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1. 2012-02-01 17:25:24

   Sorry about the Downtime

   We were migrating our servers...

   Posted by Jason M at 2012-02-01 17:25:24 | permalink | Discuss (0 comments)

2. 2011-11-16 06:37:01

   Hello Facebook Comments, Goodbye Forums

   In an effort to improve the experience of our users, we have set up Facebook commenting on all of the PokerSoup.com blog posts. This will allow everybody to comment on the site and also easily share comments on Facebook. Additionally, it will virtually remove all spam from the blog post comments.

   Another recent change to the site is the closing of the site-wide "Talk" section of the site (a.k.a. our forums). The volume of forum posts has reduced to the point that spam posts outnumber non-spam posts and it doesn't seem worthwhile to moderate this section of PokerSoup.com any more. We are currently not going to make any changes to the league-specific forums.

   We would like to hear your feedback on these changes!

   Please comment on this post or send us feedback using the red feedback box at the bottom-right of your browser. If you are logged in when you leave the feedback, we will be able to send you an email.

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   Posted by Jason M at 2011-11-16 06:37:01 | permalink | Discuss (0 comments)

3. 2011-10-29 07:12:54

   Tales from the Felt #9: Chip Stories

   It’s been well over a year since my last entry of “Tales from the Felt.” It’s not that I haven’t been playing poker — just that nothing very outrageous has happened in the past year. I used to play with the Behan’s group in Burlingame. That group of guys was very rough around the edges. The bar itself was rough around the edges. By the end of 2010, for some reason the group started to fizzle out. By around the holidays it got to be difficult to even get three people together for a tiny Texas hold’em tournament.

   So earlier this year I started my own new league at a great old tavern called Ausiello’s in Belmont. It’s a very different environment. A bigger, classier, much nicer bar — but it doesn’t have nearly the edginess of Behan’s. I think part of the reason is that they only serve beer and wine — no hard alcohol. That definitely keeps the tempers down and the arguments to a minimum. But alas, a lot less to write about.

   Which is why this installation of “Tales from the Felt” will not be my stories, but the stories of a certain floor manager of a certain local card house. ... Okay, his name is Chip. At least that's what they’ve been calling him ever since I started playing poker at Artichoke Joe’s in San Bruno. I don’t go there that often. I can’t afford it. Seems most of the time I end up losing $100 in my usual game of 3/6 limit.

   But back to Chip. He’s a white-haired, tall, slightly overweight guy who definitely gives off the air of being in charge. And he should because he is. He’ll do everything from place new players at tables to settle disputes during games. He’s kind of reserved, but you always get the sense that he knows what’s going on. I had never considered it until recently, but I should have known that he is apparently a very skilled poker player.

   It was just last Sunday that I’d heard of this. Andréa was out running 17 miles in training for an upcoming marathon, and I had a few hours to kill, so I stopped by the old casino. It was mellow as hell there on that late Sunday morning. In fact there was only one 3/6 table running at the time, so I put my name on the list. While I was waiting I moseyed up to the counter where Chip happened to be sitting at the moment. I said, “Slow morning, eh?” “Sure is. More than usual,” was his response.

   I paced around a bit more, observing the quiet action at the tables and noticing the regulars that I’d seen there on and off for about the past 5 years. And I recalled that there was one guy who used to be in there just about every time I was, and I hadn’t seen him in a few years. I went up to Chip again and said, “Hey, you remember that guy Vince?” He looked a little puzzled. “A tall, dark-skinned guy?” I said dark-skinned because I didn’t know what race the guy was. Could’ve been black, could’ve been Cambodian. Maybe some odd combo. “Oh yeah,” said Chip. “Do you know what ever happened to that guy?” I asked. But Chip didn’t know. He admitted that some people just vanished. They’d either moved, or died, or just stopped playing. “Some people shouldn’t be playing at all,” said Chip. “Some people have a problem, so I hope they suddenly wise up and stop playing. That’s why we have all these phone numbers around so people can call if they need help. I know most people wouldn’t ever call even if they knew they had a problem — but even if just once in a while...”

   I told Chip that I didn’t think there was a very large percentage of people with problems. I told him that I had a LOT of friends who like to gamble, and I didn’t think even one of them had a problem. “Well, I’VE seen a lot,” said Chip. “Being around here you tend to see a lot of people with problems. Guys who are down and out, but they just keep pulling that money out and losing it.”

   This was the longest conversation I’d ever had with Chip. He’s usually all business, quickly walking here or there, or watching the tables like a hawk. It was a little uncomfortable quite frankly — but that was just my self-consciousness kicking in. As I started to wander away, Chip started yapping again...

   I learned that Chip used to be a pro poker player beginning back in the ‘70s. He must have been a youngster then, because he doesn’t look more than 10 years older than me. He used to play with the likes of Doyle Brunson and Amarillo Slim. He mentioned that he was once poised to win a whole lot of money from those guys. He’d somehow convinced them to play a round of golf against him for a hefty sum. But that at the last minute he got ratted out. At the time Chip was what’s called a “scratch golfer.” (I’ve only recently become familiar with this term after watching an entire season of Ray Romano’s “Men of a Certain Age” on Xfinity.) I’ve heard and read lots of stories about the old pros and the various things they like to bet on, not the least of which is the game of golf. Chip might have ended up one of those great stories had someone not blown the whistle. “I was from Montana. I only used to go down to Vegas a few times a year, so they didn’t know how good I was.”

   Somehow we got onto the topic of cheating. Chip informed me that he played high-stakes limit. I believe it was $40/$80, something like that. Which isn’t that high by today’s standards. Not even then, Chip told me. He informed me that he would have played higher — but the higher the stakes, the more likely there was cheating going on. So he played the highest stakes he could where there wasn’t cheating.

   “I always knew when they were cheating. One time I was playing a game and I hit four-of-a-kind. But I’d seen one of the guys cheating. I knew he had a straight flush. So I mucked the four-of-a-kind. Well the guy nearly fell out of his chair. I hadn’t shown him the hand — I just mucked it. And he was shocked, because he knew what I had folded. But he couldn’t say anything because that would’ve given away that he was cheating.” Chip went on to say that it was the only thing he could’ve done. There was $1600 dollars in the pot at that point, but he gave it up! “Hey, better to lose the 1600 than to lose everything.”

   “That doesn’t go on that much these days, does it,” I suggested. “Oh, no... no... Not anymore. That was back in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Some of the old downtown casinos were okay, like the Golden Nugget and Binion’s; but the Stardust was the worst. That’s the place that the movie ‘Casino’ was based on. I knew all those guys. The guy that Joe Pesci’s character was based on — he was much worse than he was portrayed in the movie.” As riveted as I was by these great inside stories, I still had the urge to get away. Just my nature I guess. But I told myself that I needed to change my attitude — alter the game plan. This was quite an opportunity — a rare moment. This old pro was opening up to me, telling me first-hand stories about the world I’ve been obsessed with for the past half a decade. So I just relaxed and leaned into that cool, rib-high, black granite counter top, looked Chip in the eye and let him tell his stories.

   “One time a friend and I said, ‘Let’s go down to the Stardust, just sit at the bar and see what’s going on.’” With a few hand motions Chip mapped out the basic layout of the bar in relation to the poker tables. “My friend and I just sat there drinking beers and watching the cheating. We couldn’t BELIEVE what we were seeing! Guys passing cards to one another...”

   Chip was really on a roll. He told me how he’d recently cashed in the casino employees event in the World Series of Poker. Silly me, I’d always thought that event only allowed the employees of that particular casino to enter. No. The event is open to ANY casino employee, including the floor manager of a small card room in northern California. I think Chip said he ended up winning like $50,000. Or was it 50th place. ... Irrelevant. The guy did well.

   He’d said earlier how playing poker for a living really became just like a job, having to keep track of all your winnings and stats and tracking other players. And I’m thinking, ‘But what you do now is just a job. Why not play poker?’ So I asked him, “Do you ever think of going back to it?” “No, I can’t. I’ve got a wife now, and a three-year-old.” “A THREE-year-old?” I said, immediately a little worried he’d think I was implying he was way too old to have a three-year-old. Which, well... yeah, he kind of is. But Chip didn’t flinch. He said, “I’m taking her to Disneyland in a month. I’m thinking of staying at The Commerce Hotel.” “Yes!” I said. I knew he was going there. The Commerce is a great place. Biggest poker room in the world. All the pros play there. Chip smirked a little. “I’m gonna ask my wife if we can stay there. Can you imagine? I’m taking my kid to Disneyland, but I wanna play poker. ... Anyway, she’ll probably say yes because she’ll know I’m gonna win.” Must be nice to have such confidence. I guess I’ve always thought of that level of skill as a kind of superpower: You can always pull it out of your back pocket when you feel like makin’ some quick cash. Oh yeah! ...

   We spoke about the pro players and what they were up against these days. We spoke of the successful tournament players and the kind of skills it must take to consistently end up in the money. I mentioned Johnny Chan, the only player ever to win two back-to-back World Series of Poker main events. Chip laughed a little, looked away for a second and said, “I hate that guy. Yeah, he’s good. I’ve seen him make lay downs that are beyond comprehension. But he’s an asshole. I was dealing to him once at a place in Taho in about ‘86. He lost to a bad beat, and he threw the cards at my face. One of the cards hit me right in the eye. I was so pissed, I stood up and knocked him out of his chair. I punched the guy right to the ground. I was pretty built then, so it took four guys to hold me back. They kicked him out of the casino.” Amazed, I said, “They kicked HIM out of the casino?” Can you imagine that? An employee punches out one of the guests and they throw the guest out of the casino. Only in a poker room, and only in the ‘80s. I’m sure things would be a lot different today.

   “I ran into him a few years ago. We only said four words between us. There were a few other guys at this gathering. I shook hands with the others, and Johnny said, ‘Fuck you.’ And I said, ‘Fuck you too.’ ... Oh, that’s five words.” That may be the only math error I’ll ever catch Chip making.

   By the way, I didn’t end up playing at Artie’s that morning. A spot at the table had opened up, but I noticed a guy there who I’d played with before. He’d been criticizing everyone at the table the night I played with him — players and dealers alike. He was a fat asshole, and at one point I’d opened up on him for griping about another player’s move. I said, “You’re criticizing him because he doesn’t play the way YOU would play? Why don’t you keep your comments to yourself!” He’d just ignored me and watched the television up by the ceiling. He was honestly the only guy I’d ever told off at a poker table. Nope, Chip’s stories were enough for me on this nice Sunday morning. I didn’t need to play with that jackass again. I might have flung a card into his eye.

   ©2011 Philip Travisano

   Posted by Phil at 2011-10-29 07:12:54 | permalink | Discuss (1 comment)

4. 2011-10-17 15:50:43

   BAY101 - The curse of pocket Kings

   
   So, I've played this last Saturday, at San Jose's BAY101. Played once there before: a Shooting Star satellite where I busted early with pocket Kings, against an aggressive pocket Aces. This time, it's a $200 buy-in tournament, 90-some entrants, starting with 10,000 chips. Blinds go fast (20 minute rounds) with early antes. They pay top-12, but 6 through 12 are lame money back equivalents, only top-spots seem worthwhile.

   Hand setup: down to 24 players on 3 tables, I am the second biggest stack with close to 80,000 chips, twice the chips average. Chip leader is around 120,000 chips, mostly because he's busted the last 4 players at our table, calling them with sub-premium hands. He's a gambling loose Asian guy, who has not shown real good poker skills (a couple of young guys, on the other hand, worried me more because they were awful good...) At the end of last round, he was bullying folks a lot, playing his big stack with not too much subtlety. My image at the table is solid: I have not lost one hand on show down, showing Aces once, pocket Jacks, and , oh and I've not been caught bluffing (though I did my fare share of it).

   Back from break, blinds are 1,500 and 3,000 with 300 antes I believe. I am under the gun with so I raise to 11,000 (I've consistently raised an unopened pot 3xBB plus extra for antes). The chip leader is on my left and announces pretty quickly "all-in", my worse case scenario as I was not looking forward a confrontation against him. It's of course folded down to me. I've tanked several minutes, which is very unusual from me.

   "Be safe, fold..." says the voice. In the past few weeks, I have busted early twice in our WPT League managing to get someone all-in with me and my pocket Kings, only to see they had Aces. And I busted at the Bay101 18 months ago on that setup too. I have over 60,000 chips left if I fold. He must have Aces... Money is not far and there are a few short-stacks...

   "Yet..." I'm thinking. That guy could have Aces, right, and he would play them probably like that. But he could have a big or middle pair (he busted 2 guys with tens...) or a big ace. He raised so fast, not much thinking went into it. Also, I'm not trying to survive to 12th position and win $225. Against some other excellent players I've seen around, I'll need a strong stack, a double-up would be welcome. Final trigger: the read. After a long while, I asked him "it would not be happening again: you really have pocket Aces?" And for a fraction of a second, I thought he reacted nervously, like he was shocked, surprised, worried. I read some weakness. And while until now he had been waiting looking strong and laid back on his chair, he now came closer to the table. So I called. He seemed unhappy, and showed Two players said they folded an Ace: one I believe, the BB with whom I've played for over an hour, the other I doubt. I'm at least 72% to double-up, add 5% for each potential dead ace.

   Flop comes and I am now 86% to win. Turn is and he's down to less than 7%. River is - end of story.

   Back in the same spot, I believe I'd reach the same conclusion and do it again. That's poker.

   Posted by Frederic at 2011-10-17 15:50:43 | permalink | Discuss (1 comment)

5. 2011-07-23 17:00:47

   Main Event #12... my final hand

   So... I'm at the final table, WSOP event #12, currently the short stack. I get dealt As4s in the BB, I had about 10 BB at this point. The cutoff raises 2.5x (loose aggressive player, opens regularly), button flat calls (respectable player, tight aggressive), small blind calls, now to me...

   I'm not sure that A4 is the best hand here... should I push or just call? Should I play conservative and take a flop or try and take the dead money with a squeeze here.

   I ended up calling the flop came 2s Ks 8d. Small blind checks... I of course push with on over card and the nut flush draw. KdJs calls me on the botton and I miss all 12 outs.

   My real question here is what I should have done pre-flop...

   also if someone could tell me how to get the card images in the text I'd appreciate it.

   Posted by mattmo at 2011-07-23 17:00:47 | permalink | Discuss (7 comments)

6. 2011-07-23 16:25:24

   Little about me..

   I'm no pro, there is a lot of room to improve on my game, but I've been very successful. Not kabillions of dollars successful but statistically, really successful. I've been playing since 2007 competitively, at the end of 2007 I was ranked in the top 2000 by officialpokerrankings.com. I've played the WSOP (non-main event) three times, in those three times I've made the final table once. I'm looking for feedback on hands and other feedback on poker related topics as I climb the poker mountain. This seems like a great site, just found it today. I have never blogged anything, so please forgive my ignorance, and any etiquette or blogging protocols I miss, please feed that back to me.

   Posted by mattmo at 2011-07-23 16:25:24 | permalink | Discuss (1 comment)

7. 2011-07-07 18:36:39

   Vegas WSOP Event #43: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em

   This big Event started on Saturday June 25, with 2,857 entrants including Chris, Mauricio (Marky) and my buddy Tim from hp. Whereas in Thursday's $5,000 6-handed event I stayed at the same seat for the whole Day 1, along with a couple of other players, this $1,500 made me move to a new table at least 6 or 7 times.

   In Round 9 (300-600 blinds, 75 antes) with about 500 players left (yes, more than 2,300 already busted!) and about 17,000 chips (average around 26,000) I played my last hand. On my SB, the chip-leader under the gun calls, UTG+2 raises to 1,800 (it was Bernard Lee, the East-Coast pro). The guy on the button, on my right, had me covered, but not by much, had played kinda tight so far, and he re-raises to 5,700. I look at my cards: . I take the time to breath and think a bit but with this much action, I want to be heads-up against one guy, not 2 or 3, so I shove my entire stack. BB and UTG fold, Lee folds pretty quickly, the button says he's pot-committed (really? what can I 4-bet with?!) and calls for the vast majority of his stack with . When I show my aces he used a couple of bad words Sam would be proud to hear me say, until the flop came: . No ace on the turn or the river, and I was done for. I was 80% favorite to end up with about 35,000 chips and my ticket into Day 2!

   Sadly enough, Tim also busted (I believe with an weak ace, from the SB) less than a minute later! We were both less than 200 still from the cash... So close again! And unfortunately, Chris & Marky also busted earlier...

   Posted by Frederic at 2011-07-07 18:36:39 | permalink | Discuss (0 comments)

8. 2011-07-07 17:54:58

   Vegas WSOP Event #40: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em / Six Handed

   We started Day 1 on Thursday June 23 with a stack of 15,000 chips, 732 players total, much more than the 568 ones last year. Having 6 players only per table makes it for more action. What made things worse at my table (Black #20), for the first hour or so, we were only 4 with one late and one open! So I got involved in much more hands than I was comfortable playing, which translated into ups and downs leading to a slow decay of my stack.

   Starting the 9th round, after 8 hours of play, my stack was down to about 7,500 chips, its lowest point ever. But now the blinds & antes were coming at me fast & furious, so I started taking some risks.

   First notable double-up, I shoved all-in under the gun with and got called by the big blind and his . I spiked a Queen on the flop to double up. The young kid was chip leader and playing pretty aggressive, making hero calls I would never have made (like calling on the river with King high).

   Second almost double up came on Round 10, with the same young kid, past mid-night. He was noticeably tired, and had had a couple of bad beats after doubling me up, resulting in him being short stack. On my BB, my ~18,000 chip stack had him covered, and he just called from the SB. Seems awful weak to me and my so I put him all-in. He calls with ! and he flops a to take the lead, until the river, a 3-outer !!! The BBPL crew was standing by the rail and made a ruckus that made me feel like I was on a final TV table! Did I hear "Dominated" ?!

   I started Day 2 with 172 other players, a stack of 28,900 chips, a bit below average, with over 130 people ahead of me. My final hand has been a real heart-breaker, still thinking how to play it better, but I think I was doomed the minute I got involved in it. On my BB, UTG+1 (a mega-stack young foreign pro) raises - again - to 2.5 BB. On the button, my BBPL buddy Leo (yes, we were at the same table) calls with a shorter stack than mine (~15k) and the SB folds. My is pretty vulnerable, but I felt priced in and called. Flop comes beautiful with 3 diamonds completing my flush: . I expect the initial raiser to c-bet as he's done 99% of the time so far, so I decide for a check-shove. Alas, UTG+1 checks, and Leo checks too! turn is the and I cannot afford to give another free card to either of them, so I push all-in. UTG+1 tanks for a while, but just calls, scary. Leo tanks forever. I believe he had something like and had the nut flush draw along with a gut-shot to the straight. But he opted to fold (good fold, turns out). UTG+1 shows for a set of aces, and was drawing to pair the board or a 4 for a full-house. My odds were 77.3% to win, but a silly on the river ruined my day. 77.3% of the time I would have had a 60k stack and would have cruzed into the money, top 78. Instead, I busted probably around 140...

   Posted by Frederic at 2011-07-07 17:54:58 | permalink | Discuss (0 comments)

9. 2011-04-24 16:26:05

   Bankrolls, Bars, Baseball, Beer, LOL live pokerz

   Well did you think I wasn't going to blog cause the chase has been suspended? Might as well keep the journey recorded cause I don't think it is over quite yet. Got the good news that the D.O.J has already cut a deal with Stars and Tilt to return our monies to us. Happened way quicker than expected. Just more proof that online poker is going to be fast tracked into regulation, with clearer cut rules on deposits, and withdrawals. Should be a few weeks until Stars can get a payment system up and running so we can get our monies back. In the meantime I decided to mix in a little fun, and work while waiting for me money to be available so I can transition it to a live bankroll. Went to The Yardhouse at Santana Row on Tuesday for lunch with Tomas. That place is pretty sweet. Think of it as a super fancy B.J's with a way better beer selection. Over 130 on tap to be precise. I had a lienencugels sunset wheat from the tap. It was legit. Surprised it was so much better than out of the bottle. After that we went to Bay101 to play some 1-2-2. Only word is laughable. 5 limpers every pot, bottom pair payoffs to nits who hadn't played a hand. It was like going from fishing in the ocean trying to catch a Kracken, to fishing in a lake right in front of the trout farm. We didn't stay too long as we had to make our next stop, which was dinner at B.J's with The Gordo, Tomas, and Red Sox Sammie. Well there went three pitchers in about 30 mins. Ended up the night hitting up a couple of dive bars (is there anything but in Newark?), where we had a few games of pool (cutthroat), and got smashed by Sammie in every match. Ended the night at a 24 hr Carls Jr. Double Western is surprisingly, quite tasty at 4am. Got the requisite 6 hours sleep and headed off to the Red Sox Game on Wed. Sox won and despite the dreary weather and hangovers we managed to tailgate for a few hours pre game. Thurs brought some much need rest and cash as I took down our Thursday night poker game. I was dryer than a busted speakeasy during prohibition so that helped. I am getting excited for Vegas, and the WSOP right now. Always happens in late April. Our Club gives away 2 seats and I pretty much got one of them locked up. The other one is up for grabs, and it is gonna be a dog fight between the other 2 guys in contention. Friday I decided to go to Aj's, and see what the action was like there. The structure is better than bay 101. 1-2-2 but 400 max instead of 200 max buy in. Only problem is one table running could be a sign that the trip might not always be worth it. With gas prices the way they are, I have to add these things to my expenditures. Nevertheless, same kind of player, same result. Looks like live will be able to hold me over until online pokerz comes back. Saturday we took Ava to Menlo Park for an Easter egg hunt. Amazing how many people were there. A group of us and the kids went to The Office for some lunch. Overall a good week to be out of a job I guess. This week I plan on seeing if there is any action at Aj's cause as I said I like the structure. If not I'll probably just go to Bay101 cause the player traffic is greater there. When I finally get my roll of Stars I'll probably move up to the 2-3-5.

   Happy Easter Everyone!
   Tony Gags

   Posted by UPS PWNAGE at 2011-04-24 16:26:05 | permalink | Discuss (1 comment)

10. 2011-04-15 23:54:05

    TYGOVT

    Those of you that know me, and my cocky, smart ass, tongue in cheek, finger to the world License plate(pick one of those according to how well you know me, if you know me really well then all of them apply) can gather what the title of this blog refers to. Today the N.Y. Attorney Generals office. indicted Pokerstars on a number of charges. http://www.parttimepoker.com/hnr-415-poker-site-domains-seized-indictments-issued Things like money laundering, fraud, and all kinds of other legal mumbo jumbo. What does this mean to me and my SNE chase? Well simply put, it is over.....for now. I tis all fresh, and I have a number of opinions on the matter, but I just am not going to share all of them this early into the game. I will say that this seems like a calculated move by the Govt, Stars, and the land based Vegas casinos into getting legislation passed to legalize online poker in the U.S. I wouldn't be surprised if a deal was already done before the indictments went down. last month stars and Wynn partnered up, as did a lot of other sites with land based casinos. A month later they are being indicted? Hmmm smells fishy. There are too much political positions to be gained, too many tax dollars, and much needed revenue for the U.S., to be lost if they simply tried to eradicate a form of gambling that has been deemed a skill game by many states in this country already. Regardless I hope what comes of this is that they just legalize online poker in the U.S. This happens and now you can allow credit card transactions, and multiple other avenues for the recreational player to play online. Will it sting not to be able to complete my goal? Not to be able to play online for what amounts to probably anywhere from 6-18 months? Yes it does, but in the long run it could be a great thing for poker players in the U.S. In the meanwhile I apologize in advance if you see me sitting across from you at one of your tables at LC's or Bay101 real soon.
    Tony gags

    Posted by UPS PWNAGE at 2011-04-15 23:54:05 | permalink | Discuss (9 comments)