Back in Action

In January I took a trip to Tunica, Mississippi, to spend eight days at the World Poker Open. I had gone to this tournament several times a few years ago, and loved it every time because of the great action and superb treatment poker players get there. Last year I heard the action at the tournament had gotten even better, but I could not attend because of family responsibilities. I have been unable to play any poker except online for more than two years. Now that chapter in my life is over, and I was looking forward to getting into action again and seeing lots of my friends. But I did not know what to expect from my poker skills after a long layoff, especially now that I am in my 60s.

After arriving at the Gold Strike Casino, I checked into my room and went to the tournament area. Of course, I saw some friends, but I had never seen most of the other people before in my life. It is amazing how many people new to poker tournaments have been drawn to the game in the past year.

This tournament turned out to be different than any other poker tournament I have attended. Every event started at the exact time for which it was scheduled! This included a couple of events in which there were nearly a thousand entrants, which caused the use of two hotels (the Gold Strike and the Horseshoe) and multiple rooms to host the events. The $500 buy-in limit hold'em tournament drew 918 entrants. The $500 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament drew 950 entrants, and about 30 more people had to be turned away because there was no room for them. I am not used to seeing a no-limit hold'em tournament outdraw a limit hold'em tournament, but this is the new poker world of 2004. That isn't limit hold'em people are watching on television!

In addition to starting on time, these events had a lot of much-needed information, such as the prize payoffs, the structure, and the length of time until the next break in view on a giant-screen display. All in all, it was definitely the best-run poker tournament I have ever attended. I was told by several cardroom employees that a lot of the credit for this efficiency goes to Tournament Director Jim Sommerfeld. Nice job, Jimmy!

I gave an hour-long poker talk at this tournament to the conventioneers of the Poker School Online organization. I had not given a long presentation before a large crowd since I hosted the poker lecture series for the Las Vegas Hilton in 1988, so I had some small apprehension. Fortunately, my topic was no-limit hold'em. It is a lot easier to speak in public when it is a topic you like and know. The lecture was well-received. A couple of days later, when I was at the final table in the no-limit hold'em tournament, I wore a cap with the PSO insignia on it, and had lots of my lecture attendees pulling for me.

In a previous Card Player column, I had concocted some situations in which a player returning to the table had trouble getting into his seat (to show that the rule for a hand not being killed by the dealer should be based on the absent player being back at the table, rather than in his seat), but truth is stranger than fiction. Here is a situation I encountered in Tunica, when I arrived a few minutes late for a pot-limit Omaha tournament (which was not held at the Gold Strike).

My "seat" in the No. 6 position was between a couple of heavyweight guys who had appropriated nearly all the room between them. My chips were in place, but there was no chair to sit in. I had to go get a chair, then beg for enough room to put it at the table. To make matters worse, the player on my left did not have enough room to move around, because the woman in the No. 8 seat at our ninehanded table apparently thought she was playing stud, because she was sitting squarely at the end of the table instead of sharing it. The guy in the No. 9 seat next to the dealer was also taking up more than his share of space, since the lady's position gave him more room than the usual allotment at an Omaha table. After the No. 9 seat moved over (he was noticeably unhappy about moving, because the lady was attractive), the woman did what I call the "Briscoe shuffle." (This is named after the late Hugh Briscoe of Denton, Texas, who, every time when asked to move over and make room for a new player, was polite enough to stand up and shuffle his feet a bit – and then reseat himself about an inch from the place he had been in.) I asked again, and finally got additional space. I was able to get my chair in by the time I was dealt a hand, but had to play standing up behind it, because I would have had to vault over the back of the chair to get seated. Eventually, I got my full share of room. This case should serve as a classic example that requiring a player to be seated is too stringent for any poker rule, and "at the table" is better wording.

I have to admit that the cardroom was using the old rule that your hand is not dead until the action reaches you, instead of requiring the player to be seated at the point the deal of starting hands is completed, as originally stated in the proposed new Tournament Directors Association rule. When I wrote my column for the last issue, which poked fun by creating some situations in which the rule of being seated to get a hand was too stringent, I did not foresee that there could actually be a situation with no seat at all! Truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.

This incident reminds me of the time many years ago that I arrived at a table where there was not much elbowroom, and I asked for extra space. The player on my right did not move, and took offense to the fact that he was even being asked. I knelt down, folded my hands as if in prayer, and very politely asked him again (this was to highlight his rudeness, not to get the space). He grudgingly complied. Then, I got up and said to a spectator who had watched this in amazement, "You just have to know how to ask some people." Believe me, I am not normally that meek.

I had an exciting time in the $500 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament at the World Poker Open. I took extensive notes, and will have lots of interesting hands for you in my next column.

Editor's note: Bob Ciaffone's latest book, Middle Limit Holdem Poker, co-authored with Jim Brier, is available (332 pages, $25 plus $9.95 shipping and handling). This work and his other poker books, Pot-limit and No-limit Poker, Improve Your Poker, and Omaha Holdem Poker, can be ordered through Card Player. Ciaffone is available for poker lessons. E-mail [email protected] or call (989) 792-0884. His website is www.pokercoach.us, where you can download Robert's Rules of Poker for free. On the Internet, he is one of the "experts" on RoyalVegasPoker.com and an affiliate of PartyPoker.com.