Pennsylvania Expands Poker into Casinos
We’ve been seeing some fairly positive strides forward in terms of poker expansion across the US the past six months, with the latest moves coming out of Pennsylvania. The state has just passed a law that legalizes poker, blackjack and a handful of other table games at slots casinos, allowing the businesses to offer a much more complete gambling environment for their customers.
Residents within the state lines shouldn’t expect to be able to play Texas Hold ‘Em this weekend however, as the process to incorporate card rooms and tables in existing establishments could take up to half a year to implement. However, the Pennsylvanian treasury will be able to reap the benefits immediately since millions of dollars in license fees are expected to start rolling in right away.
The larger casinos in Pennsylvania will qualify for up to 250 tables, while the two smaller resorts casinos in the state will be limited to 50. A third resort can be added to the list of qualified casinos in 2017.
Other states have already been pushing poker expansion through other means, including Indiana where representatives are currently considering allowing riverboat casinos on the Ohio River and Lake Michigan. In Ohio, voters have passed a ballot to put casinos in four cities, while Kentucky’s governor is trying to put slots and table games at racetracks across the state.
“I see it as a border war more than a national picture,” said University of Nevada-Las Vegas professor Bill Thompson, an expert on the gambling industry. “It is the gambling war of today — three years from now it might be something else.”
Homeland Poker at the Redrock Resort Las Vegas
photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Red Rock's popular poker room
Homeland Poker Tour is kicking off its sixth season this week at the Redrock Resort in Las Vegas. Following their format of playing qualifers that sends players to the next levels, the Homeland Poker Tour appeals to the lower limit players that make up the bulk of America's poker players.
The Heartland Series of Tournaments are staged for TV and provide an affordable opportunity to get some facetime on the tube.The Redrock main event will be played over Saturday and Sunday. The $1,000 buy-in main will play two Day 1 flights on Saturday at 10AM and 6PM. Survivors will return on Sunday for the Day 2 start time of 11AM. The final table (approx. 5PM) will be televised live from the Rocks Lounge.
A Celebrity Charity Event benefiting Disabled American Veterans. The event has a $300 Buy-In with $100 Rebuys and a $200 Add-On. The event will be televised. Take the drive to the west side if Las Vegas and play some poker.
photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Red Rock Resort in West Las Vegas
photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Red Rock Resort provides unsurpassed views of the Las Vegas valley
The Basics of Pot Limit Omaha-Part I
Although Texas Hold’em is one of the most publicized games in the poker community, games like Pot Limit Omaha are beginning to gain popularity in the casinos and on the tournament trail. Great players learn that in order to be profitable they have to stay ahead of the curve by exploiting games with less savvy players. For this reason, it is beneficial to become proficient in as many games as possible to have full reign to exploit the weaker games. Following are the general guidelines and basics to the game Pot Limit Omaha.
Pot Limit Omaha is a variation of Texas Hold’em, but each player is dealt four cards in their hand instead of two. The same structure is maintained in which there is a big and small blind with a rotating dealer button. In pot limit players are allowed to bet up to the size of the pot. The same five community cards are dealt just like in Hold’em, but the difference lies in the way the hole cards are played. Players must use two cards out of the four hole cards in their hand. These two hole cards will be used with three of the community cards on the board to make the best five card hand.
One common mistake made by new players is forgetting that two cards must be played in your hand. For example, you are holding AcAsKcQc and the board reads Ks10h3s5s2s. It is easy to mistake that you have a flush since there are four spades on the board and you are holding one in your hand. In Omaha you must have two spades in your hand even if there are four spades on the board.
Winners are Losers (apparently!)
I’m not one of those people who sees the glass as half empty (or the chips half spent, as it were), but according to a new study involving some 27 million online poker players, Kyle Siler, a student of Cornell University, has deduced that the more hands of poker you win, the more money you’ll end up losing in the long run.
The research was inspired by Siler’s interest in risk handling – how people cope with uncertainty and the looming prospect of fruitful rewards. Naturally the world of online poker caught Siler’s attention, and before long he was scrutinising millions of online Texas Hold’Em games to retrieve the data he sought. And the results of his findings? Winning more hands means losing more money!
Perhaps Siler is onto something interesting, delving into the midst of a paradoxical fact of nature. He concludes his findings with the following statement: “People overweigh their frequent small gains vis-à-vis occasional large losses”
Perhaps the study merely shows that no matter how great a poker player you think you are, over-confidence can be a burden (something to bear in mind next time you experience a lucky winning streak.)
But that’s not the only helpful tip that may have come from Siler’s study. According to data from his findings, small-stakes online poker players seem to earn a greater amount from low pairs - sevens or less, when compared to medium pairs ranging from eights to jacks.
“This is because small pairs have a less ambiguous value, and medium pairs are better hands but have more ambiguous values that small-stakes players apparently have trouble understanding.”
An excellent Pro Tip if ever there was one and an interesting statistic to bear in mind when you’re next in the poker room.
19-year-old Wins PPC $2.2 Million, Barry Shulman Keeps Streaking
photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Barry Shulman playing during the 2009 WSOP at the Rio Resort Las Vegas
Harrison Gimble, 19-year-old poker player from Jupitor, Florida, pocketed $2.2 million in the Seventh PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA). The youngest player to win the PCA, Harrison "gibler321" Gimble, faced Tyler Reiman in the main event heads-up finale. Reimen takes $1.75 million back home to Morton, Illinois.
Barry Shulman, Card Player Magazine owner, keeps his multi-million dollar winning streak alive after taking third place and $1.35 million. Added to his WSOPE cash last October, the 63-year-old Las Vegas poker pro has banked over $2.6 million.
Poker After Dark: Nickname Edition
While most other poker shows will happily grab whatever well-known professional players that are available at the moment to appear on the program, Poker After Dark (PAD) has tried to make a habit of coming up with themed events in order to give viewers more of a reason to tune in. In the past, PAD has used gimmicks like a table of all poker commentators or all former WSOP bracelet winners to draw attention, and this week is no different, as the cast of six is comprised of players with famous nicknames.
All of this week’s poker pros have made numerous PAD appearances with the exception of Annette Obrestad, who needed to turn 21 before she could come on the show. Mike Matusow, Antonio Esfandiari, Erick Lindgren, Phil Laak and Phil Hellmuth take up the remaining spots. The program will continue to run all week long and airs on NBC starting at 2:05am.
PAD was also kind enough to send out some fact sheets about each player so that fans could get better acquainted with the participants.
Annette Obrestad: (Seat 1)
- Nicknamed “The Huntress,” she is a 21-year-old professional poker player who resides in Sandnes, Norway
- Known as Annette_15 online, she began playing poker when she was 15 years old and amassed in excess of $1.75 million in online tournament winnings before winning the 2007 World Series of Poker Europe.
- In July 2007, defeated 179 players in an online tournament while only looking at her holecards once, which she says she did to show the importance of focusing on the other players on the table and playing position.
Mike Matusow: (Seat 2)
- Known as “The Mouth”. One of poker’s most recognizable players, named “The Mouth” for trash talking at the tables.
- Winner of three WSOP bracelets.
- Lifetime live tournament winnings in excess of $7.29 million.
- Released his autobiography entitled Check-Raising the Devil in May 2009.
Antonio Esfandiari: (Seat 3)
- Nicknamed “The Magician” for having been a professional magician before becoming a poker player
- Winner of one WSOP bracelet and one WPT event
- Career live tournament winnings in excess of $3.56 million
Erick Lindgren: (Seat 4)
- Nicknamed “E-Dog” and a very popular player among fans
- Won his first WSOP bracelet in 2008, and also made two other final tables
- Lifetime live tournament winnings in excess of $7.39 million.
- Author of the book Making the Final Table
Phil Laak: (Seat 5)
- Nicknamed “The Unabomber” for the trademark hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses he usually wears
- Holder of one WPT invitational title, and won the PartyPoker.com World Open V in London in October 2009.
- Career live tournament winnings in excess of $1.68 million
- Known for his humorous antics and mannerisms at the table
Phil Hellmuth: (Seat 6)
- Known as the “Poker Brat,” and was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in July 2007
- Won his 11th WSOP bracelet in 2007, making him the only person in history to own so many
- Career live tournament winnings in excess of $10.99 million.
- Has made more WSOP final tables (41) than any other player in history
Amir Vahedi Passes Away
After some initial disbelief, it has now been confirmed that famed Los Angeles/Las Vegas poker pro Amir Vahedi has passed away due to complications with diabetes. Vahedi died in Las Vegas on January 8th, with first news of his death having been delivered through the personal blog of friend Mark Seif.
"Have spoken to two more of Amir’s close friends who have been in contact with Amir’s family. Sadly, they each confirmed the terrible news. Amir was a gentle and kind man who always made me laugh. I will miss him terribly."
Following the release of Vahedi’s passing, numerous poker pros posted their condolences on their Twitter pages.
"Amir Vahedi was one of the good guys. I'm very sad. RIP," Howard Lederer wrote.
"Rest In Peace my old friend...Amir was one of the nicest, gentlest guys on tour, and everyone loved him," Phil Hellmuth said.
"Wow. This is real? Few people showed me as many smiles and as much love as Amir Vahedi, in my poker infancy. Truly heartbroken," offered Joe Sebok.
Vahedi rose to poker fame when he made the final table at the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event, the same tournament where Chris Moneymaker helped launch all of poker into international celebrity. Amir also won his first and only WSOP bracelet that year, winning the $1,500 no-limit hold’em event. He was also known as one of the best poker coaches around, having a stable of students that included Ben Affleck.
Weekly SNG Tip: Stealing the Blinds
One thing you hear the pros talk about in their poker columns/articles is how often they try and use their reputation and table image to bully a table and steal a lot of blinds uncontested. The only problem I have with the pros giving out this information to the standard poker player is that the typical player may not be able to identify when the conditions are right to try and steal blinds, nor possess the correct table image needed to successfully push the players in the blinds off marginal hands.
Stealing the blinds, for the most part, is a good tactic to use in deep-fielded tournaments and in games where the blinds can get relatively high in comparison to the average chip stack at the table. Your usual cash game normally isn’t the best place to aggressively try to routinely pick up the blinds, as the amount you can win normally doesn’t justify taking the risk. The same can be said for most SNG situations, especially during the early rounds.
You shouldn’t consider stealing the blinds as a strong strategy in a standard SNG tournament, as players have a tendency to defend their blinds more often in a SNG rather than in a large tournament, as they know they only have to defeat a single tables-worth of players, which gives them the extra confidence needed to want to see some flops, even if raised while holding a marginal hand.
When the blinds get high though and start becoming worth the risk in a SNG, now is the time you want to start paying close attention to how the others at the table are playing. Very tight players that are on a short stack will fold a lot of hands in the blind as they’re just looking for the one right hand to shove all-in with. Keep a mental note of what players have just 10 times the big blind, as these opponents will be very hesitant to call even min. raises unless they have a premium holding. These opportunities will give you the chance to add some health to your stack while putting yourself at minimal risk, just make sure that you have the initial chips to gamble with in the first place.
Phil Ivey Becomes a Free Man
Phil Ivey and his wife Luciaetta Ivey ended their seven year marriage. They filed a joint divorce petition on December 22, 2009, and a Nevada judge granted their request on December 29, 2009. Luciaetta and Phil were high school sweethearts who tied the knot in May of 2002. Over the years Phil has credited Luciaetta with taking care of everything allowing him to focus completely on poker. The records pertaining to their divorce were sealed, and statements have not been made as to the reasoning of the split.
Phil Ivey has accumulated a great deal of wealth since the two have been married. He currently holds seven World Series of Poker bracelets, and has earned more than $12 million in tournament winnings. His online poker career is even more impressive as he has made over $15.6 million. This does not even take into account the amount he has earned in live cash games. It is not known if the Iveys had a prenuptial agreement or not.
It is yet to be seen if this will be a civil split, or if there will be angst amongst the two. Always one to put a brighter spin on things, Doyle Brunson made a statement on his twitter account, “Yep, Phil Ivey got divorced. Do you suppose he will be able to find any girl friends?” There is probably a line already forming in front of his house of beautiful girls ready to take the role of Mrs. Ivey.
Bellagio Five-Star World Poker Classic Schedule
If playing in live tournaments is your thing and you plan on making your way down to Vegas between the end of March and end of April, you may want to consider heading down to the Bellagio and jumping in on one of their legendary Five-Star World Poker Classic events. The schedule for the hotel/casino’s premiere poker series has just been announced and not without a hint of controversy. All 18 of the preliminary tournaments will have a $1,000 buy-in with rebuys. The move to include rebuys in all of the prelim events is quite a statement considering that only a handful of rebuy events were featured last year.
“We had some rebuy tournaments this time [2009 Five-Diamond World Poker Classic, and we had a very good response to them,” said Bellagio Tournament Director Jack McClelland. “What it does is it gives the players options. The players who can’t afford to play in a $5,000 event or a $3,000 event, they can afford to play in a $1,000 event and still take a shot at the big money. Now the players who can afford to and want to reload to super-size their stacks, they can do that, too. Now the guy with the silver bullet, the one $1,000 buy-in, he might not get there as often, but when he does he might pick up a quarter of a million dollars on his thousand, as opposed to $50,000-$60,000.”
The series will kickoff on March 30th and will run throughout April until it concludes with the World Poker Tour Championship event that starts on April 18th, with the winner of that tournament being crowned on April 24th. The WPT Championship will have a buy-in of $25,000 with $1,000 super-satellites. Here’s the schedule for the entire 5-Star Poker Classic series:
Tuesday, Mar. 30: Event No. 1 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em with rebuys)
Wednesday, Mar. 31: Event No. 2 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em with rebuys)
Thursday, Apr. 1: Event No. 3 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em with rebuys)
Friday, Apr. 2: Event No. 4 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em with rebuys)
Saturday, Apr. 3: Event No. 5 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em with rebuys)
Sunday, Apr. 4: Event No. 6 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em with rebuys)
Monday, Apr. 5: Event No. 7 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em with rebuys)
Tuesday, Apr. 6: Event No. 8 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em with rebuys)
Wednesday, Apr.7: Event No. 9 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em with rebuys)
Thursday, Apr. 8: Event No. 10 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em with rebuys)
Friday, Apr. 9: Event No. 11 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em with rebuys)
Saturday, Apr. 10: Event No. 12 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em with rebuys)
Sunday, Apr. 11: Event No. 13 ($1,000 pot-limit Omaha with rebuys)
Monday, Apr. 12: Event No. 14 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em with rebuys)
Tuesday, Apr. 13: Event No. 15 ($1,000 pot-limit Omaha with rebuys)
Wednesday, Apr. 14: Event No. 16 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em with rebuys)
Friday, Apr. 16: Event No. 17 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em with rebuys)
Thursday, Apr. 22, 2 p.m.: Event No. 19 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em with rebuys)
2010 $25,000 WPT Championship schedule:
Sunday, Apr. 18: Day 1
Monday, Apr. 19: Day 2
Tuesday, Apr. 20: Day 3
Wednesday, Apr. 21: Day 4
Thursday, Apr. 22: Day 5
Friday, Apr. 23: Day 6
Saturday, Apr. 24, 4 p.m.: Final table
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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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