Card Player TV is Now Live
New Feature at CardPlayer.com Set to Rock Poker World
By Bob Pajich
It's been lights, camera, and lots of poker action in the
Card Player corporate office now that the newest feature of CardPlayer.com,
Card Player TV, has been launched.
The new page can be found at www.CardPlayer.com/tv, or by going to the main page and using the link listed under "multimedia."
Card Player TV is a new interactive multimedia player that offers a variety of programming channels. These channels provide tons of timely feature content from the poker world, daily news programming, expanded coverage from the world's largest poker events, strategy lessons, biographies of top poker professionals, up-to-the-minute online poker coverage, legislative news, and much more.
The hallways of the corporate office of
Card Player have been busy the last few weeks in preparation for this launch. Players such as Huck Seed and Jon Friedberg, and poker-tell expert Joe Navarro have stopped by to film pieces for
Card Player TV in our studio, and there's no end to the line of players who will be stopping by for a stint in front of the hot lights and cameras.
Each day, new video content dealing with the busy poker news cycle will be uploaded. This is called the "Daily Deal." Each week, online poker guru Shawn Patrick Green will talk about the hundreds of thousands of dollars available at online sites in the big guaranteed tournaments that take place each week (and the players who won).
Players not only will talk about strategy, but will also provide a glimpse into the high-stakes poker lifestyle. The biography videos enable players to explain to
Card Player fans just what makes them tick. Some of the stories they share are as entertaining as anything that's on reality TV right now.
Poker products also will be featured, and all of the videos are easily accessible through a TV-like interface that makes browsing them a breeze. Simply click a "channel," and a list of videos appears on the right side of the page. Click a video, and it instantly comes up on the screen.
Viewers also can use the site's easy search button to scour the entire archive of
Card Player videos. If you're looking for a video from last year's World Series of Poker, just enter the search terms into the bar and, voila, the video will appear for your viewing pleasure.
Viewers also will be able to rate the videos or e-mail them to a friend, and through the
Card Player user forum, poker fans everywhere can get together and talk about what's going on in the poker world.
There are hundreds of hours of videos available to
Card Player readers, and everything is free. So, dial it up, turn up the volume, and check out Card Player TV, which just may be the coolest thing ever.
Pescatori Signs With Full Tilt Poker
He Joins the Baddest Team of Poker Pros
Max Pescatori has joined Team Full Tilt.
Pescatori, who is from Milan, Italy, has more than $1.5 million in tournament winnings under his belt, and has become one of the most recognized players on the circuit with his red, white, and green hat and oversized sunglasses.
Full Tilt Poker has the biggest team of poker pros representing its site. They include Howard Lederer, Layne Flack, David Grey, Gavin Smith, David Singer (host of
The Circuit on CardPlayer.com), Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson, and many, many others.
Bill Edler Wins World Heads-Up Challenge in California
Edler Defeats Barry Greenstein, Wins $215,000
By Bob Pajich
Crystal Park Casino in Southern California played host to the
World Heads-Up Challenge recently, a $10,000 buy-in event that attracted a who's who list of poker players who played for a first prize worth $215,000.
Players who participated in the event included Daniel Negreanu, Erick Lindgren, Mike Matusow, Ted Forrest, Hassan Habib, Michael Mizrachi, Jeff Madsen, Steve Zolotow, Gabe Kaplan, Barry Greenstein, and many others.
Bill Edler, who now has close to $1 million in tournament winnings, found himself up against Greenstein in the championship heads-up match. He ended up beating Greenstein to take home the top prize of $215,000.
Edler is a tough tournament player who cashes left and right in major events. He recently cashed in two events at the Winter Poker Open for a total of about $140,000, and has seven cashes of more than $50,000, including this victory. Visit the CardPlayer.com player database for more information about Edler.
For many players, the
WHUC was a precursor to the
NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Many of the players who competed in the Crystal Park event played in the
NHUPC at Caesars in Las Vegas during the first week of March. The series will be aired on
NBC starting in April.
Poker Pro Marco Traniello Qualifies for National Heads-Up Poker Championship
Caesars Qualifying Poker Tournament Determines 63rd NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship Entrant
By Lisa Wheeler
Once known to the poker world as the husband of professional poker player Jennifer Harman, Marco Traniello has established his own reputation as a top-flight contender in the industry, and the whole country is going to get to see him play in the
NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship in April, when the show airs.
Traniello qualified for the
NHUPC at the only live qualifier for the event, which was held at Caesars Las Vegas recently.
He'd watched from the sidelines for two years, and the importance of securing a seat in this season's event was apparent.
"I feel like I should be a part of this," he said before heading to the final table.
Seventy-one players paid $230 apiece to compete in the Caesars tournament. The event offered unlimited $200 rebuys during the first level, with a one-time $200 add-on.
By the end of round one, the tournament staff had tallied up 79 rebuys, plus 62 add-ons, for a total prize pool of $41,128 after deductions.
Action went late into the night and the final nine players included Jim Pittman, Ken James, Marco Traniello, David Taylor, Troy Tennison, Sir Drafton, Ron McMillan, Chris Smith, and James Hoeppner. Traniello, who was the chip leader going to the final table, won $2,500 in prize money and the $20,000 NBC NHUPC seat that was up for grabs.
Among the world-class competition in this year's event will be Traniello's wife, Jennifer. But what comes first, the love of the spouse or the love of the game? At least for this event, poker wins, hands down: "I will try as hard against her as I would with any of my opponents," said Traniello. "We certainly won't go easy on each other … we're both very competitive, and we both want to win."
If the two do end up going head-to-head, it will be the first time they've done so in a tournament, but not the first time ever: "Jen and I have had some pretty intense heads-up play … at our kitchen table," said Traniello.
Traniello made his first splash onto the poker scene during the 2005
World Series of Poker, cashing in seven different events. Since then, he's placed in seven other major tournaments, including four at the 2006
WSOP, earning nearly $200,000 in his short career.
World Poker Tour's Vince Van Patten Releases Mystery Novel
The Picasso Flop Takes Place at the Five-Diamond World Poker Classic
By Bob Pajich
Vince Van Patten, longtime poker player, co-host of the
World Poker Tour, and former tennis pro and actor, can now add mystery author to his resume.
The Picasso Flop, written by Van Patten and popular fiction author Robert Randisi, is the first book in a series featuring poker player turned investigator Jimmy Spain that sets out to capture the quirks, action, and characters who populate the world of poker.
"It is fun, it is colorful, it's the kind of book that you can read fast," Van Patten said. "You're going to learn things and you're really going to get a feel for a world that not everyone gets to experience, and on top of that, it's going to keep you guessing with very unique murder twists."
The book is set during the
WPT Five-Diamond World Poker Classic. When several members of a young poker posse start to get whacked, police turn to Spain to help them with the investigation. Spain is perfect for the job. A son of a cop, he is a tournament pro trying to get his life back in order after spending a few years in the clink, and he knows almost everyone at the tournament, from James Woods to
WPT founder Steve Lipscomb.
One of the neat things about the book is that it's populated with real-life characters found at major poker tournaments. Mike Sexton is more than a minor character. Spain plays poker with Gus Hansen, Antonio Esfandiari, Michael Mizrachi, and others. The Bellagio, where the
Five-Diamond World Poker Classic takes place, is a main element, as is Las Vegas.
"I feel that this story is about what I know best in the whole world, the poker world," Van Patten said. "I do make Mike a little more colorful than he really is, but there's a fine line. You got to keep it real, as well."
Randisi is the dying breed of a blue-collar creative writer. He has published a book a month - mostly Westerns and mystery novels - since January of 1982. He says working with Van Patten was a breeze.
"The thing that I have found working with Vince is that this isn't a celebrity book, where they just put their name on it. This was a true collaboration," said Randisi. "Everything he says, he does, which is important when you collaborate."
Randisi is a true fan of hard-boiled noir, and it shows in
The Picasso Flop. There are murders, funny characters, and a strong sense of place, and the pace is breakneck. It feels a little like it was written in the 1940s, and not last year.
The two already are working on a second book, one that will be set at a
WPT event in Niagara Falls. Jimmy Spain will be there. He did make the final table of the
Five-Diamond World Poker Classic, after all, and is not only an up-and-coming player on the
WPT, but has a knack for solving the crimes that seem to follow the circuit in this world.
We're guessing that there's a good chance that someone might be tossed over the Horseshoe Falls, or stabbed, or maybe even poisoned and then tossed over the falls, but Spain will be there, dodging both pocket aces and bullets, on his way to poker - and PI - immortality.
Hip-Hop Poker Now Live and Online
Ghostface Killah Poker (GFKPoker) is 'Where Hip-Hop Plays Hold'em'
By Bob Pajich
Ghostface Killah, one of the original members of the seminal rap group Wu-Tang Clan, has put his name and face on a new online poker site that is aimed directly at those who make the multibillion-dollar hip-hop industry click.
GFKPoker.com launched early in February, and just by pulling the site up and turning the volume up, players - and we mean poker players - will know that this isn't Chris Moneymaker's daddy's poker site.
"This is why the
World Series of Poker is decided over a no-limit poker tournament," blares the Ghostface song
Pokerface when the site pops up. The song appeared on Ghostface Killah's last album,
More Fish, and it's got to be the first hip-hop song to use the sound of shuffling poker chips in it.
"I'm here to bring some excitement to the game," says Ghostface. "Sometimes you got to test the waters."
Ghostface's executive producer and manager Mike Caruso, and Shawn Wiggs, the songwriter of
Pokerface, are hard-core poker players. They, along with Ghostface and gorgeous New York DJ Angie Martinez, make up the GFK Crew.
Just about every weekend, Caruso and Wiggs make the trip from New York City to Atlantic City to play at the Borgata. Both Caruso and Wiggs have played in at least one
World Poker Tour event, and they take the game as seriously as anyone who sits and hangs at the weekly $560 tournaments in Atlantic City.
It really was only a matter of time before hip-hop found poker, and although GFKPoker isn't the first site to feature a rapper as its spokesman, it's the first one to absolutely stay true to the hip-hop culture. GFKPoker comes right out and says it: "This is where hip-hop plays hold'em."
Poker came to Ghostface thanks to Wiggs and Caruso. In their studio on Staten Island, they had an extra room in the back. Since they were playing poker at least once a week, they decided to move a poker table into the extra room and play when there was nothing else to do.
"It's a game that comments like these are born," says Caruso. "Method Man came down to the studio one night and was wiping everyone with rags."
Although Ghostface didn't play before then, he couldn't stay away. It looked like the players were having too much fun back there, and he just had to sit down and see what it was about. He says dice is his game, but he's pretty much hooked on hold'em now.
GFKPoker is a real-money site that accepts U.S. players. It's a skin of the Off the Rail Poker Network, which has about 20,000 customers. In addition to cash games, the site soon will hold tournaments for players to win everything from $20,000 watches to trips to see Ghostface live.
Ghostface says he's not ready to go play ball with Caruso, Wiggs, and the other players who populate the big tournaments, but he's getting ready. He says that pretty soon, they'll be rolling into the cardroom, a briefcase full of cash handcuffed to his wrist, and all the people will know who's there to play.
Ghostface, they already do.
Poker Players Remember Cory Lidle
Poker Enthusiast and Baseball Celebrity Charitable Legacy Lives On
By Lisa Wheeler
In late January, California's Hollywood Park Casino hosted the inaugural
Cory Lidle Memorial Poker Tournament. Family, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances of the late major league baseball pitcher joined with the event's main sponsor, the
Ultimate Blackjack Tour (
UBT), to remember Lidle's legacy and keep his poker tradition alive.
"If you come across a poker game filled with major league baseball players, try to snag a seat," said Lidle at last year's event. "Or, at least put your initials on the waiting list. It could pay off."
The late New York Yankees pitcher spent countless hours over the past two years planning and hosting poker tournament fundraisers for the Make-A-Wish Foundation before he died while piloting his plane in New York City on Oct. 11, 2006.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Los Angeles raked in $58,000 in donations and a portion of the poker tournament prize pool at the event. Chris Welch outlasted 270 players and took home the first-place prize of $12,560.
On hand to show his support was Barry Zito, San Francisco Giants ace pitcher and winner of the 2002 American League Cy Young Award. Zito was an Oakland teammate of Cory Lidle in earlier years. Also in attendance were Dodgers catcher Mike Lieberthal, Dodgers pitcher Randy Wolf, and Hollywood director John Landis. Professional poker players and
UBT representatives Annie Duke, Freddy Deeb, and
UBT founder Russ Hamilton donated their time and resources.
Lidle was 25 years old when he broke into the big leagues in 1997 with the New York Mets. At about that time, he discovered poker, and was immediately hooked. In an interview at the Palms Las Vegas 2006 charity poker tournament benefiting the same foundation, the Philadelphia Phillies right-hander said: "I caught the poker bug, and decided to model a poker tournament benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation after the golf events that many professional athletes organize."
His efforts resulted in a popular celebrity poker tournament, now in its third year. It was estimated that around 20 celebrities would show, guaranteeing one at each table when the cards went into the air at noon - but someone should have taken the overs, as more than half of the field included famous athletes, sporting events organizers, and VIPs.
Hoopology Charity Poker Tournament Brings Out the Stars
Event Took Place During NBA All-Star Weekend in Vegas
By Kristy Arnett
It was a truly star-studded event at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas during NBA All-Star Weekend, where celebrities from film, music, sports, and poker came together in an effort to raise money at Trent Tucker's second-annual
Hoopology Charity Poker Tournament.
The $10,000 buy-in tournament, which attracted nearly 90 participants, created an estimated $900,000 prize pool benefiting the Trent Tucker Youth Program.
"I was looking for another industry to synergize with and come together with for a common cause," said Tucker. "I'm always looking for a way to bring people together in an effort to help children."
Tucker, a former NBA player, has been raising money for charitable causes since 1998. This was his second poker event. Together with Michael Jordan and a host of NBA friends, Tucker has raised millions of dollars in an effort to better the lives of inner-city middle-school students. The Trent Tucker Youth Program focuses on developing character and leadership skills, while providing career and educational opportunities, encouraging students to take positive risks and grasp the opportunity to realize their fullest potential.
The poker industry caught on to Tucker's vision, with celebrity poker agent Wendy Meadly rallying dozens of players, including Liz Lieu, Patrik Antonius, and 2006
Card Player Player of the Year Michael Mizrachi. Industry VIPs who also came to support the event were Bellagio Director of Poker Operations Doug Dalton, Card Player Cruises' Linda Johnson, and the World Poker Tour's own Mike Sexton.
It was after midnight when players reached the final table; they were Lily Elviro, Liz Lieu, actor-comedian Katt Williams, Robert Williamson III, Hoyt Corkins, Mike Sexton, Marcel Luske, Gus Hansen, and Linda Johnson. They played late into the night for the first-place prize of a one-year exclusive pass to the VIP Sterling Club and Spa. After a series of all ins, Williamson emerged victorious.
"It must have been my lucky socks," Williamson said.
U.S. Seizes $55 Million of NETELLER Funds
Company in Negotiations With U.S. Attorney's Office to Return U.S.-Based Funds
By Bob Pajich
Online poker players who have not yet received their money from NETELLER can blame the U.S. government.
Through a statement to its investors, NETELLER said that about $55 million was seized by the U.S. Attorney's Office (USAO) after two of its founders and former board members were arrested and charged with money laundering on Jan. 16.
Most of the money was en route to U.S. customers. NETELLER also warned that U.S. customers will not be able to withdraw any money from their NETELLER accounts at this time, although the company is working to change this.
"The return of funds to our U.S. customers is a top priority for NETELLER," said Ron Martin, NETELLER president and CEO.
The following statement was taken directly from the release: "U.S. customers wishing to withdraw funds from their NETELLER e-wallet accounts will experience ongoing delays while these discussions continue, and a further update will be provided by the Group once effective repayment mechanisms are determined."
NETELLER also said that it's in negotiations with the USAO to have funds of Americans returned.
Still Two More Chances to Try to Win a Trip to Vegas
VIP Tournament Series Continues April 8
By Bob Pajich
Card Player and Bodog.com are going to send one
Card Player reader to Vegas, and there are still two tournaments left to earn enough currency to play for the trip.
The
VIP Tournament Series costs $4.40 and is held at Bodog for
Card Player readers. The last two qualifiers take place on April 8 and May 6. Players who play in the events will earn points for the
VIP Tournament Series championship event, which takes place May 13. The top 50 point earners from all of the tournaments will play in the final.
The winner of the final will receive a $5,000 trip to Vegas that includes a buy-in to a $1,000 local tournament, VIP service at a club, and an invitation to a Bodog party.
The top 30 percent of the finishers in each qualifying tournament will receive points. The tournaments start at 3:05 p.m. ET.
The first qualifier took place in December. Players need to have a Bodog.com account to play. Please visit www.bodog.com/promotions/cardplayervip/ for more information.
The Circuit
CardPlayer.com's hit radio show
The Circuit brings you updates, interviews, and strategy from the biggest names in poker.
The Circuit broadcasts from all
World Poker Tour events.
The following is Jamie Gold's response to whether or not he was portrayed fairly by
ESPN in the footage during the
World Series of Poker, as broadcast on
The Circuit from the
World Poker Open.
"I knew what I was in for and they warned me. They told me that they were going to make me look like the luckiest guy who ever played. I've gotten some really kind things [said] from people I respect whom I'd never met before, who had no reason to be kind to me. Howard Lederer came over to me when we were doing one of these shows and said, 'You know, you got screwed by
ESPN.'
"If you really watch the whole World Series, no, I did not get that lucky. I didn't get any luckier than anyone gets when he wins a tournament. There may have been moments when I got really lucky, maybe a couple of hands in a row, but if you play every hand out of a hundred, you are gonna hit five of them."
Plug In: Get direct access to the biggest names in the game from the biggest events on the tour only on
The Circuit.
The Sun About to Set on Paradise Poker
One of the First Sites Will Be Absorbed by SportingbetPoker
By Bob Pajich
Sportingbet, the parent company of Paradise Poker, will shut down its Paradise Poker platform and transfer all of its players to SportingbetPoker.
SportingbetPoker.com runs on the Boss Poker Network. Paradise Poker ran on its own network, and it didn't make much sense to company officials to run two separate networks.
Sportingbet will retain the Paradise Poker brand name. The number of active daily real-money players on both systems amounts to approximately 6,500 each; however, the greater liquidity on the Boss system, as it is a shared network with other Boss licensees, means yields per active player are approximately 60 percent higher from Boss players than Paradise Poker players.
By combining all poker players in one network, it aims to maximize yields from all players. The combination of the two poker businesses will provide some cost savings for Sportingbet, but the company warned that this may be offset by the loss of revenue that could occur as a result of migrating players from one platform to another.
"This deal combines all our poker players in one destination, maximizing liquidity whilst reducing the complexity of running two separate poker operations," said Andrew McIver, Sportingbet Group chief executive. "The addition of the Paradise Poker players to the Boss poker network will make the Boss network one of the largest in Europe."
Sportingbet bought Paradise Poker in October of 2004, which at the time carried about 10 percent of the world's poker traffic. It was one of the sites that stopped doing business with U.S. customers in 2006.
Jamie Gold and Bruce Crispin Leyser Settle Out of Court
Deal Ends Months of Litigation Between the Former Friends
By Lisa Wheeler
Jamie Gold, the 2006 World Series of Poker main-event champion, has agreed to settle a $6 million dispute with Los Angeles TV producer Bruce Crispin Leyser.
In a joint signed statement released recently, both have agreed the matter should be resolved "without litigation."
The former Hollywood agent turned poker pro won the 2006 WSOP main event by defeating 8,772 players. Leyser sued Gold for half of the $12 million first-place prize money, claiming that Gold agreed to the split before the WSOP main event started.
Leyser said Gold agreed to the split in exchange for finding celebrities to represent Bodog by wearing its logo while playing in the $10,000 tournament. Gold said he wouldn't split the money after he won, and the lawsuit ensued.
The following is a statement received by Card Player regarding the resolution of the civil lawsuit:
"Jamie and Crispin went into the World Series of Poker as friends. There was an agreement that Jamie would share his winnings with Crispin. After Jamie won the tournament, Jamie and Crispin began to be pulled in different directions. Jamie always intended on sharing his winnings with Crispin. Both now agree that this matter should have been resolved without litigation. Jamie and Crispin are happy to report they have fully settled this matter. They are pleased to be closing this chapter and look forward to continued success."
The 'Top 10 Shuffle' Continues
The Card Player 2007 Player of the Year race continues to be so tight that even though there was a small break in the major tournament schedule, a new face ended up in the top 10, thanks to the huge player fields generated by the L.A. Poker Classic.
Gioi Luong snuck into third place on the leader board after finishing third in a $1,000 limit hold'em event at the L.A. Poker Classic, which was good for $20,825 and 352 points. Those 352 points took Luong from around 20th place all the way to the top three. If the year continues like this, all of the players in the top 20 will be in the thick of the race into November and December. It's already gotten exciting.
Luong now has 1,490 points, only 431 points from taking sole possession of first place from John Hennigan, who faulted into first place from way, way back in the standings after winning the Borgata Winter Poker Open. Lance Allred suffered from Luong's success, as he was bumped from the top 10. He wound up there by making two final tables so far this year, and he's bound to be in the race all year.
Players get a majority of their points from winning major tournaments, as Hennigan recently demonstrated, but Luong's assault on the top 10 shows that players can win the POY title by consistently placing in smaller events. Those handfuls of points that can be picked up in these tournaments will be the difference-maker at the end of the year. Just ask Men Nguyen, who won three Player of the Year titles by doing just that - and by winning them, too.
Look Out!
Randy Holland, of Winnetka, California, isn't one of those baby-faced killers who look like they've spent way too many hours basking in the glow of a flat-screen plasma computer monitor. Holland looks exactly like a poker player used to, before the Internet revolution changed just about everything.
Holland has been playing tournament poker for more than a decade, and has cashed for more than $1.6 million in that time. His Card Player player database entry runs 14 pages long, marking many successful tournaments. His consistency is definitely to be admired.
As of Feb. 15, Holland was No. 18 on the leader board. He's made four final tables and cashed five times in 2007, for a total of $88,808. He started the year off great with a $52,000 win in a World Poker Open $1,000 pot-limit hold'em event the second week of January. He's someone to look out for, if only to avoid at the table. He has taken all of the chips, and will do so again.
There are plenty of chances available for players to accumulate Player of the Year points in April. From smaller buy-in tournaments to big events, the names of players will be moving all over the leader board. The year's just getting fun.
Some of the highlights of the month include the Five-Star World Poker Classic (the $25,000 event is maybe the biggest of the year), the European Poker Tour Grand Final, two World Series of Poker Tournament Circuit events (at Caesars Las Vegas and Caesars Indiana), and the Foxwoods Poker Classic. There's also the Heartland Poker Tour's $1,500 event at Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen, Minnesota, the $1,000 event at the Pechanga Masters of Poker, and the $1,000 event at the Sport of Kings tournament at The Bicycle Casino in L.A.
Online Hand-to-Hand Combat: Brian Townsend Reads Weakness on the River to Win a $131,000 pot
By Craig Tapscott
Want to study real poker hands with the Internet's most successful players? In this series, Card Player offers hand analysis with online poker's leading talent. And, as an added bonus, you can check out live video commentary provided by the pros and PokerXfactor.com at www.CardPlayer.com/h2hc.
Cash Game: Full Tilt Poker, Heads Up
Stacks: sbrugby - $68,662; Villain - $65,929
Blinds: $200-$400
Preflop: Villain raises from the button to $1,200; sbrugby calls from the big blind with the K
Q
.
Craig Tapscott: Did you think about reraising here?
Brian Townsend (sbrugby): I often reraise here preflop, but K-Q offsuit doesn't play very well with 165 big blinds in chips, so I opted to call. Reraising heads up is definitely acceptable, and is my default.
Flop: Q
3
2
sbrugby checks; Villain bets $2,400.
sbrugby raises to $7,200; Villain calls.
CT: What's your read after he smooth-calls your raise?
BT: There are many players who would fold all weaker hands to a check-raise on this board, but the Villain will call lightly. Once he calls, I can greatly narrow his range of hands. I estimate that he has a flush draw, a straight draw, A-A, K-K, A-Q, a set, a middle pair, or A-3. Although the range is very wide, I have greatly narrowed his range of hands.
Turn: 9
sbrugby checks; Villain checks.
CT: Why back off on the turn?
BT: I decided to check and let him bet. I didn't want to bet and be raised all in, leaving myself with a very difficult decision. Someone like the Villain can definitely semibluff the turn or even value-raise a worse hand, thinking I am drawing and he is winning.
CT: What do you put him on now?
BT: I narrow his range to a weaker made hand than mine, or a draw. If he had A-A, K-K, a set, or two pair, he would want to bet to protect his hand from the many draws that I could have. But if he himself has a draw or a weaker made hand, he doesn't want to bet, because he knows I will check-raise him all in with many hands. So, his check to me implies he is drawing or has a weak made hand.
River: 5
sbrugby bets $14,400.
BT: Now that I think I'm ahead, I want to get a value-bet in, so I bet.
Villain raises to $57,529, and is all in.
CT: Is he trying to represent a huge hand here or does he actually have one?
BT: Well, I need to think if he is capable of bluffing here, or spiked a set of fives, or made a straight with the A
4
or 6
4
. So, how does my hand look to him? Well, it probably looks pretty weak. If I had a good hand, I would have bet the turn to protect it from all the draws. But since I checked, he could infer that I have either a draw myself or a weaker made hand. So, this would in fact be a good time for him to bluff-raise all in, since I'm: (1) value-betting a weak made hand, (2) bluffing with a draw, and (3) almost never going to have a really strong made hand.
sbrugby calls.
BT: I didn't think he had a strong hand. I knew that I looked extremely weak, so I decided to make the call.
CT: This is a good example of the metagame of heads-up play. Most players need to learn to think past the first two levels of play. Nice read.
Showdown: Villain has the 6
6
; sbrugby shows the K
Q
and wins the pot of $131,858.
Brian Townsend (aka sbrugby and aba20 online) graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a degree in electrical engineering. He plays no-limit and pot-limit Omaha online at the highest stakes available, and recently sat with $750,000 on GSN's High Stakes Poker. Brian is one of the co-owners of and lead instructors at CardRunners.com.
FTOPS III at the Top of Its Game
By Shawn Patrick Green
The
Full Tilt Online Poker Series III (
FTOPS) bested its predecessor, the
FTOPS II, in nearly every way.
The
FTOPS II guaranteed $2.5 million in prizes and actually awarded more than $3 million to participants (although two events required overlays to match the posted guarantees). The
FTOPS III, held just three months later, upped its total guarantees to $3.4 million. The series never actually missed a guarantee in any of its 10 events. Heck, one event almost quadrupled the posted guarantee (event No. 7, the no-limit hold'em with rebuys tournament). When it was all over, the series had paid out more than $4.4 million to entrants.
The FTOPS Crown Jewel: the Main Event
After an exciting nine-event run-up, the
FTOPS no-limit hold'em main event certainly didn't disappoint. The event lured 3,217 players to pay the $500 buy-in, generating a prize pool of $1,608,500. The payouts were big, but every player had his eye on the $288,000 first-place prize.
Plenty of both live-poker pros and Internet notables entered the fray, and quite a few survived the large field of players to cash in the event; to name a few, among many: Tuan "Supertuan1" Nguyen (18th, $8,043), Spiked (the winner of the
FTOPS II main event, 33rd, $4,826), and Kyle "kwob20" Bowker (47th, $2,976).
None of the Full Tilt-sponsored pros made it into the top-100 players, but several cashed in the event, including Mark Vos (142nd, $1,448), Chris Ferguson (203rd, $1,126), Paul Wolfe (261st, $1,046), and Layne Flack (308th, $885).
The Final Nine
For such a large field of initial players, an inordinately large number of notables survived to play at the final table. Sitting amongst the final nine were Robert "Miss Lulu" Williamson III, Brian "tsarrast" Rast, Justin "Boosted J" Smith, and Alec "traheho" Torelli. As it turned out, these four players also became the last four players at the table.
Williamson, a prominent live-poker player and a
World Series of Poker bracelet winner in pot-limit Omaha, eventually busted out in fourth place ($89,272), but not before trying to sell a winner-take-all deal to the table. Tsarrast was eliminated next, earning $114,204 for third place, and it was down to the final two.
Boosted J lasted just two minutes into heads-up play before his A
Q
ran into traheho's A
K
. The board bricked out and Boosted J was eliminated in second place, earning $175,327. Boosted J also earned the honors of being the
FTOPS tournament leader-board winner as a result of his finish in the main event (see "Boosted to the Top").
Alec "traheho" Torelli pocketed a huge $288,002 payday for his first-place finish in the event.
CaseyTheKid Makes FTOPS History
In the
FTOPS II, CaseyTheKid caused a din among the railbirds in the chat box when he sat at the main-event final table wearing an exclusive gold
FTOPS jersey avatar. He'd earned the avatar from winning the limit Omaha eight-or-better event at the first-ever
FTOPS. Then, he caused a virtual riot at the
FTOPS III.
CaseyTheKid, again sporting his famous jersey avatar, sat down at the final table of the limit Omaha eight-or-better event of the
FTOPS III and proceeded to steamroll the competition. He eventually won the event, meaning he'd won the Omaha eight-or-better event at the
FTOPS two of the three times it's been held. Even more impressive is that CaseyTheKid made
FTOPS history as the first-ever two-time event winner.
Boosted to the Top
The race to become the
FTOPS tournament leader-board (TLB) winner and best all-around player was a nail-biter. With only a 15-point difference between third place and first place at the series' end, it's safe to say that eventual winner Boosted J snuck into the top spot.
Both Boosted J and eventual third-place finisher tsarrast made the main-event final table, meaning the TLB race was truly down to the wire. Boosted J was trailing tsarrast by just five TLB points going to the final table, and needed a second-place finish or better to beat out the current TLB leader LiLCartel.
Wouldn't you know it? Boosted J finished in second place to edge out LiLCartel by five TLB points (with a total of 305). Boosted J will receive a customized Full Tilt avatar, just like those worn by the Full Tilt-sponsored pros, for his TLB win. Boosted J made more than $183,000 over the course of the series.
Get a Piece of the Action
Those wishing to take advantage of online poker promotions, overlays, and guaranteed prize pools can do so by going to the following links:
PokerStars - www.CardPlayer.com/link/etpokerstars
Full Tilt Poker - www.CardPlayer.com/link/etfulltilt
UltimateBet - www.CardPlayer.com/link/etultimatebet
AbsolutePoker - www.CardPlayer.com/link/etabsolute
Bodog - www.CardPlayer.com/link/etbodog
Full Tilt Online Poker Series III Results, Feb. 9-18:
Event No. 1
No-limit hold'em
Winner: jpo123
Winnings: $70,730
Entrants: 1,922
Prize Pool: $384,400
Event No. 2
H.O.R.S.E.
Winner: philmcgill
Winnings: $28,450
Entrants: 569
Prize Pool: $113,800
Event No. 3
No-limit hold'em
Winner: DontBluffMePLZZ
Winnings: $151,250
Entrants: 2,755
Prize Pool: $826,500
Event No. 4
Pot-limit Omaha with rebuys
Winner: Deu_Zebra
Winnings: $52,528
Entrants: 681
Rebuys: 1,135
Add-ons: 328
Prize Pool: $214,400
Event No. 5
Shorthanded no-limit hold'em
Winner: Smokinokun
Winnings: $82,303
Entrants: 2,070
Prize Pool: $414,000
Event No. 6
Limit Omaha eight-or-better
Winner: CaseyTheKid
Winnings: $29,700
Entrants: 594
Prize Pool: $118,800
Event No. 7
No-limit hold'em with rebuys
Winner: Sorel "kristy_sea" Mizzi
Winnings: $90,384
Entrants: 703
Rebuys: 814
Add-ons: 366
Prize Pool: $376,600
Event No. 8
Pot-limit hold'em
Winner: mcentinc
Winnings: $35,010
Entrants: 916
Prize Pool: $183,200
Event No. 9
Pot-limit H.A. (hold'em/Omaha)
Winner: LiLCartel
Winnings: $41,850
Entrants: 558
Prize Pool: $167,400
Event No. 10
No-limit hold'em main event
Winner: Alec "traheho" Torelli
Winnings: $288,002
Entrants: 3,217
Prize Pool: $1,608,500
Other Online Tournament Results, Feb. 11-18
PokerStars Sunday Million
Feb. 11
Winner: W Snipes
Winnings: $164,356*
Prize pool: $1,357,200
Entrants: 6,786
Feb. 18
Winner: CharlieBraun
Winnings: $136,006*
Prize pool: $1,327,400
Entrants: 6,637
* Payout reflects a deal made at the final table.
UltimateBet $200,000 Guarantee
Feb. 11
Winner: dagny0513
Winnings: $45,000
Prize pool: $200,000
Entrants: 924
Feb. 18
Winner: highroller48
Winnings: $45,000
Prize pool: $200,000
Entrants: 858
Bodog $100,000 Guarantee
Feb. 11
Winner: pesto
Winnings: $25,000
Prize pool: $100,000
Entrants: 954
Feb. 18
Winner: Nick "gbmantis" Niergarth
Winnings: $25,000
Prize pool: $100,000
Entrants: 918
Steve Billirakis
Make No Mistake, He's Good
By Craig Tapscott
Tournament and high-stakes player Steve Billirakis is a man of few words. Day after day, he rakes pots, calls down bluffs, and quietly counts his winnings. The game he brings to the felt is not flashy. There's no trash-talk. There are no fancy chip tricks. There's nothing that would draw attention his way, until he finally blips on your radar, and then your chips are gone. What just happened? Well, you probably made a mistake.
In no-limit hold'em, the player who makes the fewest mistakes usually comes out on top. "I don't like to make any mistakes," said Billirakis. "In the long run, you're going to win way more than everyone else if you focus on not making any errors."
Players in the know talk about MrSmokey1, the alias Billirakis goes by online, with reverence. Amongst the cream of the Internet crop, he's the players' player. Online, he's won numerous events, cashed for more than $600,000, and made the final table of the PokerStars Sunday event twice. Live, his play has been limited, due only to the fact that he's 20 years old, but he still has managed to finish third twice in big buy-in tournaments, for a total of $252,000.
Billirakis sat down recently with Card Player to share some of the strategies he applies in cash games and tournaments. We listened. It would be a mistake not to.
Craig Tapscott: What's the strong point of your game?
Steve Billirakis: I'm more of a benefactor of flop action. You have to be great post-flop to be an overall winning player. Preflop play is pretty important, but not as important as post-flop play.
CT: What do you think of resteals in multitable tournaments?
SB: I honestly don't like it. If you're good enough post-flop, you should do a lot of calling preflop. Put it this way, I'll do restealing for my entire stack. If I have less than 20 big blinds in chips and somebody raises, I'm not going to resteal unless I'm all in. Some players will see a raise of $2,400, then raise it to $7,200, holding a $50,000 stack, on a bluff. I think you're putting too much in jeopardy when it's not necessary. I'd rather just call the player and find out more information about his hand on the flop. Anytime that you reraise and get caught, I think you're making a huge mistake. That's just my game.
CT: What are the biggest mistakes players make?
SB: Reraising preflop with weak hands like A-Q or A-J. In cash games, they overplay A-K. In short, just overplaying hands, period. One scenario happens when you don't have information on a player and you flop top pair. Some players like to get it all in rather than find out where they're at in the hand. Some players flop a pair and think they have to raise every time. Sometimes it's just better to call.
CT: How about some preflop advice?
SB: Let's say a player raises from under the gun and I'm on the button with A-A. I call all the time, because reraising a player who raises from under the gun is showing him you have a monster. You have to mix it up, reraising sometimes and calling sometimes with A-A, K-K, or A-K. When someone raises from under the gun, I will just call from middle position with A-K. If I reraise and he shoves, most of the time I'm drawing dead to K-K or A-A, depending on the player, of course.
CT: A-K seems to be the most misplayed hand.
SB: Yes, especially in cash games. Most overplay A-K, but not many players do it at the level I play, $25-$50 no-limit hold'em games. If someone raises in position and you have A-K, it's just garbage. Let's say you have A-K in the big blind, and then you see a raise and a reraise before the action gets to you. Some players will go all in with A-K there, when, clearly, you should just fold - unless you have a great read on the players and that situation.
CT: To what do you attribute your success?
SB: Anytime I had a question about a hand or a play, I would ask better players for their take. You should ask around rather than simply being arrogant and thinking you're the best player in the world - thinking that every time you lose, you just took a bad beat, or that you are unlucky all the time.
CT: Is poker your career choice?
SB: I really don't see myself doing anything else. I want to be the best player in the world at some point.
Betting is What the Game is All About
By Mike Sexton, the 'Ambassador of Poker' and Commentator for the World Poker Tour
The World Poker Tour event at Bay 101 in San Jose, California, is one of the most fun and popular events on the circuit. It's unique in that 10 percent of the players in the field are designated as "Shooting Stars" (the biggest names in poker). The Shooting Stars have bounties on their heads. Whoever knocks out a Shooting Star gets a nice cash prize along with bragging rights. When Shooting Stars go all in, the buzz and excitement in the room is tremendous, and it's high-fives all around to the players who knock out any of these famous poker personalities.
This hand demonstrates how to take advantage of a situation. With antes of $2,000 and the blinds at $8,000-$16,000, everyone folded around to Danny Smith (with $480,000) in the cutoff position (one away from the button). Holding two tens, he made it $50,000 to go. Sitting right next to him on the button was top pro and Shooting Star David Williams (with $1.23 million). David had two fives and called.
The flop came A-Q-7 rainbow, and Smith was now faced with a tough decision, to bet or not to bet. His dilemma resulted from a combination of things: There were two overcards on the board, he was one of the three short stacks at the table, David had called $50,000 preflop, and David had far more chips than he had. Summing it all up, Danny opted to check.
Once Danny checked, he looked liked a limping gazelle to David (meaning David didn't put him on an ace). David probably thought he had something like K-J, or a pair of nines or tens, or that he raised preflop simply in an effort to pick up the blinds and antes. Figuring that, he thought a bet might win the pot. He made a probing bet of $90,000 (into a pot of more than $140,000) to see what would happen. What happened was that he was awarded the pot when Danny folded.
Here are some key points you can learn from this hand:
1. When you raise preflop and then don't make a continuation bet (bet again regardless of what comes on the flop), you allow good players to take the pot away from you.
2. Once you check, you're guessing as to whether your opponent has it or not. Recognize that you're far better off putting your opponent to the test as to whether you have it or not (by betting), rather than the other way around.
3. David analyzed the hand perfectly and then made a probing bet (not a pot-sized bet) when his opponent showed a little weakness (checked), and it got the job done.
4. You don't have to make a large or pot-sized bet to discover whether your opponent has it or not. Many times, a smaller bet will give you the same information.
5. Understand that betting is what the game is all about. You'll be surprised how many pots you can "earn" (win with the worst hand) by betting.
To be a winning poker player, you don't have to reinvent the wheel. Just study the top players, see what they're doing, and recognize and understand why they're winning. Then, do it yourself. Just as David did here, you must take advantage of situations in poker to become a winner.
The Power of Pressure
By David Apostolico
In most endeavors, greatness is not achieved without some amount of pressure. From creative pursuits to business, creators and leaders must work through what is sometimes a great deal of pressure in order to succeed. The difference between greatness and mediocrity often comes down to one's ability to handle pressure. If often seems like the true greats are immune to pressure. Certainly, every individual has his or her own innate level of capacity to handle pressure. Dealing with pressure, however, is something that can be learned. Face the same crisis over and over again, and the great majority of us will improve over time.
Poker is a game of paradoxes. Betting more is often less risky than betting less. Playing too conservatively can cause more pressure than playing too loosely. One of the reasons I was first drawn to poker was that it enabled me to relax. When I play poker, my entire focus and concentration is on the game at hand, and I forget any pressures or stress I may be facing outside of poker. This is not to say that I don't face difficult decisions at the poker table. I often do, and at times, the decision-making process can be stressful even when I believe I have made every right move.
Overall, though, I believe I have a good ability to limit the pressure I feel at the poker table. For one thing, I have played so much that I have faced so many situations over and over again that I have reached a certain degree of comfort. Next, I don't dwell on mistakes or decisions after they have been made. It amazes me to watch a player make an easy preflop fold, only to kick himself when he sees that he would have flopped a winning hand. I play in a regular home game in which players constantly rabbit-hunt to see if they made the right decision. They don't understand that the "right" decision is based on the information available at the time the decision was made - not in hindsight. Their incessant rabbit-hunting is often a cause of additional stress.
Any game of poker can be viewed as a game of pressure. There are a lot of sayings in poker, such as, "If you're going to call, you might as well bet or raise," or, "It's better to raise or fold than call." While those sayings are not absolutes, the rationale behind them is that it is better to put pressure on your opponent than yourself.
People who avoid pressure are often risk-averse. They want the safe bet. In poker, they are afraid to lead the betting without the nuts. The irony in this thinking is that instead of reducing pressure, this will greatly increase the pressure they feel. Opponents will feed off their tentativeness and attack without mercy. Both everyday life and poker can carry enough pressure as it is, so why create more pressure for yourself?
How can you lessen the impact of pressure at the poker table? First, avoid trouble hands such as weak aces or K-10 when there is a good chance you are dominated. Some players have a lot of trouble throwing away any two paint cards preflop. Next, when at all possible, take control of the betting in order to put the pressure squarely on your opponent. Finally, observe everything going on at the table so that you'll have as much available information as possible to make an informed decision. Make the best decision you can at the time, and move on. Learn from every hand and experience (even if you are not involved in the pot), so that situations you are likely to face are not foreign to you.
Of course, you are never going to play poker pressure-free. Just remember that greatness is rarely achieved without fighting through some sort of pressure. Pressure can be a good thing. It heightens the senses and can provide clarity in thinking. When pressure exists, embrace it rather than fight it. The game will become much easier.
David Apostolico is the author of numerous books on poker, including Lessons from the Felt, Lessons from the Pro Poker Tour and Tournament Poker, and The Art of War. You can contact him at [email protected].
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 the chance to pick the mind of one of the game's finest - Bellagio Tournament Director Jack McClelland.
E-mail your questions to [email protected], and Jack McClelland will share his 25-plus years of industry experience with you.
Frank "Chief Disciple" Palumbo: We had some controversy at a recent local tournament regarding what constituted a raise. The blinds were at $30-$60 and the bettor threw out a $500 chip without uttering raise. We encourage our players to say "raise" if they plan to raise. Moreover, this person had lesser-value chips in his stack, and if his intent was to call, he did not need the $500 chip.
Another player argued that it was a call, but I decided, based on the information at the table, that it was in fact a raise and declared it so. First of all, did I make the correct ruling? Secondly, I'm thinking of enforcing a "you must state raise or all in" policy going forward, no matter how many chips you push into the middle. Would that be going too far, or should I try to use logic gathered at the table to figure out the situation?
Jack: You made an incorrect ruling. If a player throws out a single oversize chip and does not say raise, it is only a call. In regard to your second question, logic is a valuable tool to a tournament director.
Harvey Bundy: The following incident took place at a regular monthly tournament held among a group of friends and people they invite. This is a friendly game: $20 buy-in, one $20 rebuy, and one $20 add-on at the end of the fourth 15-minute level. We play by Robert's Rules of Poker, but we are lax in enforcing them if someone (especially a newcomer) makes what seems to be an honest mistake.
We were near the end of the tournament - fourhanded (paying five places). The blinds were high versus the stacks: $2,000-$4,000, $200 ante, with $105,000 in chips in play. The under-the-gun player and button folded. The small blind (an experienced player), with a stack of about $16,000, said, "Shove," and made a waving motion with his hand. The big blind (new to the game), with about $8,000 in chips (plus his blind), said, "OK," and tossed his hand into the muck and started to drag the pot. I happened to be the dealer and said something to the effect that it was not his pot. It subsequently became clear that he had thought the small blind had folded, not understanding the term shove, and clearly had intended to call (he claimed he had Q-Q).
Three options were discussed: Award the pot to the small blind per Robert's Rules of Poker, "do-over," or drag the purported hands from the muck and play out the hand. My associates and I had hoped that, in the spirit of the game, the small blind would agree to a do-over. I could argue that his verbal statement was unclear and that his hand motion was subdued, and could have been interpreted as pushing his cards to the muck, not his chips (neither of which he touched). However, I believed the small blind had to agree to a do-over, and when he did not, everyone agreed that we should award him the pot per Robert's Rules of Poker. This resulted in understandable bad feelings on the part of the big blind, who subsequently finished fourth.
Any thoughts you have on this type of situation would be appreciated.
Jack: I am not familiar with "Robert's Rules." In my tournaments, even if a player verbally states "all in," he needs to move a substantial amount of chips into the pot so that all players can visually see that there is action. Since "shove" is unclear and the player did not move any chips, his entitlement to the pot is shaky, and since "OK" is unclear as to whether the player is calling or folding, this player also has a shaky case. In a "friendly" game such as this, the do-over option would seem to be the appropriate decision.
Palace Station's Cozy Corner
By Lisa Wheeler
Located close to the Strip, the Palace Station poker room is inviting, perfect for those looking for plenty of action without the usual hustle and bustle of the crowded cardrooms. The locals who play in this friendly little poker room are just that, locals who play here. Poker enthusiasts of all ages meet and socialize daily, giving the Palace Station poker room a relaxed feel.
The manager greets anyone who enters the friendly pub-style facility at the door, and either already knows which game a familiar face wants to play or recites the day's game menu to new visitors and personally escorts them to their tab
