Time for a Change?

My most recent stop on the tournament trail has been Commerce Casino's L.A. Poker Classic. I was fortunate to win the first supersatellite and capture a seat in the $7,600 buy-in championship event. As this column is being written, the event is yet to be played, so wish me good fortune. I did manage a 17th-place finish that was good for $1,720 in prize money in the $1,060 buy-in no-limit hold'em event. Sadly, my pocket tens went down in flames to Erik Seidel's A-K when he made trip kings in an $18,000 pot. This is typical of no-limit hold'em tournaments. You must win your fair share of pots with two overcards against a pocket pair, and you must also win with a pocket pair against two overcards. I love no-limit hold'em, but it can be extremely frustrating at times.

Commerce Casino's L.A. Poker Classic has been getting great attendance; therefore, I believe it is time to address an issue that I call "the 6:30 mentality." Most L.A. tournaments start in the evening. The conventional wisdom has been that many of the local players have to work during the day, so it's best for the tournaments to start at night. In the case of Commerce Casino, they start promptly at 6:30 p.m., thanks to the fine efforts of the hard-working staff led by Cheri Dokken. That is the good news, that they start things on time; the bad news is that the tournaments last into the wee hours of the morning, sometimes not finishing until 6:30 a.m. This wears out both the players and the staff. Also, with supersatellites scheduled for 8 p.m. on most nights, players do not get eliminated from a day's tournament early enough to compete in the supers; thus, the tournament competes against itself for customers.

The solution is obvious: It is now time to start the tournaments at 1 p.m. or 2 p.m. Players who have to work can possibly arrange to take the afternoon off on the days they want to play. Another factor is at work: There are many players from other states as well as Europe who came to Commerce Casino to play the tournaments. These players have no day jobs to worry about – they are there to play. These players make up a substantial percentage of the total entrants. There is also heavy participation by the numerous local pros who have no "regular job." It is time for a change next year. The L.A. Poker Classic is now one of the biggest tournaments in the world, and it is time for "the 6:30 mentality" to go. None of the other largest major tournaments start at night. Starting in the afternoon would also produce much greater attendance in the supersatellites, generating more seats in the championship event and a bigger purse for the players to shoot for. This year, in my opinion, the L.A. Poker Classic will be hard-pressed to get the 134 paid entrants needed to meet its $1 million guarantee. Remember, this column is being written before the championship event is held. I am certainly rooting for the Classic to attract those 134 entrants, but I will be surprised if it does.

Now, on a more positive note, I am happy to announce that I won my seat on the PartyPoker Million cruise and will have a shot at the $1 million top prize. I'll provide more on that event later. I will also be attending the Casinos Europa tournament in Costa Rica beginning on Feb. 27. They always roll out the red carpet for the players, and even pick up the hotel bill for players who play enough hours. I hope to join you in the winner's circle in one of these fine tournaments in the near future.

In closing, I'd like to tip the Stetson to my writing partner T.J. Cloutier for his third-place finish in the L.A. Poker Classic $1,000 Omaha high-low split tournament, and to my other writing partner Dana Smith for her fifth-place finish in the Omaha high-low split tournament at the World Poker Challenge.