Vegas Poker Blog

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Whats more irritating, the guy that signed up for a tourney and then no showed or the one that sits there going zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz while the first guy gets timed out? I hate both but the zzzzz man does it no matter what. Some people get disconnected others are just slow at making a decision. But that constant zzzzzzzzzzz is a pain in the @#$. What good do all of those zzzzz do any way? Is it some kind of cyber alarm clock? Can the sleeper hear it? There are a lot of things about online poker that can grate your last good nerve but lets face it, the zzzz man is right up there at the top of the list. Most sites sit a person out once they are timed out and a lot of them drop unseated players after the first level, about a 7 minute average, anyway. Do we really need the internet sand man to alert us to anything? œHey you, Sand Man, listen up. We dont need your special effects. Play cards and leave the rest to Hollywood�. Am I being harsh? No, I cant say it any simpler than that. Its bad enough the game is being needlessly held up but the sideshow just throws gasoline on the fire. Let it go, play cards, take a bathroom break while the clock runs. All Im saying is zzzz man give us all a break and leave the keyboard alone. If you have to type something, how about telling us all about that royal flush you accidentally folded in the 100K that cost you your final table seat. Its more creative than zzzzzzzzzzz and who knows it could help you set up a bluff later on. Is it really such a big deal in a normal tournament to be stalled for a few minutes in the early rounds? At that point in a tournament we should be settling into our seats and getting a feel for the game. If you are in such a big hurry, why are you playing in a tournament. Unless it is a sit and go turbo, you are going to be there a while anyway.

Getting a good read on players in an on line poker room is hard enough but adding behavior like this makes it hard to concentrate. There are times when I wish there was no chat window option. The zzzzzzzzz and the constant advice given out on how to play your cards is one of the biggest draw backs to on line poker. While I know without doubt that these are sometimes used as ploys to unnerve other players, it is not always a strategy. Some people just think that being more of a jerk than someone else will help things and make for a better game. It is to you that believe that I say this: œ Poker is a game. It is meant to be enjoyed by everyone at the table. If you do not have time to wait on everyone at the table to play the way they wish to play, find another table. And lastly, please stop with the zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. It is not only childish but bad sportsmanship. Be respectful and polite to everyone at the table�.

Play Your Own Cards

It is rare to be seated at an on line table anymore, even the higher stake ring games, without someone else sitting there that thinks they can play your cards better than you can. They are constantly spitting out comments about the way someone played a hand. Things such as ” you bet 100 on that” ,”you raised with that #$%$”, and one of my favorites “you lucky *&%$, you dont know how to play”. The last one is my favorite because it is usually form the loser of a hand to the winner of a hand and he is telling them that they dont know how to play. I always want to say to that person that if they are such bad players and dont know how to play poker, how did they beat you?
It is very important in the game of poker to play your own cards. The only concern you could have as to the way someone else is playing their cards is to learn their style of play and any habits they have. There is no, let me repeat this for you NO need to voice your opinion about how someone else plays their hole cards. If you think it is a stupid move or you think they dont know how to play, fine, then they should be easy for you to clean out. Why would you want to discourage anyone form making what you believe is a stupid play? The object is for you to win. If you are going to say anything about it, then encourage them in a serious manner to keep up the stupidity.
If anyone has ever watched Gus Hansen play for more than 10 minutes, you would realize 2 things. First, he is one of the best players in the world at Texas Holdem. Second, he does not play by the little cheat cards that most people do. He plays by feel. If he likes his hole cards, he plays them. Take a lesson form Gus, play poker by feel not by guidelines set by someone else. It has been repeatedly proven that having cards like J spades and 8 hearts can win a hand. One more note on Gus for those that call him a fluke. Gus Hansen is one of only two pro poker players in the Poker Hall of Fame. The other is Doyle Brunson. Thats pretty good company no matter where you are.
Now, do not get me wrong, I am in no way saying play any and everything. I am saying if you are hitting flushes like crazy and you get dealt 10 and 5 hearts, why not call the blind. If it feels right, if it fits into the way the cards are flowing for you then play it. Folding Ace King pre flop is excepted if you dont feel right about it so why no play a lesser set of hole cards if you feel it will work.
It is not necessary to explain to anyone seated at your table why they should have folded a set of cards that you would not have played. You have 2 cards dealt to you, play those and not the ones across the table. Poker is a game and there is a certain amount of skill and a certain amount of “how the cards fall” involved in the outcome. Neither is more important than the other. It will take both to make your sitting a good one or a bad one. You can get dealt pocket Aces every hand but it certainly doesnt mean you are going to win every hand. Play your won cards and play them the best way you can. Leave everyone elses cards alone.

Yesterday, the WSOP kicked off with the first bracelet being awarded to dealer Chris Gros in the employees tournament portion. So, were off and running!

Now comes a grueling few weeks so I started wondering how people really prepare themselves to stay the course �if their cards and chips hold out. After the practice and the satellite rounds, what do you do when you finally get to Vegas and are hopefully going to be there for the next six weeks?

Well, hopefully, you landed yourself a pretty decent place to call home during that time. Las Vegas is nothing but hotels so rooms arent at a shortage, but ones where you can be comfortable for weeks is another issue entirely. The primo condos and apartments were snapped up forever ago, and most serious players say its very necessary to be able to get away from The Strip to relax and unwind.

With heat upwards of 105 degrees on many days, many players want to avoid walking any distance at all. So, some prefer hotels, not much getting into their car and a leisurely swim in a pool during off hours. Some play a little golf and others have all sorts of methods of keeping their heads geared and focused. Everything from reading quietly œHarrington on Holdem� seems to be something popular) to the myriads of poker game action going on all over town (the Red Rock is home to a lot of professionals who are no doubt going to be downstairs playing a lot). Some players are walking around watching games trying to work out which players can be pushed around and which ones cant.

While still others are in their rooms connected to their laptops playing online games, and writing daily or weekly blog pieces for sites.

One of the big mistakes, it is said, that online players make when coming to Vegas for WSOP, is not getting out and playing on at least one real table a day �just to prepare and get the feel of it all.

Because WSOP goes on for such a length of time, there are days and hours still left to become prepared and I suspect there are about 6000 different methods being used right now. If I were there, trying to work out how Id be handling it all is sort of a fun fantasy to think about!

Even though Amarillo Slim Preston has four SWOP bracelets, his name seems as synonimous with the tournament and the game as Johnny Moss or any other player. And, rather rightfully so because hes one of the more interesting characters weve had around.

Slim was a real rounder in every sense of the word. He hustled, he made wild propositions, and he networked. He was one of the first to really ˜use television not only promote himself but in a funny way to promote poker. He lived bigger than life wearing $1 gold pieces for buttons, sporting a big cowboy hat and staying skinny as a rail his whole life.

Being a close friend of Benny Binions helped Slim to get into a position to play in the WSOP and after his first win in 1972 ($80,000) he took to the airways. He appeared on talk shows and even in a mainstream movie, and became one of the most colorful people on the circuit from then on. He won his last bracelet in 1990 �so he wasnt all hype. What a combination!

Slim also made it a point to play poker with rather unexpected people �like Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson, Larry Flynt and more. He was once kidnapped by Pablo Escabar, the Columbian drug king, who mistook him for a drug dealer. He was just in Columbia to open a casino. He opened a restaurant in South Africa and held his own tournaments in Australia. Likely, theres not been a world-class poker player who got around quite as much as Slim.

Slim doesnt play much poker anymore preferring to spend his time building golf courses and watching his champion cutting horses at work. He got into a bit of trouble with the law and lays a little lower anymore. But when he played there werent many as canny as Amarillo Slim, and there are few who loved the game more than him. He says he loved the camaraderie and the challenge, and most who ever played him or met him genuinely liked the guy.

Theres one Amarillo Slim quote I try never to forget. Hes left us plenty of them, but “Look around the table. If you don’t see a sucker, get up, because you’re the sucker.” is my personal favorite. What a guy!

I have to admit that reviewing partypoker.com was one of the easier things to do since it was the first poker site I ever used. Its still one of the best and I go back there often.

Partypoker is huge and does up to $250 million per month. It has 17 million players, is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a Gibraltar listed gaming company. Theyre a subsidiary of partygaming.com.

Once youre past the download (theres a bit of a problem with firewalls that has to be worked out but their help desk was fast and friendly), the site is smooth as silk as and so much more user friendly than some of the other poker sites. If you are a beginner, there are plenty of tutorials which are a breeze and if you are a seasoned player, you can jump right in with ease.

Partypoker has long been #1 and once you on the site, you quickly see why. Your account is fast and easy to manage and with so many variations and tables, you can quickly get going on one or more tables.

I particularly love the table graphics because they are easier to read, and have an elegant feel to them. In other words, these guys know what theyre doing! In some ways, the site is like a poker mall �with everything from blogs to tutorials on the game itself to WSOP standings to online tournament announcements (the $1 million guaranteed wins on Sundays are intriguing!). Once you start on partypoker, they really try to make sure you dont go elsewhere.

One of the features I especially like is the ability to create private rooms. Ive been playing in a weekly game recently on pokerparty with friends I used to play with in real life. Were all spread to the winds these days, but we have a great time meeting up once a week now. We rotate the times around a little to accommodate some bizarre time zones some of us live in, but outside of missing out on some good community cooking for the old weekly games, this is as close to the real thing as it gets.

If youve never tried partypoker, give it a shot. We all get happy with our favorites sites but if this one isnt yours, go have a look. You wont be sorry at all!

Pan poker, or officially panguinque poker, is really an offbeat variation of the standard game. Its origins are in the Orient, and its popular in both Florida and California. Very few casinos offer it and there are few online sites yet, but with poker gaining in popularity, youre bound to start seeing this one.

If you like gin rummy, this variation should satisfy because its all about melds.

Youre going to need eight decks of cards for this one �thats right, eight. First thing you do is take all the spades out of one deck. Then, you remove all the 8s, 9s, and 10s. You will have a total of 310 cards. That ought to be enough for a long night of poker, right?

Each player receives ten cards and then the rest of the deck is put in the middle of the table for draws. Each player can then decide to keep their hand and play, or slough their hand and sit it out.

Then each player in turn takes the top card of either the discard pile. A player can take from the discard pile only if the card was drawn from the stock by the preceding player, and can be immediately melded with the cards in the taker’s hand. When a player draws from the stock, he must meld the card or discard it. After a draw and before the discard, a player can meld as many sets as he holds or add to his existing melds. A player must drag a drawn card to his meld zone before any cards from his hand can be added to the meld zone. If a player uses a drawn card to build one or more melds, he must end his turn by discarding a single card from his hand. This is done by dragging the desired card from his hand to the discard pile. If he has no remaining cards in his hand to discard and has all 11 cards in valid melds, the hand is finished.

A few rules:

- A set consists of 3 or more cards of the same rank that are of only one suit or of at least three different suits

- Ace’s and King’s are an exception to this rule, which only need three of any suit

- Certain melds are conditions. On melding a condition, a player immediately collects chips from every other player. All 3’s, 5’s, and 7’s are called valle cards. The conditions are: A set of three same ranked but different suite valle cards collects a chip from each player. A set of three valle cards of a single suit collects 2 chips, 4 chips if the suit is spades. Also, 1 additional chip is collected for each additional valle card of the same suit added beyond the initial three cards,2 chips if the suit is spades. A set of three non-valle cards of a single suit collects 1 chip, 2 chips if the suit is spades. Also, 1 additional chip is collected for each additional non-valle card of the same suit added beyond the initial three cards, 2 chips if the suit is spades. A sequence starting with an Ace or ending with a King, e.g. (3, 2, A) or (K, Q, J), collects 1 chip, 2 chips if the suit is spades.

- A meld can be halfed by adding cards if each half forms a meld. If splitting a meld creates a condition, payment is collected. A player can take a card from a meld to complete a new meld, provided he leaves a valid meld. Example: From 7, 6, 5, 4, either the 7 or 4 may be borrowed, but not both.

- If the top of the discard pile can be added to a meld of a person playing in turn, he must take the card and meld it. The finish is when a player shows 11 cards in melds (10 cards plus his final draw card), he collects the value of all his conditions, plus two chips from each player and collects the tops pot.

- After the pot has been won, all the players put in chips for the next hand. The winner of the previous hand goes first.

This is an interesting game, and one, which would seem a very good candidate for online play. I suspect well start to see it more and more since the popularity for it is growing wildly. So stock up on decks and have a go at it!

$465K On Line Pot

It has been widely reported that last week a single hand of poker that had a pot of $465 thousand was played between tow players in a heads up game. Let that sink in while I get my coffee�������. Two players, one hand of texas Holdem, being played in an on line room, cash ring game and the pot was $465 THOUSAND. Now let me spike my coffee with some bourbon while you count the zeros������.

This pot is the largest ever recorded in on line poker. It was played on the Micro Gaming Poker Network between two players called Fast_Freddie and bad_ip. All of the exact details are sketchy because the game was a heads up on a ring game table but Fast_Freddie flopped trip aces for the incredible win. The table was a high roller $40 buy in and the heads up battle reportedly lasted between 8 and 12 hours. At one pointing the heads up battle Fast_Freddie was down to his last buy in of $40K but came back to take it all and the biggest on line pot ever.

Obviously many people speculate that Fast_Freddie is really Fast Freddie Deebs, one of the best Texas Holdem players in the world and certainly someone destined for the hall of fame. The other player, bad_ip is thought by some to be Johnny Lodden, a very good holdem player with less of a tournament reputation as todays popular stars but still thought to be a really good player. Neither of the IDs can be confirmed so we can expect a lot to come on speculation as to who the players really were.

I have, myself played in some games where the pots have gotten crazy but I just dont know about being in a heads up game on line with almost half a mil in the pot. To me thats a little bit much. I mean, first of all, do I really want to put that kind of money on one single poker site? Ok even if I won it there, wouldnt I cash out a good size of it already? It just gets me how much money is flying around the poker world these days. Chips and cash are tossed up like confetti at a ticker tape parade. Where is all this money coming from? Who has it? And most importantly, why are they not playing 7 Stud with me? I love this game, I truly do and for most of my life I have been a part of it but I never thought it would get to be like it is today. When two players can sit at the same table form across the world and play one single hand of Texas Holdem for a pot worth $465 thousand, it is a very strong testament to not only how far poker has come but how far on line poker has come. People complain all the time about how they think they are ripped off by sites but when money like that flows on the turn of 5 cards in the middle, on line poker has made it. It has proven it can be trusted and that it is here to stay. I have always said there is no such thing as luck only blind ambition and on line poker has proven that for me once again. Thank you poker for being what you are and thank you Fast_Freddie and bad_ip for proving it to us.

Television and the WSOP have had quite a history together. Actually, that should be changed to say that the WSOP and ESPN have quite a history together!

The tournament got a pretty short shrift in its early days. CBS would get Jimmy the Greek to narrate a cut together documentary of sorts and it would make the air as a special. This kind of coverage continued off and on through the years until that sports channel upstart, ESPN, took an interest in the game.

ESPN jumped in and from the late 1980s started providing coverage. Those poker addicts amongst us remember those days well, because if you blinked you missed the shows. The first broadcasts were taped delayed hour-long shows that showed only the final. Celebrity announcers like Dick or Chris Van Patten along with the tournament director were talking from the casino floor, and there was no fun stuff like pre-taped player profiles or in-depth analysis. ESPN was making great strides in football and other mainstream sports areas, but poker was lagging behind.

For a couple of years, 2000-2002, The Discovery Channel actually took over broadcasting the final, but it appeared as a delayed taped show and the actual play was interspersed with player interviews and chit chat. Shall we say a bit dull?

When ESPN took it back over in 2003, it was obviously to capitalize on the poker boom. No short shrift this time! Graphics, profiles and an extended two-hour broadcast awaited poker fans.

Since then, they keep extending coverage of tournaments and ramping up the glitz of the both the preliminaries and the final tournament. With worldwide distribution, I think it is easy to give ESPN part of the credit for the continuing poker craze. They recognized the popularity of the game and seized upon the opportunity to gain more viewers. Now besides a lot of tournament coverage and poker shows, they even re-broadcast finals from over the years in their classics series.

Recently, WSOP and ESPN announced that their contracts would extend to 2010 so it means ESPN will expand coverage even more.

This year beginning on July 18^th there will be 32 hours of coverage, or if you want to opt in for the $24.95 live action plan, you can. Sign up and watch live via either your TV. or your computer.

Television and poker have come a long way!!!!!

Playing the emotion card is not a new strategy to poker. Putting your opponent off balance is a basic part of any poker game. The psychology used in the game is often a bigger part of the hand than the cards themselves. Making another player bet or call on bad cards can kill a chip stack faster than pocket aces. Most people have certain amount of pride and when called out or insulted , they will play with a high card or chase a flush or straight without thinking of the repercussions. In some circles this is considered bad manners and by using this method, you can easily make enemies at a table. Rarely have I seen a player use this strategy and make it all the way. Somewhere down the road a better hand lays in wait and strikes when you have gotten too cocky for the cards.

The similar attack of table chat works as well. Striking up conversations and drawing other players into them also catches some off guard. Simple distractions that take an opponents mind off the board for just a moment can be very expensive. And no one can over look the sex factor. A pretty face or a carefree flirt from the opposite sex is death to a card game. Not only does it make players lose there focus but also incline s some players to œtake it easy� on nice smile. Be aware, more times than not that smile will turn to a vampires grin when the opportunity presents itself.

At real table games, it is more controlled, insults are not permitted and talk between players is limited but in on line poker, it is a free for all. Most sites block cursing, to a degree, and many do not allow any language other than English to be spoken. It is here in the on line rooms that you find the loud mouths that talk trash to everyone. Chat abuse can be reported on poker sites to support but having the problem solved and solved quickly is not normally seen. However, some players do lose their chat privileges for a period of time, wow that helps. The easiest method to stop this is do not use the chat options. What real purpose do they serve anyway? The constant œNH�, thats nice hand to those they play in caves, is out of control. Almost every hand some one feels obligated to say it even if ace high wins. Someone tell me please what is so nice about winning ace high? OK, I admit any win is a good win but not every hand is a NH. Sometimes it is just a hand that happen to win the pot.

There are many different ways to put a player on tilt or get them emotional and sharks and season vets alike know you to do it. If you can get another player thinking of anything but the cards in front of him, you have the advantage. Its ok to be polite and even hold conversations during games but remember, you are playing cards for your money and everyone at that table wants it. That is, after all, why they are there. Poker is more than the cards youre dealt, it has been for some time a psychological chess match, especially in heads up competition. If youre new to the game, site, or table and dont know the players youre sitting with, keep the table chat to a minimum, and dont take anything said to you or about personally. Even if it is a good thing. Play your best game with the cards you are dealt and folding is not bad thing.

Along with the title of WSOP champion comes THE BRACELET. So, I went in search of some history on it, and for something as seminal to poker as the WSOP bracelet, you cant find squat on it!

I wanted to know what year the first one was awarded and maybe even what it looked like �no dice, pardon the pun. It seems it was about 1970 at the very beginning of the tournaments, but I cant confirm it. This is the Stanley Cup, the Masters green jacket, the Super Bowl ring, and you cant find the history of it!!!!! Maddening.

What I did find out is that the design this year is new, and its pretty impressive.

The jeweler providing the design (Triton Jewelry) has a whole web page about what the bracelet will consist of so while the WSOP skips any history, at least you can see the new one. I dont mean to slight WSOP because you can find lists of every winner for every year and all sorts of references to the pride in winning a bracelet, but nothing about the poor bracelet.

The new ones are crafted from 14-karat yellow gold, enhanced with full-cut white diamonds. The center plaque is handset with 66 diamonds weighing one-third of a carat and is supported by roughly 35 grams of solid diamond cut rope chain. The champs is even better and will be crafted from 14-karat white and yellow gold, with full-cut white diamonds. The plaque is handset with 170 handpicked diamonds weighing more than six carats. The bracelet’s center features uniquely shaped precious color stones to represent the suit designs - a heart-shaped ruby for the Heart suit, a princess cut-shaped ruby for the Diamond suit, a heart-shaped black sapphire for the Spade suit and three round black diamonds for the Club suit. Roughly, 58 grams of solid diamond cut rope chain support the bracelets plaque.

One cannot over-estimate the value of the bracelet to poker players. Afterall, its the most sought after item in the game and we all, secretly or not, would like to have one.

Sure, its a little garish as jewelry goes but what the hell?

But I still want to know more about the history, so if anyone sees any links that I havent, let us know!!!!!