
hands profitably when
you are able to outplay
opponents on later betting
rounds. Once you develop
a good understanding of
later-round play, you can
play hands that you used
to think were unprofitable
– and you used to be right.
The key is that if you
can’t outplay opponents
on the betting sequences
after you enter the pot
– if you don’t know when
to bet, when not to bet,
when to call, and when to
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AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
raise with more certainty
than your opponents– you
must stick to a rigid and
conservative set of starting hands if you have any
hope of winning. That’s
why I teach beginners to
only play premium hands.
If they only enter pots with
these premium hands, then
they’ll average a profit on
all the hands they play,
even if their understanding
of when to bet, call, raise,
and fold on later rounds
is inferior. Those select
hands are just too powerful
to lose money by playing.
But that doesn’t guarantee
them that they’ll win overall.
Finding hands
You see, every hand you
don’t play costs money.
That’s obvious, because
you’re anteing or making blind bets and losing
that money if you never
play a hand. So, you have
to find enough hands to
play to overcome the cost
of the antes or blinds.
Most beginners can’t do
that, even if they stick
to just their most powerful hands, because there
aren’t enough of them, and
because they aren’t getting
the same value from these
rare strong hands that a
skilled professional would.
Also, some beginners can’t
even make money with
hands that are only semistrong, but not premium.
That’s because, even average opponents outplay
them. So, beginners – if
they try as hard as they
can – should only play
premium starting hands
or those where they got
into the pot cheaply or for
free and found themselves
with excellent chances to
make straights or flushes
– or managed to make
strong pairs or better. They
should fold on early betting rounds when their
hands would otherwise
figure to be about breakeven or slightly profitable, because they’ll be
outplayed and these hands
will lose money under
their control.
So, you can see how
very dismal poker can be
for beginners. They can’t
play many hands, and
because they can’t hold
their own against most
opponents, they must
forego the opportunities
to make profit with hands
of secondary strength. It’s
a mess. They don’t even
make as much money as
they should when they do
play premium hands.
What about average
players. Well, they can
play more hands, because
they won’t get beat up
as badly on later betting
rounds.
And what about truly
world-class players? Ah,
now listen closely. Truly
world-class players can
enter pots with hands
that are theoretically losers. In other words, if I
simulate poker on a computer and give everyone
the same degree of skill,
there will be hands that
are clearly not playable.
But in non-raked games,
meaning home games or
games where the casino
charges rent by the hour or
half hour, a really strong
player can enter pots with
some of these substandard
hands. You won’t usually
be able to do this in rake
games, because the cost
of the rake tends to swallow up the advantages
gained from later round
strategy. But you can play
some of these otherwise
substandard hands in nonrake games. The theoretical loss in a medium limit
game for playing one of
those weak hands might
be $2. But, wait! If the
player can out maneuver
his opponents on subsequent betting rounds while
they make mistakes, there
may be $4 worth of value
in pursuing the later betting rounds. That means a
hand that would lose $2 if
everyone played equally
or, perhaps, in the hands
of an average player, and
a hand that might lose $6
in the hands of a weak or
beginning player, can win
$2 in the hands of a worldclass player.
Dollar expectation
So, what does this mean?
It means the beginning
player can’t play a hand
because it loses $6 and the
average player can’t play
that same hand because it
loses $2, but the worldclass player can play that
same hand, because it wins
$2.
POKER
PLAYER
A Gambling Times Publication
3883 West Century Blvd.
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(310) 674-3365
www.pokerplayernewspaper.com
Stanley R. Sludikoff
EDITOR/PUBLISHER
[email protected]
A. R. Dyck
MANAGING EDITOR
[email protected]
John Thompson
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR
FOR idrome INFO DESIGN
[email protected]
Joseph Smith
WEBMASTER
[email protected]
Mike Caro
SENIOR EDITOR
[email protected]
Byron Liggett
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
[email protected]
Paul “Dr. Pauly”
McGuire
INTERNET EDITOR
[email protected]
H. Scot Krause
PROMOTIONS EDITOR
[email protected]
Len Butcher
ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
[email protected]
Wendeen H. Eolis
EDITORIAL CONSULTANT
Phil Hevener
CONSULTANT
Contributing
Columnists
Nolan Dalla
George Epstein
“Oklahoma Johnny” Hale
Ashley Adams
Diane McHaffie
James McKenna
I. Nelson Rose
John Vorhaus
Poker Player will be published Bi-Weekly
by Gambling Times Incorporated,
Stanley R. Sludikoff, President.
Volume 10 Number 3.
Copyright © August 2006 by Gambling
Times Incorporated. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without
written permission is prohibited.
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10, Number 3 of Poker Player were printed at Valley
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Distribution to newsstands, card clubs, poker rooms and
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AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
7
Conquering Flaws
As I mentioned in my last installment that low stakes
poker can be exceedingly frustrating, - so much though
- that I began to buy in to the biggest game that I
could find with only one minimum buy-in. If in fact I
had $200 I bought into a $20-$40 game where I only
had 10 small and 5 big bets. No matter, it is just about
Dealer Vibes
By Donald W. Woods, Jr.
the quality of cards coming into the
pot - and players not staying for the
duration of the hand - that I made this
move. The first time that I played $20$40 I actually played the hand badly and
probably should not have even been in the hand. If it
were not for the fact that two of the early players into
the pot, just called sucking me in, I would have folded
my hand - ace-9 of clubs. When they started raising and re-raising, I knew that I was in trouble. Well, I
figured it was too late to fold since all my money was
already committed. The flop brought 2 little clubs and
the 10 of diamonds. At this point, I knew that the two
slow players had to have kings and aces but since the
board was not paired I was drawing to the (nut) best
hand and I was running out of money as well. The turn
card brought the unpaired jack with the loveliest club
attached to it. The river brought a brick and I was
home free with a huge pot to go along with it. I took
an out button - right away - to eat my free meal (steak
and potatoes) and enjoyed the ambiance of the losing
players wanting their money back. Even though I got
away with playing badly this is the kind of thing that
happens all the time in these poker games. Some person like me sits down with a meager buy-in plays ace-9
against aces and kings and drags the pot, I said, “and
drags the pot”.
If you were to ask me how I rate myself amongst the
best card players, you would find that I would give you
the proper response. Unless they change, the rules
of the game for limit poker, where the best hand wins
most of the pots, I can beat anybody as evidenced on
how many different people win these major tournament
events. As I said before, being a dealer has its benefits
such as watching any numbers of the best players in
the world play all kinds of games. However, I will say
this; at this point the type of game you play is relevant.
The format works better if the game is limit poker - for
all practical purposes - because it affords the players
who amass the most chips early to play winning tournament strategy – get a big chip lead and hold on until
the final table.
I can acknowledge a player that has the intestinal
fortitude, knowledge - and most of all - the nerve, to
pull the trigger. This last part is especially important
since it’s speaks of the winning qualities common in
most winners in any endeavor. The winners almost
always have a low “FEAR” tolerant, which allows
the pressure to be reversed to the other competitor.
However, when a player is good it’s important to be a
little cautious, but not so much where you jeopardize
your chance to win. In addition, what separates the
nine competitors from one to nine? I’ll tell you a secret:
it’s a belief in self, preparation, vision of you winning
and last but not least, Nerve! Never be afraid to WIN!
Donald W. Woods, Jr. is a 9 year professional dealer. Some
of his diversified interests include, track and field coach
at the high school level yielding a championship in 2002.
He is currently penning an original script, outside the
poker arena, for his maiden voyage to movie-land. For
more information, contact him at mrexcite20032000@
yahoo.com
8
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
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Thomas Kremser’s Poker Magic
and then on to Stockholm
where he had just scored a
coveted speaking engage-
believed the time was ripe
to create a European Poker
Tour. The hotter the WPT
became, the
more excited Duthie was about making one of his own across
the pond. In 2003, with
the support of PokerStars,
and tournament director
extraordinaire, Thomas
Kremser as his chief consultant on tournament organization and rules, Duthie’s
EPT opened with a bang.
Earlier this year, Thomas
and John had begun discussions about a third season
of collaboration. But by the
time I arrived in Europe,
the poker scene was so hot
that there were conflicting
events all across the continent and it was beginning
to look like Thomas would
not be able to keep up with
the growing market or even
figure out who might be
the best clients. He says
“I had to begin to think in
new ways about my tournament consulting activities
if I wanted to stay on top
of my game.”
In addition to the call
from the prestigious EPT,
Wendeen H. Eolis
Editor’s Note: This story is
an adaptation of material
and interviews that may
be included in Ms. Eolis’
forthcoming book, Power
Poker Dame
Last month it was the
galloping poker economy,
rather than a disaster in
the making, that sent me
scurrying off on a trip
overseas. The itinerary
was London, Barcelona
and Vienna. I was trying
to keep up with Thomas
Kremser, the immensely
popular European tournament director who has
established TK Poker
Event Consulting, GmbH
to serve the international
poker community.
I had barely completed
my visits when Thomas
was hopping on another
plane for Cardiff to oversee
the televised Late Night
Poker Series. Next he
would be in Birmingham
ment at the inaugural
World Poker Congress.
No trip to London is
complete without a visit
to the bustling Grosvenor
Victoria Casino, where no
limit hold’em has taken
off like wildfire. The Brits
used to be far keener on
Omaha Pot Limit Hold’em,
but these days everyone
who is anyone seems to
be sauntering over to the
No Limit tables where big
bankrolls reign in many of
the small blinds games.
As luck would have it,
I promptly bumped into
European Poker Tour
CEO, John Duthie. Duthie
is a serious force on the
European poker scene. In
2000, Duthie made international headlines as the winner of the Poker Million,
on the Isle of Man.
An experienced television producer, Duthie
watched the fledgling
World Poker Tour unfold
in 2002. There and then he
Thomas was mulling queries from both established
and upstart companies
every day. And then there
was Betfair, a most serious gaming force in the
UK, that had decided to
gamble it up in South Asia.
Betfair was in the process
of obtaining a license in
Singapore to do a special
tournament event (primarily to express gratitude to its
online players). Betfair was
scouring the continent and
reaching across the ocean
in search of the right tournament consultant for their
project. And at the same
moment, POKER4EVER,
Ltd., another European
poker site, headquartered in
Malta, was also in hot pursuit of a poker consultant
with impeccable credentials.
Thomas seemed to
be on everyone’s radar
screen, but overwhelmed
and unsure of how he
wanted to proceed in this
incredibly bustling poker
scene, Thomas put aside
all of the proposals that
were floating through his
fingertips, determined to
focus on the business at
hand in Barcelona. He was
on duty there as the overseer of the jam-packed
tournament in progress
at Casino de Barcelona.
Besides you can only wine
and dine so many suitors
at once!
Why is the tall, handsome Versace-suited
Kremser such a magnet
for all manner of poker
businessmen? In talking
with Thomas over many
days it became clear that
his knowledge of the
tournament business, his
reputation for fairness at
the tables and his proven
expertise in dealing with
customer needs might be
unparalleled anywhere in
the world. (Yes I am an
unabashed Kremser fan
and have been, since I first
met him while covering the
European poker landscape
for another story.) At that
time, Thomas was managing the Concord Cardroom
Casino in Vienna, but he
would soon have a taste
for a more entrepreneurial
career.
Fixed Limit
Lessons
Daily
No Limit
11 a.m.
Best “Comp Dollars” Anywhere
No Limit Tournaments
Sun./Mon./Wed. 1 p.m.
$55
Re-Buy
Single table sit-and-go tournaments available
Tues./Thurs.
7 p.m.
$55
Re-Buy
Poker Room located on the Main Casino Floor
Fri./Sat.
1 p.m.
$55
Freezeout
For tournament info, call 702.731.3311 ext. 3750
www.imperialpalace.com
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
9
A Journey To Poker Paradise:
St. Croix Casino in
Turtle Lake, WI
Thomas Krem
MIDWEST MILIEU
By bonnie demos
Too often the journey is not an important part of the destination. Most of us fight busy freeways and traffic jams to reach our
favorite poker rooms. The rolling green hills ending at sandstone
bluffs that ridge the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers, heavily forested lands and uncountable lakes offer a journey to the St. Croix
Casino located in northwestern Wisconsin, almost as magnificent
as the destination. The casino is about one hour’s drive from the
Minneapolis/St. Paul Minnesota area, and allows the player time
to unwind, relax and reflect on their game, arriving refreshed
and mentally prepared to play at top levels of performance. Once
there, players will find plenty of action to test their skills.
The St. Croix Casino’s smoke-free Poker Room located upstairs
in The St. Croix lodge offers Texas Hold’Em at twelve tables both
limit and no limit. Poker players enjoy complimentary food and
soft drinks, as well as tableside bar service. A smoking lounge
is available in the poker area. Poker is offered 24 hours per day.
Groups may reserve private poker tables in advance by directly
calling the poker room. The poker
room offers many attractive player perks including, Aces Cracked
Wins a Rack on Fridays 2PM-8PM,
and a Bad beat Jackpot currently
over $60,000. Dave Hinrichsen,
the poker room manager is a
great poker player and dealer, his
knowledge of the game is apparent in the operation of this poker
room, and it has become known
as one of the premier places to
play in the Midwest. Lisa, the
poker room shift supervisor is very accommodating and professional, as well as the dealers and staff, making playing here a
great experience.
The poker room also offers serious players an abundance of
tournament opportunities to compete for some big cash. Weekly
tournaments include Thursday and Saturday No-Limit, $50 buy-in
on Thursdays, $100 buy-in on Saturdays. Many special tournaments are offered as well, including the popular Monday Ladies
Only Tournament (August 7), and Big Hold-Em Tournaments
(August 9 & 14). On August 20th, St. Croix poker room will be
host to the televised Heartland Poker Tour main event, as well
as satellites and qualifying rounds from August 16-19. This tournament offers some serious prize money (the winner of the
last event here was awarded $61,000. +). There will also be a
$200 buy-in Special Tournament on Thursday August 17 at Noon.
Numerous higher stakes cash games are generated around this
time as well. You may contact the poker room for more info @
1.800.846.8946 Ext.3024.
In addition to poker, the St. Croix Casino offers all the latest
slot machines and live gaming action 24/7 including blackjack,
craps, roulette, mini-baccarat, let it ride, 3 card poker, 4 card
poker, and Pai Gow, as well as a high stakes lounge.
There are plenty of dining options including an excellent buffet, a snack bar serving carved to order prime rib sandwiches
for under $4.00, a casual restaurant featuring a very popular
Monday night $9.99 Steak and Lobster dinner(sign up early
because waits can exceed 3 hours), and two full service bars.
There is also available lodging at the St. Croix Lodge adjacent
to the casino; it would be prudent to book your reservations in
advance, due to the popularity of the resort and casino.
If life is too hectic, make this journey part of your destination,
visit the St. Croix poker room, take some time to reflect and get
back on your game plan.
Thomas
founded the IPF with top
European player Marcel
and media maven Nic
Szeremeta, the CEO of
Poker Europa. Together
they organized tournaments
in St Maarten. Thomas
ran the show at the tables,
recruiting and training the
dealers, supervising floor
staff, making the rules
and watching the transactions. Thomas’s stock
continued to grow as a
tournament director, nabbing plumb assignments
with Late Night Poker and
an expanding number of
impressive tournaments.
One thing led to another
and then came Duthie’s
invitation to be part of
the EPT which surely
enlarged Thomas’ “sandbox.” So while in London,
last month I chatted up
Duthie during the poker
game at the Vic, knowing there would be earnest
negotiations coming up
for the EPT3. “See you in
Barcelona,” I said, leaving
him with food for thought.
It was time to hook up
with Ben Fried, head of
Betfair Poker. A savvy
executive, he told me there
were plenty of tournament
directors eager to go to
Singapore and more than
one that could probably to
do the job. But within a
few minutes of discussion,
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]
10
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
he admitted
that he fancied Thomas over the rest.
And less than four weeks
later Thomas had signed
a deal that could pave the
way for big time poker
tournaments in South Asia- where none have been
held before.
The rendezvous with
Ben Fried behind me, I
packed my bags and hit
the road, touching down in
Barcelona for a three day
visit with Thomas
The entrance to the portside casino in Barcelona
is manned by police and
security that check everyone’s identification. The
registration process gave
me time to familiarize
myself with the surroundings and meet a few of the
locals that know their way
around a tournament table.
They proved that in the
main event. The locals took
home the lion’s share of
the prize money—leaving
the pros as well as other
unsung hotshots behind.
Downstairs in the poker
tournament room, music
summons players back
to their tournament seats.
I could see the towering
Thomas conferring with
his staff in the center of the
room. His wife, Marina a
savvy tournament executive in her own right was
dashing toward a film crew
to assist as a commentator.
Marina is an integral part of
Wendeen H. Eolis
Thomas’ team on the poker
trail. With the players snugly ensconced in their seats,
again, Thomas welcomed
me to Barcelona, suggesting
dinner in the casino’s fancier restaurant rather than at
the buffet that most players
favor for fast grub during
the tournaments.
Thomas talks excitedly
about the biggest poker
challenge that has ever
come his way. The principles of POKER4EVER are
now courting him seriously. He tells me that it looks
like he has a chance to use
his expertise and to work
closely with the management of the online poker
room, which would allow
him to learn a new part of
the poker business. P4E
honchos tell him they have
nothing short of excellence
is their plans. It is music to
Thomas’ ears.
As is Thomas’ wont, he
undersells his formidable
skills, warning the suits
behind POKER4EVER that
he knows what he knows,
and they need to know
what he doesn’t yet know.
The principles are undeterred. The senior business
executive later tells me
that what he likes so much
about Thomas is his total
candor. “Let’s make a contract, says the senior suit.”
Thomas and I leave
Barcelona, headed for
Vienna to talk about his
creating a new business
mser’s Poker Magic
venture. The time has
come for Thomas to open
his very own TK Poker
Event Consulting, GmbH.
“I want it to be special,
Thomas tells me. It must
serve an international marketplace with a qualified
team of professionals to
man each station.
And it must set the best
example for player integrity at the felt”.
With contracts all but
completed with three “big
players” and inquiries from
others continuing to roll
in, Thomas took the leap,
opening TK Poker Event
Consulting, GmbH, July
1, 2006. In a matter of
days, he assembled a small
contingent of highly experienced tournament managers and supervisors that are
ready to roll at scheduled
tournaments in Europe,
Asia and the Caribbean this
fall-winter season.
As part of his commitment to the integrity of
tournament poker, Thomas
promises clients that TK
tournament directors do not
participate in any manner
or form so as to benefit
from the results of any
player’s performance in the
competition. And this is a
promise that is offered as
part of the contract. .
A day before the TK
logo became official (July
1, 2006), Thomas mounted
the stage of the World
Poker Congress to discuss
the ABC’s of tournament
poker (with the likes of
keynote speakers Steve
Lipscomb and Jeffrey
Pollack in the building). At
the conclusion of the meeting, he returned to Vienna
to begin signing contracts
on behalf of TK and put
the finishing touches on
TK’s “Recommended
Rules for Tournament
Competition.”
TK will offer its
“Recommended Rules”
to all clients and plans to
make them available in
printed form at all venues
for players, throughout the
tournament. Thomas says
he is grateful for the work
that others have done to
elevate the professionalism and sportsmanship of
the game. TK Rules, he
says, reflect the considerable efforts by multiple
casinos, poker associations,
colleagues and players.
TK tournament rules are
organized and presented in
clear simple English! In an
ever increasingly sophisticated poker world, Thomas
Kremser is a trailblazer.
This week, Thomas is
coming to town, visiting
Las Vegas for a close up of
the World Series of Poker
in this new hotsy totsy
American poker world.
Wendeen Eolis is CEO of
EOLIS, a legal and management consultancy that
includes a specialty in
general gaming and poker
(Cont’d from page 9)
business matters. A poker
ace, she has cashed in
five WSOP events, including one already this year,
and she was selected as
one of the pros as for the
Elle Magazine team at the
2006 WSOP Ladies Event.
She was previously elected
to the inaugural season
of the WPT’s Professional
Poker Tour. Ms. Eolis’
accomplishments in business, politics, public service, and poker have been
profiled by major print and
broadcast media including
the New York Times, Wall
Street Journal, and A & E’s
Biography.
Where fortunes have been made.
And more than a few legends, too.
The Mirage Poker Showdown – A World Poker Tour Event
May 4 – 17, 2006
May 4
No Limit Hold’em
$500 + $50*
Daylight Challenge
May 5
No Limit Hold’em
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Monday – Thursday @ 1:30 p.m. No Limit Hold’em
May 6
No Limit Hold’em
$1,500 + $70*
Friday & Saturday @ 1:30 p.m. . .No Limit Hold’em
May 7
No Limit Hold’em
$2,000 + $80*
May
7
LIPS
Tour
Ladies
Event
(3
p.m.)
$500 + $50**
The Poker Zone Tournaments
May 10
May 10
May 11
Heads Up – Day 1
Limit Hold’em (3 p.m.)
No Limit Hold’em
$7,500
$1,000
$1,500
+ $200
+ $60
+ $70*
May 12
May 13
Super Satellite
Super Satellite
$1,500
$1,500
+ $70
+ $70
May
8 @Limit
Hold’em
$500
+ $50
May 14 – 17 WPT No Limit Hold’em Championship $10,000 + $200***
Sunday
5 p.m.
. . . . . . . . . . . .No Limit
Hold’em
May
9
No
Limit
Hold’em
$2,500
+
$100*
Monday @ 7 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . .No Limit Hold’em
Tuesday @ 7 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . .No Limit Hold’em
Wednesday @ 7 p.m.. . . . . . . . .No Limit Hold’em
Thursday @ 7 p.m. . . . . . .Super
. . . . Satellites
.No Limit7Hold’em
p.m. nightly • May 3 – May 13 • $200 + $30 (w/$200 unlimited rebuys)
mirage.com
For Room Reservations
For Room Reservations 800-77-POKER (800-777-6537) • Tournament Information 702-791-7291 • mirage.com 800-77-POKER
(8OO-777-6537)
All main events start at noon (except where noted). All events (except Super Satellites, LIPS Tour Ladies event and the Championship event) will play down to 9 players. Heads Up event is limited to 128 entries. Final table play
Tournament
Information
will begin at 3 p.m. the following day. Registration for all main events will begin at 3 p.m. on May 3, 2006. All Super Satellites will seat as many entries as possible for the Championship event. *Champion receives $10,200 entry
(non-negotiable, non-refundable, non-transferable) into the May 14, 2006 Championship event. **$1,500 will be withheld for a seat in the WPT Ladies Circle of Champions event and the LIPS Tour Grand Championship event.
702-791-7291
***Champion receives a $25,500 seat (non-negotiable, non-refundable, non-transferable) into the WPT Finals at Bellagio in April 2007. 3% of the prize pool will be withheld for the poker room staff. Management reserves the
right to modify, suspend, or cancel this promotion at its sole discretion and without prior notice. All tournaments are subject to table availability. The Mirage endorses responsible gaming. If you or someone you know has a
problem gaming responsibly, please call the 24-hour Problem Gamblers HelpLine at 1-800-522-4700. ©2006 MGM MIRAGE®. All rights reserved.
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
11
Smith wins $500,0
Less is More
POwer POKER PSYCHOLOGY
By JAMES A. M C KENNA, P H D.
I recently have noticed that loose players,
who become “river rats” and suck out on better players by chasing impossible odds, are leaving the table
too soon. Too soon, because if they continue that play over
time, they will give it back. They will have some incredible
good luck (certainly no skill) and leave when they are ahead.
In this way, they don’t give the better players a chance to get
their money back.
So, let’s talk about the skill of leaving when you are ahead.
Is it a skill for these “hit and run” players have; or, is it more
fear of losing when they are ahead? These neophyte players
seem to have that one skill. Or, is it more fear? They are surprised that they are ahead and leave for fear of their luck not
holding up. It could be more that they are ahead and just want
to leave that way. For that matter, why do so many players fail
to leave when they are ahead and end up losing in the end?
In a more clinical approach to families that are having problems, I coined the term “Crisis Oriented Families.” These are
families and individuals that only have permission to handle
negative excitement. They substitute crises for positive
excitement. This same process may be present for players who
are addicted to excitement--negative excitement or crises.
They don’t have permission to win and leave. They must stay
until they lose it back and then whine that they stayed too
long.
Some may say that people stay too long because they are
greedy. This is certainly true for many. However, for many
more, the lack of permission to leave a winner and to suffer is
more the underlying cause of staying too long. This is where
a win/loss formula will take it out of the emotion arena and
force players to leave when they have won a certain fixed
amount. However, if the agenda is to substitute crises for
the positive excitement of leaving ahead; then, the excitement of leaving ahead is not allowed in some players. Such
players would rather spend time whining about “If only…”
That’s getting pleasure from pain and we all know what that’s
called—besides stupid.
I have a formula that says this. When I am ahead by 30
times the big bet (in structured cash game), it’s time to go.
However, what I do is to wait until I have lost a few hands and
then I leave. I have often wondered what would happen is it
just left while I was winning and 30 times ahead of the big
bet. It occurred to me that I’d be leaving while I was winning.
Instead, I end up leaving while I am losing—even though I am
ahead but short of my formula.
In the end, such a formula is based on quantity and not
quality. I’ve heard it said that some good players will leave
when they start making mistakes and/or are becoming the
underdog—whether they are ahead or behind. That’s basing
their quitting on the quality of their play and not the amount
they have won or lost.
I’ve also heard it said, “It’s not whether you win or lose,
it is how you play the game.” Similarly, I heard the opposite,
“It’s not so much how you play the game, and it’s whether you
win or lose.” With this is mind, “hit and run” loose players are
leaving while they are ahead, after they have made several
suck outs and every mistake that they could make. Still they
are leaving ahead. You got to wonder if that pattern will hold
up they next time they sit down. In any case, they are leaving
ahead, which is the right time to go. So, for them it’s whether
they win or lose that’s the driving force. For the more serious
player, how they play is more important; yet, in the short run
they will lose. Go figure.
James A. McKenna, PhD., has been a practicing individual
and group therapist for over thirty-five years. His knowledge of human behavior combined with over thirty years of
gaming experience gives him a unique perspective on the
psychology of the gamer. His book, “Beyond Tells-Power
Poker Psychology,” was recently published by Kensington
Press. Write to him at [email protected].
12
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
Poker professional
Gavin “Birdguts” Smith
has emerged as the winner
in the MANSIONPOKER.
NET World Pro-Am
Challenge, the most innovative twist on televised
Texas Hold’em and the
world’s best value online
free-roll.
After a titanic struggle of
149 hands and four hours
WSOP: Reese R
H.O.R.S.E. to Victor
Poker Legend Chip
Reese Outlasts the
Competition and Wins
$1,784,640 in First
WSOP Victory in 24Years
Poker marathon lasts
43-grueling hours
over four days and
nights
Las Vegas, NV – The latest World Series of Poker
match was a throwback to
an earlier era when poker
all was about seemingly
endless games, creaky
bones, and weary faces.
Card after card after card
had been tossed and turned
and reshuffled again and
again. Exhausted spectators who had been standing
and cheering hours earlier
were now crashed around
all sides of the gallery.
And in the middle of the
darkened poker room, an
overhead beam illuminated
a green felt table, anchored
on each side by two aspiring champions, their faces
chiseled with determination.
It all began four long
days earlier. The biggest
buy-in poker tournament
on the planet took place at
the Rio All-Suites Hotel
and Casino in Las Vegas.
Consider that it cost fifty
grand -- more than the
list price of a brand new
Cadillac just to sit down
in the big game. The 20th
event on the 2006 World
Series of Poker schedule
attracted the toughest compilation of poker talent
ever assembled inside one
arena. While the world
championship main event
is still two weeks away,
a spectacle that will shatter every previous record
in poker history, this far
more exclusive competition
proved to be the ultimate
test of overall poker skill.
Players played a rotation
of poker’s six most popular games – symbolized in
the acronym H.O.R.S.E. –
which stands for Hold’em
(both limit and no-limit),
Omaha High-Low Split,
Razz, Seven-Card Stud,
and Eight or Better. A field
of 143 of the world’s best
poker players competed
over a grueling four-day
marathon, which became
as much a test of mental
and physical endurance as
poker skill. For instance,
the first day took 14 hours
to complete. The second
day was even longer. Day
Two began at 12 noon
and ended at 9:00 am the
next day. After playing
21 straight hours, the nine
surviving players got some
well-deserved rest and
returned for a final table
which began at 9:00 pm on
Friday night.
The 2006 World Series
of Poker presented by
Milwaukee’s Best Light
offered spectators and an
ESPN television audience
one of the most extraor-
dinary final tables ever
assembled in the history of
the game. The nine players
in the H.O.R.S.E. championship had previously
won a whopping 27 WSOP
gold bracelets combined.
Present were former world
champions, living poker
legends, celebrity superstars, and a few aspiring
younger champions who
hoped for a breakthrough
victory.
The nine finalists in the
event were as follows:
SEAT 1: Jim Bechtel –
1993 World Series of Poker
champion; one WSOP gold
bracelet
SEAT 2: Doyle
Brunson – Inducted into
the Poker Hall of Fame;
1976 and 1977 World
Series of Poker champion;
ten WSOP gold bracelets
SEAT 3: David “Chip”
Reese – Inducted into the
Poker Hall of Fame; three
WSOP gold bracelets
SEAT 4: Dewey Tomko
– High-stakes poker player;
runner-up in the main event
twice; three WSOP gold
bracelets
SEAT 5: Andy Bloch
– Formally on the M.I.T.
blackjack team immortalized in the book “Breaking
Vegas”; Harvard Law
School graduate; successful
winning poker player for
past ten years
SEAT 6: T.J. Cloutier
– Former professional football player; top tournament
player in lifetime cashes,
000 in World Pro-Am Challenge
of intense Speed Poker™
play, Smith was crowned
the MANSIONPOKER.
NET World Pro-Am
Champion, pocketing
a $500,000 purse, and
watched by a prime time
national audience across the
United States on FSN.
“It was really cool to
win in my first experience
of Speed Poker. The format was unbelievable and
allowed for excellent poker
while still able to produce a
great television show!” said
Smith.
“MANSIONPOKER.
NET put on a first class
event and all three of the
amateurs put up a very
strong showing. The excellent coaching of Mike
Gracz, Kenna James, and
Tony G, will have given
all three of these players
an unbelievable experience and the basis to build
a very strong poker game,”
enthused Smith.
Heads up play saw
Smith, a 38 year old tournament veteran from Ontario,
Canada, oust U.K. online
qualifier Scott Gardner,
who walked away with a
tidy $270,000 for his surprise second place get.
While Smith proved too
experienced at the crunch,
teaching the amateur a
few strokes along the way,
Gardner’s performance was
a stand out, having come to
the felt as a complete novice to live tournaments.
A sales consultant from
Spalding, Lincolnshire,
England, Gardner freerolled his way into
the Pro-Am online at
MANSIONPOKER.NET,
but his gutsy challenge up
against Smith was inspired.
He outlasted pro opponents
fellow Brit John Gale and
the seasoned tournament
player Todd Brunson, but
he gives full credit to his
professional poker coach
Michael Gracz.
“Mike Gracz has taught
me a lot during poker
school that will always stay
with me and the fact that
I made it to heads up with
Gavin Smith amongst three
Rides
ry!
final table appearances,
and wins; six WSOP gold
bracelets
SEAT 7: David Singer
– Top tournament professional with many cashes
and millions won at the
poker table
SEAT 8: Patrik Antonius
– Top European poker
pro; many tournament
cashes and wins throughout
Europe
SEAT 9: Phil Ivey
– Superstar poker icon; five
WSOP gold bracelets
The first player to
exit was the charismatic
European pro, Patrik
Antonious. Just three hands
into play, the perilously
short-stacked Finnish player
was eliminated. Ninth
place paid $205,920.
The next player out
took everyone by surprise.
Many hoped, and some
even expected poker legend
Doyle Brunson to win his
record-breaking 11th gold
bracelet in this tournament.
Those hopes were demolished when “Texas Dolly”
went out in eighth place.
Brunson, the genial Texan
with a million dollar smile
and arguably poker’s greatest player ever, collected
$274,560.
Dewey Tomko, who
finished second in the
WSOP main event on two
occasions, had to settle for
seventh place. Tomko had
spent over twenty years
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
13
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 nineyear 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].
W
here do we begin to
develop an expert
system? What criteria
should we consider? Should
we base all our calculation
on probability?
Let me start with the last
question above. In an ideal
situation, under ideal condition we could program a
computer to calculate our
precise mathematical odds
of winning the pot based on
our holdings compared to
the probable holdings of our
competitors. We would estimate their holdings based
on their betting patterns,
their observed strategy and
their position. Their strategy would be continuously
updated in real time based
on what they showdown,
what they raised with,
called with in relation to
the flop, turn and river. We
would then calculate our
odds in comparison to the
pot odds. When the pot was
14
offering us a fair amount
we would call, raise or reraise. When the pot was not
offering the proper odds we
would check or fold. We
would then haul our computer off to the tables and
try to get someone to play
with us.
Obviously we would
have wasted a great deal of
time and effort. Any system
developed must be easy to
use and apply at the tables
without the aide of a computer. The first blackjack
counting systems were
rather difficult to use and
required the ability to calculate the 10’s ratio. Card
counting didn’t become
popular until the development of a basic strategy and
a simple Hi/Low counting system, which advised
us when to deviate from
basic strategy. Could such
a system be developed for
Omaha? This takes us full
circle back to the initial
questions of where do we
begin and what should we
consider.
I have developed a
database of approximately
12,000 starting hands and
how much each starting
hand is worth in terms of
net dollars won or lost, Net
Win. This database is based
on billions of simulations
run over a 3 year period.
I consider this an excellent starting point. The net
won is the average amount
of money won or lost on
average with a particular
hand from all positions.
By arranging these hands
in money won descending order, the best hands
would be at the top and the
worst hands at the bottom.
We would then draw a line
under the last profitable
hand. There are only 1,932
profitable hands above the
line, far too many to commit to memory.
How do we evaluate or
rank these hands? There are
several methods we may
use to evaluate individual
hands and how to respond
to the various stages of
decision making. We could
for example:
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
Sam Mudaro is the...
1. Look at single card
ranks, pairs, potential
straight draws flush
draws.
2. Examine low card combinations and high card
combinations.
3. Examine the effect of
holding trips, 3 card
flushes, 2 card flushes.
4. Evaluate position.
5. Evaluate calling vs. betting, calling vs. raising,
calling vs. re-raising.
6. Before the flop;
a. Should you call if there
is a raise and we are in
for one bet already?
b. Should you call a raise
and re-raise if already
in for one bet?
c. Should you call a raise
and two re-raises if
already in for one bet?
d. Would your answer to
the above change had
you not already called
a bet before the raising
began?
7. After the flop what you
do if there was no pair on
the board and you held a;
a. Straight flush?
b. The nut flush?
c. 2nd nut flush?
d. A flush which wasn’t the
nut or second nut?
e. How about flush draws?
f. Straight draws?
8. What would you do with
the above hands if there
wasn’t a pair on board?
9. What would you do if
there was two pair on
board, or trips?
10. What would you do if
you flopped a wheel, the
nut low, a protected nut
low, 2nd nut low, 3rd net
low or a low worse then
3rd nut?
11. After you evaluate all
of the above then ask
yourself how aggressively
or passively should you
play in all of the above
situations?
Just how would one evaluate each of the above scenarios? Mathematics may be
used to calculate our probability of winning under
each of the above situations
given how many people are
at our table, how many have
already acted, how many are
Caro’s Word:
“Expand”
CONT’D FROM PAGE 6
Developing an
Expert System
still left to act, how much is
in the pot, how much more
can we estimate will be put
into the pot by the players
to act after us and so on and
so on. Even if they allowed
a computer at the table and
the expert software existed,
the data entry would just
take too long.
Should we evaluate single
cards at a time like we do
in blackjack or should we
evaluate two cards taken at
a time? Do we even have to
make that choice? There are
13 possible single cards we
may look at.
Hand
A
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
T
J
Q
K
Occurs
1,820
795
664
520
464
348
319
293
233
345
359
376
435
Percent
94.2%
41.1%
34.4%
26.9%
24.0%
18.0%
16.5%
15.2%
12.1%
17.9%
18.6%
19.5%
22.5%
There are 1,932 profitable hands. The chart above
shows how each of the 13
ranks is distributed. An ace
will appear in the winning
hand 1,832 times more then
any other 2 ranks combined. All of the 5 cards
that comprise a wheel are in
the top five finishers. After
the wheel cards we then
move down to the King and
Queen.
How would we use this
information? Could we
develop a system based on
this chart? If we held an
Ace would we win 94%
of the time? The answer is
definitely not.
Omaha is a game of two
card combinations. You
must play two cards at a
time. An Ace with a nine
is not a good combination.
There are 6 possible ways,
not counting order, in which
4 cards may combine to
form a 2 card hand. Next
time we will continue with
our analysis and attempt to
value two card hands.
Am I saying that strong
players can play more
pots? Absolutely! And
you’ve always heard that
strong players play tighter
than weak players, right?
Well, OK, now don’t get
confused. Strong players
DO usually play tighter
than weak players – as
far as starting hand selection goes. But that’s only
because many weak players enter pots that they
have no business playing.
They play hands that even
the world-class players
couldn’t make profit from
by using correct strategy
on the later rounds.
So, yes, world-class
players do tend to play
fewer hands than weak
opponents. But if the weak
opponents were trying to
win, then they’d have to
play much tighter than the
world-class opponents,
because they wouldn’t
know what to do on later
betting rounds.
The simple fact is, the
best players can enter pots
with hands that would be
theoretically unprofitable
in games where everyone
has the same skill. The
extra skill allows them to
play more hands. So, you
shouldn’t criticize them for
playing hands you think
are losing, because in their
control, these hands might
win.
The better you are, the
more hands you can play
profitably. I know that runs
contrary to that best-players-are-the-tightest advice
you may have heard, but
it’s the truth and you need
to know it.
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.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Jamie Freitag . . . . . . . . .$380
Seyed Mazarei . . . . . . . .$295
Erik Selliken . . . . . . . . .$210
Gilbert Ortiz . . . . . . . . .$170
ENDLESS SUMMER 7/18/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $20 + $15
PLAYERS 104
REBUYS 335
ADD-ONS 151
PRIZE POOL
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $20 + $15
PLAYERS 67
REBUYS 56
PRIZE
POOL
$11,210
$12,390
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Brian Colombia . . . . . $4,955
Abe Chamoun . . . . . . $2,480
Solo Scott . . . . . . . . . . $1,280
Keenan Smith . . . . . . . .$800
Shawn Suzuki . . . . . . . .$620
Matt Crabbs. . . . . . . . . .$430
Elmer Gonzales . . . . . . .$310
Mychajlo Struzinski . . .$250
Jedd Nabonsal . . . . . . . .$180
Donnie Misino
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Donnie Misino . . . . . . $4,490
Richard Brigoni . . . . . $2,245
Jean Paul Nataf . . . . . $1,125
Lessie Rogers . . . . . . . . .$730
Norman Shamsuddin . .$560
Ine Sachihiro . . . . . . . . .$395
Neil Wight . . . . . . . . . . .$280
Bob Conger . . . . . . . . . .$225
Kelvin Menumitsu . . . . .$170
6. Joe Goyette. . . . . . . . . . .$310
7. Donnie Misino . . . . . . . .$240
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
8. Brian Ishimura . . . . . . .$175
BUY-IN $60 + $15
9. Brian Donahue. . . . . . . .$140
PLAYERS 74
REBUYS 59
$7,580
PRIZE POOL
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $20 + $15
PLAYERS 98
REBUYS 331
ADD-ONS 118
PRIZE POOL
$10,390
Jason Liyanage
1. Jason Liyanage . . . . . $4,155
2. Rabi Barbosa . . . . . . . $2,390
3. David Lipinski . . . . . . $1,245
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
5. Joseph Javaluyas . . . . . .$570
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
6. Matthew Caruso . . . . . .$470
7. Nicholas Ruggieri . . . . .$365
9. Gleb Gofin . . . . . . . . . . .$210
BUY-IN $20 + $15
PLAYERS 82
REBUYS 253
ADD-ONS 114
PRIZE
POOL
$8,530
1. Martin Cohen . . . . . . $3,410
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $60 + $15
PLAYERS 74
REBUYS 55
PRIZE POOL
$7,350
Harry Hudson
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Harry Hudson . . . . . . $2,940
Wade Skalsky. . . . . . . $1,690
Scott Giovanini . . . . . . .$880
Wayne Smith . . . . . . . . .$515
David Escarcega . . . . . .$405
Ted Robbins . . . . . . . . . .$330
Sharon Mandelman. . . .$255
Mike Eads . . . . . . . . . . .$185
Bryan Wheatley . . . . . . .$150
PLAYERS 70
REBUYS 51
PLAYERS 85
REBUYS 62
Shawn Witt
Aidas Mattis
Aidas Mattis . . . . . . . . $2,760
Gilbert Ortiz . . . . . . . $1,585
Sung Ha . . . . . . . . . . . . .$825
Jeff Koenig . . . . . . . . . . .$480
Sep Ebrahimi . . . . . . . . .$380
A
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
A
A
$8,435
$6,895
A
PRIZE POOL
PRIZE POOL
Shawn Witt . . . . . . . . $3,375
Bahman Fathi . . . . . . $1,940
Sidney Messiah . . . . . $1,010
Harold Neal . . . . . . . . . .$590
Serge Benat . . . . . . . . . .$465
Chris Clark . . . . . . . . $3,035
William Erenberg . . . $1,745
Mark Uscher . . . . . . . . .$910
Spencer Maze. . . . . . . . .$530
Sean Etmon . . . . . . . . . .$415
Anthony Naguit . . . . . . .$340
Kerry Greer . . . . . . . . . .$265
Neil Wight . . . . . . . . . . .$190
Cory Gries . . . . . . . . . . .$150
Allen Mittelman. . . . . $1,960
Adam Strohl. . . . . . . . $1,025
Bhavin Barot . . . . . . . . .$595
Jesse Gonzalez . . . . . . . .$470
Ann Wygle . . . . . . . . . . .$385
Charlie Miller . . . . . . . .$300
Gleb Gofin . . . . . . . . . . .$215
Robert Alvarez. . . . . . . .$170
BUY-IN $60 + $15
BUY-IN $60 + $15
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
4. Rita Byrd . . . . . . . . . . . .$725
8. Jedd Nabonsal . . . . . . . .$260
Chris Clark
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
15
Modnar
STRAIGHT SKINNY
By RICHARD G. BURKE
On a spring Thursday at my local poker
room, Fred waited for a $4-8 Hold’Em game,
musing on random number generators. Finally, he asked me
to guess how many random number generators there were
in the whole casino. “That’s easy,” I said, “none.”
“What?” he exclaimed, “There are all those slot machines
and each one has a computer chip that generates random
numbers. There are automatic card-shuffling machines.
There are the ping-pong ball machines for Keno and Bingo.
The roulette wheels are random number generators. There’s
Chuck-A-Luck and The Wheel of Fortune. They’re all over
the place!”
Those devices aren’t random number generators, they’re
random order generators. A shuffling machine doesn’t
change a deck’s cards; it just arranges them into a different order. A roulette wheel always has 37 or 38 slots, and
the ribs on the wheel randomize where the ball will come to
rest. A ping-pong ball machine changes the order by which
the balls are selected, not their numbers.
Fred told me not to quibble, that everybody called them
random number generators. I conceded it was a very common error. What, exactly, was Fred’s quandary?
Fred asked how to tell whether a card deck’s order is
truly random. Counting different suits as different hands,
there are 1326 starting hands in Hold’Em. So we could
record all the starting hands for all ten players for 40,000
deals and look for peculiar results. Fred thought that wasn’t
practical: he figured it would take six months to gather the
data even if he could get players to agree to disclose their
starting hands. (Yes.)
Some mathematicians opine that a standard deck must
be riffle-shuffled seven times to obtain distributions that
are indistinguishable from random. Other mathematicians
think five riffle-shuffles are enough.
For poker, the house doesn’t care whether the deck
is mathematically random or not. (The players care.)
The house doesn’t want to sacrifice revenue for a small
improvement in ‘randomness.’ For hand-shuffled decks,
over the years casinos have developed processes that
come close to achieving randomness and yet are speedy.
Machines are slower shufflers than professional dealers, but
because the dealers alternate decks, the net result is more
deals per hour.
For the case of automatic card shufflers we can analyze
their random order generators and the mechanical processes that they use to satisfy ourselves that they’re random
enough. Fred astutely asked what was ‘random enough.’
Random means that there is no useful pattern. That is,
no one can profitably bet on any future event based on past
results. For examples, if a Twenty-One dealer shuffled after
every hand, there would never be an edge for the player.
The next time you pass a Baccarat table, notice the players
using pencil and paper to predict whether the next hand
will win for Player, Banker, or Tie – it’s hopeless. The sides
of a Craps table are crenated and the shooter is supposed
to throw the dice to hit the table’s far side first to ensure
that the faces are randomized.
There are those who claim they can count down a
Baccarat shoe, throw dice against the table’s side with an
edge, discover quickly whether a roulette wheel has a profitable bias. I’m skeptical.
For most casino games the random order generators
are random enough that there are no profitable edges for
the players. Except for a very few video poker games and
Twenty-One for card counters, the house’s percentage
swamps small deviations from randomness.
Mr. Burke is the author of Flop: The Art of Winning at
Low-Limit Hold ’Em, on sale at amazon, gamblersbook,
& kokopellipress.com. E-mail your Hold ’Em questions to
[email protected]
16
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
the bloody dead man.
No-limit hold’em poker is a
game of incomplete information. To compensate for this
lack, poker players are constantly looking for “tells,” slight
subtle hints that what they’re
seeing is not to be believed.
frisked the dead man. By the
time she allowed to police to
pry her blood-smeared hands
off the late Jack Rabbit’s body,
she knew exactly how much
change the dead man had in his
pocket.
In “You Can’t Always Get
Heartbroken
wild, mumbled out, “There,
there,” at which time The
Widow collapsed crying into
his arms and began a second
search.
While Sweeney failed to
catch the red-handed thief going
through his pockets red-handed,
it suddenly occurred to me what
the grieving widow was searching for.
I knelt down over the body
of “Texas Jack” Rabbit, bending
my head in solemn prayer. The
policeman standing guard over
the deceased turned away to
give me a moment of privacy,
which was all I needed to take
the Poker Avenger’s mysterious chip out of the dead man’s
hand.
What You Want,” The Rolling
Everyone in the poker room
Stones sing, “She was practiced
believed they were seeing a
grief-stricken widow, overcome in the art of deception. You
by emotion, desperately clawing could tell by her blood-stained
A Poker Player Murder Mystery by Robert Arabella at her murdered man. Everyone, hands.” They could well have
been singing about The Widow
that is, except me. I, who live
Rabbit, who, not getting what
in
a
world
of
deception
and
funeral
pyre
of
her
dead
hus“The Card Cheat’s Bible?” says
she wanted off the dead man,
deceit, recognized her actions
band. The heartbroken woman,
the Detective Sweeney. “I’ve
now turned her attention to the
for what they were. A very
claiming to Jack Rabbit’s
never heard of it.”
living. Detective Sweeney, not
well-disguised and thorough
What I want to say is, “What widow, did the next best thing
knowing what else to say at this
pat-down search. While crying
and, before she could be
a surprise!” but, trying to get
(To be continued in the next
public exhibition of grief-gonemaniacally, she methodically
stopped, she threw herself atop
back to the subject of why
issue of Poker Player)
someone tried to kill me, I say
instead, “That’s not all The
Card Cheat’s Bible says about
‘The Poker Avenger.’”
“Is this going to be better
than your Mark Twain poker
story?”
Odds are he won’t think so
but I continue. “According to
The Card Cheat’s Bible, murders of card cheats appear over
and over in American literature.
There’s Washington Irving’s
Poker Table Fable, Edgar Allen
Poe’s Death Card, and Bret
Harte’s Strange Game.”
“All of them written a long
time ago.”
“And then there’s
Hemingway’s One Card Too
Many, or Steinbeck’s Poker Joe,
or Arabella’s Drawing Dead.”
“If you’re trying to tell
me that everything ever written about this so-called card
cheat-killing ‘Poker Avenger’
are figments of a bunch of writers’ imaginations, I’ll kill you
myself.”
I take the chance Sweeney’s
bluffing. “The Poker Avenger is
real! He came here to kill me!”
“Then,” asks the Detective,
“why aren’t you the one dead
on the floor?”
“You remember The Rolling
Stones song, ‘Heartbreaker’?”
Sweeney, who looks like
Mrs. Sweeney has never given
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AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
17
BY R O N L I G G E T T I N T E RV I E W S . . .
LESSON 81:
Four of a kind loses
at the WSOP
Lessons from mike caro
university of poker
BY DIANE M C HAFFIE
Mike teaches that you can’t play poker like
Bingo. This can be demonstrated by a hand that Mike lost
during the first no-limit hold ’em event of the 2006 WSOP.
You can’t gauge the strength of your hand or know its
probability based on the cold rankings: no pair, one pair,
two pair, three of a kind, straight, flush, full house, four of a
kind, straight flush, or royal flush. Those rankings only matter to a dealer deciding who wins.
Every hand you play will have its own rankings, determined by the situation. Mike gives an example, suppose the
board is all hearts — 2-7-9-K-A. No pair, one pair, two pairs,
three of a kind, straight, full house, four of a kind, straight
flush, and royal flush need not be considered. This battle
will be fought over the flush alone, since everyone can play
at least the one on the board.
The queen of hearts is the ideal card because you can’t
possibly lose with it. The bottom of the rankings would be
any hand without hearts. Then you would have to play the
existing flush.
First event. Now for the real story that occurred during
the first event that Mike played at the 2006 WSOP, which
had a devastating effect on his stack of chips.
Mike held a pair of black eights in middle position with an
average amount of chips. This is often a good hand to merely call with and see what happens, which he did. The small
and big blinds were the only ones in and neither raised. The
flop was 8h, 6h, and 8d, giving Mike four eights. Frequently
the extra card is larger than the four of a kind, posing a distant danger, and allowing an opponent the remote possibility of making a higher four of a kind. That wasn’t the case.
In Mike’s case, the 6h and 8h put a straight flush possibility into play. Usually, you shouldn’t be too concerned
about this. Both players checked on the flop. He checked.
He didn’t want to bet his four of a kind, since there’s only
a slight chance that any opponent held anything strong
enough to call with. The exception to this tactic of checking
would be that you might bet into an aggressive opponent
who might try to claim the pot with a forceful raise. The
turn card was 10h.
Too remote. Both players checked, as did Mike. He says
he could have bet here, but the fear of a straight flush was
still too remote, and the pot was too small to protect. He
preferred to give his opponents one last chance to bet on
the river. The river card was seven of hearts. The small blind
checked and the big blind bet about half of Mike’s stack.
Mike just called. I asked him why he didn’t raise. Since the
big blind hadn’t raised before the flop, Mike thought that it
was less likely that he held an ace of hearts. More likely he
was bluffing or held 9h, making a straight flush. A legitimate
bet centered on the 9h (a straight flush), the Ah (the best
regular flush), or a bluff. With the 9h being slightly more
likely than an Ah, it wouldn’t make sense to raise if the bet
had been made from strength. And Mike couldn’t throw it
away, because the likelihood of the opponent either bluffing
or holding an Ah meant that Mike was the favorite on the
call. So that’s what he did, called.
Personally, I think it took a lot of will power and intelligence to survive in a no-limit tournament when losing with
four of a kind. Now, with Mike’s guidance, I see that every
hand has its own set of rankings and, using those, he made
the only choice available to him.
Stan Seiff
CAS I N O
(l. to r.) Stan Seiff, with
Tournament Director
Matt Savage and
Owner Marko Trapani
Stan Seiff is Casino
Manager for one of
California’s premier casinos
and one of Poker’s foremost success stories – Bay
101. It’s in good hands.
Born into Poker, Stan’s
father, Leonard Seiff was a
highly regarded California
cardroom operator. “I knew
what a bad-beat was before
I learned to wish upon a
star”, Seiff says. Although
good at math in school, it
wasn’t because I studied
arithmetic; I just learned to
figure odds and percentages
early.”
Stan’s entry into the
poker business was natural.
Smart, sharp and equipped
with knowledge and experience far in excess of his
years, Stan rose through
the California poker room
ranks holding every position on the floor.
In early 2000 Seiff
opened the Hustler Casino,
in Gardena, featuring one
of the largest and finest
poker rooms in the world.
He returned to Bay 101
in late 2000. Under his
leadership, the casino has
achieved unparalleled success and recognition.
Bay 101 is a handsome
action attraction. It features
40 tables and limits ranging
from $2-$4 to $200. The
games fill by late afternoon,
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
and there are waiting lists
well into evening. Through
tournaments and television,
Bay 101 has brought visitors, celebrities and exciting
notoriety to San Jose.
“We’re proud of the
contribution Bay 101 and
its employees make to the
City”, Seiff tells POKER
PLAYER, “which annually is some $30 million in
payroll, services and goods
purchased, plus another $5
million in taxes and license
fees.”
Seiff gives much of the
credit for Bay 101’s success to the blue-chip quality
of its management team.
It reads like a California
Poker Honor Roll. “Owner
Marko Trapani, General
Manager Ron Werner,
executive Tom Bowling,
and Tournament Director
Matt Savage are among
the most experienced, well
known and highly respected
names in the game”, Seiff
points out.
The annual “Shooting
Star Poker Tournament”
is Bay 101’s flagship event.
“The concept was to hold
a world class tournament
with a local identity”, Seiff
explained. Stan Seiff and
crew have developed it into
one of the most prestigious
events in Poker. In 2004, it
became a featured event on
the World Poker Tour televised series.
The unique, two event,
five day Shooting Star
Tournament features top
poker stars, Hollywood
AT
of the world’s best players
surely has to go down to
him. He is a great guy, and
has become an even greater
friend,” said Gardner.
Gracz, spent the three
days prior mentoring
Gardner on the intricacies of the popular Speed
Poker format. His success-
B AY
1 0 1
stars, wanna-be-stars, and
some who’s only hope is to
wish upon a star.
Earlier this year, the
Shooting Star Tournament’s
opening event was a $2,000
buyin No-Limit Hold’em
contest that attracted 245
competitors. The 1st Place
winner, Lam Hoang, collected $123,000.
The main event, the
$10,000 buyin WPT contest drew 518 participants.
The prize money totaled
$4,972,800! The promise of the Shooting Star
Tournament is the dream of
becoming the next world
class player. This year Nam
Le, of Hunting Beach,
fulfilled his fantasy when
he beat the best to win the
championship, fame and
$1,198,300.
Stan Seiff has seen a
lot of changes in Poker in
recent years. “It’s become
main stream entertainment
attracting a much larger and
younger market”, he says.
“For an old poker man it
takes a little getting used
to have the players call you
‘Sir’. It’s a far cry from
what they once called us.”
“Online poker dot.coms
and television are the two
big factors contributing to
the renaissance of Poker,”
in the Casino Manager’s
opinion. “Young people
today are much more familiar with the game than
ever was the case previously. Once the generation
raised on computer games
Smith wins $500K
Diane McHaffie is Director of Operations at Mike Caro
University of Poker, Gaming, and Life Strategy. Her
diverse career spans banking, promotion of major financial seminars and the raising of White-tailed Deer. You
can write her online at [email protected].
18
M A N AG E R
ful mission earned him a
very nice bonus of $30,000
for tutoring his protégée in
the lead up to the Pro-Am
Challenge.
MansionPoker.net
World Pro-AmChallenge
Final results:
1. Gavin Smith . . . . . . $500,000
2. Scott Gardner . . . . $270,000
+ $30,000 to
Pro Coach Michael Gracz
3. John Gale . . . . . . . . $200,000
4. Todd Brunson
5. Joseph Issacson
Coached by
“Cowboy” Kenna James
6. Andrew Stoll
Coached by Tony Guoga,
better known as Tony G.
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
19
Poker Walk of Shame
Is there anything worse than being the first to
bust out of a tournament that you are hosting?
POKER COUNSELOR
By John Carlisle, MA, NCC
It is your house, so you can’t simply make
your leave gracefully. This unfortunate set of circumstances
has happened to many of us on more than one occasion. A
couple of dozen guys converge on your basement for a cutthroat game of No Limit Hold ‘Em. You make an early misstep
or get unlucky and boom, all of your chips are gone. Suddenly
you seem like a stranger in your own home. You look around
uncomfortably, unsure of what to do next. You are really no
longer a part of the action at your table. There are no other
players around to chat with, or to play side games as they are
still in on the main tournament action. It is the poker walk
of shame. Maybe you’ve played for hours in a medium buy-in
tournament in an Atlantic City casino and built up a huge chip
stack. It looks like you’ll cruise to a nice cash finish on the
final table. Five hands later you’ve bluffed and called away all
of your money before the bubble, and the railbirds are asking
you “What happened?” as you make your way to the door with
your head hung low. It is the poker walk of shame.
Poker is an emotionally brutal contest. We all seem to find
a way to tie our self-confidence and energy into our poker
performance. When things sour at the table, a mix of negative
emotionality overtakes us. Disappointment is always a main
ingredient in the mix, along with disbelief, frustration, confusion, disgust, and more! With such a whirlwind of negativity
enveloping your psyche, it is hard to carry yourself with a
sense of dignity as you take the walk of shame. Imagine how
tough it is for the professional players to handle the fateful
walk, as they have hordes of fans, reporters, and television
cameras in their faces when they bust out of a major tournament. Many times they are asked to immediately appear for an
interview, even though their mind is still attempting to process
what just occurred.
When in the grips of the poker walk of shame, attempt to
steal a moment or two to compose yourself. Take a brief walk
to clear your mind and deal with the emotions. Get away from
the table and away from the other players. Before you can
field questions from onlookers and friends on what happened,
you have to work to truly understand what indeed happened
for yourself. Think through not only the final hand, but the
hands that led up to your demise to determine the root of
your downfall. Work to allow your intellect to evaluate your
play, rather than allowing your emotions to commandeer your
thought processing.
When you do get the inevitable barrage of questions from
your poker buddies and tablemates, there is no need to lie and
say that you “are fine” or that it does not bother you. These
sorts of untruthful comments are pretty obviously false to
most in the poker world. Instead, a simple comment such as,
“It hurts like Hell, but I’ll survive and do better next time,”
might be more effective and heartfelt. That sort of response
will help your own personal psychology bounce back, and it
also resonates with the others in your support network.
In reality, there is no shame in the walk of shame. That
emotional emptiness is a sign of how dedicated and focused to
the game of poker that you are. Just take a moment to control
the onslaught on negative emotions that happen when you are
booted from the tournament. Take a moment to think through
the situation, and use that disappointment as the fuel for the
next game.
Now go make it happen.
In addition to being an avid poker enthusiast, John is a
certified Counselor in the state of Pennsylvania. He has
a Master of Arts degree in Counseling from West Virginia
University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a
minor in Sociology from Lock Haven University.
You can ask the “Poker Counselor” your
question at [email protected].
20
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
Poker Club
Heist
A Joe & Hobby fiction by
David J. Valley
“Joe, remember last year
I invited you to my poker
club?”
“Hobby, how could I
forget? You needed a new
poker game and gave me
two hours to invent one.”
“It was more time than
that, but anyway, it’s guest
night tomorrow. You wanna
come?”
“Not if you need a new
game.”
“No game, Joe. Just
come for the fun of it.”
I remembered that many
of Hobby’s friends were
lousy poker players—and
since I didn’t have anything
better to do…
“Okay, buddy, I’ll come.”
There were about fifty
of us who met at the
Bentwood Country Club.
We bought in for $500 in
chips. I joined a $5/$10
pot limit Hold ‘Em table.
Hobby took a seat at another table. My tablemates
were middle-aged and from
what Hobby had told me,
they were all well heeled.
We took turns dealing. The
play moved along at a good
pace. I was playing conservatively while I got a read
on the competition.
There were a few guys
at the table who were in for
every flop, and most often
they were losers. I also
noticed a couple guys who
were quick to fold on the
turn or river whenever a pot
limit bet was made, usually
by the same player who was
probably bluffing a lot. I
picked up a tell on him but
I wasn’t sure what it meant.
Sometimes he would check
his hole cards several times,
other times he looked only
once. He finally gave away
the single look tell when he
lost to a pair of fours. Later,
I used that info to win a
big pot from him. After
two hours I had doubled
my stake. I’d like to think
it was by skill and astute
observations, but I also had
good run of cards.
I became increasingly
interested in a player named
Phil who was seated oppo-
site me. He kept looking
at his watch and although
it was cool in the room he
was heavily perspiring.
That, coupled with some
nose twisting and sniffing,
made me suspect he was a
coke addict.
My speculations were
interrupted when two men
dressed as waiters burst into
the room. Their automatic
weapons convinced me this
was no charade. While one
of the men went directly
to the cabinet where the
cash box resided, the other
waived his Uzi around and
said, “Put your wallets on
the table and take out all
your cash. No tricks or
you’ll be sorry.” A player at
an adjoining table stood and
said, “This is ridiculous!
You’ll never get away with
this.” The outburst earned
him a rap on the noggin
with the butt end of the
pistol, which laid him out
cold. I was hoping Hobby
wouldn’t try anything heroic. It could be a bloodbath
if the robbers cut loose with
their weapons. We were
greatly relieved when they
grabbed up the cash from
the tables and ran out the
door.
The next two hours we
told the cops what happened. It was a bit dicey.
Since our poker game is
illegal, we had agreed to
say we were just playing a
social card game when the
perps broke in and took our
cash. Of course, we didn’t
fool anyone, but it looks
better on the record.
I took Hobby aside. “I’ve
got my suspicions about
this guy, Phil, who was sitting opposite me.”
“Really, he’s Doctor Phil
Connor, a plastic surgeon.
What makes you...”
“Later, Hobby. He’s leaving. I’ll tell you in the car.”
As we trailed Phil out
of the parking lot and onto
southbound I-405 toward
L.A., I told Hobby how
Phil looked nervous and
kept looking at his watch
just before the robbery.
“Someone had to tip off
these guys. Did you notice
one guy headed directly to
the cabinet where the cash
box was stashed? Also, I’m
pretty certain Dr. Phil has a
coke habit.”
“Wow. That would be
terrible if one of our club
members was involved.”
We were headed east on
Santa Monica Boulevard
when our suspect turned
into a small side street and
parked alongside a joint
called the Blue Moon.
“We’ll go in one at a
time so we don’t alert anyone. I’ll go first.”
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AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
21
POKer AND
THE LAW
By I. NELSON ROSE
The U.S. House of Representatives has just
approved a bill, HR 4411, which, if the Senate and President
agree, will create the Internet Gambling Prohibition and
Enforcement Act. If the bill becomes law, online poker will be
changed forever.
The law would not directly make it a crime to be a mere
player. And there will always be ways for dedicated poker players to get around the barriers that would be created.
But for casual players, registering and sending money to a
poker website would simply become too difficult.
For the sites themselves, the blow would be so severe that
many would be driven out of business.
The bill attacks Internet poker in many ways. The first is
expanding the reach of federal anti-gambling statutes.
Federal prosecutors in the Department of Justice (DOJ)
believe that present law, the Wire Act, covers all forms of
gambling. Three courts have looked at the issue and disagreed,
holding the Wire Act applies only to bets on races and sports
events. The new law would clearly make unlawful all forms of
gambling that violate any federal, state or tribal law.
Naturally, there are exemptions. The horserace industry and
state lotteries have enough political power to keep their crossborder betting alive. So did professional athletes, who won an
exemption for fantasy sports leagues. But dog tracks could not.
Nevada casinos made only a half-hearted attempt, because
they do not have any existing Internet operations and only
sought, unsuccessfully, to keep their options open. Indian
gaming is in a similar situation, and won the almost worthless
right to operate games online, so long as players are physically
present on Indian land.
The bill has real teeth. It would make it a felony, punishable
by up to five years in prison, for anyone to operate an illegal
gambling website or accept money transferred in any form. Of
course, it already is a felony to do sports betting online, and
the bill would not make it any easier for the DOJ to arrest foreign operators.
The real change is in the power that would be given law
enforcement to cut off access to gaming websites. Any federal,
state, tribal or local agent can ask phone companies to cut
phone lines. This is a carry over from the present Wire Act. You
can’t stop the Internet this way.
But you can if you can stop access to domain names. The
bill would allow the DOJ or any state attorney general to get a
court order requiring an Internet Service Provider to block all
links to specified gambling websites.
You can also cripple a gambling business if it becomes too
difficult to get money in and out. Federal regulators would be
required to come up with ways of identifying and blocking all
money transfers for online gambling transactions. This means
that the present barriers to using credit cards would be extended to all banking transactions. Players would not even be able
to write checks, let alone wire money, to gaming websites.
The bill does not directly mention intermediaries like
Neteller and Firepay. But they could easily be brought under
the law, if a U.S. attorney or state attorney general wished.
At the very least, they would be told that they are aiding and
abetting violations of the new law. And all of their assets in the
United States would be subject to being seized.
Will the bill pass the Senate? It is a very low priority.
But the very fact that neither the Republicans nor
Democrats care about it may allow its strongest supporter,
Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, an opportunity to sneak it through.
Professor I Nelson Rose will be teaching International
Gaming Law as part of Whittier Law School’s Summer
Abroad Program in France in July 2006. For more information, contact Prof. Rose through his website,
www.gamblingandthelaw.com.
22
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
WSOP at the
traveling in the same tightknit poker circles with
colleagues Brunson and
Reese. So, it was fitting
that three of poker’s most
revered icons were seated
side-by-side in this event.
The three-time gold bracelet winner from Florida
received $343,200.
David Singer, who has
recently emerged on the
poker tournament scene as
one of the game’s top players was hoping for a monstrous career breakthrough
in this event. He certainly
proved he can compete with
the best in the world by
making it to the big stage
against such fierce competition. But Singer fell short
of victory and ended up
with a sixth-place finish.
the best overall tournament
record of any player alive.
However, Cloutier came
up short in this event and
ended up as the fifth-place
finisher. His prize amounted to $480,480.
Jim Bechtel, a no-limit
specialist from Arizona was
the next victim of elimination. Bechtel, winner of the
1993 World Series of Poker
championship, received
$549,120 for his fourthplace finish.
When play became threehanded, Phil Ivey was at a
competitive disadvantage.
Even a supremely-gifted
player like Ivey needs chips
and good cards to win. He
got neither during his final
hour at the table and ended
up with mixed results – a
of similar styles and character. Reese first arrived
in Las Vegas 31-years ago,
fresh out of college (Reese
is a graduate of Dartmouth
University). He was on his
way to attend law school
in California, but instead
found his passion and talent for cards and gambling.
Since 1974, Reese has won
tens of millions of dollars
in high-stakes poker games
and earned a well-deserved
reputation as the world’s
best all-around player.
Bloch arrived in Las
Vegas with a shorter, albeit
similar story. Bloch graduated from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology and
later earned his degree from
Harvard University Law
School. Like Reese before
PHOTO COURTESY ERIC D HARKINS, IMPDI
Will Congress Cripple
Internet Poker?
The WSOP H.O.R.S.E. event—massive!
Singer earned $411,840.
T.J. Cloutier has won just
about everything in poker
except the main event of
the World Series. Cloutier,
who lives in Dallas, has
disappointing third-place
showing, but a healthy profit amounting to $617,760
The final contest between
Andy Bloch and Chip
Reese posed two gladiators
him, Bloch opted to gamble
professionally rather than
work in a more conventional career. He also shared
Reese’s cerebral personality
to a large extent – favoring
William Hill Poker Grand Prix
William Hill has added
even more money into the
pot - a staggering £164,000
- taking the prize pool to
£500,000.
44 of the world’s biggest
poker names will be playing. And there’ll be 8 online
qualifiers (satellites start
31st July 2006), plus 4 allnew offline qualifying tournaments in key European
locations starting in August
2006.
Unlike any other televised tournament, the
William Hill Poker Grand
Prix has a structure
designed to bring out the
true skill of poker instead of
trying to fit with tight production schedules.
But don’t just take
William Hill’s word for it.
This is what some of the
invited players said that
took part last year:
Tony G said the tournament was a ‘great, great
experience’.
Antonio ‘The Magician’
Esfandiari believed it to be
‘one of the best tournaments
he’s ever played in’.
Barny ‘Hendon Mob’
Boatman even went as far
as to say that ‘this is the
future of televised poker’.
Ram ‘Crazy Horse’
Vaswami said, “It’s a great
structure…It’s how poker
should be played”.
And the eventual winner, Phil ‘Unabomber’ Laak
simply summed it all up in
one word: -“Awesome!”
The William Hill Poker
Grand Prix II, which will be
e Rio
substance over style, tranquility over bravado, and
contemplation over haste.
At 1:00 am, as $1.7 million in cash was brought
out to the table, no one in
the audience nor over the
worldwide listening audience on the Bluff Radio
Network (carried live by
Sirius) could possibly have
forecasted the epic match
that was to follow. When
the sun cracked over the
horizon the following
morning, the two contenders were still sitting there
face to face – thinking,
planning, contemplating,
strategizing, and searching
for the evasive holy poker
grail that would pummel
the defiant into submission.
Together, they played
an astonishing 300-plus
hands heads-up, twice as
many hands as it took to
eliminate the first seven
players. At one point, spectators who had left the night
before began returning to
the poker room again, and
saw that neither player had
yielded an inch in the battle
of endurance and psychology.
At precisely 9:12 am,
Chip Reece and Andy
Bloch shattered a WSOPrecord that many thought
might never be broken. In
the 1983 main event, Tom
McEvoy and Rod Peate
battled for seven straight
hours. This epic duel
clocked in at 7 hours, 6
minutes.
Bloch started the duel
with a slight chip lead. In
fact, he held the lead during most of the match. At
one point, Bloch enjoyed
a better than 3 to 1 chip
advantage. Bloch had his
opponent all-in a few times,
but was never able to finish
off the resilient Reese. On
one occasion, Reese was
extremely lucky catching
a miracle card to make an
inside straight to defy the
odds stacked against him.
Another time, Reese caught
a flush to survive.
The poker game of all
poker games finally ended
when Reese had seized the
chip lead midway through
the morning and pushed allin before the flop with acequeen. Bloch had taken a
few tough beats and was so
low on chips he had to call
with nine-eight. The final
board showed J-7-7-4-4,
giving Reese the win with
the higher kicker (ace).
As the runner-up, Andy
Bloch received $1,029,600.
But the money was the last
thing that seemed to matter to Bloch, who was so
groomed to win his first
gold bracelet. Very few
people outside the poker
world understand that
this match was not about
money. It was about proving something of incalculable value -- impossible to
describe and too foreign to
comprehend.
The winner, David
“Chip” Reese collected
$1,784,640 in prize money
and the gold bracelet, presented by World Series
of Poker Commissioner,
Jeffrey Pollack. It was
Reese’s fourth WSOP
career win, and his first
since 1982. From a historical perspective, the triumph
validates the unofficial title
Reese has carried through(Continued on page 25)
x Bigger Than Ever
televised on Sky Sports in
early 2007, is set in a luxury
penthouse overlooking a
breathtaking cityscape at
night. It features a multilevel poker room that oozes
style and wealth.
The final list of invited
poker professionals last year
read like a who’s who in
poker and this year it will
be no different. So, if you
want to test your mettle
against the ‘Gods of Poker’
and play in the world’s most
credible poker tournament,
then you need to either
choose to qualify online
with williamhillpoker.com
or enter one of the offline
qualifying tournaments.
Online satellites start on
31st July 2006 on williamhillpoker.com from £1.75
+ £0.25. Online qualifying
tournaments start on 13th
August 2006. Full details
on how to enter online can
be found on williamhillpoker.com
Will you be part of it
too this year?
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
23
M
tary.
ark Seif says it
“I had flirted with the
was the 2001
idea of playing poker fullWorld Series
time, but until then had
of Poker that made a difnever really had the guts
ference, providing the
or the bankroll.”
moment in time when he
Suddenly, it all seemed
reached that metaphorical
to be within reach.
fork in the road and, as
Five years later, he still
the joke goes, decided to
enjoys the feeling
take it.
that comes from
He thought about his
replaying that
career as a lawyer up to
that time. Yes,
he would tell
an acquaintance years
later, law had
BY PHIL HEVENER
been good to
life-changhim.
But compared to poker? ing experience in his
Gee . . . it was hard not
head.
to stifle a yawn.
Because the way things
Poker was another
were at the time . . .
world. There was nothSeif had graduated from
ing like playing successUCLA and Loyola Law
ful poker to get the juices
School with enough honflowing. Particularly with
ors to guarantee that he
the level of success Seif
pretty much had his pick
was then enjoying.
of possibilities as a young
So he stopped being a
lawyer. He spent several
lawyer.
years in the LA County
“I went home from the
District Attorney’s Office
2001 World Series,” he
dealing with the nuts and
remembers, “with somebolts of hundreds of cases
thing like $700,000 in my
that even included the
pocket,” money he had
long-running saga of O.J.
earned in the cash games
and not tournament events. Simpson.
Eventually he sucThis was at a time when
cumbed to the lure of the
the Series was still a fixture at the Binion family’s big money associated with
a New Port Beach law
Horseshoe on Fremont
firm and the later chance
Street.
to work as chief counsel to
Yes, by the middle of
a large leasing firm.
May, which is when the
He moved to Lake
World Series was winding
Tahoe and was traveling
up at that time, Seif knew
to LA and Las Vegas on
it was going to be a very
weekends to indulge his
good year.
passion for poker.
Even bought himself
Sometime after declara new gold Rolex to celing himself a poker profesebrate.
sional and accumulating
All this at a time when
some of the successes
the world of poker was
that made this declaration
still a year or two away
from the explosive growth a convincing one, Seif
got the chance in 2004 to
that has characterized
become a commentator on
the last several years and
the televised action of the
brought success and addiWorld Poker Tour’s new
tional opportunities to
Professional Poker Tour.
Seif.
He had enjoyed his
Heading back to his
home in the spring of 2001 first commentary work
in 1999 when he, Nolan
Seif was a man on top
Dala and Wendeen Eolis
of the world. Could life
collaborated on Internet
get any better? Besides
coverage of the U.S. Poker
the hours at the tables he
Championship show for
was also doing occasional
PokerPages.com.
Internet poker commen-
PLAYER
Profile
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.
24
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
“We had a lot of fun.
Nolan and I did most of
the work and to this day I
don’t think there is a better
broadcaster or commentator in the world of poker
than Nolan.”
The combination of his
knowledge of the game,
enthusiasm for
what was
draw and one of the last
hands of the evening had
come down to Mark and
his dad playing heads-up.
Dad had a pair of something and Mark drew one
card trying to make either
a straight or a flush.
After the draw, Dad
checked and Mark bet
and Dad thought about it
before folding his hand.
Casually, Dad
wanted to
know what
Mark had
made. Was
it two pair, a
flush, what?
Not a surprising question in what had been a
friendly little nickel, dime
and quarter game among
family and friends.
But Mark looked Dad in
the eye and said he’d have
showed him if he wanted
to bet the hand.
Dad’s eyes narrowed, he
frowned and picked up the
cards, checking his son’s
hand.
Nothing!
Dad had been bluffed
and it quickly became
apparent his sense of
humor was lacking on this
long ago evening.
Mark was told to give
back his winnings, go
to his room and was not
allowed to play in the
game any more.
Dad was not the kind
of poker player Seif was
showing signs of becoming, even at a very young
age.
Seif laughs about it now.
“My dad was never much
of a poker player. He was
a much better businessman.”
Poker did not get a lot
of thought for a number
of years until he was 19,
in college and working
as a waiter at a restaurant
where the help got together for an after-work game
every once in a while.
“I would clean up there
pretty good and one night
some of the guys started
talking about going down
to try the games in the
Gardena clubs.”
Seemed like a good
idea.
Seif made the trip and
recalls, “I sat down in a
$1-$4 stud game and won
about $350 the first time I
played.”
Seif continued with his
studies at UCLA and went
MARK
Seif
happening and
the volume of
insights that
peppered Dala’s
work on those programs
created a high standard on
which Seif would base his
PPT work.
As for how he came to
the PPT telecasts on the
Travel Channel which also
airs the WPT shows, “I
was doing some work for
Absolute Poker in Costa
Rica when I got an e-mail
(from the PPTproducer)
asking me to stop by
because he wanted to talk.
The PPT offer came out
of those conversations.
Seif was the only double
bracelet winner at the 2005
World Series of Poker
taking firsts in two of the
no limit hold ‘em events
winning a total of nearly
$800,000. He’s had about
50 tournaments cashes
over the years including
World Poker Tour events;
a total of 14 wins and 25
final tables. He took fourth
in the WPT’s inaugural
stop at the Bicycle Club.
Seif’s official tournament
winnings over the last five
years amount to “well over
$2 million.”
But the way Seif tells
it, he began playing poker
somewhere around the age
of six as part of gatherings
that included family and
friends. Mostly, he would
fill in when regulars failed
to show up or were late
arriving.
“As time went by I got
to play more and more.”
By the age of 11 he was
savvy enough that his dad
decided to bar him after
a never-to-be-forgotten
Kodak moment when Seif
bluffed his dad out of a
pot.
This was a night when
the game was five-card
on to law school, continuing to play two, three,
maybe four times a week
and when he became a
lawyer, well . . .
There was no reason
to give up something he
enjoyed and Seif continued his visits to the local
clubs, finally taking time
off from his lawyerly
duties in 2000 to attend
the World Series. The following year he did the
same thing.
“And really cleaned up.”
Which brought him to
that fork in the road.
Going home with the
$700,000 cashier’s check
in his pocket, Seif decided
it was time to seriously rethink his career plans.
This was during a time
when it was hard to find
people playing no limit
cash games.
Was there an intimidation factor in some of
these games, since many
of the players tended to
be crusty old pros who
had been playing cards
since before Seif was old
enough to bluff his dad.
“”Oh yeah,” he grins.
“They intimidated me but
I wasn’t about to let them
know it.”
What he recalls are the
endless attempts to bait
and test, metaphorically
whacking an opponent
with comments calculated to make a difference,
expose a weakness.
He remembers the old
pro eyeing his stack of
chips, pondering a bet and
finally inquiring, “So how
deep are you kid?”
Seif looked down at his
stacks and replied with a
figure that represented a
slightly inflated estimate
of his total.
Minutes later Seif had a
chance to turn the inquiry
around asking, “And how
deep are you?”
“I’m as deep as the
Pacific,” was the reply.
All part of the no limit
game, this going back and
forth with each other.
Seif’s current projects
include continuing work
with AbsolutePoker.com,
the Internet site he has
been affiliated with for
the last couple years. The
site has several marketing
gimmicks aimed at young
people. One of them is a
“very successful win your
out his storied poker career,
as the world’s best allaround poker player.
“Being the best is not
just about winning one
day or two days – it’s
every day,” Reese said in
a post-tournament interview. “Doyle Brunson was
once asked who he thought
the best poker player was,
and Doyle said, ‘I don’t
know, come back and ask
me again in twenty years.’
Being the best is proving it
over the long run.”
Perhaps it is fitting that
this championship -- what
may very well be the most
prestigious poker event
to have ever been played
– would ultimately evolve
to a contest of raw strength
and iron willpower. A victory in such an illustrious
event should not be easy. It
must be hard. It must be
difficult. By its very spirit
and magnitude, winning
must be the end result of
toil, trial, and tribulation.
In this championship, and
indeed over the past 30
years, Chip Reese has stood
the test of time.
RIO ALL-SUITES CASINO
2006 WORLD
SERIES OF POKER
EVENT #20
7/12/06
50K H.O.R.S.E.
BUY-IN $50,000 + $0
PLAYERS 143
PRIZE
POOL
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
$6,864,000
Chip Reese
Chip Reese . . . . . .$1,716,000
Andrew Bloch . . .$1,029,600
Phil Ivey . . . . . . . . . $617,760
Jim Bechtel. . . . . . . $549,120
TJ Cloutier . . . . . . . $480,480
David Singer . . . . . $411,840
Dewey Tomko. . . . . $343,200
Doyle Brunson . . . . $274,560
Patrik Antonius . . . $205,920
“E-Fro” Becomes
the Youngest TwoTime WSOP Winner in
History, winning PotLimit Omaha (with rebuys) championship
Move over Phil Ivey.
WSOP at the Rio
Move over Daniel
Negreanu. Move over Allen
Cunningham. There’s a new
kid in town. Eric Froehlich,
aged 22-years and four
months, became the youngest player to ever win two
WSOP gold bracelets. Last
year, “E-Fro” won his first
championship and became
the youngest WSOP winner
ever. However, earlier this
week, an even more youthful Jeff Madsen eclipsed
Froehlich as the youngest
gold bracelet winner (by two
months) – making “E-Fro”
the forgotten man, at least
for a few days.
Froehlich topped a tough
field of 158 players and
won $299,675 in the PotLimit Omaha championship.
A whopping 472 re-buys
pushed the total prize pool
close to a million dollars.
The special re-buy event
was added to this year’s
schedule at the World Series
of Poker, presented by
Milwaukee’s Best Light.
Sherkhan Farnood finished as the runner up.
Certainly Afghanistan’s
most accomplished poker
player, Farnood works as
a banker. He deposited
$165,274 for second place.
Meanwhile, Eric Froehlich
took center stage for the second time in two years.
When asked which of
the two victories is sweeter,
Froehlich reminisced back
to last year’s win. “The first
one is sweeter,” Froehlich
admitted. When asked if a
second WSOP win puts him
into the same class with
similar youthful champions
such as Ivey, Negreanu, and
Cunningham, Froehlich was
more modest. “They are
all great players,” he said.
“Sure, I would like their
respect and to be in that
class as a player. But I still
have a long way to go to
earn that.”
Nevertheless, Froehlich
says that is determined to
make poker history in the
years ahead. “I’m looking
to pass Johnny (Chan) and
Doyle (Brunson) in nine
years,” Froehlich said halfjokingly. Chan and Brunson
are currently the all-time
leaders in most WSOP wins,
with ten each.
2006 WORLD
SERIES OF POKER
EVENT #26-B
7/17/06
POT LIMIT OMAHA
BUY-IN $1,500 + $0
PLAYERS 158
PRIZE
POOL
$908,100
1. Eric Froehlich . . . . $299,675
Washington, DC
2. Sherkhan Farnood $165,274
Kabul, Afghanistan
Wow! Satellites for the
Heavyweight
Championship
of Poker—
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SEE PAGE 35
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AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
25
4/19/06 10:09:09 AM
JACKPOT!!!
World Series o
SENIORS SCENE
3. Chau Giang . . . . . . . $90,810
Las Vegas, NV
By George “The engineer” EPSTEIN
Everyone at the table was a WINNER! Some
casinos offer a jackpot, sometimes called a “Bad Beat
Jackpot” – thousands of dollars awarded to you when, for example, your
aces-full-of-tens or better is beaten by four-of-a-kind, with both hole
cards “playing” in both players’ hands.
It was a $4 - $8 hold’em game at the Hustler Casino. It had been a
challenging evening for me. For the first 1 ½ hours, Lady Luck had turned
her backside to me. I was into my second rack; finally the cards had
begun to improve for me. Steadily I worked my way back up, and I was
actually ahead for the first time during this session.
Then I looked down at pocket queens in an early position – the best
starting hand I had been dealt that session. Pocket queens – a made hand
– is best played against two or three opponents. I raised to protect my
big pair. To my surprise, not only did I get lots of callers but an aggressive-deceptive player across the table reraised me. I decided to just call
his reraise. Five of us saw the flop:
“Oh, oh,”
My Hole Cards
The Flop
I thought as I
looked at the ace
on the board.
With four opponents in the pot, surely at least one has a pair of aces at this point. My
pocket queens didn’t look so attractive any more. I checked to the raiser.
Surprise! He too checked. (Remember, I said he was deceptive as well as
aggressive.) So we saw the turn for free. Guess what. it was another ace:
The Flop
The Turn
With two aces on the
board, it was less likely that
an opponent held an ace
in the hole. Still, with four
opponents in the pot, it was
a definite probability. I bet $8 on my pocket queens to see what response
I would get. The reraiser – a very aggressive and deceptive player
– across the table, bumped it up to $16. Could he have another ace? One
other player and I called to see the river. I could hardly believe my eyes
It was a third ace!!! Now the board showed three aces:
Wow! I had
The Flop
The Turn The River
aces full of
queens and
made the bet.
The player to
my left called and the aggressive-deceptive player raised it up, going allin. At that point, I realized he might have my hand beaten with either the
case ace or pocket kings. Since he was all in, I decided to challenge the
player to my left. So I reraised. He called, making a small side pot that I
felt sure would be mine – at the very least.
Showdown: I turned up my pocket queens – aces-full-of-queens. The
player to my left showed pocket tens. My hand had him beaten! Then the
aggressive-deceptive player across the table shouted the magic words:
“JACKPOT!!!”—as he turned up his hole cards . . .
His Hole Cards
He had quad aces! The table went silent for a
brief moment as everyone contemplated what had
happened. Then there was a huge roar, slapping of
hands; and everyone jumped to their feet – like a
giant volcano erupting. . .
JACKPOT!!! Fortunately he had a big king to go with the ace, so his
king played. (By the rules of the House, if his “kicker” had been lower
than the jack on the board, the JACKPOT would not have applied.)
Everyone at the table shared in the jackpot; and, best of all, I got
the lion’s share. I was pleased to sign my name on the IRS Form W-2G,
“Certain Gambling Winnings.” The quad-aces got half of the amount that
was awarded to me; and the rest was divided among the other players at
the table. Everyone went home a happy WINNER! – especially me. . .
So, readers, what’s YOUR opinion?
4. Kevin O’Donnell . . . $72,648
Scottsdale, AZ
5. Bruno Fitoussi . . . . . $54,486
Paris, France
6. Matt Overstreet . . . . $45,405
Henderson, NV
7. Richard Freire . . . . . $36,324
Miami, FL
8. Rafi Amit . . . . . . . . . $27,243
Holon, Israel
9. Ayaz Mahmood . . . . $18,162
Houston, TX
Four years after finishing third in the
2002 championship
event, Ralph Perry
Poker bracelet winner made
three of the five final tables,
winning one event, finishing second in two, pocketing $37,982! A local favorite, Steve Deinhardt – also
known affectionately as
Angus Jack - won the final
event, outplaying Morton in
heads-up, eyeball-to-eyeball
competition, and collected a
cool $20,145 for his superb
effort.
Results of the five events
will be found below:
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
(Continued from page 1)
Medford, OR
9. Cole Crockett . . . . . . . . .$550
7. Ruben Ornelas . . . . . . $1,390
Redmond, WA
Walla Walla, WA
8. Steve Adams . . . . . . . . . .$925
Woodburn, OR
WILDHORSE RESORT & CASINO
9. Jackson Spencer . . . . . .$535
SUMMER
POKER RODEO
Yakima, WA
EVENT #1
SUMMER
POKER RODEO
EVENT #3
7/20/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
PLAYERS 219
7/18/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
PLAYERS 413
PRIZE POOL
$44,300
Brandon Whiteside
PRIZE POOL
$47,800
1. Brandon Whiteside . $12,136
Jack Hendrickson
2. Kerri Miller . . . . . . . . $8,860
Portland, OR
Seattle, WA
3. Ryan Hughes . . . . . . . $6,040
1. Jack Hendrickson . . $13,956
SUMMER
POKER RODEO
Enumclaw, WA
Chehalis, WA
2. Gerald Rahmn . . . . . $10,200
4. Rich Hampton . . . . . . $3,825
EVENT #5
7/22/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
PLAYERS 213
PRIZE
POOL
$69,000
1. Steve Dienhardt . . . . $20,145
Milton Freewater, OR
2. Ralph Morton . . . . . $14,725
Yakima, WA
3. George Waller . . . . . $10,040
Olympia, WA
4. Steve Anderson . . . . . $6,360
Yakima, WA
Bend, OR
Pendleton, OR
3. Justin Monk . . . . . . . . $6,955
5. Gene Switzer . . . . . . . $2,335
Spokane, WA
Yakima, WA
4. Carolyn Ford . . . . . . . $4,405
6. Phil Motyka . . . . . . . . $1,730
Sedona, AZ
Richland, WA
5. Denny Edwards . . . . . $2,690
7. Bob Moore . . . . . . . . . $1,330
Hermiston, OR
Sedro Wooley, WA
6. Earle Leeper . . . . . . . $1,995
8. Justin Hardin . . . . . . . . .$925
Priest River, ID
Portland, OR
7. Joe Ringo . . . . . . . . . . $1,530
9. Ron Radford . . . . . . . . .$545
Maupin, OR
Stevensville, MT
9. Shane Freeman . . . . . . .$625
Seattle, WA
Seattle, WA
6. Bob Sweedler . . . . . . . $2,880
SUMMER
POKER RODEO
Portland, OR
7. Bob Rasmussen . . . . . $2,210
Seattle, WA
8. Armando Valdez . . . . $1,540
Kennewick, WA
8. Rich Poliquin . . . . . . . $1,065
5. Jason James . . . . . . . . $3,880
EVENT #2
7/19/06
LIMIT HOLD’EM
Bend, OR
9. Prasad Vadlamani . . . . .$905
Richland, WA
PLAYERS 272
PRIZE POOL
$43,800
SUMMER
POKER RODEO
J. D. Landfair
EVENT #4
7/21/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
1. J. D. Landfair . . . . . $12,261
Hot Springs, AR
2. Ralph Morton . . . . . . $8,965
Yakima, WA
PLAYERS 219
3. Joey Diers . . . . . . . . . . . $6.11
PRIZE POOL
Seattle, WA
$47,750
4. Ron Lansing . . . . . . . . $3,870
Ralph Morton
5. Dewey Cheatem . . . . . $2,365
Portland, OR
Yelm, WA
Yakima, WA
26
Rafael “Ralph” Perry was
born in Russia. During his
childhood, Perry’s family
immigrated to Israel. At the
age of 17, Perry arrived in
the United States. Perry’s
butterfly effect took place
15 years ago in Brooklyn,
New York. The 25-year-old
was invited into a pool hall
one night and discovered a
poker game going on in the
back room. Perry decided to
sit down in the game, and
his life was never the same
after that.
“The game was SevenCard Stud,” Perry remembered fondly. “I decided to
play. I played for an hour.
I ended up winning like
twenty dollars. I played
every single hand I loved
the game so much.”
After his win, Perry was
invited by friends to go to a
Wildhorse: Hot, Hot, Hot
1. Ralph Morton . . . . . $14,192
George “The Engineer” Epstein is the author of The
Greatest Book of Poker for Winners! (T/C Press, PO
Box 36006, Los Angeles, CA 90036). His new algorithm
booklet, Hold’em or Fold’em?, is a big hit. He is currently
writing a new book on Rules & Strategies for WINNING
at Texas Hold’em. George can be reached by e-mail:
[email protected].
finally tastes victory,
winning his first gold
bracelet
2. Ken Weinman . . . . . . $9,975
Hillsboro, OR
3. Michael Pease . . . . . . $6,820
Richland, WA
6. Ryan Covert . . . . . . . . $1,750
Shelton, WA
7. Troy Landson . . . . . . . $1,345
To sign up,
contact:
Stan Sludikoff
310-674-3365
[email protected]
Jerry Reed
650-327-4810
[email protected]
Dick Gatewood
702-456-7777
Vancouver, WA
*ASK FOR POKER ROOM
8. Fred Renteria. . . . . . . . .$935
[email protected]
Spokane, WA
4. Nate Eastwood . . . . . . $4,400
Salem, OR
5. Jimmer Stringer . . . . $2,525
Kennewick, WA
6. Patrick McDonald . . . $1,840
THERE’S MORE... ONLINE! NOW THE #1 POKER WEBSITE!
local card club in Brooklyn,
where he quickly became a
regular player. When poker
was legalized in Atlantic
City, Perry started playing
there. Then, he heard about
a place where there were
even more poker games
– Las Vegas.
“When I first came to
Las Vegas, my intention
was to get a job as a blackjack dealer. But, I never
had to go out and get a
job,” Perry said. “I started
playing in low-limit stud
games. It was all I knew
how to play. From that day
forward, I started playing
stud.”
One afternoon, Perry was
sitting down inside a local
cardroom where the action
was slow. “I looked over
at the next table and saw
massive piles of chips in
the center of the table. The
pots were monsters,” Perry
said. “I asked the floorman, ‘what game is that?’
He said, ‘Texas Hold’em.’
I asked, ‘How do you play
it?’ They told me and I
learned how to play.”
A few years later, Perry
won his way into the 2002
World Series of Poker’s
championship event and
ended up finishing third.
“I had a horrible WSOP
up until the main event
that year,” Perry recalled.
“Then, I finished third and
won half-a-million dollars.
That was the most money I
ever had.”
Four long years have
since passed since Perry
was thrust in the spotlight.
He has made more than his
share of cashes and final
tables in tournaments, but
for all his financial success, Perry had yet to earn
a breakthrough tournament
victory. That would all
change on July 18, 2006.
As Perry posed for photographers in front of a
massive pile of chips and
was interviewed by the
press, several poker players who were playing in
another poker tournament
across the room glanced
over at the newest WSOP
champion. Dozens of conversations ensued. Shuffles
were altered. All of poker
history changed.
2006 WORLD
SERIES OF POKER
EVENT #26-A
7/17/06
POT LIMIT OMAHA
BUY-IN $1,500 + $0
PLAYERS 526
PRIZE
POOL
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
$789,000
Ralph Perry
Ralph Perry . . . . . . $207,817
George Abdallah . . $109,644
Brian Kocur . . . . . . . $57,330
Luzhe Zhang . . . . . . $50,164
Ray Lynn . . . . . . . . . $42,998
Spiros Mitrokostas . $35,831
Frank Henderson . . $28,665
Jason Newburger. . . $21,499
Russell Salzer . . . . . . $14,333
The Dragon Catches
Fire—David Pham Wins
His Second WSOP
Gold Bracelet
If America is the “land of
opportunity,” then poker is
the amphitheater for fasttrack success. The green
of Poker at the Rio
felt provides equal opportunity for just about everyone
to become rich and famous.
Things which are important
to the rest of society – such
as race, religion, age, sex,
education, language skills,
family ties, personal background, and job title – have
absolutely no bearing on
who wins or loses at the
poker table. Indeed, poker
is the most “democratic”
of all games. Short, tall,
skinny, fat, black, white,
male, female – none of
these things matter when
the cards are dealt.
David “Dragon” Pham
arrived in the United States
at the age of 17. During
the mid-1980s, he was
one of many Vietnamese
immigrants who left everything behind in search of a
better life. They crammed
into small lifeboats which
floated around the South
China Sea for days, before
being rescued and brought
to the United States. Pham
eventually settled down in
the Los Angeles area and
worked a number of lowwage jobs before being
introduced to the game
of poker by his cousin.
Pham’s cousin had won
several major poker tournaments and was quite
well-known within the local
Vietnamese-American community. He even shared
some of his prize money
with family members. The
cousin’s name was Men
“the Master” Nguyen.
Pham started playing
poker about ten years ago,
and tutored by his mentor
“the Master,” he gradually
improved his game. Before
long, Pham was one of the
best tournament players in
poker. Pham got so good
so fast, that he won Card
Player magazine’s “Player
of the Year” in 2002.
Pham was anointed as “the
Dragon,” an odd nickname
considering that Pham is
one of the calmest and
most polite poker players
on the tournament circuit.
Prior to this year, Pham
won his only WSOP gold
bracelet back in 2001, in
the S.H.O.E. championship,
a contest of four different
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
27
Lake Tahoe – the largest alpine lake in North America, is majestic, royal blue and reigns over the High Sierras
of northern California and northern Nevada.
NORTH BY NORTHWEST
By Byron Liggett
Native Americans who originally lived
along the shores of the Lake considered it
their spiritual home, their Garden of Eden. Captain John C.
Fremont, credited with being the first Anglo to explore the
area in 1844, called Tahoe the “Lake of the Sky”.
The first settlement at Lake Tahoe was a small trading
post in 1851. Mark Twain passed through the area, like thousands of others, on his way to Virginia City and the Comstock
Lode in the early 1860s. He described Lake Tahoe as “the
most beautiful jewel in the world”.
The decline in mining and completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 slowed traffic in the region to a
trickle. The Lake faded into memory and remained largely
forgotten until after WWII.
Today, going to Lake Tahoe is like driving up to Heaven.
It’s a uniquely beautiful, happy, fun, and wholesome place.
It’s a playground in Paradise where Poker is popular and
prevalent.
The cool, classy and contemporary new MONTBLEU resort
casino has combined exquisite outdoor beauty with stunning
indoor luxury. Formerly Caesars Tahoe, the property has
been completely remodeled.
“Comfortable luxury” describes the handsome new
MontBleu poker room. And, it’s in good hands. The man in
charge, Terry Severin, is a much decorated poker veteran.
Terry started out at the Dunes (that dates ‘em!) long ago
in the pre-glory days. He’s worked every position in every
major poker venue in the country. Terry’s one of those early
pioneers who helped show operators outside Nevada how it’s
done.
“We’re putting together a weekly tournament schedule
that I think players are going to like,” Severin said, “Among
our most popular live games is a no-limit, $100 buyin
Hold’em game with no cap.” “Our Sunday ‘Dealer’s Choice”
contest, which features a variety of games, is likewise a
favorite” Terry adds.
HARVEY’S Resort Casino features the largest poker
room around the Lake with 14 tables. Hence, a principal
poker attraction in South Tahoe, they spread about any game
or limit found in the minds and wallets of most players.
Clint Baskin is a believer. He went up to Heaven to play
in the last Harrah’s WSOP Circuit a few weeks ago. He came
down from the mountain with 1st Place, $372,240 in cash,
and a seat in WSOP Championship! All he could say was
“Amen!”
Last year the 2005 WSOP Circuit championship event at
Harvey’s produced the longest final table in Circuit history.
Jeffrey Lisandro battled superstar Phil Ivey heads-up for 2 _
hours before finally winning it all with a pair of 10s. The victor collected $542,360.
The new schedule for Harrah’s 2006-‘07 WSOP Circuit
has been released. This year a couple of important changes
have been made. The main event at each regional tournament will require a $5,000 buyin instead of $10,000. In addition to the prize money, the winner of each regional tournament will get a seat in the 2007 WSOP Championship event.
Despite the fact that northern Nevada, northern California
and the Northwest States (to which this N x NW column is
dedicated) is the largest geographical region permitting
poker and it supports more players per capita than any
other comparable area of the country, Tahoe will be as close
as you get to a Harrah’s WSOP tournament.
Clearly, Lake Tahoe is a poker paradise. And a lot of poker
players go to Heaven.
WSOP at the Rio
games.
As the runner up, Charles
Sewell received $124,488.
Prior to the event, Sewell
joked that his Las Vegas
trip had been a complete
disaster. First, the resident
of Okalahoma City was
involved in a serious car
wreck. Then, a short time
later, Sewell was run over
by a taxi cab. Perhaps the
hundred grand-plus in prize
money he won at the World
Series made up for what
has been a harrowing experience, thus far.
David “Dragon” Pham
has also seen and experienced more than his fair
share of personal hardships.
Years ago, Pham started off
with nothing, and through
sheer talent and ambition,
he became a highly-successful poker player. By
winning, Pham collected
$240,222 in prize money
and received his second
WSOP gold bracelet.
2006 WORLD
SERIES OF POKER
EVENT #25
28
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
Mt. Vernon, WA
2. Thor Hansen . . . . . $155,443
El Segundo, CA
3. Brent Carter . . . . . . $77,722
Oak Park, IL
4. Martin Corpuz. . . . . $68,006
Mountain View, CA
5. Ron Matsuura . . . . . $58,291
San Jose, CA
6. Phil Hellmuth. . . . . . $48,576
Palo Alto, CA
7. Peter Costa . . . . . . . . $38,861
Las Vegas, NV
8. Stephen Ladowski . . $29,146
Toronto, ON Canada
9. Alex Limjoco . . . . . . $19,430
Orange, CA
2006 WORLD
SERIES OF POKER
EVENT #23
7/15/06
LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $3,000 + $0
PLAYERS 341
PRIZE
POOL
$971,520
7/16/06
NO-LIMIT HOLD’EM
SHOOTOUT
BUY-IN $2,000 + $0
PLAYERS 600
PRIZE
POOL
$1,092,000
Ian Johns
1. Ian Johns . . . . . . . . $291,755
Seattle, WA
2. Jerrod Ankenmen . $150,586
Avon, CT
3. Javier Torresola . . . . $75,293
Tempe, AZ
4. Theo Tran . . . . . . . . . $65,881
Las Vegas, NV
5. Mark Newhouse. . . . $56,470
Chapel Hill, NC
David Pham
1. David Pham . . . . . . $240,222
Cerritos, CA
2. Charlie Sewell . . . . $124,488
Oklahoma City, OK
3. Roland DeWolf . . . . $65,520
London, UK
4. Reno Williamson . . . $49,140
Mooresville, IN
5. Chad Layne . . . . . . . $43,680
Henderson, NV
6. Jason DeWitt . . . . . . $38,220
South Bend, IN
7. David Bach . . . . . . . . $32,760
Athens, GA
8. Dustin Woolf . . . . . . $27,300
Los Angeles, CA
9. Adam Kagin . . . . . . . $21,840
Henderson, NV
2006 WORLD
SERIES OF POKER
EVENT #24
7/15/06
OMAHA HIGH-LOW
SPLIT
BUY-IN $3,000 + $0
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]
Scott Clements
1. Scott Clements . . . . $301,175
PLAYERS 352
PRIZE
POOL
$971,520
6. Tad Jurgens . . . . . . . $47,058
Chandler, AZ
7. Brendan Taylor . . . . $37,646
Henderson, NV
8. Ben Robinson . . . . . . $28,235
Ft Lauderdale, FL
9. Fi Tran . . . . . . . . . . . $18,823
Los Angeles, CA
A Summer Job that
Pays $20,000 an
Hour—Jeff Madsen
Becomes the Youngest
Winner in WSOP
History
For the third consecutive
year, the record for youngest World Series of Poker
winner has been broken.
Back in 2004, Gavin Griffin
became the youngest player
in history to win a gold
bracelet. Even then, with so
many young people turned
on to poker, it seemed just
a matter of time before
a younger star would
emerge and eclipse the
record. Next came 2005,
when Eric Froehlich won
the $1,500 buy in Limit
Hold’em championship.
At 21 years, three months,
and three days of age,
Froehlich established a new
benchmark for the youngest
poker champion. Now in
2006, the record has been
shattered again.
Jeff Madsen, aged 21
years, one month, and nine
days, has likely set a record
that will not be broken for
quite some time. Madsen
defeated a whopping 1,578
players, who each put up
$2,000 to enter Event #22
on this year’s World Series
of Poker schedule. First
place paid $660,948. Not
bad for a young college
student preparing to return
to school next month for his
senior year.
As the runner up, Paul
Sheng received $330,485.
The Taiwanese-born software executive, who now
lives in San Francisco, had
his best showing ever at
the WSOP. This is Sheng’s
third year to play on poker’s biggest stage and certainly won’t be his last.
Following his win,
Jeff Madsen demonstrated
why he has been so successful in poker at such a
young age. Madsen displayed none of the bravado
that one might expect from
someone who had just
won $660,948 at the World
Series. Remarkably, this
was Madsen’s second big
cash at this year’s WSOP.
He also finished third in the
Omaha High-Low championship held two weeks ago
– good for $97,552.
Madsen is currently a
film student at UC-Santa
Barbara. He says he hopes
to eventually get into film
and perhaps try his hand at
directing. “I will definitely
finish college,” Madsen
said afterward. “College is
very important, so it will be
part of my life. But the reality is -- I’m still young, so
I have some time to figure
things out.”
Despite his youth,
Madsen has played live
casino poker for nearly
three years. He played regularly at various California
PHOTOS COURTESY IMAGE MASTERS PDI & THE 2006 WSOP
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02601
32
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
Time. Some events
C start after the hour
...........AM, PM
O A,WkP................Week
..... Additional gameD &.times
on this day. Call.
E ........Hold’em
.No Limit Hold’em
.Limit Hold’em
N .............No Limit
L ................... Limit
.............Stud
..7-Card Stud
..5-Card Stud
........ Omaha
H/L .High/Low Split
Pi...........Pineapple
Po...........Pot Limit
Pn.........Panginque
Mx ..Mexican Poker
DC .Dealer’s Choice
MONDAY
•GOLD BAR DENOTES ADVERTISER
TIME
|
HH ...... Headhunter
B ............ Bounties
Sp .............. Spread
Al .........Alternates
Z........... Freezeout
Cz ................ Crazy
E..........Elimination
TUESDAY
GAMES BUY-IN| TIME
Q ............... Qualify
Sh ...........Shootout
+ ..Re-Buys and/or
Add-Ons allowed
F ............... Freeroll
Lad ..... Ladies Only
Men ........Men Only
DAILY TOURNAMENTS
NOW! Get Tournament Listings at our website:
Note: All tournaments are subject to change. Check with the Cardroom for any updates. Cardrooms—
please send your schedules to Managing Editor A.R. Dyck, [email protected]
| WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
|
FRIDAY
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
| SATURDAY |
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
SUNDAY
GAMES BUY-IN
Aladdin
Caesars Palace
Cannery Casino
CALIFORNIA—
LOS ANGELES NEVADA NORTH
LAS VEGAS & NEVADA SOUTH
Circus Circus
Col.Belle-Laughlin
Flamingo Laughlin
Golden Nugget
Harrah’s Las Vegas
Luxor
Mandalay Bay
Nevada Palace
Oasis-Mesquite
Plaza Casino
Rio Suite Casino
River Palms
Riviera Poker Room
Speedway
Stardust
Virgin River Casino
Wynn Las Vegas
Atlantis Casino
Boomtown
Cactus Petes-Jackpot
Carson Valley Inn
Circus Circus
Eldorado
Harrah’s Reno
Harvey’s Tahoe
Peppermill
Rainbow Cas. W Wendover
Reno Hilton
Commerce Club
Crystal Casino
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 4
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
33
Time. Some events &. ........ Additional
Limit Hold’em
start after the hour
gametimes. Call. N ..........No Limit
A, P ....... AM, PM
..... Hold’em L ................ Limit
Wk .............Week
.No Limit Hold’em
..........Stud
MONDAY
CALIFORNIA—SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA& INLAND EMPIRE LOS ANGELES
TIME
B ......... Bounties
Sp ........... Spread
.7-Card Stud
..... Omaha Pi........Pineapple Pn......Panginque DCDealer’s Choice Al ......Alternates
.5-Card Stud H/LHigh/Low Split Po........Pot Limit Mx .Mexican Poker HH ...Headhunter Z........ Freezeout
DAILY TOURNAMENTS (CONT’D FROM PAGE 33)
|
TUESDAY
GAMES BUY-IN| TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
|
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
FRIDAY
Cz ............. Crazy + .......... Re-buys
E...... Elimination and/or Add-ons
allowed
Q ............Qualify
Sh ........Shootout F ............Freeroll
| SATURDAY |
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
SUNDAY
GAMES BUY-IN
Hawaiian Gardens
Hustler Casino
Normandie Casino
Casino Morongo
Casino Pauma
Harrah’s Rincon
Lucky Lady
Oceans Eleven
Sycuan
Viejas
Village Club
CALIFORNIA—NORTH
Artichoke Joe’s
Cache Creek
California Grand
Casino San Pablo
Club One Casino, Fresno
Colusa Casino
Feather Falls Cas., Oroville
Garden City
Gold Country Cas.-Oroville
Gold Rush
Golden West-Bakersfield
Kelly’s Cardroom
Limelight Cardroom-Sac’to
Lucky Chances
Lucky Derby Casino
Oaks Card Club-Emeryville
Sonoma Joe’s
Tachi Palace Casino
Blue Water Casino
Bucky’s Casino
AZ
Casino Del Sol
Cliff Castle
Fort McDowell
SOUTHWEST
Gila River/Wild Horse Pass
CO
KS
Harrah’s Prarie Band
NM
Cities of Gold
Isleta Casino & Resort
Route 66 Casino
OK
PACIFIC NORTHWEST
Gila River-Vee Quiva
Harrah’s Ak Chin
Hon-Dah Casino
Paradise Casino
Gilpin Hotel & Casino
Midnight Rose-Cripple Crk
Ute Mountain
OR
WA
Comanche Red River Cas.
Thunderbird Casino, Norman
Chinook Winds Casino
Wildhorse Casino Resort
Blue Mountain Casino
Chips Bremerton
Chips La Center
Chips Lakewood
Chips Tukwila
Final Table Cas., Everett
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 35
Byron Liggett interviews
Stan Seiff
discovered Poker, they
understood it’s the ultimate
virtual reality game. Instead
of blowing away packmen,
now they blow away their
opponent’s chips.”
34
“Online poker.coms have
educated the younger generation to the mechanics of
the game. Then when they
discover the drama and
excitement of real Poker
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
they’re players for life”,
Seiff continued.
But neither is Bay 101
standing still, Seiff reports.
“We’re preparing to completely remodel the inte-
rior,” he says, “The casino
will receive new carpeting
and some areas will be
redesigned and expanded.
We’re also investing in
high tech equipment and
software to better serve our
players.”
Without realizing it,
Casino Manager Seiff, in his
explanation of the changes
in store for the casino,
revealed the principal behind
his own success as well as
that of Bay 101 – “to better
serve our players”.
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DAILY TOURNAMENTS (CONT’D FROM PAGE 34)
MONDAY
NORTHWEST
PAC. N’WEST
WA
MT
ND
NE
NORTHEAST
CT
MIDWEST
TUESDAY
GAMES BUY-IN| TIME
8P
O H/L
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
|
FRIDAY
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
| SATURDAY |
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
SUNDAY
GAMES BUY-IN
Goldie’s
Little Creek Casino
Muckleshoot Casino
Northern Quest
Point Defiance Cafe & Cas., Tacoma
Suquamash Clearwater
Wild Grizzly
MN Fortune Bay Casino
SD
NJ
Northern Light Casino
Shooting Star Casino
Black Jack’s Casino
4 Bears Casino
Dakota Magic
Rosebud Casino
Dakota Sioux
Gold Dust Cas., Deadwood
Rosebud Casino
Silverado Casino Deadwood
Foxwoods
Caesar’s Atlantic City
Harrah’s Atlantic City
Tropicana
Trump Taj Mahal
Akwesasne Mohawk
Majesty Casino Boar
NY
IA
IL
IN
MI
WI
LA
MO
MS
FLORIDA
MISSISSIPPI RIVER
|
TIME
Turning Stone
Catfish Bend
Isle of Capri
Winn-A-Vegas
Hollywood Casino-Aurora
Belterra (Florence)
Caesars Indiana
Trump Indiana
Chip-In’s Island
Lac Vieux Desert Cas., Watersmeet
Menominee Casino, Keshena
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
Palm Beach Kennel Club
Palm Beach Princess
Pompano Park Casino
St Tropez Cruise
CANADA Casino Regina
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AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
35
PART 78,
Cause & Effect
What do you think would be the most
frequently cited cause if we were able
Benny Binion
improving performance
By TOM “TIME” LEONARD
to poll a group of players experiencing
a losing streak? How about the most
frequently cited cause stated by another group that
happens to be experiencing a winning streak? We
all know the answers to these questions so let’s say
them together. Ready? One, two, three……….bad
luck and superior play Is there any way that the correct answers just might be horrible play and good
luck? I’m sure many times these are the correct
answers but a good portion of the poker population
lives in denial. In a way, that’s good because it keeps
them coming back. You’re not in denial, are you?
Continually monitoring your game for leaks as well
as identifying what you do well are the hallmarks
of winning players. Are you losing more than your
fair share of showdowns at the river and not being
truthful enough with yourself to see that maybe
you shouldn’t have been in the hand to begin with?
Denial is a wonderful state of mind. When in that
blissful state you don’t have to come to grips with
anything. You can blame your losses on the idiotic,
lucky play of your opponents or just on the fickle
Poker Gods. It really is so much easier than exploring your own actions to find deficiencies. Take a
moment to examine if you ever do this Be honest
and don’t be ashamed if the answer is in the affirmative. After all, it is a very common human frailty.
If, as an example, you seem to be losing an inordinate number of showdowns at the river, back up
and start analyzing the turn, the flop and, most
importantly, your starting hand and your position to
determine if it was proper to have entered the fray
at all. Should you have even been in at the river?
Most results on the river can be traced back to
earlier streets. Maybe, you should not have played
the hand at all or have mucked earlier when warning signs began to appear. Have you let arrogance
sneak into your game based upon some extended
positive results? Once you’re winning regularly it
can become an aphrodisiac and it’s common to start
opening up your game including lowering your starting hand values and/or position requirements…..
certainly an easy trap to fall prey to when you’re
feeling invincible.
It has been said many times that the key to winning poker play is making correct decisions Those
decisions include game selection, seat selection,
starting hand selection and properly evaluating
whether to fold, call, raise or even re-raise on each
street Don’t allow the ultimate outcome of a given
session delude you as to its genesis. Continually
assess the quality of your decisions at each stage of
the game and in retrospect after a session.
Our goal for today is to constantly evaluate our
game and the cause and effect of what we’re experiencing whether it be good or bad. Analyzing good
results can be just as productive as exploring reasons for bad results. If you do this regularly, hopefully you can head off letting your good results go
bad.
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].
36
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
A Great American
Gambler
By Byron Liggett
“A cross between John
Wayne and Jesse James”,
is how Mafia gambling
kingpin Meyer Lansky
once described Benny
Binion.
Lester Ben “Benny”
Binion was born in rural
Texas, between Dallas and
the Red River border with
Oklahoma, in 1904. Still
very much the Wild West,
a man survived by his
wits and wisdom, luck and
pluck. Life was a competition for survival and fairness was folly. Everybody
looked for an edge and
Justice was your own
responsibility.
As a boy, Benny was
frequently weak and sick.
If his young son was to
grow-up strong and be
able to take care of himself, his father believed
Benny needed to learn the
lessons of Life more than
those of the classroom.
Consequently, he didn’t go
to school but went everywhere with his father.
Benny’s father was
a professional horse
trader, one of the most
risky, speculative, and
rough occupations on the
Frontier. A good trader
had to know what he held,
what it was worth, and
how to get the most for his
horses or his money. Not
surprisingly, gambling
was the most popular pastime among traders.
The first game Benny
learned to play was Poker.
“Everybody had his little
way of doing somethin’ to
the cards…” he recalled.
Befriended by a group
of old road gamblers,
they taught the boy every
gambling trick and scam.
Although he always took
pride in being an honest gambler, he learned
early to be “pretty capable
about keepin’ from getting’
cheated.”
By the time he was 12,
Benny was a horse trader.
During World War I he
worked for an outfit selling
mules to the U.S. Army. “I
learned how to tell horses’
and mules’ age by lookin’
in their mouth,” he remembered. “I was real good at
it… they’d let me do the
mouthin’ of the mules and
horses… while they was
tradin’ and talkin’.”
Young Benny soon
learned he could make
more money gambling
than horse trading. At the
age of 24, he moved to
Dallas and set up a “policy
game” (lottery or “numbers” game) and a bootlegging operation.
Gambling was an illegal
and often violent business in those days. Benny
carried three pistols, two
.45 automatics and a .38
revolver. In 1931, he
was convicted of murder
after shooting a thug who
attacked him. Because of
the victim’s bad reputation
and Benny’s good relations
with police and politicians,
he received a 2-year suspended sentence. A few
years later, he shot and
killed a numbers operator who drew first. Binion
was found innocent on the
grounds of self-defense.
In 1936, Benny learned
the dice business. “I didn’t
fool with dice ‘till I knew a
lot about it,” he explained.
After working with and
learning from some of the
greatest craps players and
operators of the era, Benny
ran underground craps
games for ten years.
Eventually the political climate changed in
Dallas becoming more
conservative and less
tolerant. Consequently,
in 1946 gambler Binion
moved to the town of Las
Vegas, Nevada, population
18,000. In 1951, he opened
Binion’s Horseshoe
Casino.
Benny Binion immediately started revolutionizing casino gaming
and taking the first steps
toward making Las Vegas
the gambling capitol of
the world. He was the first
to have carpet installed
throughout the casino.
The dark wood and red
velvet wallpaper caused
one writer to say the style
was “like a San Francisco,
gold-rush era whorehouse”. In addition, Benny
offered free whiskey to
players and inexpensive
food. His philosophy was,
“If you want to get rich,
make little people feel like
big people.”
But what really distinguished Binion’s
Horseshoe were the betting
limits – there were none!
Benny was once tested by
an Austin, Texas gambler
who wanted to make a million dollar wager on the
craps table. Benny agreed,
as long as it was the player’s first bet. The player
lost and three months later
committed suicide.
With the Horseshoe’s
reputation for high stakes,
Benny was often called
on to arrange big games.
When legendary gambler Nick “The Greek”
Dandolos came to town,
he asked Benny to find
someone to play no-limit
heads-up poker with him.
Benny called the best
poker player he’d ever
met, Johnny Moss, a Texas
road gambler.
Moss caught a plane in
Dallas, took a cab from the
Las Vegas Airport to the
Horseshoe, and immediately sat down at the poker
table across from The
Greek. The game continued for five months with
breaks for sleeping and
eating. Large crowds gathered every day to watch
the contest which Benny
had cleverly positioned in
front of a large window.
Nick-the-Greek had
busted every big name
poker player on the East
Coast. Nevertheless, after
five months playing and
stuck for more than $2
million, Nick Dandolos
rose from the table and
uttered one of the most
classy concessions in the
annals of Poker, he simply
said, “Mr. Moss, I have to
let you go.”
In 1970, Benny Binion
decided to recapture the
Perks and Picks
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is scheduled to crown a new
2006 champion on August 10 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and
Casino.
Card Room Roundup
The Bargain Bin
By H. Scot Krause
In downtown Las Vegas, the new poker
room at Fitzgeralds is now open. The room,
located on the second floor of the casino,
offers a Texas Hold ‘Em No-Limit Tournament at noon daily,
with a $25 buy-in and $5 entry fee. Players who log 60 hours
of playing time between now and September will qualify for a
$20,000 FreeRoll Tournament, to be held September 10. They
are also the only downtown poker room to offer a “Bad Beat
Jackpot.
The Venetian poker room continues to offer good player
promotions. Venetian Players Club members who play poker
will be earning double comp points throughout the month
of August and triple comp points from September through
December. Based on availability, players can qualify for special
suite rates with just six (6) hours of rated play.
The Venetian Poker Room also offers poker players the
ability to reserve a place on the waiting list by simply calling in prior to arrival. Your position on the list is held for one
hour. In addition, players can enjoy a complimentary continental breakfast of pastries, juices and donuts from 9:00 a.m. to
11:00 a.m. daily. And complimentary poker lessons are offered
in The Venetian Poker Room 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
To provide poker players with easier access to the Venetian,
poker players can obtain a parking pass which allows you
special valet parking as well as access to an exclusive “Poker
Parking Only” area on the 5th floor of the parking garage.
Poker Players can obtain their card from the poker room manager. (Based on availability.)
And a final reminder that the Venetian will be rewarding
the top 40 Player’s Club point-earners through August 15
with a high seas Fall Foliage Cruise excursion for two aboard
a Princess Cruise Ship. The cruise will take place in October.
The promotion includes all points earned from May 1 through
August 15.
The formerly outstanding $3 per hour comp rate for poker
players at the Imperial Palace has been cut to a still respectable $2 per hour.
At press time, Suncoast in Summerlin was preparing to
open its long-awaited poker room doors. No details as yet, but
we’ll give a report as soon as we know more.
The Borgata now has the largest poker room in Atlantic
City, NJ, with 85 new tables. For more information about
the hotel, casino and poker tournaments, check out www.
TheBorgata.com
In Mississippi, following a dramatic renovation, Beau Rivage
Resort & Casino will open its doors for business August 29,
2006 - 12 months after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf
Coast. In addition to employing nearly 4,000 Mississippians,
the opening will have an immediate, significant impact on the
local economy while simultaneously helping to revitalize Biloxi
tourism as the premier resort destination on the Coast.
Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, named one of the top 100
hotels in the continental United States and Canada by Travel
+ Leisure Magazine, opened on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in
1999. For more information or to make reservations, call (888)
56-ROOMS or (228) 386-7444 between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.
(CDT), Monday-Friday, and 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. weekends, or
visit www.beaurivage.com
That’s it for this week!
H. Scot Krause is a freelance writer, gaming industry analyst and researcher, originally from Cleveland,
Ohio. While raising his three year-old son, Zachary, Scot
reports, researches, and writes about casino games,
events, attractions and promotions. He is a ten-year
resident of Las Vegas. Questions or comments are welcomed. Card room managers are also invited to send
your specials and promotions to: [email protected]
38
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
Fitzgeralds
Casino & Hotel
301 Fremont Street, Las Vegas, Nevada 89101
Toll free: 1.800.274.5825
Local: 702.388.2400
www.fitzgeraldslasvegas.com
Fitzgeralds opened during downtown’s preFremont Experience era
of prosperity. Back when
Fremont Street was filled
with bumper to bumper
‘look-at-me cars’ cruising along only a few short
feet from slot machines
players, separated by only
an invisible air-curtain.
Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas was one
of the great American
cruising experiences of
the era. Downtown Vegas
was jammed night and
day with players, lines of
taxis, long limos, exotic
hot rods, throngs of pedestrians and crowds of cops.
Opened in 1980 with
a 34 story hotel tower
that was one of the tallest in Nevada at the time,
Fitzgeralds was originally
named the Sundance; but
soon became Fitzgeralds
and continues with the
name today. Fitzgeralds
joined the Majestic family of casinos in 2001
and the new owners have
been busy renovating and
upgrading the property.
The hotel offers some of
the best guest amenities
in downtown Las Vegas,
a modern spacious casino,
the only public balcony under the Fremont
Experience canopy and
plenty of free parking.
For the trivia buffs the
Fitzgerald became the first
African American owned
Nevada gaming property when Majestic Star
Casino, LLC brought the
property. Majestic Star’s
CEO is Don H. Darden.
The hotel offers 638
guest rooms including 14
luxury suites with pan-
oramic views of the Las
Vegas Valley. Towering
above all of downtown
Las Vegas, Fitzgerald’s
guest rooms provide the
best views of downtown,
the strip and the Las Vegas
Valley. The hotel staff regularly receives high marks
for friendliness and service
plus you are an easy walk
to everything including
some of the highest rated
restaurants in town.
For an evening of
romantic dining in a quiet
atmosphere of luxury try
the Limerick’s Steakhouse
for the best in steaks, fresh
seafood and deserts of
your dreams. Those needing a complete fill-up can
go to Molly’s Buffet for
a wide variety of food
and drink selections. The
24 hour Shamrock coffee shop has a full menu
of typical Las Vegas fare
guaranteeing to please any
appetite and McDonalds
keeps the fast food crowd
supplied with recognizable
menus. My favorite is the
Krispy Kreme Donut shop.
A real make it here Krispy
Kreme store that offers the
famous glazed donuts still
warm from cooking.
A full service casino
located on the first and
second floor tempts players with hundreds of
modern slots, a comfortable Keno lounge, Race
and Sports book, table
games including blackjack,
Let It Ride, Hold’emFold’em, Caribbean Stud
Poker, Three Card Poker,
Spanish 21 and more.
The Fitzgeralds casino
is rated Best Casino for
Reel Slots, Best Casino
for Progressive Slots, and
Best Casino for Penny
Slots by “Strictly Slots”
magazine. Three very good
reasons to try your luck at
Fitzgeralds.
We’re at the Fitzgerald
to play live poker. The
casino opened a 6 table
poker room nine weeks
ago. Located on the second
Inside Fitzgeralds poker room
floor the spacious poker
room is the responsibility
of Poker Room Manager,
Mike Palm. Mike is a
two decade veteran of the
poker industry and knows
what players prefer in a
room. Easy parking in
self-park or valet is close
to the room, only a short
walk. Located only a few
steps from snack bars and
restaurants, Fitzgeralds
poker room could be more
convenient for the player
needing a break from the
tables. Quick cocktail service means no waiting for
coffee or a drink. Large
plasma flat screens ensure
you will never miss any
televised sports’ action.
Fitzgeralds poker room
spreads Limit Hold’em
with $2-$4 blinds, $3-$6
Blinds and $4-$8 blinds. A
full or half kill is available
if requested by the players.
No-limit Hold’em with a
$1-$2 blind structure and a
$50 minimum $200 maximum buy-in is offered in
the room. The room will
spread almost any poker
game and limits if requested by enough players.
Tournaments are available every day at Noon
and 9 PM. Both have the
exact format withy a $30
buy-in for $1,000 in chips
and a $5 bonus chip buy
for an additional $500
in chips. One $15 dollar rebuy during the first
hour for another $1,000 in
chips and one $15 add-on
at the end of the hour gets
another $1,500 in chips. A
$20,000 freeroll is scheduled for September 10th.
Play sixty hours during the
qualifying period that ends
September 7th for your
free buy-in and a shot at
the $20K.
Poker players receive
a casino room rate for a
substantial discount on
accommodations. In addi-
tion players can earn free
buffets, hats and T-shirts.
A daily high hand bonus
gives players a shot at
some extra cash up to
$599 for a royal flush. A
bad beat jackpot starts at
$5,000 dollars and goes
up each day until its hit.
Complete details for all
of the Fitzgeralds poker
room’s promotions are
available by telephoning or visiting the room.
Visit historic downtown
Las Vegas, book a room at
Fitzgeralds, then stop by
the poker room for a fun,
comfortable experience
playing in downtown’s
newest smoke free poker
parlor.
—Joe Smith, Sr.
A u g u st To u rn a m e n t S e ri e s
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Fitzgeralds Shift Supervisor
Curt James
45000 Pechanga Parkway • I-15 • Temecula • 877.711.2WIN • www.pechanga.com
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
39
WSOP
Indian casinos near his
home, where the legal
gambling age is 18. Due to
Nevada state law, this is the
first year he was eligible to
play at the WSOP.
Madsen expects
that his record might stand
for quite some time. “It’s
going to be tough (to
break),” Madsen said. “I’m
just lucky that my birthday
was so close. It’s going to
be hard, since I’m 21 and
one month. It will sure be
tough to break that record.”
4. Dan Hicks . . . . . . . . $107,226
BUY-IN $1,000 + $0
2006 WORLD
SERIES OF POKER
EVENT #22
5. Alex Bolotin . . . . . . . $78,292
Brooklyn, NY
6. Harry Demetriou . . . $58,719
London, UK
7. Harold Cohen . . . . . $48,507
Los Angeles, CA
8. Peter Jetten . . . . . . . $43,401
Toronto, ON Canada
9. Greg Merkow. . . . . . $38,295
Plano, TX
2006 WORLD
SERIES OF POKER
EVENT #19
7/12/06
SENIORS
WORLD POKER
CHAMPIONSHIP
PLAYERS 1184
PRIZE
POOL
$1,077,440
7/14/06
BUY-IN $2,000 + $0
PLAYERS 1579
$2,873,780
Clare Miller
1. Clare Miller . . . . . . $247,814
Alamogordo, NM
2. Mike Nargi . . . . . . . $129,293
Maumelle, AR
3. Jake Wells . . . . . . . . $74,882
Cibolo, TX
Jeff Madsen
1. Jeff Madsen . . . . . . $660,948
Los Angeles, CA
2. Paul Sheng . . . . . . . $330,485
San Francisco, CA
3. Julian Gardner . . . $172,427
Manchester, UK
4. Troy Parkins . . . . . $132,194
Leesburg, VA
5. Robert Dylan . . . . . $112,077
4. Judy Carlson . . . . . . $53,872
Blackhawk, CO
5. David Claiborne . . . $43,098
Twin Falls, ID
6. Ron Rose . . . . . . . . . $37,710
Dayton, OH
7. Doug Schuller . . . . . $32,323
Fresno, CA
8. Stan Schirer . . . . . . . $26,936
Las Vegas, NV
New York, NY
9. John Vorhaus . . . . . . $24,242
6. Robert Bright. . . . . . $94,835
Monrovia, CA
Las Vegas, NV
7. Michael Chow . . . . . $83,340
Honolulu, HI
8. Billy Duarte . . . . . . . $71,845
Berthold, CO
9. John Shipley. . . . . . . $60,349
Solihull, UK
EVENT #21
2006 WORLD
SERIES OF POKER
EVENT #18
7/11/06
POT LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $2,000 + $0
2006 WORLD
SERIES OF POKER
7/13/06
PLAYERS 590
PRIZE
POOL
$1,073,800
SHORT-HANDED
WORLD POKER
CHAMPIONSHIP
BUY-IN $2,500 + $0
PLAYERS 740
PRIZE
POOL
$1,702,000
Eric Kesselman
1. Eric Kesselman . . . $311,403
New York, NY
2. Hyon Kim . . . . . . . . $164,291
Seoul, S. Korea
3. Christopher Viox . . . $85,904
Glen Carbon, IL
4. Kevin Ross . . . . . . . . $75,166
Chillicothe, OH
William Chen
1. William Chen . . . . . $442,511
Lafayette Hill, PA
2. Nath Pizzolatto . . . $238,280
Houston, TX
5. Jason Sagle . . . . . . . . $64,428
Sudbury, ON
6. Jim McManus . . . . . $53,690
Chicago, IL
7. Dustin Holmes . . . . . $42,952
Atlanta, GA
3. Michael Guttman . $139,564
Melbourne, Australia
40
Charlie Shoten
Valrico, FL
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
PRIZE
POOL
Metaphy
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
Charlie: Peter, I’ve got to
tell you about an experience my sister and I had
many years ago. We were
playing a game of cards.
Fran took a newly mixed
deck and without looking at any of the cards,
said “four of clubs.” She
lifted the top card, and it
was the four of clubs. She
repeated this nine more
times and said the number
and suit of each card correctly for eight of the next
nine times. She said this
scared her and she never
told anyone about it. She
also said she’d tried to do
it again, but, but never was
able to. I was very young,
and it didn’t make much
of an impression on me. I
had totally forgotten about
it. She was reminded of it
yesterday, July 4, after she
read our previous article in
Poker Player.
I am convinced we can
see beyond seeing and hear
beyond hearing, as you say
in The Awesome Science of
LUCK. Peter, even if you
hadn’t totally convinced
me, my sister sure did. My
sister is the kind of person that needs to see it to
believe it, so this is a very
strong example for me. I
was there. The question
that I have for you is, why
did this ability suddenly
appear and then go away
forever?
Peter: Charlie, does the
earth go away simply
because we are flying
above the clouds? No, of
course not. From our seat
in the plane, we simply
can’t see it. Take any activity we engage in, from
playing poker to catching
a ball. There are 10,000
things taking place around
us, yet they go unnoticed
because our attention is
on the present moment’s
activity. Suddenly, we have
a fog bank blocking what
might be considered distractions to our focus. This
is helpful so that we stay
focused and don’t drop the
ball.
Winning
Our ability to see didn’t
go away; our mind simply
blocked what it considered
irrelevant to the moment.
However, by using “soft”
focus and letting our
thought chemicals settle,
we not only sense but see
in our mind’s eye unusual
and seemingly unrelated
clues. The clues can cause
strong urgings to play our
hand a certain way. The
more relaxed we become,
the more clues we receive
and the more we win—not
only at the table, but in
life.
Our minds unconsciously pick out and store
millions of clues during
our entire lives. But to
keep us from going into
sensory overload, these
clues are blocked from
the conscious mind. This
frees the conscious mind
to concentrate on the task
at hand. However, once
the conscious mind relaxes
and thoughts begin falling away, it’s like clouds
breaking up; suddenly
you’re able to see with
amazing clarity. In those
brief moments, you will
know the cards like your
sister Fran. But the second
a doubt or fear appears, the
clouds come in and the seeing is lost.
So, for Fran, her ability
didn’t disappear. It didn’t
go away any more than the
earth has vanished. The
trick with this natural talent
that all of us possess is that
thinking about it makes it
go into hiding. Only when
it knows we’re not looking
will it suddenly appear.
Charlie: The concept that
manifesting your deepest
desires (LUCK) is a skill
that can be learned has
universal value in each and
every aspect of our lives—
not just our results at the
poker table. In Chapter 4,
you discuss how emotions
power your dreams and
those dreams paint pictures
d
in your mind to give birth
to reality in a most magical way. When I graduated
college, I sold encyclopedias door-to-door, and
the customer had little to
do with the sale. When I
pre-sold the books in my
mind before I said hello,
I always made the sale.
Can you share some of the
concepts that can help our
readers learn to visualize
and manifest their deepest
desires?
Peter: Charlie, I believe
we all have an inner knowing that, when we listen
to it and act on it, makes
things work out well for us.
When we don’t, it seems
that the little voice inside
get softer and softer until
it’s so faint we never hear
it.
This is like the agency
of our conscience. It has
an innate natural sense of
right and wrong. Not in the
sense of the laws of convention handed down to us
by others, but laws of the
universe -- natural laws. It
tells us when we are out of
harmony and when we are
aligned with natural law.
Think of this as an inner
compass—it can be deflected, but if you give it time
to settle (much like your
mind), it will once again
point north. So our inner
knowing, like our conscience, is the same. Now,
when we resist listening
and refuse to follow this
in-tutor or internal teacher,
our intuition dies.
Think of your intuition
as a triangle-shaped object.
When everything is right
in your world, it spins and
hums along effortlessly.
However, every time you
resist and get stubborn with
it or block its spinning, a
few pieces get nicked off.
Now, at this point, your
consciousness should say
“ouch!” But if you continue to ignore those warning pains and more of the
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points are chipped off, your
intuition will become so
smooth that you can’t tell
what it’s trying to tell you.
Once you break your inner
compass, you’re lost.
If you have no identifiable major purpose, no
clear-cut goals, and no
vivid dreams for the future,
you don’t need a map and
a compass is useless. But
when your goals and reasons for being are crystalclear and your dream for
the future is alive and well,
your intuition has a purpose. It will beep loudly if
you veer off the road you
have set for yourself, like
the GPD or OnStar device
I have in my new Cadillac.
As I get close to a turn that
will take me to my destination, a voice will come
on and say, “Get ready to
make a right turn at...” It
might as well say, “Stop
at this house, they want to
buy your new book.”
Charlie: The universal
laws of energy and attraction are always at work
to help us achieve our
deepest hopes and dreams.
You say, “What you want
wants you and is rushing
to meet you!” Blocking
our efforts to create positive pictures in our minds
is the debris (baggage) we
all carry that distracts us
and can cause us to create
negative pictures. How can
we get in the flow of those
universal laws and begin
to ride them to victory at
the poker table? You say in
The Awesome Science of
LUCK, “Now is the time to
give birth to a magic genie
that can grant all your
wishes. Now’s the time to
change your luck!” We all
would like our own magic
genie. How do we start to
go about getting one?
Peter: Again, Charlie, it’s
just like your sister Fran:
when she became scared
of her seemingly magical talent, it appeared to
disappear. The luck genie
is locked or bottled up
in your mind, and your
thoughts are the cork.
When you pop the cork,
your doubts and fears vanish, releasing the genie
from inside.
Only now can you play
with confidence and ease,
knowing (not thinking or
wishing) that the cards you
want are right now being
dealt—to you. “What you
want wants you and is
rushing to meet you” is not
a thinking process as much
as it is listening with confidence to your inner coach.
Your subconscious mind
has already figured all the
odds and registered all the
cards that have been played.
It’s all a mathematical and
rational process—very
computer-like. This is why
in my Money Magic course,
I titled one of the DVDs
“Intuition -- The Lightning
Bolt of Reason.” You see,
the more familiar you are
with the game of poker
and the more you play it,
the more it becomes a living, breathing thing that
talks to you. Like I’ve said,
the more you know about
any subject, the luckier
you become, because your
familiarity and association
are constantly giving you
clues.
Charlie: Being 100%
responsible for everything
in my life is something I
work toward. The words I
say, the thoughts I think,
and the efforts I make are
all my own responsibility. Can you explain how
visualizing what we desire
manifests it, and how we
can learn and practice this
skill?
Peter: Charlie, I hold to
the opinion that thoughts
are things; they are magnetic in quality. The stronger the thought, be it a
hope or fear, the stronger
the attraction field it radiates. You get what you set
in your mind’s eye. This is
why I caution, never say
anything about yourself
that you do not sincerely
want to come true!
Yes, we are all 100%
responsible for the thoughts
we choose to think and
their resultant reality being
manifested. Soon all the
visualized and emotionalized mental images become
alive. Here’s an important
point: it’s not just seeing,
it’s a matter of loading the
visualization with emotion.
The emotion is magnetic.
Imagine and recreate the
emotion of holding a royal
flush. If you can, you’re
well on your way to building castles with your chips.
Charlie: In Chapter 5,
“Pay Attention to the
Signs,” you discuss serendipity. It is the knack of
finding treasures you may
not have been looking for
consciously. How can we
increase serendipity in our
lives? Is there a process?
Peter: Serendipity, the
knack of finding treasures
we may not have been consciously looking for, can
be summed up in an affirmation I gave my seminar
audience: “I believe something wonderful is going to
happen to me today!”
If you make this your
very first thought as you
awaken in the morning,
you will set your day off
with a positive note. Later
in the day you may have
forgotten your morning
affirmation, but your subconscious mind hasn’t.
Your subconscious mind
will ring the bell and alert
you -- “Look! There’s a
$10 bill lying on the sidewalk. Look! There’s your
parking spot right up front
by the door. Look! There’s
a piece of land with a new
sale sign being placed in
front...”
Serendipity is opportunity in disguise. It all
depends on whether or not
you notice. What allows
your notice? It is expectation. If you expect good
things to happen to you,
what kind of attitude will
you hold? Why, an optimistic one, of course.
Your attitude creates your
expectation. Your expectation creates your serendipity that provides you with
unexpected opportunities
that enrich your life.
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[email protected]
www.nolimitlife.net
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AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
41
World Series of Poker at t
8. Christopher Black . . $32,214
San Diego, CA
9. Harry Thomas . . . . . $21,476
Hamilton, OH
2006 WORLD
SERIES OF POKER
EVENT #17
7/10/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,000 + $0
PLAYERS 2891
PRIZE
POOL
$2,630,810
Jon Friedberg
1. Jon Friedberg . . . . $526,185
Las Vegas, NV
2. John Phan . . . . . . . $289,389
Los Angeles, CA
3. Mike Pomeroy . . . . $157,322
Detroit, MI
4. Tom Hawkingberry $122,596
Pittsburgh, PA
5. Kevin O’Donnell . . $105,232
Scottsdale, AZ
6. Corey Chaston . . . . . $88,132
Thorold, ON
7. Humberto Brenes . . $74,715
San Jose, Costa Rica
8. Mike Halford . . . . . . $61,561
Memphis, TN
9. Thang Luu . . . . . . . . $49,722
Las Vegas, NV
Tournament poker
journeyman Lee
Watkinson wins
his first WSOP
gold bracelet and
$655,746
In spiritual circles, St.
Francis of Assisi is best
known as the patron saint
of all animals. St. Francis
was a 13th century friar who
rescued, housed, and protected wounded and needy
critters who could not care
for themselves. If St. Francis
has a modern-day disciple,
his name is most certainly
“Lee Watkinson.” And, if
you don’t believe it, just ask
a chimpanzee.
On July 12, 2006,
Watkinson got a monkey the
size of an 800-pound gorilla
off of his back. After playing
in major poker tournaments
throughout North America
and cashing dozens of times
since 2002, Watkinson
finally won his first WSOP
gold bracelet. Watkinson
prevailed in a blistering field
of 218 players – comprised
of the very best Pot-Limit
Omaha specialists in the
world. Each player paid
$10,000 to enter the event,
which created a total prize
42
pool $2,049,200.
Afterward, Watkinson
described the victory as more
of a relief than a thrill. He
finished second in this same
event two years ago, which
until tonight was the closest
Watkinson had ever come to
winning at the World Series.
“When I was playing
heads-up and lost (the chip
lead), I started thinking it
was déjà vu all over again,”
Watkinson said in reference
to finishing in second-place
at a number of majors in
recent years. “But then, I
just re-focused my game
and realized that it takes a
different kind of strategy
to win a Pot-Limit Omaha
tournament. I just played the
percentages, wanting to get
my money in with the best
possible situation.”
Watkinson owns a few
businesses, including a
record company and a clothing line – which were started
exclusively with his poker
winnings. The Washington
State native holds a degree
in economics, which perhaps
explains why Watkinson is
so astute as an investor and
poker professional.
Yet, as excited as
Watkinson was to win over
half a million dollars and
the WSOP gold bracelet, he
was quick to shift everyone’s
attention to a greater, more
humanitarian purpose.
Watkins was joined up on
the poker stage by his fiancé
Timmi DeRosa. Together,
they described their plans
to constructively use some
of the $655,746 in total
prize money. Watkinson
and DeRosa told of their
longtime commitment to
rescuing and retiring captive
chimpanzees, many of which
have been used in everything
from major motion pictures
to research laboratories.
Watkinson and DeRosa
told about how chimpanzees
are not as useful as they
become older and are commonly discarded. So a few
years ago, the couple made
a commitment to rescue
as many creatures as possible and eventually build
an animal sanctuary. “All
the animals need our help,”
DeRosa said. “But we really
try to focus on the chimpanzees.” For this purpose,
the Cortland Brandenberg
Foundation (www.cortland-
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
brandenberg.com) was cofounded by Watkinson and
DeRosa.
This is certainly the first
time ever in history that
chimpanzees will benefit
directly from a World Series
of Poker victory. Following
his win, as the arena
stage was being cleared,
Watkinson said he intended
to got out later in the night
and buy the chimps some
cake and ice cream. Perhaps
instead of St. Francis,
we should call the latest
WSOP poker champion “St.
Watkinson.”
2006 WORLD
SERIES OF POKER
EVENT #16
7/9/06
POT LIMIT OMAHA
BUY-IN $10,000 + $0
PLAYERS 218
PRIZE
POOL
$2,049,200
Lee Watkinson
1. Lee Watkinson . . . . $655,746
Los Angeles, CA
2. Mike Guttman . . . . $360,659
Melbourne, Australia
3. Mark Dickstein . . . $184,428
New York, NY
4. Rafi Amit . . . . . . . . $143,444
Bucks, UK
5. Hasan Habib . . . . . $122,952
Downey, CA
6. Nicholas Gibson . . . $102,460
Windsor, UK
7. Jani Vilmunen . . . . . $81,968
Porvoo, Finland
8. Thomas Wahlroos . . $61,476
Helsinki, Finland
9. Mickey Appleman . . $40,984
Fort Lee, NJ
Mary Jones Meyer
plays poker for fun,
decides to enter WSOP
ladies championship,
and wins $236,094
All good people inevitably
come to realize that there is
more joy in seeing a loved
one accomplish something
big than succeeding for
oneself. When Bob Meyer
proudly watched his wife
Mary Jones Meyer win the
2006 Ladies World Poker
Championship late on a
Monday night at the Rio
Casino in Las Vegas, it was
as though he personally had
won poker’s world championship. Meyer rushed to the
stage and hugged his wife
in a whirlwind dance imme-
diately after witnessing her
first major poker tournament
win and $236,094 in prize
money in the most dramatic
fashion.
“I definitely owe this tournament to my husband and
his training,” Mary Jones
Meyer said immediately
following her victory. “He
taught me many things about
poker and we play together
all the time. It was definitely
a team win.”
As the runner up, Shawnee
Barton, an artist from
Chicago, collected $123,178
in prize money. Barton could
certainly be proud of her performance in this tournament
and although she did not win,
she had much the best of it in
key situations when all of her
chips were at risk. For any
poker player, that is all one
can ask.
Mary Jones Meyer won
nearly a quarter of a million
dollars for her first place finish. Perhaps more momentous to any serious poker
player, she received the
coveted WSOP gold bracelet. WSOP sponsor Corum
Watches also contributed to
making the event memorable
by donating a stunning diamond-studded ladies wristwatch, exclusively-designed
for this special championship
event.
The money, the gold
bracelet, and the diamond
watch didn’t seem to matter
much to Bob Meyer. He was
proud of his wife, the champion. “We play together in
a home game all the time,”
Meyers said later. “Now,
when I play against her from
now on, I have to remember
that I’m playing against a
world champion – and when
she raises me I’ll have to fold
my hand.”
Mary Jones Meyer was
even more ecstatic. Visibly
shaking and unable to speak
in the moments immediately
following her stunning victory, the 2006 Ladies World
Champion finally caught her
breath. “This is the secondhappiest moment of my life,”
she said.
To know and appreciate
what the happiest moment of
Mary Jones Meyer’s life has
been so far, all one had to do
was glance across the arena
at a smiling, joyful husband
with an unmistakable twinkle
in his eye.
2006 WORLD
SERIES OF POKER
EVENT #15
7/9/06
LADIES
WORLD POKER
CHAMPIONSHIP
BUY-IN $1,000 + $0
PLAYERS 1128
PRIZE
POOL
$1,026,480
Mary Jones Meyer
1. Mary Jones Meyer $236,094
Henderson, NV
2. Shawnee Barton. . . $123,178
Chicago, IL
3. Beatrice Stranzinger $71,340
Vienna, Austria
4. Reka Hallgato . . . . . $51,324
W. Hollywood, CA
5. Sue Luckenbaugh . . $41,059
Saratoga Springs, NY
6. Julie Allen. . . . . . . . . $35,927
St. Clair Shores, MI
7. Devi Ortega . . . . . . . $30,794
Tulsa, OK
8. Laurie Scott . . . . . . . $25,662
Antelope, CA
9. Ellie Ahlgren . . . . . . $23,096
Las Vegas, NV
2006 WORLD
SERIES OF POKER
EVENT #14
7/8/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
W REBUYS
BUY-IN $1,000 + $0
PLAYERS 752
REBUYS 1670
PRIZE
POOL
$2,317,887
1. Allen Cunningham $625,830
Ventura, CA
2. David Rheem . . . . . $327,981
Los Angeles, CA
3. Tom Franklin . . . . . $185,431
Gulfport, MS
4. Steve Wong. . . . . . . $162,252
Hoofddorp, Netherlands
5. John Q. . . . . . . . . . . $139,073
Fountain Valley, CA
6. Thien Phan . . . . . . . $115,894
Arcadia, CA
7. Everett Carlton . . . . $92,715
St Paul, MN
8. Andy Bloch. . . . . . . . $69,537
Las Vegas, NV
9. Alex Jacob . . . . . . . . $46,358
Parkland, FL
Milan poker pro Max
Pescatori, “The Italian
Pirate,” scores for
$382,389—
on the same day Italy
wins World Cup
When Italian soccer star
Fabio Grosso smashed the
winning kick past French
goalkeeper Fabien Barthez
in Berlin’s Olympiastadion
to win the 2006 World Cup
for Italy, Max Pescatori was
half a world away madly
the Rio
celebrating. The Milan-born
Pescatori was posted in
front of a big-screen television along with dozens of
his fellow countrymen in a
Las Vegas bar, cheering the
Italian national soccer team
to victory. Pescatori was so
euphoric that he was late for
another appointment later that
day.
The appointment just so
happened to be a seat at
the final table in the $2,500
buy-in No-Limit Hold’em
championship at the Rio.
Never mind that a whopping
$689,382 in cash and a gold
bracelet was at stake for first
place. The World Series of
Poker gives away millions of
dollars in prize money every
single day. But Italy wins the
World Cup only once in a
generation.
Does karma exist? Some
players will swear to it. Max
Pescatori certainly believes it
– especially now. After seeing
his beloved Italy win international sport’s most coveted
trophy, Pescatori knew that
this was going to be his
big day. Nicknamed “The
Italian Pirate” for his scruffy
bandanna-capped buccaneerlook, Pescatori swash buckled through 1,290 entrants
in three days and ended up
winning his first-ever WSOP
title. For Pescatori, the win
was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.
“I have been playing
poker for a very long time,”
Pescatori said afterward. “I
have won other big tournaments including a few on the
WSOP Circuit -- but never
at the World Series of Poker.
To win this bracelet for me is
very special, especially on the
same day that my Italy won.”
2. Anthony Reategui . $356,040
Chandler, AZ
3. Justin Pechie . . . . . $206,207
Thompson, CT
4. Michael Scott Lesle $148,350
Lake Elsinore, CA
5. Corey Cheresnick . $118,680
Bike Mini Series
you the results from events
1-9; this issue features
events 10-26. We’ll bring
you the rest of the results in
our next issue.
Coral Springs, FL
6. Tri Ma. . . . . . . . . . . $103,845
Houston, TX
7. Mike Matusow . . . . . $89,010
Las Vegas, NV
8. Terrence Chan . . . . . $74,175
Vancouver, Canada
9. Matt Heintschel . . . . $66,758
Escondido, CA
2006 WORLD
SERIES OF POKER
EVENT #12
7/6/06
OHAMA HI-LOW
BUY-IN $5,000 + $0
PLAYERS 265
PRIZE
POOL
$1,245,500
1. Sammy Farha . . . . $398,560
Houston, TX
2. Phil Ivey . . . . . . . . . $219,208
Las Vegas, NV
3. Kirill Gerasimov . . $112,095
Moscow, Russia
4. Mike Henrich . . . . . . $87,185
Omaha, NE
5. Mike Wattel . . . . . . . $74,730
Phoenix, AZ
6. Brian Nadell . . . . . . . $62,275
Las Vegas, NV
7. Jeff King . . . . . . . . . . $49,820
Colchester, CT
8. Jim Ferrel. . . . . . . . . $37,365
Phoenix, AZ
9. Ryan Hughes . . . . . . $24,910
Phoenix, AZ
2006 WORLD
SERIES OF POKER
EVENT #11
7/6/06
LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,500 + $0
PLAYERS 701
PRIZE
POOL
$956,865
BICYCLE CASINO
7/22/06
MINI-SERIES OF POKER
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
XTRA SPORTS
REBUY UNLIMITED
BUY-IN $100 + $25
9. Sirous Baghchehsaraie .$925
2. Mark Halfon . . . . . . . $8,855
Long Beach, CA, USA
Thousand Oaks, CA, USA
3. Jack Baghossian . . . . $4,620
BICYCLE CASINO
7/21/06
Los Angeles, CA, USA
4. Lance Tahata . . . . . . $2,695
POT LIMIT HOLD’EM
5. Haytham Shamaoun $2,115
Downey, CA, USA
BUY-IN $500 + $50
Glendale, CA, USA
6. Chris Hamamoto . . . $1,730
Mission Hills, CA, USA
PLAYERS 77
7. Luis Concha . . . . . . . $1,345
PRIZE POOL
Downey, CA, USA
$38,500
8. Allen Kim . . . . . . . . . . .$960
Behzad Teranir
9. Norai Khodadian . . . . .$780
Glendale, CA, USA
1. Behzad Teranir . . . . $15,400
PLAYERS 247
REBUYS 392
PRIZE POOL
$63,900
Eric Meyerson
1. Eric Meyerson . . . . $23,025
PLUS... $25,000 “Winner
Take All” Championship Event
in Las Vegas-Dec-2006
Sherman Oaks, CA, USA
2. John Alex . . . . . . . . . $11,665
West Covina, CA, USA
3. Steve Shkolnik . . . . . $5,835
4. Tina Ngo . . . . . . . . . . $3,990
Palmdale, CA, USA
5. Robert Lee . . . . . . . . $2,765
Sacramento, CA, USA
6. Badia Khalil . . . . . . . $2,150
Van Nuys, CA, USA
7. Jet Tantibanchachai . $1,535
Lakewood, CA, USA
8. Ernest Bennett . . . . . $1,230
Encino, CA, USA
ADVERTISE IN
POKER
PLAYER
IT WORKS!
Ante Up
Bob Chalmers
1. Bob Chalmers . . . . $258,344
Vancouver, BC
2006 WORLD
SERIES OF POKER
EVENT #13
7/7/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
2. Tam Ho . . . . . . . . . . $135,396
Las Vegas, NV
3. Warren Woolridge . . $76,549
London, UK
4. Thanh Nguyen . . . . . $66,981
Kent, WA
BUY-IN $2,500 + $0
5. Doug Saab . . . . . . . . $57,412
PLAYERS 1290
6. Jan Sjavik. . . . . . . . . $47,843
PRIZE
POOL
$2,967,000
Trussville, AL
Oslo, Norway
7. Graham Duke . . . . . $38,275
Kitchener, ON
8. Bob Bartmann . . . . . $28,706
Stillwater, OK
9. David Calla . . . . . . . $16,137
Farmingville, NY
THERE’S MORE... ONLINE!
Max Pescatori
1. Max Pescatori . . . . $682,389
Milan, Italy
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AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
43
Taking a Break
From The Grind
NEVER PLAY Poker with
a man CALLed “DOC”
By Scott Aigner, M.D.
In the last article I discussed how hand
selection in no limit hold em is based on
variables other than just position. In future articles I
will continue with the discussion of no limit hold em and
the influence of the different variables in the no limit
structure. I let my mind wander a little too much lately
and after a rather lengthy fight with the typewriter I
think it wandered a little too far. The book writing and
the daily live poker had become such a grind that I
decided to skip the WSOP and the faster paced Las
Vegas scene and slow down to a more lazy life style for
the summer. So I packed up the SUV and the boat (to
the hilt) and headed to my cabin along with the kids.
One might wonder how I could miss the WSOP. The
fact is, the WSOP was the furthest thing from my mind
these past two years. I have learned long ago that
there are some things in life that are more important
to me than fame and fortune. Yes, it would be nice to
win a bracelet (or two), but my family is more important to me right now. There will be plenty of time to
chase the rest of my dreams when the kids go off chasing their own. For now, I am content to take some time
off, do a little reflection of the past year, and enjoy
the time with my kids. Yes, I am still dabbling in poker
(both playing and writing), just not to the same extent
that I usually do. I can’t play much live poker where I
am but the income I have generated so far has more
than paid the bills. Trying to find a decent no limit hold
em game is all but impossible unless I want to do a
little traveling. That just is not going to be happening
anytime soon. I already did the travel thing and am in
no hurry to repeat that experience.
My break from the daily grind does bring up several
important points to consider in your own life. Are you
taking any breaks from your daily grind? One piece of
advice that is often given when your luck goes sour at
the poker table is to take a break away from the game.
Sometimes, a better idea is to take a break away from
the game even when you are not on a losing streak and
before your game goes sour (luck alone isn’t always
the only cause). A little break in the structure or the
usual limits you normally play can add a healthy dose
of “reality check” back into a poker player’s life as well.
One really does lose the value of money when playing
for a living or even when playing too often as an amateur. The roller coaster ride definitely wreaks havoc on
the psyche as well. Recharging my batteries this summer is just what this Doctor ordered for himself and
it is the best advice I think I ever received (don’t take
this article to your boss as an excuse for missing work
last week as I doubt he/she will accept it as a letter
from the doctor)
In regards to my book, I had some respected players and colleagues review it and have taken some of
their opinions to heart. The editing process will probably take up the rest of the summer. In the meantime,
I have been pleasantly surprised by the response to
being placed on the e mail listing to be notified when
the book becomes available. You can continue to reach
me at my email address @ [email protected]. I
promise my next article will get back on track on no
limit hold em.
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
44
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
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
Barry Greenstein. Crossword by Myles Mellor.
Word
25. See 14 across
ACROSS
7. 14 across won his game
in 2003 at the Hustler
1. Internet security company where 14 across worked
before he started as a pro
poker player
30. Block to poker success?
5. Courageous
35. Mouth
8. Type of bread
36. ____ Jones (actress)
9. Cards come from them
37. Atlanta locale
10. Dice action
38. Pull his ___
20. An ___ ball
11. Concerning
40. ____ Raymer
21. Split the deck
12. ___ Krux
41. Great Dane
22. 14 across’s home town
13. Record company
42. Utterly defeat
25. Clonie ____
DOWN
26. Card reader
8. Take part
32. Still
14. 14 across received a
___ in Computer Science
33. Puts on a show
16. Encounter
14. He was first in the 2004
Jack Binion’s World Poker
Open (goes with 25 across)
17. Play __ the book
27. Profit
15. Exercise area
1. Book that 14 across
helped write:____ II
18. Santa ___
2. ____ Matusow
19. French lake
3. Rejections
21. Bi____ casino
4. Mistake
31. Festival
23. Therefore
5. Dollar ____
34. Gut ___ straight draw
24. Popular
6. Overtime, for short
39. Gravity forces
28. Place for showmanship
1
2
3
29. Keen
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
17
19
20
21
18
22
23
24
25
30
16
26
31
27
28
32
35
33
36
38
41
39
29
34
37
40
42
The correct solution to the puzzle will be found only at:
www.pokerplayernewspaper.com. It will be posted on the cover date.
Mini Series at Bike Holds Sway
BICYCLE CASINO
7/20/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $200 + $30
PLAYERS 285
PRIZE POOL
$57,000
Don Smith
1. Don Smith . . . . . . . . $21,375
2. James Henesy AKA
“DanaPointKid” . . . $10,830
Northridge, CA, USA
3. David Meffert . . . . . . $5,415
San Diego, CA, USA
4. Florentino Ornelas . . $3,705
3. Bernard Ko AKA
“Beeno” . . . . . . . . . . . $9,165
Chino Hills, CA, USA
Sierra Madre, CA, USA
4. Alex Limjoco . . . . . . . $5,790
3. Derwin Lowery . . . . . $4,610
Placentia, CA, USA
5. Phong Chau . . . . . . . $4,340
4. Courtney White . . . . $3,150
Anaheim, CA, USA
6. Gleb Gofin . . . . . . . . . $2,415
5. Mohammed Razavi . $2,180
Huntington Beach, CA, USA
6. David Flores . . . . . . . $1,995
Alhambra, CA, USA
BICYCLE CASINO
7/18/06
Sunny Hills, CA, USA
9. Linda Balint . . . . . . . . .$545
1. Robert Hartmann . . $14,000
Monarch Beach, CA, USA
7 CARD STUD
Downey, CA, USA
BUY-IN $500 + $50
Studio City, CA, USA
BICYCLE CASINO
PLAYERS 39
7/16/06
PRIZE POOL
POT LIMIT OMAHA
$19,500
BUY-IN $150 + $25
Barrett Heins
4. Jon Peck . . . . . . . . . . $1,950
PLAYERS 109
PRIZE POOL
Sungho Yang
Los Angeles, CA
PRIZE POOL
7. Fred Dakduk . . . . . . . . .$875
$47,000
Raynaldo Agunos
9. Jim McClain . . . . . . . . .$595
Riverside, CA, USA
3. Winton Lemoine . . . . $1,555
Westminster, CA, USA
4. Ron McMillan . . . . . . . .$980
PRIZE POOL
$48,450
BICYCLE CASINO
7/14/06
Woodland Hills, CA, USA
4. Mark Halfon . . . . . . . $3,055
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
5. Jim Fox . . . . . . . . . . . $2,115
BUY-IN $300 + $40
Fullerton, CA, USA
6. Warren Bauer . . . . . . $1,645
PLAYERS 107
Phelan, CA, USA
7. Harry Johnson . . . . . $1,175
Reseda, CA, USA
PRIZE POOL
West Hollywood, CA, USA
7. Carl Hirsh . . . . . . . . . . .$410
$32,100
8. Jon Duston . . . . . . . . . .$940
8. Chris Rondini . . . . . . . .$325
John Butler
9. Gary Stone . . . . . . . . . .$705
Burbank, CA, USA
John Rosenbach
La Puente, CA, USA
2. Kim Lim . . . . . . . . . . $8,930
La Puente, CA, USA
5. Paul Lee . . . . . . . . . . . . .$735
1. Raynaldo Agunos . . $17,625
3. Steve Castro . . . . . . . $4,465
6. Ilya Yelizarov . . . . . . . .$575
PLAYERS 323
PLAYERS 235
Pomona, CA, USA
1. Sungho Yang . . . . . . . $6,505
Walnut, CA, USA
BUY-IN $150 + $25
BUY-IN $200 + $30
5. Ricardo Onate . . . . . $1,575
Northridge, CA, USA
Cerritos, CA, USA
7/13/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
San Diego, CA, USA
8. Jana Delacerra . . . . . . .$710
2. Mark Garfield . . . . . $3,105
7/17/06
Cerritos, CA, USA
4. Mark Sheet . . . . . . . . $2,100
BICYCLE CASINO
Las Vegas, NV, USA
$16,350
BICYCLE CASINO
3. Gary Joves . . . . . . . . $3,325
Spokane, WA, USA
6. Victor Kruglov . . . . . $1,225
5. Lance Brukman . . . . . .$975
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
Irvine, CA, USA
Robert Hartmann
2. Alexi Dimitrov AKA
“Speedy” . . . . . . . . . . $6,650
Beverly Hills, CA, USA
North Hollywood, CA, USA
Beverly Hills, CA, USA
8. Craig Repoz . . . . . . . . .$595
Canyon City, CA, USA
Hacienda Heights, CA, USA
2. Thai Tran . . . . . . . . $18,335
Rosemead, CA, USA
$35,000
9. Moises Gullen Jr . . . . .$730
3. George Rechnitzer . . $2,925
1. Simon Tibi . . . . . . . . $38,600
Torrance, CA, USA
7. Thuan Trieu . . . . . . . $1,215
Anaheim, CA, USA
9. Jordan Lee . . . . . . . . . .$855
Simon Tibi
Glendale, CA, USA
8. Francis Norpetlian . . . .$975
San Bernardino, CA, USA
$96,500
5. Massoud Mazhari . . . $1,445
7. Stuart Grant . . . . . . . . .$800
2. Irv Warsaw . . . . . . . . $4,875
PRIZE POOL
Anaheim, CA, USA
BUY-IN $200 + $30
PRIZE POOL
Aliso Viejo, CA, USA
PLAYERS 193
Diamond Bar, CA, USA
4. Kirk Conrad . . . . . . . $1,925
6. Steve Sung AKA
“MuGGyLiCiOuS” . . $1,700
8. Mohammed Arif . . . . $1,140
BUY-IN $500 + $50
SHOOTOUT NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
7. Makram Morham . . $2,415
8. Xin Li Ye . . . . . . . . . . $1,930
9. John Alex . . . . . . . . . . $1,690
Encino, CA, USA
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
3. David Shelton . . . . . . $3,050
6. Tony Antonio Fesi . . $1,125
1. Barrett Heins . . . . . . $8,775
San Gabriel, CA, USA
PLAYERS 175
Rosemead, CA, USA
7/19/06
2. William Fung . . . . . . $6,100
7/15/06
Corvina, CA, USA
7. Dong Xu . . . . . . . . . . $1,425
BICYCLE CASINO
BICYCLE CASINO
Hermosa, CA, USA
Walla Walla, WA, USA
5. Raed Abukartomy . . $2,565
2. Gary Margolis . . . . . $9,210
9. Henry Minasyan . . . . . .$285
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Glendale, CA, USA
1. John Rosenbach . . . $18,185
Canoga Park, CA, USA
1. John Butler . . . . . . . $12,840
No Limit Hold-Em
07/11/2006
Buy-in $40 + $20
Play one hour from July 1, 2006 thru September 30, 2006
to play in the October Quarterly Tournament to qualify for the
Players 26
Re-Buys 66
Prize Pool
$3780
Pamela King
Dec
11
r
e
emb
17,
No Limit Hold’Em
Sunday
July 30, 2006 @12 PM
$40 + $25 entry fee
Unlimited Re-Buys first
2006
No Limit Hold’Em
Ladies Tournament
August 5, 2006
3 PM
3 levels
$55 + $15 entry fee
Multiple Add-ons
This tournament is
End of 3rd level
held the 1st Saturday
Single $40/1000
Double $80/2000
of every month
Triple $120/4000
Poker Room Tournament Schedule
Date
Day
Time
Event
RB/AO
Entry Fee
Chopper Blackjack Tournament
September 24, 2006
$100 + $20 entry fee
$100 add-ons
1st place - Custom made Chopper
w/ prize money
24 Places paid
July 30 Sunday Noon Sunday Tournament
August 5 Saturday 3 PM Ladies Tournament
Day
RB/AO
N/A
Daily Poker Room Tournaments
Time
Event
RB/AO
Mondays
6 PM
Tuesdays
6 PM
Wednesdays 6 PM
Thursdays
6 PM
Fridays
12 PM
Saturdays 12 PM
Sundays
9 AM
$100 Added NLH
RB/AO
$100 Added NLH
RB/AO
$100 Added NLH
RB/AO
$500 Added NLH
1 RB/AO
$100 Added NLH
RB/AO
$100 Added NLH
1 RB/AO
Satellites for the days tournaments
1. Pamela King.....$1835
2. Cole Cates........$1095
3. R.B.....................$735
No Limit Hold-Em
07/13/2006
Buy-in $50 + $10
Players 49
Re-Buys 44
Prize Pool
$5150
David Shoop
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
David Shoop......$1995
Bob King...........$1395
Chuck Saffa.........$850
Lonnie Price........$500
Dick Barrett.........$250
$40+$25
$55+$15
Entry Fee
g
Ta
No Limit Hold-Em
ent
Ev 07/16/2006
am
e
T
Buy-in $200 + $40
16 Teams
$15+$10
$40+$20 Prize Pool
$3100
$15+$10
$50+$10 1. Robbie & Kyle
Sargent........$2010
$15+$10
$50+$10 2. Lynn Landrum &
Robbie Sargent
Mark Toby.....$1090
Kyle Sargent
Seats given away in our Monday and Tuesday
weekly tournament
$20 + $3 entry fee w/ $10 re-buy, 1st level and 2nd level
Make it to the final table and win an entry to our
Chopper Giveaway!
For more information on this or any other of our table games promotions
contact us at our toll free number 1-866-280-3261
Blackjack ext. 2132 or Poker Room ext. 2135
Located in Devol, Ok
Visit us at www.comancheredrivercasino.com
Exit 1 or 5
off I-44
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
45
Use Your Brain
FRESH YOUNG FACE OF Poker
Player Profile: Mark Seif
By Jennifer Matiran
I recently was introduced to a new puzzle game invented in Japan, it’s named
Sudoku. It’s most challenging and mind stimulating
game that I have ever played. It awakened my brain
sleepy brain, it seems. I did not realize how deeply
asleep my mind was ‘til I felt the difference of it being
wide awake, whenever I solve, solved a tricky puzzle,
my self confidence and self image enhanced. This sort
of intellectual stimulation is KEY to becoming a great
Poker Player.
Exercising one’s brain muscle I’ve discovered is the
greatest tool in achieving all one craves. Stimulating
the brain, the greatest muscle of human kind ensures
life is lived fully awake and alert. When the mind is napping, life is lived only half awake, living only half awake
results in failure not just in Poker but in life as well.
When the brain is napping, we miss key details in our
performance and the opponent’s playing style. Missing
details causes major deterioration at work, home and
play. When we are missing the details “the devil’s in
the details” but when our minds are awake and alive
“God is in the details.” So let’s make a pact to keep our
mind’s alert by taking classes, reading, solving puzzles,
whatever, it doesn’t matter how we do it, it’s just very
crucial that we do. “Well how do I know if it’s working?”
Believe me, you will know because you will be sharper,
smarter, more confident, excited about life. Let’s us our
brains people, my Dad always said “use your brain,”
now I know what the old man meant all along. There
are many other things that are imperative to a great
life and game, here are a few.
Reflect. Create time for reflection -- a time to go
back over, to study again the things you’ve learned
and the things you’ve done each day. I call it “running
the tapes again” so that the day locks firmly in your
memory so that it serves as a tool. As you go through
the material in this plan, you will want to spend time
reflecting on its significance for you. Regularly set
aside time at the end of the day. Take a few minutes at
the end of each day and go back over the day.” (Reflect;
go over, how you played)
I know, I know, it’s all about the cards you get, you
say. The answer is absolutely BUT great players do not
use that as an excuse, they make things happen, they
wait as long as it takes for good cards. They have the
same respect for a 2-4 as they do for a 2K-4K game.
They love poker and that’s why they are successful.
Winners believe in themselves and what they’re doing
even when they lose. It’s so hard but it’s the difference
between success and failure. Winners never quit, I know
you’ve heard that, it’s the truth. Don’t confuse taking a
break with quitting; I did that for a long time, now I realize that it’s not the same. It’s better to take two steps
back, re-group and then take ten steps forward. You will
reach your destination if you keep on going.
I decided to learn everything I could about my goals.
One goal (as you may know) is to be a world class
poker player. I have read all the books and spoke to
some of the best players on the planet. Successful
poker does have a formula; oh you better believe it
does. Everything can be achieved with a plan.
Until next time let’s exercise, reflect, BELIEVE
and learn… See you at the WSOP…
Changing the world one sentence at a time, Jennifer
Matiran believes the pen is, and always will be, mightier
than the sword. She hopes to emerge into the tournament circuit of Poker. Contact her with questions, comments or interesting material at matiran@sbcglobal.
net. Ms. Matiran has just completed her latest screenplay, her other passion (besides Poker!).
46
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
tuition” promotion.
There’s a television
project that has MTV
planning to film the experiences of seven people
culled from 3,500 applications. They will go to
Costa Rica and work as
interns at the Absolute
headquarters. Look for
this to make it to a small
screen near you in early
2007.
Seif also has a book in
the works. More about that
later and another TV project that calls for him to be
a recurring guest host on a
poker show for a network
that’s expected to launch
in the next couple months.
It’s called the Las Vegas
Television Network.
The point is, there’s a
lot of growth left in the
public’s appetite for poker
related information.
He sees the Internet as
a “training ground” that
offers the equivalent of
years of experience in a
matter of months.
The results of this
action are already apparent, Seif says, in the bigger poker room volumes
at the brick and mortar
casinos of Las Vegas and
elsewhere.
“There are people winning or losing three, four
or five hundred thousand
and more on-line who
have never been to Las
Vegas,” he says. “But they
will be. There’s a very
high level of competition and a lot of money
exchanging hands.”
Kind of like the best is
still to come, huh?
“That’s right. The U. S.
CONT’D FROM PAGE 24
market is maturing. We’ll
continue to see growth
here but at a slower rate.
However, the rest of the
world is just getting its
appetite wet for poker.”
Coming
Soon!
Meeting All Your Travel Needs...
PokerPlayerNewspaperTravel.com
-or-
PPNTravel.com
TUSCANY
Suites & Casino
255 E. Flamingo Road
Las Vegas, Nevada
702-947-5917
Daily Tournaments 7 Days a Week!
Registration 9:00 am * Tournament 10:00 am
$22.00 Buy-In Includes $5.00 Entry Fee
$10.00 Re-Buys First Hour
High Hands Daily!
24 Hours with Payoffs from $50 to $600
Friendliest Poker Room in Town
Summer Slam Free Roll Tournament
$25,000 Guaranteed Prize Money
See Poker Room for Complete Details
Must be 21 years of age or older. Management reserves all rights.
See Tuscany Poker Room for Rules and Details on all Promotions
Sundays, 10:15 a.m. (sign-ups start at 7 a.m.)
$10,000 Guarantee – First Prize $2,000
Plus $1,000 in Cash Drawings,
every half hour, 4 — 11:45 p.m.
$60 Entry Fee, No Re-buys. Lunch and $20 Poker Coupon Included.
140 Seats Maximum.
NOW Every Day! Play NO -LIMIT Texas Hold’em
More tournaments every day at 10:15 a.m. and Tuesdays & Thursdays at 7 p.m.
For more information call 1-800-CHUMASH, ext. 3850.
 E. Hwy , Santa Ynez, CA
Exit  at Solvang, East through Solvang  miles.
Must be 18 or older to enter casino. Chumash Casino Resort
reserves the right to cancel or change promotions.
Poker Players
Alliance
ONLINE POKER
Mini-Series of Poker
at the Bike
Paul “Dr. Pauly” McGuire
BICYCLE CASINO
On Tuesday, July 11, 2006, the U.S. House of Representatives
voted 317 to 93 to pass H.R. 4411, which was pushed forth by Jim
Leach (R-Iowa). That bill would prohibit financial institutions like
banks and credit card companies from processing payments for
online gambling sites. H.R. 4411 also included portions of Robert
Goodlatte’s (R-VA) H.R. 4777 which would force ISPs to block and
censor links to online gambling sites. Some political pundits think
that the bill will get killed on the floor of the Senate, while others
think it will get rushed to a vote before the October elections.
The bill is hypocritical in nature because it allows specific forms
of online gambling such as horse racing, some fantasy sports, and
lotteries. While poker is considered a game of skill, those other
forms of gambling require less skill and much more luck. As Howard
Lederer explained, “Anyone who plays poker knows that, live or
online, the game demands a keen understanding of mathematics,
basic human psychology and the ability to use experience and skill
to think quickly in innumerable situations.”
The Poker Player Alliance (www.pokerplayeralliance.org) is a nonprofit organization that’s made up of American poker players who
have banded together to speak with one voice to promote the game
of poker and protecting players right to play online poker. The PPA
was created to help defend your rights as a poker player, while trying to educate our lawmakers and fight poker prohibition legislation
in the process. The federal government is threatening to ban online
poker, home games, charity events, and even games in your local
pub. Right now, several states are enacting laws that would make it
illegal to play poker. Washington state has already passed legislation that makes it illegal to play online poker within its borders.
In a letter to its members, PPA president Michael Bolcerek
stated:
“While our efforts have fallen short today, we have had tremendous success in delivering our message to lawmakers and the
media. This fight is far from over and we hope that you will continue to stand with the Poker Players Alliance as we continue to fight
to ensure that this misguided legislation does not become law.
Each day our organization is growing in both numbers and influence. I ask that you help us in that effort by encouraging all your
friends and family to join the Poker Players Alliance. Whether someone plays poker or not, all Americans who value individual liberty
and personal responsibility should be part of our campaign.
Now is not the time to waver, our voices must be heard loud
and clear. Members of the U.S. House who voted for this bill should
know that you oppose their position and similarly, those who voted
against it should be applauded for their courageous stand.”
After the House passed H.R. 4411, Bolcerek issued this statement:
“We are disappointed that the House of Representatives would
assail the rights of Americans to enjoy the great game of poker on
the Internet. It is unconscionable that a skill game like poker gets
swept into the net of prohibition, while online horse betting and
Internet lotteries get free passes.”
“The United States should follow the lead of the United Kingdom
by regulating and taxing online poker, not banning it. An economic
analysis just released by our organization shows that U.S. regulation of online poker has the potential to raise more than $3.3 billion in annual revenue for the federal government, in addition to
another $1 billion for state coffers. We hope that this analysis will
give a fresh perspective for U.S. Senators about the benefits of
regulation.
“The Poker Players Alliance is undeterred in its mission to
promote and protect the game of poker and we will continue to
advance the cause on behalf of poker players in the United States.”
If you play poker online, I encourage you to join the Poker
Players Alliance. Visit their website at www.pokerplayersalliance.org
for more details.
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].
48
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
7/12/06
BICYCLE CASINO
7/9/06
BICYCLE CASINO
7/6/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500 + $50
BUY-IN $100 + $25
BUY-IN $250 + $30
PLAYERS 234
PRIZE
POOL
$58,500
PLAYERS 488
PLAYERS 216
1. Sirous Baghchehsaraie
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $21,930
PRIZE POOL
PRIZE POOL
$48,800
$54,000
Long Beach, CA, USA
Logan Monheit
Benjamin Chung
2. Ed Schafer . . . . . . . . $11,115
Long Beach, CA, USA
3. Stephane Fitoussi . . . $5,550
Oxnard, CA, USA
4. Leona Lesseos . . . . . . $3,800
Monterey Park, CA, USA
5. Jeffrey Jerome . . . . . $2,630
Springfield, PA, USA
6. Larry Brill . . . . . . . . . $2,045
Newburgh, IN, USA
7. Arthur Wade . . . . . . . $1,460
Gainesville, FL, USA
8. Carla Roberts . . . . . . $1,170
9. Robert Nehorayan . . . .$875
1. Logan Monheit . . . . $18,055
2. Young Ha . . . . . . . . . . $8,905
2. Steve Castro . . . . . . $10,220
Van Nuys, CA, USA
Woodland Hills, CA, USA
3. Adolfo Crespo . . . . . . $4,390
3. John Cardwell . . . . . $5,130
Davis, CA, USA
Northridge, CA, USA
4. Daniel Baruch . . . . . . $2,930
4. Russell Johnson . . . . $3,510
Agoura Hills, CA, USA
Rutherford, NJ, USA
5. Zach Johnson . . . . . . $2,195
5. Leroy Le . . . . . . . . . . $2,430
Santa Monica, CA, USA
6. David Nguyen . . . . . . $1,710
6. Markram Merhom . . $1,890
Reseda, CA, USA
Glendale, CA, USA
7. Thomas Vo . . . . . . . . $1,220
7. Gary Childress . . . . . $1,350
Anaheim, CA, USA
Whittier, CA, USA
8. Jennifer Gregorio . . . . .$975
8. Alan Myerson . . . . . . $1,080
9. Jeffrey Falstrom . . . . . .$810
Duarte, CA, USA
9. Jason Dooley . . . . . . . . .$740
Riverside, CA, USA
BICYCLE CASINO
7/11/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $100 + $25
BICYCLE CASINO
7/8/06
LADIES - NO LIMIT
HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $100 + $25
PLAYERS 399
$39,900
PRIZE POOL
Raynaldo Agunos
$8,400
1. Raynaldo Agunos . . $14,960
San Dimas, CA, USA
3. Mike Macchia . . . . . . $3,790
4. Lou Altomari . . . . . . $2,595
6. Daniel Mazal . . . . . . . $1,395
Burbank, CA, USA
7. Tho Ngo . . . . . . . . . . . . .$995
8. Eric Harrel . . . . . . . . . .$795
Santa Ana, CA, USA
9. Seyed Mazarli . . . . . . . .$595
2. Sylvia Tillmans . . . . . $1,930
Fountain Valley, CA, USA
3. Sharon Croft . . . . . . . $1,010
Los, CA, USA
4. Larren Szidak . . . . . . . .$590
Encinitas, CA, USA
5. Sunny Chen . . . . . . . . . .$460
6. Jennifer Bankston . . . .$380
Burbank, CA, USA
7. Susan Barflett . . . . . . . .$295
8. Hyun Kim . . . . . . . . . . .$210
Lawndale, CA, USA
9. Susan Geffen . . . . . . . . .$165
Redondo Beach, CA, USA
BICYCLE CASINO
7/10/06
POT LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $200 + $30
BICYCLE CASINO
7/7/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
REBUY UNLIMITED
BUY-IN $100 + $10
PLAYERS 104
PLAYERS 241
REBUYS 405
PRIZE POOL
$64,005
Chris Kiper
Trung Nguyen
1. Chris Kiper . . . . . . . . $8,260
Pacific Palisades, CA, USA
2. Sinh Quach . . . . . . . . $3,950
Alhambra, CA, USA
3. Norai Khodadian . . . $1,975
Glendale, CA, USA
4. Gilbert Acedo . . . . . . $1,250
Pasadena, CA, USA
5. Don Smith . . . . . . . . . . .$935
6. Art Hagopian . . . . . . . .$730
Montebello, CA, USA
7. David Ordhard . . . . . . .$520
8. Michael Fields . . . . . . . .$415
Fontana, CA, USA
9. Craig Weinstein . . . . . .$365
Encino, CA, USA
2. Erich Karle . . . . . . . . $4,560
Redondo Beach, CA, USA
3. Gino Yu . . . . . . . . . . . $2,280
Torrance, CA, USA
4. Gary Ro . . . . . . . . . . . $1,440
Anaheim, CA, USA
5. John Denne . . . . . . . . $1,080
Long Beach, CA, USA
6. Richard Balta . . . . . . . .$845
Cerritos, CA, USA
7. Walter Smiley . . . . . . . .$595
Gardena, CA, USA
8. Brian Soumas . . . . . . . .$480
9. Ron Cramer . . . . . . . . .$420
BICYCLE CASINO
7/4/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
XTRA SPORTS
REBUY UNLIMITED
BUY-IN $100 + $25
PLAYERS 234
PLAYERS 392
PRIZE
POOL
$58,500
1. Eric Meyerson . . . . . $23,025
PRIZE POOL
$20,800
PLAYERS 160
Apache Junction, AZ, USA
1. Cheryl Bartlett . . . . . $3,360
Monrovia, CA, USA
BUY-IN $150 + $25
1. Robert Mauser . . . . . $9,600
Cheryl Bartlett
Irvine, CA, USA
LIMIT HOLD’EM
Robert Mauser
Mount Jay, PA, USA
5. Jonyson Pierce . . . . . $1,795
7/5/06
$24,000
La Puente, CA, USA
2. Daniel Auzenne . . . . . $7,580
BICYCLE CASINO
PRIZE POOL
PLAYERS 84
PRIZE POOL
1. Benjamin Chung . . $20,200
Calabasas, CA, USA
1. Trung Nguyen . . . . . $24,225
Garden Grove, CA, USA
2. Anthony Lee . . . . . . $12,275
2. John Alex . . . . . . . . . $11,665
3. Ilya Yelizarov . . . . . . $6,135
West Covina, CA, USA
Reseda, CA, USA
3. Steve Shkolnik . . . . . . $5,835
4. Ryan Dacayanan . . . $4,200
4. Tina Ngo . . . . . . . . . . . $3,990
5. Derrick Agee . . . . . . . $2,905
Palmdale, CA, USA
Mammoth Lake, CA, USA
5. Robert Lee . . . . . . . . . $2,765
6. Chuan Lee . . . . . . . . . $2,260
Sacramento, CA, USA
Ontario, ON, Canada
6. Badia Khalil . . . . . . . . $2,150
7. Derwin Lowery . . . . . $1,615
Van Nuys, CA, USA
7. Jet Tantibanchachai . $1,535
8. Soo Pai . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,290
9. Charoenangam
Arthithaysorn . . . . . . . .$980
8. Ernest Bennett . . . . . . $1,230
9. Sirous Baghchehsaraie .$925
Lakewood, CA, USA
i
sept. 21 25
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
DATE
9-21-06
9-22-06
9-23-06
9-24-06
DAY
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
TIME
7 p.m.
2 p.m.
12 p.m.
12 p.m.
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AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
49
Luck is Amazing
BacK in the saddle Again
Book reviews
Diary of a Mad
Poker Player
By OKLAHOMA JOHNNY HALE
Folks, remember I talk slow and write
long—so when I got started on this article,
I really did not mean it to be a novel—but this is part
three and the end—I hope.
So like Paul Harvey, I have it started and now I will tell
the rest of the story of my being lucky playing poker in
the cotton fields of California, during the great depression that John Steinbeck wrote about in his classic, The
Grapes of Wrath. And playing poker on the battleships of
World War 2, when I won the U.S.Navy! Playing Poker with
the rich kids in college at the University of Oklahoma.
And playing poker with the rich and famous in Tulsa,
Oklahoma, and playing in the smokiest of back rooms of
the pool halls where high stakes poker was played. And
how I became street smart—at an early age—and college
smart a little later.
Now the rest of the story... I had just made my first
million and was paying off the banks and the bootlegger.
I got one half of my capital from the banks and the other
one half from Oklahoma’s kingpin bootlegger.
Then I went to see Big Mac, who was now free at home
in Oklahoma with his adopted son and, yes, Big Mac had
received his pardon for tipping the sheriff! (Big Mac had
been in prison for toking a sheriff when his liquor trucks
were stopped on a run from Kansas down into Oklahoma).
Big Mac was now a free man—The Governor of
Oklahoma had issued him a pardon on the Governor’s last
day in office. I said, “Mac, I got it done—and I made a little
money and I want to share it with you. I want to pay you
what you lent me and give you some of the profit I have
made.”
Mac said, “No Johnny, you helped me with my boy—and
I owe you a lot. Do you remember what you took down?”
I told him, “Yes, Mac, but you should let me share with
you—I could not have pulled it off without your help.”
He said, “No Johnny—just give me what I lent you—
that’s all I want right now. But I am going to retire from
the liquor business, and I want you to invest my money in
some legit business.”
I said, “Sure Mac, I will look around for something—I am
thinking of the wholesale plumbing business—I think that
is going to be good. I will let you know soon. Thanks again
Mac.”
The next week, Big Mac was gunned down by the other
bootleggers. They did not know that Big Mac was retiring,
and that I was taking his money legit. But that’s a story
for another column...
With the bank, everything was strictly business—with
mortgages and all kinds of paper work. The college smart
kid got that done!
Then there was the bootlegger who would take no
interest—This was the street smart kid that got that done.
I walked on both sides of the street—the silk stocking
neighborhoods of South Tulsa, where the highest stakes
games of poker were played—and the pool room side of
the street, where all the bookies played gin rummy for a
hundred thousand dollars—in a 100 point gin game. And
poker was good, life was good, and I was lucky!
Street smart—to win from the bookies, bootleggers,
pimps and impolite company. And college smart—to win
from the doctors, lawyers and the bankers! And never
greedy—just a little here a little there—just for expenses!
Yes, It is amazing how lucky you can get when you really
try.
Until next time, remember to Stay Lucky!
Editor’s Notes: You may contact OK-J at his e-mail
[email protected], or play poker LIVE, ONLINE
with Johnny, Carol and Sarah at www.OK-J.com.
Johnny’s book, “The Gentleman Gambler,” is in its
third printing. Contact Johnny for your copy.
50
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
by Richard Sparks
Russell Enterprises, Inc., 2005
ISBN: 1-888690-24-0
267pp, $149.95
Enter an online satellite, win
a seat in the main event at
the 2004 World Series of
Poker, and go on
to win the event
leading to almost
unimaginable
fame and lifechanging riches.
This is the dream
of a great many
poker players,
including Richard
Sparks. As we
know from history, he fell short of his ultimate goal, but in “Diary of
a Mad Poker Player” he tells
us about his journey.
As a Leslie Nielsen
character might say, “It’s a
familiar story: Boy enters
poker tournaments, boy loses
poker tournaments, boy goes
to the World Series of Poker
anyway, boy talks to poker
celebrities, boy returns home
to sell prized banjo to pay for
poker losses.” This is the tale
Sparks weaves for us in his
book.
Sparks provides play-byplay from many of the online
tournaments in which he
competes. The descriptions
are pretty sketchy, leaving
out much of the detail that
an experienced poker player
would use to evaluate these
situations. However, I don’t
think it’s a stretch to say that
much of his play can fairly
be categorized as atrocious.
Sparks doesn’t claim to be
a great poker player, but at
times I have to admit that as
these hands unfold I would
start to cheer for Sparks’
nameless, faceless opponents.
The story gets better as
our narrator travels to Las
Vegas to be on hand for the
main event at the World
Series of Poker. Sparks talks
to a number of poker celebrities, and these sessions are
interesting and occasionally
even insightful. As an example, I quite enjoyed his long
conversation with Sammy
Farha, although the way
Farha talks I get the impression that he could have,
or maybe even has had,
similarly long and involved
conversations with inanimate
objects. But hey, it’s fun to
read, and it really beats the
heck out of the inane and
senselessly profane transcriptions of online poker chats
that we find in the first half
of the book.
Most good stories come
from adventures falling into
the lap of an
author. Sparks is
an author actively
trying to find an
adventure. The
problem is that he
just doesn’t find
one in this book.
What we have
is narrative of a
mediocre poker
player taking a
shot at the brass ring and,
quite predictably, coming up
short. Most poker players
should be able to identify
quite readily with Sparks,
and those who play a bit
better than this have defi-
nitely played
against this
type of player.
As a consequence, for those
who are genuinely seeking
a partial answer to the question, “What in the world was
going through that poker
player’s mind?” this book
might be a place to start.
It’s not that “Diary of a
Mad Poker Player” is a bad
book, it’s not. It just isn’t
especially good. Sparks provides a poker story line, but
he just doesn’t seem to have
anything terribly interesting
to say. His book provides the
reader with no significant
poker insights. Poker book
junkies looking for another
poker story to read may find
this book to be worth their
effort, but there are a large
number of better books on
the market that I’d strongly
recommend reading first.
—Nick Christiansen
Benny Binion
Binion died of a heart
attack
in 1989 at the age
of 86. Frontier gambler to
Las Vegas legend, he was
drama and excitement
instrumental in bringing
generated by that earPoker from the backroom
lier poker marathon. The
to the world stage. Benny
inaugural World Series of
Poker featured five games Binion was inducted into
and seven players. Johnny the Poker Hall of Fame in
Moss won all five events! 1990.
He won the title again in
1971 and 1974.
e-mail: [email protected]
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Players Sue WPT
and the current World
Champion Joe Hachem.
This suit appears to have two
major areas of complaint;
one is that the restrictive
nature of the release forms
players MUST sign to play
in WPT events gives away
their rights without compensation and prevents them
from making endorsement
deals and exploiting other
benefits they may achieve
through their public images.
These same players appear
not to have trouble with the
WSOP releases, as they are
playing there. The second
area of the players’ complaint has to do with the
WPT conspiring with the
properties they have under
contract to restrict the ability
of those properties and even
their affiliated properties
from doing televised poker
tournaments, thus severely
cutting down the players’
income because there are
less poker tournaments available. There are other aspects
to this case, which can be
obtained by reading the complaint, Steve Lipscomb and
WPTE have issued a categorical denial through their
attorneys.
I know of one tournament,
which would have involved
all of the LA casinos that
wished to participate, was
quashed by the restrictive
language in agreements
with the Bicycle Casino.
Lipscomb personally told
me that he would not allow
the Los Angeles casinos
that were under contract to
him to participate. It was
never brought to Commerce,
another WPT event site,
because they would have had
the same problem. All of the
casinos in Los Angeles lost
out on this event as did the
players who may have participated. Further, because
of the wording of the complaint, I am now forced to
look at two other tournaments that we have on tap
that may also be restricted
by Lipscomb’s language in
some way..
In my opinion, the suit
has great merit. The only
place I would quarrel with
the complaint has to do with
the land-based gaming properties being referred to as
“conspiring casinos.” I do
not think this is the case. In
my opinion, all of the WPT
casinos are more victims
than they may be conspirators, Lipscomb, who is an
attorney by training, had all
the restrictive language put in
his agreements, When many
of these agreements were
originally signed, other than
the WSOP, the WPT was the
only game in town. WPT
has enjoyed a major advantage for the past four plus
years, but, it is now time for
these restrictive provisions to
be lifted in the best interest
of the poker industry and all
of the players, who are the
ones who fund nearly every
event. Without players, WPT
has no business. This small
revolt by a handful of big
players may just turn into a
major boycott. Further, don’t
be surprised if other entities
are added to this lawsuit, or
other lawsuits may be filed,
now that the cat is out of
the bag. The bottom line is
that the WPT really doesn’t
need these restrictive clauses
to be successful. Further,
it appears that WPTE has
yet to make a profit, which
means they may be risking
failure to continue in their
anti-trust ways.
If WPT gives this up right
away, there is a good chance
this lawsuit may go away,
thus saving millions of dol-
lars in legal fees. If a judgment is rendered in favor
of the plaintiffs, it could
bankrupt a company that is
already struggling. If other
possible lawsuits never get
started, because the WPT
amends its agreements, that
company, WPTE, could use
its capital in better ways to
secure its future. Whether
Lipscomb decides to fight or
compromise, will be the true
test of his leadership as COO
of WPTE, otherwise, it just
might bring on his downfall.
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AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
51
Not the World Series
of Poker
STUD SENSE
By ASHLEY ADAMS
It’s not the World Series of Poker. It’s just another Tuesday night at Foxwoods. While others yearn at this time of
year to be in Las Vegas, he would be happy just playing stud in his
huge poker room in the Connecticut woods.
The Foxwoods poker room is really four seamlessly connected
large poker playing areas. In one area are the tournament players – playing sit and goes most of the time but also thrice daily
multi-table tournaments. In a second area are the middle and high
stakes hold ‘em and stud players in games ranging generally from
$5/10 to $75/150. In another section are the low stakes hold ‘em
players, gambling it up at $2/4 and $4/8. The fourth section sits
off by itself in what looks like a large game room of a retirement
community – with mostly grey haired gents and ladies playing
low, spread limit 7-card stud. That’s where Stan normally would
be – playing $1-5 7-Card Stud. He isn’t there tonight though, and
he misses it.
For eleven years Stan’s been coming to this poker room. He’s
been playing during his weekly swings through Connecticut for
business. At least that’s how he first justified his gambling to himself and his family. “I’m down there anyway” he’d offer. “Might as
well catch some cards while I’m in that neck of the woods” he’d
conclude with only a small trace of a smile to betray him.
The poker experience became much more important than the
work. Though it never was much about the winning. It was more
about the playing of the game. He loved watching the cards, waiting for the good hands, considering his options, and then making
his move. Even folding the bad hands had a muted thrill for him
– another bump in the familiar and pleasant poker road.
It was never thrilling like the World Series of Poker is thrilling.
It was a different sort of poker action – an engagement in the
pleasant and relaxing poker that many people grew up with in
weekly or monthly “friendly” games. Dozens joined him in this
every week. They had become familiar faces playing the same
sort of game for the same sort of reasons.
These were the games that had roots in the army – when guys
could distract themselves from the boredom or the terror of military service by diving into this safe form of combat. When they
came home they took their poker game with them – to their new
domestic world with wives and kids and jobs and homes and card
games.
This weekly visit to Foxwoods had become more than just the
poker after a while – surely more than just the cards. It became
a form of camaraderie with familiar but largely unknown people,
punctuated with oft made comments, bad jokes, and phrases like:
“Deuces never loses”; “your pot”; “Hit the flush on the river”;
“should have gone out”; and “check in the dark”. The players
revealed little about themselves with their banter. Still, it was
pleasant and comforting in its indistinctness – like those white
noise machines that play repetitive sounds from the beach to
help people sleep.
A lot of poker players dream tonight about all of the action
they’re missing by not being able to play in the World Series
of Poker. Stan dreams of poker tonight too -- but of a different
game. He’s fully retired now – not quite up for the weekly drive
to Foxwoods any more. He dreams of just a low stakes stud
game in the huge basement of a huge casino in the middle of the
Connecticut woods with a bunch of players he recognized but
didn’t know.
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]
52
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
Poker Club
Heist
I had just stepped inside
when I saw Phil duck into
a booth near the back. I got
a beer and took it to a table
where I could see him. I
signaled to Hobby when he
came in.
“I think there are two
guys besides Phil in the
booth, but I can only see
one of them. Guess what
happened already? Phil got
a packet and snorkeled a
line.”
Hobby said, “I can just
barely see Phil, but it looks
like he’s slipping an envelope into his pocket.”
“Yeah, I saw it, too. I’ll
bet it’s his share of the
take.”
“What do we do now,
Joe?”
“We got to see if they’re
the ones who held us up.”
“How about this, Joe?
I’ll walk by their booth
to the head and act real
surprised to see Phil. I’ll
check ‘em out.”
“Don’t forget, Hobby,
these guys have guns; I
hope they don’t recognize
you.”
I stayed out of sight
while Hobby walked by the
booth.
“Hey, Phil,” Hobby
said. “What a surprise to
see you here. Who’re your
friends?”
“Hobby! I aah; I aah...
I’m sorry. I’m not feeling
good. I’ve got to get out
of here,” Phil muttered as
he jumped out of the booth
and ran for the front door.
“So whatchu want?” One
of the mugs said to Hobby.
“You looking for trouble.”
“No, I just wanted to say
hello to my friend,” Hobby
answered.
“Well your friend just
split. You better do the
same.”
“Sure, no problem.”
We watched the mugs
for a few minutes and then
went outside.
“We’ll wait for them to
leave and see where they
go. If they’re not using a
hot car, maybe we can ID
them from their plate.”
I turned the car around
so we could watch the
parking lot and be ready to
roll. It was only a few minutes before the mugs came
out and jumped into a late
model Mustang. We came
close enough when they
stopped at the light to read
the license plate. “You got
it, Hobby?”
“Yeah, I’ll write it down,
but let them get some distance ahead so they don’t
spot us.”
“Hey, Hobby, cool it. I’m
good at this surveillance
stuff.”
While we followed them
onto the eastbound I-10
freeway I called my friend,
an L.A. detective, and told
him we were trailing the
perps from the Bentwood
robbery.
“Are you crazy, Joe,”
he responded. “Why are
you...?”
“The bastards robbed us.
It’s a long story but right
now you may want to get
us some local backup. They
just pulled into the Palm
Court Motel in Montebello.
They’re going into one of
the rooms. We’ll watch, but
get someone over here.”
“I’ll try to send a squad
car. In the meantime, don’t
do anything stupid.”
I had just finished my
call when Hobby said.
“Look, Joe. One guy came
out. He’s putting bags into
the car. I’ve got to stop
them.”
Hobby was out of the car
like a shot before I could
say anything.
I couldn’t make out what
Hobby was saying; but the
guy turned and reached
inside his jacket. With a
flying tackle, Hobby was
on top of him and cut loose
a flurry of punches.
The other perp came out
of the room, saw what was
happening and drew his
weapon, but he couldn’t
get off a shot without hitting his partner. I accelerated the car across the
parking lot, pinned the
bastard against the wall,
and ducked below the
dashboard. An eruption of
bullets raked through the
windshield. When they
stopped I heard someone
screaming, but I wasn’t
about to stick my head
outside. Next thing I heard
was the boom of a shotgun
and, “This is the police.
Drop your weapons.”
I peeked out the window
and saw Hobby sitting
on one of the perps while
holding his own hands over
his head. The guy I had
pinned had collapsed across
my car’s hood. Two police
officers had guns pointed at
me. I raised my hands and
they pulled me out onto the
pavement.
Three hours later Hobby
and I were in a rental car
on our way back to Marina
del Rey. The sun was
beginning to rise behind us.
“You know, Joe, it’s getting so a guy can’t have
a peaceful game of poker
anymore.”
“Well, Hobby, part of the
problem is us. We just can’t
stand losing.”
Write to author David Valley
at: [email protected]
4000 W. Flamingo Road • Las Vegas
367-7111
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The World Poker
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NT:
A
T
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O
IMP alers can
De
Circupiltay in this
event.
AT
BINION’S GAMBLING HALL AND HOTEL
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA • SEPTEMBER 24-28, 2006
All public card rooms, worldwide are
invited to send one player and only
one for each game. That player will
represent your property. A player
can play in more than one event.
Players must be currently
working and have worked as
a dealer at the card room
they represent for at least six
months prior to the starting
date of each event. Winners
will be required to show proof
of employment. All dealer
players must wear the uniform
and name badges of their casinos/card rooms.
Tournament Director for further
information. All card rooms are
requested to inform Binion’s of their
planned participation.
the four games in the event. You can
qualify for one, two or more events.
Buy-in will be $50 with a $15 Entry
fee. Events will be held in groups of
not enter the main tournament
events directly, scheduled from
September 23-28, 2006. You may
only enter as a qualified satellite
winner or delegate from your card
room. Only one dealer/player
from each card room may play
in each of the four events
this year. Contact your card
room to run a satellite for
this event. Card Rooms should
contact Jim Delorto, Director
of Poker Operations at Binion’s
for further details [jdelorto@
binions.com] Special notice. In
future years, card rooms will
be permitted to send one set
of dealers for every 10 poker
tables normally in operation at
their property (maximum of 5
sets), HOWEVER, this privilege
will ONLY be extended to those
card rooms who participate in this
year’s tournament(at least 2 events).
This rule will not apply to card
rooms that are not opened prior to
September 1st, 2006.
SCHEDULE
Sunday, September 24 – Omaha Hold‘em 8 or better*
Monday, September 25 - Limit Hold’em*
Tuesday, September 26 - Seven Card Stud*
Wednesday, September 27 – No Limit Hold’em*
*All final tables on the morning of the following day
Buy-ins for all events are $1,000
Entry fees for all events are $100
Participants may be selected
directly by the card room, or
through a satellite event to be
held at that card room (preferable). Dealers who wish to participate are encouraged to bring this
event to the attention of their Card
Room Manager. Card Room Managers
should contact Jim Delorto, Binion’s
Director of Poker Operations, and
A special ONE DAY event will be held
on August 8th at 10 a.m. until done
at Binion’s to allow Circuit Dealers to
qualify for this tournament. A special
tournament will be held in each of
20 players. See box on page 1 for
details. Dealers who are regularly
employed at any card room are NOT
eligible for this event. Regularly
employed Card Room Dealers may
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
53
Entertainment
Listings
Entertainment RePORT
By LEN BUTCHER
There are times (not many), that I wished I didn’t
live in Las Vegas. Not because of the heat, which
is now in the 105-plus degrees daily, but because
of its location. Other than Los Angeles and Phoenix, any other major
center is a flight--not a drive--away. And I
particularly get frustrated when I see some of
my favorite performers, who don’t play Vegas,
appearing at a venue across the country.
One of them is singer/songwriter Marc
Anthony, who will be appearing at the Taj Mahal
in Atlantic City Aug. 6. I love this guy’s music,
Marc Anthony
whether he’s singing in English or Spanish. I saw
him perform several years ago in California and he puts on a great
show. If you aren’t on your feet dancing in the aisles before his show
ends, I don’t know why you bothered going, because you obviously
have no soul for music with a great beat.
The 38-year-old Anthony was born Marco Antonio Muniz to
Puerto-Rican-American parents, and was named after a popular
singer in Puerto Rico.
Once he started his career as a session vocalist for pop acts, he
changed his name to avoid confusion with his namesake. His first
release, in 1988, was a song called “Rebel” that he wrote himself.
Over the next few years, he wrote a number songs for other artists
while continuing to sing backup. Most of his writing was for what
they call Freestyle music, but in 1992, after opening for legendary Latin bandleader, Tito Puente, he switched to Salsa and other
Spanish music.
Anthony released his Spanish-language debut, Otra nota, in 1993,
followed by several more Spanish albums over the next few years
and in 1999 won a Grammy for Best Tropical Latin Performance. That
same year he released an English-language Latin Pop album that had
his name as the title with the U.S. Top 5 hit single “I Need to Know”
(one of my favorites) and also featured “You Sang to Me” that was
used in the movie, Runaway Bride with Julia Roberts.
He married Jennifer Lopez (as if you didn’t know) in 2004 and
although he hasn’t had a hit in the past few years in the Englishspeaking market, he is one of the hottest, if not THE hottest entertainer in Latin America. Whether you speak Spanish or not, don’t
miss this show. By the way, he just released “Sigo Siendo Yo”, a
Spanish greatest-hits album. You’ll love it.
If you’re going to be in Southern California in August, swing by
Harrah’s Rincon down in San Diego. The resort’s got a hot lineup,
beginning with KC & the Sunshine Band on Aug. 6.
They’ll be joined by disco legends Gloria Gaynor, Tavares, and
Sister Sledge featuring Kathy Sledge. They’ll be followed by country
star Wynonna on August 10
And for all you gals, the Chippendales will be appearing Aug. 16.
General admission tickets for each of the above shows are only $35.
Can’t beat that.
And on Aug. 19 it’s the Classical Mystery Tour which has been a big
hit since its first show at the Orange County Performing Arts Center
in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Times called the show “more than
just an incredible simulation...the swelling strings and soaring French
horn lines gave Saturday’s live performance a high goose-bump quotient...the crowd stood and bellowed for more.” Not a bad review.
The Fab Four musicians in Classical Mystery Tour look and sound
just like The Beatles, but Classical Mystery Tour is more than just
a rock concert. The full show presents some 30 Beatles tunes
sung, played, and performed exactly as they were written. Hear
Penny Lane with a live trumpet section; experience the beauty of
Yesterday with an acoustic guitar and string quartet; enjoy the rock/
classical blend on the hard-edged I Am the Walrus.
From early Beatles music on through the solo years, Classical
Mystery Tour is the best of The Beatles. They will only perform for
one show at the Open Sky Theater at the resort. Show starts at 8
p.m. and tickets are a paltry $25 for general admission. That’s less
than most blinds.
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
Casino Arizona (17)
CALIFORNIA
Agua Caliente Casino
Restless Heart
Comedy Shop
Arena Patio
DJ / Karaoke
Commerce Casino
Live Bands
Ballroom Dance Party
Cambodian Dance Party
Crystal Casino & Hotel
Karaoke
El As De Oros Night Club
Gretchen Wilson
Fantasy Springs Resort
KC & The Sunshine Band
Harrah’s Rincon
Finish Line Lounge
Hollywood Park Casino (5)
Pechanga Resort & Casino (39) Julio Iglesias
Burt Bacharach
Spotlight 29 Casino
CONNECTICUT
LeAnn Rimes
Foxwoods Resort Casino
NEW JERSEY
Mary J. Blige
Borgata Hotel & Casino
Marc Anthony
Taj Majal Hotel & Casino
Tropicana Casino & Resort
The B-52s
(Atlantic City)
NEW YORK
Seneca Niagara Casino (27) Clint Black
Kathy Griffin
Turning Stone Casino
NEVADA-LAS VEGAS
Young Guns of Comedy
Aladdin Hotel & Casino
Magician Steve Wyrick
Donn Arden’s Jubilee!
Bally’s Resort & Casino
“The Price is Right” Live Stage Show
“O”
Bellagio Resort & Casino
Binion’s Gambling Hall (32) Live Music in Keno Bar
Boulder Station Hotel & Casino (8) Billy Ray Cyrus
Elton John
Caesar’s Palace
Little Anthony & The Imperials
Cannery Hotel & Casino
Thunder From Down Under
Excalibur Hotel & Casino
Anthony Cools, Uncensored Hypnotist
George Wallace
Flamingo Las Vegas
The Second City
Gold Coast (52)
Forever Plaid
Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino Gordie Brown
Clint Holmes
Harrah’s Hotel & Casino
Imperial Palace Hotel & Casino (9) Legends In Concert
Barry Manilow
Las Vegas Hilton (51)
Menopause, the Musical
Carrot Top
Luxor Resort & Casino
Mandalay Bay Resort &
Mamma Mia
Casino
MGM Grand Hotel & Casino KA.
Impressionist Danny Gans
The Mirage Hotel & Casino (11) Jay Leno
The Beatles LOVE
Monte Carlo Resort & Casino
Magician Lance Burton
Bill Engvall
Earl Turner
Gabe Kaplan’s Laugh Trax
G. Love & Special Sauce
The Comedy Zone
ZowieBowie
Crazy Girls
La Cage
Riviera Hotel & Casino
Splash
Neil Diamond Tribute
Buck Wild
The Amazing Jonathan
Sahara Hotel & Casino
The Platters, Coasters and
Drifters
Sam’s Town Hotel & Casino (43) Five Wheel Drive
Asleep at the Wheel
Silverton Hotel & Casino
Headlights & Tailpipes
Stardust Hotel & Casino
Rick Thomas
Bite
Stratosphere Hotel &
American Superstars
Casino
Viva Las Vegas
Lonestar
Sunset Station (8)
The Whip-Its
Johnny Rivers
Texas Station (8)
Mystere
Treasure Island
Extreme Magic starring
Dirk Arthur
Tropicana Casino & Resort
Folies Bergere
The Orleans Hotel & Casino
Palace Station Hotel &
Casino (8)
Palms Casino & Resort (15)
Plaza Hotel & Casino
Red Rock Hotel & Casino
The Venetian (21)
Blue Man Group
Wynn Las Vegas
LAUGHLIN
Le Reve
Riverboat Ramblers Strolling
Colorado Belle Hotel Casino Dixieland Jazz Band
Stayin’ Alive—BeeGees Tribute
Riverside Hotel Casino
RENO
The Palmores
Atlantis Casino Resort
Smokey Joe’s Cafe
Eldorado Hotel Casino
Chippendale’s
Len Butcher, a 25-year resident of Las Vegas, is an Reno Hilton Hotel Casino
Silver Legacy Hotel & Casino Beach Boys
online columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal NEW MEXICO
and a former Managing Editor of the Las Vegas Sun Sandia Resort & Casino (10) Smokey Robinson
OKLAHOMA
and of Gaming Today. Reach him at [email protected] Cherokee Casino (49)
Jon Glazer Trio
5 4 P O K E R P L AY E R AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6 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
Aug 14, 7 & 9 p.m.
8:30 p.m. Feat. 3 top comedians weekly.
Joker’s Comedy Club, Karaoke Thursdays 8 p.m.
Sunday-Wednesday, 9 p.m.
Fridays & Saturdays, 9 p.m.
Thursdays 8 p.m. to Midnight, Sundays 2-6 p.m.
Fridays 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Thursday through Monday
Presents Banda Nortina Sats 8 p.m.-3 a.m.
Oct 20, 8 p.m.
Aug 6, 8 p.m.
Live Jazz, Tues. 8 p.m.
Aug 3, 8 p.m.
Nov 4, 8 p.m.
Aug 4, 9 p.m.
Aug 4, 9 p.m.
Aug 6, 7:30 p.m.
Aug 11-12, 9 p.m..
Aug 4, 8 p.m.
Aug 5, 8 p.m.
May 28, 8 p.m.
Ongoing, Wednesday through Monday, 7 & 10 p.m.
Sat-Thu, 8 p.m.
Tues, Thurs & Sat, 2:30 p.m. & Fri, 8 p.m.
Fri through Tues, 7:30 & 10:30 p.m.
Fridays & Saturdays 8:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m.
Aug 4, 8 p.m.
July 11-30, 7:30 p.m.
Jul 8, 8 p.m.
Fridays through Wednesdays. 8:30 & 10:30 p.m.
Thursdays thru Tuesdays, 9 p.m.
Tues through Sat, 10 p.m.
Thursdays through Tuesdays, 8 p.m.
Tue thru Sun (dark Mon), 7:30 p.m.,
Sun 3 p.m. & 7 p.m.
Fri thru Tue, 7:30 p.m.
Monday through Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Mondays through Saturdays, 7 & 10 p.m.
July 12-15, 9 p.m.
8 p.m. nightly Sat thru Thu
Sun thru Fri, 8 p.m. & Sat, 7 & 9 p.m.
7 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Sundays; 8 p.m.
Fridays; 7 & 10:30 p.m. Saturdays, Mondays.
Fri thru Tue, 7:30& 10:30 p.m.
8 p.m. (Monday thru Friday)
Aug 11-12, 10:30 p.m.
Thursdays thru Mondays, 7:30 & 10:30 p.m.
Tuesdays thru Saturdays, 7pm; Tuesdays &
Saturdays. 7 & 10 p.m.
Aug 3-6, 8 p.m.
Thu thru Sun, 8 p.m.
Tuesdays thru Saturdays, 7 p.m.
Aug 4, 8 p,m,
9 p.m. Tuesdays thru Sundays.
Nightly, 8 p.m.
Wed thru Mon, 9:30 p.m.
Wed thru Mon, 7:30 p.m.
Tue thru Sun, 9:30 p.m
Sun thru Thu, 7 p.m.
Mon-Sat, 9 p.m.
Fri-Wed, 10 p.m.
8 p.m. nightly
Aug 3-6, 5:30 & 8:30 p.m.
Aug 11, 8 p.m.
Nightly. 7:30 p.m. (dark Monday)
Ongoing, Thu thru Tue 2 & 4 p.m.
Ongoing, 10:30 p.m.
Ongoing, 6:30 & 8:30 p.m.
Ongoing, 2 & 4 p.m.
Aug 12, 8 p.m.
Nightly, 10:30 p.m.
Aug 4, 8 p.m.
Ongoing, Wednesdays thru Saturdays 7:30 p.m.
Sat-Thu, 2 & 4 p.m. p.m.
Ongoing, 7:30 p.m. & 10 p.m.
Ongoing, Mon thru Sun, 7:30 p.m. & Sat, Sat
7:30 & 10:30 p.m.
Ongoing, 8 p.m.
Fridays & Saturdays, 8 p.m.
Aug 13, 8 p.m.
10 p.m.-4 a.m.
Ongoing, 8 p.m.
Aug 3, 8 p.m.
Aug 4-5, 8 p.m.
Aug 20, 8 p.m.
July 30, 7 p.m.
Another Targeted Bluff
We talked last time about the sublime
beauty of the bluff, especially one that’s
KILLER Poker
By John Vorhaus
strategically derived from the harmonic
convergence of our image, our foes’ tendencies, and
the grand larceny in our hearts. Let’s look at another
targeted bluff now.
NAME OF BLUFF: LOOSY IN THE SKY (WITH
NOTHING)
YOUR IMAGE: You have a loose image. If you’re
the sort of player who gets involved in a lot of hands,
your opponents won’t credit you with much of anything when you jump into the pot. That’s okay; their
own perception of your looseness will cause them to
lay down like ducks.
YOUR TARGET: Aim this bluff at kosher, straightforward foes, so-called true value players, who know
enough about poker to play the right kind of hands,
but not necessarily enough to play all their hands
right.
THE SITUATION: Having established the fact that
you muck around with all sorts of strange holdings,
set the hook by betting into, or accepting a raise
from, a true value player. You know his hand: big pairs
or big paint. He has the best of it going into the flop,
but that doesn’t matter because only a good flop will
help his hand -- but a wide variety of bad flops will
help yours!
THE BLUFF: Like most flop-dependent bluffs, this
one only works if the cards cooperate. If the flop
comes all high cards, you’re done with the hand
because your foe won’t credit you with having hit
the flop, and you know that the flop helped him. But
suppose the flop comes 9-8-7? You’ve trained your
enemy to expect you to be in there with slop like 9-8
or 9-7, so when you bet out, how can he stick around?
If all he has is a draw to overcards, he’ll go running,
and even if he has an overpair, he has to fear you for
a ten or a six, so that any number of straight cards on
the turn could knock him dead. Deciding that discretion is the better part of valor, he’ll skedaddle, hoping
to pound you with his big cards another day.
NUANCE: Your best friend is the coordinated middle
flop… but not too coordinated. You’re better off, for
example, betting into a two-flush than a three-flush
on board, because the three-flush could embolden
your foe to stick around with nothing but one suited
overcard. Seek flops that don’t help a good hand at
all, but could help the kind of crap you’re reputed to
play.
WHAT NEXT: Keep on keeping on. If you can reliably
put your foes on big hands but they can’t reliably put
you on anything, they’re simply begging to give their
money away. Just don’t let them trap you; at the first
sign of real resistance, fold your tent and wait for better times.
CAVEAT: Beware of a weak hit from a good hand. A
flop like T-6-3 or J-7-8 could spell big trouble for your
bluff attempt since your true value foes could easily
have called with A-T suited or J-Q suited; since they
know you to be a lying sack of cheese, they’re likely
to call when you bet, and beat you with the best hand.
Is there enough larceny in your game? I’d bet not
– because there’s not enough larceny in most players’
games. So go get some more. To paraphrase Eldridge
Cleaver (who may or may not have ever played poker,
“Bluff, baby bluff!”
[John Vorhaus is the author of Poker Night and
the Killer Poker book series, and news
ambassador for UltimateBet.com.]
56
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
2006-2007 WORLDWIDE
POKER TOURNAMENTS
NOW! Get Tournament Listings at our website: www.pokerplayernewspaper.com
>Denotes Advertiser; Poker Association Events also denoted: t=World Poker Tour,
s=World Series of Poker and e=European Poker Tour.
To list your 3-day events contact: A.R. Dyck, Assistant Publisher, at: [email protected]
DATE
EVENT
LOCATION
>Jun 24-Jul 27
Mini Series
The Bicycle Casino, Bell Gardens, CA (AdPg 3)
Jun 25-Aug 10 World Series of Poker
sRio, Las Vegas, NV
July 24-Aug 10 Bellagio Cup II
Bellagio Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV
Jul 26-29
Diamond Poker Classic
Casino Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
tThe Bicycle Casino, Bell Gardens, CA (AdPg 3)
Jul 28-Sep 1
Legends of Poker
Aug 7-13
Grosvenor U.K. Open
Grosvenor Casino, Luton, U.K.
Aug 12-20
Empire State Poker Series
Turning Stone Resort & Casino, Verona, NY
Aug 14-21
Brighton Summer Shaker
Grosvenor Casino, Brighton, U.K.
Aug 28-Sep 20 Borgata Poker Open
tBorgata Hotel Casino & Spa, Atlantic City, NJ
Aug 30- Sep 3 Edmonton Poker Classic
Casino Edmonton, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Aug 31-Sep 3
Bolton Poker Extravaganza
Grosvenor Casino, Bolton, U.K.
Aug 31-Sep 4
Oasis Open Poker Tournament Oasis Resort, Mesquite, NV
Sep 5-24
Calif. State Poker Ch’ship
Commerce Casino, Commerce, CA
Sep 7-10
Welsh Masters
Grosvenor Casino, Swansea, Wales
Sep 16-24
European Poker Championships Grosvenor Casino, Cardiff, Wales
Sep 18-Oct 7
US Poker Championships
Trump Taj, Atlantic City, NJ
Sep 22-25
Calif. Ladies State Poker Ch’ship Ocean’s Eleven, Oceanside, CA
>Sep 23-28 World Poker Dealer Ch’ships Binion’s (AdPg 32) Las Vegas, NV
Sep 28-Oct 8
Fall Pot of Gold
Reno Hilton, Reno, NV
>Sep 29-Oct 16 Big Poker Oktober
Bicycle Casino (AdPg 3), Bell Gardens, CA
Oct 4-8
Canadian Poker Championship Casino Yellowhead Edmonton, Alberta
Oct 5-21
Fiesta al Lago V
Bellagio, Las Vegas, NV
>Oct 18-29
Nat’l Championship of Poker Hollywood Park Casino (AdPg 5), L.A., CA
Oct 25-29
North American Poker Ch’ship Niagarafallsview Casino Resort, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
Oct 28-Nov 16 Foxwoods World Poker Finals
tFoxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, CT
Nov 3-19
Holiday Bonus
Commerce Casino, Commerce, CA
Nov. 8-18
Fall Poker Roundup
Wildhorse Casino, Pendleton, OR
Nov 9-12
Welsh Poker Festival
Grosvenor Casino, Cardiff, Wales
Nov 10-19
Peppermill Fall Tournament
Peppermill Hotel Casino, Reno, NV
Nov 20-26
B.C. Poker Championship
River Rock Casino Resort, Richmond, B.C., Canada
>Nov 24-Dec 11 Turkey Shoot/Ho-Ho Hold’em Bicycle Casino (AdPg 3), Bell Gardens, CA
Nov 28-Dec 19 5 Diamond World Poker Classic tBellagio, Las Vegas, NV
Dec 4-10
Christmas Cracker
Grosvenor Casino, Luton, U.K.
>Dec 18-23
Heavyweight Championship of Poker Sam’s Town (AdPg 43), Las Vegas, NV
Jan 4-25
Jack Binion World Poker Open tHorseshoe Casino Hotel / Gold Strike Casino Resort, Tunica, MS
Jan 6-13
PokerStars.com Caribbean Adventure tParadise Island, Bahamas
Jan 6-19
Crown Australian Poker Ch’ship (“Aussie Millions”) Crown Casino, Melbourne, Australia
Jan 21-25
World Poker Open
tGold Strike Casino, Tunica, MS
Jan 29-Feb 21
LA Poker Classic
tCommerce Casino, Commerce, CA
>Feb 19-Mar 2 Bay 101 Shooting Stars
tBay 101 (AdPg 20), San Jose, CA
Mar 8-30
World Poker Challenge
tReno Hilton, Reno, NV
Feb 22-24
WPT Invitational
tCommerce Casino, Commerce, CA
Mar 26-29
World Poker Challenge
tReno Hilton, Reno, NV
Apr 3-27
5-Star World Poker Classic
tBellagio, Las Vegas, NV
POKER
ON
TV
Boston vs. New York Poker
Challenge. (Check local listings for
times/stations). Thursday 11PM EDT. YES.
Poker Royale: Celebrities vs.
Poker Pros. Thursdays 2 AM EDT.
GSN.
Celebrity Poker Showdown.
July 26-27, 29, 31, Aug. 1-3, 5, 7-10, 12,
14-15, 17-19. (Check local listings for times).
Bravo.
Poker Superstars Invitational.
(Check local listings for times/channels). Fox Sports.
High Stakes Poker. Mondays 9PM
EDT, 8PM CDT. GSN
Ultimate Poker Challenge.
(Check local listings for times/channels).
Intercontinental Poker
Championship. (Check local listings
for channels). Saturday 5 PM EDT. WCBS.
U.S. Poker Championship.
(Check local listing for times). ESPN2
Learn From the Pros. (Check
local listing for times). Fox Sports.
MansionPoker.net Poker
Dome Challenge. (Check local listings for channels). Sun 10 PM EDT. FSN.
World Poker Tour. Wed. 9 PM EDT,
Sat. 9 PM EDT. Travel
World Series of Poker. (Check
local listing for times). ESPNC/ESPN2.
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© Copyright 2006. MANSION is an internationally registered trademark. All rights reserved.
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
57
*See Web site for details. Enjoy the free games, and before playing in the real-money games, please check
with your local jurisdiction regarding the legality of Internet poker. ©2006 Full Tilt Poker. All rights reserved.
58
AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
TO LEARN, CHAT AND PLAY WITH THE PROS, GO WHERE THEY LIVE.
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AU G U ST 7, 2 0 0 6
59

mini-series of poker - Poker Player Newspaper

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