The Inside Straight

World Series of Poker Action Continues to Build

Bigger and Better Than Ever

By Tim Peters



By the time this issue of Card Player goes to press, the main event of the 2006 World Series of Poker will be under way, and the field will certainly be the largest in WSOP history. Most estimates hover around the 8,000 mark, which would represent a 42 percent increase over the 5,619 who played last year. But if early events are any indication, the field could achieve even higher numbers. Just to put that in perspective, from 1970 to 2004, a total of 9,385 people entered the main event. In other words, this year's field may rival the aggregate fields of the first 24 years of main-event history.



But you don't have to wait for the main event to see history unfolding at this year's Series:



• More than $50 million in prize money has already been awarded.



• Youth is being served: Jeff Madsen won a bracelet ($2,000 no-limit hold'em) at the tender age of 21 years, 1 month, and 9 days – edging out record-holder Eric Froehlich for the distinction of "youngest bracelet winner" by less than two months. Froehlich won the $1,500 limit hold'em event last year.



• Youth is being served, Part II: On July 18, Froehlich set a new record when he became the youngest player to win two WSOP bracelets; he was the champion of this year's unscheduled $1,500 pot-limit Omaha (with rebuys) tournament.



• Youth is being served, Part III: Froehlich's record lasted only four days. On July 22, Madsen struck again in the $5,000 no-limit hold'em shorthanded event. So now he's the youngest player to win two WSOP bracelets.



• And two players have won multiple bracelets in 2006: Bill Chen, in the $2,500 no-limit hold'em shorthanded and $3,000 limit hold'em events, and Jeff Madsen, for the two events cited above.



• The pros have proven they can play large-field poker: Allen Cunningham, Lee Watkinson, David Pham, and Rafael Perry all won bracelets in the latest run of events.



Of course, the biggest story to date was the biggest buy-in tournament in the history of the WSOP: the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event, for which a full account appears in this issue. A who's who of the poker universe turned out for the battle, and Chip Reese, one of the best and most experienced cash-game players in the world, ended up slugging it out with Andy Bloch, a Team FullTilt professional, in what would be the longest heads-up match in WSOP history: seven hours and 10 minutes.



Bracelets and money aside, the 2006 Series is also notable for how effectively it's running. Staggered breaks are easing bathroom congestion. The new Poker Kitchen just outside the Amazon Room is offering excellent food at excellent prices. And officials are working hard to address concerns; one recent innovation is the creation of a Player Services desk in the hallway outside the tournament area – a resource for players who are competing to raise questions and address concerns.



But let's get back to the bracelets; Card Player presents the following recaps for WSOP events Nos. 14-28.

These are Real Poker Tells
I'd like to share with you the real poker tells that take place in Texas hold'em. I'm not talking about when your opponent scratches his eyebrow, shuffles his chips, or chews his gum aggressively. I'm talking about betting patterns. It's been my experience that approximately 80 percent of the betting action at a poker table fits within predictable and reliable patterns.

Here's what I mean: Recently, I was playing in a $2-$5 no-limit hold'em cash game with my buddies. I focused all of my energies just on keeping track of preflop raises and post-flop bets.


Here are some examples of the patterns I discovered:



First, Elroy would throw out the occasional preflop raise. By the end of the night, it was almost too easy to figure out what he was holding based only on his bets.



His first preflop raise was $15. The hand played out and he turned over 10-9 suited. Later, he made it $40 preflop to play with pocket queens. Then, he raised $25 preflop with pocket kings. And later, he made it $15 to play from the button with the A 4.



As the night progressed, I "cracked the code" to Elroy's betting patterns. When he had a monster like K-K or A-A, he'd bet $25 preflop. It was a bet that usually got one or two callers. If he had pocket tens, jacks, or queens, he bet $40-$50 preflop, which makes sense. He didn't want to see a flop with these hands; he just wanted to steal the blinds. Or, if he saw the flop, he wanted only one caller. And his $10-$15 raises were simply "pot builders" when he had hidden hands or something decent, like K-Q, 10-9, or A-4.



Another guy at the table, let's call him Jeff, would throw out a $10 bet on the flop every time he was on a draw. Of the 14 times he bet $10 on the flop, I saw his hand turned over eight times (it was an eight-hour game). And every single time he showed his hand, he was on some type of draw. So, anytime the "make" card came out of the deck, I knew Jeff had the goods, so I folded. I took him for all of his chips when he tried to bluff his busted draw on the river.



My buddy Jack was also playing that night. He made several $40 preflop raises from early position and normally got a caller or two for the flop. After the flop, it was always obvious if he'd hit or missed his hand.



Let's say the flop was Q-9-7 rainbow. If Jack came out firing $80 after his $40 preflop raise, he had the goods. This is when he was holding a monster and wasn't afraid of the board.



But, let's say he threw out a $40 bet – the same as his preflop raise. That meant he was holding a hand like jacks, tens, or A-K. He was afraid of the flop but still wanted to try to win the pot. It was a simple pattern, and plain to see.



Overall for the night, I walked away a big winner. And the primary reason was that I tracked betting patterns and took the time to get a read on my opponents.



OK, let's talk about how to immediately apply this new information to your next poker game.



There are three main patterns that you want to pay attention to:



1. Preflop raises – Watch carefully when someone raises before the flop. Pay attention to his position. A common pattern is that a lot of players will raise from the button no matter what they have – and this can be "free chips" for you when you've got a read. Find out what someone does when he picks up low pocket pairs, suited connectors, and two high cards.



2. Post-flop bets – The next pattern is what a player does after the flop. How much does he bet? You'll discover players who "represent the flop" consistently with the same bet size over and over again. You'll also discover other players who check-raise every time they have a big hand, and so on.



3. Post-flop bets after preflop raises – This is perhaps the easiest pattern to pick up. After someone raises before the flop, watch what he does after the flop (this works best when he is in early position).



A lot of your opponents will "back down" from their preflop raises if they didn't catch anything on the flop. This is because they're afraid of losing too many chips on one single hand. If they did catch something great, they'll show it with a huge bet on the flop. The pot is big enough to take down now, so they won't be afraid of everyone folding.



Watch out for post-flop bets that are smaller than the preflop raises, or that equal the minimum bet allowed. Sometimes this is a monster in disguise.



OK, those are the three main patterns to look for. Implement this information in your next poker game and tell me what you think.



For hundreds of easy-to-understand poker strategies and techniques, check out my e-mail column at http://www.freepokernewsletter.com/.

Ask Jack

Want to know how a multimillion-dollar poker tournament is run? Have a question about a specific tournament poker rule or past ruling you've encountered?



Card Player is giving you a chance to pick the mind of one of the game's finest – Bellagio Tournament Director Jack McClelland.



You can send your questions to [email protected], and McClelland will share his 25-plus years of industry experience with you.

Ken Verderame: I'm a part-time professional dealer for a company that puts on free hold'em tournaments at local bars and restaurants with the nightly winners playing in a quarterly tournament in which the winner gets a buy-in to a World Poker Tour event. Although I have not been to a "brick-and-mortar" dealer school, I have taken an online dealers course and have been playing poker for many years. At a recent event, the following situation came up:



At the point when we were threehanded, the player who had the button was eliminated. For the next hand, I proceeded to move the button to the player who had just been the small blind to begin heads-up play, and instructed the other player to post the big blind. That player objected, claiming that he had just posted the big blind on the previous hand, and therefore shouldn't have to post the big blind twice in a row. I tried to explain to him that the button can never bypass a player, and this was the one situation in which a player would be required to post the big blind twice. He was adamant that I was incorrect, and after the tournament was over, he went up to the other dealer and explained the situation to him, and he told him that I was wrong. To make matters worse, another company dealer who was there just playing in the event (part-time dealers are allowed to play at venues where they don't deal) also said I was wrong.



The company I work for employs about 50 dealers, all of whom, with the exception of one, have never been professional dealers and have never been to any training school or worked in a casino. Before I bring this up to one of the company owners, I want to make sure I had this right. I tried to look it up in The Professional Poker Dealer's Handbook, but tournament play is not discussed there at any length.



Your insight would be greatly appreciated, as well as any specific reference you could provide. Thanks.



Jack McClelland: The player was correct. The key in tournaments is that the big blind always moves forward. The button may adjust. In this case, the player who had the big blind in the last hand would have the small blind and the button, while the player who had the small blind would now have the big blind.



Another example is this: The player in seat No. 3 goes broke in the big blind. In the next hand, seat No. 2 has the button, seat No. 3 is empty, and seat No. 4 has the big blind. In the next hand, seat No. 2 keeps the button, seat No. 3 is empty, seat No. 4 has the small blind, and seat No. 5 has the big blind.

(Tennessee) James Stewart, Suffolk, Virginia: I was wondering about tipping etiquette in low and high buy-in events. I have heard all kinds of numbers, ranging from 3 percent up to 10 percent. Is someone who wins, say, $3 million in a World Poker Tour or World Series of Poker event seriously expected to hand over 300K for a "tip"? This may seem like no big deal to someone on the rail, but if you've just won that kind of money, the IRS is also about to take a big bite out of you, probably to the tune of 40 percent. This leads me to another question: If you win a big tourney, is that money reported to the IRS in your name? If so, what happens if someone refuses to give his "Slave Security" number?



JM: All tips are appreciated. Normally, players tip a larger percentage in low buy-in tournaments. In my tournaments, the player who participates signs for all monies received. I am sorry, but I am unfamiliar with "slave security."

Lynn Ermis: When playing in a no-limit hold'em tournament, does one have to verbally announce a raise? Example: Player A bets $1,800. Player B takes $3,600 in chips, and all in one move puts them in without verbally declaring a raise. Is this considered a raise or simply a call?



JM: As long as it is clear what the player is doing, it constitutes a raise. Example: A player bets $300 and the next player puts in $600; that is a raise. However, if a player bets $300 and the next player throws in a single $1,000 chip, this would be just a call unless the player verbally declared it to be a raise, because it is not clear as to the player's intent.

Dan: I'm sitting here this week becoming very frustrated because of how bad I am running. It's not that I'm getting bad cards or bad flops, but I keep getting killed when I have someone dominated. For example, my A-K, hitting K-K-5 on the flop, gets killed by someone hitting a deuce on the turn to make deuces full. My K-Q, flopping K-Q-4, gets beat by someone reraising with A-J and hitting a 10 on the turn. The list goes on, but this is only one day of bad runs. I'm an odds guy, and I know that most of these are either bad beats or just bad luck, but one thing is certain – it's becoming very frustrating.



What do you do when you are running bad? Do you try to play through it to right the ship, or do you step away from the computer or table?



Scott: Well, normally I try to stop playing when I'm losing and keep playing when I'm winning. It's very tempting to keep playing to try to get unstuck, but that's where discipline and money management come in. Another thing I often do is switch games, so if I'm "running bad" playing hold'em, I'll start playing Omaha for a while. Over the long term, you will win in those situations, and that is what poker is about – making good decisions and "getting your money in good." The rest is luck, and there is really nothing you can do about it.


B.S.: Recently in a small daily tournament, we had just gotten down to the money, with five players left. I was second in chips with 41K, the chip leader had 44K, third has 36K, fourth had 33K, and the short stack had 8K. The blinds were $2,000-$4,000. The short stack was in the big blind with only 4K left, and the fourth stack was in the small blind. I was under the gun with the big stack behind me and the third stack on the button. I had the A K and raised to 12K, the big stack shoved all in, everyone folded back to me, and I was faced with a tough decision. The profile of the big stack was this: I had seen him shove all in with any pair except big pairs, with which he smooth-called. I also had seen him shove with A-J twice. I felt confident that I was the best player left, and knowing the big stack's previous plays, I placed him on a hand as small as A-J or A-Q, and as big as a pair of sevens through tens. I called, and the big stack turned over 9-9. As you can guess, I lost the hand and was out in fifth place. The only reason I can think of right now for folding is that I would have picked up another spot, yet if I won the hand, I would have had more than half the chips in play. My first thought before I called was, "You know you're most likely in a race. Do you want to race for all of your chips?" I still am not sure. The second thought I had was, "Are you playing to win or just to pick up another spot?" I answered that I was playing to win and called, although right now I am not sure that I was playing to win, because I called off all of my chips, which is something I never want to do in any tourney. Can you give me a better reason other than picking up a spot and staying in the tourney for folding the hand? Or, is folding out of the question because I'm letting the big stack move me off a hand like A-K when I know he doesn't have the two hands I don't want to see, A-A or K-K?



Scott: One of the most important things in poker is being able to trust your reads, which you did in this situation. Unfortunately, even if you are completely correct (which it seems you were), you will lose sometimes. However, over the long run, if you make correct reads and the best decision in a particular situation, you will win. A-K vs. 9-9 is a race situation, and if winning that hand will give you the best chance of winning the tournament, you made the correct decision. However, if your goal isn't necessarily to win but to hang in to move up a spot or two in the money, you should avoid a confrontation with the other big stack. You must weigh the value of possibly doubling up against the chance that you will be eliminated. If folding that hand will extremely lessen your chances of winning by crippling your stack, you should call with you're A-K, but if folding won't have much impact on your stack and you will still have a chance to win, the value of staying in the tournament is infinitely greater than the possibility of winning more chips.