Inside Straight

The GPSTS is Out to Educate the World
Harvard-Based College Organization Set to Launch Online Curriculum
By Bob Pajich

The Harvard-based Global Poker Strategic Thinking Society (GPSTS) continues its mission of promoting poker as an important educational tool with an ambitious project that will give students at schools with GPSTS chapters access to a free online poker curriculum.

Its goal is nothing short of bringing the best poker minds of the world together to provide a place on the Web where students can become better poker players and also use those skills in life. GPSTS founders believe that the great popularity of online poker is an opportunity to educate, challenge, and inspire.

Andrew Woods, current Harvard law student and president of the GPSTS, says this community-fed project is essential to the goal of the organization.

This is an extension of the GPSTS's mission. It now has chapters in 18 colleges and universities, and constantly brings poker players and stalwarts of the poker industry to campuses to talk to students about many different subjects, all loosely or not so loosely tied to the game of poker.

"Our kind of dream is to give a different take on learning, to have something that is fun to them and engages them, but at the same time, engages them in a traditional academic sense," Woods said.

Poker may be just a simple game to pass time or make some extra bucks to many, but the GPSTS and certain college educators believe that poker is actually a microcosm of the human psyche that requires a skill set that can be used in everything from business to diplomacy to menial everyday negotiations.

This is a natural move for the GPSTS. Its founder, law professor Charles Nesson, has taught classes virtually since the birth of the Internet, and believes that it could be used to level the educational playing field worldwide. He's even taught a class through the online game Second Life.

In real life, Card Player contributor, World Series of Poker final-table participant, and Art Institute of Chicago English professor Jim McManus has been teaching a version of a poker literature class for more than a decade.

It includes a mix of poker theory books and literature, such as the A. Alvarez classic The Biggest Game in Town. McManus himself contributed to poker literature by writing Positively Fifth Street, which chronicles the game and his unlikely trip to the WSOP main-event final table in 2000. He finished fifth in the championship that Chris Ferguson won.

McManus will publish a history of poker called Cowboy Full: The Story of Poker next year through Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Through his research, he discovered that the skills of poker - particularly the bluff - have been used "not only in personal relationships, but also in terms of nuclear diplomacy."

He said, "Today, you cannot read an article about Iranian or North Korean nuclear capability without the world 'bluff' appearing. There's no game that's more intimately connected to nuclear military and diplomatic strategy in the nuclear age."

That alone gives poker the weight to be taken seriously at the collegiate level, and the GPSTS hopes to further the educational value of the game through both its chapters and its new online curriculum. Check out the GPSTS website for information on how to take part in this experiment.

California Intrastate Poker Bill Shelved Until 2009
It is Now in the Inactive Legislative File
By Bob Pajich

The California bill that would tax and regulate an intrastate online poker industry will not go any further in 2008.

The bill, A.B. 2026, introduced by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, has been put in the inactive legislative file by its author, at the request of Poker Voters of America, who pushed for the law.

According to Jim Tabilo, president of the PVOA, a revised bill will be introduced in early 2009 with a bipartisan group of new co-authors in the Assembly and Senate.

If passed, the bill would allow existing state poker rooms to apply for licenses to run online poker sites for citizens of California only.

Titled the Gambling Control/California Intrastate Online Poker Act, A.B. 2026 was introduced in February and made it through several committees before stalling. The PVOA believes that it simply ran out of time this year and would not be able to make the necessary changes in order for the bill to pass, and it is pleased that online poker is now on the radar in California.

"A year ago, no one was even thinking about an intrastate online poker system. Since then, A.B. 2026 was approved by two Assembly committees, passed the full Assembly, was then approved by two Senate committees, and went to the floor of the state Senate. Then, we just ran out of time to make necessary changes," Tabilo said.

In mid-October, the PVOA is holding a conference to bring poker stakeholders, regulators, staffs, and legislators together to inform them completely about the efforts of the PVOA.

"We want to provide enough detailed information so that stakeholders, including Native American tribes and licensed card clubs in California, can work in cooperation with Poker Voters to craft specific legislation that will provide the best path to build a system that quickly generates income for operators and revenue for the state," he said.

Caesars Palace Classic Slated for October
$1 Million First-Place Guarantee for Main Event
By Kristy Arnett

The second-annual Caesars Palace Classic is set to run Oct. 16-30 inside the Las Vegas Strip's largest poker room, and the main event is once again guaranteeing a $1 million first-place prize.

Leading up to that championship tournament are 16 preliminary events. Buy-ins range from $550 to $2,080 and include events in the following variations: no-limit hold'em, limit hold'em, pot-limit Omaha, Omaha eight-or-better, H.O.R.S.E., and pot-limit hold'em and pot-limit Omaha mixed. There are also heads-up, ladies-only, and six-handed events.

Events with buy-ins of $1,000 and less have 50-minute levels, while events with buy-ins of more than $1,000 have 60-minute levels. All events will offer deep-stack play, as the starting chip stacks will be 10 times the buy-in.

On each day of the tournament series, there will be a second-chance tournament at 7 p.m. with a $200 buy-in, and a last-chance tournament at 11 p.m. with a $120 buy-in.

The $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em championship is scheduled for Oct. 28-30, and it will feature an unprecedented starting chip stack of 100,000. Blinds will increase every 75 minutes.

Single-table satellites will run during the entire series with buy-ins starting at $65. There will be supersatellites for the main event on Oct. 27; at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., the buy-in is $550, and at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., it's $1,060.

Last year, David Singer defeated 287 players and a star-studded final table that included Kido Pham and Scott Fischman, who finished second and third, respectively. Singer was awarded the $1 million first-place prize.

Players can qualify for a freeroll that will award 10 $10,000 Caesars Palace Classic main-event seats by logging 40 hours of live play from Oct. 1 to Oct. 26. For more information, call the poker room at (702) 785-6566.

'Slaktarn' Wins $25,000 Heads-Up Omaha Event on Full Tilt
Patrik Antonius was the Runner-Up
By Bob Pajich

Full Tilt recently held its $25,000 heads-up pot-limit Omaha world championship, an event that attracted 64 of the best poker players in the industry.

Online player "Slaktarn" beat Patrik Antonius to win the $560,000 top prize. Antonius had to beat Hac "trex313" Dang in the Elite Eight and then Di "urindanger" Dang in the Final Four in order to advance and take down $320,000 after he declined to negotiate a deal when heads-up play began.

Eight players made the money, with fifth through eighth place receiving $96,000 each, third and fourth, $168,000 each, and the rest going to the top two. Steve Sung and David Benefield were among those to make it to the Elite Eight.

This was the second huge buy-in heads-up event held on Full Tilt. David Singer won the first $25,000 heads-up no-limit hold'em event held on the site in May.

Thanks to the hefty buy-in, Slaktarn won more money than if he had won either the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship or the World Series of Poker heads-up event.

The full bracket is available on the Full Tilt Poker website.

Nam Le Wins APPT High-Roller Event
Emerges With the Victory After 11 Hours at the Final Table
By Ryan Lucchesi

Nam Le won $474,358 when he defeated Andrew Scott heads up to win the Asia Pacific Poker Tour high-roller event in Macau. The event attracted 61 players and featured a prize pool of $1,282,038. Many top players were drawn to the event, but only the final nine received prize money. Quinn Do finished in third place, taking home $153,846. It was a good week for Le and Do, who, along with J.C. Tran, signed deals to represent the Asian Poker Tour during their trip to Macau.

Johnny Chan also made the final table, and finished in seventh place. David Steicke continued his recent strong run at the Macau stop on the APPT by finishing in fifth place. He dominated the first two days of the event, and took the chip lead to the final table. Also, Steicke finished in 10th place in the APPT Macau main event, just missing the final table.

Ask Jack

Matt: Recently, I was playing in a cash game, and between hands, two players were speaking another language. I asked the floorman to enforce the English-only rule, as I thought that they could be sharing information about hands being played that the rest of us could not understand. One of the two gentlemen said that the rule applies only during the play of a hand. The floorman agreed and said that the two men could speak their own language at the table as long as neither of them was in the hand? Is this correct?

Jack: No. They can speak another language at the table only if there is no hand going on. If there is a hand in progress at the table and the two want to speak in another language, they must get up and move away from the table. There may be other players at the table in any given hand who can understand the language being spoken.

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

Las Vegas Hard Rock Officially Opens Poker Lounge
By Kristy Arnett

In true rocker style, the Poker Lounge at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas hosted an official grand opening that included a flashy red carpet and star-studded tournament.

Festivities kicked off with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in which Las Vegas Mayor Oscar B. Goodman and Doyle Brunson shared the honor.

The tournament was busting at the seams, as every single seat in the 18-table room was filled. More than 100 alternates were forced to wait, but were able to take advantage of the free gourmet appetizers and open bar. Those who busted out from the tournament got the consolation prize of attending a party at Hard Rock's famous pool.

At the end of the night, the player with all the chips was Pam Brunson, daughter of Doyle. She outlasted everyone to take home the first-place prize, which was a custom-made Hard Rock chopper motorcycle, a collector's piece that has been a valuable part of the casino's history.

John Phan Increases His Player of the Year Lead
By Ryan Lucchesi

John Phan continued his hot streak at the Borgata Poker Open, making his seventh final table of the year and finishing seventh in a $5,000 no-limit hold'em event. With the $45,600 cash, he earned 276 Player of the Year (POY) points and now has 6,677 points, increasing his lead over Erik Seidel to more than 2,000 points.

Phan wasn't the only player busy adding to his point total since the last issue, as three different players claimed victories worth more than 2,000 POY points. The first was Sebastian Ruthenberg, who defeated 618 players at the European Poker Tour Barcelona Open to tally 2,400 points. This victory, combined with Ruthenberg's win in event No. 33 ($10,000 seven-card stud eight-or-better world championship) at the 2008 World Series of Poker, gives the young German 3,648 points and victories on two of the world's premier poker circuits in just a few months. Ruthenberg is now in fourth place on the POY leader board. Edward Sabat charged up to ninth place with his victory in the Asia Pacific Poker Tour Macau main event. He was awarded 2,880 points for the win, and he now has 3,413 points on the year. Sabat defeated a field of 538 players to win $453,851 in prize money. The third 2,000-point winner was Alain Roy, who won the Partouche Poker Tour main event in Cannes. Roy walked away from the final table with €1,000,000 and 2,400 POY points. These were the first POY points of the year for Roy.

Phan and these three winners weren't the only players making noise in the POY ranks. David Chiu finished in 11th place in the APPT Macau main event, and that gave him 144 POY points, which was just enough to pass Men "The Master" Nguyen for the 11th-place spot on the POY leader board. Two players at the EPT Barcelona Open also added to big wins from earlier in the year with final-table appearances in Spain. Davidi Kitai was the second European player who won a gold bracelet at the 2008 WSOP and was at the EPT final table, joining Ruthenberg. Kitai busted out in third place and took home €455,000. He also chalked up 1,600 POY points, bringing his total to 3,200. Kitai now sits in 13th place. Jason Mercier finished in sixth place in Barcelona, and it marked the second time he had made an EPT final table in the last three EPT tournaments. He won the EPT San Remo in April. He was awarded €227,000 for his sixth-place finish, along with 800 POY points, putting him in 27th place with 2,720 points.

Finally, not even the threat of the approaching Hurricane Gustav could stop Vinny Pahuja at the Gulf Coast Poker Championship. This top POY candidate cashed twice before the Beau Rivage Casino closed shop. He finished in 23rd place in a $300 no-limit hold'em event and then followed that up by making the final table of a $500 no-limit hold'em event, where he finished in fourth place and won $9,267 and 180 POY points. Pahuja now sits in eighth place with 3,450 points.

Sebastian Ruthenberg Wins the 2008 European Poker Tour Barcelona Open

Buy-in €8,000
Players 619
Prize Pool €4,952,000
First-Place Prize €1,361,000

The European Poker Tour began its fifth season by breaking a record. The Barcelona Open kicked off the tour, and it did so by attracting 619 players to the Gran Casino on the shores of the Mediterranean. This was the largest field ever for this event, creating a prize pool of €4,952,000, and a large first-place prize of €1,361,000.

Sixty-four places were paid in the event, and two players made a very deep run for the second year in a row; Voitto Rintala from Finland finished in 17th place after placing 13th one year ago, and Davidi Kitai, who finished in 11th place last year and just missed the final table, made the final eight in 2008.

Here is a look at the final-table chip counts when play began:

Seat 1 Martin Nielsen (Denmark) 1,229,000
Seat 2 Davidi Kitai (Belgium) 600,000
Seat 3 Dren Ukella (Germany) 734,000
Seat 4 Jason Mercier (USA) 526,000
Seat 5 Samuel Chartier (Canada) 879,000
Seat 6 Daniele Mazzia (Italy) 359,000
Seat 7 Fintan Gavin (Ireland) 701,000
Seat 8 Sebastian Ruthenberg (Germany) 1,204,000

Daniele Mazzia doubled up during the first major action at the final table, and it was something he would do many times before the night was over. Jason Mercier also doubled up before Martin Nielsen was eliminated in eighth place, and Samuel Chartier quickly followed him out of the tournament in seventh place. Mercier was the next player to fall in sixth place, just missing his quest to become the first player in EPT history to win two events. Dren Ukella fell in fifth place, and Mazzia, after his pocket nines ran into Kitai's pocket tens, finally fell in fourth place. Mazzia represented the 71-player Italian contingent (the largest attendance in Barcelona by one nation) well.

The battle of the final three players saw multiple lead changes and violent swings in the players' stacks as they held on for dear life. Kitai was knocked out of the event in third place after moving all in with the A Q and losing a coin flip to Sebastian Ruthenberg's pocket fours. Fintan Gavin, long the big stack, held only 1,180,000 to Ruthenberg's 5,050,000 when the three-hand heads-up match began. On the last hand, Gavin moved all in with the 7♣ 4♥ and Ruthenberg picked him off with the K 9. The board provided some suspense with a flop of A 7 2, but when the turn and river came K, 8, Ruthenberg had his first EPT title and €1,361,000.

Here are the final-table results:

1 Sebastian Ruthenberg €1,361,000
2 Fintan Gavin €792,000
3 Davidi Kitai €455,000
4 Daniele Mazzia €351,000
5 Dren Ukella €292,000
6 Jason Mercier €227,000
7 Samuel Chartier €178,000
8 Martin Nielsen €119,000

Look Out:
Jason Mercier

Jason Mercier won his first major poker tournament in April, when he defeated a final table that included Dario Minieri at the European Poker Tour's first-ever stop in San Remo, Italy. Mercier took home $1,364,330 for the win, and also was awarded 1,920 Player of the Year (POY) points. "That gave me a ton of confidence, almost too much, actually," said Mercier of the win.
He then headed to Las Vegas and played in 22 events at the World Series of Poker. He cashed in just three of them, with his highest finish coming in a $2,500 no-limit hold'em event, where he finished in 13th place out of 1,397 players. He was awarded $30,203, but missed adding to his POY total by four spots. "Going into the World Series, I thought I was just going to run over people and go to a bunch of final tables. It kind of made me humble, and it made me realize that I still have a lot more to learn, and a lot more work to put in to get better at poker," said Mercier.

Mercier then made some good news of his own when he made the final table of the EPT Barcelona Open, and finished in sixth place out of the massive field of 619 players to take home €227,000 in prize money. Mercier, who now has made the final table at two of the last three EPT events, plans on traveling to the WSOP Europe and EPT London before heading back to the United States, where he will take a break before jumping into the World Poker Tour Five-Diamond World Poker Classic at Bellagio in December.

What's My Line?
Jason Evans
By Julio Rodriguez

The Borgata Poker Open has always been a tour favorite, thanks to its slow-moving blinds structure, deep stacks, and, this year, a $5 million guarantee.

Late on day one, local player Jason Evans was involved in a white-knuckle, intense stare-down with Card Player Player of the Year (POY) candidate Michael Binger. Evans is no stranger to the local cardrooms of the Northeast. Predominantly a cash-game player, he considers poker to be a serious hobby during his time off as an IT consultant. As an audience of nearly 40 crowded around the table, Evans induced a fold from Binger and then played the hand out against Amnon Filippi, which concluded with a dramatic chop.

Card Player spoke with Evans shortly after the hand played out, getting his reasoning for the bold decision he made to put it all on the line.



The Hand

On one of the last hands of the night, a player raises from under the gun to 3,500. Jason Evans calls from middle position, Michael Binger calls from the hijack seat, and the cutoff also calls. Amnon Filippi then moves all in from the small blind for a total of 5,100.

The amount is not enough for a legal reraise, so everyone is forced to call. The flop comes 9 8 7 and the original raiser checks. Evans checks, and Binger bets 20,000. The cutoff and the original raiser both fold to Evans, who makes the call.
The turn is the 10, and after a bit of deliberation, Evans moves all in for 110,000, having Binger slightly covered. After Binger spends five minutes in the tank, a large crowd gathers around the table. Victor Ramdin calls the clock and Binger is given one more minute to act on his hand.

Eventually, Binger folds and Filippi reveals the A K. Evans shocks the rail by showing the Q 9 for just one pair and a gutshot-straight-flush draw. Filippi is drawing to any non-diamond ace, king, or 6 to stay alive. Without any hesitation, the dealer flips over the 6, and Filippi celebrates his chop while the rest of the stunned table speculates over Binger's hand.

Julio Rodriguez: That was a pretty intense hand to end the night.

Jason Evans: Well, you have to take into consideration that the floor staff had already announced that there were only five more hands left in the night. This guy who had been very aggressive opened from under the gun to 3,500. At the time, it was a pretty big preflop raise, and I knew he was raising big with his bigger hands. I was sitting in middle position with my favorite hand and thought I could stack him with the right flop.

JR: Well then, let's get to the flop.

JE: The flop comes 9♥ 8♦ 7♥. I'm sitting on top pair and a couple of backdoor draws. The original raiser checks, I check, and Binger fires in a bet of 20,000. The cutoff folds, the player under the gun folds, and I decide to call, creating a side pot.
The turn is the 10♦, and now I've picked up a gutshot-straight-flush draw to go with my pair. I'm looking at that board and I'm pretty confident that he has an overpair. I decide to put the pressure on him and move all in. I have him covered by a bit and he still has nearly 100,000 or so in front of him, so it's a tough decision for his tournament life.

JR: Once he started to tank for a while, did you think that you had possibly shoved yourself into the low end of the straight, or perhaps a set?

JE: To be honest, I was still pretty confident he had an overpair, obviously not pocket jacks. I was listening earlier at the table, and I overheard them ragging on Binger for being a tight player. So, it was definitely possible that he flat-called a big pair like queens or kings and then bet the flop when it was checked to him. But the longer he took, the more I realized he had a really tough decision. Looking at the board, even if he did have a set or a 6, there's way too much out there that beats him. I honestly thought I could take him off his hand. If I was wrong, then at least I had redraws to take the pot. He never said what he had, but he didn't have a jack. It could have been a set, or a 6, or maybe an overpair that just didn't believe me. He must have tanked for over five minutes before Ramdin finally called the clock on him.

[Binger later confirmed that he turned a set with pocket tens.]

JR: You seem to have a lot of confidence in your reads and aren't afraid of being wrong.

JE: This is just a situation of putting a guy on a hand and going with your gut, making the play that others are afraid to make. If I could offer one piece of advice, I would say that you have to pay constant attention to what's going on around you at the table. Leave the iPod at home. You can pick up so much just by listening. For instance, I had no idea who Binger was before he came to the table. But by picking up on the conversations around me, I knew that he was the type of player I could make that play against.

Mind Over Poker
A Tale of Two Hands
By David Apostolico

Let's take a look at two fairly similar hands with different results and see if they should have been played differently. In the first hand, the blinds are 500-1,000 with 100 antes. Player MP (for middle position) limps. Player MP is sitting on about 12,000 in chips. Player SB (for small blind) limps from his position and has only 1,600 left. Player BB (for big blind) checks his option. Player BB has about 10,000 behind. The flop comes 9-7-2 rainbow. Player SB acts first and moves his last 1,600 in. Player BB folds. Player MP says he has nothing, but he has to call. Player SB turns over A-10. Player MP turns over K-J. The turn and river bring blanks and Player SB wins a nice pot.

In the second hand, the blinds are 500-1,000 with 100 antes and everyone folds to Player A in the small blind, who limps in. Player A has about 11,000 in chips. Player B is in the big blind with about 6,000 in chips. Player B moves all in and is immediately called by Player A. Player B turns over A-J offsuit and Player A turns over pocket sixes. A jack-high rainbow flop comes and things are looking pretty good for Player B. That doesn't last long, however, as the turn is a 6 and Player B is headed to the rail.

Both of these hands took place in the same tournament and happened within a few hands of each other. In the first hand, I was Player SB. The reason I didn't push preflop is that even though I was committed to playing the hand, I wanted to save a bullet. With my chip stack, I knew I would get two callers if I pushed in preflop. I also knew that Player BB would be reluctant to raise without a premium hand, since Player MP had already limped. By waiting for the flop to push in - which I planned on doing no matter what - there was the chance that I could force at least one of my opponents to fold, and thereby increase my chances of winning. That's exactly what happened. In fact, Player BB took a long time to fold, and then was kicking himself, saying he should have called and would have won the hand.

In the second hand, Player B asked me if he made the right move. Since this hand took place a few hands after the first one, which he had witnessed, I could see why he would second-guess himself. In fact, if he had checked his option and then gone all in on the flop, Player A would have had a very hard time calling with his pocket sixes. But hindsight is always correct. I don't think Player B had any choice but to move in preflop. With his stack, he still had enough chips to force Player A to fold there. Since Player A basically has a random hand in this scenario, Player B has to believe that he is most likely ahead. Now, Player A happened to have a real hand. However, even then, Player B was only a very slight underdog. There is just no reason to let Player A see a flop cheaply in that scenario. Player B has to move in.

The critical difference in the two hands is that in the first one, I didn't have enough chips to force anyone out, so why not preserve a bullet, albeit a small one? I believe that both Player B and I made the right moves. I was just more fortunate that it worked out for me.

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

Spade Club Spotlight
By Lisa Anderson

SpadeClub held its first Bellagio Championship Series monthly qualifier on Aug. 31. Exclusive member Jeremy "TheBulldog" Keefer finished in first place and was awarded a $2,500 satellite seat in the 2009 Five-Star World Poker Classic at Bellagio in Las Vegas, in addition to qualifying for the Bellagio Championship Series finals in April 2009. Keefer has been playing poker for about six years and is hoping to eventually move to Las Vegas to become a professional poker player. "I am very excited for this opportunity to work hard and prove myself in the most competitive poker atmosphere in the world! I'm sure this will be an experience I will never forget," he said.

Sept. 7 marked another $40,000 Mega Monthly event, in which Exclusive member Tiffany "tiffjoy" Rothenberger beat out the competition to claim the $10,000 first-place prize. Rothenberger has been playing poker for only about six months, but thinks SpadeClub has really helped her improve her game. "SpadeClub is a great site to play and learn on. I would like to give a shout-out to my favorite poker player of all time, Daniel Negreanu, whom I love to watch on TV. Winner, winner, chicken dinner!" said Rothenberger.

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

Tournament Schedule
$5,000 Weekly
Oct. 12 4 p.m. ET
Oct. 19 4 p.m. ET

Bellagio Monthly Qualifiers
Oct. 26 6 p.m. ET
Nov. 30 6 p.m. ET

$40,000 Mega Monthly
Oct. 5 4 p.m. ET
Nov. 2 4 p.m. ET

To view a complete list of SpadeClub tournaments offered, please visit www.spadeclub.com/how-to-play/tournament-schedule.

SpadeClub Gets Involved

Join SpadeClub on Nov. 8 in Bettendorf, Iowa, as it sponsors The Bettendorf and Scott County Texas Hold'em Tournament to benefit the United Way.

The town of Bettendorf, as well as Scott County, will host this $30 event with $10 rebuys, and all proceeds will go to the Iowa United Way. The event begins at 6 p.m. and is expected to attract more than 300 participants. SpadeClub will be donating prizes, including hats, shirts, magazines, free SpadeClub memberships, and much more. Come join SpadeClub and the other sponsors as we give back to those who support the United Way!


Tips From the Table

User Thomas "WykydSceptre" Gottshall said:

"After the passage of the UIGEA, depositing to sites became difficult for U.S. players. While there were ways around it, it was a pain in the butt. Well, enter SpadeClub. On SpadeClub, you get all the tourneys you can handle for a low monthly fee. Although there are other subscription-based sites (I've tried them), the access to player profiles on SpadeClub lets you see exactly what type of player you are up against. SpadeClub also adds live-game entries into the mix. Nobody can touch the value. There is one problem, though; I refuse some juicy live games if they interfere with a good SpadeClub tourney!"
Submit your own SpadeClub tips and tales to: [email protected].

Benefit of the Club:
Bellagio Club Rewards

If you're coming to Las Vegas to play poker, why not stay at the number-one poker destination in the world? SpadeClub Exclusive members receive discounted room rates at the luxurious, award-winning Bellagio. Bellagio is nestled in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip and is known around the world for its prestigious poker tournaments. It's true what they say about Bellagio's poker room: You haven't played poker unless you've played here.

Hand 2 Hand Combat
's00tedj0kers' Bleeds a Weak Opponent
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.

Event: PokerStars $1,000 no-limit hold'em Super Tuesday event
Players: 351
First Prize: $70,000
Stacks: s00tedj0kers - 28,890; Villain - 34,706
Blinds: 400-800
Antes: 80

Craig Tapscott: Many times, players tend to focus only on the hand they're dealt, and do not also consider the action ahead of them, the stack sizes of their opponents, the other players' table images, and so on. Set this hand up for us with that in mind.

Kory "s00tedj0kers" Kilpatrick: There are around 100 people left, and 45 will cash. I'd been active preflop. I had also continuation-bet almost every flop when I was the preflop raiser, taking them down a majority of the time. I don't think I'd shown down any bad hands, though. I had not had any major confrontations with the Villain prior to this hand, but had noticed that he'd been splashing around a good bit and did not seem like a good player. He also had a propensity to defend his big blind light.

The action is folded to s00tedj0kers in the cutoff, holding the Q 10.

KK: With no resteal stacks behind me and being almost 40 big blinds deep, this is a very standard open for me. I make my standard open at this level to 1,888.

s00tedj0kers raises to 1,888.

CT: Why this size raise?

KK: I believe that it's very important to have a standard raise (somewhere between 2.2 and 2.7 times the big blind, usually) at each blinds level, so as not to give away bet-sizing tells. This also makes it that much more difficult for your opponent to put you on a hand.

CT: I have seen this bet-sizing of less than three times the big blind in online tournaments over the last year or so. During live events, most players will always make it three times the big blind (more if it's a weak player protecting his 9-9, J-J, and so on.), like it's written in stone somewhere to do that. What's the thinking behind and value of the smaller opening raise?

KK: In effect, a raise of 2.2 to 2.7 times accomplishes the same thing that a raise of three times does. It's just more profitable to raise smaller for aggressive players like me, because a significant percentage of the time that we open, we are going to be folding to a three-bet. And this saves us chips. By raising smaller, it also controls the size of the pot, which gives an advantage to better post-flop players. This is more commonly seen online because the average stack deep in a tournament is usually 20-30 big blinds, whereas in a live tournament, it's usually 40-50 big blinds, which makes that three-tenths to eight-tenths of a big blind that you save all the more valuable.

Villain calls the additional 1,088 from the big blind.

KK: I was not surprised to see him call. I'm fine with it, because my hand flops well, and I believe that I'll be able to outplay him in position a large percentage of the time.

CT: Do you put him on any type of range here, or could he have any two cards, from your experience with him?

KK: His range is probably not quite any two, but close. He's certainly calling with any pair, Broadway hands, A-X, any suited cards, and lots of connected hands.

Flop: Q Q 5 (4,736 pot)

CT: Nice flop.

KK: Obviously, this is a great flop for me. When he checks to me, I make a continuation-bet, just like I would do with my entire range on the flop.

Villain checks. s00tedj0kers bets 2,222.

CT: So many people would try to trap and slow-play this flop.

KK: Yes. A lot of inexperienced players make the mistake of checking behind on this flop, thinking they are almost never going to get action with their trips. It's important to make sure that you are playing your good hands the same way that you play your bad ones. This allows you to remain unpredictable and tough to play against.

CT: What type of opponent would you check this flop to, if any?

KK: With the frequency that I c-bet, it would definitely be a leak to check behind on this flop against anyone. The only time I could ever see myself doing it would be as a level with history against a thinking opponent, but I'd still say I'm betting this flop 99 percent of the time.

Villain calls.

KK: When he calls, I am immediately thinking that his range consists of low to medium pairs, diamonds, a slight chance of Q-X hands, and possibly some A-X holdings. He knows that I could very easily be c-betting light.

Turn: A (9,180 pot)

Villain checks.

CT: The ace on the turn always makes it interesting. What now?

KK: This is a very interesting turn against this opponent. Versus a regular in the $1,000 event, I'm going to double-barrel this turn about 99 percent of the time.

CT: Why?

KK: Because I would make the same move with my entire flop range. But versus a more incompetent opponent, I was rather unsure of what to do at the time. I thought a high percentage of his range consisted of low to medium pairs, which are probably going to fold.

In that case, he would probably be thinking that if he wasn't already beat on the flop, the ace now has him beat. But at the same time, I didn't want to give him a free card to catch a flush. If he were to have an ace, he may stack off frequently enough on the river following a properly sized turn bet, which makes it more profitable to bet the turn than check behind. I ended up deciding that he's going to check-call almost all rivers if I check, because my hand is so disguised. This gives him a chance to bluff a lot of rivers, and if he has an ace, he's going to bet-call the river enough to make it more profitable to check behind on the turn.

s00tedj0kers checks.

River: 4 (9,180 pot)

Villain checks.

CT: No diamond, so what now?

KK: This is one of many good rivers for us, as the flush does not get there and the only hand that improves is 4-4. Once he checks, there is only one thing left to decide, and that is how much to bet to extract the most value. Although to most competent players it is fairly obvious that I would never be bluffing this river after checking behind on the turn, I thought this player would hero-call almost any bet here. So, I made it about eight-ninths of the pot.

s00tedj0kers bets 7,777. Villain calls and reveals the J 5. s00tedj0kers wins the pot of 24,734.

CT: Do you regret not betting the turn and trying to get more value?

KK: Based on the dynamics present and this particular opponent, I think I played the hand ideally; although, in a vacuum, I think you're going to get hero-called enough by medium-pairs. Also, you may be able to stack enough A-X hands to make betting the turn more profitable. So with this hand, I was able to increase my stack by approximately 50 percent, and put myself in good position to make a run in the tournament.

Kory Kilpatrick, 18, is from Athens, Georgia, and is currently a freshman on the basketball team at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. He began playing high-stakes tournaments online in December of 2007 and has since amassed more than $500,000 in cashes. Kilpatrick has multiple wins in the $100 rebuy event on PokerStars; the largest takedown was for $51,000. He also took second in the Sunday Warm-Up on PokerStars for $53,000 recently, and made the final table of the prestigious PokerStars Sunday $200 rebuy event in back-to-back weeks.

Final-Table Takedown
Daniel 'B_O_K_E' Bokesch Makes an Amazing Comeback to Win the PokerStars Sunday Million
By Craig Tapscott and Daniel Bokesch

In this series, Card Player offers an in-depth analysis of the key hands that catapulted a player to a top finish, online or live. We will also reveal key concepts and strategies from the world's best tournament players, as we venture inside their sometimes devious and always razor-sharp poker minds.

Daniel Bokesch, 31, graduated from Youngstown State with a degree in education. He's a former teacher turned poker professional. He grew up playing various forms of poker and started to play seriously in 2002, mainly cash games from $5-$10 no-limit hold'em up to $25-$50. Within a few years, he began to focus mainly on tournaments, and expects to make a big splash in the live-tournament arena soon. Bokesch loves all sports (especially Ohio State sports) and spending time with his wife, Leandra, and newborn baby, Rylee.

Event: PokerStars Sunday Million $215 no-limit hold'em tournament
Players: 8,236
First Prize: $199,475
Finish: First
Key Concepts: Adjusting and calling light versus an overaggressive player, patience, and squeeze plays

Hand No. 1

Stacks: Daniel Bokesch - 5,913,504; Villain No. 1 - 12,835,400; Villain No. 2 - 5,002,357
Blinds: 150,000-300,000
Antes: 30,000
Players: 5

Craig Tapscott: You wanted to start our breakdown of your win at the final-table bubble. Why?

Daniel Bokesch: Because it was such an important spot that I really think it should be included. So here's the analysis: Basically, there are 10 players left and everyone is going to tighten up significantly, because they want to make the most prestigious Sunday major final table. We're five-handed and I'm in around fifth place in the small blind with the K 5.
Everyone folds to Villain No. 1 on the button. He raises to 800,000.

DB: Villain No. 1 has been playing pretty aggressively for the past few orbits. Before he even made the raise, I already had in mind that I was shoving my stack to any raise from him. He had position and would make a standard steal from the button; that was my read. And there was only one player yet to act behind me, which made the resteal spot even more charming.

CT: What was your table image up to this point?

DB: My image had been pretty tight, for the most part, so I was fairly confident that this steal was a good spot. Unfortunately, the big blind snap-called my shove and the initial button-raiser immediately folded, which I figured would happen.

Villain No. 2 calls all in for 4,672,357 with the K K.

Flop: J 4 3 (10,894,714 pot)

Turn: 9

River: A

Villain No. 2 wins the pot of 10,894,714.

DB: This hand crippled me going to the final table, leaving me a total of about 2.5 big blinds. At this point, I figured ninth place was locked up for me.

Hand No. 2

Stacks: Daniel Bokesch ­- 851,147; Villain No. 1 - 11,945,400; Villain No. 2 - 23,703,672
Blinds: 150,000-300,000
Antes: 30,000
Players: 9


Villain No. 1 raises from early position to 800,000. Bokesch moves all in for 821,147 from middle position with the Q Q. Villain No. 2 raises 500,000 to 1,321,147 from the small blind. Villain No. 1 calls.

DB: This hand happens to be the second hand of the final table and four hands since the debacle with K-5. I was extremely lucky to pick up Q-Q, since I had less than three big blinds. And I needed to gamble very early on to have any chance of winning this thing.

CT: What was your thinking when you saw the small raise from the small blind?

DB: At this point, I really just wanted to have a chance of winning this pot. I was hoping nobody else would join us in the hand, or at the very worst, a reraiser could isolate me for a big pot. Well, the worst possible thing happens. The small blind reraises the initial raiser, but doesn't raise enough to isolate just the two of us. The initial raiser (the same aggressive player from that K-5 hand) calls that reraise, leaving me with Q-Q against two opposing hands.

Flop: 9 7 2 (3,033,441 main pot and 1,000,000 side pot)

Villain No. 2 checks. Villain No. 1 checks.

Turn: K

Villain No. 2 checks. Villain No. 1 checks.

River: 2

Villain No. 2 checks. Villain No. 1 folds.

Villain No. 2 shows the A J to win the side pot of 1,000,000. Bokesch wins the main pot of 3,033,441.

CT: That was a strange fold at the river by Villain No. 1.

DB: He just mucked his hand after the river, basically admitting embarrassment to reveal the hand he held. I watched the replay the next week on PokerStars, and saw that he had some sort of small suited connector. He played this hand horrendously, putting in so many chips and then just mucking out of embarrassment. With that in mind, I was ready for any aggression by the same maniac.

Hand No. 3

Stacks: Daniel Bokesch - 2,893,441; Villain - 7,754,253
Blinds: 200,000-400,000
Antes: 40,000
Players: 9


CT: And now we have another hand versus the same crazy Villain.

DB: Yes. At this point in the tourney, I had a good mindset and read on him. He's been playing pretty wildly and loosely, probably to the point of uncontrollable aggression.

Everyone folds to the Villain in the small blind. He shoves all in for 7,714,253. Bokesch calls from the big blind, holding the A 2. The Villain reveals the 5 2.

CT: Wow. You must have had a great read to risk it all with A-2.

DB: This is one of those hands that, in the back of my mind, I'm ready to snap-call a shove from the same Villain if everyone folds around to him. My holding of the A 2 isn't necessarily considered premium, but I know he's shoving any two cards due to his previous crazy antics. And this is exactly what happened. So many people asked me how I called so fast. Mainly because I was so sure that the hand was going to play out like this. To tell the truth, I was already clicking the mouse on where the call button would appear after he shoved (laughing).

Flop: J 4 3 (6,066,882 pot)

Turn: J

River: 9

Bokesch wins the pot of 6,066,882.

Hand No. 4

Stacks: Daniel Bokesch - 21,950,608; Villain No. 1 - 8,642,153; Villain No. 2 - 16,823,680
Blinds: 300,000-600,000
Antes: 60,000
Players: 5


Villain No. 1 raises from early position to 1,800,000. Villain No. 2 flat-calls from the cutoff. Bokesch shoves all in for 21,890,608 from the big blind, holding the A 10.

CT: Set this play up for us. At this point, the crazy player from the previous hands is long gone.

DB: He's busted. This hand happened to be the third hand in a row that I played aggressively. The first of the three hands, I eliminated an opponent with A-K versus A-Q, boosting me to just under 20 million. The second was a steal, when I meant to make a standard preflop raise to 1,400,000 and accidentally raised to 14,000,000. Yikes! Luckily, everyone folded. My heart was pounding hard-core, and it seemed like an eternity before everyone folded.

So, on to this hand. I know at this point that I may look a little loosey-goosey to the other players. When Villain No. 1 opens for a standard preflop raise and Villain No. 2 just flat-calls the raise, this makes me believe No. 2 has some sort of small pair/K-Q, a weak calling hand. Now let's throw in the fact that moving up a position is a considerable amount of money. I think Villain No. 2 wouldn't call off that much nor would he flat-call with a huge hand, because he hadn't flat-called an opening raise with a monster at all during the final table.

This left me with an easy squeeze play, knowing Villain No. 2 isn't calling my shove. And as long as Villain No. 1 doesn't have a monster - the squeeze is perfect. The worst-case scenario is that the original raiser does have a monster and calls my shove. But that would still leave me with 13,000,000 and a manageable stack at this time. Fortunately, both players folded.

The squeeze worked out perfectly, to continue my remarkable comeback of beginning with less than three big blinds at the PokerStars Sunday Million final table.

Online Zone
Play a Hand With Alex 'AJKHoosier1' Kamberis
Online Player of the Year Contender Analyzes a Tournament Hand, Street for Street
By Shawn Patrick Green

Alex "AJKHoosiers1" Kamberis did well for himself in 2007, but his 2008 is shaping up to be incredible. He already has more than $500,000 in Online Player of the Year-qualified finishes for '08, including a runner-up finish in the Full Tilt $750,000-guaranteed event in July and numerous other first-place finishes. He currently sits in third place on the overall OPOY leader board.

Card Player wanted to pick Kamberis' brain about his tournament play with a specific hand example. We took a look at some of his hand histories and came across a tournament hand that we wanted analyzed, and Kamberis was up to the task.



LegalEagle1 limps in for 1,200 preflop, eazy1mike calls from the small blind, and AJKHoosier1 checks his option from the big blind. The flop comes 8 7 4, and eazy1mike leads out for 2,222, AJKHoosier1 calls, and LegalEagle1 calls behind. The turn is the 4, and eazy1mike now checks. AJKHoosier1 bets 4,400, LegalEagle1 calls, and eazy1mike check-raises to 17,989. AJKHoosier1 calls, and LegalEagle1 folds. The river is the 9, and eazy1mike pushes all in for 20,424. AJKHoosier1 calls, and eazy1mike turns over the J 9 for a busted gutshot-straight draw and a rivered two pair. AJKHoosier1 shows pocket eights for a full house and takes down the pot of 92,242, eliminating eazy1mike.

Shawn Patrick Green: First off, set the stage. There are five people at your table. What has the play been like?

Alex "AJKHoosiers1" Kamberis: I like this hand because I think it'd be helpful to the average online tourney player, since it took place in a small-stakes tourney [the Full Tilt afternoon $75 six-max] that was full of typical bad players. It's somewhat deep in the tournament at this point, so play has tightened up a bit, but overall, people are playing pretty loose-passively and badly. Just think of exactly what you'd expect in a low- or medium-stakes six-max tourney.

SPG: OK. So, did that have something to do with checking your option with a medium-pocket pair? What was your plan?

AK: Yeah, it does. I figure that if I bump it up, I'm going to get flatted [flat-called] a lot, which would basically be a nightmare with a medium pocket pair out of position, since most flops are going to be ugly and really tough to play. So, I decide to keep the pot small, treat my hand like 2-2, and just try to hit a set and get paid big, since, for the most part, these guys are calling stations.
SPG: OK, so you have two opponents going to the flop, and bingo, you flop a set, albeit on a draw-heavy board. With 4,300 in the pot, the player in the small blind led out for 2,222. What is your thought process at this point?

AK: [Laughing] I'm not afraid of much. I lose only to 6-5, and yeah, the board is draw-heavy, but you can't play your hand out of fear; you need to play your hand optimally. Also, at this point, there's really no reason to assume that anyone has a big draw of any kind. I thought that it'd look too strong to bump it up here in a limped pot against the guy leading out into two other players, and with another guy left behind me, I wanted to keep him in and give him the chance to do something silly, like post-flop squeeze, after which I could then come over the top.

I think some people never flat with hands like sets on boards like this because they are too afraid of their opponents getting there, when, in all reality, if they have any kind of real draw, they're probably not folding anyway, and you sometimes really need to mix it up. Sometimes. So, yeah, for deception, amongst other reasons, I just call. I'm definitely not afraid of anything at this point.

SPG: So, with almost 11K in the pot, the turn is a money-card for you, pairing the board. You come out swinging. Why is it now profitable to push it against them?

AK: Well, as I said, I called on the flop for deception, right? And, as you said, the board is draw-heavy. So, never in a million years are they going think I have any kind of boat here, and if they do have a draw, they're now stone dead, so I put out a smallish bet, not to push anyone out, obviously, but to try to induce some action from those draws. And because my hand is just so ridiculously disguised at this point, between the check preflop and the smooth-call on the flop, the 4 looks like such a stone brick; it's impossible to put me on anything. So, this time, I bet for deception. And I'm obviously trying to get more money in at this point, so I don't want to check and risk missing a lot of value; I need to start building the pot.

SPG: Do you think a lot of people miss value by checking turns, because opponents sometimes mentally check out if they get to see a river and know for sure what their final hand is?

AK: Yeah, I think that's a mistake a lot of people make, either not being willing to lead out when out of position, in general, or thinking that just because they have a stone-cold nut hand, they should slow-play it to get action. Not surprisingly, the best way to get action sometimes is to bet, and I think this was one of those spots.

SPG: OK, so you bet, got called behind, and then got check-raised. What did you put him on, given that you want to maximize your profits?

AK: At this point, I figure his range is between hands like a boat, the straight, a big draw, or something completely ridiculous. Versus all hands but the big draw, my best option is just to call here, since if he has a boat or straight, he's not folding at any point anyway. If he's doing something silly, I need to let him keep doing it. And since there's another player in, I obviously didn't want to push him out for any reason.

SPG: Gotcha. So, the rest of the hand kind of plays itself. The river was a 9, and the other player pushed. You called, and he had J-9 for a busted gutshot draw and a rivered two pair.

AK: Cooler! I mean, yeah, I accomplished everything I wanted to, and I kind of let him get there. I'm not sure if he shoved the river for value or as a bluff, but yeah, J-9 no good. It definitely paid off to play my hand counterintuitively on literally every street, since most people would raise preflop with eights, most people would raise the flop with a set, and most people would slow down when they filled up. So, I did the opposite.

SPG: And you said that this exemplified some of the big mistakes that people make in these small-stakes tourneys. What were his biggest mistakes here, aside from going broke [laughing].

AK: Well, to be honest, the only parts I hate about his play are that he went crazy in a limped pot (almost always awful) and shoved the river, even though I'm calling on the turn with literally only made nut hands, given that he has only another 20K behind. I like his flop lead with two overs and a gutty, to be honest; I lead out in pots like that with hands like that all the time. I'm not sure if he should be completing preflop there with J-9 offsuit, either, but it's close when the button limps.

SPG: Perfect. Thanks for doing the interview! Anything else you want to say?

AK: New videos are coming up at PokerXFactor, and my management is at PokerIcons.com. Sponsor me, please! Thanks to everyone for their support (and money), and I'll see you in London for the World Series of Poker Europe.

Generation Next
Jeff Williams: Decisions,Decisions, Decisions
By Craig Tapscott

At 18 years old, Jeff Williams qualified for the 2006 European Poker Tour Grand Final main event in Monte Carlo by entering a $10 online satellite. The fairy tale come true began when he won a seat and travel expenses. He credits each step of the journey to the live final table to one thing - making the best decisions. It's the philosophy by which Williams lives his tournament life, personified and proven by his $1 million win and EPT title.

"The key is to concentrate on the hand that you're playing right now," says Williams. "That's all you can control. I always remember something that Phil Galfond said: 'You can't hope for any card to come, on the flop, turn, or river. You must take the card that comes and make the best decision possible, for that card, in that moment.' Reading that was very important for me, and learning that it's all about making the best possible decisions. That's how you win at cards in the long run."

Williams ("yellowsub" online) is also a very accomplished and consistent winner in the high-stakes cash games online. He dabbles up and down from $10-$20 to $25-$50 no-limit, including some pot-limit Omaha when he's feeling an itch to gamble. In 2008, he has cemented the fact that he's not a one-hit wonder in regard to tournaments. At this year's World Series of Poker, he cashed three times, including a second-place finish in event No. 5, $1,000 no-limit hold'em with rebuys, for