Poker From The Rail

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

By Paul ‘Dr. Pauly’ McGuire

Dear NBC suits,

You are sitting on a gold mine and don’t even know it. You need to stop trying to book interviews with Charlie Sheen. Instead, shake things up with the National Heads-Up Poker Championship (HUC) by adding more celebrities to the field, but not just any celebrities, NBC-centric celebrities.

Giddy Up,

Pauly

P.S. Bring back Seinfeld and I’ll stop writing you these nagging letters.

TV executives are the alchemists of Hollywood – half-sorcerer and half-used car salesman. They’re the power brokers who manipulate how the masses view the world, by controlling the content that they air. Case in point is the misleading nature of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship (HUC). The tournament is a “made for TV” event with “invited” participants. Ergo, the HUC is not a true world championship because the top 64 heads-up players in the world were not represented in the field.

So why continue the ruse and try to market it as a sporting event? If NBC suits tweaked the format of the HUC, they could create one of the most popular series on network television by expanding the field to include 16 NBC stars; 8 from current shows and 8 from former hit shows.

Let’s face it, the current HUC format exists to generate revenue from the network and wasn’t created to promote poker. The tournament is deceptive because the eventual outcome fails to determine the best heads-up poker player in the world. If crowning the best heads-up poker player in the world became the prime directive of the HUC, then the selection process would be much more stringent. Alas, from a production standpoint, the top 64 players in the world are not necessarily good for televised entertainment. That’s why NBC suits compromised by creating a TV-friendly formula that’s competitive, watchable, and most importantly – profitable.

Every year at this time, a dozen or so pros are snubbed by execs who determine the invitations using Hollywood standards and not by rankings on the Hendon Mob or PocketFives. As a result, pros get pissed at the selection process (and rightfully so). Poker forums also blow up, with the community posting long-winded diatribes about the injustices committed by NBC execs who omitted (INSERT RANDOM IGNORED PRO HERE). The poker media fans the flames when they flood the intertubes with the litany of players who didn’t get a nod.

Unfortunately, one of the causalities of a “made for TV” event is that some pros are going to miss the cut in one way or another. You really can’t fault the NBC executives because after all, their job is to devise a profitable formula that generates palatable ratings. That’s why they invited a mixture of celebrities (Gabe Kaplan, Jen Tilly, Don Cheadle, Emmitt Smith, and Jason Alexander) established brand names (Doyle Brunson and Phil  Hellmuth), big dogs (Phil Ivey and Erik Seidel), and a few fresh faces (Dan “jungleman12” Cates and Tom “kingsofcards” Marchese). Although dominated by North Americans, the suits did a decent job by adding an international flair to this year’s event with players from Denmark (Gus Hansen and Peter Eastgate), Norway (Annette Obrestad), the UK (Liv Boeree and Sam Trickett), Finland (Patrik Antonius), France (Bertrand Grospellier), Australia (Joe Hachem), and Russia (Eugene Katchalov via Brooklyn).

If the NBC suits want to double or triple their ratings, they should embrace the celebrity element in a more grandiose way. Let’s face it – the best poker players in the world are not a big enough draw in our celebrity-obsessed culture. The HUC is widely popular among males aged 18-88, but year after year, the network fails to convert female viewers. The online poker industry could reap the benefits of the HUC adding more celebrities to the field, because the show would appeal to the female demographic, particularly women aged 18-34 with disposable income, many of whom might open up an online poker account because they saw George Clooney or Denzel Washington holding their own against the biggest sharks in Las Vegas.

Suits love bottom lines. The sheeple love celebrities. Simply put: More celebrities equals more viewers and more viewers translate into increased ad revenue. Promoting poker is just an afterthought for TV executives, which is why they should consider altering the selection process. With an added celebrity-element, the suits can finally add the juiced-up HUC to the primetime line up.

Here’s my official proposal to NBC executives: Divide the field of 64 into 48 pros (continuing the tradition of handing out a couple of seats to amateur/pro qualifiers at Caesar’s Palace) and 16 NBC-centric celebrities. The expanded celebrity version of the HUC will include current and former NBC stars – a perfect way to cross-promote their current stars (from shows like Chuck and Community) while exploiting the legacies from the 1980s (Don Johnson from Miami Vice and Mr.  T from The A-Team).

Think about the star potential that could occupy those eight seats. NBC has quite an impressive list of former luminaries – Jerry Seinfeld (Seinfeld), Jennifer Aniston (Friends), George Clooney (ER), Denzel Washington (St. Elsewhere), Martin Sheen (The West Wing), Bill Cosby (The Cosby Show), David Hasslehoff (Knight Rider)  –  all bona fide A-list celebrities who would guarantee more (female) viewers.

NBC could even create a separate reality show which follows a select group of over-the-hill actors from hit shows in the 1970s and 1980s – all of whom were once considered the brightest stars in Hollywood, but have since faded out of spotlight. America loves comeback stories, so here’s a chance for Greg Evigan (B.J. and the Bear) and John Larroquette (Night Court) to get some face time as they diligently improve their poker game – either by hiring actual pros like Jesus Ferguson to coach them, or spending late nights playing online poker, or flinging around chips in home games with other C-list celebrities.

The preliminary episodes of the HUC would include celebrity qualifiers featuring a different show’s actors playing each other heads-up. Once you got down to 8 current NBC celebrities, then they advanced to the final field of 64. Actors and actresses from a single show would be pitted against each other to determine which one of them would advance for a shot at the final 64. For example, four different members of the cast of 30 Rock (Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan, Alec Baldwin, and Jane Krakowski) would square off against each other while NBC cameras capture all of their hijinks. The eventual winner would move onto to the next round and engage the winner of The Office. Since that show has a bigger cast, maybe The Office would have an 8-player qualifier to determine their representative.

In the case of Law & Order, a long-running show with so many friggin’ spinoffs and a massive roster of former thespians, they’d field their own bracket of 64 players made up of current and former cast members. I would love to see Ice-T talking smack against Sam Waterston after three-betting with air.

One of my favorite episodes would include qualifiers from Saturday Night Live. Created in 1975, SNL alums are among some of the more successful people in show business. Those hysterical matches could be an entire season itself made up of diverse cast members from the 1970s, 80s, 90s, and 00s: Dan Aykroyd,  Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Senator Al Franken, Eddie Murphy, Billy Crystal, Martin Short, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Mike Myers, Dennis Miller, Molly Shannon, and Will Ferrell.

The celebrity spots are also not limited to actors/actresses. Television news anchors (Tom Brokaw) and sportscasters (Marv Albert and Bob Costas) are also welcomed, not to mention Brian Hansen from To Catch a Predator. He’s someone that I hope never ambushes you in a strange kitchen.

With poker’s popularity slowly declining on television and everyone on a nostalgia kick these days, perhaps NBC executives will embrace washed-up celebrities in the twilight of their careers. If they dole out eight seats to former stars, there’s opportunity to exploit hundreds of bloated, drug-addled, botox-injected actors and actresses, all of whom are vying for spots in hopes to trigger a comeback. Those potential train-wreck episodes would be among my favorite guilty pleasures to watch – even better than Animal Hoarders.

The upside of an expanded celebrity format for the HUC is the ability to watch your favorite characters reunite during heads-up matches against fellow cast members from Cheers, L.A. Law, ER, and Seinfeld.

Alas, the only  downside is that any former NBC employee would be eligible to play, which means that seats could go to Joey Lawrence (who has two shots to play with former roles on both Blossom and Gimmie a Break), Screech from Saved by the Bell, or the kid who played Cockroach on The Cosby Show. Then again, watching Screech pull off a triple barrel bluff against Phil Ivey would become one of the most epic moments in televised poker history, ranking up there with Moneymaker’s bluff against Sam Farha in the 2003 Main Event.

Think about. NBC is sitting on a gold mine. Screech and Ivey? They have the potential to become TV’s newest odd couple.

Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Dr. Pauly, Guest Posts, National Heads-Up Poker Championship

Read more | Comments (8) | March 1st, 2011 Play Online Poker at Full Tilt Poker

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

The 2011 WSOP: 58 Bracelets, 15-Minutes of Fame, and 12 Donkaments
By Paul ‘Dr. Pauly’ McGuire

Very few spectacles can live up to their hype, yet year after year, the World Series of Poker delivers with a polymorphous schedule of events. The 2011 WSOP schedule was released last week with 58 bracelets up for grabs.

The WSOP is a surreal destination that offers up a broad range of experiences. In short – it is what you make of it. For first timers, the WSOP is a fantasy camp where everyday people are seated at the same table with legends of the game. For veteran pros, it’s time to go to work and bust a few donks to pay your mortgage. For up-and-coming pros, it’s a chance to grab the spotlight and garner the fickle attention of potential sponsors. For perpetually-broke, down-and-out degens, a good run at the WSOP can turn their lackluster careers around. For fame-driven pros and D-list celebrities, the WSOP becomes their own personal reality show – traipsing through the Rio with entourages in tow, mugging for the cameras, while sending Twitter updates every five minutes.

You don’t even have to play in the WSOP to catch a cheap thrill. In our celebrity-obsessed society, the WSOP gives fans opportunities to rub shoulders with poker’s elite. You know, those guys that you see on TV like Texas Sally, Bill Ivey, and Barry Greenburg. For voyeurs, the Amazon Room is fertile ground for people watching and stalking. For the citizen paparazzi armed with camera phones, the hallways of the Rio are perfect spots to ambush their favorite pros.

The WSOP’s $10,000 buy-in Main Event Championship is a crafty marketing device that manipulates the most alluring tenets of the “American Dream.” Anyone can buy a ticket to the Big Dance and compete against the premier players in the world with a shot at a multi-million dollar payday. Aside from American Idol, where else can complete unknowns become the next overnight superstar?

Even if you don’t win a bracelet or make the November Nine, the WSOP might be your only shot at becoming the personification of pop artist Andy Warhol’s claim: “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.”

With 58 events in 50 days, anything can happen. Considering the majority of poker media is in Las Vegas covering the WSOP and every poker junkie not at the Rio is sitting at home following along with the action, chances are good that if you do something sensational (or incredibly moronic), you will become fodder for forums, blogs, and other tentacles of social media. Just to be clear, I’m not encouraging egregious behavior at the WSOP just so you get “noticed”, but if you dress up like Spider-Man or act like a toolbag by mooing like a cow, then it’s pretty hard to ignore you.

But that’s also the beauty of the WSOP – if you’d rather disappear and fly under the radar, it’s easy to blend in with the rest of the field by donning a hoodie, hat and shades.

The WSOP is not just a celebrity spectacle, there are also millions of dollars at risk every single day. That’s why the WSOP is tough to ignore for any regular on the tournament circuit. Poker pros are a tough breed to please and they’ll vocalize any gripes that they have with a tournament structure or schedule. This year, the biggest dissension surrounded the lack of medium-tiered events. Out of 58 events, there are only a dozen events with buy-ins at 2,500 to $3,000 range. The rest of the schedule is divided between bigger buy-in events and Donkaments.

Dare I say that this is not a poker issue per se, but rather a reflection of our society in general? The American middle class has been shrinking in the last decade, so it’s no surprise that the schedule is peppered with “affordable” buy-ins. The average pro on a budget is faced with a conundrum: playing Donkaments and trying to fade fields of several thousand players, or taking shots at more expensive buy-in events with smaller fields stacked with high-caliber players.

Semi-pros and casual players can take a shot at a NL bracelet for a minimal investment of $1,000 with five recession specials. Also on the schedule are seven $1,500 NL events. Yep, that’s a dozen Donkaments at your disposal. On the flip side, 18 events at the 2011 WSOP have a buy-in of $5,000 or more. Ten of them have a $10,000 buy-in including the Main Event Championship. There are also a couple of high-roller events with the $50,000 Players’ Championship (an 8-Game Mixed format with the winner taking home the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy) and the $25,000 NL Heads-Up World Championship. The $25,000 buy-in event switched formats. Last summer’s $25K NL Short-handed (6-max) was scratched in favor of a Heads-Up tournament (with a maximum field of 256 players).

The Weekend Warriors are the bread and butter of the WSOP. The commercial success of Donkaments is the biggest reason why a dozen of those lower buy-in events exist on the schedule. Bean counters running casinos love bottom lines, and the bottom line is that Donkaments are insanely popular, which translate into revenue. If you host it, they will come. Thousands of them.

Sure, the WSOP is in the business of making money, but they also provide a unique experience along the way. At the same time, they give everyone a chance at making money. Let’s not forget that the WSOP is a 24-hour a day operation with nonstop cash games, satellites, and daily non-bracelet tournaments (daily MTTs for as low as $135, and daily mega sats for the Main Event starting at $330).

That’s the biggest secret at the WSOP – the insane value playing cash games and satellites. I know a few local pros who only play in a couple of events but they spend every day at the Rio trying to pick off fresh fish in single table sats, or stacking Eurodonks at the soft NL cash tables.

By the way, there are two events I can’t wait to see. The $5,000 PLO (Short-handed 6-max) sounds like an action junkie’s wet dream. Also, a new event has been added this year featuring a mixed-game format with 10 different games. The $2,500 10-Game Mix includes rounds of NL, Razz, Limit Hold’em, Limit Badugi, Seven-Card Stud, NL 2-7 Draw Lowball, Omaha 8, PLO, Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball, and Seven-Card Stud 8.

It’s important to note that there are two major changes that are occurring this year. The first one covers late registration, which has been extended to the end of the 4th level (with the exception of the Main Event, which had late registration until the end of the 2nd level). The second change involved the stop times. The 2011 will be the first year that “hard stop times” will be introduced.

According to the WSOP…

“The maximum a playing day will last is 10 levels each day, regardless of the number of players remaining. This includes re-starts and final table days. If we have not reached a winner or a final table after 10 levels of play, all remaining players left in the tournament will return at 3:00 PM to resume the tournament. This will ensure tournament play each day concludes at approximately 3:00 AM for re-starts and allow a 12-hour break before play resumes. Important: This may cause some tournaments to exceed their scheduled three-day structure; however it will only affect the remaining players at that stage of the tournament.”

Yes, that means that in theory, you have no idea how long a tournament will last if hard stop times are instituted. It could be four days, maybe more? Then again, if you have a shot at a bracelet, I don’t think you really care if it takes three, four, or five days to lock up the victory.

As I stated earlier, the WSOP is what you make of it. With 58 events on the schedule, it’s now up to you to figure out the logistics. Most importantly, if you have a regular job, it’s time to start pestering your boss about requesting vacation days to play in the WSOP. And who knows, maybe you’ll be blessed by the gambling gods and win enough money to quit your job.

See ya in Vegas.

Tags: 2011 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Dr. Pauly, Guest Posts, WSOP

Read more | Comments (7) | February 1st, 2011 Play Online Poker at Full Tilt Poker

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

Each year it happens. Just before the start of the WSOP another poker book is announced or released. The majority of them can best be used as a door stop or coaster to protect your antique coffee table. But every once in awhile one comes along that deserves your attention. Last year saw the release of Mike Matusow’s biography Check-Raising the Devil co-written with Amy Calisti and Tim Lavalli, this year brought the much anticipated release of “Dr. Pauly” McGuire’s memoir Lost Vegas.

While pretenders to the throne hawked their books in the Rio hallway, Pauly was sitting in the Amazon Room with a steady stream of friends, colleagues, and fans coming by to purchase an autographed copy. While he was working.

Unfortunately it’s nearly impossible for me to present an objective review of Lost Vegas. Dr. Pauly has been a good friend for many years which disqualifies me for two reasons. My opinion is extremely biased and I manage to make a few cameo appearances throughout the memoir. We’ve shared some crazy times over the last few years and a couple of those made the cut, along with 240 pages of tales worth your time. I asked Julius Goat if he would do the honors and he delivered his review of Lost Vegas.

You can get more information on the Lost Vegas website or buy from Amazon (know available for Kindle!).  Perfect holiday gift for your degen friends.

Lost Vegas review
by Julius Goat

From March 21-23 of 1970, the Mint 400, an off-road omni-vehicular race of dune buggies, motorcycles, and other modes of transportation both 2-wheeled and 4-wheeled, tore through the desert outside of Las Vegas in a miasma of dust and diesel fumes. Journalist and madman (not in that order) Hunter S. Thompson, himself tearing around in a miasma of ether and psychedelic pharmaceuticals, was at that race, in body if not entirely in spirit. He was on assignment to cover the race, and what he produced was a book that was almost entirely not about the race at all. It was about . . . well, that’s up to you. It was about bats, for sure. Beyond that it all sort of starts to blurrrrrrrrr . . .

I say all that to say this:

In 2005, a young fellow name of Pauly “McGrupp” McGuire, journalist and madman (not in that order) was in that same town, murking his way through a fusty fug of Axe body spray, casino cleanser, cheap perfume and deadbeat desperation — by which I mean the World Series of Poker. Pauly was on assignment to cover that event, which by all accounts he did, if you read LasVegasVegas.com or his own fine blog Tao of Poker. Out of that experience, and several years following, he wrote a book of his own, Lost Vegas.

I’m here to tell you, brothers and sisters of the congregation: Lost Vegas is about as interested in poker as Fear and Loathing was in the Mint 400. Sure, WSOP happening in the background, but Lost Vegas is not about poker. It’s almost not about poker as a mission statement. Instead, it’s about being in that time, and that place. More specifically, it’s about being Paul McGuire in Las Vegas; there during the World Series of Poker, sure, and covering it, sure, but that’s just the wallpaper. These are impressions of a lifeguard on duty when a singularly large and greasy wave swelled out from the sea of the American Dream, lapped up on shore, elevated a few, killed many others, and, for the rest of us, got a bit of sand between our toes.

So yeah: poker. But I’d be hard pressed to tell you that there’s a single hand of poker recounted. Bracelets are won and championships are mentioned in throwaway lines, as just another part of the scenery and the madness. It’s as if Hamlet is murdered offstage by running spades, while Rosencranz and Guildenstern spend an entire fascinating chapter playing a made up game called “lime toss.”

This is not a bad thing. It’s actually a good thing. You’ve already read enough about poker, haven’t you? It’s all on the Tao if you haven’t, and here on the Full Tilt blogs, and many other fine sources. See, that was the Lost Vegas revelation to me. I’d expected something somewhat different: a tell-all about the pros you know, perhaps, or something sordid about Norman Chad’s personal life. Or, perhaps, it was something else. A piece about how awesome it is to be up front and personal as Dreams Are Made® and Only In Vegas® and It Could Happen To YOU!

Nope. This is not the propaganda. It’s not even The Truth, or at least not The Truth of Poker. It’s more like The Truth of Pauly. In short, it’s a memoir; I suspect the first of several. Don’t buy it if you want to find out what Phil Ivey is really like. Buy it if you want to know what it’s like to be in Vegas because you have no place else to be, to be love with something you hate, to be consumed by what you consume. To come back to something because it’s all you’ve got. For Pauly, it seems that poker is the sore tooth he can’t stop touching because it feels so much better to touch it than not to.

I have a growing sense I’m making the book sound like a downer. There’s a very good reason for that: It actually IS a downer. However, I should be clear, it’s not always so. Lost Vegas doesn’t try to make the Poker Dream seem like anything other than a pretty mirage, nor does it try to inflate its author into the big damn hero; however, in the cracks and seams of the seamy side, it finds tiny transcendent moments. When a book manages to be honest about the shortcomings of its own subject, it can make the beauty more honest, too, somehow more hard-earned. There’s not gold at the end of the rainbow, but the silver lining, it expands.

Paul McGuire wrote a book, y’all. Why not pick it up? It’s a safe bet you’re not going to read another poker book like it.

Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Dr. Pauly, Lost Vegas

Read more | Comments (1) | December 21st, 2010 Play Online Poker at Full Tilt Poker

Posted by Dave McCarthy | Filed under Bloggers Corner

We’re happy to have Friend of the Blog — and one of poker’s best writers — guest posting at Poker from the Rail.  Dr. Pauly, author of Tao of Poker and Lost Vegas, takes a wide-angled look at the biggest cash games in the world: from the days of Amarillo Slim to Isildur1, from tables in cyberspace to those in Macau, and players from Russian kingpins to Tom Dwan.

The Land of Unicorns: Macau

By Paul ‘Dr. Pauly’ McGuire

Last year at this time, everyone became enraptured with the true identity of Isildur1. The player from Sweden incurred massive swings at the nosebleed tables against Patrik Antonius and Tom “durrrr” Dwan. In a short period of time, Isildur1 went from being an unknown to the most talked-about player in the poker community. The mythical Scandi was thrust into poker spotlight. Isildur1’s story sounded too good to be true – a tilty 20-something young gun who never backed down to a challenger and was willing to give action to anyone.

It’s no secret that global economy tanked over the last two years, and the poker community absorbed a hit. As a result, players were forced to work a little harder to find juicy games. During the glorious poker boom, there was an abundance of fishy games to pad your bankroll. However, in the lean years, vast pools of horrendous players with deep pockets dried up. No wonder everyone in the high-stakes community was fighting to get in line to play exclusively against Isildur1. Not only he was fresh meat and new blood, but it was also incredibly easy to find him – all you had to do was fire up Full Tilt and locate him at the nosebleed tables. Taking on Islidur1 did not require traveling, nor were you forced to endure the bleak darkness of a Scandinavian winter to play against the Swedish ATM.

Does it really get any better than that for a poker pro? You can wake up, multi-table cash games against an erratic Scandi, and log off a couple of hours later $420,000 richer.

Isildur1 became the proverbial white whale. My apologies if the Moby Dick analogy is a little too literary. The crux of Herman Meville’s opus is Captain Ahab’s obsession with killing an elusive white whale. Islidur1 became the white whale that every online poker player wanted to hunt down. Islidur1 hemorrhaged his bank roll and went busto. He attempted couple of comebacks and faded in and out of the high-stakes scene in 2010 before fizzling out of the rotation. Even though Isildur1 was nevermore, his myth stirred up enough interest that pros scoured the virtual waters in search of similar white whales.

In November of 2010, Macau popped up on everyone’s radar when a group of Las Vegas-based pros flew out to China to engage a series of locals in high-stakes cash games. The pros found a rare opportunity to play against newcomers with deep pockets. All of a sudden, Macau became the land of unicorns.

Over the last few years, the poker scene in Macau slowly evolved. The cash game scene has been fueled by a group of baccarat high-rollers (essentially wealthy industrialists and businessmen from China) who became fascinated with learning the intricacies of poker. The regulars welcomed outsiders and wanted to play against better players so they could improve their skills. A few regional pros and Aussies took a shot, but they had their hands full when a contingent of Americans arrived in Macau. Among them were Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey, John Juanda, Chau Giang, Johnny Chan, and Ted Forrest.

The Chinese high rollers didn’t care that they were outmatched because they were action junkies and thrived on competition. The only caveat? No nits allowed. Pros were welcome to join the game initially, but they would not receive future invitations if they played too tight.

The Macau Big Game started at the Hard Rock. They played NL hold’em with blinds starting at $10,000 HKD/$20,000 HKD with a $10,000 HKD ante. Hong Kong Dollars (HKD) are the local currency in Macau; converted to U.S. dollars at the time, the stakes were roughly $1,300/$2,600 with a $1,300 ante.

The Big Game moved to a more secluded location inside the Starworld Casino, because the poker room at the Hard Rock had too much public access. A railbird snapped a photo with his mobile phone, and later posted it on the internet. That was the first time we caught a glimpse of Dwan in action against the Chinese whales. We finally had proof that unicorns existed.

Sporadic reports of the Big Games were posted on 2+2, but for the most part, it was difficult to obtain information on the status of the action. Dwan was up a million or so before he played a heads-up match against a local businessman. At one point, over $15 million HKD (or around $4 million in USD) sat on Dwan’s table. Exact figures won by Dwan and the rest of the pros are still unconfirmed.

Photographs of the cash games were not permitted, but a few more mobile phone pictures made their way to the internet. The American pros were used to media coverage, but the Chinese high rollers were extremely shy. Perhaps it’s just a cultural difference, but the high rollers were not comfortable with any media attention, and that their photographs and names would become fodder for the media. Some reports suggested that was the primary reason why the games tailed off after a week or so of intense action.

No one knows when Dwan and Ivey are expected to return. But, if the Americans play again anytime soon, the Big Game will most likely be held in private to accommodate the high rollers’ desire for anonymity.

In the decade after the fall of communism, Russian millionaires cropped up as the country embraced capitalism. A few legit businessmen struck it big during Russia’s oil boom in the 1990s, while others acquired their wealth through multi-national crime syndicates. Regardless of the origins of their wealth, many of the new-money businessmen had a penchant for high-stakes poker. The underground games flourished in Moscow, where Russian tycoons and mafia bosses played action games like PLO and PL Seven-Card Stud.

The sums of money were ridiculous, but the location turned away many pros because of legitimate security concerns. Even if you were not robbed or harmed from the roving gangs of thugs who prey on foreigners, you had the insurmountable task of trying to withdraw any winnings. As one of my contacts in Moscow explained, “Anyone can play as long as they don’t win. And if you do win? Good luck getting your money out of Russia.”

I heard whispers about big cash games in different locations in Central America involving Colombian drug lords and Venezuelan oilmen. Even if you had a proficiency in conversational Spanish (knowing the local language is an additional layer of personal security to prevent explicit colluding), those games had a potential for extreme violence because you still had to worry about the behavior of hot-headed drug lords on uber-tilt.

Let’s not forget that the internet poker boom is less than a decade old, and before that you had to actually leave the safety and comfort of your home to play cards. Only a generation ago, poker was considered a game for outlaws and criminals. Many of the legendary Texas rounders, like Doyle Brunson and Amarillo Slim, were nomadic gamblers who drove all over Texas and the Southwest in search of action. Their opponents were often men of ill repute – ruthless oilmen, drug dealers, pimps, and loan sharks. Many pros risked their lives just for a chance to sit in a game, because if the games were not busted by the local Sherriff’s department, then they had to fend off potential robbers. So much has changed since the early days of poker with improved safety measures and legalization. But one thing remains the same – the best pros in the world will travel long distances for a soft table.

As 2010 comes to a close, it appears that Macau’s high-stakes cash games are an untapped pool of unlimited revenue. It’s been difficult to find juicy games overseas that offer up the serenity and safety of Macau. Unless another Scandi white whale splashes onto the high-stakes scene, the likes of Dwan, Juanda, and Ivey are going to have to make another arduous journey across the Pacific if they want a huge payday.

Tags: Dr. Pauly

Read more | Comments (4) | December 8th, 2010 Play Online Poker at Full Tilt Poker

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

Last week I had a conversation with Tom Dwan about the next durrrr Challenge against Dan “jungleman12″ Cates, 24 hours later the poker world exploded as “durrrr versus jungleman12” was officially underway causing a long jam of railbirds and internet fanboys to mob their favorite forums. TwoPlusTwo ran a live thread which is currently over 166 pages (at last count) full of the standard fare but proving the mass interest among the poker fans. We decided to ask one of the poker world’s top writers to give us his take on the latest “durrrr Challenge” between Dwan and Dan “jungleman12″ Cates.  ‘Dr. Pauly’ McGuire did not disappoint.

If you get any of your poker information via the internet, you certainly will know Dr. Pauly and his Tao of Poker blog. One of the most widely read poker-related websites throughout the year but especially during the long stretch of the WSOP. He takes his readers behind the scenes to witness things most white-washed “media outlets” are unwilling, or unable, to describe. Dr. Pauly released his novel Lost Vegas this summer during the World Series of Poker and we look forward to bringing you a review in the very near future.

Enjoy Dr. Pauly’s thoughts on “durrrr versus jungleman12″:

Freaky Styley: Durrrr and Jungleman12
By Paul ‘Dr. Pauly’ McGuire

What the hell is a “durrrr” anyway?

My gut told me the word was made up, but a part of me thought that maybe durrrr had origins in dead languages like Latin or Mayan, or perhaps it was the scientific name for a breed of howler monkey. After a thorough internet search, I discovered… nothing. Indeed, durrrr is a word wholly concocted by Tom Dwan. In an interview, he once mentioned that he made up the “durrrr” moniker in an attempt to annoy the hell out of his opponents. He was spot on, because nothing can tilt you more than knowing that you’re losing a few buy-ins to a guy named durrrr, a word that when said aloud resembles the sounds that an incontinent person makes before they defecate themselves.

Dwan had no idea that would be his nickname for life as he rocketed into the spotlight as the most renowned pro since the inception of online poker. I’m sure if Dan “jungleman12” Cates knew that he was going to become the hottest thing in the industry since the introduction of Rush Poker, then he might have selected a different name. From this day forward, we won’t know Cates as anything other than “jungleman12.”

The only origin of “jungleman” that I can think of in popular culture terms is a song from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. In 1985, the Red Hot Chili Peppers released Freaky Styley, their second studio album and the only pure funk-themed album in their storied career. George Clinton, legendary front man of Parliament Funkadelic, produced Freaky Styley, which included a single titled “Jungle Man.” It barely got any radio play and has become a forgotten song in the band’s live repertoire. I’m starting to think that the Red Hot Chili Peppers /Cates connection is a dead end, because Cates was not even born when the song was released 25 years ago. So, the origin of Cates’ “jungleman12” moniker continues to be a mystery.

When Dan Cates dies, his obituary will contain a sentence about how he used to be a professional poker player who once lost over a half a million dollars in a single session to a phantom Scandi named “Isildur1.” Maybe his obit will also note that Cates became the first player to complete the “durrrr Challenge.”

I might be jumping the gun with the “first player to complete” phrase, but through two sessions (one long and the other short) Dwan and Cates completed almost 13% of the 50,000-hand challenge. At that pace, they could finish the challenge in two weeks if they grind out at least six long sessions and a dozen shorter ones. It’s also possible that Dwan finishes his match with Cates and then begins a third challenge with Brian Townsend before his match with Patrik Antonius concludes.

The original challenge that pitted Dwan against Antonius was billed as the greatest heads-up battle since 1951 when Johnny Moss and Nick “The Greek” Dandolos played a marathon match in lobby of The Horseshoe. You had to fly out to Las Vegas and go downtown every day if you wanted to watch those legends play against each other. Only a handful of people were witnesses, which is why it’s been difficult for poker historians to separate fact from fiction in that particular story and determine how much Dandolos lost (estimates suggest $2 to $4 million).

The “durrrr Challenge” is the complete opposite when you toss in modern technology, the easy accessibility of online poker, and amazing advances in tracking software. Every single hand of the challenge is being logged by computer programs and immediately analyzed and scrutinized by stoners who have nothing but free time on their hands. The “durrrr Challenge” is available for anyone to watch by simply downloading Full Tilt Poker’s software. Unlike the Big Game in Las Vegas, you have access to the biggest games online. And the best thing about getting a ring side seat? You don’t have to wear pants or maintain any semblance of sobriety to sweat the action.

In early 2009, people could not stop talking about the “durrrr Challenge.” When it first began, I had friends and family members telling me that they had been up all night sweating the action. But then reality sunk in and everyone realized that the match was not going to end before the World Series of Poker and all indications suggested that this was going to be a long and arduous challenge. Dwan and Antonius lived on different continents and the time difference seemed to conspire against them. Also with the infusion of Isildur1’s action into the nosebleed games, the two sharks decided to feast on Isildur instead of gouging out each others’ eyeballs. Flash forward to 18 months later. The two have yet to pass the 40,000-hand mark and Dwan has a healthy $2 million lead.

The Dwan-Cates matchup had lower expectations already built in after the first “durrrr Challenge” was a dud. Dan “jungleman12” Cates is not a household name (he’s under 21 and has never appeared on a televised program, which makes him virtually non-existent to a large portion of the poker community who are only cognizant of pros that they see on TV). I can understand the perception that the 20-year-old Cates came out of nowhere when he agreed to play Dwan shortly after the WSOP summer session ended in mid-July. Tournament players often draw more coverage than cash game players, and in mainstream poker media terms, Cates was off the radar even though in less than two years, he achieved a rapid rise from small stakes to the biggest games online. Cates wasn’t afraid to take shots with what he called “aggressive bankroll management.” He easily handled the jump in stakes and continued to advance instead of dropping back down. Before he knew it, he put down $500,000 of his own cash in escrow for a chance to win 3-1 on his wager if he could best Dwan over 50,000 hands.

Cates has a Chris Moneymaker “aw shucks” quality about him, which means that the average person at home watching the challenge can relate more to Cates than Dwan’s former opponent – the perfectly chiseled Adonis in Patrik Antonius. The taciturn Finn rarely said anything incendiary at the tables and it’s hard to root for someone as perfect as Antonius. If Hollywood taught us anything, it’s that we’re suckers for an underdog or flawed protagonist. Not that Cates has any obvious flaws, but anyone compared to the godlike Antonius will fall short of the mark. Maybe it’s the fact that Cates is not Antonius and not an established live pro that makes him more appealing to masses.

Cates reminds me of an up and coming rookie on your favorite team that you can’t help but root to do well. I guess we’ll find out if he’s going to be a meteor that illuminates the sky for a short period of time only to disappear into the void, or be a static star burning nightly in horizon.

Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Dr. Pauly, durrrr, durrrr Challenge, Guest Posts, jungleman12

Read more | Comments (14) | September 1st, 2010 Play Online Poker at Full Tilt Poker

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

“Tools of Craig”
Photo credit: Dr. Pauly

I shot the above photo at the 2006 WSOP. It is a perfect representation of the items that Michael Craig brings to the table. I’ve known Craig for several years and you will almost never find him without an elegant pen and some sort of notebook. Like a good writer, he’s always taking notes. – Dr. Pauly – Tao of Poker

Full Tilt has a nice luxury of featuring two different blogs on the site, a great way to offer a view of the poker world from different points of view. Michael Craig brings you inside action from the tables along with his person experience with the pros while I tend to spend most of my time on the rail for very good reason, showing everyone what is is like among the other 99% of the world. It’s easy to figure out who’s the big gun here when you compare the pedigree or accomplishments between Michael Craig and myself.

- Michael is the noted author of The Professor, The Banker, and the Suicide King and contributor to The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide (which available right here in the Full Tilt Store). The most noted thing I ever published was a stunning array of scantily clad women which quickly got me in hot water.

- Michael Craig has three (3) World Series of Poker final table appearances including runner up to Jeff Lisandro this year. My best result was a second place finish in a $100 blogger tournament, also this year.

- Michael Craig knows all the big names in the game of poker, most likely with them on speed dial in case of emergency story is needed. I’ve been known to feel most comfortable huddling with the degenerate masses who grind away their nut at 1c/2c NLHE.

This week Michael received yet another honor with a feature on the super blog Tao of Poker with Dr. Pauly. Pauly was able to grab a few minutes of Michael’s valuable time for an installment of his Tao of Five. He managed to get quite a bit of information in just 5 questions and talks about Ted Forrest, Andy Beal, and random Phil Ivey facts. You can read it all here at Tao of Five: Michael Craig by Dr. Pauly.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Dr. Pauly, Michael Craig

Read more | Comments (0) | January 7th, 2010 Play Online Poker at Full Tilt Poker