3 Things Poker Players Can Be Thankful For

   Happy Thanksgiving Readers! It's been a tough year for us poker players with all that's taken place with the DOJ and online poker, Congress' epic failure to license and regulate the industry, and some countries and US states rejecting proposals for casinos and online gaming, but fear not! There are a few bright spots, and some reasons to be optimistic.

   It was a record setting year at the World Series of Poker. There were 75,672 entrants from 105 different nations. There were 58 events spanning a 50 day period, and the total prize pool was $191,999,010 making it the largest WSOP in history. The Main Event was the third largest poker tournament all time in a year which saw the epic take down of the three biggest online poker sites in the world. ESPN covered the final table and showed every hand on a 15 minute delay for the first time ever. This year's WSOP also hosted the largest live Pot Limit Omaha event in history with 1,071 entries, a 21 percent increase from 2010. 1st place was awarded $292,825. Next year the World Series of Poker will be hosting a 1 million dollar buy-in event which is unprecedented. A few WPT events saw an increase in traffic this year as well. These are clear signs that poker is still running strong.

   This week Governor Deval Patrick, of my home state of Massachusetts, signed a bill into law that will allow for the creation of three full-scale casinos and a slot-only casino. Massachusetts becomes the 40th state to legalize casinos and slot parlors. Opponents will likely seek a referendum to repeal the law in 2012, but personally I doubt they will be successful as this bill had a lot of support. It took Governor Patrick 3 years to get this done and he and his staff deserve a lot of credit. I happen to live on the western border of Massachusetts and the nearest casinos are Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods which are 2 hours away in Connecticut. There is also Turning Stone casino in upstate NY, but that's about 2 and a half hours (plus they don't serve alcohol there; less drunks mean less fish for us sharks to feed on). As it stands, I haven't played a live poker tournament in months! The signing of this bill could potentially put a casino just 45 minutes to an hour away thereby cutting my travel time in half. It looks as though I'll be playing a lot more live poker tournaments in the near future. Hooray!

   Now hear this, now hear this. Phil Ivey has returned to tournament poker. Finally! He sat out this year's WSOP in response to allegations against Full Tilt Poker, the website he endorsed. According to cardplayer.com, Ivey entered the Asian Pacific Poker Tour Macau main event on Wednesday. With over 13 million dollars in lifetime earnings, 8 WSOP bracelets (none of which are in No-Limit Hold Em), four top 25 finishes in the WSOP Main Event since 2002, and a WPT title, Ivey is considered by many, including myself, to be the best all around player in the game today. It looks as though poker has its "ambassador" back. Thank God! Welcome back Phil!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Skyrim Review

   Well Bethesda Entertainment has finally released the long awaited and highly anticipated game: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, the newest installment in the series. At 37 years of age you would think I'd have lost my lust for video games by now, but to no avail. I was 14 when I got my first game system and never looked back. It was called Nintendo. No not Nintendo DS or BS, or the Wii,  or whatever it's called now. Straight up classic Nintendo with Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. Man was I psyched! Even though I was the last of my friends to attain such a highly sought after artifact, I probably logged more hours on it then all of my friends combined. I've since upgraded to a PS3 which I mostly use to watch Netflix.
   Here we are 23 years later and I'm a self-proclaimed closet gamer. As I get older I find that I much prefer RPG's (Role Playing Games, if ya don't know, now ya know!) and some sports games like Tiger Woods PGA Tour or Tony Hawk. Grand Theft Auto is a personal favorite of mine as well. But enough history. On to the game!
   I guess the best way to describe this game is it's like Dungeons & Dragons meets Grand Theft Auto. You start by choosing a gender and a race for your character (I'm currently running a male Dark Elf). There are 10 races you can choose from. The facial features can be altered which is a nice perk. In Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion that option was not available. Once you have created and named your character, you are free to move about the land of Skyrim, but not before you escape the enormous dragon that swoops in to town just before you get your head cut off by the guards in the opening sequence. You actually start the game as a prisoner. Skyrim is huge. Really huge (The Game Guide is 655 pages). In 20 hours of gameplay I haven't even scratched the surface of this snowy mountainous landscape. As you roam around you come upon towns, farms, caves, wildlife, hostile enemies, friendlies, weapons, artifacts and who knows what else. You can make potions and food, repair and improve weapons and armor, complete quests, go on a killing spree. Whatever you feel like. The game has a Main Quest which is more involved than most games by themselves. There are also numerous Miscellaneous Quests which can sidetrack you for hours on end. This game has so much to offer, it's almost impossible to do a detailed review on it. Your character will level up as you enhance your skills which you can do by fighting, casting magic spells, fixing weapons or armor, and talking and bartering with people just to name a few. There are 18 skills in all. Each time you level up you can increase your Health, Magicka, or Stamina. You are also given one perk that you can use to further enhance one of your skills. For example, once you've attained enough points and perks for the One-Handed Weapons skill, you can weild two weapons at once, otherwise known as dual-weilding. Pretty cool. My character currently sits on Level 12. I read somewhere that you can actually get up to Level 80 or so. Since I put the difficulty level at Master, and I kinda suck at video games, I suspect I'll be about 80 years old when I get there.
   There are some downfalls to Skyrim that I've noticed. With a game this big you can expect there to be some bugs and glitches. For example, the friendly AI is more of an annoyance than a help as they frequently get in your way and don't attack when enemies are nearby. Kinda sucks too when you're trying to be stealthy and sneak up on a group of skeletons, then suddenly your "friend" goes on a kamikaze mission and attacks blowing your cover. There are some tricky corners you can get stuck in as well. Veterans of the Oblivion game will be familiar with this. Because the terrain is hilly and mountainous, a lot of times you'll find yourself running in circles searching for the pathway that leads up to the top of the mountain you want to climb. Also, some of the music sounds like you're listening to the Mormon Tabernachle Choir.
   All in all though, I would highly recommend this game to fans of RPG's. The fight sequences are awesome, the graphics are pretty sharp for a game this size, and the storyline is interesting and stays in line with the previous games in the series. If I had to grade it I would give Skyrim an A- based on what I've seen so far, but like I said, 20 hours in and I've just barely scratched the surface.

My Top 5 TV Shows (current)

   5. Entourage- When this show first came out on HBO I said it would be a hit. It was a good 8-year run and the movie is supposed to drop sometime next year. Vinnie, Johnny, Ari, Turtle and E. have been fun to watch and will be sorely missed. Thanks to Mark Wahlberg and crew for making such a likeable and entertaining show with many cameos by actors, actresses and sports stars. I think my favorite episode was when they all tripped on mushrooms with Eric Roberts in the desert. Classic! I also liked Matt Damon's rant in the last episode of season 6. Hilarious! Also, the last episode of season 1 when E. goes from being Vinnie's friend to Vinnie's manager. Great episode. And let's not forget Gary Busey! This is a must-see show for any age group.

   4. Mad Men- This show is packed with martini lunches and Lucky Strikes and I didn't think I'd like it at first, but just a few episodes in and I was hooked. I give it an award for Best Ensemble. A gorgeous cast with a very dark and mysterious lead character (Don Draper) played by Jon Hamm with January Jones (Betty Draper) playing his stunningly beautiful wife. The research that went into the making of this AMC show must have been extensive.  The set design and wardrobe choices are perfect and the storyline behind Don Draper's character will keep you interested for sure.

  

3. Nurse Jackie- There is no woman on earth, other than Edie Falco, that could even come close to playing this character. One minute you love her the next minute you hate her. The pill popping NYC nurse who is somehow keeping her life from completely falling apart has to be the most complex female character on TV. It's fast-paced and  I was hooked from the first episode. Once you start watching this Showtime hit, you won't be able to stop. I promise.

   2. Californication- Showtime does it again! This is the best written show on television. In fact, it's not even close in my opinion. David Duchovny portrays troubled and sex crazed LA novelist Hank Moody. He's dark, but not necessarily mysterious. Moody is also predictably surprising yet frusturatingly irresistable. This show was number 1 on my list when I first started watching. I liked it immediately and it never ceases to disappoint whether it's funny or serious, (and it's good at being both) it always gets its point across. The cast is excellent together, and the dialogue is snappy. The only disappointing thing about this show is when it ends I find myself immediately wanting more. I think Netflix has it on streaming right now and for those of you who have yet to see it, delay no longer!

   1. Breaking Bad- This is the show that knocked Californication out of my number 1 spot. Why? Its storyline is as good as it gets. Bryan Cranston stars as Walter White, (which is ironic because he's the darkest character of all) a high school chemistry teacher with Stage III cancer who starts making and selling crystal meth. Set in New Mexico, this AMC hit will leave you guessing at every turn as Walter goes deeper and deeper into the dark and seedy underworld of drug production and trafficking.

The Rum Diary: A Brief Review

   Over the weekend my girlfriend and I went to see The Rum Diary. I had high hopes for this movie given that one of my favorite actors, Johnny Depp, was starring in another Hunter S. Thompson related project. I am sad to say, however, this movie missed badly. I give it a C+ rating. It had its moments (very few) but was slow moving and not very entertaining. I felt it could have been edited down a little, and Johnny Depp's character was not very likeable and lacked depth.
   One bright spot in the movie was Amber Heard. She was captivating on-screen and her wardrobe was well chosen. Giovanni Ribisi deserves some credit as well for his portrayal of Moburg. Some of the locations they filmed in were beautiful too.
   If you really need to see a movie this week I would stay away from this one and wait till it comes out on DVD. I have yet to see The Ides of March which I heard was very good. Might have missed my chance on that one though. J. Edgar looks like it might be okay, and I still haven't seen In Time which I may skip. Margin Call I'm not so sure about either, but the next movie I see will be reviewed here so stay tuned! Till then...

The Final Three

    The mood in the Penn and Teller theater seemed tense as Tuesday's 3-handed showdown got underway. It was the beginning of Day 10 (not in a row) for these three players and millions of dollars were on the line. The four month wait was over and on this night a champion would be crowned.

   We begin with the WSOP Player of the Year, my top horse at this table, Ben Lamb. He not only wins an award  for sharing my first name, but he also gets the Blow-up award. Lamb ended up all-in with K-J on the first hand and lost to Staszko's 7-7!! That didn't bust him, but Q-6 did a few hands later. Okay, let's think about this for a minute. You are 3-handed. You've played 9 days. You are the WSOP POY. You are a favorite to win even though you are 2nd in chips. Most importantly, you have like 40-something big blinds and you can beat these guys with only 10 big blinds and one card tied behind you're back! It's possible he just didn't want to play anymore, but K-J off really??? And Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari thinks it's the right play? Maybe he can do a magic trick and make himself disappear from next year's broadcast. Sorry Antonio, mad respect, but I just think you're dead wrong on that one. Sidebar: I can't believe I'm saying this, but I liked Phil Hellmuth's commentary better. Now I've thought a little about this and I see where Lamb was coming from. He knows he can take Heinz, but Staszko is cold and calculating and hadn't been playing too many hands compared to Lamb and Heinz. Also, he was virtually impossible to read. It's possible Lamb's strategy was to in fact be in a coin flip situation with a chance to knock out a tough player. If he loses he still has some chips and can grind back maybe.  If he wins he's heads-up and almost even in chips against Heinz who I suspect he had a good read on. Not a bad situation to be in but think about your equity here. You can at least grind with these guys and get heads-up. If you draw Heinz you are probably a favorite even when behind. If you draw Staszko you are gonna have your work cut out for you if he has a lead in chips. Then you can go all-in with K-J. To me, the top three is a new tournament. I treat it the same way as when there are 9 people. Don't finish 9th, don't finish 3rd. I'm guessing many poker players (especially the "pros") would disagree with me and say you should just go for the win. This is fine. Maybe someday we can see whose theory works on the felt. I long for that day! Not taking anything away from Benba, but I thought it was impatient and not the correct play in that situation.

   The heads-up match between the 45 year old looking 35 year old Czech, Martin Staszko (Worst Dressed award) and 22 year old Pius Heinz (Most Aggressive award) was entertaining whether you are a poker enthusiast or not. There was virtually no interaction verbally between the two players. Maybe that's because they speak different languages? It was White vs Plaid for the Championship. Seriously, plaid? What is it 1992? I was waiting for Smells Like Teen Spirit to start playing whenever Staszko won a hand. If he'd had a pocket protector and thick horn-rimmed glasses to go with it I think he would've won the tournament. I must say though, it was an epic battle. The lead changed hand several times and the level of aggression between these two was unlike anything I would have imagined given the money at stake. In the end it was Heinz and his A-K prevailing over Staszko's 10-7 suited. Germany rejoices!

   So there it is in a nutshell. Poker has a new potential ambassador. I can only hope Pius Heinz does what he can to promote poker in Germany and around the world. ESPN deserves a lot of credit for great coverage while protecting the integrity of the game with their 15 minute delay. Poker has come a long way in the last 8 years and still has a long way to go. This year's coverage of the final table with Lon McEarhen, Norman Chad, and Antonio Esfandiari (is it just me or does he sound like he just did a wake and bake before he went on the air?) was refreshing and I already can't wait till next year. Till then...

And then there were six...

   In my last post I discussed the first three eliminations. This post will talk about the next three. Six players to go and "short-handed" poker begins. This is when the value of hands goes up. Hands like A-8 off that you throw away in the beginning now become raising hands in certain situations. As I watched the footage on Youtube I noticed that was where Pius Heinz started to try and run over the table. Only problem was Ben Lamb wouldn't let him.

   First to go out in this phase was yet another of my horses, Eoghan O'Dea who wins the Player I'd Most Like to Have a Beer (or a Guinness) with award. His bust out hand was Q-6 off, but the hand that crippled him was A-9 vs Ben Lamb's Q-8 suited. O'Dea raised coming out with his Ace and Lamb reraised all-in. O'Dea took some time to think before eventually making the call. I think O'Dea felt like he was ahead and he was right. The luck o' the Irish was not on his side as Lamb rivered an 8 to win the enormous pot leaving O'Dea with just 2.5 million or so in chips. And right before the dinner break! Ouch! I'd almost rather just bust before the break. Maybe O'Dea saw the opportunity to bust the best player at the table, but I still think it was not the right move for that situation. He was right that he was ahead, but that's pre-flop. The hand isn't over till that river is dealt. With a little patience he could have gone deeper into the tournament. I suspect O'Dea will be haunted by that hand for some time. Still, he played well and I'm willing to bet this is not the last we'll see of him.

   The next victim was 5th place finisher Phil Collins who wins the Loudest Entourage award. It seemed like he was just having an off night. Maybe the cards just weren't coming for him. I've had MANY nights like that! His bust out hand was A-7 suited in diamonds vs Heinz and his 9's once again. The flop came 4-5-6. The turn was the 9 of diamonds giving Collins all sorts of outs. The river didn't work for him though and Heinz won a pretty good sized pot. Okay, once again I don't agree. Collins still had 18 big blinds. It ain't much, but it's enough to stick around for little bit. You don't have to move with the first Ace you see. Maybe even just try to make a raise and win the blinds and antes. If you get reraised, just fold, but youth often lacks patience and I believe this to be the case here.

   In 4th place was the Most Resembling a Cop award winner, Matt Giannetti. Giannetti was the ONLY player at this final table with sunglasses. Frankly, I'm happy too see that. I don't like sunglasses at the table. I think it shows weakness. Letting your opponent see you stare at the middle of the table can be more intimidating than the shades. They look douchy (is that a word?). Nothing against Giannetti, he's a damn good poker player, but I just don't think the shades are necessary. He was crippled by Ben Lamb when his J-J lost to Benba's A-7 suited in hearts. Lamb hit the flush and Giannetti was hurting. He eventually busted with A-3 off vs Lamb's K-K. Giannetti probably had the most impressive showing of all. I thought he played patiently and picked his spots with precision. He's a pro no doubt about it. In fact, I was shocked to learn that he took down a WPT event during the four month hiatus. Yikes! Great job Matt, but please, lose the shades. You don't need 'em and you're probably a better player without them.


   Giannetti's bust out ended the day. On Tuesday 3 players (Pius Heinz, Ben Lamb, and Martin Staszko) would return to determine who would walk away with 8.7 million dollars and the highly coveted gold bracelet. That's all coming up next. Till then...

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait... And Bet

   Well The WSOP Main Event is over and congrats are in order for the winner Pius Heinz and the other 8 contenders for a very entertaining Final Table. It was definetly fun to watch. ESPN's coverage was excellent and it was great to be able to see every hand played. There were questionable plays, questionable analysis, and some questionable wardrobe choices, but all in all whether you are a poker fanatic (like myself) or not you had to appreciate the conditions and the pressure these nine individuals were under. In this post I will be discussing the first three eliminations.

   The short stack coming in to this final table was Jesse Eisenberg look-alike Sam Holden. He wins my award for Best Hair. The only Englishman at the table he had quite an uphill climb. Unfortunately his A-J suited in spades ran into Ben Lamb's A-K and he was out in 9th place. Personally, I don't think he had to go broke there. Lamb open raised and Holden could have called and taken position in the hand. When the flop came three clubs, Holden easily could have folded and gotten off the hand leaving himself with over 10 big blinds. If I came in as one of the short-stacks, my goal would be to not finish 9th. Let someone else make that mistake.

   The second smallest stack entering play on Sunday was also the youngest player at the table 21 year old Anton Makiievski from THE U-kraine. Anton gets the award for Hardest Name To Spell. His bust-out was probably the worst. I should give him an award for that too. Anton went all-in with K-Q off and was called by Heinz and his 9's. Flop came K-J-J and the turn was a 9. The river blanked and Makiievski was out in 8th. Exactly where he entered the final table. No harm no foul on his decision. He took a bad beat. Nothing more you can say other than shit happens. He played well and picked a decent hand to move with in my opinion.


   That brings us to our 7th place finisher, and one of my horses, Bahdi Bounahra. He came in running 6th and played well I thought. He wins an award simply for holding his own against significantly younger opponents. The oldest player, and possibly least experienced, made a good showing and made his country proud. His bust-out hand was A-5 offsuit, but I don't fault him for it. He was extremely short on chips compared to the rest of the table and A-5 is better than A-6 as a blind all-in hand. Good for Bahdi and good for Belize. Way to go!


   In my next post I'll discuss the 6th, 5th, and 4th place finishers. Till then...

The WSOP Main Event 2011

   So this being my first post into the blogosphere, I thought I'd begin with my thoughts on the WSOP Main Event. For those of you who know the game of poker (specifically No-Limit Hold Em) all of this should make perfect sense to you. For those of you who don't forgive my use of its lingo throughout this post. In fact, much of this blog will be about poker and the direction the game is going both live and online. But first The Main Event.

   In 2003, Chris Moneymaker won the biggest poker tournament in the world. An amateur who paid $40 on an online satellite and ran it to 2 million dollars by winning the Main Event. In the 3 years following, the Main Event grew from 839 entries to 8773 in 2006. aka The Jamie Gold Year. In the few years following that the number of entries declined a bit. This year there were 6865.  Not too bad considering the DOJ's smackdown on the big online poker sites in April. Next year will be the year we should see the full effects. I'm guessing the over/under is 4800.

   The true problem for the game right now is its lack of an ambassador. A Michael Jordan if you will. Or a Tiger Woods before all his troubles. The online thing has just rubbed everyone the wrong way and these well-known pros now just seem shady. The Jamie Gold thing was a black mark as well. Personally, I'm rooting for a big name pro to win it. Someone relatively upstanding that can maybe promote poker and have a positive influence. I think it would legitimize the game. Phil Ivey I'm talkin to you!

  Although Phil Ivey isn't in it this year (in fact he boycotted this year's World Series) I think there are some names at the Final Table this year that could do the game some good. First on my list is the hottest (meaning he's on a good run people) player in the world right now Ben Lamb. If he wins it would be an absolutely epic year for him at the WSOP and arguably the best run in the post Moneymaker era. The guy had already made over a million dollars at this year's WSOP before the Main Event even started. It would give him two bracelets and two other Final Tables, one of which was an 8th place finish at the Player's Championship. It would also make him WSOP Player of the Year. In a word: impressive. Did I mention he's only 26?

   Next up is Bahdi Bounahra. He's from Belize. He's the oldest player at the Final Table at 49. It would be pretty fun to watch an old man (relatively speaking of course) whip a bunch of twenty-something's asses. It'd be a great story and great for the country of Belize.

   Finally is Eoghan O'Dea. He has two scores over $250,000. His father cashed in the Main Event 6 times. He's from Ireland and that would be cool to see an Irish champion wouldn't it?





  Well, those are my picks for this year. I'll write again in a couple of days with a full analysis of the Final Table and my thoughts and feelings regarding the results. Till then....