I’m thinking about going to the Palms Party, too — started a few minutes ago — just downing another All In Root Beer to see if I have it in me to go. (Huh, do these things even have any flavor any more?)

Big tourney for me tomorrow, of course. Half a million bucks at stake in what seems sure to be an organizational fustercluck.

In the meantime, as of a few days ago, none other than PokerStars is all over (literally) the Palms. Get the sense that with hundreds of main event online qualifiers shacked up across the street from the Rio the low-stakes cash games will be extra-juicy there?

It is common knowledge that poker players in Las Vegas flock to Bellagio for cash game action, primarily on the higher end of the buy-in scale. While there seem to be a plethora of cash games going on at the Rio around the clock during the WSOP, anyone looking for games higher than $10-$20 usually heads over to Bellagio. Since I am such a high-stakes player can always use a change of scenery from the Rio, I took a trip on over on Monday night around 10pm to see what was happenin’.

Craziness.

More…

A common question I’m getting these days: “So are you playing much? How’s it going?”

In a nutshell, at the tables, not particularly well. (Especially compared to last year, whence I shocked myself by making more money playing during the WSOP than actually working during the WSOP.) I’ll see if we can’t whip up a visually compelling WSOP bankroll chart/graph … but in the meantime, it’s not like you have to be able to read music to get a sense of what the following — which is all the poker I have played over the past two weeks — would look like:

Day 2, 2/5 NL, Rio, 3 hours:
-$300

Day 6, 2/5 NL, Rio, 2 hours:
-$300

Day 12, 1/3 NL, Rio, 3.5 hours:
-$187

More…

That’s two cashes so far for Schneider. This one paid a net $1,743. Congratulations-ish, Tom.. Nice to book another win, and this one should cover two or three of the many dozens of blinds you’ve defended poorly in the cash games! Don’t call it a comeback!

I ran into Angry Julie in the poker kitchen late last night shortly after Tom had busted out, and she was unusually happy. Giddy, I’d even say. She was buying herself a Krispy Kreme donut and Tom an ice cream using the $15 food voucher you get for playing in a WSOP event. Informed that she wouldn’t get back any change, she looked at the guy behind her in line and said, “How much is what he’s having? ($8) Great, his too!”

The dude was super-thankful, but before he could walk away with a smile, she stood there and wouldn’t let him leave until he tipped the cashier. “Not until you put at least a dollar in there,” she said, pointing to the tip basket in front of the register. I know what Tom would think if he saw this: “Leak.”

Meanwhile, Tom thinks Pokerati should be all over the continuing saga of the Donkey Bomber POY Banner. “My picture the only one without a light - rodney dangerfield,” said a text he sent to me yesterday. I checked, and it’s true — everyone else has a big beam accenting their mugs. But considering that I have to sit right below his banner and I don’t want any additional glare, I think we’ll stick to keeping you posted about his feats busting out of a tournament with only nine tables to go.

You may think the price of gas is high (I filled my first $50 tank in my personal history of owning an automobile the other day) but that’s nothing compared to the price of Chinese Poker at the WSOP.

Weren’t we just saying last year how this was one of the hottest games going? Well apparently that was a problem … as WSOP cash games management has made the cost of playing highly prohibitive — a $50 per hour time charge. You’d think we’d be all up in the Chinese these days … not just because of the game’s growing popularity, but also because of the Olympics and everyone’s going ga-ga over Macau. The game is still technically being spread, but again, at that level of time charge, these games will be limited to players willing to gamble-gamble at $100/pt. or more.

Supposedly it has much to do with space — but there was an empty high-stakes cash table available at the time of our learning about this. (The 7-stud players joked about how at $25 a point, everyone would be broke within a few hours.) Gotta wonder if there might not be more to it — after all, there’s no shortage of whities (and even a few viets that I know) who accuse various Asian contingents of high-stakes Chinese Poker players (as opposed to Chinese poker players) of regularly violating the English Only rules and engaging in other forms of nefarious card play.

Even in Vegas, there’s poker going on elsewhere from the WSOP. The Rio itself has left its Westside poker room open — really, I bet it’s more than a mile away from the Amazon room — offering $1/$3 NL, plenty of low-stakes limit, and $2/$5 NL games with a waitlist more than a dozen long. In previous years the Rio shut that room down during the WSOP. But this year it’s open … and it’s boomin’.

There’re also two other tournament series going down in town that coincide super-intentionally with the World Series to offer a high-thrill tournament experience for buy-ins in the hundreds as opposed to the thousands. Basically you’ve got the Minor League World Series at the Venetian (Deep Stack Extravaganza II) and Little League World Series at the Golden Nugget (Grand Series of Poker). I actually wrote about these two poker festivals over at Thrillist this week … along with some info about a kick-ass new steakhouse at the Monte Carlo, a cool near-daily free happy hour that moves around town, and an apparatus you can attach to your penis for greater comfort at the poker table and beyond.

Check it out, and of course sign up if you want a Vegas-minded weekly email of this important-service ilk …

A regular high-stakes Southern Cali cash game player, Kang Choi, was arrested at the Commerce (playing $200/$400 limit, I believe):

http://www.wnbc.com/news/16321153/detail.html

[via ThinkingPoker]

2+2 convo about the topic and his loose-aggressive play.

When poker was super hot - like the weather in L.A. this weekend - players couldn’t get enough of it. It wasn’t enough to watch the plethora of poker TV shows and listen to podcasts; poker fans wanted to see the real deal. And Live at the Bike gave it to them with live webcasts of cash games from the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles.

Live at the Bike ran from early 2005 to the spring of 2007, and for fans of the shows, they are archived and available at a site called Poker Netcast. The site not only offers those webcasts but quite of bit of other instructional tools, some of which are still in the works. Though there is a small monthly fee to access all of the videos, players and poker fans can log on to get a preview of the site and see what it has to offer.

Troy in Las Vegas writes in with a question about bankroll management that I’m going to attempt to answer: (Stop laughing.)

Dan,

I have a quick question for you… in your opinion what is the best for me to do w/no bank roll…. just able to spend about 200-300 every other week…

a. small (50-60) buy in tournys

b. play one larger tourney (say the venitian) once every two weeks

c. invest my 200 in a ring game some where

or d. none of the above and save my cash til i get enough

if the answer is d…. what is “enough” to play? I have a VERY hard time not playing, but, have been on the roller coaster of up down small amounts til i get felted in cash games (can’t seem to stay away from getting my money in w/the best and not fairing well…. or… when i do well in one session i don’t do well in the next two and get felted)

Just wondering your opinion… thanks!

Troy, you pose an interesting question, because I suspect a lot of folks are in your position, where they have money to spend on poker, but they don’t have a real bankroll. We all hear that you should have $2-3k to play 1/2 — and it doesn’t take long playing to realize those numbers might not be a load of shit — but how many 1/2 players actually have a few thousand bucks in a non-interest bearing poker account?

More…

Just got word over the poker satellite that Gregg Merkow and Jamie Gold are currently engaged in some high stakes action — $50/$100 NLH with a $200 straddle. I can only presume in Tunica, where there’s a WSOP Circuit main event and a big WPT event going right next to each other. Don’t know who’s got what kinda stacks in front of them, but you know who we’re rooting for … 2008 baby, it feels good to run good!

Strange. Just listened to the latest episode of Beyond the Table, the first of the new year. If you haven’t queued up “ . . . Who Needs Enemies?” yet, let me forewarn you. The guys talk about poker. That’s right. Poker. I mean like all the way through.

What the hell?

After a brief rundown of the several January tourneys presently ongoing, Tom offers some winning wisdom regarding tourney selection. Then, prompted by a question from Karridy, there follows a smart, insightful discussion about differences between cash game players and tourney players. Yeah, I know. “Smart” and “insightful” usually ain’t what us BTT fans are looking for. But there it is.

Next the trio turn their attention to Dan’s first poker session after moving to Vegas, as well as the rambling, gambling fortunes of Dan’s friend, Bob. The show concludes with a stunner of sorts regarding CardPlayer’s recent 12-page, comprehensive overview of “Poker’s 2007 Odyssey: A Review of the Year’s Historic Events.” (Hint: The article ain’t as comprehensive as one might have hoped.)

Oh, there were opportunities for the hosts to get away from the pokery content. Other topics arise, such as Dan’s sex life, Barack Obama, and froteurism. (Not at the same time. Ahem.) But somehow none of these offered enough turbulence to divert Beyond the Table from its poker-specific flightpath.

Do let the BTT hosts know how you feel about this strange new development by calling the listener line at (888) 820-8091 or emailing theshow(at)beyondthetable(dot)com.

Recently stumbled across this video, where Phil Laak espouses the basics of bankroll management — i.e. 10 buy-ins and 100x the big blind. Personally, I think the 10 buy-ins needs to be increased for no-limit players … because otherwise, how does the “10 percent rule” apply when you lose your first four sessions of $1/$2 NLH? Are you still just waiting out the variance that you’ve accounted for, or is it already time to drop your stakes to a game that doesn’t exist?

Ok, I’m officially in poker withdrawal. I haven’t been playing at all lately and have spent the last 6 months listening to the exploits of Tom as he conquered the WSOP and final tables at the WPT. To make matters worse, my good friend Karridy has been able to experience these events, traveling to both the WSOP and a WPT final table. And to top it all off, the rest of the Beyond the Table gang was just in Vegas last week-end for the 1st Annual Poker Bowl. Not just attending, but providing live broadcasting and PR duties for the event! In short, my non poker playing ass is really happy for them jealous as shit.

Yeah, Yeah - no one wants to hear my pity party - so I decided to get off my ass and book a trip to Vegas for what will be a much needed break from the kids for both myself and the always lovely Mrs. SitNGo! We land Thursday afternoon and stay thru Sunday and I should get plenty of quality poker in as we only have tickets to one show (”O”) and I overheard Mrs. SitNGo telling a friend on the phone that I would be playing poker the whole time and she was looking forward to spending all of my hard earned money having some alone time. Following the advice of Dan and Tom, and some independent research at All Vegas Poker, I booked us at the Venetian. I can’t wait for the trip, but I admit I have some nervous excitement to finally get back at a poker table. The room review at All Vegas makes the Venetian room sound great, but the competition sounds stiff. Some quotes from others who have gone there:

“These guys were very good. Where I come from (Oklahoma Indian Casino Poker rooms) you could limp in for 2 bucks and see a flop most of the time. At Venetian, you could not see a flop for less then 10 bucks.” - Is it a bad sign that the majority of my live cash game experience is at Oklahoma Indian Casino’s?

“Probably the toughest room I’ve ever played in.” - Great.

More…

THACKERVILLE, Okla.–Some chip counts from the Red River Roundup, Day 2-Day 1:

TBR - 10k
Gregg Merkow - 20k
Webber Kang - 3500
Robert “Sanbob” Sanchez - 3k
Jerry Randack - 2500

UPDATE: Webber is out. Now playing 5/10 nlh.

Spot-check of license plates on my walk from the parking lot:

Texas - 92
Oklahoma - 9
Kansas - 1

In the cash room:

Omaha games running - 2/5 and 5/10 PLO
Full 5/10 NLH tables - 4
Number of players in the smoke room playing for their very first time - 2
Amount one of these players is up playing 4/8 - $840

LAS VEGAS–Funny how being in Las Vegas has put me so out of touch with all the poker news. I think there are some big tournaments going on, online poker execs in the courts, business deals shaking down, but I’ve got little to report other than poker being played. Still, it’s been kinda interesting to see who you run into at the tables around this town:

The first notable I ran into was OREL HERSHEISER, who apparently just moved here to Las Vegas and sat to my left in a 1/2 NLH game at RED ROCK — fresh after being denied selection into the baseball HALL OF FAME. I tried to play the not-knowing-who-he-is thing — “You lost a vote? Were you running for city council or congress or something?” — but he would end up busting me out when I tried to run a little STOP-N-GO. As I pushed all-in, he asked, “How much money do you have?”

“Um, I’m all-in. About $140 more,” I said, pointing to my stacks.

“No, I mean other money. Because we can make a little side-bet away from the table,” he said, upon showing me THE NUTS.

Red Rock seems to be the OFF-STRIP place to be. On my second post-WSOP outing there, I ran into GARY THOMPSON — World Series of Poker media master and tournament overlord. He was wearing comfortable jeans, loafers, and a button-down shirt while playing 2/5 NLH. With about $800 in front of him, he said he was “down a couple hundred.” But it wouldn’t take long for him to grow his stacks, and a few hours later, he had moved up to the 5/10 game and had what looked to be about $2k.

On that same day, I saw A GUY I BUSTED at the Rio. He was a good player who went with the whole BLACK HOODIE and SUNGLASSES kinda thing, while saying almost nothing and acting with stoic (but angry) CHRIS FERGUSON-like motions. He was playing 1/2 NLH and nursing about $200.

Over at THE VENETIAN in the 2/5 game, I found myself up against a WSOP Dealer — SHAI the ISRAELI GUY. He was sick when I pushed all-in and convinced him to fold his top-pair-top-kicker that would turn into TOP BOAT … only to see the guy who took down the pot from me win with KING-HIGH. A couple hours later I was playing a goofy hand with K-6 offsuit in late position, the flop came K-7-K … he checks, I bet, he raises big, I call. Turn is a 6, he pushes all-in, I call … at which point he shows his POCKET 7s. The table cheers for a FOURTH SEVEN, but it doesn’t come and I send him to the ATM.

One table over, KARINA JETT’S MOTHER was playing — beyond her typical quiet game, she was practically falling asleep at the table (at 3 AM) while nursing about $400. She may not remember this, but she won a $15 PROP BET from me once over a RULES DISPUTE. (My bad … I thought I knew stuff.)

Back at RED ROCK a couple days later, I ran into ABRAHAM, and he really deserves his own post, because he tilted the table unlike anything I had ever seen — and even managed to invoke mockery from a cute young girl who wasn’t playing. Basically imagine the worst personality and poker characteristics of ME, TIM ROGERS and EON MARSHALL all wrapped up into an obnoxious kid who graduated from high school in 2003 and is well aware that he looks like STU UNGAR. Then give him a lot of chips. (His behavior and play was so table-altering it had me interrupting TOM SCHNEIDER’S vacation in ST. THOMAS for some emergency coaching … who advised me well until I played back without paying attention to a guy to my left who had pocket kings.)

I really wanted to KILL THIS KID, or at least make him cry. And so did everyone else — especially the old (presumably) gay man who he busted by calling a $260 raise pre-flop with 2-3 suited only to flop two threes. But he can’t be all that bad, because without provoking from me, he at one point shouted, “THE HAMMER!” with glee. Hey kid, if you are reading this, what I told you at the table after you “bluffed” me with pocket-5s and then taunted (it took me a good five minutes to lay down Ace-high) still applies: “I look forward to seeing you get your education.” Punk-ass. Like seriously, you had at least two of us at the table contemplating how one might go about rolling you in the parking lot.

One of the cool things about Red Rock is that when you need to shake off a bad beat or just step away from a dipshit the table to refocus, you can go BOWL A GAME 24 hours a day — for $3 +$3.50 for shoes. That seems like positive EV.

The picture above is from a day I didn’t actually play poker … but I did walk through the poker room just for funsies after bowling, and whom should I run into but NOLAN DALLA, longtime Dallas poker expat and WSOP media guru, legendary sports handicapper, and Stu Ungar biographer. He was wearing CARGO SHORTS, a frumpled shirt, and seemed pleasantly drinky while playing 5/10 NLH with a couple old friends from POKERSTARS.

“I’m stuck $800 but having a great time!” he screamed upon embracing me with a BEAR HUG. “Isn’t this a great casino!?! Hey everybody, it’s Dan from Pokerati!”

Murmur?

“Oh, right …” Nolan said. “Didn’t mean to blow your cover.”

I also ran into STEVE HALL one night at Red Rock, too. He was playing PENNY VIDEO SLOTS. He had a big hit of some sort of crazy picture combinations that won him about $60.

And then to top it all off, I went to CAESAR’S PALACE with DON JONES (of Rounder Club fame), LEIGH & BRIAN from the Poker Atlas , DOCTOR STEVE, and former Absolute Poker marketing chick JEN TIDWELL to play in their 50-player-max $65 tourney. We all had 10 percent of each other, which proved irrelevant as our top player would bubble.

I was the first to bust out (of the tournament) and would take a seat playing some 2/5. Of all the poker tables in Las Vegas … what are the chances that DAN BALLENGER (aka HONG KONG SUE, father of SON OF SUE) would get seated at my table? It would take more than a full orbit before he realized he was sitting with a fellow BATFACE. He bought in for $500 and cashed out a couple hours later for a little less than that. HKS got most of those chips from me … calling a $100 bluff with second-pair-no-kicker (what was I THINKING!?!) … and then bluffing me out of a $400+ pot on the river, getting me to lay down aces. He mucked at the time, but told me as he left that he pushed all-in for his remaining $135 with an underpair. Wish I hadn’t asked, because it had me semi-tilting for a good 30 minutes or more. I know he was just trying to be nice, but still …

Then JASON from JACKIE’S (in Dallas) and “RICKY ZILEM” showed up. They were just walking through checking out the action. Fancy running into these guys here. Chris/Ricky, said, “I did what nobody does when they first land in Vegas and took a nap.”

Ah, indeed.

Small world. Good times.