Monday, June 30, 2008

Summer Fun


Although you can’t escape from yourself at the table, if you want to retreat from the outside world for a while, poker can be a great activity.


For some Italians, it must have been a God-send to hear of last weekend’s Summer Fun poker tournament just a short hop across the border to Slovenia.


The Azzurri, proud holders of the World Cup, had a massively disappointing campaign during Euro 2008, so presumably few natives of the boot had much interest in watching this summer’s trophy being awarded to Spain, the tournament’s most creative side.


For a significant number of Italians, it was far better to stump up the €1000 and skulk in the Perla Casino trying to win a NL tournament.

It certainly worked for Piero Nardi.

His triumph at the final table not only netted him €16,243 but also compounded the misery for some of his countrymen as six others had battled their way through to the last nine.
Piero’s triumph won’t restore a dented national pride but his ego is probably a tad less bruised than Michael Ballack’s.

Summer Fun - €1000 NL – Perla Casino & Hotel Slovenia

1. Piero Nardi – ITA €16,243
2. Gustavo Bussinello – ITA - €9,281
3. Alberto Storti – ITA - €5,569
4. Martin Krpan – SLO - €3,712
5. Giorgio Salemi – ITA - €3,248
6. Maurizio Sepede – ITA - €2,784
7. Francesco Nguyen – ITA - €2,320
8. Slobodan Bjelobrk – SLO - €1,856
9. Giuseppe Nicoli – ITA - €1,392

Friday, June 27, 2008

Game Theory


A lot of people are aware that poker can be extremely simple or deeply complex. When it is the latter, one of the most likely reasons is that the players are implementing aspects of game theory.


In its simplest terms, it is an attempt to study situations in which the success of an individual’s choices depends on the reading of the action sof others.

Let us give you an example, one that is quite similar to one posted last Friday and may leave the regular reader wondering if a) this column is turning into a series depicting dating disasters, or b) the team of writers ever get laid.

Three men are playing pinball in a hockey ‘n ribs bar.

Minutes later three women walk in, pay no attention to the carve-up on the rink and seem even less interested in the bbq’ed 4-piece combo.

The three men glance away from the table and the sight of the women causes tilt.

But there is a problem.

One of the women is more attractive than the others and is likely to garner all of the attention of the three men. If this happens, her two friends might become annoyed, the alpha female could become swell-headed and the only potential for multi-ball action is back at the flippers.

However, if one of the men realises this in advance, he can change his strategy and give all of his attention to one of the wing women. He lessens his competition, flatters the woman and stands a greater chance of losing his place on the high score table.

With a few embellishments, the above is a scene from A Beautiful Mind, the film about mathematician John Nash. He uses game theory and successfully gets a number. (Bear in mind it is a Hollywood movie. In-bar case studies are still being analysed.)

The same principle exists at the card table. If you can work out the thought process of your opponents, you can successfully alter your strategy.

The main difference is that when Nash changes his strategy, he not only increases his chances, he potentially benefits his friends because they (in theory) have a better chance now they are not in direct competition with him. His benefit does not occur at the expense of others.


Winning poker players implement strategies that work at the expense of others. Poker is a special example of game theory called a Zero-Sum game because a player’s win is the exact total of what the opponents lose (ignoring the rake).


There is an online zero-sum game maestro called Erik Sagstrom, Erik 123, who has an uncanny ability to remember past hands. He scouts for predictability and when he detects it, he changes his tactics and exploits the routine.

That is the way to play but you have to be careful as you can start thinking your way into trouble.

In low level limit games, hardly anyone will be trying to change their strategy and, if you select solid hands, you can let probability take its cause.

Fancy moves have little positive EV.

However, in reasonable NL games, you can use the principles of game theory to outthink your opponents – BUT – you have to know where to stop.

Start by working out the player’s style and assign levels.

Level One is someone who plays his hand and pays no regard to what you might hold

Level Two is someone who thinks you are a Level One.

Level Three is someone who thinks that you know he has classified you as Level One.

We hope you are still with us....

The levels than progress indefinitely, each one a further variation on Level Three and based on working out how far your opponent will go. All you have to do is play according to what level of thought you think they are using.

Play Level Ones just based on the board. Have you flopped a better hand, or has he missed? If so, bet. If not, fold. Do not pursue a big pot unless you have a very strong holding

Play Level Twos as if you are always betting your hand – if you raise on 99 and the board has either an ace, king or queen – bet.

Things are a little more complex with Level Threes – he has given you scope for advanced play and so his actions will be less predictable and he is aware you might bluff. You have to deduce how far he will take it.

The good news is that a lot of online players, even at medium stakes, are playing Level One. Multi-tablers can afford to be patient and won’t take many risks and so there can be steady gains if you take a few shots and remember when to stop.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

It's Here!!!


At Eyebrows, one of our favourite moments from The Simpsons occurs when Homer opens a kitchen cupboard and pulls out a jar with a label that states:


Peanuts and Gum!!


Together at Last!!


We were reminded of that sublime moment when we heard the news that All In: The Poker Musical is to receive its world debut at the Masquerade Theatre in the Rio All Suite Hotel, Las Vegas, on July 4th.


Created by Tim Molyneux, whose back catalogue includes work for Playboy, it promises a range of styles including pop, rock, blues, jazz and musical theatre, so presumably it won’t appeal to those people who like both country and western.

Phil Hellmuth’s ego has spared some time from its other media commitments and has agreed to be a character in the show, which will feature the final nine players at the main event of the WSOP.


Hellmuth, clearly taking the infamous direction of the producer who barked at a writer,


‘This is full of old clichés. Re-write it and find me some new clichés’


has said [this] ‘poker musical sings loudly that poker is for everyone and we are all in this special game and this world together.'


Tickets for what promises to be an unforgettable evening in Vegas start at a wise $29.95, and can be purchased at http://www.pokermusical.com/, a site that should consider a discreet mailing policy.

Prepare for the skeletons of Rodgers and Hammerstein to twitch to the poker musical’s bad beats.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Saturday Night at the Bellagio


Such is the footfall over the thresholds of Las Vegas casinos in June due to the WSOP that there are impressive prize pools to be had almost everywhere on the Strip.


Take the Bellagio.


It competes with Hurrah’s Rio Hotel & Casino by offering tournaments that cater for the group of poker hungry individuals who may have arrived to sample the WSOP but crave the unique atmosphere offered by the Bellagio.


It offers a basic NL tournament on Friday and Saturday but the $2000 buy in has been snapped up by the tourists, the WSOP outcasts and the people keen to feel like they are on the set of the Ocean movies.


The likelihood of yet another well-groomed film featuring Pitt and Clooney proving popular with the masses may be small but it is has a far greater chance of winning hearts and minds than the decision to force a three month hiatus on the WSOP.


Such is the cultural cachet of the WSOP that it will survive that imbecilic decision but, with the Bellagio offering a $316,220 pool on a Saturday night, poker’s finest tournament may yet see an adverse effect of its suspended sentence.

$2000 NL – Bellagio – Saturday – June 21

1. Leo Kam – CAN - $87,355
2. Max Lee – USA - $67,000
3. Ben Callinan – UK - $67,000
4. Steven Florentini – USA - $18,970
5. Timothy Finne – USA - $14,230
6. Brandon Kennedy – USA - $11,070
7. Jeff Wagner – USA - $7,905
8. Gary Haglund – USA - $6,325
9. Ziad Saad – USA - $,060

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Poker Unclogged


Poker is a hard activity to construct a narrative around.


If you take the standard archetype of a story set around sport (look, we know it is contentious to place poker in the sport bracket but shut up, ok?) it tells a tale of a gang of plucky outsiders/underdogs /criminals who have just finished bottom of the league.


In a fit of devil may care inspiration, the wealthy chairman decides to award one last chance to a down-on-his-stash-coach who used to be brilliant twenty years ago but has had one too many battles with himself/debtors/pterodactyls and is twenty showers away from respectability.

Inevitably, it a redemption tale – the coach stops wearing belts on his arms and the team wins a dramatic final match against the arrogant favourites, usually whilst shoving Charlie Sheen’s bland features on the pitch to the massively inappropriate chorus of ‘Wild Thing’.


The closing image of the pirates triumphing over the preppies exists to sell the American dream.


Leadership, a sense of purpose and a semblance of community can enable even the poorest of shine-boys to battle their way to gold medals.

Poker represents a different side of the American ethos, one which might explain why expert player Brandon Adams chose to call his novella about the game ‘Broke’.

Adams, who recently won a highly respectable $54,144 in a heads up tournament at the WSOP, has a bachelor’s degree in finance and a master’s qualification from the London School of Economics. He is obviously a highly intelligent man and is in little danger of going broke himself, particularly because he has made the wise decision not to submit his book to standard publishers: it only available as a print on demand text.


It attempts to tell the tale of three twenty-something drifters who, in different ways, have a gift for poker, but also have varied forms of self-destruction. Thematically, it is a reasonable idea as it gives Adams a platform to analyse American capitalism through the prism of the glass-edged poker table but, at this stage of his new venture, his dissecting tools are underdeveloped.

He is capable of making some valid observations –

‘It is so American – the way they are so pleased with themselves for wasting their lives. Money is the only recompense they receive for an empty cultural stock.'


– but, not only does he give this line to an Iraqi psychotherapist at the WSOP, he doesn’t realise that this point should be implied and developed through the storyline. Whole chunks of deep philosophical conjecture come from the mouths of ciphers – they are not characters – and never is there any plot development.

The chapters read like posts from blogger and are individually passable but as a whole they are a waste of time.

Maybe that is his point.

He is obviously a highly talented man and he now teaches behavioural science at Harvard. It is possible he regrets dedicating so much time to poker but if he is trying to boost his cultural stock with this mishmash of poker insight and description, he will receive little replenishment as it is a story free zone.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Austrian Masters - Review


Looking at the list of players who made it to the final table of the Austrian Masters on Friday, it is possible to form some wild conclusions.


Take the dominance of an Austrian one-two. This could be a direct consequence of the civic malaise detailed in an early post.


We are sure Michael Csango and Lu Zhe Zhang owe their position at the top of the prize money to the failure of their nation’s side – the hosts – to provide any stimulation in the group stages of Euro 08.


Another of their countrymen popped his head up in 7th and it was Csango’s first experience of getting his clutches on the top prize.

Coincidence or a case of a man’s urge to restore some national pride?

You decide.

Going further down the places, we see German Marco Mattes in third. You may recall that the previous day had seen his nation turn in a chest-swelling performance in the game against Portugal.

Such was Marco’s boosted esteem his was able to rip through the field and net €18,460, which should be enough to take him to Basel for Wednesday’s semi.

The surge in nationalistic fervour that occurs during a successful summer of international football has been known to account for boosted conception rates – given that there was a further German in 5th, our boys who play the markets strongly advise you to invest in Bavarian swaddling.

In 4th was a Russian trying to pacify his emotions before his side’s clash with Holland and so we are left desperately trying to explain the presence of three Hungarians in the line-up.

In the annals of modern international football the nation has amassed an impressive repetition of the words ‘DID NOT QUALIFY’.

Therefore, our top sociological egg-heads have suggested they seek the reassurance of a competition that they know they can buy into and thus avoid the collective pain of another stinging elimination.

That they chose to do it in the heart of a nation hosting an international soccer spectacular indicates the depth of their sub-conscious yearning for the glory of the floodlights and their desire to relive the days of the ‘Magnificent Magyars’.

Austrian Masters - €2,000 NL – Friday June 20

1. Michael Csango – AUT - €46,200
2. Lu Zhe Zhang – AUT - €27,700
3. Marco Mattes – GER - €18,460
4. Nikolay Karman – RUS - €15,390
5. Csaba Racz – HUN - €12,310
6. Khiem Nguyen – GER - €10,770
7. David Packer – AUT - €9,230
8. Balazs Micsinay – HUN - €7,690
9. Balazs Biri – HUN - €6,150

Friday, June 20, 2008

The FAE


There are so many mistakes you can make in poker. Bad starting cards, terrible reads or taking the pot from a drunken sociopath.

These are but a few.


However, a lot of the less straightforward mistakes stem from a mental blind spot in the way we process information. Psychologists, con-men and people who have read one too many books label this tendency the Fundamental Attribution Error. Fans of acronyms and people who have gone on one too few dates label it the FAE.

In slightly technical terms, it basically means that when we speculate about a punter's behaviour we make the mistake of overstating the importance of character and underestimating the importance of situation.

Let us give you a real example.

A young male spots an attractive female on the dance floor of a night club. He plucks up enough courage to approach her.

He dances onto the dance floor and creates a window of opportunity. After a few minutes of steady eye contact and mutually attuned hip movements, he leans close to her ear.

He whispers:

I really like your hair. How did you get it looking like that?

She leans forward and barks back:

I went to the hairdresser's and gone it done.

How did you get yours looking like that?

Did you put your head in a cardboard box for ten years?

He is forced to slope back to his deeply sympathetic male peer group and says:

'She's a lesbian.'

That is an example of the FAE.

It is a dispositional explanation of the woman's behaviour. He should have gone for a contextual explanation: she didn't like him and she is in an environment where there is plenty of choice available.

Even if you were to explain that to our poorly groomed friend, he'd still want to believe she preferred to whistle in the wheat field.


Most of us instinctively want to believe that the world can be explained in terms of people's essential attributes and character.

If you want to think like that, fine, go ahead.

But if you want improve your hairstyle and your poker game, you have to be more aware of situation and context.

Start off with your own game:

did you really lose last night because you were unlucky, or were you subject to one bad beat

which made you tilt and leak money?

did you win the most out of that last hand when you had the best cards or did you over-bet because you were greedy and didn't take time to put the other guy on a hand?

are you really playing good starting cards or are you a little pie-eyed and keen for action?

Then the games of your fellow players:

is that guy who raises with 8-4os really a fish or he is simply someone sensitive to how the table feels and know he can buy pots?

is that guy really good or his simply waiting for the nuts?

was that guy lucky to hit his draw or did you give him a great chance of doing so?

By considering context over character you may begin to improve your game and stop overestimating the world's population of lesbians.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Austrian Masters


There have been many words churned out in the media about the Austrian attitude to Euro 08 (Ed – thanks for adding to them).


Many commentators have tried to analyse the co-hosts apathetic attitude to the tournament but they have not quite nailed quite why some locals have compared the arrival of foreign fans to the siege of Vienna in 1683.

However, one can somewhat understand the frustration of the Viennese. The citizens have to cope with a month free of theatre and are forced to navigate the city without the aid of horse-drawn cabs.


Such is the potential for humanitarian disaster that casinos are rallying together to offer assistance for those rendered traumatised by culture free leisure time.

At the time of writing the Mother of All Martyrs is the Concord Card Casino in Vienna. It is opening its doors to the theatre-less and offering the Austrian Masters, a poker spectacular which promises more drama than Macbeth.

If you have been affected by any of the issues on today's blog and would like to donate some money to the distressed Viennese, please contact the Concord Club directly.

Just 115 EURO will buy one person an entry into Thursday's Super Satellite.

For only 330 EURO, you can make sure one player has a seat for Saturday's NL tournament

But if you truly want to change the life of one of these traumatised individuals, please open your hearts and pledge $2,120. The middle classes are the most vulnerable group during a culture drought and your money will provide a well-cushioned seat for one of Austria's afflicted at the main event starting on Friday.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Ladies in Poker


June is a bit of a hectic time in the poker calendar and it is easy to become distracted by all the razzmatazz taking place at Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino which is hosting the multi event WSOP.


However, for all of its high stakes appeal, there are plenty of other attractions taking place around the globe.

Take the Canterbury Park Card Club in Minnesota – it recently offered a Ladies No Limit Tournament. Although the buy in was a paltry $100, sadly it attracted only 29 players.


However, the fairer sex are becoming a bigger force in the world of poker, assisted by organisations such as the the Ladies Poker Association.


There is also a site called Ladies in Poker (LIPs – like it, like it) which, keen to shatter stereotypes and push the envelope of feminism, offers 'Poker Jewellery' aimed firmly at the XX chromosome market.

Your male correspondent was a little confused as, although it claims to be a 'priceless piece of poker inspired deco jewellery', the 'Stretch Bangle', tastefully studded with diamante crystals representing the four suits in a pack of cards, is available for a mere £45.


It is the perfect item to adorn the wrist of Michele Madsen and, with her winnings of $1,305, she might also be able to treat herself to the 'sensual and sexy' bracelet which would further swell the purse of LIPS.

Ladies No Limit Tournament – Canterbury Park Card Club

Michele Madsen AKA 'Lady Arcadia' - $1,305
Jessa McGuire - $725
Collete Davis - $435
Terri Herbst – $290
Louise Lucas - $145

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Poker Unclogged


Regular readers of Poker Unclogged may recall a passing mention to the best hand read ever: Stu Ungar called an all in bet of $32k with ten high because he had worked out that his opponent, Mansour Matloubi, had a busted straight draw with 4-5.


This week's post provides more background to the life of Stu Ungar, the only man to win three WSOP main event titles.


He was born in 1953, he had a genius IQ and was a professional gambler at 14. Cards were his forte but horses his weakness: he squandered the millions he won playing at the tables punting at the track.

He started as a gin rummy player - at 15, he borrowed $500 and bought into a tournament and carried away the $10,000 booty - but moved to poker when opponents refused to enter gin tournaments if they knew he was playing.


His style was that of an assassin – after he destroyed a top professional called Harry 'Yonkie' Stein, the latter stopped playing rummy all together. One observer remarked of him: 'he was never the same after than night.'


Ungar himself admitted that he enjoyed watching his opponents crumble over the course of a rummy dust up and offered this insight:

'I suppose someone [could] be a better Hold 'em player than me. But I don't see how anyone could play gin better than me'

For a while, he played blackjack, which at the time was played with a single deck of cards and his ability to forecast the remaining cards led to him being banned from casinos. His card counting ability was incredible – his mathematical brain allowed him to figure out the most amazing odds.

When he was banned from the casinos, he bet any takers that he could count down the last two decks in a six deck shoe, from which games were dealt. Despite offering to wager $10,000 on the feat, no one wanted a piece of the action but Bob Stupak – former owner of Vegas World and designer of the Strosphere Tower – offered him $100,000 to $10,000 if he could do something even more amazing – count the last three decks out of six.


Ungar counted down 156 cards and claimed not only his $100,000 but the friendship of his beaten adversary

His reputation as a card counter stuck and for a while, he couldn't find any poker cash games so he was forced to play tournaments, in which he continued to excel.


However, he was unable to escape from the allure of bad bets and despite winning the WSOP at 25, by 1997, he couldn't find enough money to enter any tournaments and no one took him seriously.


Then a benefactor paid the $10,000 entry and Ungar went on to win 10 of the 30 major no limit tournaments he entered in a four-day extravaganza. Two months later he was broke again and in two days he was dead, in the Oasis Motel, South Las Vegas Boulevard.

He had taken a cocktail of drugs and painkillers which set off an existing heart condition.

Monday, June 16, 2008

APAT - Ireland


Another event in the hugely popular Amateur Poker Association and Tour concluded at the Fitzwilliam Casino and Club in Dublin on Sunday night. Regular readers may recall that the APAT offers an affordable introduction to the world of bricks 'n mortar tournaments, with a buy in of £75 and no fee deducted by the casino.


The format obviously suits Welshman Darren Shallis. By winning Sunday's Irish Amateur Championship and accepting £3k slice of lolly, he registers his third final table finish on the tour. Although it is his first gold medal award, his belt is also stuffed with a 10th place at the Welsh Amateur Tournament and a 4th on the English Amateur event.


However, for every ray of sunshine there can be a menacing cloud about to darken the day and we at Eyebrows are concerned for Darren's sanity: part of his prize package includes 'Significant Media Exposure'. If we were asked would we rather see tanks on the lawn or be interviewed by Piers Morgan, sadly our first question would have to be 'How big are the tanks?'


We'll have to place Darren on twitch watch and we can only hope he gets to keep his shades on.

Irish Amateur Championship – Sunday.
Darren Shallis – 3700 EURO
Robert Murphy – 1900 EURO
Kevin Ridley – 1000 EURO
Nigel Johnson 750 EURO
Mark Redshaw 750 EURO
John Murray – 750 EURO
Colin O'Prey – 750 EURO
Anthony Williams – 750 EURO
Mark Barsley – 750 EURO

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Poker Masters



By winning the main event of the recent Poker Masters at Casinos Austria, Andreas Eiler has not only found himself waddling in moolah but has also landed his first title and amassed an impressive 1,012 points in the European Poker Rankings.


Currently sitting not-so-pretty at the top of the table is seasoned pro Neil Channing who raked in 3000 points for his tremendous success at this year's Irish Open.

As well as providing plenty of bragging rights within the gaming community, the player who tops the European Ranking Points at the end of the year will be awarded £20,000 prize money and the title of player of the year. 2007 saw the podium graced by the feet of Andreas Krause whose impressive haul of 8,944 points included ten finishes in the money.

We are sure that when the other Andreas climbs down from the ceiling and banks his wad of sweaty money, he will be focused in his attempt to ensure the title stays in Germany.

Poker Masters – Casinos Austria – June 5

1. Andreas Eiler – GER – EURO 30,575
2. Gyula Forgates – NET – EURO 22,430
3. Mike Brandau – USA – EURO 16,310
4. Hansi Suppan – AUT – EURO11,210
5. Sebastian Behrend – GER - EURO 8,160
6. Charalampos Papadopoulos – GRE – EURO 6,120
7. Thomas Castellaz – AUT – EURO 4,080
8. Johann Brolenius – SWE – EURO 3,060

Deep Stacks



Deep stack tournaments are always worth a look and they are a good example of the online game changing the way poker is played in casinos. If you have time to invest in a Deep Stack, they can reward patience and knowledgeable betting. It can also be relatively easy to capitalise on the mistakes of the rookies.

Take betting. A lot of players forget that it so much harder to take a person's whole stack in the early parts of the tournament. Others over play their hands and find themselves against a more patient player who is sitting on a monster.
Here's a hand to illustrate the importance of adapting your betting – you are dealt aces or kings in early position. The tournament has just started, the blinds are 25-50 and the stacks stand at 10k.
How much do you raise?
If you said 150-200, you could find yourself in a lot of trouble. If the player behind you calls, there could be plenty of others willing to punt a tiny part of their stack on the chance of landing a decent multi-way pot.
It is usually better to raise 8-10x the big blind and protect your hand. You might see a mass folding but there is plenty of time due to the slow clock and you haven't found yourself in a tricky situation.
It was a such a sense of timing that enabled Ali Salem to pocket $14,270 in the recent $550 Deep Stack at the Concord Card Casino, Austria.
Deep Stack Tournament – Concord Card Casino – June 7

1. Ali Salem – $14,270
2. Peter Muhlbeck – $8,540
3. Florian Schleps - $5,690
4. Bodi Badic – $4,740
5. Arpad Bihary - $3,370
6. Jurgen Molnar – $3,320
7. Eike Stoll – $2,840
8. Carlo Schindlauer – $2,370
9. Norian Ashkan – $1,890

Monday, June 09, 2008

Poker Unclogged



Do you ever become irritated playing a NL cash game when a big stack makes a raise that puts you all-in?


You are seated a table with a max $200 buy-in. You've played for an hour and you have made steady progress, amassing a respectable $320. You have landed AK and the flop has hit the ace. You bet the pot, let's say it is 40. A guy behind you, who flat called pre-flop, pushes you all-in.


It's a tough call.

You have TP, TK, but you have only committed say, $60, and would still be ahead for the session, by an amount that is acceptable for an hour's play.


It is annoying, isn't? It is the type of moment that you find yourself wishing the pre-flop caller was poker protozoa and you could call, secure that the worst that could happen was a minor dent in your dough.

However, count yourself lucky that you at least have the option of calling. It could be a lot worse.
Consider this tale from poker's Wild West heyday.

John Dougherty was one of the most famous gamblers in Tombstone: given the place was a hive of scum and villainy, that was no mean feat. Although he packed a couple of shooters, he was known as a guy who could miss fish in a barrel. He had to get by on the huge stakes he would play for and the smallness of his feet. Some might think that the size of his bets were a compensatory tool for the size of his anatomy. We'll never know. Had Freud been born in Tombstone, it is unlikely he would have asked more than one punter about his mother.


Anyway, Dougherty's bankroll was around $100,000 and he only played no-limit games for high stakes – he would tip-toe away if the other players were small-fry. His reputation grew and in 1889, Dougherty he played Ike Johnson, the cattle king of Colorado, for the poker championship of the West.


They sat down in Santa Fe, and were surrounded by poker rubber-neckers, including L Bradford Price, the Governor of New Mexico. The players wasted no time slugging at each other and both appeared to snare a monster in one of the first hands. After a few minutes of betting, the pot stood at $100,000.


Jackson was floundering. After a while, he wrote a deed to his ranch and 10,000 head of cattle, valued at a further $100,000, and herded the value into the middle.

Dougherty was now short of dough. He picked up the pen Johnson had used and wrote out a deed himself, handed it to the Governor and drew his gun. According to Herbert Asbury in Sucker's Progress:An Informal History of Gambling, he then said:

'Now, Governor, you sign this or I will kill you. I like you and would fight for you but I love my reputation as a poker player better than I do you or anything else.'

A sweaty Governor Price decided he'd rather flourish a pen then stare down a barrel and signed it unread. Dougherty lashed it on the table and announced that he was raising Johnson the Territory of New Mexico.


'All right,' an outraged Johnson replied, 'take the pot. But it a damned good thing for you that the Governor of Texas isn't here!

Summer of Fun



Ah, June, the finest month of the year! Named after the Roman goddess Juno, noble wife of Jupiter and proud mother of Mars and Vulcan, it is also the month of the longest daylight hours in the Northern Hemisphere but today the sun shines for one very special character: it is Donald Duck's birthday! The legendary leader of the Quack Pack is still waddling away at 74.


We raise our wings.


It is possible that the Korona Casino in Slovenia ended its Summer of Fun poker tournament yesterday as they didn't want to clash with any celebrations to mark the University of Oregon's mascot's birthday: we respect that.


They might have surmised that on such a momentous day, players may be distracted and lose their focus. We are sure that Italian Francesco Spinelli, winner of the EURO500 and ecstatic recipient of a cheque for EURO 7,808, will be grateful that his Hold 'em game was not subject to any ruffled feathers.

Summer of Fun – Main Event – Korona Casino – Slovenia
1. Francesco Spinelli – ITA – EURO 7,808
2. Urban Gulic Tomsic – SLO – EURO 4,462
3. Marco Paganelli – ITA – EURO 2,677
4. Marco Udovicic – SLO - EURO 2,231
5. Giovanni Donno – ITA – EURO 1,785
6. Karolj Kis – SLO - EURO 1,339
7.Ales Soba – SLO – EURO 1,116
8. Luca Giusti – ITA – EURO 892


Thursday, June 05, 2008

May Showdown


With the multi-event World Series of Poker underway at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, some might think the gloss has been removed from some of the European events. The WSOP, with its 4 month gap, runs from May 30 to November 11 and will attract plenty of big names.


However, such is the popularity of the game that there is still plenty of action available across the continent for a wide range of budgets.


Take the May Showdown at the Perla Casino and Hotel, Slovenia. This jamboree of international players, scouting for chips, provided five mid range tournaments, including the increasingly popular NLHE Turbo game. In these games, the blind levels change so quickly that players are forced to act on marginal holdings before their chips are consumed. Arguably, it is not a test for the purist, but they can be great fun, if a little like seeing The Godfather condensed to a clip on Youtube that provides video backing for a track by an Italian tribute band that apes the BackStreet Boys.


The main event was a Î 500, standard NL game and attracted 40 players. Eventual winner, Biagio Brognieri hoovered up Î 6,440 so could still build up his bank roll to a level that he could use to buy himself a shot at the dust up at the Rio All-Suite

May Showdown - Perla Casino & Hotel

1. Biagio Brognieri - ITA - Î 6,440
2. Dino Pilot - ITA - Î 4,232
3. Ciro Bossa - ITA - Î 2,208
4. Gianni Barazzutti - ITA - Î 1,840
5. Gaspare Raia - ITA - Î 1,472
6. Ljubisa Nazimova - SLO - Î 1,288
7. Salvatore Soricaro - ITA - Î 920

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Asian Poker Tour


The first event of 2008’s Asian Poker Tour awarded Korean born Australian David Saab a mound of moolah when it ended on June 1. By fighting off the heads-up challenge of Chris Roh, Saab was able to bank $280,000 and was crowned champion at the Dusit Thani Manila, Philippines.


As is common in poker tournaments, the final hand might seem a little bit strange to disinterested observers. Both players stared at a flop of A-7-4 and Roh made a move for 90k. Saab deliberated, then decided his hand was worth 300k. At times like these, no one calls. They either fold or go all-in.


It’s good poker.


Mostly, they go all in.


That is not always good poker but Saab wasn’t about to buck the trend.


When Roh called, they flipped their hole cards and it was a battle between A-8 of Saab and K-4 of his adversary. In a cash game, bottom pair holds limited appeal but it can prove to be a lock at the heads up stage of a high stakes tournament. When the pair of aces held, Roh’s fate was sealed - it was time for Saab to shake hands and acknowledge the full-throated whoops of the 200-strong crowd.


It was a very successful beginning for the APT as a total of 316 players paid the $2500 buy in and the event offered a guaranteed pool of $1,000,000. The next event takes place in Macau at the end of August and about 500 players are expected to cross the threshold of the StarWorld Hotel & Casino.


Asian Poker Tour 2008 - Event 1

1. Dave Saab - AUS - $280,000
2. Chris Roh - SKR - $150,000
3. Satoru Ishii - JPN - $100,000
4. Kwang Soo Lee - SKR - $73,000
5. Michele Ferrari - ITA - $55,000
6. Man Jin Yun - SKR - $45,000
7. Don Carmona - PHI - $35,000
8. Terry Gongaza - PHI - $25,000
9. Gerasimos Deres - SWE - $20,000

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Poker Unclogged


There can be little doubt that the biggest weapon in a poker player’s armoury is the ability to read hands. As David Sklansky puts it in his book, Theory of Poker, the gravest mistake in the game is to play differently from the way you would bet if you knew what the jackal on the other side of the table had: know your opponent’s hand and you can play perfectly. The theory also explains why commentators for TV poker are so smug – the under the table camera does their job for them.

The poker pundits have one of the easiest pay-days in television but it is not so easy for the player in the thick of the flop. The latter needs to employ scientific methods – logically eliminating likely hands – and, far more importantly, to be something of an artist and be able to dance around his opponent’s game.

This aspect of poker has inspired the creatives of film but they often make the final hand too dramatic. Take the 1965 film The Cincinnati Kid, starring Steve Mc Queen and boasting the deeply disturbing tag-line ‘He’d take on anyone, at anything, anytime……it was only a matter of who came first!’

The plot is simple – The Kid saunters into town attempting to take down ‘The Man’ in a high stakes game of Five-Card-Stud, but the upstart is handed a can of ass-whup and has to get out of dodge. No problem there.

However, he loses his money in a hand that would induce cardiac arrest – remember this is Five-Card Stud – he has a full house, Aces and tens; The Man has a straight flush. Poker writer Anthony Holden has calculated the odds of those cards occurring in the same hand as over 3 billion to 1; or, put another way, if you played for eight hours a day, five times a week, it would happen once every 443 years.

It was a wasted opportunity to represent the game in film and one that was repeated, although not to the same astronomical proportions, in 2006’s Casino Royale. Bond wins the final hand of the Hold ‘Em Tournament with a straight flush, beating not one, but two full houses.

It appears that film makers know that the appeal of poker is due to the player’s knowledge of their opponent but cannot resist the allure of a huge hand that has nothing to do with anyone’s ability at the game. In fact, those massive showdowns do poker a disservice as it simply comes down to a lottery.

Rounders, scripted by keen poker players David Levien and Brian Koppelman and starring Matt Damon, is one of the only movies to depict the importance of hand-reading. Damon’s opponent, Teddy KGB, dressed in a handy communist-era red tracksuit and played by John Malkovich, who appears to be suffering from excess catarrh, eats Oreo cookies at the table.

Occasionally, in between bets, he’ll break a biscuit: Damon spots that when the Russian has a winning hand, he proceeds to chomp away but when he is bluffing, his sugar levels don’t receive a bite-sized boost. This ‘read’ enables the plucky youngster to avoid the fate of The Cincinnati Kid and it ends with him following the yellow-cabbed road to the comforting safety and stability of Las Vegas.

Hats off to the script.

It is not perfect but it frequently shows the audience exactly why Damon is good at the game and even has the balls to not reveal Teddy’s KGB final hand: it is not relevant.

However, for the ultimate example of the skill of hand-reading, we need to turn to a real pro, the late Stuart Ungar.

In 1990, he challenged the year’s WSOP winner, Mansour Matloubi, to a $50k, NL freeze-out. After forty-five minutes’ play, the champ called Unger with 45 offsuit and the flop gave 3-3-7. Stu bet $6k and got a call. The turn saw K and both players checked. The river was a Q.

Mansour sensed weakness and bet $32k, all-in.

It was a good read.

Ungar looked right through his opponent and said ‘You have 4-5 or 5-6. I call with this.’

He flipped 10-9.

He couldn’t even beat jack-high but he called without hesitation because he knew he was right.

He won with ten-high.

He played the hand perfectly.

Olympic Open Championship - Poland


OK folks, the wait is over.

After a whole month of tournaments across four countries in Eastern Europe, the Olympic Open Championship reached its dramatic climax at the Casino Sunrise, Warsaw Poland last night.

In the gaming establishment’s tropical setting, Danish pro Soren Kongsgaard gave the other 60 players a torrid time and was eventually crowned king of the jungle. However, unlike the king of the swingers, what this jungle VIP desired was not man’s red fire, but the first prize of €18,240 and its potential to burn a hole in his pocket.

After a highly successful series of tournaments, one could assume that the Olympic Poker Club would be tired of monkeyin’ around but they have no plans to leave a gap in their schedule. Throughout June they are hosting the Triobet Live Series and August sees the juicy Olympic Summer Festival, so there are plenty of opportunities for creatures with opposable thumbs to stroll right into town.

Olympic Open Championship – Poland - €1,050 NL Hold ‘Em


1. Soren Kongsgaard – DEN – €18,240
2. Jorge Kjerkol – NOR – €11,655
3. Jacek Ladny – POL – €5,980
4. Tomasz Sedlak – POL – €4,005
5. Khurana Sameer – POL – €3,230
6. Janusz Petlic – POL – €2,510
7. Robin Petteresson – SWE – €2,210
8. Mariusz Lewoniewski – POL – €1,970
9. Zbigniew Karasinski – POL – €1,790