Chicago Poker Club

Chicago Poker Club has moved - this site is going away

2011-12-02T10:59:00.002-06:00

Chicago Poker Club can be found at http://chicagopokerclub.net. This site will be retired, gone, erased, vamoose, at the end of 2011.

We are the home to

Chicago Poker Club is at http://chicagopokerclub.net

2010-09-16T14:29:00.003-05:00

Yes, indeed, we've moved.

If you've missed us, here are some highlights:

We've Moved! Chicago Poker Club Has a New Home

2010-08-12T23:09:00.002-05:00

That's right, we moved into a bigger and better site. Please update your bookmarks to http://chicagopokerclub.net and update your RSS Feed Readers to CPC RSS Feed.

Main Event Charity Games Deep Stack - Day 1b

2010-08-05T11:03:00.005-05:00

Day 1b wrapped up late on Saturday, July 31 at Adams Roadhouse in Buffalo Grove, IL with three players advancing to Day 2, including Windy City Poker Championship's Kirk Fallah. The 1b advancing players and their respective chip stacks are:

Position	Player	Chip Count
2	David Baldwin	124,375
7	Kirk Fallah	42,975
9	Vic Magsino	32,650

Each of the "Day 1 Flights" plays down to 25% of the starting field, with the survivors moving on to "Day 2" which will be held in late November, followed by a "Day 3". Players may compete in any of the Day 1 flights, and players not advancing may re-enter additional Day 1 flights until they advance, if they choose.

For more information, head to Main Event Charity Games.

$100,000 Deep Stack - Chicago's Largest Poker Tournament of All Time?

2010-07-19T19:34:00.004-05:00

The Main Event Charity Games Deep Stack event, possibly the largest poker tournament in Chicago history, and the main attraction for Season Two of Windy City Poker Championship, kicked off this past Saturday at the Irish American Heritage Center in Chicago. 27 players competed in "Flight 1a", the first of five or more flights over the next four months, leading to Day Two of the Televised Deep Stack, major prize pool event.

Each of the "Day 1 Flights" plays down to 25% of the starting field, with the survivors moving on to "Day 2" which will be held in late November, followed by a "Day 3". Players may compete in any of the Day 1 flights, and players not advancing may re-enter additional Day 1 flights until they advance, if they choose.

For more information, head to Main Event Charity Games.

This Saturday - Chicago Poker Open!

2010-05-19T11:35:00.002-05:00

This Saturday, at the State Restaurant in Lincoln Park, we will be playing No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em. Players will have the opportunity to compete for prizes while helping out the kids of the Boys & Girls Clubs. There will also be single table tournaments available, so even if you didn’t get in on the tournament, you can still get in on the action.

We highly encourage people who are not playing to come to the party! In addition to watching the tournament, take advantage of the great atmosphere, drink specials and dozens of flat screen HDTVs at the sleek restaurant.

Please click here to view Tournament Rules and Regulations.

Register today - seats are limited!

Recent Broadcasts - Windy City Poker Championship

2010-04-26T18:22:00.004-05:00

If you've missed any of the first three broadcasts of the Windy City Poker Championship finale (5 parts), you can always watch them on http://windycitypokerchampionship.com, or search for them on YouTube.

Thanks for tuning in.

Tonight on Windy City Poker Championship

2010-04-17T14:55:00.008-05:00

Here I am. Bet you thought I forgot about you, didn't I?

On a personal note, the last three months have been the busiest of my life. I'm working like a dog - two full-time ventures, in addition to hosting the Windy City Poker Championship. Most importantly, my wife and I had our fist child, a son, in late January. So, I've been absent from this site, the forums, and most of the talk around the world of poker. I've even had to really stretch t find time to play.

I just thought I let you all know I'm still here, and remind you to watch the second of five new WCPC shows tonight on Comcast SportsNet, Bright House Networks, or Cox Communications. Here's the Comcast details:

Comcast SportsNet 9pm - featuring Richard Roeper, Bernard Lee, and Dennis Phillips. Available on DISH ch 429, Direct TV ch 665, Comcast ch 200 & 37, and AT&T ch 200 & 37.

I will be playing at the feature table tonight and next Sunday (subject to NHL hockey schedule) and hosting the finale episodes the following two weekends. Tune in!

Jason's 2010 WSOP Results

2010-01-01T18:06:00.000-06:00

Season Finale - Chicago's Largest Poker Tournament

2009-12-24T13:08:00.007-06:00

Main Event Charity Games and Windy City Poker Championship teamed up to throw the biggest poker party in Chicago history. On Friday and Saturday, December 18 & 19, 2009, 180 tournament players, and a host of cash game players, spectators, and sponsors made history at the Irish American Heritage Center, raising funds for two worthy charities in the process.

The tournament kicked off at about 8pm on Friday, after tournament organizers scrambled to accommodate their largest field to date. The play went until 1AM, when the 140 remaining players bagged their chips, and headed home for the night. Play resumed at noon on Saturday.

The publishers of Ante Up, Florida's Poker Magazine, Chris Cosenza and Scott Long were on hand to kick off the event and handle emcee duties. They could be seen throughout the event representing their business, and playing plenty of Chinese Poker and mixed cash games.

The television crew at Windy City Poker Championship, of which this author is affiliated, did an incredible job of converting the lounge area of the facility into a TV set, home to the "featured table", and when the field was down to 8, the Final Table.

At the start of day 2, there was a buzz of discontent in the crowd as the tournament organizers announced a change in the tournament structure. This author had estimated that we were about an hour short of the time required to complete the tournament - as the State of Illinois does not permit charity games to be played after 2am. The tournament organizers, concerned that we would run out of time for the conclusion of the tournament, particularly given the overhead of the televised final table, announced that levels would be temporarily shortened from 30 minutes to 20, and that 3 levels would be removed from the structure over the course of the day.

When the next few levels brought a host of bust-outs, the organizers returned the structure back to normal, having made up the one hour via 10-minutes off of three levels, and the removal of one, single 30-minute level. The event was back on course.

The event feature a number of notable attendees, including Chicago's own Richard Roeper, 2008 WSOP Main Event Final Tablist Dennis Phillips, host of ESPN Inside Deal Bernard Lee, and author of Eat Professional Poker Players Alive Frank Wiese.

I had the good fortune of playing between Roeper and Lee at the featured table on Day One (at left).

Day Two saw the field shrink from 140 remaining players down to 20 when the tournament went "hand-for-hand". Some players tightened up, trying to eek their way into the payouts which were awarded to the top 18 finishers. About five hands in to hand-for-hand the field narrowed to 19, and the then three hands later, the field celebrated making it into the money.

The event played with two balanced tables until this author (yeah, me!) found Ah Qc at our five-handed table. With a reputation for being a loose, aggressive player, and only 9 big blinds remaining, I happily shoved all of my chips to the middle. The player immediately to my left, on the button promptly called, and when the blinds folded, showed me two Kings. My hand did not improve, and the remaining players combined to a single table.

Once the field eliminated two players, the remaining eight, including the Windy City Poker Championship Executive Producer David McDermott, moved to the televised final table.

After a battery of player interviews, television preparation, and several introductory takes and re-takes featuring WCPC hosts Kirk Fallah and this column's author, the televised final table was under way. The players competed for over two hours, until an eventual champion was crowned.

Leroy Carver was crowned the season finale Windy City Poker Champion, followed by Marty Masar in second, and Ken Felten in third place.

[Featured at left, Windy City Poker Championship's Creator and co-host Kirk Fallah, Chicago Poker Club author and WCPC co-host Jason Finn, and previous WCPC co-host Michael Lapidus.]

The event will be televised on Chicago's Comcast Sports Net and Florida's Bright House Network in late February/early March 2010.

Dec 18th & 19th Windy City Poker Finale!

2009-12-06T18:51:00.002-06:00

Last Filming of Season One

The final filming of Season One for the Windy City Poker Championship TV show will be a two day spectacular event

$55,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool *

Probable Payouts

Blind Structure

Dennis Phillips

Poker Pros and Celebrities Who Are Coming!
Dennis Phillips is Scheduled to Attend
Bernard Lee is Scheduled to Attend
Richard Roeper is Scheduled to Attend
Tai Streets (former NFL player) is Scheduled to Attend
Scott Long and Chris Cosenza from Ante Up magazine will attend

December 18th and 19th.

Irish American Heritage Center
4626 N. Knox Ave, Chicago 60630
Plenty of FREE parking

Tournament will begin on Friday Dec 18th at 7:00 pm and will go until 1:00 am. If you pre-register without pre-paying you must arrive 1 hour before the start of the event.

Tournament will continue on Sat Dec 19th at 12:00 sharp for those players still in the tournament

There will be a Feature Table on Friday night, at the start of the tournament, with players moving in and out of, at the discretion of Main Event Charity Games. The Feature Table, along with the Final Table will be filmed for broadcasting on
Comcast SportsNet Chicago and Bright House Sports Network. **

Friday 7:00 PM

Buy In:	$300
Entry:	$60	($10 discount when paying with cash)
Add On:	$10

Starting Chips:	20,000
Add On Chips:	5,000

It is highly recommended that you pre-register.

WSOP Circuit - 2009 Hammond IN

2009-10-20T15:37:00.007-05:00

The 2009 WSOP Circuit Season is underway, its 6th season, kicked off with the 13-Event schedule at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, IN.

Despite a so-called down economy, the Chicago market showed strong, featuring 1,412 entrants, breaking the previous WSOP Circuit attendance record.

Event #1 saw 23-year-old poker pro Josh Schmerl, or "Schmu" as he's know at the table, take down an approximately $60,000 first prize, after arranging a three-way chop with our own CJ "Seeej" Sullivan (okay, I call him that) taking 3rd, and Windy City Poker Championship final table-finisher Aaron Massey taking 2nd. (From left to right, Massey, Schmerl, Sullivan featured above.) Event #1 was $345 buy-in NLHE event.

Third-place finisher CJ Sullivan is a professional comic, co-host of The Visitor's Locker Room, and the 11th best player in my home game.

Schmerl finished 2nd in his first official WSOP cash, last February in Council Bluffs, IA, and finished one spot better this year to win this, his first WSOP Circuit ring. Schmu also finished 2nd in a Venetian Deep Stack event last year in Las Vegas.

Event #2 was a $555 event, featuring 550 entrants, and a total prize pool of $261,550. Marvin Thompson of Fowler, IN won the $60,156 first-prize and WSOP Circuit ring, featured below:

More results as we have them, and as time allows. WSOP official results are found here.

Special thanks to Nolan Dalla, media relations at WSOP/Harrah's for the results and photographs.

Windy City Poker Championship - Annie Duke, Joe Navarro

2009-10-04T17:27:00.005-05:00

A few of you have asked me when Windy City Poker Championship next airs on Comcast SportsNet. To the best of my knowledge, the next broadcast is next Sunday at 7pm. You can find their broadcast schedule here, though it is subject to change.

The next broadcast is a replay of the most recent episode (ep. 9), part 1 of the Chieff O'neills event. Part 2 will be broadcast near the end of the month, including my interview with Joe Navarro (teaser below), Kirk's interview with Annie Duke, and a hand analysis involving the lowly 7-2!

Find Comcast SportsNet on your local provider here.

Setting Goals

2009-10-01T10:59:00.005-05:00

Lately, some of the players I've talked to have discussed 'setting goals' in their play. Some examples include:

I'd like to increase my bankroll to $XXX by the end of the year,
I'd like to be able to move up from $2/5 NL to $5/10 NL by the holidays (very similar to the first),
I'd like to play 30 hours a week,
I'd like to increase my win rate to $XX per hour.

How do you set your goals? Personally, I'm always trying to eliminate leaks my game, including focus issues. I have a tendency to lose focus on the game, but to continue to play as though I have a good read on all of my opponents. This can be an expensive mistake!

I like to set mini in-session goals, things like making some sort of mental note each time a hand completes, who won, and what did they show (if they did). This exercise seems, and is, quite fundamental, but can be more difficult than you'd assume.

Another goal, update this blog more than once a month! :)

How about you? What are you poker goals?

Sensing Weakness, Playing Your Opponent

2009-09-28T13:47:00.012-05:00

On tonight's Windy City Poker Championship, down to 6-handed, the two chip leaders get into a heads up hand in which the chip leader perceives weakness from his opponent, and takes advantage to take down a good pot without a fight.

Brent is in early position with a medium-strength A9 off. He looks at his cards, and then contemplates his action, showing his opponents his diffidence while considering his options. He engages in what WCPC-friend and interviewee Joe Navarro would refer to as "pacifying behavior", holding his torso, lowering his head, and rubbing his opposite shoulder with his palm.

He makes a small raise to 25,000 chips, and the action folds to Chris on the button, who has 88.

Normally, I believe Chris would probably just call here with 88, after some thought, but in this case I believe he has two strong indicators to make a raise.

Brent's early position raise was smallish, and seemed tenuous. I believe Chris observed his behavior and did not read him for strength.
Chris and Brent are the two big stacks at the table; Chris is the only player that can eliminate Brent from the tournament, and Brent has been playing survival.

Chris makes a small re-raise to 60,000 chips. At this point, there's 106,000 in the pot, and it would only cost Brent 35,000 to call. However, he started the hand with just 129,000 chips, so the call would reflect about half of that starting stack. Chris is effectively testing Brent's resolve by re-raising small, rather than pushing all-in. This move shows great strength, and is quietly putting Brent to the "All In" test.

Exploiting Your Opponents Tendencies

2009-07-27T14:42:00.007-05:00

If you caught last night's Windy City Poker Championship, you heard me comment on a few hands of a recent televised final table. In one particular hand, we witnessed Kevin Thanonsinh make a big bluff with half of his chips out of the small blind, holding 9-4 off-suit. Brian White, in the big blind, wakes up with a big hand for this stage in the tournament an Ace-9 off-suit, having Kevin dominated. Kevin has committed half of his chips, and if Brian raises he'll either fold. getting 3:1 on his money, or will call completely dominated for his tournament life.

Brian Folded.

What happened here? How did Kevin make this bluff, and why did Brian fold?

The key to long-term success in poker is understanding your opponents' playing styles and tendencies, and looking for opportunities to exploit them.

If your opponent plays too loosely, making calls out of position with mediocre holdings, you need to punish him/her by making big raises with premium holdings. If you flop your hand, bet for value on every street. There's no sense getting tricky with an opponent if they'll call you all the way down with one pair and no kicker.

If your opponent is too tight, don't let them limp. Your tight opponent limps in middle position, you know he or she doesn't have a premium holding. If they can't call a raise, you'll pick up the extra chips, which add up quickly. If they do call the raise, they will fold to a continuation bet unless they flop a strong hand. Finding out which is which generally won't be too expensive.

In the prior hand, Brian demonstrated that he was playing the tournament for survival, and that he was playing extremely tight poker. When the players folded all the way around to Kevin in the small blind, he knew he only had one player to beat, and that player was playing way too tight. He exploited this flaw in Brian's game, and Brian demonstrated a tightness in excess of what Kevin likely suspected.

In the prior hand, Brian found himself in early position with a suited AQ. He made a minimum raise to 20k chips. Another player, David Marcus, sitting in middle position also found AQ suited, and decided to make the call. Getting almost 6:1 on his call, Kevin makes the call of one additional big blind to see a flop with two suited cards. He checks dark.

The flop comes Q-high (Qs 8d 7h), exactly what Brian had hoped for, and he leads out for a bet of 40k chips into a pot of 71k. David also hits his top-pair top-kicker, and reraises for the rest of his chips, an additional 36k in chips, ballooning the pot to 187k. Kevin quickly folds, and Brian goes into the tank, facing a reraise that will pay him over 5-to-1 on a call.

Brian did much of his thinking out loud, and was concerned that David might have flopped a set of 7s or 8s. This is certainly a possibility, as I commented on the show, but when you're 6-handed, late in a tournament, you raise with a premium hand, you're short on chips, and you hit your flop, you are going to commit yourself to the hand. If your opponent flopped a monster, like a set, you simply got unlucky, and you're going to go broke.

The rest of the table notices how slowly Brian acted in making the call, and how tightly he's playing. The good players at the table put this in their memory banks for future exploitation. The players at the table, and the viewers at home don't have to wait long, as Kevin takes advantage on the very next hand.

When Kevin bets 30k into Brian, Brian doesn't even think for more than 15-20 seconds before folding his relative monster. Kevin then turns his hand face up to show it (incidentally, I'm not a fan of this sort of advertising). Brian realizes that not only was he ahead, he had Kevin dominated, as they were sharing a 9. (Brian was better than a 3:1 favorite.) Brian comments to Kevin what he had, "I had an Ace Nine off".

Kevin's only response is "Wow." And so was mine.

Tune in to Windy City Poker Championship to see what happens next!

Two weeks late, but on my way...

2009-06-26T20:37:00.002-05:00

Mrs. Chicago and I are sitting at Chicago's Midway airport, waiting for our delayed flight to Las Vegas. I had planned to head out two weeks ago, and to spend at least 8-10 days in toasty LV for the World Series of Poker this year. Alas, life got in the way, as it sometimes does.

I'm looking forward to seeing what changes this year's event have brought. Certainly the advance of technology and social networking have continued to have an impact. Once again, "real time" chip counts are available on the WSOP site, but this year, there's an added twist, a number of professionals have Twitter feeds, so you can sweat them from afar (or right at their table).

If you're interested in following my progress, you can do so at http://twitter.com/chicagojason, or in the feed in the right column of this here blog.

I plan to play in the Deep Stack Extravagaza event tomorrow at noon at the Venetian. Sunday will likely involve satellites at the Rio. And Monday, I'll play in WSOP event #54. My fourth year of playing at least one event at the WSOP.

In other exciting news, I make my Poker Analyst television debut this Sunday evening at 7pm Central. For those of you in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Iowa, you can tune in on Comcast SportsNet (DirecTv 665, Comcast HD 300, Comcast 37).

Enjoy.

PokerStars WSOP 4X ShootOut

2009-06-19T22:18:00.002-05:00

This is sick - just finished Level 1 of a 4x ShootOut on Stars. The first round literally lasted 20 hands (there are 10 players). My stats:

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 20 hands and saw flop:
- 2 out of 5 times while in big blind (40%)
- 5 out of 6 times while in small blind (83%)
- 4 out of 9 times in other positions (44%)
- a total of 11 out of 20 (55%)
Pots won at showdown - 6 of 6 (100%)
Pots won without showdown - 6

I won the table in 20 hands. There were still MANY other tables with 10 players remaining. I had the best run of cards I've ever seen. Got it in good 11 of 12 times. Got 66 in against AA and flop was 6TT.

The saddest part is that there will still be 1000 players left after this level. If I win two more levels, I'll make it to another tournament where I need to beat 4000 players or so to get a seat....

Register Now - Chicago Poker Open - This Friday!

2009-05-06T11:02:00.011-05:00

This year's Chicago Poker Open is shaping up to be a great success, and with your help, will be our best event to date!

Join Chicago's great celebs, like Richard Roeper, Pro-Bowler Jerry Azumah, Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne, WTMX's Melissa McGurren, and Fox Chicago's Sondra Solarte on the green felt, and take your chance at winning WSOP Circuit Event Entries, Curacao vacation getaways, and much more!

Reminder that the Fourth Annual Chicago Poker Open to benefit the General Wood and Little Village Boys & Girls Club is THIS Friday, May 8^th at the Hard Rock Hotel in downtown Chicago. Doors open at 6:00 PM. RSVP online now at: http://www.chicagopokeropen.com/Welcome.html

Hope we see you Friday and please tell your friends!

Chicago Jason

PS – Even if you cannot come, please make a donation<($50 does a lot of good!!!) and forward this to your friends!!!

Friday, May 8 - Chicago Poker Open!

2009-04-16T10:58:00.000-05:00

Please join us on Friday, May 8, 2009 at the Hard Rock Hotel in Chicago for the 4th Annual Chicago Poker Open. Click the logo above for more information.

Prizes will include Amex Gift Cards, Buy-Ins to World Series of Poker Circuit Events, a Harrah's Entertainment Package, and a trip to an exotic and tropical locale!

Sponsorship opportunities are available, so let me know if you're interested.

Poker Best of 2008 - Podcasts

2009-04-11T14:48:00.005-05:00

As I sit here in my favorite coffee shop, less than a week before Tax Day, I lament that I have not updated the blog more often this year. More frustrating is the fact that I have not yet posted my annual favorite, the "Best Of's..."

The most important of these posts, in my mind, is the Best of Podcast version. 2008 saw its best Podcast product, with the rise of PokerRoad.com, a Joe Sebok joint (with Barry Greenstein in tow). Last Year's Best Of, Ante Up, got new digs and a new lease on life. Team 1040 lost their Rounders: The Poker Show as Mike and Adam moved to Two Plus Two, to produce a superior output.

Without much time for writing, and hence, without much ado:

Best of 2008
Cash Plays, hosted by Bart Hanson. Sadly, this show, in this format, is gone as of the time of this writing. This is a bit of a shame as the production of Poker Road, paired with the cash game perspective of Bart Hanson, in this format, made for the all-time greatest poker podcast. Bart has since moved his show over to Deuces Cracked in the form of Deuce Plays, with a similar format, but hasn't quite picked up the steam he had at Poker Road. Time will tell, but I suspect this will soon be the new best poker show on the internet.

Bart's weekly show featured one-on-one discussions with successful cash players. Bart asked insightful questions and dug deep into the strategy, psychology, and meta game required for successful cash game play. His celebrated interview with Samoleus (Niman Kenkre) was one of my favorites. Recently, Jeremiah Smith has taken over the PokerRoad.com version of the show with a similar format. He is slowly gaining momentum, but the show is currently lacking that je nous se qua.

Runners Up
Two Plus Two Pokercast, hosted by Mike Johnson and Adam Schwartz. This is a beast of a show, weighing in regularly at 2 hours plus, and offers something for everyone, if you can get through the full show. This Podcast generally takes me a few days, over many sessions, to get from start to finish, but they don't disappoint. Adam Schwartz is the resident poker professional, while Mike Johnson does play-by-play duties. In the early years, at Team 1040, I had difficulty with Johnson's cadence and audible breathing, but he has smoothed it out and makes a great co-host over at his new Two Plus Two home.

The show regularly features top guests from the world of live and online poker, both cash and tournament players. The conversations are always topical, and mix the news, strategy, and personality quite nicely. They are well complemented by an active forum on TwoPlusTwo.

Poker Road Radio, hosted commonly by Ali Nejad, Joe Sebok, and Gavin Smith, with occasional guest hosts including Scott Huff, Jimmy Fricke, and regular appearances by Court "The Hick"Harrington. This is the latest incarnation of a show started at CardPlayer called "The Circuit". When they're at their peak, and all in the studio, this is the most entertaining poker show in the internet. They don't spend much time discussing strategy, but rather focus on news and happenings from an insider's perspective. The show seems to have lost a little traction in early 2009, with travel and other obligations taking the hosts away from regular appearances, but Sebok and Huff have carried the torch and continued to pull together an entertaining show.

Sentimental Favorite
Ante Up PokerCast brought to you by Ante Up Magazine, brainchild of Scott Long and Chris Cosenza. Our long-time friends at Ante Up, formerly a St Pete Times and TBT (Tampa Bay Times) production, picked up their personal items and headed off on their own to start Florida's only all-poker magazine. As one might expect of two guys leaving the security and cush of "paycheck jobs" in this economic environment, and heading off to start their own business, their attention waned in 2008. When they began making their plans, it seemed the poker show lost a little momentum. When they started under their on auwning, they also took some time to get rolling. The company relies on three media - print magazine, poker podcast, and their website/forums for attracting and entertaining their fans and customers. While we once shared an active forum at cardclubs.net, they have moved exclusively over to their own site, losing a bit of crossover traffic, but building their own loyal audience.

Recent months have brought entertaining shows, new guests, and big name sponsorship. Chris and Scott continue to build on what made them great in the first place, promotions like the AIPS online tournament series, and a new listener event, a poker cruise. Time will tell what brings Scott and Chris in 2009, but we certainly wish them the very best.

Also Rans
Fiercely entertaining, and now defunct, Big Poker Sundays, with Bob and Huff was a favorite of mine in early 2008. Haralabos Voulgaris and Scott Huff hosted a seriously un-serious show that predominantly poked fun at the goings on of the poker world. When "Haralabob" left the show, no one could quite fill his dry-witted and sarcasm soak shoes, and the folks at Poker Road decided to retire the show near it's peak. ... You have a purpose for me... Let... Me... Win..." we miss you.

All Strategy with Justin Bonomo and Daniel Negreanu has the potential to be the best poker show on the Internet, if they continued to produce the show. I suspect its just too hard to get Bonomo and Negreanu in the room together, and away from the table, long enough to produce the show. The concept is a good one, and fills a gap in poker programming - let's hope they get back at it soon.

Tuesdays with Ivey and The Bear Blog are great productions, also from PokerRoad.com, featuring Phil Ivey and Barry Greenstein, respectively. They are quick snippets, generally 10 minutes or less. Tuesdays features a weekly phone call from Greenstein to Ivey, trying to extract his latest thoughts, experiences, and prop betting adventures. This is one of Poker Road's most listened to shows. The Bear Blog is typically a quick stream of consciousness from Greenstein related to a single strategic topic. Both are worth the listen.

An Omaha Conundrum - Flop the Nuts, a Set of Aces, and Have 31% Equity!

2009-03-07T15:27:00.007-06:00

Ferret and I were just talking Pot Limit Omaha post-flop and I was musing about the sort of trouble you can get into with top set on a semi-connected board. One situation we considered was flopping top pair with second set, making it unlikely your opponent has top set. Another is flopping top set against two opponents - its good on the flop, and yet you have less than 33% equity in the hand.

Both situations are employed in this example.

Ferret is in the big blind, Gramps is in middle position, Scotty is on the button.

Gramps is well behaved today, and just limps in with his 5h 7s 8h 9s.

Scotty wakes up on the button with Aces, and another Broadway card which is suited. Ah Ac Qd 2d. He raises pot.

Wil folds the small blind and Ferret finds 6s Ad Td 6d. He has a suited Ace, two Broadway cards, and a small pair. He knows Gramps will call, so he figures he’ll take a flop.

Gramps calls.

The flop is 4s 6h As. Ferret flopped second set. He also believes Scotty will continuation bet, representing Aces, but thinks it is unlikely he has them, since Ferret holds an Ace himself. He checks.

Gramps checks his disgusting wrap with 9-high flush draw and backdoor 8-high flush draw.

Scotty bets full pot, protecting his flopped top set. Ferret believes he has trapped his opponent, and re-raises the full amount of the pot.

Gramps is now getting sickening pot odds, and has a full pot-sized bet remaining. He believes the numbers support getting it all in and he does. Scotty has the nuts, and calls off his remaining chips. Ferret feels he’s committed, and believes he may be wrong about Scotty’s holdings, but knows he’s capable of having a wrap here as well. He calls off the remainder of his chips.

Who is in good shape? Scotty doesn't know...

Twodimes.net says the players have the following pot equity:

http://twodimes.net/h/?z=6134307
pokenum -o ah ac qd 2d - 5h 7s 8h 9s - ad 6d 6s td -- 4s 6h as

Omaha Hi: 666 enumerated boards containing As 4s 6h

cards win %win lose %lose tie %tie EV
Scotty Ac Qd 2d Ah 213 31.98 453 68.02 0 0.00 0.320
Gramps 9s 7s 8h 5h 417 62.61 249 37.39 0 0.00 0.626
Ferret 6s Ad Td 6d 36 5.41 630 94.59 0 0.00 0.054

Interestingly, the set of Aces, currently the nuts, have only 31%, while the wrap and two live flush draws have nearly 63% equity! The small mammal is in mammal jail, drawing to the case 6 for quads.

Win a WSOP Main Event Seat Next Friday

2009-02-27T14:04:00.002-06:00

Tomorrow is the last day to register at the discounted rate of $250 for this terrific charity event, being held next Friday night at McGrath Lexus on Division. Click the picture for more details and registration!

2009 WSOP Schedule Posted

2009-01-27T00:23:00.004-06:00

The 2009 WSOP Schedule was just released.

Some observations -

There are no rebuy tournaments at all. This was discussed recently, and apparently, concluded.

There are a couple $1000 events early on to stimulate the amateurs. There were no $1000 "open" events last year.

There's a $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold 'em event early in the schedule (Event 2).

Event 10 is a mixed pot-limit Hold 'em, pot limit Omaha. Yum!

Event 50 is a Limit Hold 'em Shootout, on top of the return of the NL Shootout.

Event 52 is "Triple Chance" tournament, which I believe gives players three stacks of chips, and they can elect to take the second and third stacks at any time in the first few levels (i.e. start with all three, or take them at two or three disparate times).

There are 57 total events this year, 38 of them are $2500 or less. Ten are "Championship" events. Two are $40,000 or more.

One Night in the Hard Rock Poker Lounge

2009-01-26T23:14:00.004-06:00

Last Saturday night, while in Las Vegas, Mr. F and I headed of to Hard Rock to check out the still-fairly-new Poker Lounge. The 18-table room features nice, if loud, decor, nice poker tables, comfortable chairs, and ample space for getting to, and reclining at, your seat. The room was spreading 1-2 NLHE, 2-5 NLHE, and the final table of a Vince Neal's charity tournament. I did not observe other games, but that isn't to say they didn't exist.

The table depicted in this post shows the nice purple felt that was featured on the lowest limit tables. The $2/5 tables, on the other hand, had very busy purple felt, covered in promotions, and reminiscent of a NASCAR driver's jumpsuit (but prettier). Often the cards and chips would become camouflaged in the design.

Room highlights:
First of all, the dealers were hot. Pretty much all of the dealers were attractive females. Distracting, but nice. They were not great dealers in the technical sense, but most of the male players were willing to let things slide. Once I caught a dealer shipping a pot to the incorrect recipient. I pointed this out, Mr. F corroborated the oversight, the floor came to oversee, and the rightful winner was awarded the pot.

Second, the limits are nice. The $2/5 table has a maximum buy-in of $2000. Like it.

Finally, a unique, if un-kosher, twist on the rules - the Hard Rock Straddle (Alright! Nrrr nrr!) The room allows the button to post a straddle of two times the big blind. The action proceeds in the typical fashion pre-flop, starting with the player to the left of the big blind having the first action. Then, action proceeds around the table, SKIPS the button, moves to the blinds, and then the button has last action pre-flop. There's an exception. If there are two raises prior to the action reaching the button, he then proceeds in order (before the blinds) with his $10 committed to the pot. This clearly generates action, and seems to be a gigantic advantage for the button. I do not appreciate the inconsistency of the progress ased upon the number of raises pre-flop. Beyond that, I'm not sure how I feel about this bastardization of rules.

Highlight Hand of the Night:
Early on I got a bunch of speculative hands, and played them passively. I saw a bunch of flops, very few turns, and even less rivers. I blew off a good chunk of my initial buy-in, and then added on. I had moved seats, and was out of position against a fairly new joiner to the table. After my early run of passive play and missed draws, I had tightened up consideralby, and perceived that my opponent in this hand labeled me as an A, B, C player.

I had 8s 5s in early position - a pet hand of mine, and know in my regular games as "Suited Bears" (as in the '85 Super Bowl Chicago Bears).

I raised to $25 up front and got 4 callers. With $127 in the pot, the flop came Js 9h 6s. Not exactly 'gin', but with 8-high, what did I expect. It was actually reasonably good, I had a four-flush and a gut-shot straight draw. I decided to feel out the field, and set up a play on later streets. I ventured out with a $40 bet. The new joiner smooth called. Mr. F also "flatted", and the other players folded. Both my opponents were fairly tricky players, as I perceived them, so their calling range here is fairly broad.

There was $247 in the pot when the turn came with the 5d. Certainly that card was unlikely to help my opponents, and now gave me a pair to add to my draws. Despite improving (ehem), I decided to check, and evaluate the response. I considered that calling, folding to, or check-raising a bet were all possibilities, depending on the action. The player behind me, either sensing weakness, protecting a big hand, or both, et out nearly the size of the pot $220. Mr. F folded, and I went into the tank.

I felt fairly confident that my opponent had a made hand. I thought it could be a strong Jack (A-J), but was more likely to be two pair. I actually thought he put me on an overpair, based on our short history, and his strength in the hand. My read was that he was most likely "trapping me" with J9. If that was the case, making two pair wouldn't help me - an 8 on the river was no good. Cards I was looking for included the last 2 fives, any of the 4 sevens, or the 8 remaining spades (not recounting the 7s). That made 14 outs, or gave me 29.5% equity in the pot. (Add 3 8s against an AJ, and my equity goes up almost to 39%).

Clearly I wasn't quite getting pot odds, but a call balooned the pot to $687, and I had another $430 or so behind. If I hit my 5 or 7, I was pretty certain that I'd get a big bet on the river. If I made my flush, I was less likely to get paid, but realistically, I thought he wouldn't give me much credit for a flush draw, and might pay me there as well.

I called.

The river was a nice, shiny 4s, giving me a flush. I paused, glanced at my opponent, and dramatically announced "all in". My opponent tanked (great sign), and after about 45 seconds made a crying call. I announced "flush", he gave me a concessionary nod, and I flipped over my cards. He blinked thrice in rapid succession, and I scooped in a huge pot.

Highlight Event:
The final table of the charity tournament was playing behind us. Without warning, two players jumped to their feet, and one yelled something incoherent at the other. Seconds later, a hippie-looking 40-something had pinned his over-sized opponent on the floor and landed 8 or 10 punches to the guy's ear before tablemates and on-lookers could seperate the two. It took another 3 or 4 minutes before Hard Rock security made it to the table. Both players were kicked out, but one was allowed back into the room later. I was told it was to "collect his chips", but as they were tournament chips, not cash equivalent, that didn't make much sense to me.

Mr F and I combined for a number of one-liners after things cooled down. The winner - "Boy was he disappointed to learn that the Bad Beat had just been paid out."

The real punchline? All the players at the table were actually co-workers.

AWWWK-WARD.....