Tag: poker

We’re Watching Poker

The audience at home knows who has what as bets are made.

We can and do offer advice to the TV set. We often can’t figure out why the player is doing what he’s doing.

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Welcome to the 21st Century. The Foxes are home, downstairs on the family room sofa watching the World Series of Poker on ESPN. It’s compelling.

This year’s coverage features a high tech addition. The chips and cards are RFID enabled. Hole cards are read when the player puts money in the pot. The audience at home knows who has what as bets are made.

We can and do offer advice to the TV set! We often can’t figure out why the player is doing what he’s doing.

In order to keep it honest for the players, ESPN is running its “Live” coverage on a 30 minute delay. How is that still live?

Poker is an interesting game. There’s lots of luck, but enough skill for some people to make a living play. For some people a very good living.

The WSOP “Main Event” started July 5th. Once the field was winnowed from 6,683 to 9 the action was paused. It picked up last night for the final table.

Ninth out got around $750k. First place will get exactly $10 million. All for an original $10,000 buy-in–still too rich for me.

Last year Helaine played in the women’s event. I told her we should go back next year.

Las Vegas Odds And Ends

Here are a few Las Vegas tidbits too short for a blog entry individually, but worthy of note.

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Here are a few Las Vegas tidbits too short for a blog entry individually, but worthy of note. I saw Elvis yesterday. Creepy.

Helaine saw Michael Jackson. Extremely creepy.

“Which nose stage,” I asked?

“The last one,” she replied. “He was carrying a shopping bag.”

Maybe extremely creepy isn’t creepy enough?

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There’s a building just off the strip in City Center. It’s never been occupied. Its windows are gone. Workmen are demolishing it where it stands!

It is under deconstruction.

During the original construction major deficiencies were noticed. Architects redesigned the building with fewer floors. Then more problems. It’s too weak to survive an earthquake Vegas is easily capable of.

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antonio and helainePoker has celebrities. Really. Helaine had her picture taken with Antonio Esfandiari.

I said hello to Greg Raymer.

“That’s Jennifer Tilly,” Helaine said as we left a registration area. Sure enough she was on her cellphone sitting on-the-floor behind a large sign at the very corner of a hallway. Unless you came out the door we used she was invisible.

Outside a roped off area with a few tables dozens of gawkers stood and watched Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Vanessa Selbst, Erick Lindgren and others play in a very high stakes tournament.

There’s live Internet coverage of the action every day and ESPN will broadcast a boatload of highlights.

I currently recognize more poker players than Phillies players!

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We’re across from Bellagio. In Fenway terms, we have a partially obstructed view of the fountain show.

Last night about 1:00 AM I was at the room’s desk, typing. I heard some pop, pop, pop and thought it was the fountains.

Then more pops.

I turned to see fireworks going off from the roof of the Cromwell Boutique Hotel. It’s not quite a block away.

No clicky on this trip, so I picked up my point-and-shoot, braced myself and fired off a few shots.

I have no idea why fireworks went off at 1:00 AM on the nose, but they did. Thank you. Two minutes well spent.

It’s Poker’s World Series

IMG_0074We’re in Vegas. It’s World Series of Poker time. Neither Helaine nor I, two small time card players, have ever been here for WSOP. This is our year.

Helaine is playing now! She’s around three hours into the Ladies Tournament. Whomever wins will probably be playing another 20 hours over three days!

IMG_0069We went to the WSOP site at the Rio yesterday afternoon. We wanted to scope the place out. It is immense–bigger than I imagined by far.

The large convention center halls have been stuffed with poker tables. The sound of chips clicking–a sound poker players love–is overpowering.

IMG_0066Yesterday’s Event #51: No-Limit Hold’em MONSTER STACK Tournament brought over 7,800 entrants! There were other tournaments already underway. The place was overflowing with players looking for a bracelet and 7-figure payday.

The parking lots were packed. There was a long line at the Men’s Room. It’s was nuts.

We returned this morning to a much more sedate scene. Everything was ready-to-go, but the players were just trickling in.

There’s still time for late registrations, but it looks like there will be under 800 entered–down from last year.

IMG_0065With Helaine playing at Rio I headed to Aria where a smaller 1PM tournament was starting. They had so many entries there were ‘alternates.’ They only play after someone else busts out. I was 38 on the list.

The called my number, I sat down and was dealt two 4s. Potential, but not a winner on its own.

I called a small pre-flop raise and watched A-4-5 come out. That gave me three 4s, most likely the best hand at that stage.

IMG_0064I bet and was called by one player. By the time we were at the River I was All In!

The final board was A-4-5-3-A. I had 444AA, a full house! He had AAAA, four aces.

First hand. Gone. Poker.

They Play Poker Here

hawaiian-gardens-poker-tableCard rooms are legal in parts of SoCal. They are mostly poker rooms. Other table games are played, but with lesser odds than ‘real’ casinos. Poker dominates.

The nearest rooms are in the south end of Los Angeles County, less than a half hour from here. I’ve been to Commerce Casino in… wait for it… The City of Commerce. The largest card room in the world. It’s like a bus terminal!

If you’ve been to beautiful casinos, like in Vegas or Connecticut, you’re in for a letdown. Commerce doesn’t seem to be the exception. I’m told none of the card rooms are showplaces.

This afternoon Helaine and I drove to Hawaiian Gardens Casino in… wait for it… Hawaiian Gardens, CA. There’s a little more room between tables than Commerce, but it too borders on bus terminal.

The casino occupies what looks to be two huge tents! Surfboards hang from the ceiling marking the different poker games dealt. It’s like a United Nations get-together.

wider-shot-poker-roomWe go to Hawaiian Gardens because of the food. Oh my God!

You order from a roving waitstaff with red shirts. Just like the deck of an aircraft carrier, everyone working at the Gardens wears a shirt colorcoded to describe their specific job.

The menu is wondrous. It’s a spiral bound, plastic encased affair with at least ten pages. Along with breakfasts and dinners are pages for Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean food.

The food comes hot. The portions are large. The taste is incredible.

Helaine had a shrimp and asparagus dinner. I had their Thursday night lamb chop special. We both had large Diet Cokes.

I gave the waiter a twenty for both of us, which included a nearly 25% tip. I’m not sure we can eat home for that price?

As for poker, one of us won twice what the other one lost. A fun adventure for us while Doppler kept guard at home.

From The Poker Room

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I am at Aria, a beautiful hotel in Las Vegas.  I’m at a poker table playing in the seven o’clock tournament. I brought my tablet. Yes, tablets are OK in the poker room. Welcome to the 21st Century!

The truth is it would be impossible to ban cellphones and their cameras. Petiole are using them everywhere. And the casinos are photogenic. Social media is free advertising.

Aria has a tournament every day at one and seven.  Poker tournaments are played at ten person tables.  We each pay a fixed amount, tonight $125.  Each gets $10,000 In tournament chips. 

So far 52 people have bought in.   The final five all get paid.  The last man standing will get $2119. Number five gets $303.

It’s all guys at my table. Women play, but maybe ten percent are women.

Everyone is intense.

Tourists dominate this tournament tonight. Locals play, but usually cash games.  Everyone here wants something to bring home and brag about.

This room also hosts some of the highest stakes games in Vegas.  I have seen chip stacks as big as a yearly salary–real money chips.

Even at my level of play I’m seldom the best player at my table, but I hold my own.

Most people think of poker as a card game.  It’s actually a betting game!  Having aces doesn’t mean you’ll win a lot.  Position is important, so the order of the deal rotates around the table.

As a rule, poker players are not comped.  A lot of players tonight are staying elsewhere.

This is a great room. Nicely lit. Comfy chairs. Excellent cocktail service, though for me it’s coffee or diet something.

If I play well I’ll be here until two am.  I’d like to have something to brag about.

When Poker And Pot Are Legal

With the economy stalled and governments unable to keep out of the red, this may be the year we see the widespread legalization of some former unlawful vices: online poker and pot!

Pot for medicinal purposes is already legal in a few states, including Connecticut. I have one friend with a card that allows her to purchase 2&#189 ounces per month for a person with MS under her care. That’s a lot of pot for one person.

There’s no established structure for distribution, so legal pot in Connecticut exists more in theory than fact.

In states like California medicinal marijuana is more a ruse. If you have a real or imagined physical complaint you can score pot! I have been in the car as friends and relatives drove to strip mall pot dispensaries to score. None seemed very sick.

Recently Colorado passed a recreational pot law. Around the nation opposition is fading fast.

For the first time in more than four decades of polling on the issue, a majority of Americans favor legalizing the use of marijuana. A national survey finds that 52% say that the use of marijuana should be made legal while 45% say it should not.

Support for legalizing marijuana has risen 11 points since 2010. The change is even more dramatic since the late 1960s. A 1969 Gallup survey found that just 12% favored legalizing marijuana use, while 84% were opposed. – Pew Research Center for People and Press

Pew Research survery on legalizing pot

Even if it is the evil “Weed With Roots in Hell,” it is ridiculous unconscionable we still arrest and jail people for possessing it. Do we really need to ruin their adult lives by arresting pot smoking teens?

As has been recently pointed out, the last three presidents were once law breakers as was this blogger and nearly every other adult I know!

Obviously there are concerns with kids smoking and stoned drivers, but we’re facing those concerns today with little realistic recourse. It’s unlikely anyone will start toking just because it’s legal, as few were stopped because it was not!

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Online poker might actually beat legalized pot in some states. New Jersey and Nevada both have laws. Other states are sure to follow.

Poker is an interesting case, because I can play with friends at home or go to Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun for action, I just can’t play online.

At one time online poker seemed to be in some sort of quasi legal no-man’s land. Then the Justice Department shut things down on what’s come to be known as “Black Friday.”

From Wikipedia: United States v. Scheinberg, 10 Cr. 336 (2011), is a United States federal criminal case against the founders of the three largest online poker companies, PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Cereus (Absolute Poker/Ultimatebet), and a handful of their associates,[1] which alleges that the defendants violated the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) and engaged in bank fraud and money laundering in order to process transfers to and from their customers

PokerStars, where I played, is still around. I’ve got a play money tournament on my tablet right now. Playing for real money, even the tiny tournaments I played at PokerStars, is different. Players aren’t as cautious without some skin at risk.

When pot and poker are legalized (and there currently seems no doubt they will be) will we look back and wonder why they were illegal in the first place? I will.

Vegas, Baby

Good morning from Las Vegas.

Stef’s birthday is Sunday. Helaine and I are here to help her celebrate.

Maybe I need to back up. Though Stef lives in Hollywood she’s an associate producer on a show shooting six weeks in Vegas. Sometimes it just all works out!

Good morning from Las Vegas.

Stef’s birthday is Sunday. Helaine and I are here to help her celebrate.

Maybe I need to back up. Though Stef lives in Hollywood she’s an associate producer on a show shooting six weeks in Vegas. Sometimes it just all works out!

We took the Bradley-Las Vegas non-stop and got in a little after 5:00 PDT. The temperature was 106&#176. It felt great.

The problem is this kind of heat creates lots of turbulence and our 737 bounced its way through the last half hour of flight.

We’ll spend a few days here at the Mirage then hop across the street to the Palazzo.

My cousins Michael and Melissa came in from Orange County with their son Max. They, Stef and her boyfriend Sam, Helaine and I had dinner at BLT. Burgers and shakes, but very good.

After dinner I played poker. Surprise.

At one time the poker room here at Mirage was the top spot in Las Vegas. That was before the poker boom, before Bellagio, before a lot of stuff. Now it’s just another room without a great deal of traffic.

I played for a few hours and won.

Helaine asked me if they were locals or tourists? I’m not sure. I do know John, the dealer at my table when I walked in, used to deal to me twenty years ago when 7-card stud was ‘the’ game.

One more thing before I go. As I got on the plane I started sneezing and haven’t stopped yet. I’m not sure if I have a cold. It’s a pain. You shouldn’t be sick on vacation.

A Night At The Sun

The players were too anxious to play–loose. I stayed very tight and waited to pick my spot.

“We’ll spend the night at Mohegan Sun, OK?” Helaine was letting me in on her plans for last night. This conversation took place a few weeks ago. My Cousin Melissa was coming to Connecticut. Melissa is Cousin Michael’s wife and Helaine’s defacto sister.

I headed out last night after the 11 O’clock news to meet them in Uncasville.

Mohegan Sun is 45 miles and 45 minutes from Hartford down Route 2. If there’s a darker more desolate divided highway in Connecticut it can’t be by much!

I met Helaine around 12:20, put my stuff upstairs and headed to the Poker Room. Poker is at the far end of this gigantic casino. It might as well have its own area code!

Considering it was after midnight on a weeknight the place was hopping. I bought some chips and sat down at a $1/$2 table.

By the time Helaine and Melissa came to fetch me it was around 3:00 AM. I had more money than I started with. I had also realized how much I miss being able to play poker on a nightly basis over the Internet.

I love playing poker. The table at Mohegan Sun was fun. The players were too anxious to play–loose. I stayed very tight and waited to pick my spot.

We spent the night then went for breakfast (OK, early lunch) at the buffet.

Years ago we ate at the buffet and were disappointed. No more. It’s been rebuilt and is comparable to the Mirage Buffet in Las Vegas. That’s good company to be in.

Quick turnaround. I’m already back at work.

My Geekiest Photo Ever

While playing poker at the Venetian (fav place to play) I noticed texting on your cellphone was OK. “Are laptops OK too?” I asked semi-kiddingly.

While playing poker at the Venetian (fav place to play) I noticed texting on your cellphone was OK.

“Are laptops OK too?” I asked semi-kiddingly.

They are! I uploaded the photos for my last blog entry while playing poker at the Venetian.

With the laptop on my lap I passed my cellphone to Dan, sitting next to me at Table 26. His picture is my geekiest photo ever!

In some states photos like this are grounds for divorce!

Why Am I a Philadelphia Eagles Fan?

They were all professionals. They were all grown-ups. Many already had the responsibility of a family. I paused a moment.

There was a little chatter over on Facebook after the Eagles victory in Dallas. One commenter asked, “How are you an Eagle fan? A kid from NY and live in CT. Shame on you. Lol!” Good question.

I lived in Philadelphia from 1975-80. This was a very important period of my life because it was during those years in Philadelphia I realized I was a grown-up!

Is that how it normally works? Probably not. Most people ease into being grown-ups. Not me.

I had my cathartic moment at a poker table full of friends. We were at Louie and Gloria Wuhl’s house in Cherry Hill playing our usual Thursday night game. It was just a bunch of guys having fun. Poker was necessary, but secondary. It was an incredibly good time.

Anyway, one Thursday I looked around at the other people at the table. They were all professionals. They were all grown-ups. Many already had the responsibility of a family.

I paused a moment.

They were treating me as an equal. Therefore I was an equal. If they were adults… holy crap I was too!

Seriously, it all came to me at the poker table at Lou and Gloria’s house.

Since that moment Philadelphia has taken on more importance than just the nearly five years I spent there would imply.

During my time in Philadelphia I was invited to attend an Eagles game. My friend Marlene’s father Frank had a bunch of seasons tickets. He didn’t want to lose them, but the Eagles sucked and not many people wanted go.

Marlene and I drove to the Vet in my little Triumph Spitfire. It was one of those days that still felt like summer though the calendar showed fall. The Sun was shining. I remember puffy clouds overhead.

We climbed the ramps at Veterans Stadium to Section 614 (around the 30 yard line, but on the shady side of the field). As we passed from the concession area to the seats I looked down. An American Flag was being held aloft by a small army of people. It covered the entire field! A chill went up my spine.

Though the Eagles went on to lose that game I became hooked!

Frank sold me two of his seats and I began to attend religiously, staying the entire game no matter what the weather or score. Trust me, both were often ugly.

Here’s the funny thing. Today a stadium is probably the last place I’d want to go to see a game. The view is better at home. The bathroom is closer. The food is more reasonably priced. Helaine can turn the sound down if things aren’t going right.

I’m still an Eagles fan!

Sunday Out Of The Sun

Coffee? Where is the coffee? Someone caffeinate me, please. I told the casino drink runner not to stop before I was visibly quivering.

It was (with the exception of a few towns that got drenched) a beautiful Sunday. So where did I spend it? This email from my friend Rick explains it.

team wingnut (kerry, lamar and me) are off to foxwoods tomorrow morning. wanna go?

Every Sunday at 9:00 AM Foxwoods runs a no-limit Hold’em tournament. This is not the World Series of Poker, but it’s a nice way to play cards with the chance of an impressive payoff against reasonably good competition.

Challenge. Think challenge.

To me, of course, the problem is the time. 9:00 AM at Foxwoods means a very early start. I usually don’t get to bed before 5:00 AM. This morning we met at Rick’s at 7:15 AM. I got around four hours of sleep.

I am no longer 18.

Coffee? Where is the coffee? Someone caffeinate me, please. I told the casino drink runner not to stop before I was visibly quivering.

If you’ve never played in a poker tournament here’s a brief rundown. Each player starts with a large stack of chips. The stakes (represented by forced bets or blinds) start small and increase rapidly over time. As the stakes rise some players begin to run short of chips and are forced into drastic, more risky bets to try and stay alive.

The ‘herd is thinned’ as more and more players lose their entire stack of chips. Finally when around 10% of the field is left the payoffs begin.

Tournament payoffs are not linear. The difference between first and fifth can be a factor of ten!

Today someone won about $3500. Not me!

I played pretty well for the first hour and a half. Then, after the first bathroom break, I played a moderate hand too strongly, lost and was forced into a more aggressive stance. The potential reward is high. So is the risk.

I finally busted out when my hand was beaten by another player who started with weaker cards and got lucky. He had enough chips not to be scared to take a chance against my much smaller stack. He beat me with a hand he knew to be marginal. This is typical late in a tournament.

No payout for me or any of my fellow travelers. No tears. We had a good time and I avoided getting a sunburn!

I spent the late afternoon napping! At the moment I feel as jet lagged as if I’d just flown in from Singapore.

Watching Poker From The Rail–Online

There were 615 entrants representing a cumulative $6,150,000 to be distributed to winners! Mind boggling. I’ve never heard of anyone being burned by the larger online casinos, but they’re not exactly FDIC insured.

I was getting ready to go upstairs and go to bed when I decided to take a quick look at PokerStars the online poker site. They’re in the midst of their Spring Championship of Online Poker which means a bunch of higher stakes tournaments are running.

Call me crazy but I can’t figure out who buys into a tournament with a $10,000 + $300 entry fee? That’s a lot of trust when the casino is somewhere in the ether and its decisions aren’t answerable to American courts. Most of the players probably won their way in through lower cost satellite tournaments, so the $10,300 figure is a little misleading. Still, there were 615 entrants representing a cumulative $6,150,000 to be distributed to winners! Mind boggling.

I’ve never heard of anyone being burned by the larger online casinos, but they’re not exactly FDIC insured.

They’ve been playing that tournament for 10:30 hours now. 65 players are left. The next person out doubles their money with a little over $20,000. The big winner will get $1,162,350.

I’ve been following a smaller tournament more closely. There are only three players left so a little more tension. The original buy-in 12:33 ago was $50 + $5. 6,542 started this tournament. Top prize is $40,200.

Like the $10k event the $55 buy-in is more trust than I’d comfortably bestow a business I can’t find in the phonebook.

While I was just typing the tournament went to two players. The guy who busted out walks away unhappy though up $18,331.20. A poker tournament payout table isn’t linear. The difference between first and third is immense. Even winners are unhappy in poker when they’re not the big winner.

A while ago when there were four players three tried to fashion a deal to split the cash. One player (based on his reported locale) seemed to be Russian and probably didn’t understand. Play on!

Online poker exists is some sort of nearly legal state. As I understand it what the players are doing is legal. It’s just getting money to the online casino that’s problematic. The games themselves aren’t regulated by anyone within the United States. That much I know for sure. It’s possible collusion or other cheating goes on, but that probably happens in brick-and-mortar casinos too.

People are playing. Lots of them are here in the states probably playing in pajamas. Laws only work when people want them to.