Eastside Cannery Poker Room Now Open
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Eastside Cannery Las Vegas
A new poker room on the Boulder strip is open and spreading your favorite games. Eastside Cannery is first new property to open on the Boulder Strip in more than a decade and the first new poker room on Boulder in 14 years.
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Eastside CanneryPoker Room early Sunday morning
The spacious 8 table poker room is filled with modern poker tables equipped with Shufflemasters and the popular Genesis tracking systems. Genesis tracks play through player's cards so stop by the C.A.N. Players Club and sign up for your free player's card before you play or click here to sign up online. Poker players earn comps at the rate of $1/hour with no daily limit. Comps are good at any of the casino's food outlets.
The room is currently spreading $2-$4 and $4-$8 limit Hold'em plus a $1-$2 No-Limit Hold'em with a $100 min - $300 max buy-in. For the stud players there is a $2-$7 Limit Seven Card Stud game with a $1 low card bring-in. A $2-4 LHE, $4-8 LHE and the stud game were up and running along with $1-2 NLHE during our early Sunday morning visit. Stop by the Eastside Cannery to play in the newest poker room in Las Vegas. If some of the room personnel look familiar you probably saw them dealing at the 2008 WSOP.
Tip: Park near the eastside doors at the Eastside Cannery, walk-in, look left ... the Poker Room. Couldn't be easier.
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Eastside Cannery Las Vegas
The Coming Battle Over Poker Etiquette
There is a battle coming over player conduct at the poker table. This all started before Scotty Nguyen's drunken performance during the WSOP H.O.R.S.E. event. But I want to go on record right now and say: "Enough is Enough!"
Now you might be thinking, well the Poker Shrink is going to wail on Scotty and Phil and Mike and Sheiky and Hevad for their behavior at the tables. Wrong! I am completely opposed to the politically correct lynch mob that wants to turn poker into a tea party. Don't kid yourself for a moment that is precisely what some moralistic busybodies are trying to do.
Now should Scotty have been reined in by the WSOP staff during the $50K H.O.R.S.E. event; well, of course. But they did nothing and as I have said before that is not the fault of the Assistant Tournament Director running that final table. All evidence in the past at WSOP events is that "some players" get a pass on the rules because quite frankly, it makes for good TV. Right now the WSOP is writing new rules for player conduct. I hope they don't go too far. I have written to Jeffery Pollack, Jack Effel and Ty Stewart with my opinion on this matter but I am sure they are hearing from many sources.
If you want to see what I mean by "going too far" take a few minutes to read the World Poker Association Code of Ethics. Tell me after reading those rules that you don't feel like some romantic poetry or perhaps a long walk on the beach at sunset.
The problem with giving any group of individuals the power to make laws is that they will invariably make laws, whether they are needed or not. Do you want the goody two-shoes of the world running poker? I don't.
Should there be rules for player conduct? Well, of course there should. But the key in my opinion is the enforcement at the tables and that must include a clear, unmistakable warning system. I have suggested that something like the "yellow card" in soccer. You see when the yellow card is shown, the referee requires that the player acknowledge the warning. They know they have been warned. Let my give you a recent example of the current fuzzy rules.
Phil Hellmuth was given a one round penalty at the end of play on Day Five in this year's WSOP main event. As you know that penalty was rescinded before Day Six began. Now, I was there for that incident and I can tell you that no penalty should have been given. Why? Was Phil not out of line? No, he definitely was. However, Phil has been warned many times in the past and never, repeat never given a penalty. Why would he think the warning meant anything different this time. Secondly, when he finally given the penalty, Phil looked at the Tournament Director and said: "You think they put my on the television table to be quiet?" Of all the lines I have ever heard Phil deliver that was the most telling. Phil is a draw, they want him to be Phil and yet at some point they decided it was what? Too much Phil? How is he supposed to know where that line is? So in this case, based on the rules as they now stand, I completely agree with the penalty being rescinded.
You want rules, fine; how about we let poker players decide on what is and is not a good rule. The F-Bomb has been modified and now, in theory, is only, enforced if you direct the expletive at a player or staff person. The old 100% ban was just not well thought out and fortunately has been changed. However, a floor may, at any time, warn a player that their language is out of line and must stop or they will receive a penalty. Either of those clauses could have and should have been invoked in the case of Scotty Nguyen; they were not. So why should Scotty change his behavior, it made for great TV and no one told him to stop.
Now, wait you say, why shouldn't we have stricter rules to keep the poker table civil and friendly. The simple reason is that people making rules just don't know when to stop. Don't believe me. Here is another "rule" from the World Poker Association. WPA Rule #13. TV Final Table Clothing: Collared shirts and/or sports jackets are required for men; smart casual clothing for women. And let's make sure everyone has a manicure, you know all those close up shots of a player's hands; heaven forbid someone has excess cuticle.
U.S. Republican Party Attempts to Deceive Poker Players
The United States Republican Party and its current leader, President George Bush and its candidate for President, John McCain have attempted to pull a fast one on the U.S. poker players. First, in what appeared to be a response to the email barrage from the Poker Players Alliance, the party removed anti-online gaming language from the party platform. And they made a big deal about it to the media.
No so much noise when a few hours later they slipped this language back in to their party policy platform:
“Millions of Americans suffer from problem or pathological gambling that can destroy families. We support legislation prohibiting gambling over the Internet or in student athletics by student athletes who are participating in competitive sports.”
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I guess all U.S. poker players now have a clear statement by the republicans about what they think of your right to play poker online. Now what are you going to do about it?
Asian Poker Tour Underway in Macau
Macau – China – 28th August 2008 – The cards are in the air at the Galaxy StarWorld Hotel and Casino in Macau as Day 1A of the eagerly awaited APT Macau finally got underway! ‘Godfather of Poker’ Doyle Brunson and the legendary host of the 1970 World Series of Poker Jack Binion joined Asian Poker Tour Tournament Director Matt Savage to ‘Shuffle Up and Deal’ as a world class field took their seats. Jack Binion, standing alongside Doyle Brunson, addressed the players as they took their seats. “This is the future of poker,” said Binion. “This is so exciting and significant - you can see the potential and feel the energy.”
A formidable line-up of players are at the StarWorld for the landmark USD $5300 event. Amongst those spotted include Johnny Chan, Todd Brunson, Liz Lieu, J.C Tran, Kenny Tran, John Juanda, Nam Le, Quinn Do, Steve Sung, Huck Seed, Michael ‘ Chino ’ Rheem, Mel Judah, Mansour Matloubi, Harry Demetriou, Carter Gill, Richard En and APT Philippines champion David Saab.
Amongst those choosing Day 1A include Doyle and Todd Brunson but there was considerable interest on the rail as Saab and JC Tran got drawn on the same table and locked horns. The APT Macau is making history by offering US$1,500,000, the largest guaranteed prize pool ever to be offered in Asia, with the first prize also guaranteed at US$500,000.
On Friday 29th August at 7pm, the Asian Poker Tour will make history again with Asia ’s largest cash game, coverage of which will be televised and distributed worldwide at a later date. The details are simple, minimum buy-in is HK$1,000,000 (US$130,000), starting blinds are HK$3,000 - $6,000, straddling and blinds are raised at the discretion of the players. Even the most conservative estimates suggest that HK$15 million (well over US$1.5 million) will be at stake, more than the guaranteed prizepool of the APT Macau tournament! Amongst those taking part include Doyle Brunson, Todd Brunson, Johnny Chan, Nam Le, JC Tran, Kenny Tran, John Juanda, Steve Sung, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Waki, Yamazaki, Gary Benson and Bruce Parker. Doyle Brunson has already wired in HK$2,000,000 (US$260,000) and quipped “that’s just the start.”
Chris Parker, CEO of the Asian Poker Tour, will also be taking a seat in the lions den.
“I’m so glad we have such soft tables!” joked Parker. “In all seriousness, we were astounded by the interest in the high stakes cash game – everybody wants a piece of the action. We set the mimimum buy-in at HK$1,000,000 but anybody who knows anything about Macau or the potential of poker in this area of the world knows this will be small stakes by the end of the night. It is going to be something very special – when it airs we predict you will witness record breaking pots! You think the action in Vegas is big, just wait and see what comes out of Macau !”
Five Top Poker Blogs List
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Flashback of the first Blogger's Las Vegas Holiday Poker Tournament held at Sam's Town in December 2004
Human Head has spent the past weeks collecting data and comparing most everything poker to come up with a definitive list of the Top Five Poker Blogs you should be reading. these bloggers are the are the originals, the people that defined poker blogging way back when most poker players couldn't define blogging.
Want to know who made the list? Click this link for the complete article running now on LasVegasVegas.
More Governental Interference in Free (Poker) Trade
You may have heard that last fall Dubai World invested a lot of money ($2.96 billion) to purchase 50% of the MGM City Center project in Las Vegas. Dubai World also purchased 4.75% of the common stock in parent company MGM Grand. Early this year Dubai World increased its holding in MGM and now has announced another round of stock purchases that will bring them to a 20% stake in MGM.
Nothing wrong with this, just business. In fact, in the current economic climate in Las Vegas and in the banking industry as a whole; MGM might not have been able to raise the necessary construction funds to finish the huge City Center project. However, with a partner like Dubai World the project continues to move forward while other Las Vegas gaming projects are delayed, canceled or put on hold.
Here is the problem, because MGM operates in several of the states of the United States, each state's individual gaming commissions has the right to approve each and every move by MGM and Dubai World. Nevada requires that Dubai World have a Nevada gaming license after owning 10% of the stock or 10% of any individual property. New Jersey requires approval for each increase in stock holdings; so representatives of Dubai World and MGM have been in New Jersey recently to gain that state's approval for the move to a 20% ownership. Michigan, where MGM has one casino, approved Dubai World increasing its stake to 14.75% back in April and now will need to approve the move to 20% ownership.
So here is my question: If they are not unsavory characters at 4.75%, why would they be at 20%. Why do these commissions need to be involved more than once? Isn't this more of the bureaucratic red tape that hinders business? Yes, of course, there are costs for each successive approval.
I won't even go into my rant about the 27 European Union member nations trying to collectively get out of the way of free enterprise and internet gaming.
About Dubai World:
Dubai World is a major investment holding company with a portfolio of
businesses that includes DP World, Jafza, Nakheel, Dubai Drydocks, Maritime
City, Istithmar, Kerzner, One & Only, Atlantis, Barney's, Island Global
Yachting, Limitless, Inchcape Shipping Services, Tejari, Technopark and
Tamweel. The Dubai World Group has more than 50,000 employees in over 100
cities around the globe.
Dubai World's iconic real estate projects include the Nakheel's Palm
developments and The World. The group also has extensive real estate
investments in the US, the UK and South Africa, unique hospitality
destinations in every corner of the world, and is a leading global port
operator. In the last five years, Dubai World has developed 80,000 luxury
residential villas and apartments and approximately three million square
feet of retail space.
Hoyt Corkins’ Las Vegas Home Robbed
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Hoyt Corkins playing in the 2008 WSOP Main Event
Well known professional poker player Hoyt Corkins was the victim of a burglary at his Spanish Trails home in Las Vegas. The easy going Corkins had been away from his Vegas residence in the upscale gated Spanish Trails neighborhood for about a month when friends discovered the break-in and called him back to Las Vegas.
The crooks not only ransacked the residence but gathered up his trophies and poker memorabilia before leaving the scene. The poker goodies taken included a WPT bracelet and his two WSOP bracelets - 1992 $5K Pot Limit Omaha, 2007 $2.5K No-Limit Hold'em 6 Handed. The thief (s) also absconded with two cars, a motorcycle, electronics and more than $10K in cash. Corkins told Las Vegas Channel 8 News his losses were more than $100,000 and counting.
They also stole his identity by using his office phone to get a credit card in his name. Corkins indicated he believed the break-in occurred a few weeks earlier at the beginning of the month. This is an opportunity for poker player everywhere to keep their ears and eyes open for any clues that might help capture the bad guys and return the cherished items to Hoyt. It's also an opportunity for players to evaluate their personal security and plug up any chinks in the armor to avoid becoming a crime victim.
Anyone with information that may help in solving this crime can contact the Las Vegas Metro Police Crime Stoppers at 702.385.5555, you do not have to identify yourself and you may be eligible for a reward.
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Hoyt Corkins on his way to a win and bracelet in the 2007 WSOP $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em 6 Handed event #30
2008 WSOP Pot Limit Omaha Championship on ESPN TV
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Norm Chad interviews winner Marty Smyth
Are you ready for poker? This is the last two hour episode before next week's start of the marathon coverage of the 2008 WSOP Main Event lasting until we finally play the final table in November. Tuesday evening at 8:00 pm EST (check local listing for times in your area) will bring the $10K Pot Limit Omaha World Championship into the comfort of your home. This final table features poker professionals Kiddo Pham and Robert Mizrachi doing battle with seven other not so well known but just as tough hopefuls.
A starting field of 381 players contributed to the $3,581,400 prize pool that pays 36 places. The winner will walk away with $859,549 in cash and one gold WSOP bracelet. The following list is a little program to help you keep track of the final table players with their seat assignments, hometowns, and chip counts.
Seat 1 - Kido Pham - Dallas, TX - 1,080,000
Seat 2 - Brandon Moran - Chicago, IL - 1,286,000
Seat 3 - Peter Jetten - Toronto, Canada - 492,000
Seat 4 - Michael Mizrachi - Las Vegas, NV - 1,767,000
Seat 5 - Billy Argyros - Melbourne, Australia - 729,000
Seat 6 - Greg Hurst - Tazewell, TN - 637,000
Seat 7 - Tom Hanlon - Dublin, Ireland - 192,000
Seat 8 - Marty Smyth - Belfast, Ireland - 1,068,000
Seat 9 - Richard Harroch - San Francisco, CA - 372,000
More Flipchip photos after the jump. All photos were taken during the three days of play of WSOP event #50, $10K Pot Limit Omaha World Championship.
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Clonie Gowan was the last female player eliminated
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Five handed final table
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Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Johnny Chan playing Day 1
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David Singer
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Mickey "Mouse" Mills
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Billy "Croc" Argyros
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Josh Arieh
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David Williams
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Jimmy Tran
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Jeffrey Lisandro
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Marty Smyth with the money and bracelet
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Billy "Croc" Argyros uses puppets to make a point
Electric Table Tells
Let's leave the whole "End of the Poker World" debate until another day. There are electronic poker tables in some card rooms and there will be more. Play 'em, don't play 'em; your choice. But I would note that the electronic tables have something between "live" play and "online" play when it comes to tells.
Some player believe there are fewer tells online and others think online tells are merely different. Well playing on an electronic table for awhile might convince you differently whatever your opinion.
First, the facts. At an electronic table the action moves from seat to seat, you can't act out of turn because you can't act until it is your turn. Also once you make any betting action, you have to confirm it with a second screen action. Image that you bet 600 in a live action game and instead of saying "600 is the bet" the dealer says "do you wish to bet 600, sir?" You can't string bet, you can't act out of turn; you can stack your chips and then fold and you can talk while you ponder your electric action.
But players sitting at a screen get into a pattern of betting with their hands or as is the case at many electronic tables, players use their players card to touch the screen; hard plastic is recognized easier than your soft finger tip. So if you watch players they will have a pattern to their manipulation of the screen options. When they are "on a hand" or setting up a bluff that routine changes. Players often fumble with the screen action when they are new to the game but once you got it, you got it! So slowing down or resetting the betting screen is a tell. You have to be smooth with the screen, just like you have to be smooth with chips. And it is just as easy to fumble the screen as it is to spill your chips.
Also players get locked in on the screen and forget about the other players. Fewer electronic players watch for tells and therefore they are also less likely to pay attention to their own mannerisms. They play like they are at home, where mumbling "Hot Damn!" when they hit their flush is not giving away anything.
New technology, new players, new tells. All in a electronic day's play, right Hal?
Hard Rock poker room opens in Vegas
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Hard Rock Las Vegas
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino's long-awaited poker room is now open.
Dubbed a "poker lounge," the room has 18 tables and will be a hybrid of 7,000-square-foot poker room and nightclub with bottle service
Though we suspect it will become like any other poker room in town, you may want to leave the t-shirt and cutoffs at home, at least for the first couple weeks.
Separate tables will be cordoned off and available for rental for private home games.
Regular tournament information can be found at this link, which include prizes such as a $5,000 bar tab with cabana rental by the pool and VIP backstage passes to the current concert.
Pictures can be found at CardPlayer.
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WSOP Info is your source to online poker news and information regarding the WSOP 2008. The World Series Of Poker is the largest Poker event in the world.
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