A middle-aged local approached the Treasure Island poker room supervisor early Sunday evening, inquiring about how many hours he had played.

“I want to make my $50,” he said.

At the start of the year, the room announced its latest promotion on signs around the casino, flyers outside the room’s entrance, and business cards on the supervisor’s counter — “GET PAID TO PLAY POKER!”

The 8-table room at TI pays back players with money collected in the rake. For every 10 hours of play (up to 60 hours), a grinder can earn as much as $599 in extra cash each week. This good-for-players promotional trend is catching on around Vegas. Whether it’s called “rakeback” or advertised as an hourly rate, it pays close to a minimum-wage job.

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There’s a trend developing in Vegas (mostly among independent “family-run” casinos) of giving loyal poker denizens cash back for their time at the tables. Makes for a lot of +EV options around town, extra action, and an overall good situation for players.

Here’s how our friends at Palms Poker Room are doling out rebates in their $3500 Weekly Player Appreciation Giveaway … which I’m pretty sure is already under way:

Win your share of $3,500 every week. The more you play, the more you can earn. Palms Poker Room is awarding players $8 an hour for time logged at the table — 5 hour minimum, 74.87 hours max. That’s anywhere from $40 to $599 coming back to you!

We’re counting time each week from Sunday at midnight (12am) until Saturday at 11:59pm. We distribute Player Appreciation Money on Mondays at 11am — in order of most hours to least hours until $3,000 gets paid out.

We then hold five $100 drawings for everyone who played at least five hours but did not get a share. That drawing is at 2pm on Mondays. Players need not be present to win and have 24 hours to claim their cash prize. Any unclaimed monies get rolled over into the next week’s giveaway.

It’s been a few weeks since my last post but the grinding hasn’t stopped. Well, actually I didn’t play much at all over the Thanksgiving weekend as I spent the holiday in Palm Springs with some family. Here are some photos!

I went into a bit of a breakeven stretch over the following four sessions. I have only myself to blame for this because I failed to use any sort of anti-jinx methodology. For example, say you send a tweet talking about how hard you’re crushing a game or how amazing you’ve been running at the tables. I usually don’t like to write such tweets because over 50 percent of the time they carry the jinx-virus, which will abruptly halt any and all rungood and stop it dead in its tracks. That being said, it is possible to tweet such thoughts to the twittersphere, but it would be foolish to do so without using anti-jinx protection. You’re simply putting yourself and your bankroll at risk without strapping on a hashtag along the lines of #plsdontjinxitkthx at the end of your happy tweets.

I don’t know why we call the poker gods, Gods, but we do. They seem more like a bunch of high school dropout, weird uncle, goofball idiots to me. When they abandon you, it is the filthiest, loneliest feeling you can imagine. But when they reflect their light on you for any kind of extended stretch, you feel, well, enlightened. Chosen. So in tune with everything you can hear the hum of the earth.

I somehow managed to sneak a $117 victory past the jinx-bouncers playing $1/$3NL at the Rio on the 1st of the month. But the next day when I ventured into the Palace of Caesar, his games of $1 and $3 were not so kind. I left @CLVPoker $400 lighter in the pocket, and followed that with a small $85 loss on the 3rd. My spirits were quickly risen on the very next day, which was a Thursday. Thursday evenings, as you should know by now, means Pokerati game night. The PLO/NL mixed game has treated me really well since its incarnation @PalmsPokerRm (#nojinxnojinxnojinx) and this particular Thursday brought happiness in the form of a $520 win, erasing losses from the previous two sessions. Unfortunately the breakeven stretch continued another day; on Friday I played a long, 10-hour session at the Rio dropping about $700 in frustrating fashion. Actually there was a pretty interesting hand from said session…

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Oh, almost forgot to tell you … two Pokerati Game players are/were bounties in this weekend’s Epic Poker Pro-Am satellites. Both have far more accomplishments to their Hendon Mob cred than just playing 1/2 NLH/PLO with me, obv … but still, happy to declare that this is plausibly proof that playing in the Pokerati Game at the Palms is key to satellite success.

Kathy played yesterday, and Stacey takes her seat in just a couple hours — so get to the game @PalmsPokerRm ASAP! Today’s event is a $100 NLH with $50 rebuys. More Epic satellite details here.

Check it out. This story in PokerListings is probably a bit too kind without any LOLs. But hey, as a guy who’s key flaw in his plan to offer Pokeratizens the best low-stakes action in Vegas was not learning how to fold more often pre-flop, I’ll take the love!

While it is true that nowhere in Vegas could you “run it twice” in a 1/2 game before Pokerati NLH/PLO came to town, now plenty of poker rooms hardly blink when two or more players get it all-in and want to reduce variance by seeing more than one river … just like they used to do it on High Stakes Poker.

So crap now the secret of the Pokerati Game’s success is out:

• Offer games people want to play, at stakes they’re comfortable playing
• Give preference to poker rooms with skillful, supportive staff (and maybe a really big sign)
• Treat low-stakes players no differently than high rollers (h/t Benny Binion)
• Suck out often to keep the nits away

That’s pretty much all it takes to host a game that attracts tourists and locals alike. And now that I can expect casinos everywhere to be spreading Pokerati-style live action, I suppose my pioneering days are over and I can go back to being just another poor-man’s Jean-Robert Bellande.

The redevelopment of the the Palms Poker Room continues. While some of us can’t wait for the state-of-the-art-in-2003 room to step into 2005ish with the coming addition of an electronic Bravo check-in system … Joe, Bobby, Eldon and crew are pushing forward with their plans to bring non-$20,000 tournament action back to the Palms … starting with a Tuesday-night $100 HORSE tournament.

 

It may not be PLO, but hey, I’m no one-trick pony. More like a half-trick pony, lol. But regardless, I’ve been meaning to sack up and get more live, low-stakes Razz under my belt. (I dominated the $1,500 event in the ’07 WSOP for Playstation — won a bracelet and everything!) The tournament is just a couple weeks old and supposedly has gotten a great response from the start: three tables of tournament action last week, followed by a $4/$8 HORSE cash game as players started busting.

Something similar expected tomorrow. RSVP on Facebook here … and/or just show up @ the Palms tomorrow at 7:30pm.

CORRECTION(S): I got a few factoids wrong. According to Michelle Lau’s FB invite …

Michelle Lau

Every Tuesday night 7:30, last week was our first tournament. Also Palms is gonna spread a HORSE CASH game at 5pm ($4/8) Come on down, lots of fun and very playable structure.

 

In the good-for-poker category … Poker Gives is in the midst of its second annual National Poker Month. Not to be confused with the PPA’s National Poker Week, PG’s September declaration is about a nationwide series of charity tournaments “that unites the poker world to generate goodwill through ‘giving back’ and supporting worthwhile charities.” (Emphasis theirs, not mine.)

There have already been events in Arizona and yesterday here in Vegas at the Venetian. Coming up are an event Monday at the Golden Nugget and another at the new Tropicana Poker Room (which fyi, few know, had its opening day on Black Friday) on Saturday. More than 15 events — in the $60 to $125 range — in 15 different venues in seven states.

Click here for the complete schedule.

Our goal is to disperse the highest percentage of funds possible to the charities. While some fundraising operators are actually businesses for profit, Poker Gives is designed to give back and we do so in every way possible. Board members and founding members of Poker Gives receive no salary whatsoever. All expenses and administrative costs are minimized so that the maximum is directed to our charities.

– Poker Gives

Charity tournaments can be a dime a dozen … or more appropriately for poker, probably closer to 5 dimes a dozen. And some are better than others as an event and/or as a fundraiser. But apparently some big-timers in the poker biz (Mike Sexton, Linda Johnson, et al) saw too many such tourneys used as fronts for shady activities I mean not necessarily distributing funds appropriately, and thus back in 2008 created Poker Gives. It’s an effort designed to cultivate the collective giving of poker players and poker rooms around the country to make more notable donations to more mainstream 501c’s (Paralyzed Veterans of America, Make a Wish, Special Olympics, the USO, the Shriners, among others). It also becomes, imho, part of what some say is becoming a “movement” to clean up poker and make it more, er … presentable?

Also this week, as in today, is an Epic Poker charity event at Pokerati’s home room, the Palms. It’s a $240 with $100 rebuys event — hosted by Kevin Pollak, with all sorts of extra goodies overlayed — and the top three winning seats to the upcoming $1,500 Epic Pro-Am.

While this isn’t officially part of National Poker Month (I’m curious why not, too) tonight’s tournament at the Palms does benefit Fallen Heroes USA, a PG thumbs-up charity partner. Should be good times for a good cause; and who knows, maybe a Pokerati Game will break out with extra players in the mood to just be giving money away?

Who says poker media sucks. I mean sure the writing and diction might be lacking … but being a Pokerati alum (and degenerate Pokerati game player) has its privileges. Check out Mechdawg, former podcast critic, arriving in Vegas for work on the Epic Poker League, apparently not needing a ride to or from the bar at the Palms.

PERKY: Merchdawg’s in Vegas, and a sparkly green Escalade awaits.

Next Pokerati Game, btw, is tomorrow, Thursday, usual start time. Hoping Merchdawg et al(canthang) play when they’re done with the tournament coverage. Somebody asked me, lol, “Is this a WPT event?”

Apologies to @PokerGuyJoeV and/or @BobbyGriff9, btw, if every 1/2 PLO/NL player now thinks you can hook them up with airport rides just because.

Special thanks to Tricat in Vegas, who snapped a video of Pokerati Game, the Movie, as it played on the big screen outside on Flamingo. It’s an epic saga of … er … it’s an action/adventure in NLH/PLO told as a silent film of about 12 seconds. Powerful stuff:

And speaking of the game … congrats to TJ Downing and @JaKatkin … who won president and vice president in our Pokerati Game “election” on Thursday. For the wins, TJ will be representing in tonight’s $340 satellite* to the $1,500 Epic Pro-Am at Palms Poker Room … and Katkin will be taking a stab in a Sunday $180.

* special bounty tournament

I really hope everyone had a great time this summer playing 1/2 No-Limit Hold’em/PLO at the Palms. I know I did … even though my own poor performance over the past couple weeks kept my summertime bankroll graph a little below sea level. But still, it was great to sit down for just some good old-fashioned poker with so many friends, colleagues, old Dallas players, low-stakes Vegas grinders, poker media hangers-on … as well as various new players from multiple continents with whom I got to enjoy some incarnation of sucking out. Thanks to all who played and especially thanks to those who embraced the Pokerati Game commitment to keeping the best low-stakes action in Vegas douchebag-free. (A bigger challenge than you might think.)

Tonight, we’ve got a little game-sweetener: The two best players in the game will get satellite seats for the Epic Pro-Am (also at the Palms) — one for a Saturday $340 and one in a Sunday $180.

And to determine who these players are, we’re gonna vote. Totally subjective and very unscientific, befitting of my ongoing social poker experiment, aka The Pokerati Game … and hey, if you don’t like the way we do it, you’re welcome to heckle from the rails. (2-drink minimum, though.)

That’s pretty much it. We’ll be playing the game as usual tonight — 1/2 NLH/PLO round of each, $100 min $400 max buy-in, game changes on the one seat, option to run it twice in both games, $5 button straddle gets ultimate last action — except everyone who plays will also get a ballot. And on that ballot they get to cast two votes:

+1 ____________

-1 ____________

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I haven’t seen it yet on the big screen, but it should be there soon … celebrities galore expected for its Vegas premiere at the Palms. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry … oooh, the tension! Can only imagine how good Pokerati No-Limit Hold’em/PLO must look and feel in Imax.

As always, you are welcome and encouraged to run it twice.

I won my seat early … and since then I’ve been watching the field grow for Epic Poker’s inaugural $1,500 pro-am at the Palms, Pokerati’s regular low-stakes NLH/PLO home.

With @Donkeybomber so far my toughest potential competition … well, let’s just say I’m starting to get excited about the actual poker at hand in early August. And though TV exposure had nothing to do with my initial interest … that’s apparently now part of it, with Epic’s recently acquired sister company, the Heartland Poker Tour, coming to Vegas to film the tournament for syndicated distribution on its nationwide network of local TV stations, some of which are actually in HD.

(Yay!)

That might seem a little minor-league for the more-pro, less-am players in Vegas … but hey, this $1,500 event will be my second-biggest tournament to play in ever — so HPT coverage seems just about right for me and Tom Schneider at this point in my pro career. Having won my way into the August 5-7 tournament, I’ve clearly got game that’s ready for UHF.

Satellites running at 7pm on Saturday and Sunday in the Key West Room at the Palms.

The Epic Poker League still sounded more like a Sugar Bowl sponsor (as FS+G) when yours truly won his seat into their inaugural $1,500 event at the Palms last weekend. Excited to play … but also thinking ’bout selling it, as I’m pretty sure these seats are transferable, and I already had plans that weekend to learn the ways of a seasoned pro by going on a vision quest at the Poker Sweat Lodge with Greg Raymer and Tom Schneider.

For now, play it by ear …

2011 WSOP – Episode 25: Sit and Go Pro
A group of prolific tweeters play in a satellite to the FS+G Epic Poker League $1500 pro-am — a tournament series taking shape that few know what to make of yet. None other than Bluff correspondent Kevin Mathers shows up to provide a comparative assessment of what he just witnessed — as somehow Dan ends up winning, beating @Alcanthang, @JoeUgly, @Hollywood_Dave, and others with questionable play. A rather large rail developed to hear Kevmath laughing heartily on the inside. Whatev, says Dan, who won a seat, took home some cash, and now apparently thinks he’s a pro.

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For more episodes, visit the Tao of Pokerati archives or subscribe to the feed .

Ahh, now I get it! Concept behind Federated’s Epic Pro-Am series starting to make sense.

The Federated-Sports-plus-Gaming-and-Semi-Nebulous-Professional-Poker-League-now-with-more-Heartland-Poker-Tour got itself a Twitter-friendly name today — the Epic Poker League … just in time for their upcoming $1,500 Pro-Am at the Palms (no longer a Maloof Casino Resort).

EpicPoker.com … and @EpicPokerLeague.

OK … Epic.

I happen to get a near-front row seat, as everything leading up to their first event — a 3-day $1,500 pro-am, August 5-8 — takes place at the Palms, a place where the Pokerati Game, you all know, has found a delightfully raucous, if not cozy home for our brand of “high-stakes action for low-stakes players” in the form of 1/2 NLH/PLO.

It should be an up-close look at one of the more interesting side stories of the 2011 WSOP — the birthing of Jeffrey Pollack and Annie Duke’s poker lovechild emergence of a new professional poker league … a difficult labor to be sure!

Meanwhile, in my initial exploration of Epic (before I even understood how “Epic” it would be) … I happened to win a satellite this weekend into the first $1,500 event. So now I’m a pro, obv! I’ll get an even closer look — behind the rails with actual chips in play — at how this league is really taking shape, what it means for players looking at it as a vehicle for future poker success, and even though I never wanted to be a real poker pro … a chance to more legitimately claim status as a card-carrying pro at stake.

The Palms Casino Resort, one of the last remaining “family run” operations on or off the Las Vegas Strip — and home to the gloriously raucous @Pokerati Game @PalmsPokerRm — will likely become part of the Caesars casino empire. The Maloof family, 80 percent owners of the Palms, sold off their majority interest this week to investors that include TPG Capital.

Across the street from the Rio ... a true palace of low-stakes NLH/PLO.

Fort Worth-based TPG, of course, are majority owners of Caesars Entertainment, corporate overlords to the WSOP.

According to the Sacramento Bee, upon approval by Nevada Gaming regulators, the billionaire Maloof family will retain just 2 percent … with an option to rebuy up to 20.

Untested but presumably reliable sources say the Palms will almost certainly end up in Caesars’ portfolio of casino properties, following an acquisition path similar to how things went for Planet Hollywood … and should become part of Caesars’ Total Rewards program by year-end. Over in Sacramento, the buzz is all about what the Maloof sale means for the Sacramento Kings, who apparently need both a new arena and a player bankroll.

I can’t begin to think I really understand the high finance and debt restructuring of Big Casinos … so before I try to explain, you should probably peruse the past six months or so of SEC filings for CZR. There really is a rather fascinating story in the agate here.