Final Thoughts on Borgata

Last month I found myself on my way back to Atlantic City. Arriving at the Philadelphia airport, I waited patiently outside for the driver infrared ink.

 

The cool breeze and light rain was refreshing after being stuck in a stuffy plane for over four hours. When the car drove up, I quickly hopped in - a warm and toasty town car with the light sound of trance music. Sweet.

Halfway into the ride the driver asked how long I would be staying at Borgata. I replied 19 days. "Wow!" he said. "You'll practically be a New Jersey resident by the time you leave." I couldn't help but smile.

I checked into my room on the 14th floor. I didn't even calculate it was really the 13th floor until I watched the numbers light up in the elevator... 11, 12, 14... Ding. Crap! Isn't staying on the 13th floor bad?

If it wasn't, why would they not have a 13th floor? Instead of going back downstairs to change my room, I decided to tough it out and not be a wimp. Aside from that the room was perfect and I began to unpack my insane amount of clothes.

The next morning I woke up eagerly looking forward to relaxing and taking a break for a few days. Learning my lesson last time, I realized I needed to settle in before playing a tournament. Planning my trip this time I made sure I arrived with a few days to relax followed by a few days to play. Then I would start working.

Relaxing at Borgata is effortless. The Toccare Spa on the second floor is an incredible spa. With all the lavish treatments they have to offer, it's impossible to walk away unsatisfied. Last time Heath and I tried the couples massage and it was the best I've ever experienced.

The room is a huge suite with a fireplace, living room, full bathroom and a hot tub! After the invigorating massages you and your partner are able to enjoy the suite and hang out for a while. That's pretty damn cool.

This time around I made sure to take full advantage of the spa. The Pump Room is the name of the full-service gym at Spa Toccare. This was the place where I spent the most of my time. It has every machine that you need and even has a stand-up tanning bed!

After my extensive workouts I would head straight to the steam room. It's the best way to wind down after putting your body through a tough training session. As soon as you walk into the sweltering thick mist you smell the deep scent of eucalyptus. Being so relaxed never felt this good easy cards tricks!

Having the extra days of rest and relaxation prepared me for the tournaments ahead. This is a vital step I see most players forget to do. As we all know, poker is a mind game, so why wouldn't you give it proper attention and care? Working out, eating right and getting enough sleep are the best ways to stay fresh and play your A game.

Unfortunately for me, even though I was mentally prepared to play I ran into bad luck in every tournament. I played four events and only cashed in the modified shootout. I took 48th place when my pocket kings ran into the mighty pocket nines all-in pre-flop.

Who knew they'd hit a two-outer on the flop? I guess he did as he went on to take second place in the tournament. Good for him, bad for me.

The WPT kicked off their Ladies Tour at Borgata and I was surprised to see how many women showed up. Apparently Borgata has a history of having successful women's events with huge prize pools. It still amazes me the type of play you find in these tournaments.

I'll go more in depth on this event in a separate blog down the road where I'll talk about playing in ladies-only tournaments. Get ready for a good laugh.

With all the fun I was having it was now time to work. All the pros were arriving and my role as poker player was quickly replaced with becoming the Borgata spokesmodel. Honestly I didn't mind not playing once I saw I wasn't the only one experiencing bad luck.

One example was Nick Schulman's quick exit during the first level from the main event. His quad fives ran into a runner-runner straight flush. Sick. No matter how well you play, some days you can't escape the luck factor.

Despite the feeling of "Groundhog's Day," the 19 days at Borgata were awesome and a great way to start off the new year. I never left the property except for one quick trip to the studio. Being alone this time around I felt it was best if I enjoyed my time in Atlantic City only at Borgata.

Between the tournaments, spa and all the great places to eat you really don't need to go anywhere else. I'll be coming back to Atlantic City for more work with Borgata later on this year and I can't wait!

Like I said before if you haven't been here yet, you have to come see it for yourself. You won't be disappointed.

Till next week,

Bonne Chance!

Lacey

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The Best Is Yet to Come

My, how time flies when you're not having fun. It's been way too long since my last blog and it feels great to start writing again. But it's my greatest pleasure to let y'all know that things are getting better every day and I am finally happy infrared ink.

 

Yes, I said it: I'm happy.

Right now I'm taking a mini break from the WSOP, poker and Vegas by staying at Borgata's new signature hotel in Atlantic City: The Water Club. The Water Club is a beautiful boutique hotel and all I can say is that I'm in love with this place!

Make sure to check back for my blog about this amazing hotel, along with all the things I've been up to. It's been almost a week here in A.C. and all my problems are a thing of the past, at least that's what it feels like. Finally I'm relaxed and truly ready to begin the next step in my life.

Back in April I wrote that I was ready to start a new chapter and move on. However that's easier said than done.

It's been two months of hard work and faking a smile until the real one appeared. I had to take a few more hits as well to learn my lesson and get things straight.

I debated over writing about the depression I was going through. It was one of the main reasons I hadn't written a blog in two months.

Then I realized I wasn't the only one out there going though this. I started getting e-mails from all over the world with friends going though this same thing. So maybe, just maybe, I can help reach someone out there going though what I've had to experience.

If that "someone" happens to be you, the one thing I wish for you is that you'll have the strength to hang on. It will get better, but only if you let it.

How exactly does one get out of a depression? Who the hell knows is my answer trick cards.

Honestly, I tried everything and I still don't know. A great friend told me that time heals all wounds. It's the kind of advice that no one wants to hear when all you want is a quick fix, but it really is the truth.

With each passing day I got further and further from all the things that brought me to that dark place. After time you start to think about other things and all the painful memories slip ever so slightly to the back of your mind. The pain doesn't disappear, but the sting slowly goes away.

For me I had to get out of bed and start a new day, a new life. Some days were better than others, but with each good day I was closer to my goal: to be happy.

I had to surround myself with great friends that let me cry on their shoulders and sometimes puke on their shirts. Definitely not something I'm proud about, but it showed who my true friends were. I know I've said this before, but without these friends I never would have made it.

In May I decided to take a road trip with Bryan Devonshire, Gavin Smith and a few other people to Vancouver, on a whim, for the Coast to Coast Poker Championship. It was the best decision I ever made and I had the time of my life.

Don't worry; I'll be posting all about the fun and debauchery we got into very soon. It was the perfect vacation to have before the World Series of Poker.

Only I wasn't ready to come back to Las Vegas. I still had some healing to do.

So far I've played two events at the WSOP, gone deep and eventually busted before the money. Both times I forced myself to believe that I was mentally prepared to play, only to find out that there were still some distractions I had to get rid of.

After this trip to Atlantic City I'll be on my way to playing well and being the happiest girl in the world. The best is yet to come, my friends.

Until next time, bonne chance!

--Lacey

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Down Goes ElkY! RaSZi Wins Long-Awaited Kickboxing Match

The highly-awaited kickboxing match between Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier and Lex "RaSZi" Veldhuis finally went down in Marbella, Spain, earlier today.

 

 

ElkY and Veldhuis, who both played Starcraft professionally before finding poker, had been training for the fight since 2009 and decided to finally get it done as part of a TV show that was filming in the area infrared ink.

We even talked to Grospellier and Veldhuis earlier this year about the fight and they gave us a few quotes that now seem somewhat prophetic.

"I think his biggest advantage is his reach,” said ElkY. "That’s definitely the hardest thing I’m going to be able to counter. Even though getting hit isn’t very nice, I think it’s going to end well.”

In the end Veldhuis’ reach proved to be too much for ElkY to handle and two roundhouse kicks sent the French pro to the mat.

The match also provided an interesting trick cards Thai vs. Dutch angle as ElkY studied Thai kickboxing. At the time Veldhius downplayed the significance of being Dutch.

"Holland is the tallest nation in the world so my genes have given me good reach, which will help a lot,” he said. Holland does do well in kickboxing but it’s not like in Thailand where it’s really part of the culture. It’s not like all kids learn to kickbox in Holland.”

There was a substantial amount of money riding on the event including a $50k wager between the participants. Earlier in the year ElkY said pride was the bigger concern.

"Man I really don’t want to lose to him,” he said. "I will be so ashamed. The money is definitely not the most important thing.”

Unfortunately for ElkY he definitely lost. We’ve found one clip of the fight that you can watch above. That second roundhouse kick looks painful.

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How to Host the Perfect Poker Home Game: Protect Your Game from Cheaters

How to Host the Perfect Poker Home Game is a 13-part series on how to run the superlative poker night for all your friends and coworkers.

We’ll cover everything from what game of poker is easiest to play easy cards tricks, what hand beats what and even what drinks and food to serve. Follow this guide and people will be reserving their seat at your table weeks in advance.

In our ninth article we’re looking at a most unsavory topic, cheaters at your home game.

It’s important to accept that the possibility of cheating always exists, even if you’re not playing for money.

Some people are just wired to cheat and do it regardless of the cash, others are simply trying to exploit you for financial gain.

As the stakes get bigger and your familiarity with the players go down, the more you need to be on the lookout for would-be charlatans.

The good news is the people you’re looking for will rarely be accomplished card mechanics, and there are a few easy things you can do to seriously limit their opportunities to cheat.

Follow these steps to protect yourself and the players in your game.

Assert Yourself as the Host

Step number one for running a smooth home game is making sure the other players know who’s in charge, and it’s the number one way you can deter cheating.

Announce the rules we’re going to cover in this article and impress upon your players that you understand poker rules in general and that you will be enforcing them.

A good host is looking out for all his players, and that includes making sure they’re not being taken advantage of.

Assert Yourself as the Cashier

Why cheat at cards when you can take cash directly out of the pot, or take chips without putting in money?

Keep the money in a secure place and make sure everyone understands they must go through you to either buy chips or cash out.

It’s helpful to keep a small float of bills and coins to help make correct change.

Cards Stay on or Above the Table at All Times

Unless you’re committed to dealing every hand of your home poker game you’ll have to trust the other players to take their turn handling the cards.

Depending on the players’ levels of experience you might see some questionable shuffling techniques. But again, unless you’re willing to hire a dealer or do it yourself you just have to accept it.

The only thing to really worry about, however, is if the deck come off the table and is getting shuffled in someone’s lap. It’s easy to look at or rearrange cards if no one’s paying attention.

The same thing goes for hole cards. Players should keep their cards on the felt, and protect them when they look, but if they must pick them up, under no circumstances should they end up below the table cheat poker.

Use Two Decks and Shuffle Behind the Dealer

By using two decks you’ll not only get more hands per hour, you’ll cut down on players’ opportunities to cheat.

Make sure to use two different colored decks.

The player behind the dealer should shuffle for the next hand. That means when you’re done dealing a hand, you just shuffle the cards while the player to your left is dealing.

This will stop players from setting up the deck over the course of the preceding hand while they’re dealing.

It’s acceptable for the new dealer to cut the cards before dealing.

Be Prepared with New Decks of Cards

It’s very important to have a good supply of cards, and to be vigilant about the condition of the cards with which you’re playing.

Expensive KEM or Copag cards have a long life span if no one tampers with them, but that doesn’t mean they’re safe from players marking them with dents, creases and crimps.

You should also count down the deck regularly. Banking cards is the art of hiding key cards and substituting them into your hand when appropriate.

It’s one of the easiest ways to cheat but you can effectively limit it by always making sure you have the correct number of cards.

Use a Cut Card

Cut cards are incredibly affordable and they’re one of the most effective ways to limit your opponents’ opportunities to cheat when they’re dealing.

A cut card is a simple plastic card that sits at the bottom of the deck when dealing and it makes it impossible to base-deal (dealing a predetermined bottom card).

It will also stop inexperienced dealers from inadvertently flashing the bottom card.

Choose a cut card that contrasts sharply in color to your playing cards so you’ll know where it is. White or bright yellow is perfect.

Use Unique Cards and Chips

If you use the most common varieties of chips and cards you’re giving potential cheaters an easy way to reload their stack without buying in, or to swap in high-value cards during play.

Ideally you should order cards online and buy chips you know are hard to find.

For many it won’t be feasible to track down unique cards and chips. Focus on the first two rules in this guide to make up for your commonplace equipment.

Shorting the Pot

Shorting the pot is when a player pays less than he owes, disguising the shortfall by throwing his chips directly into the pot or someone else’s bet, taking more change than he’s owed or simply hoping no one will notice

One of the easiest ways to get away with it is by splashing the pot. By throwing a bet or call into an already large pot, cheaters can play for a discount without anyone noticing.

Collusion

Collusion is when two or more players at the table are operating as a team and it comes in all shapes and sizes.

Common forms of collusion to watch out for at your home game include:

• Soft-playing: When a player does not bet or raise with a very strong hand, usually to save their team-mate money.
• Whipsawing: When two players raise and re-raise each other to trap other players’ money in the middle.
• Dumping: Usually in a tournament-style game, a player will intentionally lose chips to his teammate to keep him in the game.
• Signalling: When two players trade information about what they’re going to do, or what cards they’re holding.

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How to Host the Perfect Poker Home Game: Odd Rules and Exceptions

How to Host the Perfect Poker Home Game is a 13-part series on how to run the superlative poker night for all your friends and coworkers.

We’ll cover everything from what game of poker is easiest to play marked cards, what hand beats what and even what drinks and food to serve. Follow this guide and people will be reserving their seat at your table weeks in advance.

For our 12th article we’re going to take a look at some of the odd rules, mistakes and exceptions that can pop up over the course of a poker game.

Familiarize yourself with these oddities and you’ll be able to deal with 90% of the issues that arise during your home game.

All About All-In Situations

Two players all-in with different size stacks:In this situation, you take the amount of the smaller stack from the big stack into the pot, returning the difference to the big-stack player.

Short stack all-in against two opponents:When a short stack is all-in against two larger stacks, the blinds, short stack, plus the amount of the short stack from each larger stack is placed in the main pot. All players can win this pot.

The two players on the side are now free to play and bet as usual into a side pot, which only they are eligible to win. (This means there can be two winners in the hand - a side pot and a main pot winner.)

Multiple players all-in:When multiple players are all-in, you must make multiple side pots. Make a main pot as described above. After you've done that, repeat the process with the next-smallest stack.

Balancing Tables

Sometimes when you’re running a tournament you’ll run into a situation where table 1 loses two players while table 2 is full. It’s obviously unfair for one table to play out short-handed so you’re going to have to move one player from table 2 to table 1 to keep everything balanced.

When moving a player it’s important to give them a seat on the other table closest to their current position to keep them from having to pay blinds twice, or not at all.

Breaking a Table

In tournaments you’ll get to the point where you have so few players that you might as well merge them onto another table.

You just randomly draw for who goes where. If everyone is moving to a final table, typically every player draws for a seat, even those who are already in a seat.

If you don’t have seat cards just use the deck counting from lowest to highest, starting left of the dealer.

Can a Player Cash Out Half Their Chips?

Sometimes players will win a big pot early and want to set some of their chips aside so that no matter what they leave with a profit.

The problem with this is that it doesn’t give the other players a chance to win back their chips. Cashing out half your stack (also known as going south) is against the rules and, at the very least, considered poor etiquette.

In other words you either play with all of your chips or none.

Can One Player Buy Chips from Another?

This is usually not a good idea. It's essentially the same concept as going south. The table loses the amount of chips the new player would be buying in for.

In home games it’s always much easier if one person is in charge of all financial transactions.

That said, you will see this rule broken a lot in home games. That doesn’t make it right.

Cards Dealt Before All Players Have Acted

This is a very common mistake in home games.

If the dealer burns and turns fourth street before every player has acted, the play is temporarily halted.

The dealer takes the turn card and puts it back into the deck, shuffling the entire remaining deck sufficiently.

Once the deck is shuffled, and the player has made his final flop action, the top card is turned over as the new turn (there has already been a card burned for this street).

Card Exposed While Dealing

Perhaps the most common mistake in home games is when the dealer accidentally flips up one of the hole cards.

If it’s the first or second card dealt, it’s considered a misdeal and the entire deck must be reshuffled before dealing again.

If it’s any other card the dealer continues to deal as normal. At the end of the deal the dealer takes back the exposed card and gives the player the top card on the deck to infrared ink replace it.

The exposed card should be put on the top of the deck and will be used as the first burn card. Make sure that everyone has a chance to see the exposed card before throwing it on the top of the deck.

If more than one card is exposed while dealing, the hand is considered a misdeal.

What to do with Cards that are Scratched or Marked

If you notice a badly marked card in play you should first play out the hand normally. Once the hand is complete you’ll want to either replace the marked card with a new one or get a completely new deck.

If you don’t have a new deck your best bet is to remove the card from the game, making sure everyone is aware the card is no longer in play.

If you start to see a number of marked cards, you should take caution, it can mean you have a cheater in your midst.

Dealer Deals an Extra Hand or a Hand to a Seat with No Player

This is easy, as long as no one looks at the extra hand, it's folded as a dead hand, and play continues as usual.

How Long Can a Player Wait Before Rebuying?

Usually after a player loses all of their chips, they must choose whether or not to rebuy before the next hand is dealt.

In a home game there is room for lenience on this issue, just as long as the player isn't doing it on purpose to gain some sort of advantage. It’s common for players to have to make a quick trip to the ATM to grab more cash.

What Happens When There are Only Two Players Left?

When a poker game goes down to two players, it’s called heads-up and some special rules go into place. The player on the button becomes the small blind and gets to act first before the flop while the big blind gets the option preflop. After the flop the roles reverse and big blind acts first.

Is a Single Big Chip Considered a Raise or a Call?

By putting in one over-value chip without saying anything, it is always considered a call. For example, if the big blind is $25 and you're first to act, putting in a $100 chip without actually saying "raise" is considered a call.

The more lenient atmosphere of a home game means the dealer will typically ask the player what they actually wanted to do.

You can always avoid these issues by verbalizing your actions. For instance saying out loud "Bet, call, check, fold or raise.”

More on Misdeals

Sometimes a hand simply can’t be saved and you’ll have to call the hand dead due to dealer error. These are a few of the circumstances where a misdeal will be necessary:

• The first or second card in the hand are exposed
• More than one card is exposed
• The dealer starts on the wrong player (some home games will allow the dealer to simply move all the cards over)
• One or more players receive more or fewer than the proper amount of cards

  Player's Stack Size Less Than the Blind

  If a player has less than the small blind in their stack they are automatically considered all-in in the next hand they play, regardless of position.

  If the player's stack is larger than the small blind but smaller than the big blind, they will be considered all-in in any position other than the small blind, assuming they fold for their option.

  When all-in, the player can only win the amount of their stack, plus that same amount from all of the callers and blinds. If the person has less than the big blind, they can only win the portion of the blind equal to that of their stack.

  Suit Rankings

  In poker, the official suit ranking goes with the official Bridge ranking system, which is alphabetical. From worst to best:

  • Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades

  Turn-Dealing Mistakes

  This is another common one in home games. The dealer will lay down the turn card without burning a card.

  If it happens that card is simply treated as an exposed, or flashed, card. The dealer makes sure to show everyone and then puts it down as the burn card, dealing the real turn as normal.

Posted by: Fiona at 07:21 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Easy Game Episode 1: Barry Greenstein

Few people have seen as much of the poker world as Barry Greenstein. From high-stakes cash games to major tournament wins easy cards tricks, Greenstein was among the first crop of legitimate post-boom celebrity poker players.

Greenstein was playing poker for a living before most of today’s young guns were even born. He’s been one of the most successful and respected players in the game for decades, and he’s gained a unique perspective on poker from those years of experience.

That’s why we’re kicking off our new video series Easy Game with a few words cheat poker of wisdom from Barry Greenstein.

PokerListings.com explores Greenstein’s origin story and the changes he’s seen the poker world undergo since his career began so many years ago.

Greenstein was gracious enough to invite us into his home in Los Angeles to share the story of a bright young man from Chicago who grew up to be one of the greatest poker players who ever lived.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy the first installment in our new interview series Easy Game.

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Why Female Players Will Break Through at 2012 WSOP

Every year we publish the same story about women potentially breaking through at the WSOP but could 2012 actually be marked cards the year where females break the nearly four year stranglehold that men have had on open bracelet events?

It’s sure looking that way as the women are off to a red-hot start here with deep runs by Vanessa Selbst, Annette Obrestad and Xuan Liu.

Selbst came oh-so-close to winning her second bracelet in the first $1,500 yesterday, eventually finishing fourth, while Obrestad made a deep run in the $3k HU NLHE/PLO tournament.

Xuan Liu is currently crushing the $1,500 Stud-8 and has the overall chip lead. Linda Johnson is also in the top 10 chip counts.

With uber-talented poker players like Vanessa Rousso, Liv Boeree and Maria Ho also in the mix it seems like only a matter of time before a woman snags a bracelet.

Of course women remain severely disadvantaged trick cardsstatistically as only a small percentage of the field in each event is made up of women.

That said, it seems like we’re due for a female winner. Since 2008 there have been multiple female final table finishers including Ho, Jennifer Harman and Laurence Grondin.

Camaraderie between female players also seems to be an all-time high to the extent that Rousso, Ho, Selbst and Boeree are all sharing a house this summer.

We originally intended to do female-only coverage of the $3k HU NLHE/PLO event but had to call it off thanks to the fact that only two women showed up for the event.

One of them was Annette Obrestad, however, and she defied the odds and finished in the final eight of the tournament.

If more women can keep pace with Obrestad and Selbst’s lead, a woman is going to win an open event at the 2012 WSOP.

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Welcome to the 2012 WSOP Main Event

The 2012 WSOP Main Event is here and PokerListings.com is kicking off our daily video coverage by welcoming you to Las Vegas.

We'll be recapping the main event action with help from the biggest names in poker every day until we reach the final table. Today in the video we speak to former cheat poker November Niner Scott Montgomery, recent EPT Grand Final champion Mohsin Charania and actor Kevin Pollock.

We're busy launching a new video section but until it's up and running we'll be posting our videos right here in the blog. Keep an eye out for full interviews with Kevin Pollock and Mohsin Charania going up later today.

And make sure to check out our WSOP 2012 Main Event live update coverage beginning at noon.

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Poker is a Skill Game, but Cigital Study Flawed

There has been quite a flurry of reporting in the poker community and elsewhere (the Wall Street Journal had coverage) of the findings of a study by Cigital, a consulting firm in Washington, DC.

The report presents what some are calling "definitive" data that "proves" that poker cheat poker is a game of skill.

Now, poker is a game of skill. Luck plays a role, of course, in the impact of the random turn of a card, the flukiness of the flop, the unlikely river card. That's not only the nature of the game; it's an inherent feature of every interesting thing that people do.

But the Cigital data do not support the conclusion reached. Let me explain why.

In scientific research we hold dear to a singular principle: you have to control alternative possibilities that might be causing the effects seen. The Cigital study does not do this. In fact, it has a large logical flaw in its design.

They analyzed 103 million Hold'em hands (every one played at the micro-level games offered on Poker Stars in December, 200 . They found that fully 75.7% of them never went to showdown.

In fact, in only some 12% of the hands was the pot shipped to the player who actually showed the best hand.

Given the size of the data base, these numbers are virtually certain to be accurate estimates.

Magazines, web sites (including this one) and, of course, the Poker Players Alliance (of which I am a proud card-carrying member!), greeted them with the claim that they show that the game must be one of skill.

If the cards are irrelevant fully three-quarters of the time, then, heralded one publication:

"The player could be holding two pieces of blank paper and it would make no difference."

This conclusion is not warranted.

Those players who acted sufficiently strongly to force their opponents out of hands, persuaded them to muck their cards or lay down perhaps the stronger hand, may have done so only because they started with good cards, in which case cards do matter.

The Cigital data base came entirely from micro-level games (10¢, 25¢ and 50¢ blinds). At these levels it is rare to find players will be make big bluffs with junk or reraise with air. Most play infrared contact lenses their cards in a fairly straightforward manner.

Hence, when they win an uncontested pot, it is likely because they have a hand that they believe is the best hand right now or can easily become the best by the time all the cards have been dealt and their opponents don't.

The definitive study will not be one that tracks hands, it will track players. The really convincing data would be those that followed individuals in a variety of games over an extended period of time and found that some had consistently better results than others.

Unfortunately, it isn't going to be easy to do this, as another study of online poker by Ingo Fielder and Jan-Philipp Rock at the University of Hamburg discovered.

They examined the results of over 51,000 online players and found, to their (and my) surprise, that the majority of them play fewer than 100 hands, lose their bankroll and quit.

Importantly, what this implies is that there may be a higher percentage of winning players online than previously suspected because of the vast sea of the wildly incompetent who buy in, get crushed by the knowledgeable, go broke and vanish.

The Fielder and Rock study deserves wider distribution, which I'll give it in a future column. They conclude, if you're concerned, that poker is overwhelmingly a game of skill.

Mark Twain had it right more than a few years ago. Commenting on a dispute between a two men about whether poker was a game of luck or skill, he quipped, "Well, why not just let 'em go in the back room and play for a couple of hours. Whoever comes out with money is right."

It's important that we get this right. We are in a war, a test of will with legislators and the legal establishment to show that poker is not gambling, in the usual sense as an enterprise dominated by luck and chancy events.

We do not want to go into court or into a hearing equipped with illogical arguments that will crumble under scrutiny.

Click through to check out Carl Bialik's take on the study on his Wall Street Journal blog.

Author Bio:

Arthur Reber has been a poker player and serious handicapper of thoroughbred horses for four decades. He is the author of The New Gambler's Bible and coauthor of Gambling for Dummies. Formerly a regular columnist for Poker Pro Magazine and Fun 'N' Games magazine, he has also contributed to Card Player (with Lou Krieger), Poker Digest, Casino Player, Strictly Slots and Titan Poker. He outlined a new framework for evaluating the ethical and moral issues that emerge in gambling for an invited address to the International Conference of Gaming and Risk Taking.

Until recently he was the Broeklundian Professor of Psychology at The Graduate Center, City University of New York. Among his various visiting professorships was a Fulbright fellowship at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. Now semiretired, Reber is a visiting scholar at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.

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Random WSOP Observation #12: Gamble One Time!

For some poker players, gambling is as essential for their survival as food is. You'll see players gambling on nearly anything marked card tricks.

The other day Tim Phan and Roland de Wolfe were in the middle of a table redraw and saw the perfect opportunity to sneak in some extra-curricular activities.

First it was a heads up Baccarat hand for $5,000. The cards were scrambled in front of the dealer and both players reached in and picked two cards.

Phan turned over J♦ 8♦ while Rollie turned up T♥ 6♦. Roland tried to draw another card but Phan stopped him and apprised him of the fact that J♦ 8♦ is a natural. Game over, Tim Phan up $5,000.

The floorman was trying to get the guys moving marked poker.

"Alright guys, come on let's go," he said.

"Ok double or nothing red or black," de Wolfe blurted.

"Fine, pick a card quick," Phan said.

Roland picked a card.

"Red or black?" Phan asked frantically.

"Red!" de Wolfe said and rolled over the 3♦ to win.

"Damn, I was just up $5,000," Phan said as he gathered his chips and headed to his new table.

Better luck next time Phan.

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$50 Facebook Contest: Choose the Pros' Entrance Music!

In case you haven't noticed we've got a lot of giveaways going on over on our Facebook page. If you're like us and enjoy free money you should probably head over and become a fan.

Today we've got a new contest. The PartyPoker Big Game IV is allowing players to choose infrared contact lenses their own entrance music, much like a pro boxing fight.

The players have all chosen their music, ho hum, but we want to give you a chance to suggest better, more fitting songs for these guys. Head over to the Facebook page and check out the details. The contest will be near the top of our wall.

Comment with your funniest/most insulting/cleverest suggestions and you could win $50.

Worst case you might get a laugh out of the other suggestions.

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Chilipoker Brings Social Media to Online Poker

In what some are calling the biggest innovation in online poker since Rush, Chilipoker has integrated a new social media component into their software that lets players communicate more easily, access and share stats, and make all sorts of cool side bets with other players on the site.

This is a good idea, no question. What's most surprising is that it was introduced first by one of the smaller online poker sites. You can bet there are a lot of people at FT and Stars shaking their heads and wondering how they missed it marked card tricks.

We've got the demo video from Chilipoker for you below but first we'd like to commend them on one specific point.

We could care less about the FB and Twitter integration, we already have FB and Twitter for that. What we love is the side bet functionality. You can set up last longers, sell your action, create cash game challenges and more! This is the big news as far as we're concerned.

Not that we don't love updating our "Poker Statuses" to "Happy" or "Tilted". Check out the video and tell us what you think in the comments below.

Chilipoker - Chiliconnect v1.0 - English... by chilipoker

Check out our comprehensive Chili Poker review and sign up to try this for yourself!

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Top 5 Ways to Induce Tilt

Today's list is about behavior in live game situations and the things you do - intentionally or not - that can induce heavy tiltage in your opponent.

Some players deliberately try infrared ink to gain an edge on their opponents by playing mind games on them, or attempt to throw them off their game with words or actions they know will get under their skin.

At other times, people are just oblivious to the fact that what they are doing is irritating someone - and it's often the unintentional types of irritations that can be the most tilt-inducing of all.

Whatever the case, here are the top 5 tilt inducers in a live poker environment.

Use, or avoid, at your own discretion.

5) Saying "ship it" after a suck-out on the river. Actually, saying "ship it" at any point, in any situation, is irritating.

Save it for when you're at the FedEx counter.

4) Explaining your irrational decision-making process after outdrawing an opponent with completely nonsensical arguments.

If this is done intentionally, and orchestrated to perfection with just the right amount of sarcasm and feigned ignorance of poker knowledge, it can be one of the most powerful weapons in any poker player's arsenal.

Be careful, though, because this will put a target on your back from the tilted player and will sound the donkey alarm for the rest of the table. They'll make a mental note that you are clueless, so pay even more attention to what you are doing marked poker.

That way you can eventually tilt the entire table :-P.

3) Slow-rolling the nuts because you think it's funny. It's bad form and it makes people mad. Probably wise not to do this since the poker gods will smite you with unrelenting savagery on wicked-nasty turns and rivers.

But yeah; if you wish to induce tilt for the short term, this is a solid tactic.

2) Attempting to win an Oscar for any performance when you already know what you will do. Especially if you are tanking with a Unabomber hoodie on.

Additional tiltage points are awarded for combining accessories which include, but are not limited to, sunglasses and headphones.

1) Felting an opponent while simultaneously motioning to the cashier (or chip runner) and yelling "CHIPS!" followed by a feminine giggle.

Knowledge of any school of self-defense is useful in this scenario, and flying kicks and surprise left hooks are not unwarranted here.

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Living Large: The Black Belt Poker WSOP Party

Describing the Black Belt Poker mansion as a mansion is somewhat deceiving; Mexican villa is a closer representation easy cards tricks.

After getting buzzed through the front gates of the compound, you walk through the double front doors and step into the landing area to be greeted by a grand piano, water fountain, wide staircase and three different escape routes.

Route one leads to the billiards room, route two to the TV room, and route three will take you to the kitchen, where you'll find three full-sized convection ovens.

Walking through the dining room with a table fit for 30, you walk out to the back yard. The buildings surround the pool in the middle; a pool which includes a waterfall, grotto, volleyball net and jacuzzi.

Now add 30 flats of beer, 6 shifts of grilled food, a crew of English poker pros and you have yourself a party.

You Like to Gamble?

Maybe because it's Las Vegas, or maybe it's because the entire house was filled with poker players, there was some sort of gamble to be found in every room.

Blackjack was being played by the pinball machine, poker in the TV room, 8-ball in the billiards room (including a full on 8-ball tournament), plus the occasional prop bet entered the mix.

The largest prop of the night came in the form of a bucket of ice and water. Two players decided to have a last longer of who could keep their forearm, halfway up to the elbow, submerged the longest.

There was the standard bet between the two players, an overlay laid down by the spectators and side action galore. Just picture fistfuls of bills and people yelling out odds, looking for someone to counter-offer or accept marked cards lenses.

One of the runners, at around the three-minute mark, was overcome by full-body violent shivering, while his opposition calmly ate peanuts. This caused a sea of odds-heavy bets in favor of the peanut eater.

Much to everyone's shock, after close to 7 minutes, it was peanut eater who couldn't take the heat and pulled out of the race.

Moneys were paid and the ice bucket was once again filled with beers.

The Neil Channing Situation

At one point late in the night, Neil Channing realized that he had locked himself out of his bedroom.

Phil "the Unabomber" Laak tried to come to the rescue and pop the lock. Unfortunately, Laak's lock picking skills are not all they needed to be, and the Unabomber failed to blow open the door.

Still unable to get into his room, random drunken partiers decided they should try to climb up the walls to Channing's second-floor balcony. The attempts were fruitless, but thankfully a large thatched straw patio umbrella was the party's only casualty.

Check out more from the Black Belt Poker team here, including blogs from Channing and Luke "FullFlush1" Schwartz.

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Anthem Antics at WSOP!

Every day at around 2 p.m., play stops at the 2009 World Series of Poker for a special bracelet presentation to honor those who've won events the night before.

The winner is brought up on stage, the bracelet is handed over and his or her national anthem is played marked poker.

Typically, the anthem is a staid instrumental arrangement played with very little personality.

For John Kabbaj's ceremony, however, it was the Sex Pistols'"God Save the Queen."

At first, reaction was mostly positive to this refreshing change of pace. Kabbaj and WSOP Commish Jeffrey Pollack were both seen to be rocking out on stage, fist-pumping and head-banging and generally enjoying easy cards tricks the moment.

But then the grumbling started. People started muttering about the ceremony being disrespectful. Kabbaj thought it over and decided he was infuriated.

Pollack Tweeted an apology: "On behalf of the WSOP, I apologize if we offended any of our British players or fans. We are going to re-do John's ceremony tomorrow..."

A sheepish Kabbaj told his tablemates in the $50k H.O.R.S.E. event just how mad he really was:

"I had no idea they were going to play that song," he said.

"Somebody made a joke about it and I laughed but I had no idea they were going to do it. I should have stopped it but I was just in such shock."

So long story short, they're going to redo the bracelet ceremony tomorrow with the traditional version of "God Save the Queen."

Interestingly, when WSOP organizers screwed up the Finnish national anthem (they played the wrong song), Pollack told Ville Wahlbeck to "roll with it" despite the fact that Wahlbeck was the first ever Finn to win a WSOP bracelet.

Needless to say, there was no re-do of Wahlbeck's ceremony. Pollack didn't even Tweet about it.

Just sayin …

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Courtney Gee LAPT Peru Trip Report (Part 2)

Catch up with Part 1 of Courtney's trip to Peru here.

I’m a really light sleeper and my hotel room was (once again) extremely noisy, so I slept even more badly the night before Day 2 than I did the night before Day 1.

Having slept around 10 hours in the past three nights, I went to the casino feeling like a zombie on Day 2 of the LAPT Grand Final.

Thanks to my lack of sleep(and how bad I am at dealing with it), Day 2 was a haze for me. I remember thinking that my table was quite aggressive. I also had a couple players from my Day 1 table to my left, which was unfortunate because they knew how I played marked poker and had position.

Halfway through level 1, I got dealt QQ and got my 30bb stack all-in preflop with KK. Luckily for me I hit a Q on the turn and doubled up to 120k. Someone said they even folded a Q, so it was a one outer!

No Sleep = Questionable Play

Unfortunately, my sleepy self decided to punt this amazing pokergift shortly after.

I was sitting to the left of two active players, and I decided to make a terrible squeeze in the sb with A7 after one of them raised in mp and the other called on the button.

Unsurprisingly, I ended up having to play a pot out of position with a terrible hand after the button called.

The flop came KQxr and the button called my continuation bet. The turn brought a T and also a club draw, and I checked intending to just fold to a jam since he had less than a pot sized bet behind.

My opponent suckered me in with an 8k bet into an almost 60k pot, though. I definitely should have folded, but I didn’t.

When the river came the J♣, I shoved all-in out of position, and my opponent snap called me with A♣T♣. Talk about putting my chips in dead on every street …

After that hand I was pretty much back to where I started with around 60k or 30bb. On my last hand I was dealt QQ again and called preflop against a very aggressive player. I fist-pump-called juice cards three streets all-in post flop with my over pair and lost to KK.

It was pretty surreal when I busted because I wasn’t really clear-minded at all. I went back to my room and went to bed, and the only reason I remember anything that happened that day was because I wrote notes about each hand right after I played them.

I felt really horrible once I woke up from my nap and realized I was busto, though. Busting from a tournament because you played badly is probably the worst thing ever – MUCH worse thanbusting from a bad beat.

If I hadn’t played the A7 hand so poorly, I still would have had chips after the QQ vs KK cooler hand and who knows what might have happened. I felt pretty glum about it for the rest of the day.

Free Time in Peru Isn't So Bad

Luckily I was still on vacationand had mucho access to endless papaya juice and smoothies, so I got over the tournament fairly quickly. I spent the rest of my time in Peru eating amazing food, bartering for alpaca scarves, and hiking to Machu Picchu.

I had a wonderful time in Peru and I would definitely go back. The people are extremely friendly, the food is amazing, and the weather is great.

If you ever go to Cusco, I highly recommend the restaurant Greens Organic. Be sure to get the mango (with pineapple, passion fruit, and lemongrass) smoothie because it’s definitely one of the best things I’ve ever tasted.

Where poker is concerned, I thought PokerStars did a great job running the event. I would definitely go to another LAPT, although this time I would probably try to learn a small amount of Spanish first

Now I’m sadly back at home, where it’s cold and I’m trying to win at online poker. Poker has gone quite poorly since I got back;take a peek at my other blogif you want further details. The next time I write here, I’ll give a summary of how $200 and $300 hyper HU has been going since November.

 

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Can Poker Players Have Normal Relationships?

I am sitting here in my condo with 15 minutes left before I am supposed to get started playing online for the next 10-12 hours. This will be my second to last blogpost that I will write for 2009.

I am planning on writing my last one easy cards tricks about my new year’s resolutions and 2009’s resolutions and how I did with them.

I am first going to have to come up with my 2010 resolutions, but my brain has been mulling this over for a few weeks now and I got a rough outline of what I want them to be.

I am insanely pumped for the next few months when it comes to poker. I have mapped out basically what I am going to be doing through bay 101, basically being on the road starting with PCA and playing tons of live tournaments for the first 3 months of the year.

I have been going through a pretty rough time with my ex-girlfriend, as we have been talking over the last couple months since breaking up, about whether or not we are making the right decision by separating.

It’s been an extremely difficult time for me, as I love her with all of my heart and wish that we could work things out. I know she loves me too and we both want what’s best for each other.

It worries me that I can’t seem trick cards to have a relationship work out. I want to eventually be able to get married and have a family. This is now the third relationship in which things have not worked out partially because of poker, and all three were in a different way.

The first one didn’t work because I had basically just discovered poker and was fascinated by the game and became addicted to it. I was playing 60-70 hours a week and let everything else in my life fall by the wayside.

I got my priorities straight eventually and learned to balance poker with other things in my life.

The second relationship that was affected by poker was with a girl who just basically did not approve of gambling. That relationship I should have known from the beginning was just not going to work out.

And this last relationship, with neither of those previous issues being the problem, just doesn’t work with how much time we have to spend apart.

Neither one of us is ready to make the jump to having her come with me on all my trips, and make that commitment that we are going to basically get married. And it is just way too hard to maintain our relationship with me being on the road all the time.

Will I ever be able to have a normal relationship? Get married? Have a family? Do all poker players have these same issues? These are some of the questions I have been thinking about a lot recently.

Well here goes Sunday! Last day of MTTs for 2009 probably. GL me. Pz!

Jmerc

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Australia Part 2: AllInAt420 vs. JovialGent

Last week, in "Australia Part 1," I posted an interesting hand I was involved in with Yevgeniy Timoshenko (aka Jovial Gent/atimos) during the 2008 Aussie Millions main event.

Check out Part 1 to see where we left off. I'd like to thank the readers for their feedback, which I will now respond to while I evaluate my options on how to play marked cards the turn after I check and Yevgeniy Timoshenko bets $2,800 into the pot of $6,750.

The first option I have is to fold. Only one reader even mentioned the possibility of folding. This is clearly the safe and conservative route.

Although I have top pair and a flush draw, I have put my opponent on a pretty big hand and am nearly sure that I am beat at this point.

I can get away now, leaving myself with a fairly comfortable stack of $10k with blinds at $150/$300 ($25 ante).

However, as mentioned in Australia Part 1, I'm getting 3.4-1 to call his $2,800 turn bet. If all of my outs are live (i.e. he has an overpair), I am only a 2-1 dog to make the best hand.

Even in the worst-case scenario, where only a rivered flush will give me the winning hand (i.e. he has a set/straight), I'm a 4-1 underdog to make the best hand. Even if this is the case, I would only need to get a small river bet paid when I make my flush to justify calling the turn bet on the draw with improper pot odds.

My next option would be to just call the $2,800. Half of the readers who responded were in favor of this play, and for good reason. I get to see the river card infrared contact lenses and try to make my hand without risking my tournament life. I'm getting the proper pot odds against his possible range of hands, and can certainly justify a call here.

A major drawback to flat-calling is that it leaves me with only approximately $7,000 chips if I call the $2,800, don't improve, and fold on fifth street. I will have put nearly half my stack into the pot, only to fold on the river.

Also, there is a very small chance that he can't beat the pair of eights, and this play will leave me vulnerable to being bluffed off the best hand on the river.

My final option is to check-raise him all-in for just under $10,000 total. A few readers preferred this option over the other two. To a thinking player like Yevgeniy, my hand looks so strong that I may be able to get him to lay down the best hand in some cases.

With his bet of $2,800 plus the $6,750 already in the pot, I can almost double my stack by successfully semi-bluffing here. Even if I get called, I'll have a good chance of taking down an even bigger pot.

The obvious drawback to this play is that putting your tournament life on the line on a semi-bluff is a dangerous move. I'm certainly beat if I get called, and I'll be behind for my tournament life with one card to come... which is not a place you want to be.

It is a high-risk play... but high risk can lead to high reward. Then again, it can also lead to lonnnnnng flights home from Melbourne wondering why you didn't just toss your cards into the muck.

I suppose you're curious as to how the hand actually played out. I decided to try to the best of my ability to convince Yevgeniy that I had an absolute monster and was merely trying to suck him in with my check, by check-raising all-in.

He went into the tank, took the chips necessary for a call out of his stack and began to review the hand. After a few moments, he reluctantly called, showing J♠ J♣. With over $25,000 in the middle and my tournament life on the line... I may never be so happy to see the A♦ again in my life!

See you next week for part three... and thanks for reading.

Matt Stout

"All In At 420"

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WSOP Main Event Recap Part 2

I might as well stop putting off writing this blog before I manage to completely block this tournament out of my memory...because I'm pretty close as it is, thankfully!

As I mentioned in the first part, my starting table looked more like a tough final table. I wouldn't be surprised in a WPT event, but since this is the softest $10k buy in tournament of the year it was pretty bad news.

Unless I managed to get marked poker in a good spot against one of the softer spots at the table it was going to be tough to accumulate.

But since the first day is all about survival I just decided to lay back, taking a lot of flops with the soft spots and picking my spots against the better players.

I picked up one big pot early when I set over setted someone. Normally I get all 30k even though it was 50-100 in this spot ifI play it correctly, but the flop was Q♦ J♦ 10♦ and my opponent just check-called me down on a 2♠ turn and 6♣ river with J♠ J♣

Although acleaner flop orus both filling up would have beengreat, I still picked up about 7k in that pot and was up to 36k. I wasstill happy with the result and felt like it was a great start and a good sign.

Unfortunately, that was the last significant pot I won for the rest of the tournament! I kept playing pretty solid and wasn't involved in many big pots...which is all well and good in terms of strategy and everything but just resulted in a more painful and slow torture.

Towards the end of the day, I raised under the gun with A♦ A♣ and got flatted by Alex "AJKHoosier1" Kambaris. It was 200/400 (50) and I had 28k which he had well covered.

We went heads up tothe flop, and I wanted to puke when it came Ks-Qs-Jc. I check-called a pot sized bet from him, and just gave up on a ragged turn card to his 2/3 pot bet.

It's a good thing, too, since any doubt of me having the best hand went out the window when he showed 10â™  9â™ ! He later told me that he onlyshowed because we're friends and he knew I was feeling pretty crappy after losing pot after pot. Thanks Alex!

I managed to cheat poker squeeze into day two with 18k going to 250-500 (50). It was literally the most boring and card dead day of live poker I've ever had.I ended up layingdownJ♦ J♠ to a shove on a queen high flop in one of the only pots I played during the first couple of levels.

In the end, I was more than happy to jam my short stack in with 5♦ 7♦ from the small blind when it folded to me for the first time in what seemed like six weeks. The big blind woke up with A♠ 9♣ and called. It seemed like it was over when I saw the 9♥ in the window, but the 4♦ and 6♣ were behind it for a full sweat.

Of course, this was merely part of the epic torture that was my WSOP Main Event 2009. The turn and river bricked out, and I darted out of the Brasilia Room as quickly as possible.

-- Matt Stout

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Stout's Sunday Report Video Edition! April 25, 2010

Matt Stout is back with another Sunday Report but this time he's got a special treat for you.

We were in Vegas this weekend and stopped by his house to film this special video edition of the Sunday Report!

Make sure you're on the post page to see all the Sunday Report breakdowns.

With the help of Matt Showell and Mike Yubane I've added a video segment to this week's Sunday Report. I'll let that do most of the commentary on this one, but a couple quick notes first cheat poker.

I got lucksacked TWICE heads up in the Super Turbo to lose. Got it in as a 3 to 1 favorite heads up in the freeroll, but was mostly interested in advancing to the WSOP Main Event freeroll for making top two anyway.

A win in the Super Turbo would have been nice of course, but locking up a winning day in a $59 tournament with my amount of buy ins was a great thing all on its own.

I made a deepish run in my favorite online tournament, the Sunday 500, but ran into an assclown's T♣ 4♣ and could not defeat that hand. I added that to the video for sheer comic effect.

I also made a deep run in another one of my favorite tournaments, the Lock $268, $250k guaranteed.

Unfortunately I ended up punting that tournament, which is a damn shame because the fields are so soft on the site and they probably would have just handed me some chips down the stretch.

Check out the video highlights marked poker.

Here's the breakdown:

---

Total tournaments played: 30

Total amount of buy-ins: $8,458

Total cashes: 6

-31/438 in Lock $109, $197.10

-106/1027 in Stars Sunday 500, $1,027

-2/1807 in Tilt $59 Super Turbo 6-max bounty, 2/1807 $10,448.98 + 10-$10 bounties & $55 "pro" bounty

-2/108 in Battle of the Blogger Tournament 5 Invitational, $310 + seat to WSOP freeroll

-43/815 in Lock $268/$250k gtd, $700

-36/872 in Stars Nightly $162, $562.44

Total amount of cashes/bounties: $13,400.52

Length of session: 13:16

Net win/loss for the day: +$4,942.52

Net win/loss online on Sundays since the start of the Sunday Report (February 7, 2010): +$7,658.49

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