2008 Five Star WPT Championship Coming to Bellagio
Posted on March 18, 2008
Filed Under Las Vegas
Bellagio Las Vegas, Home of the WPT Championship
Tuesday, April 1st, will see the start of satellites for the first event of the Sixth Annual Five Star World Poker Classic at the Bellagio on the Las Vegas strip. A $2,000 NLHE contest kicks off the 5 Star tournament on Wednesday, April 2nd. Events run throughout the month and concludes with the final table of the $25,000 WPT No-Limit Hold'em Championship on April 26. This is the big one so expect to see all of the pros, semi-pros, hopefuls and the hopeless gathered at the luxurious resort for one of poker's top premier events. The events will be under the guidance of Tournament Director, Tom McClelland, the man that invented and perfected the tournament director position. We always have a good time covering events at the Bellagio and appreciate the support they provide to the scribes and picture takers delivering the events to the world through the magic of the Internet.
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Carlos Mortensen will be defending his 2007 WPT Championship title
Change of subject: A casual observation. I've been playing in some NLHE cash games around Vegas after a long period of "nothing but work," right here on the Prof's Blogs. I've noticed there has been an upgrading of the young talent cruising the NLHE tables. I still consider the games to be soft, offering the better players a good exchange rate; but, I'm surprised by the quality of some of the younger players.
Considering the detrimental efforts of the 2006 anti-gambling legislation that dumped on the poker industry, I erroneously believed this would stifle the depth of the upcoming crop of poker players. Not so. Even with the difficulties for the average US citizen to gain poker playing experience through their computers the game has evolved to a much higher level of player sophistication.
In the last few days I've listened to a hand analysis that was multi-layered complication resulting in a spot on conclusion that netted a couple of hundred dollars in the pot. One of the better young players at the table had gotten a read on a newbie, cataloged the hand events and then made what appeared to be a questionable call. He read him like a book then acted, it was exactly the right thing to do.
Another observation worth sharing. Another of the players commented, "I always play better poker if I'm losing." Got me to thinking about the cause and effects of poker. Discounting the "I'm losing so I go on tilt crowd," do you play better if you're behind? Does you game tighten up? Do you drop out of the draw hands earlier? Do the basic rules of starting cards, position, player tells, and bluffing become more important? if you answer yes, then why don't you always play like you're down?
Years ago when we mostly played limit hold'em and seven card stud, one of the wise old timers told me, "If you bluff more than twice a month you're not as good as you think you are." In today's entry level NLHE casino games the bluff is practiced like a religion. It's considered the 'manly' play.
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Steve Billarakis, youngest winner of a WSOP event ever at 21 years and a few days, posing with friends, money and bracelet
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