December 19th, 2011

by Roger Rodd
“Never before in the field of poker conflict, has so much been written, by so many, for so few who are capable of discerning its value.”  —Roger Rodd paraphrasing a near plagiarism of Winston Churchill

 Conventional thinking is synonymous with conformity, and that trait spells failure at virtually all but militaristic endeavors. Ironically, it’s rampant in two of America’s most passionate arenas, football and poker. Those who deign to defy the misnomer called conventional wisdom are most frequently hailed as champions.

by Barbara Connors
 
Not all battlefields are created equal. The combatants who come to a poker tournament hoping for fortune and glory must consider the landscape before deciding on a battle plan. In short, they must consider the payout structure. Traditionally, poker tournaments have favored a very top-heavy payoff scheme that awards about 70 percent of the total prize pool to the top three finishers, with the lion’s share going to the champion. However, many tournaments feature a flatter payout structure, one that spreads the prize money out more evenly among all those players who are skilled enough—or lucky enough—to make it into the money.

by George Epstein

More About the Claude Pepper Seniors Poker Group... PART 2  Last issue, we discussed the start and rapid growth of the Claude Pepper Seniors Poker Group. Today, it is almost certanly the largest poker group in any senior center. Let’s review the activities of the group.

by Ashley Adams

Part I of this article covered my trip to the Colorado town of Black Hawk and its five poker rooms. [Read Poker in Colorado, PART 1 OF 2 now] My trip continues with the adventure in Central City and Cripple Creek, Colorado.

 Central City is only about two miles northwest of Black Hawk. It was also a mining town back in the 19th century. But unlike Black Hawk, which now has little in it but large casinos, Central City has preserved much of its mining town character. The casinos are smaller— and they are interspersed with other small store fronts.

by Lou Krieger
 
When I was a about ten or eleven, I was lucky enough to spend a month at a sleep-away summer camp for underprivileged kids sponsored by the Rotary Club. It got me out of Brooklyn and into the country where the air was cooler and somehow sweeter. It was my first time at summer camp and I loved it. I paddled canoes, did archery with real bows and arrows, played baseball, swam in the lake, and toasted marshmallows around the campfire. It was a pre-teen boy’s dream summer.

by I. Nelson Rose

 “If you don’t know who the sucker is at the poker table, it’s you.” —Poker Proverb

 Joe Barton does not believe in science. He doesn’t even believe in facts. He is a typical Tea Party Republican Congressman from Texas: Barton is proud of what he calls his “100 percent” approval rating from the Christian Coalition (actually, it is 91 percent). He’s anti-gambling.

After being located for more than a decade at the Hollywood Park Casino, where Poker Player’s offices overlooked the race track, the management of Hollywood Park decided to remove those tenants ensconsed in converted suites which were originally created to hold top level horse players. Two months earlier notice was given to all tenants that the time had come after some 4 years of off and on plans to shut down this part of the building.
 

by Tony Guerrera

 IGT has a heads-up limit bot that can be found now on many casino floors in Las Vegas (most of the time, you’ll find a bank near the poker room). I’ve witnessed some obvious mistakes from this bot. For example, I played a hand where I raised my button preflop, and the bot folded A-8o. Seeing an obvious mistake is one thing—recognizing the true value of that mistake is an entirely different issue.

 Chicago’s Bryan Schultz flew 2,000 miles to book his first major tournament win at the World Series of Poker circuit main event at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe in Northern Nevada, outlasting 326 other players who each posted a $1,600 entry fee. Schultz took home $111,812, but it was no walk in the park, with the odds were stacked against him from the start. Not only did Schultz manage to defeat several former WSOP gold bracelet and WSOP Circuit gold ring winners, he also made a dramatic final table comeback—both at a full table and when play was heads up.