Sahara poker employee tournament

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Sahara Las Vegas Sahara Las Vegas Poker Room


Poker employees unite!

Sahara is holding poker tournaments exclusively for the other side of the poker community -- journalists, authors, dealers... if you've been paid for contributing to poker, you're eligible.

Tournaments are all no-limit and are capped at 110 players with 20 alternates. They begin Dec. 1, with sit-n-go satellites the day before.

The winner of the main event on Dec. 4 receives an engraved trophy.

Tourney schedule:

Nov. 30 beginning at 1 p.m.: single table satellites, winner receives $20 and entry to Main Event.

Dec. 1: 9:30 a.m., $100+20; 1:30 p.m., $100+20

Dec. 2: 9:30 a.m., $200+30; 1:30 p.m., $200+30

Dec. 3: 1:30 p.m., $300+40

Dec. 4: 1:30 p.m., $500+50

For more information, call poker manager Gary DeWitt at (702) 481-4814 or email gdewitt@saharalv.com.

Players can pre-register for all events online now at Poker Player Newspaper Online.

2009 PokerNews Cup hits the piste

For anyone looking to combine two fine sports in one vacation its worth taking a look at the next stop on the PokerNews World Cup roster.

The next event will be held atop the Austrian Alps in Saalbach-Hinterglemm in a five-star luxury ski resort, the Alpine Palace. The 2009 PokerNews Cup Alpine is set to feature of total of eight events running through March 21st-28th, with a €1,500 Main Event as the priority attraction.

PokerNews hopes to attract players with the promise of over €400,000 in prize packages that include private helicopter transfer from the airport to the resort, main event entry, hotel accommodations, ski and spa passes, and spending money for their pleasure travels.

"It is our aim to take poker tournaments to the next level by providing qualifiers and guests with more than just a poker tournament," says PokerNews Ltd CEO, Damon Rasheed. "As such, PokerNews is delighted to have the next leg of the PokerNews Cup held at The Alpine Palace, the most exclusive venue to ever host a poker tournament."

My only question is whether anyone can handle an 8am skilift after an all night table or if I should simply look at this as a very cold place to play poker?

Tournament Evaluation

In Las Vegas there are tons of tournaments running every day with different structures, buy-ins, and starting chip counts. Cities across the world are starting to increase their tournaments as well, and it can sometimes be hard to evaluate which tournaments are best to play in.

There are several factors to take into consideration when finding a tournament to play in. For starters, players need to find tournaments that are easy on their bankrolls. Some poker pros recommend that you do not play a tournament that is more that 5% of your bankroll. Once you find tournaments that are in your budget, you should look at what the starting chip stacks are. Some tournaments offer 1500 in chips, while there are deep stack tournaments that will give 20,000 chips or more. Some players like to have a lot of chips so they have time to sit and wait for better hands. Other players like to have smaller chip counts so the tournament doesn’t take as long.

Players should then look at structure. If a tournament has a bad structure then there is no point in playing it. Most tournaments publish a structure sheet which can be looked at prior to registration. Another element that players often forget to research is the player count and registration. If a reoccurring tournament has the best buy-in and structure, but they are not getting very many players, then it might not be worth your time to play.

After taking these factors into consideration it should lead you to a more profitable tournament experience.

The Stakes Are Even Higher

If you’re like me, you’re a fan of the Game Show Network (GSN) hit poker show High Stakes Poker because it showcases some of the best cash game players in the world, all playing super high no-limit poker with their own money at risk. Pots regularly get up into the hundreds and thousands of dollars, and it’s not unusual for someone like Doyle Brunson to buy into the game for a cool $1 million.

For the fifth season though, the minimum buy in for players will be raised. As soon as the first cards are dealt in the new season, everyone must put up at least two hundred thousand dollars to even be able to sit down at the table. The previous buy in limit for the other four seasons was set at $100,000, though due to player demand, the buy in was raised for a short period to $500,000 towards the tail end of the year.

“High Stakes Poker, by a wide margin, has become a must-see on Game Show Network for poker players and poker fans all over the world,” said Henry Orenstein, an executive producer of the show.

Production for the new season will commence on Dec. 19th – 21st, and the game will continue to take place at the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with GSN in filming their fifth season of High Stakes Poker,” said Brett Kellerman, the chief operating officer for the Golden Nugget. “It is a perfect fit for the players, the fans, and the Golden Nugget.”

Just how big could the play get with the new table minimum? If past seasons have been any indication, there is going to be small fortunes won and lost during each episode. Just make sure to check your local listings for the start of the fifth season of High Stakes Poker.

Caesars poker room splashes pots for football season

While we have Caesars Palace on the brain, they're also offering a fun Monday Night Pro Football promotion.

Every Monday during this football season, Caesars will splash a pot every time a team scores.

If a team scores, a table will be drawn randomly and chips will be added to the pot. Suddenly The Hammer (72o) is a playable hand!

Every time a team scores a field goal, $50 will be splashed.

Every time a team scores a touchdown, $100 will be splashed.

And, every time a team scores a safety or 2-point conversion, $200 will be splashed.

Note that splash pots only count in cash games. We recommend no-limit to have the best opportunity at stealing one of these pots.


Caesars Palace offers freeroll into NBC National Heads-Up Championship

If you have $20,000 to spare, you can enter the televised 2009 NBC National Heads-Up Championship at Caesars Palace,

Or you can try to win one.

Caesars is holding a $50,000 freeroll on Feb. 22, 2009 at 11 a.m. First place wins cash plus a seat into the championship.

All you have to do to qualify for the freeroll is play 50 hours in the poker room in January 2009 (tournaments don't count).

Prize structure:

1st: $10,000 plus seat to championship (worth $20,000)
2nd: $7,500
3rd - 4th: $6,250
5th - 8th: $3,500
9th - 16th: $2,500
17th - 32nd: $1,000

One interesting bit about this freeroll is that it plays regularly until it gets to 64 players. Then everyone draws, gets new chips, and plays heads-up. The final four players then play the best of three matches.

Taking a Break From Poker (Continued)

Even when you know intellectually that you need a few days away from the table iIt is never easy to convince yourself that it is time to take a break from poker in order to preserve your bankroll. However, if you come to the conclusion that it is time for you to take a break from poker, there are several things that you can do with your time to be productive.

Look at this time off as an opportunity to study and reevaluate your game. There are tons of resources out there and new concepts and theories are being published every day. Poker players should always be trying to stay ahead of the game, and this is your opportunity to get caught up.

Also, it is a good time to think about what has been going wrong in your recent losing sessions. Maybe it is time that you change up your game.

When you return from your break, you should think about playing at another casino or another limit. If you are a cash game player, maybe you should play some small tournaments for a change of pace. If you are a tournament player, try playing another game like Omaha.

Since the industry is constantly changing, poker players should always be reevaluating their game and preparing new business plans that fit the games that are played.

It is often hard to evaluate how long to take a break for. I recommend taking a break for at least a week. This will give you time to relax, distress, and find time to study your game. For serious poker players, poker can become our lives and we forget how to have fun without cards being involved. Make time to have some fun with friends or family during this time off and force yourself to stay away from playing poker even for fun.

Once you feel the stigma of your losing streak fading away, it is time to head back to the tables.

A glimpse of the new Silverton poker room

silvertonpokerroom.jpg

We stopped by Silverton yesterday and had a glimpse of the $160 million Grand Opening that's soon to come -- just the center Light Bar, garage, and Johnny Rockets need final touches.

The new poker room, however, is operational and located in the new section of the casino next to the 1500-car garage a la Wynn Las Vegas. Nice not to have to trek through the casino to get to the poker room.

It's right around the corner from the old poker room, which in turn was next to the buffet. The old poker room has been turned into a high-limit salon.

We headed over when we heard an announcement for seats available in the 6 p.m. tournament (at 6:10), yet when we stopped by there was no floor manager to be seen. The desk was left empty for 5 minutes before we headed out... and then we heard another announcement that there were seats available in the tournament.

We won't go into too much detail because kinks are still being worked out, but at first glance it's bigger than its first incarnation with about the same number of tables. Let's hope they fixed the problem of the AC blowing full-blast.

Their current promotion has buy-ins of $100 receiving $20 between noon and 2 p.m. until Dec. 31. We suspect you have to play at least two hours to qualify, but as there was no one to speak to, we couldn't get the lowdown.

Stay tuned for flipchip's review and better photos.

Taking A Break From Poker (part 1)

Every poker player goes through those sessions of bad beats, poor concentration, or inability to play well. This is a part of the game and it is imperative that a poker player protects their bankroll from bad runs. Sometimes, it is necessary for poker players to ask themselves if it is time that they go on a break. Most of the time it is hard to for a poker player to convenes themselves that they need to take a “forced vacation,” and it is even harder to know if that is the best decision.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself if you are on a bad run:

1. Am I chasing cards just to get even?
2. Am I bluffing more than normal because I’m trying to get even?
3. Am I being impatient?
4. Have my cards been running bad the last 4 out of 5 sessions?
5. Am I worried about my bankroll because of my last few sessions?
6. Are my reads off more than 50% of the time?

If you answered “yes” to more than two of these questions, it is time to take a break. Perhaps your cards are running bad; maybe it is mental fatigue, but it is important to get your head on straight to you can get over your bad run.

So perhaps it's time to take a break but you can't live without poker? Tomorrow I'll look at ways to convince your poker addicted brain that you do need to step away from the table.

BC Poker Event to Negreanu

BCPThe 4th annual British Columbia Poker Championship has been won my Daniel Negreanu. Being the top poker event in Western Canada, the BC Championship draws many of the world class Canadian professionals to the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond BC. The $2,500 buy-in main event drew 689 players and even though this is way below the buy-in level most pros will play, Daniel and other professionals made it to BC for the event.

The list of name players at River Rock included: Brad "Yukon" Booth, Gavin Smith, Lacey Jones, Mark Napier, Gabe Kaplan, Dennis Phillips, Steve Paul Ambrose, Isabelle Mercier, Maria Ho and Liz Lieu.

Daniel takes home the top prize of $371,910 and a Canadian Championship.

"Being Canadian myself, playing and winning the BC Poker Championship is extra special to me. The tournament was extremely well organized and my opponents were very good. It may have been a smaller tournament but I would say this has been the best $2500 buy-in event structure I've ever played."

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