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An interesting hand and other tidbits

by Top McEvoy

My friend Paul Zibits was playing a tournament at the Commerce Casino in Las Angeles when the following hand came up. This hand was haunting him and he did not know if he made the right play or not so he asked me for my opinion. Here is the situation: We are now one table from the money and Paul has an average stack and is in the big blind. One player goes all-in and Paul has him covered. Now the biggest stack at the table (a good young tournament player) flat calls. Since he is the chip leader he could have a wider range of hands to call the first player’s all- in move. Paul looks down and has pocket Jacks and the action is now on him since all the other players have folded. He knows he has no fold equity since he would not have enough chips left to push the other player off his hand. His thinking was that he probably had a coin flip against one or both of these guys and the 2nd player could have flat called with a bigger pair to trap in this spot which is not uncommon. In the end he folded. If he was up against just the original all-in player, he would have called for sure. If he made the call and lost he would be very short-stacked even if he put no more chips in the pot. This hand has been haunting him ever since and he wanted to know what I would have done in this situation. This was a big tournament at the L.A. Poker Classic so there was a lot at stake.

Your rating: None Average: 4 (1 vote)

Mike Caro: Today's Word is... PROTECTION

Time to go public. My behind the- scenes campaign to protect Internet poker has failed.

 I have developed proprietary methods of detecting online cheating, including partnerships. Unfortunately, while my efforts often have been met with intense encouragement from top management, they have been sabotaged by unknown entities. Something is terribly wrong.
 
 I’m convinced that there are many online poker site owners and managers who care about the integrity of the game, and today I’m going to address them heart to heart. Quite simply, the recent history of online poker has been susceptible to cheating. All kinds of cheating.
 
 I believe that cheating is so rampant that many honest players, with superior skills, have no chance whatsoever of winning online. And before you dismiss my comments as being wild speculation, you should know this.
 
Computer code
Your rating: None Average: 5 (4 votes)

Atlantic Club Casino & Hotel Upstages PokerStars Until PokerStars Comes Back with a Big Punch

By Wendeen H. Eolis

The surprise move in the gambits of gaming companies seeking to position themselves for future fortunes in the online and commercial gaming market came last week from an unlikely source, the Atlantic Club Casino and Hotel (ACC) in Atlantic City New Jersey. The casino insulted Rational Group  U.S. Holdings (PokerStars), dismissing its friendly bid and preliminary agreement to buy the property, suddenly, as too little too late.

PokerStars did not take the insult or the alleged injury to its plans lying down. On May 5, PokerStars responded with a lawsuit and yesterday  the online poker behemoth followed up, marching into court to obtain a temporary restraining order against the casino company [Read the Court Filing]. It was granted a preliminary injunction that prevents a fast sale to any other suitor while PokerStars makes it case to complete the purchase if it can obtain an Interim Casino Authority from New Jersey regulators.  

For the moment, PokerStars claims in scathing allegations of bad faith on the part of the ACC, its continued intentions to proceed toward completion of the purchase, noting the considerable investment it has already made in the property.

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Poker News: Pennsylvania, Illinois iPoker Measures Under Consideration

by Haley Hintze

 PENNSYLVANIA LEGISLATOR INTRODUCES ONLINE GAMBLING MEASURE

 Pennsylvania State Representative Tina Davis has introduced a bill authorizing internet gaming, including poker, for the state’s residents. The bill, HB 1235, was immediately referred to the state’s Gaming Oversight Committee for evaluation. Eastern Pennsylvania, where Davis’s district is located, is an area of increased casino competition facing pressure from both New Jersey and Delaware, nearby states that have already approved forms of i-gaming. Davis’s measure would set an age limit of 21 and require the physical presence of both the players and prospective licensees, with license approval possible only for those entities already in possession of the state’s slot-machine licenses.

 OBAMA AMBASSADORIAL CANDIDATE WITHDRAWS FROM CONSIDERATION AFTER CONNECTION TO BUSTED NYC POKER GAMES PUBLICIZED

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Changing Up Our Sizings

by David “THE MAVEN” Chicotsky

There are many things we must strive for if we want to do well on a consistent basis at the poker table. Very high up on that list is the ability to stay unpredictable. One way we’re able to do this is by changing up the size of our raises and re-raises. When we’re dealing with small numbers like 2 or 3 blinds - an increase or decrease of a blind or two is a substantial difference. It’s always key to focus on the things we can control in a poker tournament, and one of those things is our sizing.

 In general, it’s very common to see players raise to 3x during a tournament. So when we open raise for a min raise (2x) or a large open of let’s say 3.5x - it will draw more attention than a standard raise. When we’re at the poker table we have to do our due diligence with all the other players. Knowing what their standard open-raise amount is one of the many things we must categorize and use against our opponents. The closer we pay attention to our opponents, the more information we gather, and the more precise we can be with our decision-making.

Your rating: None Average: 4.7 (3 votes)

PokerStars-Atlantic Club (NJ) Purchase Agreement Terminated

by Wendeen H. Eolis

PokerStars' purchase agreement for the Atlantic Club Casino and Hotel in Atlantic City has expired. In a public statement, this morning ,Michael Frawley, COO of Atlantic Club Casino and Hotel has confirmed that the purchase agreement is terminated.  Nevertheless, it is too early to jump to conclusions.
 
There is nothing said thus far to suggest that the two companies cannot re-cement an updated agreement. If necessary, PokerStars could update its completed application which has been submitted to the New Jersey Casino Control Commission.
 
When it comes to online poker, machinations, twists, turns, and outcomes unfathomable at one moment have been known to become stark reality the next.

PokerStars May Still be Valued in New Jersey

Governor Chris Christie, a proponent of a full court press to revive Atlantic City, faces massive pressure to find the means to recovery from Hurricane Sandy. PokerStars' promise to bring jobs, civic commitment and 40 million dollars to the project cannot so easily be dismissed.
 

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Mike Caro: Today’s word is... TIMING

Timing is crucial to maximizing poker profit – but probably not in ways that come immediately to mind. Let’s discuss that in today’s selfinterview.

Question 1: What does timing have to do with poker?

 When players say, “Bad timing,” or “Your timing was off,” they’re often responding politely to an opponent’s failed bluff, after calling with strong hands. They either mean to make that opponent feel better or they’re using a psychological ploy. It’s one intended to suggest that they wouldn’t have called, had their hand not been so powerful, thus inviting the foe to bluff again in the future. When you hear similar words when you’re caught bluffing, you should back away from bluffing that opponent.

 You also hear someone talk about their own bad timing – or yours – in the context of having a strong second-best hand or having made a flush on the river that loses. And there are other ways that the word “timing” is commonly used in poker.

 However, I’m not talking about that today. Let’s explore what I am talking about. Next question.

Question 2: I get it, you’re talking about the flow of the game, getting in sync with the action. You need timing there, right?

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Government Pairs Poker Games with Organized Crime?

By Wendeen H. Eolis

While most of the country was glued to the movements of Boston area law enforcement agents immediately after the Boston Marathon bombings, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York had it sights set elsewhere on a sting against organized crime that was tied into a few game runners and players in high stakes poker games in New York. April has been a tough month for poker in New York City, more than once.
 

NY Poker Highlighted in Bust of Russian–Based Organized Crime Ring

 At the crack of dawn on April 16, 2013, federal agents were on the march to pick up their prey in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Miami and California, as well as New York. They moved in with plans to break the back of an internationally based gambling enterprise rooted inside the Russian Federation.

 The accusations made by the Government marry illegal gambling activities to organized crime and put some of New York’s best known nosebleed poker games in the hands of old school “Russian Mafia” with locally based operatives intertwined in their operations.  

 Arguably, the April 16th bust shone the brightest light over high stakes poker games in the underground world of New York poker—ever.

Your rating: None Average: 4.8 (4 votes)

Should Energy Drinks Be Allowed in Poker Rooms?

An Editorial By Stanley R. Sludikoff, Publisher

 As many people know, I spent over 30 years in the United States Army Reserve, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. For roughly 50 years I have been a life member of the Reserve Officers Association. I keep up with military matters through publications sent to me by that organization. In a recent newsletter, an article revealed that the Command Surgeon for the US Army Central Command (includes Iraq and Afghanistan), Colonel Erin Edgar, along with researcher Doctor Pieter Cohen, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, have recommended that Energy Drinks be banned from sale from Army and Air Force installation stores, where they are currently the top selling cold beverages.

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Well-Known Poker Pros Among Dozens Indicted in Federal Illegal Gambling, Money Laundering and Extortion Case

By Shari Geller
 
In an unsealed indictment filed in the US District Court for the Second District of New York, a notorious Russian businessman is alleged to be the ringleader of a massive criminal enterprise involving sports betting and illegal poker games that brought in some $50 million.  Poker pros Abe Mosseri, Bill Edler, Peter Feldman, Joe Mancuso, John Hanson, and Justin Smith were named in three of the twenty-seven counts of the 84-page indictment that reads like a movie script -- something like Rounders meets The Godfather.  But the star of this real-life crime drama is defendant Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov, most notable for having been charged with, but ultimately never tried for, allegedly attempting to bribe figure skating judges at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City

 

Your rating: None Average: 4.7 (3 votes)

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