avoiding - Poker Player Newspaper

Transcription

PAGE
New Column!
North by Northwest
with Byron Liggett
Ram Vaswani
wins EPT event
in Dublin
20
PAGE
11
PAGE
Chip Reese
PLAYER PROFILE
by Phil Hevener
34
POKER PLAYER
Vol. 8 Number 10 November 15, 2004 A Gambling Times Publication Copyright ©2004 Bi-Weekly $3.95 USA/$4.95 CANADA
Spiderman Tobey Mortenson
Maguire Nabs Main Makes Million
Event at
Hollywood
Park Casino
$95,480—Snagged in the
Spidermanʼs web!
He showed tremendous
focus and determination. I
predict that he will become
one of the better poker
stars.”
The Phil Hellmuth
Invitation tournament was
the eighth of 12 tournament events held during the
National Championship of
Poker at Hollywood Park
Casino. The tournament
(Continued on page 12)
Gamboa Wins
Bay 101
Andy Gamboa of San Jose, CA
took home first place and $50,000
in prize money in the second
annual Bay 101 OPEN
main event on
October 24, 2004.
The final event
of four began
with each of
150 players
(Continued
on page 17)
$1,000,000 for Mortenson in Festa Al Lago final event
Former WSOP world champion Carlos Mortenson of
Spain added another million
to his poker winnings by
taking the Doyle Brunson
North American Poker
Championship on October
19th at the Bellagio in Las
Vegas. This $10,000 buy-in
No Limit Hold ʻem main
event of the Festa al Lago
tournament drew some
312 top level players with
a total prize pool over $3
million. Reading down
the list of players was like
reading a Whoʼs Who list
A Word from the
“Mad Genius,”
Mike Caro
Today’s word is...
“AVOIDING”
Turn to page 4 for more
0
74470 05299
9
4 6>
Proving that he can score
at the poker tables just as
well as the box office, actor
Tobey Maguire won his
first major poker tournament at Phil Hellmuthʼs
Poker Invitational at the
Hollywood Park Casino,
a $2,000 buy-in event that
netted him $95,480 for first
place. The 13-hour tournament event was held on
Wednesday, October 27,
2004 as part of the casinoʼs
eight annual National
Championship of Poker
tournament.
The actor outlasted a
field of 123 players, with
a prize pool of $246,000,
including Danny Masterson
of That ʻ70s Show. Other
players that placed in the
tournament include Reza
Payvar, Marcel Sabag,
Glenn Cozen, George
Yutuc, Alex Papachatzakis,
Lang Lee, Lance Allred and
Stan Goldstein.
Commenting on the tournament, Hellmuth, who has
played with the actor before
said, “Before the tournament, Tobey told me that he
would love for this to be his
first tournament win. I am
very proud of the way he
played the game last night.
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
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N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
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N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
3
Caro’s Word: “AVOIDING”
Y
ou know how a little
girl wonʼt look you in
the eyes when sheʼs
lying? You know
how a little boy looks away
when heʼs telling you a
story about how a strange
kid came to the neighborhood and trampled your
flowerbed with his tricycle?
Adults arenʼt much different – just a bit more subtle
in the way they avoid your
eyes.
Sure, some will overcompensate and stare directly at
you when they lie, but often
itʼs too direct – and thatʼs
the real-life tell. But, okay,
so what happens in a poker
game.
The look-away in poker
Poker is sort of an alternate universe. The physics
are all screwed up. Most
opponents, especially
unsophisticated ones, look
away when they have good
hands and are more likely
to meet your eyes when
theyʼre bluffing. You talk
about strange! Well, thatʼs
how poker is, and now Iʼm
going to tell you why.
Hereʼs the deal. In everyday life, lies are only occasional. Yes, most people
are uncomfortable lying,
but they somehow manage.
Theyʼve never been in an
arena where they need to lie
almost all the time. Poker
is such an arena. Lie? What
do I mean when I say poker
players need to lie?
Well, just think about it.
A poker hand is a secret.
Itʼs the secret nature of a
poker hand, in fact, that
makes the game work. If
hands werenʼt secret, you
couldnʼt play poker. Thatʼs
because the elements that
make up poker are: (1)
Making some wager large
enough to be worth fighting
over before you even get a
hand – something that starts
the war; (2) Controlling
something, the strength of
which is unknown to your
opponents, so that you
can wager with a degree
of uncertainty; and (3) the
ability to win all the money
just by betting, regardless of whether your secret
holding is strong or terribly
weak.
So, poker is a game
where you can win on
pure courage, as long as
4
an opponent lacks the will
to call your bet. Those are
roughly the elements I use
to define poker for students.
I also say that the definition
of the game requires that
all the money wagered goes
to a single player – the one
with the best hand. Now,
you can quibble about that
last part, but thatʼs all it is
– a quibble. You see, even
in a high-low game, a pot is
actually awarded to just one
player. Thatʼs because there
are theoretically two pots
– one to be awarded to the
best high hand and one to
be awarded to the best low
hand. People get tricked
into thinking thereʼs one pot
and you win half of it – and
we all even talk about it
that way, but conceptually
thatʼs not whatʼs happening. Think two pots and you
understand high-low better.
Another quibble you
might have with the notion
that the whole pot goes to
one player is that, well,
what about when two players tie? Then the pot is
split, right? True, but the
goal isnʼt to split – itʼs to
win, and split pots among
tied hands are just a glitch
in the awards process. In
fact, you could easily set
the poker rules so that there
are not equal-strength ties.
You could make the high
card, by suit, in the hand
the winner. And, in my
mind, thatʼs probably the
way poker should be played
– but tradition has set us on
another course.
No Cards
Now youʼre thinking Iʼve
forgotten my point. I was
talking about why poker
players have to lie. Youʼre
right in saying thatʼs what
I was talking about, but
youʼre wrong in thinking
Iʼve forgotten my point. Iʼll
get to it soon, but right now
I donʼt want to. I want to
tell you – by way of further
defining poker – that you
donʼt even need cards to
play the game!
When I introduce players
to poker, I tell them that the
ingredients that make up
poker – a pot going to one
winner, something to start
the war, secret strength, and
the ability to win by betting
even with the worst hand
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
POKER PLAYER
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
– donʼt require cards. Look
poker up in any dictionary
and youʼre sure to see the
word “cards” in the definition. Thatʼs stupid! I teach
that you could play poker
like this...
Youʼre at a farm house,
you and a bunch of yahoo
friends. Got the picture?
Itʼs a rowdy experience,
with everyone throwing
beer cans against the wall
to see who can make one
stick first. But, eventually,
you all figure out that beer
cans donʼt stick to walls.
So, you suggest that everyone wager $1 and put all
the money in a pile in the
middle of a table. All your
friends jump up and down
with enthusiasm, yapping,
“Sure, Iʼll bet on that,” and
“count me in.” So, the pile
grows to $9 -- $1 for each
of the 10 of you, except
Bradley, who spent all his
money on cigarettes. Brad
pouts in the corner.
Now, you let your buddies know what youʼre
betting on. You pass out
brown paper bags to each
of them and keep one for
yourself. You all head out
to the pasture with the
instructions to find the biggest cow chip you can in
10 minutes, to hide the chip
in the paper bag, and to
return to the table to wager
on the sizes, with the winner taking all the combined
money. Everyone scurries
off. Except you. Youʼre too
lazy. You simply pretend
to scurry off, but turn back
immediately to the farm
house to plot your strategy.
Okay, everyone returns.
The betting begins. Oscar
wagers $10, Pete and Paul
call and everyone except
you folds, tossing their cow
chip bags into the trash can.
Now you reach into your
pocket and take out the
money youʼve been saving
to buy a turkey dinner. You
throw all $74,505 on the
table. “Thatʼs your turkey
money!” Oscar exclaims,
knowing how much youʼve
been looking forward to the
dinner at a fine restaurant.
Well, wait, this story is losing credibility. Let me fix
it. Got it now... You reach
into your pocket and raise
to $73 that youʼd gotten as
change from $100 when
you bought groceries this
morning. There – Iʼm trying
to keep this realistic.
Now, Oscar says “Oh,
Gosh, I didnʼt want to call
that much.”
“Whatʼs the matter,
Oscar,” you goad, “you
donʼt have a big enough
cow chip to call?”
“I guess not,” Oscar
says, tossing his bag into
the trash. Pete and Paul do
the same and you reach to
the center of the table and
scoop up all the money.
“Just out of curiosity,”
Paul says, “how big was
yours?”
You tear open your bag
and show that it is empty.
“Thatʼs bullshit!” Pete
moans.
“It wasnʼt any bullshit at
all,” you correct.
Back to the point
So, you see, thatʼs poker.
No cards, but all the elements are there. And this
takes us right back to the
point. You canʼt win at
poker if you tell your opponents what you have while
the wagering is in progress.
And, by extension, you
canʼt lead them toward the
truth about what you have
by acting happy or sad.
Hereʼs the lesson, then.
Players who are new to
poker and who come
straight from the real-world
experience where they
rarely lie are uncomfortable
about poker, where they
canʼt tell the truth about
their hands except in an
effort to deceive. Yes, thatʼs
right, if you tell the truth
about your secret hand in
poker, you must be hoping opponents will have
doubts about your honestly.
Otherwise, telling the truth
will ruin you.
Now, since a poker hand
is a secret that must be
guarded – because nobody
else can ever know whatʼs
in the brown bag until the
wagering is finished – inexperienced players tend to
always deceive in almost
comically transparent ways.
In effect, they try to convey
strength when their hands
are weak and weakness
when their hands are strong.
Thatʼs because in the
real-world, they gradually
work up their courage for
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EDITORIAL CONSULTANT
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CONSULTANT
Contributing
Columnists
Nolan Dalla
George Epstein
“Oklahoma Johnny” Hale
Ashley Adams
Susie Isaacs
Diane McHaffie
James McKenna
I. Nelson Rose
Nic Szeremeta
Rich Wilens
John Vorhaus
Ernie Kaufman, Sports
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Volume 8 Number 10.
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N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
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Saving and Gaining
the Extra Bet
TRUE POKER
By Peter “The Poet” COsta
The nature of Limit poker opens the
door to poor or foolish play. Calling
an extra bet for value seems to be
the main culprit. After all, it’s just one bet right?
Wrong!
Calling an extra bet just because of value, can
become expensive over a period of time. For
example - you call a raise with JQ suited and now
find that another player behind you makes it three
bets. The initial raiser calls and you have no problem in calling the extra bet. That may seem fine.
However, you are placing yourself in what could be
a difficult and costly situation. Even if you flop top
pair, your hand may not be good enough against
a raise and re-raise. But since it’s Limit, you will
probably call all the way and that one extra bet
has become five or six. It is therefore important
for you to avoid such situations by being selective
with your starting hands and your position.
The most difficult part of limit is saving the extra
bets when you are dealt a big hand to begin with.
For example, JJ QQ and KK are three of the biggest hands that you can be dealt. However, they
can also be the most costly as they are difficult
to get away from - even if you are 95% convinced
that you are up against a bigger hand. Learning to
throw away these hands when logic suggests that
it’s wise to do so - maybe the difference between
winning and losing a tournament. Although this
will come from experience, it’s wise to learn this
discipline as soon as possible.
Extracting extra bets from your opponents is the
fun and profitable part of Limit poker. It’s also an
art-form that needs to be developed if you are
serious in your desire to improve as a player.
The opportunities for this arise many times during
play, it just a case of you being aware of the right
situations. This is very important in multi-way
action pots as that extra bet can become three or
four. For example - it is four-way action and you
raise with JJ from the small blind and have been
lucky enough to flop top trips. Since you are first
to act, try betting on the flop and see what the
others do. If you feel that the player to your left
has connected with flop or has some kind of hand;
try a check-raise after the turn. This can be very
profitable if the other players call. If they happen
to check also, you may well get more action after
the river card. Irrespective of the outcome, you
are at least varying your style and confusing the
other players as to how you play.
Another way of extracting extra bets is to show
weakness on the flop by checking and just calling any bets. This can also open the door to many
extra bets after the turn or and river. It’s really
down to how loose your opponents are playing
and how alert you are to such opportunities.
From the next issue , we will move on from Limit
to that of No Limit Holdem. The focus will be on
the various stages of tournament play and how to
approach your first game at the local casino.
Until then—play well, get lucky and enjoy life.
6
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
Play
Or Die
My friend Hobby Newton,
owner of the power cruiser
Lazybuns, was nowhere
to be found. We were supposed to meet on the boat,
but that looked doubtful as
I saw chairs strewn about
and what looked like blood.
I called my friend Tom
Victor, homicide cop with
the LAPD. He thought it
was probably a minor accident. I said Iʼd check the
local hospitals and urgent
care centers. With the
promise of a steak dinner,
Tom agreed to come to the
marina.
Iʼm Joe Crest a freelance
writer. Hobby and I are
close friends, although we
try not to show it. Weʼre
often at odds with each
other, but if something has
happened to Hobby, Iʼll do
everything possible to help.
Heʼd do the same for me.
I struck out with my
phone search. Hobby hadnʼt
checked in for medical
care. Tom was below decks
looking around. “I donʼt
know, Joe, but it looks
suspicious,” he said. “You
have any idea who might
do this?”
“A lot of people know
Hobbyʼs got bucks, but I
donʼt know any lowlife who
would do him in. Hey! I
just remembered Hobby has
a time-lapse camera viewing the stateroom. Letʼs see
if itʼs been recording.”
I put the tape in the VCR
and backed it up. At 7:05
a.m. a bell rang. Hobby
shuffled out of his bedroom
and went to the deck. A
few minutes later he came
back with a good-looking
blonde. She looked familiar,
but I couldnʼt quite place
her. Hobby said, “Iʼll make
coffee.”
The girl replied, “Weʼre
ready to pay you back, but
how about double or nothing.”
“You crazy? I donʼt think
so. What if you lose? Then
youʼll owe me a hundred
thou.”
“Iʼve got that much
right here,” she said as she
tapped her large purse.
“Whatʼd you do? Hit the
lottery.”
“Something like that.
Whatʼya say?
“You sure you want to do
this? Thatʼs a lot of dough.”
“Cʼmon, Hobby, youʼre
supposed to be a macho
gambler. Letʼs cut cards.”
“Okay, if you insist. But I
think this is stupid.”
“I trust you, Hobby, but
just to be safe, how about
fresh cards.”
“Sure.” Hobby said as he
took a sealed Bicycle deck
from a drawer.
“You want to shuffle?”
he asked.
“No, Iʼll let you. But I
want the first cut.”
Hobby worked the deck
for a few minutes, made
a final cut and moved it
across the table.
“Have at it, Vicky,” he
said.
“Ah ha, that name,” I
said aloud. “Now I know
who she is.”
Vicky was waving her
hands around and said, “Iʼm
so nervous. Oops!” She
spilled her cup of coffee.
“Iʼm sorry. Iʼll clean it up.”
“No, Iʼll get,” Hobby,
said as he headed for the
galley.
“Tom, did you see that?
She switched the deck.”
“Yeah, I saw it. Hobbyʼs
being set up.”
After Hobby cleaned
the table, he sat across
from Vicky and said, “Iʼve
changed my mind; Iʼm not
going to cut with you. I saw
your reflection; I saw what
you did.”
Her mouth dropped open
and then her eyes went
hard. “You donʼt give me
any choice Hobby. Now itʼs
plan two. Youʼre coming
with us,” she said, as she
slipped an automatic pistol
from her handbag. A guy
came down the stairs, her
husband.
Hobby jumped into fighting posture, but Vicky, who
was behind him, cracked
him over the head with the
pistol and he dropped like a
A
Joe
Joe &
& Hobby
Hobby
fiction by
David J.
Valley
rock. They quickly tied him
up, wrapped him in a sheet
and hauled him off.
“Tell me, Joe. Who are
these people?”
“Theyʼre friends of
Hobbyʼs. I only met them
once. They have a card
room in Ojai.”
Tom was on the phone
with the Ventura County
Sheriff as we headed north
on the 405 freeway. They
met us a few blocks from
the card room with a SWAT
team. We found out the
place was closed, but there
was a car parked in the rear.
A deputy put a listening
device on a rear window.
We could plainly hear their
conversation.
Hobby said, “I donʼt
want to play poker.”
“Well, whether you play
or not, we say you did. Not
only did you lose the fifty
we owed you, but we won
an additional $500,000.”
“What the hell makes
you think Iʼll pay?”
The guy said, “I never
did like you, Hobby. You
get the money the way we
tell you, or were going to
feed you to the fish!”
Tom and the Sheriff
had heard enough. The
SWAT team stormed and
secured the place before
the surprised miscreants
knew what was happening.
Hobby, however, was very
composed. “What took you
so long Joe? I knew you
could figure it out.”
Nonchalant myself, I
replied. “We could have
been here sooner, but I
wanted to stop for breakfast.”
Write to author David Valley
at: dvalley1@san.rr.com
2005 Jack Binion World Poker Open Schedule of Events Announced
Everywhere you look -casinos, television and the
Internet -- poker is booming. Poker tournaments are
growing even faster. Now
entering its sixth consecu-
donated (and continues to
donate) all of his poker
tournament winnings to
charity. The tournament
was televised and watched
by millions of viewers, and
2004 winner
Barry Greenstein
was carried live on radio
over the Internet.
Since its inception in
March 2000, the Jack
Binion World Poker Open
has grown by about 20 percent annually -- in terms of
attendance and prize money
-- making it one of the fastest-growing annual events
in any sport or competition. This year promises to
be even bigger and better
for both poker players and
poker fans, alike. The 2005
World Poker Open will
feature a total of 20 events
-- including popular variations of poker such as Texas
holdʼem, Omaha, Seven-
card stud, and other card
games. Best of all, tournaments are open to everyone
who plays and enjoys poker
-- from players who participate in weekly home games
to professionals. Buy-ins
for each tournament range
from $200 up to $10,000
for the championship finale.
However, many players win
their way into a tournament
by playing in “satellites”
-- which are smaller tournaments costing as little as
$65.
This year, the winner
of the Jack Binion World
Poker Open is guaranteed
to receive $1.5 million for
first place, making it one
of only a few poker tournaments in the world which
guarantees making someone
a millionaire. The World
Poker Open will also continue its annual tradition
of hosting a “Ladies Only”
poker tournament which
is to be held on Sunday,
January 23rd.
All tournaments will
be held at the Gold Strike
Casinoʼs Grand Ballroom
and at the Horseshoe
Casino, with the final table
Championship Event at the
Gold Strike. All events
will start promptly at 12:00
noon each day.
TS
5 EN
00 EV
2 T
I
U
C
IR
C
tive year, the Jack Binion
World Poker Open has
skyrocketed in popularity
and is now one of the top
three poker tournaments
in the world, both in terms
of prize money and attendance.
Last year, thousands
of poker players came to
Tunica, Mississippi (6,163
in all) from all parts of
the globe -- including
all regions of the United
States, Mexico, Canada,
Europe, Asia, Australia,
Central and South America,
and places in between.
Total prize money paid
out for last yearʼs tournament was a staggering
$7,856,435 -- more than
the Masters in golf or
Wimbledon in tennis. Prize
money was paid to players
from virtually every state in
the country and 22 different
nations.
The winner of the championship event was Barry
Greenstein, from California.
He received $1,278,370.
Amazingly, Greenstein
World Series of Poker® and Jack Binion.
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N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
7
A Chat with Russ Hamilton,
1994World Champion, PART I
I have interviewed many poker pros over
the years. Let me start by saying that
CHIP CHATTEr
By SUSIE ISAACS
Russ Hamilton is one of my personal favorites. Many of our famous poker players
have become such celebrities, even having “their people”
– agents, entourage, and so forth that it is next to impossible
to get to them, much less to get an interview. Russ is always
there, he doesn’t say, how much or talk to my agent he says,
what time?
Russ Hamilton has many titles to his credit, but after fulfilling his dream of becoming the world champion in
1994, he semi-retired. Ten years ago winning the
WSOP main event was the summit for a professional poker player, there was no higher peak to
strive for. But let’s start at the beginning.
Russ Hamilton was born and reared in West
Russ Hamilton “By God,” Virginia. When Russ was a kid, his
Dad owned a dry cleaning business. He would help his Dad on
Saturdays by going with him to make pick up and deliveries.
“My Dad loved to play poker,” Russ begins. “There were private games all along his route. I was 7, 8, and 9 years old. I sat
and watched. He’d give me a quarter every time he won a pot
and I was the only one in the Hamilton family who made money
on those games. Dad loved to play too much and he played too
many hands, I knew that when I was just a kid. He would go
home broke and I would have a pocket full of quarters.
“When I was 13 and in high school, I got into poker games in
school and I played sports which led to running football cards,
which led to betting sports, which led to book making.”
I asked if as a student he won more than he lost.
“I just seemed to have a knack for it.” He responded.
“Playing poker and sports betting was the most rewarding
for me. I did OK, I paid my way through college.”
It is no secret that Russ Hamilton is a successful professional
gambler. I asked him if he had ever tried a “real job or career.”
He chuckled, “I was an assistant manager in a chain of
grocery stores but that didn’t last too long. Book making and
poker paid so much better!”
There has been a lot of gossip about the big bets that professional gamblers make. I asked Russ about his most memorable.
“We have made a lot of crazy golf bets and a lot of weight
bets. I remember one day Layne Flack and Denny Mason were
betting one and two thousand dollars a hole and neither of
them could break 90! After they had been playing all day for
$1,000-$2,000 a hole, all of a sudden they decided to bet for
par on the next hole for $100,000. It was only a short par
4 hole, about 290 yards, a dogleg left with water out about
200 yards. These guys love to gamble. Denny pulled out a
driver and hit the ball in the water. Layne Flack should have
hit an iron out about 170-180 and then try to get on with a
short iron and two putt for $100,000. He also pulls out a
driver—and yes in the water the ball goes. So the player who
had the nuts, was the nut!
The biggest weight loss bet I ever made was in 1994. I had
several bets out totaling $24,000 that I could lose 60 pounds
in four months. I was on a diet and doing well when along
came the World Series. I won a million dollars when I won the
championship and I was hungry so I let that $24,000 go!”
Every world champion has a wonderful story to tell about
his win. Russ Hamilton’s is more unique than most. In the
next issue of Poker Player, Russ will tell his story about winning the world championship and explain why he has come
out of retirement and back to the green felt.
Susie Isaacs has written about poker and poker players since 1985. She is the first woman to win backto-back titles at the World Series of Poker. Her latest
venture is a line of “Designer Gaming Jewelry.”
Visit www.susieisaacs.com.
8
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
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The Goons ignore this warning and pull out their guns.
“Jackal!” says Don Paulo,
“the blood of my family is on
your, and his, hands!”
Jake says, “Not true, I. . . .”
“Do you deny you, and he,
killed my mother?”
shotgun, screams, “Liar!”
The Goons, fingers on their
triggers, wait.
I think to myself,
Somethingʼs wrong, and for
once know what it is.
“Wait!” I yell. “Your father,
Don Giuseppe, and your neph-
used a double-barrel shotgun!”
Don Paulo looks into the
single O of Jakeʼs shotgun.
The Don thinks this over,
“Yes. You are right.” He begins
to tell the Goons, “Lower your.
. . .” when Nurse Hideous, who
has walked silently into the
“N” is for Needle
A Poker Player Murder Mystery by Robert Arabella
I come to in the back of an
ambulance, tied down to a
stretcher. A paramedic, his back
turned, is filling a hypodermic
needle. I ask, “Am I going to
live?”
The Ugly Man, holding the
needle, turns around and says,
“No. Youʼre going to die!”
I struggle with my restraints.
The Ugly Man, holding the
needle, says, “You have to
the count of three to give me
your invitation to the House
of Cards. One.” He raises the
needle.
“I canʼt give you. . . .”
“Two.” up over his head
“. . . . what I donʼt have.”
“Three.” and plunges it
downwards.
This City is cheap. Too
cheap to fill its potholes, which
grow from cracks into cra-ters.
The speeding ambulance hits
one of these craters, sending it
careening up off its wheels. The
impact throws the Ugly Man
backwards, crashing into and
then, as they swing open, out of
the ambulanceʼs double doors. I
watch him cartwheel down the
street.
At the hospital the ambulance driver, finding me alone,
asks, “Whereʼs the paramedic?”
“Heʼs at the scene of a terrible accident,” I answer. “Iʼm
sure heʼll be in the ER soon.”
X-rays show my left arm is
broken. The MDʼs slap on a
hard plaster cast and hand me
a bottle of pain killers. Nurse
Hideous puts me to bed. I close
my eyes and sleep.
Canʼt breathe! I canʼt. . . .
The pillow lifts off my face.
Don Paulo screams, “You killed
my mother!”
I gasp, “I had nothing. . . .”
The Don presses the pillow
back onto my face. No air! No
air!
The pillow lifts again. “You
and The Jackal killed her!
Why?”
I gasp, “The Donna wanted
to tell me about. . . ”
The pillow falls. Someone
yells No one move and the pillow lifts.
Jake, his shotgun pointed at
Don Paulo, stands in the doorway.
“We did not!”
“Do you deny that he lured
my father to a poker game
where you killed him?”
“Absolutely!”
“Do you deny being the
ʻmystery manʼ who, this one
claims, shotgunned Gyp to
death?”
“On my honor. . . .”
The Don, unafraid of Jakeʼs
ew Gyp were both killed by a
double-barreled shotgun, right?”
Silence.
“Donna Francesca told me
you feared that she too would
be killed by a double-barrel
shotgun-wielding maniac.”
Silence.
“Look!” I yell. “Look at
Jakeʼs gun. It has one barrel!
ʻThe Small Man,ʼ Gypʼs killer,
room with my lunch, see the
guns and drops the tray, which
crashes noisily to the floor.
The Goonʼs are startled.
They raise their guns. Jake
takes aim.
In desperation I scream out
hysterically, “Donʼt shoot! . . .
Donʼt! . . .”
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
(To be continued in the next
issue of Poker Player)
9
Moving Targets
POwer POKER PSYCHOLOGY
By JAMES A. M CKENNA, PH D.
I took a break from a Texas Hold ‘em game
to play a round of Blackjack. When I got
back, a player asked me, “You’d rather played Blackjack
or what?” “No,” I replied, “it’s not that. It’s just that it’s
harder to hit a moving target!” Of course, that comment
got its intended laugh. However, I got to thinking how
serious in jest that I really was.
First of all, I have learned only to take such breaks
when I am ahead in the game. I never change games
to catch up. I may change seats. I find that when I am
chasing my luck that I just keep getting deeper and
deeper. It’s like I am a target that’s running right into
fire. When I am ahead, though, and start moving, I can
begin to set a pattern. After taking a break, I’ll stay in
the new game until I am a little ahead and then leave
that to go back to the game that I left. This seems to
work and I asked myself why. Is there any basis in probability or odds that this works because I am competing
with the casino’s edge and seem to be staying out of
their range?
So, I began to do some serious research. I noticed this.
When good players are not doing well in a particular game,
whether it is poker or blackjack, some will move to another location or to another dealer as soon as the tide turns.
In poker, I have found that when the cards are cold, the
only thing that seems to help is moving to another seat.
Otherwise, nothing changes. Some players will stay in the
same seat and just whine about the lousy cards that they
are getting. Others will do something about it. Some will
change seats and others will just decide that this is not
their day and quit the game.
It true that, “Sometimes you’re the tree, and sometimes you’re the dog.” The skill is in knowing when to
move whether you are the tree or the dog. That’s right.
Some players don’t know when to move on when they
are ahead. That’s because a lot of players are just flying by the seat of their pants and have no win/loss limits
established. Some people set daily stake limits of say
$500. If they are losing 65-70%, they will move on to
another activity. Other people will get ahead and play
until they give it back. A player with win/loss limits
may have decided in advance that he or she will move
on when they win thirty (30) times the big bet and lose
a big pot. For example, if playing a $3/6 game, thirty
times the big bet ($6) would be $180. The time to leave
is when you are ahead this much and lose a big pot. It’s
time to be thinking about being a moving target.
It’s a lot harder to use this formula on no-limit tables.
Perhaps, if you begin with a stake of $500 and begin to
lose after building it to $2000, that would be the guide.
At any rate, it’s having a win limit that is the important
thing. The longer you play, the more the odds are
that you will lose. So, it’s good to move on and get out
of someone’s sights when you are ahead, Remember,
whether you are ahead or behind, you are the target.
Keep moving. Even in Blackjack, the casino has a slight
edge. If you get ahead and stay, it’s almost a sure thing
that you will eventually lose it back.
So, I have found that the best way to eat an elephant
is one bite at a time. In other words, try this. Bite (get a
little ahead) and move to another table or game. When
you take another bite, move again. All those little bites
will soon add up to elephant winnings.
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,” will be published soon by Gambling
Times. Write to him at jim@JimMckenna-phd.com.
10
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
Sam Mudaro, BA, MBA, is a practicing tax
accountant and financial executive originally
from New York with over 35 years of analytical business expertise. He and his wife Eva
are nine-year Las Vegas residents. Sam uses
simulation software to analyze and develop
strategies for Omaha Hi/Lo and other forms of
poker. Reach Sam at: realguru2003@yahoo.com.
In our October 4 issue, we
took a look at the double
suited positive expectations
combinations of A-5. Today
we will look at the single
suited and non-suited combinations. I used the same
column headings in the
chart that follows, which
were defined in my article
“A-4 Single Suited”. If you
missed that article the following link will take you
directly to the past issues
where you may retrieve all
past articles http://gamblingtimes.com/poker_player/pastissues.html
Please note the chart
Hand
H2M
H2L
H2H
above. They are limited to
combinations containing a
ten or above. Apparently
the nut straight draw helps.
We should clearly avoid
playing any non-suited A-5
hand that does not contain a
pair or a card other than the
ace, lower than a 5.
Returning our attention
to the above chart not a
single non-high suited hand
is playable. When you draw
to or complete a flush, you
want it to be the nut flush.
This is more important in
Omaha then it is in HoldEm. The main reason is it is
more likely your opponent
2HL
L2L
A-5-6-K 1.78 1.05 0.63 (0.82) (0.81)
A-5-Q-K 0.08 0.57 0.01 (0.70) (0.76)
A-5-6-Q (0.36) (0.40) 0.49 (1.07) (1.05)
A-5-6-7 0.38 (0.23) 0.02 (1.14) (1.02)
A-5-7-K 0.00 0.18 0.05 (0.77) (0.98)
A-5-J-Q 0.04 0.17 (0.20) (0.93) (0.85)
A-5-J-K 0.13 (0.08) (0.44) (0.72) (0.82)
Avg
0.29 0.18 0.08 (0.88) (0.90)
above does not contain any
combination which contain a
card lower than a 5 as those
combination would have
been dealt with in a previous
article, E.g. A-3-5-X. Where
X may be any card.
Looking at the NonSuited, (NS) column, you
should note not a single
hand is profitable.
The chart above is a listHand
A-2-3-5
A-2-4-5
A-2-5-6
A-2-5-7
A-2-5-8
A-2-5-9
A-2-5-J
A-2-5-K
A-2-5-Q
A-2-5-T
A-3-4-5
A-3-5-K
A-3-5-Q
Net
9.40
7.38
3.87
2.88
2.94
1.48
3.26
7.16
4.47
1.11
1.37
2.28
0.52
ing of all profitable nonsuited hands containing an
A and 5 that do not contain
pairs. Notice the absence of
hands containing two high
cards. High card combinations that are double suited
may become playable.
We saw that in the first
part of this series. Some
single suited combinations
are also playable as seen
Sam Mudaro is the...
2HM
NS
(1.07)
(0.95)
(1.08)
(1.03)
(0.63)
(0.84)
(0.80)
(0.92)
(1.17)
(1.10)
(1.49)
(1.13)
(1.26)
(1.29)
(1.11)
(1.22)
will hold the ace if you
donʼt have it. Omaha players
like to play suited card that
are low draws, especially if
one of those cards is an ace.
This is true for the whole
range from A-2 through A8. Good Hold-Em players,
especially those in high limit
games, donʼt chase flush
draws or play an ace with a
little card. They know they
may get trapped when they
pair their ace.
Rather than attempting
to remember the entire
chart or just the playable
hands, if you were to only
play the high suited hand
A-5-6-K you would limit
your losses. The small
amount of marginally prof-
A-5. Conclusion
itable hands that you would
eliminate keeps you out of
trouble. This is an approach
that should be taken with
all my charts. First learn
the most profitable plays.
When you are comfortable
with those then you may
move on to the less profitable plays. For you blackjack players think of it as
first learning basic strategy.
After you master basic
strategy, you start counting
cards and adjust your bet
for the count. When you
have that down pat you
modify your play according to the count. Stay tuned
and in future articles I will
publish the top 25 hands
ranked by net win with win
percentages followed by
the next 25 best.
Next time I will leave
all the numbers, charts
and simulations behind
and offer what I term
“Poker Survival 101”. I
will attempt to offer some
guidance to those new
players entering the game
and hopefully inspire some
prose to evaluate their play.
So what have we
learned? – As we move up
the ladder of A-x hands we
find fewer and fewer positive net hands to play. If
you are holding A-5, do not
have a pair, and one of your
other cards is not a 2, 3 or
4, muck your hand if any of
the following apply.
Your hand is unsuited.
Your hand is single suited
but not to the high card.
Your hand is single suited
with the high card or is not
A-5-6-K.
European
Poker Tour Hits
Dublin...
Another Hendon
Mob Victory!
RESULTS
& MORE
PHOTOS ON
PAGE 33
!
M
A
R
GO
NI
A
W
S
VA
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
11
The Tournament Experience
FRESH YOUNG FACE OF Poker
By Jennifer Matiran
Dear Poker Player:
It’s refreshing to see more and more
young new faces in our Poker room. They
bring freshness and energy that makes
Poker a more exciting activity. The established crowd welcomes this new action and understandably so. Individuals
like Jennifer fit that mold. She “is” that young player,
polite, energetic and a welcome addition to the Poker world.
—Michael, Poker Floorman @ Pechanga Casino and Resort
Oh goodness, thank you Mr. Michael, (check’s in the mail!)
So you may already know that I hope to emerge in the
tournament world. Yes, Yes, besides my dreams of being
acknowledged, highly esteemed and successful writer
another dream in my “dream bank” is to win first place
in WSOP or WPT tournaments. I played my first three
no-limit tournaments ever at The Pechanga Casino and
Resort. A great place to play, Pechanga truly has Las
Vegas style premier gaming.
My First Tournament. I usually don’t but I decided
to wear dark sunglasses that afternoon. Just thinking
about it makes me laugh. The lens was too dark and I
had trouble seeing, by the time I realized that I couldn’t
see well, I was too embarrassed to take them off. Also, I
decided that day I was going to be the player who doesn’t
say much, the strong, silent, deadly type (so I hoped.)
Between being quiet, wearing the sunglasses and not
knowing the dynamics of no-limit, I became very bored
and sleepy. After receiving pocket queens I awakened, I
went all in (before the flop) and lost to my opponent who
made a straight on the river. This is how I describe my
first tournament, I literally sat down at the first table and
a couple minutes later, I got back up...(in my best Jim
Carrey voice) “LOSER.” Instead of being the strong, silent,
deadly type, that day I was more like the weak, sleepy,
impaired vision type.
My Second Tournament. I decided I don’t need to have
sunglasses or any props at the table, that it’s just not my
style. My personality’s so unpredictable naturally I thought,
I don’t need an artificial persona to throw the enemy off, I
could just be myself and that would do the trick. That day,
I did better than the first tournament, I lasted about ten
Mississippi’s longer. Still, I was a “LOSER.”
My Third Tournament. As I grow and mature, I’m beginning to subscribe to the notion that there is no such thing
as failure and that failing shows you what not to do (next
time.) My Dad says, “In each breath, whatever you want is
possible, if you don’t give up.” I learned from tournament
one and two to only go in with great cards. I lasted an hour
and half longer than before until...the chip denomination
change...ooh, I was pretty impressed with myself. I never
lasted long enough to see that part. I lost this tournament
but this time I wasn’t a “LOSER.” I was a lower case “loser.”
It took me three tournaments to realize what my major
flaw was...PATIENCE, let everyone else eliminate each
other and just wait. Tournament’s are long and to me very
boring, with just a few exciting moments. I’m going to win
one; you just wait...Thanks for listening...
Until next time, to all the people who started playing
Poker because you saw it on T.V. “Tipping is not just a city
in China.” In tournaments you do not have to tip (unless
you win) but in all other games it’s indeed appropriate.
Changing the world one sentence at a time, Jennifer
Matiran believes the pen is, and always will be, mightier than the sword. She hopes to emerge into the tournament circuit of Poker. Contact her with questions,
comments or interesting material at P.O. Box 77082,
Corona, CA 92877, or by e-mail at matiran@sbcglobal.
net. Ms. Matiran has just completed her latest screenplay, her other passion (besides Poker!).
12
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
NCP at Hollywood Park
draws players from across
the nation and has an estimated $1 million in prize
pool money up for grabs.
Bad Beats and Lucky
Draws, from HarperCollins,
looks at brilliant plays and
mistakes in the poker strategies and the fine art of
bluffing by Hellmuth and
other top pros. It features
blow-by-blow accounts of
heart-pounding matches
from the Professional Poker
Tour, as well as a look back
at Hellmuthʼs early playing
days in Madison, Wisconsin
before he achieved the
distinction of becoming
the youngest champion in
Tornament Namesake Phil Hellmuth
(Continued from page 1)
the history of the World
Series of Poker (WSOP).
Hellmuth also has an
instructional video “Phil
Hellmuthʼs Million Dollar
Poker System” launched
through Big Vision
Entertainment and Masters
of Poker.
Phil Hellmuth had his
first win in 1989 at age 24,
and became the youngest WSOP champ ever.
Distinguished by his undeniable charisma and attitude, he now holds a record
nine WSOP wins and tops
the WSOP money list with
over $3.5 million in earnings, making him one of the
highest profile poker players in the world. Hellmuth
has also scored winning
hands as featured guest and
commentator on most of
ESPNʼs poker programs, a
columnist for Card Player
Magazine and a regular on
televisionʼs #1 rated poker
program, The World Poker
Tour.
More Hollywood Park
NCP Events on page 29
World Class Championship Poker
Tournament at the Peppermill
Poker is the hottest game
going and the Peppermillʼs
smoke-free Poker Room
is playing host to some
the gameʼs top players
this November 13-21 for
the prestigious Fall Poker
Tournament, which has
a total prize pool of over
$350,000.
A field of 1,500 players is
expected to take part in the
eight days of heated poker
action that will include
Limit Holdʼem, No Limit
Texas Hold ʻem and Omaha
Hi-Low Split. Each day
will feature two new tournaments, one at noon the other
7 pm, and there will be an
8 am Satellite tournament
every day for players wishing to win their way into the
afternoon tourneys.
The action begins on
Saturday, Nov. 13th with
a warm up Satellite Day
tournament with a $60 buyin followed by the First
Chance tourney with a $220
buy-in and no re-buys.
The serious competition
begins with No Limit Hold
ʻem on Sunday, November
14th at noon. There is a
$225 buy in with a $200
re-buy.
Here is the daily schedule:
• Saturday, Nov. 13–
“Satellite Day”
10am: $60 buy-in, Limit
and No Limit Hold ʻem
satellites
• Sunday, Nov. 14–
Noon: No Limit Hold
ʻem $225 buy-in, $200
rebuy;
7pm: Limit Hold ʻem, $120
buy-in
• Monday, Nov. 15–
Noon: Limit Hold ʼem,
$225 buy-in, $200 re-buy;
7pm: No Limit Hold ʻem,
$120 buy-in
• Tuesday, Nov. 16 –
Noon: No Limit Hold ʼem,
$220 buy-in, no re-buy;
7pm: Omaha Hi/Lo Split,
$120 buy-in
• Wednesday, Nov. 17 –
Noon: Omaha Hi/Lo
Split, $120 buy-in,
$100 re-buy;
$120 buy-in
• Thursday, Nov. 18–
“Terminator Event”
Noon: No limit holdʼem,
$120 buy-in, $100 re-buy;
7pm: Limit Hold ʻem, $120
buy-in
• Friday, Nov. 19 –
Noon: Limit holdʼem, $120
buy-in, $100 re-buy;
$120 buy-in
• Saturday, Nov. 20 –
“Championship Event”
Noon: Limit Hold ʼem
$535 buy-in, no re-buy;
7pm: No Limit Hold ʻem
$120 buy-in
• Sunday, Nov. 21 –
“Championship Event”
Noon: No Limit Hold ʻem
$535 buy-in
Tournament players will
enjoy playing in our smokefree environment; there is
also food service available,
and there are several plasma
screen televisions throughout the room. Special room
rates are available for tournament players, based on
availability.
For further information
please call 800-648-6992 or
689-7275.
Mortenson Makes Million at Festa Al Lago
of poker. Very few newbies
were to be found. Even
the King himself, Doyle
Brunson, who is now honored by the naming of this
event, played. But alas,
Doyle finished out of the
money this time. Nearly
everyone on the top half of
the money list was a well
known experienced player.
The final table was no
place for amateurs. Check
out the results table below.
Four other events from the
Festa al Lago, not covered
in our last issue, are also
presented here.
BELLAGIO FESTA AL LAGO III
POKER TOURNAMENT
10/22/04
4.
5.
6.
7.
POKER TOURNAMENT
10/16/04
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
Barry Greenstein . . . $28,589
Young Phan . . . . . . . $21,441
Terry Fleischer. . . . . $16,677
Mark Dickstein . . . . $11,912
BUY-IN $2,500 + $100
1. Scotty Nguyen . . . . $185,243
Henderson, NV, United States
2. Jason Strochak . . . . $79,872
Ft. Lauderdale, FL, United States
3. Scott Fischman . . . . $39,936
Las Vegas, NV, United States
PLAYERS 207
PRIZE
POOL
POKER TOURNAMENT
10/15/04
$501,975
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $2,000 + $80
PLAYERS 219
PRIZE
POOL
$424,860
4. Dino Fazlibegu . . . . . $23,962
5. George Maxwell. . . . $17,971
6. Allen Cunningham . $13,978
Marina Del Rey, CA, United States
7. Bill Duarte . . . . . . . . . $9,984
8. Nash Rizk . . . . . . . . . . $7,987
9. Van Nguyen . . . . . . . . $6,380
John Juanda
1. John Juanda . . . . . $151,485
Marina Del Ray, CA, United States
United States
2. Doyle Brunson . . . . . $62,994
POKER TOURNAMENT
10/14/04
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
Sammy Arzion
1. Sammy Arzion . . . . $216,087
2. Jeff Freedman . . . . . $95,295
3. Craig Hartman . . . . $47,648
BUY-IN $1,500 + $70
PLAYERS 234
Scotty Nguyen
PRIZE
POOL
$340,470
3. Jason Sagle . . . . . . . . $31,497
Copper Cliff, Canada
4. Richard Tatalovich . $18,899
Scottsdale, AZ, United States
5. Parker Tarvin . . . . . $14,174
Atlanta, GA, United States
6. John Hoang . . . . . . . $11,024
7. Allan Kessler . . . . . . . $7,874
THE DOYLE BRUNSON
NORTH AMERICAN
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
CHAMPIONSHIP WPT
EVENT FINAL
3-DAY EVENT
PLAYERS 312
PRIZE
POOL
$3,026,400
HOTEL & CASINO • LAS VEGAS, NV
1. Juan Carlos Mortensen . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1,000,000
“HOME” OF THE
Spain
Includes... $25,000 entry
to 4/18 WPT Finals
2. Thang Pham. . . . . . $496,400
TX, United States
3. David Pham . . . . . . $255,000
CA, United States
4. Erik Seidel . . . . . . . $165,000
6. John Juanda . . . . . . $84,000
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POKER TOUR™
Tournament Players’ Championship of Poker™
7. Minh Nguyen . . . . . . $60,000
November 7-23
NV, United States
5. Hung La . . . . . . . . . $120,000
CA, United States
CA, United States
CA, United States
8. Kathy Liebert . . . . . $48,000
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS • All Tournaments Start at Noon Except Where Noted
NV, United States
9. Kenna James . . . . . . $42,000
CA, United States
POKER TOURNAMENT
10/17/04
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $3,000 + $100
PLAYERS 174
PRIZE
POOL
$506,340
Eric Seidel
1. Eric Seidel . . . . . . . $217,839
United States
2. Layne Flack . . . . . . . $96,168
3. Tom Franklin . . . . . . $48,084
Gulfport, ME, United States
4. Tony Cousineau . . . . $28,850
United States
5. Matt Heintschel . . . . $21,638
Escondito, CA, United States
6. Freddy Bonyadi . . . . $16,829
Aliso Viejo, CA, United States
7. Gioi Luong . . . . . . . . $12,012
United States
Sunday
November 7
Satellites Begin at 8am
Monday
November 8
No Limit Hold’em
$1,000
+ $40
Tuesday
November 9
Noon – No Limit Hold’em • 2PM – 7-Card Stud
$1,000
+ $40
Wednesday
November 10
Noon – No Limit Hold’em • 2PM – Limit Hold’em
$1,000
+ $40
Thursday
November 11
Noon – No Limit Hold’em • 2PM – Omaha Hi-Lo
$1,000
+ $40
Friday
November 12
No Limit Hold’em Shootout
$1,000
+ $40
Saturday
November 13
No Limit Hold’em
$1,500
+ $45
Sunday
November 14
Noon – No Limit Hold’em • 2PM – 7-Card Stud
$1,500
+ $45
Monday
November 15
Noon – No Limit Hold’em • 2PM – Limit Hold’em
$1,500
+ $45
Tuesday
November 16
Noon – No Limit Hold’em • 2PM – Omaha Hi-Lo
$1,500
+ $45
Wednesday
November 17
No Limit Hold’em Shootout
$1,500
+ $45
Thursday
November 18
Satellite Day • 8am
$
Starts Friday
November 19-23
WPPA Players’ Championship of Poker
$5,000
Buy-In
Juice
500
+ $100
WPPA Championship Event Will Be Televised With 100% Income Going To WPPA Members*
THE “MAJORS” OF
TOURNAMENT POKER
REMAINING SCHEDULE
For Additional Tournament Information
(702) 365-7150
orleanscasino.com • poker@coastcasinos.net
Room Reservations • (800) 675-3267
The Memorial Championship of Poker™ • The MEMORIAL
January 9-26, 2005
The Masters Championship of Poker™ • The MASTERS
March 11-28, 2005
The World Championship of Poker™ • The WCOP
May 1-31, 2005
The US Open Championship of Poker ™ • The US OPEN
*A player does not have to be a WPPA
member to enter tournaments, but must
be a WPPA member to share TV income.
For membership information
visit wppa.info.
July 1-31, 2005
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
13
NFL Weekly Scoring
Patterns
SPORTS BEAT
By ERNIE Kaufman
There’s no doubt about it- the amount of
points scored in any given week will directly
correlate to the point of the season currently unfolding. In
simple terms, there are obvious patterns of either high or
low scoring in the NFL during different periods of the season. Being aware of such information would greatly assist
the totals (over/under) player and also give an interesting
edge to the point spread player as well.
The following chart details the number of points scored
in the NFL for the past 20 seasons. (1984 through present)
Take a minute or two to peruse the charts before reading on.
WEEKLY SCORING ANALYSIS
1.
HIGH SCORING WEEK
10.
2.
AVERAGE SCORING WEEK 11.
AVERAGE SCORING WEEK
3.
HIGH SCORING WEEK
4.
HIGH SCORING WEEK
5.
HIGH SCORING WEEK
6.
LOW SCORING WEEK
15.
HIGH SCORING WEEK
7.
LOW SCORING WEEK
16.
HIGH SCORING WEEK
8.
9.
LOW SCORING WEEK
12.
LOW SCORING WEEK
The above numbers represent the 16 (played in 17 weeks
now) game regular season schedule only. Post- or pre-season games are not included.
Upon analyzing the above charts, many factors become
quite noticeable. Here’s some of the more obvious ones.
Week 1 is a high scoring week, and in general, September is
a high scoring month.
Week 6 through 10 are low scoring weeks and would have to
be considered the advantage-defense period of the season.
Weeks 13 through 16 are high scoring weeks and would have
to be considered the advantage offense period of the season.
What can this information do for you? Simple. This type
of chart tells what period(s) you want to be betting over or
under in your totals propositions. Also, it only seems logical that if the league is in a low scoring period, there should
be more underdogs covering the point spread as it takes
scoring for the favorites to cover.
The converse would be true in high scoring periods—many
favorites should cover the Nevada point spread. This type
of chart is not a constant variable throughout an extended
period of time. That is to say, both the high and low scoring
will fluctuate every several seasons.
There will usually be some recognizable reasons for
these fluctuations, such as rule changes, newly adopted
coaching styles, more of less conservative style of play
through the league, etc.
Your job as a football analyst is to be on top of these
changes. Tracking this type of information on a three year
basis will keep you abreast of the current trends.
It should also be noted that this type of analysis works
well with basketball, baseball, and hockey. One clear example of this was when the NBA adopted the 3 point play. At
first, scoring went up for about 1 1⁄2 seasons and then it
dramatically dropped off.
The rule and its overall effect on NBA basketball not only
changed the favorite/underdog won-lost percentage, it also
made for a much greater point spread going in the direction of the home team favorite. Such transitions have also
occurred in baseball and hockey.
Special offer to Poker Player readers: call me at 310316-2223 on friday novermber 5th, 2004 and i’ll give you 3
free football plays for the upcoming weekend.
Contact me at: PO BOX 534 Redondo Beach, CA
90277 or 310-316-2223 or askfetzel@yahoo.com
14
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
JANUARY 5-27, 2005 IN TUNICA, MISSISSIPPI
$1.5 Million Guaranteed for 1st place
in our Championship Event
Schedule of Events
DATE
EVENT#
Jan. 5, Wed.
TOURNAMENT *
BUY-IN
–– Presented by ––
Single Table Satellites and Live Action Begin
Jan. 5, Wed.
3pm & 8pm
Super Satellites Begin
Jan. 5, Wed.
2pm
Media Invitational
Jan. 6, Thurs.
1
Omaha (Pot Limit) Re-buys
$500+$50
Jan. 7, Fri.
2
Texas Hold'em (No Limit)
$500+$50
Jan. 8, Sat.
3
Texas Hold'em (Limit)
$500+$50
Jan. 9, Sun.
4
Texas Hold'em (No Limit) Re-buys
$500+$50
Jan. 10, Mon.
5
Seven Card Stud
$500+$50
Jan. 11, Tues.
6
Texas Hold'em (Pot Limit) Re-buys
$500+$50
Jan. 12, Wed.
7
Seven Card Stud High-Low Split
$500+$50
Jan. 13, Thurs.
8
Omaha Hi-Low Split
$500+$50
Jan. 14, Fri.
9
$1000+$60
Jan. 15, Sat.
10
$1000+$60
Jan. 16, Sun.
11
Texas Hold'em (No Limit) NEW EVENT
$1500+$70
Jan. 17, Mon.
12
Omaha (Pot Limit) Re-buys
$1000+$60
Jan. 18, Tues.
13
Texas Hold'em (Pot Limit)
$1000+$60
Jan. 19, Wed.
14
Texas Hold'em (Limit) NEW EVENT
$1500+$70
Jan. 20, Thurs.
15
$2000+$80
Jan. 21, Fri.
16
$2000+$80
Jan. 22, Sat.
17
Texas Hold'em (No Limit) NEW EVENT
$3000+$100
Jan. 23, Sun.
18
Ladies Event Hold'em (No Limit)
$200+$25
Jan. 23, Sun.
19
Super Satellite Day NEW EVENT
1 day event
$1000+$60
Jan. 24, Mon. 6th Jack Binion World Poker Open $10,000+$200
Thru
Championship Event
Texas Hold'em ( No Limit) 4 day event
Jan. 27, Thurs.
6th Jack Binion World Poker Open
Championship Finals
$45 room rate for
tournament participants.
Ken Lambert Jr.: Horseshoe Poker Room Manager
Pepper Munsey: Gold Strike Poker Room Manager
Jimmy Sommerfeld: Tournament Director
For Reservations and Information Call Carole at
1-800-303-7463 or 1-662-357-5500 ext. 5760
Mon. - Fri. 9 AM - 5 PM
*$10,200 will be withheld from all events (except events #5, #7, #8 and #18). 1st place winner of each event (except events #5, #7, #8 and #18) will receive an entry to the $10,200
Championship event on January 24, 2005. 3% of total prize pool is withheld for tournament staff. A 3% Mississippi State Tax (1099 form) will be withheld from all winnings over
$599. Horseshoe Casino & Hotel and Gold Strike Casino Resort reserve the right to revise, cancel, suspend or modify all events. All regular tournaments start at 12 noon.
Super Satellite regular schedule - Every night at 8 pm. All events are two day events unless otherwise noted.
Know When To Stop Before You Start.® Gambling Problem? Call 1-888-777-9696.
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
15
The Danes are at it Again
DEBBIE BURKHEAD INTERVIEWS...
Back in history the Danes were noted for carrying out raids all over Europe
and going off with the money. Well they are at it again on the poker scene.
Denmark is one of the countries this side of the pond where limit 7-stud is
alive and well – and holds its own against hold’em. So it was no surprise to
see a party of 40 Danes turn out for PokerEM, the annual European 7-cardstud championship at Casinos Austria, Baden.
Bob Davidson
CARDROOM MANAGER AT THE OASIS, MESQUITE, NV
Poker in Europe
By Nic Szeremeta
The format of this competition, now in its fifteenth year, is unique. Each day a qualifying event is
held and the top 24 players go through to the final
phase. This year for the first time a freeroll for eight places was held
for all those participants who had failed to get through on the first
three days. This made a field of 80, all of whom got into the money, for
the final stage.
Ten of them were from Denmark and one of their number, Theo
Jurgenssen, went on to take the title and the EURO 101,000 first prize
purse. PokerEM is one of the most international poker gatherings in Europe
and this year players of 30 different nationalities were among the field.
Time was when there was a big American contingent taking part.
Phil Hellmuth, jr actually won the event four years ago and Men ”the
Master” Nyugen was runner up 12 months ago. But USA players, with
$1 million tournaments on their back doorstep every other week, can
hardly be expected to fly the Atlantic to compete for a pool of half
that amount.
Last years champion Ray Brown of England maintained the event’s
unfortunate tradition – no player has ever managed to retain the title.
This year he did not even manage to survive the qualifying stage.
The adjustments to the structure and time table were introduced
this year – longer time bands and more gradual limit increases. These
made a big difference at the final table.
In previous years this had been a fast affair – last year it ran for
just over an hour. This year was different though. The first casualty,
the short-stacked “Papa” Zhou went out first hand but the remaining
seven players got involved in a war of attrition in which no one refused
to believe they were without a chance of winning.
It was almost three hours before Austrian Sigi Stockinger went out
in third place leaving Dane Theo Hurgenssen and Hungarian Istvan
Hamori to fight it out heads up. The pair briefly discussed a deal but
with a difference in prize money of EURO 25,000 between the EURO
101,000 first prize purse and EURO 75,000 for second they decided to
play it out.
They were even in chips with about 200,000 each when the limits
were at the 15,000-30,000 level. But it looked like the end for the
Dane when Istvan ran a series of steals and raises winning six consecutive pots. When he was down to his last 71,000 Theo found a hand and
doubled up to 140,000. Then it was his turn to pick up the antes and
they were level again.
The crunch came at the 20-000 – 40-000 limit. Both found playable
pairs – Istvan with 8s and Theo with 10s. And both sensed the opportunity to finish it right there. Theo’s 10s held up and with a handful of
chips more than his opponent became the winner of the 15th PokerEM.
* Theo Jurgenssen, 32, turned professional almost five years ago
and has been doing very nicely thank you ever since. His preferred
game is pot limit Omaha but he has made the money many times in
tournaments in Denmark. After his win he said:” I thought I would be
more excited but my excitement crept up on me. First I was pleased to
survive for a while, then when we got close to the final I realised I had
a shot. Then when I got to the final I became a bit more excited.
“I am a very happy guy now but getting there was a gradual thing,
like winning the tournament.”
And what of the money? Theo is evidently a realist. He said: “I will
keep it in a safe against the bad times.”
EURO 300 buy-in + rebuy and add-on; 287 players; pool EURO 555,000 (EURO 11,000 added)
1) Theo Jurgenssen (Den) EURO 101,688 5) Rudi Sintel (Ger)
30,506
2) Istvan Hamori (Hung)
76,266 6) Dieter Wagenecht (Austria) 25,422
3) Sigi Stockinger (Aust)
55,928 7) Nino Murati (Switz)
20,338
4) Christof Haller (Ger)
37,400 8) Ao Fa “Papa” Zhou (Aust)
11,186
Nic Szeremeta is managing editor of Poker Europa magazine, the monthly news and views publication from the
Euro side of the pond. To subscribe ( EURO 55 / $70)
email: NicSZ@connectfree.co.uk, and to find out what
goes on in Europe, go to www.PokerInEurope.com
16
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
Bob Davidson was born in
Northern Wisconsin and
at 10 years of age his family relocated to Sarasota,
Florida. Bob began his long
poker career running home
poker games while still in
high school. After graduation Bob continued his home
poker games until the day
before he turned 21 at which
time he bought a one way
ticket to Las Vegas.
When he arrived in Las
Vegas he enrolled in Michael
Gaughn and Frank Totiʼs
dealing school to learn to
deal blackjack.
Upon graduation from
dealing school he broke in at
the Golden Gate Casino in
downtown Las Vegas.
In 1972, two years later,
he took a job dealing poker
a few doors down Fremont
Street at the Four Queens.
In 1973 he left downtown
Las Vegas for a dealing
position on the strip, at the
Sahara. Two years later Bob
moved a little farther up the
strip to the Stardust. In 1977
he made one last move, to
the Silver City, before leaving Las Vegas for good.
In 1978 Bob took a long
break from the world of
gambling and moved back
to Sarasota. Bob and a friend
decided to buy a bar and the
best part was, its location; on
the beach in Sarasota.
Ten years later they sold
the bar and in 1989 he married his sweetheart, Deborah,
at the Little Church of the
West in Las Vegas. At the
time Bob had a friend working at the Peppermill Casino
in Mesquite, Nevada that
offered him a job dealing
poker. At that time it was the
only casino in Mesquite and
Bob and Deborah thought it
would be a good place to live
so they took up residence in
Mesquite.
In 1990 the poker room
manager retired and Bob was
promoted to supervisor. In
1993 the Peppermill changed
its name to the Oasis and
Bob was appointed Card
Room Manager. In 1996 Bob
went to work for the Virgin
River Casino, in the surveillance department. Little did
he know they would buy the
CasaBlanca in 1997 and the
Oasis in 2001. Bob is now in
charge of two poker rooms,
the Oasis with seven live
tables, 13 tournament tables
and the Virgin River has
three live tables.
Bob and Deborah have
two children, a 23 year old
son, Bryan that is a professional golfer in Palm Springs
and a 20 year old daughter,
Ashley that is planning to
attend the University of
Nevada in Las Vegas next
year.
Debbie Burkhead: How do
you handle two card rooms
on a daily basis?
Bob Davidson: I do my best
to split my time between the
two as evenly as possible.
The most difficult part of my
job is trying not to compete
with each other. I want both
rooms to be successful and
I donʼt want either room to
feel less important than the
other.
DB: How has the increased
popularity of poker affected
your room?
BD: We are up 150 percent,
itʼs off the charts. I had to
run a poker dealers school
just to get extra dealers for
our weekly tournaments and
our live play.
DB: Whatʻs the biggest
change youʻve witnessed in
poker in the last two years?
BD: The exposure due to
television and the Internet
has tripled our business.
People are not intimidated
and are more comfortable
with poker now.
DB: Do you believe television has done a good job of
depicting poker as a sport?
BD: I believe theyʼve done
an excellent job, especially
the World Poker Tour.
DB: Do you believe poker
is now more accepted by the
general public than when
you started in the business?
BD: Oh, definitely. Theyʼve
taken it to the mainstream,
itʼs a great time to be
involved in poker and itʼs
so much more fun to go to
work.
DB: How long do you think
this phenomenon will last?
BD: I believe weʼve only
just begun; itʼs only the tip
of the iceberg. We are getting
so much exposure, with all
the networks and celebrities.
DB: What are the players
today most interested in
when it comes to a poker
room?
BD: We went non-smoking and itʼs been very well
accepted with my locals.
Actually, business is up since
we went non-smoking. We
also have a no abuse policy
that is appreciated by both
my staff and the players.
Players today want to play
low to medium buy-in nolimit tournaments.
DB: You mentioned daily
tournaments, what are they?
BD: We have tournaments
seven days a week starting at 11 a.m. with a $15
buy-in and one $15 rebuy.
On Sunday at 3 p.m. and
Wednesday at 6 p.m. itʼs
pizza and poker. The game
is no-limit with a $25 buy-in
and $10 rebuys. On Monday
and Tuesday at 7 p.m. itʼs
no-limit with a $120 buyin. We add $1,000 to the
prize pool on Monday and
on Tuesday there is a $100
rebuy offered and we add
$1,500 to the prize pool.
Entrants in both tournaments
receive a free room and a
food voucher.
DB: Other than your daily
tournaments, do you have
Gamboa Wins Bay 101
anteing up $1,050 to play in
this Spread Limit Hold ʻem
contest.
All seats in all four
events were sold out. The
winners will be found
below.
BAY 101 OPEN
BAY 101 OPEN
10/23/04
LIMIT HOLD’EM
BAY 101 OPEN
10/23/04
BAY 101 OPEN
LIMIT HOLD’EM
10/21/04
LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,050
BUY-IN $330
BUY-IN $330
PLAYERS 144
PRIZE
POOL
PLAYERS 100
PRIZE
POOL
PLAYERS 100
PRIZE
POOL
$144,000
MEXICAN
POKER
$55,000
Giveaways!
$30,000
$30,000
10/24/04
SPREAD LIMIT
HOLD’EM
CHAMPIONSHIP
BUY-IN $1,050
PLAYERS 150
PRIZE
POOL
$150,000
John Pires
Chau Vu
1. John Pires . . . . $37,800
1. Chau Vu . . . . . . $10,800
San Jose, CA, United States
1. Andy Gamboa . $50,000
plus... $10,000 2005
Shooting Star WPT Seat
2. Sam Batshon . . $29,000
Foster City, CA, United States
plus... $10,000 2005
Shooting Star WPT Seat
2. Daryoush Kamal . . . . .
$28,000
2. Donny Bendo . . $5,700
San Francisco, CA, United States
3. Ron Russo . . . . . $3,000
3. Richard Hoffmaster . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . $14,400
4. Bill Curry . . . . . $2,400
4. J.R. Nunez . . . . $12,000
Somers, MT, United States
5. Oran Congill . . . $2,100
3. Oliver Tse . . . . $15,000
San Francisco, CA, United States
5. Pete Pak . . . . . . . $9,000
6. Sam Zoudo . . . . $7,500
4. Lenox Baza . . . $11,500
Sunnyvale, CA, United States
6. Steven Kim . . . . $1,800
Marina, CA, United States
6. Fred Hanna . . . . $7,200
7. Ronnie Layog . . $6,000
Santa Clara, CA, United States
8. Steve Hoshi . . . . $4,500
Bay 101, CA, United States
7. David Fromm . . $5,760
8. Mallie Hoyer . . . $1,200
8. Brad Anderson . $4,320
CA, United States
9. Yuanru Ma, . . . . $3,000
9. Nicholas Bouyea $2,880
Fremont, CA, United States
New York, NY, United States
Cuong Nguyen $10,600
Nick Kolich . . . . $5,600
Lenox Baza . . . . $2,900
Richard Coplon $2,300
T.J. Tejada . . . . . $2,100
David Le . . . . . . $1,800
Andy Gamboa . . $1,500
Rudy Castro . . . $1,200
Steve Dow . . . . . . .$890
7. Peter Tran . . . . . $1,500
Menlo Park, CA, United States
Modesto, CA, United States
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Fresno, CA, United States
5. Amir Shilly . . . . $8,640
Modesto, CA, United States
Brenmorton, WA, United States
Cuong Nguyen
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N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
17
LESSON 36:
Listening for Tells
According to my mentor, Mike Caro, tells and psychology combine
to account for most of your profit at the poker table. It’s necessary
to understand poker basics before concentrating
on tells. When you first begin, you’re too busy
Lessons from mike caro
university of poker
BY DIANE MCHAFFIE
keeping up with the game and understanding
everything going on. You may find it difficult at first to carefully
scrutinize your opponents for tells. When you’re ready to try,
watch only one player at a time.
Mike says you need to fully understand the strategic concepts
needed to win at poker. Most of the things that he teaches are
more advanced and can produce the major part of your profit.
However, if you don’t understand the fundamental concepts of
winning poker, it’s going to be difficult to succeed. It is absolutely
necessary to understand the basics first.
Be alert. Mike said I should warn you about that, so I did. Now,
we’ll talk about tells that can be profitable, but you can’t see.
They’re ones that you can hear. Always be alert and listen. Sounds
can be just as telling as visible actions. There are sighs, humming,
whistling, chattering, clacking, sounding sad or weak, and sounding
strong. These are excellent tells that you could win with, even with
your eyes closed.
You should also listen for what the player is saying, when the
players says it, how the player says it, and what the player isn’t
saying. This is very important. If players use an antagonistic tone
of voice, their hands are usually strong. They’re seldom bluffing. If
they say “I bet” in a sad voice, they most likely have strong hands,
so beware.
If a player is chatting in a conversational way about something
that isn’t related to poker, he is comfortable with his hand and probably isn’t bluffing. This is another way for the player to appear uninterested in what you are doing when he’s holding a strong hand.
Often, if a player who hasn’t had a lot to say, suddenly starts
making conversation as you’re about to bet or call, he’s desperate
to have you rethink your move.
Talking strangely. If a player who’s been talking, suddenly
stops, or starts talking strangely, then he probably has a weak
hand and is worried about what you’re going to do. This is your
chance to capitalize from his show of stress.
When your opponent is acting happy and friendly in a natural way,
he usually isn’t worried about his hand – either he already knows he
isn’t going to call or his hand can be played comfortably. But if that
happy and friendly demeanor seems like a forced act, he’s probably
vulnerable – and you can bet more hands profitably. If the opponent
is avoiding conversation he’s more likely to be bluffing. If an opponent has been whistling or humming and he stops in the face of a bet
or after betting, he’s usually bluffing or weak.
On those rare occasions when players actually tell you that they
have good hands, they probably do. They are proud that they got
lucky and can’t wait to say, “See, I told you so.”
Breathing is another good tell. Often, people who bluff have
difficulty breathing naturally and will sometimes hold their breath.
If players are holding strong hands, they often breathe louder and
more rapidly.
If a player is carrying on a stilted conversation after he has bet,
he’s usually bluffing. He’s having difficulties concentrating on the conversation knowing his bet is in danger. Here’s an opportunity for you.
Mike’s important tip. Mike says that one of the most important
tips is when you’re considering a chancy bet for value, look away,
close your eyes and listen. If an opponent has bluffed, he will usually be quiet. But the one to beware of is the player that hasn’t
bet. He’s waiting for you to make a move and he’s unusually quiet
so as not to intimidate you. This generally means he’s waiting to
make his move, and you won’t like it. So, Mike says, don’t bet!
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.
18
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
BUSTED for Betting Online
BY
Jeffrey Trauman has
made history. As best I
can tell, he is the first,
and only, person who has
actually been charged and
convicted of online gambling.
From the email Jeff
sent me, I know that all
he wanted was to be left
alone.
(For the record: A
gambler in another state
wrote me that she was
raided the same day, her
computers and equipment
seized and not returned,
and her bank account
frozen for months, but
she has not been charged
with a crime. And a former Florida State quarterback actually went to
trial, with a hung jury and
plea bargain, for making
sports bets, some apparently with online books.
The gambling charges
were secondary to a felony stolen check charge.
Of course, there is a big
difference between a star
quarterback betting on
sports events and a car
salesman.)
According to Jeff, he
was charged with “placing a wager over $500,”
a misdemeanor in North
Dakota. Rather than fight
it, he pleaded guilty, was
fined $500 and given
a one-year deferred
sentence, and split to
Kentucky.
Jeff was the top local
Saturn salesman for six
years. But he found he
could make more money
making sports bets on his
home computer than he
could ever hope to make
selling cars. Assistant
Cass County Stateʼs
Attorney Bud Myers is
reported as saying that
Jeff “went a little beyond”
the $500 minimum. The
police searched Jeffʼs
house in April 2003 and
discovered $43,000 in
cash in one desk drawer.
He had another $300,000
in overseas accounts.
Jeff thinks his problems started because he
was too honest. Since
sports betting was his
major source of income,
he put “professional gambler” as his occupation on
his federal tax return.
I .
N E L S O N
The State Gaming
Division acknowledged
that a tip from an outside source started their
investigation. Jeff says
he thinks it was the IRS.
This is unlikely, because
the IRS is bound by the
“silver platter” doctrine,
which prevent the IRS
from turning over a gambler, and his required tax
returns, on a silver platter
to local law enforcement.
In 1952 Congress created a special tax, which
acted like a trap for illegal gambling operators.
Bookies who did not pay
the tax were charged with
tax evasion. Bookies who
did, were charged with
violating federal antigambling laws. The U.S.
Supreme Court knocked
that out as a violation of
the Fifth Amendmentʼs
protection against selfincrimination. So the
Feds. starting turning illegal operators, and their
tax returns, over to state
law enforcement agencies as if they were on a
silver platter. In 1968 the
U.S. Supreme Court said
this maneuver also was
unconstitutional.
I think it is much more
likely it was someone at
his bank. In fact, under
the Bank Secrecy Act,
financial institutions must
report large, suspicious
cash transactions.
My guess is that the
state thought he was a
bookie. After arranging
a raid, gaming agents
would have been embarrassed if they could not
charge his with something. So, they dug up
illegal betting.
If he had wanted
to spend the time and
money, Jeff had a number
of possible defenses.
The first is the crime
itself. North Dakota does
not have a specific law
against Internet betting.
In fact, the statute dates
back to 1913, and may
not even apply.
Jeff was charged with
violating North Dakota
Century Code 12.1-2802, which makes it a
misdemeanor to “Engage
in gambling on private
premises where the total
R O S E
amount wagered by an
individual player exceeds
$500 per individual hand,
game, or event.” Is betting with a sports book in
another country “gambling
on private premises?”
Incidentally, it is only
an infraction, like a traffic ticket, to bet more
than $25. Keith Laurer,
Director of the State
Gaming Division, said
that bets less than $25
are still illegal, although
there is no criminal punishment. Illegal contracts
are not enforceable, so a
winner could not collect
on a bum check for, say,
$20 after a poker game.
Jeffʼs cases raises
problems of jurisdiction and sovereignty.
Where did this gambling
take place? Does North
Dakota have the power
to interfere with licensed
overseas operators? There
is also a strong presumption that a statute does
not apply outside the
stateʼs boundaries unless
the legislature explicitly
says so.
The real story here is
the stateʼs hypocrisy. It
is fair to say that North
Dakota has more forms
of gambling than Nevada:
full-scale tribal casinos,
charity blackjack, sports
pools on professional
sports events and calcuttas. Nevada does not
have a state lottery; in
2002 North Dakota voters approved a state lottery with the right to join
multi-state games, like
PowerBall.
Does this mean regular
players are in danger of
being arrested? Half the
states do have ancient
laws on the book making
it illegal to make a bet.
But, probably 20 million
Americans make technically forbidden wagers
each year. With odds like
that, you are more likely
to be elected Governor of
California than charged
with illegal gambling.
Professor I Nelson Rose
is recognized as one
of the worldʼs leading
authorities on gambling
law. His website is www.
GamblingAndTheLaw.com
Big Poker October at the Bike
RESULTS
COMMERCE CASINO
10/20/04
BICYCLE CLUB CASINO
BIG POKER OCTOBER 10/17/04
BICYCLE CLUB CASINO
BICYCLE CLUB CASINO
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
7-CARD STUD HI-LO
BUY-IN $330
BUY-IN $100 + $20
BUY-IN $500 + $40
BUY-IN $200 + $25
PLAYERS 104
PRIZE
POOL
$30,400
PLAYERS 199
PRIZE
POOL
$99,500
PLAYERS 96
PRIZE
POOL
$19,200
PLAYERS 45
REBUYS 23
COMMERCE CASINO
10/24/04
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $330
PRIZE POOL
$20,400
Nat Esquenazi
PLAYERS 42
REBUYS 18
1. Nat Esquenazi . . . . . $10,200
PRIZE POOL
Montebello, CA
$9,000
2. Joon Jang . . . . . . . . . . $5,100
J. R. Roukoz
3. Andrew Dassopoulos . $3,060
Irvine, CA
1. J. R. Roukoz. . . . . . . . $9,000
Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Anaheim Hills, CA
4. Vrej Sarkissian . . . . . $2,040
2. Andy Yee . . . . . . . . . . $4,500
Glendale, CA
Alhambra, CA
3. Michael Schenk . . . . . $2,700
Tony Idelbi
John Bullard
1. Tony Idelbi . . . . . . . . $12,160
2. Robert Wong . . . . . . . $5,775
3. Andy Ghebre . . . . . . . $2,880
4. Kanokuan Somchub . $1,825
5. Richard Chang . . . . . $1,370
6. Super Mario . . . . . . . . $1,065
7. Ronnie McMillan. . . . . .$760
8. Chris Grigorian . . . . . . .$595
9. Tom Cao . . . . . . . . . . . . .$540
10. Jay Siegel . . . . . . . . . . . .$455
11. TD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$455
12. Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . .$455
13. Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . .$380
14. Rocky Enciso . . . . . . . . .$380
15. Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . .$380
16. Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . .$305
17. Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . .$305
18. Danny Morgan. . . . . . . .$305
1. John Bullard . . . . . . $39,800
2. Tuong Luu . . . . . . . . $18,900
3. Kham Hoang . . . . . . . $9,450
4. Don Watt . . . . . . . . . . $5,790
5. Jeff Starin. . . . . . . . . . $4,475
6. Grady Talbot . . . . . . . $3,480
7. Wayne Chang. . . . . . . $2,485
8. Bedrous Taslakian . . . $1,990
9. Kimberly Sullivan . . . $1,740
10. Albert Trigo . . . . . . . . $1,495
11. David Daneshgar . . . . $1,495
12. Tom Bohmer . . . . . . . $1,495
13. Louis Laxineta . . . . . . $1,245
14. Jeffrey Niedelman . . . $1,245
15. Chris Grigorian . . . . . $1,245
16. Warren Karp . . . . . . . . .$995
17. Raja Nasser . . . . . . . . . .$995
18. Chris Wa . . . . . . . . . . . .$995
Kenneth Steinberg
Chula Vista, CA
Littleton, Co.
1. Kenneth Steinberg. . . $7,680
COMMERCE CASINO
10/22/04
2. Paramjir Gil. . . . . . . . $4,415
3. Ronald Lucker . . . . . . $2,305
4. Richard Riulin . . . . . . $1,345
7. John Mociak . . . . . . . . .$770
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $330
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
PLAYERS 66
REBUYS 36
BUY-IN $120
5. Dan Loncaric . . . . . . . $1,155
6. Shan Shan Gu . . . . . . . .$960
COMMERCE CASINO
10/17/04
4. Sean Cook . . . . . . . . . $1,800
PLAYERS 77
REBUYS 53
PRIZE
POOL
$13,000
8. Sirous Baghchehsaraie .$575
1. Itzhak Weltfreid . . . . $5,330
9. John Seamans . . . . . . . .$575
2. Henrik Antanesian . . $3,120
Manhattan Beach, CA
Los Angeles, CA
PRIZE POOL
$30,600
Rick Schwartz
1. Rick Schwartz . . . . . $12,850
Calabasas, CA
2. Phillip Azcuna Jr. . . . $7,040
Vallejo, CA
3. Mario Valenzuela. . . . $1,690
Temecula, CA
3. Joon Lee . . . . . . . . . . . $4,590
4. Robert Christiansen . . .$910
Aliso Viejo, CA
5. Lorne Cameron . . . . . . .$780
Santa Monica, CA
6. Albert Wong. . . . . . . . . .$650
Montebello, CA
7. Alain Duldulao. . . . . . . .$520
La Habra, CA
4. Frank Spaccarelli . . . $3,060
Thousand Oaks, CA
5. Roger Watson . . . . . . $1,835
Tustin, CA
6. Gary Andrews . . . . . . $1,225
Studio City, CA
North Hills, CA
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Know Your Limits! If you think you have a gambling problem, call 1-800-522-4700.
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
19
Poker: Metaphor for Life
NORTH BY NORTHWEST
By Byron Liggett
Poker is a perfect metaphor for Life ...and
Life a perfect metaphor for poker. Both are
mean games; survival in a hostile environment. It takes cunning, courage and luck to succeed. There are winners and losers, heroes and zeros, hot streaks and bad-beats. If you play
either game long, you experience it all.
Poker has been my Passion for 30 years. In addition to
playing the game, I became a columnist or feature writer
for most player and trade publications. I was doing what I
enjoyed; Life had flopped me a flush.
Then, about eight years ago, I was dealt a bad-beat. I had
a neurological disorder. It became debilitating to the point
where I had to leave the ‘game’. Eventually, I quit writing
altogether.
But I could not give up poker. Occasionally I played low
limit games. However, between the powerful meds, the
depression, and severe tremors that were too often cause for
cracks at the table, there was no joy in Pokerville.
Then, this year, a new drug was approved for my affliction.
This time the ‘flop’ seems to have gone my way. I’ve even
been able to start writing again.
Since last spring, I’ve written a bi-weekly series about US
Presidents who were Gamblers and Poker Players for this
newspaper under the pen name, Poker O’Malley. If e-mail is
any indication, it’s been a popular feature.
Now, with the debut of this column, I look forward to covering the people ‘n places, news ‘n views, contests and competition for northern Nevada, northern CA, and the Northwest. It’s
good to be back in the game.
Reno Peppermill Hotel/Casino Poker Manager Charlie
Bates reports that the annual Fall Poker Tournament is
likely to set new attendance and money records (as it does
every year). It’s the oldest poker tournament in northern
Nevada. Traditionally, Peppermill tournaments attract a lot
of Northwest players. For many years, before there were any
large tournaments in that part of the country, Peppermill
poker events were the premier competition.
Although Charlie has continued to keep the Peppermill a
poker power, he says his tournaments are attracting participants from all over. “TV and the Internet have generated a lot
of new players,” he says. But Bates believes there is something even more fundamental to poker’s renaissance. “Poker
is one of the few endeavors left in this country where a person can achieve wealth and success through skills learned not
in college, but on the ‘block’. Charlie’s right. And, if you’re
looking to fulfill your American Dream, there will be lots of
opportunity at the Fall Poker Tournament, November 13–21.
La Center, WA, the gaming resort 30 minutes north of
Portland, is proud of its patriotism and its poker. A few miles
off I-5, on the edge of small, lazy, little river and large bird
sanctuary, La Center sports several handsome casinos. Poker
is a principal attraction. The little bridge crossing the river
into the town is lined on both sides with large yellow ribbons
every few feet. It’s a poignant reminder that we’ve got troops
overseas in combat and we all want the day to come when
they’re home again.
A little further north, just south of Olympia, the Lucky
Eagle Casino is having some political fun. They ‘dressedup’ a cash drawing promotion and called it “Presidential
Punchout!” Lucky patrons can choose to punch one of 16 well
known politicians (cartoon caricatures) and grab an envelope.
Cash prizes range from $250 to $10,000. Among the caricatures are President Bush, John Kerry, Dick Cheney, John
Edwards, Condoleezza Rice, Ted Kennedy, etc.
Byron Liggett grew-up in the Northwest, working as a
journalist and consultant for cardrooms in the early 1970s.
Moving to Nevada in 1984, he became a gaming writer, editor and columnist for major player and trade publications.
He has also acted as a consultant for most major poker
tournaments to produce press & PR materials.
20
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
asked & answered:
Quizzes from Mike Caro University of Poker
This series is based on the MCU library of research and advice found at Poker1.
com. Each issue, Mike Caro presents 10 new questions covering a category of
poker, targeted for beginner, intermediate, or advanced players. Quiz #5 is about
odds for beginners. (Answers and explanations appear in the next issue).
Understanding Your
Opponents
(level: beginner)
1. In public poker rooms,
what most closely reflects
the number of long-term
winners to long-term losers?
(a). fewer than one out
of 10 players win;
(b). the ratio of winners
to losers is almost exactly
even;
(c). nobody wins;
(d). strangely, there are
almost twice as many winners as losers.
2. On average, women
poker players are...
(a). vastly superior to
men;
(b). more likely to play
bigger limits than men;
(c). harder to bluff than
men;
(d). more likely to quit
a poker game to go deer
hunting than men.
3. Players with tattoos
are...
(a). usually very tight;
(b). less likely to play
conservatively;
(c). almost never going
to bluff;
(d). usually planning to
quit the game if they start
losing.
4. It is more important
to make friends with...
(a). the dealer;
(b). players sitting to
your left;
(c). players sitting to
your right;
(d). players who are not
at your table, regardless of
whether you like them.
5. Most of your opponents come to the table
with...
(a). the strong belief
that they’re going to get
rich playing poker tonight;
(b). the expectation that
they’re almost certain to
lose;
(c). too little money to
last for the first hour;
(d). a bias toward calling.
6. If opponents who are
losing heavily try to raise
the limits and get rejected
by the other players, they
will usually...
(a). quit the game immediately;
(b). play more loosely in
an attempt to get even;
(c). enter into a physical
fight;
(d). get so boisterous
they’ll be barred by management.
7. Opponents whose
spouses are looking over
their shoulders tend to...
(a). bluff;
(b). play more conservatively;
(c). get unlucky;
(d). get lucky.
8. The player you should
least consider bluffing is...
(a). one who is losing
heavily;
(b). one who wins consistently;
(c). one who is wearing a
green shirt;
(d). one who is wearing
blue slacks.
9. Players who have
been drinking a lot of alcohol usually...
(a). are too distracted to
bluff;
(b). realize they are
going to lose a lot of
money quickly;
(c). are the toughest to
beat;
(d). call more often.
10. Younger players are
typically...
(a). easy to bluff;
(b). unprofitable to call;
(c). playing poker mostly
to meet potential dates;
(d). worse at poker than
older players.
WATCH FOR
ANSWERS IN OUR
NEXT ISSUE!
If you do not remember the questions, you will find them on our web site,
www.gamblingtimes.com/poker_player
When you arrive at the page, click on the “curto last issue’s questions
rent issue” and scroll to page 35
answers
Q #1 ANSWER: (b). It’s 424-to1 against beginning with three
of a kind in seven-card stud.
This type of problem is particularly easy. Think about it
this way... The first card counts
no matter what, because it
must be some rank. After that,
there are 51 cards left of the
original 52, and since there
are four cards of each rank
to begin with, there are now
three matching your first rank.
Three out of 51 is the same as
1 out of 17 (divide 51 by 3, if
you doubt this). So, there’s one
chance in 17 that the first two
cards will constitute a pair. If
that happens (and only if that
happens) do we care what the
third card is – at least, for the
purposes of this calculation.
If you now have a pair, then
there are 50 cards remaining
that are unknown to you and
only two that complete your
three of a kind. That’s the
same as one in 25. Now, we
just multiply the chances – 17
times 25 = 425. That’s a uni-
verse of 425 chances and only
one that qualifies as three of a
kind. So, it’s 424-to-1 against.
I won’t go into this depth
with the other answers, but it’s
interesting to note that some
calculations – like this one
– can be relatively simple to
reason out. When I did my collection of 50 poker tables for
Doyle Brunson’s Super/System
in 1977, some were extraordinarily complex and others
were just as easy as this. But
most of the poker literature of
the day was oddly wrong, even
when citing some of the simplest statistics.
Q #2 ANSWER: (a). The odds
against beginning suited in
hold ’em are 3.25 to 1.
Q #3 ANSWER: (a). The odds
are 16-to-1 against beginning
with a pair in hold ’em.
Q #4 ANSWER: (c). The odds
are 18.3-to-1 against beginning
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N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
21
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N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
23
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O
a
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Poker T
THURSDAY, NOV. 4
7:00PM
Limit Hold’em Tournament
$35+$5 Buy-In/No Re-Buys
$6,000 Guarantee
FRIDAY, NOV. 5
7:00PM
Limit Hold’em Tournament
$10,000 Guarantee
SATURDAY, NOV. 6
6:00PM
No-Limit Hold’em Tournament
$15,000 Guarantee
SUNDAY, NOV. 7
4:00PM
$4,000 Guarantee
THURSDAY, NOV. 25
6:00PM
Last Chance No-Limit Hold’em
$10,000 Guarantee
FRIDAY, NOV. 26
7:00PM
Last Chance No-Limit Hold’em
$55+15 Buy-In/No Re-Buys
$6,000 Guarantee
SATURDAY, NOV. 27
4:00PM
2005 Big Showdown No-Limit Hold’em Tournament
1st Place $10,000 Buy-in seat to the
2005 World Series of Poker Guaranteed
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2005 7:15PM All-Casino Employees’ Event
No-Limit Hold’em $100+$20
SUNDAY, NOV. 28
4:00PM
$35+15 Buy-In/No Re-Buys
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2005
7:15PM $10,000 Guaranteed Limit Hold’em
$100+$20 Buy-In/No Re-buys
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2005
7:15PM $20,000 Guaranteed No-Limit Hold’em
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2005
2:00PM $30,000 Limit Hold’em
$300+30 Buy-In/No Re-buys
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2005
2:00PM $100,000 Guaranteed No-Limit Hold’em
$4,000 Guarantee
D A I LY T O U R N A M E N T S C H E D U L E
FEBRUARY 9-13, 2005
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
DAILY DOUBLE JACKPOTS • Mon. thru Fri. 2-5 pm • 1:30-3 am • 4-5 am • 6-9 am
10:00AM
6:00PM
6:30PM
MONDAY
6:30PM to 9:30PM
9:30PM to Midnight
10:00AM
6:30PM
TUESDAY
7:00PM to Midnight
WEDNESDAY
10:00AM
6:00PM to Midnight
6:30PM
10:00AM
THURSDAY
6:00PM to 9:00PM
9:00PM to Midnight
10:00AM
FRIDAY
6:00PM to 8:00PM
Hold’em Tournament
$2,000 Guarantee
Monday Night Football
$2,000 Cash Giveaway
No-Limit Hold’em
$2,000 Guarantee
$20 + $5 Buy-In/No Re-Buys
Stud Double, Omaha Triple
and Hold’em Quadruple Jackpot
Double Jackpot
No-Limit Hold’em
$2,000 Guarantee
$2,000 Guarantee
Rack Attack Tuesday
$100 Drawings at the top of each hour and
two $100 Drawings on the half hour
Wacky Wednesday
No-Limit Hold’em
$2,000 Guarantee
$1,500 Drawing
$2,000 Guarantee
No-Limit Hold’em
$2,000 Guarantee
Triple Hold’em Jackpot Thursdays
Stud and Omaha Doubled
Double Jackpot
$2,000 Guarantee
$40,000 Hold’em Jackpot Fridays
Stud, 2-4 Hold’em and Omaha Doubled
SATURDAY
10:00AM
$20 +$5 Buy-In/No Re-Buys
Free entry for TOC Players
SUNDAY
10:00AM
Hold’em Tournament*
$2,000 Guarantee
*10 hours live play weekly = free entry
No-Limit Hold’em
$4,000 Guarantee
Double Jackpot Sunday
4:00PM
1:00PM to 3:00PM & 6:00PM to 1:00AM
$2,000 Guarantee
$5,000 Cash Best All Around Player Award!
SATELLITES DAILY at 4PM & 5PM
DECEMBER 1, 2004 – FEBRUARY 12, 2005
y&
Register Earl
*
l $79
Get a Specia
Room Rate
Get Details in the
Pechanga Poker Room
or call
1-877.711.2946 Extension 2472
*Must be Registered for
Tournament Play.
Subject to Availability/
Restrictions May Apply.
Plus Applicable Tax.
Must be 21 or older to enter Casino or Poker Room. Please see a poker floorperson for promotion details.
Management reserves the right to modify or cancel promotions without prior notice.
PECHANGA RESORT & CASINO • I-15 • TEMECULA • 877.711.2WIN • 45000 PECHANGA PARKWAY • www.pechanga.com
24
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
Time . Some events H ...... Hold’em
L ................. Limit
N ...........No Limit
7. 7-Card Stud
O .......Omaha
H/L ...... High/Low
C start after the hour
O A, P ........ AM, PM
..............Week
D Wk
gametimes
E & . Add’l
on this day. Call
•Denotes Advertiser
REGION/Cardroom(Ad Pg.)
Split
Pi ....... Pineapple
Po.........Pot Limit
Pn.......Panginque
S........... Stud
5 ...Five Card
Stud
Mx ..Mexican Poker
DC Dealer’s Choice
HH ... Headhunter
B .......... Bounties
Sp ............ Spread
MONDAY
Time Games
Al ...... Alternates
F .............Freeroll
Z......... Freezeout
Q .............Qualify
Sh .........Shootout
TUESDAY
Buy-in Time
Games
#M ..# of players
maximum
RB ......... Re-buys
AO ......... Add Ons
Cz .............. Crazy
E....... Elimination
WEDNESDAY
Buy-in Time Games
7P
Pi
$15RB$10
7P
NH
F RB$10
10A
NH
$25 10A
NH
$25 10A
NH
$25
Circus Circus
11A
L/N H
$40AO$3 11A
L/N H
$40AO$3 11A
L/N H
$40AO$3
Club Fortune
12P
NH
$24 12P
NH
$24 12P
NH
$24
Col.Belle-Laughlin
7P&
HB
$25RB$10AO$20
7PWk1& H
$110
Golden Nugget
11A
L/NL $60RB(1)$40AO$40 11A
L/NL $60RB(1)$40AO$40 11A
L/NL $60RB(1)$40AO$40
7P
N H $125RB$100AO(1)$100 7P
L H $125RB$100AO$100 7P
N H $125RB$100AO(1)$100
•Horseshoe
2P
NH
$60RB(1)$40 2P
NH
$60RB(1)$40 2P
NH
$60RB(1)$40
•Imperial Palace (p17) 11A
NH
$30RB(1)$15 11A
NH
$30RB(1)$15
•Jokers Wild (p32)
11A
NH
$23 11A
NH
$23 11A
NH
$23
Luxor
12P& L/N H Z
$25 12P& L/N H Z
$25 12P& L/N H Z
$25
•Mandalay Bay (p36) 10A
HZ
$30(30M) 10A
HZ
$30(30M) 10A
HZ
$30(30M)
6P
NHZ
$60(30M) 6P
NHZ
$60(30M) 6P
NHZ
$60(30M)
•Mirage (p5)
7P
L H $130RB$100AO(1)$100 7P
N H $130RB$100AO(1)$100 7P
L H $130RB$100AO(1)$100
Nevada Palace
10A
H
$18 10A
H
$19 10A
H
$18
•Oasis-Mesquite (p33)
6P
NH
$20RB$10
•The Orleans (p13)
12P O H/L B
$27RB$10 12P
HB
$27RB$10 12P
NHB
$40RB$20
7P
NHB
$40RB$20 7P
NHB
$40RB$20 7P
HB
$27RB$10
•Plaza Casino (p30) 10A
NH
$50RB(1)$50 10A
NH
$50RB(1)$50 10A
NH
$50RB(1)$50
NV Atlantis Casino
NORTH Boomtown
Circus Circus
Eldorado
Harrah's Reno
Harvey's Tahoe
Peppermill
Rainbow Cas. W Wendover
CA Casino Pauma
SAN •Lucky Lady (p31)
DIEGO Oceans Eleven
•Pechanga (p24)
Sycuan
Viejas
CA Casino Morongo
INLAND
EMPIRE Lake Elsinore
Hawaiian Gardens
•Hollywood Park (p3)
•Hustler Casino (p9)
•Village Club (p37)
CA Artichoke Joe’s
NORTH Bay 101
Cache Creek
California Grand
Casino San Pablo
Garden City
Gold Rush
Kelly’s Cardroom
Lucky Chances
Oaks Card Club
•Palace Indian Casino
Sonoma Joe's
LH
12P& L H Sh
4P
H
10A&
NH
1P
NH
$25RB$10AO$20 6P&
$40 7P
7 H/L
NH
$18AO$2 10A L O High
7P& O H/L
$15 10A&
7P
$15 4P
6P
$25 10A
6P
$25AO$10 1P
8P
NH
$25RB$20
10A
6P&
10A
10A
LH
NH
LH
NH
$35
$15
$12
$12B$5
10A
10A
5O
O H/L
7 Sh
NH
H
NH
NH
H
NH
$25RB$10AO$20 6P&
$40 7P
NH
NH
$18AO$2 10A
$32(30M)
NH
$15
$22RB$10
$15
$22RB$20
$25
$25RB$20
$25AO$10
LH
NH
10A
6P&
10A
10A&
$10RB$10AO$10 7P&
$17RB$5AO(2)$5 6P&
$15RB$10 12P
$60 7P&
NH
LH
NH
O H/L
H
H
NH
NH
7P
NH
$27RB(2)$15 10A
NH
6P
O Pi H
$25RB$10 6P
LH
12P
11A
7P
7P
10A
NH
$15RB$10
7 H/L
$17RB$10
LH
$90
NH
$125RB(1)$100
O $30RB$20AO(1)$50B(20)$5
11A
L H $28RB(1)$20AO(1)$20 11A
11A
12P
H
$50 7P
7
$15RB$10AO$10 11A
Sp L H
$40RB$40 6P
1P
NH Sh
$20
NH
$40RB(1)$40 6P
7P
11A
6P
6P
10A
11A
H
12P
11A
7P
10A
O H/L
NH
NH
LH
Sp L H
H
H
H
H
H Sh
O H/L
H/O H/L
CO Midnight Rose
Ute Mountain
11A
10A
6P&
12P&
12P
11A
6P
12P
NH
HZ
S Sh
NH
NH
7B
Flop
$23AO$2 10A
$15 10A&
LH
12P O H/L B
7P
NHB
10A
NH
7P&
NH
6P& O H/L
7P
NH
7P
NH
$23AO$2 11A
NH
$10 6P
H Sh F
$15 4P
H
H
NH
$25 10A
NH
$25 10A
NH
$25 10A
1P
7P
NH
LH
NH
$115RB$100 6P
8P
NH
LH
$110 6P
$25RB$20
NH
$110
$30RB$10AO$20 10A
F RB$10AO(2)$10 10A
$15RB$10 12P
$25RB$20 7P
O
O H/L
$55
$20
$12
$12B$5
10A
10A
6P&
10A&
$10RB$10AO$10 7P&
$17RB$5AO(2)$5 10A
$15RB(1)$10 12P
$60RB(1)$10 7P
8P
$14RB$5/$10AO$20 7P&
N H $27(80M)RB(2)$15 10A
7P
Pn
$40
$20RB$10 6P Wk4LadiesL H
$25
$15RB$10 12P
$17RB$10 11A
$90 7P
NH
NH
S H/L
O H/L
LH
6P LH/L OH/L
11A
H
12P
O H/L
7P
O
11A
O H/L
6P
LH
1P
H Sh
6P
NH Sh
$88 10A
NH
6P
LH
11A
H
$20RB$20(1) 7P
H
$25RB$5AO$25
$125 7P
$50RB$20AO$40
$77
$55
$50RB$20
$15RB$10AO$10
$40RB$40AO$40
$15
$20
$40RB(1)$40
$60RB$50AO$50
$10RB$5AO$10
$20RB$20(1)
11A
11A
6P
7P
11A
6P
1P
H
$25RB$15 7P
7P
NH
$125
NH
NH
H
O
H
O H/L
LH
H
LH
NH
$5RB$5AO$10B$5 4P
10A
$35 11A
$25 10A
$22 6P&
$12B$5 10A
$60 10A
DC
$17RB$5AO(2)$5 6PWk2/4&
$10RB$10AO$10 11A
F 5P&
$35
$25
F
$12B$5
NH
LH
NH
NH
$15RB$10 12P
$25RB$10 7P
$60RB(1)$50
$14RB$5/$10AO$20 10A
7P
H
H
NH
$15RB$10 6P
$17RB$10 11A
$35RB$210 8P
O $30RB$20AO(1)$50B(20)$5 10A
LH
H
H
H
7
H
H Sh
O H/L
HB
$48
$36RB$20 11A
$10
$50
$15RB$10AO$10 11A
$60RB$40
$15 1P
HB
O H/L
H
7
$35 12P
7
$35RB(1)$30
$45 6P
$55
H
$45
NH
$20RB$20M24
$10RB$10 6P
$25RB$5AO 6P&
LA Grand Coushatta
6P
4A,6P& LH
7
NH
S
11A
NH
$55
$10RB$5 10A
NHZ
$10RB$5
$30 11A
H Sh
$15
$13RB$10AO$20 12P&
NH
$13RB$10AO$20
12P Men H/N A I$25RB$10AO(1)$20
$15+$5 11A
HB
$15+$5
$25RB$15 7P&Ladies H Cz Pi $20RB(2)$10
$10 6P
O H/L
$25
H
H
NH
DC
$20 7P
$10
NH
$35RB$15AO$25 4A,6P& NH
7P
NH
$20RB$20M24
7P
N H/O
$10RB$10AO$10
$40 12P
NH
6P
Pi
$35RB$15AO$25 4A,6P& LH/NH
7P
7P
12P
12P
Ladies S
H/O
H
NE Rosebud Casino
7P
NH
NJ Tropicana
Trump Taj Mahal
7P
6P
NH
S
H
7
NH
LH
NH
NH
$25RB 6P
$17RB$10 11A
$225RB(1)$200 8P
NH $30RB$20AO(1)$50B(20)$5 10A
O H/L
H
H Sh
11A
H
10A
11A
12P&
Pi
H Sh
NH
1P
NH
12P
Mx
7
Po H
S H/L
L/N H
2P
NH
$33RB$30
6P
NH
$50
4P
10A
H
H
10A
6P&
10A
H
LH
NH
7P
$20RB$10
$27RB(2)$15 12P
$40 1P
$25RB$10 1P
1PWk4
F RB$10
$17RB$10 11A
$330RB(1)$300 8P
$5RB$5AO$10B$5
$22RB$11
$20
$17
$12B$5
H
O H/L
$5RB$5AO$5
F RB$10AO(2)$10
HH L H
$30RB$10
L H $19RB$5/$10AO$20
Pn
$40
NH
$50
NH
$100
O $30RB$20AO(1)$50B(20)$5 10A
LH
$25RB$20AO$50
6P
$70RB(1)$60 11A
NH
H
$49RB$20AO$40
$70RB(1)$60
Sp L H
2P
$15RB$10AO$10 11A
7P
$15 1P
5P
$55 10A
12P
$10RB$5AO$10
H
NH
Sp L H
H Sh
NF
H
Varies
$25RB$15AO(1)$10 12P
3P
1P
$25
$22RB$10
$330RB(1)$300
$99 11A
$10RB$5
$15
$13RB$10AO$20 12P&
12P
NH
$10RB$10AO$10 12P
F RB$10AO(2)$10 3P
$15
$22RB$10
$15
LH
NH
H
NH
$50
$15RB$10AO$10
$120RB(1)$100
$15
F
$55
$65RB$50AO$50
2P
H
$50
7P
H
$60RB$40
6P
6P
1P
NH Sh
NH
LH
6P
O H/L F
$20
$220
$65RB(2)$50
RB$10
3P
2P
$25RB$10AO$30 1P
H
O H/L
7F
$20RB$10
$25
11A
$13RB$10AO$20 12P&
H Sh
NH
$15
$13RB$10AO$20
11A
$25RB$15 12P
$10
$13 1P
HB
H
$15+$5
$40
H
$13
NH
S
$50
$10
H
H
O H/L
$10 12P
S
12P
$10 12P
10A
H
$35RB(1)$15 10A
7
$35RB(1)$15
$70RB$30AO$50
10A
$20RB$20M24
$10RB$10AO 7P&
2P
NH
Varies
$10RB$5 6P
$35RB$15AO$25 11A
H
LH/NH
$40RB$20AO 12P
NH
$100 10A
$30RB$20 6P
$35RB$15AO$25 11A
$25Z 4P
$5RB$20
12P
$5RB$15AO$25 12P
$30RBAO 7P
$30 6P
Pi
$25Z 5P
H
H
$5RB$15 12P
$35RB(1)$15 12P
DA I LY TO U R N A M E N TS CO N T I N U E O N PAG E 27
NH
Varies
H
LH/NH
H
HB
O H/L
$40RBAO 7P
$40 6P
LH
NH
LH
12P
Varies
$10RB$5 1P
$35RB$15AO$25 11A
H
LH/NH
F$5RB(2)$5AO$5 12P
N H/O
$10RB$10AO$10
NH
$10RB$10
H
LH
$25RB$10
$35RB$15AO$25
10A
H Sh
12P Wk1 N H
$10RB$10AO$10 12P
7
$12
$120
$10RB(3)$5AO$5
NH
Varies
$30RB$10AO$10
$30RBAO 7P
$40 6P
7P
H
N H $14RB$5/$10AO$20 7P& N H (80M)
Pn
$40 1P
Pn
1P
LH
LH
12P
7
H
$20RB$10
$20RB$20
F RB$15AO$15/$30
$20RB$10AO$10
5P
$15 12P
$15RB$10
$10RB$15AO$25 6P&
H
H
$5RB$5AO$10B$5
$22RB$11
$35RB$10AO$20
$15
$12RB$10AO$10
$25B$5
$60
Northern Light Casino Hotel
MS Copa Casino
Grand Casino(Biloxi)
Grand Casino(Gulfport)
Grand Casino(Tunica)
Pearl River Resort
H
O H/L
LH
LH
NH
NH
L H Sh
NH
H
$15RB$5AO$10
NH
H
HH N H
HH N H
10A
8P
NH
H
$20
$25
$45 12P
$55 6P
7P
10A
10A
10A
6P&
10A&
12P
$10RB$5 10A Cz Pi Z
$15 6P& O H/L
$13RB$10AO$20 12P& N H
$15+$5 11A
7P&
F 6P
$15RB$10 12P
$17RB$10 11A
$35RB$210 7P
O $30RB$20AO(1)$50B(20)$5 10A
$25
$36RB$20
$25RB$20
$20RB
$15RB$10AO$10
$40RB(1)$40
$15
H
H
7 Sh
$25 10A
$35RB$20 7P
$45 6P
$55 6P
$70RB$30AO$50
$15 10A&
$22RB$10
$15 10A
$50RB(1)$20
$125RB(1)$100
$50RB(1)$50
$50RB(1)$50
$25RB$10AO$20
$40
$60RB(1)$40
$23AO$2
H
NH
IA Catfish Bend
MN •Canterbury Park (p42) 10A
HB
HB
NHB
NH
NH
Po H
NH
NH
NH
NH
$35RB(1)$30 7P
H
H
H
O H/L
6P&
11A
12P
7P
10A
7P&
6P&
7P
7P
11A
Buy-in
F RB$20
$25
5P
N H$330RB$200AO(1)$200
10A
H
$18
6P
L/N H
F
12P
NHB
$50RB(1)$20
7P
HB
$60RB(1)$50
10A
NH
$50RB(1)$50
7P&
NH
$50RB(1)$50
6P&
NH
$25RB$10AO$20
7P
NH
$40
7P
NH
$40RB$20AO$20
Varies Varies
Varies
10A
10A
LH
6P&
NH
10A 7 H/L Sp
10A& N H
L H Sh
NH
H
$40RB(1)$20
$60RB(1)$40
$50RB(1)$50
$50RB(1)$50
$25RB$10AO$20
$40
$60RB(1)$40
$23AO$2
H
NH
12P
NH
$24
10A
Pi Z
$12
11A
L/NL $60RB(1)$40AO$40
7P
N H $125RB$100AO$100
2P&
NH
$60RB(1)$40
11A
NH
$50RB(1)$25
11A
NH
$23
12P& L/N H Z
$25
4P
$25AO$10
$65 7P
7 Sh
$27RB$10
$27RB$10
$50RB(1)$50
$50RB(1)$50
$25RB$10AO$20
$40
$40 7P
$10 12P
12P
6P
8P
Gold Strike Casino Resort
12P
HB
7P O H/L B
10A
NH
7P
NH
$25RB$10AO$20 6P&
H
$40 7P
NH
NH
S
7P
MI Chip-In's Island
10A
NH
$25 10A
NH
$25 10A
NH
11A
L/N H
$40AO$3 11A
L/N H
$40AO$3
12P
NH
$24 12P
NH
$24 12P
NH
$24
7P& O H/L B $25RB$10AO$20 7P& O H/L B $25RB$10AO$20 10A
Pi Z
$12
11A
L/NL $60RB(1)$40AO$40 11A
L/NL $60RB(1)$40AO$40 11A
L/NL $30RB$20AO(1)$20
7P
L H $125RB$100AO$100 7P
N H $230RB$200AO$100 7P
$330RB$200AO(1)$200
2P
NH
$60RB(1)$40 2P&
NH
$60RB(1)$40 2P&
NH
$60RB(1)$40
11A
NH
$100
11A
NH
$23 11A
NH
$23 11A
NH
$23
12P& L/N H Z
$25 12P& L/N H Z
$25 12P& L/N H Z
$25
10A
HZ
$30(30M) 10A
HZ
$30(30M)
6P
NHZ
$60(30M)
7P
NH
$230RB(1)$200
10A
H
$18 10A
H
$18 10A
H
$18
7P
$10 12P
FL Palm Beach Kennel Club
Palm Beach Princess
St Tropez Cruise
KS Harrah’s Prarie Band
10A O H/L Z
11A
H Sh
12P&
NH
SUNDAY
Buy-in Time Games
12P
$25 10A
H
CT Foxwoods
Isle of Capri
Winn-A-Vegas
$55
$10RB$5
$15
$13RB$10AO$20
$25RB$20
$20
H
LH
SATURDAY
Buy-in Time Games
$15 12P&
7P
$15 10A
6P
12P
7P
Games
$15 12P&
7P
$15 4P
NH $30RB$20AO(1)$50B(20)$5 10A
$10RB$5AO$10
7P
$35
$15
$12
$12B$5
AZ Apache Gold
Blue Water Casino
Bucky’s Casino
Casino Arizona-McKellips
Casino Arizona-Scottsdale
Casino Del Sol
Cliff Castle
Fort McDowell
Gila River/Wild Horse Pass
Gila River-Vee Quiva
Harrah’s Ak Chin
Hon-Dah Casino
Paradise Casino
12P& L H Sh
FRIDAY
Buy-in Time
4P
CA •Bicycle Club (p43) 12P
L.A.
7P
Club Caribe
Club One Casino
Commerce Club
•Diamond Jim’s (p27)
O H/L
NH
THURSDAY
Buy-in Time Games
NV Cactus Petes-Jackpot
SOUTH Cannery Casino
River Palms
6P&
•Sahara (p33)
7P
•Sam’s Town (p34)
•Sunset Station (p8) 10A
•Texas Station (p8)
DAILY TOURNAMENTS
Note: All tournaments are subject to change. Check with the Cardroom for any updates.
Cardrooms-please send your schedules to Tournament Editor Joel Gausten,
jgausten@gamblingtimes.com
NH
$10RB$10 10A
Varies
$25RB$10 3P
$35RB$15AO$25 2P
$50Z
12P
$15RB$15
$10RB$15AO$25 10A
5P
H
LH
NH
$5RB$20
$60RB(1)$50 10A
$10
NH
7P
NH
$30RB$10AO$10 7P
NH
$30RBAO 4P
$75 6P
NH
NH
$60RBAO 12P
$170
NH
12P
1P
O
S
2&7P
O H/L
$30RB(1)$15
$15RB$10
$60RB(1)$50
$10
$30RB$10AO$10
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
$65RBAO 12P
NH
$55RBAO
25
The Poker Adventures of Esther
In my last column, I introduced you to Esther. my delightful eight-year-old little granddaughter who has charm,
charisma, and beauty -- and loves to play
poker! On her way to become the World
SENIORS SCENE
By George “The engineer” EPSTEIN
Poker Champion, Esther has started writing her poker book. At least she has a good start. What
she writes is quite revealing and assures me that she
has the right attitude – the attitude of a WINNER! I’ll
explain by sharing with you the beginning of her book
(that’s about half of what she has written so far):
“Poker is a very esy game. Do I know how to play
poker? The first thing you have to lirn about poker is you
need to know how to deal with a pare of aces; you raiss!”
Notice that Esther’s spelling is phonetic; in a way
that’s beautiful. It takes imagination and creativity.
Now, in third grade, she is learning how to
spell; now she will have to conform.
Best of all, she has a positive attitude. Poker is a very easy game, she
says. That should set your mind at ease.
Anyone can learn to play.
The most important thing is how to
play a pair of aces. Why not? Start with the best.
And her advice is good too. Starting with a premium
“made” hand like a pair of aces, it is good strategy to
raise so you can play against one or two opponents. I
intend to ask Esther why she gives this advice. The
reason I raise – most of the time – with a big pair (aces,
kings, queens; sometimes jacks down to nines) is to
improve the probability that I will win the pot, albeit I
certainly don’t want to chase everyone out and waste
that big pair. So, if it’s a tight table and I am concerned
that no one will call, I avoid making the raise.
The main reason for raising preflop is to reduce the
size of the playing field (RSPF); building the size of
the pot is a consideration, but you can do that later
on the turn and river. Here’s why: If you hold a pair of
aces, you are favored to win. Let’s say the probability
is 80% against a player with a decent starting hand;
that’s reasonable. If a second opponent is playing with
a similarly-valued hand, then your winning probability
drops to 80% x 80%; that’s just 64%. And, if there
are four such opponents against you, then you are
no longer a favorite. In fact, probability law says you
would then lose six out of ten such hands. That’s called
getting your “aces cracked.” Not only are you wasting
the aces, but you are coming out a loser. So it’s generally best to play your aces against one or two, perhaps
three opponents.
Getting back to Esther, I like that she thinks positively and shows confidence in herself: “Poker is “a
very esy game.” To be a winner (in poker and in life), it
is important to focus on the positive -- and, as the old
song went, “eliminate the negative.” Yes, I think Esther
will succeed. . .
So readers, what’s YOUR opinion?
George “The Engineer” Epstein is the author of “The
Greatest Book of Poker for Winners!” A retired engineer
who received many industry and government awards and
commendations, he continues to be active by consulting,
editing an international technical newsletter, teaching an
engineering course at UCLA, and serving as an officer
in a professional engineering society. One engineering
society has a scholarship in George’s honor. In writing his
poker book, he applied the lessons learned while working
as an engineer to solve problems. He is currently writing
his next book on The Four Rules for Success in Life and
Living. He can be reached by e-mail: geps222@msn.com
26
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
Harry S. Truman
Poker Player
& President
by Poker OʼMalley
“I like to play cards and
dance...and go to shows and
do all the things [religious
people] say I shouldnʼt, but
I donʼt feel badly about it,”
Harry Truman wrote to his
sweetheart Bess early in their
courtship.
Young Trumanʼs plain spoken, honest, upfront admission
reveals the character of the
man who would become the
33rd President of the United
States. In it we can see what
Bess saw: self-acceptance, a
lack of pretentiousness and
confidence. They were married
a few years later.
“The Common Man”,
Harry Truman grew up in
Independence, Missouri. His
father was a gambler. Always
looking for a big score, he bet
the family savings, including
their home, on grain futures
and went broke. Harry graduated from high school in 1901
but couldnʼt go to college
because his father had lost
everything.
Like his dad, Harry was a
gambler. Always optimistic,
certain he could win, Truman
borrowed several thousand
dollars to invest in a zinc
mine. It failed.
He sank $5,000 in an oil
well company. It went bust.
He tried farming but it went
under.
After serving in the Army
during WWI, Truman returned
home and opened a haberdashery with a partner. Best buddies, they played poker every
Saturday night. After two
years, the business folded.
Truman was nearly 40 and
had failed at everything heʼd
tried. Gambler that he was,
Harry assured Bess, “My
luck should surely change.
Sometime I should win.” He
was right.
About this time an old
army pal, Jim Pendergast,
who controlled gambling,
prostitution, politics, booze
and narcotics in Kansas City
needed some respectability.
He offered to back his buddy
Truman for county judge
(commissioner). Broke and
deeply in debt, Harry jumped
at the opportunity.
It was Trumanʼs first taste
of politics and he loved it.
Glad-handing, back-slapping,
and story-telling with the
ʻgood olʼ boysʼ came naturally.
Judge Truman joined
the Masons, the Elks, the
American Legion and the
Veterans of Foreign Wars.
They offered opportunities
to politic and play poker. In
addition, he was a member of
a group who regularly played
in a building across the street
from the courthouse. The
games had a ten-cent limit
with three raises.
In 1934, Truman ran successfully for the U.S. Senate.
He won re-election in 1940.
In 1944, President Franklin
D. Roosevelt, chose Senator
Truman to be his VicePresidential running mate. A
few weeks after winning his
fourth term, FDR died.
Suddenly, Truman was
President. Facing a world at
war, he didnʼt leave the White
House for six weeks. When
he finally took a break, it was
for an evening of poker with
friends.
While in office, Truman
relied on poker for his recreation, to take his mind of the
demands and stresses of the
job. A favorite place to play
was aboard the Presidentʼs
yacht, the Williamsburg.
Truman preferred an eight
handed game comprised of a
few regulars and some invited
guests. The group would board
the ship Friday afternoon and
sail the Potomac until Sunday
afternoon.
On the yacht it was customary for each player to start
with $500 worth of chips.
If anyone lost it all, he was
allowed one $500 rebuy. Ten
percent was raked from each
pot and put in a “poverty
bowl” which was distributed
$100 at a time to players who
lost their second buyin.
On one occasion, British
Prime Minister Winston
Churchill played in one
of President Trumanʼs
games aboard a train from
Washington D.C. to Fulton,
Mississippi, where he would
warn the world that an “Iron
Curtain” had descended on
Europe. After five scotches,
Churchill began boasting
about his poker prowess.
A game soon started and
as it progressed Churchill lost
heavily. President Truman indicated to the others they should
go easy on the old man. One of
the regulars declared, “If you
want us to play our best poker
for the nationʼs honor, weʼll
have this guyʼs pants before
the evenings over.” The group
loosened up, but not enough to
let the Brit go home and say he
beat the Yanks.
When Truman wanted to
escape he would take a small
staff to Key West, Florida. The
President began the morning
with a shot of bourbon and
orange juice chaser followed
by a walk on the beach. Every
night they played poker.
After Germany surrendered, Truman sat down with
Churchill and Stalin at the
Potsdam Conference where the
“Big 3” divided up post-war
Europe. For days afterwards,
the President distracted himself playing poker.
Similarly, following three
days of poker, President
Truman called a meeting to
consider using the Atomic
Bomb on Japan. Like the sign
on his desk said: “The Buck
Stops Here”. After giving the
go ahead, the President called
for the cards and chips.
A small town poker player,
Harry Truman had brought
an end to world war, then,
he launched the Marshall
Plan to rebuild Europe. He
was at the helm when Russia
draped an Iron Curtain around
Eastern Europe and initiated
the Cold War. And, he was the
Commander in Chief during
the Korean War.
America needed a player
who could handle the action
after FDR died. Next on the
list, Truman took his seat at the
table when they called his name.
History has shown he was the
right man for The Main Game.
President Truman decided
not to run again in 1953. On
their last day at the White
House, Harry and Bess said
good-by to friends and staff,
climbed into their car and
drove home to Independence.
e-mail: pokeromalley@aol.com
Time . Some events Wk ..............Week H ...... Hold’em 7. 7-Card Stud Pi ....... Pineapple S........... Stud DC Dealer’s Choice Sp ............ Spread Z......... Freezeout #M # of players max DAILY TOURNAMENTS
(CONT’D FROM PAGE 25)
start after the hour & . Add’l gametimes L ................. Limit O .......Omaha Po.........Pot Limit 5 Five Card Stud HH ... Headhunter Al ...... Alternates Q .............Qualify RB ......... Re-buys
A, P ........ AM, PM
on this day. Call N ...........No Limit H/L High/Low Split Pn.......Panginque Mx ..Mexican Poker B .......... Bounties F .............Freeroll Sh .........Shootout AO ......... Add Ons Cz .............. Crazy E....... Elimination
● Denotes Advertiser
REGION/Cardroom(Ad Pg.)
NM Cities of Gold
Isleta Casino & Resort
•Sandia Casino (p37)
NY Turning Stone
MONDAY
Time Games
6P
7P&
NH
1P
H
TUESDAY
Buy-in Time Games
F RB(1)$15AO$100 6P
$20RB$20 2P
7P
$25RB$5 7P&
7P
S
F RB$10 7P
OR Chinook Winds Casino
4P
H
$25RB(1)$5AO(1)$5 4P
6P
6P
S H/L
•Wildhorse Casino Resort
SD Dakota Sioux
WA
Gold Dust Casino, Deadwood
Rosebud Casino
7P
NH
Blue Mountain Casino
Chips Bremerton
Chips La Center
Chips Lakewood
Chips Tukwila
Goldie’s
Little Creek Casino
Northern Quest
Suquamash Clearwater Cas
Wild Grizzly
1P
9A
12P
9A
4P
11A
7P
10A
11A
5P
N O H/L
NH
NH
NH
NH
NH
LO
O
NH
NH
CAN Casino Regina
Buy-in Time Games
$20RB(1)$10 6P
$15RB(1)$15 7P&
$35
H
NH
$25 6P
$20RB(1)$20 2P
H
$35RB$10 7P
NH
$50RB$20 1P
NH
7P
$30RB$10 7P
7
S H/L
O H/L
H
$25RB(1)$5AO(1)$5 4P
$18RB$10
NH
THURSDAY
Buy-in Time Games
Cz Pi
H
Varies
ND 4 Bears Casino
Dakota Magic
WEDNESDAY
$10RB$5 7P
F RB$10 7P
$25RB$5AO$10 4P
6P
O H/L
H
FRIDAY
Buy-in Time Games
$20RB(1)$10AO$50 6P
$15RB(1)$15 7P&
S H/L
H
1P
9A
12P
9A
4P
11A
7P
10A
11A
5P
NH
NH
NH
NH
NH
NH
L/N H
H.O.T.
NH
NH
8P
V
$35 7P(1st Wk) H
$110 7P
Buy-in Time Games
H $30RB(1)$20AO$200 5P
N H $50RB(2)$25AO(1)$35 2P
$25RB$5
O H/L
H/L Sp Z
$10RB$5 7P
$25 7P
Tahoe H/L $25RB(1)$5AO(1)$5 4P
NH
$33RB(2)$15AO$15
$10RB$5
7P
SATURDAY
H
H
NH
H
6P
S H/L
1P
9A
12P
9A
4P
11A
NH
NH
NH
NH
NH
NH
10A
11A
O
NH
11A
NH
$10RB$5 2P
2P
H
NH
$10RB$5 4P
1P
9A
12P
9A
4P
11A
NH
NH
NH
NH
NH
NH
10A
11A
5P
H
NH
NH
$20RB(1)$10
$20
$20
$20
$20
$13RB(1)$10
1P
9A
12P
9A
4P
11A
7P
$15RB(2)$10 10A
$20 11A
$13RB$10 5P
N O H/L
NH
NH
NH
NH
NH
NH
H.O.T.
NH
NH
O H/L
$50
7P
$20RB(1)$10
$20
$20
$20
$20
$13RB(1)$10
$25
$15RB(2)$10
$20
$13RB$10
$20RB(1)$10
$20
$20
$20
$20
$13RB(1)$10
$45
$15RB(2)$10
$20
$13RB$10
Buy-in Time Games
$20RB$10 5P
$15RB(1)$15 2P
12P
$20RB(1)$10
$20
$20
$20
$20
$13RB(1)$10
1P
9A
12P
9A
4P
11A
5P
$15RB(2)$10 10A
$20 11A
2P
NH
N O H/L
NH
NH
NH
NH
NH
NB
H
NH
NH
O H/L
H
Varies
Buy-in
$20RB(1)$10
$15RB(1)$15
$35
$25RB$5
$20RB$10
$30RB$10 3P
$25RB(1)$5AO(1)$5
$30RB$10AO$10
$20RB(1)$10
$20
$20
$20
$20
$13RB(1)$10
$15RB(2)$10
$15RB(2)$10
$20
$13RB$10
H
H
SUNDAY
H
F RB$10
4P
1P
NH
H
$25RB$5AO$50
$18RB$10
$10RB$5 4P
2P
$30RB$10AO$10 6P
V
H
NH
$20RB$10
$40
$30RB$10AO$10
1P
9A
12P
9A
4P
11A
NH
NH
NH
NH
NH
NH
$20RB(1)$10
$20
$20
$20
$20
$28RB(2)$10
10A
49 S H/L
$15RB(2)$10
$20RB(1)$10
$20
$20
$20
$20
$13RB(1)$10
$35
F RB(2)$15AO$20
$20
$25RB$20
$25RB$20AO$20
Debbie Burkhead interviews Bob Davidson
any special tournaments?
BD: Yes, the Oasis Open.
We run the Open twice a
year, Labor Day weekend
and next yearʼs is scheduled
for May 5-10, 2005. Mayʼs
Open will be our seventh
event and we have grown
tremendously since our first
open. The buy-ins range
from $60-$125 and we average 120 players per event.
Linda Johnson. The expertise they bring to the table is
a huge factor in our success.
Itʼs a fun event but at the
same time itʼs very professionally run. Players that
play in five events receive
five free nightsʼ accommodations. Players have been
known to say, “Win or lose I
had a great time, and Iʼll be
back.”
DB: To what do you attribute the success of the Oasis
Open?
BD: I have to give most of
the credit to Jan Fisher and
DB: What do you offer in
the way of live action?
BD: We spread $4-$8, $3$6-$9 and $10-$20 holdʻem
and occasionally we spread
no-limit with a minimum
$100 buy-in and a maximum
$200 buy-in.
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 $100 Buy-in–No Rebuys $8,000 in Tournament Chips
Call for more info: 661-256-1400
DB: What incentives do you
offer poker players?
BD: Play four hours of live
poker on Sunday through
Thursday and receive a free
room and food voucher. We
have the friendliest poker
staff in the west. We have a
Bad Beat jackpot, get jacks
full beat by quads to win.
We also have Monday night
football fun, we give away
$25 every time the score
changes.
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
27
Perks and Picks
Get that warm, fuzzy feeling as you celebrate the holiday season this year at Pechanga Resort & Casino in
Temecula, California. Help those who may be a little
less fortunate and help yourself to 2 for 1 buffets.
Though December 23rd (with the excep-
The Bargain Bin
By H. Scot Krause
tion of certain blackout dates), Pechanga
Resort & Casino offers you the chance
to take advantage of a great money-saving deal while helping the community’s less fortunate.
Simply bring in any two items of non-perishable food
to the Pechanga Buffet Monday through Friday and
you’ll receive a 2-for-1 buffet lunch. That’s a savings of
$8.99. All non-perishable food donations go directly to
the Second Harvest Food Bank in Riverside, California.
Lunch buffet patrons must also show their Pechanga
Rewards card to receive the 2-for-1 special. Signing up
for a Rewards Club card is free and easy. Just stop by
either of the two convenient Rewards Club locations on
the main casino floor. The 2-for-1 offer must be used at
the time of non-perishable food drop off. The Pechanga
Buffet staff will not allow rain checks. Blackout dates
include November 25 & 26.
Pechanga also unveils its new Poker Room this month.
Already an award winning room, the new poker room will
encompass 16,000 square feet, offering 54 tables, its
own full-service, walk-up bar, dedicated kitchen and signature chef, six giant flat-screen TVs plus a state-of-theart sound and video system. The Pechanga Poker Room
already offers a hefty schedule of tournaments. Daily live
tourneys start at 10:00 a.m. and continue throughout
the day and into the night at the 24-hour facility. Players
also have the chance to win larger sums in the monthend “Last Chance” tournaments and “Big Showdown.”
In Atlantic City, Borgata is giving video poker players
a chance at winning some extra cash in November. Every
15 minutes from noon to midnight, the casino randomly
draws the name of someone actively playing one of their
video poker machines and rewards them with $250! Nice
promotion! You can win more than once. The rules and
details are posted in the casino.
The Palms Casino Resort Poker Room in Las Vegas
continues to give out cash to poker players through
December. Monday through Friday evenings, drawings are
held during the “Diamonds Are Forever” Poker Giveaway.
Play in the poker room with a Club Palms card presented
and poker players who complete a flush in diamonds are
entered to win $200 cash.
For hungry poker players and gamblers in the heart of
downtown Las Vegas, Binion’s Horseshoe serves “nobluffing” special meal deals in the original Coffee Shop:
The Daily Specials, served from
11:00 a.m. to11:00 p.m., include:
· Steak & Ribs $10.95
· Orange Glazed Chicken $7.95
· Steak & Fried Shrimp $9.95
· Prime Rib $8.95
· Steak & Lobster $10.95
· Chinese Meals $5.95
Late Night Specials, served from
11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., include:
· 2 Eggs & Bacon/Sausage $2.95
· NY Steak & Eggs $5.95
· 2 Eggs & 2 Biscuits with Gravy
$2.95
· 2 Eggs & Portuguese Sausage/
Spam $2.95
Good prices---good eatin’!
That’s it for this week!
H. Scot Krause is a freelance writer, gaming industry analyst and researcher, originally from Cleveland,
Ohio. While raising his two year-old son, Zachary,
Scot reports, researches, and writes about casino
games, events, attractions and promotions. He is an
eight-year resident of Las Vegas. Questions or comments are welcomed. Card room managers are also
invited to send your specials and promotions to:
krauseinvegas@att.net
28
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
Card Room Roundup
Sahara Hotel & Casino
formances by the ʻ50s/ʼ60s
stars the Drifters, the Coasters
and the Platters. Additionally,
Sahara guests can enjoy live
music and comedy at the
Casbah Theatre Lounge or
the casinoʼs Broadway-style
production of “Saturday
Night Fever.”
Dining options at the
Sahara range from the elegant
(The House of Lords restaurant) to the casual (Caravan
Café), while the casinoʼs
legendary 900-seat Buffet
($7.99 to $9.99) offers endless delights seven days a
week. And lets not forget the
NASCAR Café, a two-story
racing fanʼs dream complete
with nearly 20 authentic stock
cars on display.
The Saharaʼs 1700-plus
room hotel includes a 5,000
square-foot pool (complete
with 13 private cabanas)
2535 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 737-2111
www.saharavegas.com
Of all the exciting landmarks are just some of the special
found in Las Vegas, few des- incentives offered to Sahara
poker players, with poker
tinations can match the oneinstruction available upon
of-a-kind experience found
request.
at the Sahara Hotel and
As a way to provide the
Casino. For over 50 years,
this local institution has stood best possible experience for
their poker players, the Sahara
at the top of the Vegas scene
thanks to world-class gaming is planning to greatly expand
the size of its poker area duropportunities and stellar live
ing the first part of 2005. This
shows. While trends often
expansion will include more
come and go on the Vegas
tables, more games and more
strip, the Sahara remains the
chances to win. Of course,
talk of the town.
Texas Holdʼem will remain
Priding itself as a destia staple of the Sahara experination for serious gaming
ence, as the game continues
enthusiasts, the Sahara feato appeal to mature poker vets
tures an 80,000 square-foot
as well as an eager, younger
casino that includes a sizeable, non-smoking poker area crowd that keeps growing in
equipped to provide a memo- numbers.
rable experience for players
at all levels. The poker room,
guided by card room mainstay Fred Masters, hosts NoLimit Holdʼem tournaments
($40 buy-in, with an optional
$20 rebuy) Sunday through
Friday at 7 p.m. On Saturdays
at 7 p.m., the room offers NoLimit Holdʼem tournaments
with a $60 buy-in and one
optional $60 rebuy.
Players who play 20
hours of live poker receive
a freeroll plus rebuy into
Wednesdayʼs event. Thanks
The Saharaʼs space-age exterior
to the always-growing popuand a gazebo-covered spa.
While poker fans will
larity of poker (as well as
The casinoʼs rooftop suite
certainly find plenty of
steady word-of-mouth from
(named one of the Top 10
excitement at the Sahara
satisfied customers), poker
in Las Vegas by the Travel
tables, there is much more
business at the Sahara has
Channel) is perfect for weddoubled in the past two years. to the casino than a great
ding and other events. In
card game. Since hosting
New and old players alike
addition, the Sahara has full
the Beatlesʼ first Las Vegas
have found a genuine home
meeting/convention space
at the Sahara, where the daily performance in the 1960s,
tournaments are played with a the Sahara has ranked among readily available.
As for the future, the
the top places to catch unforspirit of fun and overseen by
Sahara is in the planning
gettable live entertainment.
a courteous, knowledgeable
staff. Restaurant coupons and Currently, the casinoʼs Conga stages for a number of special
poker-related promotions and
special player room discounts Room features nightly perevents throughout 2005. Once
completed, the new-andimproved poker room is sure
to please longtime Sahara
guests while attracting new
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success stories Las Vegas has
ever scene. After more than
a half-century of the Sahara,
the best is yet to come!
For more information of
the Sahara Hotel and Casino,
please call (702) 737-2111,
visit www.saharavegas.com
or call the poker room direct
at (702) 737-2317.
Always plenty of action in the Saharaʼs ample cardroom
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Jeff Jerome. . . . . . . . . . $2,295
Binh Do. . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,875
Joseph Lopez, Sr. . . . . . $1,460
Harold Kantor . . . . . . . $1,045
Brian Kim . . . . . . . . . . . . $830
HOLLYWOOD PARK CASINO
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP OF POKER
EVENT #7
BUY-IN $300 + $40
EVENT #12
10/31/04
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
PHIL HELLMUTH INVITATIONAL
$74,700
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
Eulises Sandoval
BUY-IN $1,000 + $70
PLAYERS 123
PRIZE POOL
PLAYERS 93
$238,700
PRIZE POOL
$93,000
Eulises Sandoval
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Eulises Sandoval . . . . $36,120
Brian Margettes. . . . . $20,770
Chien Nguyen . . . . . . $10,835
Daniel Adelson . . . . . . . $6,320
Richard Carella . . . . . . $4,965
Jason Rich . . . . . . . . . . $4,065
Michael Allis . . . . . . . . $3,160
Stephen Crockett . . . . . $2,260
Melvyn Starkman . . . . $1,805
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Toby Maquire . . . . . . $95,480
Reza Payvar . . . . . . . . $47,740
Marcel Sabag . . . . . . . $23,870
Glenn Cozen. . . . . . . . $15,515
George Yutuc . . . . . . . $11,935
Alex Papachatzakis . . . $8,355
Lang Lee. . . . . . . . . . . . $5,970
Lance Allred. . . . . . . . . $4,775
Stan Goldstein . . . . . . . $3,595
EVENT #6
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Eulises Sandoval . . . . $26,450
Dan Lumello . . . . . . . $13,775
Darren Cohen . . . . . . . $6,890
Makya McBee . . . . . . . $4,715
Norman Wheatcroft . . $3,265
Hai Le . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,540
Tal Rubin . . . . . . . . . . . $1,815
Eric Bush . . . . . . . . . . . $1,450
10/25/04
POT LIMIT HOLD’EM
EVENT #5
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PLAYERS 103
PLAYERS 249
PRIZE POOL
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
10/24/04
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $300 + $40
PRIZE POOL
10/27/04
BUY-IN $2,000 + $80
7. Glenn Cozen. . . . . . . . . . . $750
8. Lou Pica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $595
9. David Botton . . . . . . . . . . $455
PLAYERS 249
EVENT #8
10/26/04
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
9. Aaron Price . . . . . . . . . $1,160
$30,000
PRIZE POOL
Norman Lapin
$108,300
Norman Lapin . . . . . . $11,700
Vince Burgio . . . . . . . . $5,760
Javid Berjis . . . . . . . . . $3,000
Shon Makarton . . . . . . $1,950
Jim Schmidt . . . . . . . . . $1,500
Reynaldo Manlagnit . . $1,050
Christopher Ripley
1. Christopher Ripley . . $39,505
2. Feridoun Farboud . . . $20,575
3. Minh Ly . . . . . . . . . . . $10,290
POWERFUL ADVERTISING REACH...
POKER PLAYER
EVENT #11
10/30/04
LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $1,000 + $70
PLAYERS 25
PRIZE POOL
$25,000
Dan Alspach
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Dan Alspach . . . . . . . . $10,905
Glenn Cozen. . . . . . . . . $6,065
Vince Burgio . . . . . . . . $3,640
Mark Weissman. . . . . . $2,425
Mario Esquerra . . . . . . $1,215
EVENT #4
10/23/04
LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 243
PRIZE POOL
$121,500
Gioi Luong
1. Gioi Luong . . . . . . . . . $43,035
plus... 2005 WSOP $10k Seat
2. Emad Bastawnos . . . . $22,400
3. Bobby Hoffman . . . . . $11,200
4. Andre Maloof. . . . . . . . $7,665
5. Eulises Sandoval . . . . . $5,305
6. Nickolas Dileo . . . . . . . $4,125
7. Brian Wygle . . . . . . . . . $2,950
8. Brian Cospolich . . . . . . $2,360
9. Jacky Lee . . . . . . . . . . . $1,895
EVENT #9
10/28/04
LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $500 + $50
PLAYERS 86
PRIZE POOL
$43,000
Ali Akbar
1.
2.
3.
4.
Ali Akbar . . . . . . . . . . $16,680
Ros Mak . . . . . . . . . . . . $9,590
James Fujita. . . . . . . . . $5,005
Walter Klenhard . . . . . $2,920
THE TOURNAMENT
WHERE YOU
GET TO PLAY
SANTA
Christmas Toy Drive Poker Tournament
Saturday, December 11, 9 a.m.
To enter this limit Hold ‘Em tournament, bring $25 and an unwrapped
toy. The toy will be donated to the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian
Community Christmas Toy Drive. In addition to a wealth of good cheer,
you’ll receive $1,000 in tournament chips. Registration begins at noon
on Monday, December 6th at the main poker cage at Talking Stick.
$25 entry fee; New, unwrapped toy for donation
Guaranteed payout of $12,500
Payouts to 40 places
See official rules. Promotion subject to change.
WE’VE GOT YOUR GAME
101 & Indian Bend Adjacent to Scottsdale
480-850-7777 www.casinoaz.com
Owned and operated by the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.
Please gamble responsibly.
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
29
Understanding the Table Bully
Dear Poker Counselor,
I have a hard time staying focused while playing
because of the behavior of the other guys at the table.
Whether I’m playing at my local casino or online, I seem
to end up at the table with idiots who make rude comments and curse at me. When I run hot, they look down
on me like I’m a lucky “fish.” When I lose, it is even
worse. I try to not let them get to me, but they always
somehow get me off of my game. What can I do?
—Matt Hart, Connecticut
POKER COUNSELOR
By John Carlisle
Dear Matt,
Not many people involved in the game
of poker have ever argued that it is a
gentlemen’s sport. While we have our staunch traditions
in poker, being a prim and proper contest between mannerly participants has never been one of them. Whether
you’re playing at a loose and easygoing home game in
your buddy’s basement or at the final table at the WSOP,
you can expect someone in attendance will be employing
the role of the rude, obnoxious table bully. Since their
presence is nearly inevitable, you should be working to
understand the motivations for their behaviors while
sharpening your mental skills to take their chips.
Primarily, we assume that table bullies are looking to
reap the benefits of annoying or distracting the opponents at the table. This disruption is hoped to get others
off of their game, and hopefully on tilt. Their bothersome tactics are usually as obvious as a schoolyard hooligan spouting “Your Mama” jokes, but they seem to be
pushing your buttons. You are not alone in letting them
get to you, as table bullies are consistently amongst the
most profitable at any table. When they get the goods
and raise the pot, they always seem to have frustrated
fools calling them in order to push some sort of vengeful lesson (usually to no avail.) Great players will never
donate their money on a frustration call, as they have
mentally toughened themselves to react appropriately in
such instances. Remember that you are still in control
of your own thoughts and emotions, meaning only you
(and your thoughts) can make you mad, angry, or frustrated. Nobody can MAKE you angry, you allow yourself
to become angry by allowing your thoughts to spiral into
an internal storm.
It may help you to evaluate the more veiled reason
a person will take on the role of the table bully: selfmotivation. The bully is looking to validate himself in
a shallow, simple attempt to boost his own confidence
at the table. Just beneath the surface of almost every
poker table bully is a frightened, uneasy player who is
scared as hell to lose. In his warped perspective, losing
his chips is equivalent to losing his own self-worth. It is
usually quite simple, because when he has chips he feels
worthy, he belongs, and he is in charge. When he is losing, he must attribute it to being “unlucky,” the cards
being “unfair,” and to the “fish” making bad calls. He
does this because it is too damaging on his self-perception to think that he is losing his power and self-worth by
getting honestly and fairly beat. The panic of losing his
self confidence is easiest to turn onto an outside target,
like you. When the bully turns his attention to you by
calling you names, consider it a sweet song highlighting
that he considers you a threat to rake in his chips and
self-worth! Now go make it happen.
In addition to being an avid poker enthusiast, John is
a certified Counselor in the state of Pennsylvania. He
has a Master of Arts degree in Counseling from West
Virginia University, and a Bachelor's degree in Psychology
with a minor in Sociology from Lock Haven University.
You can ask the “Poker Counselor” your question at
carlisle14@hotmail.com.
30
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
I
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.
mproving Performance
T
his is the continuation
of last issueʼs column
wherein I covered three of
the more common pitfalls
that players can fall prey to.
Those pitfalls were playing
too many hands, the need for
an understanding of the math
of the game and discipline.
Today weʼll cover three
more prevalent pitfalls that
are roadblocks to improved
performance.
Chasing: Chasing is what
weak players do after playing too many hands! Since
they are playing too many
hands in the first place many
of them arenʼt very good,
so then they chase. Sounds
ridiculous, doesnʼt it? Well,
it is but chasers just donʼt get
it! They just seem incapable
of laying down a hand. In for
a penny....in for a pound. Do
you ever do this? Remember
this---winning poker is not
about catching up but rather
starting out ahead. If you
always seem to need to catch
up, then youʼre chasing and
thatʼs analogous to throwing
money away. A classic example would be starting with
a good solid hold card pair
such as 10ʼs, JJʼs or QQʼs.
The next thing you know, the
flop comes Ace/King/rag and
all of a sudden itʼs two bets
to you. Do you ignore the
two over cards on the board
and forge ahead hoping to
hit your set or runner/run-
PART 34
at the table? How would
ner to make a straight? You
you know? Start clocking
must learn to lay down a
hand that is trailing behind
Pitfalls, part II
and must hit to win. Sure,
your opponents to see who
sometimes it works out but
is or isnʼt making mistakes
most often you bleed chips
Hopefully you can do this
in the vain attempt to catch
before you even sit down
up in order to win. Just lay
at a table so if you have a
it down... a new deal will be
choice of seats you can make
sent your way in a matter of
that choice for a good reaminutes.
son. Remember, if you can
Tilt: Do you possess
not determine that any of
and constantly exhibit the
your opponents are making
emotional stability coupled
any errors in judgment then
with a deep knowledge
why stay in that game when
of the game to assure that
there must be easier pickings
you always play your best?
elsewhere. Weʼve all heard
Early in the Improving
the story about the ninth best
Performance series, I coined
Holdʼem player in the world
the phrase SST which
His only failing was that he
stands for Semi-Stealth-Tilt
regularly played with the top
I described SST as a form
eight players in the world!
of tilt which sneaks up on
In these last two columns
you by such small degrees
weʼve discussed what I
that by the time you realize
believe are the most common
that you are tilting youʼve
areas of weakness in many a
been playing below your
playerʼs game. Most of these
best for some time. How
are not just elements that
about “Positive Tilt”? No,
one can learn well and then
thatʼs not an oxymoron but
forget about. Most of them
a description of the wildly
loose play exhibited by some are elements that constantly
need to be monitored so as
when they are on a rush.
not to slide into bad habits
Tilt is not just wide open
maniacal play brought on by that many of your opponents
exhibit. If any of these pita series of bad beats. In its
subtler forms it is even more falls resonate in your game
insidious. Constantly remind get busy on setting goals to
shore up your performance
yourself that your money
because these pitfalls will
deserves that you play your
absolutely eat up your bankbest at all times.
roll if not addressed. See you
Game Selection: Look
next “TIME”.
around... are you the sucker
Caro’s Word: “AVOIDING”
occasional lies. And theyʼre
uncomfortable having to do
it all the time – as in poker.
So, they latch on to the only
thing that seems natural
– weak when strong, strong
when weak.
So, remember when I
told you that poker players
look away when they have
a good hand and, often, at
you when theyʼre bluffing?
Their wagering (calling,
betting, or raising) will be
inline with the true nature
of their hands. If strong
and waiting for you to bet,
theyʼll look away. Their
pending wager represents
the truth, yet they look
away. Theyʼre trying to lie
about their strong hands by
avoiding your eyes while
awaiting your bet, seeming
as if theyʼre not interested
in the pot. In effect, theyʼre
trying to make your bet
seem safe – a lie.
And there was todayʼs
word: Avoiding. Itʼs what
opposing eyes do when
they hold strong hands in
the strange arena of poker
where they must lie about
the size of your cow chips
in order to win.
Mike Caro is widely regarded as the worldʼs foremost
authority on poker strategy,
National Championship Of Poker
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Antoine Hasrouni . . . .
Vincent Burgio . . . . . . .
Ali Amirzadeh . . . . . . .
Robert Broder . . . . . . .
Gary Jacobi . . . . . . . . .
Peter Wu. . . . . . . . . . . .
$7,040
$4,875
$3,790
$2,710
$2,165
$1,735
6.
7.
8.
9.
Peter Paik . . . . . . . . . . . $1,490
Daniel Seligman . . . . . . $1,065
Sy Sundell. . . . . . . . . . . . . $850
Ali Lari . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $640
EVENT #4
10/23/04
EVENT #3
EVENT #2
PLAYERS 125
REBUYS 94
PLAYERS 302
REBUYS 220
PLAYERS 200
REBUYS 214
ADD-ONS 146
PRIZE POOL
PRIZE POOL
$54,400
PRIZE POOL
Andre De Montesquiou
Frank Earnest
Frank Earnest . . . . . . $16,945
Hai Le . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $8,500
Antoine Hasrouni . . . . $4,250
Abraham Barbarians . $2,765
Hung Nguyen . . . . . . . . $2,125
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Andre De Montesquiou$36,935
Gary Jacobi . . . . . . . . $19,245
Rick Villapanda . . . . . . $9,625
Dennis Thorn . . . . . . . . $6,585
Michelle Daugherty . . . $4,570
Mickey Mouse . . . . . . . $3,545
Shaun Tinoosh . . . . . . . $2,535
BUY-IN $100 + $25
PLAYERS 350
REBUYS 465
ADD-ONS 238
PRIZE POOL
$102,300
Alex Basile
Sam Alaama
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
10/20/04
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
BUY-IN $100 + $25
$101,300
$42,500
10/21/04
EVENT #1
LIMIT HOLD’EM
10/22/04
BUY-IN $200 + $30
BUY-IN $200 + $30
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
NO LIMIT HOLD’EM
LIMIT HOLD’EM
9. Marco Arevalo . . . . . . . . . $815
8. David Rummler . . . . . . $2,025
9. David Rich . . . . . . . . . . $1,620
Sam Alaama . . . . . . . . $21,750
Freddie Legaspi . . . . . $10,880
Danny Morgan. . . . . . . $5,440
Clarita Canaman . . . . . $3,535
Frank Earnest . . . . . . . $2,720
Andrew Cohen . . . . . . . $1,905
Joseph Lopez, Sr. . . . . . $1,360
Hung Du . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,090
1.
2.
3.
4.
Alex Basile . . . . . . . . . $37,310
Matt Snodgrass . . . . . $19,435
David Adraby. . . . . . . . $9,720
Param Gill . . . . . . . . . . $6,650
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.
Continued from page 29
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
George Yutuc . . . . . . . .
Henry Khauv . . . . . . . .
Peter Paik . . . . . . . . . . .
Mike Wenkel . . . . . . . .
Hugo Mejis . . . . . . . . . .
$4,605
$3,580
$2,560
$20,45
$1,635
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N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
31
Let them know...
I’ve stated a number of times about my background dealing cards on the green felt. For the most part, I enjoyed
dealing the cards. There are a myriad of things that happen at the table when a group of “hell bent for leather”
patrons partake in this fickle game called poker. First and
foremost I, as the dealer, am the deliverer-not the author
Dealer Vibes
By Donald W. Woods, Jr.
of bad news. Subsequently, when you the
player receive a “bad beat” from me the
dealer, please don’t feel free to; return to
sender! My job is to deliver the message (as
is) to the addressee. Many times that message
contains some egregious errors of fair play. I didn’t write
the script that culminated with the bad result. However,
for some players the difference is a matter of semantics.
Since I delivered the cards I must suffer the pain in concert with the losing player. Having said that, I will reveal a
slight imperfection. I can get a serious attitude and have
little tolerance for “bad actors” at the table. I know that I
shouldn’t react to everything that’s said or done. However,
if the abuse persists I’d usually allow my temper to dictate
the future proceedings. Yeah, I know, I know, that’s why I’m
not dealing now.
Here’s a little aside that happened to me years ago.
While I was a top section dealer, I happened upon a fellow
dealer who decried: “please take my spot in the rotation,
I’ll give you x number of bucks” Well, in those days this
particular game was know as the game from HELL! Many
dealers didn’t want to deal this game. Being the patron
saint that I am, I said, yes. I glided up to the door in a real
good mood. As I ventured in my eyes met the departing
female dealers eyes and found a river of tears. Uh, oh, I
think I made a bad deal. When suddenly, “HEY DEALER, ARE
YOU HERE? The players almost in unison whaled to me. I
sat down to discover the guy in seat nine was my number
one nemesis. This is going to be a tough 30 minutes, I surmised. After dealing one hand of hold’em the guy in seat
#9 began to get verbally abusive. I searched the table for
a friendly face, no such luck. In the middle of dealing the
next hand, seat nine was in the midst of his usual tirades
when he discovered two black kings. I know because he just
knew I wasn’t going to deliver him anything and just sort of
turned them up. The other players hadn’t noticed the cards,
but his sudden cease of berating me to raise the pot should
have been a tip-off. After some spirited raises by probably
pocket pairs of queens and jacks, my (hero) in seat #9
could probably taste the money after a flop of 3, diamond,
3, spades, K diamond. The player in seat #9 has flopped a
full house! Seat #9 is in real good shape after a turn card
of 3, clubs. Four players left to the last river card of.........3
of hearts! Yes I said 3 of hearts. Seat #9’s full house, no
good. The player in seat #6 is sitting with the ace-queen
of diamonds. So the final board reads: K-3-3-3-3. Seat#9
has 4,3’s and a king. Seat #6 has 4,3’s and an ace. I knew
I was trouble at this point, so I braced myself. Seat #9
turned toward me in a threatening manner and with ballistic; “You @#$%@#$ dealer, why don’t you.............” Then I
just snapped, he said the magic words! “Let me tell you and
everyone else at this @#$% table, don’t ever talk to me in
that manner again. If you should decide that I’m bluffing,
rest assured that I won’t be this nice again” Sometimes I
think you need to let them know....I’m not the one.
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
32
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
Snowy Night...
A
snowstorm in
Central New
York. No surprise. Theyʼre as common as busted flushes
around here. This is
quite a storm though.
There have to be a dozen
cars off the road on the
nineteen-mile stretch
from Utica to my happy
place, The Turning Stone
Resort and Casino in
Verona. On the Thruway,
the semis have pulled
into parking areas and
cozily huddle together,
smoke spiraling from
their ever-running
engines, their cabs giving off a nice homey
glow. Inside their cabs,
the truckers are drinking
thermos coffee, watching
drop-down DVD players,
and working their CBs,
trying to see if they can
get a hooker out here on
a snowmobile.
My running buddy,
Mongoose, and I, however, are made of heartier
stuff. We crawl along in
the wake of a Thruway
Authority snowplow,
lamenting the timidity of
those who have disrupted
their routines because of
a little inclement weather. When we swing off
at the Turning Stoneʼs
exit, the tollbooth collector doesnʼt seem to share
our equanimity. She
looks as startled to see
us as our wives would if
we were to come home
early some night.
“Kind of snowy, isnʼt
it,” she suggests when
we pull up to pay our
toll. Sheʼs looking at us
as though we might be
weak-minded.
“A little,” Mongoose
allows. Heʼs just being
agreeable. He really
doesnʼt get her point.
“Any trouble getting to
the Casino?” I ask, leaning towards Mongooseʼs
window. Being a married
man, I very much get
her point.“Just follow
the tracks in the snow,”
she sighs. My guess is
that sheʼs someoneʼs
wife. And she does have
a point. When we get to
the crossroad at the end
of the Thruway off ramp
we can see that to the
east the snow is quite
high and unimpressed by
tire tracks but, blessedly,
the road west has been
worn shiny by casinobound traffic. Merrily,
we follow the wellworn path blazed by our
intrepid brethren. At the
casino, the valet parking guys relieve us of
our car and any need to
trudge through the snow
that continues to pile up
outside of the protection
of the canopy.
Inside, as always,
everything is sweetness and light. Our table
in the Empire Room is
awaiting, the hostess is
smiling, and our waitress
is beaming. Dinner is, as
always, delicious.
“Shall we get to the
Poker Room, Stanley?” I
ask, dabbing the corner
of my mouth with a napkin.
“We should, Ollie,”
answers Mongoose, who
seldom misses a line, or
a tell.
“Let it snow, let it
snow, let it snow,” we
hum as we head for the
Poker Room. It is comfortingly full, busy as
ever.
“Brenda,” I say to
our dealer as we take
our seats, “it looks
like youʼre going to
have to take all of us
home tonight.” She is a
delight, one of the many
local women thrilled to
have a job that doesnʼt
involve pumping gas or
serving school lunches.
“Ainʼt gonna happen,”
she says looking over her
glasses at the homeliest group of adventurers
to have come this way
since Lewis and Clark
traipsed through here in
1804.
“Howʼs the snow,
anyway?” one of the
grizzled players asks as
we take our seats. Itʼs
going to be that kind of
night. Each time a new
guy comes in, everyoneʼs
going to feel compelled
to ask about the weather.
“Why?” I ask the
daily attendee. “The roof
could collapse from the
weight of the new fallen
snow and you wouldnʼt
budge from that seat as
long as they kept dealing.”
The guy shrugs. He
knows Iʼm right. But for
now heʼs trying to give
an impersonation of a
guy with enough sense to
come in out of the rain,
or in this case, to go
home in a snowstorm.
“Hey, no problem”
Mongoose placates.
“Whatʼs the worse that
can happen? We get
stuck in a hotel with
pretty serving girls and
all night poker?”
“Sounds good to me,”
says one guy.
“Yeah,” agrees anoth-
...fiction by Gil Duross
er. “Thereʼre people paying good money for getaway weekends like this.
But other guys keep
proclaiming their intention to get out of here
before itʼs too late. But,
as always, the lure of the
big hand about to happen keeps them rooted
to their seats, the same
as it would on a balmy
summer eve. Besides, if
there was ever a group of
poker players that could
outlast a snowstorm, this
is it.
Once in a while, as
a precursor to actually
leaving, some fellow
will arrange his chips in
one hundred chip racks,
but soon he plucks them
back out of the racks
and sets them in front of
himself again.
“I see youʼre tidying up, at least, but you
donʼt seem to be getting
to the door.” Itʼs as close
as they get to leaving.
They grin sheepishly and
continue playing.
A while later in the
evening, after the flop,
Iʼm left heads up with
one of the more irascible
trailblazers, a fellow who
could do a stand-in for
Eskimo Clark. Iʼm on
an ace high flush draw.
Thereʼs a king in the flop
and my two small hearts.
I think I detect a small
wince under his beard and
so I put him on top pair
and a completely justified fear of my making a
flush. The turn was a nonheart ten, which didnʼt
stretch far enough for a
straight, and so he bet
and I call. At this point
we read each other so
well we might as well flip
them over. The turn is not
a heart, but it is an ace. If
Iʼve read him correctly; I
have him. I bet out.
“Son of a...” he
declares, slamming down
his cards.
“Kings?” I ask when
he then jumps up.
“Iʼm out of here,” he
declares. Heʼs pulling
on one of those Nikita
Khrushchev fur hats
down around his ears
and pulling up his collar
as prepares to storm out.
“Well, at least weʼve
learned a little something,” I say as the
steaming pair of kings
heads towards the door.
“Whatʼs that?” asks
our dealer who canʼt
remember having learned
much of anything in our
company.
“What itʼs going to
take to get someone to
go home tonight: an over
pair.”
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FROM PAGE
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N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
33
hirty years in Las
Vegas have not
altered David
“Chip” Reeseʼs approach to
the poker business.
He still prefers the biggest cash games he can
find, thank you very much.
Heʼll leave the book and
Internet deals, the movie
and TV possibilities to others.
Theyʼre just not his cup
of tea.
Just point him toward the
big games.
Reese has never won
one of the major brace-
T
for this game called poker.
He did collaborate on
Doyle Brunsonʼs “Super
System,” the how-to book
for a generation of wannabe poker champs. But aside
from such very occasional
distractions, Reese would
rather stick to playing
poker.
Heʼll leave his Las Vegas
home for an occasional
tournament, but his view
says that cash games represent a far more efficient
PLAYER
Profile
means of making money.
His cell phone rang
one night recently and the
nearly always upbeat Reese
answered it with a tone that
suggested he had nothing
on his mind except that call.
The caller explained his
purpose and Reese, lapsing
into an apologetic voice,
says, “You suppose this
could wait until maybe
tomorrow morning? Iʼm
playing four- and eightthousand right now.”
“Then youʼd better get
back to the game,” the
caller said.
But are there any significant new ventures in his life
these days?
“Nothing that I am really
actively doing,” Reese says.
“I am working on a project but I canʼt talk about it
yet. You know, Iʼve been
offered some consulting
things for TV, but, Iʼm really more of a poker player
than I am someone who
wants to get involved in a
lot of other stuff . . . A lot
of people are really taking
advantage of the opportunities that have come their
way as the consequence of
personal success and the
publicʼs appetite for poker
– Internet sites, books, CDs
and whatever else there is.”
Reese has given some
Poker Player is pleased to welcome Phil Hevener back to its pages.
Hevener was the Managing Editor of Poker Player from July 1983 to
December 1985. Phil wanted to produce his own publication, which he
did with Larry Hall. They called it, “Las Vegas Style.” A popular journalist who writes for many major publications, Phil was replaced in 1985 by
Gary Thompson, who is now the spokesman for Harrahs Entertainment.
34
DAVID “CHIP”
Reese
BY PHIL HEVENER
lets at the World Series of
Poker – he once finished
sixth in the WSPʼs main
event – but he was one of
the youngest people ever
voted into the Poker Hall
of Fame and he was invited
to participate in both of the
major made-for-TV poker
events filmed this year:
the “All-Stars of Poker”
now running on FSN and
ESPNʼs “Tournament of
Champions.”
The offers have been
lobbed his way, but Reese
likes to keep things simple
and profitable . . . very
profitable.
“What I am is a poker
player,” he says.
And few people do it better,
Even the visitors to online websites, people who
usually find it easy to trash
some of the most respect
names in poker, have trouble taking shots at Reese.
“Looks like the best cash
money player in the world,”
gushes one on-line visitor.
“Chip Reese is a worldclass poker player as well
as an incredibly nice human
being,” says another.
The 53-year-old
Dartmouth grad who
stopped through Las Vegas
in the summer of 1974
thinking heʼd visit a friend,
spend a few days here,
hasnʼt adjusted his focus
since he discovering he had
a certain winning instinct
thought to possible Internet
deals, but he does not like
the risks. “I still think there
is some risk involved. And
at this stage of my life . . .”
His voice trails off and
he shrugs, as though heʼs
saying, I just donʼt need it.
“Itʼs still a bit of a gray
area and I really donʼt want
to do anything that would
be deemed illegal.”
As one of the best known
and most respected of the
high stakes pros does he
still have people coming to
town wanting to take him
on at the poker table?
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
“Thereʼs always going to
be people like that. Those
circumstances have always
existed. I meanʼ Iʼve always
been in the big game. The
size of the big game has
certainly grown. Back in
the 1970s, playing at limits
of a thousand and two-thousand, that was a huge, huge
game. Compare that with
someone like Andy . . .”
A reference to Dallas
banker and billionaire Andy
Beal whose passion for
heads-up Texas hold ʻem
has led him to play hold
ʻem in Las Vegas for ultrahigh limits of a $100,000
and $200,000.
“What Andyʼs done,”
Reese says,”Thatʼs a very
rare thing, a really unusual
situation, but certainly there
are always going to be
guys, smart guys who have
a lot of money and they
want to play. They want to
learn a game and be good
at it.”
Any sign that Beal is
ready to accept the challenge of poker legend
Doyle Brunson who speaks
for a group of Las Vegas
gamblers who would combine resources to put up
$40 million if Beal will
agree to do the same?
The result would be what
poker pro Howard Lederer
terms, “The biggest poker
game ever.”
Reese says, “I think there
has been some talk. I think
he (Beal) wants to play, and
I think there is some negotiating going on, beginning
to go on, what the structure
would be and where theyʼd
play.”
Reese hesitates for a
moment, adding, “Theyʼre
gonna play. There will be
a game somewhere in the
near future. You can rest
assured of that.”
Perhaps two casinos have
at least briefly toyed with
the possibility of turning
such a game into a television event.
Not a bad idea, depending on the willingness of all
involved to take TV poker
to a new level.
Would this big game be
in Las Vegas or perhaps
somewhere in Texas?
“Iʼm not sure,” Reese
says. “It just depends on
how the negotiations turn
out.”
How often does Reese
play now?
“Ooooh, have to think
about that for a moment;
maybe a couple days
a week, usually at the
Bellagio or over at the
Hustler club, you know
with Larry (Flynt) and then
every once in a while Iʼll
get on a plane and go to a
tournament.”
Why not spend more
time with tournaments?
“You know Iʼve got a lot
of other things going on in
my life . . . To go on the
tournament circuit it is really a high fluctuation. You
know, good players do well
in the tournaments, eventually, if they play in enough
of them. Itʼs kind of like
being a salesman knocking
on doors. If youʼre a good
salesman youʼre gonna do
better than others, but if
youʼre not out there knock-
ing on doors regularly nothing is going to happen.”
He thinks about that,
adding, “I only have so
many hours in the day and
I do a lot of other things
now besides play poker.
My family take up a lot of
time. The fact is thereʼs a
lot more money playing in
the big games than there is
running around chasing the
tournament circuit.”
Reese is a long, long
way down the winding road
from that moment in 1974
when he hit Las Vegas for
the first time with $400 in
his pocket – “just to visit a
friend” – and sat down to
play $3-$6 hold ʻem. He
won and he won. A $500
tournament at the Sahara
got his attention, he entered
that and won it as well,
earning $60,000 in prize
money.
It was enough to have
Reese rethinking his priorities.
“Instead of going to graduate school (at Stanford,
where he would have
studied law or business),
I decided to hang out here
and never left. Life was just
too much fun.”
Did he ever play another
session of 3-6 after those
first few days?
“No,” he grins, “I pretty
quickly moved up to 10-20,
played that for awhile and
then graduated to 30-60.”
He and his buddy worked
as partners ¬– splitting their
bankroll and playing in
shifts.
Victor H. Royer: Some Thoughts on Sklansky
I
n an issue of Card
Player magazine
(Volume 16, No.
15, July 18, 2003,
page 34), renowned game
theorist and mathematician, David Sklansky, wrote
what to my thinking is
one of the most important
articles about poker, and
gambling in general, that
has yet appeared anywhere.
It shows in Davidʼs own
words what I think so many
players, authors, statisticians, mathematicians, and
experts have seemed to
have forgotten, or have chosen not to discuss. And it is
not what you may think.
Before I go on with my
discussion, I first want to
categorically state that I am
not in opposition to David,
and that I happen to hold
him and his works in the
highest regard. Because of
what I am about to say, it
is important that all readers
remember this -- it would
be very easy to misunderstand the point of my article, or of my discussion.
In his article, David
describes a hand that he
played at the 2003 WSOP,
in the main event. He
describes the circumstances
of the big blindʼs all-in
move, and his thinking process that eventually led him
to his decision to call all-in
with pocket 7s. You should
read that article for yourself
before continuing with my
article here, because it will
help you understand the
point of my discussion, and
it really isnʼt necessary for
me to reprint that article
in its entirety here in my
column. Suffice it to say
that Davidʼs decision to call
was the result of some seriously positive mathematics.
David reasoned that he had
about 36.5 percent chance
of an even bet, under those
circumstances. Further, he
postulated that his opponentʼs holdings were probably something like A-K or
A-Q. His calculations are
very well demonstrated in
that portion of his article,
and he reached the conclusion that his chances were
“about 34.5 out of 87, just
short of 40 percent.”
Based on this very
detailed and perfect mathematical analysis, David
reached the conclusion that
his call was justified. He
called. As he expected, he
writes, “.... my well-known
opponent showed K-Q.” He
continues to point out that
had he considered the K-Q
possibility in his calculations, he would now actually have more than a 40
percent chance to prevail.
As a result of this, David
concludes that “.... my call
was clear-cut.”
Now, it is here that I
have a point of discussion
that seems to have been
overlooked. All this calculation was perfect, good, and
fine, and excellently dem-
onstrated the “laboratory
thinking” that is required to
prepare such a wonderfully
neat theory of what to do,
when, and why. But what of
this moment? This particular situation? This event?
This “now”? Well, as David
so succinctly put it in the
last line of his article, all of
that thinking and calculating “.... didnʼt stop a King
from coming.”
And thatʼs my point.
There is always this “what
if” factor, and although
mathematics does allow for
variances, variables, and
the anomalous occurrences
of unexpected events, often
such theoretical thinking
doesnʼt allow for the actual
real-world impact of the
occurrence of the irregular,
the indefinable, the incalculable and the numerically
unquantifiable. What was
Davidʼs point in this championship? I hope it was to
win, rather than to validate
the theory of the mathematical analysis that led
to the theoretically-correct
but factually devastating
reality. If the objective is
to win, then the process of
doing so does not require
mathematics alone -- it also
requires the ability to not
use it when the moment
calls for a non-numerical
and non-theoretical consideration. In this case, perhaps, the thought may have
been to save the small stack
and play another hand. The
challenge of the all-in call
may have been “clear cut”
when thought through from
within the confines of the
mathematical model of
game theory, but was clearly the wrong thing to do in
the light of the real-world
reality. The outcome speaks
for itself.
Well, before all of you
math wizards start craving
for my blood and building
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
35
TELLS, PART V: Four More Clues to
Your Opponents’ Hands
STUD SENSE
By ASHLEY ADAMS
4. The Type of Player They Are. Tight
players play fewer hands; loose players play more hands. Aggressive players tend to raise
while passive players tend to call or check. By keeping
in mind the type of player you’re against you’ll have a
better idea of what he’s likely to hold. For example, if
an aggressive player raises in late position with an Ace
there’s a very good possibility that he’s bluffing. If a
passive player makes the same move he’s less likely
to be bluffing. If a tight player raises from early position with a Premium card tend to give her credit for a
Premium Pair. Similarly, if she pairs her door card and
bets or raises tend to give her credit for trips. You get
the idea. Pay attention to the type of player your opponent is, remember it, and use the knowledge to help you
figure out their likely hand.
5. The Type of Player They Think You Are. Here’s
a good reason to think about your image. If your opponents think of you as a tight aggressive player then
if they call your raise they are likely to have a decent
hand. But if you’ve been caught bluffing a few times
lately and are thought of as a loose wild player, then
their call might not mean strength at all – maybe just
that they think you’re bluffing again. This clue tends
to be more useful against your better opponents who
notice how you play. But even the most simple opponents are capable of having a general impression of you
based on your most recent and obvious action. So don’t
discount the possibility that your very, very tight play
– folding every hand for a half hour for example – has
convinced even the newest player that you are very
tight. By the way, if you think your image has become
so tight that you won’t get any action from even the
bad players at the table why not go for a walk. Don’t
worry, your bad opponents may have noticed how tight
you were – but they’re likely to have very bad and short
memories for such things. Come back after fifteen minutes or so and expect them to call you as if you were as
loose as they were.
6. The Size of the Pot. If there’s a large pot expect
your better opponents to try to win it by bluffing or semibluffing. If the pot is small they’re less likely to be on a
steal. Small pots aren’t worth the risk; large pots are.
Of course you need to combine this clue with your other
observations about the type of player they are. If they’re
bad or otherwise inexperienced players they may not pay
attention to the pot at all when they bet – in which case
its size doesn’t affect their betting. But if they’re good
solid players then expect them to be more likely to be
making a play at a large pot than at a small one.
7. Other Tells. Good players sometimes exhibit traits
that tend to expose the value of their hands. The best
book on that subject is Mike Caro’s Book of Tells. I recommend it highly for anyone who wants to put some energy
into this topic. It has helped me immensely. In the mean
time, let me share a few of what I call “giveaway tells”.
These are actions that even experienced opponents make
that tend to reveal what they have. There are some giveaway tells that I’ll cover in my next column.
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
36
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
asked & answered:
CO N T I N U E D F R O M PAG E
with three cards of the same
suit in seven-card stud.
Q #5 ANSWER: (b). It’s false.
The odds against starting
with a pair in any poker game
are completely independent
of the amount of cards dealt
or the number of opponents.
It makes no difference whether unknown cards remain in
the deck or are dealt facedown to others – they are
still unknown and must be
20
accounted for as such.
Q #6 ANSWER: (b). It’s 220to-1 against starting with a
pair of aces in hold ’em.
Q #7 ANSWER: (b). It’s also
220-to-1 against starting
with a pair of deuces (or any
other pair) in hold ’em. Aces
are no harder to get than
any other rank. We just care
more about them, because
we’ve arbitrarily decided
they’re worth more.
Q #8 ANSWER: (d). It’s 4.75to-1 against hitting an open-end
straight on the river in hold ’em
(if you make no assumption
about opposing cards).
Q #9 ANSWER: (b). It’s 407to-1 against making four of a
kind in hold ’em if you begin
with a pair.
Q #10 ANSWER: (d). It’s
impossible to flop a straight
or flush in hold ’em if you
begin with a pair.
POKER PLAYER:
IT’S ON THE INTERNET!
The entire publication of Poker Player, ads and all, is now available on
the internet. You can read the Current issue and all of our back issues, in
their entirety, by going to: www.gamblingtimes.com/poker_player.
Player Profile
Which is about the time
he had an epiphany . . .
a head-on collision with
opportunity, is what it was.
“I was playing 30-60 one
day at the Flamingo and
looked over and saw this
game with all black chips.
It was Doyle (Brunson) and
Johnny Moss and Puggy
(Pearson) and some others
. . . I was watching, they
wouldnʼt let me very near
the table but they were
playing four- and eight-hundred high-low split.”
Chuckling at this memory.
“I kept watching. I
thought they were playing horribly. I felt sure of
myself because this was a
game I had spent a lot of
time playing in college.”
So Reese calls his friend
and partner who was home
sleeping after playing his
shift of thirty-sixty.
“We had a bankroll then
of maybe $50,000 and
I talked him into taking
$30,000 of that – more than
half of all our money, and
putting it into this game,
because it was clear these
guys did not know what
they were doing when it
came to high-low split. I
was a waaaaay better player.
I had played it at Dartmouth
every day because it is
kind of an East Coast game
and these guys there at the
Flamingo were a bunch of
Texans playing a game they
didnʼt really know.”
In that first day, the
brash, young college kid
won $66,000 playing
against Brunson, Moss and
the others who even then
were Vegas icons.
This was on a Thursday
and before the weekend
was over he had won more
than $300,000.
There was no looking
back after that.
Reese remembers those
early months in Las Vegas
as a time when he was taking on a cast of poker players that included “a lot of
Damon Runyon characters.
They had a lot of skills
that people today do not
have. A lot of todayʼs poker
players are much more
mathematical. They donʼt
have as much of the gambling savvy that you saw
with a lot of the old timers
who didnʼt have any of the
dozens of books that are
around now telling you how
to play.
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In
the Kingdom
of Poker,
where lions
roar, witches brood,
knights slay dragons
and monsters prowl
ʻThe Riverʼ, there rules
a beautiful Queen. Her
domain is a crystal
palace in The Biggest
Little City.
The Kings of the
Queen
of the Eldorado
B Y
B Y R O N
Eldorado decided to add
poker to the Golden Castle
in 1998. To rule their new
Court of Cards, the Kings
sent word throughout the
land for someone who
was knowledgeable, experienced, well liked and
highly respected. From
Pokerʼs Royalty stepped
Margie Heintz.
Since then, Queen
Margie has made her
poker fiefdom the busiest
in Northern Nevada. She
offers her subjects a variety of weekly tournaments
and spreads live games
from $3-6 to no-limit
holdʼem. The bad-beat
jackpot for holdʼem (must
get quads beat) is over
$70,000!
When the Great History
Book of Poker is written, a special chapter
will be devoted to the
“Queen of the Eldorado”.
L I G G E T T
Throughout her career,
she has worked and been
friends with the lords,
legends and leaders of the
game.
Maid Margie grew-up in
Montana where her family
was among the territoryʼs
early pioneers. Both her
great-grandfathers ran
illegal poker games all
over the Big Sky Country.
She was a young lass
when the state legalized
poker in 1974. Suddenly,
every tavern and bar was
a cardroom. One day
Margie wandered into one
of the joints. Like Alice in
Wonderland, it was a lifealtering experience.
“I knew immediately
was where I was supposed to be,” she recalls,
“I connected with it all
-- the game, the players,
the environment. It was
VILLAGE CLUB CARD ROOM
NO
BUST
OPEN EVERYDAY
24 HOURS A DAY
7 DAYS A WEEK
BLACKJACK
Pai Gow • Poker • Blackjack
Texas Hold-Em • Caribbean Stud
Royer on Sklansky
Gourmet Dining
Eat While You Play
Breakfast • Lunch
Dinner • Cocktails
scaffolds, let me assure you
that I am in no way disputing, nor diminishing, the
importance of mathematics in gambling, nor in the
strategies that are required
for gaming success. On the
contrary -- I am very fond
of such clear-cut analyses.
I do, however, wish to
point out that reliance on
mathematics alone is not
the sole and only answer
-- the math, the stats, and
odds and percentages are
all important, but more as a
guideline to success, rather
than the Holy Grail of all
that there is, or should be.
A little metaphysical smarts
just may add a little color
to all those dry and dark
numbers.
Victor H. Royer is the
author of 20 books on
casino gaming. His newest
series of 12 books began
with Powerful Profits from
Video Poker and Powerful
Profits from Blackjack. All
his books, including the
latest on Video Poker, are
now available in all major
book stores, or from The
Gamblerʼs Book Shop at
1-800-522-1777. His two
new books on Poker will be
released in 2005.
SINCE 1946
(619) 425-3333
429 BROADWAY
CHULA VISTA, CA 91910
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
37
The Grand Old Man of Poker
BacK in the saddle Again
By OKLAHOMA JOHNNY HALE
38
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
As is appropriate for an
introductory book, Strahan
begins by discussing the
basics of poker, hand rankings, betting, and the structure of the game. In my
opinion many beginning books underestimate just how confusing the mechanics of
casino poker can be to
a complete novice. I
believe that anyone
who needs to be told
that a flush beats a
straight probably also
needs to be told how
to buy in to a cash
game or tournament as
well. Information of
the former sort is usually present in introductory poker books,
the latter rarely is. This is
the case in Strahanʼs book
as well. The introduction material runs about
17 pages in length. The
balance of the book covers
Holdʼem strategy. Advice
on starting hands, play on
later streets, bluffing, and
information on calculating
odds is provided. Most of
this goes by pretty quickly,
as one might expect from a
book in a small form factor
with only 60 pages.
There are many problems with Strahanʼs book,
but there are two huge
problems that stand out.
The first is that it riddled
with typographical errors,
especially in the first half
of the book. The number of errors makes most
of the examples of play
essentially unreadable. I
can only imagine the tremendous confusion this
is likely to cause novice
players learning about
poker for the first time.
The second problem is
the advice isnʼt consistent,
and most of the advice
isnʼt all that good. In the
introduction the author
states that the advice in
this book is geared mostly
toward no-limit Holdʼem
tournaments. Actually, it
looks to me like most of
the examples are geared
more toward playing limit
Holdʼem. Either way, the
advice is atrocious. In my
text quickly and without
transition in such a way
that itʼs a struggle for the
reader to figure out what
Strahan is talking about.
Admittedly, some of the
advice in the
book isnʼt
bad. For
example, most,
but not all, of what Strahan
has to say about bluffing
I agree with. Between the
bad advice, overall lack
of coherence, and the high
number of typographical errors “Learn How to
Win at Texas Holdʼem
Poker for 5 Bucks!”
is almost unreadable,
and this doesnʼt even
consider the tiny type
face used that will
strain the eyes of
anyone with less than
perfect vision.
Sure, this book
costs only $5 (and
even costs the same in
Canada), but several
books exist that provide much more and
better information that
arenʼt that much more
expensive. Readers
would be better off learning poker from another
source. Strahanʼs book
just isnʼt any good. Donʼt
buy it.
—Nick Christenson
Get beat holding pocket aces in Hold’em
and we’ll give you a $100 rack of chips.*
Daily...
6 AM – Noon
*$4-$8 and lower limit hold’em games only.
E
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.seniorpoker.
com. Johnny’s book, “The Gentleman Gambler,” is
in its third printing. Contact Johnny for your copy.
by Mark Strahan
Fair Shake 2005, 60pp
ISBN 0-321-28781-9 $5.00
opinion, advising beginning players to play hands
like 7-5, a suited Q-2, or
a suited 5-3 even in late
position in an unraised pot
is a recipe for ruin.
Overall, the book does
not have a consistent feel,
which is inexcusable since
itʼs not as long as many
chapters in other books.
The author switches con-
BLUE LIN
When Carol ,Sarah and I were up at our
Thousand Pines ranch last weekend in Williams,
Arizona. I found a book in our library that I had been searching for. It was written by a friend of mine by the name of Don
Jenkins. It is about one of the greatest poker players of all
time—John Hardie Moss Jr., sometimes called the Champion of
Champions as well as “The Grand Old Man of Poker.”
Don’s book about Johnny Moss is a portrait of one of the greatest poker players of our time. The book was autographed for me by
Johnny about twenty five years ago and I had misplaced the book.
They wanted me to come out to the Bar B Q and help Carol,
Sarah and Mike cook the chicken and corn on the cob, but I got
interested in rereading Johnny’s book. You know I like to help
with the cooking, but Carol and Sarah cook much better than I
do—I am pretty good at eating... and it shows.
If you and the folks have read my book “The Gentleman
Gambler,” you will find that I wrote a little bit about Johnny’s
end game—The way it was with him when he cashed out his chips
down at the old Horseshoe in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Johnny came to the inaugural of “The Seniors” World
Championship of Poker (a lot of years ago when I was much
younger) down in Oceanside, California. Johnny was the first
poker player to ever be inducted into “The Seniors” WCOP Poker
Players Hall of Fame.
Don Jenkins writes about Johnny’s life as a kid and young
man—about his life and times in the early days when he was
learning all about life and the living of it and poker and the playing of it. I am sure the book is out of print now, and I just know
that my friend Don will not mind if I retell a couple of stories
from the book.
One story that I liked was kind of like the movie “A Big Hand
for the Little Lady” where the local banker backs the play of a
poker hand—but that is a another story for another day.
It seemed that Johnny’s foot had missed the log and his
bankroll was low—Johnny’s bankroll was always up and down like
a roller coaster that never stopped—so he decided to give the
local bank in Odessa, Texas a little business and let the bank loan
him a little money.
Quoting from Don’s book,
Johnny went to the 1st National bank on Monday
morning to talk to the loan officer. He talked to Mr.
Ernie Schur, the vice president and told him he wanted
to borrow ten thousand dollars. Mr. Schur asked him
what he had for security. Johnny responded, “None,
except for my skill.” The banker asked, “ What skill is
that?” Johnny responded, “I’m a professional gambler.”
Johnny got the loan and repaid it with interest.
Stay tuned in and I will get back in the saddle and tell a
little more about the “Grand Old Man of Poker!” But before I
go this time, here are a couple of things that the Champion of
Champions, Johnny Moss, told me about playing poker.
“It’s no disgrace to be broke,” but you should remember, “To
learn any game, you have to play with the best—the ones who
play every day!”
I agreed with Johnny and told him, “Yes, I know that I do not
have to reinvent the wheel—I can just watch how the winners
play and I can take the money home and count it there.”
Until next time, remember to STAY LUCKY!!!
Learn How to Win at
Texas Holdʼem Poker
for Five Bucks
Alameda Blvd.
Folks, do you remember the “Grand Old Man of Poker”?
No, folks, it is not me! I have been referred to from time to time
as “The Elder Statesman of Poker!” I am getting a little bit older
but I have never been called “The Grand Old Man of Poker.” That
title belongs to a very special old time gambler—Mr. Johnny Hardie Moss Jr.
Book reviews
123 E. Artesia Blvd., Compton, CA 90220
(310) 631-3838 ♠ www.crystalparkcasino.com
f
f
f
said. “Weʼre very busy. The
players really like what
weʼve got going on.”
The Win River
poker room is already
so busy that, according to Wehunt, the
room will be temporarily closed
to make way
for the first
expansion,
set to open on
November 19.
“Weʼre going to have
As
we move
into northern
California for
the final installment of our
series on California card
and poker rooms, we see
as we move away from the
San Diego-LA-Bay Area
card rooms that, while
there are many card rooms
and casinos offering poker
alike whose excitement for
the game of poker is no
different or less than those
players who frequent the
larger clubs to the south.
With the increasing interest in poker overall, some
rooms have attempted to
expand or, in some cases,
be reopened. Such is the
case with the Win River
By Jason Zinzilieta
seven tables total and add
shuffling machines to all
the tables,” Wehunt said.
Along with this expansion
will come the casinoʼs first
foray into tournament poker.
“At first, weʼll just do
one no-limit tournament on
OPEN
HOURS
TABLES
GAMES
NO
LIMIT?
HIGH
LIMITS
W-Sun 6p
2
H
N
5-10
Daily 6:30p
Daily 5:30p
M-F 10a; Sa-Su 24hrs
5
4
4
H Oh/l
H Oh/l
H Oh/l P
N
N
Y
5-10
5-10
10-20
2
3
4
Humboldt County
Blue Lake Casino
Blue Lake
Cher-Ae Heights
Trinidad
S & K Card Room
Eureka
5
6
Shasta County
Casino Club
Win River Casino*
Redding
Redding
24/7
Wed-Sun 24hrs
6
4
All Games
H
Y
N
3-6
7
8
9
Butte County
Feather Falls Casino
Angie’s Poker Room
Gold Country Casino*
Oroville
Chico
Oroville
M-F 4p; S-S Noon
M-F 7p; S-S 5:30p
M-F 4p; S-S 11:30a
6
3
2
H
H Oh/l 7h/l
H Oh/l
N
N
N
4-8
2-8
4-8
10
Nevada County
Gold Rush Card Room
Grass Valley
W-Sun Noon
4
Dealer’s Choice
Y
Pot Limit
11
Colusa County
Colusa Casino
Colusa
W1p;F3p;Sa12p;Su11a
6
H 7
N
3-6
12
Yolo County
Cache Creek
Brooks
24/7
12
H
Y
6-12
13
Placer County
Dealer’s Choice Card Room Auburn
W-F 7p; Sun 3p
2
H Oh/l
Y
5-10
14
15
16
17
18
19
Sacramento County
Capitol Casino
Lucky Derby
Silver Fox Card Room
Phoenix Casino
Del Rio Hotel & Casino
Big Tomato Card Club
7
6
7
4
4
3
H
H Oh/l
H
H
H
H
N
Y
N
N
N
N
9-18
8-16
20-40
10-20
5-10
3-6
20
21
San Joaquin County
Casino Real
Manteca
Comstock Card Room Tracy
24/7
M-W 5p; Th-Su 24hrs
6
3
H Oh/l
H
Y
N
9-18
4-8
M-F 10a; Sa-Su 24hrs
4
H Oh/l
N
10-20
22
Sacramento
24/7
Citrus Heights
24/7
Sacramento
24/7
Citrus Heights
24/7
Isleton
Mon-Tue, Fri-Sat 10a
Sacramento
Daily 10a
Stanislas County
Mike’s Card Casino
Oakdale
*Expanding
Hours and limits may vary
throughout the northern
California area, most are
smaller rooms with fewer
tables, rather than the larger
poker rooms of the metropolitan areas. However,
fewer tables does not necessarily translate into a lack of
interest; the card rooms and
casinos here are busy, offering tournaments and games
to local players and tourists
Casino in Redding, where
according to table games
manager Patric Wehunt, the
poker room reopened on
September 22, 2004 with
four tables after a hiatus of
four and a half years.
“With all the poker thatʼs
going on on television and
all the interest in it, we
decided to open it up and
give it a shot,” Wehunt
you give a tournament to
get live action, youʼre not
going to give up live action
to put a tournament down.”
Rosa was optimistic
about the future of poker in
California and said that, as
time has passed and poker
has gained popularity in the
past few years, his clientele
CALIFORNIA PART 4
Poker Rooms in Northern California
MAP # CASINO
CITY
Del Norte County
1
Elk Valley Casino
Crescent City
“Weʼre experiencing a
lot of new players, a lot of
younger interest,” Wehunt
said, and also stated that they
are “extremely optimistic”
about the future of poker at
the Win River.
“Weʼre thinking weʼre
going to have a lot more
interest,” Wehunt said.
Tuesday nights,” Wehunt
said, noting that the tournament schedule would start
growing soon after the
opening of the room expansion. “What weʼre thinking
is that a lot of these new
players are watching on
television, so what weʼre
going to do is offer a tournament thatʼs most similar
to whatʼs on TV.”
“Thatʼs why weʼre looking
at expanding quite a bit. We
have another facility that we
can utilize for the bigger tournaments, hundred-seat tournaments and stuff like that.”
Expansion has also been
on the mind of Clarke
Rosa, owner of the Capitol
Casino in downtown
Sacramento since its construction in 2000, who said
the biggest challenge in
remaining in business is to
get more tables and games.
“I had a bill in the legislature that passed, and I
was able to get two more
tables,” Rosa said, who
stated the new tables in his
room open in January.
Unlike many other card
rooms and casinos, Rosa
said the Capitol Casino
doesnʼt offer tournaments
because heʼs already busy
with live games.
“We canʼt give tournaments because weʼre full,”
Rosa said, who stated his
large SuperCash jackpots
tend to help draw customers. “Tournaments are
popular, so a club will give
tournaments so that when
itʼs over, the club hopes to
spin off a live game from it.
Well, if you donʼt have any
tables available, you canʼt
give a tournament, because
the law says that both
tournament tables and live
action tables canʼt exceed
the number of tables youʼre
licensed for. So if Iʼm
licensed for seven tables
and I give a tournament
that fills up five tables, that
means I can only have two
tables with live action. If
has gotten younger.
“Everyoneʼs seen an
increase in business because
of ESPN, the Travel Channel
and the Tournament of Stars,
and the Internet will teach
you how to play holdʼem for
nothing,” Rosa said. “When
people play on the computer,
youʼre just a spot on a table.
Once they get acquainted
with the game, then they
want to try live action. Thatʼs
when theyʼll come into a
card room, and the age group
that weʼre seeing doing this
is between 21 and 29. The
average card player used to
be older than 21 to 29.”
Throughout California, we
have seen all manner of card
rooms and casinos great and
small, offering everything
from multi-million dollar
tournaments to daily $1-$2
limit holdʼem games. While
poker rooms and casinos
vary across the state in many
ways , most of the owners
and casino managers we
spoke to agreed that poker is
only gaining ground in terms
of its popularity, with no end
yet in sight.
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
39
Entertainment
Listings
Entertainment RePORT
By LEN BUTCHER
As I was looking through the entertainment listings I saw that an old friend of mine is going to be
performing at the Riverside Resort Hotel & Casino in
Laughlin, NV this Nov. 9-14. The friend is Charo, who is on tour with her
latest production, “Disco Bolero” a mixture of her patented rhythms
and classical mastery of guitar.
If you’ve never seen her perform and you think I made a mistake
when I said “classical mastery of guitar” you’d be very, very wrong.
She has been twice voted “Best Guitar Player in the World” by Guitar
Player Magazine, and once you hear her play, you’ll understand why.
I first saw and met Charo in 1978 when she played the Sahara in
Las Vegas. Even her ex-husband, Latin bandleader Xavier Cugat flew in
for the show and she didn’t disappoint. I talked with her several times
over the next year, then didn’t see her again until two years ago when
she returned to Las Vegas and the Sahara with her show, “Bravo”, a
fast-paced variety-type show that in my opinion, blew away most of
the shows on the Strip.
Here she was again, guitar in hand, older and better, letting the
applause wash over her from an enthusiastic sell-out crowd, on their
feet and shouting “More, more.” Charo has come a long way, baby, and
like a fine wine, has improved with age.
Oh, don’t worry, the “Cuchi, Cuchi!” is still there, but it is joined by
her own brand of stand-up comedy, great dancers and her incredible
talent as a classical guitarist.
So I was delighted, after all these years, to join her in her dressing
room after the show to catch up on her life, which has seen her absent
from a Las Vegas stage for a number of years. That doesn’t mean she
hasn’t been busy. For those years, she and husband/manager Kjell
Rasten have been living in Hawaii and raising their son, Shel, now 22.
Time seems to have stood still for this Latin dynamo. She looks as
good as she did 26 years ago and has just as much energy, though she
has learned to spread it throughout the show, connecting more with
her audiences on a personal level.
“When I first came here, I did the whole show,” Charo says, “just
me, and much of it was because of ego and because the ‘Cuchi, Cuchi!’
was making me a lot of money. I also wasn’t a mama.
“Little by little I started coming back to my roots. I owe everything
to my mother and more and more I became my mother. I loved my
audiences, but my priorities had changed. My child and family came
first and I started respecting more the beautiful music.”
Charo said she left Las Vegas for good in 1989 to move to Hawaii.
The reason for moving, she says, is that she wanted her son to have
a normal life. “I didn’t want him being with a nanny, living in hotel
rooms, going from airport to airport. It wouldn’t be fair to him. We
chose Hawaii because we were familiar with the island. We had bought
a house in 1985 and opened a restaurant there, so it wasn’t like moving
to another planet.”
When they moved to Hawaii, “the Hilton Hawaiian Village, on Waikiki
Beach, created a show just like this one called ‘Tropical Heat.’ I performed there for 10 years, but when my son started at USC we moved
to our home in Beverly Hills. I wanted to be near him and also to keep
an eye on him, like a good mamacita.” But when the offer came to
return to Las Vegas, Charo, snapped it up.
Her favorite part of entertaining? No question. Her guitar playing. You
feel and sense the passion when she talks about it and when she plays.
No “Cuchi, Cuchi!” here. Just a talent that transforms a foot-tapping,
hands-clapping crowd to an awe-struck audience. “It’s my life. I love it.”
As for where the “Cuchi, Cuchi!” came from, when Maria Rosario
Pilar Martinez Molina Baeza was a little girl in her hometown of Murcia,
Spain, she had a dog named Cuchillo who used to wiggle his body when
he was happy. It wasn’t long before the 3-year-old was imitating him
and saying, “Como chuchi” (“like Cuchi”). So there you have it. I’m
sure millions of hot-blooded males around the world will now be naming their dogs Cuchillo.
You don’t want to miss this show if you’re anywhere near Laughlin.
Tickets are only 30 bucks, so no excuses.
Len Butcher, a 25-year resident of Las Vegas, is
an online columnist for the Las Vegas ReviewJournal and a former Managing Editor of the Las
Vegas Sun and of Gaming Today. Reach him at
lennylv@cox.net
40
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
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
CALIFORNIA
Agua Caliente Casino
Comedy Shop
Commerce Casino
Arena Patio
Ballroom Dance Party
Crystal Park Casino & Hotel Cambodian Dance Party
(38)
Karaoke
El As De Oros Night Club
Finish Line Lounge
Hollywood Park Casino (3)
Pechanga Resort & Casino Lynyrd Skynyrd
(34)
CONNECTICUT
L L Cool J
Foxwoods Resort Casino
Dolly Parton
Mohegan Sun Casino
MISSISSIPPI
Gold Strike Hotel Casino
Tanya Tucker
(Tunica)
Art Garfunkel
Grand Casino (Biloxi)
38 Special
Grand Casino (Tunica)
38 Special & Foghat
Grand Casino (Gulfport)
Horseshoe Casino (Tunica) Vince Gill
(15)
NEW JERSEY
Michael Flatley’s Lord of the
Taj Majal Hotel & Casino
Dance
Tropicana Casino & Resort David Clayton-Thomas with
Blood, Sweat & Tears
(Atlantic City)
NEW YORK
Irish Tenors
Turning Stone Casino
NEVADA-LAS VEGAS
Donn Arden’s Jubilee!
Bally’s Resort & Casino
O
Bellagio Resort & Casino
Binion’s Horseshoe Hotel & Honky Tonk Cowgirls
Casino
Vinnie Favorito
Boulder Station Hotel &
Mark Wills
Casino (8,19)
Peace Frog
Cannery Hotel & Casino
Thunder From Down Under
Excalibur Hotel & Casino
Gladys Knight
George Wallace
Flamingo Las Vegas
Bottoms Up
The Second City
Clint Holmes
Harrah’s Hotel & Casino
Imperial Palace Hotel &
Legends In Concert
Casino (17)
Blue Man Group
Luxor Resort & Casino
Midnight Fantasy
8:30 p.m. Featuring three top comedians
weekly.
East L.A., Live Wednesdays 9 p.m.; Top comics,
Karaoke Thursdays 8 p.m.
Thursdays 8 p.m. to Midnight, Sundays 2-6 p.m.
Fridays 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Nightly, except Tues., Wed.
Presents Banda Nortina Sats 8 p.m.-3 a.m.
Live Jazz, Tues. 8 p.m.
Nov 13, 8 p.m.
Nov 12, 9 p.m.
Nov 13, 8 p.m.
Nov 13, 8 p.m.
Nov 12, 8 p.m.
Nov 12, 8 p.m.
Nov 13, 8 p.m.
Nov 11, 9 p.m.
Nov 13, 6:30 & 10 p.m.
Nov 13, 8 p.m.
Nov 14, 8 p.m.
Saturday through Thursday, 8 p.m.
Fridays through Tuesdays, 7:30 & 10:30 p.m.
Ongoing, 7 & 11 p.m. (dark wednesdays)
Ongoing, Tue-Sat 8 p.m., Fri-Sat 8 p.m.
Nov 19, 8 p.m.
Nov 5-6, 9 & 11 p.m.
Fridays through Wednesdays. 8:30 & 10:30 p.m.
Tuesdays through Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 p.m.
Mondays through Saturdays, 2 & 4 p.m.
Thursdays through Tuesdays, 8 p.m.
Monday through Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Mondays through Saturdays, 7 & 10 p.m.
Mandalay Bay Resort &
Casino
Mamma Mia
Monte Carlo Resort & Casino
Magician Lance Burton
7 p.m. Nightly
Tuesdays through Sundays, 8:30 p.m.
7 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Sundays; 8 p.m.
Fridays; 7 & 10:30 p.m. Saturdays, Mondays.
Nov 13, 9 p.m.
8 p.m. (Monday thru Friday)
Tuesdays thru Saturdays, 7pm; Tuesdays &
Saturdays. 7 & 10 p.m.
The Orleans Hotel & Casino
(13)
Engelbert Humperdinck
Nov 11-14, 7:30 p.m.
Palace Station Hotel &
Casino (8)
Laugh Trax comedy club
7:30 & 10 p.m. Tuesdays thru Saturdays.
Andrea Bocelli
The Mirage Hotel & Casino (5) Impressionist Danny Gans
The Palms Hotel & Casino (27) George Clinton & P Funk
The Comedy Zone
Plaza Hotel & Casino (30)
Nov 14, 9 p.m.
9 p.m. Tuesdays thru Sundays.
Sahara Hotel & Casino (33)
The Platters, Coasters and
Drifters
8 p.m. nightly
Sam’s Town Hotel & Casino
(34)
Randy Anderson
Nov 11-14, 4:30 & 8:30 p.m.
Tim Conway & Harvey Korman
Wayne Newton
Rock ’n’ Roll Hypnotist Thom Kaz
Love Shack
Nov 17-20, 8 p.m.
Oct 23-Nov 14, 8 p.m.
Fridays, 10 p.m.
Fridays and Saturdays, 10 p.m. & 2 a.m.
Stardust Hotel & Casino
Sunset Station (8)
Texas Station (8)
LAUGHLIN
Riverboat Ramblers Strolling
Colorado Belle Hotel Casino Dixieland Jazz Band
Bill Engvall
Flamingo Hilton Hotel Casino
Ramada Express Hotel Casino Fascinating Rhythm
Charo
Riverside Hotel Casino
PRIMM
Buffalo Bill’s Resort & Casino Hail, Hail, Rock ’n’ Roll
RENO
The Palmores
Atlantis Casino Resort
Amy Clawson
Boomtown
Taganai
Eldorado Hotel Casino
Moscow Ballet’s Great
Reno Hilton Hotel Casino
Russian Nutcracker
Fridays & Saturdays, 8 p.m.
Nov 20, 7 p.m.
Nov 10-13, 8 p.m.
Nov 9-14, 7 p.m.
Ongoing, 8 p.m.
10 p.m.-4 a.m.
Nov 2-7, 7:30 p.m.
Sept 10-Nov 27
Nov 10-23, 8 p.m.
Queen of the Eldorado
instant revelation; an epiphony. I knew I had found
myself. I wanted to be a
part of it.”
Traditionally, however,
poker was a manʼs game.
No one would hire the
girl. Undaunted, Margie
began as a player. She
admits, “I was a fish ...at
first.”
Poker became so popular throughout Montana
there developed a shortage
of dealers. After honing
her poker skills, Margie
decided to become a dealer. Although there was initial resistance, she finally
got a job.
It did not take the Lady
long to master dealing.
Soon, she was a preferred
dealer in all the major
games around Billings,
including no-limit, highlimit, holdʼem to razz.
In 1977, she moved to
Las Vegas determined to
get a job dealing poker.
Women poker dealers
were even rarer in the desert than in Montana.
Margie knew Bill
Boyd was from Big Sky
Country, so she went to
him for a job. The fabled
gaming pioneer took a liking to the honest, straight
forward, confident young
lady. He not only hired
her, but they became good
friends.
“Bill Boyd would sit
and tell me jokes and
we would talk about
Montana,” she said, “He
would tell wonderful stories like about the time he
bought his first Cadillac
in Billings.”
Eventually, Margie
got a chance to deal her
first tournament, at the
old Marina Hotel/Casino,
for another poker legend, Jack Straus. She
enjoyed the experience so
much she set her sights
on dealing the World
Series of Poker, where
the greatest gladiators of
the game met in hand-tohand combat.
But she was told
“women do not deal the
World Series.” It was
an arena considered too
rough, raw and stressful
for women to deal. But
Margie was not deterred.
She knew she had the
Right Stuff.
Another highly regarded Knight of the Green
Cloth, “Cowboy” Wolford
championed the ladyʼs
cause. He introduced her
to Benny Binion, who
also had a great love for
Montana. And, like Bill
Boyd, he too found her be
savvy and delightful.
Margie convinced
Binion to give her a
chance at dealing the
World Series. Not only
did she become the first
woman to ever deal in the
World Series, but she was
so impressive she was
honored with an invitation to deal at the Final
Championship Table!
CBS Wide World of
Sports covered it. There
were features in Gambling
Times Magazine, Sports
Form, and just about
every gaming publication on the planet. “It was
exciting,” Margie remembers.
She was the first
women accepted into the
Aristocracy of Action
by the Knights of the
Round Table. And so, in
the Great Story Book of
Poker, Cinderella became
a Queen and lived happily
ever after.
The End (for now).
PRIVATE CLUB
DISTRIBUTION
Several private clubs that have poker tables have contacted
Poker Player requesting copies for distribution, and are now
carrying this newspaper in their rooms. We have now implemented a policy that will make Poker Player available at any
private club that requests them. Issues will be shipped in lots of
25, 50 or 100 only, to those private clubs who pay the postage
and handling charges for these shipments. Full payment must
be made for 13 issues, currently 6 months of publications, in
advance. There is no charge for the paper itself, just the shipping
charges. Charges for US shipments of 25 copies of 13 issues are
about $10 per shipment. These charges DO NOT apply to public
cardrooms. Contact Assistant Publisher, Joel Gausten at the listing below, for precise details and costs:
Joel Gausten, Assistant Publisher, Poker Player
newspaper, 3883 W. Century Blvd., Inglewood, CA
90303. Phone: 310-674-3365 Fax: 310-674-3205.
e-mail: jgausten@gamblingtimes.com
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
41
By John Vorhaus
Once, Elvis Presley taught me that,
“True genius works within form.” Another time I
learned, “If you have the ability to change your
mind you’ve already achieved higher consciousness.” Last night I was assaulted by a poker
dream-slash-nightmare about feelings of entitlement, and the disastrous consequences that such
feelings can bring.
I was playing no-limit hold’em for just a buttload
of money. I don’t remember how much, but it was
far, far more than I felt comfortable playing for.
Nevertheless, my money was deep, and I was running good and feeling fine when I picked up pocket
kings in late position. I got cute and decided to
slow play them.
This was my first mistake, based on entitlement.
I wasn’t slow playing to trap. I was slow playing
because I felt that a big pocket pair deserved a big
pot, and I was determined to build one. Well, that
didn’t work; no one called but the big blind, who
just said, “Run ‘em.”
The flop came 3-3-T and I got all excited, with
my overpair clearly in boss command. I made a
bet small enough to tease my foe into the pot and
he made a small raise. Did warning bells sound?
Nope; feelings of entitlement had clouded my
vision to the point where I couldn’t even entertain
the possibility that my opponent had hit that flop.
I thought he was just getting frisky, so I fired back.
He flat-called and then I knew I had ‘im!
Ah, the rest is lamentably predictable. A brick
hit the turn. He checked, I bet, and he raised all-in.
At that point I should have folded but somehow
I convinced myself that he was still bluffing (can
you imagine?) and threw in the last of my cash.
We turned over our hands. Dreams being iconic,
he had pocket threes, though pocket tens or T-3 or
even 3-x would have been enough. I was drawing
dead and a king on the river (dreams being iconic)
merely added insult to injury. I reeled away from
the table broke and broken. Where did I go wrong?
You know where; exactly where. The moment I
started feeling the hand instead of thinking the
hand, my game went off the rails. My overwhelmingly strong feeling of entitlement blinded me to
the possibility that I was beaten until it was far too
late. It wasn’t even about greed -- all that money
to win -- but rather about what I felt I deserved: a
big payoff from my big pocket pair.
And it happens all the time. We pick up pocket
aces and get all moist and oozy. Then the flop
comes suited or straighted, and we face significant
heat but still can’t get away from the hand. That’s
not a careful reading of the odds, folks, that’s surrender to entitlement, and until that battle is
fought and won, it remains a massive hole in our
play.
I was lucky; my dream failure cost me only
dream money. But the emotion was real and the
lesson was real, so go to school on my subconscious experience. Remember, the universe doesn’t
owe you anything but an education, and it holds
new classes every day.
Sometimes night classes, too.
[John Vorhaus’s latest books, POKER NIGHT and THE
KILLER POKER HOLD’EM HANDBOOK are available
now in bookstores or through www.vorza.com.]
42
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
To list your 3 day events contact: Joel Gausten, Managing Editor at: jgausten@gamblingtimes.com
DATE
EVENT
LOCATION
Sept 10-Mar 12 No-Limit Hold’em EPT Event
Concord Card Casino, Vienna, Austria
Oct 25-Nov 17
World Poker Finals
Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, CT
Oct 31-Nov 2
Southampton Poker Festival
Grosvenor Casino, Southampton, England
Nov 2-7
Winter Festival
Gala Casino, Dundee, Scotland
>Nov. 3-19
Holiday Bonus Tournament
Commerce Casino, Commerce, CA
Nov 5-13
Fall Poker Roundup
Wildhorse Casino & Resort, Pendleton, OR
Nov 6-13
Fall Poker Roundup
Wildhorse Resort Casino, Pendleton, OR
Nov 6-13
Masterclassics of Poker
Holland Casino, Amsterdam, Holland
Nov 6-14
Lucky Chances 49’er Gold Rush Bonanza Lucky Chances Casino, Colma, CA
>Nov 7-23
Tourn. Players Ch’ship of Poker The Orleans Hotel & Casino (AdPg 13), Las Vegas, NV
Nov 8-14
Northern Lights
Grosvenor Casino, Blackpool, England
Nov 9-13
8th Ann. Harvest Poker Classic Casino Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan
Nov 11-13
Danish 7-Card Stud Ch’ship
Royal Scandinavian Casino, Aarhus, Denmark
Nov 13–21
Peppermill Fall Poker Tourn.
Peppermill Hotel & Casino, Reno, NV
Nov 14-21
The Hold’em Series
Aviation Club de France, Paris, France
Nov 19-21
Poker Party
Casinos Austria, Seefeld, Austria
Nov 20-Dec 3
The IPF St. Maarten Open
Maho Beach Casino Resort, St. Maarten
Nov 22-28
Midland Masters
Grosvenor Casino Walsall, Walsall, England
Nov 24-27
Anniversary Tour 2004
Olympic Casino Lietuva at Reval Hotel, Lithuania
>Nov 25-Dec 12 Ho-Ho Hold’em
The Bicycle Casino (AdPg 43), Bell Gardens, CA
Nov 27-Dec 16
5-Diamond World Poker Classic II Bellagio Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV
Nov 28-Dec 1
Anniv. Tour 2004 (2nd Leg)
Olympic Poker Club, Tallinn, Estonia
Nov 29-Dec 5
Christmas Cracker Tournament Rendezvous Casino at the Marina, Brighton
Dec 1-6
Campionato Italiano di Poker Hit Casino Park, Nova Gorica, Slovenia
Dec 1-10
Italian Championship
Hit Casino, Nova Gorica, Slovenia
Dec 2-4
Christmas Poker Championship Casino Austria, Bregenz, Austria
Dec 2-5
Anniversary Tour 2004
Olympic Casino at Reval Park, Tallinn, Estonia
Dec 2-7
Winter Festival
Gala Casino, Dundee, Scotland
Dec 3-5
Irish Christmas Poker Festival Macau Sporting Club, Cork City, Ireland
Dec 5-11
Caribbean Poker Classic
Maho Beach Casino Resort, St. Maarten
Dec 6-12
Christmas Cracker
Grosvenor Casino Luton, Bedfordshire, England
Dec 6-12
Helsinki Freezout
Casino Ray, Helsinki
Dec 14-19
Christmas Tournament
Astoria-Palace Club & Casino, Tallinn, Estonia
r r r r r r 2005 e e e e e e
>Jan 5-27
6th Ann. Jack Binion World Poker Open Gold Strike Casino Resort (AdPg 15), Tunica, MS
Jan 6-20
2005 Crown Aust. Poker Ch’ship Crown Casino, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
>Jan 7-16
Poker Derby
Hollywood Park Casino (AdPg 3), Inglewood, CA
>Jan 10-16
"The Seniors" World Ch’ship of Poker Isle of Capri Casino, Lula, MS
Jan 13-16
Escargot
Bicycle Casino, Bell Gardens, CA
Jan 17-25
America’s Poker Classic
Bicycle Casino, Bell Gardens, CA
>Jan 26-Feb 24 LA Poker Classic
Commerce Casino, Commerce, CA
>Jan 27-29 Texas Hold'em Poker Challenge Imperial Palace (AdPg 17), Las Vegas, NV
Feb 1-13
Euro Finals of Poker
>Feb 11-13
Sweethearts Wknd/Queen of Hearts Bicycle Casino (AdPg 43), Bell Gardens, CA
>Mar 3-20
Winnin’ o’ the Green
Bicycle Casino (AdPg 43), Bell Gardens, CA
Mar 4-11
Bay 101 Shooting Star Tourn. Bay 101, San Jose, CA
Mar 10-12
No Limit Hold’em EPT Event
Concord Card Casino. Vienna, Austria
Mar 10-Apr 1
World Poker Challenge
Reno Hilton, Reno, NV
Mar 29-Apr 3
The Poker Classics
Grosvenor Victoria Casino, London, England
>Mar 30-Apr 10Sport of Kings
Hollywood Park Casino (AdPg 3), Inglewood, CA
Mar 31-Apr 24
3rd Ann. 5-Star World Poker Classic Bellagio, Las Vegas, NV
>Apr 11-May 1 Stars and Stripes
May 8-15
Paris Open of Poker
>Jun 3-Jul 8 MSOP
Jun 3-Jul 15
World Series of Poker 2005
Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV
Jun 6-12
The World Masters
Grosvenor Victoria Casino, London, England
Jun 18-30
Fiesta al Lago
Bellagio,
Las Vegas, NV
0#.?#OLOURPDF0Jul 11-29
Rendezvous a’ Paris
PokerConnection.net
Online Gambling Directory
OVER 200 SITES!
MoneyMakerPoker.com
SPORTSBOOKS-RACING
KILLER Poker
2004-2005 WORLDWIDE
POKER TOURNAMENTS
BINGO-CASINOS-LOTTO
Entitlement Dreams
Every now and then my subconscious
rewards me with a meaningful dream.
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N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4
43
PokerStars.com Produces
Chris Moneymaker
Greg Raymer
2003 World Series of Poker Champion
$39 Satellite Tournament on PokerStars
2004 World Series of Poker Champion
$160 Shootout on PokerStars
For a second consecutive year a PokerStars qualifier is the
World Series of Poker Champion – and PokerStars qualifiers won nearly
$11 million in the WSOP main event.
Congratulations to Greg ‘Fossilman’ Raymer for making poker history.
Thanks for keeping the title in the family, Greg!
"Visit PokerStars.com and
download a free copy of our
software today.
Lee H. Jones
Who knows…maybe 2005
will be your year!"
World Series of Poker is a registered trademark of Harrah’s Operating Company, Inc.
PokerStars and PokerStars.com are trademarks of Rational Enterprises, LTDA.
All rights reserved.
Poker Room Manager
44
Where Poker Players Become World Champions
N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 0 4

avoiding - Poker Player Newspaper

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