Why do you play the game?

What do you play the game of poker? Is it fame? Is it fortune? Perhaps it is a combination of the two? Before the poker boom of 2003 there was this idea that poker was about great players and a whole lot of tradition. Players had reputations and respected each other even if they didn’t particularly care for one another. Sure, everyone wants to win and take down a million dollar pay day. Nothing wrong with that but lately it seems as if the game has lost its luster.

TV and the advent of so many new players that either don’t care or know very little about the history of the game seems to have changed the objective. Now it seems like some players are more interested in face time on TV than actually winning the poker tournament. No limit poker is practically a market unto itself these days with so many endorsement opportunities for players both online and live. We all play the game for different reasons I suppose. The least of which is to run good and win the title. It’s good for us and good for the game. I just wish that more players young and old continue to learn about and pass on the legacy of great players like Stu Ungar and Chip Reese and a few of the hands they played along the way.

We all should be so lucky.

World Poker Tour Festa al Lago Concludes

The World Poker Tour’s Festa al Lago has come to an end.  After six nerve-wracking days, Tommy Vedas was crowned the victor, besting Jason Lavallee after nearly two hours of heads up play, which saw chips changing hands back and forth several times.

When play began at the final table, Freddy Deeb was placed in a good poisition to win the championship - leaving him tied for the record of the most WPT championships held by one person.  Deeb’s hopes were dashed when he was pushed out in fourth place, leaving Craig Crivello, Jason Lavallee, and Tommy Vedas to fight for the title.  Crivello’s final hand came when he shoved with 1.95 million chips after Lavallee raised the 120,000 big blind to 280,000, a raise made from the button. Crivello’s K-J offsuit couldn’t match Lavallee’s pocket tens, and he went home with the $500,000 prize for third place.

AT the end of the day, Vedas went home with a bracelet, a Rolex, and a $1.2 million prize.  Lavalee took home $795,150 for his efforts.

PokerStars EPT High Roller Final Table

The final table of the PokerStars European Poker Tour High-Roller Event has been decided, with WSOPE bracelet winner Erik Cajelais holding a massive chop lead.

The final table make-up looks like this:

Eugene Katchalov, USA, 530,000
Shane Reihill, Ireland, 236,000
Matt Glantz, USA, 647,500
Dennis Phillips, USA, 218,500
Ilari Sahamies, Finland, 311,000
Leo Fernandez, Argentina, 460,000
Adolfo Vaeza, Uruguay, 468,000
Erik Cajelais, Canada, 893,500

The winner of the tournament will take home a GBP542 000 main prize.

Next Celebrity Apprentice May Not Feature Poker Players

Following the success of Annie Duke - who finished second in the last Celebrity Apprentice, professional poker players, and poker fans, have been excitedly following the show, hoping to see more professional poker players appearing in future editions of the show.

Duke finished second to Joan Rivers, and the show created lots of excitement as the two had many disputes along the way.  Other poker players made cameo appearances throughout the season, including Phil Hellmuth, Andy Bloch, Howard Lederer, and Erik Seidel.

The next season of Celebrity Apprentice, however, is expected to feature other sporting stars, including former WCW Professional Wrestler Bill Goldberg and Olympic Gold Medalist Summer Sanders.

Fans of professional poker will be able to see their heroes on TV, however, as Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho will be appearing on the next season of Amazing Race.

Does poker behavior matter?

Does your behavior at the poker table still matter? Do players care how they carry themselves at all? Lately those have been the two questions I have repeatedly asked myself as I have listened to men insult women they don’t know and make disparaging remarks towards others. Gamesmanship is understandable and certainly part of the game but to make lewd comments towards women is where I have to draw the line.

Last week I experienced this kind of situation and I have to admit the entire poker table was dumbfounded until a few players spoke up for the woman that was not only a good player but also the tournament chip leader with eighteen players left. We all were wondering what would have promoted this idiot to make such a comment to her unprovoked. Fortunately I cannot repeat what was said but my hope is that all of us as human beings can refrain from doing things that not only make the game look bad but make ourselves look even worse.

Behavior does indeed matter.

Mike Sexton Poker Hall of Fame Inductee

Mike Sexton has been selected by Harrah’s and the World Series of Poker to be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.  The news was announced this morning, and Sexton will become the 38th member of the Poker Hall of Fame. He will be the only person inducted into the Halll at the November final table of the WSOP this year.

Sexton’s selection comes as no surprise. Of the 15 living members of the Hall of Fame and the 15 media members who also had a vote, seemingly no one spoke out against giving Sexton the nod and everyone who did publicly offer opinions pointed to him as a worthy selection.

Sexton won a WSOP bracelet in seven-card stud in 1989, and took down the televise WSOP Tournament of Champions in 2006. He earned a cash finish in the 2009 main event, and has made $3.18 million in tournament winnings and has accumulated a total of 47 cashes in the WSOP - placing him 11th in the all-time list of poker players.  His contributions away from the table are also numerous, including writing and commentary.

The Hall of Fame induction voting process for this year dictated that only candidates who received 75 percent ore more of the vote , or at least 23 of the 30 voting members’ votes would be eligible for induction.

“Mike was the only candidate who met the 75-percent-of-votes threshold, thus why he is the only one who gets inducted this year,” said WSOP communications director Seth Palansky. “However, it’s important to note that this year’s vote has no effect on the other nominees and their eligibility in the future. We stressed to the voters this year to focus on who is most worthy this year, and thus next year and beyond will always get a fresh look.”

Priest Wins Poker Challenge

Poker fans and TV viewers were left stunned earlier this month, when the PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge was won by South Carolina priest Father Andrew Trapp - who knocked off NBA Champion John Salley, Team PokerStars.net Pro Vanessa Rousso and Team PokerStars.net Pro, as well as four-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu to win the $100,000 prize on the televised leg of the tournament.  Father Trap now has a chance to come back in December to compete for the $1,000,000 grand prize.

Father Trapp is not your average, stereotypical priest.  He is known as “Father Rambo” for his passionate paintball play, and proved to be a strong poker player too.

Trapp has donated all of his winnings to the church which he serves as an associate pastor for - the St. Michael’s Church in Garden City, SC.  He hopes to win the million dollar prize, which will help to fund the construction of a new church building for St. Michaels - which currently needs $1.5 million more in funding.

Does the Gap Concept still hold true?

aussie poker players are some of the toughest players in the game. Their results don’t lie as of late. Many of us poker players Aussie or not have put in a great deal of time learning and studying the game. Obviously no limit  remains extremely popular but has the game evolved so much that the same strategies that were successful a few years ago no longer apply? I am referring to the long standing “gap” concept. The idea that you must call with a stronger hand than the original raiser when you are out of position.

I used to think that this was fairly solid poker theory. I mean David Sklansky describes the gap concept in detail in his books on poker theory. However, I have been wondering if that concept no longer applies as stringently as it once did when the game texas hold’em wasn’t as popular.

Lately, as I have continued to play live poker tournaments I have noticed that many of the theories that most poker players came to understand as solid fundamental poker no longer apply in todays loose aggressive game. I have noticed that the minimum raise is now becoming a standard even in deep stacked live tournaments. I never thought I would see that kind of approach to the game but their are players out there doing it and some of them have been quite successful employing this rather strange techniques live.

The bottom line is that the game has evolved and you had better adapt and adjust to the new approaches that many of these poker players are taking to the game of poker. Otherwise, you will quickly find yourself behind the curve. That’s not a very good place to be.

Bodog Poker Open Schedule

The dates for the fourth Bodog Poker Open tournament have been announced.  The tournament is scheduled to start on November 1st, and will conclude one week later on Novemebr 8th.  The week-long schedule will include a wide range of poker games, including Limit, Pot Limit, and No Limit Texas Hold’em.

The Bodog Poker Open has been split into two divisions, to enable a wide range of players of different ability levels to take part.

The tournaments in the Bodog Championship Series include $50 rebuys, and a $500 Championship Event, and will all be held online. The Bodog Contender Series will feature buyins at 10% of the cost of the main schedule, but will still offer worthwhile prizes.

As well as the main buy-ins, there is a satellite schedule that will allow people to try to win their way into the main tournaments at a lower cost.  Satellite tournaments can be entered at a low cost, or using Bodog Poker Points.

World Poker Tour Marrakech Results

The final 17 players in the Word Poker Tour Marrakech tournament returned to the Casino de Marrakech this afternoon to enjoy a marathon day of poker play.  At the end of the day, Christophe Savary of France emerged victorious - taking home the trophy and a prize of more than EUR377,262.

Savary’s victory was a suprise to many, as Ludovic Lacay had been in control for most of the day, but after twelve hours of play he fell short, allowing his fellow countryman to take the esteemed prize.

The initial stages of the day went quickly, with the final nine being established in short order, heading to the Epicurien Bar to enjoy a more luxurious setting for the rest of the day’s play.  Ben Halima, Balazs Botond, and Patrick Meurisse were eliminated before the evening meal.  After play resumed, the remaining six players proved that they were still sharp, and Benny Spindler and Adrian Marin were eliminated quite quickly.  The remaining four players battled it out for almost two hours, giving Lacay his first taste of danger when he scrapped with Savary.  Lacay recovered to knoc out Julien Arneodo, but was eliminated soon afterwards.

Heads-up play saw Savary go against Arneodo in a lopsided duel, with SAvary’s big stack proving to be too much of an advantage for Arneodo to overcome.

Savary’s victory has earned him entry into next spring’s WPT Championship.

Understanding the thought process

How many times have you heard or read about how to think about the game of poker? We have all either read or watched various authors and poker players talk about different levels of thinking. First level thinking, second level thinking and so forth. Your thought process and how you use that information is all you have to either win or lose the pot.

No limit, Omaha, Stud or any other form of poker require in-depth thinking not only involving your own hand but what you believe your opponent is holding as well. What do you believe your opponent has? What do you believe your opponent believes you have? By being able to take your thinking beyond the cards you give yourself opportunities to win hand that would not present themselves otherwise. So always think through situations thoroughly before making your decision to remain involved or give up the pot.

Free poker game for Nokia handset owners

Nokia is releasing some free Gameloft games to it’s Ovi store, so Australian Nokia handset owners can enjoy one of a wide range of different Gameloft mobile phone games for free.  Naturally, the one we think you will like the most is the poker game they are offering for free, which is titled Texas Hold’em Poker.
There are ten Gameloft moblie phone games available for free download, including some popular ones such as Assassin’s Creed and Prince of Persia, Paris Nights, Ryman, Platinum Sudoko 2, Rabbits TV Party, Zombie Infection, Brain Challenge, Block Breaker Deluxe 2 and Texas Hold’em Poker.

All free games will be the latest and full version and be free of charge.  There will also be a further 100 ringtones along with 80 wallpapers will also be made available for free from the Nokia Ovi Store until January 31st 2010.

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