better - Poker Player Newspaper

Transcription

9
Celebrity Crossword PAGE
tribute to
Johnny Chan
12
Top Lawyer PROVES PAGE
Poker IS a Sport...
in court!
42
14
17
20
PAGE
Entertainment
Best Bets
12
48
POKER PLAYER
Vol. 9 Number 22 May 1, 2006 A Gambling Times Publication www.pokerplayernewspaper.com Copyright ©2006 Bi-Weekly $3.95 USA/$4.95 CANADA
Bronx Boy
Ramdin
Takes
Foxwoods’
Poker Classic
2006 Champion Ramdin with $1,356,889 winnings
Stick ball, the Yankees and
the Bronx HS of Science
are what the NYC borough of The Bronx are
usually known for, but,
now comes Victor Ramdin
to add Poker to the long
list of accomplishments
from the boys of the
Bronx. Poker’s newest
millionaire, Ramdin took
down the championship at
Foxwoods’ annual Poker
Classic, a WPT event winning a seat in the WPT
finals. Results for the
final four events of the
Classic are covered below.
The prior five events were
covered in our last issue,
which may be found on
our web site: www.pokerplayernewspaper.com
Our special thanks to
Foxwoods reporters Rhue
(Continued on page 11)
Mike Caro
Today’s word is...
“BETTER”
Puggy Pearson at a 70s WSOP
Turn to page 6 for more
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0
9
Park enjoyed burgeoning
crowds as it packed its
facility. A LIPS event was
added tothe mix this year.
Results of the final events
A Word from the
“Mad Genius,”
Walter Clyde Pearson, better known in
the world of poker as “Puggy” passed
away on Wednesday, April 12, 2006 at
the age of 77. Puggy was a former World
Champion (1973) and was inducted into
the Poker Hall of Fame in 1987.
Puggy is survived by his longtime
companion, Simin Habibian of Las
Vegas; one son, Stephen Mark Pearson
of Las Vegas; one daughter, Andrea
Elaine Phelan of Nashville, Tennessee; a
1 8>
“Spiderman” Parth Data wins $60,000 in final event
Hollywood Park Casino
caped off another of its
highly successful Sport of
Kings annual poker tournaments. Designed for mid
level players, Hollywood
Puggy
Pearson
Passes
Sport of Kings
Concludes
at
Holly
Park
Casino
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M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
5
Caro’s Word: “Better”
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
O
ne of the hardest
lessons for hold ’em
students is that they
can sometimes call
bets on the flop without
a pair, even if they don’t
have four cards to a flush
or an open-end straight
draw. It’s dangerous to
teach.
Beginners need the
patience to wait until they
have an edge. Fine. Then
you explain that they can
often call bets with just
two cards higher than the
board. It gives them all
kinds of ideas. Bad ideas.
They begin to imagine
that there’s good in all
hands, and they begin to
lose discipline.
Sometimes I think I’d
rather not tell beginners
that they often can call
with just two overcards.
But withholding that
information would be a
disservice – especially in
limit hold ’em games. You
see, there are too many
flops when neither you
nor an opponent helps.
You just can’t afford to
routinely surrender just
because you didn’t make
a pair, otherwise an astute
foe will always bet and
run your stack of chips
right down to the cloth.
So, yes, you can call
a bet on the flop with
two overcards. A single
overcard and an inside
straight draw can be even
better, but many players
who are quick to call with
two overcards (especially
large ones) routinely fold
that hand. In some ways
that’s wise, because two
large cards can often supply a kicker for a potential pair that dictates a
win. Pairing the lone
overcard with a small
inside straight draw may
leave you out-kicked. But
lots of times, the single
overcard (especially a
ace) and the gut-shot
straight attempt is better.
Here’s a lecture I gave on
the subject about eight
years ago…
Better than two
overcards
When I was very young,
my grandpa used to trick
some other little kids
by asking them to play
a guessing game. He
couldn’t trick me, though,
and I was proud as proud
could be that he couldn’t.
In a few minutes, we’ll
be done with today’s lesson, and my grandpa will
never be able to trick you,
either – and we’ll both be
proud.
The way my grandpa
used to trick those little
kids was to hold out
before them a shinny
nickel. He’d tell a kid that
he was going to hide it in
one of his hands and that
if that kid could guess
which hand, he got to
keep the nickel.
But here’s where the
guessing game got goofy.
Usually, grandpa would
put both hands and the
nickel behind his back.
He’d take a couple seconds and bring both hands
back in front of him for
the kid to see. “Point to
the hand with the nickel
in it,” Grandpa would say.
Well, most of the time,
one of those hands looked
larger, because Grandpa
wouldn’t grasp as tightly
and his knuckles extended
further than the ones on
his other hand.
Grandpa’s biggest looking hand was the one the
poor kid usually chose. It
was empty. It was an illusion.
Here’s the same illusion as it happens in hold
’em poker. If you’re a
serious player, you probably already realize that
sometimes you can call
a bet with nothing more
than two unpaired cards
that are higher than the
flop. That happens when
the pot is large and there
aren’t too many players
contesting. You’re gambling that a card of one
of your two ranks will
come on the final two
board cards, giving you
a commanding pair that
will win the pot. We have
a term for this -- calling
with two overcards.
Student question
And that advice is correct. You should often call
with two overcards in that
circumstance, otherwise
you’ll be surrendering far
too many pots to aggressive bettors. Fine. Now let
me tell you a story.
About four years ago
I was teaching a Level
II Beginner’s class at
Mike Caro University of
Poker. A student who was
advanced for the course
came up to me during the
break and said that since
I was advising to sometimes call on the flop with
two overcards, shouldn’t
I advise at the same time
that you can also call with
just one overcard if you
have a straight draw.
And, of course, I do
teach that you should often
call with such hands, but
I don’t dare lump those
complex situations with
the simple concept of two
overcards at a beginning
level. But maybe I should,
because a single overcard
and a straight draw, even
an inside straight draw is
more powerful and profitable than two overcards.
My student had asked an
appropriate question and
made a powerful point.
But, I warned him that
there are things to know
about straight draws that
made them different from
each other, depending on
the exact cards and situation. I promised to tackle
POKER PLAYER
A Gambling Times Publication
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www.pokerplayernewspaper.com
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ard@gamblingtimes.com
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PRODUCTION DIRECTOR
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WEBMASTER
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SENIOR EDITOR
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ASSOCIATE EDITOR
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PROMOTIONS EDITOR
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EDITORIAL CONSULTANT
Phil Hevener
CONSULTANT
Contributing
Columnists
Nolan Dalla
George Epstein
“Oklahoma Johnny” Hale
Ashley Adams
Diane McHaffie
James McKenna
I. Nelson Rose
John Vorhaus
Poker Player will be published Bi-Weekly
by Gambling Times Incorporated,
Stanley R. Sludikoff, President.
Volume 9 Number 22.
Copyright © May 2006 by Gambling
Times Incorporated. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without
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9, Number 22 of Poker Player were printed at Valley
Printers, 16230 Filbert Street, Sylmar, CA 91342.
Distribution to newsstands, card clubs, poker rooms and
other distribution points throughout the United States,
Canada, the Caribbean, Central America and Europe.
NEW
FORM
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ALL TOURNAMENTS START AT 11:30 AM
EVENT
NPA TOUR
BUY-IN GUARANTEE
MON.
1
No-Limit Hold’em $20* +$10
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TUES.
2
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WED.
3
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THURS.
4
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5
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Limit Hold’em
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Limit Hold’em
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MAY 8 – MAY 20TH
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May 13th
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Weekly Schedule
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Main Event Day Three
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Main Event Final Table
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When it comes to high-stakes poker tours, the newly formed NPA Tour isn’t bluffing. The NPA Tour is launching a series of international tournaments with guaranteed $2M prize pools. The first leg of the tour is set to shuffle up and deal from the famed
Hollywood Park Casino on May 8th and will feature the best of the best in the poker world. The Hollywood Park Open will continue through May 20, 2006.
What separates the NPA Tour apart from other tours is the caliber of its players. Distinguished as the first professional, standardized poker tour, the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event is limited to a field of the top 300 competitors. To earn a seat in
the Main Event, players must either win a qualifying tournament held at Hollywood Park Casino or be listed in the top 200 poker
players in either CardPlayer or Bluff Magazine.
The action gets hot from the first tournament to the last, the NPA Tour will be adding money to the prize pools of all 25 events
which include $200 to $1000 No-Limit Hold’em Events, a 32 player $5,000 Chinese Poker Event, $5,000 Mixed Game and the
$10,000 No-Limit Hold-em Main Event. “No one’s done an international tour with the best players, so this is a first,” explains NPA
Tour President and COO Wade Mezey, who founded the tour with fellow poker enthusiast and tournament director Matt Savage.
“While there have been other televised poker events, pretty much anyone can buy their way in without regard for their standing
as a player. We recognized the sports nature of poker and the need to give it a sports stature by putting its best players on the
road in an exciting series of events.”
With this level of competition, the main event is primed to include maximum drama, intense action and truly compelling poker.
Expect the tables to be occupied by such first-rate players as Annie Duke, Phil Laak, Antonio Esfandiari, Mike Matusow, Layne Flack
and actress/poker champ Jennifer Tilly.
For additional information visit www.npatour.com or contact the Hollywood Park Casino at (310) 330-2841 ext. 2075 or
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MONDAYS • No-Limit Hold’em
$60* + $15 Buy-in • One $60 rebuy
TUESDAYS • No-Limit Hold’em
$20* + $15 Buy-in • Multi-rebuys
WEDNESDAYS • No-Limit Hold’em
$60* + $15 Buy-in • One $60 rebuy
THURSDAYS • No-Limit Hold’em
$20* + $15 Buy-in • Multi-rebuys
7:15 PM Nightly
For more details call: (310) 330-2841 x2075
visit our website at: www.playhpc.com
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M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
7
Big Stack Psychology
A buddy of mine has a consistent pattern
in his tournament play. He almost always
POKER COUNSELOR
By John Carlisle, MA, NCC
comes out of the gates sizzling, quickly
accumulating chips to become one of the early chip leaders. It seems that he really has a knack for dominating the
early levels of a tournament. While the rest of the table
is playing conservatively while “feeling-out” the table and
tournament structure, he is making aggressive moves and
buying pots. Invariably, though, his position on the leader
board is only a temporary stop. As the blinds grow and
the competition changes, he begins to make errors in judgment. Sly opponents begin to use his aggression against
him, using his predictable raises as a catalyst to checkraise. Despite the fact that my buddy nearly always accumulates a nice chip stack in the early levels, he very rarely
survives long enough to even make a cash finish at all. His
story is not uncommon, as I know many players who tell
me that their experiences follow a similar path.
Playing a big stack in a tournament involves some seriously focused poker psychology. I find that many players
have difficulties, as the sizable stack tends to be somewhat intoxicating. The nature of the big stack leads players to make foolish plays, call too much, and play inferior
starting hands. A key is to break down the thinking and
emotions that often accompany the large stack. With the
big amount of accumulated chips often come dangerous
assumptions of invulnerability, power, pride, and heightened energy. With that combination swirling, players are
more compelled to play emotionally than play intellectually. Players on the big stack are much more likely to call
players down out of pride or spite. Big stack players are
more likely to attempt a very risky bluff into a scary board
in order to feed an ego. In short, many early chip leaders are early exiters because of their psychological errors
leading them to poker errors.
Avoid the trap of allowing the larger chip stack to
be your downfall. Take some time at the table to do
some psychological exercises to keep yourself in check.
Whenever you’ve been able to gather a nice amount of
chips early set your goal for your play for the next few
levels. “I want to win about 4,000 more chips by the
time the antes come into play,” might be a quick and easy
goal to set. That solid goal will help you set your sights
on solid decision making, not playing to continue a “hot
streak” or to feed your own ego. Next, be sure that you
are evaluating your emotional state at the table. After
every hand that you’ve played to the flop, take a quick
moment to think through your play, your thinking, and
your emotions. Such self-inspections will inevitably lead
you to a discovery that the chips are altering your play
negatively. You might find that your quest for a feeling
of dominance makes you feel as if you must be the one
to bust out your opposition. You may also uncover that a
wave of hope and superiority is compelling you to see too
many flops from poor position.
If you find yourself riding the chip roller-coaster with
negative results, it is time to reevaluate your big stack
psychology. Refocus yourself on the emotions and
thoughts that accompany your bigger stack play. Fix your
thinking and you’ll fix the hole in your game.
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QUALIFYING STARTS
APRIL 1st!
FIRST PLACE. . . . . . $60,000
2nd Place. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20,000
3rd Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10,000
4th Place. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $7,500
5th Place. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000
6th Place. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $4,000
7th Place. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,000
8th Place. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,500
9th Place. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,000
10th Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,500
11th-20th Place. . . . . . . . . . . . $1,000
21st-30th Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . $750
31st-50th Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . $500
51st-300th Place . . . . . . . . . . . . $100
All Players Knocked Out On Day 1
Chip Leaders After 1st Day . . . . $6,000
(Split Equally)
TOURNAMENT WILL BE HELD AT TEXAS STATION
ON JUNE 10TH & 11TH
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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 carlisle14@hotmail.com.
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Must be 21 or older. Visit the Poker Room for details. ©2006 Station Casinos Inc., Las Vegas, NV
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Sport of Kings Concludes at Hollywood Park
will be found below.
HOLLYWOOD PARK CASINO
SPORT OF KINGS 2006
EVENT #12
4/9/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $3,000 + $90
PLAYERS 46
PRIZE
POOL
$150,000
1. Parth Data AKA . . . . . . . . . .
“Spiderman” . . . . . . $60,000
2. Nick Cassavantes . . . $34,500
3. Lanny Ross . . . . . . . $18,000
4. James Mordue . . . . . $10,500
5. George Rechnitzer. . . $8,250
6. John Hoang . . . . . . . . $6,750
7. Hyon Chun . . . . . . . . $5,250
8. Fred Adli . . . . . . . . . . $3,750
9. Michael Landau. . . . . $3,000
SPORT OF KINGS 2006
EVENT #11
4/8/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,500 + $80
PLAYERS 58
PRIZE
POOL
$87,000
SPORT OF KINGS 2006
4/8/06
LADIES - NO LIMIT
HOLD’EM - LIPS
BUY-IN $200 + $30
PLAYERS 90
PRIZE
POOL
$15,710
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Jenna Craven . . . . . . . $5,625
Gail Abbott Raousin $3,695
Nancy Kim . . . . . . . . $1,930
Sabrina Stanley . . . . $1,125
Janna Ortiz . . . . . . . . . .$965
Sharon Mandelman . . .$805
Bonita Alford . . . . . . . . .$680
Sunshine House . . . . . .$520
Debbie Knight . . . . . . . .$365
SPORT OF KINGS 2006
EVENT #10
4/7/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,000 + $70
PLAYERS 81
Steve Riehle
10. Andy Lambo . . . . . . . . .$760
11. Peirce Shaad . . . . . . . . .$760
12. Fred Legaspi . . . . . . . . .$760
13. Edward Hansen . . . . . . .$760
14. John Hearn . . . . . . . . . .$760
15. Frank Rite . . . . . . . . . . .$760
16. Gregory Jones . . . . . . . .$760
17. Rory Edward McHugh .$760
18. Jeff Wilson . . . . . . . . . . .$760
1. Steve Riehle AKA . . . . . . . . .
“Country” . . . . . . . . $33,755
2. Larry Vance . . . . . . . $19,410
3. Kirk Conrad . . . . . . $10,125
4. Rory McHugh . . . . . . $5,905
5. George Yutuc . . . . . . . $4,640
6. Dr. Michael Eads . . . . $3,800
7. Bill Bryden . . . . . . . . . $2,955
8. Jorge Walker . . . . . . . $2,110
9. Toan Nguyen . . . . . . . $1,690
PRIZE
POOL
$80,000
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Joel Tushnet
Joel Tushnet . . . . . . . $32,000
Jamie Gold . . . . . . . . $18,400
Markram Merhom . . $9,600
Le Kim Banh . . . . . . . $5,600
Pierre Asadi . . . . . . . $4,400
Jay Takata . . . . . . . . . $3,600
Alen Patatanyan . . . . $2,800
Tony Grand . . . . . . . . $2,000
Damien Leforbes . . . $1,600
EVENT #8
4/4/06
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 158
PRIZE
POOL
$79,000
4/5/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
REBUY UNLIMITED
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 67
PRIZE
POOL
Francis Liu
$33,500
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6. Richard Biren . . . . . . $1,625
Francis Liu . . . . . . . $30,650
Paramjit Gill . . . . . . $15,325
Matt Miller. . . . . . . . . $7,665
Jay Helfert . . . . . . . . . $4,980
Rory Edward . . . . . . . . . . . .
McHugh . . . . . . . . . . . $3,830
6. Roland Viola . . . . . . . $2,680
7. Joseph Schulman . . . . $1,915
8. Alvaro Lizarrago . . . . $1,535
9. Steve Friedlander . . . $1,150
10. Kimya Williams . . . . . .$765
11. Samir Morcos . . . . . . . .$765
12. Imad Canawati . . . . . . .$765
13. Lanny Ross . . . . . . . . . .$765
14. Paul Kraus . . . . . . . . . . .$765
15. Sirous Baghchehsaraie .$765
16. Jerry Polevoi . . . . . . . . .$765
17. Song Kim . . . . . . . . . . . .$765
18. Sam Saltzman . . . . . . . .$765
7. Patrick Wachs . . . . . . $1,300
4/6/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
REBUY UNLIMITED
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 109
$76,135
1. Parth Data AKA . . . . . . . . . .
“Spiderman” . . . . . . $30,460
2. Moises Lopez . . . . . . $15,230
3. Sam Dassa . . . . . . . . . $7,615
4. Karl DiBona . . . . . . . . $4,950
5. Hyon Chun . . . . . . . . $3,805
6. Bryan Kim . . . . . . . . . $2,665
7. Samir Morcos . . . . . . $1,905
8. Moshe Bouskila . . . . . $1,525
9. Lawrence Reider . . . $1,140
EVENT #7
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
SPORT OF KINGS 2006
PRIZE
POOL
SPORT OF KINGS 2006
SPORT OF KINGS 2006
EVENT #9
(Continued from page 1)
Moises Lopez
1. Moises Lopez . . . . . . $13,650
2. Moshe Bouskila . . . . . $7,470
3. David Tashman . . . . . $4,225
4. Fred Legaspi . . . . . . . $2,275
5. Dustin West . . . . . . . . $1,950
Tournament Prize Money*
First Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$100,000
Second Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$50,000
Third Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$25,000
Fourth Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$12,500
Fifth Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$10,000
Sixth Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$7,500
Seventh Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$6,250
Eighth Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000
Ninth Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$3,750
Tenth Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$2,500
11th - 20th Place . . . . . . . . . . . .each $1,500
21st - 30th Place . . . . . . . . . . . .each $1,000
Last Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$500
Lucky Losers . . . . . . . . . . . . .(four total) $500
Entry Information
No Limit Texas Hold ’Em Tournament
To enter, call Casino Marketing
at 800.634.6441 ext. 2
events@imperialpalace.com
Entry Fee - $500 = $2,000 chips
Optional Dealer Bonus
$25 per entrant = 500 additional chips
* Cash prizes based on number of participants
June 23-25, 2006
$100,000* First Place
$500 Entry Fee
Management Reserves All Rights. Know When To Stop Before You Start®. Gambling Problem? Call 1.800.522.4700
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
9
Poker Tournaments in
Bars, Clubs, Online...
EVERYWHERE
POKer AND
THE LAW
By I. NELSON ROSE
“Nothing succeeds like success.”
—Alexandre Dumas
The astounding success of poker on television and
the Internet has created a poker phenomenon in the
United States. And everyone wants a piece of the
action.
Toys “R” Us ran out of poker gift sets at Christmas,
and so did Nordstrom. Run a search for “poker” at
Amazon.com and you get 5,000 hits, eBay more than
40,000. Barnes and Noble carries dozens of titles,
many new, as well as kits for home Texas Hold ‘Em
tournaments. Stores sell poker clocks, lamps and bed
sheets. For $5, I bought a computer game of Dogs
Playing Poker from Office Depot.
(Incidentally, The Art of Gambling: Through the Ages
by Arthur Flowers and
Anthony Curtis asserts that those poker dogs are
America’s best known art - and I believe them. I’ve had
“A Bold Bluff” and the others as the background on my
personal checks for years.)
The craze cuts across all lines. A couple of 12-yearold kids I know decided not to go trick-or-treating,
because they had a big poker tournament set for
Halloween. Leo Chu, owner of Hollywood Park casino,
told me a little old lady came in and said she wanted
“to learn how to play that game where you push all
your chips into the middle of the table.” A New York
Times sportswriter railed about seeing poker games at
a Bar Mitzvah.
Even the states are getting into the act: The North
Dakota house of representatives voted to allow the
state to license and tax online poker operators; the bill
couldn’t pass the state senate.
A bill in Connecticut would make poker legal in restaurants and bars. The Mohegans have said that if that
happens the tribe will withhold the state’s share of slot
machine revenue.
After a bowling alley was raided in St. Cloud,
Minnesota, the local State Senator introduced a bill to
make it clear Hold ‘Em tournaments are legal, if there’s
no prize money. The County Attorney did not file
charges, deciding poker might not be illegal even under
present law.
Poker got its biggest push through the new mass
media: cable T.V. and the Internet. When the World
Poker Tour introduced the sophisticated use of lipstick
cameras to let home viewers see players’ down cards,
the show broke records at the Travel Channel.
It also spawned imitators. There are now at least
seven TV shows and movies either on-air or being
made.
As for the ‘Net - PartyPoker has 60,000 players
online at any time. There are no accurate figures on
the industry, but a conservative guess is that Internet
poker sites will take in more than $1 Billion this year.
So, every day I get at least one inquiry about
whether it is legal to operate poker games, perhaps as
a membership club, or as a game of skill, or with the
operator not making any money off the games, etc., etc.
I have seen literally a thousand variations. The proposed locales range from homes and clubs to bars.
Lots of bars. It seems everyone with a liquor license
wants to set up poker tables.
The Internet is also a hot alternative. Some want to
set up kiosks or computer terminals in bars, linked to
online poker websites.
10
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
Everyone recognizes there are legal barriers.
Entrepreneurs can be pretty inventive in trying to get
around the law. How about turning a bar into a duespaying private club run by a non-profit company incorporated in Uzbekistan and licensed by Rwanda, where
players pay nothing to participate in poker tournaments, and the winners receive points redeemable only
on the Internet for merchandise shipped by monks from
Belize?
If only it were that easy.
Enforcement actions are beginning against barowners and others who have set up poker tables. For
example, the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco
Control is trying to close down the no-limit Texas Hold
‘Em tournaments that have become common in barrooms throughout the state. Whether it succeeds will
depend upon subtle and complex questions of state law,
such as, “Is a bar owner ‘profiting from gambling’ if he
takes no direct cut, but increases his business by having poker tournaments?”
It is usually, but not always, easy to know what is
clearly permitted. Most casinos can spread poker under
state law. California, the biggest poker jurisdiction, also
has “local option,” meaning clubs have to have licenses
from their local cities or counties. Some states, like
Florida, allow commercial poker but put severe limits
on how much can be bet.
The law for licensed operators and tribes can be
very complicated. For example, California has a statute
that allows a club to rake the pot only three times. An
operator who takes money out of the pot four times is
committing a misdemeanor. And so, unknowingly, are all
the players at that table.
Tribes in states with legal poker can operate their
own games. But in a little-known twist in the federal
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, poker is one of the very
few forms of gambling where the tribes must follow
state law on stakes and hours of operation. So, any
high-stakes poker game you see in a tribal casino in
Florida is illegal. Florida tribes could run games with
limits higher than state law, but only if they first have
compacts with the state.
Operators in a few states have found obscure exemptions from the general prohibitions on operating poker
games for profit. In Kentucky, it is apparently perfectly
legal for a licensed charity to run poker games, as
long as they are limited to six-hour stretches. In New
Hampshire, entrepreneurs run up to ten poker tournaments a year for nonprofit organizations.
Many states have express exemptions for social
games played in private homes. In California, there is
no state prohibition on a home poker game, where no
one can make any money other than what they win.
Note, this still could violate a city or county ordinance,
although you have a better chance of winning the World
Series of Poker than of being arrested.
Poker could also be legal if it lacked one of the elements of gambling: prize, chance or consideration.
Games where players pay, but can win nothing of
value, are usually legal as amusement games. I believe
it is possible to run poker tournaments as contests of
skill. And operators are taking the “no purchase necessary” approach and opening poker games which can
cost nothing to enter.
The only way to be sure your plan for a poker tournament is legal is to have a lawyer apply your state’s laws
to your idea. It is very difficult, but not impossible, to
operate poker games that won’t get you thrown in jail
But the next problem is figuring out how to be both
legal and still make money.
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.
Puggy
Pearson
Passes
(Continued from page1)
brother J.C. Pearson of Las
Vegas; two sisters, Bobbie
Jean Bailey of Florida and
Gladys Gracie Pearson of
Tennessee and one grandson, Walter Frank Phelan of
Nashville.
A memorial service was
held on Monday, April 17
at the Bellagio, Puggy’s last
request was to be cremated
and have his ashes returned
to Nashville, Tennessee and
spread in Jackson County
where he spent most of his
childhood.
Poker’s Ambassador,
Mike Sexton, who knew
Pearson well, relates: “The
poker world has lost a dinasour. Like him or not, he
was truly an original, perhaps the greatest ‘rounder’
the world has ever seen.
Not only was he a phenomenal poker player, he was
an expert at many things,
including golf, pool, and gin
rummy - and the more he
bet, the better he was.
One of my favorite Puggy
stories was when I happened
to be standing next to him
while a reporter was interviewing him. The reporter
said to him, “Puggy, I hear
you’re quite a golfer. Just
how good do you play?”
Puggy broke into a big grin,
wiggled that cigar of his,
and said, “I shoot whatever
it takes to get the money.”
(And he could, too.)
He bought a bus to travel
around the country in and on
the side of the bus was his
picture with a sign that read,
“I’ll play any man from any
land, any game that he can
name, for any amount he
can count.” But in the fine
print at the bottom of the
bus, the slogan continued,
“...provided I like it.” That
pretty well sums Puggy up.
Puggy stories abound in
the gambling world. But
let me say this: It was
really tough trying to beat
Puggy out of money doing
anything, but he was a soft
touch when it came to helping out gamblers down on
their luck. Like Stu Ungar,
Puggy was also “One of A
Kind.” He will be missed
a great deal by those of us
who really knew him.
Foxwoods’ Poker Classic
R. Reis and Jeffrey A. Toth
for the commentaries that
follow.
Victor Ramdin, a resident of the Bronx in New
York , took First Place in
the 2006 Foxwoods Poker
Classic $10,000 No-Limit
Hold’em event. Victor,
with his wife and friends
in the audience takes home
$1,356,889 which includes
a $25,500 entry into the
WPT Championship event
in Las Vegas.
Six players sat down a
little after 4 PM and it was
not long before Bruce Kater
was the first to depart. The
Salem, NH resident went
all-in with A10 and was
called by Victor Ramdin’s
AQ. With no help from the
board, Bruce was the sixth
place winner of $167,008.
John Russell went all-in
with AJ and was quickly
called by Victor Ramdin’s
pocket Aces the unfriendly
board left John with the 5th
place prize of $208,760.
It was a couple of hours
later when Larry Klur of
Pembroke Pines, FL went
all-in with A7 and was
called by Ed Jordan with
pocket 4’s. The flop (A/5/
9)gave Larry a much needed Ace but runner-runner
3/2 gave Ed the straight and
Larry the 4th place prize.
Ed’s stack took a major hit
when he was on the bad
end of the dreaded river as
Victor Ramdin paired up
Aces to beat Ed’s 6’s. Ed
had to settle for 3rd place
money of $417,520, a few
hands later, losing to Alex
Jacob’s 2 pair K’s & 5’s.
The last two of 431
players had to battle back
from time to time during
this final day, Alex came
from low stack with a run
of uncalled all-in bets to
become chip leader. He
lost the chip lead when he
called an all-in bet with AK
to Victor’s pocket 9’s during heads-up action. Victor
flopped a set which held up
and gave him a 1.2 million
chip advantage. A couple of
hands later Alex was all-in
with KJ of clubs and was
called by AJ with no help
from the board, Victor’s
Ace held-up and brought
him the trophy and the 1st
place prize of $1,356,889.
Alex was almost our 2nd
consecutive 21 year old
to win a WPT but settled
for 2nd place money of
$655,507. This will help
with that tuition at Yale
where Alex is a student.
FOXWOODS RESORT CASINO
FOXWOODS POKER CLASSIC
EVENT #9
4/9/06
WPT NO LIMIT
HOLD’EM
CHAMPIONSHIP
BUY-IN $9,700 + $300
PLAYERS 431
PRIZE
POOL
$4,180,700
1. Annand “Victor” . . . . . . . . .
Ramdin . . . . . . . . .$1,331,889
plus… $25,500 buy-in to
Bellagio WPT Championship
Bronx, NY, USA
2. Alex Jacob . . . . . . . $655,507
Parkland, FL, USA
3. Ed Jordan AKA . . . . . . . . . .
“EBJ” . . . . . . . . . . . $417,520
Belle Mead, NJ, USA
4. Larry Klur . . . . . . $292,264
5. John Russell . . . . . . $208,760
Watauga, TX, USA
6. Bruce Kater . . . . . . $167,008
Salem, NH, USA
7. Spiros Mitrokostas $125,256
8. David Lewis . . . . . . . $83,504
10. Khenh Chanthamala $66,803
Weston, CT, USA
East Lyme, CT, USA
9. Brent Keller . . . . . . . $75,153
Horsham, PA, USA
Wow! Satellites for the
Heavyweight
Championship
of Poker—
Now in
Los Angeles
& Las Vegas!
West Yarmouth, MT, USA
SEE PAGE 33
BACK ISSUES, SPECIAL FEATURES & UP-TO-THE MINUTE POKER INFO—
The Mirage Poker Showdown – A World Poker Tour Event
May 4 – 17, 2006
May 4
May 5
May 6
No Limit Hold’em
No Limit Hold’em
No Limit Hold’em
May 7
May 7
May 8
May 9
$500 + $50*
$1,000 + $60*
$1,500 + $70*
May 10
May 10
May 11
Heads Up – Day 1
Limit Hold’em (3 p.m.)
No Limit Hold’em
$7,500
$1,000
$1,500
+ $200
+ $60
+ $70*
No Limit Hold’em
$2,000 + $80*
LIPS Tour Ladies Event (3 p.m.) $500 + $50**
May 12
May 13
Super Satellite
Super Satellite
$1,500
$1,500
+ $70
+ $70
Limit Hold’em
No Limit Hold’em
May 14 – 17 WPT No Limit Hold’em Championship $10,000 + $200***
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Super Satellites 7 p.m. nightly • May 3 – May 13 • $200 + $30 (w/$200 unlimited rebuys)
For Room Reservations 800-77-POKER (800-777-6537) • Tournament Information 702-791-7291 • mirage.com
All main events start at noon (except where noted). All events (except Super Satellites, LIPS Tour Ladies event and the Championship event) will play down to 9 players. Heads Up event is limited to 128 entries. Final table play
will begin at 3 p.m. the following day. Registration for all main events will begin at 3 p.m. on May 3, 2006. All Super Satellites will seat as many entries as possible for the Championship event. *Champion receives $10,200 entry
(non-negotiable, non-refundable, non-transferable) into the May 14, 2006 Championship event. **$1,500 will be withheld for a seat in the WPT Ladies Circle of Champions event and the LIPS Tour Grand Championship event.
***Champion receives a $25,500 seat (non-negotiable, non-refundable, non-transferable) into the WPT Finals at Bellagio in April 2007. 3% of the prize pool will be withheld for the poker room staff. Management reserves the
right to modify, suspend, or cancel this promotion at its sole discretion and without prior notice. All tournaments are subject to table availability. The Mirage endorses responsible gaming. If you or someone you know has a
problem gaming responsibly, please call the 24-hour Problem Gamblers HelpLine at 1-800-522-4700. ©2006 MGM MIRAGE®. All rights reserved.
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
11
How
ManyandHand
Sam Mudaro, BA, MBA, is a practicing tax
accountant
finan-s
cial 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: realguru2003@yahoo.com.
A
good friend of mine
who plays more
Hold-Em then Omaha
read my article on how
often you should play a
hand in Omaha. He then
challenged me to calculate how often you should
you play a hand in HoldEm.
To answer this question I once again turned
to Wilson’s software. This
time I used Turbo Texas
Hold-Em and ran three
different simulation for a
total of 15 million hands.
In the charts below we
take a look at who wins
and how often they decide
to play a hand. The simuAverage 1
Type Win/(Loss)
Tight
8,746,628
Tight
7,145,576
Average
2,197,655
Tight
1,244,470
Average
1,164,143
Average (2,231,439)
Average (2,633,926)
Average (3,241,795)
Loose (11,926,718)
Loose (14,989,948)
Should You
PlayMudaro
In Hold-Em?
Sam
is the...
How Many Hands Should
lations were
You Play In Hold’Em?
run using
a full table at a $10/$20
raises allowed. Here is the
game with a bet and 3
first chart:
Percent of Time Seen
Flop Turn River End
22
13
10
9
28
15
12
10
37
24
19
16
23
14
11
9
36
20
16
13
36
24
18
15
36
23
18
15
35
23
19
15
57
34
27
22
55
34
25
20
Lost With
Pair
2 Pair
89,373
62,420
107,285
74,530
202,040
129,080
89,062
66,152
144,363
104,529
167,257
123,522
166,714
126,457
167,007
122,380
262,881
175,146
221,907
172,175
3 hands per round. This is a
little more frequently then in
Omaha H/L. The unknowing
player may believe that since
you are dealt twice as many
cards in Omaha, you should
be playing more hands. That
is not the case. In fact it is the
complete opposite. Also notice
that when our tight player
sticks around to see the river
Won With
Pair
2 Pair
72,084
79,509
83,359
94,131
107,361
127,690
65,768
83,973
93,286
115,938
103,544
131,041
97,852
124,533
98,225
121,803
139,857
178,428
129,682
173,097
he will showdown 98% of the
time.
In this second chart we
have reduced the number of
tight and average players by
one. There are a few major
differences here but they do
not change the percentage of
hands our tight player decides
to play or tends to call on the
river with.
This average table consist of 3 tight, 4 average
and 2 loose players. The
“Win/(Loss)” column shows
how each player fared after
5 million hands of play. The
columns labeled Flop, Turn,
River and End show the percentage of time each player
saw that street. The End column indicates how often our
players proceeded to a showdown. The last two sets of
columns indicate how often
a player lost and won with a
pair and 2 pair. These are the
most frequent hands played
to a shown down.
The most common hands
to loose and win with are
pairs and 2 pair. Two pair in
Hold-Em is a very difficult
hand to get away from especially when the board is not
paired.
The top two money winners
above are both tight players.
The 3 tight players finished in
the top 4. The loose players
finished last. They exhibited a
dramatic and statistically significant difference in terms of
money lost. Our tight players
saw the flop less then 30%.
At a full table that is less then
The table will continue
to loose and win the most
number of hands with a pair
or two pair. The loose players
will see twice as many flops
as the tight player and continue to loose more money.
The top money winner in the
first chart is the same tight
profile as the top money winner in the second chart. I point
this out because this particular
player won 33% more money,
playing the same frequency of
hands at each street, by adding two more loose players to
the table!
This would indicate that
the more loose players at a
table the greater the winnings
for the tight players. This is
true because in aggregate
the loose players are dumping more money. This being
is the number of times the
left that portion of the chart
the case why do so many
off. Look at the percentage of players saw the river withhold-em players complain
when they are in a no fold-em time each player saw the flop. out following through to a
showdown. This is an excelThe average for the group is
hold-em game. One reason
lent indicator that the players
for the complaints is that they 58%. 9 out of the 10 players
are playing drawing hands.
saw the flop more then 50%
hate being out drawn on by a
When they don’t get there on
player who should have never of the time. The two loosest
the river they fold. Here is
players saw the flop 75% of
seen the flop to begin with.
another tip. If you are playthe time and lost 78% of the
Here is a tip for you. Stop
ing in a loose game where a
monies lost.
complaining! Just be patient.
number of players are chasing
Another point to notice
Continue to play your good
draws, you may want to
game knowing that in
Loose 1
bet on the river. You may
the long run you will win
Type Win(Loss) Flop Turn River End
be able to steal more pots
more money. Yes there
Loose
8,740,998
40
19
15
11
when your opponents fail
will be greater fluctuations
Loose
4,108,185 54 33
26 21 to connect.
but you are the aspiring
Loose
3,385,187 55 30
25 19
So what have we
pro who knows better.
Loose
2,881,435 54 29
22 17 learned? Playing tight is
The chart to the right
854,391 55 29
22 18 good in both Hold-Em and
shows the results from a Loose
(936,701) 53 32
26 19 Omaha. You may see the
table with all loose play- Loose
ers. There was no differ- Loose (2,275,703) 65 28
23 17 flop slightly more often in
ence with the hands lost
Loose (4,331,772) 54 32
23 18 Hold-Em then in Omaha
vs. the hands won and in Loose (12,227,856) 75 45
37 28 H/L even though you are
consideration of space I
Loose (15,191,791) 75 45
38 29 dealt more cards.
12
Average 2
Type Win(Loss) Flop Turn River End
Tight
11,647,909 22
13
10
9
Average
5,159,501 37
21
17
14
Tight
4,297,228 24
15
11
9
Average
2,519,254 34
21
17
14
Average
1,495,042 37
24
20
16
Average
578,533 35
24
18
14
Loose
(3,995,284) 55
31
24
19
Loose (11,090,862) 59
35
29
23
Loose (11,811,590) 58
40
33
27
Loose (13,594,722) 55
37
31
24
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
Lost With
Pair
2 Pair
94,675
65,659
183,528
133,943
100,652
76,727
161,030
122,711
183,528
133,943
166,010
126,855
221,530
162,648
279,120
190,220
150,287
107,464
295,672
203,136
Won With
Pair
2 Pair
71,314
80,870
93,490
116,503
63,917
82,536
84,988
114,521
95,246
124,361
90,355
123,040
119,216
160,441
132,548
182,465
143,764
183,878
135,151
187,760
It’s O
By Dennis Oehring
Authoritative proof supplied courtesy of a branch
of the Federal Government
Remember the 1947
holiday classic, Miracle
on 34th Street? Kris
Kringle claimed that he
was Santa Claus, and by
doing found himself at a
hearing to determine his
competency. The district
attorney demanded of the
judge that Kringle’s defense
attorney provide “authoritative proof” that Kringle was
whom he claimed. With
a little help from the post
office, the movie reached
its denouement when thousands of letters addressed to
Santa Claus were delivered
to Kringle at the courthouse
and placed upon the judge’s
desk.
Here is the exchange that
immediately followed:
Attorney Fred Gailey:
Your Honor, every one of
these letters is addressed
to Santa Claus. The Post
Office has delivered them.
Therefore, the Post Office
Department, a branch of
the Federal Government,
recognizes this man Kris
Kringle to be the one and
only Santa Claus.
Judge Henry X. Harper:
Uh, since the United States
Government declares this
man to be Santa Claus, this
court will not dispute it.
Case dismissed.
What does this have
to do with poker? Well,
for the past several years,
debate has flourished on
whether poker is a sport or
merely just a game. Most
proponents of poker consider it a sport, citing prize
pools larger than most other
professional sports, the
worldwide spectator base,
evolving corporate sponsorship, and the skill involved
in becoming a professional
player. Opponents say that
poker is nothing more than
another form of gambling,
similar to any other casino
game involving luck, not
skill; or at best is a game
like any other card game,
requiring no athletic prowess as in other sports.
So, what about authoritative proof one way or the
other? As of now, there
really isn’t any; the debate
Official! Poker Is a Sport!
is simply a matter of opinion, just as it was about
whether Kris Kringle was
Santa Claus. But wait….
I just may have uncovered
some proof.
Let’s begin by looking at
the definition of an athlete.
Webster’s Dictionary states
simply that an athlete is a
person trained to participate in sports. A specialty
definition appearing at
Webster’s online website
courtesy of Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia, states
that the term “athlete” can
also, although less often,
refer to a mental, instead of
physical, competitor or possessor of skills.
I’ve learned that Uncle
Sam subscribes to these
definitions, as evidenced
by issuing aliens skilled in
poker what are known as
P-1 visas that allow them
to play in the United States
for years at a time. The P-1
visa is the same visa that is
issued to professional athletes in baseball, basketball,
and many other sports.
Intrigued by this interesting tidbit of information, I
contacted an immigration
specialist by the name of
Steve Ladik out of Dallas,
TX, who has acted as the
attorney for about 20 players from other countries
who are currently playing
poker professionally in the
United States. I got Ladik’s
name from a professional
player I recently met who
utilized his services to
procure his own visa. Mr.
Ladik is recognized as
one of America’s top 100
attorneys, and is a past
President of the American
Immigration Lawyers
Association. The first
poker player Ladik helped
secure a P-1 visa for was
none other than Daniel
Negreanu, who, of course,
is a native of Canada.
According to Ladik,
the P-1 visa is available
to aliens who excel as artists, entertainers, or athletes. While there is some
entertainment value poker
players provide, especially
when they are seen on television, the primary basis for
the issuance of the visa is
because they are considered
athletes rather than enter-
tainers or artists.
The process for obtaining a visa can take up to
three or four months, but
can be accelerated if the
applicant pays the government a $1000 premium processing fee, in which case
United States Citizenship
and Immigrations Services
(USCIS) will process the
application within fifteen
days. The law firm needs
about the same length of
time to get their documentation together, thereby
reducing the process to
only about a month. The
P-1 visa is good for five
years, and may be renewed
for another five years, giving the player a full ten
years to play professionally
in the U.S. At the end of
this period or at any time
prior, if the applicant has
achieved significant stardom, they may apply for a
permanent green card under
a category reserved for
players with extraordinary
ability.
I asked Mr. Ladik what
kind of track record a player in a foreign country had
to have to qualify for this
visa. Mr. Ladik explained
that the government has
established seven different
criteria to determine whether a player can be granted
a P-1 visa, but that only
two of the criteria need to
be met, meaning that the
standards for obtaining a
P-1 visa are lower than for
many other forms of visas.
Of the seven criteria
aforementioned, four apply
to most players, and again
only two are necessary to
satisfy our government.
They are as follows:
Immigration attorney Steve
Ladik discovered the proof!
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
13
Different Traps, PART I
POwer POKER PSYCHOLOGY
By JAMES A. M C KENNA, P H D.
There’s sound advice often heard from experienced
players when they say, “If you haven’t figured out
who the pigeon is in the first fifteen minutes, it’s probably you.”
Bluffs are traps designed to lure prey into various traps. However,
it’s a mistake to think that one trap will fit all prey. Just as different fish require different bait; so too, pigeons will require their own
lures. Planned and Aggressive players will respond differently than
Loose and Aggressive ones. Just as there are fish traps, so too
there are speed traps.
Fish Baited Traps. Good fish stories are usually told by fishermen who spend a lot of hours casting. Some days they catch a
few, some days they will catch a lot of fishes. Then, there are the
times that they catch the big one. Such fishermen go about catching fish in planned and aggressive ways. It’s also how they can be
trapped—with a better plan. In a game of Texas Hold ‘em, such players will “should” all over other players. They will take others to task
for moves that are not sophisticated in their opinion. Their traps are
more like dares. You’ve heard, “Call that if you don’t like money!”
These Planned-Aggressive players are more likely to be the selfappointed experts. They usually have years of playing experience
and will do what is needed to win once they decide to get into a
hand. They are not likely to be in a hand unless they have live cards
and over cards to what’s showing. Their way of trapping fish is also
the way to trap the trapper. For instance, in Texas Hold ‘em, with a
flop like this:
Foxwoods
11. Ron Wilson . . . . . . . . $62,628
Hanover Township, PA, USA
12. Greg Monaldi. . . . . . $58,453
Davie, FL, USA
13. Greg Breiner . . . . . . $54,278
Johnston, RI, USA
14. Phyrun K. Chhim . . $50,102
Lowell, MA, USA
15. Anh Van Nguyen . . . . . . . . .
AKA “Diesel” . . . . . . $45,927
Toronto, ON, Canada
16. Paul McCaffrey . . . . $41,752
Boston, MA, USA
17. Randy Spain. . . . . . . $37,577
Brewer, ME, USA
18. Aaron March . . . . . . $33,402
Willimantic, CT, USA
19. Michael Farris . . . . . $29,226
Pelham, NH, USA
20. Avdo Djokovic . . . . . $25,061
Staten Island, NY, USA
21. Senovio Ramirez lll . $20,876
Mercedes, TX, USA
22. Eric Haber . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
AKA “sheets” . . . . . . $20,876
Muttontown, NY, USA
23. Joseph Schmidt . . . . $20,876
Bronx, NY, USA
24. Chris “Syracuse” . . . . . . . . .
Tsiprailidis . . . . . . . . $20,876
Syracuse, NY, USA
25. Samuel Hernandez . $20,876
26. David Epstein . . . . . $16,700
27. Stamatis Reves . . . . . $16,700
East Greenwich, RI, USA
28. Joseph Jubb . . . . . . $16,700
29. Sam Haddad . . . . . . $16,700
Warwick, RI, USA
30. Michael Capener . . . $16,700
Phoenix, AZ, USA
31. John Juanda. . . . . . . $12,525
Marina Del Ray, CA, USA
32. Willaim White . . . . . $12,525
Brick, NJ, USA
33. Konstantin Katikakis$12,525
Boston, MA, USA
34. Matthew Glantz . . . . $12,525
Lafayette Hill, PA, USA
35. Andy Latto . . . . . . . . $12,525
Foxboro, MA, USA
A fish trapper would check top pair, looking to lure a fish to bet.
If checking top pair, they also either have two pair or a big “kicker.”
Such players are not likely to have played this hand with a King and
a small kicker. So, how do you trap this fish trapper? You need a bigger fish as bait. In other words, if you have pocket Aces, you could
just bet and wait for the Kings to raise you. At that point, by just
calling the raise with your pair of Aces, you have set a better fish
trap for the fish trapper. A turn about is after all, fair play.
Speed Traps. There may be some truth in the saying that, “It
takes a thief to catch a thief.” Some players are better at trapping and others are prime targets to be trapped. Bluffing can be a
sudden impulse designed to act strong when holding a weak hand.
Aggressive-Loose players usually will engage their bets before their
minds. Often you will see such bluffing occur aggressively, with flare,
and the bettor hasn’t even looked to see what he or she is betting
into. Speed trappers know where to set their radar guns. For example, if you have such a player behind you, count on him or her to be
the aggressor. They seem to bet on any flop, even if they only have
bottom pair. Count on it. Set up your radar and let them start speeding. Your trap, however, must make sure that you have the better
hand and that the speeder can’t draw out on you. For example, suppose that you have top pair and that there is a straight or flush draw
potential. Where you might check to give the speeder a chance to bet
his little pair, a consistent winner would probably bet this hand (since
there is a potential draw). Speed players are notorious for making
near impossible draws. So, why give such players a free card?
There are a variety of preys that can be trapped. Next time in
Part II we will discuss Net trapping, mixed traps, and Dirty Traps.
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 jim@JimMckenna-phd.com.
14
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
36. Will Durkee . . . . . . . $12,525
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
37. Allen Blais . . . . . . . . $12,525
Hartford, CT, USA
38. Dustin Mele . . . . . . . $12,525
Troy, NY, USA
39. Greg Daniel . . . . . . . $12,525
Palmetto, FL, USA
40. Alan Engel . . . . . . . . $12,525
Brooklyn, NY, USA
Event 8: The Crown
Goes To Sean
Mccabe!
The $3000 No-Limit
Hold’em Championship of
the 2006 Foxwoods Poker
Classic was captured by
Sean McCabe as he overcame the challenge of 203
other competitors. Sean,
who hails from Sunny
Isles Beach, FL, took
home the championship
trophy, commemorative
jacket and the top prize of
$204,168! Eleven players
gathered at 4 PM to begin
the battle for the title. It
took only a few hands for
Alex Todd of NYC, NY,
to find himself taking
home 11th place money
of $10,136. Steven Zoine,
the final table chip leader, saw his stack erode
quickly as he lost once
with pocket 6’s to Hoa
Nguyen”s A10 when an
A came on the river and
then with AK to Sean’s
AQ when the board came
J610K3. Steven, from
Merrick, NY, ended up in
9th position with $13,032.
He was all-in on the same
hand with David Phan,
Cerritos, CA; Steven had
KQ, David had QQ and
Jin Kim had pocket 10’s.
When the turn gave Kim
a set, David and Steve
were both out; David was
the 10th place winner of
$11,584.
With the blinds at
6K/12K and soon to go
up, “Dakota” Happas
of Braintree, MA, had
to make a stand; his 97
was no match for Sean’s
pocket K’s and Dakota
was in 8th position with
$14,480. The blinds went
to 8K/16K and James
Kolodny, a resident of
Cleveland, OH, soon
found himself all-in with
pocket 6’s. Gary Rabin
had Jim covered by 3K
and called with Q10; a Q
on the turn left Jim in 7th
place with $17,376.
With six players
remaining, Sean had a
comfortable chip advantage. Jin Kim of Flushing,
NY, lost a chunk of chips
to Gary Rabin’s pocket
K’s when his AK did not
improve. Shortly thereafter, his K5 lost to Sean’s
AJ as Sean caught a J on
the flop. Kim collected
$23,168 for 6th place.
Gary Rabin added to his
stack by eliminating Hoa
Nguyen and Anthony
Salerno in rapid succession. Hoa, of Sterling,
VA, was all-in with 95;
Gary’s Q9 was enough
to leave Hoa in 5th good
for $28,960. Anthony
Salerno, Howell, NJ, with
Q10 fell victim to Gary’s
AJ; Anthony would return
home with 4th place and
$40,544 for his efforts.
Gary Rabin, a New
York City resident, tried
to cut into Sean’s ever
growing stack. Sean
beat back the challenge
and soon was relegating Gary to 3rd position
when Gary failed to catch
his straight. His reward
was $60,816. Two were
left for the title and with
the blinds at 10K/20K it
was soon over. Raymond
Millard, a resident of
Tamarac, FL, was all-in
with 56 after a K53 flop
but Sean had K7 and
Raymond was the 2nd
place winner of $110,048.
Sean McCabe was the
$3000 No-Limit Hold’em
Champion for 2006!
EVENT #8
4/4/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $2,800 + $200
PLAYERS 204
PRIZE
POOL
$579,200
Sean McCabe
1. Sean McCabe . . . . . $204,168
Sunny Isles Beach, FL, USA
2. Raymond Millard . $110,048
Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
3. Gary Rabin . . . . . . . $60,816
New York, NY, USA
4. Anthony Salerno . . . . . . . . . .
AKA “Tony” . . . . . . $40,544
Howell, NJ, USA
5. Hoa Minh Nguyen . . $28,960
Sterling, VA, USA
6. Jin Kim . . . . . . . . . . . $23,168
Los Angeles, CA, USA
7. James Kolodny . . . . $17,376
Cleveland, OH, USA
8. Steve Happas . . . . . . . . . . . .
AKA “Dakota”. . . . . $14,480
Braintree, MA, USA
9. Steve Zoine . . . . . . . . $13,032
Merrick, NY, USA
10. David “Dragon” . . . . . . . . . .
Pham . . . . . . . . . . . . . $11,584
Cerritos, CA, USA
11. Alex Todd AKA . . . . . . . . . . .
“mahoney3” . . . . . . . $10,136
New York, NY, USA
12. Daniel B Stewart . . . . $8,688
Ham Lake, MN, USA
13. Vinod Vangimalla . . . $7,240
Silver Spings, MD, USA
14. Robert D Williams . . $5,792
Barrie, ON, Canada
15. Robert D Metayer . . . $4,348
Standish, ME, USA
16. Eugene Todd . . . . . . . . . . . . .
AKA “Mr Brooklyn” $3,764
Brooklyn, NY, USA
17. Daniel McMahon . . . . $3,764
Whitman, MA, USA
18. Emanuel Failla. . . . . . $3,764
Commack, NY, USA
19. Mohammed Masoud . $3,764
Homestead, FL, USA
20. Richard Murnick. . . . $3,764
Upper Montclair, NJ, USA
Michael Gamerman
Takes $600 Limit
Hold’Em
The 2006 Foxwoods
Poker Classic $600 Limit
Hold’em Championship
went to Michael
Gamerman of Foxboro,
MA. Michael, the final
table chip leader, fought
Poker
Classic
[
Star
Power at the Foxwoods
Poker Classic:
Carmen Electra deals the
opening hand to kick off
the event!
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
15
Impaired
STRAIGHT SKINNY
By RICHARD G. BURKE
Fred was waiting for a seat in a $48 Hold’Em game on that Tuesday
afternoon in late winter when I arrived at our local
poker room. I signed up for a seat and sat beside
Fred, who had a smile fleeting about his countenance. He was obviously pleased with himself, so
I inquired why he was so smug. He told me that
he had gotten the better of George on a bet. For
the rest of the month, whenever he and George
were at the same Hold’Em table, they would bet
on whether there was a Pair or better on every
five-card tableau. If there was, then he would pay
George $6; else, George would pay him $5.
I asked Fred how much he had lost so far. He
started to answer, and then stopped to ask, “Why
was I so sure he had lost at all?” Because, I told
him, he was giving 6 to 5 odds on an even-money
proposition. Fred’s smile vanished.
I explained to Fred that the five cards on the
tableau come from a randomly shuffled deck, and
that was the same as dealing out five cards in a
Draw Poker game. Most old Draw Poker books
have the odds against obtaining a Pair or better
in five cards, and it’s about a 50-50 chance that
five randomly dealt cards won’t have a Pair or
better.
Look, I told Fred, C(52,5) obtains the
total number of poker hands possible: of
those 2,598,960 hands, there are 1,317,888
(52*48*44*40*36/5!) that have no duplicated
ranks, but that number includes 15,348 Flushes,
Straights, and
Hand Type
#
%
40 0.002
Straight Flushes, Straight Flush
624
0.02
leaving 1,302,540 Four-of-a-Kind
Full
House
3,744
0.1
hands without
Flush
5,108
0.2
a Pair or better.
Straight
10,200
0.4
The table shows
Three-of-a-Kind
54,912
2.1
all the possibiliTwo Pairs
123,552
4.8
One Pair
1,098,240 42.3
ties.
From the table, Not even a Pair 1,302,540 50.1
Sum r r r 2,598,960
Fred readily saw
that a Pair or better would occur among the five
community cards 49.9% of the time. “Ouch!”
said he, realizing he had made a bad bet. I told
Fred that if their bet were for One Pair, instead
of a Pair or better, then it would be more or less
fair. ($6*.423 vs. $5*.501) Since about twenty
hands go to the River each hour at low-limit
Hold’Em, George’s prop bet as it stood would
cost Fred about $10 per hour.
Fred asked what he should do. I told him that
he’d better avoid playing at George’s table for
the rest of the month. I told Fred also to heed
Sky Masterson’s father’s advice about proposition bets, as reported by Damon Runyon in “The
Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown.”
“Son, the old guy says, “no matter how far you
travel, or how smart you get, always remember
this: Some day, somewhere,” he says, “a guy is
going to come to you and show you a brand-new
deck of cards on which the seal is never broken,
and this guy is going to offer to bet you that
the jack of spades will jump out of this deck and
squirt cider in your ear. But, son,” the old guy
says, “do not bet him, for as sure as you do you
are going to get an ear full of cider.”
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
richardburke@comcast.net
16
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
girl has exited, I raise my
gun and call out into the
empty Strip Club, “Come
on out, Red! Hands up!”
and, to my surprise, out she
comes with her hands up.
Only, she’s not a redhead
card room in town, The
Flop House, who has
sworn, to my face, to kill
me with his bare hands.
“Drop the gun, Thayer,”
says Casper, pointing the
shotgun’s OO barrel at the
Yin and Yang
A Poker Player Murder Mystery by Robert Arabella
Eastern philosophy
embraces the concept of the
eternal struggle between
yin and yang, two opposing
elemental forces battling
to stay in balance. When
you hold KfKa in the
pocket on the button you
are in yin. When the flop
comes, As Ad Ks, and
there is a bet, a raise and
re-raise in front of you, you
are in yang. When, on the
turn, the Kd falls, and it’s
checked around to you, you
are back in yin. When on
the river the Aafalls, and
you have to cold call a bet
and a raise, you are yanged
and the only question is
how much it’s going to cost
you to find out just how
yanged you are.
Right now I am very
yanged. I have tracked
down Steve The Sleeve’s
murderer, a mysterious
mini-skirted redheaded
woman, to “Pleasure
Poker,” a Strip Poker Club.
Prostitution is illegal.
Poker isn’t. Strip Poker
Clubs are a legal fiction
which allows their male
patrons to sit at a table full
of “poke-her” girls playing
X-rated games. Tonight
must be “Feelin’ Groovy”
Night—the room is filled
with redheaded mini-skirted go-go dancers.
In “The Mysterious
Case Of The Purloined
Letter,” Edgar Allen Poe
wrote about a stolen letter, hidden in plain sight
on a messy desk. In my
own “Mysterious Case Of
The Missing Redhead,”
the mini-skirted redheaded
murderer has hidden herself in a room full of miniskirted redheads. I’m thinking there is no way to ever
find The Red Queen when
suddenly I realize no one
can hide in an empty room.
I pull the fire alarm, sending all the redheaded mini-
skirted strip poker girls
running out the door. As
each one runs by, yelling
“Hurry! Hurry!” I look for
the telltale scraped knees.
When the last “poke-her”
and she’s not alone.
“Hello, Jack,” says my
girlfriend, Calamity Jane,
who I know for a fact is
not a redhead. Behind her,
holding the kind of shotgun
that would bring down a
charging rhinoceros, is the
last person I ever wanted
to see again—“Casper, The
Unfriendly Ghost”—the
owner of the most crooked
back of Calamity Jane’s
head. “Drop the gun or I’ll
splatter your girlfriend all
over the walls.”
When I just stand there,
Calamity Jane pleads,
“Jack, please! Please drop
the gun!” and dissolves
into tears.
I watch Casper’s finger
twitching on the shotgun’s
double trigger, listen to
Calamity Jane’s sobs,
while in my head my
poker instincts scream,
Something’s Wrong!
Once, with a Duck
Pond (2 2 2) Flop, I card
switched myself a to
“No More Tears” Full
House, shaking hands
with Johnson & Johnson.
A whole lot of black chips
later, I was Quaded on The
River by a Card Mechanic,
swapping in a hold out 2.
It was the only time I was
ever cheated by a cheat.
Until just now. Suddenly
I know what’s wrong.
“Don’t shoot her!” I say
to Casper and drop my gun.
(To be continued in the next
issue of Poker Player)
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M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
17
Over My Head
STUD SENSE
By ASHLEY ADAMS
I’m a good $20/40 stud player. I make about
one bet an hour – more on a good night.
Tonight was one of those nights.
All of the ingredients were there for an excellent evening of
poker. The place (Foxwoods) was mobbed with six full $20/40
stud tables and two dozen lower stakes stud games. There were
also three $75/150 games. So I signed up for $20/40, $10/20
and $5/10. I also put my name on the list for one of the 85 or so
Hold ‘em games – also going strong with enormous lists.
After one hour I was still waiting – and growing increasingly
impatient. I had just driven down from Boston and was eager to
play. But I wasn’t near the top of any of the lists.
There was one short list of the two dozen or so games posted – and that was $75/150 Stud. I laughed at the prospect of
a middle roller like myself playing that high. But after another
thirty minutes of waiting it didn’t seem so crazy.
“It’s just a little more than three times $20/40” I mused.
“No big deal. I’m way ahead for the year. It can’t hurt to put
my name on the list.” And so I did – and was called to the game
in short order.
I went to my safety deposit box and took out a packet of
$5,000 and had the cashier color it into $4,000 in black $100
chips and $1,000 in green $25 chips. It all fit neatly into one
rack.
I had watched this game in the past. I had even sat down
briefly in a $75/150 Omaha8 game. So I knew that the action
would be much faster than at the $20/40 game. But I had never
played $75/150 stud. This was my first time.
The action was faster than I had expected, typically raised
and usually reraised on Third Street. With antes of $15 and a
$25 bring in, the initial pot was more worth fighting for than in
the lower stakes $20/40 game. In $20/40, the initial pot is $29,
nearly 150% of the $20 lower tier bet. But in $75/150, the initial pot is $145, nearly 200% of the lower tier $75 bet.
This completely changes the character of the game. Players
aggressively try to steal and resteal the antes and bring-in.
This inflates the pot, making it even more profitable to continue
the aggressive betting throughout the hand. It wasn’t uncommon for there to be fifteen small bets in the pot by Fifth Street.
Compare this with a typically tight $20/40 game where there
are often fewer than six small bets in the pot at this moment.
In a way I was lucky. One hand, contested aggressively until
the river but then lost, could have cost me $825. But I was
dealt absolute and complete garbage: (3c9s)Jh, (9c6h)2c, (7d,
Qh)3c, (6s,7s)Jh, (Js2c)7d and a few other hands just like that.
I never entered a pot beyond the ante or bring-in. My risk was
completely minimized. Even so, in just ten hands I was down
$200.00!
The experience was worthwhile for a few reasons. It taught
me that bulging bankroll or not, I was not psychologically ready
to play this large a game – thinking as I was just in terms of
how much money I could lose. I also learned experientially how
$75/150 plays closer to eight times rather than three times
larger than $20/40. Finally, I saw first hand that the strategy
for winning at this game is much more geared toward knocking
players out rather than betting for value.
There was one residual benefit from the experience. My
$20/40 play seemed to me to be much more confidant and less
timid than it might normally be. Having stuck my toe into the
deep roaring surf of the bigger game, the water in my $20/40
game seemed much easier to navigate.
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: asha34@aol.com
18
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
Foxwoods Poker Classic
off the stiff competition
of Roman Opielowski and
the rest of the 280 person
field to claim the championship trophy, commemorative jacket and $50,760.
The final table got
underway a little after
4 PM and, with the limits at 6K/12K, it only
took three hands for
Alan McLaughlin of
Saunderstown, RI, to put
all his chips in the pot.
He had AK to Michael’s
AJ and was looking good
until a J appeared on the
river. Alan took home
$3,008 for 10th place.
After the levels went to
8K/16K two players were
out in quick succession
both losing to Christos
Bekiaris. Richard Sanford
had pocket 9’s and
Christos had J10. A 10
on the flop left Richard,
a resident of Stratford,
CT, in 9th position with
$3,384. Pete Krimitsos,
Orangebrook, NJ, also
fell victim to 10’s He
was all-in with J6 to
Christos’ 109; again a 10
came on the flop sending
Pete home with 8th place
money of $3,760. Arkadiy
Tsinis, Las Vegas, NV,
lost a big hand with AK
to Roman who had pocket
Q’s. A short time later,
Arkadiy was all-in with
107 with a board of 75822
but Michael had A8 for a
higher pair and Arkadiy
was relegated to 7th position worth $4,512.
Christos left John
Muse with less than
20K in chips when his
pocket J’s topped John’s
A7. The next hand John
went all-in with K7
after a flop of 676 but
Serafim Zaharopoulos
had pocket J’s and with
no further help from the
board John would return
home to Louisville, KY
with 6th place money
of $6,016. Serafim was
the next to go; he had
A8 and went all-in after
a Ah7Kh flop. Michael
had pocket 7c7h for a set;
the 2h4h on the turn and
river gave Michael an
unneeded flush. Serafim,
a resident of Clifton, NJ,
took 5th position worth
$7,144. With the blinds
at 15K/30K, Steven
Kunevich was down to
felt; he went all-in with
63 after a K56 flop but
Michael paired a 10 on
the river and Steven
would take 4th place
money of $10,152 home
to Brookline, MA.
With three players
left, Michael is the clear
chip leader, Christos
and Roman both take
chips from Michael’s
stack but each time he
fights back to regain
his edge. Christos loses
a big hand to Michael
when Michael’s J outkicks Christos’ 10 and
then, in three way action,
Christos is out when
Roman hits a set of J’s on
the turn. Christos, a resident of nearby Norwich,
CT, takes 3rd place and
$15,416.
Michael has almost a 2
to 1 chip advantage entering heads up play and the
blinds at 20K/40K. He
ate away at his opponents
stack until Roman was
forced all with 53. A 3 on
the flop gave him hope
but Michael, with K10,
hit a 10 on the turn to
leave Roman, a resident
of Worcester, MA, in 2nd
place with $27,824. And
Michael Gamerman was
the $600 Limit Hold’em
Champion of the 2006
Foxwoods Poker Classic!
EVENT #7
4/3/06
LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $530 + $70
PLAYERS 280
PRIZE
POOL
$150,400
Michael Sid Gamerman
1. Michael Sid . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Gamerman . . . . . . . . $50,760
Foxboro, MA, USA
2. Roman Opielowski . $27,824
Worcester, MA, USA
3. Christos Bekiaris . . . $15,416
Norwich, CT, USA
4. Steven Kunevich . . . $10,152
Brookline, MA, USA
5. Serafim Zaharopoulos$7,144
Clifton, NJ, USA
6. John Muse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
AKA “Dave” . . . . . . . $6,016
Louisville, KY, USA
7. Arkadiy Tsinis . . . . . . $4,512
Las Vegas, NV, USA
8. Pete Krimitsos . . . . . . $3,760
Orangebrook, NJ, USA
9. Richard Sanford . . . . $3,384
Stratford, CT, USA
10. Alan McLaughlin . . . $3,008
Saunderstown, RI, USA
11. Barrett Taylor . . . . . . $2,632
Somers, NY, USA
12. Marc Dubrovsky . . . . $2,256
Pond Eddy, NY, USA
13. Ronnie Bardah. . . . . . $1,880
Stoneham, MA, USA
14. Ron Evans . . . . . . . . . $1,504
Warrentown, VA, USA
15. Robert D Williams . . $1,132
Barrie, ON, Canada
16. Melanie M Kaye . . . . . .$977
Guilford, CT, USA
17. Richard Yarmosh . . . . .$977
Glen Head, NY, USA
18. Rick Rodricks . . . . . . . .$977
Plymouth, MA, USA
19. David Gorman . . . . . . . .$977
Newton, MA, USA
20. James M Martin . . . . . .$977
Fall River, MA, USA
21. James Donovan . . . . . . .$827
Cumberland, RI, USA
22. Thomas E Little . . . . . . .$827
Uncasville, CT, USA
23. Michael S Ficco . . . . . . .$827
Franklin, MA, USA
24. Peter Phillips . . . . . . . . .$827
Atlantic City, NJ, USA
25. Kenneth J Donoghue. . .$827
Manchester, NH, USA
Joseph Toth Takes
Top Prize Of
$163,842!
When the 14 players
returned at 4 pm to resume
the $2000 No-Limit
Championship, Joseph
Toth was the short stack
by far. His first objective
was to get to the final table
which he did; even then
he was still the low man.
But by the time things
wrapped up at 9:30 pm,
Joe was the Champion for
2006. The Sharpsville, PA,
resident walked away with
the championship trophy,
commemorative jacket and
$163,842! Truly a remarkable performance!
The final table began
slowly but when the blinds
went to 6000/12000, things
heated up. In rapid succession three players were
collecting their prizes.
Loren Klein, Golden, CO,
had pocket 9’s but Bob
Tresca had pocket 10’s and
Loren was in 10th with
$9,296. Stephen Levenson
of Skillman, NJ, went allin
with AQ; the board was no
help as this time Ronnie
Passariello’s pocket 9’s
held. Stephen took home
$10,458 for 9th. Bill Edler
had K10 but Greg Monaldi
had pocket A’s and Bill
would return to Rodeo, CA,
with $11,620 and 8th place.
Meanwhile Joe is slowly
adding to his stack; he takes
a large pot with pocket A’s
to Bob Tresca’s AK.
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M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
19
DEBBIE BURKHEAD INTERVIEWS...
Marc Nelson
CARDROOM MANAGER AT LAS VEGAS HILTON
Marc Nelson was born
in Portland, Oregon on
December 17, 1971. In
1985 at the age of 14 he
and his family moved to
Las Vegas, Nevada. Marc
graduated from Valley High
School in 1990 and moved
back to Oregon to pursue
his college education at
Mount Hood College. After
his first year Marc decided
the wet weather wasn’t for
him and moved back to Las
Vegas.
Marc’s introduction into
the world of gaming took
place in 1992 in Juarez,
Mexico with the first legal
sportsbook.
In 1993 he left Mexico
for a position with an off
shore sportsbook in the
Caribbean.
In 1995 Marc moved
back to Las Vegas and his
first gaming position in the
States was as a Supervisor
in the Race and Sportsbook
at the Fiesta Rancho. In
1997 he was promoted
to Manager of the Race
and Sportsbook and in
1998 he was promoted to
Director of the Race and
Sportsbook.
In 2001 he left the Fiesta
to assist in the pre-opening operation of the Palms.
As Director of Associated
Gaming Marc oversaw the
operations of the Race and
Sportsbook, Bingo, Keno
and Poker.
This past March of 2006
Marc was appointed Poker
Room Manager for the Las
Vegas Hilton.
DB: How many live poker
tables are offered at the
Hilton?
MN: We presently have
nine tables with room for a
total of eleven.
DB: Have you made any
changes since taking over
the room?
MN: I haven‘t made a lot
of changes, I‘m just squaring up the room as far as
the game mix. We have also
reduced the rake down to
5% to 8% on most games,
such as no-limit and some
of our structured games.
DB: Are you planning any
changes in the near future?
MN: Yes, we have a bunch
of things in the works but
I‘ve only been here three
weeks and I‘m trying to
get to know the staff and
the players first. We will be
instituting a preferred parking area for our poker players at the back entrance just
off Joe W. Brown. We are
working on a lot of cross
promotions between Poker,
Race and Sportsbook and
Table Games.
DB: Is Poker Room
equipped with all the mod-
ern technology?
MN: Aside from the QOS
tracking system we have
shuffle masters on all of our
tables and 10 32” plasmas
for viewing daily race and
sporting events.
DB: What other amenities
does the Hilton offer its
players?
MN: We will be instituting table side dining in the
near future. We offer an
unlimited comp system of
$1.00 per hour while playing live action. We run a
$20,000 monthly freeroll
for any players earning
40 or more hours in a one
month period. Players can
earn chip bonuses for that
freeroll at the 50 hour and
60 hour level as well. We
offer daily high-hand jackpots on four-of-a-kind and
straight flushes.
DB: Does the Hilton offer
daily tournaments?
MN: Not at this time but
we are looking into running
weekly tournaments at the
$100-$200 range.
DB: Are you planning any
major tournaments in the
future?
MN: We are not planning
anything right now but we
do have lots of convention
space here at the Hilton
if we decide to go in that
direction.
DB: What live games does
the Hilton offer it‘s players?
MN: We spread $3-$6 up
to $6-$12 limit hold‘em,
$1-$2 pot limit hold‘em
high and we spread no-limit
with $1-$2 blinds up to $5$10 blinds. Our $1-$2 blind
game has a $50-$200 buyin, the $2-$5 blind game
has a $100-$500 buy-in and
our $5-$10 blind game has
a $500 minimum buy-in
NOW HIRING
LOW BUY-IN
NO LIMIT HOLD ‘EM PLAYERS
Club Caribe Casino
7617 Atlantic Ave., Cudahy (L.A.), CA 90201
(323) 560-5995
APPLY IN PERSON
20
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
4000 W. Flamingo Road • Las Vegas • 251-3574
Starting March 20 at 4pm
until March 23 at 6pm
$100 Every Hour
Have the high hand at the end of every hour to win. Plus, 5 $500
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22 Buy-in
No Re-Buys
• 10am
ALSO:
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Come join us in the Poker Room
OPEN 24 Hrs
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LESSON 74:
Poker Tips from Mike Caro
Today we’re going to go over my selection from
among tips that Mike thinks are important for
Lessons from mike caro
university of poker
BY DIANE M C HAFFIE
your learning experience. I’ve discovered that
this collection is especially helpful to me, personally. I’m not presenting them in any particular order, and most of them invite more
in-depth explanations. A few of them I’ve covered in previous lessons. Perhaps I’ll devote whole columns to some of the others in
the future. For now, here’s my list…
1. Asking your opponents how they would play hands will often
gain you valuable information by making them feel important.
Many times the players’ egos will take over, and they’ll throw
caution to the wind to proudly bask in the glory of answering
you.
2. If you’re considering bluffing, keep in mind that if your opponent acts as though he’s going for his chips, or staring at you,
he probably isn’t holding a strong hand and doesn’t want you
to bet, so he’s hoping to discourage you. This is a good time to
bluff.
3. If you’re going to bluff, be quick and be sure about it. If you
hesitate, you’re going to make your opponent wonder if you’re
truly holding something threatening.
4. When you’re in the blinds, it’s often better to just call instead
of raise, as you’ll be getting better pot odds. The amount of
your blind becomes diluted and less important if you raise and
the pot odds (the size of the pot weighed against your total
wager) are reduced.
5. Always treat your opponents as you would want to be treated.
If you’re friendly and cheerful, other players will enjoy being
at the same table as you. They will be more likely to give you
extra play with their weak hands, because you’re fun to play
against. They don’t mind seeing you win, and they aren’t going
to be quite as upset with you, because you’re a likeable person.
6. Scout the tables, observe the players and choose your game
carefully. That way, you’ll have a better chance to make your
business as a poker player a more profitable one.
7. If you’re on a losing streak, moaning about it to other players
will motivate them to play better. They’ll perceive that you’re
someone they can beat. Instead, you should act confident,
stay cheerful, and remain upbeat, even if things aren’t going
as well as you’d expect. By keeping your spirits up, you can
deal better emotionally.
8. If you notice a tell, don’t let on that you did, because that will
alert your opponent, and he’ll be more careful about revealing
that tell in the future.
9. When you’re losing, it is better to be conservative than aggressive. Opponents notice your bad fortune and believe you’re an
easy target. They play better against you, meaning that many
of your aggressive plays backfire. So, just sit back, be patient
and conservative, and the cards will often come back around
for you. That’s when you can go back into attack mode.
10. You want the player on your left to be your buddy. This
endeavor could provide more profit to you as he has positional
advantage and you don’t want to incur his wrath.
11. Many times simple play is the wisest, instead of being fancy
and trying to impress your opponents.
12. When you’re holding a debatable hand that you’re going to
pitch if challenged, pause before checking, to give your opponent a chance to wonder, and he’ll often check, too. This gives
you a free card and a chance to make a better hand.
Going
Hollywood
A Joe & Hobby fiction by
David J. Valley
On the ride to Beverly Hills
I asked Hobby about Harry
Serosian, our host for the
evening. I knew him as one
of Hollywood’s premier
producers; Hobby had a
family connection. My modest buddy never ceases to
amaze me. His father, now
deceased, was a wealthy
financier, but Hobby says
little about him. I asked
about Harry.
“Harry? Yeah, we’re related—cousins. My father was
his uncle.”
“That’s strange. Serosian’s
a lot older than you, isn’t
he?”
“Sure, but my father was
old when they had me—
almost sixty.”
“Quite a stud, huh?”
“Yeah, I guess. My mother was thirty years younger.”
“I’ve got another question
for you. Isn’t Serosian an
Armenian name?”
“Yep, I’m half Armenian
and half Irish.”
“Well, I’ll be darned. You
never told me that.”
“You never asked, Joe.”
I give Hobby a lot of
space and time. He’s an
extremely private person and
doesn’t process information
like most people. He told me
I hope that these tips give you something to ponder.
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 diane@caro.com.
22
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
Part 1
he had once been diagnosed
as mildly autistic. After a
few minutes pause in our
conversation I said, “Let’s
get back to what’s going
on tonight. Tell me again
what Serosian said when he
called.”
“He asked how I’ve been,
that kind of stuff, and said he
heard I was into poker. We
talked about the Third Eye
team you and I put together.
He knew you were a writer
and he asked what kind of
guy you really are.”
“So what did you tell
him?”
“I told him you were a
jerk. No, just kidding. I told
him you were my numerouno buddy and the most
creative guy I know. So, he
said I should bring you along
too. That’s it. All I know is
we’re going to have dinner
and talk about poker. Maybe
he’s going to make a movie
about it.”
“Yeah, you’re probably
right.”
At Serosian’s mansion that
crested a multi-acre estate,
apropos of the setting, we
drove up in Hobby’s Silver
Cloud Rolls. Our host was
at the portico with an attractive older woman; his wife
Hobby said. They greeted
my friend warmly, exchanging kisses. Serosian took
both my hands in his and
said, “I understand you are
a good buddy of Hobby’s.
That makes you family to
us.” He pulled me close and
kissed me on the cheek. I
wasn’t ready for that; I think
I blushed.
The dining room was
spectacular—no crystal
chandelier here—the entire
ceiling was a canopy of dangling crystals. We met the
other guests, five men and
two women. I recognized a
couple of them. There was
a smattering of inanities
during dinner as the host
and hostess guided the conversation without getting
to the heart of the matter.
The dinner was as superb
as anything served at L.A.’s
finest restaurants. During the
dessert course Mrs. Serosian
excused herself; I figured
our banter was about to get
serious.
Hank (as he insisted we
call him) began, “Ladies and
gentlemen. Thank you for
coming tonight. I’ve selected
each of you because of your
skills and knowledge of
the game of poker. I hope
you’ll not be disappointed
when I tell you I do not have
a movie in mind. This will
be a new venture for me. I
plan to produce a spectacular
poker tournament.”
As he scanned our faces
I did the same and noted
a range of reactions from
surprise to incredulity. Hank
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
23
How Poker
Has Changed
PART TWO
BY VICTOR H. ROYER
In the previous installment,
recall that we found that
beginning in the 1960’s
with corporate ownership
of casinos, poker was not
a favored game because
it wasn’t a house-banked
game and, therefore, not
a game that the casinos
could control. In all casino
games, the casino, the
“house”, controls and
banks the game. Therefore,
the casino can alter the
game’s rules to assure itself
of a steady winning percentage. That’s why all casino
games have what’s called a
“house edge”, which is that
mathematical percentage
by which the casinos have
altered the true payouts of
each game’s events to gain
an advantage.
It is primarily for this
reason that casinos don’t
like poker.
Poker is not a game that
is between the player and
the casino. Poker is not,
therefore, a house-banked
game and, consequently,
the casino cannot alter its
rules of payouts to assure
itself of a steady win. This
is most definitely something
the casinos don’t like, and
especially casinos owned,
operated, and controlled
by corporations, and now
especially by public corporations and their shareholders. While casino owners
like Benny Binion weren’t
necessarily afraid of the
fact that poker was not a
house game, since they
played poker themselves
and were far more likely
to beat their opponents
regardless of the nature of
the game, even such owners as he did not feel the
game of poker would be
popular enough to warrant
making it a major part of
their casinos. Although it
was available, and it was
spread in casinos owned
and/or operated by Benny
Binion and Sam Boyd in
Las Vegas, and Bill Harrah
in Reno, none of these gaming pioneers considered this
as a “public” game for the
casual gamblers that their
properties attracted in such
huge numbers. And as for
the corporations, well, they
didn’t like poker because it
wasn’t a game they could
control. But eventually
even poker became a more
popular casino game, primarily by the invention and
application of the “rake”.
The “rake” was an up-front
percentage of each pot
Victor H. Royer is the author of 22 books on casino gaming. His newest series of 13 books – including the new
release Powerful Profits from Poker – are now available in
all major book stores, or from The Gambler’s Book Shop
at 1-800-522-1777, or at Amazon.com. For more details,
visit his web site at: http://hometown.aol.com/vicnvegas/
myhomepage/newsletter.html
– the “pot” is the amount
of pooled money during
each hand of poker – and
it was this that allowed the
casino, the house, to be able
to count on a steady income
from the game. Poker,
therefore, became not only
a game played between the
owner of the casino and
some of the road gamblers
or professional players, but
it became a casino game
that could “spread” – meaning be offered to and dealt
to – the general public.
People who never played
poker could now be taught
the game, and could now
play in poker rooms within
casinos, and poker card
rooms in states outside
of Nevada that permitted
poker-style card games,
even though such card
rooms were not actually
allowed to be, or be called,
“casinos”, in the same manner that those in the State
of Nevada were able to be
so configured and named at
the time. Now poker started
to make its way into the
mainstream of the popular
casino games, and popular
card games. However, it
wasn’t until the early 1970’s
that poker aficionados
and casino innovators like
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24
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
Benny Binion realized the
enormity of poker as a popular game, and as a medium
to gain publicity for casinos
and casino gaming. This
lead to the origination of
the World Series of Poker.
But it would be yet 30 more
years before Poker became
the worldwide phenomenon
that it is today, in the 21st
century. For this to happen,
we had to wait for modernday gaming pioneers and
innovators, perhaps the two
greatest minds in modern
Poker: Steve Lipscomb and
Lyle Berman– the creators
and innovators of the World
Poker Tour.
The WPT has transformed poker from a
popular game played by
poker aficionados and
professional gamblers, to
a television phenomenon
that spans the globe. In
all countries worldwide,
poker has now become
the world’s most popular
card game. This trend is
fueled by the Internet, and
the ease with which games
like Texas Hold’Em can be
programmed and played
on the hundreds of online
poker sites and online casinos. The WPT has given a
boost to an old game with
a force the likes of which
casino gaming hasn’t seen
since the great casino boom
of the 1950’s and 1960’s
and 1990’s in Las Vegas.
New players everywhere
are flocking to real casinos
and casino card rooms.
The legalization of various
card rooms in states like
California, and the legalization of various casinos in
the Midwest and on tribal
lands and riverboats have
all contributed toward this
great burst of enthusiasm
for poker, and poker games.
Poker is no longer considered, or thought of, as
a game played by diehard
gamblers in dark and smoky
back rooms populated by
sharks and cheats. The
world of the “rounders”
has come into the light of
day, and even in front of
the bright lights of televi-
sion. Now poker is sought
after as the preferred game
by the youth of the world,
and every young man or
woman of age now aspires
to play in a poker game.
The world has changed, and
poker has changed with it.
New games, new people
and now new players have
all come together to make
an old game new again and
more popular than anyone
ever thought it could be. Of
course, this also means that
thousands of players who
flock to casinos and online
poker rooms face the hard
road of learning. Learning
not just what pays what and
how, but how to actually
play the poker games that
they will find. This is not an
easy task. Games like Texas
Hold’Em, for example, are
inherently very easy games
to learn and grasp. But to
play the game well takes a
whole lot more brainpower
than most people imagine.
It is a continuing process
of learning that never ends,
and should not end. The day
when you think you know
all there is to know about
Texas Hold’Em, or poker,
is the day you will become
forever stuck in the spiral of
a consistent loser.
There is a whole lot more
to poker than just knowing the rules, or what pays
what. Playing poker, any
poker game, is a process
that can bring out the best
in people, and the worst.
It is a battle, a contest of
skill and will, similar to any
battle or contest so fought
among humans for as long
as humans have battled each
other. In centuries past, this
may have been a contest
between the gladiators of
ancient Rome, or a contest
between the knights of King
Arthur or King Henry, or
any of the battles that we
all know so well from films
and history. In those times,
the winner lived and the
loser died. It was a final
contest, and a battle to the
death. So it is still today, in
poker. Our weapons may
Metaphysical Poker & Life
Charlie Shoten
I
recently played a NoLimit Hold’em tournament on the Internet. This
was a real eye opener. I have
won four of these tournaments and I am now familiar
with how they play out.
The following tournament
gave me some very special
insights into how players
wind up with all the chips.
Five hundred players put
up $109 each. The prize
pool was $50,000 with
$4,500 going to the site.
First place was $13,000 and
50 places were paid. After
a few hours I wound up
as the chip leader. I don’t
remember the hands, but I
do remember making much
tougher calls at critical times
than I usually do to get
there. I must have battled
it out head up four or five
times when I had a reasonably good hand on the flop
or turn, and the other player
made me make a tough decision to call and either win a
big pot or get busted.
Each time I called I won.
The best players on the
Internet look for signs of
weakness, and when they
find them they force you
to risk all your chips or lay
down your hand. They look
for signs that even though
your hand may be fairly
strong, it is not quite strong
enough to defend where a
loss would knock you out of
the tournament. Most players if faced with this choice
lay down big hands and only
call or raise the pot if they
have close to the nuts.
I do remember the key
hand that I played toward
the end of the tournament
that threw a bright light on
this aspect of the successful
players who were already
in the money and in good
chip position late in the
tournament. I was one of the
chip leaders with $70,000
in chips. My cards were 7,7
and I came in calling a small
raise on the button behind
four others. The flop was
9c,9s,2s. It was checked to
me and I bet 80% of the
pot and was called by one
player. The turn card was
Attack’eM!, Smack’eM!!,
and Whack’eM!!!
the three of clubs and first
to act I made a much larger
bet of $10,000. The other
player raised me the same
amount and I raised him
back another $10,000. Then
he went all in. I had a few
more chips then he had and
I called all in.
I haven’t
won a poker
tournament in
5 years. Why
should I buy your
book?
I wait and only
play the nuts.
Of course I will
call’eM.
I’ll give you a
5year guarantee.
Have a nice day.
I took my time and seriously considered laying
down the hand and waiting for another opportunity
where I wouldn’t be putting
the whole tournament on
the line to make a tough
call. Two things came into
my mind. 1. The entry fee
was only $109 and I could
play those tournaments all
day long. 2. The amount
of chips in that pot already
would make me the chip
leader of the tournament and
with one more card to come,
anything could happen if he
didn’t have a nine. I really
did assume that this player
had me beat up to then but
I decided to call and take
my chances. Of course if
he had the nine I was drawing dead. He had expertly
played his hand just as if he
had a nine. That gave me the
clue to consider calling him.
If he had a nine he probably
would have waited till the
river to go all in.
We turned our hands over.
He had no pair, just a Jack
and an Eight off suit. The
river card was naturally a
Jack so he knocked me out
and probably went on to win
the tournament. Whoever
he was, he had gotten to be
a chip leader playing with
more skill to get there than
I can imagine. The lesson
for me was huge and I am
sharing it with you in this
article.
1. The skill level of the
players who often get to
the final tables in these
Internet tournaments is
very high. They are very
creative and will surprise
you.
2. They have raised their
skill level over many
Internet tournaments and
have accumulated many
years worth of experience in a short time.
3. They are hard workers who study all of the
books and use all of the
new technology to learn
the probable odds and
implied odds to help
them make decisions.
4. They put in a full 8-12
hour day playing and
studying poker and use
their winnings to take
very high risks. They are
not interested making it
into the money, but winning first place.
5. They usually have study
groups and partners and
often have more than
one person helping them
make decisions during
the end of tournaments.
6. They keep detailed
records of the other players and share the records
with their associates.
7. They continually change
their user names and
addresses and play many
different sites.
8. They play as many as
five games at a time and
make their decisions
decisively.
9. This is serious business
for them and a few do
extremely well. It is their
chosen profession.
10. They attack you!!!,
smack you!!!! and then
they try to wack you!!!!!
with nothing.
11. Attack eM!, Smack eM!!
and Wack eM!!! back
and take their chips when
they have nothing!!!!!
Hands I recently called all-in
in no-limit hold’em tournaments on the Internet.
1. I have 6,10 in big blind.
Small blind checks. Flop
K,6,3. I bet $600 SB
calls. Turn a 5 we both
check. I check SB goes
all in for $2100. I call
and win. SB had 3,10,
Ten High.
2. I raise with A,Q, One
caller. Flop is 8,5,2, rainbow. I bet 1300 and am
called. On river I check.
Other player goes all in
for his last 3900. I call
and win with A,Q high.
He had A,9 high.
you have opened your eyes
to another option in your
decision making process
and don’t continue to lay
down hands without much
thought, I have achieved
my goal. Please don’t make
mindless calls always thinking someone is bluffing. I
will have hurt your game
more than helped it if you
do that. Tough lay downs
are still the key to winning
tournaments. Tough calls at
critical times are also a key
to winning, although they
should be used less often.
Take your time and review
all you know about your
opponent, and each action
he has taken in that particular hand before you act.
Future articles will hopefully include reader’s
Responses, Questions,
Requests, Comments and
Experiences: charlieshoten@msn.com
Read “No-Limit Life”:
NO-LIMIT
NO-LIMIT
LIFE
LIFE
♥♣ ♦ ♠
DA N G E R O US
C O N T E N TS :
MAY CAUSE A RADIANT
CONTAGIOUS SMILE,
A JOYOUS MINDSET,
PROFITABLE
POKER AND A
WINNING LIFE!
♥♣ ♦ ♠
C
CH
HA
AR
R LL II E
E SS H
HO
O TT E
EN
N
LEARN THE ART OF POKER FROM
ONE OF THE WORLD’S TOP-RANKED PROS
I am passing on some recent
experiences playing no-limit
hold’em tournaments on
the Internet. I hope this is
helpful and broadens your
prospective of the game. If
www.nolimitlife.net
(Best Book Award:
USA Book News 2005)
Category: Psychology/
Mental Health
LIPS Tournament of Champions
By Louise Lea
Ladies International
Poker Series, or LIPS
tournaments have been
taking place all over the
country. Internet tournaments, Ladies Poker Night
home game leagues, and
live tournaments in casinos have resulted in a field
of 60 champions that will
converge on Las Vegas
for the LIPS Tournament
of Champions on May
19th and the LIPS Grand
Championship tournament
on May 20th at Caesars
Palace.
Lupe Soto, the founder
of LIPS is excited about
the event. “LIPS tournaments are lots of fun and a
nice introduction to casino
poker play. Winners of our
events range from women
who are really, really new
to the game to women who
have been playing for 15-20
years. They range between
23 - 80 years of age.
Women from all over the
country have been participating in Ladies Poker Night
home game leagues, which
account for about 20 of our
champions.” Soto said.
The LIPS Tournament of
Champions will be held at
7pm on Friday May 19th
in the Palace Ballroom of
Caesars Palace. The 60
champions, up from 14 in
2005, will be competing
to earn a seat at the Ladies
WSOP event.
To kick off the tournament, LIPS will host a
Winners Circle champagne reception at 4 pm
followed by dinner at the
Buca di Beppo restaurant
on Flamingo and Paradise.
Attendance is by invitation
only.
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
25
Poker Pickin’s
It’s Official! Poker Is a Sport!
NORTH BY NORTHWEST
Continued from page 13)
By Byron Liggett
Omaha Hi-Low is poker for psychotics. These
players never know where they are, or where
they’re going, or how they’re going to get there. What’s
more, they don’t care who they hurt along the way!
Some well-known poker columnists consider it an absurd
game. One wrote, “Omaha Split players are the bungee jumpers of Poker”.
Nevertheless, as ridiculous as it is, Omaha Hi-Lo is a most
difficult game; possibilities, probabilities, odds ‘n ends come
in multiples. It’s the age-old battle between the little and the
large, the puny and the powerful.
The game has been around about 20 years. Tacoma/Seattle
players Bernie Salter and Gwen Pham (“The Dragon Lady”),
are credited (blamed?) with the game’s creation. They called
it “9-card Hold’em”. But as the game began to spread (like
a virus), it became known as “Omaha” to distinguish it from
Texas (7-card) Hold’em.
*
*
*
Mike Sexton, founder of the World Poker Tour (WPT) has
done more to unleash the power of poker and the drama of
the game than any individual. A great poker player, Mike is an
even better businessman.
Mike’s brother Tom Sexton was in Reno recently for the
Peppermill “Spring Poker Tournament”. Tom drove a cab in
Las Vegas until his brother Mike got the first big check from
his successful investments. The check was well over $10 million dollars!
“Mike called me on the phone,” Tom recalled, “He just
said, ‘Park the cab!’ It’s been parked ever since.”
*
*
*
Among the true super stars of the game (sometimes a
shooting star) is Phil Hellmuth. In 1989, at the age of 24,
he became the youngest player in history to win the World
Series of Poker Championship.
Writing of his accomplishment, this columnist reported
that young Phil “arrived at Binion’s on a skateboard” and
“was the only player who had to show his I.D.” Today, Phil
would probably find it more humorous than he did back then.
*
*
*
Speaking of the WSOP, Mark Mitchell is owns two of
north Seattle’s action attractions. One is the Drift-On-Inn
Roadhouse & Casino, for many years it’s been one of the
premier poker properties in the Northwest. About a year
ago, Mark opened a stunning new club in which he invested
heavily to create an exquisite “Movies & Stars” theme. It’s
become one of Seattle’s places to see and be seen.
Mark grew-up in Hollywood, CA. His father was a member
of the press and took him to countless movie press conferences with the Kings & Queens of film. Consequently, he
acquired one of the greatest private collections of movie
memorabilia and rare autographs. Today, they’re professionally displayed throughout his fine new dining, entertainment
and casino gaming club.
Mark’s a player and both his casinos feature poker. He often
plays several events in the WSOP. In 1985, he won the Ace-5
Draw event for $63,500 (a lot of money then). He’s cashed at
least a half-dozen times over the years. Last year he was 19th
in the Pot-Limit Omaha contest for a small bundle.
So, if you’re sleepless in Seattle, or just feeling floppy, go
see Mark. He’s got a game that’ll cure ya’.
*
*
*
A well known Lady of the Cloth, Marie Gabert, poker
manager of the Red Dog Poker Room, in Carson City, NV,
supplemented her income at the recent Peppermill Spring
Tournament.
Marie is a player. Twice she’s won “Best All Round Player”
at annual Peppermill tournaments.
• A written statement
from an official of the
governing body of the
sport (such as the WPT
or WSOP) which details
how the alien is internationally recognized
• A written statement from
a member of the sports
media (for instance,
Poker Player) or a recognized member of the
sport which details how
the alien is internationally recognized
• Evidence that the individual is ranked should the
sport have international
rankings (poker has several)
• Evidence that the alien
has received a significant
award or honor in the
sport (i.e. prize money,
trophy, or bracelet)
I brought up a specific
example from the main
event at the WPT Five
Diamond World Poker
Classic held at the Bellagio
last December. The final
two players were Patrik
Antonius of Finland
and Rehne Pedersen of
Denmark. Petersen won
the event, pocketing over
$2 million, and Antonius
received over $1 million. According to Ladik,
both of these players,
even if they had no other
documented tournament
success, would likely be
granted visas on the earn-
Byron Liggett, originally from the Northwest, lives in Reno
and has been a gaming & poker writer, columnist and consultant for 25 years. email: byronpokerplayer@aol.com
26
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
ings and press coverage
they received in this tournament alone should they
decide to petition for them.
Many of the players Ladik
has helped secure visas for
have had far more extensive track records, whether
in this country or abroad,
than just a single event,
but he made it clear that
one prestigious event could
be all that was necessary.
Thorough background
checks are done on the
applicants by USCIS
once their paperwork is
received, as well as by the
U.S. Consul in the countries of their residence.
They must also clear a
“watch list” of potential
undesirables once arriving
in the United States, so
extensive security measures are in place.
When asked whether
a player with a documented record of successful Internet play could
qualify, Mr. Ladik replied
that he had never secured
a visa for someone with
this background solely,
but believed the standards
would be stricter, reasoning that people can play
on the Internet from anywhere. But he added that
if two of the seven criteria
could still be met, and that
if the alien could make an
argument that taking up
residence here would further hone his or her skills
by playing in more live
events, then he believed it
would be possible for this
type of applicant to obtain
a P-1 visa as well.
So, armed with this new
information, and referring
to the term “authoritative
proof” that Miracle on
34th Street made famous,
we could conceivably
rewrite the script of the
movie by substituting the
question of whether poker
really is a sport for the one
of whether Kris Kringle
really was Santa Claus and
put an end to the debate as
follows:
Attorney Steve Ladik:
Your Honor, every one
of these approved visa
applications is filed by an
alien poker player. United
States Citizenship and
Immigrations Services
has processed them and
allowed them to enter
our country as athletes. Therefore, United
States Citizenship and
Immigration Services,
a branch of the Federal
Government’s Department
of Homeland Security,
recognizes poker players
as athletes, meaning poker
must be considered a sport.
The Judge: Uh,
since the United States
Government declares professional poker players to
be athletes, this court will
not dispute it. Case dismissed.
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30
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
Time. Some events
C start after the hour
...........AM, PM
O A,WkP................Week
..... Additional gameD &.times
on this day. Call.
E ........Hold’em
.No Limit Hold’em
.Limit Hold’em
N .............No Limit
L ................... Limit
.............Stud
..7-Card Stud
..5-Card Stud
........ Omaha
H/L .High/Low Split
Pi...........Pineapple
Po...........Pot Limit
Pn.........Panginque
Mx ..Mexican Poker
DC .Dealer’s Choice
MONDAY
•GOLD BAR DENOTES ADVERTISER
TIME
|
HH ...... Headhunter
B ............ Bounties
Sp .............. Spread
Al .........Alternates
Z........... Freezeout
Cz ................ Crazy
E..........Elimination
TUESDAY
GAMES BUY-IN| TIME
Q ............... Qualify
Sh ...........Shootout
+ ..Re-Buys and/or
Add-Ons allowed
F ............... Freeroll
Lad ..... Ladies Only
Men ........Men Only
DAILY TOURNAMENTS
NOW! Get Tournament Listings at our website:
Note: All tournaments are subject to change. Check with the Cardroom for any updates. Cardrooms—
please send your schedules to Tournament Editor A.R. Dyck, ard@gamblingtimes.com
| WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
|
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
FRIDAY
| SATURDAY |
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
SUNDAY
GAMES BUY-IN
Aladdin
Caesars Palace
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
Rainbow Cas. W Wendover
Commerce Club
Hawaiian Gardens
DA I LY TO U R N A M E N T L I ST I N G S CO N T I N U E O N PAG E 32
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
31
Time. Some events &. ........ Additional
Limit Hold’em
start after the hour
gametimes. Call. N ..........No Limit
A, P ....... AM, PM
..... Hold’em L ................ Limit
Wk .............Week
.No Limit Hold’em
..........Stud
MONDAY
CALIF—
L.A.
TIME
CALIFORNIA—SAN
DIEGO & INLAND
B ......... Bounties
Sp ........... Spread
.7-Card Stud
..... Omaha Pi........Pineapple Pn......Panginque DCDealer’s Choice Al ......Alternates
.5-Card Stud H/LHigh/Low Split Po........Pot Limit Mx .Mexican Poker HH ...Headhunter Z........ Freezeout
DAILY TOURNAMENTS (CONT’D FROM PAGE 31)
|
TUESDAY
GAMES BUY-IN| TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
|
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
FRIDAY
Cz ............. Crazy + .......... Re-buys
E...... Elimination and/or Add-ons
allowed
Q ............Qualify
Sh ........Shootout F ............Freeroll
| SATURDAY |
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
SUNDAY
GAMES BUY-IN
Hustler Casino
Normandie Casino
Casino Morongo
Casino Pauma
Harrah’s Rincon
Lake Elsinore
Lucky Lady
Oceans Eleven
Sycuan
Viejas
Village Club
CALIFORNIA—NORTH
Artichoke Joe’s
Bay 101
Cache Creek
California Grand
Casino San Pablo
Club One Casino, Fresno
Garden City
Gold Rush
Golden West-Bakersfield
Kelly’s Cardroom
Lucky Chances
Lucky Derby Casino
Oaks Card Club-Emeryville
Sonoma Joe’s
Blue Water Casino
Bucky’s Casino
AZ
Casino Del Sol
Cliff Castle
Fort McDowell
SOUTHWEST
Gila River/Wild Horse Pass
CO
Gila River-Vee Quiva
Harrah’s Ak Chin
Hon-Dah Casino
Paradise Casino
Gilpin Hotel & Casino
Midnight Rose-Cripple Crk
Ute Mountain
KS
Harrah’s Prarie Band
NM
Cities of Gold
Isleta Casino & Resort
Route 66 Casino
OK
PACIFIC NORTHWEST
Comanche Red River Cas.
OR
WA
Chinook Winds Casino
Blue Mountain Casino
Chips Bremerton
Chips La Center
Chips Lakewood
Chips Tukwila
Final Table Cas., Everett
Goldie’s
DA I LY TO U R N A M E N T L I ST I N G S CO N T I N U E O N PAG E 3 3
Debbie Burkhead interviews(Continued
Marcfrom
Nelson
page 20)
with no maximum. We will
spread any game anyone
wants to play if the interest is there and if anyone is
looking for a home for their
game I’m willing to offer it.
DB: Is the room in a good
32
location?
MN: It’s a great location;
it’s adjacent to the rear
parking lot and next to the
race and sportsbook. We are
located in a separate room
adjacent to the main casino
but the players don’t have
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
to contend with the bells
and whistles coming from
the casino.
DB: Who is responsible
for making your job a little
easier?
MN: Jay Kornegay,
Executive Director of
Race and Sportsbook and
Scott Hager, Senior Vice
President of Table Games
have been very supportive,
open to new ideas and willing to move forward on
simultaneous projects. Rudy
Preido, CEO and General
Manager of the Hilton is
extremely supportive as far
as local marketing and he
understands that it takes
a good concentration of
locals to make an off-strip
poker room succeed. We
are going to be aggressively
moving forward to capture
the local market through
exciting promotions.
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*BASED
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ENTRIES
ONLY 100 Players • A $100,000 Buy-in event + $5,000 Entry Fee • Final Event to be held at Sam’s Town®, Las Vegas. Dec 20-23, 2006 • Super Satellites on Dec 18 & 19, 2006
In Las Vegas...
at Sam’s Town
EVERY SATURDAY Buy-in & Fee $1,100
Winner receives a Super Satellite seat—Super
seat—Super
Satellite Winner receives Buy-in and Entry Fee
for the Main Event. Contact: Dick Gatewood, Poker Manager, 702-454-8092
FURTHER RULES AND
D E TA I L S W I L L B E
F O U N D AT :
In Los Angeles... EVERY WED AT 10 PM Buy-in $1,050 + $50
Table event • Winner receives a Super
at Hollywood OneSatellite
seat—Super Satellite Winner
Park Casino receives Buy-in and Entry Fee for Main Event.
DAILY TOURNAMENTS (CONT’D FROM PAGE 32)
MONDAY
MIDWEST
NORTHEAST
NORTHWEST
PAC. N’WEST
TIME
WA
TUESDAY
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
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|
FRIDAY
GAMES BUY-IN|TIME
| SATURDAY |
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SUNDAY
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Little Creek Casino
Muckleshoot Casino
Northern Quest
Point Defiance Cafe & Cas., Tacoma
Suquamash Clearwater
Wild Grizzly
MN Fortune Bay Casino
Northern Light Casino
Shooting Star Casino
MT Black Jack’s Casino
4 Bears Casino
ND Dakota Magic
NE Rosebud Casino
SD
Dakota Sioux
Gold Dust Cas., Deadwood
Rosebud Casino
Silverado Casino Deadwood
CT
Foxwoods
NJ
Caesar’s Atlantic City
Harrah’s Atlantic City
Tropicana
Trump Taj Mahal
Akwesasne Mohawk
Majesty Casino Boar
NY
IA
IL
IN
MI
LA
MO
MS
FLORIDA
MISSISSIPPI RIVER
|
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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
Grand Coushatta
Horseshoe CasinoShreveport
Harrah’s St Louis
Isle of Capri
Copa Casino
Gold Strike Casino (Tunica)
Grand 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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M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
33
PART 71,
No-Limit Limping
Today let’s depart from our normal discussion on Limit Hold’em and talk about
improving performance
By TOM “TIME” LEONARD
whether or not to limp in when playing
No-Limit Hold’em. There are basically
two schools of thought on this subject and those of you
who play No-Limit see players take both approaches. So
which is correct? To limp or not to limp………that is the
question.
Those who like to limp feel they can see some cheap
flops with marginal hands and maybe connect to a powerhouse and take down a big pot. If the flop doesn’t hit
them they can get away from the hand easily for a modest investment. If the flop does hit them they feel they
are in position to take someone’s whole stack. Of course,
they may only have the flop “touch” their hands and if
they don’t possess the discipline to get away from the
hand it is their stack that becomes vulnerable.
Those who feel strongly that, when entering a pot
first, you must bring it in for a raise believe this course
of action will discourage those players who are looking to
get in cheap and may well hit the flop. They feel that if
your holding is not worthy of a raise it should be mucked
and to limp with marginal hands is just asking for trouble.
Both of these mind sets seem to have their own merits
and some players embrace just one of these tools and
never deviate.
So again, which one is correct? Personally, I think
there should be room in your arsenal of techniques for
both approaches. In tournament play limping early when
everyone may be playing somewhat cautiously can get
you a look at some extra flops that just may connect well
with marginal holdings. The main aspect to consider is
how the table is playing. Once again, it’s of paramount
importance to learn your opponents’ tendencies. If you’re
seated early in a tournament at a passive table then limping may hook you up with a monster. However, if one or
more of your tablemates is not allowing anyone to see
cheap flops then that fact must alter your play because
you almost know you will be raised. In that case, raising first is usually the optimum play. Of course, another
aspect of limping is when you know you have one or more
aggressive players behind you and therefore can limp
from early position with big hands relying on someone
else to raise so you may re-raise.
Here’s my favorite play when I find myself at a table
full of “Fishermen” who are limping in early in a No-Limit
tournament. Normally when I enter a pot I bring it in for
a raise 3 or 4 times the big blind. However, when I find
myself on the button with three or four limpers in front of
me I figure that they are trying to see a cheap flop with
marginal hands so I raise it three times the big blind plus
one for each of the limpers. So, if there are three limpers
I’ll raise it six times the big blind and more often than not
pick up the pot. Of course, I like to have some outs to go
along with this move. It can accumulate some chips early
on with little risk as the blinds are relatively small early on
Our goal for this time together is to once again not
play “formula poker” by listening to the pundits that
preach you must either bring it in for a raise or to try
limping in yourself. Always assess the situation and make
the decision to limp or raise based upon how the table is
playing.
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: thleonard@msn.com.
34
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
Arnold Rothstein
Gambler,
Gentleman Gangster
By Byron Liggett
Arnold Rothstein was a
gambler, a gangster and a
genius. He was the original Wise Guy.
Born in Manhattan, NY,
in 1882, Arnold grew up in
an era when men like steel
magnate Andrew Carnegie,
railroad mogul Cornelius
Vanderbilt, and oil czar
John D. Rockefeller
were building industrial America. They would
become known as “Robber
Barons” for the ruthless
tactics they used to control
The Game, many of which
are unlawful today.
Similarly, Rothstein
brought together the
diverse elements of the
underworld and fashioned
them into a highly profitable industry whose products and services were
illegal. His contribution to
20th Century America was
organized crime.
As a youth Arnold
rejected the Jewish heritage of his parents. “This
is America, not Jerusalem.
I’m an American”, he
declared. He was indeed;
a courageous, ambitious,
self-confident risk-taker,
Arnold left home at 16.
Living on the streets
of New York, young
Rothstein discovered a
passion and talent for gambling. He’d shoot craps
for pennies and nickels.
Pool halls where gamblers
gathered became Arnold’s
hangout. In between making bets and making book,
pool became another
source of income as he
developed into one of the
best players in the game.
Although only a teenager, Rothstein’s reputation as a gambler grew in
proportion to his bankroll.
He soon started lending
money at high interest
rates and employed a
bodyguard / thug to collect
from reluctant losers.
Rothstein was also a
major player, shooting
craps, betting horses, playing pool and poker. On
one occasion, at the conclusion of a 32-hour pool
game against the champion
from a Philadelphia club,
he won $4,000 from the
champ plus another $6,000
in side bets.
In 1910, Rothstein
opened his first gambling
house in a brownstone
on West 46th Street. He
converted it into a first
class nightclub and casino.
“Diamond Jim” Brady’s
son dropped $40,000
between the faro games
and the roulette wheel one
evening. After a night of
bad luck, Percival Hill,
of the American Tobacco
Company, gave Rothstein
an I.O.U. for $250,000.
By 1914, Rothstein
had politicians from
Tammany Hall and
many in the NY Police
Department in his pocket.
He organized illegal bookmakers into a syndicate
which set the spread and
covered both sides of the
action then split the winning percentage from the
total bets placed.
As the kingpin of illegal gambling, Rothstein
was commonly thought
to be the man responsible for fixing the 1919
World Series between the
Chicago White Sox and
the underdog Cincinnati
Reds. The eight Chicago
players who conspired
to throw the Series were
eventually barred from
baseball for life.
Rothstein insisted he
had nothing to do with fixing the Series. Testifying
before a Grand Jury, he
admitted he was invited in
on the deal. “I wasn’t in on
it, wouldn’t have gone into
it under any circumstances
and didn’t bet a cent on
the Series after I found
out what was underway.”
Despite the fact he was
cleared, his name was forever linked to the scandal.
Rothstein owned a
stable of horses and was a
heavy horse bettor. On one
occasion, he decided to
enter one of his own horses, Sidereal. He got more
than forty track employees
to place bets on his horse
for him. Sidereal won the
race and Rothstein collected $850,000!
In addition to his gambling empire, Rothstein
invested in numerous legitimate ventures including
ownership of more than
thousand NY apartments,
several hotels, racetracks
and he was the financial
partner for nightclubs,
restaurants and cabarets.
His “partners”, of course,
had to purchase their supplies, linens, silver, etc.
from legitimate companies
owned by Rothstein.
Through gambling
Rothstein became the
financier for numerous
illegal operations. He provided money, police and
political protection for
much of the criminal activity in the Eastern U.S. As
one biographer concluded,
“He put crime on a corporate basis”.
In 1920, Prohibition
gave rise to widespread
unlawfulness, gangsters
and outrageous profits.
Nevertheless Arnold
shunned the booze business. An organization man,
he concluded there was
little hope of controlling it.
Instead, Rothstein
decided to devote his
efforts to organizing the
wholesale illegal drug
trafficking business in
the country. In its infancy
drugs were still a small
enough industry for him to
take over and control. But
Rothstein never made any
real money in the narcotics
business because he died
before he finished putting
it together.
In 1928, while dining with writer Damon
Runyon at Lindy’s, the
king of crime got a phone
call. Arnold said he had to
meet someone at the Park
Central Hotel. Waiting in
the lobby for Rothstein,
Runyon heard a gun shot.
Apparently, at the
end of a three day high
stakes poker game several
months earlier, Rothstein
owed $320,000. Convinced
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M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
35
Perks and Picks
Lots of news, information and interesting tidbits from Las Vegas.
Marc Nelson, a veteran poker, bingo and race and sports
executive, joins the Las Vegas Hilton as the new poker room
manager. Marc, who previously worked at the
Card Room Roundup
The Bargain Bin
By H. Scot Krause
Palms, will oversee the Hilton’s new poker
room, which features nine tables and a stateof-the-art player tracking system. The poker
room, located just off the race and sports SuperBook, also
features QueueOS, a state-of-the-art display system used for
player waiting lists and ten plasma screens to view daily sporting events.
Also at the Hilton, Player’s Club members who are 55+ will
find Tuesdays are “golden” with 50% off breakfast or lunch at
the buffet, and a free entry into the Hilton’s $2,000 55+ Golden
Tuesdays Slot Tournament at 6:00 p.m. with chances to win
cash, free show tickets and more. Additional details are available at the Player’s Club.
50 hours of live poker in any Stations Casino poker room
in the months of April and May qualifies players for a future
$350,000 tournament. See the complete details posted in any
Station Casino Poker Room.
The Flamingo Las Vegas is giving new members who sign up
for a (Harrah’s) Total Rewards card a free, namesake “fuzzy”
Flamingo Pen. The offer expires June 30, or while supplies last.
Wynn Las Vegas has changed its new member sign up
bonus. They are now giving two comped buffets to new Red
Card enrollees who earn 150 points ($450 coin-in for slots or
$1,350 coin-in for video poker) during their first visit/trip. This
on-again, off-again promotion has changed from 50 points to
150, but it’s still a good deal. The offer is valid Monday through
Friday only. Call ahead to verify that the promotion is still being
offered (702-770-7000.)
Hooters Casino Hotel is the first to kick-off the season’s
pool parties. They are hosting a three-day poolside party every
weekend, now ongoing through September. This “Backyard
BASH” (as it’s being called) is filled with great food and drink
specials, live entertainment, calendar girl signings, poolside
contests and the opportunity to view a photo shoot/model
search for the 2007 Hooters Calendar models (only active
Hooters Girls are eligible). Hooters’ tropical pool area features
Nippers Pool Bar from the Bahamas, two heated pools, beach
sand, palm trees, a lagoon-style waterfall, cabanas, and a
12-person and 60-person hot tub with a swim-up bar. Try the
“Nippers Juice” - a deceivingly potent fruity drink with four
Caribbean rums. Admission is free.
The Riviera now has a suitor. Riviera Holdings Corp. agreed
in April to be bought by a group of private developers for about
$211.5 million and will also assume $215 million in Riviera debt.
The developers will pay $17 a share with approximately 12.5 million shares outstanding.
May 1 is the Grand Opening of the new Poker Room at the
Cannery Casino in North Las Vegas. During May, poker players
can win a $10,000 seat in the WSOP final event, a guaranteed
$20,000 Free-roll tournament, Cannery jackets, hats and spinners. The poker room has 12 non-smoking tables. The Cannery’s
new Race& Sports Book will also open on May 1.
Plans are now also underway to convert the Nevada Palace
on Boulder Highway to a Cannery brand casino beginning later
this year.
A TGI Fridays restaurant has opened inside the Orleans
Casino.
That’s it for this week!
Caesars Indiana
11999 Ave of Emperors, Elizabeth, IN 47117
Info: 877.237.6626
Hotel Reservations: 866.766.2671
www.caesars.com/caesars/Indiana
Located in the heartland of America, Caesars
Indiana, has taken the
world-renowned Caesars’
brand of casino/resorts to
the middle of America.
Caesars Indiana is a
luxurious casino resort
located on the banks of
the Mississippi River as it
flows through Elizabeth,
Indiana. The casino is actually on a barge permanently
anchored in the river, you
are boarding a vessel when
you go into the casino.
The romance from the
early years in America history when the riverboats
transported people up and
down the mighty river
many of them passed the
time playing casino games.
The old riverboat legacy
of the excitement of the
gaming action combined
with the relaxation of the
river continues today in a
high tech, luxury resort,
Caesars Indiana, a part of
the Harrah’s Entertainment,
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: krauseinvegas@cox.net
36
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
Inc., the largest casino
holding company in the
world.
The Caesars Indiana
Hotel welcomes guest with
503 oversize rooms and
luxurious suites. A fitness
center complete with an
aroma bar and café and
a walking/jogging trail
with 18 workout stations.
Cool off in the beautiful
pool area modeled after
the ancient Roman baths.
Caesars Indiana offers a
variety of restaurants providing guests seeking a
quite corner for a leisurely
coffee and pastry or an
unforgettable evening of
fine dining in the plush
surroundings of Nero’s
Café and you don’t leave
the casino, Nero’s is on
the boat. For the ultimate
Caesars Indiana dining
experience go to the Portico
at the Pavilion. The finest
steaks, fresh seafood and
sinfully enticing desserts
wait.
Welcome aboard for FUN!!
Chariot Run the Golf
Course of Caesars is
located close by with more
than 7,000 yards of beautiful plush grass golf course
with tranquil lakes, bent
grass greens, and hundreds
of stately old hardwood
trees. Play golf on the newest southern Indiana Golf
Course offering a unique
challenge to the amateurs
and pros, while providing
the high level of amenities and services expected
from Caesars. The resort
offers bundled golf vacation deals with complete
details available toll free at
1.866.324.2746.
Caesars Indiana is about
gaming and the casino
offers players a variety of
games that includes your
favorite. The latest in slot
machines including 400 of
the newest nickel machines
wait for you at Caesars
Indiana. All of the slot
machines are coin less…
paper-in, paper-out…so, no
waiting for fills and payouts. Table games include
blackjack, roulette, craps,
baccarat, Pai Gow Poker,
Caribbean Stud, Let it Ride
and more, something for
everyone. The full service
casino includes a 33 table
poker room and that’s why
we are here, for the live
poker.
Caesars Indiana Poker
Room had to expand the
size from 15 tables to 33
tables last October and a
future expansion could
become a reality. Poker
Room Manager, Billy
Marshall, applies his more
than two decades in the
business to the operations
of Caesars Indiana poker
room and poker players are
rewarding his efforts with
full tables, a convincing
sign that Caesars is one of
the best choices of poker
rooms in the Midwest.
Caesars Indiana Poker
Room has the power of
the WSOP since both are
owned by the same company, Harrah’s Entertainment.
Harrah’s knows poker and
it shows.
The room spreads Limit
Hold’em in $2-4, $4-$8,
$6-$12, $10-$20, $20-$40
and any other limits that
attract a table of players.
No Limit players will find
$1-$2 blinds with a $100$300 buy-in and $2-$3 with
a $2009-no max buy-in.
Different no-limit games
are often spread. The room
offers a bad beat jackpot to
all of the games except the
limit $2-$4. Aces full of
Queens beaten and you’ve
won the progressive bad
beat jackpot. Players earn
food comps with their player’s cards at the standard
Harrah’s rate of $1/hour of
play up to $9 in a twentyfour hour period and they
may be used at any food
venue.
It couldn’t be a Harrah’s
poker room without poker
tournaments and Caesars
Indiana Tournament
Director, Jimmy Allen,
has scheduled weekly
tournaments beginning on
Monday at 11:00 AM when
players fill the $45+$10
buy-in No-limit Hold’em
with $40 rebuys first
hour+1 add-on, Wednesday
at 6:00 PM it’s a $85=$15
No-limit Hold’em with $50
rebuys first hour+1 add-on.
Thursday is a Midnight
Madness $65+$15 buy-
in no-rebuy tournament
that attracts upwards of
two hundred players and
if you haven’t already
guessed it starts at midnight. Saturdays at noon
the tournament action is a
$200+$20 buy-in no-rebuy
World Series Qualifier.
Seats for the 2006 WSOP
are awarded according to
the number of entrants,
150=1 seat, 200=2 seats,
250=3 seats. Additionally,
Caesars Indiana is planning
a WSOP Midwest Regional
Poker Championship to
be held at the casino April
19-May 1. Ten events are
scheduled with the final
being a $5,000 buy-in
WSOP Midwest Regional
Poker Championship event.
Caesars Indiana offers
a first rate web site, http://
www.caesars.com/caesars/
Indiana/. Easy to navigate
with direct, simple menus
gives site visitors an easy
digital tour of the real property including all of its’
many offerings and amenities. Plug the URL into your
browser and take a look.
A visit to the poker room
at Caesars Indiana provides
poker players with a Las
Vegas style room in a midwest friendly atmosphere
guaranteeing players the
best live poker experience
to be found anywhere.
Would you really expect
anything less from the
WSOP poker people?
—Joe Smith, Sr.
Caesar’s Indiana—a gem set in the midwest countryside.
d
Diamond Jim’s Casino
118 20th St. West
Rosamond, California
Exit A 14 Freeway
The Best Little No-limit Tournament in Southern California
The Last Sunday of Each Month $155 Buy-in–No Rebuys $10,000 in Tournament Chips
Call for more info: 661-256-1400
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April 12 - 15, 2006
APRIL 12, 2006 - 6:30PM
APRIL 13, 2006 - 6:30PM
$20,000 No Limit Hold’em
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APRIL 14, 2006 - 6:30PM
APRIL 15, 2006 - 4PM
Single table satellites for all events will run Mon — Thursday 11AM — 10PM
in March and April. Tournament participants mention code PKR0406 for
special hotel rates, subject to availability.
APRIL
TOURNAMENT SERIES
THURSDAY, APR 6
6:30PM
No-Limit Hold’em
$5,000 Guarantee
$35 + $15 Buy-in
FRIDAY, APR 7
6:30PM
No-Limit Hold’em
$10,000 Guarantee
$60 + $15 Buy-in
SATURDAY, APR 8
SUNDAY, APR 9
4PM
No-Limit Hold’em
$15,000 Guarantee
$80 + $15 Buy-in
4PM
No-Limit Hold’em
$5,000 Guarantee
$35 + $15 Buy-in
THURSDAY, APR 20
6:30PM
THURSDAY, APR 27
6:30PM
Ladies Only No-Limit Hold’em
$85 + $15 Buy-in
1st Place: $1,000 Buy-in seat World Series Ladies Only Event 2006
Last Chance No-Limit Hold’em
$10,000 Guarantee
$85 + $15 Buy-in
Last Chance No-Limit Hold’em
$6,000 Guarantee
$55 + $15 Buy-in
FRIDAY, APR 28
6:30PM
SATURDAY, APR 29
4PM
2006 Big Showdown Series Tournament $200 + $25 Buy-in
1st Place: $10,000 Buy-in seat to the 2006 World Series Guaranteed
SUNDAY, APR 30
4PM
No-Limit Hold’em
$5,000 Guarantee
$35 + $15 Buy-in
*Tournament Series replaces Daily Tournaments on dates shown.
Please see a Poker Room Floor Person for promotion details. Management reserves
the right to cancel or modify promotions without notice. Must be 21 or older to enter
Casino.
45000 Pechanga Parkway • I-15 • Temecula • 877.711.2WIN • www.pechanga.com
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
37
Complaint Central
I have decided to set up the first unofficial gaming
complaint department. Since there does seem to be a
standardized format to hear these woes, I have taken it
upon myself to be the unofficial spokesperson. For identification purposes this office shall be referred to as:
Complaint Central. Since it is going to take a little while
Dealer Vibes
By Donald W. Woods, Jr.
to set up the logistics for this program I
will ask you to bear with me during the
initial trial run. Once again, since I know
this department is a long overdue and
necessary part of your poker experience, I
have set up a toll free number to access 24 hours of the
day. That number is: 1-800-UNHAPPY.
While I could traipse over the particulars via the printed word, I’ll just call the number myself and give it a trial
run.
…Ring, ring, ring, an -automated voice machine
answers – “You’ve reached Complaint Central. For
English press one! For all other languages stay on the
line. You’ve reached our 24-hour a day hot line, if you
know your parties extension press the numbers, now. If
you are calling about a particular casino, press one. If
you are calling about check cashing policies, or how to
get a marker for more money than you can afford press,
any key! If you have just left the casino and you are not
satisfied with the treatment that you received, hang up
now and call 1-800-BUNCHOF…That’s 1-800-BUNCHOF…
If you just want to lodge a complaint over the phone, go
ahead and deliver a short message. You can say things
like; how can I get a particular casino to spread the
type of games that I like to play? Or if you are upset
about how much money that most of the casino’s drop
for the lower limit games, you can say things like; if a
$2-$4 minimum buy-in for stud, Omaha, hold ‘em games
is $20, why then do the casino’s drop $3 per hand and
$1 jackpot which comprises 1/5 of the monies to play.
Conversely, the bigger limit games enjoy a relatively
frugal drop demand compared to its counterpart small
game! Is it that the lower limit players won’t notice or
won’t complain? The casinos seem to believe as much
or they wouldn’t be so callous with their demands. If
you would like to speak to a representative call back
between business hours: 9:00am est. to 7:00pm. OK, go
ahead and speak. I didn’t hear that. Try talking into the
phone this next time. Did you say you wanted an application? I’m sorry I’m not understanding you. To speak
to a representative call back during available business
hours.” Wait! Did you say wait? Yes. I would like to voice
my displeasure with the smoking policies of most casinos. It seems, since we banned the smokers from smoking inside buildings on planet earth, why then are we
permitting, allowing, them to literally line the walkway
of the entrance areas. On any given day they are literally blocking the pathway into the casino, less you fill up
your lungs with that good ol’ killer tobacco. Or the other
alternative is to lower your shoulder - ala N.F.L. highlights
- into the offending tobacco fiends. All that I’m saying is:
can’t these people understand why they are barred from
the luxury of smoking inside. Smoking is an offensive,
intrusive, dangerous habit particularly to non smokers.”
I’m sorry did you say something? Click!
Donald W. Woods, Jr. is a 9 year professional dealer. Some
of his diversified interests include, track and field coach
at the high school level yielding a championship in 2002.
He is currently penning an original script, outside the
poker arena, for his maiden voyage to movie-land.
For more information, contact him at
mrexcite20032000@yahoo.com
38
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
Free Shot: The MindBoggling MillionDollar Freeroll
By John Vorhaus
It isn’t every day you get
a chance to win life-changing money for free, but that’s
what’s on offer right now at
UltimateBet. And you don’t
have to do anything special
or be anyone special for your
shot at the green. As a player
on UB you’re automatically
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CONT’D FROM PAGE 6
that in a more advanced
class.
That’s why we’re talking
about it now. When you
play two overcards, you’re
hoping to catch one of six
remaining cards of either
one of the ranks. If you
hold an ace and a queen
and the flop is 10-6-3,
then you can connect for
a commanding top pair by
catching an ace or a queen.
There are three of each
remaining in the deck,
right? A total of six cards.
Seven
But if you have an ace and
a 6 and the flop is 7,4,3,
then you can catch any
of three aces to make the
biggest possible pair and
any of four fives to make
a very powerful inside
straight that’s unlikely to
be either beaten or tied.
That’s seven cards, instead
of six, that can save you.
But it’s even better than
that for the single overcard and the inside straight
draw. You have hope of
pairing your smaller card
and having that pair be
meaningful in winning the
pot – either on its own or
by adding to it. With the
ace-six, you can pair that
six, in addition to catching an ace or a five – and
even though it probably
won’t be enough to win,
it’s at least an extra bonus,
and the long-shot possibility has some value. With
just the two overcards, the
ace-queen, you had just the
six main chances and no
extra ones. With the acesix, you have seven (count
‘em, seven) main chances
and three extra long-shot
chances.
If you’re beginning to
think that you should play
the single overcard with an
inside straight draw more
often than two overcards,
you’re right. Anytime you
would even consider playing two overcards, you
should be eager to play
a single overcard and a
smaller card providing
an inside straight draw.
And, of course, we’re not
even talking about a single
overcard with another card
that provides an open-end
straight draw – that’s much
stronger still, but more
obviously strong, thus no
illusion of the hand being
weak.
Now, there are a couple
things to keep in mind
that are beyond the scope
of today’s lesson – things
we might talk about in the
future. One is that not all
overcards are equal. Aces
rule, for sure. Another is
that you can have both
an overcard and an inside
straight draw using just
one card from your hand.
The remaining card could
be a deuce out of straight
range, and you’d still have
better prospects of drawing
out on an opponent than
you would if you held just
two overcards. Also, since
we’re mentioning other
considerations that we
won’t detail today, keep in
mind that a lower straight
draw is usually more likely
to hold up than a higher
one. A higher straight is
especially dangerous when
you hold one card at the
low end. Then someone
can hold a single card to
make the high end. So, not
all straights are equal, and
in fact, the best card you
can hold is an inside rank
when both extreme ends
of the straight are already
present. This means a hand
such as ace-8, when the
flop is 9,7, and 5. Visualize
it – you have ace and 8.
The flop is 9,7,5. If any
of four sixes flop, you’ll
make your straight, and it’s
very unlikely that anyone
would hold a 10-8 to beat
you or even an 8 to tie.
Also, we’re comparing the
value of example hands
where the top overcard is
the same rank in both cases
and the low card, providing the straight draw, is
smaller than the lower of
the two overcards in the
comparison hand. And
keep in mind that you can
have two overcards plus
an inside straight draw,
but that’s not what we’re
discussing. We’re talking about times when you
don’t have two cards higher than the flop. There are
plenty of twists and turns
and things to talk about,
but we’re just focusing on
one thing today – that a
single overcard with another card providing an inside
straight draw is better than
two overcards, despite
the fact that many players
instinctively play only the
two overcards.
Combined power
So, sometimes in hold ’em,
you can choose to play
a single overcard and an
a card that gives you an
inside straight draw when
two overcards wouldn’t be
strong enough. In fact, you
should always play that
single overcard and inside
straight draw whenever
calling with two overcards
would be a close decision.
Strangely, though, I
believe many players prefer the two overcards. They
see a single overcard as
being too weak. And they
see an inside straight draw
as being too weak. They
don’t realize that the combined power can be considerably stronger than two
overcards, because you
have more chances of con(Continued on page 41)
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M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
39
On Playing Big Slick in Late
Position: Be Careful
of Free Advice
SENIORS SCENE
By George “The engineer” EPSTEIN
In the game of poker – and in life, we can learn
from the advice and experience of others. It may pay to scrutinize the advice offered before you take it on face value.
Recently, I received an e-mail from a poker expert (we’ll call
him Bob) whose advice I usually heed. But on this occasion,
I had to give his advice on playing A-K, “Big Slick,” further
thought because it differed so much from my own strategy. It’s
always exciting to look down and see A-K in the hole! What’s
the best way to play it?
In the July 5, 2004 issue of Poker Player, I had presented my
strategy for playing A-K pre-flop. I knew it would be controversial – because unlike the conventional(?) strategy that usually
suggests you raise with this hand, I recommended just calling
most of the time; and I explained my rationale, including when
it was best to raise.
Poker expert Bob made a great case for raising before the
flop: Primarily, the raise serves to force out opponents with
marginal drawing hands or rags who might otherwise catch
cards on the flop, and beat you out even if you catch an ace or
king. Of course, he is right – to a degree. He was looking at
the case when you are in a late position and (as I later realized)
in a no-limit game.
I was almost prepared to accept his advice; but then I
thought about it. . . Bob was quite convincing when he demonstrated his strategy with a “real-life” hand. He was on the
button in a $1-$2 no-limit game, with A-K in the hole. Pre-flop,
after several players called an initial $7 raise, he made a relatively big reraise of $50. Only the original raiser called; and
Bob ultimately won the pot by continuing to bet when the flop
didn’t help anyone. His lone opponent folded pocket 8s; so
Bob effectively had stolen the pot. Notice that he would have
won that hand no matter what he held in the hole. Actually, he
had bluffed out his opponent. That’s good poker, but it wasn’t
because he held A-K that he took that pot. (He may have been
lucky, too, that his opponent was rather timid.) Perhaps the
A-K gave him the courage to make the play; but it was his
aggressive betting and the size of his raise that won the pot for
him.
The Game You Play Makes a Big Difference. Note that he
was in a no-limit game. That’s a lot different than playing the
same hand in a structured-limit game, which is the game played
by most poker players. While no-limit is gaining in popularity because of TV tournaments, most poker players are still
involved with structured-limit games. I believe the most popular games are $3-$6 and $4-$8. That’s my primary audience. At
those stakes in a limit game, pre-flop raising after other players have called an initial bet will NOT force out many (if any)
opponents. For the price of one more small bet, they will stay
to see the flop. Wouldn’t you? As stated in my July 5, 2004,
column: “Raising in late position won’t force out opponents
who have already invested one bet.” Of course, I am referring
to a structured-limit game. In fact, I maintain that, under these
circumstances, when you are in a late position with Big Slick,
“the only time it’s wise to raise pre-flop is when one player has
called (“limped in”) and you are on, or just before, the button.
Raise to force out the blinds and hopefully play heads up – or
take the pot if everyone folds.
And, remember, best strategies for structured-limit may be
much different from those for no-limit games.
. . . So readers, what’s YOUR opinion?
George “The Engineer” Epstein is the author of The
Greatest Book of Poker for Winners! (T/C Press, PO
Box 36006, Los Angeles, CA 90036). His new algorithm
booklet, Hold’em or Fold’em?, is a big hit. He is currently
writing a new book on Rules & Strategies for WINNING
at Texas Hold’em. George can be reached by e-mail:
geps222@msn.com.
40
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
Book reviews
Sharks in the Desert:
The Founding
Fathers and Current
Kings of Las Vegas
by John L. Smith
Barricade Books, 2005
ISBN: 1-56980-274-2
400pp, $24.95
If there is one person who
personifies the journalistic voice of Las Vegas it
is John L. Smith. For 20
years this fourth-generation
Nevadan has been writing
for the Las Vegas ReviewJournal. “Sharks in the
Desert” is his approach to
Las Vegas history focusing
on the casino moguls who
built this remarkable city.
Each of the 39 chapters is
a mini-biography detailing
the impact one person has
had on today’s Las Vegas.
Not everyone profiled is a
casino boss, but most are.
A few have had enough of
an impact to deserve two
chapters. Those who are
well-read on the topic of
Las Vegas history will have
encountered many of the
subjects of this book before.
No history of Las Vegas is
complete without mentioning Benjamin “Bugsy”
Siegel, Moe Dalitz, or
Benny Binion. Some luminaries, such as Bob Stupak
and Steve Wynn, have
been profiled by Smith in
a book of their own. One
can hardly argue, though,
that those covered in these
pages are not seminal figures in the development of
Las Vegas.
Most of this material and
all of these people have
been mentioned in books on
Las Vegas history before.
Consequently, anyone who
has read even a fair bit on
this subject will encounter stories they have read
before. For my own part
I did find quite a bit that
was new to me, but what
sets this book apart is the
author’s perspective. It’s
fresh, insightful, and often
unorthodox. Smith isn’t
afraid of ruffling feathers.
Even regarding those people
Smith clearly admires, he
isn’t afraid to air their dirty
laundry. He’s not trying to
make friends, he’s trying to
call ‘em as he sees ‘em.
Smith is a skilled an
engaging writer, and
“Sharks in the Desert”
is an entertaining read,
but I think the book does
have some shortcomings.
First, as was mentioned
earlier, the topics and layout is familiar. While the
viewpoint is new, there’s
nothing ground-breaking
here. There may be some
who have read, say, “The
Players” by Jack Sheehan,
who will
feel like they
have essentially read this
book before. Second, the
theme of the book seems
to be that the old casino
bosses with links to organized crime weren’t all
that different from the new
“corporate” casino bosses.
Both have the same goal,
separate gamblers from
their money. The differences are that the former
are more violent and the
latter are, if anything, more
efficient. My problem is
that this theme is executed
inconsistently throughout
the book. Smith brings it
up when it suits him to do
so, but fails to deeply consider the implications of his
thesis.
Overall, though, I found
the book to be entertaining
and engrossing. There’s
enough of a new perspective here to be interesting to Las Vegas history
junkies that have read just
about every source of history on this fascinating
place. For those who are
relatively new to this topic,
“Sharks in the Desert”
provides a well-written
account of the key people
who have shaped Las
Vegas. Therefore, I expect
that most people who are
intrigued by this book will
find enough of value in
its pages to make it well
worth reading. Therefore,
I recommend Smith’s latest
book.
—Nick Christenson
Strong Hand Wins Big at Pechanga
The Pechanga Poker Room
buzzed with excitement as
players competed in the
April “First Chance”
tournament series.
Saturday’s “$15,000
Guarantee No-Limit
Hold ‘Em” tournament drew in 179
players, each ready to
win. In the end, Ray
Dake of Sun City,
CA held the strong
hand that would take
the $5,250 pot.
With the almost
always sure fire AceKing, Dake staked
claim to first place.
During Friday’s “$10,000
Guarantee No-Limit Hold
‘Em” game, 147 players
battled for the big win.
Frank Perez of Granada
Hills secured the ‘final man
Pehanga winners (clockwise
from upper left): Ray
Dake, Frank Perez,
Sang Nguyen and
Dana Ricketts
standing status’ and the
$3,500 prize pool with AceThree. Thursday proved
to be a lucky day for Sang
Nguyen of Winchester,
CA. He defeated 112
other players in the
“$5,000 No-Limit
Hold ‘Em” tournament where the first
place prize money
reached $1,750.
With 167 players,
Sunday’s “$5,000
No-Limit Hold ‘Em”
tournament was an
exciting reminder that
ladies have become
a force with which
to be reckoned at the
poker tables. Dana
Ricketts of Canyon
Hills, CA won first place
bragging rights and took
home $2,045.
Foxwoods Poker Classic
Action slowed again
until the blinds went to
8000/16000. One hand in,
Robert Tresca had A9 which
led Brian Lesser’s KQ until
a Q came on the flop. Bob
might have been better off
except for one hand which
occurred earlier. After a flop
of As10d9d, Brian was allin with JdQd and Bob called
with pocket 10’s for a set.
The turn was Ad giving Bob
a full house; however, Brian
caught the 8d for a straight
flush leaving Bob with
few chips. Bob, a native
of Newton, MA, collected
$13,944 for 7th place. As he
was getting close to the felt,
Dick Carson of Las Vegas,
NV, made his stand with
102; Joe had AJ and with no
help from the board, Dick
took 6th position worth
$18,592. Joe further added
to his growing stack by taking large pots from Mazen
Nesheiwat; once with K3 to
Q10 and then with pocket
J’s to A10. By the time the
blinds went to 10000/20000,
Joe was the chip leader.
Brian Lesser, Weston,
MA, was the hard luck 5th
place finisher. He had AQ
for all-in which Joe called
with Q10. When a 10 came
on the turn, Brian was taking home $23,240. One
hand was all Joe needed
to get to heads up play.
Gregory Monaldi, Davie,
FL, with pocket 9’s and
Ronnie Passariello, Rowley,
MA, with pocket J’s were
both topped by Joe’s pocket
K’s. Greg had fewer chips
than Ronnie so he was in
4th for $32,536 and Ronnie
took 3rd for $48,804.
Entering heads up play,
Joe has a 2 to 1 chip advantage over Mazen Nesheiwat
of Poughkeepsie, NY.
Mazen took a stand with
56 after a K76 flop but Joe
had K8; an 8 on the river
gave Joe two pair and the
Championship. Mazen was
rewarded with $88,312 for
2nd position.
1. Joe Toth . . . . . . . . . $163,842
Sharpsoille, PA, USA
2. Mazen J Nesheiwat . $88,312
Poughkeepsie, NY, USA
3. Salvatore Passariello . . . . . .
AKA “PokerWiz” . . $48,804
Rowley, MA, USA
4. Greg Monaldi. . . . . . $32,536
Davie, FL, USA
5. Brian J Lesser . . . . . $23,240
Weston, MA, USA
6. Dick Carson . . . . . . . $18,592
Las Vegas, NV, USA
7. Robert Tresca. . . . . . $13,944
Newton, MA, USA
8. Bill Edler . . . . . . . . . $11,620
Las Vegas, NV, USA
9. Stephen Leveson . . . $10,458
Skillman, NJ, USA
10. Loren Klein . . . . . . . . $9,296
Golden, CO, USA
11. Luis Rodi . . . . . . . . . . $8,134
Sharon, MA, USA
12. Emanuel Failla. . . . . . $6,972
EVENT #6
4/2/06
Commack, NY, USA
13. Andrew Goetsch . . . . $5,810
Enfield, CT, USA
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
14. Michael Bayar . . . . . . $4,648
BUY-IN $1,850 + $150
PLAYERS 248
PRIZE
POOL
15. David Kalicka . . . . . . $3,487
$464,800
Ossining, NY, USA
Longmeadow, MA, USA
16. Leonard M Cortellino $3,021
Lewiston, ME, USA
17. Akiva Pearlman . . . . . $3,021
Providence, RI, USA
18. Hoa Minh Nguyen . . . $3,021
Sterling, VA, USA
19. Andrew Stone . . . . . . $3,021
Burlington, CT, USA
20. Joseph Schmidt . . . . . $3,021
Joe Toth
CONT’D FROM PAGE 39
necting, and the straight is
more likely to hold up than
an overcard.
In my mind, the illusion
of the two overcards being
bigger than one overcard
plus one small card providing an inside straight
draw is the same illusion
as when my grandpa let
his knuckles bulge out to
make the empty hand seem
more inviting. The same
thing happens in hold ’em,
where you can choose
which hands you play after
the flop. Many players
choose to play two overcards, but not to play one
overcard and a small card
that provides an inside
straight draw.
That’s wrong, and that’s
my grandpa’s illusion.
Don’t let my grandpa fool
you anymore. Sure, you
can sometimes play just
two overcards, and that
hand will sometimes have
the nickel. But the hand
that’s more likely to have
the nickel is the one that
doesn’t look like it – one
overcard with the inside
straight draw. Choose to
play that hand anytime two
overcards would be a close
decision.
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.
Bronx, NY, USA
Nascar Celebrities
Drive Fundraising
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Poker Tournament at
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Join Casino Arizona at
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for the live taping inside
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All proceeds will benefit
Victory Junction Gang,
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This evening of celebrity poker is a No Limit
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Victory Junction Gang is an
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Casino Arizona will
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M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
41
Playing A Hand In a StraightForward Fashion, PART 2
Last time I discussed playing a big
hand in a straight forward fashion.
NEVER PLAY Poker with
a man CALLed “DOC”
By Dr. Scott Aigner, M.D.
Playing a hand in this manner can be very deceptive
against players who are aggressive, loose, or play in
a deceptive fashion. Players tend to make decisions
about their opponent’s hand based on how they usually like to play. For example, a player who likes to
slow play a set until the turn and then make a check
raise is more likely to put you on a set when you
make the same play.
So why does playing a hand in a straight forward
fashion work so well? I gave one reason above as to
why it works well. Most players enjoy being deceptive in poker and laying a trap. It is usually a profitable play but sometimes being deceptive actually
is detrimental in the no limit live games because
it tips off the real strength of one’s holding when
stack sizes are usually deeper than what one might
find in a tournament setting. There are a number
of players who first learn how to play no limit hold
em in a tournament setting or are transitioning
from limit hold em to a no limit one. In both of these
structures the check raise on the turn is an effective strategy. What they do not realize is that the
check raise on the turn works well in both of these
settings albeit for different reasons. In the limit
structure a check raise gets two big bets into the
pot. A number of opponents will call if they have any
semblance of a hand in this situation (depending
of course on the other variables). In a tournament
setting, the trap ploy works well because the stack
sizes are so small that players who do get trapped
usually have little choice except to try to get lucky.
They might know you have the set but they cannot fold because they have committed too many
chips into the pot. As long as they think they have
outs they are forced to gamble and try to get lucky.
Until a player realizes the fundamental difference
of the live no limit live game and the importance
of stack sizes they will continue to play based on
their experiences in the other structures. There
are other flaws I see in the lower blind low stake no
limit games that players make but not realizing the
importance of the stack sizes is one of the biggest
ones.
As a side note: Other flaws that I discuss in my
book on low stake no limit hold em cash games (to
be published soon) is that many players tend to play
based on the relative strength of their own holding, over estimate a drawing hand’s number of outs
(rather then the possibility that it could be drawing
slim or dead), do not realize the relative importance
of position, tend to not realize how far behind they
really are until they are faced with a big money decision, and do not realize how a bet on the flop makes
such a huge difference in the size of the pot by the
time it gets to the river. The smaller the blind structure is, the more likely the players are inexperienced
and also have one or more of the flaws I mention
above. In my next article I will finish up on betting a
big hand in a straight forward fashion and give a few
examples of hands that have paid off for me.
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
42
M AY 1 , 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 Johnny Chan. Crossword by Myles Mellor.
Word
34. See 19 across
15. A big __!
16. Opposing teams
6. 19 across’s birth place
37. Player with the smaller
chance to win
10. Cinderella ____
39. Lubricant
11. Crowd expression of
surprise
41. Two fives in the hole
ACROSS
1. 19 across’s lucky fruit
20. Cards not yet played
21. Hi!
43. Poker is sometimes a
battle of ___
12. Each, for short
18. Lane, abbr.
22. Circular
23. Try to get to go away
17. Laughter noise
46. Player who was
beaten by 19 across in the
2005 Poker Superstars
Invitational Tournament in
2005
18. “The One” star, Jet
48. Sweet ___ of success
19. The Orient Express
(goes with 34 across)
49. Football score, for short
27. This has to be worked
out when someone goes all
in
13. Player’s turn to play
14. Sometimes they are on
the house....
DOWN
22. Diamond color
23. Older, abbr.
25. Beatle wife
27. The ____ stack
28. Owner of LA Lakers
who promised 19 across a
NBA Championship ring if
if he could win WSOP three
times in a row
24. Movie where 19 across
played a part
26. Note well, abbr.
29. ___ gun (movie
1. Poker type
31. Above
2. Competition
34. Dove call
3. Bet
35. Hello
4. Sticky stuff
36. Warn
5. Long time
38. MGM ____
7. Giving ___ to induce a
call in a lowball game
40. Chip
42. Gold start
30. Debt note
8. Number of WSOP bracelets won by 19 across
32. Newhaven locale
9. Tree
45. ID Card, for short
33. Play a hand poorly
14. Noise
47. Overtime, abbr.
1
2
3
4
10
5
6
44. Adviser: ___ru
7
8
11
9
12
13
14
17
15
16
18
19
23
20
21
24
25
27
22
26
28
30
31
33
34
35
37
38
40
42
43
46
48
32
36
39
41
29
44
45
47
49
The correct solution to the puzzle will be found only at:
www.pokerplayernewspaper.com. It will be posted on the cover date.
Sport of Kings Concludes at Hollywood Park
3. Tony Grand . . . . . . . . $8,820
17. Padideh Fiore . . . . . . . .$930
22. Tony “Hollywood” . . . . . . . .
SPORT OF KINGS 2006
SPORT OF KINGS 2006
4. Makya McBee . . . . . . $6,035
18. Costas Hager . . . . . . . . .$930
Kayden . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$555
EVENT #6
4/3/06
EVENT #4
4/1/06
7-CARD STUD
HI/LO
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
5. Dan Netzer . . . . . . . . $4,175
19. Sepehr Ebrahimi . . . . . . . . .
23. Song Kim . . . . . . . . . . . .$555
BUY-IN $300 + $40
6. Jun Lu . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,250
AKA “Sep” . . . . . . . . . . .$555
24. Christopher Clark . . . . .$555
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 319
7. Alexi Dimitrov . . . . . . . . . . .
20. Jorge Walker . . . . . . . . .$555
25. Kimya Williams . . . . . .$555
AKA “Speedy” . . . . . . $2,320
21. Mario Esquerra . . . . . . . . . .
26. Mitchell Krupa . . . . . . .$555
8. Brian York . . . . . . . . . $1,855
AKA “Super” . . . . . . . . .$555
27. Frank Rite . . . . . . . . . . .$555
PLAYERS 71
PRIZE
POOL
$35,500
PRIZE
POOL
$92,830
9. Fred Fishel . . . . . . . . $1,485
10. Eric Cunningham . . . . .$930
11. George Yutuc . . . . . . . . .$930
12. Jay Takata . . . . . . . . . . .$930
13. Warren Karp . . . . . . . . .$930
John Hoang
1. John Hoang . . . . . . . $13,775
Richard Melville
14. Ron Jenkins . . . . . . . . .$930
1. Richard Melville . . . $33,885
15. John Percival . . . . . . . .$930
2. Lorne Fierbach . . . . $17,640
16. Xiaowei Zuo . . . . . . . . . .$930
2. Irene Williams . . . . . . $7,920
3. Chheang Hem . . . . . . $4,130
4. Bill Thatcher . . . . . . . $2,410
5. Henry Castillo . . . . . . $2,065
6. Henry Gullotti . . . . . . $1,720
7. Shant Kuyumjian . . . $1,375
8. Vince Burgio . . . . . . . $1,035
Time to Ram-and-Jam at Monte Carlo.
SPORT OF KINGS 2006
EVENT #5
4/2/06
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
REBUY UNLIMITED
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PLAYERS 132
PRIZE
POOL
$107,380
Roland Viola
1. Roland Viola . . . . . . $42,950
[Ram-and-Jam: to bet, raise, and re-raise aggressively in order to intimidate opponents]
2. Ivan Dargence Arceo $21,475
3. Reka Hallgato . . . . . $10,740
4. Steve Akca . . . . . . . . . $6,980
5. Alan Myerson . . . . . . $5,370
Introducing No Limit Hold’em Tournaments
at Monte Carlo Resort and Casino, Las Vegas.
6. Anthony Guadagni . . . . . . . .
AKA “bbwolf” . . . . . . $3,760
7. George Rechnitzer. . . $2,680
Join us every Thursday for our new No Limit Hold’em Tournaments
8. Sirous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
$40 Morning Tournaments start at 9:00 a.m.
Baghchehsaraie . . . . . $2,145
The winner advances to the 6 p.m. $100 Tournament
9. Michael Wainer . . . . . $1,605
10. Daniel Torla . . . . . . . . $1,075
For more information, call 702.730.7780.
11. Wah Lee . . . . . . . . . . $1,075
12. Robert Abboey . . . . . $1,075
13. Paramjit Gill . . . . . . . $1,075
14. Theo Kypri . . . . . . . . $1,075
15. Sam Dassa . . . . . . . . . $1,075
16. Le Kim Banh . . . . . . . $1,075
17. William Nuss . . . . . . . $1,075
18. Benjamin Chung . . . . $1,075
Convenient parking
parking and
and easy
easy access
access off
of Frank
Convenient
Frank Sinatra
Sinatra Drive.
Drive.
montecarlo.com
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
43
Thanks, Pechanga: Chino Man
on His Way to 2006 WSOP
The Pechanga Poker
Room hosted 174 players
in their Last Chance “Big
Showdown” Tournament on
the last Saturday in March.
To win first place in this
tournament meant more than
money, it meant a guaranteed seat at the 2006 World
Series of Poker champion-
ship event in Las Vegas.
Scott Takeshita from Chino
took first place winnings
totaling $7,970 and the coveted $10,000 seat at the 2006
WSOP.
The previous night the
Pechanga Poker Room held
a Last Chance No Limit
Hold’ Em Tournament. It
was Jimmy Spiropoulos
from Temecula, CA who
fought to the end, bringing
home more than $2,000.
Scott Takeshita, $7,970
richer and WSOP bound.
One night earlier, Jimmy
Spiropoulos won $2,000+
The state-of-the-art
Pechanga Resort & Casino
Poker Room hosts daily tournaments beginning at 10am,
plus free poker lessons every
day at 9am. Special monthly
tournaments include the First
Chance tournaments, held the
first weekend of every month,
the Ladies Only No Limit
Hold ‘Em tournament that
happens the second Thursday
of every month at 7pm (winner receives a seat in the
Ladies’ Event in the 2006
WSOP), and the Last Chance
tournaments held the final
weekend of every month. The
coup de gras of the monthend tournaments is the Last
Chance “Big Showdown” in
which the winner receives an
automatic $10,000 entry to
the Championship event at
How Poker Has
Changed
have changed, but the contest is still one to the death.
Today, the death is only the
loss of the playing chips,
which represent the cash,
the money, which we now
use as both the weapons and
as the means to determine
the winner, and to count the
score. But the battle is no
less ferocious, and no less
final. Although poker is a
highly sociable game, and
can be played very well by
friends and for enjoyment, it
To sign up,
contact:
Stan Sludikoff
310-674-3365
srs@gamblingtimes.com
Jerry Reed
650-327-4810
jr105@sbcglobal.net
Dick Gatewood
702-456-7777
*ASK FOR POKER ROOM
DickGatewood@boydgaming.com
44
is still a contest of skill and
fortitude, the same as that of
the gladiator or the knight.
Particularly so in poker
tournaments, where the loss
of chips is, indeed, sudden
death.
But don’t be afraid. There
is no need for you to think
of poker in such morbid
terms. The analogy is simply used for effect, because
it allows us to gain a better
understanding of what poker
really is. Although poker is
a sociable game, it is always
a contest, involving not only
the luck of the draw but also
the skill of the play. Poker
is the only casino-style
game where the best hand
does not always win, and
where the worst hand can,
and often does, win. Poker
is that struggle of humanversus-human, regardless
of gender, religion, political affiliation, or economic
status. Once the chips are
in and the cards are dealt,
who wins and who loses has
less to do with the cards as
the weapons, and more with
the players as the warriors
wielding them. But the most
important thing in all of
this is the fact that poker is
FUN! It is so hugely enjoyable as a game, and, though
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
a contest, it is still the most
socially pleasant game,
and its battles are decided
not with malice but with
pleasure. Both the winner
and the loser are more often
than not appreciative of
each other’s play, and luck,
and skill. Yes, there are
times when the combatants
will not be friendly with
each other, but those are the
exceptions rather than the
rule.
Today, the modern game
of poker is a game played
socially, and socially
accepted not only as a
means of recreation, but
also as a profession and
source of professional
income. Players who are
now professional players
have become world-class
heroes. They are seen on
TV winning millions, and
they are role models for
all the rest of the players.
Poker is, after all, a game
of people with people. It is
a wonderful and wondrous
game, one that thrills and
fills the soul all at the same
time. It is a game for all
seasons and for all persons.
So take a ride on this great
journey into the thrills of
it all, in a world of grace,
skill, and opportunity.
Going
Hollywood
Part 1
continued, “I can see this
is not what you expected.
You may be wondering if
I am loosing it. Well, it’s
been said before, yet I have
always produced a winner—even though at times I
go totally against the grain.
I believe I know what I am
doing; however, I need a
top-notch team to make it
work. After tonight I want
you to think about it. I’ll be
in touch with you later. If
you’re interested I’ll meet
with you separately. For now
I’ll ask if anyone, for whatever reason, would like to
pass. I’ll certainly not hold
it against you. Anyone?” He
beckoned toward the door,
but no one budged.
Kerry Melton, who until
recently had been the gaming G.M. for one of the largest Las Vegas casinos broke
the silence. “Hank, you have
my respect for what you’ve
done in movies, but a poker
tournament? I’ll hope you’ll
forgive me if I’m skeptical.”
“Fair enough, Kerry. I
don’t suppose you’re alone
in your thinking. Let me try
to convince you that what I
propose has merit. I’ve been
successful because I have a
good sense of what appeals
to people. Whether comedy,
romance, or drama—my
movies have the big E factor—entertainment. That’s
what Hollywood’s all about.
Despite some stupid message movies, Hollywood creates the best entertainment in
the world.
“Who would have thought
that a card game could
become a great TV spectator sport? Poker has a fast
growing following of players and fans who are hungry for more. I’m going to
bring Hollywood’s glamour,
excitement, and drama to a
poker tournament.”
“Sounds good,” Ed
Chance, an old poker industry pro said, “But do you
have anything specific in
mind? There are all kinds of
tournaments already, Hank.”
“I know that and I do have
something special in mind,
but it needs to be fleshed
out. That’s what I expect my
team to help me with. Before
I say more however, I’d like
all of you to agree to keep
this confidential. Can you do
that?” As he looked around
the room everyone nodded
in the affirmative.
“All right. The idea is to
make it the International
Poker Competition. In many
ways it will be modeled after
the sports Olympics with
delegations of players from
as many countries around
the globe that wish to participate. The various kinds of
poker games will provide the
variety of events. Winners,
besides getting big cash
awards, will get gold, silver,
and bronze medals. The TV
coverage and award presentations will wow audiences
around the globe. The venue
is something we’ll have to
work out. Wherever it’s held,
we’ll build on the theme of
international brotherhood
and set a new standard for
poker tournament entertainment.”
There was a respectful
silence as we caught on and
embraced Hank’s vision.
One after another expressed
their approval. Hank
beamed, with satisfaction.
“Why not just call it the
Poker Olympics,” Hobby
asked.
“Good idea, Hobby, but
the name is protected and
restricted to the Olympics
sports competitions.” Hank
concluded saying, “That’s it
in a nutshell. Give it some
thought and call me next
week. Thank you all for
coming.”
And that was it. Hobby
and I had just gotten into
his car when I remembered
I had to call my lady friend.
I clicked on my cell phone
and instead of the usual dial
tone I heard static and a
voice. It happens sometimes
in the jumbled airways that
one picks up cross talk. I
was about to hang off when
I heard the words, “poker
tournament.” Whoa! I listened intently to the choppy
voice. “Yeah, he’s going
to…poker tournament…an
Olympics theme. It’s a better idea than…we’ve got to
beat him to the punch…” It
abruptly ended.
“Hobby, you won’t
believe what I just heard.”
I repeated it, just about verbatim.
“Dammit, Joe. Someone’s
going to rip off Hank! We
can’t let that happen.”
(To be continued in the next issue).
Write to author David Valley
at: dvalley1@san.rr.com
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
45
The Seniors World Championship
Of Poker Is Alive And Well
BacK in the saddle Again
By OKLAHOMA JOHNNY HALE
Many folks have requested information regarding
“The Seniors”—“The Seniors” began in 1995, with
its first tournament held at Len Miller’s Oceanside
Casino in Oceanside, California.
“The Seniors” Poker Players Hall of Fame was
created as a part of “The Seniors” annual tournament. Johnny Moss, the Grand Old Man of Poker,
was the first player to be inducted into “The
Seniors” WCOP/Poker Players Hall of Fame.
There are now 61 members of “The Seniors” Hall
of Fame. They are: Johnny Moss*, Berry Johnston,
Benny Binion*, Bill Boyd*, Puggy Pearson, Jack
Keller*, Byron “Cowboy” Wolford*, Tom McEvoy,
Barbara Enright, “Oklahoma Johnny” Hale,
Billy Duarte, Fred Gasparian, Mac Fisher, Clyde
Coleman, Len Miller, Jesse Alto*, Chuck Thompson,
Carol Hale, Hugo Meith*, Dave Crunkleton, Carl
McKelvey, Ron Weaver*, Dan Alspach, Ron McMillan,
“Oklahoma Bob” Ensley*, Pete Knowles, Lamar
Hampton, Nick Segarich*, “Amarillo Slim” Preston,
Doyle Brunson, Johnny Wheeler*, Max Stern, Maria
Stern, Marsha Waggoner, T.J. Cloutier, Robert
Turner, Ken Flaton*, Vince Burgio, Rod Peate, Russ
Hamilton, “Miami” John Cernuto, Bob Thompson,
John Bonetti,Jay Haimowitz, Spike Gallas, Perry
Green, Jim Spain, Will Noyes, Dale Carden and John
Breeding.
“The Seniors” WCOP organization is very proud
of this illustrious group of great players who in
their own way have helped “The Seniors” WCOP
become the recognized and respected group that it
is today.
Carol Hale, the historian of “The Seniors” WCOP,
requests that any family members or friends of
these players RSVP to Oklajohnny@aol.com that
they will be present for the induction of Mr. Paul
Mckinney at “The Seniors” @ the Series on July
12,2006. Also, please send her pictures or biographical information about the members of “The
Seniors” Hall of Fame, so that the archives may be
complete. Carol thanks you for your help.
Since their inductions into “The Seniors”WCOP/
Poker Players Hall of Fame, twelve of the members
have gone on to play in the big game in the sky:
Johnny Moss, Benny Binion, Bill Boyd, Hugo Meith,
“Oklahoma Bob” Ensley, Johnny Wheeler, Jesse
Alto, Jack Keller, Cowboy Wolford, Ken Flaton, Nick
Segarich and Ron Weaver.
These honored poker players of “The Seniors”
Hall of players are now are playing in a full game,
with two on the waiting list. All of us other members of “The Seniors” WCOP/Poker Players Hall of
Fame are on the future waiting list to play in the
BIGGEST OF ALL POKER TOURNAMENTS IN THE SKY.
The selection process for “The Seniors” WCOP/
Poker Players Hall of Fame has been modernized
for the 21st century.
I will be phasing out my input into the selection
process. I am very proud of what has been done in
the past to get the hall started. But I am kicking
myself upstairs, so to speak. I will be 79 this year
and have a few years left in me, but I am now going
to create a selection process that will be very
democratic. This selection process will be put into
full force and effect upon my retirement as president and CEO of “The Seniors” World Championship
of Poker Inc., which is wholly owned at this time by
me.
Until that time, the following rules will be fol46
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
lowed: I will appoint an advisory
board. My first appointment will
be Mr. Stanley R. Sludikoff. I am happy to report
that Stan has accepted the chairmanship of the
Advisory Board.
Each member of this board will serve staggered
terms—of one, two and three years terms or until
their successors are seated on the advisory board.
Stan is a great friend of mine and he will be of
great help to me in selecting the other members
of this advisory board, which will help me organize
and create procedures that will make the selection
operation and induction of new members fair and
democratic.
Three members of this board will be selected
from the living members of “The Seniors”WCOP/
Poker Players Hall of Fame. Three members of this
board will be selected from the poker media. Three
members will be selected from “The Seniors” WCOP
Poker Tournaments poker players who support “The
Seniors” Charities and who play in “The Seniors”
events during each year. Three members will be
selected from the legal licensed casinos and other
poker rooms that host ”The Seniors” WCOP events.
I will be a life member of this board, and will
recommend but not vote, unless needed to break a
tie in the voting process.
In the past year I hosted senior events in the following locations: The Orleans, The Golden Nugget,
Foxwoods, The Gold Coast, The WSOP, The Oklahoma
Johnny Hale championship at Seneca, The OK-J
Open at the Cherokee’s, Sunset Station, and the
Aviation Club on the Champs Elysées in Paris,
France.
Here are the simple rules regarding the qualifications for induction into “The Seniors”WCOP/
Poker Players Hall of Fame:
#1.
#2.
#3.
#4.
#5.
#6.
#7.
#8.
#9.
be male or female.
have attained the age of 65.
agree with the goals of “The Seniors.” WCOP
support “The Seniors” in its charity drives.
play in and support “The Seniors”WCOP events
and promotions.
be of good moral character and standing in
the poker world.
have contributed to the betterment and
improvement of poker.
The inductees do not need to be worldrenowned nor be a world champion, but these
accomplishments are considered a plus!
be nominated by “The Seniors” poker players
and approved by the advisor board.
Please let “The Seniors” WCOP know if you think
this process can be improved, and if there is anyone you would like to recommend for the Advisory
Board. and/or for induction into “The Seniors”WCOP
Poker Players Hall of Fame.
Until next time, remember to
Stay Lucky!
Editor’s Notes: You may contact OK-J
at his e-mail Oklajohnny@aol.com, 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.
home. Instead an ambulance
was called and he was taken
(Continued from page 34) to the hospital.
Asked by police who it
the game was fixed, he
was that shot him, Rothstein
refused to pay up and
replied, “I’ll take care of it
walked out.
myself”. However, a few
Weeks later, he was
days later on Election Day,
called to the Park Central
he passed away, never disby one of the players in
closing the name of his murthe marathon game. When
derer. Ironically, Arnold had
Rothstein entered room
bet heavily on the election
349, he was shot once in
and would have collected
the lower abdomen. Arnold
$570,000 had he lived.
staggered down the back
stairs holding his gut and
asked a cabbie to take him
e-mail: byronpokerplayer@aol.com
Arnold Rothstein
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 $3.00 Entry Fee
$10.00 Re-Buys First Hour
Cracked Aces!
12:00 pm - 2:00 pm * 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm * 3:00 am - 5:00 am
Chips!
Get Pocket Aces beat and Receive $50 in Chips
Coming Soon!
Bi-Monthly Free Roll Tournaments
$5,000 Guaranteed Prize Money
Must be 21 years of age or older. Management reserves all rights.
See Tuscany Poker Room for Rules and Details on all Promotions
Bodog Announces Results: Bellagio 2006 Five
Star World Poker Classic
TV Series
Digital entertainment giant
Bodog.net announced today
the schedule for its sixepisode television series
that was recently filmed
by FSN (Fox Sports Net)
at the luxurious Bodog.net
Compound in Costa Rica.
Calvin Ayre Wild Card
Poker, hosted by the billionaire founder and CEO of
Bodog.net, will air weekly
on FSN (Fox Sports Net)
on Saturdays from 11 p.m.1 a.m. local (all time zones
in North America), beginning April 15, 2006.
In the series, Mr. Ayre
sets out to discover the next
TV Poker star. The six episodes detail the journey of
40 individuals - 10 celebrities, 10 poker professionals
and 20 Bodog.net poker
players - who use their
card-playing skills to com-
pete for a $500,000 grand
prize. The series showcases
poker games, Costa Rican
excursions, Bodog.net
Music artists and the billion-dollar lifestyle of the
show’s adventurous host.
“We initially set out to
create a Bodog.net-style
poker and entertainment
show that would offer television viewers a glimpse
into Bodog.net’s Play Hard
lifestyle,” says Mr. Ayre.
“What we got was a television show entirely unlike
any show you could imagine. With unexpected twists
and turns, including some
of the intimate moments
captured by the cameras,
the millions of viewers tuning in this week will see a
fantastic show with a lot of
tense scenes at the poker
table.”
A DV E RT I S E
IN
POKER
PLAYER
IT
WO R KS !
Event #9 NO LIMIT
HOLD’EM
Buy-in: 3,000 + 100; Entries:
302; Prizepool: $878,820
4-13-06
1. Marcel Luske . . . . . $315,630
2. John Phan . . . . . . . $179,195
3. Jeff Knight . . . . . . . . $89,600
4. Joseph Miceli . . . . . . $51,195
5. Jean ‘Prince’ . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Gaspard . . . . . . . . . . $38,400
6. Raymond Millard . . $29,865
7. Wayne Boich . . . . . . $21,335
8. Don Barton. . . . . . . . $17,065
Event #8 NO LIMIT
HOLD’EM
6. Brett Jungblut . . . . . $22,330
Event #6 NO LIMIT
HOLD’EM
259; Prizepool: $628,075
4-07-06
1. Adam Smith . . . . . . $230,375
375
2. Joesph Pecoraro . . $126,540
$1
3. Al ‘Sugar Bear’
ear’ . . . . . . . . . . .
Barbieri
eri . . . . . . . . . . $63,270
4. Justin Gaines . . . . . . $36,170
5.. Beverly Cheney
C
. . . . $27,115
6.. Chris Bjo
Bjorin . . . . . . . $21,090
$21,0
492; Prizepool: $739,500
4-10-06
1. Ricky Zilem . . . . . . $233,045
2. David Byer . . . . . . . $124,525
3. John Roveto Sr . . . . $65,720
4. Hoang Nguyen . . . . . $38,065
65
5. Davood Mehrmand . $27,675
6. Chuck Kelley
y . . . . . . $19,370
Event #5
5 NO LIM
LIMIT
HOLD’EM
LD’EM
[
[
288; Prizepool: $698,400
8,400
4
4-12-06
06
1. Todd Keikoan
eikoan . . . . $254,285
4,285
2. Bruno’King’ . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Fitoussi
Fi
. . . . . . . . . . $141,310
3. David Baker
Bake . . . . . . . $70,655
0,655
4. Al ‘T’ Ardebili
Ard
. . . . . $40,385
,38
Robinson . . . . . $30,280
5. Tom Robin
$30
6. Warren Karp . . . . . . $23,550
Corrigan . . . . . $16,825
7. Billy
illy Corri
8. Jess
es Yawitz . . . . . . . . $13,460
[
4. Olga Spirova . . . . . . $37,825
5. Brad Guttilla . . . . . . $28,360
6. Ryan Larson . . . . . . $22,060
Event #7 NO LIMIT
HOLD’EM
338; Prizepool: $676
4-11-06
1. Edward Forlani . . . $239,775
2. Jeffrey Littlefield . . $132,345
3. Chris Hinchcliffe . . . $66,175
Buy-in:: 5,000 + 100; Entries:
203; Prizepool: $983,590
$983,
4-09-06
09-0
1. Adeeb Harb
b . . . . . . $380,350
Greenstein . . $210,990
2. Barry Gre
Kent Washington . . $105,495
3. K
Ken
4. Magnus Gufstavsson $57,265
5. Paul Alterman . . . . . $42,940
6. John ‘Jr’ Roveto . . . $33,395
Event #4 NO LIMIT
HOLD’EM
228; Prizepool: $663,480
4-08-06
1. Eric Lindgren . . . . $261,555
2. R.Jim Eggebrecht . $140,355
3. Bernard ‘Beeno’ Ko $70,180
4. James Hoeppner . . . $38,625
5. Mark Cole . . . . . . . . $28,710
Event #3 NO LIMIT
HOLD’EM
[
[
Event #2 NO LIM
LIMIT
HOLD’EM
HO
HOLD’E
Buy-in:
uy- 2,000
2,0
+ 80; Entries:
285; Prizepool: $552,900
28
285
4-06-06
1. Rob Hollink . . . . . . $204,815
2. Stan Fulton. . . . . . . $110,755
3. Chris McCormack. . $55,375
4. David Daneshgar . . . $31,625
5. David Plastik . . . . . . $23,735
6. Tony Cousineau . . . . $18,460
Event #1 NO LIMIT
HOLD’EM
450; Prizepool: $654,750
4-05-06
1. Anthony Reategui . $214,275
2. Robert Mizrachi . . $113,265
3. Andy Miller . . . . . . . $59,780
4. Michael Navarro . . . $34,625
5. Lonnie Alexander . . $25,170
6. Danny Fernando . . . $17,620
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
47
Entertainment
Listings
Entertainment RePORT
By LEN BUTCHER
Woke up to some good news today. Tom
Jones, one of my favorite singers and
definitely one of my favorite people, was
knighted by Queen Elizabeth. He is now Sir Tom. Must
be quite a thrill for this son of as Welsh coal miner and
it is certainly well-deserved. Jones has performed in Las
Vegas for some 35 years and is one of the town’s most
beloved entertainers. Congrats from all of us, Tom. He will
be performing at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas April 27May 10.
Barry Manilow, who’s been packing them in at the
Hilton, was told last week that his contract with the resort
has been extended through 2008. This is the second
extension since he opened there some 13 months ago. He
will be performing April 26-29. Puts on a great show and
he seems to be more popular than ever. Catch him when
you’re in town.
Rumors of Clint Holmes leaving Harrah’s were not
unfounded, as it was announced that Rita Rudner, who is
ending her long run at New York-New York, would be taking the singer’s place later on this year. In an interview,
Rudner said, “They just feel they want a nightclub...and
sometimes a move is good for everybody. We bought a
beach house in Laguna, and it will be my first summer off
in six years and then we’ll be going back to work.” As an
example of how successful her show was, her run at the
resort sold more than 600,000 tickets and grossed more
than $35 million. A nightclub? Are they nuts?
No mention where Holmes may be going, but I hope it’s
still in Vegas and on the Strip, as we can’t afford to lose
his kind of talent.
Don’t know why some of the hotels do what they do
when it comes to entertainment, but I guess they must
have their reasons. Gordie Brown, who packed them in at
the Golden Nugget, is history. He performed his last show
there March 31. Hopefully he’ll reappear soon at another
property. Ditto for The Scintas at Rio. This talented family,
who also filled the seats and even had the theater named
after them, will end their five-year run on May 3 and head
for the Sahara. I’m sure they’ll pack them in there as well.
Bally’s has come up with a new Jubilee Dinner & Show
package. The offer includes a ticket for one and a $30 dining voucher that can be redeemed at one of six restaurants
located within Bally’s and Paris. The package will run you
from $80 to $97 (per person) and is valid at Chang’s, al
Dente, Bally’s Steakhouse, Ah Sin, Le Provencal, and Les
Artistes. All great restaurants, but don’t think that 30 bucks
is going to come anywhere near covering your dinner tab.
Thankfully, we do have some new fun shows in town,
albeit not with an individual comedian. I went to see
Menopause The Musical at the Hilton last week and I will
say it right up front, dollar for dollar, it’s the best show in
town. I don’t think I’ve laughed so hard in a very long time.
The rest of the audience felt the same way as they gave
them a rousing standing O at the end of the show, and it
certainly was well-deserved.
For any of you women who have gone, or are going
through menopause and your partners who have had to,
or are, suffering through it, this is a show you definitely
don’t want to miss. It’s all about four women who meet
while shopping at Bloomingdale’s and share their menopause woes with each other to the music of many of your
favorite songs, but with their own original lyrics. I’ll say no
more other than to again say it’s the best ticket in town
and for half of what you’ll pay for the BIG shows. I’ll be
talking to the cast in the near future and will tell you all
about it.
Poker Player Advertisers are shown in RED along with their ad’s page number
To list your event, contact Len Butcher, Entertainment Editor at lennylv@cox.net
ARIZONA
Casino Arizona
CALIFORNIA
Tanya Tucker
May 15, 7 & 9 p.m.
Agua Caliente Casino
Comedy Shop
8:30 p.m. Featuring three top comedians
weekly.
Joker’s Comedy Club, Karaoke Thursdays 8 p.m.
Sunday-Wednesday, 9 p.m.
Fridays & Saturdays, 9 p.m.
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.
May 18, 8 p.m.
Apr 29, 8 p.m.
Live Jazz, Tues. 8 p.m.
Apr 22, 8 p.m.
Arena Patio
DJ / Karaoke
Live Bands
Ballroom Dance Party
Cambodian Dance Party
Crystal Casino & Hotel (43)
Karaoke
El As De Oros Night Club
Alan Jackson
Fantasy Springs Resort
Cheap Trick
Harrah’s Rincon
Finish Line Lounge
Hollywood Park Casino (7)
Pechanga Resort & Casino (35) Margaret Cho
CONNECTICUT
Ann Margaret
Foxwoods Resort Casino
Frankie Valli & The 4 Seasons
Mohegan Sun Casino
NEW JERSEY
Peggy Zina
Taj Majal Hotel & Casino
Tropicana Casino & Resort
The Temptations
(Atlantic City)
NEW YORK
Peter Cetera
Turning Stone Casino
NEVADA-LAS VEGAS
Anthony Hamilton
Aladdin Hotel & Casino
Magician Steve Wyrick
Donn Arden’s Jubilee!
Bally’s Resort & Casino
O
Bellagio Resort & Casino
Binion’s Gambling Hall (28) Live Music in Keno Bar
Boulder Station Hotel & Casino (8) Billy Currington
Celine Dion
Caesar’s Palace
Cannery Hotel & Casino (33) Mel Tillis & Roy Clark
Thunder From Down Under
Excalibur Hotel & Casino
Anthony Cools, Uncensored Hypnotist
George Wallace & David Brenner
Flamingo Las Vegas
The Second City
Commerce Casino
Gold Coast (18)
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 (15)
Menopause, the Musical
Hairspray
Luxor Resort & Casino
Carrot Top
Mandalay Bay Resort &
Casino
Mamma Mia
Monte Carlo Resort & Casino
Magician Lance Burton
Luis Miguel
Tom Jones
MGM Grand
KA.
Impressionist Danny Gans
The Mirage Hotel & Casino (11)
Wayne Brady
Engelbert Humperdinck
Earl Turner
Gabe Kaplan’s Laugh Trax
Kid Rock
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 (42) Esteban
Twisted Sister
Silverton Hotel & Casino
The Temptations & The Four Tops
Stardust Hotel & Casino
Rick Thomas
Bite
Stratosphere Hotel &
American Superstars
Casino (22)
Viva Las Vegas
Lynyrd Sknyrd
Sunset Station (8)
The Whip-Its
Trace Adkins
Texas Station (8)
Love Shack
Extreme Magic starring
Dirk Arthur
Tropicana Casino & Resort
Folies Bergere
The Orleans Hotel & Casino
Palace Station Hotel &
Casino (8)
Palms Hotel & Casino (20)
Plaza Hotel & Casino
Red Rock Hotel & Casino
The Venetian
Blue Man Group
Wynn Las Vegas
Le Reve
Avenue “Q”
May 5-6, 9 p.m.
May 13, 8 p.m.
May 6, 9 p.m.
Apr 28-30, 9 p.m..
Apr 28, 8 p.m.
Apr 22, 8 p.m.
Ongoing, Wednesday through Monday, 7 & 10 p.m.
Sat-Thu, 8 p.m.
Fridays through Tuesdays, 7:30 & 10:30 p.m.
Fridays & Saturdays 8:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m.
May 5, 8 p.m.
Apr 26-30, 8:30 p.m.
Apr 29, 8 p.m.
Fridays through Wednesdays. 8:30 & 10:30 p.m.
Thursdays thru Tuesdays, 9 p.m.
Thru Apr 29, 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.
Apr 26-29, 8 p.m.
8 p.m. nightly Sat thru Thu
Ongoing, Thu thru Tue, 7 p.m.
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.
Apr 15, 9 p.m.
Apr 27-May 10, 8:30 p.m.
Fri thru Tue, 7:30& 10:30 p.m.
8 p.m. (Monday thru Friday)
Apr 28-29, 10:30 p.m.
Tuesdays thru Saturdays, 7pm; Tuesdays &
Saturdays. 7 & 10 p.m.
Apr 27-30, 8 p.m.
Thu thru Sun, 8 p.m.
Tuesdays thru Saturdays, 7 p.m.
Apr 29, 7:30 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
Apr 29, 8 p.m.
Apr 29, 8 p.m.
May 4-6, 7:30 p.m.
Ongoing, Thu thru Tue 2 & 4 p.m.
Ongoing, 10:30 p.m.
Ongoing, 6:30 & 8:30 p.m.
Ongoing, 2 & 4 p.m.
May 21, 7:30 p.m.
Nightly, 10:30 p.m.
Mar 31, 8 p.m.
Fridays and Saturdays, 10 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.
Ongoing, 8 p.m.
LAUGHLIN
Riverboat Ramblers Strolling
Colorado Belle Hotel Casino Dixieland Jazz Band
Thunder From Down Under
Riverside Hotel Casino
Len Butcher, a 25-year resident of Las Vegas, is an RENO
The Palmores
online columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal Atlantis Casino Resort
Smokey Joe’s Cafe
Eldorado
Hotel
Casino
and a former Managing Editor of the Las Vegas Sun
Richard Jeni
Reno Hilton Hotel Casino
and of Gaming Today. Reach him at lennylv@cox.net Silver Legacy Hotel & Casino Carlos Mencia
4 8 P O K E R P L AY E R M AY 1 , 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
Fridays & Saturdays, 8 p.m.
May 17-18, 8 p.m.
10 p.m.-4 a.m.
Ongoing, 8 p.m.
May 13, 8 p.m.
May 6, 8 p.m.
8FSFTFSJPVTBCPVUXBOUJOH
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!LTERNATIVELYCALLPLEASECHECKWITHYOURTELEPHONEPROVIDERASSOMECALLCHARGESMAYAPPLY
Back On the
Horse
KILLER Poker
By John Vorhaus
I’ve been running bad lately. I don’t
like to admit it, but it’s true, and if I can’t tell the
truth to myself about myself, then I have no hope
of turning my losing streak around. So there it is:
I’m running bad.
I’ve run bad before. Believe me, I am no stranger
to this situation. Probably you aren’t either. There
just seem to be times in every poker player’s ebb
and flow when things are more ebb than flow. We
try to blame bad luck, but even if it starts out as
bad luck it quickly turns into, or is compounded
by, bad performance. At least with me it does, and
this is just me trying to tell the truth to myself
about myself: When I’m running bad, I tend to make
the bad situation worse by trying way too hard
to get well quick. I play too many hands. I push
marginal edges (or even phantom edges -- edges
that really aren’t even there.) I get all frantic and
edgy and reckless, and then I turn cally and stupid
and weak. What a mess, huh? At least it’s better
than the old days when all this swill was circling my
brain and I couldn’t even admit it to myself.
Okay, so I admit it. I’m running bad. Now what?
Well, I could quit playing poker, but I don’t want
to quit; I just want to play better. So I could lay
off the game for a while, and while I lay off I could
(and do) return to my poker books and my poker
thoughts, and seek to fix the holes I know I have in
my game. But I can’t stay on the sideline forever.
Eventually, I have to get back on that horse and try
to ride it again.
One thing I know will really help my cause is riding a smaller horse. I drop down a level or two to
the point where I feel comfortable and self-assured
just based on the size of the game. Something
else I favor when I’m running bad is to seek weak
opponents. In my current frail state of play, I don’t
want to wrestle any alligators. I’d rather pin a few
bunnies instead. I also like to play tournaments -small ones -- and go into them with no loftier goal
than just to practice good poker habits. If I win the
tournament or money in it, that’s gravy, but really
I’m just trying to fix the broken thing at a reasonable price.
Finally, most important, I try to let myself off the
hook, because the more I torment myself over yesterday’s mistakes, the more prone I am to making
new mistakes today. I resolve to relax, start fresh,
and get back on that horse, confident that today is
the day I will ride it to victory.
How about you? What do you do to stop running
bad? Or do you believe it’s all just luck?
[John Vorhaus is the author of Poker Night and
the Killer Poker book series, and news
ambassador for UltimateBet.com.]
NO FOLD’EM
HOLD’EM
How to WIN
with Little Cards and
Send Rocks to the Bar
By D.R. Sherer
Order your copy now at:
nofoldem.com
50
M AY 1 , 2 0 0 6
2006 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: ard@gamblingtimes.com
DATE
EVENT
LOCATION
Apr 12-22
Spring Poker Roundup
Wildhorse Casino, Pendleton, OR
Apr 18-24
WPT Championship
tBellagio, Las Vegas, NV
Apr 19-May 1
Midwest Regional Poker Ch’ship Caesars Indiana, Elizabeth, IN
Apr 20-23
Heartland Poker Tour
Seven Clans Casino, Thief River Falls, MN
Apr 20-24
Oasis Open
Oasis Hotel & Casino, Mesquite, NV
Apr 27-30
Ozark Poker Championship
Cherokee Casino, West Siloam Springs, OK
Apr 28-May 11
World Series Event
sCaesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV
Apr 29-May 8
St. Maarten Spring Poker Showdown Sonesta Maho Beach Hotel & Resort, St. Maarten, N.A.
Apr 29-May 8
WSOP “Warm Up II”
Garden City Hotel & Casino, San Jose, CA
May 3-7
Western Canadian Poker Classic Casino Yellowhead, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
>May 4-17
The Mirage Poker Showdown tMirage (AdPg 11), Las Vegas, NV
May 5-7
Montana State NL Hold’em Poker Challenge The Brick Sports Pub, Great Falls, MT
May 5-21
Heavenly Hold’em
Commerce Casino, Commerce, CA
>May 10-24 American Poker Player Ch’ship Binion’s Gambling Hall & Hotel (AdPg 30), Las Vegas, NV
>May 11-21
Spring Pot of Gold
Reno Hilton, Reno, NV
May 17-21
Turning Stone Classic
Turning Stone Resort Casino, Verona, NY
May 18-28
World Series Event
sHarrah’s New Orleans, LA
>May 22-Jun 4 America’s Poker Classic
Bicycle Casino (AdPg 3), Bell Gardens, CA
May 26-Jun 8
Mandalay Bay Poker Ch’ship
Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, NV
Jun 4-11
Battle of the Bay
Lucky Chances Casino, Colma, CA
sHarrah’s Lake Tahoe
Jun 6-16
World Series Event
>Jun 8-19
Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge II Cherokee Casino in Tulsa (AdPg 21), Cartoosa, OK
Jun 22-24
Nat’l 3-Card Poker Tournament Flamingo Laughlin, Laughlin, NV
>Jun 24-Jul 26 Mini Series
The Bicycle Casino, Bell Gardens, CA (AdPg 3)
Jun 26-Aug 10 World Series of Poker
sRio, Las Vegas, NV
July 1-16
Orleans Open
Orleans Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV
Jul 25-29
Grand Prix de Paris
tAviation Club of France, Paris, France
Aug 3-Sep 1
Legends of Poker
The Bicycle Casino, Bell Gardens, CA (AdPg 3)
Aug 30- Sep 3 Edmonton Poker Classic
Casino Edmonton, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Sep 5-24
Calif. State Poker Ch’ship
Sep 17-21
Borgata Poker Open
Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, Atlantic City, NJ
>Sep 28-Oct 15 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
Nov 3-19
Holiday Bonus
Nov. 8-18
Fall Poker Roundup
Wildhorse Casino, Pendleton, OR
>Nov 23-Dec 10 Turkey Shoot/Ho-Ho Hold’em Bicycle Casino (AdPg 3), Bell Gardens, CA
Dec 1-19
5 Diamond World Poker Classic Bellagio, Las Vegas, NV
>Dec 18-23
Heavyweight Championship of Poker Sam’s Town (AdPg 33), Las Vegas, NV
Calvin Ayre Wild Card Poker.
(Check local listings for days/times). Fox
Sports.
POKER
ON
TV
Celebrity Poker Showdown.
Apr 19-22, 24-29, May 1-6, 8-12, 15-20.
(Check local listings for times). Bravo.
National Heads-Up Poker
Championship. (Check local listings
for days/times). CNBC
Poker Royale: Battle of the
Sexes. Wednesdays 2 AMEDT. GSN.
The Cincinnati Kid. Wed Apr 26,
4:15AMEDT. TCM
Poker Superstars Invitational.
(Check local listings for times/channels). Fox Sports.
E! Hollywood Hold’em.
Thursdays. 10:00 PM. E!
Prince of Poker. Apr 23, 7PMEDT.
History Channel.
High Stakes Poker. Mondays
9PMEDT, 8PMCDT. GSN
Speed Poker Championship:
Asia Pacific. (Check local listings for
days/times). Fox Sports.
Jimmy Kimmel Live: Phil
Gordon. Tue Apr 25, 12:06AMEDT. GSN
Ultimate Poker Challenge.
(Check local listings for times/channels).
Inside Poker. (For local times/stations, check www.insidepoker.tv).
World Poker Tour. (Check local
listing for times). Travel Channel.
Learn From the Pros. (Check
local listing for times). Fox Sports.
World Series of Poker. (Check
local listing for times). ESPNC/ESPN2.
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