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Poker: Table Talk
By Murphy James
Poker legend Doyle Brunson graciously compliments an opponent with, “Good hand.”
Mike Matusow uses the “F word” and is banished to poker’s equivalent of the penalty box.
Phil Hellmuth falls off his chair or tells an opponent, “You don’t even know how to spell poker.”
And when you get the Poker Brat (Hellmuth) and The Mouth (Matusow) at the same final table, as happened in the 2005 Tournament of Champions, broadcast on Christmas eve, the badgering and needling made for fun - if a bit contrived - TV fare. The third finalist, Hoyt Corkins, wisely wore earplugs.
The Brat needled The Mouth about an inevitable “meltdown” that was to come. The Mouth responded with what gets under Phil’s skin: that he is overrated. They declared war on each other.
Phil played to the crowd: “I never give up. Never.” Not satisfied with their response, he offered to buy the gallery 30 bottles of Dom Perignon if he won. Let the record show that a great cheer went up from the crowd!
Unfortunately the winner made no such rash promise. The Mouth came away with a million bucks. The Earplugs placed second, for $325,000, and The Brat in third place, good for $250,000.
Oh, come on! Phil recently sent in a Card Player report from Phil Ivey’s posh condo in southern California where Phil H, Phil I, Mike, Howard Lederer, Annie Duke, and Andy Bloch were having a few drinks over a friendly game of poker and yukking it up. Maybe The Brat and The Mouth were rehearsing good lines for their next TV showdown.
Sometimes it does get serious and is taken personally as when Mike and Greg Raymer tiffed at the 2004 World Series of Poker. Mike tried to turn some biting remarks and silly actions into a joke and wanted to shake Greg’s hand as he said “adios.” Glad to get this guy out of his face, Raymer would have none of it.
The level of banter on Christmas Eve was about what you would expect from a couple of nine year olds: You’re a jerk! Yeah, well, you’re a bigger one! Mike is very experienced at this, telling Raymer, “I’ve got big cojones. You’ve got little cojones.”
Dewey Tomko, a former kindgarten teacher, has heard enough of this stuff from children and those who act like children. Like Corkins, Dewey also wears earplugs during serious play, especially when Matusow and/or Hellmuth are at the table.
Today, with so many high stakes TV tournaments, it is inevitable that some poker theatre creeps in. Howard Cosell emphasized “the story line” on Monday Night Football. Will the Bears repeat in the Super Bowl? Can Green Bay win with an injured quarterback on the bench? Will this rookie make it?
In poker, has it come to, which “trash talker” will prevail? Fortunately, Christmas Eve also offered some solid poker on the part of all.
There is high drama in a No Limit Hold 'em tournament when the big names clash. And lightening it up with a little fun is great. But how much of this in a market saturated with televised poker tournaments can the viewing public take?
Chocolate ice cream is great. Too much chocolate ice cream is not.
Hollywood's Fascination with Celebrity High Rollers By Seema Shah The elusive world of poker has come a long way from its seedy roots of shady, Mafioso-type characters playing no limit holdem’s in dingy, underground gambling dens. Today, it is very much a part of everyday life, sexed up with a peppering of celebrity and television coverage. Thanks to the internet this old game has also managed to reinvent itself and appeal to a broader and younger generation with the likes of Ben Affleck, Toby Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio all helping to propel poker’s profile into the stratosphere. Quite literally, the face of poker has now been replaced by college kids in their dorm rooms or women in their pyjamas playing poker, all influenced by the glamorous image poker now has. Today, it’s easier to list the celebrities who aren’t playing poker than the ones who are. Whether the stars are playing for charity or for added publicity, millions watch games such as Bravo’s Celebrity Poker Showdown, now in its fifth season. While many question these stars’ poker-playing abilities, few doubt that these celebrity poker shows contribute to the poker craze as well as the uptake of poker online. Not only is the music world cashing in on Poker but Hollywood has also come –a – knocking. Forget about private jets, vintage sports cars and dinky little pooches, if you're an A-list movie star with money to burn there's only one game in town: No Limit Texas Holdem. That's right, poker has come to Hollywood and no Friday night is complete without a high-profile celebrity tournament taking place somewhere in Beverly Hills. So far, George Clooney, Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer have all hosted poker parties at their homes, but the game everyone wants to be in is the one organised by the actor James Woods on a weekly basis. Players have to ante up $5,000 to be included in Woods's magic circle, but that hasn't deterred Ben Affleck, among others, from beating a path to his door. One of the reasons movie stars are so keen on poker is that the odds are stacked in their favour. Chris Weitz, the director of American Pie and About A Boy, recounted a Hollywood poker tournament he'd taken part in recently in which the winners of various heats got to compete at a top table for a prize of $50,000. However, when it came to the celebrities, the rules didn't apply. "They got to sit at the big table, even if they failed to win their heat," he said. Even playing with a stacked deck, some celebrities still manage to lose. Earlier this year, James Woods sailed to the Mexican Riviera to compete in a million-dollar tournament organised by the Travel Channel. But lady luck deserted him. "They took all my money," he said, referring to the professional card-players he was up against. "I have nothing left." It seems that lady luck has got a tight leash on celebrities and it’s apparent that Hollywood have become enamoured with Poker and in turn we have become infatuated with this sexed up image. Even more celebrity poker? You bet. E! Hollywood Hold'Em let's viewers enter celebrities’ homes as they and their friends, some famous and others not-so-famous, play hands of poker until someone wins the $10K pot. Intended to emulate the home games most amateur players are familiar with, this show enables viewers to see how the other half plays poker. When comparing E! Hollywood Hold'Em to the other celebrity poker shows, most poker enthusiasts agree that this show illustrates the worst in terms of actual poker-playing ability. When watching, one cannot help but think that these "poker players" have too much free time and too much Monopoly money to play with. Publicity stunts aside, tuning in to an episode of Hold’em Hollywood style does prove to be entertaining and as long as the celebrities are doing it, poker will continue to appeal to the masses. InterPoker, part of InterCasino founded in 1996, is one of the largest, most awarded and respected online poker and casino rooms, offering Texas Holdem, Omaha, and is the pround sponsorer of 100 seats at the WSOP 2006 Poker: The Young Gun vs. The Old Gun By Murphy James One of the recurring themes in the movies, poker or otherwise, is the young, cocky kid taking on the older guy. The challenger vs. The Champ. Many westerns (who’s faster on the draw?) have that theme. It appears in military films with the over-confident recruit matched up against the Drill Sergeant. It’s the theme of “The Hustler,” the classic movie about pool, and it is the theme of the classic movie about poker, “The Cincinnati Kid.” A new movie about poker, “Lucky You,” currently in production, has a father vs. son, old gun vs. young gun face off (Academy Award winner Robert Duvall vs. Eric Bana of “Munich”). Where did they get this father-son story? Well, there is top poker pro Doyle Brunson and his son Todd, top poker pro Barry Greenstein and his son, Joe Sebok, and top poker pro Dewey Tomko and his son, Derek. The older pros are genetically growing their own young guns! Burt Reynolds is shooting a new movie, “Deal,” in New Orleans at the time of this writing. In the movie, Reynold's character - an ex-gambler - teaches a hot-shot college student how to “play the player,” vs. just the cards. They have a falling out which eventually finds them competing against each other in a World Poker Tour championship. Poker pro Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari and his buddy and fellow poker pro, Phil “Unabomber” Laak make appearances in the flick. The World Poker Tour (WPT) brings their distinctive background to the movie set and features appearances by WPT commentators Mike Sexton, Vince Van Patten, and Courtney Friel. Today, in the World Series of Poker (WSOP), thousands of young amateurs take on the big pros. At just about every table, there is the young kid facing such legendary WSOP champions as Doyle Brunson and Amarillo Slim Preston. But there is a whole other tier that has come along after Doyle and Slim such as Doyle’s son, Todd, a champion in his own right, Howard Lederer, and Phil Ivey. The young poker guns at the WSOP may face several different generations of “old guns.” Ivey, for example, is only 30 and is probably the world’s greatest player. He may face off against the 72 year old Doyle Brunson. At the same table may be the 21, 22, and 23 year olds gunning for Ivey. These televised tournaments are providing more authentic drama than the fictionalized movies of old. The Director who started filming “The Cincinnati Kid” was Sam Peckinpah, most famous for “The Wild Bunch,” which one reviewer called, “a brutal picture that was by several thousand red gallons the most graphically violent Western ever made and one of the most violent movies of all time.” Peckinpah was fired four days into “The Kid” over a dispute with the producer about a nude scene. Norman Jewison, a younger director who had more TV than film experience, was hired to replace him. Old gun, young gun. From “The Kid” in 1965 to “Lucky You” and “Deal” in 2006, the story is the same: there once was a great poker player who is being challenged by the new kid in town. And in time he will be challenged by another new kid and so it goes. Texas Hold'em Poker: Playing Low Pocket Pairs By William Sheehan When playing low pocket pairs (2's,3's,4's,5's6's) in texas hold'em poker you have to know what your looking for, and how to proceed dependent on what you see on the flop. Too many people think you should just throw them away in most situations, but these types of starting hands can be the most profitable of all. This is because low pocket pairs are not the typical ace through ten type of starting hand. Also when you make a set it won't be obvious because the card needed to make your set won't be a face card which would normally be part of a typical texas hold'em poker hand. You can use this to your advantage. By not making bets that give away your pocket cards hand strength you will be able extract the maximum amount of money. Keep in mind what cards are on the board, and what your opponents hole cards are likely to be given their actions. It may be that at some point in these types of hold'em poker hands you will have to make more forceful bets to force out chasers. In addition to being hole cards that won't have an obvious flop they also will have a very high potential hold'em poker hand strength. This is because if you make your set then all you need is for the board to pair. This will give you a full house which has a very high hold'em poker hand strength. Often times in this type of situation the board pair will give an opponent a set while making your full house. This is like money in the bank. While your opponent feels he has a dominant hold'em hand strength he in fact is drawing dead. It is still important not to make obvious and aggressive raises which may communicate your hand strength. Often times the best course of action is to just call till the river then make you move. If your opponent doesn't get any kind of obvious cues before the river he will be more apt to go ahead and call your post river bet even if it is sizable. It is important to know what to look for when your starting hand is a low pocket pair. It isn't always the third card to make your set. For example if you have a pocket pair of 5's and the flop is 3, 3, 4. In this situation more often than not your ahead in the hand strength. Most opponents would not have a 3 or 4 in a starting hand, and the fact that there are 2 3's makes it more likely that the remaining 2 3's are in the deck or folded. In this type of situation I would suggest making a value bet to see if your hand strength is on top. Two or three times the big blind usually would be sufficient. Also you don't want to make the mistake of acting to minimally and letting players get a free look at the turn. With a flop like that any players holding an ace would like to see a 5 or 2 on the turn. If they then only need on card to make a 5 high straight they may stay in with a small bet. Also there is always the chance they will make their straight. In which case you would have made your set of 5's but to no avail. More often than not if you don't make your set on the flop it is best to just fold your hand. Low pocket pairs though very profitable have to be played for what they are. If they don't make a set on the flop they are most likely behind in hand strength and will finish the poker hand that way. The exception to this would be if you go all-in preflop against a drawing starting hand. You are slightly favored. Of course if your opponent does hit either card then the low pocket pair starting hand strength becomes a nearly assured lose. This is why it really is not a very good play to make very often. In desperate situations in poker tournaments as blinds are nipping at your heels you may have to make some desperate plays with low pocket pairs for starting hands, but otherwise you should really just try to see the flop with them. With this said I still in most situations feel that a starting hand worth playing preflop is worth raising preflop. Even though your starting hand strength with a low pocket pair is most likely behind; a preflop raise can still chase out some opponents that could have potentially benefitted from the flop. By chasing some out you can maximize the chances your low pocket pair will be ahead in hand strength after the flop. Even if a queen or jack come out on the flop you may have chased out an opponent who had a queen and a rag that may have stayed in where it not for the preflop raise. You can make your feeler bet and see where you are in hand strength and see if you want to play the hand further or fold it. About 3 out of 4 times that you play low pocket pair starting hands you should end up folding it post flop when you don't make your set. The hold'em hand odds of getting a set are low enough that you won't make your set very often. Don't make the mistake of continuing to chase it. Every once in a while if the table conditions allow it perhaps, but most likely your just contributing your chips to someone else's pot. Now after reading this you may get the impression I am advocating playing low pocket pairs when ever you get them. Often times if there is a raise and especially if there is a reraise you should probably fold your starting hand preflop. This is because the probability of making your set is low and faced with an aggressive better you don't want to pay a premium to see a flop that is more than likely not going to improver your starting hand strength. Playing low pocket pairs in texas hold'em poker is not something to be afraid of. Rather you should look forward to them and play them accordingly. Capitalizing on the less obvious starting hands can greatly increase your level of play in texas hold'em poker, and will keep your opponents guessing which will help your play no matter your starting hand strength. For a more in depth examination of hold'em poker strategy, starting hand odds, starting hand strengths, and online poker room reviews visit the link below. No Limit Texas Holdem Seat Selection By WT Monger As a general rule, you want to sit to the left of any remarkable players. By remarkable, I mean any player who is a maniac, betting and raising at every chance, and players who are very solid. These are the two types of players that can be very dangerous. It won't make much difference in the long run where you sit in relation to the average players at the table, as if you are a better player than them you will profit from them over the long run. The reason you want to be to the left of any remarkable players is a matter of position. In the majority of hands you will act behind them so you can control the betting action to some degree and you will have the information gained by their actions before you have to act. The other type of player that we haven't mentioned yet is the very poor player, often referred to as a fish. Poor players present an interesting seat selection guideline. First of all, you will tend to make money from them over the long run when you are a better player than they are no matter where you sit. However, beyond that your decision on where to sit is based on the part of the game they are weakest at. If they are calling stations, you want to be on their right. If they were notorious for bluffing at too many hands, you would like to be on their left. If you are one of the players who don't take the time to observe a table before choosing a seat, make it a habit of watching for a bit before joining the table from now on. You should quickly see an improvement to your bottom line and you will be able to capitalize on the information you gain before playing. Travelin' Texas Hold 'em: Poker Jazzes up Dull Meetings By Murphy James As a money manager and banker, Stephen Kelly went to a lot of corporate meetings and was usually bored out of his skull. After long business days, there was the reception, then dinner, then a long evening in a hotel with nothing out there of interest to him. Same old, same old. In 2003, he attended a charity Texas Hold 'em event at Stone Mountain, Georgia, near his home base of Atlanta, and had a great time. He was so jazzed by the experience that at 3 o’clock in the morning he was awake, working on a business plan for US Poker Series, a company that adds poker tournaments to corporate seminars, workshops, and conferences, and sometimes charity events as well. Kelly’s tagline is, “Out of the barroom and into the board room.” Within ten days of putting up a website he had his first client and today receives about 30 inquiries a month. He has a staff of a dozen full-time people. The company is headquartered in Atlanta, with satellite offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. US Poker Series works with corporate event planners, destination management companies, and hotel planners to seamlessly add a Travelin’ Texas Hold 'em Poker Tournament to a corporate event. Trained dealers, often recruited from local training schools, casino-grade tables and chips, and a professional tournament director are provided. Play money only is used. There is no buy-in. “No one wins any money; no one loses any money,” he says. . Each attendee starts out with 1-2,000 chips. Then they play like The Big Dogs, relishing saying, “All in.” Prizes include things like iPods, trophies, and engraved poker sets to the tournament winner, with plaques going to others who made the final table. Beginners receive instruction prior to play. In 11 of the first 12 tournaments, beginners made their way to the winner’s circle. Kelly prides himself on offering a new form of corporate entertainment. Recent clients have included those from the auto, banking, and software industries. Rather than sitting and passively watching someone else perform, the tournament offers interactive fun. It is an opportunity for all to participate in today’s poker craze. “The guest is the king of the event and we treat them as such. Our objective,” he says, “is that everyone has a great time.” “A much higher ratio of women play in these corporate tournaments,” Kelly notes. He points out that some industries, real estate, for example, have a high percentage of women. About half the tournament top prizes to date have gone to women. He remembers one event in Newport Beach, California that had about 180 women playing tournament poker. “It was the best event we ever had,” says Kelly. The company offers its services to clients with as few as 25 attendees. The biggest tournament, held in Los Angeles, had 600 attendees. The cost typically runs between $75-$125 per person. Usually an event triggers future business, as attendees in one meeting are often meeting planners in another. Kelly works with clients to determine how long play should last. Typically it is a three or four hour event at the end of a day. US Poker Series has some control over the time factor by increasing the blinds at regular intervals to speed up the play. A sense of drama engulfs the final table, as it does in the big time TV events: the table is elevated, it is backlighted, and a crowd hugs the rail. The tournament director is on a microphone, calling the action. US Poker Series also offers to film the event, edit it, and provide a 30-minute VHS or DVD. This additional service costs between $800 - $1500. There is a “Loser’s Lounge,” with a bar and sometimes a disc jockey. There are also consolation tables so players can continue the fun even though they are knocked out of the tournament. Kelly points out that the essential characteristics of his model are his company’s ability to work across the nation, professional presentation and delivery, and experience. Kelly and his staff are prepared to take an initial inquiry and roll out a complete, customized package. They work out the space, equipment, and coordination of logistics with the client, their event planners, and the hotel. And then they deliver. “We are trying to put the best product possible into the market. It is an upscale event to enjoy and not forget anytime soon. No one delivers anything close to what we do. We’re the Four Seasons of such events,” says Kelly. |
