2007 November 12

Caesars Palace opened for business in 1966 and instantly established the benchmark for Las Vegas luxury resorts. Jay Sarno, an original Vegas entrepreneur borrowed $10 million from the Teamster's pension fund and set about constructing his vision of a resort so spectacular it would like visiting the home of a King.

I signed up for a few games at our local poker room and then waited for a spot to open. Fred saw me, asked to be dealt out, and hustled over to my chair. He had found an on-line ICM calculator on a website and used it for Sit & Go tournaments, he told me, and he had some questions. How did it work? Why didn't his ICM calculator work for more than ten players and five places paid? How could he use it to win tournaments?

While winning poker requires aggression, and betting and raising are the keys to aggressive play at the poker table, successful players always have a wide variety of tools at their disposal. Relying solely on hyper aggressive play can lead to money lost unnecessarily, but tempering a tendency to lean too heavily on betting and raising by calling every now and then can provide a good tactical balance to aggressive play.

Thanks to all of you who answered my question about the four-card flop in my last column. I received comments and suggestions from many readers as well as cardroom executives around the area. Most notably, Mike Shaffer, a lead supervisor at the Rio in Las Vegas, loved the idea of the scramble and reflop of three-fourths of the original bad scenario. He was going to present it to his cardroom manager, Jerome Stone, for possible inclusion into their rule book for both everyday usage and for the 2008 WSOP and beyond.

The War in Iraq and the Game of Poker The world news is replete with stories about the terrible state of affairs in the Middle East, especially in Iraq, and the growing danger of terrorism around the world, largely related to the war in Iraq. Thinking about it, I found myself asking the question:

My daughter "Oklahoma Sarah" Hale won my OK-J Eightieth Birthday Poker Party Tournament at the Venetian last week. OK Sarah defeated some really good and well known poker players!

I said to her, "Honey, write it up in your next column!" She said, "No dad, people will think I brag." I reminded her that we have many sayings in Oklahoma and the one that comes to mind is this, "If it is true it's not bragging."

In more than 25 years of reading, reviewing and selling books, I am most impressed with one that is not only a stand-apart work of history, but is also an art in itself. The book is Ulvis Alberts' Poker Face 2-25th Anniversary Edition, a picture book that captures the emotions of people playing America's game as well as the faces. With erudite text by A.

As we grow in the game of poker, it's useful not to expect too much too soon. One way to curb expectation appropriately is to think of ourselves as serving an apprenticeship. There are a few reasons for this.

&Bull; It keeps us rooted in reality. An apprentice knows that he's in the learning phase of his career, and requires nothing of himself beyond learning.
&Bull; It keeps us humble. Today's achievements are meaningless, except as a function of moving us closer to perfect play.
&Bull; It keeps us patient. No sensible apprentice expects to master all the tools of the trade overnight.

I had been spending too much time on the road and missed playing online poker. Not just the physical act of playing, but also the entire ritual behind my sessions. It had been almost a full year since I would be blessed with two straight weeks in New York City without having to travel somewhere for work. I finally had regular chunks of unstructured time where I could lurk around the fish-infested waters for several straight hours. When I'm on the east coast, I prefer to play during three specific different times of day. Late afternoon/early evening (4 p.m. to 7 p.m.), prime time (8 p.m.

Check Out the Tuscany and their Low-Priced Tournaments. Three no-limit tournaments a day beginning at 10:00 a.m., again at 7:00 p.m. and the last at 4:00 a.m. Each has an easy-on-the-pocket buy-in of $22 with $10 rebuys. They also offer a weekly free roll, high hand jackpots and if you are unlucky enough to get your aces cracked you'll win $50. For more information see their ad in this issue of Poker Player Newspaper.