The Inside Straight

Heartland Poker Tour Carving Niche Through Mid-America
Greektown Casino in Detroit Will Brand its Cardroom Heartland
By Bob Pajich



It won't be long before the Heartland Poker Tour reaches two milestones, in the world of both poker and television. First, an upcoming HPT even will put HPT prize pools over the $10 million mark. Then, sometime in the fall, the 100th episode of the HPT will be filmed.

In a little more than three years, the HPT has carved out a wide swath among middle-America players who love the game and are looking for a fun and intense poker experience, but can't afford the big buy-in events that receive most of the attention. Co-founders Todd Andersen and Greg Lang wanted to build a series of events in which casual poker fans could get a big-time feel. With the help of cooperating casinos in places like Verona, New York, and Onamia, Minnesota, they've done it.

HPT events could be the biggest bargain in poker. Before each event, a handful of $300 qualifiers are held. To feed these qualifiers, the casinos hold $45 and $80 satellites around-the-clock. The HPT has had people win main events by starting in these satellites, because a majority of the players who play in the main events qualify through the satellites.

"There's an old saying in Las Vegas that Las Vegas was built on quarter slot machines, and I would say that the Heartland Poker Tour is built on $300 players," Andersen said. "We count on the fact that a lot of players are 9-to-5 people and have regular jobs, and this isn't what they do for a living."

Final-table players are filmed, and the HPT is broadcast in syndication to markets that total more than 80 million viewers, up 30 million from last year. At a championship event that was held in Las Vegas in January 2007, one of the most well-known poker players in the world showed up. He said he was there to get on television.

The prize pools aren't that bad, either, especially for players who are usually found playing the smallest stakes in the casinos. For example, the $1,650 event that was held at the Grand Casino Mille Lacs in Minnesota in February attracted 176 players. All but 36 of them won their seats through qualifiers. The prize pool was $251,806, and the winner received $75,642, which was more than his yearly salary as a machine operator. The bios of the final-table participants in many of the events read like the index of Studs Terkel's Working, making the HPT the poker tour for the working-class player.

Also, the HPT recently finalized a contract with Detroit's Greektown Casino to brand its cardroom with HPT gear.

Last June, the HPT launched a weekly poker league that's held at 14 casinos around the country. Each week, players show up to play in tournaments that cost between $50 and $120. Players receive points and end up on a season leader board. The HPT doesn't take a dime from the buy-ins. The player with the most points at the end of a season wins an entry into an HPT event. Seats into $300 qualifiers are also awarded.

It's a way for the HPT to get into casinos where they've never been, and it also gives players who would be playing in weekly tournaments an added element of excitement, all while expanding the HPT brand name.

American Wins European Poker Tour San Remo
First EPT Event in Italy Attracts 701
By Ryan Lucchesi

The PokerStars.com European Poker Tour stop in San Remo, Italy, was won by 21-year-old American Jason Mercier, who took home $1.3 million. Mercier qualified for this €5,000 buy-in event online at PokerStars, and it was only his second live tournament.

The EPT's first stop in San Remo sold out, attracting 701 players, and it was the first major international tournament to be held in Italy. Many international professionals made the final table, where they faced off with the eventual champion. Five different countries were represented among the final eight players. Complete results of the tournament appear in the Tournament Results section of this issue.

Congressmen Introduce Bill to Stop UIGEA
Barney Frank and Ron Paul Want UIGEA Off the Books
By Bob Pajich

Congressmen Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Ron Paul (R-Texas) have teamed up to introduce a bill that would prevent employees of the federal government from implementing the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).
If passed, H.R. 5767, introduced on April 10, would prohibit the Treasury and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from "proposing, prescribing, or implementing any regulation that requires the financial services industry to identify and block Internet gambling transactions."

The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve System were given the task of writing the UIGEA rules that banks will have to eventually follow unless this bill is passed.

Frank is the main sponsor and Paul is the first co-sponsor of the bill. Both men expressed concern about the proposed rules and regulations of the UIGEA at a subcommittee hearing that took place on April 2. Both believe that the federal government shouldn't legislate morality, and also warned that they don't believe the financial system can handle the policing task of identifying and stopping all transactions between Americans and what the UIGEA calls "illegal Internet gambling" companies.

Paul submitted this written testimony during the hearing on the proposed UIGEA rules: "The ban on Internet gambling infringes upon two freedoms that are important to many Americans: the ability to do with their money as they see fit, and the freedom from government interference with the Internet. The regulations and underlying bill also force financial institutions to act as law enforcement officers. This is another pernicious trend that has accelerated in the aftermath of the Patriot Act, the deputization of private businesses to perform intrusive enforcement and surveillance functions that the federal government is unwilling to perform on its own."

The hearing was titled "Proposed UIGEA Regulations: Burden Without Benefit?" and was held for the Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade, and Technology Committee, which is a subcommittee of the House Committee of Financial Services. It included scathing testimony from representatives of several banking organizations, as well as representatives of both the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve System.

The written testimony from all of the witnesses can be found at www.house.gov/apps/list/hearing/financialsvcs_dem/hr040208.shtml.

Paul then urged his colleagues to support Frank's H.R. 2046, which calls for the licensing and taxing of Internet gambling. It was introduced last April, has 46 co-sponsors, and remains in committee.

For more information, please visit www.CardPlayer.com/link/uigeahearing.

SpadeClub Spotlight

The latest $5,000 weekly winners

Donivan "SpclDelivery" Taylor, 43, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, is one of SpadeClub's most recent $5,000 weekly event winners. Playing on SpadeClub is something his whole family enjoys, as he first heard about the club from his nephew, and his wife has already reached the final table of SpadeClub's biggest event, the $40,000 monthly tournament. Taylor encourages anyone who is looking to step up his game to become a SpadeClub member.

Anthony "LukaBloom" Calcia, 52, of Massachusetts, is another recent winner of SpadeClub's $5,000 weekly event. Calcia's SpadeClub screen name derives from his favorite singer/songwriter, Luka Bloom, of Ireland. He has been playing poker for more than 40 years and enjoys the opportunity that SpadeClub gives him to branch out from his typical limit hold'em game to play no-limit hold'em tournaments without any risk. Calcia enjoys the forum that SpadeClub creates for players to compete without having to risk anything.

To view the complete interviews with SpadeClub winners, please visit www.spadeclub.com/news.



Benefits of the Club

Being a SpadeClub Exclusive member not only allows you to learn, play, and enjoy the game, but also enables you to receive substantial discounts with SpadeClub's preferred partner relationships. Receive discounts on WPT Boot Camps, Card Player Cruises trips, and Card Player Pro just for being an Exclusive member on SpadeClub. WPT Boot Camps feature live instructors, exciting locations, and integrated multimedia courseware. Card Player Cruises offers SpadeClub members low-cost poker cruises to exotic destinations. Card Player Pro features play-by-play analysis through coaching videos hosted by pros. All of these discounts, with more to come, are available to SpadeClub Exclusive members.

Take full advantage of all that SpadeClub has to offer by visiting www.spadeclub.com/prizes.

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Bust-A-Shulman
If you bust a Shulman, owners of Card Player Media, in a tournament, and the Shulman you bust is in the money, you will receive his or her winnings! The screen names to go after are: Barry, Happy, and Allyn.

To view more SpadeClub promotions, visit www.spadeclub.com/promotions.

SpadeClub Gets Involved
On April 18, SpadeClub joined Jennifer Harman at The Venetian to support the Nevada SPCA, a no-kill animal shelter. The proceeds from last year's Jennifer Harman Charity Poker Tournament paid for two new wings to accommodate more animals. Participants in this year's event received SpadeClub totes filled with goodies.

Oklahoma Poker a Big Deal
Casinos in the State Focus on Poker
By Bob Pajich

Oklahoma may not be the first place that comes to mind when thinking of poker hotbeds, but for locals and residents of bordering states, that's exactly what has happened, thanks to a commitment to poker from several casinos and a history of poker in the state.

"Oklahoma had some of the best poker players before poker became legal in this state," said Jimmie Sims, poker room manager for Cherokee Casino Tulsa. "They've been playing poker around here for years and years. I think they like the camaraderie and the games."

With six poker rooms and two properties making poker one of their featured products, playing poker in Oklahoma has never been easier or more competitive. According to Sims, who has been the poker room manager in Tulsa since day one, about three-and-a-half years ago, more players in Oklahoma and bordering states who would normally head to Tunica or even Las Vegas to get their poker fix discovered that there are great cardrooms located in their backyards.

"I think it's going to continue to go strong; the more major events that we can hold, I think we can draw a lot of that Tunica market," he said. "I'm starting to see a slow trend of them working their way to Oklahoma."

Both the Cherokee and WinStar casinos are gearing up for events this summer. WinStar, located near the Oklahoma-Texas border, has even created a TV show to help promote its $2,000 WinStar World Championship Series of Poker, which will be held in August. The show, called The River, has been picked up by ABC affiliates in Oklahoma and Dallas.

Producers are filming monthly $440 supersatellites, and will start airing the shows starting in June. Supersatellites are scheduled to be held on May 25, June 8, June 29, July 13, July 27, Aug. 3, and Aug. 10. Feeders for them cost $55 and run around-the-clock.

The Cherokee Casino in Tulsa will soon hold its Mid-South Poker Classic. This tournament, scheduled for May 15-26, is marketed as a regional event and features buy-ins ranging from $120 to the $1,080 championship event.

In November, the fifth Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge will also be held there. Cherokee and Nguyen got together in part because Nguyen's wife is a native of the state. He has helped make the formerly named Oklahoma State Poker Championship one of the region's biggest events.

Last November, T.J. Cloutier won the $5,000 championship event and its $240,000 top prize. Gavin Smith and Bill Edler also were at the final table. In 20 events, the casino attracted more than 7,200 players.

Besides just being poker-crazed, Sims believes there's another reason why players return to play poker in his home state: "The poker atmosphere just seems very friendly compared to a lot of poker rooms," he said. "It's that Midwest hospitality, I guess."

Ask Jack

Have a question about a specific tournament poker rule or past ruling you've encountered? E-mail Bellagio Tournament Director Jack McClelland: [email protected].

Josh: I run a poker room on the Strip, and this situation happened recently. In a $1-$2 no-limit hold'em game, there was a live straddle. The player who straddled raised to $20, and the dealer missed it. The dealer started the flop, but only the doorcard was exposed. They called me over, and I ruled that even though all of the players had seen a flop card, they could still decide whether or not to call the raise and take the rest of the flop. Looking back, I think that I may have been wrong, and that the deck should have been reshuffled for a new flop. Did I make the wrong decision?

Jack: Since the action was not complete before the flop, the deck should have been reshuffled. Sorry, Josh.

Caesars Palace to Run Mega Stack Series Starting in June
Features Small Buy-Ins and Deep Starting Stacks
By Kristy Arnett

The largest poker room in Las Vegas is at Caesars Palace, and this summer, it is running its first-ever Mega Stack Series from June 1 through July 9.

Competing against the draw of World Series of Poker events, the Mega Stack Series is looking to attract players who want smaller buy-in events with a major tournament feel. All 38 preliminary events have buy-ins that range from $200 to $500, and feature deep starting stacks.

"Players are going to get more value for the dollar than they will find at any of our competitors' rooms," said Poker Room Manager Jim Pedulla. "They are going to get huge starting stacks and a great structure that gives them more time to play. Also, our poker room has the ability to host 600 players plus alternates, all in the same room, so no one will have to feel segregated from the tournament."

Registration begins at 10 a.m. and the events begin at noon. All preliminary events feature 50-minute blinds levels. Most events are open-field no-limit hold'em tournaments, but the series also includes Omaha eight-or-better, pot-limit Omaha, limit hold'em, and seniors events.

The series will culminate with a $1,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em championship event that begins on July 7. Players will start with 25,000 in chips and 60-minute blinds levels.

"We are very excited, and our staff is ready to serve the players. We think the Mega Stack Series is going to be the talk around town this year," said Pedulla.

Nevada SPCA Opens New Wing, Thanks to Jennifer Harman
Last Year's Charity Poker Tournament Raised $130,000 for the Organization to Add Much Needed Space
By Kristy Arnett

The charitable efforts of high-stakes pro Jennifer Harman materialized at the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of a new wing that was made possible by last year's Jennifer Harman Charity Poker Tournament.

"The thing that inspired me to get involved with this shelter is that I love the fact that they don't kill their animals, and that they try to find every single animal a home," said Harman. "It's just a wonderful facility, and anything that I can do to help them out, I'm here."

Help is exactly what she and many other people in the poker community did by taking part in the event last year. Poker pros, animal lovers, and fans alike put up the $300 recommended donation or buy-in to play in the tournament, and with $200 optional rebuy donations, the event was successful in raising $130,000 for the NSPCA.

"It is amazing what even $1,000 donated can do here, let alone $130,000," said Doug Duke, executive director of the NSPCA, a local no-kill animal sanctuary. "We are so grateful. By adding the new section, it is possible that we are going to save about 1,000 animals."

Attending the ribbon-cutting ceremony were a few of Harman's close friends, including Doyle Brunson, Chau Giang, Hoyt Corkins, Chip and Karina Jett, and Tournament Director Matt Savage. Also showing support was Kathy Raymond, the director of poker operations at The Venetian Resort Hotel and Casino, which is the venue that will host the 2008 event, which is expected to generate even more money than last year's tournament.

Erik Seidel Takes POY Lead



Erik Seidel is now officially the man to beat in this year's Card Player Player of the Year race. The quiet superstar is having maybe his best year playing tournament poker, and that's saying a lot for a guy who has more than $8.7 million in tournament winnings. He now has 3,700 POY points and $1.8 million in winnings so far in 2008.

Seidel took the POY lead from Michael McDonald by making his second final table of a major event in 2008 at the World Poker Tour Foxwoods Poker Classic, which he won. The $992,000 top prize was Seidel's largest tournament cash ever. He also was the runner-up in this year's Aussie Millions $8,800 main event, which was good for his second-largest tournament cash ($880,000).

There's no doubt that Seidel is a master poker player. A Full Tilt Poker professional, he has eight World Series of Poker bracelets and came one mistimed all in away from winning the main event in 1988. Last year, Seidel finished second to Erick Lindgren in the Aussie Millions $100,000 buy-in event, which was good for $440,000. He then went on to win his most recent WSOP bracelet.

Like Seidel, the man who beat him in the 1988 WSOP main event, Johnny Chan, continues to have a fantastic career. His more than $5.3 million in tournament winnings puts Chan near the top of the all-time money list, but Seidel keeps nudging a little higher. Chan, on the other hand, owns two more WSOP bracelets than Seidel. He's tied with Doyle Brunson, one behind the record-holder, Phil Hellmuth, who has 11.

Look Out!
Californian Ryan Young is continuing what he started in 2007, when he cashed a dozen times in tournaments all over the country. In 2006, he cashed once. So far in 2008, he's cashed four times for $437,698, with most of that coming from his runner-up finish in the Wynn Classic $10,000 event in March. He also had a win in a $500 event at the Larry Flynt's Spring Fever tournament for another $32,100. He's in 43rd place in the Player of the Year standings with 1,320 points. He has more than $1.3 million in tournament winnings since 2005.



Upcoming on the Tournament Trail

Charting Strategy in Tournament Play
By Justin Rollo

Many players seem to be caught up on the notion of when and when not to take coin flips or 60-40 situations in tournaments. While there isn't a concrete answer to this question, there are three certainties in life: death, taxes, and the need to win flips to win a tournament. The only real question to ask is not one of if, but when.



In the chart above, $ev is monetary estimated value, or how much in real dollars a move means to you; cEV is chip estimated value, or how much in chips you will gain from a move. As you see in the chart, as a tournament goes deeper, $ev becomes more important then cEV.

When you are early in a tournament and are facing a situation in which you are likely 50-50 and have already put chips in, you are usually in a positive ev situation when calling. Therefore, based on this chart, I would likely be taking these risks early while not taking as many of them late. Taking 50-50s late creates large variance in your overall $ev, which is most important late in tournaments.

Let's say that you have A-K early in a tournament and open for a raise, and then face an all-in bet by a villain who shows J-J faceup. I am more likely to make this call based on the fact that I have already committed chips and will likely show a profit based on the pot odds I am receiving. Now let us make this same hand the first hand of a final table, with the disparity between ninth- and first-place finishes. Assuming that I have an edge at the final table, I will fold the A-K many times, because I am generally not gaining enough $ev from the play, even though it might be barely a positive cEV. The times I lose, in general, cost me more money in the long run than the amount I lose when losing the flip (the difference between ninth and, say, third).

Another good example of this topic would be if you have 12 big blinds and a stack of five big blinds pushes on you in the big blind. Generally, you would be getting more than 2-1 and should be making this call with any two cards against a normal villain, as having one live card gives you sufficient odds to call. However, now let's say that this situation happens with seven players left in a tournament, two of whom are also very short. When we look at the $ev, it now becomes a fold, as gaining the four big blinds available likely gains you little to no money long term, whereas waiting for a slightly better spot to get chips in the middle benefits you far greater in terms of $ev.

In one of my recent videos, a hand came up that illustrates this concept:


I held A-K late in a multitable tournament and opted to fold to a raise and a reraise preflop, because when factoring in player images and table position, I could be extremely confident that I was flipping a coin, at best. While I may happily four-bet early on in a tournament in this situation, the effect of taking this gamble in terms of $ev at the final two tables simply was not worth it. My stack was already healthy, and my chances of taking a top-three finish, while improved by a win on this hand, would not have improved enough to force a shove.

There were other factors that made folding even more clear. My under-the-gun opponent's small stack and strong open from early position made it impossible for me to profitably call the reraise, as I would very often face an all-in bet. Also, the button's stack made this very tough to play post-flop, as I was out of position. Lastly, the button was new to the table, which meant I had no reads on his style or aggressiveness.

These are obviously only some of the determining factors when deciding to call or fold. Yet, this is the general theme in how tournament decisions are made, in conjunction with pot odds, player images, and stack sizes. If nothing else, use this principle to help guide each play that you make.

Card Player Pro, in partnership with SpadeClub, offers special promotions for SpadeClub Exclusive members, including discounts and no sign-up fee! Check out www.SpadeClub.com and click on Club Rewards for details.

djk123 Plays the Villain's Hand, Not His Own
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.



The villain limps in from the button in the first hand of heads-up play; djk123 checks his option with the 6 5.

Craig Tapscott: Great players say the key to winning is putting themselves in their opponent's head and playing their opponent's hand, not their own. Share how you do that.

Daniel "djk123" Kelly: Well, his limp is generally a sign of weakness, so raising is an option. But given that I thought I had a decent post-flop edge on the villain, and that I was out of position, I decided to just check.

Flop: A 7 4 (35,200 pot)

djk123 checks.

CT: This is a pretty good flop for you.

DK: The villain's preflop limp significantly reduces the chance that he has an ace in his hand. However, I expect him to bluff this flop a lot. I like a check-raise in this spot, because it gets value from his bluffs and appears very strong. Unfortunately, the villain spoils that strategy.

The villain checks.

Turn: K (35,200)

CT: What did you learn from that check?

DK: Well, it indicates one of two things: He has either a mediocre hand with showdown value, or nothing and decided not to bluff the flop. I decide to bet as a semibluff.

djk123 bets 24,000; the villain raises to 96,000.

CT: Uh-oh.

DK: At first glance, the villain's raise looks quite strong, but he's actually representing a very narrow range of hands. If he had a one-pair hand, he most likely would just call instead of raise, since raising would turn his hand into a bluff. So, by raising, he has a hand that is two pair or better, or he has a bluff/semibluff. In other words, his range is "polarized."

CT: Explain.

DK: Given his limp preflop, we can almost completely eliminate 4-4, 7-7, K-K, A-A, A-4, A-7, and A-K from his range. We are left with 7-4, K-7, and K-4, which are not many hands at all. After taking that information into account, I decided it was likely that the villain was bluffing.

CT: So, it's time to reraise?

DK: If I were to reraise, I would probably shove all in, since I wouldn't want to give him the chance to do something crazy, like flat-calling or four-bet bluffing. A poker player should always strive to make the most positive EV [expected value] play. I decided to just call, with the intention of check-raising all in on most rivers. By waiting until the river to bluff, I gain an extra bet when he follows through with his bluff. Although this delayed bluff is risky, since it would be disastrous if he gave up and checked behind on the river, I was confident that he would follow through with his bluff, based on the way he had been playing.

djk123 calls 96,000.

River: A (227,200 pot)

djk123 checks; the villain bets 112,000.

DK: This was a perfect river for me to check-raise bluff. First of all, if he had been semibluffing with a diamond flush draw, he missed. Secondly, it is now mathematically less likely that he holds an ace. Furthermore, since the ace counterfeits K-7, K-4, and 7-4, I would expect him to check behind with those hands sometimes, because weak multitable tournament players are not good at value-betting lightly. As a result, his betting range on the river is polarized between a huge hand and air. The logical conclusion is that he is bluffing most of the time.

djk123 shoves all in for 986,818; the villain folds; djk123 wins the huge pot.

Daniel Kelly is a top-ranked online tournament player with more than $1 million in cashes. Most recently, he topped the world's best online players in the highly regarded PokerStars daily $100 rebuy event with multiple wins of more than $30,000 each. And he won the PokerStars 2007 World Championship of Online Poker $215 plus rebuys pot-limit Omaha second-chance event for $41,515.

Basebaldy Hits One Out of the Park
By Shawn Patrick Green

Eric "basebaldy" Baldwin has come a long way from playing poker to avoid doing homework in high school. He squeezed in online poker here and there during college to pay for beer and food, but now he earns enough on the poker felts to avoid a more mainstream career entirely.

Baldwin has been landing big scores both online and live for some time now, but he recently turned up the heat with his biggest cash ever when he took down a prelim at the Bellagio Five-Star World Poker Classic. That win netted him almost $150,000, and he had to plow through a final table full of very tough opponents to land his payday. He has made almost $350,000 live, and even more online.

Since Eric was already in Vegas, Card Player got him in our studio to talk about his beginnings in poker and his tournament-winning strategies.

Shawn Patrick Green: What tactics did you use to move your way up the ranks, and what did you use to improve your game?

Eric "basebaldy" Baldwin: Well, I'm a book guy. I hear a lot of the top online guys saying that they've never read a poker book - but that's not me. When the Harrington on Hold'em series came out, I studied those like textbooks; I actually took notes on them. That really, really helped my game. Once everybody started learning all of that stuff, you had to go on Internet forums and read new books to find out how to play against what everyone was doing. The game evolves so much, it's incredible.

SPG: Actually, that's an interesting point. What do you think about the longevity of poker books as far as once everyone has read them and started incorporating their contents into their game is concerned? Are the books now useless and you have to find a new book with new tactics?

EB: I definitely think that the poker book market is getting pretty saturated, because most of the new ideas are already out there, and now it's just "how to play against that idea." And then you just get into second- and third-leveling the things that you learn in those books, so almost the next thing to do would be to read a psychology book.

SPG: There have always been a lot of poker players who aren't necessarily beginners, but they aren't necessarily pros; they're kind of stuck in a rut somewhere in the middle. They're reading all of the books, they're talking to friends about hands, they're doing all of the prerequisite stuff, but they still don't seem to be going anywhere. Do you have any recommendations, maybe, for how they can step up to the next level?

EB: I think the best advice I could give to any poker player, really, is to never stop trying to get better. There's always room to improve, and when you get complacent, and when you stop trying to get better -- I've seen it happen to a lot of people -- there's a downward spiral that starts. There's so much luck involved in the game; you'll run hot for one week and start thinking that you know everything, and then the next week, you run bad. But there's so much luck involved in the game that you can blame your losing on bad luck. You can go on doing that for months, and during those months, you're not improving your game.

And in the meantime, other people are learning new strategies to exploit what you're doing. So then you get passed by and get into a bad habit, and you think you're running bad; it's just a bad spiral that's tough to get out of. So, I would say, just never get complacent and keep trying to learn.

SPG: How would you describe your style of play, in particular?

EB: My style in multitable tournaments, I would say, is pretty low-variance. I try to stay away from neutral EV [expected value] plays and even some slightly positive EV plays, because I find that at most of these tournaments, you're going to find great spots. There are enough bad players in the fields that you're going to find a great spot, but you're not going to have the opportunity to exploit that spot if you took a coin flip that you didn't necessarily have to and you're watching from the rail. So, I try to play a lower variance and keep pots small, and stay away from marginal spots. But, at the same time, I'm not afraid to gamble if the situation calls for it.

SPG: Can you give an example of what you would consider a marginal spot?

EB: For example, if I open a pot and raise, and a player behind me reraises all in, I run the math. I try to put him on a range of hands, and then I see how my hand plays against that range of hands, and I look at the pot odds. Let's say it's a break-even call, just going by the math and what I think he's reraising me with. Unless I dislike my situation at the table, I'll pass on it.

If I have a bunch of really great players on my left and don't like my situation, I'll take a coin flip because I want to play a higher-variance style. But if I'm at a table with a lot of bad players I think I can take advantage of, I'll just pass on that opportunity.

SPG: Take me through your thought process in any given hand at a full table in a tournament. What considerations do you make, and how do you factor those into your final decision?

EB: One thing that I think really helps me a lot is trying to figure out what's going to happen in a hand before I'm even dealt or even look at my cards. I'll think about what my image is and what the stack sizes and playing styles are on my left, and what they're likely to do if I open a pot. If I think I'm likely to take the blinds and antes because of my table setup and image, I'm likely to raise with any two cards. But, at the same time, if I think I'm likely to get reraised by someone behind me and I have a marginal hand, like A-10 or something, there's no reason to put those chips in the pot. If you're just going to fold when you get reraised, you're turning A-10 into 4-2, because you're never going to see a flop with it.

Chatbox Cunning

Peter "#1PEN" Neff

On taking advantage of short stacks near the bubble:
"Let's say there are 10 or 11 people left in the tournament, so you're on the final-table bubble, and there's one stack of six or seven big blinds and a bunch of stacks of between 12 and 20 big blinds. You can raise their big blinds all of the time. You can reraise and put them all in with moderate hands, because they can't call off all of the time. There are just little things like that; they're not going to call off all of their chips if there's a short stack who is almost out of the tournament and they're going to get to the final table, where the whole dynamic of the tournament changes. So, I think a lot of people play to make the final table, and you can pick that off and use that as an advantage to you."

On the difference in strategies he employs for low-stakes tournaments compared to high-stakes tournaments:
"There's a big difference. I play a lot of tournaments, so the difference between playing a $100 freezeout and a $1,000 freezeout, like on Stars or Full Tilt, is huge. You're playing two different levels of competition. In the $1,000 freezeout, you're going to be playing, I think, a much tighter range. I don't think you can open as many pots or steal as much, and you have to always be aware of your opponents' reraising ranges. When you're in a $100 freezeout and the field is so much weaker, you can steal and resteal a lot more easily, and you can just get away with things much more easily than you can in a $1,000 freezeout. I think that's the biggest difference between the two."

On when, if ever, it makes sense not to add on in a rebuy tournament:
"I don't think I've ever not added on in a tournament. If you think you have an edge in the field, I think it's a smart idea to add on. If you're not adding on, I think you're not a positive-EV player in that kind of field. I've had stacks that were more than 20,000 or 30,000 and I've still added on, just because I was still getting my money's worth. You put up $100, or whatever the buy-in is for the rebuy that you're playing, and you get more chips. You're still looking at the same exact ratio of money to chips in value. So, I don't think that it's ever right not to add on."

Russell Carson: The Hottest Player Online
By Craig Tapscott

Some Internet poker forums debate whether Russell "rdcrsn" Carson ever sleeps. Pull up ringside on any given day and there he sits online, usually at a final table, usually with the chip lead. A typical day will include firing up about 35 tournaments over 12 hours, sometimes deciphering as many as 16 tables simultaneously, splayed out over three huge screens; overlapping, jumbled tables just don't sit well with his fine-tuned and meticulous sensibilities.

"It's all about the setup," said Carson. "When I travel, I take an extra screen to attach to my laptop. That allows me to play only 10 tables. If I can see the tables, and hands don't pop out of nowhere, I can process the information pretty fast."

It obviously works well for the former commerce student. One banner day this past January netted Carson a third-place finish in a Full Tilt Poker FTOPS event and a second in a PokerStars $200 no-limit hold'em tournament, for more than $108,000. Just seven days later, he would take down the coveted $200 rebuy event on PokerStars for $45,855, and also win the PokerRoom $500,000-guaranteed $1,000 buy-in Grand XXI event for $141,000.

Carson, a native Canadian, has cashed for more than $1.4 million over the last 14 months online. He hopes the hot streak continues when he brings his A-game to the upcoming World Series of Poker. And perhaps he'll have the opportunity to catch up on some well-earned sleep, with only two or three live events running daily.



Craig Tapscott: What helped your skills improve so fast when you switched from limit cash games to no-limit tournaments?

Russell Carson: Just playing a ridiculous number of hands. And as my bankroll grew, it allowed me to play bigger buy-in tournaments. I was then able to play with and watch some of the better players. I would notice what they were doing and learn the dynamics of no-limit. I never really had a mentor, read books, or participated in online forums.

CT: What key concept did you pick up during this time?

RC: I learned how to get maximum value out of my hands, especially later in tournaments. I usually will only call with something like A-A or K-K. I'm more inclined to see flops with huge hands, unless I'm certain that an opponent has a big hand, also - for example, when a super-tight player raises from under the gun. I'm trying to get that extra bet on the flop and make the opponent think I have what I don't have. I may even play my hand weakly after the flop to get even more chips. I hate three-betting and having a player fold when I have a premium hand.

CT: What else can you share?

RC: I learned to pay close attention to the 10-percent rule. If you have pocket pairs and are calling 10 percent of your stack off preflop, you have to make sure that your opponent is able to double you up. If not, you shouldn't be calling more than 10 percent of your stack. Example: If I'm holding 5-5 and a guy opens from middle position and he has only 5,000 and I have 10,000, I can't be calling there. I'm either reraising or folding.

CT: You've been red-hot these past few months. Has your approach to the game changed?

RC: I think my base and foundation as a player is basically tight-aggressive. But in the last six months, when I've built a stack, I've learned to open up my game and change gears. And I've also started to put in more volume to combat variance.

CT: That sounds way too simple.

RC: Well, overall, I just see things better now. Early on in my game, I would reraise with a hand like A-J from the cutoff, and when it was shoved over me, I would call. I thought A-J was the nuts back then [laughing]. But my thinking has improved and I understand table dynamics much better.

CT: What separates the good online players from the great ones?

RC: It's a combination of things. When there are 50 players left, the top players are usually making the final table. They know how to avoid situations that they shouldn't be in. We play our A-game for a full session. You can't throw away chip equity or money by making terrible plays. You have to learn to understand how much equity you're tossing away by not playing your A-game every hand, every tournament.

The River Pays for Ted Forrest
By Mike Sexton, the "Ambassador of Poker" and Commentator for the World Poker Tour

The Bay 101 Shooting Star tournament is the only event on the World Poker Tour where players have bounties on their heads. Knock out a designated poker star and collect $5,000 in cash. This creates a very festive and action-oriented atmosphere, and is a good reason why this tournament is one of the most enjoyable on the tour.

Season five's Bay 101 tournament was a historical one in the poker world. At the time, it featured the highest finish by a woman in the history of the WPT, as J.J. Liu finished as the runner-up to top-notch pro Ted Forrest. And as Ted will tell you, J.J. was a tough opponent, and it was a very tough heads-up battle for him.

They had been playing for a while, and the antes were 30,000 with the blinds at 120,000-240,000 when the key pot came up. Both players had more than 4 million in chips when J.J. raised it to 480,000 from the button with the Q J. Ted, who had about 900,000 more than J.J., called from the big blind with the K 5.

The flop was A-K-7 rainbow. Ted checked his pair of kings, and J.J. checked the straight draw right behind him. The 10 appeared on the turn, giving Ted two kings and the nut-flush draw. J.J. had made the ace-high straight - the nuts! I have no doubt that she was dreaming about becoming the first lady ever to capture a WPT title when that 10 came off, especially when Ted led out and bet 300,000.

If you were in J.J.'s shoes, what would you do now? You have the best hand possible against an aggressive player in front of you who called your preflop raise and then bet out on the turn (of course, you can't blame Ted for betting here; most players would). Would you just call to conceal the strength of your hand and perhaps trap your opponent, or go ahead and raise it here?

J.J. opted to just smooth-call. On the river, it was "bingo" for Ted, as the 2 came off, giving him the best hand possible, the nut flush. (Incredibly on this hand, J.J. made the nuts on the turn and Ted made the nuts on the river!)

Ted moved all in on the river and J.J. took a while pondering what to do. She knew the only way she could lose the pot was for Ted to have backed into a flush. She finally opted to call (which you can't blame her for), and it was all over.

Congratulations to Ted Forrest for capturing his first WPT title and to J.J. Liu for becoming the first woman to finish as the runner-up on the World Poker Tour. (Less than one year later, Van Nguyen, the wife of Men "The Master" Nguyen, became the first woman to capture a WPT title when she won the WPT Invitational at Commerce Casino.)

Easy Money
By David Apostolico

Too much liquidity in markets can prime the pump, leading to easy gains for quite some time. Of course, the party never lasts forever and the bubble always bursts, resulting in painful losses for those unprepared. In the late '90s, the Federal Reserve greatly increased liquidity in the markets in preparation for any potential Y2K problems. That certainly contributed to the great run-up in the stock market that ultimately came down hard. The availability of subprime mortgages, coupled with low interest rates and an easing of credit requirements, led to the run-up in the housing market, which caused the most recent bubble to burst.

Since this is a column for Card Player, you may wonder what any of this has to do with poker. Well, poker is no different from any other discipline. Too much liquidity, or easy money, doesn't last forever. Inevitably, things dry up and someone is left holding the bag. Let's explore how that can happen in poker. We've all seen the fast and loose cash-game player with deep pockets who is out for a good time and a lot of action. Making money is secondary to his primary need of entertainment. You'll watch this player dig into his pockets time and time again as someone else scoops a big pot. The temptation to play any two cards against him is very great. Yet, rarely will you force this player out of a pot, so the better course of action is to wait for a good (but not necessarily very strong) hand and try to isolate him. Every player has his threshold limit for losing, so you want to get your share before the party ends. You have to be selective in picking your spots, however.

Specifically, in tournaments, I've seen fairly mediocre players go on an unbelievable rush and accumulate a bunch of chips. You know they are going to give them all away at some point in time, as the bubble will always eventually burst. Again, the idea is to be patient and selective in picking your spots, to make sure that you get some of those chips while the easy money is there. What happens, however, when you are the one on a rush? We tend to be aware of going on tilt when things go badly, but players can also go on tilt when things are coming too easily. Even a hardened player can start to feel an air of invincibility when sitting behind a mountain of chips.

Inevitably, any rush is going to end - even yours. It can be very powerful -- and smart poker -- to use your baig stack as leverage. Just be sure that you are adopting a big-stack strategy and not playing just because you believe you can't lose and the money will keep coming your way. Concentrate on making correct decisions for the situation, taking into account all factors. Certainly, the size of your chip stack and the fact that your opponents may be afraid to go up against you should figure into the mix, and you may be able to use that to your advantage if you retain objectivity and stay detached emotionally. There's a big difference between adjusting to the current situation in a completely objective manner and playing a rush just because you want easy money. If you are looking for easy money, the party will end much quicker.

David Apostolico is the author of numerous books on poker, including Tournament Poker and The Art of War and Poker Strategies for a Winning Edge in Business. You can contact him at [email protected].