Hard Rock Poker “Lounge” in Las Vegas
The much awaiting Hard Rock Casino "Poker Lounge" opened today. In a down gaming market in Las Vegas, this is the first of several new rooms to open late this summer. The hype had been about just how different the Hard Rock room would be. Yesterday, I got a pre-opening preview.
The good news is that this is a very player friendly room. The tables have as much room between them as can be found in the best layout in town, that would be at the Venetian. The new chairs are high back and very adjustable. The room itself is... well... Hard Rock. Done in black with rock star portraits throughout, the room lends itself to a party poker atmosphere. The dark blue table felts are very nice and give lots of contrast for both cards and chips. There are bathrooms inside the poker room, always a great addition and the much publicized poker bar is just at the entrance of the room, so the party atmosphere will be "near' but not "in" the room.
The new room begins with an aggressive four tournament-a-day schedule and a full compliment of games and limit spreads. I have only one negative and even this is not an issue for most Hard Rockers. I have heard many complaints from poker players about the music in the MGM poker room. Well, if you don't like music with your poker, then the HR room is going to be an issue for you. One very good thing is that the Hard Rock music selection is 100% Rock and that made all the difference for me.
I hope the very enthusiastic poker room staff can maintain their energy over the time it takes to build a room. I would remind them that the Venetian poker room took nearly a year to draw a faithful poker following; that being said, the new Poker Lounge at the Hard Rock Casino has all the elements in place to be a very successful room.
World Series of Poker: $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship Aftermath
ESPN showed the 2008 WSOP $50K H.O.R.S.E. event for the first time yesterday. If you haven't seen it, there is a lot of controversy about the conduct of several of the players at this prestigious final table; most notable the talk is about eventual champion Scotty Nguyen. Here are just a few points to be considered when watching the event on television or pondering the state of poker as viewed through the lens of this tournament.
Most of the conversation centers around whether Scotty Nguyen was drunk, abusive and/or an ambassador for poker and a role model for the kids. Quite frankly, it is the opinion of this writer that anyone who pays $50,000 to enter a poker tournament can act any way they want. But beyond that there are some real issues:
ESPN gets to present the "facts" of any final table in any way their editing capabilities allow. This final table lasted nearly 15 hours and ended at 5 A.M. ESPN chose to focus on the bad behavior of several players at the final table. Their choice, they paid for the television rights.
PokerNews.com, who have the exclusive rights to get in close and report all of the WSOP final tables, made a decision to not report any of the player interaction in their live internet reporting. Again, a decision based on access.
Was Scotty drunk? I don't know, I couldn't get close enough to get a blood sample.
Does Scotty use his "alleged" drinking to verbally abuse players and put them on tilt? Duh! Yes and if Michael DeMichelle did not know that before the final table, he was simply unprepared to play at this level.
Did DeMichelle get out of line with this celebration after winning some early hands? Yes, but nearly everyone blamed that on his youth. Seems the poker world has agreed that "kids" get to be jerks until they are 25.
Did Scotty use Demichelle's behavior to try and tilt him? Again, yes; this is poker folks, if you can get an edge you do it.
Was Erick Lindgren the hero for his good behavior when they got down to the nasty stuff with three players remaining? No, that was his way of taking advantage of the situation. Any edge, any time; again its poker.
Should the WSOP staff have done something to modify Scotty's behavior? Look what happened a few weeks later when they tried to reign in Phil Hellmuth, the penalty was overruled by higher ups. The floor staff know which players get a 'bye' when it comes to rule enforcement.
It is clear that this was good television. Good for poker? Who knows? But it was good TV and afterall, despite all of the lip service to etiquette and good manners; eyeballs on the tube are what poker needs these days.
Heads Up Michael Phelps
OK, I first must confess that I care absolutely nothing about the Olympics. Don't watch, don't follow, don't care. Zero, Zip, Nadda. However, poker and the olympics is a different story and the golden boy of the 2008 Sportsfest, Michael Phelps, has said he would like to play in the World Series of Poker.
First, some perspective. Michael Phelps agent is receiving about 40 to 50 legitimate offers a day right now. Sponsorships, spokesperson deals, charity appearances, clothing lines, posters, bobble heads, Michael Phelps swizzle sticks. The question here is: Will a couple of million dollars to be a spokesperson/celebrity player for an online poker site even make the endorsement radar in the Phelp's Gold Rush?
You know he has an offer right? Can you say Boris Becker. I knew you could. So will Mr. Eight Gold Medals actually play some poker? Well, yes he will; because .... wait for it!
He has already been invitated to the NBC Heads Up Championship in 2009. Remember you hear it here first, unless my source has your phone number too.
November Nine: Month One
So we are about a month past the selection of the November Nine. Being wired into the poker media underground, I decided to remain completely inactive regarding the November WSOP final table and see what came to me. Until the last couple of days, the sum total was nearly nothing. Now we really shouldn't expect a four month blitz of news and interviews; I mean the Super Bowl and the World Cup combined can barely muster a month of meaningless news bytes. But many in the poker world feel the silence has been deafening.
Every player seems to have had a flurry of local newspapers, radio and television interviews; and slowly the various poker websites have begun their obligatory November Nine player pieces. We also expect ESPN to begin to amp up the noise once the early days of the main event begin showing in September.
But let's talk about the one simmering topic that has been making the rounds:
"The November Nine is going to be a flop because it is a table of nobodies."
First, the obvious---yes everyone involved was hoping that one or even two big names or at least recognizable names would make the final table. There were audible expletives muttered as first Hellmuth, then Matusow went out on Day Six and then the last hope, Tiffany Michele, went down in a blaze of sponsorship greed and harassment on Day Seven.
But let me pose a question and then direct you to some discussion on this whole idea of "The Unknown Nine". Outside of insiders in the poker world, the last four final tables have basically had one "known": Lee Watkinson (2007), Allen Cunningham (2006), Mike Matusow (2005), Dan Harrington (2004). Today, however, most of us "know" not just: Jerry Yang, Jamie Gold, Joe Hachem and Greg Raymer, but also Hevad Khan, Paul Wasicka, Steve Dannenmann, Raymond Rahme, Michael Binger, David Williams and perhaps a few more final tablists. So the question is:
"Are these nine players really unknowns?"
We invite you to join a discussion on this topic by clicking here.
Party Poker Den
Some people call it the toughest cash game in the world. Others say it is the most fun. Whatever it is, great poker television comes out of the Party Poker-Poker Den. The Den involves handful of the most-seasoned professional poker players fighting it out in a marathon high-stakes cash game in front of television cameras. Poker TV doesn’t get any better than this.
The poker pros set to make an appearance are some of the most colorful personalities in the game. Scheduled to play are Phil Hellmuth, Dave "Devilfish" Ulliot, Tony G, Jamie Gold, Brian Townsend, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, Jennifer Tilly, Andrew Feldman, Sammy “Any Two” George, Robert Williamson III, Phil Laak, and Antonio Esfandiari.
This year the Den is going to be even more interesting for the players and the audience. While the first two Den Games were 24 hour events, this year, the Big Game will run for 36 hours straight.
Eddie Hearn, head of online gaming at Matchroom Sport said:
“The Poker Den has come a long way since we started back in the summer of 2005, the Big Game has been such a huge success, and the two series so far have attracted the best players in the world.”
Players will sit down with a minimum of $10,000 but no more than $20,000 and play with $25-$50 blinds. As usual, there will be a lot of straddling, guaranteeing a lot of action. Players are free to leave the table at any time; up, down or busted.
The show will be filmed September 30 and October 1; and will be shown on Channel 5 in the U.K. next year. Commenter Jesse May will be present during the entire duration of the event. To learn more about the cash game, go to Match Room Poker.
The Lure of the Bad Beat Jackpot
Poker purists hate jackpots and high hand gimmicks in any poker room. Because these bonuses are funded from a "bonus drop" at the tables, the "real" poker players feel their advantage over the weaker players is reduced because the jackpots not something you win with skill. The extra drop reduces each and every pot, won by skill, and funds one or more jackpot pools won randomly.
I think the big change in jackpots rooms is that players actually play the game differently when there are jackpots to be won. Let me cite two current examples. I was playing some limit hold'em last weekend in one of the Station casinos in Las Vegas. When an experienced player offered to "chop" the blinds with a new player, someone had to explain the concept to the rookie. The interesting part for me was the explanation contained the words: "First you check to see if you might have a jackpot hand and then you chop." None of the regulars "always chop" in a bonus room; they "chop if not jackpot eligible". Now to be fair the Station bad beat was over $225,000 last weekend, so there is some motivation to pay attention to the existence of the jackpot.
Then we have the online jackpots. Tell me that you aren't tempted to play a bit differently and a bit more, when outrageously monster jackpots are available. Right now, well at least while I am typing this, the Bad Beat Jackpot at Party Poker is approaching $1,000,000. No, that is not a typo. The BBJ at Party is currently Nine Hundred and Ninety-Two Thousand Dollars. The "loser" of the bad beat would win roughly one-third of a million dollars. Makes you a lot more willing to play those small pocket pairs in early position!
Indian Summer in the Poker World
Now that the World Series is over; oh, sorry it really isn't over...
After the World Series of Poker is put on hold, there is a pause in the poker world. We had a Latin American Poker Tour event and a Asian Poker Tour event and several regional tournaments, one in London and another in East Orangegrove; but basically it has been quiet in the poker world. Which means that poker writers have been pulling out all those old ideas they came up with one drunken night during the WSOP. Here are some fairly good examples of what late nights, alcohol, sleep deprivation and the need for content will produce:
-A two part series by Short Stack Shamus on how Rolling Stone magazine has or has not covered poker over the last 40 years.
-B.J. Nemeth somehow links poker and the Olympics, which one has to guess is simply a way of admitting that since there is nothing going on in poker right now, B.J. is trapped in front of his TV watching team handball at 3 A.M. But the conversation in the comments section are usually interesting at Pokerati where B.J. is writing these days.
-It would seem the Doctor of Poker Darkness has also had some time to decompress from the long, hot summer in Las Vegas. But pitch black or only shades of grey... Dr. Pauly is always interesting to read on poker and life in general.
-If you have rumbling around in the back of your brain that coming to Las Vegas to play poker for a living might be a good idea... Well there are lots of books and articles I could point you to or you could just google: "I lost my ass in a Las Vegas poker room" but for truthful look at poker in the desert from a knowledgeable player... try reading the Poker Grump.
-If you have been watching the ESPN telecasts of the 2008 WSOP then you definitely want to read an August 7th post on Up for Poker by Otis. He talks about how ESPN has looked at their televised commentary and might actually be improving the depth of their coverage.
Electric Poker Creating Static
Two major new electronic dealer-less poker rooms are about to test the viability concept in the U.S. market. The delay in gaming commission approval has made the introduction of electronic tables to some jurisdictions a much anticipated happening. Now both Atlantic City and Las Vegas will take the plunge with an entire poker room going electric.
In Las Vegas, the Excalibur Casino poker room will close next week and re-open a few days later, completely converted to electronic tables. In Atlantic City, the new poker room at Trump Plaza is to be electronic from day one. The reaction to both announcements has been very different. The new East Tower poker room at Trump does not replace an existing room, nor lay-off a group of already working dealers. In addition, the small number of poker rooms in Atlantic City means more tables, of any kind, could be used to meet the poker demand.
The Excalibur, on the other hand, has been a well known and successful room on the Las Vegas Strip for many years. The early talk about the "conversion" to electric has been very negative. Dealers and floor staff are losing their jobs, players used to the action are not easily persuaded of the wisdom of going electric. But Las Vegas has over 50 live poker rooms and the "test" of electronic was going to happen somewhere. MGM decided the Excalibur would be that test.
Three MGM properties (Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excalibur) are side by side at the south end of the Las Vegas Strip; they all have poker rooms, they are all connected with indoor walkways to avoid the summer desert heat. It makes sense that one of those rooms would be selected to go electric. The management of MGM and Excalibur are not using words like "experiment" or "test" or "trial balloon" but everyone believes the first electric room is exactly that. Will poker players with dozens of options, decided to play in an all electric room? We will soon find out. I will be at the Grand Opening of the Electric Excalibur Poker Room and will keep you up to date with the acceptance of the new room by Las Vegas poker players.
The State of Poker in Las Vegas
There are more poker rooms in Las Vegas then in any other city in the world. If we have our count correct, there are 55 open and operating poker rooms in the greater Las Vegas area. But with the state of the U.S. economy, including the cost of gasoline to get all of those nearby Californians to Las Vegas; all is not well in the center of the gaming world.
Here is a current report on the poker economy in Las Vegas.
NEW ROOMS: Later this month the Eastside Cannery will open on the (naturally) East side of town. This is the first new casino opening in this area in a little over ten years. The Eastside Cannery Casino includes a "First Class Poker" room.
NEWLY, REMODELED ROOMS: Fresh locations and new tables have popped up at the Stratosphere and Sunset Station. The Orleans and Golden Nugget also had major face lifts in the last year.
FUTURE ROOMS: The Encore, Steve Wynn's second tower, did not go through with plans to have a poker room bigger and better than the one already in Wynn. MGM's City Center casino Aria, however, still plans to include a World Class Poker room that will rival Bellagio and Venetian as the premiere rooms in the city.
NEW and ELECTRONIC ROOMS?: Rumors continue to swirl that the new Station Casino at Aliante in North Las Vegas will open this fall with a completely electronic poker room. This has not been confirmed but as it turns out, Aliante would not be the first poker room in Las Vegas to embrace dealer-less electronic tables.
OLD/NEW ELECTRONIC ROOM: The Excalibur Hotel and Casino announced yesterday that they are closing the old poker room and opening a brand new, all-electronic room before the end of the month. This will be the first electronic poker room in Las Vegas.
LIMITED HOURS: Several poker rooms have gone to a late night "empty room" close, which simply means that after midnight if no tables are in action; the room closes until sometime the next morning. Both Treasure Island and Riviera have made this move and more rooms are expected to follow.
CLOSING ROOMS: There are always rumors about poker rooms about to close. Some are rumors and some are clearly leaks from corporate headquarters. Currently on the death watch list: Paris, Tropicana, Plaza and Hooters. On the doubtful list is a long-standing rumor that Caesars Palace management wants the huge space now occupied by the poker room for something more income producing, however, this remains only a rumor.
World Series of Poker Europe II
The 2008 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) announced it will be hosting its event under one roof at the Casino at the Empire, LCI's newest club in the heart of London at Leicester Square.
Now if you are not a poker insider, you may not remember that last year the inaugural World Series of Poker Europe was played at three different London casinos to accommodate all the players. The "under one roof" is just one of the improvements we can expect from the WSOPE now in its second year.
The event to be held from September 19 to October 2, 2008, will feature four bracelet events, which is an addition of one event from last year. Cash games, satellites and more non-bracelet tournaments will also be increased over last year's offerings.
September 19th , 2008 - Event #1 - £1,500 – No-Limit Hold'em Day 1A (3-day event/2 opening days)
September 22nd , 2008 - Event #2 - £2,500 – H.O.R.S.E. (3-day event)
September 24th , 2008 - Event #3 - £5,000 – Pot Limit Omaha (3-day event)
September 27th , 2008 - Event #4 - £10,000 – World Championship No-Limit Hold'em (5-day event)
The final table participants from the WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas, the "November Nine" were all invited and incentivized, we are told. Thus far three have indicated they will travel to London to play: Ivan Demidov, Peter Eastgate and David Rheem.
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