The Inside Straight - Articles

GAVIN SMITH IS KING OF THE MANSION
He Wins $500,000 at the MansionPoker.net World Pro-Am Challenge
By Bob Pajich

Gavin Smith is having a great year. On July 3, he came to the Tropicana Hotel and Casino to try to win the MansionPoker.net World Pro-Am Challenge, a $1 million six-player freeroll in which three of the players were professionals and the other three amateurs. The tournament was aired in a four-hour show on FSN on July 12.

Smith beat out fellow professionals Todd Brunson and John Gale, as well as MansionPoker.net's amateur qualifiers Joe Isaacson, Andrew Stoll, and Scott Gardner, to take home the $500,000 prize. Smith and Gale got into the freeroll by placing in the top two at a single-table invitation-only qualifier on MansionPoker.net. Brunson got into the freeroll by winning an invitational-only multitable tournament with more than 30 players.

The qualifying table was loaded with power, and Gale and Smith had to survive against Tony G, Marcel Luske, Scott Fischman, Kenna James, Harry Demetriou, Mike Gracz, and Kirk Morrison to advance. Like the money match, Smith won it.

Isaacson, Stoll, and Gardner qualified for the tournaments at MansionPoker.net through a series of feeders. The package included a free week in Las Vegas, dinner at some of the finest restaurants the city has to offer, and intensive poker coaching by James, Tony G. and Gracz.

The coaching went beyond the three days the pros spent with the amateurs before the event. The coaches - James for Isaacson, Gracz for Gardner, and Tony G for Stoll - were present at the match and available for a one-time-only coaching session during the actual tournament. If their boys placed, they would also receive a small chunk of their winnings ($50,000 if their boy finished first, $30,000 for second, and $20,000 for third).

FullTilt and FSN Bring the Heat
Team FullTilt Goes to War
By Michael Friedman

June 22, 2006, was another banner day for the well-oiled machinery of the masterminds and players of FullTiltPoker. Televising their fourth live $1 million tournament with FSN, FullTilt once again proved why it is a leader in premier televised poker action.
Set in the cozy outskirts of Las Vegas at the Red Rock Casino, Full Tilt brought out seven of its top players and let them do battle in front of a live audience and thousands of poker fans who watched the event on television.

Gracing the tables were Team FullTilt's Phil Ivey, John Juanda, Clonie Gowen, Chris Ferguson, Erik Seidel, Erick Lindgren, and Mike "The Mouth" Matusow. Although all played well, it was Lindgren who took home the first-place cash of $600,000.

The action was fast and furious right from the start, with the pros seeming to effortlessly calculate the risks and values of each hand played. The first to hit the rails was Ivey, who ran into Matusow and his pocket sixes. Matusow moved all in and Ivey called with K-J suited. Matusow hit a set of sixes on the turn and eliminated the player who according to many top wagering sites is the odds-on favorite to take home the World Series of Poker main-event title.

Next to bite the proverbial "big one" was "Jesus." The man known for his trademark long hair and hat, not to mention his WSOP bracelets, got crushed when his pocket sixes ran into Juanda's pocket kings. With no help on the turn or the river, Ferguson was eliminated in sixth place.

It was at this point that "E-Dog" began to tighten his grip on the table. Lindgren set his sights on Juanda and terminated the meditating poker master with pocket tens. Juanda's A-J suited simply didn't improve.

Next to fall was Erik Seidel. This was a crucial elimination, as the remaining three players would make the money. Seidel's Q-10 was dominated by Matusow's A-10, moving Gowen, Matusow, and Lindgren into a nice payday.

The action continued, and Gowen, who seemed to be making another push to become the chip leader, took a major chance and challenged Lindgren with only K-7. Lindgren immediately called with A-6 and hit an ace on the flop, ending the stunning poker player's run at the first-place cash. Gowen earned $120,000 for her third-place finish.

Down to Matusow and Lindgren, it took only a matter of minutes for the title to be decided. Both moved all in, and Matusow's A-J was dominated by Lindgren's A-K. Both players hit an ace on the turn, but unfortunately for Matusow, he had the lower kicker.

But don't feel too bad for "The Mouth," as he pocketed $280,000 for his efforts.

Poker and the 40/70 Rule
By David Apostolico

Colin Powell was a champion of what he termed the 40/70 rule. Powell is clearly a man who leads by example and is not afraid to make tough decisions and stick with them. He is a man of action, not inaction. So, what is the 40/70 rule? Powell believed that you should not take action until you have enough information to have a probability of being at least 40 percent correct. However, you should never wait until you have enough information to be 100 percent correct. That leads to paralysis by analysis. The sweet spot for action lies somewhere between 40 percent and 70 percent probability.

This rule of thumb seems absolutely perfect for poker, which is a game of imperfect information. Unless you have the absolute nuts, you are never going to be 100 percent sure of winning a hand. Even if you do have the absolute nuts, you still won't be 100 percent sure of what your opponent has and how to best get as many chips as you can. Yet, we all have seen these rocks at the poker table who are unwilling to commit until they are certain of victory. In a tournament especially, this is a surefire way to spell defeat.

With increasing blinds and antes, tournaments move too quickly for a player to remain cautious. This doesn't mean one should be clueless. Rather, study your opponents, use position, look at the cards, and make a decision. With tables consolidating in a tournament, you often won't have much time to get to know individual players. Use the time you do have wisely, but don't allow yourself to be paralyzed by overanalyzing the situation.

Take a moment to reflect on your play and ask yourself honestly if you are the type of player who likes close to 100 percent information before acting. If so, what can you do to improve your game? The good thing is that if you are this type of person, you probably have tremendous focus at the table. Maintain that focus. After all, the goal is still to have as much information as possible. The only change is when you should act with that information. If you are focusing on everything that you should, go with your gut. Learn to react rather than think. This will help you move into the sweet spot of action. Don't worry about making mistakes. Don't worry about being careless. All of that information you are gathering is still being processed and used by you in the decision-making process. It's just being streamlined now.

If you still can get yourself to take action with less information, ask yourself one last question. No matter what stakes you are playing, have you ever faced a decision at the poker table that has larger consequences than the decisions Colin Powell has faced? Once we put things in proper perspective, the game should open up and not only be more fun, but more profitable.

David Apostolico is the author of Tournament Poker and The Art of War and Machiavellian Poker Strategy. You can e-mail him at [email protected].

Nam Le Wins Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge
He's Second in the Card Player Player of the Year Race
By Bob Pajich

Nam Le won the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge, taking home $204,579 and a championship bracelet worth more than $35,000. He outlasted a field of 107 players who came to the Cherokee Casino Resort in Tulsa, Oklahoma, recently and paid $5,000 to enter.

"The Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge reinforces the fact that Cherokee Casino is a major venue for top poker players and tournaments," said David Stewart, CEO of Cherokee Nation Enterprises, which operates Cherokee Casino. Nguyen became a poker ambassador with the casino last year. The first Scott Nguyen Poker Challenge was held in November.

This installment of the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge had 21 events with buy-ins ranging from $120 to the $5,000 championship event.

Le, who is only 25 years old, is on fire. He just won $1.2 million at the World Poker Tour Bay 101 Shooting Star championship in May, and his lifetime winnings amount to $2,229,398. He sits in the second slot in Card Player magazine's Player of the Year race.

To make his win even more impressive, the field contained several great players, including Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, Minh Nguyen, T.J. Cloutier, and Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi.

The top nine players got paid as follows:
• Nam Le - $204,579
• Joe Koster - $117,634
• Jeff Bryan - $51,374
• Kirk Stewart - $35,802
• V.R. Martin - $28,130
• Randy Newell - $23,015
• Brian Foster - $17,901
• Roy Dudley - $12,786
• Mark Scacewater - $10,229

Card Player's Poker by the Numbers
By Alex Henriquez

AbsolutePoker.com Signs Michael Mizrachi
The Grinder Joins Mark Seif at the Online Site
By Bob Pajich

AbsolutePoker.com just added a grinder to its stable of professionals. Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi has signed a consulting agreement with AbsolutePoker.com and will wear its logo during tournaments, make personal appearances, and appear in advertising for the online poker site.

"Over the past few months, I've gotten to know the AbsolutePoker team, and I feel really good about who they are and where the company is going. I love the software and I feel great about the product. I couldn't be happier to join Mark Seif on the
AbsolutePoker team," Mizrachi said.

Terms of the deal were not released.

Mizrachi is represented by Poker Royalty, a full-service player marketing and representation agency specializing in the poker industry. The company was founded in 2003. Among the players the agency manages are Phil Hellmuth, Gus Hansen, Greg Raymer, Erick Lindgren, Ted Forrest, and Jennifer Harman.

Mizrachi has made more than $5 million on the tournament trail in the last two years. He finished in the money seven times at last year's World Series of Poker, and he also has four World Poker Tour final tables and two World Poker Tour wins.

And, he's only 25 years old.

Poker Star Barry Greenstein Joins Team PokerStars
Site Building Quite the Stable of Players
By Bob Pajich

Less than a week after announcing that Victor Ramdin had joined Team PokerStars, the online site landed another huge shark.
Barry Greenstein, known as the "Robin Hood" of poker because he donates a large portion of his tournament winnings to charity, is the newest member of Team PokerStars, the online site's team of professional players.

Greenstein is one of the world's most successful high-limit players, and his total lifetime tournament winnings sit at more than $4.5 million.

Greenstein joins Ramdin, Isabelle Mercier, Joe Hachem, Chris Moneymaker, Luca Pagano, Vanessa Rousso, Steve Paul-Ambrose, Wil Wheaton, John Duthie, Tom McEvoy, Lee Nelson, and Greg Raymer as Team PokerStars members.

Where in the World

Balkans or Bust

Walter Dirzulaitis of East Elmhurst, New York, took his Card Player across the globe to Tirana, Albania. A small mountainous country roughly the size of Massachusetts, Albania, with 70 percent of its population Muslim, is Europe's only predominantly Islamic state.

Group Aims to Convince Lawmakers to Legalize Poker in Texas
Texas Association of Poker Players Now in Business
By Bob Pajich

Wayne Long used to play small buy-in Texas hold'em tournaments in a bar outside of Houston's city limits. He even won one of the events, and says the couple who ran the little "beer joint" got assurance from county officials that they wouldn't be bothered, even though holding poker tournaments in a public place in Texas has been illegal for decades.

And the owners were right, as the county didn't bother them at all. However, state officials came in and shut down the game, which shouldn't have been a surprise for any of the players who play poker in Texas.

The state has taken a clear and inflexible stance on poker in Texas, cancelling everything from charity tournaments to "poker runs" across the state. Not even poker superstars are exempt. Last May, the Phil Hellmuth Poker Challenge, a charity tournament scheduled to be held in Houston, was ordered cancelled by the state's attorney general. The event was expected to raise at least $250,000 for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Long is so sick of poker players being treated like criminals in his state that he decided to do something about it, and formed the Texas Association of Poker Players (TAPP).

"It really annoyed me that I'm having to sneak around and have to worry about stuff like that when all I want to do is play poker," Long said. "I got ticked off, is actually what happened."

The Houston real estate broker formed TAPP in February and spent the last four months preparing to go public. He built a website, recruited some of his poker-playing friends, and announced to the world recently that TAPP is here. He's now working on getting the word out to Texas poker players that TAPP wants to work hard to make poker legal in his state.

"Our basic goal is to unite Texas poker players so they could speak with one voice," Long said. "Everybody knows here that if we got to vote on legalizing poker, it would be approved."

Long has history to back up his claim. Parimutuel betting on horse racing was legalized in Texas back in the late '80s, after years of effort went into getting it on the referendum ballot. It passed the first time around. The same thing happened with the state lottery about a decade later.

"The people of Texas have demonstrated that they kind of like to gamble," Long said.

Long's next step is to recruit as many players as he can to join TAPP. Soon, radio spots and print ads will appear promoting TAPP around Houston, with plans to extend to other parts of the state soon. When membership reaches about 1,500 people, TAPP will hire a law firm based in Austin that specializes in lobbying issues.

Long believes he shouldn't have a problem convincing members to join his cause. Texas is a big state with lots and lots of people who play cards, especially the game that bears Texas' name. It's just a matter of getting the word out.

"If we can figure out who is all out there and who will come to the table, we'll be a big group," he said.

Long also says he's been in contact with other nonprofit groups that are working to convince lawmakers that poker should be legalized. Long believes it's essential for the groups to put on a united front to fight for the legalization of poker.

People can join TAPP for as little as $25. There are also different levels of sponsorship, the $250 "Association Sponsorship" being the most expensive. After less than a week, TAPP had only about 50 members, but Long predicted that will soon change, considering his efforts.

Plus, players are starting to realize that the threat to poker is a real one. Washington state just made it a Class C felony to play poker online there, and there are several lawmakers who are working hard to pass bills to stop online poker in its tracks.

TAPP can be found at www.texasassociationofpokerplayers.com. Visit them for more information.

Clonie Gowen Appears in Maxim Magazine
The Blonde Star Also Challenges Paris Hilton to a Charity Match
By Bob Pajich

FullTiltPoker.com's "Team FullTilt" includes Chris Ferguson, Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Erick Lindgren, and Erik Seidel, among other greats, and although these guys are considered to be some of the greatest contemporary poker players, none of them would look good in a bikini.

Clonie Gowen, however, is another story, and poker fans everywhere can see much of the natural blonde beauty in the most recent edition of Maxim magazine, which is now on magazine racks everywhere. She's the cover girl of Maxim's July edition, which features a guide to this year's World Series of Poker. She's also the subject of a two-page spread in the magazine known for putting some of the biggest names in babedom on its pages.

Gowen's no slouch at the poker table, either, which she proved by winning the World Poker Tour Ladies Night event in 2003.
"I've been asked to do this sort of thing before," said Gowen, "but the last offer was from Playboy. And although my sister and mother were all for it, I reviewed the terms and thought it best that I keep my clothes on. Maxim had someone for everything.

There was a hairstylist, makeup artist, wardrobe technician, dozens of assistants, and when my nerves started to get the best of me, they had a bartender on staff pouring me a cocktail."

Gowen, whose real name is Cycalona because she was born during a cyclone, has been making her rounds recently. She just appeared on FSN's Best Damn Sports Show Period, where she challenged Paris Hilton to a tournament in which the winner will receive $100,000 (put up by FullTiltPoker.com) to award to the charity of her choice.

"Paris seems to be a great girl; however, she represents everything that I am not. But now that she has stepped into my world (poker), I challenge her to put her poker skills to work for charity; $100,000 will go a long way to helping those in need. Paris, are you in?" Gowen said.

Gowen's appearance in Maxim magazine is just another example of poker penetrating mainstream media. USA Today ran a story about this year's WSOP recently (focusing on Jeffrey Pollack, WSOP commissioner), and newspapers everywhere have run stories about the government's efforts to ban online poker, as well as advice columns by some of world's top players.

Where in the World

Praying for Pocket Rockets

Art Chung of Sacramento, California, recently visited the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China. The Temple, one of the largest in China, includes the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. The emperor of China would pray for a good harvest. The red color is the imperial color, the dragons represent the emperor, and the blue color represents heaven. Art is hoping for pocket rockets.

Super 16 Decided at Poker Superstars Invitational III Tournament
Card Player's Own Jeff Shulman Seeded No. 1
By Bob Pajich

The last match of the first round of the Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament III (PSIT III) was shown on FSN recently, and after 20 weeks of 20 matches, the second round of 16 players will now begin.

The top players were seeded in matches consisting of four players each according to how many points they earned in five elimination matches. Winners received 10 points, second place 7 points, third place 5 points, fourth place 3 points, fifth place 1 point, and last place, zero. Also, the better that players did in the first round, the more starting chips they got to take with them into the round of 16.

The magic number was 19 points for all but one player, Jennifer Harman, who won that many points but lost a tiebreaker.
The first group consists of No. 1 seed Jeff Shulman with $840,000 in chips, No. 8 seed Mike Matusow with $480,000 in chips, No. 9 seed Eli Elezra with $480,000 in chips, and No. 16 seed Mike Sexton with $380,000 in chips.

The second group has No. 2 seed Antonio Esfandiari with $720,000 in chips, No. 7 seed Chris Ferguson with $520,000 in chips, No. 10 seed Johnny Chan with $420,000 in chips, and No. 15 seed Phil Hellmuth with $400,000 in chips.

The third group has No. 3 seed Erick Lindgren with $600,000 in chips, No. 6 seed Barry Greenstein with $540,000 in chips, No. 11 seed Gus Hansen with $420,000 in chips, and No. 14 seed Freddy Deeb with $400,000 in chips.

The fourth group consists of No. 4 seed Todd Brunson with $580,000 in chips, No. 5 seed Daniel Negreanu with $540,000 in chips, No. 12 seed Phil Ivey with $420,000 in chips, and No. 13 seed Carlos Mortensen with $420,000 in chips.

Viewers will watch these tables battle it out in the next eight weeks, starting July 30. Each group of four will play once, and the winner will advance to the quarterfinal round. Then, the remaining three players will play again, with the winner of that match also advancing to the quarterfinal round.

The remaining eight players will then be broken into two groups of four again, and, using the same method, four players will advance.

Astute fans of PSIT III will notice two distinct groups of people didn't make it out of the first round. First, none of the four women (Harman, Mimi Tran, Cyndy Violette, and Jennifer Tilly) made it into the second round. Harman did tie Sexton with 19 points, but Sexton won the tie-breaker by virtue of his win in week one.

Also, none of the last three World Series of Poker championship winners - Joe Hachem, Greg Raymer, and Chris Moneymaker - got out of the first round.

PSIT III is shown on FSN every Sunday. Check your local listings for times. And if you missed any of the action, check CardPlayer.com's Internet coverage of the television series on our website.

World Poker Tour Expands Season Five Schedule
Updated schedule includes three additional dates
By Bob Pajich

The World Poker Tour added three more dates to its season-five schedule and also announced plans for two ladies-only events and a special "Bounty Hunters" event.

The Borgata, Bellagio, and Foxwoods casinos each had an additional event added, giving them two main events for season five, which began in May with the Mirage Poker Showdown. It ends in April of 2007 with the WPT World Championship at Bellagio. The complete schedule appears below. The dates for some of the events have changed, so be sure to recheck them before booking trips.

The dates for three WPT specials have also been confirmed. Two ladies-night events will take place in season five. The first is on Aug. 31 at The Bicycle Casino; the second is on April 28, which is the day after the WPT World Championship, and it also will take place at Bellagio.

The WPT also announced that an event called the WPT Bounty Hunters will take place at the Borgata on Sept. 18. This event will feature six pros starting out with $250,000 in chips and a $5,000 price on their heads. Whenever someone knocks another player out, he receives the cash, but the bounty of the victim is also placed on his head.

The prize pool for this event is a $25,000 seat in the WPT Championship and $50,000 in bounties. The players who will play at this table will be decided by WPT fans who vote at the Travel Channel's website.

Three tournaments have already taken place in season five (the Mirage Poker Showdown, Mandalay Bay Poker Championship, and the Grand Prix de Paris). The rest of the schedule follows:

• Legends of Poker, Bicycle Casino, Aug. 26-30
• WPT Ladies Night IV, Bicycle Casino, Aug. 30-31
• Borgata Poker Open, Borgata, Sept. 15-19
• WPT Bounty Hunters, Borgata, Sept. 18
• Festa al Lago, Bellagio, Oct. 15-19
• North American Poker Championship, Niagara Fallsview Resort Casino, Oct. 25-29
• World Poker Finals, Foxwoods Resort Casino, Nov. 12-16
• Bellagio Five-Diamond World Poker Classic, Dec. 14-19
• PokerStars.com Caribbean Poker Adventure, TBD, Jan. 6-13
• World Poker Open, Gold Strike Casino, Jan. 21-25
• Borgata Poker Classic, Jan. 26-30
• L.A. Poker Classic, Commerce Casino, Feb. 24-March 1
• WPT Celebrity Invitational, Commerce Casino, March 3-5
• Bay 101 Shooting Star, March 12-16
• World Poker Challenge, Reno Hilton, March 25-28
• Foxwoods Poker Classic, April 1-4
• WPT World Championship, Bellagio, April 21-27
• Ladies Night, Bellagio, April 280

How to Play When 'Under the Gun'

Most players don't understand the right method of playing from first position before the flop - known as "under the gun." This nickname is appropriate, because this is the most dangerous and costly position at the table. Here's why:

When you're under the gun, you are first to act before the flop and one of the first to act after the flop. That means that you don't have a chance to get a read on your opponents before making a decision. In addition, the other players can check-raise you, trap you, and get a read on you much more easily when you're in this position.

Let's look at an example of why this position is so hard to play, and strategies you can use to still win money from it. Let's say that you're under the gun at an eight-player table and pick up A-J offsuit. You decide to limp in and call the big blind ($50). The action goes around the table to the other players. The man on the button (Don) decides to raise and makes it $300 total to play. You're not sure if this is a position raise or if he really has a solid hand.

With the amount of chips already in the pot, plus the $50 you already put, you decide that you're going to call with your A-J. The big blind and small blind fold, you call, and there's one other caller.

The flop comes out A-6-3 rainbow. You've hit top pair. Congratulations. Unfortunately, you're first to act - and you know that Don is probably going to raise if you bet. But you don't have a read on Don or the other player. If Don raises, you have to call, right? After all, you hit top pair in a raised pot.

So, let's say you throw out a "feeler bet," just to see where you're at. The other player folds and Don calls. Hmm. Now you wonder if Don is slow-playing a big hand or planning to bluff.

The turn is an 8. You check, and Don bets $1,000. Now what? You're "pot-committed" and still have top pair, so you decide to call.

Now, the river comes, you check again, and Don goes all in for $3,000 more. You've already got about $1,500 in the pot. You're really not sure if Don's bluffing or not, but you call.

And sure enough, Don throws over his A-K and rakes in the pot. Ouch!

The reason you lost that big pot wasn't just the cards. It was your position.

Just look at the many ways you can lose when playing from under the gun:

1. You call the blinds, but then the pot gets raised before the flop and you fold.

2. You call the blinds (and maybe a preflop raise) and the flop is no help to you. You check, there's a big bet by another player, and you are forced to fold.

3. You bet after the flop but get raised, and are forced to fold.

4. You have a good hand but someone else has a monster and slow-plays you. (It's much easier for someone to slow-play you when you're first to act.)

Now multiply all of these losses by the number of times you will be under the gun every single time you play poker. Pretty ugly, huh?

The good news is, it doesn't have to be this way. You simply need to know exactly which hands to play and how to play them from this position.

Let's take a look. In our example above, the biggest mistake made was playing A-J in the first place.

Since the under-the-gun position is so dangerous, tighten up your game and play only premium hands. At a full table, stick to A-K, A-Q, K-Q, and pairs. These hands break down into two groups:

Group 1: A-A, K-K, Q-Q, and A-K

Group 2: A-Q, K-Q, and all other pairs

For Group 2 hands, it's generally better to limp in. The goal is to see a favorable flop without risking many chips. If you hit trips, your opponents will rarely see it coming. Raising with A-Q or K-Q can be dangerous, because someone with A-K can easily smooth-call, leaving you in the dark about his hand strength.

For Group 1 hands, your strategy will depend on how loose or tight your table has been behaving. At a loose table, you can often just call the blinds, allowing your opponents to raise the pot. This lets you get a read on your opponents to decide whether to reraise or smooth-call.

At a tight table, you'll probably have to raise the pot preflop in order to get the action started. Be extra careful with Q-Q that you don't risk too many chips, just in case you run into cowboys or rockets.

Playing when under the gun is tricky. If you tighten up your hand selection and follow these guidelines, you'll be much better equipped to hold your ground from this position.

For more step-by-step poker tips and strategies, check out my free e-mail newsletter at: http://www.FreePokerNewsletter.com.