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Thursday, July 31, 2008

Poker Women Speak on Podcast

Woman poker player Dianna Donofrio has launched a new pod cast on Yaktivate.com, a pod cast that will feature the ladies of the poker world. The name of the pod cast is WomensPokerYak, and will feature interviews with well know female poker players such as Jan Fisher, Evelyn Ng, and Linda Johnson, the first lady of poker. The show will focus on those women poker players who have made an impact on the game of poker for women worldwide...

Online Poker Player Data Up for Grabs

Online poker players produce a lot of records playing games at various poker rooms, and that information is valuable to other poker players looking for an edge over their opponents. Knowing how a particular opponent plays can give insight into how to earn their chips, the ultimate goal in a game of poker. One source, Poker Sharks Radar, claims to have created a database using info on three million online poker players and their game stats and is offering the data for free on their site...

PA Organizations Looking for Video Poker

The US state of Pennsylvania says it is okay to have video poker if you are a state sponsored casino, but other groups are looking to install video poker machines to raise money to keep the lights on. Outfits like the Elks and the American Legion are seeking permission to be added to the list of places that could put up video poker machines legally, but are facing opposition from the Pennsylvania Family Institute as well as various anti-gambling groups. Related Articles: No drop planned for poker machines West Virginia poker ruled legal. ...

Scorching Your Bridges

Somebody once said that all was fair in love and war. Achilles took this to almost ridiculous lengths when he and the Greeks waged years of warfare against Troy all because of a Spartan king who lost his lost his beautiful bride, Helen, to a smooth talking Trojan named Paris. While burning bridges, both figuratively and literally in this case is permissible under the love/warfare model, doing so over a poker tournament would probably fall under the "reprehensible" category.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

2008 WSOP Event 28 Winner Phil Galfond

If you are playing a final table and upon looking around see Johnny Chan, Phil Hellmuth, David Benyamine, Daniel Negreanu, and John Juanda staring back at you, you are probably not going to win. When your opponents have enough bracelets to keep even Ganesh covered with fashion accessories, you should just be happy with whatever position you wind up cashing out at. To his credit Mr. "OMGClayAiken" Galfond was not intimidated and promptly started chopping down the trees around him.

WPT's Fall Boot Camps

"Boot camp" is term generally given to the military training that turns a kid, whose greatest challenge in life was getting past the Nightmare level on Halo 2, into a well oiled fighting machine. This type of training usually involves trading one's locks for a tacky camouflage wardrobe and the type of food that even a wiener dog would turn their nose up at. After 8 to 10 weeks of running, sweating, and getting yelled at by somebody who works out their personal issues by intimidating teenagers, boot camp is over and the cadet is transformed from a pile of useless goo into something their parents can be proud of. If this is the sort of experience you are looking for, the WPT boot camp is definitely not the place to be.

New Online Poker Room

An online poker room is the next venture for a global financial services company's gaming affiliate, Cantor Gaming. CantorPoker.com is the room, which is running on the Entraction Poker Network, the same network that the poker room of UK based poker pro David "Devilfish" Ulliott, Devilfishpoker, just recently switched to. CantorPoker has games both for fun and real money, offering a rake back service to get players to try them out, including something called a "24 hour cash back" service...

Second European Championship of Online Poker Running Good

In poker to "run good" is to do well at the game, and for Titan Poker, their second major online poker series is "running good". The European Championship of Online Poker, ECOOP II, is a ten day event that kicked off on May 23 and will run through Sunday, June 1st, with a different event running every day. Their first event pulled in more than 1,200 players, and the main event on June 1 is expected to bring in a whole lot more...

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Is the WSOP Watered Down?

Watering down the talent pool has made it tough for the good players to shine. A world class player who has to face down 6500 opponents in a big tournament like the World Series of Poker Main Event is still a heavy underdog to make it to the final table. This is evidenced by the fact that it has been over five years since a big name pro has won the WSOP Main Event, and this year the November final table is basically a who's who of the poker unknowns.

Tribal Poker Tourney Stirs the Waters

The Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma has been issued a subpoena regarding the details of a poker tournament held in Akela by the tribe about a month ago. The July 15 subpoena is asking for a description of the event to include the names of those who played in the event and employees working at the event, as well as the total number of folks who were involved with the poker tournament. The letter comes from the National Indian Gaming Commission complete with a dire warning about what might happen if they ignored the subpoena...

Pussycat Dolls to Play on Poker Island

Online poker room bwin poker is running a promo that can get players to a weekend trip on Poker Island, and the winners will get to mix and mingle with the girl band the Pussycat Dolls. Players who come to Poker Island will have to compete to stay, enjoying the vacation like atmosphere while playing poker for a chance to play in the Poker Island grand final event in October. Each week two players will be kicked off the island, and winners of the Grand Final event will get a year membership as part of bwin's pro poker team. Related Articles: Pro players plan on playing the APT National Deaf Poker Tour...

Be Wary of Going All In

The all in bet has been a staple of big poker tournaments ever since the ESPN cameras became part of the sport's reality. There are a number of reasons for this that can be explained from a tactical point of view, but the reality is that the all in bet is exciting: it's the "Home Run" of the sport of poker, and makes for good viewing. Newer players have been watching this on television for years, and it has become an accepted part of the game. In older days these types of all or nothing gambits were less frequent.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Sit and Go Madness at Online Poker Room

Online poker room Full Tilt Poker is returning their popular Sit and Go game series called Sit and Go Madness. SNG Madness Part IV will kick off Friday August 1st and run through Sunday August 3rd, and will feature a $75k prize pool to be shared out via leader boards, on top of whatever players are winning in the individual games. Leader boards cover two hour blocks, and that gives plenty of chances for a player to win a leader board prize pool during the 48 hour period of SNG Madness IV. Related Articles: Pacific Poker Open V qualifiers Good guessing won player a WSOPE seat...

Tools of the Trade

So does a plumber have an unfair advantage when he uses a wrench to stop a stubborn leak? Well perhaps the leak thinks so, but in reality the tradesman is just using the proper tool of the trade to solve a problem. People might look a little sideways at the gentleman if he tried to stop the leak by swearing at it using cream cheese to stop the flow of water. In short, we expect people to use the tools available to them in order to be good at their jobs. Poker odds calculators are a relatively new wrinkle that has been added to the landscape of the online poker world.

National Deaf Poker Tour

The National Deaf Poker Tour made some noise at the Venetian in Las Vegas in a two day finale to the four stop 2007-2008 season. The event was created by Nathan Montoya, Jarrod Musano, James Rydstrom, Joey Seifner, Alok Doshi, and Andy Foster to provide a venue for deaf poker players to relax, enjoy themselves, and hold conversations with everyone around them without worrying about being understood. Created in 2006, the National Deaf Poker Tour made their latest stop with a $200 buy in main event that drew 136 people playing for a chunk of the $20,672 prize pool. Related Articles: Poker pro wins ante up for Africa Poker fans look forward to ESPN WSOP coverage...

Online Poker Now Legal in South Africa

With the concerns of crime and money laundering plaguing the online poker industry in South Africa the government has taken steps to defuse the situation by passing legislation to regulate Internet gambling. The new law was recently approved by South Africa's Parliament in order to address the negative side of online gambling and replace it with the positive. The Act would allow for an electronic monitoring system that would place credit restrictions on poker players to avoid problem gambling incidents...

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Beware the Minimum Raise

Somebody once made the observation that less is more. While this idea doesn't really hold up when a relationship progresses to a stage when bras and boxer shorts are hanging from the lampshade, this philosophy does make some sense when from a Texas Holdem perspective. So you are sitting at the table and one of your opponents makes a raise from an early position. The thing is that in this No Limit game your rival has only made the minimum raise.

2008 WSOP Diary, July 8: Brian Schaedlich New Chip Leader, Ray Romano Eliminated

Ray Romano has became one of the most high profile casualties of Day 2A. Of course he was not alone on the rail today. A whole lot of players with recognizable faces found themselves making the sad transition from competitor to spectator. Ray was playing at the featured table, so his removal from the event was pretty high profile, but among the eliminated were also the following players: Barry Greenstein, Vicky Coren, Bill Edler, John Hennigan, Svetlana Gromenkova, and Paul Wasicka.

Online Poker Room Gearing Up for WSOPE

The next big thing for the World Series of Poker is the WSOPE set to start on September 19th, and online poker room Full Tilt Poker is offering their players a chance to qualify. The World Series of Poker Europe will play in London like it did last year, so part of the prize package to the WSOPE will include airfare and hotel accommodations, as well as the full buy in for the WSOPE main event. Players can buy in to qualifiers for $500 or satellite in for as little as $1. Related Articles: Good guessing won player a WSOPE seat Poker room sends players to Costa Rica...

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Asian Poker Tour Qualifiers

Online poker room Bodog Poker offers its players a chance to travel to Macau to play in the Asian Poker Tour, if they can win the APT Macau Seat Giveaway Finale, set to play on August 2nd. To get into the Finale players can play in a direct qualifier for $320 that runs on Sundays, or they can play in one of the four times a day freerolls running to the end of the month. Players who win the Finale will get a $8,000 prize package that includes the APT Macau buy-in of $5,300, airfare, spending money, and a six night stay at the Galaxy Star World Hotel and Casino. Related Articles: Good guessing won player a WSOPE seat Poker room sends players to Costa Rica...

Basketball Pro Hosts Poker Tourney

Chris Webber is a retired basketball great, and he is looking for some great action this Friday at Planet Hollywood to raise money for the Chris Webber Foundation. The event, called C-Webb's Bada Bling Celebrity Weekend, will include a charity poker tournament that will be sure to gather sports stars and celebrities for a good cause. No River Holdem is the game, just like Texas Holdem except there is no river card, giving players one less card with which to make the best poker hand...

Testing the Pre-Flop Raiser

What happens before the flop and what happens after it can be as different as night and day. Somebody behaving like a lion before the first three cards hit the board may be reduced to impotent hamster after the flop. Of course this transformation is only valuable if you know they have been neutered and play accordingly. If you have something like a Q-10 or a Q-J, and one of your opponents raises after you before the flop this could have a whole host of meanings.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Variety Is the Spice of Life

We live in a very big world with lots of stuff in it. Hostess fruit pies come in a number of different flavors, not just cherry, while we can order our hamburgers with literally dozens of different kinds of cheese on them. Even when it comes to something as anonymously indispensable as toilet tissue our choices range from pillow soft, to benignly unremarkable, to something that feels like sandpaper. With this in mind, what sort of sense does it make to play Texas Holdem and only Texas Holdem?

Poker Players Alliance Bashes Poker Agency

The online gambling licensing agency Kahnawake got a stern talking too from one of the largest poker advocacy organizations on the planet recently when the Poker Players Alliance came out against the agency about their reticence in working with PPA. The PPA, a grassroots organization determined to protect poker players' interests, spoke out against the infamous cheating allegations brought against two major online poker rooms and the regulatory industry's lack of control on the issue. Both sites are licensees of Kahnawake, which was refused entry to the Advertising Standards Authority in Great Britain. Related Articles: Legal poker in California closer to happening Swedish poker veto action...

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Titan Poker for Russian Language Speakers

Online poker room Titan Poker just recently announced they have added the Russian language to their poker room, giving Russian speakers the chance to play poker at the popular site in their native language. Titan Poker now has a dozen languages to offer: Russian, Dutch, Danish, English, German, French, Finnish, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Spanish, and Swedish. According to the poker room an influx of Russian speaking players prompted the addition to the suite of service offered by Titan Poker, which extends to the poker software, customer support services, and the web site. Related Articles: Online poker player youngest to win signature event iPods available at online poker room...

Hiding Behind the Maniac Player

In the game of poker knowledge is power. This means that the less your opponents know about you the less power they have. So if you can win pots without having to give away any information about yourself, you are ahead of the game. Very few people are going to fold to you just because you have a winning smile so chances are you're going to have to play some poker in order to get your opponents' money. Every hand you play is a potential intelligence gathering exercise for the rest of the table, so there will be times when you want to hide behind somebody else during a hand. In short, you need a Trojan Maniac.

The Circle of Life at "Poker After Dark"

In the world of professional poker the established pros have been struggling to keep their hold on the sport while under constant assault by the internet kids who have begun feeling their oats. These younger competitors have started making inroads into the sport that had previously been considered the sole province of folks who had "paid their dues". The battle between the generations is one that has fueled pages of press and hundreds of thousands of blog entries, and now a major network has picked up on people's interest in this topic, and has made it a part of their poker programming. NBC's Poker After Dark will feature what they call "Nets vs. Vets". This will pit some of the internet stars against three of the recognizable and accomplished players on the planet.

Curt Kohlberg: Working a Mathematical Poker Approach

Like many high end poker players - Curt Kohlberg of Weston, Massachusetts started playing poker with friends just for fun. He still insists that he has no desire to be considered a true professional poker player. Kohlberg was introduced to the sport as a young, ambitious college student at the University of Massachusetts where he was a five-card draw and seven-card stud ace. Along with poker he played paddleball, racquetball, wrote a sports column for his college newspaper, and was an entrepreneur selling shirts at rock concerts.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Play Against Your Favorite Pro

While the sport of poker has more avenues to the professional ranks than most professional, competitive sports, it can't hurt the average person to test themselves against the best that the sport has to offer. The Venetian in Las Vegas is now giving people this opportunity. Starting this fall the Venetian is adding a new show. It is called "The Real Deal!" As part of the show established pros like Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth will be pitted against people from the audience as well as amateur poker players.

We Two Kings

Most players who have any sort of meaningful experience in the game of Holdem will agree that Pocket Aces should be played aggressively before the flop. The rationality behind the aggression is almost self-evident: nobody at the table can hope to get a bigger pair, and the person with pocket rockets should be keen to get the drawing hands out of the hand. So while we all know what to do when two Aces show up in our hand, it seems people are less committed to this same, overt, pre-flop aggression when they have been dealt a pair of Kings.

WSOP Movie Possible

A documentary surrounding the 2005 victory of Australian Joe Hachem over the international crowd at the World Series of Poker could be in the works, with Hachem's brother Michael as a producer. When Diamond Joe won the 2005 WSOP, it was at that time the biggest individual sports prize in history, and Joe has been a popular figure ever since. The name of the documentary comes from Joe's catchy catch phrase, uttered when he would win a big pot: "Pass the Sugar." Additional celebrity poker player professionals will be interviewed for this project, such as Jennifer Tilly. Related Articles: Chris Moneymaker makes poker fan dream a reality Florida player goes all in to win poker tourney...

Poker Fans Look Forward to ESPN WSOP Coverage

The World Series of Poker is wrapped up until the final table resumes in November, and the ESPN coverage of the WSOP is about to be showcased on TV, and the fans of the poker world can't wait. In addition to the excitement of the poker being played there is the drama - such as Phil Hellmuth's infamous berating of his table mates late in the tournament series - and the fun. A rumor is circulating that pro player Phil "The Unabomber" Laak went through make up and disguise efforts to hide his identity in one tournament, and that is just the sort of thing ESPN will capture...

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Slow Down at the Lobby

Any hotel where customers are not afraid to look over their room with a black light probably has a concierge sitting somewhere in the lobby. This person has one professional function in life: to field the hotel patron's queries regarding things to do in town, and point them to the places that best suit their tastes. This means that for travelers visiting new territories, the hotel lobby is the place to go when you need to know something. Online poker players should apply this paradigm to the poker rooms they visit, and take a good, long look at the lobby before clicking on a table to play at.

Who Is the Best Living Poker Player?

Whether anybody likes it or not, the World Series of Poker is the measuring stick for poker players. Maybe declaring somebody, "the best" because of their WSOP track record is about as official as Stone Cold Steve Austin anointing himself Pope for the reason that he can probably take the Holy Pontiff in Steel Cage Match, but regardless of whether or not it is official, it is how poker fans determine who the best players in the world are. So, considering this fact, who really is the best? Phil Hellmuth will tell anyone who is listening that he is the best, and he will flash all 11 bracelets at anyone who doubts his claim.

Stars Don't Last at WSOP

The World Series of Poker main event is running now in Las Vegas, with the third Day One event starting today. Day 1C will likely have its fair share of TV, movie, and sports stars sitting down with the amateur and pro poker players, but so far not many of those taking a shot have lasted. Most notable are former baseball legend Orel Hershiser and Seinfeld actor Jason Alexander, both of whom did not last their first day in the event...

Poker Playing Robot Dog

Using a discontinued robot puppy pal, students from Griffith University have decided you can teach an old dog new tricks, and in this case it's all about playing poker. The poker playing dog is a Sony Artificial Intelligence Robot (AIBO), and they called the project MiPal AIBO Texas Hold 'Em. The dog has a few tricks of its own: it will wag its tail when it has a good hand, but it may also wag its tail in order to bluff...

Monday, July 21, 2008

Internet Players and the WSOP Europe

With the World Series of Poker firmly in our rear view mirror, this does not mean that the last of the bracelets have been handed out this year. While we are all aware that final, Main Event, bracelet will be sorted out this November, we are less than two months away from the start of the World Series of Poker Europe. Last year a relatively anonymous player came up from the ranks to smack the established pros in the face and take the championship. Will that be what happens this year?

Respect Dealers

Dealers manage to get through most hands without showing anything that resembles emotion on their faces. This might lead people to believe that a dealer's DNA may share some common genetics with Vulcans, or at the very least, Romulans. Of course this is not possible seeing as science has yet to discover pointy eared, sarcastic humanoid aliens living outside our solar system. Then again, for decades scientists believed in spontaneous generation and a sun that revolved around the earth, so what do they know? The reality is that dealers are very human, and while common sense tells us to treat the them with respect, a lot of players chuck their common sense out the window when things are not going their way at the table.

WPT Bellagio Cup IV Winner Sir Watts

Once again an online poker player showed he can hold his own and win in a live event, as Sir Watts took down a field of over 400 in the first event of the seventh season of the World Poker Tour. The WPT Bellagio Cup IV boasted a prize pool of over $6 million, and the winner, Mike Watson, took home more than $1.6 million as his prize. He had to survive the dominating chip lead of his heads up opponent, pro player David Benyamine, in order to win...

Sunday, July 20, 2008

New Poker Rules Go International

Poker pro Marcel Luske, "The Flying Dutchman," has launched the Federation Internationale de Poker Association (FIDPA) in an effort to standardize the rules of tournament poker worldwide. Along with fellow pro Michelle Lau, Luske collaborated with Jack McClelland and Doug Dalton of Bellagio, the first place to use the rules, and the Poker Tournament Directors Association (TDA), to come up with the International Poker Rules (IP Rules). FIDPA will be seeking rooms and casinos to become officially FIDPA sanctioned poker places, such as the Bellagio, where the WPT Season Seven event, the Bellagio Cup IV, recently wrapped up. Related Articles: New WPT live updates hostess announced New World Poker Tour victor...

West Virginia Poker Ruled Legal

When a West Virginia resort wanted to hold a poker tournament, there was some concern that the local law enforcement would want to prevent the game from going forward, or that they could expect a raid the day of the event. When Pocahontas County Prosecutor Walt Weiford spoke out about it, however, he said that the Snowshoe Resort event was not going to violate state gambling laws. When West Virginia Lottery Commission general counsel John Melton said he thought the tournament might be illegal because it offered a trip to Las Veagas, Weiford countered with the fact that the players put up no money to participate. Related Articles: Legal poker in California close to happening Poker comes under fire in Germany...

John Phan Wins Second WSOP Bracelet

Professional poker player John Phan had been making a name for himself but had yet to win a coveted World Series of Poker gold bracelet. Last week he changed that when he won the $3,000 No Limit Holdem tournament, and this week he put all doubts to rest about his ability by being the first player in this year's World Series of Poker to win a second bracelet. He picked up the victory in Event 40, the $2,500 Deuce-to-Seven Triple Draw Low Ball event...

NC Charity Giving Away Seat to WSOP

The World Series of Poker is in full swing in Las Vegas and one charity organization in North Carolina wants to send a player there free of cost. The prize is the carrot to get players involved in a charity poker event to support the awareness of liver disease. The Andy Transplant Foundation is the charity in question, founded by Susan Thompson after her brother died because a hospital refused to perform a liver transplant because there were no beds available...

Saturday, July 19, 2008

2008 WSOP Event 22 Winner Jens Voertmann

Usually in an event where Todd Brunson, Jennifer Harman and Marcel Luske are part of the debris field of losers, one would expect the eventual winner would have a name like Hellmuth, Negreanu, Matusow, or Rousso. When it was down to Day 3 of Event #22, and Hoyt Corkins had the lead at the final table while Jennifer Harman and Marcel Luske were still stalking about, who would have expected Jens Voertmann to have his hand raised in victory when the dust settled?

WSOP Finisher Gaining Bad Rep

Poker player Tiffany Michelle has gone further in the World Series of Poker main event than any woman since Annie Duke, finishing in 17th place this year, but her victory has been blemished by accusations of misconduct. Having been staked by Tony G and his outfit PokerNews, Tiffany Michelle stopped wearing their logos and started wearing Ultimate Bet's logo late in the event. She has spoken out, stating that many other players wore multiple logos, but the case is being built against her good name that she went back on her word. Related Articles: The last event of the 2008 WSOP Country music star tries World Series of Poker...

Using a Maniac Against the Late Position

If you are sitting in the early position, and you have a maniac seated after you in a middle seat, you can use this player's natural reactionary personality to your advantage. Like most players, even a maniac will simply call the big blind in pre-flop betting and wait to react to what the guys in the late position are going to do. If you are in an early position with a playable hand, you may want to consider using a semi-bluff in this position.

Online Poker Room Launches DareDevil Facebook App

Online poker room Poker Room.com has put out a new Facebook application that will leverage the power of the social networking site to raise awareness of their poker room. The application is called DareDevil and awards points for players completing the best poker hands in a given time frame. The social aspect comes into play by displaying the score of friends on a user's homepage, allowing for competition. Related Articles: Online poker player youngest to win signature event iPods available at online poker room...

Friday, July 18, 2008

Speed It Up

Have you ever been caught driving behind an octogenarian who treats the speed limit like a suggestion and feels that the biggest contribution to society is teaching us "young wipper-snappers" that there is nothing wrong with going 25mph on the freeway? While anybody below the age where visiting nurse is among daily necessities will agree that the type of people mentioned above should give up their licenses and be taught to use public transportation, a lot of poker players behave at the table like an elderly driver.

Tired Phil

Those of us who not only play poker, but also play a real sport as well at a high level know that while poker can be intense, it doesn't compare to three hours of skating and checking, or playing both ways during the sort of football game where face masking is just another way of saying hello. Apparently Mr. Hellmuth has never played any other sport at a level above a neighborhood league. While we can admire the Poker Brat's accomplishments, that are outstanding beyond any doubt, it is comments about being exhausted when playing poker that make people giggle when poker is referred to as a sport.

Beating the Blocking Bet

If in a game of No Limit Holdem you encounter a player in an early position who puts in a small to medium sized bet on the river, what is probably going on here is that they are putting in a blocking bet. The player would prefer that you respond to them by calling their small bet, than checking and leaving the next action up to you. Left to your own devices, you might put in a bet bigger than the one they would enter. A player who is trying to get to the showdown as cheaply as possible will want to avoid investing heavily in that last betting round.

2008 WSOP Broadcast Schedule Announced

The 2008 World Series of Poker is wrapping up in Las Vegas right now, but the TV show hasn't yet started. The ESPN coverage of the 39th annual World Series of Poker has been going on from the beginning, but there is a lot of work to be done putting the shows together, and as such the first show won't air until Tuesday, July 22nd. From there every Tuesday night will have coverage running up through November, when the final of the main event will begin...

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Country Music Star Tries World Series of Poker

Poker fans are already familiar with some music stars participating in the biggest poker game on the planet, the World Series of Poker: rock stars such as Sully Erna have proven that musicians can hold their own in a professional poker world, and country music has finally joined the game. Country music artist Andy Griggs played in the main event and did fairly well for his first time. He doubled his chips by the end of the first day and made it deep into day three as the last celebrity playing...

Recognizing a Check-Raise Bluff

When you're stomping around in a jungle, it would probably be a good survival skill to be able to tell the difference between a cobra's hood in full display, and the one the frilled lizard tries to drive away danger with. This same paradigm applies to a check-raise that is done in order to scare you off, and one that is done to kill you. If a player in the early position holds their fire before the flop, only doing the bear minimum, and for the rest of the betting rounds only reacts to what the other players do, but springs a check-raise on the river, you can probably safely assume they believe they are holding the winning hand.

"Hot Chips" Abandons Ship

Sometimes it actually happens: the guy who has a 4.0 grade point average, sinus issues, a Star Trek fan club card in his wallet, and the sort of physique that reminds one of a troll doll, actually winds up dating the captain of the Cheerleaders. The problem with dating someone whose high school popularity is based on really good legs combined with a short skirt, is that any available male who is not part of figure skating team will be trying to lure away your girlfriend for purposes that could only be described as morally sketchy. Chances are you will eventually lose your girl to somebody with a football helmet and the IQ of cinderblock. While this is just a spurious example from the adolescent world, this is also the experience that one poker site has had with Tiffany "Hot Chips" Michelle.

2008 WSOP Diary: Main Event Final Table Players Defined

And then there were nine. Yesterday the World Series of Poker field was finally narrowed to the final nine players. This left most people with a strange, unsatisfied feeling as the WSOP ground to a halt for the first time with no Main Event Champion being crowned. It was sort of like getting a hot fudge sundae with the actual fudge. Regardless of anyone's feeling on how the setup has been changed to make ESPN happy, we are still looking forward to eventually seeing the final nine play it out until there is a champion.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Don't Surrender to a Chip Count

The final table of a tournament is obviously a great place to be. Not only is it a testament to your skill, stamina, and the ability to keep your head in stressful situation, but it also means you are finishing in the money. The only drawback to that is that the celebratory beers are probably going to be on your tab. During this year's World Series of Poker we have seen a lot of really great plays, but over the course of the events we have also seen a lot of players give up at the final table.

Stopping the Tight Player

There are some absolutely brilliant players out there who are that way naturally. They just have the sort of knack for reading situations and putting their opponents on hands that simply can't be taught. But they are the minority. There are a bunch of other really fantastic players who have gotten that way with study, and worked their tails off to be as good as they are. While there are more of them than those who are just born good, this is still a minority of players. Most of what we will meet in the casinos are players who are the poker equivalent of a C student.

Final Table Set for 2008 World Series of Poker

The Final Table is set for the 2008 World Series of Poker, and no big name poker pros are among the final nine. The players, who hail from New York, Missouri, Texas, Califorina, Denmark, Russia, and Canada, are being dubbed the "November Nine" thanks to the delay in the game this year, which will not resume again until the Fall. The nine players are: Dennis Phillips, Craig Marquis, Ylon Schwartz, Scott Montgomery, Darus Suharto, David "Chino" Rheem, Ivan Demidov, Kelly Kim, and Peter Eastgate, all of whom are competing for the $9 million top prize. Related Articles: 2008 WSOP broadcast schedule announced WSOP Circuit schedule released...

2008 WSOP Diary, July 13: Tiffany Michelle Among Chip Leaders

Wouldn't it be interesting if the World Series of Poker final table would include 11 time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth and 10 time champion Johnny Chan? With Phil looking for his 12th piece of WSOP jewelry and Johnny trying to tie Phil, it would have been compelling. Well, it's not going to happen, both are now out of the tournament. Of course with that story evaporating, another, equally interesting one is taking shape. At the end of the day today we had Tiffany "Hot Chips" Michelle sitting at third in the chip count.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

2008 WSOP Diary, July 10: Vanessa Rousso Out of the Main Event

Sometimes it seems everyone absolutely adores Vanessa Rousso. Despite all the love she was getting from the gallery, Ms. Rousso couldn't hold on and make it through Day 3 of the World Series of Poker. The thing that probably stung the most is that she lost on hands that would usually have been winners. She was crippled on a hand where her opponent hit both the turn and the river to complete a straight. In the final hand she was all-in with her A-J vs. Q-4, and a Queen fell on the river.

2008 WSOP Event 49 Winner J.C. Tran

When most casual fans hear the name J.C. Tran, they just assume that this is a player who has more than one World Series of Poker bracelets. A lot of these people would be surprised to hear that coming into Event #49, J.C. Tran has never won a WSOP event before. He has had so much success at the World Poker Tour, and throughout the rest of the sport of poker, it just seems odd that he has never found success on this particular stage. That all changed for him this year. After Event #49, he could finally add that elusive WSOP bracelet to his resume.

2008 WSOP Event 52 Winner David Daneshgar

David Daneshgar has the sort of resume that most poker players would like for themselves. His lifetime earnings top the 1.5 million mark. He has gotten paid in over fifty of the tournaments he has entered, five of those being first place finishes, and in cash games he has been a consistent money maker. After a while players seated at the casino table with him submissively wet themselves when he makes a bet. The only thing missing from his credentials was a high profile tournament win. In short, there was a bracelet sized hole in his resume that he was looking to fill at this year's WSOP. Event #52 was his best chance to finally attain this prize.

Italian Poker Pro Wins WSOP Bracelet

Italian poker pro Max Pescatori is the latest of the pro players sweeping the World Series of Poker with a victory. Pescatori sat down at the final table of the $2,500 Pot Limit Holdem/Omaha game in the middle of the chips and came out on top. With Minh Ly and Allen Cunningham in the game he wasn't going to have an easy go, but in the end Max pulled out the win and got the gold bracelet as well as over $200,000...

Monday, July 14, 2008

New Automated Poker Tables Make It to NJ

Atlantic City, often called the Las Vegas of the East Coast, has been waiting to launch poker with no poker dealers, possible thanks to the special tables provided by PokerTek, Inc. The Trump Plaza Casino has been granted approval by the State of New Jersey Casino Control Commission to offer these tables, called PokerPros, in a field test. The poker room with the dozen tables at Trump Plaza Casino is now open, making it the first automated poker room in NJ...

Date Set for Man vs Poker Machine

Last time it was pro player Phil "The Unabomber" Laak and Ali Eslami taking on Polaris, the poker playing Artificial Intelligence machine. This time it will be a group of online poker pros taking on Polaris 2, created by University of Alberta's Computer Poker Research Group in order to explore the possibilities of AI advancement in direct competition with humans. The involvement of a luck factor makes the competition more challenging: last time the humans won but it was a close match...

Politician Fights For, Benefits From Poker

While he had never once played a game of poker online, and in fact doesn't even like playing the game, Democratic congressman Barney Frank has become the most popular politician among poker players in the United States. That's because he is solidly behind their right to play the game online, and they have responded with campaign contributions of nearly $50k. Contributors to his campaign fund include Chris Moneymaker, Howard Lederer, Annie Duke, and Andy Bloch. Related Articles: Swedish poker veto action House Committee to look at poker bill...

2008 WSOP Forecast, Day Eight: Short Handed Poker

On Day 8 of the 39th annual World Series of Poker players will pay their $1,500 and sit down to play Event 9, the No Limit Holdem Six Handed event. A six handed game is popularly referred to as a "short handed" game, considering that most Holdem games have nine to ten players at the table at any given time, especially in tournaments. Play in a short handed tournament game is very different from a full handed tournament game, and requires a different approach.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

A Special Party in Ireland for Titan Poker Players

Online poker room Titan Poker has plans for their poker players headed for the Masters of Poker in Ireland, part of the Irish Winter Festival coming this October. As usual the Irish Winter Festival will play host to many events including the Masters, and players at Titan Poker who win the very special Irish Winter Festival Prize Package will get to play in style. In addition to the entry fee covered in the package, worth about $2,600, players will get airfare and accommodations money, and will be attending an exclusive party just for them. Related Articles: Online poker room snags Scandinavian pro Online poker room sending players to Master Classics...

WSOP Starts Today

The World Series of Poker starts today in Las Vegas, the 39th annual run of the event that brings poker players from around the world together to see who is the best, and who can walk away with the most cash. Last year the winner was Jerry Yang, a California psychologist and father of six who won millions in the main event. Today the first event is a $10k "championship" event, Pot Limit Holdem, which will likely run for three days...

July 4th Sale on Poker

Today is Independence Day in the United States, an issue that is relevant on many levels, including the right to play poker online. One online poker store is celebrating the day with sales of their poker tables, a trend that savvy poker players will find in many other online poker venues. Buy Poker Tables Online is the store, and poker players don't have to live in the US to take advantage of the American Holiday, thanks to the power of the internet...

Boring

Boredom is a horrible thing and can force even the best of us into doing things that common sense tells us is a bad idea. While most of us are decent enough people not to go in search of under aged nookie, we may very well let it affect our poker game. At the poker table there can be long stretches where you don't see anything that resembles a playable hand. There is nothing more boring than folding over and over again.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

2008 WSOP Event 29 Winner John Phan

There are two incredibly annoying letters in the English language. "I" and "F" are perfectly pleasant and agreeable on their own, but when you add the consonant to the vowel, these two letters can make the difference between somebody having a hall of fame career, and a player just becoming a historical footnote in their respective sport. Until just recently this was the legacy of poker player John Phan: a great player who just couldn't win the big one. That changed today.

Players Make Money at WSOP

The Main Event of the 39th annual World Series of Poker is running currently, and they have finally got the field down far enough that all remaining players are guaranteed at least $21,000, more than double the $10,000 entry fee. The 6844 players that started four days ago had to reach 666 to "make the money." In poker parlance the 667th player was the "bubble boy" and was the player to make it the furthest and not win any money. Related Articles: Player of the Year at WSOP picked WSOP Circuit schedule released. ...

Top Athlete Plays in Vegas Poker Charity Event

Las Vegas is the scene for the 39th annual World Series of Poker currently running but there are more reasons to play poker in Sin City than gambling. The Ante Up for Africa event is organized by poker pro Annie Duke and Hollywood star Don Cheadle, and is drawing plenty of attention to the crisis in Darfur. One player who is signed up to participate some think should not is Charles Barkley, former NBA star who pledged to end his gambling ways...

2008 WSOP Diary, July 9: Phil Hellmuth and Johnny Chan Still in the Game, Jerry Yang Out

It is almost unfair that in a field of players that is bigger than some rural cities, one player commands more attention than the rest of the field. Unfortunately for a lot of lesser known players who want to say, "Hi Mom" on ESPN, Phil Hellmuth is, as always, the story of the day. He started the day with a modest stack of chips, and while finishing the day still in the middle of the pack, he had managed to more than double his starting stack.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Assumptions

Nobody who logs onto an online poker room is the smartest man alive, or the best poker player on the planet. This is not a slight against people who play online poker, but unless someone is the reincarnation of Johnny Moss, chances are somebody at the table with them is just as smart, just as savvy, and has just as much experience playing the game. A big mistake that many, many players make is to assume that the other people seated around the table are either not as good as they are, or are outright fish.

Chris Moneymaker Makes Poker Fan Dream a Reality

When 24 year old Donald Hobbs got to the Amazon poker room at the Rio this year, it was in a wheelchair - but don't feel bad for this survivor of a horrible car accident, his doctors are calling his progress miraculous. One reason Hobbs was motivated to recover from shattered legs and burns covering 70% of his body - a visit paid to him in 2007 by Chris Moneymaker, 2003 WSOP champion, who told him if he got better he would be a guest of Moneymaker's at the 2008 WSOP. Not only was Hobbs a guest but Moneymaker paid his entry fee, allowing the poker fan to play in the biggest poker game in the world. Related Articles: Online poker room snags Scandinavian pro Player of the Year at WSOP picked...

Stay Focused

Sometimes the best strategies have less to do with what you should be doing, and are more about the things you should not be doing. For example, it should be pretty obvious to most people that when playing Texas Holdem, nobody should hold their hole cards so that the business side faces their opponents. Another thing that should be considered a poker no-no is that if you find yourself at the table with UFC Champion Forrest Griffin, it would be best not to go tilt. These are some obvious examples of what not to do. One of the less apparent things that people should think twice about is playing multiple tables online.

2008 WSOP Event 51 Winner James Schaaf

Phil Hellmuth had probably spent the night before the Event #51 final table working out the choreography for the touchdown dance he was going to perform after accepting his 12th bracelet and working on how to get just the right inflection in his voice when taunting the second place finisher. Alas, it was not to be. The day started with twenty players, and the final table did not get started until after the dinner break. Phil started off the final seating number two in the chip count, and he never would overcome the chip leader Tommy Hang.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

WSOP Circuit Schedule Released

The 2008 World Series of Poker is currently wrapping up in Las Vegas, but fans don't have to feel sad: Harrah's Entertainment, the company that owns the WSOP brand and organizes the events, has just announced the schedule for the WSOP Circuit for this year. 2008 Events2009 Events Oct 2 â€Â" 14 at Caesars IndianaFeb 20- 9 at Harrah's Tunica Nov 24 - Dec 2 at Horseshoe HammondFeb 12 - 25 at Horseshoe Council Bluffs Nov 6 - 16 at Harveys Lake TahoeMarch 4- 14 at Caesars Atlantic City Dec 5 - 18 at Harrah's Atlantic CityMarch 19- 29 March at Harrah's Rincon April 12 - 29 at Caesars Palace May 8 - 20 at Harrah's New Orleans Related Articles: WSOP tops last year Player of the Year at WSOP picked. . ...

Canadian Poker Brawler Fined

A banishment from casinos for a year has come down the pike for an Edmonton poker player who lost his temper after losing a pot and physically assaulted another player. Hon Van Tran, 34 can't enter casinos for the next year as part of his probation to which he was sentenced, along with a $750 fine. Tran, after losing a big pot to a man who had a better hand, called the victim outside where he punched him in the face and another man hit him with a beer bottle. Related Articles: State trooper victim of poker game holdup Aussies say no thanks to poker playing Mike Tyson...

2008 WSOP Forecast, Day Fourty Two: Main Event Day 3

It's here - Day Three of the Main Event, the first day of the 2008 World Series of Poker's biggest showdown when all the players who have a shot at making the money are going to be in the same room. This is the first group that will even be able to consider actually cashing, as only the top 666 players will make the money. Jerry Yang is no longer a contender to defend his crown as he busted out on Day Two B, but other former champions might take a stab at it, such as Joe Hachem, nursing a medium stack as of the time of this writing.

2008 WSOP Forecast, Day Twenty One: Events the Pros Avoid

Today is Day 21 of the 2008 World Series of Poker and once again two new events are getting started. The first event is a relatively cheap No Limit Holdem while a second event is one of those $10,000 World Championship types - Omaha High Low Split Eight or Better. Guess which event the professional poker players are going to avoid like the plague. Now, normally there would be no reason why a professional poker player would avoid playing in a $1500 No Limit Texas Holdem tournament.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

MoboVivo Brings Poker to TV, iPhones

A leading content provider for iPhones and other online distributions in Canada is MoboVivo, which will be providing poker to poker fans on the go and at their PC's. Poker fans can download the entire 13 episode season of the Canadian Championship Poker from the MoboVivo website, made available now that HeadsUp Entertainment has acquired Canadian Poker Tour and its TV shows. MoboVivo viwers can grab the episodes and put them on their iPhone to watch Canadian poker pros play their heart out...

2008 WSOP Event 46 Winner Joe Commisso

If break down the earnings of Richard Lyndaker and Joe Commisso during Event #46, and figure out an hourly rate, they are both still doing pretty well: not quite what Bill Gates makes per hour, but still more than most world leaders. Lyndaker and Commisso started the day as the top two players in terms of the chip count. Lyndaker acted as a hammer during this event, taking out three of the four players that had to be moved out of the way so that he and Commisso could dance uninterrupted.

2008 WSOP Forecast, Day Fourty One: Steve Austin, Victor Ramdin Lead the Pack

It is Day 41 of the 39th annual World Series of Poker, where the main event is currently running at the Rio All Suites hotel and casino in sweltering Las Vegas, Nevada. Today is the second "Day Two" of the main event, where the survivors from Day One C and Day One D will come together to see who joins the survivors of Day Two A on Day Three. It is not as confusing as it sounds. Today is a good day to take a look at the chip leaders, and point out which of them are pros.

Latest Poker Avalanche Hits Ten

Online poker room Everest Poker has made the final selection for ten players for their Avalanche poker tournament. The online qualifying tournament will wind up with a final table of ten players competing for a million dollar prize on the Navigator of the Seas, one of the fleet of the Royal Caribbean Cruises luxury liners. The players hail from Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden, and each are guaranteed to take home at least $12,500, not to mention enjoying a luxury cruise...

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Lance Oliver Wins Bayou Poker Challenge

Nobody is surprised when somebody with an endorsement deal from PokerStars or Full Tilt wins a World Series of Poker circuit event. It raises a few eyebrows when the winner comes out of left field to kick the unsuspecting tails of the rest of the field. This is what happened at the 2008 Bayou Poker Challenge. Businessman Lance Oliver won this tournament and took home the coveted gold ring that is presented to all World Series of Poker Circuit winners in New Orleans.

2008 WSOP Forecast, Day Fourty: Expect a New Name to Rise to the Top

The Day Ones are all over, and all players got a day off on Monday, so today is the day that all the survivors get to start their quest in earnest, well, half of them, anyway. Today is Day 2A of the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event (and day 40 overall of the WSOP) and those that did not bust out from Day 1A and Day 1B get to come back and try to survive. The 20,000 starting stack seems to benefit the pros for the most part, as the better players typically get more mileage out of deeper stack and longer levels.

UIGEA Challenge Bill Fails

The Payment System's Protection Act was put forth for a vote and failed to move on, thanks to a split vote in the US House Financial Services Committee that saw members crossing party lines. While a dozen members were absent for the vote they were half and half Republican and Democrat, so that had little impact on the final vote of 32-32. The bill would have taken steps to correct what some see as problems with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which has had a strong impact on online poker in the United States. Related Articles: House Committee to look at poker bill Doyle Brunson to support Obama...

2008 WSOP Event 50 Winner Marty Smyth

Marty Smyth has cashed just about everywhere in the world. His bank has accepted checks from 2007 Irish Open, 2008 PartyPoker World Open, along with dozens of other tournaments. Rumor has it he even took some cookies off a girl scout by beating her pocket Kings with a set of Aces; of course there are also rumors that the moon landing was faked, and Tom Cruise prefers the company of male hair dressers, so we can't really rely on a rumor mill for good information.

Monday, July 7, 2008

New Prize Pool Record at WSOP

A prize pool of over three million dollars was accumulated for Event #44, a $1,000 No Limit Texas Holdem event, which breaks the World Series of Poker record for prize pools in this event. The $3.2 million prize pool came from the 879 players, 81 of which finished "in the money" meaning they won a cash prize. The event topped the mark because it was a rebuy tournament, which means that for a limited time players who bust out can buy back in to the event for another $1,000...

PokerStars Puts 200 Seats Up for Grabs

Most people jump up and down with joy and have the sort of feelings that usually end with "gasm" if their favorite poker room makes 5 or 10 seats available for the World Series of Poker. When an online poker room gives away over 200 WSOP seats in one night this is a reason for the sort of ecstasy among poker players that may be hazardous to their health. This is exactly what PokerStars is doing: making this insane number of seats available to their customers.

Poker Pro Phil Ivey to Host Charity Tournament

While he is chasing World Series of Poker gold in Las Vegas, poker pro Phil Ivey is also planning to host eight surety tournaments at the Golden Nugget casino, the largest hotel casino in the Las Vegas area. The name of the event is The Budding Ivey Foundation Charity Poker Tournament and it will take place on Tuesday, July 1. The No Limit Texas Holdem tournament will also feature tournament director Matt Savage, and it will have a recommended buy in of $1000 and optional $500 rebuys...

Poker Pro Signs with Room

It is a story that is becoming familiar, a poker pro does well in a major tournament, and he gets a contract to represent an online poker room. It happened again with Padraig Parkinson, an Irish poker player that is a bit of a legend in his home country, and has recently signed with online poker room Poker Trillion. Of course he is known not only in Ireland, and his sponsorship by Poker Trillion will get the name of this Irish super player out...

Sunday, July 6, 2008

2008 WSOP Event 4 Winner Erick Lindgren

The end of Event #4 ($5,000 Mixed Holdem) came down to Erick and one of those internet kids: Justin "ZeeJustin" Bonomo. After an hour of back and forth action, Bonomo went all in with two-pair (4s and 5s). Lindgren just smiled, called the bet, and then dropped a wheel straight on the 23 year old's noggin. Erick Lindgren walked away from the encounter with $374,505, his first WSOP bracelet, and the glory of never hearing himself described as the "best player to have never won a WSOP bracelet".

Poker Pro Donates $400,000

Recently Barry Greenstein, known as the Robin Hood of Poker, won a World Series of Poker event but he isn't the only one donating his winnings this year. The winner of the recent Seven-Card Stud event at the 2008 World Series of Poker, Eric Brooks, had made a promise to donate whatever he won to The Decision Education Foundation, a Palo Alto educational nonprofit organization. He wound up winning the event, and more than $400,000 was the prize, all of which will be donated to the foundation...

2008 WSOP Forecast, Day Twenty Three: Yet Another Pro WIll Win

This certainly is becoming the year of the pros at the 2008 World Series of Poker, where it will be Day 23 today. On the day's docket there is only one start up game, Event 39, an ubiquitous No limit Holdem event with a $1,500 buy in; ironically, starting up when the last $1,500 No limit Hold'em event, Event 36, ends. Also ending today is the real exciting topic, the final table of the $10,000 World Championship Omaha High-Low Split 8 or Better, Event 37. Last night around dinner time there were some 60 players left.

New Online Poker Guide

Poker players in the US celebrated Independence Day yesterday, a special holiday that reminds Americans of their freedom, an issue that some online poker players see as ironic given the UIGEA. The UIGEA seems to restrict online poker play in the US, but a new online poker guide goes over the law and how it applies to poker and other forms of online gambling. USA Online Gambling.com goes over the rules and rights of US citizens, describing in detail how the UIGEA works and how it applies to the individual. Related Articles: July 4th sale on poker House Committee to look at poker bill...

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Poker Pro Wins Ante Up for Africa

The charity event hosted and run by Annie Duke and Don Cheadle that raises money for Darfur has run its course, and the winner is John "Johnny World" Hennigan, a pro poker player. Like the winner of the event the year before, Hennigan donated 100% of his prize money to the cause, which sends the money to charities to help with Darfur. The final table held its fair share of stars, including Casey Affleck (whose brother Ben busted on the bubble) and Jerry Cantrell, as well as poker pros Hennigan and Phil Hellmuth, and last year's winner Dan Shak. Related Articles: WSOP not the only game in town World Poker Showdown joins with Canadian Poker Tour...

2008 WSOP Diary, June 29: Ryan Hughes Becomes the First Player to Win Two Stud Hi/Lo Bracelets

During Event #47, Ryan Hughes started the day with a bit of a handicap. His personal pole position on the day can either be expressed in terms of how many chips he had, or where he was in the pecking order. On Day 2 of play, the decision was made to stop with 13 players left, and considering how things were going for him at that point, if they had played down to a proper final table number on the second day, there was a very real possibility that Ryan would never had even made it to Day 3.

2008 WSOP Forecast, Day Thirty Three: World Championship Pot Limit Omaha

It is Day 33 of the 39th annual World Series of Poker, and Las Vegas is still buzzing with the news that Scotty Nguyen won the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event - which some of us predicted! It was pretty scary while there was Erick Lindgren who was hodling the monster chip lead, but the Prince of Poker pulled it off. Today there will be a lot more buzzing as Josh Arieh takes down Event 50 - World Championship Pot Limit Omaha, which is our prediction. Event 50 wraps up today and, as of this writing, Josh has the massive chip lead.

WSOP Europe Schedule Announced

The World Series of Poker for 2008 is currently running in Las Vegas and players that couldn't make it from Europe are in for some good news - the schedule for the 2008 World Series of Poker Europe has been announced. Taking place in September, the WSOPE will be nine days of poker with four events, including the GBP 10,000 World Championship No Limit Holdem event won by Annette Obrestad last year, the first woman and youngest player ever to win a WSOP main event. The other events include a cheaper NLHE, a Pot Limit Omaha and a H.O.R.S.E...

Friday, July 4, 2008

2008 WSOP Event 48 Winner Alexandre Gomes

At the start of Event #48's final table, Marco Johnson had almost exactly twice as many chips as middle of the pack dweller, Alexandre Gomes. In fact Gomes was firmly ensconced in fourth place when the day started, but these two would eventually meet at the final table. Of course before that could happen, seven other players would have to find their way to the rail, and in most tournaments, nobody is really anxious to be relieved of their place at the final table. This tournament was a little different. At times it looked more like speed dating than a poker tournament.

2008 WSOP Event 42 Winner Dan LaCourse

Somebody once made the reasonable observation that paybacks are hell. This was pretty much the theme of the Seniors No Limit Holdem event. Day 2 ended with Dale Eberle knocking Dan LaCourse out of the chip lead on the last hand, and Day 3 ended with Dan LaCourse knocking Dale Eberle out of the tournament and collecting his bracelet on the last hand of the day. If given a chance, Dale would probably have given up his Day 2 chip lead in order to be the one doing the eliminating at the end of Day 3. At the start of Day 3, only 50,000 chips separated Eberle and LaCourse.

California Poker Rooms to Get Coverage from Major Magazine

The major poker rooms in California will get serious coverage from one of the biggest poker magazines today, the Poker Pro Magazine. The magazine will spend 11 months chronicling CA card rooms which is, according to a recent press release, the "most comprehensive" look at CA card rooms ever attempted, and will start in October with a look at some of the best known poker rooms in the world in Los Angeles. The company that publishes Poker Pro also publishes Online Poker Pro, Online Poker Pro Scandinavian, and Poker Pro Europe. Related Articles: US state poker bill moves forward New California study on poker legality...

2008 WSOP Diary, July 1: Marty Smyth Takes Down Pot Limit Omaha World Championship

The cheering section for Marty Smyth as he played for the Event #50 ($10,000 Pot Limit Omaha) championship may as well have been wearing togas and singing "Louie, Louie": they were that loud. This was the sort of rowdy crowd that would have been right at plotting the downfall of Dean Wormer with John Belushi and the boys during the film "Animal House". With these sorts of people cheering him on, it is no wonder that Marty lost track of his hand and didn't notice that his clubs were working themselves into a bracelet winning flush. According to the new champion, "I didn't realize I had clubs."

Thursday, July 3, 2008

2008 WSOP Event 43 Winner Martin Klaser

Usually when somebody puts on a display like the final table performance of Event #43 champion Martin Klaser, people usually start in with nicknames like "Klaser the Conqueror", "The Great", or the "The Terrible". In the case of the last example "terrible" is a compliment that hints to the fact that he personally eliminated half of the final table. It wasn't all roses and nicknames for King Kong Klaser: he may have started the final day near the top of the pack, but he had to work his tail off to break away from the pack on Day 2, and put himself in position to win it all.

2008 WSOP Forecast, Day Thirty Five: Shuffle Up and Deal!

Today is the day! One of many "the days" to come, actually. It is the 35th day of the 39th annual World Series of Poker, and the start of the most highly anticipated poker event of the year - the 2008 WSOP Main Event, the $10,000 World Championship No Limit Holdem tournament that every poker player in the world dreams of winning, at least once. The event has been on a steady rise in attendance and popularity since its inception in 1970 when only a handful played. In 2003 Chris Moneymaker won $2.5 million thanks to a $40 satellite that got him a seat in the event; since that moment the poker boom skyrocketed, and attendance and payouts went up along with it - until last year.

Aussies Say No Thanks to Poker Playing Mike Tyson

The former heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson has plans on participating in the $10 million Aussie Millions Poker Championships at the start of next year, and victims of violent crimes are calling for the Australian Government to step in and say no. The 42 year old Tyson is a convicted rapist, the biggest reason why people like Crime Victims Support Association president Noel McNamara want to prevent Tyson from getting a visa. Tyson would have to pass a character test to get a visa and his prior jail terms could make it a moot point, but he could appeal directly to the minister. Related Articles: Online poker player sues poker room House Committee to look at poker bill...

2008 WSOP Event 45 Winner Scotty Nguyen

It takes a special type of person to pay a $50,000 buy in in order to test their poker skills in one of the toughest tournament formats in existence. The word most folks would be looking for when describing this type of "special" person, is crazy. Some people could try to make that word stick when describing Scotty Nguyen, but he has five WSOP bracelets draped around his wrists that testify to the fact that this guy knows exactly what he is doing. Scotty spent the last five days playing his heart out in an effort to win what is arguably the toughest of all the WSOP events.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

2008 WSOP Forecast, Day Thirty Four: Ante Up for Africa Charity Event

Day 34 of the 39th annual World Series of Poker is upon us, and while it isn't a bracelet event all eyes will be on the Ante Up for Africa Charity Event that will take place today. This $5,000 buy in event won't carry the prestige of "cashing" at the WSOP or winning a bracelet, but there will be plenty of railbirds wishing they had a seat and were in the action. Not only is the event being held for a great cause - raising money for two charities that will use the funds to help with the crisis in Darfur - but the tables will be choked with celebrity poker players and actors.

2008 WSOP Event 47 Winner Ryan Hughes

Ryan Hughes is the first person in WSOP history to have a Stud hi/lo bracelet for each wrist. To accomplish this feat he had to overcome a Day 2 mini-disaster that put a hurt on his stack just before the end of play, and a final day field where he was in 9th place out of the remaining 13 players. Even though starting towards the back of the pack, he was the lead dog by the time the final table rolled around. After having a bit of a stumble, and temporarily losing his lead to Alessio Isaia, Ryan reasserted his dominance by making his first "final table" victim a name synonymous with good, sound poker: David Sklansky.

2008 WSOP Diary, June 30: Scotty Nguyen Wins His Fifth Bracelet, JC Tran Takes His First Bracelet

There are a lot of things that a body can do with $50,000. Somebody can buy one of the newly designed Dodge Challengers and have enough left for a wussy little, testosterone draining Prius. This would satisfy a person who not only wants to satisfy the NASCAR fan in them, but the eco-Nazi as well. Of course the more responsible people would simply invest the money, while the type of person who kisses babies while trying to buy your vote with a bumper sticker and a catchy little slogan would probably spend every cent of that amount at the famous Nevada Bunny Ranch. Those who played in Event #45 paid $50,000 for the pleasure of being part in this H.O.R.S.E. tournament.

Online Poker Player Sues Poker Room

Online poker room PokerStars yanked the $1.2 million payoff to online poker player Void, real name Natalie Teltscher, because a third part helped her play her hands, which is against tournament rules. Now Teltscher has file a law suit against PokerStars in order to reclaim her tourney winnings. The judge in charge of the case has said that the first thing to determine is whether or not there is a contractual obligation to pay the tournament winnings to Teltshcer before they can move forward in the Isle of Man case. Related Articles: ChiliPoker's Summer Cash Dash 2008 Online poker tour partners with World Poker Store...

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Two Barrels and a Strategic Misfire

Players who are sitting at the final table of a tournament should stop thinking about winning pots and start thinking about winning stacks. This is also a pretty good way to approach the start of a tournament as well, but not collecting stacks at that point is not vital. Players who go into heads up play with an overwhelming chip lead will win more often than they will lose. That is why you want your opponent's entire stack instead of just hanging on by winning the odd pot. So part of winning stacks is convincing your opponents to push their entire cache of chips into the center of the table.

Finishing in the Money or Winning the Whole Tourney?

Somebody once said that that discretion is the better part of valor. To be completely honest, the type of person who actually believes that is also the type who would hand their wife the baseball bat, and count on her to fend off somebody breaking into the family home while they courageously hide under the bed, probably in the fetal position while sucking their thumb. While games like Texas Holdem, Omaha, and Stud probably do not require the sort of physical courage that one would have to master in order to repel a home invasion attempt, there is money involved, which means some intestinal fortitude will be needed to play the game.

Poker Player Plunges to Death

In what is being called a freak accident a 20 year old poker player, participating in a prop bet that had him hurtling down a hotel hallway clad in only socks and underwear, crashed through a fifth floor window and fell 40 feet to his death. Mark Day had just come back to the hotel after busting out of a poker game when he was dared to make the dash. His friends, Marc Smart and Steve Kimberly, are working with police at the Majorca Beach Hotel in Magalluf to determine the full extent of the incident. Related Articles: Hooters charity poker tourney for breast cancer research Darfur charity poker tournaments continue...

The Mouth Wins WSOP Gold

Mike "The Mouth" Matusow has picked up his third World Series of Poker bracelet at the 2008 WSOP, taking down a small field in Event 18 that was comprised mostly of pros. The $5,000 No Limit 2-7 Draw with Rebuys event may have had only 84 players but the prize for Mike was half a million dollars thanks to the insane amount of rebuys the pros put on the table. Jeff Lisandro took second, followed by Barry Greenstein, Erick Lindgren, Tom Schneider, Tony Guoga, and David Benyamine for the final table...

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