The link to the "Classic Article" on cardplayer.com goes to an old Steve Zolotow article on showing cards at the end of the hand. It's second nature to me, but I was recently at a home game in Austin where the players had a long discussion on what exactly the rules are, so you may want to read it: Link

In a similar vein, I was recently at a game in Vegas where the board showed two high pairs. Two players had been betting at each other but slowed down after the first pair hit the turn and then double-checked the two-paired river. The board was something like 3♠Q♣K♦K♠Q♣. At the end the first player flipped up his A♠J♦. The second player, who was not a good player, sighed and turned over his top card, which was also an ace. I was next to him and could see his other card, which was an 8. Both players were playing two pair with an ace, but the guy showing a single card clearly thought he was outkicked even though the J didn't play. "I also had an ace", he said, pointing at the other guy.

Just as he was about to muck his hand, the dealer said to him, "well if you show me your other card I'll give you your half of the pot." The guy suddenly realized his hand was good, and flipped up his lower kicker to show his full hand and get half the pot.

The dealer should absolutely not have said anything to the second guy and was clearly in the wrong. All the players on my end of the table knew the guy had a chop hand but weren't saying anything because he was so clearly going to muck, and the dealer had to know the same thing.

But the really amazing thing about this hand was that the guy with the Jack - who would have won the whole pot if the dealer hadn't said anything - didn't go ballistic at the dealer. He just said "you probably shouldn't have said anything," took his half of the pot and still tipped $1. Amazingly graceful behavior, especially considering he was a Vegas native and I think a professional player. I've seen a bunch of similar situations, and in every one the guy on the short end of the deal has gone totally ballistic, the floorman has been called over, and they still have to chop the pot because two winning hands were turned over on the end. This guy was mature enough to realize that's what would have happened, and he could either get totally flustered, yell at everyone and leave the game in protest, or stay and play at what was an extremely loose, passive game full of players who didn't know whether their hand was good on the end or not.

Tony Vidmer, the director of Stuey, the biographical film about Stu Ungar, just took down best director at the San Diego Film Festival. Congratulations! Link

Interesting article on the explosive growth of tribal casinos in Washington state, contrasting the growth the casinos have seen with the relatively low growth of other industries in the state.

Like high rollers shouldering their way through a crowd of penny-poker players, Indian casinos are growing by leaps and bounds while other sectors of Washington's economy stagnate. An end to the expansion seems nowhere in sight.

Link

NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg made some surprising remarks about casinos, indicating that even though he's anti-gambling he could be open to the idea of a casino in New York City.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg Friday said he was "honestly annoyed" that the state only allows gambling on Indian reservations, adding that the city might as well have a casino too.

Link I wouldn't get your hopes up for a casino in NYC any time soon, but it sounds like it actually could happen. There are a bunch of roadblocks that would have to be removed, not the least of which is amending the NY state constitution.

If you live in Nashville, or Malibu, you'll have a chance to see Stuey as it begins its limited run in Nashville, and screens at the Malibu Film Fest tonight and on Tuesday.

STUEY begins its REGAL CINEMAS-supported theatrical trial run in Nashville this afternoon, screens at the Malibu Film Festival on Saturday & Tuesday night @ 9:15, and visits the DGA Film Finders Series on Oct. 3 @ 3pm.

Link

The Sports Guy has picked Indy (-2) against New Orleans this weekend in NFL. Here's why I would never bet with or against Indy this season or last -- Peyton Manning is the most erratic quarterback in the league. Last season, literally every Indy game (except for one weird one) I watched I called against the spread within the first five minutes based on watching Manning's facial expressions. If he looked confident, he was going to win. If he looked like a high school quarterback up against the big boys, guaranteed 3 interceptions. Link (via the SportsFrog)

Subluminal has a little entry that gives another perspective on how to take a poker beat.

You check your last card, and see that your straight flush is busted, and you're in with a pair. Bah. But you give a little smirk, do a long draw on the pipe, and bet big. It goes a few rounds, and finally your opponent calls. You reveal your pair, and he shows a straight flush that, in all honesty, would have beaten yours. He proceeds to scoop up a hefty chunk of your money for the night.

And you don't even care.

That's how good Robusto is.

Link

Dan Michalski over at The Scrolldown has posted an amusing tale of hold'em and distraction.

After some ups and downs, I went on a little tear, knocking out four players in about six or seven hands -- decent cards, but nothing more impressive than pocket jacks. But then an attractive woman with enormous natural breasts noticed my emerging prowess -- and though I had tried to give myself an additional edge by not showering before the tourney, she sat down next to me and began touching me a lot and giggling.

Link

Cable channel Bravo has thrown its hat into the TV Poker ring, announcing a new series "Celebrity Poker Showdown" that sounds half-poker, half-celebrity gawk reality TV. Link

While there will be twenty-five players in total, stars taking part in “Celebrity Poker Showdown” include "CSI: Miami's" Emily Procter, rapper/actor Coolio, "The West Wing's" Martin Sheen, Allison Janney, Bradley Whitford, John Spencer and Richard Schiff, actress/comedian Sarah Silverman, actor/comedian Jack Black, "The Simpsons'" Hank Azaria and Nicole Sullivan of "King of Queens," with others to be announced shortly.

Not quite hollywood's A-list, but any poker on TV is welcomed by me and I'd love to see Martin Sheen bluff his ass off. The show will be taped at the Palms next month, I guess contact Bravo if you'll be in Vegas and would like to try to be an audience member.

"Las Vegas", the new NBC show about security staff in a casino, aired their first episode this week. Thankfully the Monday Night Football game was largely a bust last night by the time "Las Vegas" aired, so I watched the pilot almost exclusively. My reaction was lukewarm. The show was OK, but once again suffered from similar flaws to "Lucky" -- way over-the-top characters, spotty acting, and very unrealistic gambling scenes.

Nevertheless, James Caan really saves the show from being terrible, and I thought the other male lead was pretty decent. It has a distinctively more "hip" feel than "Lucky" did, and I think there is a lot of story that can be squeezed out of the situation (security staff in a nice casino). I can't help feel that every episode is going to involve crazy capers and wild-goose chases though.

I'm keeping a wait-and-see attitude to the show. One huge issue for me personally is that they've pitted it up against Monday Night Football, which is going to win 75% of the time. This review agrees:

...like a winner on a hot streak, NBC has lost perspective, as it comes up craps by scheduling this guy appeal homage to vice and dice against the truer testosterone testament, ABC's "Monday Night Football." So expect "Las Vegas" to go bust, unless it is moved to a more favorable time period.

So we'll wait and see what happens. I wouldn't be surprised if it moves timeslots, and I also wouldn't be surprised if the show gets better with a few more episodes and basic character development.

Australians lost over AUD$15 billion in 2001-2002. That's over AUS$1,000 per Australian aged 18 and over. Link

Almost every city in Australia has a casino and a lottery. Several states allow video poker in bars and clubs.

Not too surprisingly, the state with the lowest losses per head at $469 -- my former home, Western Australia -- has no video poker in bars and clubs, while the three states with the heaviest losses all have slots-a-plenty in all kinds of establishments.

The enemy in Australia isn't just a cultural predilection to gambling behavior from the convict ancestors. Australian state governments have notoriously juicy arrangements around the legalization of casinos and video gaming. Most states have a monopoly agreement whereby one single casino is allowed in the state in exchange for a huge chunk of tax revenue. That equates to an environment much unfriendlier to players than Las Vegas or Atlantic City. For example, the blackjack rules at Burswood Casino in Perth, Western Australia carry about a 0.9% house edge, as opposed to about 0.4% in the 6-deck games at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Non-casino slot machines consumed the most money in Australia, with $8.9 billion lost against $85 billion gambled -- giving the average slot machine in a bar or restaurant a poor 89.5% payout rate, compared to 92-95% for most casino slot machines in Vegas and 95-100% for most video poker machines (at perfect play) in Vegas.

The natural reaction to reports like this is to become aghast at the amount of gambling losses. While that is probably a justifiable reaction, I'd blame at least 30-60% of the losses incurred on the stifling of competition by Australian state governments.

Wil Wheaton has posted a somewhat amusing story about getting a bad beat administered to him by his kid:

"Do you have enough to keep playing, Wil? Or do you need a loan?"
"Shut up and deal, Kid."

Link

Very interesting article about how the Gambino and Marcello crime families attempted to regain mob power in Louisiana through video poker operations in 1990.

"They discussed and actually planned the re-emergence and takeover of video poker in anticipation of the Legislature legalizing gaming, which didn't occur for another two years," U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said in a recent interview.

They might have succeeded, and New Orleans might still have major mob problems today, if it hadn't been for a wiretap on a delicatessen pay phone.

Link

Very good article from the Orange County register on the ever-growing popularity of poker, with a focus on California poker rooms.

Hard-core pro poker players -- men and women who travel the world and often make regular poker incomes of several million bucks a year -- increasingly find themselves staring balefully at mathematicians and writers and housewives at card clubs in places like Bell Gardens and Aruba. The stare is part of the process of making or losing millions in big-stake tournaments, games that increasingly are comfortable enough to interest your garden-variety (if risk-prone) yuppie.

Link (requires registration) BTW, I'm pretty sure there are not more than a handful of pro poker players who regularly make millions per year. If anyone has any estimates on this I'd love to hear them.

This from a recent Fark contest (via wil wheaton dot net):

Bonhams auction house in the UK is auctioning off the contents of "Mr Potter's Museum of Curiosities" -- a very odd collection of taxidermy, paintings and curios from the late 1800's. It includes a selection of "tableaus" created by Walter Potter, which are weird anthropomorphic arrangements of stuffed, dead animals doing things like getting married, or going to school. There is also this set of two companion pieces (lots 163 and 173). The first one depicts "upper-class squirrels" drinking, smoking and playing poker while the second depicts the lower-class rats drinking, smoking and playing dominoes. Estimated value: £2,000-3,000 each.

Check out The Gambler, a blog by a sports bettor who is tracking his bets and wins (or, as the case is so far, losses) on college and NFL games. He's using a "betting system" for his games which I would advise against copying, but it's interesting to see the fates of a gambler published online. Link

The Borgata World Poker Tour event has a winner! Link (contains WPT spoilers, obviously.)

The Excalibur casino in Las Vegas has a nice freebie promotion going in their poker room.

The Excalibur is again running their popular "Monday Knight Madness" promotion in the poker room. Each week all poker players get a shot to pick the exact score of the Monday night game at the end of each quarter. If someone correctly guesses the score right, they win $250 and if not, the money is added to the next quarter's prize -- onward and upward (week to week if necessary) until someone hits an end-of-quarter's score on the nose. In case of a tie, the money is split evenly. This promotion applied to the Monday night games only and card room players must be present and playing to win.

Link

I'm back from the Four Queens Classic! I've posted a trip report over at Up For Poker.

Also, there has been a LOT of very cool poker news in the last week. Prepare for a deluge of must-read news.

Wish me luck, I'm off to the Four Queens Poker Classic in Vegas for a weekend of hardcore poker and downtown low-rollin' action.

There is a two-day, $5 buyin charity poker tournament at the University of Mississippi this weekend. No cash prizes, but you could be crowned the UMiss king (or queen) of poker. Link

Apparently Bunco has quite a loyal following among the domestic female set in many areas. I only heard of this game recently. Here's an article from a few months ago on the culture of Bunco in Montana:

When the final round begins, the women are loosened up. The music and the buncos are a little louder and the traveler is harder to get a hold of. Women like Foss don't want to give up the pink toy.

The head table sounds off when the game is over to the tune of squeals and grumbles. The scores are tallied and Miranda brings out the prizes, which are goodies from Pier One Imports.

"In this group we play for gifts and in my other group we play for cash," she said.

Link

A fairly complete set of rules of Bunco are here; it is less complicated than Yahtzee and although there are many variations, and it's often played for money, no versions I read about have any element of skill or even choice. I suppose the mechanics of the game make it more entertaining than getting together for a hard night of "high card wins".

Latest quote from the California recall election:

"I don't smoke very much," he said. "I tell my children that I'll start to smoke, drink and play poker when I'm older. It takes 20 to 30 years to get cancer. It's a matter of picking the right time (to start)."

-Libertarian candidate Ned Roscoe

Since when did poker cause cancer? I feel a WPT libel suit coming on... Link (via Mike)

Andy over at wptfan.com is running a little WPT competition. Guess the number of entrants in this weekend's World Poker Tour event at the Borgata and win a WPT t-shirt. Link

Update: I came 6th of 18 guesses with 283 vs. 235 entrants. User "Nuisance" won with an amazing guess of 234 vs. 235 entrants! Link

Registration is now open for WRGPT13. For those of you who aren't old school, that stands for "World rec.gambling.poker Tournament 13". WRGPT is a big, free, world-wide play-by-email no-limit hold'em poker tournament with no prizes. Link (via As I Please)

I played in the WRGPT a couple years ago. It's fun, but be aware that there can be quite a bit of e-mail involved.

Avery Cardoza is throwing his hat into the magazine ring with Player, a "bimonthly gambling lifestyle title that aspires to be for gamblers what Sports Illustrated and ESPN The Magazine are for sports fans." Launching October 28, $4.99 from a bookstore near you. Link 1 Link 2

Features from the premiere issue include: * High Roller Heaven -- A day in the life of a high-stakes gambler * Poker Night -- Actor Kevin Pollack bets, raises, and reveals in a Hold 'Em game at the Bellagio in Las Vegas * Sin City Returns! -- Vegas is back, baby! A sexy pictorial featuring the hostesses of Tabu lounge in MGM Grand.

I'm interested in seeing what it will be like. I'm not all that impressed by Cardoza's poker titles; I'm also not sure that a gambling lifestyle magazine is going to have the broad appeal that Cardoza sees it having. I'm not even sure that it will appeal to me. When I read specialty publications like Sports Illustrated and even Cigar Aficianado, I tend to be much more interested in the "hard" features -- stats, figures, reviews, analyses -- than I am about the "soft" lifestyle features. For poker players, that need will continue to be served for the immediate future by Card Player. On the other hand, a second free magazine to read while I wait for a seat at the Bellagio poker room will be welcome.

On the second Saturday of every month at the WNEP theater in Chicago, they run an improvised play called "The Sickest F***ing Stories I Ever Heard", where

5 people play real poker on stage (with real money) and tell real stories from their life. Mostly, gross or obscene stories.

Link (via Fuzzyco)

An update on Stuey, the film about Stu Ungar, straight from the production company via their mailing list:

Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 11:54:22 -0500
From: AWVprod <awvprod@bellsouth.net>
Subject: AN OPEN LETTER TO STUEY FANS

"This movie is getting great reviews. When is it going to get picked up by someone so we can see the entire movie instead of just the trailers????? When When When. What is happening? Why so long to get public. What about theaters, DVD, or HBO? We are getting impatient!!!!! -- Jeff Hagen"

Well, Jeff, so are we. We want nothing more than to have STUEY show in every theater in the US and around the world, then make its way to PPV, cable, DVD, broadcast, and every other media outlet available.

The hundreds of emails like yours we've received, along with the 650,000+ website hits (and growing each month) indicate a real desire to see the film, as do the blogs, MSN and Yahoo groups, and threads on virtually every poker and gambling site worldwide.

But independent films are just that: independent. That means we have to get the attention of an easily-distracted industry, and get them to believe what we believe: that STUEY will make them money. It's not an easy (or cheap) game.

Recently, Regal Cinemas has offered to give STUEY a limited theatrical run beginning September 26th in Nashville. Regal picks only a couple of films a year to offer this support. So no matter what happens, STUEY will start to get out there. Will it get to your city? Only time will tell....

So please continue to be patient. We have some interesting possibilities, and high hopes for our film. We're glad you do, too.

--- AWV Productions

Good news if you're in Nashville, keep waiting if you're elsewhere.

This is terrific... a low-roller, public access version of the World Poker Tour!

The Home Poker Tour is a series of eight amateur poker tournaments. The winner of each tournament gets a seat in the final Championship Tournament. The eight winners will square off to decide who is the champion of the Home Poker Tour. The events are videotaped and aired on public access television.

Link

Update: from Eric, the producer of the show: "We're located in the Seattle area. I am going to try to get some clips online, but I do this all in my free time, so things can move a little slow. The shows will be on channels 29/77 in King County, Washington."

Funny little editorial in the Memphis Business Journal. The author was invited to a press poker tournament ten years ago, hasn't played since, but just accepted another invitation thanks to his interest in poker being revived by the WPT.

On the very first hand, without looking at my hole cards, I will stand up and shout "All in!" If anyone cares to stay with me, someone will disappear into the crowd.

If it's me, I'm ordering a cocktail.

Link

Another review of Poker Face, this one from the San Diego Union-Tribune.

On balance, though, "Poker Face" is worth the investment. Lederer has provided readers with a beautifully crafted book that handles the complexities of gambling and family ties with poetry and grace.

Link

Yet another World Poker Tour article, this time with a local casino slant.

"We used to get 70 people in our Monday night tournaments, but now I'm getting 120 and having to turn people away." said Dennis Willits, Muckleshoot Casino's cardroom manager. "The exposure poker is getting on television is opening a new era in the whole poker industry."

Link

Dr. Tim Fong, a UCLA professor, is doing a new study into the "neurobiological differences between gamblers and those who don't gamble". He's looking for 30 pathological gamblers, preferably in the LA area, to participate in his study. Link

Big Jim's been drinkin' whiskey
and playin' poker on a losin' night
and pretty soon ol' Jim starts a thinkin
somebody been cheatin' and lyin'.
So big Jim commence to fightin',
I wouldn't tell you no lie.
Big Jim done pulled his pistol,
shot his friend right between the eyes.
It's the Saturday night special
got a barrel that's blue and cold
ain't good for nothin
but put a man six feet in a hole

-Lynyrd Skynyrd, "Saturday Night Special" (Full Lyrics)

There's a new regular tournament starting up in Wimberley (central Texas, 30 minutes southwest of Austin). $40 buyin no limit holdem. First tournament will be on Sunday the 21st of September. E-mail ecrantiques@aol.com for details.

Harrah's has agreed to buy out all the Horseshoe properties. They're going to keep the Horseshoe brand name. No word on what effect this could have on the World Series of Poker. Link (via Casino [ptz])

Update: looks like this should not have any effect on the WSOP as of yet, since Harrah's is not buying the Las Vegas Binion's Horseshoe:

Becky Binion owns Binion's Horseshoe, which is not part of the transaction, and she retains the rights to the Horseshoe brand in Nevada. But Loveman said Harrah's is in talks with her about buying the casino and using its brand in Nevada.

Jack Binion is the owner of Horseshoe Gaming and has rights to the brand outside of Nevada. Loveman said Jack, one of the most respected casino operators, will remain as an advisor to Harrah's as it looks to expand the brand in the United States and overseas.

Three video poker players have reached a final out-of-court settlement after a six-year saga where they filed a lawsuit to recoup their gambling losses from 48 Florida video poker operators. The operators had been allegedly offering payouts greater than the $125 per day allowed by Florida law. After 6 years the 48th operator finally agreed to settle for an unnamed amount. Link

The settlement ends a six-year lawsuit that began as a class-action case filed against 48 video poker operators by former gamblers who claimed video gambling operators fed their addictions by offering illegal payouts.

All of the operators but Collins and his firm settled. Seven gamblers initially were named in Collins' suit but four had dropped out since the first trial, which ended in a mistrial after jurors were unable to agree on a verdict. Collins' second trial started last week.

The real question here is, were the settlements enough to give their video poker sessions a positive expectation? :)

Marty has a little flight of fancy about introducing Fibonacci straights into poker. Link (thanks, Marc!)

A Fibonacci straight is a hand of 5 cards forming a subsequence of the Fibonacci sequence. So, in poker there would be three such straights: A, A, 2, 3, 5; A, 2, 3, 5, 8; 2, 3, 5, 8, K. The latter two can occur in flush form too.

Based on my quick calculations, the 5-card odds of getting dealt a non-flush fibonacci straight are 925:1, and the odds of getting dealt a fibonacci straight flush are 324,869:1.

That makes a fib-straight more rare than a full house, and a fib-straight flush more rare than a straight flush. However, if I was going to play with these (which I'm not), I'd probably make a fib-straight the same class as a normal straight, and a fib-straight flush be the same class as a normal straight flush, ranked on high straight card -- so A2358 gets beaten by 45678, 2358K gets beaten by 9TJQK, and AA235 is the lowest straight. That would make straights and straight flushes both slightly more common, but enough to disturb the "natural" poker rankings.

You may notice that it's "harder" to make AA235 than any other straight - there are 768 of those, versus 1020 of the others. So that's an argument for making it the highest straight. But I would favor leaving it on the bottom because that preserves card order, and in practice AA235 would be "easier" to make than many other straights because AA and Ax are much more common hold'em starting hands than, say, 97.

CJ over at Up For Anything has just started a sub-blog about poker, Up For Poker. There are already a couple amusing stories over there. I will be contributing an occasional piece.

Wired carried a small piece on online bookies and the US efforts to cut them off. Link

Very pessimistic article on Atlantic City and the debatable impact of gambling there.

With the development and fervor in the Borgata's wake, the place may change. But it remains to be seen whether the blocks of blight will remain and if those waiting for gambling's benefits to trickle down will have to keep waiting. Atlantic City will be judged by the last bad photograph that can be taken there, said the reinvestment authority's Kennedy.

"It's going to be a long time before you can send someone out and not take a bad photograph," he said.

Link

Caesars Palace is looking at options for building a casino resort in the Mall of America. Link

The next Austin poker meetup is going to be at Rounders Pizzeria, 1203 West 6th St., on Tuesday, September 16 at 7pm. The last one was the best one so far, with about 14 people showing up. I'll be there. Link

For those of you who don't know what a meetup is, you come, meet up with other players, talk poker, eat pizza and find games to go to.

There's an article at the Chicago Tribune about "casual games" -- computer games like word games, puzzle games, and checkers which attract a mainstream, less-hardcore gaming crowd. Think housemoms and lawyers rather than post-adolescent programmers.

It's a topic that computer game guru Greg Costikyan has mentioned numerous times -- that the number of people playing small, trivial games like Snood outnumber most "heavier" games.

What's interesting is that this article includes Texas Hold'Em (online, for play money) as the prime example of one of these "casual games." Link

SunCruz Casinos, the Florida gambling cruise operator, is adding sports and horse betting to its Port Canaveral cruise. It will be the second Florida gambling ship to offer sports and horse betting. Link

Stephanie Castillo, a Hawaiian filmmaker, has released an 8-hour documentary on cockfighting in Hawaii and elsewhere that has earned some acclaim. Link

The SAPD knows about many illegal slot machine establishments in San Antonio -- they estimate there are over 80 in the city -- but after confiscating 199 machines earlier this year, they've stopped busting illegal slot establishments. Why? Because they've run out of warehouse space. Link

BetOnSports.com has been running a very aggressive ad campaign on local sports radio here in Austin and in a bunch of other markets. The ads tout it as the world's "largest legal sportsbook" -- of course neglecting to mention that just because the company is legal (in Antigua) doesn't make it legal in the US.

This article quotes the SC Attorney General as saying that the services they offer are illegal in South Carolina but implies that authorities' hands are tied since the websites are not illegal.

Nevertheless, I have to believe that it's only a matter of time before these ads are banned outright in at least some states.

Last week the New York Times ran an article on on sites where players can play first-person shooter games for money.

"Playing on the site can definitely be more exciting once you get over the fear of losing a few bucks a match," said Vadim Zingman, 25, of Trumbull, Conn., who said he had won about $1,800 at Ultimate Arena by playing about 10 matches a week since the site started up last spring.

Link

Yet another World Poker Tour article. This one focuses on how the WPT has driven popularity of poker among amateurs.

The Tour's popularity caused Bicycle Club's Legends of Poker! tournament, which will be featured on the TV show, to grow from 126 entrants last year to 380 this year, said Kelley P. O'Hara, Bicycle's director of marketing.

Link

The World Poker Tour has released their series on DVD. It's $199.99 for all 15 episodes, whic includes no real extras. Link

I think the WPT is making a huge mistake by not including at least a little bit of untelevised footage. There are many players on rec.gambling.poker and wptfan.com who have indicated that they already have seen all the episodes, so aren't that interested in a box set, but would pay a lot for more hands.

I think a better strategy for the WPT would have been to release the boxed set, with each episode, plus at least one hour of extra (perhaps uncommentated) hands. Then follow that up with "full editions" of each final table, showing literally every hand, for something like $99 an episode. That way you have a hook for all buyers now, and still capture all the people who want to pay for all the hands later.

The Borgata is making a big deal out of their World Poker Tour event this month. I'd love to be there to watch the final table:

The state Casino Control Commission on Wednesday approved the casino's request to move the final table of the World Poker Tour's Borgata Poker Open into the 1,000-seat Music Box theater. The poker tournament, which pays $25,000 to the winner, will be held at Borgata from Sept. 17-22.

Link

On November 1 in Dallas, there's a "Dallas Lawyers' Charitable Texas Hold'Em Poker Tournament" benefitting the SPCA. Link (via The Scrolldown)

It requires a $250 "donation" and there's a first prize of a trip to Vegas or NYC. Despite this, and the fact that it's apparently being run by lawyers, I'm not sure that this is legal in Texas.

More news about offshore gambling operators being prosecuted. David H. Tedder got sentenced to 5 years in prison for bringing earnings from Gold Medal Sports into the US. Tedder has a pretty questionable past, but his offence in this case was simply bringing income from an offshore gambling operation into the US. Link

It's simply a really bad idea to be living in the US and running any sort of online gambling operation right now.

Vera Shimanskaya, a female Russian gymnast and olympic gold winner, has been accused of marking cards in poker games in Spanish casinos. Link

There's another review of Poker Face, this one from the Star Tribune and a little more negative than some past reviews. The basic criticism:

On page after page, Lederer elegantly phrases the complexities her childhood self could only take in raw. [...] But as the memoir approaches the present, Lederer's introspection doesn't deepen or grow more critical. We worry about the pitfalls her slight compulsions may lead her toward, but somewhat disappointingly, this narrative strand unravels.

Link

Update: Poker Face continues to climb the charts. It is currently #4 on the Vegas Bestsellers list.

There's an article in the Brown University paper about the World Series of Poker. Link The article is fairly unremarkable, except for this quote:

I never thought a card game would ever be alluring enough to watch on television, but throw cold hard cash into the mix and I and most of America would watch just about anything, even high stakes Yahtzee.

High stakes Yahtzee -- now THERE's an idea. I enjoy coming up with for-money variations of popular games.

If I was going to play Yahtzee for money, I'd suggest these rules. I'd play for $x per point, probably $1 or $2. At the end of each round, you simply tally the scores and pay the winner. If you are playing with more than two players, the winner gets paid by all the non-winners based on their individual point differences.

There would be another way to play this that could layer on top of a for-money variation, which is a "liar's dice" variation. Each player takes their roll with a dice cup which conceals the dice from the other players. At the end of their roll, they declare what they have rolled. If any other player wishes to, they may challenge their roll. If they are challenged, they show the dice; if they have what they say, the challenger must score zero in that column on their score sheet; if they don't have what they say, they must score zero in that column on their score sheet. I suspect this variation would work better with just two players.

There's a good online version of Yahtzee here.

Link (via SongMonk)

The Long Beach Press-Telegram has a decent article on Kathy Liebert, one of the few female professional poker players.

Kathy Liebert insists she hasn't endured any prejudicial treatment from her male counterparts over the years.

"Oh, when I first started in Colorado, a few guys said, 'Hey, what is she doing in the game?'' says Liebert. "But, really, I've never had any problems. What counts in poker is if you can play the game and if you are able to put up the entry fees."

Link

There's an interesting little discussion over at the LiveJournal Poker Community about software which tracks live and dead cards while you play poker online, and advises you on odds. link

The basic consensus of participants is that such software is not cheating, and is not unethical.

I agree with this assessment; I do think that it's up to players to educate themselves about what types of software is available, cheating or not, and make the call themselves as to whether or not they want to play online.

Online collusion, via Instant Messenger-type apps, is I think the greatest (most commonly encountered) risk in online poker rooms. Especially in games like 7-stud hi-lo and omaha, the ability to know other players' cards is a huge advantage. And despite claims to the contrary, there is nothing an online cardroom can do about well-organized, smart teams online.

"How my profession can tolerate such fiction and look the public in the eye is beyond my understanding. I suppose the answer lies in the fact that if your living depends on playing poker, you can easily develop a poker face. My profession appears to regard a set of financial statements as a roulette wheel to the public investor-- and it is his tough luck if he doesn't understand the risks that we inject into the accounting reports."

--Leonard Spacek, senior partner and former chairman emeritus of Arthur Andersen, LLP (circa 1970) (via Incredible, Edible Ed)

Four Rhode Island men have been indicted by a federal grand jury and are facing 12 gambling-related charges after getting busted by federal, state and local officers two years ago. Link

The case is the first one I know of that involves US-based people running an offshore operation; their company was incorporated in the Dominican Republic but they ran it from the US.

If you're going to run an online casino, it's probably a good idea to not live in the US.

The New York Times Sunday Book Review ran a positive review of Poker Face this weekend. Link

Poker Face has been quietly climbing the charts, and is currently #6 on the Vegas Bestsellers list.

There is an amusing two-part series (more to come) over at Burke and Wells.

Part one is about playing Pai Gow Poker in California:

"You again!" says Frog Lady. "You feel lucky tonight?"
"Yes, very lucky. I hope I win."
"You not hungry, eh? Big fat boy! Big fat boy!"

Part two is just as humorous and talks about Chinese-speaking players, a topic close to my Chinese-speaking white man poker player heart. Part I | Part II

Since Florida passed the poker bill, I've had a number of requests about what places in Florida are actually offering the new, "higher limit" $1-2 poker.

As far as I can glean from the web and newsgroups, the places that have poker are:

Daytona Beach Kennel Club (Daytona)
Flagler Dog Track (Miami)
Palm Beach Kennel Club (Palm Beach)
Tampa Greyhound Park (Tampa)
Seminole Casino (Tampa)

I'm certain that there are more places in Florida than this that have poker. There is a large list of Florida gambling locations here. If you know of any places in Florida that definitely offer (legal) poker, please let me know.

Archives:   September 2005   August 2005   July 2005   June 2005   May 2005   April 2005   March 2005   February 2005   January 2005   December 2004   November 2004   October 2004   September 2004   August 2004   May 2004   April 2004   March 2004   February 2004   January 2004   December 2003   November 2003   October 2003   September 2003   August 2003   July 2003   June 2003   May 2003   April 2003   March 2003   February 2003