I watched the latest installment of the WSOP Main Event on ESPN tonight and thought it was the most entertaining to date. As expected, the WSOP brodcasts make me nostalgic for the old Horseshoe. Even though the Rio is a much more fitting location for the incredibly popular WSOP I will miss all those great years at Binion’s. I am happy to know that I have a good collection of WSOP photographs taken over the years and an even better collection of memories. Thanks to Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman’s negotiating skills (honed razor sharp during his years as the mob’s lawyer man and mouth piece) and next year’s Las Vegas Centennial Celebration, Harrahs has agreed to hold the final table for the 2005 main event at the Horseshoe one last time. When the final hand of the 2005 tournament is dealt it will really be the last WSOP at the historic downtown joint. I am sure that many of us will shed a few tears of sadness for the end of a great poker era. Of course, many of us will also be cheering for the continuation of the biggest event in tournament poker and welcome the next era in it’s new, modern, spacious home, the Rio.

Many of the young players will never know the “old” feel of the event since they never had the opportunity to compete at Binions. The relocated WSOP will not be the same event it has been all these years and that is probably a good thing. Even the World Series of Poker must continue to evolve and grow. I am reminded that we are lucky indeed that the WSOP will remain here in Las Vegas considering all the turmoil the Horseshoe suffered through during the reign of Becky Behnen Binion. Many poker industry insiders believed the WSOP was going to move out of state or simply end. Harrahs not only stepped up and saved the event; but, they did a great rush job getting the Horseshoe clean, remodeled and staffed in time for the 2004 event. I will certainly miss Binion’s Horseshoe and all the great times I had at past World Series of Poker tournaments, but not for very long. I am already plotting my coverage of the 2005 World Series of Poker at Harrah’s Rio property and should have an information page for the 2005 WSOP up and running within a few days.

Enough of this reminiscing about what was. The Poker Prof always reminds me that I am just proving I am getting old when I start a sentence with, “I remember when poker was........” He suddenly remembers he has some pressing problems requiring his immediate presence somewhere else. I will be at the Four Queens tomorrow for the start of the annual Poker Classic Tournament.

Posted by flipchipro at 10:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This promises to be a big week for poker here in Las Vegas. The Four Queens Poker Classic begins its nineteen day run on Wednesday and the Ultimate Poker Challenge offers the second installment in the filmed tournament at the Plaza. The Ultimate challenge runs for three days beginning on Saturday. Downtown Las Vegas will again be the center of the poker world for a couple of weeks. In addition, to the tournaments and the Labor Day holiday weekend, the MAGIC Convention, Men’s Apparel Guild in California, the largest clothing show on the planet begins today and usually many of the 100K attendees stay over for the three day weekend. Hotel rooms and rental cars will probably be in short supply so if you plan to be here for the tournaments now would be a good time to make your arrangements; otherwise, you may be sleeping in your car. This reminds me of some advice an old poker player once offered, “Always carry a pillow and blanket, a cup and a jar of peanut butter in your car, that way you will always have a warm place to sleep and something to eat.” About the cup? The cup serves a two fold purpose, first, it will provide you something to put water in when you are eating the peanut butter and if you are really in a slump, it can be your fundraiser. Fill it with pencils and sit outside the Horseshoe until you have enough to get back into the game.

You have probably noticed that the Poker Prof’s blog doesn’t offer much Internet poker content and rarely will you read a play-by-play of a hand or game. There are many bloggers already offering content that fills this important poker niche. I am indeed fortunate to live in Las Vegas so I fill an obligation to offer my news and views of live action from the gambling capitol of the world. Our readers write asking for even more of our very Vegas related poker content. I will continue to cover the poker tournaments held here in Las Vegas with timely posts and live action photos. If it concerns the poker business then it concerns me. Blogging is the vehicle to satisfy my passion for the game and all the wonderful characters that play in the many events. I blog about poker and not about blogging. I sometimes have to remind myself it is not about me or my blog, it is about poker. The game and the players will always be the most important consideration here.

I will be at the Four Queens for the duration of the tournament with my camera and hopefully I will play in a few of the events. I will blog most days from the Four Queens. I will cover the Ultimate Poker Challenge at the Plaza and provide results and photos from this event. I will connect with Felicia Lee next Monday when she comes for the Four Queens tournament. I will get some photos and post a few so she can join HDouble in our giants of poker “bad portrait” photo gallery.

Posted by flipchipro at 7:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Question: Are you seeing a pop-up when you come here?
A reader wrote me saying a nasty pop-up is opening when they come to this blog. There should be zero pop-ups (I hate the damn things!), so if something is creating a popup when you visit please leave a comment and I'll kill the annoyance asap.

I’ve not been around much this week in the world of poker or blogs thanks to a couple of monster gigs I’ve been handed with 11th hour deadlines. So I spent the better part of the morning trying to catch up on a weeks worth of blog reading. Now on to the week in review:

First, Up for Poker has a great post on Poker and Life lessons that is a must read. On the subject of how mood and sleep affect play both Once in a Blu Moon and Outkicked have some thoughts and experiences. I agree, don’t play in an off mood or when your tired, this leads to mistakes, and mistakes cost money…usually. Kevin continues to offer a wonderfully fresh perspective on poker over at Stan’s Ace Nuts, he has become one of my favorite reads.

I noticed that the Hilton Sisters got their fair share of press from the poker blog community, keep this up and people searching for Paris Hilton will get Dr. Pauly.

Finally, a cartoonist has a new every Wednesday poker cartoon running called Returning Champions (there is also GuppytoShark’s comic). On the subject of cartoons I just noticed this week has a slightly political bent so I might as well point out a nifty site that help to determine just how liberal/conservative you are (link found on Urban Scrawl).

Stinger: (from a must read post on Chris Halverson’s Blog)
Coach (to a fish): You must work next to that little diver guy in the fish tank.

Posted by pokerprof at 3:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

I have spent a good part of the last two days in downtown Las Vegas. The Prof and I are trying to complete the photographs for the virtual Vegas tour. I was surprised by the size of the crowds on Fremont Street. Standing room only tourists and locals gives the entire scene a very festive party flavor. Live entertainment is great, free and loud. The Experience light show with the new sixteen million lights and the million watt sound system is worth the trip. The Horseshoe, Plaza and Golden Nugget have a poker room and the action is usually good. The Plaza is hosting the Ultimate Poker Challenge series of tournaments and the Four Queens Poker Classic begins its nineteen day run on Wednesday, September 1. I have always liked the old Vegas atmosphere and service you now find only in the downtown joints. Some of the properties are a little seedy and the crowd is often not as well heeled as the strip people but they always seem to have more fun. I have never had a problem with downtown in more than two decades. The food is typical Las Vegas fare with specials for everything from hot dogs to white table cloth elegance. Everyone should have at least one dinner at the Center Stage Restaurant inside the glass dome at the Plaza. You will recognize the view down Fremont Street from the many movie scenes that have been filmed from the Center Stage restaurant.

Daily poker tournaments are a permanent part of Binion’s poker offerings. The Horseshoe offers No Limit Texas Hold’em tournaments 7 days a week at 2 pm. Registration opens at 12 pm and the buy-in is $60 with a one time bonus buy of $10 that gets you 50% more chips. One optional rebuy is available for $40. Friday, Saturday and Sunday has an additional evening no Limit Hold’em tournament with a $125 buy-in, a one time bonus buy of $25 gets you an additional $500 in tournament chips. One optional $50 rebuy is offered. These tournaments are a great inexpensive lesson in Las Vegas style no limit hold’em and an added bonus is the invaluable tournament playing experience. The competition is first rate and will certainly help you in developing an “A” game. The tournaments have become quite popular so you may want to get there early.

9. I don’t have to buy an expensive set of clubs to play.
8. Size really doesn’t matter.
7. You can eat while you play.
6. I was never very good at games like monopoly.
5. Meeting people with the same first name as a city.
4. Drinking alcohol is encouraged.
3. Telling bad beat stories.
2. Making everyone wait ten minutes while I play with my chips then fold.
1. Strip Poker!

That's it for today. Tomorrow has the Week in Review and J. Santos' "Muck It" cartoon.

Posted by flipchipro at 7:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The magic of Las Vegas keeps visitors coming in record numbers. McCarran International Airport will handle record passenger traffic this month. More people than any previous month in history. The massive problems 9-11 created for the tourism industry and the slowdown in air travel are no longer an issue here in Las Vegas. Vegas continues to evolve and prosper independently of national or world economy problems. When Asimov wrote his classic “Foundation Trilogy” he must have researched and developed the model for the fictional pleasure Planet, Kalgan, from Las Vegas. Kalgan’s sole existence was to provide entertainment and pleasure to everyone. Kalgan was the place where enemies came to party together before returning to the reality of killing each other. Throughout the thousand years of the trilogy the planet was independent of problems and catastrophes of other worlds, everyone respected Kalgan and had no desire to cause harm to their favorite place in the Foundation universe. I can’t help but think this logic has to apply to Las Vegas. A dark fact of the 9-11 tragedy happened right here in Las Vegas. The hijackers came here in the final days before 9-11 and spent some time acting like any other vacationing tourist. They stayed in hotels, rented cars, went to shows, ate some great meals, gambled and saw the sights. Enemies partying among enemies before going out to kill each other. The only apparent reason for the terrorist visits was to party in the city that parties for a living. Las Vegas, just like Kardan, offers something for everyone.

Where am I going with this somewhat convoluted line of reasoning? I think Las Vegas is probably the safest vacation destination in the world. Just like Kalgan, why would anyone dare to destroy the place they consider their most favorite just-for-fun destination? Las Vegas is the city the world associates with excitement, fun and pleasure. Just thinking about going to Las Vegas can drive your blood pressure up. Some of the doomsday naysayers preach the line of Las Vegas being the center of sin and evil. After all, it is referred to as “Sin City,” so it just stands to reason it would be at the top of every religious fanatic terrorist list, right? Well, yes and no. Las Vegas was at the top of some really evil people’s list; but, not as a target, rather, a place to hold that final fun fling. Every time the threat level is raised or a warning is issued I just don’t take it very seriously. I keep remembering that other place, Kardan, and get some comfort in knowing that no harm ever came to them and probably no harm will come to Vegas. It’s where the world prefers to party, regardless of your definition of good and bad or right and wrong we all seem to agree on the preferred place for fun.

The Prof and I went downtown to Binions tonight and probably were too late for Felicia so we will try again during the Four Queens Poker Classic next week. We watched the light show (Tonight’s version was much better than last week) with the thousands of people strolling on the Fremont Street Experience pedestrian mall.

Posted by flipchipro at 11:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Everyone is getting in on the poker boom. The Prof and I had lunch today with one of our friends and poker industry insiders. I always enjoy these social outings and especially the talk during the meal. Today we discussed the Las Vegas hotels that are adding rooms or have added poker rooms to their casino. The MGM Mirage is currently constructing a room that will open in March ’05 with thirty tables. The number of players the Vegas casinos can accommodate is getting close to the capacity of poker only clubs in LA. Another interesting topic concerns the downsizing of the recently opened room at the Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas. Rumor says the room will go to eight tables when it is moved up front next to the sports book. The Golden Nugget's new poker room has been regressing since it’s opening prior to the World Series of Poker this past April. First, it can’t retain manager, Eric Drache, and now the ‘less tables make for better poker’ thing makes me wonder if the new owners of the Golden Nugget are micro-managing the property into oblivion. If you are a viewer of the Golden Nugget TV show about the mega-rich former dot-com boys and their new toy then you probably can understand the reasoning behind downsizing the poker room when most other poker rooms are super-sizing.

I read the "Table Monitor" post over at Call, Raise or Muck It, and am wondering if there is some truth here or is this just a bit of on-line poker satire? Either way most of us have found some unusual happenings when on-line. I know it is always easier to blame our shortcomings on things outside our control, such as is described in this posting. When I was first in Las Vegas playing poker years ago I was convinced that I was often cheated and that accounted for my frequent losses. I could usually beat the poker games I was accustomed to playing in back home so why did I find winning here in Las Vegas so difficult? Only after considerable live play experience did I finally realize that I wasn’t good enough to play a winning Vegas game. The Las Vegas regulars didn’t need to cheat to take my money, I had more leaks that a sieve. Maybe the same thing is going on here with on-line games. I have to remind myself that it is a totally new poker game and probably is as different from live games as those home games I played differed from Vegas poker room games. I will reserve my opinion about the on-line stuff until after I have more experience.

Felicia is coming to town tomorrow and will probably play in the NLHE tournament tomorrow evening at Sam’s Town. The tournament begins at 7:00 pm and has a $60 entry fee. Players begin with $1000 in tournament chips and have one optional $40 rebuy during the first hour or a two-for-one add-on at the end of the rebuy period. First place money is in the range of $1200 plus. The Poker Prof and I will head over to Sams and try to hook up and if we don't find them in the tournament there we will look downtown at Binions. I will have the camera close at hand and post photos on Saturday.

Posted by flipchipro at 11:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Four Queens Poker Classic Tournament comes to downtown Las Vegas a week from today. The annual tournament kicks off next Wednesday, September 1, 2004, with a $100+$20 Limit Hold’em event at 12:00 noon. The tournament will hold events daily through September 19th. Two events will be held each day at 12:00 pm and 7:00 pm with entry fees ranging from $100+$20 through $500+$40. There will be one $1000+$60 Limit Hold’em event on September 15th and one $1000+$60 No-Limit Hold’em event on September 16th. The final three day Championship event will be $5000+$150 No-Limit Hold’em starting on September 17th. Some of the events have one rebuy. A ladies only Limit Hold’em event will be at 7:00 pm on Sunday, September 5th, and the entry fee is $100+$20.

The Four Queens Poker Classic has proven to be a popular tournament attracting a large number of players in past years. Everyone will find the game they prefer from the offerings of Hold’em, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8/OB, Pot Limit Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo 8/OB and Razz. The two a day schedule provides everyone endless tournament action. Combined with the satellites players can compete around the clock.

I will be there for the events with my camera and will post results and a photo gallery of the tournament. This event is on the Hendon Mob's Prima Poker tour schedule so hopefully we will get an opportunity to visit with these Internet poker stars. The Four Queens is a noted Las Vegas landmark located in downtown Vegas under the canopy of the Fremont Street Experience. You can contact the Four Queens at 800.634.6045 or 702.385.4011. Tournament information is available at 702.339.8892.

Posted by flipchipro at 5:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The objective here can be summed up quite simply. Make players with drawing hands pay to see every card and when you have the drawing hand you want to see additional cards at as low a price as possible.

A made hand on the flop with possible draws.

Suppose the flop comes with two connected or two suited cards:

Connected: Kd 6h 7c

Suited: Kd 3d 9s

You are on Big Slick so you definetly don’t want to slow play your pair of Kings with top kicker in either of these situations. Allowing a player on an open-ended straight draw or a flush draw to see cards for free is bad strategy, the preferred play is to win the pot right now, so you bet out to make drawing to the hand too expensive and they fold. If you check your top pair to the river and the drawing hands miss you also may have to deal with a bluff. The odds for completing a flush is about 3-1 and the inside straight draw about 5-1 so structure your bets so that your opponent is getting negative pot-odds if they call. A pot sized bet is always a good choice because no drawing hand will have 2-1 odds of completing (In a rare scenario, two connected over-cards with a straight and flush draw will have pots odds to call a pot sized bet). If your opponent calls the pot size bet and then misses on the turn they have only one card to come so an increased bet size will make it extremely expensive to keep drawing for that straight or flush. This strategy works to your advantage if they fold, you win the pot, and if they call and miss you will take down a much larger pot. If the drawing hand calls and hits you can quickly fold. Using this betting tactic you’ll win more often than the drawing hands. If you are raised you have to know the opponent well enough to put them on a hand. Is this a draw trying to scare you or two pair? Maybe even a set or just a total bluff trying to raise you into the muck?

If you’re on the drawing hand you want to see 4th street for free. One tactic I’ve been fairly successful with is to re-raise a minimal pre-flop raise. I am, as often as not, flat called and then checked on the flop giving me the turn for this early minimal investment (often the river as well). A lot of players make small raises on the flop, so if it’s relatively inexpensive to re-raise I consider it worth the risk. The benefit is to slow down my opponent’s betting when they flop top/second pair so my drawing hand can be completed at minimal expense.

This is a bit of fancy play and can back-fire when your opponent comes back with a large raise; but, you can then quickly fold. I’d rather commit a few chips early rather than having to fold my draw to a large bet on 4th street.

Eric Seidel wins Ultimate Poker Challenge at the Plaza!

Eric Seidel, professional poker player from Las Vegas, took his chip lead into the Ultimate Poker Challenge final table on Monday and never looked back. He won the event and picked up the first place prize money from the $35,000 prize pool collected from 35 players that entered this event. Our congratulations to Eric for his win. He is now qualified to play in the semi-final tournament.

Posted by pokerprof at 8:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The ‘Ultimate Poker Challenge’ at the Plaza in downtown Las Vegas was playing down to the final table when I was there yesterday. The place had more of a movie set atmosphere than a poker room with a large number of TV people sitting around in black CSI T-shirts wearing Crew ID’s. The TV set final table was surrounded with an incredible array of camera equipment and the custom table has very stealthy hole cams. The host of the first ever poker syndicated television series to be offered on broadcast TV will be Chad Brown, former TV soap opera regular turned poker pro. The female co-host for the series has not been cast.

The format for the series of tournaments was described as a mix of amateurs playing against the professionals, nothing new here since that is always the format. The buy-in for each of the 23 qualifying events is $1000 +$60. The top winners from each event will move on to the semi-finals and then eight finalists will play in the Championship event for what was described as “millions of dollars.” The next tournament will be held on Labor Day weekend at the Plaza in downtown Las Vegas and then continue each weekend throughout October. The production company responsible for the series is TVi Media. The producer of the show, Sam Riddle, said they originally wanted to have the series at one of the California poker clubs but decided to hold it in Las Vegas after asking an old friend and colleague now living in Las Vegas, Robin Leach, to help them locate a Vegas site to host the event. The series is currently scheduled to debut sometime in September on more than 100 TV stations around the country.

Las Vegas is the center for all things poker and in addition to 24 hour live poker room action players are offered daily tournaments and thousands if not millions in prize money. The good poker players can develop into great players and then go on to win not only money but enjoy the fame that comes with the celebrity status. The industry mucked along for decades without any growth and even appeared to be close to flat-lining, when many of the hotels closed their poker rooms and filled the empty space with video slot machines. Then, almost overnight, Internet poker clubs combined with televised poker tournaments to breathe life back into the industry and the avalanche of poker popularity that followed is nothing short of phenomenal. The legitimate media now refers to poker as a “sport” and professional poker players are “stars.” The final quantum leap was provided when Moneymaker won the 2003 World Series of Poker, proving to millions of viewers and players alike that anyone can win the ultimate prize and wear the coveted WSOP Championship bracelet. Even though I have often made it known that I think Chris Moneymaker is not a top professional player I would vote him into the Poker Hall of Fame right now. He did more for the good of the game than anyone since Benny Binion or Amarillo Slim. The only thing I can fault him for is he apparently reads and believes his press releases.

The Ultimate Poker Challenge is open to anyone so if you have an extra $1060 lying around that you want to turn into a few million and become a famous TV celebrity in the process then try to make it to Plaza here in Las Vegas. Who knows, you may be the very next Moneymaker making money playing poker.

A note for those people wondering why our website and blog disappeared this evening. At about 6:30 pm pst until approximately 10:00 pm pst our web host was hit with a DOS attack. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have created. Our hosting service has proven to be very dependable over the years and down time is so rare that we immediately jump on the phone with our account rep to determine if the world has ended. Of course, we are very happy they quickly resolved the problem and are back on the air.

Posted by flipchipro at 10:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

For starters check out Pauly for the Hilton Sister's Challenge Part 5. (It begins and ends tomorrow). In the same vein as the Hilton sisters, Bill's Blog has some nice photos (from an artistic perspective, of course) of Shana Hiatt. The Poker Chronicles takes a look at Full Tilt while Genius of the Poker has a great tale from the Planet tables. Be sure to check out the new blog Stan's Ace Nuts to follow Kevin Barbieux's (yes, that Kevin, the homeless man from Nashville who has become an Internet celebrity with his now-famous blog, The Homeless Guy) foray into the world of poker. I am sure Kevin will offer his unique philosophical look at poker from a never before explored viewpoint.
I've also created pages for the Top Nine Lists and the J. Santos cartoons, Muck It!. Both features can now be browsed without having to dig though all my ramblings. To close, I have to say it's a shame I won't have a chance to beat Otis this time around.

Posted by pokerprof at 2:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Another typical late summer Saturday in Las Vegas. Town full of visitors from everywhere and the streets full of cars from LA. The intense summer heat is apparently over for this year with the nights beginning to cool off and the days staying around a hundred. I can live with that. I never got registered to play in Iggy’s Monty Memorial Poker Blogger Tournament due to an inability to fund my account. I have tried every option available over the last nine days and have tried three different credit cards, two debit cards and two checking accounts with no luck. I continue to get a, “We don’t offer our services to Nevada residents,” email. I’m waiting for Net Teller to verify my checking account but don’t think it is going to happen since my Nevada bank doesn’t accept unsolicited deposits. What a hassle this has proven to be. Anyone else have a problem opening and funding an account at Pacific? Just another benefit of living in the gambling capital of the universe, automatic protection from myself when I try to send some of that casual money out of state.

Today is a good day to introduce everyone to Poker Puff, the feline member of our household. PP is a Maine Coon that has lived with us for seventeen years. As you can see, she has survived many a bar room fight and now lives in semi-retirement chasing lizards and butterflies. She even has a Las Vegas style buffet of favorite treats and prefers chilled bottled water. Poker Puff has considerable experience with poker, having spent her entire life here in Las Vegas. Poker Puff takes full credit for teaching the Poker Prof everything he knows about the game and she often likes to help him when he is blogging so if you see “cat-like typing” don’t be alarmed.

One of the Ultimate Poker Challenge events is going on downtown at the Plaza Hotel so I will check out the action. The event concludes tomorrow.

9. I once watched “The Rounders” 32 times in a row.
8. My probation officer said I have to have a job.
7. I have a closet full of hooded sweatshirts.
6. Free $4 food comps.
5. Sitting next to Daniel Negreanu.
4. I’m a natural born liar.
3. I look good in sunglasses.
2. I spent a month learning to shuffle poker chips.
1. Poker tournament groupies.

That's it for today. Tomorrow has the Week in Review and J. Santos' "Muck It" cartoon.

Posted by flipchipro at 5:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The poker industry growth curve is a study in exponential functions, a sport growing at warp speed. I have been calling poker a sport for years and will continue to do so. It has all the elements of any other highly competitive endeavor, even the physical considerations are present in the form of endurance that require the players to remain razor sharp for ten to twelve continuous hours day after day. Playing at the top tournament level is very unforgiving and often a single mistake means you will be waiting another year for that bracelet. Many wonder if poker is really a sport. Some of these same people once questioned the athletic qualities of stock car racing. We all know the training and conditioning the drivers go through to survive in a hostile race track environment for many hours while remaining mentally sharp and not making any mistakes. Racing is another sport that doesn’t allow any mistakes.

I have tried to draw the parallel comparison with stock car racing for another reason. When I watch the stock car racing I see cars and drivers covered in decals and the corporate symbology of their many sponsors. When I watch the WPT tournament broadcast I see a much sanitized group of players sitting in a very sterile environment, no decals or emblems, not one single sponsor logo in sight. For just a moment think of the racing TV telecasts without these rolling billboards driven by drivers covered with sponsor logos. The cars are just painted different colors and have a number on the side. The drivers are attired in plain coveralls with no logos or lettering. This presents a damn boring mind picture, at least in my mind. The participation of sponsors has become a part of almost all televised sports, even haute professional golf, so why are the professional poker players denied the opportunity to earn some sponsor’s money. Would this take away from the tournament broadcast? I think not. I believe it would add an element of professionalism to the sport of poker by association with those already established and accepted broadcast sports that allow players this gratuity. Even more important than the sport's image would be the freedom granted to the players to earn expense money, allowing them to concentrate on the game without the added worries of meeting expenses. I also believe it would attract to the game more young protégés that currently are left out because they can’t afford to play without some sponsorship. ESPN didn’t forbid the wearing of sponsor logos during the WSOP and you will see some of the players in shirts and hats provided by corporations paying the players to wear them. Notice how much this adds to the telecast during the next ESPN WSOP installment then compare it to the boringly perfect WPT broadcast. I like it with the sponsors so please weigh in here and tell me if I’m wrong.

Posted by flipchipro at 9:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I finally have the photos taken at the Stratosphere in the Vegas photo gallery. Here are a couple of shots from the “Top of the World Restaurant.” The new images start on page 8 of the gallery, or just go right to them (opens a new browser window).
And now for something completely different... Drunk Wildlife!
I found this news story on paulsburbon.

Posted by pokerprof at 7:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I watched ESPN’s Main Event, two hours of coverage of the first two elimination days of the 2004 WSOP final event and I have a few observations and opinions. I realized how difficult the WSOP $10,000 No-limit Hold'em Championship event has become. Reaching the final table is not only a crap shoot, due to the sheer numbers of entrants; but, trying to survive the totally unreadable amateur players is changing the Championship event into a game that doesn’t make the pros the heavy favorites as in past years. The professional players, using skills developed from thousands of hours of play with fellow professionals, often appeared confused and unable to make a sound decision. Daniel Negreanu, currently the number one ranked poker player, used all his talents to finally make the right decision to muck his losing hand after commenting that he didn’t have a clue about what to do. Some of these amateur newbies give the term “calling station” a bad name. The future WSOP Championship events will require the great players to develop new skills for dealing with the unpredictable amateurs and Internet players while retaining the ability to play their “A” game with fellow pros. The winner of the event will probably be the professional player that has extensive experience in Internet poker combined with considerable live game experience. I thought the 2003 WSOP was determined with a heavy helping of luck. I think the 2004 event was won by the best player, Greg Raymer; because, he brought the experience to survive in a very large field of semi-skilled Internet players and enough live game knowledge to play with anyone. I am not at all surprised that Greg “Fossilman” Raymer won the main event this year. He brought to the 2004 WSOP the right experience and qualifications; then, combined this with his aggressive play and some luck to best the field.

I am fortunate that I live in Las Vegas and was at the WSOP everyday with my press pass giving me access to everyone and everything. I was often very close to the action and have to point out how different your observations of the play are when you do not know the players hole cards during the hand. Point in fact, during the second ESPN hour last night when Chris Ferguson tries to bluff his 7-2o (the Hammer! I wonder if he reads PokerGurb?). I was there for the live play of this hand and remember thinking that the amateur player should fold. Any pro would have released their hand before the flop when Ferguson put in the first raise. The pros usually refuse to risk their seat on a third rate drawing hand; but not this new breed player, no sir, they come in off the street to go all-in with a possible pair draw. The TV version lets me immediately know Chris has a 7-2o, worst starting hand in hold’em, and this information makes the bluff play appear to be a big mistake that Ferguson compounds when he continues to bet. Watching this play live and not knowing either player’s hole cards; then, watching the ESPN TV version knowing the hole cards makes for a considerable difference in the perception of the players and how the hand plays out. Sometimes the hole cameras remove too much of the mystique from poker. Yes, I agree, the cameras are responsible for the overwhelming popularity of TV poker and are a necessary innovation for continued television popularity which is a very good thing for the overall poker business. I know we can’t live without them and they will forever be a part of tournament poker broadcast; but, everyone should try at least once to watch the game live. Otherwise, you are missing the very best part of the game, the mystery and aura of the great players doing a little live magic show. It will most certainly be worth the price of the trip.

In other news I noticed that Texas poker law is getting some press, and even mentions the very charity event I blogged about here.

Posted by flipchipro at 9:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Poker is going down the road to legitimacy. Poker is no longer the exclusive game of your Uncle never-had-a job Joe. It has become the mainstream pastime of the rich and famous as evidenced by the popularity of Celebrity Poker Showdown, watched by the masses out here in TV land. If it is good enough for all those movie star types and the idle rich then why the hell isn’t it legal? I understand that the game itself is usually not outside the law, just the wagering on the outcome of a hand. My question today is, “can poker be played without some form of associated betting?” Without wagering is it still poker?

I think the answer is a simple no. Without betting there can be no poker. Even when we play for pure fun we have to provide a unit of wagering whither it is play money or matchsticks. The game is built around using our skills, primarily money management, to win the prize even when we do not have the highest ranked poker hand. That’s the heart of poker, the driving force that attracts so many of us. The best hand doesn’t always win and often ends up in the muck. Unlike other sports where the outcome, the winner, is determined by a scoreboard unaffected by wagering, poker winners are always affected and determined by wagering. Every time we play we hear someone say, “The cards break even,” and they do, exactly. Everyone will get the same distribution of bad and good hands over a given period of time. The given time period may well be longer than your playing session or even a number of playing sessions; but, when plotted over the course of thousands of poker hands the standard bell shaped curve must be defined. Without a system of wagering poker is reduced to a random cut of the cards and all the players will get the same number of winners and losers if they play enough hands. My point of this is what part of poker is harming society at large?

I come home from work and don’t really feel like going back out into the traffic jams burning two buck a gallon gasoline to drive myself to the horse track across the county and pay the price of admission into the track so I might enjoy a little adrenalin rush from betting on a winner. All legal and good. Instead, if I prefer to sit down in my favorite chair, turn on my computer and enjoy the adrenalin rush from winning a four dollar pot in an online poker game I’m doing something that is not legal and risky. At any minute a jackbooted squad can break down my door, seize my property and haul me straight to jail. This is an exageration right now, but could change in the future. Depending on how they choose to charge me I could theoretically be held without due process until the end of the war. A hefty risk for a little entertainment. Maybe it is because I didn’t have to pay to come into the online casino. Maybe they should charge admission just like the horse tracks. And how about my Uncle never-had-a-job Joe that spent all his time playing poker in back rooms losing an occasional tractor or cow? He finally quit playing poker after he lost the whole damn farm playing the market.

Looking about the headlines from today ESPN has a Moneymaker inverview and the Hilton Sisters were spotted at a poker tournament. I think I'll stop by one of the sports books and check out the over/under line on the Nicky Hilton marriage annulment.

Stinger:
JeanieJ: "I saw Moneymaker on T.V this evening advertising a 'Poker for dummies' video. Staring, him and the editor of Card Player magazine."
MagicMark: What's it called? Perhaps "How to hit on the river!"?

Posted by flipchipro at 2:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is really a brief topic for me; there are very few hands I’ll re-raise with unless I know I’m looking at a super loose player. This is written primarily for tournament play but works equally well in most ring games.

Re-raising: Three hands for me, Aces, Kings and sometimes Queens. I know this is a short, tight list. If I know I have the best hand before the flop then I don’t want a bunch of random drawing hands staying in. I won’t raise all-in; but, I’ll defiantly double the original raise, usually taking it to 8x or 10x the BB. If the original better raises yet again (and about half the time it seems to be an all-in raise) I’ll always call with Aces, usually call with Kings (unless I know I’m against a super tight player) and fold with Queens (unless I’m risking less then 1/3 of my stack and/or I know I’m against a very loose player). The problem with Queens as a re-raising hand is about 50% of the time an over card will hit the board and a lot of pre-flop action is a sure guarantee another player is holding an Ace or King. Queens vs. Big Slick is a coin flip and I’d rather make better odds for myself when possible. I try to get in cheaply with Queens and then I can easily muck the pair when over cards hit and the action heats up. If I’m re-raised with my Kings I will call, unless I know the player is the type who would only keep swinging with Aces. A lot of players I encounter will keep coming with a random Ace, a random King, Tens, Jacks, Queens, and some bluff-o-matics with any two cards. Aces I refuse to limp with, always a raise. I used to slow play Aces occasionally and just lost too many hands to random trash suck-out that made a flush / straight / two pair.

Getting re-raised before the flop: This is a big red flag! Depending on stack size and tournament level it may be best to lay down and wait for a better spot.
What T.J. says: “Kings and Aces, Queens are out, unless your against a small pair raiser.” T.J. Likes to play “second-hand-low” sometimes, where he flat-calls the raise in front of him and he’s close to the original raiser (I would guess one or two seats off). This will let him fold with minimal loss if he misses the flop. With Aces TJ points out that “If you limp with Aces you won’t go broke with Aces”. A poker pro I know told me a simple way to double my take from low-limit hold’em, “Never call a pre-flop raise, period.”

Posted by pokerprof at 12:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Check out Poker Grub’s Binion’s experience for another perspective on the famous poker room. The Poker Chronicles has a look at the zerorake website (membership fee based). Riding the F-train is planning reviews of the New York City cards rooms. Be sure to hit Paulsburbon for another look at the World Series of Poker Coverage and Adventures of a Poker Nerd for another perspective on Hurricane Charley. More poker goodness from CGoP, this time with a round-up of all the good SNG strategy on the net. Finally, I have to pimp the Casino[ptz] blog run by Dave Schwartz over at UNLV, his is a wonderful Las Vegas blog.

Poll Results from Question of the Week 1
Question: Late in a no limit hold'em tournament the flop comes rainbow with no straight or flush draw, the Small Blind raises all-in and everyone folds, it's now your action, what is the minimum hand you need to call with if you don't know your opponent and calling will put you all-in?

Top Pair Top Kicker 24.26%
Wired Overpair 14.71%
Bottom Two Pair 11.76%
Top Two Pair 21.32%
Any Trips 20.59%
Top Trips 7.35%

I’m an “Any Trips” type in this situation, interesting to see that top pair top kicker is the single most popular answer, this surprised me.

Posted by pokerprof at 6:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It might be called the ugliest building in town by some; but, the Stratosphere has, without doubt, the best view of the crawling chaos that is Las Vegas. Flipchip and I headed over to the Top of the World for lunch with HDouble and his sister. We chatted about Vegas, philosophy and, of course, poker. The tidbit of conversation found most appetizing (aside from the Crab Eggs Benedict) was what the future holds for the city. HDouble pointed out that Vegas seems to go through seven year cycles where it focuses on a particular population segment, the last seven years its' been the middle America family vacation crowd. Now it’s shifting again, going back to the original roots in trying to attract the high to medium roller loners, the 20-30 something gamblers of the world. So, what does the future hold for the entertainment capitol of the world? Quite frankly, we have no real clue. I’ll venture a guess and say splendor and decadence like the world has never seen. I don’t think the city will grow too much more thanks to the water shortage; but, I certainly believe Vegas will continue to rejuvenate itself, out with the old and in with the new, or in Las Vegas parlance, blow up yesterday so today we can build tomorrow.

Public Service Announcement: It’s common courtesy

Plagiarism: I don’t want to harp on this topic and I know it applies to a couple of people, but I’m downright peeved about the blatant theft of content. All I request you do is give me credit for the content you use and a little link back to the source. Stealing from a blogger is a bad idea folks, we stand up for each other. Maudy found one site that took one of my post verbatim and sent me the bad news. Should I ever see a site taking Maudy’s content or your content without proper credit I’ll do the very same thing. If you take our stuff (we work damn hard to develop and blog content for our readers everyday), then, you must then worry not just about me discovering the theft; but, the dozens of bloggers and readers who devour the net every day. If you give me the deserved credit for my efforts and a link to my site then I don't consider it stealing. Now to this week's Top 9 list.

During the lunch today the conversation turned to Las Vegas and the creative use of plastic so I thought it a natural for a top nine list.

The top 9 creative uses of plastic in Las Vegas:

9. Palm trees at the Mirage
8. The Luxor Spinx
7. Fake people sitting in rides at the Boardwalk Casino
6. City Hall.
5. Dice Clocks.
4. Vegas gift shop inventory.
3. Flip-flops
2. Cocktail Servers (Is silicone a plastic?)
1. Credit Cards.

Posted by pokerprof at 5:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

The Poker Prof and I were invited to a seminar for Check & Raise, the people that are putting together an on-line poker casino (yes, the same group that plagiarized Dr. Pauly’s content). We were provided with a handout containing boiler plate blue-sky and sample screen captures of table layouts. The game engine is a proven product from Dynamite Poker with some new, added features and custom improvements. The site is currently scheduled to go online in late September. The free lunch was followed by a presentation from President Bill Kertes, Vice-President Ina Demme and CEO Michael Mandel and afterwards the attendees were treated to a $500 free roll No-Limit Hold’em tournament (Incidentally, it was won by Dick Gatewood, Sam’s Town poker room manager).

We had the opportunity to discuss the past problems C&R has experienced with poker blog content being cut and pasted onto their site without permission or credit of the copyright owners. They assured us that the problems have been addressed and resolved to everyone’s satisfaction and the individual responsible is no longer with the organization. We certainly hope C&R really understands the negative consequences that would result if they alienate the poker blogging community.

TGIF
FlipChiPro

Posted by flipchipro at 5:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It will be much more than 35,000 by the time I actually draw for the winner; but, I'm giving away all the ad impressions I've racked up over at blogshares. Details of the contest are here.

I don't blog much about my play unless I have a great example on hand to illustrate a particular concept or point I'm trying to make. The reason is simple, I am a very, very boring (and bored) player. I play ABC poker most of the time (the exception being when I've got a great read on someone, or I'm in a nice, loose-passive game). This type of play works well for me. An example, I was in a loose-aggresive $6-12 game over at Binion's a couple of nights ago and played for about 5 hours. In that time I played 4 hands (to the river) and won 3 of them. The one big loss was when I was trapped by a better set of trips. This comes to 4 hours 45 minutes of total bordom and 15 minutes of adrelinine. I'm not sure my play is that interesting; and besides, there are better players, better writers and better players and writers who blog about this, read them. If I get a ton of comments, of course, I'll give more room on this blog to my play; but, I think it's a better read as is. Another example is the 25/NL game where I now spend alot of time. I sit there for half an hour doing next to nothing and hoping to reel in (all-in that is) a nice fish and this happens often enough to keep me coming back. The last victim was an agressive player with me on the button with Kc 10c the flop came Jc Ac 4h, the guy bets out 2BB, I raise it to 4BB and he flat calls. Fourth Street brings a rag and he checks giving me the river for free. The river is a wonderful looking 4c. I wait about 10 seconds and move all-in, he calls and thats a healthy $22 and change for me. This is likely to be the only play post I'll put in for a while, unless readers really think fishing stories are that interesting.

One last item related to Vegas is the "political poker chip" that is Yucca Mountain. Flipchip is an expert on this subject so I'll hand the commentary off to him.
If the Poker Prof says I'm an expert on anything then I guess I should feel honored, after all, he is the Prof. Being an expert on the storage of high-level nuclear waste is not something I will usually discuss; but, I did work within that discipline for a number of years. I will probably not live long enough to witness the problems associated with nuclear waste storage since my health was severly damaged from my tenure and, unfortunately, since I don't have any of the exact diseases or health problems on the "cold war worker" approved list I have received no compensation to aid me in getting proper medical care, I am on my own. I listened to President Bush's speech here in Las Vegas today and found it disappointing he supports continued development of the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste storage facility located in Nevada. He said he agreed to listen to the knowledgeable and qualified people in making his decision and that is exactly what he did. Now, I am wondering how many of these experts live here in Las Vegas, downwind of Yucca Mountain? One? None? Remember, that one little traffic accident may make an area uninhabitable by human life for more than a quarter of a million years. Bush said that Kerry is making the Yucca Mountain issue a "political poker chip." You have to love his metaphors, if he were in Georgia I guess it would be a "political peach" or "political potato" for Idaho. At least it was "political poker chip" and not "political slot token." Maybe it would have been more fitting if he had said "glow-in-the-dark political poker chip." Do I really believe his expert advisors are making decisions based on good science? I believed them once. When they said there was no health dangers and even if there was we would receive health care and compensation for our efforts.

Cheers and check out the Ad Impression Giveaway,

PokerProf.

Posted by pokerprof at 2:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I thought I’d start today's blog with a quick critique of last nights 2004 WSOP events on ESPN. The first event, $5,000 Limit Hold’em was pretty good. Powers was the most interesting character at the table, and love or hate him, this is a man who knows how to get air time. The absolute worst play didn’t come from Powers; it came from McManius, Powers arch nemesis. Powers is heads-up with McManius and betting out, McManius is calling the bets with a bloody Queen high right to the river. He must have been on a serious tilt because calling with a Queen nothing at the river is insane. The only other play worth commenting on is when Gallagher called Tran with a 7-5 suited. I know she was trying to defend her blind; but, after the flop didn't improve the hand Patty's aggressive play killed her. She had no read on Tran and the 7-5 turned into real trouble for her when it became a pair to Trans straight and then two pair on the river. The (almost) final hand was about what I expected, two monster hands running into each-other, Ace flush beats a King flush and it’s about over with Hennigan winning and Tran in second.

For the Omaha championship event both Lederer and Negreanu were at the final table and both were soon eliminated. The wild card this time was Ted Lawson, a newbie to poker, who made some horrible plays with the worst being when he misread his hand thinking he had a straight and, in fact, he had nothing. Bad play aside, Lawson managed to take the event beating out Lee Watkinson (who also took down a few events at the Orleans Open/2004) and favorite, Freddy “Must be the Shirt” Deeb.

In other news, I’ve been busy with a couple of projects. I’ve been looking at blogshares the past few days and been working to put every Poker Blog in the gambling category (not an easy task). I’ve run across a few good blogs while doing this and plan to overhaul the ol’ blog roll later this week. I’ve finally got all the new Las Vegas photos in the gallery and it has over 70 images with more coming.

Cool post of the day: Varaience from Crazy Game of Poker

Posted by pokerprof at 6:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I am using this week to film some of Vegas’ cityscapes and attractions so I will be blogging about my adventures, misadventures and encounters. The hottest days of summer are upon Vegas (112 today) and I survive this living microwave climate by sleeping through the day and working during the night. Early this morning found me on the Vegas strip doing tourist style snapshots while the Poker Prof provided a running commentary on the philosophy of life, living and death by poker. Even at three in the morning the strip sidewalks are busy with tourist traffic (three in the morning we are looking through the M.I.L.K. Photography exhibit set up on the mall under the Metal Cloud of the Fashion Show). I continue to remind myself that the purpose of my after midnight strolls is to see and record Las Vegas through the eyes of our visitors, hard to do if you have lived here for a couple of decades. The photos will be sorted, prepared and posted into our Vegas Vacation Tips Gallery to provide the tip's user with a virtual tour of Las Vegas.

Something I saw last night is worth mentioning here. The traffic on the strip was moderate, not the usual parking lot stuff, lots of cars moving along. Lots of cars and one very large, unmarked semi-tractor trailer truck, the big coast-to-coast kind that hauls forty tons of freight. Nothing out of the ordinary here; except, yesterday I’m watching the local news and they report that video tapes and computers files recovered from known terrorists (apparently related to the cause for the recent elevation of the terrorist threat level) contain footage of three Las Vegas hotels, the MGM Mirage, Excalibur and New York, New York. These three major properties (all three are on the top ten largest hotels in the world list. The Tropicana Hotel is on the fourth corner) are located at the same intersection, the Las Vegas Strip and Tropicana Avenue. The Poker Prof, always the paranoid thinker, immediately points out the truck and says if that thing were filled with the same stuff as that medium size yellow truck in Oklahoma City and the driver was wishing to meet all those virgins on the other side then three of the world’s top ten hotels would drop off the list. This is not fantasy logic. Every element of this imagined disaster is quite do-able. All the ingredients of this recipe for terrorism are present. The truck was cruising the strip. The chemicals are readily available from any large farming operation. The diesel fuel can be had by the thousands of gallons at any truck stop. Bingo, or in this case, Boom! Las Vegas has a Homeland Security guy so what the hell is he doing? Planning his escape route after the bang? You want to ban my backpack but not my semi-truck? They actually pay you to think of this stuff? You don’t really need to be a rocket scientist to see the potential breech of security or the very simple solution. If it has dual wheels and is not a CAT bus, it is *NOT* allowed on the strip, no exceptions so no problem to enforce. Don’t tell me the hotel suppliers can’t make deliveries. If you can’t figure this one out call me, I already know the answer and will be happy to share at no cost. Get the damn semi-trucks off the Vegas Strip, if the long haul truckers want to cruise the boulevard they can get a cab like the rest of us. Terrorist problems aside, it is a dangerous combination to have these large vehicles on a crowded street lined with thousands of drinking, unthinking tourist. No wonder our fatal pedestrian/vehicle accident rate is high. Major Oscar Goodman is known for his ability to quickly and efficiently fix problems, especially those that affect the safety and security of his city. If he read this post I am sure that very large trucks would be banned from the Vegas Strip tonight.

Be sure to check out Riding the F-Train for a great post on SNG strategy.

Posted by flipchipro at 3:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We decided to head back downtown to see if all the hype about the upgrade to the Freemont Street Experience (something like 20 times the resolution of the old canopy light display) is overstated or not. Well, I have a photo here so people can decide for themselves; but in general, I think the Bellagio dancing fountains, Ceasar’s talking statues, and the Mirage white tigers whoop the Fremont Experience. If you are in Vegas for a couple of days then stick with the strip, a little longer then stop by downtown. I cruised Binion’s Horseshoe for a quick look around and they were spreading a few attractive looking 6-12 hold’em games; which I was told can be found 7 days a week and they are now running daily tournaments, in other words, the poker room looked good. Next, having my appetite roused by the stink of sewage that permeates downtown in the heat of summer (You hit a wall of stench about 2 blocks from Fremont street). I decided to pay a visit to the 4 Queens Coffee Shop for my favorite Prime Rib special. For $7.99 it’s a nice cut of some of the most mouth-watering as jus drenched prime rib I have had in Vegas and comes with a baked potato, baby carrots and a dinner salad. Other then the price going up, this meal has remained consistent for at least 10 years, and this evening was no exception.

I strolled around for a while waiting for the new, improved Fremont Experience and flipchip got some cool neon light photos. Downtown still has some of that 'Old Vegas' feel, which blend well with all the Fremont Street attractions. I counted 22 kiosks and a couple of live performances (a decent stage band and a very good sax player were showing their stuff). The kiosks mostly sell tacky Vegas tourist stuff (lucky charms, dice clocks, stuff that glows, stuff that blinks, and stuff that makes you wonder how insane the world is) The most popular vendor has been and still is a guy who does great spray paint art for his large audience crowded ten deep around him.

Well that’s about it for the downtown report; but in poker news, I ran across an interesting article on the rise of home games, another poker is hot article here, and this article on varying bet size is a good read.

Posted by pokerprof at 11:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Al can’t hang posted his poker blogger dream team with some good choices. If I had to pick a blogger to back in a tournament, I’d go by the numbers and pick Otis from Up For Poker who is leading in poker blogger tournament wins.

Pauly’s most recent Hilton sisters competition was taken down by none other the Derek, Pauly’s brother, over at Poker in the Weeds.

Iggy has some interesting gossip and information on Crew member Dutch Boyd while The Poker Chronicles has a response(See Also: Paulsburbon).

The Cards Speak has another guest blogger post, this time from RDub with another take on No-Limit strategy in response to HDouble’s post from the other day, a lot of thought provoking material here. On the topic of guest bloggers, Call, Raise or Muck it picked up a new guest writer who has an interesting take.

I’ve added a poll to the blog since I need to find one for a site I’m working on and I see no reason to re-invent the wheel with so many scripts for this abound. It will be interesting to see if I can coax all both my readers into voting.

Posted by pokerprof at 1:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I read the previous two post from the Poker Prof and decided he got part of it right. He is totally off the map; in fact, I think he must be from some other planet. After his heavy stuff I have to offer something a bit on the lighter side. I returned from LA yesterday so got to experience first hand the drive tens of thousands of you make every Friday across the desert to Las Vegas. A strip of two lane pavement crowded with lots of cars and huge trucks racing to Vegas. The drive doesn’t offer much in the way of scenic vistas, mostly vast expanses of nothing shimmering in the rising waves of heat. J. Santos was driving so I dozed through most of the trip. I had a camera in the car which Santos found and not only was he driving, he was playing with the camera. I found these photos on the flash card and include a few here so I can share the trip with you. Good thing I was asleep for most of the trip. While we were getting the luggage out of the car here in Vegas Santos told me he likes driving so much he's thinking about getting a drivers license. Perhaps we should seek some professional help for Santos.

Today’s top nine list is excuses for playing poker. I'm sure there are many more good reasons to play the game; but, if you need something to tell your mate to justify why you bought three hundred dollars worth of custom poker chips feel free to use these.

Top Nine reasons why I play Poker:

9. A wonderful investment of my time and money.
8. My doctor said I needed to get off the couch and participate in sports.
7. I'm practicing for the Olympics.
6. Bad beat jackpots.
5. I wasn’t smart enough to learn craps.
4. I really enjoy being abused by a group of drunken adults in public.
3. Poker helps me understand life’s river cards.
2. I’m doing research for a book.
1. The millions I'm going to win at the 2005 WSOP.

Posted by flipchipro at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I’m following the progress of the dreaded INTERNET GAMBLING FUNDING PROHIBITION ACT and the debate, both current and past. It’s an interesting bill and might very well squeak by, but I’ll need some time for an in-depth analysis. In a nutshell everything about this can be summed up as “legalize and regulate” or “ban and enforce”. I, of course, am on “the legalize and regulate” side on the house.

I talked with Tom McEvoy a bit today and the Final Table Challenge is fast approaching the filming date (set for September 14th at Sam’s town). The top finisher for this episode will get $50,000 and the season finale event first prize is expected to be over $250,000. Not too shabby.

One other note, the UNLV WSOP virtual exhibit is a very cool site so check it out and the guy who runs it all even has a blog.

Posted by pokerprof at 4:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

First, faithful readers forgive me for what is destined to be dull read with no visual enhancement. For a few of my readers I suspect that starting the previous days post with the origin of ‘fusis’ was a harbinger of the post to come. Every once in a while I enter into a very reflective state, I will attempt to apply this reflection to poker and keep the content focused on a particular area, but I’ll make no guarantees. Brace yourselves, for I’m feeling philosophical; we're off the map and there be dragons here.

Topic of the day: Growth and experience

Poker is an interesting game, it’s never truly mastered, it’s a game in which a dedicated player will always find new ways to grow, adapt and evolve. So, we being in a state of utter immaturity and experience allows us to diminish that immaturity though its two-fold passive and active state. The passive state is undergoing the experience, taking the sensory input and storing it for later use. TJ Cloutier is a master of undergoing a poker experience as he said on the WSOP “If I played poker with you 20 years ago I might not remember your name, but I’ll remember how you played”. The other intrinsic aspect of experience is active, the trying. This is what enables the growth, to try something for the first time for that particular instance. Even if everything else in existence were to remain unchanged; there exist the necessity of the existence of two things that change; the time in which it occurs, due to our linear experience of time and the additional memory, for this will be recorded when we undergo the experience. Trying something we have experienced before and undergone allows us to build a set of memories to draw upon which in turn allows for a more accurate prediction of the outcome of what is being tried. Hence; we learn. Every moment of our existence, every breath, every heartbeat we learn, for by our very existence we are in a state of perpetual experience.

Now, as we build our reservoir of experience, our opportunity to focus our learning on specific elements increases. Once the basic of poker are mastered, we can direct our energy to learning pot odds, value betting, specific elements of the game that become part of our nature. Next, comes the aspects that are never truly and totally mastered, the qualitative aspects of the game that require trying every time, bluffing, reading tells, deciding how much to bet in order to garner or suppress a call/raise. These are the elements that a lifetime of devotion will, for the skilled and devoted allow self-mastery, but never total mastery for poker is a game that operates outside of our personal experience and interacts with the experience of those around us. Each and every player undergoes and tries, learns and adapts. Even after a totality of self-mastery has reach the point of diminishing returns, pot odds are second nature and the bet is exactly the right amount our opponent can make the most improbable of moves and catch a two-outer to make the nuts. This aspect of the game, however, should not put us on tilt or effect future judgment; the improbable and unlikely events must be over ruled by the total mastery of the underlying statistics and the reservoir of experience that creates sound and reasonable judgment, with the emphasis shifting to the latter as the well of experience we draw upon grows deeper.

In considering the nature of experience as it relates to poker, I consider the totality of the game to be one of the truest representations in microcosm of the larger whole, that is, life. This is not to say that to master poker is to master life, but rather, that both have limitless possibilities; which, as we evolve from a state of immaturity to maturity become a finite set of at least a smaller infinite set; which allows for success by what ever stick our personal development establishes or, as Suzuki said “in the beginners mind there are many possibilities, in the masters few.”

Now, please don’t consider this an in-depth examination of this topic; for the nature, the fusis, of experience, action, memory, sensation, quality and about dozen over interrelating elements would need to be considered in depth. Quality was a focal point of “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.” Sensation can be looked at from numerous philosophic schools, from rationalism to empiricism (thank the Brits for that school of thought) to existentialism to Classic Aristotelian. And experience was not only the focus of a book for John Dewey’s works, but his life’s work (by definition I suppose, okay, bad pun).

Well, I refuse to end a post on a bad pun, so I guess I’ll wrap up this cursory look at growth and its relationship to experience with a pertinent quote on the topic from Mr. Dewey.

This is humorous, for I realize now; that, I have basically written about the synthesis of experience and growth as I set out to do and looking at Dewey there is a single word to sum this up: education.

So a short and sweet from Dewey: “Education is the process of living, not preparation for future living.”

Posted by pokerprof at 5:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Fusis, that’s what the strange looking text image at the top says, it’s Greek for stuff and the origin of the word physics (file that in the "useless thing I didn't need to know" catagory). Today’s post is just a bunch of stuff from the past couple of days.

WPT at the Mirage:

Okay, the Mirage WPT event is over and done with, with Eli Elezra taking top honors and a million dollar purse. Other notables at the final table include Scotty Nguyen(5th), John Juanda(4th) and in third Gabe Kaplan, yes that Gabe Kaplan. You can read some of the gritty details on Lion’s Tales, where he busted out early. One slight correction, Toby finished in 15th according to this.

WSOP on ESPN:

Well, it was a ball to watch and read on Up for Poker, even being in the room is nothing like watching ESPN and seeing those mucked hole-card and finding out the rabbit hunting what-might-have-been rivers.

First episode retrospective: I knew Gavin Griffen caught some lucky breaks, but… wow. He went All-In and 4 out of 5 times his cards were the underdog. 4 out of 5 times he hit the board to win. Twice, with a wired under pair that hit trips. I know you have to be lucky to take the gold in the tournaments, but this was beyond luck, the cards ran over this guy. The one time Gary Bush would have sucked him out on the river Bush folded (he would have hit a straight). My favorite comments from the episode came from Phil Hellmuth and Gavin Griffen.

Phil Hellmuth: “The kid made at least 30 mistakes while playing.”
Griffen: “I only made a couple of mistakes the whole time.”

Well, I’m thinking Phil is closer to the mark on this one, Griffen is a good player that got very lucky. TJ is a great player that doesn’t need a lot of luck.

Second Episode: TJ Cloutier, Howard Lederer, Dutch Boyd… wow, what a final table. Razz, it seems, is a hateful game (I don’t play, but I’m sure Felicia Lee a Razz master has some thoughts). The game is slow, aggravating and even watching the cards at home I felt frustration when reading the boards and seeing Lederer end up with 3 pair on the river twice. The thing I loved here was the conversation between Howard and TJ.

Howard: “You have to be crazy to play this game”
TJ: “You got that right”

I really grinned when Howard and TJ were both showing 5-7-9 and both has A-2 in the hole, raise, re-raise, re-raise…
TJ: “We both have the same hand”
Howard “I know we both have the same hand TJ”

Only with players at this level would you hear that kind of a conversation, I’m still grinning at that patronizing tone a very frustrated Howard took with T.J.; and of course, Lederer’s comments that sum up the episode best:
Howard: “It take a lot to get me in a bad mood, but Razz will do it”
Howard: “I got in a bad mood, but I didn’t let it effect my play, and a bad mood is part of Razz”

Okay… what the hell happened to Boyd when he went heads up with T.J.!? He literally became a calling station with (for Razz) crap cards. In two hands Boyd gave his chips to T.J. He fell apart. If poker is a game of patience then Razz is a game of hibernation. Unfortunately for Boyd, the brain is not what you want to hibernate. Boyd is another good player, except the cards didn’t run over him the way they ran over Gavin Griffen. That final table was one of the most entertaining I’ve seen. It was even fitting when Dutch asks T.J. if he could hold the bracelet and T.J. consoled him with, "You're going to win a lot of those."

Foxes and Farmers:

While reading middle tournament stage play strategy on riding the F-train I couldn't help but think about Tom McEvoy’s foxes and farmers analogy. In a nutshell, from the middle stage to the end of the bubble in a tournament is the period when players are divided in the farmers that spend their enegy trying to protect their chips long enough to make it into the money, and the foxes that are stealing the farmers chips to build a stack that can win the tournament. Tom calls this the period of the tournament when the top players build their monster stacks. I agree. The middle stages with a middle stack is a great time to build it up by identifying the farmers and stealing their blinds and ante’s with a smooth bluff. This, along with a couple of real hands produces a comfortable stack for beyond the bubble play.

A little non-poker “It’s funny, laugh” content.

Ugarte from Rick's Cafe has put up a site called “Anybody but Bush” to capitalize on election humor see if people really would prefer anybody (or thing for that matter) to W. Well, head on over to see if Bush can take down opponents like Don King, Castro and Milosevic. Some of the opponents are very humorous, Limestone is listed, but I will only vote for an inanimate carbon rod.

A little non-poker it's not funny content:

Iggy, my grief is with you, it's a real bummer to lose a family member.

Okay that’s enough fusis for one sitting.

Stinger:
Dutch Boyd: “I’ll take it $5000 at a time.”
TJ Cloutier: “It won’t be that easy, kid.”

Posted by pokerprof at 7:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Vegas Vacation Tips pages have finally been posted and are available. Check them out by clicking the “Vacation Tips” option on the menu bar above. While researching for the vacation section I was truly surprised at how much the Las Vegas landscape has changed in the last few years. Vegas took the quantum leap when Steve Wynn built and opened the Mirage Hotel and Casino complete with an erupting volcano that belched fire and Mai Tai scented smoke on the hour. The attraction would literally stop traffic on the Vegas Strip with people exiting the cars and taxis to watch this roaring spectacle. The city then enjoyed a plethora of themed, billion dollar resorts opening every few months. Now, Wynn’s latest effort, the $2.4 billion Wynn Resort, is taking shape on the north end of the strip and promises to send Las Vegas on another quantum trip. Wynn’s fascination with natural landmarks continues with created mountains including an alpine lake guarding the resort from the strip. Why settle for just one volcano when you can have the entire mountain range?

The Democratic National Convention has come and gone with no surprises other than fewer public intoxication arrests. I did find an interesting footnote to the big party. The Associated Press reported in the local paper (sorry, I can’t locate this story on the web but the 08-02-2004 byline credited Anick Jesdaun and the headline read, ”Bloggers call their arrival in Boston revolutionary”) that three dozen invited bloggers received media credentials granting them access to the convention floor alongside the fifteen thousand traditional journalists. The somewhat tongue-in-cheek article rambled that the bloggers wrote more about themselves than about the convention and one blog (wink, wink) even posted a scan of their media pass. A paragraph quoted from the article:

“I had a good laugh at the first two blogs I visited. One identified itself as “A credentialed 2004 DNC Blog,” while the other had a huge “Convention Bloggers” logo in red, yellow and blue (white doesn’t stand out against the white background).”

The traditional print journalist seems to have a difficult time understanding the basic concept of blogging; thus, the above and the swipe at the posting of the media passes. The wonderful thing about blogging is the lack of established, party line rules. Blogging is freedom of speech in its most basic form and the blogging community is open source. But enough of this ranting and on to my point. I blogged here April 23rd about receiving my media credentials after being recognized as a valid news service when the WSOP gave me a press pass based on my Internet publishing of "The Poker Prof’s Blog." Of course, I was not covering a bunch of multi-millionaire politicians chasing a seat in the Oval Office, just a crowd of multi-millionaire poker players chasing a seat at the final table; otherwise, the wire services could have written the same “Bloggers think they are journalists” headline in April when a blogger, the Poker Prof, was officially recognized as legitimate media at a major news event.

I did locate this article posted on the Reuters website covering the blogger/DNC milestone event.

Posted by flipchipro at 5:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Bluffing and running a bluff is probably the most mis-played aspect of poker (slow playing big wired pairs while letting someone make a hand is a close second). I almost never bluff in a ring game; I keep my margins up by folding and losing less rather than bluffing to win more. On the other hand, in tournament play, especially during the middle and latter stages bluffing becomes an important and indispensable part of the game; unless of course, the cards happen to run over you and you win all the chips without ever needing to bluff. The following are my thoughts on bluffing.

Know your opponent!
Do *NOT* try to bluff against fish, maniacs or calling stations. T.J. Cloutier said it best in his book, "Championship No-Limit and Pot-limit Hold'em," with, “We all bluff, but nobody can bluff a weak player. That would be like committing suicide.” The players to bluff are the farmers, the conservative/tight and the skilled player. If you haven’t determined the types of players at your table then don’t bluff.

Bluffing and position.
It’s, of course, better to run a bluff from a late position where you have the ability to see all the action in front of you, I usually run my bluffs from the button or a couple of seats behind the button, not always of course; but, usually. I rarely run a bluff out of the blinds, unless I am about 90% certain it will succeed, the reason being of course, these are the most common bluffing positions and a lot of players know this and will call.

Types of Bluffs.

The Total Bluff:
You have nothing, no likely draws, no pair, and you’ll probably end up playing the board if it comes down to showing your cards. I’ll run this bluff on the flop if I think my opponent has missed; or before the flop if there has been no action and the blinds are from mostly conservative players. Then, I’ll follow this up with a pot-sized bet on the flop and I’ll either be raised and fold (If a conservative player is raising you are usually in trouble) or the opponent will fold and I take down the pot.

The Semi-Bluff:
I’d say this is the most common bluff, a straight or flush draw hand betting out to grab the pot right there while also having the option to make a hand on the turn or river if you are called. You really want to pick up the pot then and there and not draw to your hand; unless of course, pot odds are in your favor and then it’s more of a value bet to make sure your get paid off.

The Re-Steal bluff:
I’d call this the most difficult of bluffs to correctly play and successfully pull. You not only have to decide the correct amount to re-raise to pick up the pot; but also, you have to correctly surmise that your opponent is running a bluff. If I am sure I’m looking at a bluff and I have a semi-bluffing hand I’ll usually then check out my opponent’s chip count and if they are short stacked I’ll put them all in if they call. I make this play to win the pot right there; but, I still have a chance to eliminate them if I make my draw. If I’m on an average or short stack I’ll usually take a pass at trying to bluff and steal the pot since I don’t like to risk my seat on a drawing hand.

When to Bluff:
The short answer is when you believe your opponent is relatively weak and unlikely to call. The in-depth response is when you determine that you can probably build and take down a pot with your bluff and never have to show the cards you portend to have. For example, let’s say you raise 4x BB pre-flop and one of the blinds decides to call. The board comes:

Kh 5h 3d

If you decide to bluff Kings now is the time for a pot sized bet, if your bluffing a flush draw then a check is in order followed by a pot sized or all-in bet when another heart hits the board. The object is to show strength and convince the other player that they are on a loser.

How to Bluff:
Don’t hesitate! Seize the moment! If you’re going to bluff the pot move like you have the hand you’re bluffing. It’s not just the size of the bet; but, how the bet is made. As Sun Tsu said in the “Art of War”, “When weak appear strong.” Better yet, minimize variance in play style so your action appears the same whether bluffing or not. One of the few times you want to appear to be a pattern player.

Final Thoughts.
Don’t get married to your bluff. Against a real hand you’re toast. Know when to lay down and save your chips for a better opportunity. Don’t bluff early on. The early bluff does not support your table image as that of a tight (and hopefully aggressive) and rock solid player to be feared. It makes it far less likely you’ll run a successful bluff against playes in the middle and latter stages of the tournament since most of the bad players are already gone. A thought that always come to mind when considering a bluff is something I heard from an experienced old player, “If you bluff more than once a week you are probably not as good as you think you are.”

Links:
Check out this great post from Poker and Devotion on Poker and Relationships.

Posted by pokerprof at 1:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

First let me start with some great non-poker content from Dr. Pauly, Al and several others with the latest issues of the blogzine Truckin’ which is always worth reading; also, check out Dr. Pauly’s July 26 entry for a story of seedy plagiarism from a poker site never to be mentioned here. Derek is once again posting on Poker in the Weeds and is almost as fun to read as Poker Works. Mean Gene has an interesting read on poker and haircut’s and Guppy to Shark has a new comic up based on his home game experiences. Paul Phillips has posted a bit about the WPT Mirage event, and if any one is wondering Toby McGuire finished 38th. Finally, I ran across a short article on the legal state of poker in Oklahoma.

Posted by pokerprof at 3:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)