Blogger “Tuscaloosa” Johnny brings us a guest post and asks the question of whether the WSOP should go back to even more old school events.  I first started looking at some of the old events in the middle of the series this year after doing some research of Full Tilt pro Berry Johnston.  He won his first bracelet in an event called “Match Play” which held no meaning for me.  I asked around to some of the historians and was unable to get a absolute answer to what the format for “match play” would be.  The most popular answer were either an early form of Heads Up tournaments or a Shootout Tournament.  Still waiting on the final answer.

The odds are very long we’ll see a “Match Play” event but “Tuscaloosa” Johnny brings up some games from the past and the chances we’ll ever see it again.

Enjoy.

Should the WSOP go old school?
By Johnny Kampis

Five-Card Stud or Mixed Doubles, anyone? The history of the World Series of Poker is littered with bygone events – some games that are practically prehistoric by current standards.

Let’s look at some of the events the Series used to have that haven’t been played either recently or in a long time and my own personal odds that tournament organizers would ever bring them back.

Five-Card Stud – The most famous 5-Stud game wasn’t at the WSOP, it was in a New Orleans card room when Edward G. Robinson pulled a miracle straight flush to beat Steve McQueen’s full house in the movie “The Cincinnati Kid.” It’s hard to imagine now, but 5-Stud was once the most popular card game. In fact, in 1972 it was the only event at the WSOP other than the championship No-Limit Hold’em tournament. Bill Boyd was the victor in the inaugural 5-Stud tournament 1972 for $20,000, in the year that “Amarillo Slim” Preston won the main event. 5-Stud was also played in 1973 and 1974 – and won by Boyd each year – before being buried in the WSOP graveyard.

The problem with 5-Stud is that the game isn’t action inducing. Each player receives two cards initially, one face up and one face down. After that, the mystery is pretty well over. From that point forward, each player receives their three remaining cards face up after each round of betting. Since there’s no draw and only five total cards, a high card often wins the pot. Once a player has an exposed pair, they’ve usually got the hand locked up and the other players fold. (Try it online sometime. You’ll see.)

The skinny: Unless Jeffrey Pollack and the players’ advisory council are feeling very nostalgic, 5-Stud will not be dug up from the graveyard. There’s a reason it’s been buried there for more than 30 years. Odds of return: 1,000 to 1

Women’s Seven-Card Stud – The ladies only event was first played in 1977 and the first champion was Jackie McDaniels. The event continued until 2000 when the format was changed to No-Limit Hold’em. That ladies event continues today.

The skinny: NLHE is the game of choice in the present age and since tournament organizers are unlikely to have two women-only events, it’s highly unlikely to see this tournament return. Odds of return: 200 to 1

Five-Card Draw – This is how we all learned to play poker, fighting over pennies at the kitchen table. It’s also the game that Old West cowboys are seen wrangling over in just about every movie or TV show on the period. Draw high was played at Binion’s Horseshoe in 1978 and 1979, and won by a fellow called Lakewood Louie both years. The game continued to be played through 1982, after which it was also tossed from the schedule.

Draw has the opposite problem of 5-Stud in that nearly everything is a mystery. Other than physical tells and the number of cards drawn, there is very little information to go on to determine another player’s hand. The lowball versions of draw are still popular, but back in the 1980s, flop and stud games became more popular versions of high poker.

The skinny: Five-Card Draw is still a popular home game and it has seen a resurgence on online poker sites. While you don’t see it played in casinos these days, it wouldn’t be out of the question to see it re-introduced to the WSOP, at least as a novelty for one year. Odds of return: 20 to 1

Mixed Doubles – Think tennis. One man, one woman, playing as a team. At the WSOP, one player would play 7-Stud for a level and then the other partner would play limit Hold’em. Doyle Brunson won one of his bracelets this way, playing with Starla Brodie in 1979 and winning $4,500 in the process. The game was played through 1983 and then discontinued.

The skinny: With the growth of poker and an increased focus on women in poker, it wouldn’t be surprising to see mixed doubles, or some similar tag team tournament re-introduced into the fray. After all, 2009 saw the first Dream Team Poker event added to the schedule. Odds of return: 12 to 1

Chinese Poker – It was first played in 1995 and John Tsagaris won the title and $41,400. Steve Zolotow won the second Chinese Poker event that year for $112,500. It was played twice more in 1996 and then never seen again.

For the uninitiated, the game is played four handed, with each player receiving 13 cards each. Players must divide their cards into three poker hands – two containing five cards each and one with three cards. Multiple players can win points or chips on any given hand if their hands are better than some of the other players at the table.

The skinny: Chinese Poker was a very popular high-stakes cash game at recent editions of the WSOP and seems to be growing in popularity in general. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see it re-introduced into the Series schedule sometime in the next decade. Odds of return: 2 to 1

Ace-to-Five Draw – Otherwise known as Lowball, Ace-to-Five has been a popular event through the history of the WSOP. It was played from 1976 to 1996, but then gave way to Deuce-to-Seven Draw for a few years. Ace-to-Five came back from 2000 to 2004, but hasn’t been on the schedule the last few years.

The game is usually played single draw, but is also often played with three draws. The object of the game is to make the lowest hand possible. Since straights don’t count against you, the lowest hand is a wheel, or A-2-3-4-5. (Deuce-to-Seven is similar, but aces and straights count against you, so the lowest hand is 2-3-4-5-7.)

The skinny: Although Deuce-to-Seven has been the lowball game of choice the last few years, Ace-to-Five remains popular and will likely return to the WSOP at some point. Odds of return: 2 to 5

Post from: Poker From The Rail

World Series of Poker – Should it go old school?

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It may sound like sacrilege to suggest stepping outside the big poker series in the world but you can find some good value in other poker tournaments around town.  Sure you are sacrificing a boat load of big field action and the prestige but you might find some other things to your liking during your down times.  I personally plan to play in a Limit Omaha/8 tournament at Binion’s on my one day off from the series, assuming my dedicated readers will allow that indulgence.

Tuscaloosa John’s next post will highlight the other tournament series going on at the time and give you the pros/cons.

Comparing the summer Vegas tournaments
By Tuscaloosa Johnny Kampis

What is great for us poker players is there has been a sort of arms race in Vegas the last few summers as competing casinos have begun starting their own events, and then as that competition grows they each try to outdo each other with better structures and higher starting stacks. Each summer you get more play for your money. The triple starting stacks at the World Series of Poker this year is a direct result of all of this competition. Just a few years ago you only got 1,500 chips in $1,500 events – now it’s 4,500.

If you are planning your first Vegas trip, or even if you are not, you should keep in mind that there are plenty of other tournament options in Vegas this summer. Let’s discuss the pros and cons of each of these events as you consider making the trek away from the Rio through the desert to other poker nirvanas. (I am omitting the annual Orleans Open because it was held early this year and will be completed by the time the WSOP rolls around.)

Bellagio Cup

Pros – Great structures are the norms at all Bellagio events and this one is no different. The Cup is held in the Fontana Lounge with a great view of the famous fountains. Most events are held as the WSOP winds down (this year from July 1-July 16) so players who bust out of the main event can used this as a de facto second chance tournament.

Cons – This isn’t for the weak of bankroll as events start at $1,500 and go up to the $15,000 buy-in main event. The fields here are usually among the toughest in town as the Bellagio is a normal World Poker Tour stop.

Binion’s Poker Open

Pros – This event pretty much runs concurrently with the WSOP and for the most part mirrors the WSOP with 10 percent of the buy-in. For example, what is a $1,500 NLHE event at the WSOP might be $150 buy-in here. The premise when this event was started in 2007 was that players could win money in events here and then take it the next day and play the same type WSOP event. So, in essence, the events are affordable, and could be considered as a sort of satellite. Playing here conjures up ghosts of past World Series of Poker events as you will be playing in the same room in which the WSOP was held for more than two decades. The BPO has a nice mix of events like the WSOP and is even holding a Crazy Pineapple tournament this year.

Cons – It’s downtown, making it out of the way for most poker players in town, especially those staying at the Rio. The structures here aren’t as good as in most of the other events in town.

Caesars Mega Stack Series

Pros – This event is making its return in 2009 after an inaugural foray into the tournament mix last summer. It has some of the best structures in town and is held in the Caesars poker room’s separate tournament area, which is quite spacious. Buy-ins are in the affordable $330, $540 and $1,060 range. The casino is conveniently located at the corner of The Strip and Flamingo Boulevard, making it an easy place in which to access.

Cons – $10,000 is taken out of each prize pool to give the winner a WSOP main event seat, which is going to make final table chops tricky. This could also make it difficult for players who weren’t planning on being in town for the main event who win an event here. The events are nothing but NLHE (granted, this could be a pro in the eyes of some).

Deep Stack Extravaganza

Pros – Like Binion’s event, this one runs concurrent with the WSOP (May 28-July 16 to be exact). The structures here are probably the best in town as it’s not called the Deep Stack for nothing. The Venetian poker room is among the most spacious and comfortable of its kind in Vegas. Events are mostly budget conscious with buy-ins of $330 and $550, but also consider the more affluent players with $1,070 and $2,100 buy-ins and a $5,000 main event to cap the series. Lots of satellites are available to win the ever cool octagonal lammers. The Venetian is located mid-Strip, also making it easy to access.

Cons – Like the Caesars series there is little variety here. The DSE will hold one event each of HORSE, O8 and PLO. Otherwise, it’s all NLHE all the time.

The Grand Poker Series

Pros – The variety here is the strongest of all the summer series with a HORSE here and an O8 there. The Golden Nugget is definitely the place to go for variety. Buy-ins are all in the $225 to $330 range except for the $1,080 main event. The Grand convention room is among the most spacious tournament venues and is quite comfortable. The Nugget will also run several daily NLHE tournaments called “bankroll builders.” Howard and Suzie Lederer are hosting an open charity event on July 1 that will feature a number of pros and celebrities.

Cons – The GN is also downtown, making it a more difficult trip than the Strip properties (although a cab is never far away).

World Series of Poker

Pros – Obviously, this is the big one. This is the horse that drives the poker machine in Vegas in the summer. With a great variety of events and buy-ins and no shortage of satellites, the WSOP provides numerous options for players. Cash games are abundant and full of little fishies. If you are a novice or pro wannabe this is the place you are going to be star struck watching your poker heroes in action.

Cons – The Rio is a labyrinth. If you get lost we will send out a search party. Most of the food is overpriced and WSOP comps in cash games are non-existent. The fields here are huge, so winning an event is very, very difficult, but if you do.

Post from: Poker From The Rail

2009 World Series of Poker preview – Summer Vegas Tournaments

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Stu Ungar is an iconic figure in the poker world, unfortunately known for his destructive life-style as much as his brilliance at the poker table. There was no disputing he was one of the best poker players but his demons eventually won the battle and the poker world lost a champion. A compelling story with an unfortunate ending.

There have been several movies made of his story as well as the top Stu Ungar biography One of a King by Nolan Dalla and Peter Alson. People are still drawn to his story over a decade after his death. “Tuscaloosa” Johnny brings us his profile of Stuey “The Kid” Ungar.

World Series of Poker: Stu Ungar
By Tuscaloosa Johnny Kampis

What hasn’t been said about the prodigious talents of the great card shark Stu Ungar?

The skinny kid from Brooklyn was such a good gin player that by the time he was 22 he could scarcely find a game. He took up poker and immediately found success in the biggest games in Las Vegas. At age 26, he entered Binion’s Horseshoe for his first WSOP as the decade of bell bottoms and eight-tracks was ending.

Ungar’s success in poker is highly intertwined with the World Series of Poker, largely because it was one of the few – and certainly the biggest – games in town in the 1980s and early 1990s when Ungar shot to fame on the felt.

He made an immediate splash in the 1980 WSOP, with a second place finish in the $5,000 Seven-Card Stud event.

Ungar, a non-imposing five four inches and maybe a hundred pounds, hung around the leaderboard as the main event field dwindled that year. Doyle Brunson certainly took notice.

“He does things naturally and they come off for him. It’s almost as if he is playing by natural instincts – jungle instincts. Yes, he’s like a young jungle animal when you think you have him cornered. He has the natural instincts for the right move and he seems to come up with the right move – instinctively,” Texas Dolly said of the player the rest were calling “The Kid.”

Ungar put it more succinctly. “At this level you can’t worry about losing. There is a lot of instinct. Sometimes when I make a play I don’t know why I do it.”

The final handful of players included a who’s who list of Brunson, Johnny Moss, Jay Heimowitz and Gabe Kaplan. Finally, after Brunson knocked out Heimowitz, it was the veteran Texan and the new kid from Brooklyn for the title. For the first time in the tournament’s history, Jack Binion loaded cardboard boxes full of $500,000 that would go to the top two finishers and dumped the money onto the table. This playing up to the TV cameras by Binion became an instant hit and has been a tradition ever since.

Heads-up play began with Ungar and Brunson nearly even in chips. Ungar figured it was to his advantage to play fast against his wily opponent. “I wanted to make it a shoot-out. I knew he would outplay me the longer it lasted, for, make not mistake about it, Doyle Brunson is the number one hold’em player in the world today. As far as I was concerned, someone was going to go broke quickly, and by forcing him and carrying the play to him, I hoped it would not be me,” Ungar said.

It didn’t take long – about 15 minutes, in fact. Brunson raised to 10,000 before the flop with A-7 and Ungar called with 5-4. After a flop of A-7-2, Brunson bet a tiny 10,000 and Ungar called, praying for his gutshot to come in. It did when a three fell on the turn and Ungar led out for 30,000. Brunson responded by pushing all-in and Ungar called immediately. A harmless deuce fell on the river and Ungar was the 1980 world champion and $365,000 richer.

He followed that with an even better Series in 1981. He won the $10,000 Deuce-to-Seven Triple Draw Lowball event, often considered one of the toughest pro heavy fields in the WSOP, and felt confident heading into the main event. The first day was not kind to him, however, as his initial stack of 10,000 dropped to 2,000 at one point in the opener. He bounced back on Day 2, at one point climbing from 35,000 to 340,000 during a hot three-hour stretch as the field narrowed toward the final table.

Ungar won a key pot against Heimowitz when his jacks bested the fellow New Yorker’s queens after a flop of K-J-T, and Heimowitz was eliminated when he could not improve by the river.

Then he won the hand that would set him up for back-to-back titles. Ungar raised to 10,000 preflop with K-K and Perry Green called with A-Q. The flop came ace high and Green opened for 60,000. Ungar pondered for awhile before making the call and was rewarded with a king on the turn to double up. He took a slight chip lead into three-handed play, and after Green soon busted Gene Fisher the two Jews were set to play heads-up for the title.

Johnny Moss liked Ungar’s chances for a repeat, saying, “I reckon Stuey’s got it made. He may not look like no Buffalo Bill, but he’s one tough poker player. That boy’s got alligator blood in his veins.”

Ungar took control of the match after a flop of Jd-9c-8c. He got all-in against Green with Ac-Jc against Tc-2c, holding top pair-top kicker and a superior flush draw. Green missed his straight draw and Ungar was ahead 600,000 to 150,000.

“It’s all over,” Jack Strauss said. “The kid’s gonna eat him up like a boarding house pie.”

On the final hand, Ungar held Ah-Qh and called an all-in bet from Green, holding Tc-9d, on a flop of 8h-7d-4h. Again, Green missed his outs and Ungar was the world champion a second time, winning $375,000.

When asked what he was going to do with the money by the television announcer there for the coverage, Ungar replied, “Lose it.”

The rest of the decade was not nearly as successful for “The Kid.” Ungar did win the $5,000 Seven-Card Stud event in 1983, but other than a handful of final tables did not see success again until his last great hurrah in 1997. Supposedly broke at the time, the only reason Ungar got into the main event was because fellow pro Billy Baxter staked him.

Ungar was one of 170 players to survive into Day 2 and was rewarded with a tough table that included former champions Bobby Baldwin, Brunson, Phil Hellmuth and Berry Johnston. Ungar survived this tough field, making tough calls against the aggressive Hellmuth and found himself at the final table yet again – this time under the canopy of the Fremont Street Experience in the first, and only, main event final table played outdoors.

Ungar began this final table with more than 1 million in tournament chips, or more than double the stack possessed by any other player, and he pushed his edge by playing super aggressive poker to put maximum pressure on his opponents. In the end, Ungar found himself heads-up with John Strzemp and holding a 2.5 million to 600,000 chip lead.

On the sixth hand of heads-up play Ungar raised preflop with A-4 and Strzemp called with A-8. After a flop of A-5-3, Strzemp bet 120,000 and Ungar raised to 800,000, enough to put his foe all-in. Strzemp called and waited on his fate. The turn was another three, meaning Ungar could not win with two pair, but the river was a two to give him the straight and his third main event title, making him the only poker player to have ever achieved this feat.

“There’s nobody that can beat me playing cards,” Ungar told Gabe Kaplan, who covered the event for ESPN. “The only one that ever beat me was myself, my bad habits. But when I get to playing like I was, on stroke, this tournament, I really believe that no one can play with me on a daily basis.”

It’s been said that Ungar went from broke to millionaire and back again several times in his life As soon as he earned money at the poker tables he gambled it away in other games, like sports and horse betting, or used it to fund his unfortunate cocaine habit.

As the 1998 WSOP rolled around, Ungar was again broke and Baxter planned to stake him again. Ungar departed the casino just before the main event was to begin, claiming he was too tired to play. Months later he checked into the Oasis Motel in Las Vegas and was found dead two days later, and authorities believed drugs had shut down his weakened heart.

It has been reported that over his career Ungar won 10 of 32 events he played with a buy-in of $5,000 or greater. His WSOP resume is one of the best ever, with the three main event wins, five bracelets, nine final tables and 15 cashes – accomplished in five different poker disciplines and spread over nearly three decades of play. His total WSOP winnings were more than $2 million.

Post from: Poker From The Rail

2009 World Series of Poker preview – Stu Ungar profile

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3. 2009 World Series of Poker preview – Summer Vegas Tournaments

Continuing with out 2009 World Series of Poker preview, we move outside the Rio and start planning your trip to Las Vegas. You’ve already won your way into your tournament of choice or decided which game to play, you read our Rio preview telling you what to expect. But what about getting there and where to stay?

“Tuscaloosa” Johnny has your answers. He’s here to give you advice on getting there, where to stay and how to get around town while your are there.  Some great information and worth bookmarking for use at any time.

Planning your summer Vegas trip
by “Tuscaloosa” Johnny Kampis

Whether you are a Vegas virgin considering your first trip to Sin City or a grizzled WSOP veteran preparing for yet another six to seven-week slough at the Rio you should find some useful information in my guide to planning your trip to Vegas and the WSOP.

Below are some helpful hints that I hope will enable you to save time and/or money as you make your Vegas planning for June and July. This is the best year since I’ve been regularly traveling in the summer for the WSOP for vacation discounts in Vegas.

Keep checking back here at Full Tilt’s Poker from the Rail in the coming weeks in the run-up to the granddaddy of poker tournaments as I bring you a series of articles highlighting the ins and outs of summer in Vegas, from WSOP orientation, to the must see sights, and the other tournaments in town you may want to consider during your stay.

Flights

Step one is deciding on how to get there. For most of us that means airlines. Reports are that average airfares are down 10 to 20 percent from last summer, thanks to the slumping economy and dropping gas prices. A quick look through the various online travel sites proves that theory out as many cross country flights can be had on many summer days for as low as $200-$250 round trip to Vegas.

There are ways to save even more on airfare. First, go to Southwest.com and download its Ding program. This will allow you to view Southwest’s daily specials for the departure cities of your choosing. For example, from my home airport of Birmingham, Southwest’s roundtrip fares to Vegas generally run $250-$300 with fees included, but occasionally on Ding those same fares drop to around $200 for the same flights.

The other recommendation I have is to bookmark the site AirfareWatchdog.com. You can search a city and find some really good daily or weekly deals that pop up from time to time, or view the top 50 cheap fares on any given day. Sign up with your email and get daily alerts from the site. In recent months, users got wind of a ridiculous $14 fare on Jet Blue from New York to San Francisco so this site could be well worth your time.

Rooms

Never have I seen room rates in Vegas this cheap. It truly is a bonanza on lodging there this summer as rates are down 30 percent or more at many properties. I found a ridiculous deal through Orbitz in which I paid less than $300 to stay on three and four-star Harrah’s owned mid-Strip properties for 11 nights in June and July.

Here is that deal: You can use the promo code 4ODWR75 to get $75 off a four-night weekday stay (Sunday through Thursday or Monday through Friday). This is some collaboration between Orbitz and Office Depot. In addition, on Orbitz there is a separate promotion at Harrah’s properties that allows you to receive a fourth night free with a three-night stay. I booked the Flamingo June 22-June 26 for $57 and Bally’s June 29-July 3 for $88 using the combined promotions. I sandwiched the Imperial Palace in between with no weekend discount for $152 for three nights. Total: $297.

Deals like this can be found by scouring popular travel discussion forums. I found this deal while looking at the popular 2 + 2 poker forums. (The poster had used the Office Depot promo to book the El Cortez for $12 for four nights.) Try these sites to find deals that may pop up over the next couple of months: LasVegasAdvisor.com, CheapoVegas.com, FatWallet.com and SlickDeals.net.

Another thing to consider before booking your room is the hotel’s location and your transportation situation. If you plan to rent a car then location within a few miles of Rio and the Strip is fine. If you plan to taxi it, then staying any farther than mid-Strip can be cost prohibitive. If you stay at the Rio you are obviously set for travel to the WSOP. The same is true for the Gold Coast, which is next door, and the Palms, which is about a quarter mile west of the Rio on Flamingo.

Cheaper rates for rooms can be found Downtown, but other than the Golden Nugget most properties are of the two-star variety. Also, aside from the Nugget and Binion’s (both of which are running nice summer poker tournament series – more about that in a future article), there are no other good poker rooms Downtown so you will often be traveling to the Rio or the Strip for the juicy poker action. If you rent a car this isn’t much of an issue, but is a major consideration if you are not.

Transportation

You have several options for getting around: taxis, rental cars, buses and hoofing it (NOT recommended, unless in moderation). Let’s look at each in turn.

If you come into town with a fat roll then you can probably afford cabs around town. From much of the Strip to the Rio will cost you around $10-$12 one way. From Downtown to the Rio is about $15-$20. If you plan a lengthy stay the fares will certainly add up.

Alternatively, you can rent a car. Rates are rather reasonable in Las Vegas, as an economy car will only set you back about $25-$30 a day, and having a car will give you a ton of freedom in exploring all parts of the city and beyond. I highly recommend this option.

A third choice is taking the city buses. Fares on the Deuce, the double decker buses that run up and down the Strip and to Downtown are $3 for one ride. A daily pass is available for $7, as is a three-day pass for $15. You can also use these buses to ride from the Strip to the Rio. There are two major negatives to bus travel: one, you have to hoof it to the bus stops, which might be a fair hike, and two, travel by bus is very slow. It can take more than an hour to get from Downtown to the Rio by riding a bus to Caesars Palace, getting off and walking around the corner to the Flamingo stop to get on a second bus to the Rio, for example.

I should also note that there is a free shuttle bus that Harrah’s runs from its namesake Harrah’s casino on the Strip to the Rio and back, which is a viable and obviously very cheap option to travel between the Strip and the Rio. At Harrah’s you board the bus at the bottom of the parking garage and at the Rio you board just outside the buffet entrance, which is to the left from the front of the casino.

Lastly, we have hoofing it. Vegas in the summer is not a pleasant time to spend walking around in the sun as the thermostat pretty well stays above 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the daytime and above 90 degrees at night. Granted, the lack of humidity makes conditions more comfortable than they would be at the same temperatures in my neck of the woods in Alabama, but you still feel like your ears and nose are baking in an oven. The distance from Caesars Palace to the Rio may look deceptively shorter than it is – it’s about a mile in reality. I’ve walked it a couple of times during the day and night and I wouldn’t recommend either. At day you bake as the sun shines off the sidewalk and asphalt and at night you worry you’re likely to get robbed as the walk is pretty isolated (because people have enough sense not to try it!) If you plan to do some casino hopping on foot pace yourself by frequently stopping into the highly air conditioned properties on the Strip and hydrate yourself often.

Post from: Poker From The Rail

2009 World Series of Poker preview – Planning Your Vegas Trip

Related posts:

1. 2009 World Series of Poker preview – Summer Vegas Tournaments
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3. 2009 World Series of Poker preview – First-timer Guide to the Rio

Now that we’ve agreed that everyone is a loser in poker at some point (in the blogger world we call it the Waffle’s Coefficient), you need to decide how you are going to handle it.  Without the proper tools you’re likely to burn your bankroll straight into the ground and just be another broke poker player.  But it doesn’t need to happen that way.

“Tuscaloosa” Johnny brings us his next guest post where he gives some valuable first hand tips on how to handle an extended downer. Nobody likes to run bad and will battle hard before making these changes but at some point they will be necessary.

Good times, bad, times, you know I’ve had a few
By “Tuscaloosa” Johnny Kampis

In poker, it doesn’t matter how good you are (or how good you think you are), you are going to run into some bad streaks, and sometimes these bad streaks can last a very long time. In a game where fortunes are dictated by the turn of a card, each player is going to experience unbelievably good and bad luck during short periods of time.

I know I’ve had my share of each, and lately it seems I’ve had more of the latter. That’s just the way poker goes sometimes. If you want to stay in the game you’ve got to come up with methods for dealing with the bad times. There are a few ways of handling a bad run if you are experiencing a cold deck yourself. Here are some things I would recommend you try:

• Play lower limits – This is usually the first thing people tell you to do and it is good advice. The unfortunate thing about slumps is that players tend to go on tilt and play worse out of frustration. If you are playing smaller limits your tilting won’t hurt as much. Players are also generally weaker as you move down in limits so the competition should be easier to beat. If you usually play $2-$5 blinds no limit, drop down to $1-$2. If you’re a $10-$20 limit player, try $5-$10. Full Tilt Poker recently added micro stakes of .02/.05 blinds No-Limit Hold’em to its roster of games so if you’re struggling you can really move down the ladder now. Once you start winning consistently again, you can move back up.




• Use better game selection – Do your best to find games in which the players are easier to beat. If the competition at the table is known to be tough, try finding another game. It’s not easy to break out of slump playing against trickier players. When you’re online look for games where a higher percentage of the players see the flop and the average pot size is greater than at other tables. This is a good indication that the players are too loose.




• Try playing different poker games – Online you have numerous options for different types of poker to play. If you’re tired of the bad beats in Hold’em, you can try Stud, Stud Hi-Lo, Pot-Limit Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo, Razz, HORSE, HA…you get the picture. As your poker game develops you should try learning the new games because you may find one in which you have a bigger edge over your opponents.




• Try playing different poker formats – Here I am talking about playing sit-n-go’s and multi-table tournaments versus playing only cash games, or full tables instead of short handed games. Or instead of playing regular SNGs you can try The Matrix. Here’s a short list of other formats…heads-up SNGs, satellites, four-handed SNGs, 180-player tournaments, 90-player tournaments…There are a lot of things you can try to break up your unlucky streak.




• Just take a break for awhile – And then there are times that no matter what you do, it seems you can’t break out of the slump. If that’s the case, take a day or two off, enjoy the sunshine and come back feeling refreshed with a positive outlook about the game. Now, if I can just take my own advice…

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Guest Post – Tuscaloosa Johnny

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With the new administration taking over next month, it’s time to examine what the future holds for online poker players in the U.S. of A.  “Tuscaloosa” John brings us his analysis of what we can possibly expect wants the new president is sworn into office.

Comments at always welcome.

After Obama takes the oath, will online poker be legalized?

By Johnny Kampis

We will soon inaugurate a new president and welcome a plethora of new Congressmen and women to the capital. The question for poker players is with the historic elections of 2008, will we see a reversal of the government’s previous stance on online poker and see it legalized?

From a political party standpoint the climate is certainly more favorable. For one, we have an admitted poker playing new president in Barack Obama and are sending out the highly conservative Bible thumping George W. Bush. Granted, Obama has a lot more important issues to worry about when he takes office (such as the tanking economy), but when online poker comes up down the road he is likely to be more in tune with the opinions of poker players than our previous Republican leadership.

By sheer numbers things are also looking up. Democrats are, of course, more liberal leaning in general and more likely to vote for pro online poker legislation, and we now have more of them in the Capitol building. The House of Representatives will have more than 250 Democrats in place come late January, which are about 20 more than there were during the 110th Congress. The current Senate is split evenly among Democrats and Republicans, but the 111th Congress will seat about 10 more Democrats than members of the Grand Old Party. While there is no supermajority in either the House or the Senate, with a Democratic controlled Congress and Democrat president, online poker stands a better chance of being legalized in this country than it did even a year ago.

John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance, is prepared for a long fight, but he said support is building.

“Years ago when these fights were going on on Capitol Hill our issue would lose by votes of 10 to 1. Most recently we had a vote in the Financial Services Committee where the pro Internet poker vote carried the day,” Pappas said. “So we’ve made significant strides in changing the hearts and minds of lawmakers, but there’s a lot more work to do and we’re not going to be happy until the laws are changed in our favor.”

In the last two years nine bills have been introduced that would have either delayed or clarified the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act to exclude poker and set up a regulatory body for it, Pappas said.

“We’ve been kind of building support and allies in Washington, D.C. to champion the cause that regulation is the answer. Prohibition – much like Prohibition in the 1920s failed – will fail when it relates to Internet poker,” he said.

Before leaving office, Bush has given his stamp or approval on rules pushed by Congressman Spencer Bachus, D-Ala., that will make banks enforce the UIGEA. Financial institutions have until December 2009 to comply with the legislation.

Pappas said that how this will affect online poker players and their ability to move money into poker sites remains to be seen, but that it doesn’t look good.

”It’s simply going to be an issue of how the banks interpret the rules and how they will enforce them. All indications show that because there is no definition of unlawful Internet gambling that they will simply block all transactions that could be perceived as being unlawful or not, and that would obviously include poker. We would argue that there is no federal statute that says playing online poker is unlawful, therefore, we don’t believe it should be blocked, but a bank isn’t going to make that determination. Because there’s so much vagueness in the federal law they will err on the side of caution and block everything,” he said.

He’s hopeful that the PPA can work to roll back the regulations with the new administration. Pappas noted that Bush has put through a number of what he calls “midnight rules” before leaving office that the new administration might find objectionable. He said the PPA will work to make sure that if any of these rules are done away with that the UIGEA is a part of it.

Pappas believes that it doesn’t matter if there is a Republican or a Democrat in the White House – that the legalization of online poker is inevitable.

“I think that just over time, whether it was a McCain administration or an Obama administration, we’re continuing to build support and I think people recognize the failures of trying to prohibit this activity rather than recognizing that it exists and are seeking to control it through appropriate administration. I think clearly the Obama administration provides a lot of hope for the PPA and what we’re trying to accomplish, but I think it’s a matter of time regardless of who is sitting in the White House. We’re going to accomplish this one way or another.”

What can you do? For one, join the PPA.

“The most important thing is they get on our mailing list and then when we send out action alerts, we ask them to contact their member of Congress or to send a letter or make a phone call or go to a meeting or whatever the activity is that they respond, and that they don’t think, hey, I’m still playing online what do I care? In politics the squeaky wheel gets the grease and if poker players remain silent then lawmakers have no interest in protecting their rights. They are going to go ahead and respond to the folks who say we should take all gambling off the Internet entirely. If they are making the most noise in Washington they are going to win the day, and I think poker players have a real ability to make some noise in Washington and the PPA is trying to facilitate that so being a part of our organization will be very important to the success of our goals.”

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Guest Post – Tuscaloosa Johnny

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Stu Ungar won the 1997 WSoP Main Event at the outdoor final table

The final table of the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event has played itself out over the last two days and we have a new champion. It was a unique situation where we had 4 months between hands from 10 handed to the final table but that’s just one twist the WSoP overlords have come up with in the history of this event.

On the eve of ESPN broadcasting the final table action, blogger “Tuscaloosa” Johnny takes a look at some of the other interesting changes they’ve attempted with the WSoP and how they worked out.

World Series of Poker innovations have been hit and miss
By “Tuscaloosa” Johnny Kampis

The move by Harrah’s to delay the final table of the 2008 WSOP Main Event by four months in an effort to generate more publicity has seemed to fallen flat. Time will tell how successful the decision has been, but we certainly haven’t seen the November Nine on Letterman reading Top 10 lists this summer. Perhaps the lack of media buzz has been due to many other more newsworthy and pressing topics over the last several months taking over newspaper and television coverage (the election, economy and Olympics certainly come to mind), but I believe the lack of buzz could have been expected. Poker is still mainly a niche activity, despite its overall popularity. The people who love it eat up all news about it, but those who only see it as an enjoyable hobby aren’t going to go out of their way to seek information about the November Nine.

This controversial decision by Harrah’s is certainly not the only major overhaul of the WSOP over the years. Let’s take a look at how well some of the other changes have been received.

More after the jump

Birth of a tournament
It’s well know that the first WSOP wasn’t even what we call a tournament today. A handful of players put up their own money and played cash games for several days. Johnny Moss won the first one in 1970 by popular vote (after players were told they couldn’t vote for themselves). Observers were bored so the Binions had to find a way to make it a contest. “Amarillo” Slim Preston had the idea to make the WSOP a freezeout, where players would begin with a fixed amount of chips and could not rebuy. This format in which the players battled until only one remained was adopted in 1971. Moss beat a field of six others to win again and the tournament format was born. Who knew then that this would be such a HIT that the WSOP would have nearly 9,000 players in its main event 25 years later?

A cheaper way in
Eric Drache, tournament director for the WSOP for much of its early history, started the first satellites in the early 80s when he convinced a table full of players to each risk the $1,000 they had on a cash table to play a freezeout for a WSOP seat. This was the greatest innovation for increasing the numbers of players at the WSOP as it later spawned the numerous online satellites we now play today. It’s estimated that more than half, if not three quarters, of players who now play in the main event get in by satellites in some shape or form. Drache’s big HIT made the WSOP more of an open tournament, where more recreational players entered. Tom McEvoy became the first winner who got in via satellite in 1983.

The silver anniversary
The 1994 event was the 25th, or silver, anniversary of the WSOP and the Horseshoe decided to give the champion his weight in silver in addition to the $1 million grand prize. Not surprisingly, Jack Binion was rooting for the small Stu Ungar to win it, but he was out on the first day. Russ Hamilton had been filling his gut with steak dinners during the tournament and during the weigh-in prior to the final table clocked in at 330 lbs. Hamilton ended up winning the tournament and $28,512 worth of silver bars. It was a cute gimmick of its time and certainly paid dividends for Hamilton, but similar giveaways haven’t really been introduced since. The silver giveaway was neither HIT nor MISS.

The sweltering heat
To spice things up, the 1997 final table was played in Fremont Street, under the canopy in the 98 degree heat. A pane of Plexiglas was needed to keep the board cards from blowing away and commemorative coins minted for the event were used to hold down players’ hole cards. Players suffered through the final table, which was historic for being Ungar’s third and final win. Otherwise, this innovation was a big MISS and was not repeated.

Back to Binion’s
The 2005 WSOP was the first to be held away from the world famous Binion’s Horseshoe after Harrah’s purchased the rights to the tournament and moved it across town to its Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino. Although there were kinks in Harrah’s maiden voyage with the property, the WSOP went well and few observers could imagine the hordes of people fitting into the Horseshoe had the event been held there that year. The plan (supposedly helped by a little arm twisting by Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman) was to play the final three tables of the main event back in Benny’s Bullpen at the Horseshoe. So, like it or not, the final 27 players spent the last two days in Binion’s and Joe Hachem was the ultimate winner. The move was a MISS because hardly anyone wanted to return to the old stomping grounds to conclude the event after spending the past month in the spacious Amazon ballroom at the Rio.

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As always, if you have a post you would like to submit for Blogger On The Rail you can contact me at BattleoftheBloggers@fulltiltpoker.com.

A little poker bedtime reading

By Johnny Kampis

If you’re like me, you’ve got a shelf full of poker books. (In my house they are juxtaposed with my wife’s Christian books, which certainly make for an interesting juxtaposition.) Although the brunt of poker books on my shelf deal with game strategy, there are still quite a few narratives. While poker strategy books certainly are useful – I know they’ve helped my game greatly over the years – I’d much rather lie in bed before sleep and curl up with a good poker narrative. Over the years there have been quite a few great non-strategic books. Here is a list of the best:

The Biggest Game in Town by A. Alvarez
British author and poker player Alvarez traveled to Las Vegas in 1981 to watch and report on the World Series of Poker. What he found was a game he barely could comprehend, where true gamblers risked their fortunes on the turn of a card, where the “next best thing to playing and winning is playing and losing.” Widely considered the best narrative on the game, Alvarez provides an account of the early days of the WSOP, when barely a hundred people gathered inside the Horseshoe for the event, practically all of them aged, hardened poker pros.

Big Deal by Anthony Holden
A contemporary of Alvarez (they even played in the same London poker club), Holden traveled the world in the mid 1980s, following the tournament trail as far as Malta and Morocco, to test his luck and mettle against the game’s best. Holden, who fared well, provides a sharp witted commentary on the world of professional poker. Some people consider this a better book than “The Biggest Game in Town.” Either is a great read. Holden released a sequel in 2006, not-so-creatively titled “Bigger Deal,” but I can’t recommend this one. In the second book, Holden recalls the recent poker boom (something that has been discussed repeatedly elsewhere) with a few mildly boring anecdotes thrown in. It’s called cashing a paycheck.

Positively Fifth Street by James McManus
The mild-mannered Chicagoan got an assignment from Harper’s magazine to travel to the WSOP in 1999 to write about women in the event and cover the murder trial of the duo charged with killing Ted Binion, son of the founder or the Horseshoe where the WSOP was then held. McManus decided to use his $4,000 advance to enter some satellites to try and win a seat in the main event. He not only succeeded in winning his seat, but made the final table against top pros like Chris Ferguson and T.J. Cloutier. His book recounts what it’s like for a tournament novice to compete on the game’s greatest stage.

All In: The (Almost) Entirely True Story of the World Series of Poker by Jonathan Grotenstein and Storms Reback
Grotenstein and Reback exhaustively researched all accounts and interviewed as many participants as they could to compile this history of the WSOP, from its beginnings as a Texas road gamblers reunion in Reno to Greg Raymer’s $5 million payday in 2004. This book charts poker’s grandest tournament’s growth from a handful of degenerate poker players to thousands of wannabe amateurs and whiz kids of today. This is probably the best book on the game’s history ever published even though it only details the WSOP. That’s because the WSOP is so intertwined with the game’s growth through the years.

Read ‘em and Weep edited by John Stravinsky
This isn’t a narrative. Instead, it’s a collection of both fictional and non-fictional short stories through the years that I9 9m including because it is such a great bedtime read. In this tome, Stravinsky collects about 40 stories with varying degrees of poker-related content from such famed authors and poker writers as Mark Twain, W. Somerset Maugham, James Thurber, Jesse May, David Hayano and many more. The best part? This book is easy to find for less than a buck.

Reach Johnny Kampis at jkampis@hotmail.com

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