Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - Scott Ian
Usually my blogs will have some sort of narrative thread running through them. Less, bloggy, more story. This week’s entry is going to be a bit all over the place as it reflects where I am at which is all over the place. In the last month I’ve been from Los Angeles to NY to Vegas to Aruba to Japan and back to Los Angeles yesterday. Sitting on my couch I feel like someone pulled the emergency brake in a car going 100mph, spinning into a crash of jet lag and physical exhaustion. So before my brain melts out my ears for a day or two…
Aruba was a blast. What else could it be? UB throws the event of the year in my opinion. Ask anyone that was there and the smile on his or her face is all the answer you need.
This was my third Aruba trip and it was my best so far. What made it better/different? Having a much larger UB & AP pro team there for sure. There was a real sense of camaraderie amongst the pros and we were hanging out all the time. From instigating the chaos at the pool during the opening party (where Phil gave out 10K to basically skinny-dip!) to hand analysis and poker tips for the UB players to closing the casino most nights to once again making the closing party a blast, teams UB & AP were representing!!! I really felt an all for one, one for all spirit and it makes the brand that much stronger.
I also felt that having all of the UB senior mgmt there to oversee everything was important, especially to listen to the players in the focus groups. I expect you’ll see a lot of your opinions reflected on the site very soon. Seeing UB CEO Paul Leggett on a day to day basis, being a part of the event seemingly everywhere at once absorbing it all was a real treat as well. Paul’s hands on approach and attitude really made me feel a part of something strong and the excitement about the future of the brand was tangible.
Regarding poker, I finished 62nd, 17 from the money. Second year in a row I got so close to cashing. I am happy over all with how I played and I probably could’ve grinded my way past the bubble but I was playing to win it, not to just cash.
On day one I had a hand that I was stoked about. I had overheard the chip leader (who was at my table) after losing a few pots and dropping down to around 78K from over 90K say to the guy next to him that he was on a losing streak. I made a mental note and decided if I had the opportunity I was going to try and make a move on him. A few hands later I had A8 suited in the BB. Blinds were 150-300. The chip leader raised to 950 UTG and it folded to me. I popped it to 3100 and he calls. The flop comes QQ6 rainbow. I check, he checks. The turn comes a J to complete the rainbow. I bet 5100, he calls. At this point I commit to the bluff and when an 8 comes on the river I shove my final 12K. He stands up and tanks for three minutes and then he calls the clock on himself. He was really confused by my shove. He hadn’t seen me turn a hand over at all and didn’t know what to do. He asked the floor man if he could show his hand. The floor man said if he shows his hand to try and get a read he’d have to take a one round penalty. I was thinking, “go ahead and show, you’re not going to get a read off of me, I am Mt Rushmore!!” The floor man counts down the final ten seconds and he folds. Jason Gray who was on my left asked me to show the bluff. I showed the 8. Chip leader sighs and turns over pocket 10’s. Whew.
I had a lot of fun in the cash games in the casino. Especially the UB table one night where we were playing 1-2 and the first raise would come in at $35! Then my friend Enigma4U4ME would shove blind and get three callers. Basically your typical 1-2 game with an average pot of $700.
Crazy but fun.
After Aruba I was home in LA for 36 hours and then took off to play a festival with Anthrax in Japan. The show was amazing. Here’s a link to a clip from the show: http://www.twitvid.com/05F93
I’m home now for a couple of weeks and I’m looking forward to getting back on UB and playing. See you all this week at the tables.
Cheers,
Scott
Tags: Anthrax, AP, Aruba, japan, Los Angeles, New York, Paul Legget, Phil Hellmuth, Poker Tips, ub, UB Players, Vegas
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Saturday, September 5, 2009 - Phil Hellmuth
A few years ago I was playing in the Bicycle Club’s Legends of Poker $300 buy-in (with multiple re-buys) no limit hold’em event. Things were going along just fine and I was feeling pretty confident. I had just finished second to Daniel Negreanu in the $1,000 buy-in seven-card stud event and I was starting this day with a big stack of chips. To top it off, I really liked the lineup at my table. I knew what the players were doing. There were even a couple of traditionally wild players who I thought, with patience, I good chance of busting. With the blinds at $50-$100, I made it $300 to go with A-A in first position (I hate limping with aces in early position!). Jack Fox, who I normally think of as a semi-wild player, was really toned down and playing strong poker when he called my $300 bet. (Not that I think Jack’s semi-wild style is bad, it is just a dangerous way to play the game!) After Jack called the $300 raise, one of the truly wild players decided to just call my raise with 7-7 in the small blind. This was totally unexpected and out of character for this player! I had seen him re-raise with pairs all day long. I even planned on busting him while he was making one of these moves! When it was his turn to act, I could see he was contemplating making a re-raise, but for some reason he merely called the $300 bet pre-flop. If he had re-raised me pre-flop, I would have busted him. I felt like that what was supposed to happen! Anyway, the flop came down Q-Q-J and the Wild One checked. Now I quickly checked for two reasons. First I had a bad feeling that Jack had a queen and, second, I wanted to try to trap Jack and the Wild One. So much for the best-laid plans of mice and men! Jack checked behind me and the next card off was a 10, making Jack a full house! Now Wild One and I checked and Jack bet out $900. Wild One folded and I quickly called. I was a little concerned but I had seen Jack bluff a lot in the past few years. The last card was a 2, and I checked again and watched Jack moved all-in for about $1700. Now I said to myself, “Hmmm…what could he have? He could have a busted flush draw, and now he’s trying to bluff me. He could have just overplayed a pair of jacks like J-K or J-A. It’s Jack Fox, and maybe he just has 5d-6d or something similar and he’s just trying to outplay me.” I have seen him do some pretty crazy things! I actually thought that he might have 8d-9d or some crazy straight like that! But I set this hand up for him to bluff me by checking aces to him three times, so I better carry through on my plan and call him down.” So I called and left myself with only $700 in chips.
I played my last $700 really hard, but I couldn’t overcome losing all of those chips with the aces. Right after I called Jack, he said, “What a bad call you made against me on the end!” Well, I certainly don’t mind my call against Jack in this hand, which he played perfectly. He didn’t re-raise me before the flop or bet on the flop (if he bets the flop, then I would have probably raised him and won this pot!) I guess I need to re-examine my opinion on Jack being a semi-wild player! The question I’ve asked myself since though is, “Did I misplay this hand?” Upon further reflection, I believe that the answer is yes, I did misplay this hand. Why didn’t I just bet the flop? There was $1,000 sitting out there and Jack would have folded and maybe Wild One would have moved in on me! Perhaps I would have doubled up instead of going nearly broke! Why check the flop and let a straight card come out there for free? Why risk $2650 after the 10 came off? I think that I was also a little bit unlucky that Wild One didn’t re-raise me before the flop, but perhaps I gave something away about the strength of my hand. There are times that I play hands to trap people and sometimes it pays off, and sometimes it doesn’t. Anyway, Jack Fox went on to win the tournament, and Eric Holum finished second! It must have been a nice ride home for Jack and Eric Holum, who drove down from Reno just for this one event. With about $75,000 in winnings sitting between them in the car, right next to those first and second place trophies, I’m sure they thought the trip was worth it!
Tags: Daniel Negreanu, Eric Holum, Jack Fox, Legends of Poker, Phil Hellmuth, Play Poker, Poker Tips
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Tuesday, September 1, 2009 - Gustavo
Deciding how much to raise in a game of No-Limit Holdem requires careful thought. Raising too much or too little might clue your opponents in and reveal the strength of your hand. Your decision should be based on the need to make your opponents’ decisions as difficult as possible. Raising from early position broadcasts that you have a great hand – forcing your opponents to act accordingly. It is wise to give the big blind a tough decision between calling or folding. If you suggest a strong hand early on, you are convincing the big blind to fold.
Raising in late position suggests that you hold the cards to beat any remaining hands. If your hand is marginal, you should raise bigger to avoid having the big blind call too easily. Raising late also helps pressure the big blind to fold rather than call – effectively reducing the number of opponents left who may re-raise you.
If you’re playing No-Limit Holdem, don’t be tempted to come in for a raise that is too large. Early on – with more opponents to react behind you – you’ll want to raise to approximately two and a half big blinds. In late position try raising to nearly three times the big blind. If antes are involved, plan to add nearly half the total antes to any raise you make. Although a novice may be tempted to raise higher when the hand is strong – expert advice points the other way, suggesting that it’s too revealing of your hand. You shouldn’t allow the strength of your hand to affect the size of your raise. Of course you can risk a higher raise if you’re nearly certain that your opponents aren’t paying attention and you’re confident you can pull off the move.
Tags: no limit holdem, Poker Tips
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Saturday, August 15, 2009 - Phil Hellmuth
My favorite drinking establishment in Vienna is the famous Schweitzer Haus, which serves an incredible Budweiser Beer, but nothing like the Bud that we drink over here in the states. When you’re done at the Schweitzer Haus (they close at 11:00 PM), then head on over to Nacht Sicht, where they have three different dancing rooms to choose from. Of course the Poker EM is held in Baden, which is about twenty minutes south of Vienna, in the palatial Casinos Austria.
Now to business: with three qualifying events, where 24 people advance to the main event from each qualifying event, you will find things work a little bit differently in the Poker EM. Each qualifying event starts with a sold out 456 players. It costs $300 to enter, $300 to re-buy and $300 to add on each day.
You are handed your seat assignment ticket, one re-buy ticket and one add on ticket, but here’s the catch: you can only use your add on ticket if you still have chips left at the end of the re-buy period. So, if you go broke before the re-buy period ends, then you are out of the qualifying event right then!
Thus I believe that the best advice I can give anyone is to make the end of the re-buy period, even if you have to throw away ‘rolled up’ aces [(A,A), A], which is the best possible starting hand in Seven Card Stud! After all, to win a pot with A,A-A right before the re-buy period ends is helpful, but to go broke right before the re-buy period ends is absolutely unacceptable. Therefore muck the A, A-A if your short on chips before the add on period ends!
In 2000, I actually ‘anted off’ without even looking at my hole cards – because I was short on chips right before the re-buy period ended – when I ‘qualified’ for the Championship event. Again, make sure at all costs, that you make the end of the re-buy period, so that you can add-on!
The second interesting thing about the Poker EM is that they play down to six tables, and then you play down to the final four players at each of those final six tables, and that group (of 24 players) ‘qualifies’ for the Championship event. Last year, two people from my table ‘qualified’ with only a few chips! So when you make the final six tables with a lot of chips, avoid playing big pots, just make sure that you make the ‘final four’ players at your table to qualify for the Championship event.
When you make it down to the final six tables with a short or medium stack, make sure that you keep a close eye on the amount of chips that your opponents at your table have. You may need to throw away a strong hand because you can see that some of your opponents are extra short on chips. After all, it doesn’t matter how many chips that you end up with, it only matters that you make the final four at your table and move on (everyone starts with the same number of chips in the ‘Championship’).
Throughout the tournament, I like to start with strong hands only, like big pairs or three big flush cards. I have noticed that a lot of people at the Poker EM are recreational players that play a lot of really weak hands. This means that; on one hand you will take some really bad beats, but on the other hand you will win some really big pots.
The antes tend to be bigger then we are used to in the USA (or anywhere in the world for that matter!), so that winning an ante means something. If you have the opportunity to ‘steal’ an ante, then go for it. However, stealing too many antes is hazardous to your tournament health.
One last tip: I had good luck playing my drawing hands very aggressively. If I knew that I had to call a bet from my opponent, then I would just raise and put myself into the lead in case the other guy was drawing as well. I always recommend aggressive play in poker tournaments.
The Poker EM is a really beautiful poker tournament with all of its pageantry and flair. The 72 finalists are introduced to the whole casino one at a time, and the flags for their different countries are held aloft proudly during those introductions. The final table is surrounded by hundreds of people and broadcast live on the Internet in audio and video. The money is brought out on a silver platter in plastic packages. And the Champagne flows freely after the event ends!
The trophy is beautiful, and winning the Poker EM was the highlight of my year in 2000 (especially after finishing ninth in the Poker EM in 1999!).
Tags: Austria, Phil Hellmuth, Poker Poker Poker, Poker Tips, poker tournaments, Vienna
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Tuesday, January 27, 2009 - Tiffany M
Man, I am WIPED OUT! I’m writing this while sitting on a six hour flight (yuck) from Atlantic City back home to LA from a two week whirlwind poker trip – I had only intended (and PACKED FOR) a five day trip to Biloxi for the WPT Southern Poker Champs.
My plan for January was to stay in Los Angeles to play all the preliminary LAPC events but a few friends were headed to Mississippi for the WPT event and convinced me to come join the fun since it would be a soft field with PCA and Aussie Millions happening simultaneously. ‘Soft field’ for me on Day 1 of the WPT Southern Poker Champs Main Event meant Erick Lindgren, Brandon Cantu and Hoyt Corkins all directly on my right (thank god for that).
During my run in the WSOP Main Event I didn’t actually run into many recognizable pros with that kind of star power at my tables so I have to admit it was a new experience for me to sit at such a stacked one. Knowing these player’s reputations I was a bit nervous when I sat down to play. My brain had a short circuit for a second, wondering what I was supposed to do and how I was supposed to play. Then I just reminded myself that these guys are just poker players like any others. None of them had super powers like being able to see my cards. Yes they have a few tricks in their bag and would probably be more observant and aggressive, preying on weakness and their reads but there was nothing I could do to change my table draw so I made a mental note to stay alert but not to shy away from game. I think that’s a really good mental tip for those of you who might be newer players but making the transition to playing live in pro heavy fields. If you find yourself at a “pro’s” table *Don’t freak yourself out – *Don’t be stupid, but Don’t shy away – *And Don’t lose confidence in your game. This little pep talk I gave myself helped restore my confidence and play a solid tournament.
I made it through Day 1 but I was steaming towards the end of the day when Brandon Cantu got dirty on the button with a garbage hand at the same time I woke up with KJ suited in the big blind… of course as the luckiest player in THE WORLD he hit a miracle flop (while I hit my flush draw and had overs) that left me with 20 big blinds.
Here’s another tip that I’m noticing more at the tables. Coming into Day 2 I was frustrated by the beat Brandon put on me the day before. I was not optimistic about my 20 big blinds but if I’ve learned anything from my Main Event run it’s that IT’S NEVER OVER. Most of you know on Day 2 of the Main Event I was UNDER TEN BIG BLINDS and somehow I managed to survive five more days and take 17th. I see so many players get tilted when they lose a huge pot and most of their chips. A lot of players end their tournament all on their own accord and can’t blame anyone but themself. They get chip envy, they throw a pity party about having a short stack and mentally give up on the game and somehow get all in with a poor hand in poor position when they could actually regroup and with a double up or two be right back in the game. I call it “commiting poker suicide.” JUST DON’T DO IT!
I was dejecting doing into Day 2 as the short stack but I knew a comeback was more than possible so I decided to play patient and grind it out. Grinding it out with a short stack is definitely no fun but I did exactly that. I went between a stack with ten big blinds to 30 big blinds… THE ENTIRE DAY. I’d picked my spots and mentally decided not to give up. The encouragement I always give my poker friends when they take a big hit and are unhappy with their chip count, “Push the rest button and pretend like you JUST sat down at the table for the first time and this was the amount of chips you were given!” There’s no going back once the chips are gone, right? You can only start where you’re at.
At my first table on Day 2 I sat with Bill Edler (directly to my left) and once again Brandon Cantu appeared at my table, I jokingly said that God was giving me the chance to get my chips back. Later on in the day when I worked my stack up to a healthy amount I was moved to a table with Greg Mueller, Anna Wroblewski and Jordan Morgan. After my roller coaster day and finally collecting some chips it took just TWO back-to-back hands to eliminate me. I shipped a majority of my chips when I made a big lay down to Jordan (who is a very solid player) and then the very next hand he delivered the final blow picking up Aces to my 8’s shove.
I thought the poker trip was over when I was kidnapped for a relaxing little weekend in Tennessee (where I got to see a fresh snowfall). But just a few days later I was convinced to jump over to Atlantic City for the Borgata Winter Open since I was still on the Eastern side of the country. The main event was a $3k buy-in and 2mill guarantee, which I couldn’t pass up. While hanging out with Maria Ho, Lacey and Etay we joked about how it was almost impossible to bust out on Day 1 of the event since you start with 50k chips (blinds starting at 25/50)! I guess Maria and I like doing the impossible… we both busted out Day 1 with the same hand scenario; Queens verses Kings! However Maria’s beat was worse than mine, flopping set verses set.
After two weeks on the road, between three different states (from what was supposed to be a five day, one city trip) I walked out of the Borgata Poker room upon getting knocked out, literally threw my clothes into a suitcase, hopped in a limo to the airport and took a flight out of Philly 2.5 hours later. My own bed has never sounded so good.
Oh yeah, besides watching the snowfall in Tennessee the other highlight of my trip was in Biloxi during one of the main event satellites where I flopped QUAD ACES (two in hand, two on board) and got paid off! THAT was fun… thanks Rock 
Tags: Brandon Cantu, Erick Lindgren, Hoyt Corkins, LAPC, Poker Poker Poker, Poker Strategy, Poker Tips, poker tournaments, world series of poker, WPT, WSOP
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Monday, January 26, 2009 - John Greene
Sometimes, I get asked for help by my friends who are just getting into poker, whether it’s online at UltimateBet or the live games that are taking place in rec rooms, dens, and even in actual casinos across America. I had an interesting experience with one of them the other day. Doug (I’ll call him that, anyway) wanted me to watch him play in some low-staked online games and help him analyze his game after. He’s got a beer fridge that’s usually stocked pretty nicely, so of course I agreed to help out.
Doug is actually pretty sharp and picks up on patterns in betting and the like quickly. He’s really good at knowing when to slowplay and when to just go bezerk. He’s got a real knack for bluffing. I complimented him as I watched him play and learned that he really didn’t have a lot to hear from me, or so I thought. He was on this fourth table of the night when I saw him betting heavily when he had what I’d consider nothing: three-six off-suit. The flop was 7 9 K.
If you’ve never had to watch a friend chase a straight without saying a word until it’s all said and done, I can’t recommend the experience at all. After he lost way, way too many chips, I made him log out and demand to know what the hell he was thinking.
“Well, I was already in because I was the Small Blind and when the Flop hit, I thought I had a chance,” he says sort of meekly.
“You didn’t have a five or a ten in that weak hand, so why didn’t you just take the lumps on the blind and wait until the next hand?”
“Wait, why a five or a ten?”
“Well, those are two cards where at least one of them is in every straight. If you’re going to pin your hopes on a chasing a straight like that, you might as well have your ducks in a row first.”
“I never knew that!”
This guy, who had shown a natural knack for the finer points in the game, never had thought about one of the most basic elements, and this sort of thing happens to all of us at one time or another. When was the last time you looked at the rules or watched a friend play? Even seasoned players like myself learn something new when we review and observe.
Tags: chasing a straight, Poker Strategy, Poker Tips
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