Poker

2008 WSOP $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. Event #45 Final: Scotty Nguyen Claims Trophy

2008-06-30T15:36:00.000+01:00

It took five days and an amazing final-table performance to do it, but Scotty Nguyen claimed his fifth World Series of Poker bracelet with his victory in Event #45, the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship. He outlasted a final table featuring several other bracelet winners, Player of the Year candidates and some of the biggest cash-game players in the world on the way to the bracelet, the $1,989,120 first prize, and the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy. Nguyen started the final table just slightly behind Erick Lindgren in chips, with the seating assignments and chip stacks as follows: Seat 1: Matt Glantz — 1,445,000 Seat 2: Huck Seed — 1,200,000 Seat 3: Patrick Bueno —

695,000 Seat 4: Lyle Berman — 1,430,000 Seat 5: Scotty Nguyen — 3,535,000 Seat 6: Barry Greenstein — 1,955,000 Seat 7: Michael DeMichele — 905,000 Seat 8: Erick Lindgren — 3,680,000 Patrick Bueno started the final table on the short stack after hovering near the top of the leader board for several days. He busted early in the final table when he got the last of his chips in the middle in a razz hand against Erick Lindgren. Lindgren started with 8-7-2, and Bueno held 4-K-A on third street. Lindgren made an 8-low by the end of the hand, while Bueno paired his four on fourth street and bricked out the rest of the way to finish in eighth place ($230,880). Play was deliberate and the stacks were deep, so significant time passed between each elimination. Huck Seed was next to fall when he and Michael DeMichele tangled in a hand of stud hi/lo. DeMichele had the bring-in, and Seed called. DeMichele led out on fourth, and Seed called again. Seed had a pair of nines showing on fifth street when he led out, and DeMichele called. DeMichele called on every subsequent street, and tabled a flush and a low to send Seed to the rail in seventh place ($284,160). Barry Greenstein and Erick Lindgren went into this tournament in heavy contention for the Player of the Year title, and Greenstein took the lead when he was eliminated in sixth place ($355,200). Greenstein, who cashed in this event all three times it was played while making the final table twice, busted to Scotty Nguyen in a stud hi/lo hand that saw action on every street. Nguyen completed with [x-x] , and Greenstein called with the in the door. Greenstein led out on every street, and Nguyen called him all the way down to seventh street, when Greenstein fired out the last of his chips with a board of . Nguyen called and tabled [7-7] [6] for trip sevens. Greenstein held two pair, aces and fours, but no low. Nguyen's trips were good enough to send Greenstein to the rail in sixth. It took a while for the next elimination to take place, and it was multiple bracelet winner and "Big Game" regular Lyle Berman who busted in fifth place ($444,000). The action was capped on third street in razz when Berman, Scotty Nguyen and Michael DeMichele engaged in a raising frenzy. Berman was all in on the last bet, and DeMichele fired on every street. Nguyen called, and both players checked seventh street. DeMichele tabled 8-7-5-4-3, and both opponents mucked. Nguyen still had a healthy stack, but Berman was eliminated. Matt Glantz got all his chips in on the flop in Omaha hi/lo against Scotty Nguyen holding . Nguyen tabled on a flop of , for the nut low draw and a naked A-K to Glantz' pair of tens. The on the turn gave Nguyen a pair of aces and a flush draw, and Glantz was in trouble. The river made Nguyen's flush, and he scooped the pot as Glantz was eliminated in fourth place ($568,320). After Glantz was eliminated, the tournament entered marathon mode. The pace of eliminations had been fairly steady to that point, with 20 or 30 hands going by between bustouts. Here, nearly six hours passed between Glantz' elimination in fourth place and Erick Lindgren's third-place bustout. It took nearly 200 hands of three-way action before Lindgren and Scotty Nguyen tangled for the final time. In his final hand, Lindgren completed on third street with the in the door. Scotty Nguyen raised, showing the , and Lindgren called. Nguyen fired again on fourth street with showing. Lindgren had up and called. The on fifth street gave Lindgren the high board, and he bet out. Nguyen, with showing, raised and Lindgren called all in. Lindgren showed []- for a pair of eights, and Nguyen tabled a pair of nines. Lindgren caught no help on sixth or seventh street, and was eliminated in third place for $781,440. Lindgren also vaulted past Barry Greenstein on the Player of the Year points list with his third-place finish. Scotty Nguyen took more than a 4:1 chip lead into heads-up play with the young Michael DeMichele. The 22-year-old Connecticut native was playing his second WSOP final table, and was guaranteed his largest cash ever just by locking up second place. In fact, his cash in Event #45 was greater than the sum total of his live winnings up to that point. The chip stacks looked like this as heads-up play began: Scotty Nguyen: 12,140,000 Michael DeMichele: 2,660,000 It didn't take long for Scotty Nguyen to put his big stack to use and bust his final opponent to claim bracelet #5. After about ten hands of heads-up play, DeMichele raised preflop in hold'em with . Nguyen thought for a moment before saying, in inimitable fashion, "It's gonna be all over, baby." Nguyen raised with , and DeMichele called all in. The flop came down , and Nguyen was in a dominating lead. The came on the turn, and DeMichele could only win with a three on the river. The showed instead, and Michael DeMichele was eliminated in second place ($1,243,200). Scotty Nguyen earned $1,989,120 for his victory, and the right to call himself the world's greatest poker player… for a year, at least. The Prince of Poker beat one of the toughest fields in poker on his way to his fifth WSOP bracelet and the trophy honoring one of the true legends of the game, Chip Reese.

Catgirl banned from Nudity at the PartyPoker World Open

2008-04-29T19:34:00.000+01:00

The poker world slowly seems to be becoming more and more associated with scantily clad attractive young women (See this month's item on Abi Titmuss for example) so it didn't come as too big a surprise when our good friend Catman sent us a press release featuring his better half Catgirl wearing little more than a smile. He assures us he would be more than happy to do the same to redress the balance. Up and coming player 'Catgirl' is used to setting tongues wagging in the poker world. Ask anyone who saw the 23 year old Russian contortionist when she met Doyle Brunson last year at the WSOPE. In celebration of her birthday this week, she had planned on playing in the Party Poker World Open in her

'birthday suit'. Unfortunately Channel 5 enforced a 'no nudity' policy at the final hour and instead it was to be a full body paint outfit for her heat. It was probably a good thing in retrospect, her heat included Surinder Sunar, Liam Flood, World Series of Poker Europe Runner Up John Tabatabai, and Ian Woodley, all of whom we are sure would have acted perfect gents. We are not sure, however, about the Devilfish, who is also in the heat. In the words of Catman "This heat is going to bring a new dimension of glamour to TV poker, which can often be dominated by not quite so attractive male poker faces. Who wouldn't want to watch the flushing face of the Devilfish as he tries to get a read on Catgirl's body language, then tries to bluff this lady in the buff, this will be must watch TV Poker." Catgirl said, "I've played poker for two years now and have had a lot of success in high stakes cash. Poker is about entertainment as well being a very serious business, I want to go forward as a professional player, so why not give the world something to talk about - There is a lot at stake, but I want to have some fun and if it is my lucky day, then the sky's the limit. I am grateful to my sponsors Poker Trillion for giving me this opportunity, I am playing to win." We are yet to see if the Catgirl's choice of attire is the ace up her sleeve she needs or if the Devilfish will literally explode trying to control himself. Poker Trillion CEO Andy Pryah commented "Catgirls heat is like a who's who of poker, she's going to need to have all her talent on display if she's going to take down this table", Pyrah continued to comment, "Let's just hope the likes of Flood and Devilfish don't decide to go topless!"

The UK's first super casino

2007-09-02T10:08:00.000+01:00

Manchester has been chosen as the surprise location of the UK's first "super-casino". But what are super-casinos, and why are they so controversial?
What are super-casinos?
The Gambling Act 2005 allows for three new types of casino, the most controversial of which is the regional or "super-casino".
The main variation between the three types - the super-casino, large casino and small casino - is the size of the customer area allowed, the number of slot machines and size of the jackpot.
The super-casino will have a minimum customer area of 5,000 sq m and up to 1,250 unlimited-jackpot slot machines.
The government also expects the super-casino to have hotels, conference facilities, restaurants, bars and areas for live entertainment.
Las Vegas, in the US - the gambling capital of the world - has 30 such casino and hotel complexes, according to the Good Gambling guide website.
How many UK super casinos will there be?
Originally, the government said there would be up to 40 super-casinos but this number was cut - firstly to eight, and then to just one - in the face of heavy opposition.
Some 27 local authorities applied for the right to play host to the super-casino.
The independent Casino Advisory Panel (CAP) whittled the applicants down to a shortlist of eight, announced in May.
On the shortlist were Blackpool, Wembley Stadium, Cardiff, Glasgow, the former Millennium Dome in the London borough of Greenwich, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield.
But the Wembley bid was later withdrawn after local opposition.
Why was the Dome's application so controversial?
There were a series of rows about the Dome's application.
Firstly, it emerged that the Dome's redevelopers - Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) - had already started building work on a super-casino ahead of the licence being awarded.
And in August 2006 AEG was accused of distorting what local religious groups thought of plans for a Dome casino.
The bid also attracted controversy after it emerged that Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott had been a guest of AEG boss Philip Anschutz at his ranch in the US. Mr Prescott insisted he was not involved in the casino application process.
How was the contract for the successful super-casino decided?
The Casino Advisory Panel - whose five members include experts in planning and regeneration - had to take several factors into account before giving its final recommendations.
The casino had to address a need for regeneration in the area, which was likely to have high levels of unemployment and social deprivation.
The panel also had to take account of the new casino's social impact and ensure that it was not harmful, following concerns that people living close to proposed sites may have been vulnerable to gambling addiction.
The panel said they were particularly impressed with the way Manchester had put its bid together and met the criteria of social impact, regeneration, benefits and willingness to have a licence.
It also promised the "highest standards of social responsibility", with an independent Community Trust overseeing its workings.
What about the large and small casinos?
The CAP made recommendations for eight large and eight small casinos, from an original shortlist of 31, taking into consideration social impact and regeneration issues.
Large casinos will have a minimum area of 1,000 sq m and up to 150 slot machines with a maximum jackpot of £4,000.
The small casinos will have a minimum customer area of 750 sq m, up to 80 slot machines and a jackpot of £4,000.
Why is the Gambling Act 2005 so controversial?
Campaigners have warned that more Britons are getting into difficulties with gambling, particularly with the explosion in online casinos. They worry the new casinos will make the problem worse.
But Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has defended the introduction of new casinos, saying the government has modernised and tightened the laws on gambling, which would now be "the most protective legislation in the world".
She says she does not think the casinos will increase problem gambling, but says she is prepared to close them down if they do.

Former WSOP Champions Represent

2007-07-13T21:43:00.000+01:00

In the movie Rounders, Matt Damon's character asks, "Why do you think the same five guys make it to the final table of the World Series of Poker EVERY YEAR? What, are they the luckiest guys in Las Vegas?" With the huge expansion of the WSOP Main Event field, we may never see the same five guys make the final table again, but five former WSOP Champions have made the money this year. Scotty Nguyen, Carlos Mortensen, Berry Johnston, Huck Seed, and Robert Varkonyi not only survived the bubble, but all will have chips when Day Four of the 2007 WSOP Championship event begins today. The WSOP Championship draws former champions back like a family reunion. According to Harrah's preliminary entry

lists, nineteen former WSOP Champions were among the 2007 WSOP Championship starting field. Along with those mentioned above, they included Amarillo Slim Preston, Jim Bechtel, Doyle Brunson, Tom McEvoy, Johnny Chan, Phil Hellmuth, Brad Daugherty, Dan Harrington, Chris Ferguson, Bobby Baldwin, Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem and Jamie Gold. As a whole, former champions represented less than 0.3% of the starting field, but their relative representation has been growing as the field has been dwindling. As Day Four begins they now represent almost 1.5% of the field. Over all, 26% of the starting former champs have now made it to the top 5.3% of the field. In other words, being a former WSOP Champion gave you almost a 5-to-1 edge on the rest of the starting field in 2007. While it is no longer an era where the "same five guys" make it to the final table, this year poker is well represented by its former champions.

Florida Poker Bill Becomes Law

2007-06-15T09:50:00.000+01:00

A bill passed by the Florida legislature allowing casinos to raise stakes offered in poker ring games and tournaments has become law. The law will go into effect on July 1. After being passed by both the Florida House and Senate in late April, Florida Senate Bill 752 was forwarded to Governor Charlie Crist on June 1. Gov. Crist had the option to sign the bill, to veto it, or to leave it without a signature in which case the bill would automatically become law after a designated period. According to the official website of the Florida House of Representatives, SB 752 "Became Law without Governor's Signature" late Wednesday. Florida does not allow the governor a pocket veto. Poker

has been legal in Florida for years, although with restricted betting limits. In 1996, legislation was passed allowing cardrooms to spread poker games with a $10 maximum pot per hand. Then in 2003, new legislation was passed eliminating the $10-per-hand rule, but introducing a new maximum of $2 per betting round, thus ensuring $1/$2 limit hold 'em would become the most prevalent game spread in Florida casinos. The new law allows single bet limits to be raised to $5. Perhaps most significantly, the law also allows for no limit Texas Hold'em games with a maximum buy-in of $100. Tournaments may be offered with increased buy-ins. Cardrooms have also been given new freedoms when it comes to scheduling their hours of operation. While they still can only operate a maximum of 12 hours per day, they no longer are restricted to the noon-to-midnight window. Additionally, cardrooms associated with live racing are now allowed to open at times when racing is not being offered. "With Bill 752 becoming law . . . the possibilites are nearly endless for Florida poker rooms," said Christopher Cosenza, co-host of a poker podcast produced by the St. Petersburg (FL) Times. "In the past, cardroom managers were handcuffed by miniscule maximum bets, making the cash tables a mockery of skill and turning any given hand into a mini-lottery. Now, with the increase in betting limits, truly skilled players will have a better shot at plying their craft while the recreational player will have an even bigger thrill to brag about to their friends."

And the New World Poker Tour Hostess is ... Layla Kayleigh

2007-05-25T14:17:00.000+01:00

Rumors recently surfaced that Season V WPT Hostess Sabina Gadecki would not be returning for Season VI. For whatever reason, the World Poker Tour would be turning to its fourth hostess in four years. So far neither Courtney Friel or Sabina Gadecki have been able to fill the high-heeled shoes of Shana Hiatt. The poker world would have to wait until the final table of the Mirage Poker Showdown before seeing the new hostess, but PokerNews caught up with her a day early as she taped her first segments for the WPT. We are pleased to announce that the new hostess is -- drumroll, please -- Layla Kayleigh. The first question on the minds of most fans -- how does Kayleigh compare to those

who came before her? Shana Hiatt (Seasons I-III) was the incredibly-hot-but-seemingly-accessible girl next door. Courtney Friel (Season IV) was the attractive broadcast journalist. And Sabina Gadecki (Season V) was our sweet and innocent younger sister. Layla Kayleigh (Season VI) creates a new category of WPT hostess -- one that radiates sex appeal. Not just with her looks, but with her attitude and personality. Born and raised in London to parents with a diverse ethnic background (she is a mix of Caucasian, African, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern ancestry), this beautiful brunette will bring a bit of international flair to the World Poker Tour. While Layla is young (23 years old) and petite (5'3" tall), she's not innocent or naive -- this is a girl who knows who she is and can take care of herself. She can be sexy without going too far, and vivacious without being an airhead. She also has plenty of on-camera experience, serving as a host on MTV2 in Britain, and as a correspondent for ABC Football and "The Best Damn Sports Show Period." Layla currently hosts a segment called "The Feed" on the G4 network, where she reports on the latest tech news, and she can be heard weekly on the "Covino and Rich Show," which broadcasts on Sirius Maxim Radio. If that's not enough, she has a role in the upcoming film, "A Simple Promise," set to be released later this year. In late 2005, she was tapped to be a political correspondent on Al Gore's fledgling cable network, Current TV. But when Current TV learned she had posed for a sexy spread in Maxim magazine, she was promptly fired. She later told Maxim that she had no regrets, pointing out that the network wasn't as progressive as it claimed, and that hers was "the voice of women who can be sexy, smart, and intelligent while posing in lingerie." Layla's introduction to the poker world came in the summer of 2006, when she was invited to play in (and report on) a charity tournament sponsored by Stuff Magazine. She was a true poker rookie at that point, but after interviewing Jennifer Tilly, the actress/WSOP bracelet winner would spend three hours teaching Layla the basics of the game. Once the tournament began, Layla found herself seated next to the legendary Johnny Chan, and he took her under his wing that night and taught her some of the finer points of the game. The Tilly-Chan system served her well, and Layla played her way to the final table. The World Poker Tour recently contacted her about potentially hosting their sixth season, and Layla went through five separate auditions, feeling less confident about her chances each time. To her surprise, she was offered the job, and she happily accepted. WPT Executive Vice President Robyn Moder calls Layla "energetic, intelligent and strikingly beautiful -- the perfect combination to engage WPT fans." Taping her first segments out in front of the Mirage Tuesday night, Layla is definitely comfortable in front of a camera. She thinks quickly on her feet, and seems to have a bit of an edge to her. If Sabina had a flaw at all, it was that she exuded purity and innocence -- and poker isn't an innocent game. It's dark, and it has an edgy quality that makes it much cooler than games like chess or backgammon. Layla can tap into that edginess. Tonight will be her first test as the new hostess, presiding over the first WPT final table of Season VI. Will she be able to crack Phil Ivey's media-proof shell? Can she get online pros Cory Carroll and Darrell Dicken to open up? Will she draw more viewers to the show when it switches to GSN? Ultimately, we won't know the answers until her episodes air, sometime in 2008. Layla knows that the previous two hostesses were let go after a single season, and she plans to work hard so she'll be asked back for Season VII. Nobody will ever be able to fill Shana's shoes -- she was one of a kind. But Shana has moved on to another show, so it's time we moved on as well. If we let Layla be herself, she could potentially do more for the show than even the return of Shana Hiatt.

Cory Carroll Wins Caesar's Palace WSOP Circuit Main Event

2007-05-04T22:09:00.001+01:00

Not too many people have heard of Cory Carroll. Those that know him, like Gavin Smith, have tremendous respect for his game. "He's the best player you've never heard of," said Shane 'Shaniac' Schleger. Maybe Carroll will finally get the recognition he deserves after winning the WSOP Circuit event at Caesar's Palace. He won $506,176 along with a seat into the WSOP Main Event in July at the Rio. The $5,000 buy-in event drew over 336 players and featured a prize pool of over $1.6 million. Some of the biggest names in poker were in the field such as Greg Raymer, Chris Jesus Ferguson, Scotty Nguyen, Men the Master, Erick Lindgren, Barry Greenstein, David Williams, Max

Pescatori, and two time Circuit event winner Peter "Nordberg" Feldman. After thee days of poker Cory Carroll emerged as the winner. Chad Brown and David "The Dragon" Pham were the two biggest named pros remaining in the tournament when the final table began on Wednesday. For the majority of the tournament, Carroll flew under the radar was a virtual unknown to everyone in Las Vegas, even though he entered the day as the chipleader.

Greece Looms as Next EU Online Gaming Battleground

2007-04-20T21:29:00.000+01:00

While it probably wasn't the European Union's intent to serve as defenders of online gambling, the international organization's stated free- and open-trade purposes have turned out to have exactly that effect. EU member nations across the continent are finding to their dismay that free trade really means free trade, and the fact that the impacted party is often the government itself doesn't change the basic issue. Not long after a landmark decision was handed down against Italy by the European Court in a similar case, Greece has now been placed squarely in the EU's crosshairs. This time, a British-licensed online gambling firm, William Hill, forced the matter. William Hill applied for a license

last week in Greece to open betting shops in that country, which would place it in direct competition with OPAP, the gambling concern granted monopoly status by the Greek government. William Hill made its application knowing full well that Greece was likely to deny it; William Hill's chief executive, David Harding, was quoted in several reports as saying he believed that Greece was in violation of European law, and that if the application was rejected, William Hill planned on pursuing the matter through the European Court. Not only did initial Greek media reports indicate that William Hill's application was likely to be rejected, the Greek government upped the stakes by arresting nine people in western Greece for unauthorized gambling. Three of the nine operated Internet cafes while the other six were customers, and all nine were cited for using an unnamed British bookmaking service (perhaps but not necessarily William Hill) instead of OPAP for their gambling service. This follows the arrest of an Athens man last month on similar charges. OPAP's president, Sotiris Kostakos, was reported as saying, "The only company with the right to operate betting in Greece is OPAP." Kostakos also suggested that the EU refer such complaints to the courts of the member countries, which is exactly what these countries seeking to protect their monopolistic revenue streams want to see happen. However, the EU has shown an interest in online gambling and ruled it to be a class of trade that should be available on an equal basis throughout all member countries. The European Union's impact on international trade agreements remains the brightest hope for all forms of online gambling, including poker.

Size Matters – WSOP Increases Starting Stacks Across All Events

2007-03-23T21:43:00.000Z

One bit of news from last week's World Series of Poker media teleconference emerged with a bit of a twist: The WSOP will be doubling the starting chip stacks for all 55 events listed on the current schedule. In response to a question posed during the conference, WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel announced that the starting chip stacks would be doubled in all events, and in the days after the conference, the new structures were added in to the content on the official worldseriesofpoker.com site. Interested parties can review the structures for any of the events by first clicking into the '07 WSOP schedule, and then by clicking on the title of any event, which is a hyperlink to a page containing

the blind structure and other event specifics. Effel explained that the doubling of chips was necessary to add a couple of extra levels of play to the intermediate levels of early, low buy-in events; these events have been cited in earlier years as not offering much real poker play. In turn, the WSOP seems to have decided that doubling chip stacks across the board was the best way to provide uniformity, even if in some events such as the Main Event, the higher chip stacks do not necessarily mean more play. The Main Event's move to $20,000 in starting chips brought notice in several discussion forums. Early conjecture that the reason for doubling the chip stacks across the board centered on the need to prevent the surreptitious theft and reintroduction of chips from smaller events into the Main Event. However, those thoughts are not born out by the facts; as reported by Pokernews.com's own Tim Lavalli a few weeks ago, the WSOP will introduce many distinct chip sets for this year's WSOP. Three of the sets will be used for actual event play, while the other three are reserved for varying satellite formats. In addition, one of the three 'live event' patterns will be used only in the Main Event and nowhere else. It should not be possible for a rogue player to introduce chips into the ME that have been extracted from earlier events. Opinions vary as to how much of the changes in starting stacks and blind structures will add to play, and how much is cosmetic. Lower buy-in events clearly make a marginal gain in terms of added play, while examinations of the Main Event structures show that the new structure mirrors the old quite closely, bouncing up and down in comparative measure with many of the minor differences accounted for by rounding and chip-denomination needs. One emerging tournament force, Joe Sebok, sees them as "cosmetic, albeit good cosmetic changes." "The added levels are nice," said Sebok, "but really don't drastically change much in terms of play. The bottom line is that it will make players feel better regardless of much change in play, and that is a good thing." Sebok continued by noting, "The WSOP is really stuck in a tough spot with this issue, though, as they have to compete with so many different events in an extremely finite amount of time. It's simply the nature of the beast at such a massive event as the WSOP." On whole, of course, Sebok's thoughts echo the general player sentiment that the adjustments are a good and necessary thing. Or, as Sebok put it, "I applaud [WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey] Pollack and the boys for those changes."

It's East vs West at Party Poker's European Challenge

2007-03-10T08:19:00.001Z

The cold war may be over but that won't stop Tony G. and The Devilfish doing battle across the felt during Party Poker's European Challenge tournament, at the Concorde Card Casino, Vienna, this spring. In four days time the PartyPoker.net European Challenge in Vienna, Austria will be getting underway. The event will be at the heart of the 2007 Spring Poker Festival. A team of online qualifiers from Eastern Europe take on a team of Western European online qualifiers in the PartyPoker.net East versus West Cup, a €100,000 freeroll at the Concord Card Casino. Just to spice things up, Party Poker have brought in two of the highest profile names

in poker as team captains. Tony G. will head the team from the East. Tony, who is no stranger to controversy, caused a stir in last year's Intercontinental Poker Championship at the Palms Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas (also a Party Poker event). After an interesting hand involving Russian Ralph Perry, which many readers will have seen on the YouTube web site, commentator Gabe Kaplan said, "Tony G is single handedly trying to reignite the cold war". Tony, who is of Lithuanian descent, will be leading a number of Russian players in this challenge! Meanwhile the West will be captained by UK favourite, Dave "Devilfish" Ulliot. The Devilfish has already tangled with Tony G. in the last week. Both of these big guns were firing at the Party Poker Premier League in Maidstone, which was covered exclusively on UK PokerNews. The Devilfish started the war of words early with Guoga when he said, "Tony G is like a puppy dog, lots of bark but no bite." Never one to take a shot across the bows lying down, Tony G. retorted, "Devilfish lost it at Premier League Poker – it should be easy because he is not on his game." A PartyPoker.net spokesman said: "Something has got to give here. They've been in each others faces so much in the last week or so and it wasn't all smiles when they failed to say goodbye to each other at the Poker Den. Phil Hellmuth really stirred the pot too. We'll definitely need to draw an iron curtain between them now. I think we've done a good job in making them both insane! It was deliberate, of course!" The final table of 10 for the PartyPoker.net East versus West Cup will share €50,000, while the winning team will get €50,000 split between them. PartyBets, which can be accessed by PartyPoker account holders, cannot split the two teams when it comes to pricing up this event. Both teams are 5/6 currently with the online betting site.

L.A. Poker Classic - Day 4 Recap - Down to 18

2007-03-01T08:52:00.000Z

54 players returned to the Commerce Casino for the fourth day of action at the L.A. Poker Classic main event. By Midnight, only 18 players remained and JC Tran leaped out in front of the pack with a massive $3.46 million stack, which was almost as much as second, third and fourth places… combined. In less than eight hours of play, Tran started with 636K and amassed almost three million in chips. The money bubble burst late on Day 3, and every returning player was guaranteed at least $22,780 in prize money. You figured that the entrants would be thrilled to make the money, but several players including pros complained at the top-heavy structure, where first place and second place will take home a

combined 44% of the total prize pool. The final TV table's combined cut is almost two-third of the total $7.9 million prize pool. In a top-heavy tournament such as the L.A. Poker Classic, players tweak their strategy a little knowing that there's very little difference between 54th and 24th place's prize money. As soon as the money bubble burst, there was a series of quick bustouts. Smaller stacks who had been hanging on hoping to squeak into the money finally loosen up and made moves. Since play ended last night just as the bubble broke, the first level of Day 4 featured a series of rapid fire eliminations. 21 players began Day 4 above the average stack of 293K. The remaining 33 were below average with ten players under 100K in chips. The short stacks had no choice but to aggressively pick and hand and move all-in. Bill Edler entered the Day 4 as the chipleader with Jason Strasser not far behind in second place. Edler has a reputation of being one of the nicest guys on the tournament circuit. He's a patient player with solid fundamentals. He admits that his biggest leak is that he has issues with mathematics. Edler is meticulous about keeping his stacks in a specific order and size, and can often seen trading chips with other players to maintain a uniformity of chip stacks and colors. When asked about this behavior he answered, "I'm not very good at math. Earlier today I forget whether I had 260,000 or 360,000. The well ordered stacks are because I can't count." Jason Strasser was the first player to pass the $1 million chip mark on Day 4 after he busted Gary Kainer in 44th place. Bill Edler soon followed suit and joined the $1 million club after he scooped one of the biggest pots of the tournament off of Isaac Haxton. Haxton had trip Queens, but Edler had flopped a set, then turned a full house with . JC Tran slowly built up his stack to $1 million when he rivered a runner-runner flush against Chris Bell. He busted Sung Yi in 24th place, and with 21 players left in the field, he had $1.3 million and a slight lead over Jason Strasser. Tran became the first player to rush past the $2 million as he took advantage of the short-handed tables and bullied everyone in his path. With a series of well-timed re-raises in position, Tran accumulated chips by winning several pots pre-flop. With a big stack, he was able to see plenty of flops and outplayed everyone at his table post-flop. "Everything I've been doing has been working out," Tran explained. "I go with the flow and whatever is working, I stick with it. I've hit some flops and I'm running good." Tran surpassed the $3 million mark when he eliminated Hans "Tuna" Lund in 20th place. Lund had Tran dominated when he flopped a King with Big Slick. With , Tran flopped an 8 and smooth called Lund's flop bet of 150K. The turn was another 8 and Tran bet out 250K. Lund quickly pushed all in and Tran could not have called faster with trip 8s. The river did not help Lund as he headed to the rail. At that point, no one at Tran's table wanted to tangle with his monster stack. Kristy Gazes cashed in her sixth straight event. She had been limiting her tournament play which she credited to her recent run. She picked up chips early when she busted Greg "FTB" Mueller with against his . She was never near the top of the leaderboard and hovered around average for most of Day 4. Her tight image allowed her to occasionally pick up chips against her opponents to stay alive. Gazes avoided slipping into tiltdom when she became the short-stack at her six-handed table. On a board of , Gazes faced a 100K bet from Ben Johnson and went into the tank. After only two minutes, Johnson called the clock on Gazes. She folded, but was visibly unhappy about having the clock called on her when so many players, including a few at her table, had been stalling in later stages of the evening. "I'm a professional," she sternly said to Johnson. "Have you ever seen me stall in this tournament? We're playing for $2 million here, how about you let me make a decision?" Gazes eventually regained her composure and survived Day 4. She ended up 16th in chips with a little over 300K. CK Hua busted out in 19th place as play was suspended for the day. The final 18 players will return on Day 5 and play down to the final six. Here are the end of Day 4 chipcounts: 1 JC Tran $3,461,000 2 Jacobo Fernandez $1,334,000 3 Jason Strasser $1,196,000 4 Bill Edler $1,160,000 5 Tad Jurgens $1,059,000 6 Benjamin Johnson $1,055,000 7 David Bach $985,000 8 Chau Giang $813,000 9 Paul Wasicka $806,000 10 Eric Hershler $745,000 11 Chris Bell $636,000 12 Vincent Procopio $512,000 13 Joseph Cordi $512,000 14 Richard Munro $371,000 15 Jay Chang $333,000 16 Kristy Gazes $307,000 17 Juan Alvarado $282,000 18 Shan Jing $266,000 Here's a current list of Day 4 money winners: 19 CK Hua $45,560 20 Hans "Tuna" Lund $45,560 21 Suk Sung $45,560 22 Nam Le $45,560 23 Nick Schulman $45,560 24 Sung Yi $45,560 25 Isaac Haxton $45,560 26 Jeff Cabanillas $45,560 27 Babak Razi $45,560 28 Matthew Gianetti $35,690 29 Lee Markholt $35,690 30 Markus Stranzinger $35,690 31 Ted Lawson $35,690 32 Sean McCabe $35,690 33 Joe Awada $35,690 34 John Galbraith $35,690 35 John Little $35,690 36 Michael Carson $35,690 37 Roland Weedon $28,855 38 Daniel Idema $28,855 39 Avdo Djokovic $28,855 40 Lester Naquin $28,855 41 Robert Nehorayan $28,855 42 Greg "FTB"Mueller $28,855 43 Edward "Bolivia" Moncada $28,855 44 Gary Kainer $28,855 45 Richard Tatalovich $28,855 46 Jeffrey Anderson $22,780 47 Nhut Minh Tran $22,780 48 Dan Harmetz $22,780 49 Alan 'Bodog Ari' Engel $22,780 50 Peter Getten $22,780 51 Stan Jablonski $22,780 52 Steve Yoon $22,780 53 Daniel Woodward $22,780 54 Nick Binger $22,780 The average stack is $659,166. Action for Day 5 at the L.A. Poker Classic resumes at 3:30 P.M. local time in the ballroom at the Commerce Casino.

World Poker Tour Inks PartyGaming to International Sponsorship Deal

2007-02-12T22:19:00.000Z

Two poker entities sharing a stated goal of aggressively expanding into non-U.S. markets have joined forces, as WPT Enterprises, Inc., has signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with PartyGaming Plc. The deal means that PartyPoker.com will be visible during international telecasts of WPT Enterprises shows now airing or planned to air in these worldwide venues. The series included in the agreement are Seasons IV, V and VI of the World Poker Tour®, and Seasons I, II and III of the Professional Poker Tour(TM). Financial specifics were not provided, although the deal's overall value will depend on how many markets receive the programming, how many total episodes are aired,

and the amount of in-show brand integration that occurs. WPT Enterprises-produced shows currently air in more than 150 global markets and broadcast systems. Given that some of the series mentioned in the agreement are already 'in the can,' the announcement's reference to planned 'in-show branded integration' implies that a form of electronic retrofitting will occur; these episodes may well be re-engineered with a PartyPoker.com graphic embedded into the shot, perhaps on a corner of the felt. Such virtual ads are a widespread marketing practice within televised sporting events, as with the electronic billboards that appear on TV on an otherwise blank area of a baseball stadium's outfield wall. As for the deal itself, both companies seek to gain through the combined use of international marketing resources, leveraging each other into a position of increased overall international market visibility. PartyGaming has also made commitments concerning online satellites to WPT events and will help to promote the WPT Academy, an online teaching and reference tool built around hands and situations extracted from WPT play.

Poker Book Review: 'The Poker Tournament Formula'

2007-01-25T20:32:00.000Z

We've all been in the position, whether in an online poker tournament or a live tournament in a casino. We've sat and nursed our starting chip stack, never growing it significantly, while those around us have chip stacks that dominate the felt in front of them. What if you were told that there was a method so that you could be one of those mountainous stacks on a fast track to the final table rather than the one nursing their chips to a middle of the pack finish? Noted gaming author Arnold Snyder, whose work in the field of blackjack is considered by many to be unparalleled, now brings his strategic and mathematical analysis to the world of poker with "The Poker Tournament Formula". The book, published by Cardoza Publishing

and available at all bookstores, through Amazon.com or on cardozapub.com for roughly $19.95 U. S. ($25.99 Canadian and 13.95 British pounds), is a very exacting and thought provoking work that will bring some new strategies to the poker tables, especially those with short time blind structures and smaller starting stack sizes. At the minimum, "The Poker Tournament Formula" can be used as a method of "changing gears" that some players seem to have problems with at the tables. The crux of Snyder's work is put into a breakdown of the structure of poker tournaments, which Arnold accurately points out should dictate the style of play that you employ at the tables. By using a formulaic outcome he calls the "patience factor", Snyder breaks tournaments down into six categories, ranging from zero (a crapshoot, in his views) to six (slow, skillful play should be the determinate). Through the determination of what type of tournament you are playing, whether live or online, Snyder then proposes a very simple strategy (which we will get to in a moment). It comes as no surprise that most online tournaments fall into the first two levels of Snyder's formula, requiring a more freewheeling style of play. Arnold suggests that, in these types of tournaments, more often than not you should be betting that your opponents DON'T have the cards rather than that they do. Because you will get premium hands very infrequently, Snyder suggests to play this gambling style in later position which (unless you run into an opponent's monster hand or another gambling style player) should earn you more pots and, thus, allow you to run deeper into tournaments. Arnold points out that this freewheeling, gambling style doesn't work quite as well in deep stack or slower blind structure tournaments (those that fall in the four to six range of his scale). Because of the plentitude of chips and the slower level structure, you can play the strategic and patient game that is employed in major tournaments such as those put on by the World Poker Tour. Snyder also points out that these slow structure events can even extend to the high dollar online tournaments and, surprisingly, to some of the low level buy in tournaments that you can find weekly in the Las Vegas casinos. There were several good points to Arnold's book that I have seen executed in the smaller buy-in events online. The gambling style will be effective if you are at a table that has solid, "rock" style players that won't challenge you back. His theory of "betting the players behind you don't have hands" is a solid one and, if you are played back at, Snyder does offer thorough strategy for handling such situations. These practices overall, if employed judiciously through a tournament, can offer a tremendous ability to make strong runs in fast structure events. The theories that Arnold provides in the book could be revolutionary for tournament poker in this day and age. The gambling mentality that he proposes have been seen, by this writer in live tournaments and by many on ESPN's broadcasts of the World Series events (especially in 2006), and have been highly useful in their psychological effectiveness and their problematic player categorization at the tables. While many might not be able to pull off the entirety of the strategy over a whole tournament, it can be useful as a "gear change," even in a slower structured tournament. "The Poker Tournament Formula" is a highly interesting book that will make people rethink their strategies, especially in fast structured tournaments. While some of the book's content after the presentation of Snyder's theories don't reveal anything new, the basis of the "patience factor" and the strategies themselves are well thought out and can be beneficial to many tournament poker players. If you're looking for a new way to consider how to play tournament poker, "The Poker Tournament Formula" could be the book that you are looking for.

No surprise in Gutshot ruling

2007-01-16T20:24:00.000Z

The Gutshot Case was ruled on by the jury on Tuesday 16 January. They took less than two hours to find the club guilty of running unlicensed poker games.

This was a totally correct decision and would be similarly if a case was brought about blackjack, that being like poker, a game of both chance and skill. A license is required because they are gambling games. Duplicate bridge avoided being kept in the same category because the protagonists received the same cards.

Interestingly, the prosecutor's case, that poker is a game of chance, was very weak. There can be an element of chance even in chess tournaments, that does not prevent it being a game of skill.

The problem for and sometimes advantage of poker is that it is lumped alongside games of total chance, such as roulette, craps, slot machines and punto banco.

No doubt the Gutshot will appeal against the verdict. Sensible poker players should want poker professional games to be officially licensed.

Poker and British Law

2007-01-12T08:34:00.000Z

Currently a trial is taking place about whether the Gut Shot Club in Clerkenwell is breaking the law by spreading poker and charging the players.

It partly hinges on whether poker is a game of chance and gambling or a game of skill. There is little doubt it is all of these. Poker is clearly a game of great skill. But in the short term there is a considerable luck element. The prosecutor is talking nonsense when he states that shuffling the cards means therefore the game is one of chance. Bridge would be regarded as gambling under this criterion and that battle was won over 20 years ago.

Winning poker players do not want the court to rule that poker is solely a game of skill. If that were the conclusion, players would eventually become subject to tax on their winnings. That would be a disaster.

The truth is that poker is unlike other casino games and it should not be lumped together with roulette, slot machines, craps or punto banco. Professionals should want the game to be regulated intelligently by the government - but not as an uneasy bedfellow with the casino games.

The 'Other' Games of Poker: Linda Johnson on Razz

2007-01-11T18:40:00.000Z

Linda Johnson, the vibrant, gregarious, and dare I say sassy "First Lady of Poker" is also one of the few people alive that can call herself a razz world champion. She took home her first World Series of Poker bracelet in the 1997 razz event and made another WSOP final table in 2004 in the $1,500 stud hi-lo event. In addition to her duties as the floor announcer for the World Poker Tour, Johnson still tears up games at the $100-$200 level both live and online and has won two ladies' events in the past year– at the Orleans Open in Las Vegas and the California Ladies State Poker Championship in Oceanside, CA.

We're privileged to have Linda Johnson join us this week to share a little razz strategy with us. (For a quick refresher course on the rules, look no further than Ashley Adams' excellent columns on the game).

Nicole Gordon: Razz is enjoying a bit of a renaissance in the internet poker age now that sites like Full Tilt and Poker Stars have started spreading online ring games and tournaments. Still, razz is missing from B&M casinos outside of mixed games (and the occasional high-limit razz ring games that go off at Commerce). How did you get yourself started in razz? Was it in B&M mixed games or did you just decide to give it a shot in a tournament setting?

Linda Johnson: When I began playing poker in the late 70s, razz was played in Las Vegas at the Fremont Hotel. The game was spread daily and players didn't play too well. I learned to play and enjoyed the game.

NG: What are some of the most common mistakes you see from inexperienced razz players?

LJ: Inexperienced players tend to not understand who the favorite is in a hand on fifth street. Also, many of them don't realize that it doesn't usually pay to continue with a hand if you catch a bad card on fourth street and your opponent catches a good card.

NG: I've found that one hole in my own game is not paying enough attention to the low cards that have already been folded. How crucial is it to track these "dead cards?" Do you have any tricks that help you to remember them?

LJ: It is very important to remember the "dead cards" as this will give you a clue if your opponent has paired or not. For instance, if you have seen two fours folded and your opponent catches a four, it probably didn't pair him. Also, you need to know how many cards are left in the deck to complete your hand. Each person has a different trick to remembering cards, but I just try to pay attention and say them in my head so I can remember.

NG: Let's take a look at a few hand situations. Let's say a J brings it in and I raise with (5-2) 3. A third player, who calls almost everything to the river has (x-x) A and calls. The J folds. On fourth street, I catch a Q for a board of (5-2) 3-Q while my opponent catches a 7 for (x-x) A-7. He leads out at me-- would you call here having caught bad?

LJ: No, you shouldn't call here unless the pot was double-raised on third street.

NG: Let's say it's a short-handed game and you've brought it in with (A-3) K. A couple of big cards fold and a LP player with (x-x) 2 raises. He's the type of guy who could easily be on a steal with one bad card in the hole. Would you make the call here or fold? What if that same LP player was showing a 9 instead of a 2?

LJ: The answer depends on the structure of the game you are playing. If the ante is large, you can consider calling, but you can only call against one player with a low card, never against two players. It isn't a big mistake to fold either. It is easier to make the call against a nine than a deuce.

NG: If you decide to call, what would be your move on fourth street if you catch good for (A-3) K-4 and he also catches good with (x-x) 2-7?

LJ: In this scenario, I would call again on fourth street as there is now more money in the pot and it is a single bet to you. The bet doesn't double until fifth street.

NG: Let's say on 3rd street you were the bring-in with (3-5) 9, your opponent raised showing the (x-x) A and you made the call. On fourth street, you bet out with (3-5) 9-7 and he took one off after bricking with a Q. Now, on fifth street you show a board of (3-5) 9-7-8 and your opponent shows (x-x) A-Q-2. How do you proceed in this hand with a rough nine? Do you check here on fifth street or bet out, forcing him to pay to draw? What happens if he catches a good card (say, a 7) on sixth street and you do not improve?

LJ: I would definitely check on fifth street and hope my opponent checks also. If he has a smooth draw, he is a favorite in the hand. If he catches a seven on sixth street and bets, I am going fold most likely unless he is a maniac player.

NG: Any final words of advice for hold'em players giving razz a shot?

LJ: Razz is one of the easiest games to play, but does require patience. Most decisions are automatic. You should have the best hand or the best draw or fold. It is also a game where it's "what's up top that counts." You can bet and represent a good hand if you catch good cards and your opponent catches poorly. Have fun!

The Year in Poker: March, 2006

2006-12-21T19:02:00.000Z

Post a comment By any measure, March of 2006 was a strange month for poker news. Sure, there were the straight-up news stories, such as the kickoff of the National Heads-Up Championship and a triumph by a college student on a cruise of a lifetime, but odd things were afoot --- a major online poker site that crashed for weeks, another that struggled to find a replacement for its CEO, and then news about a couple of poker shows stretched the boundaries of poker-show entertainment. Fine reading, all of it. Here's just a sampling of what March delivered:

Minnesota Student Takes PartyPoker Million V --- Yes, college students do play online poker in their dorm rooms, and 2006 was the year that they not only played, they took down huge titles. Hot on the heels of Steve Paul-Ambrose's win in the Poker Stars Caribbean win came College Student Triumph #2: Mike Schneider, a student at the University of Minnesota, took down the Party Poker Million V aboard a Caribbean cruise ship. Schneider triumphed against a field of online qualifiers sprinkled with tough pros, one of whom, Kenna James, also made the final table. Schneider had more than memories of Jamaica and the Grand Caymans for his return to Minnesota, as he toted home $1,000,000 for the win.

Has PartyGaming Found Their New CEO? --- PartyGaming PLC's move from the UK to Gibraltar resulted in a defection at the very top, when sitting CEO Richard Segal announced that he would not join the company in its move. In late March the news broke that PartyGaming had settled on the replacement, with online-payments executive Mitch Garber slotted to step into the role. Segal's defection turned out to be a small roadbump for PartyGaming, compared to the giant "Bridge Out" UIGEA situation looming a few months later.

Interesting Matchups in National Heads-Up Poker Championship NBC returned to Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas to film its second annual 'National Heads-Up Poker Championship,' with 64 top pros matched up in six rounds of head-to-head no-limit matches. The tournament culminated with Ted Forrest triumphing over Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson to claim the $500,000 top prize. Forrest's win propelled him to the cover of several spring poker magazines and stood as the linchpin of a climb to front-line fame for the cash-game specialist. Ferguson's second-place showing gave him back-to-back runner-up finishes in this event, as he dropped the first year's final showdown to Phil Hellmuth.

Recent Issues with Ultimate Bet --- Growth pains. One of the largest online poker sites, Ultimate Bet, had a rough couple of weeks in March. While conspiracy theorists soon dotted the forums with dire predictions that UB was gone for good, no doubt with many hundreds of millions in tow, the truth was rather more sedate. The site had grown so rapidly that it had tapped out its existing network capabilities earlier than planned, and the overload caused repeated crashes. Worse, an investigation into the structural problems of the site's programming background indicated that a complete (but as rapid as possible) overall had to be done. Customers were left with little to do but stew as repairs were being made, but UB promised several new promotions intended to make the wait worthwhile. As promised, a new and improved UB soon returned to the online scene.

Phil Hellmuth Tapped as Next Co-Host for 'Celebrity Poker Showdown' --- 2006 was a good year for the 'Poker Brat,' when measured by headline inches. This story could have been titled 'Out with the Old Phil, In with the New,' as it was earlier announced that Phil Gordon would be leaving his role as 'Celebrity Poker Showdown's original co-host, and would be replaced by Hellmuth. At the least, the move saved the show a few bucks on having to get a new batch of name tags.

Finding the Next Great Poker Star in the Caribbean --- Speaking of unique concepts for televised poker shows, March also saw the announcement of "Calvin Ayre Wild Card Poker," a Bodog-produced series intended to discover the 'Next Great Poker Star.' The shows were filmed in Costa Rica, both at a San Juan studio and at Ayre's nearby palatial estate, and poker was only part of the program's intended appeal. The Bodog lifestyle, featuring a unique mix of erstwhile celebrities and 'Bodog Recording Artists,' was also on tap. The show began airing in April and kicked off at least two more sensational developments, the raiding of the Ayre estate by Costa Rican authorities and a lawsuit filed by an independent documentary producer, Babette Pepaj, over the concept for the show.

PokerStars Cracks 100,000 Player Mark --- And Stars just kept chugging along. In the first days of March, Poker Stars announced that they had just topped a long-anticipated mark, having had over 100,000 different real-cash players playing simultaneously in the cash games and tourneys on the site. These days, Stars routinely notches six-figure participation, but given that only three years early Stars had struggled to top the 10,000-player mark, it was a head achievement, indeed.

The green felt revolution rolls on.

2006-12-14T22:50:00.000Z

They like to think of it as the green felt revolution - the upset defeat of Iowa Rep. Jim Leach, father of the Internet gambling ban, in last month's congressional election.

Leach had been in online gamblers' sights ever since Congress passed the ban as one of its final acts before the Nov. 7 election. Stunned by the new law, the Poker Players Alliance rallied members to take their outrage to the polls and cast ballots against those who voted for the ban.

Now, the group plans to use Leach's experience as an example.

A postelection poll commissioned by the poker players suggests that gambling may have helped do in the 15-term Republican congressman. The poll of 1,000 voters by RT Strategies showed that, among voters for whom the gambling subject was a pivotal issue, Leach's Democratic challenger, David Loebsack, enjoyed a 5 percentage point edge. Leach lost by 3 percentage points.

As the group starts introducing itself to the new Congress that takes over in January, the poker players plan to highlight the poll as part of its lobbying effort.

The group wants Congress to exempt poker players from the ban and study ways of legalizing online play as a legitimate licensed and taxed business.

"It's not a warning," said Michael Bolcerek, president of the group that counts 125,000 members. "It's that people care strongly about this issue and will consider that in their voting decisions."

Online poker playing, he said, is an issue that members of Congress "need to deal with."

Bolcerek said the group also urged its members to support poker-friendly members of Congress, including Nevada's Republican Rep. Jon Porter and Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley, who authored legislation to study regulating online gaming.

Berkley was re-elected by a landslide in which the online issue likely was relatively inconsequential. And though Porter won by a narrow margin, the group did not poll to see whether the green felt revolution helped sweep them to victory.

Las Vegas Sun

Coaching poker players

2006-12-06T23:07:00.000Z

Coaching is extremely important in many sports, but what about poker? One learns very little about whether much sustained coaching goes on. It is very likely that there is very little such work being done.

There is no doubt that there has been a tremendous explosion in information about poker and many books have been written. But, the idea of a coach sitting behind a player and give him advice when he is not in a hand, has probably never been attempted, never mind about being as mature an idea as being in its infancy.

WPBT and ESCARGOT: Two Seriously Fun Events

2006-11-30T20:33:00.000Z

I'm not sure exactly when, but at some point poker became more serious. Bucking poker's sobering trend, two upcoming events have built reputations for reveling in the joy of the game. During the second week of December, poker bloggers from around the country will descend on Las Vegas for the third annual World Poker Blogger Tour (WPBT) Winter Classic. Poker bloggers build powerful networks by linking with one another on the internet. The live WPBT events take those virtual linkages and forge lasting 'Brick & Mortar' friendships. The forging process, as witnessed during these events, involves lots of poker, drinking, discussion of craft, and teasing. And of course, the ultimate goal is to be able to remember enough of

the weekend to yield a plethora of irreverent blog posts. While most tourists try to give this group a wide berth, professional players and writers including Howard Lederer, Barry Greenstein, and Michael Craig have spoken at past WBPT events. Phil Gordon ran a charity Roshambo event for the bloggers earlier this year at the WPBT Summer Classic. Marcel Luske and Max Pescatori have been known to drop by. Much of the weekend schedule is flexible allowing for many spontaneous outbreaks of cash games up and down the strip, but there is always time set aside for a blogger tournament. This year's tournament will be held at 1:30 pm on December 9th at Caesar's Palace. The Tao of Poker's Pauly will award the first player busted from the tournament with a DVD of the movie Gigli; which is also tradition. In January another irreverent group of internet connected players will head for the Bicycle Casino for the ninth annual ESCARGOT (Extraordinary Southern California Annual RecGambling Outing and Tournament). ESCARGOT is a regional spin-off of BARGE which was borne from the early days of IRC Poker and the rec.gambling.poker Usenet group. ESCARGOT is steeped in the BARGE tradition of almost obscene poker fun, exercised by some great poker talent. People that have made the money in past ESCARGOT events include writers Lou Krieger and John Vorhaus. Professional players Gavin Smith and Matt Matros also have scored ESCARGOT money finishes. And Suzan 'Sabyl' Cohen, the last woman standing at this year's WSOP Championship Event, honed her money winning ways at ESCARGOT. ESCARGOT 2007 runs from January 11th through the 14th and features four official tournaments, but participants will also be availing themselves of the Bicycle's twice daily tournaments. Rumors of a Roshambo (rock-paper-scissors) event and Chowaha (a three flop variant of hold'em) ring games appear to be well founded. For many, the popularity of poker transformed it from a great game to a serious business. It's comforting to know that there are still talented players out there that get together for ridiculously low buy-in events to celebrate the sheer joy of the game.

Bluffing with outs

2006-11-28T08:48:00.000Z

Sometimes situations arise which lend themselves to a bluff. Such a bluff is more likely to be successful if the correct groundwork has been laid. You hold 9S 9D and have called a single bet before the flop. Now the board is 10C 8D 4H and you bet out. The pair of nines is quite likely the best hand. You get one lone caller and the turn bring brings forth 10C 8D 4H JS.

If you again bet it is unlikely a strong player will call. You may have a straight; you may have bet with J-9, so that X-10 is now losing; you may have A-10 yourself. The initiative is very important in poker. Moreover, even if he calls, then you can still hit a Queen, seven or a nine to win the pot. This is called bluffing with outs.

If the river is 10C 8D 4S J S 3C, then you should bet again. If he calls you with a hand like KS KD, then you have been outplayed. Say, 'Good call', smile weakly, fold your tents and steal away into the night.

Poker Room Review: The Monte Carlo in Las Vegas

2006-11-20T14:41:00.000Z

Ask Frequent Poker Players (FPP) in Las Vegas about their favorite rooms and you will often hear low to medium limit players mention the Monte Carlo. Located between New York-New York and Bellagio, the Monte Carlo may be the best "overlooked" room on the Las Vegas Strip. This will probably change when the massive CityCenter opens in 2009 with a 60-story, 4,000-room hotel and casino along with two additional 400-room 'boutique hotels' and 500,000 square feet of premier retail shops, entertainment and dining. The completed complex will literally connect the Monte Carlo to Bellagio and allow gamblers, shoppers and strollers to experience these three casinos with all of their amenities as one massive CityCenter. At least until then,

I would guess that the Monte Carlo poker room will remain one of the 'best known but best kept' secrets in Las Vegas. The card room at Monte Carlo is tucked away back in the rear of the casino but that is actually a good thing. Very near the parking garage entrance and, of course, next to the sports book; the nine table room is well designed in beautiful dark wood paneling, unique and humorous poker paintings and the ever present flat screen televisions. The out of the way location means the room is quiet and amazingly smoke free despite the smokers hanging out at the entrance. You do have to fight through the cloud of haze to get to the podium or to the restrooms but the facilities are very close; you can make it in one hand or less. As with most low-limit rooms the Monte Carlo is usually 'all hold'em all the time.' Until very recently the room hosted one of the few remaining 7 card stud games still spread on the strip, I must announce, however, that this is no longer the case, during my last visit I heard a returning player ask to start a stud interest list and he was told: "There hasn't been a stud game here in six months." However, to counter the all hold'em saturation of the games, the Monte Carlo has a special HORSE night. Every Thursday a regular $4/$8 HORSE game is advertised and most Thursday there is more than one table dealing the mixed game. I played a couple of times and will report that the game is quite fun, moderately loose but is often HOSE and not HORSE as the regulars are not RAZZ fans. Still, it's a nice variation and the always competent Monte Carlo dealers run a very fine mixed game. The room has high hand bonuses for all hands four-of-a-kind and above with prizes generally between $100 and $2000 dollars paid fairly regularly. I would also point out that of all the rooms I have visited in Las Vegas, the Monte Carlo has the best cocktail service in town. The service is incredibly fast, the servers come around at least every ten minutes and they remember your beverage of choice. Tournaments at Monte Carlo are held twice a day. There is a $40+$10 NLHE everyday at 9 AM and a $50+$10 at 6 PM. Generally the morning offerings get two or three tables and the evenings are three or four tables, slightly larger on the weekend. The buy-ins needs some explaining and some complaining. $40+$10 means $40 buy-in plus and optional $10 add-on. The add-on comes at the beginning of the tournament and there are no re-buys, so unless you want to have half as many chips (1,000) as everyone else (2,000) in the tournament, this is in effect a $50 event. After all of the fine print ($32 to prize pool, $8 house fee, $4 prize pool, and $6 staff fee) your $50 goes $36 to the prize pool and $14 to various parts of the house. This amounts to a 28% house cut, which is only slightly lower (26.6%) for the 6 PM ($60) tournament. That's a lot of juice and a higher than most of the low buy-ins I have reviewed recently. One last tip for playing at the Monte Carlo, the CityCenter construction has the parking lots for the casino mostly covered with cranes and bulldozers. The current Monte Carlo lot is to your left as you drive down the cluttered roadway just south of the casino.

More skill than luck in poker

2006-11-15T10:53:00.000Z

People often conjecture about what percentage of luck there is in poker and what percentage skill. Probably you won't find two experts who will agree on this thorny subject. Anyway, it partly depends on the game you play. For example, there is much more variance in Omaha than in Omaha high-low eight or better.

Perhaps in a cash game it is 80% skill and 20% luck and in a tournament 60% skill and 40% luck. The reason for the higher randomisation in a tournament is that you, not only have to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune caused by the cards you hold, but also have the randomisation due to the opponents you meet.

Pamela Anderson Waves Goodbye to Online Poker

2006-11-13T08:35:00.000Z

Pamela Anderson Waves Goodbye to Online Poker, While Margolis Waves Hello
Another shoe has dropped relative to the US passage of the UIGEA and it appears to be the high heel of former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson. Apparently Anderson has ended her affiliation with Pamela Poker, her Doyle Brunson Network affiliated online poker room. Citing "too many rules in the USA" and the growing legal "red tape," Anderson wrote in her online diary that it was "fun while it lasted." She also wished good luck to Doyle and Doyle's Room adding, "I love him. He is authentic to the game." In a December 2004 poll taken by Empire poker, Anderson was voted the celebrity that online poker players would most like to have at their table. In April 2006, online players got that opportunity when Pamela Anderson became one

of the regular celebrity bounties at Doyle's Room's popular weekly Bounty Tournament. Anderson's affiliation with the Doyle Brunson Poker Network deepened when she agreed to do a series of commercial spots for Doyle's Room which debuted during Game Four of the NBA Championships between the Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks Pamela Poker's launch was announced during the mock wedding between Anderson and Brunson, staged during the 2006 WSOP. The news that Pamela Anderson is saying goodbye to online poker comes just one week after the announcement of a new online poker affiliation for model and internet phenomenon Cindy Margolis. Margolis and her agents at Poker Royalty confirmed a new major player-representation deal with Tropical Poker. The timing of Cindy's new venture was coincident with the release of Playboy Magazine's Christmas issue featuring Margolis on the cover.

World Poker Tour Enterprises, Inc. Posts Profit in 3rd Quarter

2006-11-04T08:40:00.000Z

It was relatively good news for WPT Enterprises, Inc (WPTE) when they announced their 3rd Quarter 2006 earnings yesterday. WPTE reported net earnings for the quarter of $2.7 million, or $0.12 per fully-diluted share, compared to a net loss of $1.6 million, or $0.08 per share (without dilution), in the same period in 2005. Net earnings in the quarter included a $4.5 million realized gain on the sale of WPTE's Company's remaining 450,000 shares of PokerTek, Inc's common stock. Excluding this gain, pre-tax earnings would have been approximately $13,000 for the quarter. While $13,000 in pre-tax earnings basically represents a break-even quarter, WPTE's performance still beat the analysts' expectations of a $.02 loss for the quarter.

Revenues for the quarter were $5.9 million compared to $2.1 million for the same period last year. The increase was primarily driving by the delivery of nine episodes of the PPT versus none delivered in 2005. But the PPT revenue boost is primarily a 3rd and 4th quarter story, as the WPTE still has not locked down a television home or sponsors for a potential second season. While less significant to the bottom line, online gaming revenues for the quarter were $912,000 versus $170,000 for the same period last year. WPTE is currently utilizing its original online gaming platform, and is still planning to implement its new platform in June of 2007. WPTE CEO Steve Lipscomb also commented on the recent passage of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act, noting "Since we have had a policy from inception of not accepting wagers from U.S. players, we believe the Act will not require a change in our day-to-day business activities." WPTE continues to carry no debt and increased its cash position to $40 million this quarter, aided by its Poker Tek, Inc. investment. With that investment depleted and revenue from season one of the PPT fully recognized in the 4th quarter, WPTE will be playing a waiting game over the next few quarters until its online gaming growth engine fully engages. But with the current health of its Balance Sheet, it appears WPTE is well positioned to wait.