World Series of Poker by the Numbers
More Events Equal More Players, Except in the Big One
By Bob Pajich
The dust stirred up by the thousands of players who traipsed through the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino the last two months has cleared, and now it's time to look at some of the figures that came out of the 38th
World Series of Poker. With 55 events, the 2007 version was the most ambitious one yet, attracting more entrants than ever before.
The folks at the cashier's booth greeted 54,281 entrants this year, which is 5,925 more than the 46 events last year drew. Despite this, there wasn't much difference in the total prize pool. This year's was $159,492,119; last year's was $159,018,925.
Last year, each event averaged 1,051 players; this year, that average was 986.
As far as the numbers are concerned, the biggest difference between this year and last year was the number of entrants who played in the main event. The 2007
WSOP champion, Jerry Yang, was one of 6,358 players who vied for a share of what will be the largest live poker tournament prize pool of the year.
Last year, Jamie Gold emerged on top of a field of 8,773 players, a 2,415-player difference, which shows just how much the crackdown of online poker is affecting the U.S. player pool. This not only translated to a notable prize-pool difference ($59,784,954 compared to $82,512,162), but also affected Harrah's bottom line. Harrah's charges $600 a person to play in the main event ($9,400 goes to the prize pool), so that means Harrah's made about $1.5 million less on the main event than it did last year.
But, don't feel too bad for Harrah's. While main-event numbers dropped, most of the preliminary events saw an increase in number of entrants. For example, event No. 3, $1,500 no-limit hold'em, attracted 2,998 players, an increase of 222 players versus 2006.
The popularity of poker among women was apparent this year. The 2007 ladies world championship had 1,286 entrants, which was 158 more players than last year.
Although it's possible to buy in for all of the events, it would be impossible to play in all of them because so many are packed into the schedule (unless you plan on getting knocked out of every event early). Even so, it would have cost a player $194,500 to play in all of them. Last year, it would have cost $162,500.
The 39th version of the
WSOP is less than a year away. Start saving.
IMEGA Files Brief to Support Dismissal of UIGEA
Hearing Set for Sept. 4
By Bob Pajich
A new nonprofit organization that was formed to represent online gambling and media firms has filed a brief in a United States District Court in New Jersey in support of its case filed against Attorney General Alberto Gonzales last month to stop the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) from being implemented.
"What we hope to accomplish is to allow the public at large to carry out a fundamental right, which is the ability to engage in Internet gambling of all sorts," said Eric Bernstein, iMEGA's lead attorney on this case.
The case seeks a judgment to restrain the U.S. from enforcing the UIGEA, which prohibits banks and financial institutions from processing transactions for online poker and gambling sites.
The hearing date for this case is Sept. 4.
The brief filed in support of iMEGA's case uses several points to support it. Among those points are examples of several cases that purportedly back up iMEGA's position.
IMEGA's arguments claim that the UIGEA unconstitutionally restricts gambling on the Internet as a form of consensual private conduct, that the UIGEA's selected prohibitions do not constitute the least restrictive means to regulate online gambling, that the UIGEA is inconsistent with both state laws and international treaties, and that the Act hurts iMEGA members.
The 270 days that government agencies had to figure out how to enforce the UIGEA recently expired. No word has come from the offices of the Treasury, which is responsible for enforcing the act, on how the act will be enforced. IMEGA filed the brief in conjunction with the deadline.
Visit iMEGA's webpage (imega.org) to read the brief and also to read about the pending case.
NETELLER Concludes Investigation With U.S. Government
U.S. Customers' Money Should Already Be Returned
By Bob Pajich
Hopefully, by the time NETELLER customers in the U.S. who had money locked up because of federal charges read this, they will have gotten paid.
NETELLER, its founders, and the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York (USAO) have just about resolved the case that resulted in $60 million to $94 million of U.S. consumers' money to be held for more than six months.
On July 18, 26 weeks and two days after the USAO levied a variety of gambling-related charges against founders John Lefebvre and Steven Lawrence and the company, both the USAO and NETELLER entered a Deferred Prosecution Agreement that allowed for the seized money to be returned to stressed-out American customers.
As per the agreement, NETELLER said customers would be able to access their accounts that were frozen when the founders were arrested, and requested withdrawals be made no later than July 30, which was after Card Player's press date.
As part of the settlement, NETELLER agreed to pay the U.S. $136 million, which includes what it says was $60 million that was seized during the first days of the investigation. The USAO said NETELLER can return the $94 million it owed to U.S. customers that was kept in a foreign bank account.
In January, the USAO charged the two founders of NETELLER, as well as the company, with violating various gambling-related laws. Lefebvre and Lawrence, who had nothing to do with the company when the charges were made, both pleaded guilty in July. They face up to five years in prison and fines in the millions of dollars, although since both agreed to participate in the investigation, it's doubtful they will receive the maximum sentence.
Sentencing for both men, who are Canadian, is in October.
Also as part of the agreement that NETELLER entered into with the USAO, it will continue to cooperate with both U.S. investigators as the investigation continues and a forensic accounting firm that will make sure that NETELLER continues to follow U.S. law. The firm also will help NETELLER set up procedures and controls to prevent what it deems illegal transactions between American gambling consumers and offshore online poker rooms and casinos.
Playing With Pain
By Ryan Luchessi
Many people from many different walks of life come to the
World Series of Poker to play poker, but none of them have had a harder time getting to the Amazon Room than Scott Kowalske did a few weeks back, and he was staying at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino.
Kowalske has chronic wasting disease, which doctors think he contracted by eating deer meat, due to rogue prions found in his body, and it is eating his body from the inside out.
Every morning when Kowalske wakes up, he takes 13 Darvon pills. He then applies the medication of one Actiq swab, the same synthetic opioid that is prescribed to stage-four cancer patients, to deal with the pain in his body and make it through the day. Actiq is 80 times more powerful than morphine. Cancer patients take one dose of Actiq a day, while Kowalske takes four.
His fingers are literally disintegrating.
"In six months, all of this was gone; in six months, I've lost seven to eight inches of bone," said Kowalske.
His legs are numb from the knee down, which has relegated Kowalske to crutches, and that is not even the worst part. The myelin that covers his nerve endings has been stripped away, which leaves them raw and constantly buzzing in excruciating pain.
"I wake up in tears every morning," said Kowalske.
Because of the rareness of Kowalske's disease, Medicaid, which has had trouble categorizing his illness, pulled the coverage on his Actiq medication because he was not a diagnosed cancer patient.
The timing couldn't have been worse. He had just raised $30,000 for a stem cell transplant. For the stem cells to work properly, patients need to try to remain stress-free. While he turned to icing his disintegrating fingers to ease the pain, the lack of pain medication put him in and out of the hospital for several weeks. Due to this stress, 80 percent of the stem cells introduced into his body were lost. The stem cell operation was a failure, and his life still hangs in the balance.
Kowalske finds hope in the fact that he might live, and a second legal cord stem cell transplant could save his life, but it's costly, and is not covered by insurance. In Kowalske's case, the life-saving treatment will cost $38,000. He already has racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills, and his parents have taken out a second mortgage, so he could use help.
Kowalske does not know how much time he has left, but the shrinking of his fingers is a constant reminder. To take his mind off the final effects of his disease, as well as the pain that invades his body every minute of every day, Kowalske routinely turns to poker.
Before the disease attacked Kowalske's body, he was an avid hunter and golfer, and also co-owned a roofing company. While his physical skills have been stripped away, he finds the mental challenges of poker an escape, a challenge in which he can still compete.
"I can't work anymore, and I can't do 90 percent of the things I could do before, but poker is something I can still do," said Kowalske. "It doesn't make any difference who you are. Anybody can win, and that's what's so great about poker."
Kowalske won $4,000 in a poker tournament recently, so he decided to head to the
WSOP to test his skills and see all of his favorite players.
"If I'm going to die, I'm going to play in the
World Series," he said.
He hoped to score big, but it wasn't to be. Kowalske cashed for $3,767 in a $1,500 no-limit hold'em event, and while the few thousand he made in profit helps, he is still far short of his goal.
"I just need some help. Time is of the essence; every month matters a lot now," he said.
As soon as the interview tape stopped rolling, Kowalske quickly steered the conversation back to poker. He wanted to know who the chip leader was, and what professionals still remained in the event. He no longer wanted to talk about the problem that had taken over his life; he wanted to talk about poker. He had crept back into his escape.
Those who wish to help Kowalske can donate to the Scott Kowalske Fund at the Fifth Third Bank in Traverse City, Michigan. Donations can me mailed to the Scott Kowalske Fund, Fifth Third Bank, 630 W. 14th St., Traverse City, MI 49684; phone: (231) 922-4334.
Electronic Poker Invading Bars Everywhere
PokerTek to Distribute Heads-Up Machine for Amusement Only
By Bob Pajich
Coming soon to a bar near you: electronic poker tables.
PokerTek, the company behind the PokerPro electronic poker tables, will distribute a
World Series of Poker-branded heads-up version of its electronic poker tables to bars everywhere.
Machines called the Heads-Up Challenge World Series of Poker edition will be branded with
WSOP logos, thanks to a licensing agreement signed with Harrah's earlier this year. The games are for amusement only.
PokerTek signed a domestic distribution agreement with nine companies that specialize in distributing amusement games to most areas of the country, so most bars that sport Golden Tee or Ms. Pac Man games will mostly likely bring in one of these.
The game will cost $2 per player and will accept dollars and, eventually, credit cards. The game hit bars in early August, and the distribution network covers the entire United States.
The machines also will be hooked up to a network that will track player stats and standings. Bar owners will have to go through one of the distribution companies to secure a machine.
People in Las Vegas for the
WSOP were introduced to the machine at the Rio when WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack revealed it by snatching a black cloth off it. Phil Laak and Antonio Esfandiari played the first game in public in front of a crowd of photographers, reporters, and railbirds.
A home version of the machine is in the works, and the price is yet to be determined. People interested in the home version of the machine should visit PokerTek's website: pokertek.com.
PokerTek makes both 10-player and heads-up tables for use in casinos. It has placed electronic tables in more than 20 casinos and cruise ships around the globe. Players interact with the cards and their chips through an electron touch screen, which shows holecards, chip amounts of the players, and the action.
In the middle of the table sits a flat-screen monitor that displays the board, betting amounts, and the button, and shows whose turn it is to act. In the casinos, an electronic kiosk system is used to automatically register players for tournaments and cash games.
Card Player Continues International Expansion
Spain, Russia, and Hungary Will Soon Be Invaded
Card Player Media has entered into licensing agreements that will bring
Card Player magazine to the rapidly growing poker markets of Spain, Russia, and Hungary.
The magazines will launch in the fall of 2007 and will join the growing group of Card Player Media partners, which include
Card Player Europe, Card Player Brazil, Card Player Italia, Card Player France, Card Player Finland, Card Player Germany, Poker Magazine, and
Card Player Norway.
"With our partners,
Card Player continues to bring the game of poker into new markets," stated Jeff Shulman,
Card Player president and COO. "As the popularity of poker spreads across the globe, so does the need for quality poker content. We welcome our new partners in Spain, Russia, and Hungary to the growing
Card Player family."
Asian Poker Classic Returning to India
March 2008
By Bob Pajich
The
Asian Poker Classic announced that it will return to Goa, India, for a second tournament next March. An exact date and venue will be named later.
The last
Asian Poker Classic attracted 140 players and was won by Carl Hostrup of Denmark. He won $320,000. Several big-time pros showed up to play in the event, including Mel Judah and Surinder Sunar.
More details will be announced when made available.
PokerStars Launches Asia Pacific Poker Tour
At Least Six Events Will Take Place This Fall
By Bob Pajich
First Europe, and now Asia.
PokerStars, which is the main sponsor of the
European Poker Tour, has launched the
Asia Pacific Poker Tour (
APPT). The first $5,000 event will take place at the Hyatt Hotel and Casino Manila, in the Philippines, Aug. 23-26.
Other events will take place at the Walkerhill Hotel and Casino in Seoul, South Korea (Sept. 27-30, $2,500 buy-in), and the $5,000 grand final of the tour will take place at the majestic Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia (the date is to be determined).
These events will be recorded for broadcasting, and at least three more events will be added to the schedule. Danny McDonagh, who ran the
Aussie Millions, will be the tour's tournament director.
PokerStars already has started running satellites to all of the events. Players can qualify for the events for as little as $22, and frequent-player-point freerolls will soon take place.
Full Tilt Heading to Russia
Moscow Millions Takes Place in October
By Shawn Patrick Green
Get your parka ready, because Full Tilt Poker is gearing up to send one lucky (and, presumably, skillful) player to Moscow, Russia, this October for as little as $4.
Full Tilt is now running satellites into the
Moscow Millions, in the country's picturesque capital, which is sure to be one of the biggest poker events the country has ever seen. The tournament will be held Oct. 20-22.
The $320 buy-in direct-entry qualifiers offer one guaranteed
Moscow Millions prize package worth $15,000 (the tournament buy-in and $4,500 for travel and spending money), and are held every Saturday at 1 p.m. ET. For those on a tighter budget, Full Tilt also is offering satellites into the direct-entry qualifier for buy-ins ranging from $4.40 to $75. That means a player conceivably could earn a trip to "the Paris of the East" and a chance at winning a heap of cash for as little as the cost of a Starbucks latte.
World Series of Poker Changes Player of the Year Race
The
World Series of Poker can be either a cruel mistress or a generous lover to the pros who spend most of their summer trying to win a bracelet. If you're running bad, you're running bad, and they may seem like the longest weeks of the year. If things are going well, and for those few weeks the cashes flow like rainwater, life is good. It really doesn't get any better.
The
Card Player Player of the Year (POY) leader board always undergoes a change during the
WSOP, and it's interesting to see how the top-five players in the standings fared at this summer's
WSOP.
J.C. Tran, the man with the most POY points since February, earned exactly zero points at this
WSOP. However, he did cash twice (a 14th and a 15th place) for a total of $22,113. Tran's last big cash didn't take place too long ago, though. He won the $3,000 no-limit hold'em event at the
Bellagio Five-Star World Poker Classic in April.
Jared Hamby, who sits 795 points behind Tran in second place, also earned zero points at the
WSOP. His only cash was in the main event, where he finished 88th.
David Pham, third in the standings, took 540 points from the
WSOP for finishing fourth in the $3,000 limit hold'em event for $62,906. He also finished 64th in the $1,500 no-limit hold'em event that attracted 2,998 players. He moved from sixth to third in the standings.
Bill Edler is having a breakout year, and is fourth in the standings with 3,448 points. He earned 1,440 of those points by winning his first bracelet in the $5,000 sixhanded no-limit hold'em event. The points are nice, but the payday is nicer: $904,672. He also finished 33rd in the main event, but didn't earn any points for it.
Rounding out the top five is Jonathan Little. He thrust himself into the POY race in May with a win in the
World Poker Tour Mirage Poker Showdown championship event, but could muster only two cashes at the
WSOP: a 128th-place finish in the $1,500 no-limit hold'em event that attracted 3,151 players, and 93rd in the $2,500 no-limit hold'em event, for zero POY points.
Look Out!
Robert Mizrachi had a fantastic
WSOP and put himself right in the thick of the POY race by making three final tables, earning 2,229 points and winning $858,587. He cashed five times at the
WSOP. His 2,984 points are good for sixth place in the race. He's earned $1.3 million in tournaments this year.
Mizrachi's brother Michael won the POY award in 2006, and if Robert - who, as the older brother in this poker family, introduced the Mizrachis to the game - manages to win it, it will be the first time that brothers not only won the award back-to-back, but held it, period.
Player Information
CardPlayer.com's Player of the Year page is much more than a list with numbers, and poker fans could spend hours perusing players' tournament winnings, reading their bios (Lee Watkinson owns a record company?), and seeing if they are on a heater or a free-fall. There are also links to players' pictures, videos, pro blogs, and lifetime results. CardPlayer.com is continuously adding to and updating its player bios section.
CardPlayer.com has the most extensive poker players page on the Internet, so be sure to check it by looking under the "Tournament" bar at the top of the page and clicking "Player Database."
Online Hand-to-Hand Combat: Ian J Suspects Opponents Betting Out Light in High-Stakes Limit Cash Game
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. As an added bonus, you can check out live video commentary provided by the pros and PokerXfactor.com at www.CardPlayer.com/TV.
Event: Limit cash game on PokerStars
Players: Six-max table
Stacks: Ian J - $2,575; Villain1 - $18,053; Villain2 - $32,684
Limit: $200-$400 (blinds of $100-$200)
Villain1 (under the gun) raises to $400. Ian J is dealt the 9
9
and raises to $600. Villain2 (big blind) four-bets to $800.
Craig Tapscott: What's usually your play here with a pair of nines, especially after getting raised by a player in the big blind?
Ian Johns: This is a totally standard play for me when I get 9-9 under the gun plus one. I three-bet an under-the-gun raise here. Now, the big blind, who I have seen cap in this spot with a wider hand range than I would consider optimal, four-bets it. This doesn't mean that I think he has a bad hand here, just that his range is wider than pairs 10-10 and higher and A-K. The under-the-gun player calls and I call.
Flop: Q
7
2
($2,500 pot)
Villain2 bets $200, and Villain1 calls.
CT: When the big blind bets out on the flop and is instantly called, what do you usually do in this situation?
IJ: Sometimes I will raise with this hand to try to get some information about the hand, but I elected to call here. Raising in this spot also can give me misinformation, which I could interpret wrong later in the hand.
CT: Please explain.
IJ: The problem with raising the flop is that no matter what the first opponent does, you're not going to really define his hand. If he has, say, Q-Q for top set and just calls on the flop, I'm not learning anything because he would likely do that with A-K. So, if he did just call, I probably would assume that he had A-K or possibly a smaller pair, and I'd begin playing the hand thinking my hand was good. Meanwhile, he just as easily could be trapping with Q-Q, K-K, A-A, A-Q, or 7-7.
Ian J calls $200.
Turn: 3
($3,100 pot)
Villain2 bets $400, Villain1 calls, and Ian J calls.
CT: Do you still think your nines are good?
IJ: In a lot of games and against a lot of players, I should be done with this hand here. It seems that one of the two should have a better pair than I do for the hand to be going down like this. However, these two guys play differently than most. Specifically, they are very aggressive and thus make lighter call-downs to counteract people playing back at them. Knowing this, I decide to call on the turn and see what develops on the river
River: 7
($4,300 pot)
Villain2 checks. Villain1 checks.
CT: Is this weakness or a trap on the paired board?
IJ: There definitely are times when one can trap in limit holdem and try to gain that extra bet. However, this is not one of those times, because nobody has shown any real strength except for the preflop four-bettor. Therefore, checking on the end with a hand like A-A, looking to check-raise, would be pretty bad, because there's a great possibility that the other player and I will both check behind. Both of these players almost certainly would bet any hand that beat 9-9 here on the river, given the action on the flop and turn. Knowing this, I decide to put in a bet for value.
Ian J bets $400, Villain2 calls, and Villain1 folds. Villain 2 shows the A
K
, and Ian J wins the pot of $5,100 with a pair of nines.
Ian Johns is a high-limit cash-game player, spending almost all of his time online playing at PokerStars. He can be spotted mostly in the $100-$200 limit hold'em games, with occasional forays into $200-$400. Johns also won a gold bracelet and $291,000 in the 2006 World Series of Poker $3,000 limit hold'em event.
Chad Batista is M8king Moves Up the Leader Board
By Shawn Patrick Green
Chad "m8kingmoves" Batista snuck into the top-10 spots on the Online Player of the Year (OPOY) leader board recently when he decided to start making final tables of every online tournament in sight. What's the best way to start such a run? By taking down the first-ever monthly $1 million-guaranteed tournament on Full Tilt, of course.
Playing as jse81, Batista plowed through 2,320 other entrants to snag the almost $213,000 top prize and earn himself 1,440 OPOY points on July 15. That same day, he finished deep in two tournaments on PokerStars, playing as lilholdem954: third place in one of the daily $100 (with rebuys) tournaments, for almost $16,000, and 15th in the
Sunday Warmup, for more than $2,400.
Batista's success continued over the next week when he made the final table of the $1,000 buy-in
Super Tuesday tournament on PokerStars (eighth place, for $8,000), and took down one of the daily $100 (with rebuys) tournaments the next Sunday, earning almost $30,000.
When the dust had settled, he'd earned 1,948 OPOY points in just over a week, which vaulted him into seventh place in the OPOY standings with 2,974 points. Batista is certainly living up to his nickname.
'We've Got Charlie! In the Trees!'
Juan Maceiras "Vietcong01" Barros is yet another name bounding up the leader board. Like many of the other names on the illustrious list, he started his meteoric rise by bagging the PokerStars
Sunday Million and then practicing some excellent follow-through.
In an almost unprecedented run, the very next week after Barros took down the
Sunday Million on July 8, earning $157,154 and 1,440 OPOY points, he took down PokerStars' second-most coveted Sunday tournament title, that of the Sunday Warmup. He pocketed $83,000 for that win and earned 960 more OPOY points.
Barros currently sits just shy of the top 10 on the leader board in 14th place, with 2,544 points. With his aptitude for taking down big-field tournaments, it seems like it'll be only a matter of time before he rushes to the top.
Two New Tournaments Create Shockwaves
PokerStars recently instituted two new, innovative tournaments that are making quite an impact.
The first is the
Sunday Hundred Grand, an $11 freezeout tournament with an unprecedented guarantee of $100,000 and a first-place prize of $18,000-$19,000. The tournament already has broken world records twice. Its first run had 15,000 entrants (which was actually the entry cap that PokerStars placed on the tournament), making it the biggest real-money poker tournament of all time, in terms of entrants. Then, the very next week, the tournament attracted 17,501 entrants (after PokerStars upped the player cap to 17,500, and a glitch of some sort allowed an extra player), which again broke the record. This record is likely to stick, however, unless PokerStars ups the cap again or experiences another registration "glitch."
The other big tournament is the
High Stakes Showdown, a $10,300 buy-in heads-up tournament with a 16-player entry cap. This tournament is absolutely stacked, with notables such as Sorel "Imper1um" Mizzi, Scott "emptyseat88" Fischman, and heads-up specialist Steven "stevesbets" Jacobs. Stevesbets won the first-ever run of the tournament and current OPOY leader Imper1um won the second run, both earning $72,000 for their accomplishment against the tough field.
World Championship of Online Poker Coming Soon
This year's
World Championship of Online Poker (
WCOOP) at PokerStars is almost upon us. The 23-event series runs Sept. 14-30 with tournaments including five-card draw, deuce-to-seven triple draw, seven-card stud, Omaha, H.O.R.S.E., and, of course, a slew of hold'em variations.
The guarantees over the 23 events add up to $15 million in combined prize pools, with the no-limit hold'em main event alone guaranteeing $5 million, the largest-ever guarantee for an online tournament. As a comparison, last year's
WCOOP guaranteed $10 million over 18 events. Poker pro (and current
Card Player Player of the Year points leader) J.C. "area23JC" Tran won last year's main event, earning more than $670,000.
Satellites are running already on PokerStars for the 23 events, and the site is offering $1.5 million in free entries from freeroll satellites.
Chatbox Cunning - Quick strategy from online poker's top pros
Scott "emptyseat88" Fischman
"What I did when I was first starting out was, if I was playing no-limit hold'em and I had a bad week or three or four losing sessions in a row, and was getting irritated, I would go play stud for a change of pace. I would play stud until I lost three sessions in a row at that, and then I would try Omaha eight-or-better until I lost three at that. By the time I got back to no-limit hold'em, I'd have a fresh approach and I wouldn't really feel negatively about the game. That's one of the biggest problems that people have as far as a losing streak or running bad. They keep playing the same game every day and just keep beating their heads in."
"If you play some of these other games, it's going to help your hold'em game, as well, because there are certain nuances from these other games that cross over to hold'em. An example is when I first started playing Omaha. It's pretty obvious that you're going to run into the nuts more often and you're more afraid of big hands. So, when I switched back to hold'em, I was just a little more wary of big hands. The nuances of the other games cross over very nicely."
"My general rule of thumb when playing middle pairs is that I won't play them at all if it's for more than 8 percent of my stack, and I try to limp and call a raise instead of raising myself. If you're the first into the pot and you raise and then somebody reraises, you can't call. It represents too much of your stack. But if you limp and somebody raises, you can call and try to flop a set."
Get a Piece of the Action
Those wishing to take advantage of the promotions, overlays, and guaranteed prize pools at these sites 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
Tournament Results, June 9-July 22
PokerStars Sunday Million
July 15
Winner: Adam "AJunglen7" Junglen
Winnings: $198,923
Prize pool: $1,410,800
Entrants: 7,054
July 22
Winner: 5902838181
Winnings: $196,244
Prize pool: $1,391,800
Entrants: 6,959
Full Tilt Poker $1 Million Guarantee
July 15
Winner: Chad "jse81" Batista
Winnings: $212,894
Prize pool: $1,160,500
Entrants: 2,321
Full Tilt Poker $500,000 Guarantee
July 22
Winner: gigjoesmoe
Winnings: $123,401
Prize pool: $689,200
Entrants: 3,446
UltimateBet $200,000 Guarantee
June 15
Winner: Wade "soggyvag" Woelfel
Winnings: $45,000
Prize pool: $200,000
Entrants: 998
June 22
Winner: F4Zi
Winnings: $45,000
Prize pool: $200,000
Entrants: 965
Bodog $100,000 Guarantee
July 15
Winner: gusive
Winnings: $25,000
Prize pool: $100,000
Entrants: 903
July 22
Winner: Jon "PearlJammer" Turner
Winnings: $25,000
Prize pool: $100,000
Entrants: 887
Internet Tournament Schedules
The PokerStars tournament lineup is easily the most robust of any online poker site, and is getting even more jampacked by the day. Here are some tournaments that no one should miss:
Sunday Hundred Grand - $11 buy-in - $100,000 guaranteed - Sundays, 3:30 p.m. ET
Super Tuesday - $1,050 buy-in (satellites offered starting at $4.40) - $250,000 guaranteed - Tuesdays, 7:55 p.m. ET
Wednesday Hundred Fifty Grand - $322 buy-in - $150,000 guaranteed - Wednesdays, 9 p.m. ET
Those interested in signing up for these tournaments can follow this link to see a complete schedule: http://www.CardPlayer.com/link/ot.
Aaron Been Pays Attention
By Craig Tapscott
Aaron Been's initiation into poker is no surprise. The Moneymaker juggernaut mesmerized a generation of rising online poker stars, some yet to make their mark in live play. Recently, Been rose from the pack when he finished third for $31,000 in the $5,000 heads-up championship at the
Mirage Poker Showdown, only 14 days after his 21st birthday. He then would go on to cash in two no-limit hold'em events during the 2007
World Series of Poker.
Many of Been's friends proclaimed his tournament prowess long before everyone else caught on. Been's circle of friends, with whom he shared strategy, is the "A" list of online poker stars: Adam Junglen, Jimmy "gobboboy" Fricke, Nath "Cap'nJackpot" Pizzolatto, Adam "Roothlus" Levy, and Jeff "Action Jeff" Garza.
Been has too many online victories and deep finishes to name. With more than $600,000 in online tournament cashes, Been believes he's just beginning to define his game. One of the leading online poker training sites - CardRunners - took notice and invited him to join its staff of tournament teaching pros.
At the recent
WSOP,
Card Player pinned Been down, hoping to pick his brain and gain some valuable insight into his tournament strategy.
Craig Tapscott: You mentioned that Chris Moneymaker on
ESPN first got you and your friends into poker.
Aaron Been: After watching the 2003
WSOP, my friends and I started to play some $5 tournaments. Then we started to sit together in the play-money games online. We were too lazy to go to one another's house. Then I had $11 added to my account from a promotion. I played only cash games to start out, because the smallest tournaments on the site were $5, and I had only $11. So, I played the 1¢-2¢ no-limit hold'em games and worked my way up. I didn't want to lose it, so I tried to play my best.
CT: What influenced your tournament game the most?
AB: Watching other great multitable tournament players compete helped me. Jeff Garza was one of the friends I started out talking with when I began. I'd say one area in which I improved the most was getting used to how the average multitable tournament player approaches the game. You could call that learning to read hands or the player, but most poker players pretty much play the same.
CT: And you counter that?
AB: Yes. Obviously, a player will raise sometimes and limp sometimes. As you play more with that player, you catch on to him limping with small pocket pairs and suited connectors, and raising bigger pairs and A-Q and A-K. Play even longer, and you realize that players make bigger raises with A-K, A-Q, and J-J than they do with A-A or K-K. Your observations get more and more refined; that is, if you pay attention. Most people don't pay close enough attention to the details. Their play is rote.
CT: What would you say your style of play is, then?
AB: I don't have a style of play. I try to adjust to the table. If it's softer, I certainly will play more hands. If a lot of players are three-betting, I'll open fewer hands.
CT: Can you name a few leaks that many multitable tournament regulars have?
AB: One leak that many tournament players have is not recognizing implied odds, like calling a raise with a small pair. They're trying to make a set when there are not enough chips to profit when they do hit. Even if they hit, most of the time they won't get action.
CT: What else?
AB: Position is a concept that many players still disregard. You need a much stronger hand to play from out of position than in position. When you raise from early position, you need a stronger hand. This is not because a player behind may have a better hand, but he can call you with weaker hands and still show a profit because he acts after you.
CT: How do you go about improving your game?
AB: I try to work on things every day. After I play a hand, I usually save the hand history online. I go over it street by street, and player by player. I think about what each player was thinking and also what I was thinking at the time. How could I have played it differently? What did I overlook? What hand am I representing on each street? It's a methodical process for me. Looking back on most hands, it doesn't seem that difficult, but I can overlook things when I'm playing.
CT: Any parting wisdom?
AB: Be careful if you're successful right away; don't assume that it's anything other than luck.
Card Player Digital
The crazy summer poker action has finally died down and the
Card Player video crew is back in the studios after a month and a half at Bellagio. With the
Bellagio Cup III and the
World Series of Poker finished,
Card Player is revamped and refocused to do more innovative video pieces that our viewers have come to love.
The weekly installments of Cardrunners instructional videos and episodes of Mike Matusow's
The Mouthpiece will continue, as always. Be sure to check out www.CardPlayer.com/TV for new strategy, lifestyle, and Las Vegas-oriented video pieces.
Card Player Phone
Devoted poker players live and breathe the game. Since cell phones are a part of nearly everyone's everyday life,
Card Player has introduced CardPlayerMobile.com. Anything poker-related that can be added to a cell phone is found here. By adding the website to your favorites, updated poker news is just a click away. Who won the main event? What's the latest news on NETELLER? Stay up to date on the latest news in poker by visiting www.CardPlayermobile.com on your cell phone's browser. All of the breaking news on www.CardPlayer.com is now available for free on Card Player Mobile!
While you're visiting Card Player Mobile, check out the poker-themed wallpaper that's available for downloading. Backgrounds including attractive girls, stacks of money, chips,
Card Player logos, and numerous poker starting hands can be found. Also available for downloading on the site are the odds calculator, poker tips, ringtones, blogs, tournament results, and more.
Block Opponents From Getting a Read
By Brian Townsend
The disadvantages of being out of position in no-limit hold'em intensify as a hand proceeds. As the pot gets larger and your opponent accumulates information, he can make more accurate decisions and force you to make bigger mistakes. Since you can't reasonably avoid playing from out of position, you need to develop weapons for when you are, and blocking-bets are some of your best defenses.
Blocking-bets are river bets, often small ones, made when you don't know if your hand is the best but you still want to extract value. Blocking-bets are almost always made with the intention of folding to a raise, and they can both extract value and be deceptive. You lose less money against hands that would have made larger bets had you checked, you force worse hands that would have checked behind to call, and you prevent your opponent from bluffing you out of the pot.
Suppose that you raise preflop with K-J and are called by a weak opponent on the button. The flop is J-4-3 with two diamonds, you bet two-thirds of the pot, and the button calls. The turn is an offsuit 5, and again your opponent calls your bet of two-thirds of the pot. If the river is an offsuit queen, you should make a blocking-bet of half the pot or less.
What makes this blocking-bet correct is how your hand interacts with the button's range. If he has a made hand, it is probably a jack - which might or might not be Q-J - or a pocket pair. He also could have a draw to a flush or a small straight. If you check and your opponent makes a large bet, either a call or a fold is liable to be a big mistake. If he is betting for value, K-J will rarely win, and Q-J and sets comprise enough of his range that this could easily be the case. You are uncomfortable check-folding, however, because the button could be bluffing a missed draw or (far less likely) a weak made hand that he figures cannot win at showdown. Unless your opponent bluffs far too little or far too much in this situation, you cannot avoid getting outplayed when the action goes check, bet.
Very few opponents are so passive as to never bluff if you check, but many will react predictably if you make a blocking-bet. They will call with most of their reasonable hands, because they are getting a good price and some of your perceived range is weak. They will hesitate raising one pair for value, however, and they will rarely bluff: You have made it expensive, and they will fear running into a monster.
Therefore, a blocking-bet will improve your results against most of his range. Sometimes you will extract value against some worse jacks and pocket pairs, which would have checked behind. You will lose less money against the hands that beat you, because most of them would have made larger bets had you checked. (Sometimes you would have folded and saved money, but this is more than offset by the money you would have lost when your opponent bluffed you out.)
When you consider a blocking-bet, it's important to examine not just the board texture, but also your opponent. Blocking-bets are most effective against weak opponents who are too undisciplined to fold their weaker hands to your bet and too poor at hand-reading to bluff-raise or thinly value-raise. Better opponents will combine the previous action with your river bet and read your hand too well. When they bluff-raise you, it will be a disaster, because you will lose both the existing pot and the river bet. They also will make accurate folds with some of their bluff-catching hands. To make your hand harder to read, you would need to make similar-sized bets with both bluffs (which would become less powerful) and strong hands (which would lose value).
Learning to use blocking-bets effectively requires practice and analysis, but it's worth the effort. You won't just make money by making blocking-bets; you'll also become one of the tough opponents who read the situation correctly and make both disciplined folds and uncallable bluff-raises.
When you take the initiative away from your opponent, you force him into making tougher decisions. You extract more value when you're ahead, and you save money when you are behind. Playing from out of position is tough, but with careful and confident play, you can still get the best of it.
A Hasty Bad Play at the Legends of Poker
By Mike Sexton, the 'Ambassador of Poker' and Commentator for the World Poker Tour
The
Legends of Poker tournament at The Bicycle Casino is always one of the premier events on the
World Poker Tour. In addition to the many top pros who enter it, this tournament brings out a large number of amateurs, including a number of Hollywood celebrities. It also brings fame and fortune to the winner.
In every tournament, many players analyze why they went broke. If you don't do that, you should. Most blame their bad luck, but many times it comes down to poor play. Yes, sometimes it comes down to just one mistake - one bad play that you will wish for the rest of your life you hadn't made. The following hand is a perfect illustration of a big mistake that cost a player hundreds of thousands of dollars and a
WPT title.
Frankie O'Dell, a pro player from Los Angeles, and Joe Pelton, an up-and-coming player from Newport Beach, California, were playing heads up for the
Legends of Poker title. The antes were $10,000, and the blinds were $40,000-$80,000. O'Dell had been playing terrific poker at this final table and had about a 2-1 chip lead over Pelton when he limped in from the button with the J
4
. Pelton, in the big blind with Q-8 offsuit, opted to take a free flop.
The flop came Q-Q-4 with two diamonds. Pelton had flopped three queens, and led right out with a bet of $100,000! O'Dell, who had flopped a pair of fours, wanted to test the water, so he raised the bet to $350,000. (Obviously, he didn't believe that Joe would lead out with a bet if he had trips.) Pelton reraised to $750,000, and without hesitation, O'Dell went all in! Pelton made the call and was more than delighted to see that he had his opponent drawing nearly dead (to two running fours). O'Dell never recovered from this play and Pelton went on to capture his first
WPT title. Nice going, Joe!
Let's review what happened here: I think most top players would call (or raise) with the J
4
from the button, especially with so many chips. You can't fault O'Dell for doing that. I don't even fault him for coming over the top after Pelton led out on the flop. I sort of like that play, as you're likely to find out where you're at right here. But now we come to the point where O'Dell had a mental lapse (when he moved all in) that probably cost him the tournament.
When you have J-4 and come over the top of someone who bet $100,000 with a $250,000 raise with a Q-Q-4 flop, and he reraises you another $400,000, the caution lights should be flashing brightly! In fact, you should be blinded. Unfortunately for Frankie, he got caught up in the moment, went all in, and it cost him. In my view, he acted too quickly here. I believe that had he taken a minute to step back and think about how the betting went, he wouldn't have moved all in.
If you were in Frankie's seat, the first question you have to ask yourself after the $400,000 reraise is, "Would the guy reraise here with a diamond draw?" The next question is, "What can I beat but a bluff?" Your answer to question No. 1 should be, "It's unlikely," and the answer to question No. 2 is, "Nothing." So, you should fold. If a guy has the heart to reraise you for another $400,000 in this situation on a bluff, take your hat off to him, say, "Nice play," and go back to the match (with a $2 million chip lead).
You do have to give Pelton credit for the way he played this hand. The key play was when he led out on the flop and bet with trips. That play obviously confused O'Dell. Most players like to try to trap and check-raise with trips. You will discover that in the long run, you make more money if you lead out and bet when you flop trips. If you don't believe it, just ask Joe Pelton.
The Pareto Principle
By David Apostolico
The Pareto Principle, also known as the 80-20 rule and named after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, states that 80 percent of the consequences come from 20 percent of the causes. The principle originated from Pareto's observation that 80 percent of the wealth in certain countries was concentrated in 20 percent of the population. Since then, it has been applied to numerous other arenas, such as business and productivity. For example, in business, the theory goes that 80 percent of your profit will come from 20 percent of your customers. If you are looking at productivity, the theory states that 80 percent of your success will come from 20 percent of your activities.
While the Pareto Principle does not have universal application and is often misused, it does have some relevance to poker even if the numbers are not exact. It's probably a fair statement that approximately 80 percent of your profit will come from 20 percent of the hands you play. Furthermore, roughly 80 percent of your profit will typically come from only 20 percent of your opponents. Of course, there is a flip side to the Principle. You probably will notice that 80 percent of your losses also come from a small percentage of hands. In addition, 80 percent of those losses may go to only 20 percent of your opponents.
To a large extent, the Pareto Principle is a truism in poker. Due to factors such as position and the capriciousness of the cards dealt, there is not a lot you can do to combat the Pareto Principle. However, the purpose of this column is not to offer advice to avoid it. Rather, if you understand it, there are things you can do to make sure that you are maximizing profits and minimizing losses.
First, let's look at how you maximize those profits. You don't need to do more, but do more of the right things. Extracting maximum value out of both your winning hands and bluffs takes focus and concentration. If you play too tight and predictably, you will never get the action you need from your winning hands. If you are so worried about protecting your hands, likewise, you will never get maximum value. If you are willing to fire only one bullet on a bluff, you won't be very successful, either. Plus, the hands that you win with a bluff won't be substantial. In a tournament, you have only so many chances to pick up chips. If you aren't taking full advantage of those chances, you aren't going to advance very far.
On the flip side, if you can't throw away strong but losing hands, your losses are going to be great. If you insist on playing trouble hands, such as A-J after a raise and a reraise, your losses from a few hands will be significant. You have to concentrate on making correct decisions based on the entire context of the situation. While the 80-20 ratio may not change, by playing smart poker and maintaining your focus, the entire pie on the winning side will be bigger and the entire pie on the losing side will be smaller.
To gain an understanding as to whether you are putting the Pareto Principle to maximum use, ask yourself a few questions: Are you playing too many hands with which others have an advantage? Are you trying things you are not good at? Do you find yourself unable to determine what your opponents are holding?
Conversely, do you believe that you are in control for most of the hands you play? Do you think that you are being creative in your play? Do you find others unable to determine what you are holding?
Poker requires great concentration and focus on everything that's going on at the table, even though you will be playing only a minority of hands. However, by maintaining that focus, you will know what to do to maximize your profits (and minimize your losses) in those critical battle hands.
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].
You Have to Use Two (And Only Two) …
By Tim Peters
Winning Omaha/8 Poker by Mark Tenner and Lou Krieger (Conjelco, $14.95)
Critics called the 2006
World Series of Poker the "World Series of Hold'em," but this year was different: There were more mixed games, more split-pot games, and three H.O.R.S.E. events. And it's noteworthy that the 2007
WSOP "Player of the Year" was Tom Schneider, who made his mark at the Rio by winning bracelets in two split-pot events. So, now's an ideal time to start learning a different game, and Omaha eight-or-better represents a great opportunity to expand your poker horizons. Before you plunk down your chips, take a few hours to read one of the basic primers of the game:
Winning Om
aha/8 by Mark Tenner and Lou Krieger.
The split-pot nature of the game is one of the appealing features of Omaha eight-or-better - as well as one of its biggest strategic challenges. When you're dealt four cards, nearly every hand can look promising, even after the flop. But be careful: "Most Omaha/8 players look for excuses to play hands," Tenner and Krieger warn. "They're prisoners of hope." Winning Omaha players are
more selective than hold'em junkies, and the authors provide a reasonable framework for starting hands that will keep you out of trouble.
They also point out the overarching strategic mantra of Omaha eight-or-better (or any split-pot game): "Scoop the pot. That means pushing hands that can make both the best high and the best low." That may seem obvious, but in your typical low-limit game, you'll find plenty of players who overplay hands that can win only half the pot. Don't be one of them - though, trust me, you'll be tempted.
Learning about starting hands and the importance of scooping is an important first stage in your Omaha education, but post-flop play is more complex (just as it is in hold'em). Tenner and Krieger supply a useful summary for handling draws and made hands. Herein lies what may be the hardest aspect of the game: learning to get away from hands.
Some huge hold'em hands - like sets and even straights - are very vulnerable in Omaha eight-or-better. A disciplined player learns to fold middle and bottom sets when the board has low cards, flush draws, and straight draws (and it often has all three). Even a full house, unless it's the nuts, can be a losing proposition. And when you're drawing to a flush, be sure that you're drawing to the nut flush, particularly if there's a lot of action. The opposite end of the spectrum also poses challenges. Let's say that you have a made low on the flop - A-2-X-X on a board of 7-6-5 - and there's a bet and a raise in front; you probably should fold. "You have no high hand and no protection in case your low is counterfeited [by another ace or deuce]," the authors point out. "At best you'll be quartered and you might lose even that."
There's an excellent chapter on raising, which in Omaha eight-or-better is not nearly as straightforward as it is in hold'em. It's pretty hard to pound players into submission in split-pot Omaha - I'd say impossible in most low-stakes limit games - but there are strategic reasons for raising, and the authors spell them out clearly. They also discuss the difficulty of bluffing, particularly in low-stakes games.
Tenner and Krieger offer sound advice in this folksy volume, punctuated by plenty of examples, though readers might have been better served by the problem/solution format used so effectively in
Harrington on Hold'em. Omaha may never become as popular as hold'em, but it's a great alternative. This book will help you take the best of it.
Know of other good books on Omaha? Are there books you'd like to see reviewed in Card Player? Drop me a line at [email protected].
