PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (Nassau Paradise Island, Bahamas)

Main Event
One of the biggest experiments, at least in the United States, in the history of televised poker, the broadcast of the final table of the PCA did anything but disappoint. A collection of young talent was looking up at Chris Oliver, a 21-year-old Florida native who held 42% of the chips in play, more than twice that of second place Galen Hall entering the final day of play. Phillipe Plouffe and Max Weinberg (no relation to the former Conan O’Brien and E-Street band drummer) hit the rail early, and they were followed by Bolivar Palacios. Each player earned more than $200,000, with Palacios earning a nice haul of $450K.

The two players who entered this final table with the biggest previous results were Sam Stein and Mike Sowers. Stein’s biggest cash entering this final table was a 2nd place finish at the NAPT Venetian last year for over $500,000, and he also has a WPT final table under his belt. Sowers finished 3rd at the LAPC in 2009 for $650,000 and added a WSOP final table later that same year. Both fell victim to the Oliver buzz saw, as Sowers exited in 5th place and Stein right behind him in 4th.

The quietest player at the table by far was Romanian Anton Ionel. By far the oldest player at the table, Ionel made quite a parlay, riding his $33 satellite win to the final three of the tournament. He played very few hands throughout and the blinds eventually caught up to him, but not before Ionel was able to turn $33 into $1.35 million.

When heads-up play began, Oliver held a chip lead of 4-1, but Hall methodically picked his spots and avoided disaster. The pivotal hand was actually one that Hall folded, and is likely to be a hand that will be discussed for a long time to come. On a board reading [5d][3d][2c][2h][As], Hall bet out 2 million with [8c][4h], leaving himself about 8 million behind at 100,000-200,000. It was a disaster card for Hall, as Oliver had hit a runner-runner full house with [Ad][2s]. Oliver eventually moved all-in, and in shockingly little time Hall was able to fold his wheel, preserve his stack, and keep the match going.

Oliver once again extended his lead to 4-1, but Hall went on a rush, and within an hour had turned the deficit around into a significant advantage. At the end of a heads-up battle that lasted over 200 hands, it was Galen Hall taking the 2011 PCA Main Event crown and the $2.3 million first prize. Chris Oliver settled for second, but he has $1.8 million to wipe his tears away. [PokerStars Blog]

$25,000 High Roller
I’ll preface this by saying there are billions of people who are truly unlucky in the world and have to deal with real world issues. It’s hard to argue against the fact that William Molson’s PCA High Roller record is one of the unluckiest out there. While he was comforted by the second place money each time, in both 2009 and 2010, Molson finished as the runner-up in this event.

This year’s table would not be much easier, featuring Jason Mercier, David Baker and Erik Seidel, amongst others. But this time William Molson sealed the deal, topping off an incredibly impressive three year run by taking down the $25,000 High Roller event and a first place prize of over $1 million. [PokerStars Blog]

Ladies’ Event
The Twitter stream was going crazy this past weekend as people back in the states (or elsewhere in the Bahamas) cheered on Kristin “change100” Bihr as she vied for the Ladies’ Event title. A veteran poker writer and reporter, Bihr had satellited into the tournament and was working on a pretty nice parlay of her own. She was up against a pretty impressive collection of players that included Team PokerStars Pro Vicky Coren and Lauren Kling, as well as ’90s talk show host Ricki Lake.

Most of the updates during the tournament came via @taopauly Tweets, and by the end of the night, @change100 had become a local trending topic in Las Vegas. Mostly thanks in part to the fact that change100 defeated Kling heads-up to take the crown and a cash of just under $30,000. Congratulations to her on her monster cash. [PokerStars Blog]

Heartland Poker Tour – Red Rock (Las Vegas, Nevada)

Anyone who has been around the poker scene over the last few years has almost certainly run into Rob “veeRob” Perelman. One of the hardest working guys in the game, you can be sure that he’s behind the scenes on some of your favorite poker television programs, and if you’ve ever tried to keep track of a Matt Savage tournament, you likely have veeRob to thank for excellent coverage as well as comprehensive live streaming.

Perelman found himself at the final table of the HPT event at Red Rocks Sunday night, entering as the chip leader. He faced some stiff competition that included Joanne “JJ” Liu. It was really no big deal for veeRob, though, as he found a way to take the title (and likely the remainder of the media rungood for the year, thanks a lot) and an astounding first place prize of $158,000. A big congrats to Rob as well, though I’m sure he’s setting up a live stream for an LAPC prelim as we speak. [HPT]

Coming Up…

This week will see the Main Event at the WSOPC Choctaw in Oklahoma, just outside of Dallas, and a Main Event will take place at the India Poker Series as well. Action will continue at the Aussie Millions in Australia, the Southern Poker Championship in Biloxi, MS, and tournaments will be starting at the LAPC in LA as well as in Atlantic City for their Winter Poker Championships. One of the busiest times of the poker year, to be sure.

PCA photos courtesy of PokerStarsBlog.com. HPT photos courtesy of heartlandpokertour.com.

Seat 1: Roland de Wolfe – 1,377,000
Seat 2: Marc Inizan – 349,000
Seat 3: Nicolas Levi – 428,000
Seat 4: Fabrizio Baldassari – 697,000
Seat 5: Brian Powell – 842,000
Seat 6: Dan Steinberg – 1,520,000
Seat 7: James Bord – 1,331,000
Seat 8: Ronald Lee – 1,899,000
Seat 9: Dan Fleyshman – 1,946,000

Streaming of the final table, with hole cards, on a five-hour delay will be available at www.espn3.com and www.wsop.com for European viewers. For those looking to follow the action live, PokerNews and WSOP.com will constantly be providing live updates.

Elsewhere …

TJ Cloutier Choctaw Poker Classic – Durant, OK :: Sudhakara Kattamuri takes down the $1,500 + 100 Main Event for $73,127.

Big Poker Oktober – Bicycle Casino :: Small buy-in series of tournaments through Oct. 9, NAPT in November.

PokerStars WCOOP $5k Main Event: Under 125 players remaining, one of them tbvle, winner of hand 50,000,000,000 on PokerStars at a 2/5 cent table, which included a WCOOP Main Event ticket. He’s turned that into at least $17,711 and is looking for more. The PokerStars blog is providing live updates as they play down to a winner by Tuesday morning.

The £10,000 + 350 High Roller NL Heads-Up event finally has a winner, as Gus Hansen defeated Jim Collopy in the 3rd and deciding match to earn his first WSOP bracelet along with £288,409. Here’s how the final hand played out:

Elsewhere …

PokerStars LAPT Grand Final - Rosario, Argentina :: Martin Sansour defeats Bolivar Palacios, earning $322,280. Matthias Habernig’s bid for back-to-back LAPT wins fell short, finishing 6th. PokerStars Blog has the final table report.

TJ Cloutier Choctaw Poker Classic – Durant, OK :: Cloutier finishes 17th for $3,673, play down to 4-handed. www.roundersradio.com covering the FT action.

PokerStars WCOOP $5,000 Main Event :: 2,443 entries, first pays over $2m, 2nd and 3rd $1m+

The third and deciding match of the 10,000 + 350 NL Holdem Heads-Up bracelet will take place at 6pm Sunday evening between Gus Hansen and Jim Collopy. There was discussion of holding the final match in Las Vegas November Nine weekend, but eventually it was worked out to finish it out in London.

Elsewhere …

LAPT Grande Finale – Rosario, Argentina :: The final table of 8 has been reached, with Matthias Habernig, winner of LAPT Florianopolis, is looking to win back-to-back titles. Here’s how the final table will be seated:

Seat 1: Roberto Bianchi (Argentina) 1,242,000
Seat 2: William Ross (USA) 352,000
Seat 3: Ivan Saul (Argentina) 179,000
Seat 4: Nico Fierro (Chile) 406,000
Seat 5: Matthias Habernig (Austria) 463,000
Seat 6: Martin Sansour (Peru) 952,000
Seat 7: Bolivar Palacios (Panama) 1,000,000
Seat 8: Daniel Ades (Argentina) 514,000

Action resumes Sunday at noon local time, follow the action at PokerNews and the PokerStars blog.

TJ Cloutier Choctaw Poker Classic – Durant, Oklahoma :: Day 1 of their $1,500 + 100 Main Event drew a field of 191 players, with first place taking down $73,126. Streaming at Roundersradio.com

Seat 1: Karim Jomeen 109,000
Seat 2: Scott Shelley 148,000
Seat 3: Nicholas Katz 150,000
Seat 4: Paul Ian Pitchford 77,000
Seat 5: Jeppe Bisgaard 171,000
Seat 6: Mehdi Senhaji 369,000
Seat 7: Kaveh Payman 434,000
Seat 8: JP Kelly 242,000
Seat 9: Jack Lyman 55,000

* Credit to Donnie Peters at PokerNews.
Follow along in the updates at PokerNews or WSOP.com

Event #4 will take place at 5pm London time Tuesday, the £10,000 + 350 NL Holdem High Roller Heads-Up event. The field will contain a maximum of 128 players with registration closing when the tournament starts. In case of an unevenly sized field (more than 32, 64, or 128) there will be byes for round 1.

Elsewhere…

WPT Borgata Poker Open – Atlantic City :: Day 2 underway, just over 200 players remaining with the top 100 making the money. A brawl almost takes place just before dinner as described by BJ Nemeth here. Other updates and goings-on here.

Heartland Poker Tour – Black Hawk, Colorado :: The poker tour that people forget keeps chugging along with Mark Dunbar taking down over $180,000 in defeating a field of over 400 players. HeartlandPokerTour.com has the recap.

T.J. Cloutier Choctaw Classic – Durant, OK :: Week-long series of tournaments w/ $1,650 Main Event Sept. 25-26 – Schedule

PokerStars WCOOP :: Jason Mercier and Chad Brown in the top 30 of 1k NL event, winner takes down nearly $500,000. RaiseOnce, allegedly Phil Ivey, takes down $25,000 HU title. PokerStars Blog

Click below for the official deets according to the WSOPress Release. And check out this video of the fancy-cool new Choctaw poker room (represented by WSOP-Ebay legend TJ Cloutier, btw) as seen by the architects before it opened up:

WORLD SERIES OF POKER® CIRCUIT TOUR ADDS NEW STOP TO 2010-11 CALENDAR; EVENT COUNTS FOR NATIONAL POINTS

CHOCTAW DURANT CONFIRMED FOR 10 RING EVENTS
FROM JANUARY 6-25, 2011

WSOP Circuit Becomes First Tour to Serve Vibrant Dallas-area Poker Market

LAS VEGAS – September 2, 2010 – Fresh off a $300 million expansion, the Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant, Oklahoma – an hour north of Dallas, Texas, will host its first-ever World Series of Poker Circuit event from January 6-25, 2011 as part of the official 2010-11 WSOP Circuit Tour.

The 2010-11 schedule now includes 13 official tour stops, with one more expected to be added soon.

The Choctaw Casino Resort WSOP Circuit event will feature 10 WSOP ring events and a total of 54 different events during the January stop. The expanded Choctaw Casino Resort features a brand-new 30-table poker lounge – housed on its own exclusive floor in the casino – and is a truly upscale, exclusive experience.

The Choctaw Casino Resort stop also marks the first time the WSOP has stepped outside the Harrah’s-affiliated properties to offer a WSOP-branded event.

“After visiting the property, it was a must that we brought a WSOP Circuit stop to Choctaw Casino Resort,” said WSOP Vice President Ty Stewart. “This is a huge poker market that has clamored for high stakes tournament poker and we’re ecstatic to be hosting a WSOP Circuit in this gorgeous property in Durant come January.”

Structures and payouts for all ring events at Choctaw will be consistent with all other WSOP Circuit events in order to keep the continuity and consistency for players travelling to multiple stops on the tour. Noted poker tournament director Jimmy Sommerfeld will serve as the event’s poker tournament operator.

Steven Loyd, Choctaw Casino Resort Director of Gaming & Hotel Operations, commented, “The vibrant poker markets in Texas and Oklahoma deserve a local to regional WSOP Circuit opportunity and Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant couldn’t be a better choice. Our location midway between Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and the large population base around Dallas/Ft. Worth puts us within easy striking distance of thousands of serious poker enthusiasts. Our beautiful new facility is poker friendly, with a best in class poker room and spacious tournament areas, great food and lodging. The Choctaw Nation is proud to be the newest member of the WSOP Circuit family.”

The revised WSOP Circuit schedule now looks as follows:

WORLD SERIES OF POKER 2010-2011 CIRCUIT TOUR SCHEDULE

TOURNAMENT DATES – TOURNAMENT LOCATION
August 19 – August 31, 2010
Horseshoe Council Bluffs (Iowa)

October 2 – October 12, 2010
Horseshoe Southern Indiana

October 15 – October 27, 2010
Horseshoe Hammond (Chicago area)

October 26 – October 31, 2010
*Emerald Casino (South Africa)

October 28 – November 10, 2010
IP Casino Resort & Spa (Biloxi, MS)

November 11 – November 23, 2010
Harveys Lake Tahoe

December 4 – December 22, 2010
Harrah’s Atlantic City

January 6 – 25, 2011
Choctaw Casino (Durant, OK)

January 27 – February 15, 2011
Harrah’s Tunica

March 2 – March 13, 2011
Caesars Atlantic City

March 11 – March 30, 2011
Harrah’s Rincon (San Diego area)

March 31 – April 13, 2011
Harrah’s St. Louis

April 14 – April 30, 2011
Caesars Palace

May 9 – May 22, 2011
Harrah’s New Orleans

*Circuit Event in South Africa does not count towards point system tabulation or cumulative event award.

Bold indicates Super Regional, with an added event, the $10K nationally televised No Limit Hold’em tournament.

Circuit schedules are subject to change. For more information on individual circuit events, including event schedules and structure sheets, can be found at each property website or by visiting www.WSOP.com

The first event of this year’s WSOP Circuit season just concluded at Horseshoe Council Bluffs in Iowa, with the newly-revamped format increasing the Main Event prize pool by more than 70%, while players were united in their praise for the creation of the $1 million National Championship, gold bracelet opportunity and points system.

The next stop on the WSOP Circuit is October 2 in Horseshoe Southern Indiana. Beginning in October, the WSOP Circuit pretty much runs non-stop through May 22, 2011, with 12 consecutive events over 8 months.

Below details the key changes to this year’s WSOP Circuit tour.

A cumulative rankings system throughout the season, awarding points for each official WSOP Circuit “Ring” open event, with four different ways to automatically qualify.

A season-ending National Championship tournament for 100 players who automatically qualify via cumulative rankings or performance-based criteria. (The televised National Championship tournament will be played at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas prior to the commencement of the WSOP and feature a $1,000,000 prize pool and award a WSOP Gold Bracelet).

Four Regional WSOP Circuit Championships with a $10,000 buy-in event plus two-hours of national television coverage per stop.

Standardized structures and pay-outs at all events; with the Main Event lowered to $1500 outside Regional Championships to encourage larger fields and more players attending multiple stops on the tour.

2009 twitpic: @EweE420 (now @EricMizrachi)

Today’s event, Event #3, happens to be $440 NLH/PLO with $40k Guaranteed. Wonder if they’re aware that Lev Serzhenko was recently crowned the World Champion of $230 NLH/PLO with a Single $200 Rebuy.

Since the main here will be more or less the regional championship in my old stomping grounds — in fact, thinking we might-should call it the North-North Texas Championship in future posts — I find myself wanting to follow these events uniquely as a fan. I’ve got tons of friends playing and would expect to see plenty of past opponents from the Dallas underground, presumably some Batfaces, lots of ole Lodge amateurs, and, I hope, a few Team Pokerati players. Also curious to see what type of pros show up.

But semi-live coverage of the River is hard to come by. Lots of future thoughts on why that is … but in the meantime, here’s where I’ll be checking for River buzz, for starters …

@WinStarWorld
@Fossilman
2+2 Tournament Circuit thread

And because Pokerati can’t be there this year (but kinda-sorta would like to be) here are some possible news stories I see shaking out, or at least stuff worth looking into for anyone who might wanna ask some questions or snap pics with their iPhone and send an email or an @reply on Twitter:

Opening Day Shutout Fiasco

Event #1 was a $330 $50k Guarantee. Supposedly without any pre-registration available, Tent management was unprepared for the flood of players who showed up. Held in the cash-game room, and not the usual auditorium? More than 100 alternates and more than 100 shut out eventually. At least that’s what I’m hearing. Not confirmed.

Guaranteed Ass-Coverage?

Last year they came up $580k short on the $3 million guarantee. So this year WinStar is promising only $2.5 million in the main event prize pool. The other $500k has been spread out across preliminary events. That’s all. Nifty. Clever. Seems like forever ago (5 years?) WinStar was getting grief for claiming “malfunction” whenever someone hit a super-big slots jackpot.

NLH/PLO Tournament

Event #3. Beautiful. Awesome. Let’s talk at length about this game. Do you guys need cut cards?

Some Players Go Deep, Others Bust

Who’s there? Any Mizrachis? November Niners? Batfaces? What about Clonie? I’m looking for my buddy John. He’s got short hair and probably a white shirt. Can you tell me how many chips he has?

Parking Lot Robberies + License Plates

I’ve heard rumors from multiple sources over the past few months (but with zero confirmation or simple police check) of high-stakes cash game players getting jacked in the WinStar parking lot. Definitely wanna find out more on this, as it was at The River a few years ago (then the Red River Roundup) where Pokerati pioneered the concept of parking-lot coverage. Also, any funny pokery license plates? Saw this one there in ’07:

Legal (Oklahoma) Poker Coming to Texas?

The Chickasaw — WinStar’s backers, essentially, in alliance with ultraChristians — have spent millions in recent years opposing any efforts to legalize poker or expand gambling in Texas. Their alliance with ultraChristians made for formidable opponents. But will they soon be officially switching teams?

In the past couple years, the Oklahoma tribe has spent well more than $150 million buying up beleaguered race tracks and other casino-minded plots of land, er, worldwide — most recently Lone Star Park, smack-dab between Dallas and Fort Worth, and next door (by car) to both Cowboys Stadium and the Ballpark in Arlington. (Go Rangers!).

2011 Texas legislative session is right around the corner … can we expect WinStar checks to show up in the TexasPokerPAC’s paypal account? Is there a concern that a new poker room in North Texas would put WinStar’s current Tent City digs in North-North Texas out of business?

And as long as we’re going there, what about the Choctaw, the Chickasaw’s rival poker tribe down the river? Could these business enemies join forces to fight for gambling in Texas, or is that just ridiculous because you hate those guys? Is TJ Cloutier playing your events wearing their gear? He’s done well in The River main event in the past, and supposedly he’s got a deal now with Choctaw to represent at the tables in exchange for weekly buffet comps or something.

Tent City, Oklahoma

So really, what’s up with the tent? WinStar is supposedly the 3rd largest casino in the world (though that number is disputed, despite it coming from BusinessWeek) … you’ve got a hotel, restaurants, a spa, a golf course … seemingly a nice upgrade from the old Microtel for Texas’s poker refugees … yet technically you have to have your casino in a tent?

So all those walls are fake, and everything takes place under something akin to the WSOP’s poker kitchen but the size of five football fields? Is that by compact or something?

Not to be racist, but acknowledging some Okahomans who mighta had something to do with setting up Indian gambling in the area, is that based on some premise that you guys could do whatever you damn well please in your teepee? Is it the same way for the Choctaw — because their new building looks pretty fancy and made of stone — or are tent rules specific to your people?

And if it’s not WinStar, who holds the Guinness record for biggest tent in the world? Just curious …

Aren’t you guys scared of tornadoes?

Whether it’s a hedge on their part or a sign of things to come … Global Gaming became the “stalking horse bidder” for Lone Star Park yesterday … meaning the Oklahoma Chickasaws have made a $2.7 million deposit (10 percent of their opening bid) toward their serious intent to step across the border and have a hand in the future of Texas gambling.

Should a higher qualified bidder enter the picture, the property will be auctioned off in New York on Oct 7.

Global Gaming LSP, LLC is owned by the Chickasaw Nation, which owns the WinStar World Casino — site of the grandest poker room in the southwest, one patronized almost exclusively by Texans. A week-and-a-half ago the WWC celebrated the grand opening of their new hotel and expanded casino floor, now the 5th 3rd one of the largest in the world.

Lone Star Park, meanwhile, is the beautiful but bankrupt racetrack between Dallas and Fort Worth … a site that would’ve become home to one of the first fully legal Texas poker rooms had HB 222 passed.

In that special-interest political fight earlier this year, Texas poker and horse racing interests joined forces, but ultimately were defeated by a loose-knit alliance of Chickasaws, Choctaws, and radical Christians. Should Global Gaming’s purchase of Lone Star Park go through, however, then one of our strongest opponents would effectively defect to the side that wants to see bigger and better poker in Texas.

(Sign language at the very end.)

* Third is my number, btw, based on Business Week data, despite WinStar’s claim that they are just 5th.

At 110,000 square feet, the Choctaw Casino in Durant, Okla., will have the same amount of gaming space as Wynn Las Vegas, and slightly more than Wynn Macao.

Check it out:

“Texas hold’em / Ain’t nobody foldin’!” Rockin’!

We all know where that came from, of course:

Ship It!
Texas money headed to Oklahoma

Details on the expansion project (including the number of jobs it will create) here.

The Choctaw poker room will expand from 18 tables to 30, making it the same size as the Mirage and Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas (and slightly bigger than the Wynn). Still nowhere close, though, to WinStar’s 46.

Speaking of WinStar — we’ll say it again, the third-friggin-biggest casino in the world! — Pokerhag (“A grandma who plays poker”) has a good, related post about how difficult it is to find a non-Texas license plate in their parking lot, and what that means in terms of jobs and the economy:

http://pokerhag.blogspot.com/2009/07/texas-is-missing-boat-on-legalized.html

WinStar (aka the Chickasaw Nation) meanwhile, is blowing up … in addition to the 18 casinos they already run and the hotels they are opening up, they are looking bail out struggling horse tracks, and even expand into other countries … including, plausibly, Texas. The casino tribe just bought Remington Park (thanks to its bankruptcy) in Oklahoma City … and perhaps just to hedge their bets should Texas lawmakers ever change course, are making a similar play for Lone Star Park, the (beautiful but unprofitable) horse track between Dallas and Fort Worth.

Hmm, not sure how to take that. WinStar didn’t expand their poker room until after our legalize-poker efforts were defeated in 2007 (HB-3186) … and I hear we gave their poker staff a bit of a scare this year when we got even closer (HB-222) — in part with a move that connected Texas-based poker efforts to Lone Star Park. I guess this is their way of saying, hey, not so fast … if you get poker in Texas, it’s gonna be Chickasaw Poker!

OK, sorry for the semi-rambly post, but it just occurs to me, with that bitchin’ vid, that if you look at the biggest casino realms in the world, in 2010 you’ll be talking about, in order:

1. Las Vegas
2. Macau
3. Atlantic City
4. Oklahoma just barely north of the Texas border

BTW, check out just how “into” Texas WinStar really is … you know, peninsula-wise:

(via ThePokerAtlas)

I’m hearing that 4 of the top 100 players to cash in the 6,012-player $1k Stimulus Special were WinStar regulars. While those numbers don’t suggest any super-mad poker power — 4 percent of the top 1.7 percent — they do confirm that WinStar is indeed a WSOP force to contend with. Names forthcoming … and help me out if you happen to already know whom I should be looking for. (I’m admittedly a tad out of the WinStar loop since, you know, I kinda fight every two years to put them out of business.)

By all means, our good poker friends in Oklahoma have contributed their fair share to keep Texans playing in their Indian nations … but frankly, it’s a very small percentage of the $7.6 million spent on gambling-related Texas politicking in 2007-08 — and they’re not exactly being hypocrites about any of it, save for maybe riding the coattails of those who are.

Click below for an even more interesting look at the Texas pols who taking the most gambling-industry dollars. I wonder how his morality-minded base feels about Gov. Rick Perry coming in at #2, with nearly $800k in gambling-interest love.

Politicians Receiving the Most Gambling Money

More details about the gambling politi-cash here.

Hey Dan,

So some friends and I are going to throw a poker tournament in February here in Dallas as a fundraiser for a theater production company that we started this fall (www.UpstartTheater.com). Blue Mesa Grill is going to host the games (free appetizers and happy-hour-priced drinks) and we are going to have a $20 per player donation buyin with rebuys. I was wondering if you had any advice/suggestions:

– How often should we up the blinds so that a game starting around 3 on a Sunday will be over by 8 or 9 at the latest?
– Do you know any poker company/group willing to lend/donate us enough chips and cards for 100 people or so?
– Do you know any poker company/group that would be interested in donating a prize?
– Do you know any poker company/group that would be interested in financially sponsoring the event (we’re tax deductible) in exchange for publicity on our event fliers, website, and performance playbills?
– Do you know ways to publicize this to the Dallas poker-playing community?
– Anything else you think would be helpful?

thanks a lot,
Nick

Nick, as always, good to hear from you. One of these days you will find purpose in your life and ditch the restaurant-service/medical-technology career combo, as well as your passion for the arts and philanthropy, to discover your true calling as a poker blogger. Either that, or you are clearly nothing without Markus and Andy.

In the meantime, click below for answers to your questions:

– How often should we up the blinds so that a game starting around 3 on a Sunday will be over by 8 or 9 at the latest?

You probably want 20-minute blinds. That gives you roughly 15 levels to work with. Generally, the best tournaments start off slow to give everyone play, pick up some blind pressure in the middle, and then slow down to bring skill back into when the money counts. But this will be a charity tournament, so you’ll want to facilitate rebuys. Don’t start with an insultingly low stack, but maybe like 3,000 or 3,600 with blinds starting at 25/50. Also, in addition to rebuys, be sure to offer an “add-on” … meaning anyone, no matter what their chip-stack, can pay an extra $20 for another initial buy-in’s worth of chips at the end of the rebuy period, which probably should come at the end of the 4th level.

(You know, I used to actually have different blind structures for different events posted on this site. But i can’t for the life of me find them … kinda like your posts from back in 2005!)

– Do you know any poker company/group willing to lend/donate us enough chips and cards for 100 people or so?

Sadly, I do not. The poker biz is full of greedy bastards, and most are hurting for money moreso than back in ’06. At the same time, you may find some group that used to throw big events but no longer does that has a bunch of extra poker gear lying around. (If any Pokeratizens can help on this, speak up!) I also recommend contacting karridy – at – gmail dot com for tables.

– Do you know any poker company/group that would be interested in donating a prize?

Sadler & Carter have helped out with some prizes in the past. And they always had good gear. Bluff Magazine has donated subscriptions … that’s always a nice throw-in … top 3 get subscriptions to Bluff or something like that. And, of course, you could always hit up The Lodge for lapdance coupons.

– Do you know any poker company/group that would be interested in financially sponsoring the event (we’re tax deductible) in exchange for publicity on our event fliers, website, and performance playbills?

Ha ha, too funny. You said “financially sponsoring”! You know, it occurs to me that this isn’t a charity event — it’s just a fundraiser for the arts. (How are you tax-deductible?) That makes it more difficult to get help, because while poker players love to say they’re helping a good cause, few of them have read any Samuel Beckett.

However, there’s always an interest by those in the poker biz to reach poker players. And with that in mind, I would try hitting up Choctaw in Oklahoma for flyer sponsorship. WinStar’s good, too, but I suspect you’re too small for them to give you the time of day.

– Do you know ways to publicize this to the Dallas poker-playing community?
Yes, you should send an email to danm – at – pokerati dot com. If you get lucky, he may actually answer it. You also should probably take out a big ad on Pokerati. In the alternative, the guys over at BigStack.com (formerly Weston Poker) are nice dudes always looking for some good low-stakes action.

– Anything else you think would be helpful?

Good luck! I look forward to seeing coverage of the event on YouTube … and I’m sure everyone playing would too.

Oh, also, pack heat in case the Dallas Poker Bandits show up. I’ll vouch that you’re a good shot!

CardPlayer on the poker mini-boom in Oklahoma.

It was a full-size tour bus, and was full of people as the Native American driver shuttled them (for free) across the river to that land of opportunity, El Norte Durant, Oklahoma. I just gotta wonder what Texas legislators think about the Choctaw bus, which offers daily trips not just to and from Dallas, but also Fort Worth … and on Thursdays has a special “bingo route” that picks people up in DeSoto, Garland, Plano, and McKinney.

More info about Choctaw poker here.
Bus details here.

James McDaniel (aka “Black James”) has had eight new charges pressed against him — including [accessory to the?] murder of Meaghan Bosch. If you recall, he was a suspect in the SMU coed/railbird-hottie’s gruesome death, but it was only parole violations that sent the underground poker room operator back to prison (for eight additional years on his ex-cop-killing sentence).

He goes to trial on the new charges in February.

I hate to mix poker talk with murder, but considering that Meaghan gave her life, I have no problem knowing I’ll never get a chance to get back the $300-$400 he stole from me at Choctaw. Ha ha! Fuck you, you Queens-cracking, colluding cheating bitch! Karma, dude.

The event takes place at the Westin City Center. Glad to see it. If they successfully pull off this event, it will be good to see charity poker getting back to what it could/should/used to be in Texas — though it does seem a little strange for a charity event to be going on in Dallas that doesn’t have anything to do with Pokerati or Clonie.

Fortunately, I will be able to follow the action on HoldEmRadio.com.

One other really interesting thing about this event: the support it’s getting from the Choctaw Nation. They’re running single-table satellites to this event 24/7 between now and then. And as a show of appreciation for helping out their friend Vlad, the pros slated to be in Dallas on Saturday will be in Oklahoma for Choctaw’s Friday night tourney, reportedly playing with bounties on their heads.

Click below to see the flyer and get more details about signing up:

I was hoping you could shed some light on the Terrible Competence of Choctaw Casino. First, they lie about the numbers at the Choctaw Open, then will not publish results in Card Player, Etc or Send any other results to Poker groups on there Large Tournaments. I have contacted Managers and was told they were busy???WTF..Winstar always takes care of this quickly. I need results listed so my Investor can verify numbers. I will never play other Tournament at Choctaw Casino again. Please write a story on Choctaw so I can get others stories. Thank you,

Thank you … Can you tell us a little more about the numbers they supposedly lied about?

I do indeed have a story about Choctaw that I sadly haven’t finished writing yet. The last time I was there, I ran into Black James and his crew, who were extra-friendly with the poker room management. They took their seats at a 1/2 table (unable to convince us to play 2/5) and proceeded to remove more than half the money from the table in 45 minutes by doing a hyper-bet-collusion hit-and-run. That was obvious to me, and I suspect but can’t prove there might have been a little more than collusion going on when James’ no-look bet got an all-in reraise from my pocket queens and he pretended to be shocked to discover he had pocket kings.

Not at all suggesting Choctaw was in on any unethical behavior, but poker room operators were watching the action, so if they weren’t part of it, then what does that say about their ability to notice/put a stop to cheating. (James McDaniel, of course, is now back in prison for a parole violation connected to the deaths of a police officer and SMU coed.)

Anyone else have any Choctaw stories?

In the meantime, Cuonger, below are the results for the 2008 Choctaw Open, held last month in Durant, sent in by a fellow Pokeratizen:

“Choctaw Open, May 18, 2008
No Limit Hold’em tournament winners

1st Yong An
Tournament Finish
Finish Prize Fname Lname City St
1 $77,480 Yong An Irving TX
2 $42,380 Michael Sanders Jr Little Rock AR
3 $23,400 Bob Poole Rudy AR
4 $18,850 Johnny Standerfer Prosper TX
5 $16,250 Joseph Griffith Dallas TX
6 $13,650 Ronnie Hernandez Garland TX
7 $11,050 Nathan Bullard Terrell TX
8 $8,450 James Horton Lewisville TX
9 $5,850 Chris Ball Sachse TX
10 $4,160 James Cox Bokoshe OK
11 $3,380 Dave Gale Forney TX
12 $3,380 Damien Victorian Anna TX
13 $3,380 Timothy Helwig Lake Kiowa TX
14 $2,860 Joe Hamill Wright City OK
15 $2,860 Steve Justice Rowlett TX
16 $2,860 Nathan Williams Fort Smith AR
17 $2,210 Terry Cerutti Melissa TX
18 $2,210 Thomas Santin Fort Worth TX
19 $2,210 Dwayne Benoit Forney TX
20 $2,210 Robby Kimberly Ft Smith AR
21 $1,820 Daniel Phong Collins Dallas TX
22 $1,820 Greg Bullock Cumby TX
23 $1,820 Song Webb Richardson TX
24 $1,820 Charles Todd Millerton OK
25 $1,820 Michael Kennedy Sherman TX
26 $1,820 Michael Reese Frisco TX

I know this isn’t something you want to write about via email so you can text or call if you want, but I’m trying to find a decent limit ca$h game, maybe 2/5 or 5/10 limit. I’m going to Vegas twice next year (if the schedule lets me of course), once in January [...] and in the summer for the WSOP. But I need to primer my game here, so to speak, and really get better at a limit 5/10, maybe even 10/20 then go out there and see how I do vs. the better players.

I dont really want to go to card rooms since they’ve obviously been getting busted a lot, but shit maybe I have to, to get good. Let me know what’s up or who I should call, etc. Any advice on this? Thanks Dan.

Even though my first games I ever played in Dallas were 3/6 limit, really, as far as I know they are all gone now. Your best bet? Oklahoma. Or maybe Louisiana. I’m not positive of what they are spreading — but I am almost certain you can find a good 3/6 or 4/8 table at Choctaw, WinStar, and a few others to the North. Likewise for the Horseshoe and Eldorado in La.

Dear Dan,

I am so happy going to Oklahoma instead Louisana. I paid the $25 for the trip. One hour on the bus. Better than 4 or 5 hours. They gave me $20 cash & the Buffet $9 was free. Lots of machines. Very friendly. In an half hour played $10, $40 ahead. Of course I couldn’t stop. I could, but I couldn’t find the Bingo room. I did asked & the person didn’t know. Finally later I asked at the lobby, it was in another building. Next time (Mar. 3 another trip) I’ll play Bingo. I think I lost about $10. I’ll be able to go with Uncle Ray & Aunt Sue or Aunt Marcie & Uncle Bob.

Love, Grandma

Sounds like you had a fun trip, Grandma, despite the negative bankroll impact. Thanks for letting us know. I’ll mark my calendar for March 3, in case you need a ride. And don’t forget … Bingorati! … just sayin’ … I know people who can hook you up.

Re: Over the River and through the Woods