This tournament has grown and grown into one of the biggest of the year in the country … and not that it would be all Ho and Fossilman’s doing … but I have a feeling this year people outside of Texas and Oklahoma will start to take note.

Here’s a little behind-the-scenes vid of Maria’s commercial shoot with the Chickasaw … who by the way, just officially bought Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, presumably changing the dynamic of Texas gambling legislation, but that’s a story for another time … right now it’s all about the value of Asian poker hotties playing the role of high-stakes cash game player. That and/or being a WSOP main event champion still seem to play well in the poker endorsement world.

Gill is known for his unashamed belligerence, politically incorrect rants, and a “FUCKITALL” attitude. I totally dig this guy, partly because he’s virtually a male copy of myself (so I “get him”) and partly because I respect his game. But a recent Facebook status update shed some new light on his true vagina character: “I really don’t want to go to jail… 14 days is going to be brutal,” he whimpered.

Shortly after publishing that comment, Gill’s ballsack threatened to tear itself off and run away in shame. I was really disappointed to see the him panicking over two short weeks behind bars. Let’s put this in perspective…getting fisted by Edward Scissorhands is brutal.  A coathanger abortion is brutal. Two weeks in a hillbilly jailhouse isn’t so much brutal as it is inconvenient

Keep your chin up, Carter; I’m sure the two weeks behind bars will come and go as fast as your bankroll does.

I’ll hold some of that for another post, lest we sully the winner’s accomplishment with analysis of the obstacles certain Indian casinos face in 2010 moving forward. But be sure, as evident in the fifth running of this tournament at WinStar, the paradigms have shifted … particularly for what constitutes a major minor-league event capable of profiting from a national player base.

The River’s $2.5 million guaranteed main event, with three Day 1s, drew 1,440 players … a much better result for Winstar than last year when they had to cover a $580k overlay on $3 million guaranteed. It coulda been even bigger had the casino not put itself in a position of pissing off players who trekked out to the Oklahoma hinterlands only to be turned away … but regardless, with a $2,100 buy-in and several months of satellites, first prize came to a relatively whopping $647,690.

To put that in perspective, that’s better than 10th-place money in the WSOP main event. So would it be a stretch to contend winning The River is just a notch below making the November Nine?

Of the 57 WSOP bracelet events so far this year, only eight — the Main, $50k mixed, $5k NLH, $5k NLH-6h, $1.5k NLH, $25k NLH-6h, $10k PLO, and $2.5k NLH — offered 1st-place payouts bigger than what was at stake yesterday in Thackerville, OK. Only seven when you factor in The River’s $70k overlay (in the form of a Porsche Cayenne) for the overall points winner … which also happened to go to main event winner, Khoueng Souvoravong, even though he had 0 points going into the finale.

FWIW, Souvoravong went into Day 3 as the chip leader among the final 20 … with Raymer on his tail in third. Quite the fending off of attacks, you’d think. Interesting to see the final table apparently outfitted with hole-card cams, too …

Mr. Sou may have been a total unknown to the Hendon Mob and others prior to his massive Labor Day db-debut. But you could tell from WinStar’s Facebook page that he was hardly a nobody to many who woulda loved to have been able to follow his win from start to finish.

Kenny Siripanyo
THATS MY GRANDPA!!!@#!@#!@
6 people like this.

Bee Vannasinh Pakdimounivong
Looks like he won with 3-4 off suit! He’s definitely putting the Asians on the map!!! gamble gamble
1 person likes this

Pauline Siripanyo
Congratulations Daddy!!!
3 people like this.

Deborah Ngamvilay
Goo Grandpa

WPT London :: 21-year old Jake Cody wins his 2nd major of 2010, WSOP win away from Triple Crown. PartyPoker million dollar man denied. PartyPoker Blog

WPT London High Roller :: Justin “Boosted J” Smith defeats Tony G heads-up in marathon final table, earning £141,000 WPT High Roller report

Partouche Poker Tour, Cannes :: Vanessa Selbst, Fabrice Soulier and Phil Laak near top of leaderboard as field plays down to final 18.

River @ Winstar :: Greg Raymer has a very good week: Finishes 6th of 101 for $760 in $330 Jack and Jill tournament with his mom in her first time playing, returns for final day 3rd of 20 for main event. Winner takes down over $600,000 Day 3 lineup from 2+2 WinStar’s Twitter providing updates

Beau Rivage Gulf Coast Poker Championship, Biloxi, MS :: Chad Brown holds the chip lead at final table of their $5,000 main event. Winner earns over $177,000 and 2011 Southern Poker Championship seat. BeauPoker Twitter

Commerce Holdem Series :: Guarantees in weekend tournaments go 1 for 2 as series enters week 2. Commerce Tournaments

Also …

Controversy in side event of Partouche Poker Tour regarding floorman’s decision, tales of alleged bias against non-French players.

PokerStars’ WCOOP continues with three more events today. PokerStars Blog.

World Poker Open underway at London’s Palm Beach Casino. Phil Laak defending champion of made-for-TV event, 48 players vying for $200,000 first place money. World Poker Open updates

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.

* 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)

Considering that Texas poker players helped build the third-largest friggin’ casino in the world (literally under a tent in Thackerville, OK) we can take some pleasure in knowing a bunch of Texans kicked butt in The River tourney this weekend and will be sending back home some riches made in El Norte.

WinStar reportedly threw in a $580,000 overlay to make their $3 million guarantee. Not sure about the buy-in details — I think they upped it to $2k? — nor overall results. The best “coverage” has come via 2+2 here, mixed in with some Facebook, Twitter, and direct txt msg buzz. (Thanks KevMath and Harris, as always, for the info!)

1,210 players overall.

The winner: Bobby Hempkins, aka “Shooter” in the Dallas poker boom days. (And now your source for residential real estate in the North Texas area.) $710k win. Nice!

5th place finisher Brian @ZBTHorton provided regular updates from the final table, such as:

8 left, these people suck (4pm)

Apparently tax issues may or may not have complicated chop discussions — though sounds to me that the Chickasaw nation is under similar corporate-legal restrictions as the WSOP.

7th place reportedly went to a guy named Lance. Paid $95k. Sounds like a nice prize distribution (at the final table, at least). Not too flat, not too steep.

Blind structure was supposedly relatively fast, however.

Pros who made the trek for this event included: Clonie Gowen, TJ Cloutier, Michael Mizrachi, Eric Mizrachi, Kido Pham, Terrence Chan, Michael Binger, Men the Master, Allen Kessler, and Dmitri Nobles. The real @EskimoClark was also supposedly milling around.

pic: @EWeE420

UPDATE: BW left out WinStar (Oklahoma), which is bigger than many might think.

1. The Venetian Macao
2. City of Dreams Resort (Macao)
3. Foxwoods Resort Casino (Ledyard, Conn.)
4. Casino Ponte 16 (Macao)
5. Tusk Rio Casino Resort (Klerksdorp, South Africa)
6. MGM Grand Macao
7. Sands Macao
8. MGM Grand Las Vegas
9. Casino Lisboa (Portugal)
10. Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa (Atlantic City)
11. Bellagio (Las Vegas)
12. Caesar’s Atlantic City
13. StarWorld Hotel and Casino (Macao)
14. The Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino (Las Vegas)
15. The Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino (Las Vegas)
16. The Wynn (Las Vegas)
17. The Wynn (Macao)
18. Resorts Atlantic City
19. Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino (Atlantic City)
20. Gold Coast Hotel & Casino (Las Vegas)

NOTE: The Winstar World Casino, in Thackerville, OK, is currently undergoing an expansion that will make it the 3rd largest casino in the world.

UPDATE: Looks like the expansion might already be done — though the WinStar is billing itself as the 5th largest in the world … even though its 380,000 square feet of gaming floor space would make it 3rd according to Business Week.

First off, I just get pissy — because why can’t Texas see what we are missing by being so anti-poker. I mean sheeot, the state of Texas is building what may well become one of the biggest non-Vegas casinos in all of America right across the border in Oklahoma … because of the belief that poker offends Republican primary voters’ moral sensibilities. I mean either we don’t believe that, and just are stupid for letting OK make all the $$, or we do believe that, and therefore are being pretty unneighborly (at least from a Christian perspective) by letting our good friends to the north destroy themselves — and our people — with poker.

But I digress … this tournament reminds me why poker is different from so many other similar political issues — and it’s stuff “our side” should remember when trying to push through our political agenda.

As far as “alternative” political issues … the one most in line with poker right now would seem to be marijuana. They too are flooding Washington DC with supportive letters — and are making essentially the same plea: regulate and tax us, please!

While I’m not so sure potheads are the best company to be in, politically — they’re making moves, but it’s taking decades, because you know, potheads are seldom in a hurry — there is such a clear difference here. And that is you would never see a group of cops hosting a “bake” sale to raise money for a comrade-in-need … as good of an idea as that may be.

Though a few cops playing cards certainly isn’t any deal-maker on the political front, separating poker from other forms of “vice” seems to me would be an essential part of any plan to legitimize the game … so this helps. Save Captain Sargent!

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.)

Once upon a time, the WinStar Casino was literally just a little big tent on a riverbank. But now, fueled in many ways by the DFW poker scene, the place has blown up … just two days ago I ran into a guy at the Golden Nugget from Dallas telling me how wild the action was there … “Because when people make the long haul to Oklahoma, they show up ready to play, I imagine,” I said.

“Yeah,” he confirmed. “And they serve alcohol now, so that livens things up.”

Continuing Thackerville’s conversion from nothing-land to resort destination: WinStar is adding a spa. Sweet. So not only can you rest assured that many of your opponents will be well-pedicured, but also you could only expect this to increase the quality (and quantity) of railbirds willing to make the trek across the border.

More details on Dallas/Plano-based Spa Habitat’s investment in a new Oklahoma branch below:

For Immediate Release

Dallas Metro Spa Expanding to Oklahoma
Spa Habitat to Open New Organic Spa in Winstar World Casino’s New Hotel

April 16, 2009 – Dallas, Texas.  Spa Habitat, a leading provider of organic spa services and products, has announced plans to open a new spa location inside WinStar World Casino’s new hotel tower.   The location will open along with the new 395-room hotel this summer.

Spa Habitat, the fast-growing organic spa company with existing locations in Dallas and Plano, Texas, has received rave reviews, including Citysearch’s “Best Spa in Dallas” award (editorial and audience winner), and has been featured in top magazines including Lucky, Allure, American Spa and D, as well as other leading local and national publications.

Greg Bohn, CEO of Spa Habitat, commented on the new location, “Spa Habitat is excited to be a part of WinStar World Casino. WinStar has significantly expanded and improved over the last year, and is now one of the five largest casinos in the world.  As WinStar World Casino’s transformation continues with the opening of its new, first-class hotel tower this summer, we look forward to providing a relaxing organic retreat to its discerning guests.”

Andrea Horner, Chief Marketing Officer of WinStar World Casino commented, “The addition of Spa Habitat at WinStar World Casino continues our transformation into a true vacation destination.  Spa Habitat will provide an oasis of tranquility amid the nonstop action on WinStar World Casino’s gaming floor.  We are especially excited to offer our guests a spa experience that has garnered such an outstanding reputation in the Dallas market.”

WinStar World Casino is located just an hour’s drive from Dallas/Ft. Worth off of I-35 on the Texas/Oklahoma border.  WinStar World Casino features more than 380,000 square feet of gaming space, 5,700 electronic games and 76 table games. The casino also features 9 restaurants and a 2,500-seat Global Events Center with convention and meeting space.

# # #

About Spa Habitat

Spa Habitat is a leading provider of natural and organic spa services and products, with locations in Dallas and Plano, Texas.  The company provides clients with spa services and products that follow strict purity standards and only contain ingredients that are known to be safe for the skin and for the environment.  The spa offers a variety of services including massage, facials, body rituals, hand and foot treatments, and sugar-based hair removal, along with an organic apothecary featuring a wide array of organic and natural products including skin care, bath and body, cosmetics, clothing, baby care, candles, books and more. For more information, please visit www.spahabitat.com.

# # #

About WinStar World Casino

The world’s fifth largest casino, WinStar World Casino offers more than 5,700 electronic games, 76 blackjack and poker tables and a 2,500-seat Global Events Center.  Located just north of the Oklahoma/Texas border along Interstate 35, WinStar World presents 24/7 gaming action, world-class entertainers and a wide range of restaurants. WinStar World Casino is an economic enterprise of the Chickasaw Nation.  For more information visit our website at www.winstarworldcasino.com.

A few things jump out at me from the pieces … 1) be sure to read Johnny Hughes’ comment about the old days with slim; 2) his declarations of octogenarian impotence — “Back when I could have sex, I don’t have it anymore – I can’t help that – I would have had it when I could. How come I waited until I was impotent to do something like this?”; and 3)

There was a site [WickedChopsPoker] which called me a pedophile. I’m considering suing them if they don’t publish a retraction because none of it is true.

Libel cases are, thankfully of course, difficult for plaintiffs to win. He’d have to show:

1. Blatant disregard for the truth … that should be no problem with WCP, they do that all the time! But it’s also arguably part of their shtick, so …
2. Financial damages … easy enough. Without a doubt, Amarillo Slim missed out on plenty of sponsorship opportunities because of his poker-boom reputation as an extra-dirty old man. But is Wicked Chops any more responsible for this than, say, 2+2 or any other blogs that reported the same things with similar verbiage?
3. Malicious intent … and this is probably what saves Wicked Chops from legal trouble — he’d have a near-impossible time proving The Entities had it in for him and therefore were specifically out to do him harm.

With all this said, am I the only one who thinks there might be more to AS’s coming clean/defending himself? The WSOP is coming up, and World Championship buy-ins can be pretty darn expensive. Being able to wear a patch promoting an online poker room would certainly help the cause, and that simply wouldn’t be/hasn’t been possible with a sexual predator stigma hanging over him.

But now with the likes of Russ Hamilton and Ernie Scherer III out there, and dudes like ZeeJustin being welcomed back at PokerStars, the timing seems right for him to remind the world that, hey, I’m endorsable, too! I’m predicting a Doyle’s Room patch … but wouldn’t it be kinda funny if he ended up as Bodog’s partyin’ grandpappy?

I really enjoy the website and checking it daily to see what’s going on in the poker world. A dealer at the winstar casino in oklahoma told me about it. I’m from oklahoma, but now live in dallas. I’m not sure if it’s newsworthy, but on friday jan 2nd, at the Firelake Grand Casino in Shawnee, OK, my table hit the Super Bad Beat Jackpot, which was quad 8′s or better beaten, and it was up to about $91,000. The winner got 18,000, the loser got 28,000, and the table share was $6,500. It was pretty amazing…after playing in casinos for about 4 years, i thought i’d never hit a bad beat.

Thanks

No, thank you, Jon. And thank you to the WinStar dealer for introducing us to you. Seriously … sounds like it was an amazing hand.

(I do kinda like the split, though.)

WSOPA Student Interview

Many Dallas Fort Worth poker players can clearly remember when Winstar didn’t give two hoots about Poker. At that same time, the then soon-to-be ‘big games’ were popping up all over North Texas. Many of those have since come and gone as players come to prefer driving an hour north over getting shot to death. But this alone wasn’t going to do the heavy lifting required to further increase the infamous Texas vs. Oklahoma license plate ratio of the Winstar parking lot. It would take a few years, an upstart tournament series and TV show, and finally one damn nice poker room upgrade. It appears now that the players are taking Winstar as a serious poker venue, so are promoters. Most recently, the WSOP.

Last weekend, I was given the opportunity to join a few dozen amateur players for the most recent installment of the WSOP Poker Academy. This event’s focus was near and dear to my heart; Tournament Strategy. Although I get more than my own fair share of top-notch professional tournament wisdom via poker and biz bud, Tom Schneider, I was very much looking forward to the ever present contrast that would be offered by different pros, including Bernard Lee, Michael Gracz, Greg Raymer, and friends. I would not be disappointed.

I arrived late on day-1, during the live hand demonstrations. This fun and intimate portion of the schedule was clearly where student players would get the most bang for their $1,700 bucks. It wouldn’t have taken Joe Navarro to tell me that the leaned-in, uber attentive players agreed. I was actually surprised with the enthusiasm with which the lessons were provided. It was immediately clear that instructors were really enjoying the opportunity for players’ direct interactions and were making the most of each and every mock hand.

Next up to the podium was Mindset Coach, Sam Chauhan. I’ll start off by saying that I am a big fan of such studies and disciplines as hypnosis, NLP, and Subliminal Persuasive Linguistics. However, I never felt like Chauhan really connected with the audience at a subject matter level. You can rest assured that there were plenty of interesting psych-related facts, stories, and antidotes. But a player looking to relate this specifically to poker would likely miss a lot of the lesson while they silently bridged the gaps in their heads. I think some poker-based scenarios would have been an invaluable application of Chauhan’s prowess and something that student players would have been chomping at the bit to implement. None-the-less, this segment was more than adequate for the amateur player pool, and a very welcomed addition to this informative series.

If you were looking for well explained points on tournament strategy, the Class sessions lead by Mr. Raymer, Lee, and Gracz did not disappoint. While their on-stage microphone tug-o-war’s were occasionally distracting and often led to off-topic insider banter and impromptu prop betting, it was soon clear to me that while I might have wanted to call clock more than once, the student-players were totally eating it up. Additionally, their explanations of the finer points and strategy rationale were very well considered and communicated just as clearly. Even from the back of the class, I could see light bulbs over a sea of regularly nodding and attentive heads.

One of the great bonuses of this series is the Day-1 Tournament, where the player-students get to put freshly sharpened pencils to paper in a live tournament featuring all of the professional instructors. For many, playing in an event of this size (super small) with a WSOP Main Event Champ is worth the price of admission alone. But instead, to the winner goes the following spoils: All expense paid trip to Vegas for a pre-Main Event primer and single-table satellite into the big show, and paid entry into the WSOPA Tournament of Champions, Free WSOPA entry for the event of their choice, and a shiny new pair of Oakleys. Not bad!

While I later went on to win the tournament, which was very exciting, it’s certainly the people, camaraderie, and insta-friends that stole the show for me. In fact, I’ve already been in email contact with a few of them who I very much enjoyed meeting and are looking forward to reading this post. As it turns out, all of these events seem to create the same environment, explained a member of the staff.

If that’s true, I’m definitely looking forward to my next WSOP Academy! If you see me there, say Hello. I’ll be the guy at the final table with the Pokerati patch on.

Karridy’s in Oklahoma this weekend, attending the WSOP Academy at WinStar … (note to Texas legislators) … and, sure enough, after a day of schooling, he won their big tournament last night. I don’t know the details — I think it was like 40something players, two of whom may or may not have included instructors Greg Raymer and Mike Gracz … and the prize is something like a fancied-up trip to Vegas and seat in WSOP-A’s tournament of champions. Anyhow, nice job K-man! That’s 2-for-2 for him when representing Team Pokerati.

ALT HED: Karridy Don’t Need No … Edu-ca-tion

Oh, wait, I’m forgetting about the two WSOP 1500′s where he busted out early on Day 1. But regardless, in what is something of a rarity, the entire Beyond the Table hosting crew (SitNGo Steve excused) was playing poker Saturday night. While Karridy was winning his tourney, I was kicking a little ass playing 1/2 online, booking my second $1,000 win in two sessions (might I actually have learned something at cash games college?), and Tom was playing the main event of the LAPC, where he won his seat via satellite but would soon be busting out not too far into Day 1, thereby making him happy for his amateur BTT cohorts, but not so happy about being the biggest loser of the bunch.

Much to say about the WSOP Academy I attended last weekend at Caesar’s … about things I learned, how I performed, and, frankly, what kinda people are shelling out close to $2,000 for anything these days. For some of the 50-or-so poker players in attendance it was just a matter of a buy-in or two for the level they play at. And for others, it was more than half their annual poker budget in a way that doesn’t even account for flights to Las Vegas from Australia or Buffalo.

Prof. Seif: “He may think it’s the right move, but Dan stands to lose a stack of 20-dollar bills this big if he keeps playing that way.”

All in all it was a great class taught by Mark Seif, Mark Gregorich, Alex Outhred, and Michael Gracz — very engaging, informative, and often irreverent — didn’t feel like Saturday/Sunday detention at all. I lost pretty big in the one session of $1/$2 NL I’ve played since WSOP-Acad graduation … I guess they shoulda reminded us to take a nap after class, or they can only do so much with a guy who insists on misplaying KQ generally 8 out of 10 times. (Ah, the painful, humiliating schoolchild memories …) If I could just misplay the hand 4 out of 10 times, that would be some serious positive EV, saving me the theoretical cost of tuition in just a few orbits!

BTW, the next WSOP Academy is at WinStar, February 21-22 — a poker room near and dear to so many Texas player and longtime Pokeratizens. Outhred and Gracz will be part of the Thackerville faculty, along with Greg Raymer and Master Mindset (?) coach Sam Chauhan.

Click here for more info … and really, you should totally think about signing up. Your Pokerati-friendly friends will feed you and everything.

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!

UPDATE: SodaSara finished 10th place … $60k or 2 percent (depending on which column(s) of the promised prize distributions WinStar stays true to).

Sara (right) is pretty bummed right now about just missing the final table. But soon she’ll realize she just booked her biggest poker score to date — finishing in the top 1 percent of a tough field — and presumably be feeling much better.

(Thanks, Alicia, for sending this along!)

Sunday Chip Totals

Celso Jimenez                   53,000
Femi Ljama                         46,000
Suchol Leela                       234.500
Richard Grosley                120,000
Matthew Harris                79,000
Michael Boydston            105,500
Billy Sewell                          193,000
James Worley                    32,500
Jason Ware                         17,500
John Cornelsen                 95,500
Michael Warwick              67,500
Randy Nix                            74,500
Lon Spencer                       180,500
Frankie Evans                    21,000
Jesse Wigginton               269,500
Paul Lackey                         69,000
Jeff Franklin                       164,000
Joshua Cathey                   65,000
James Richter                    268,500
Jose Olvera                         72,500
Keith Budner                     54,500
David Underwood           102,000
Rhett Kruizingna               35,000
Benjamin Rude                 126,000
Adam Wessley                  154,000
John Niccoli                        37,500
Scott Beck                           98,000
Jayne Bluhm                      14,000
Lee Hill                                  84,500
Scott Clements                 68,000

Monday Chip Totals

Lonnie Hardcastle            176,500
Hao Liu                                 94,500
Todd McClure                    83,000
Bobby McClendon           171,000
Michael Marx                    119,500
Greg Henry                         157,000
Jerrell Fielding                   78,000
Mac Wolf                             250,000
Charles Stubblefield       24,500
Jeff Jones                            79,000
Larry Kemp                         88,000
Bobby Shofner                  0
Glenn Wiegl                       67,500
Halit Ozaltun                      31,500
Nhut Tu                                266,500
Valerie Arnold                   192,000
Ronald Miller                     87,000
Howard Hill                         82,000
James Russell                    19,000
Dwayne Woodcock         56,000
Doug Lippe                         145,500
Greg Dockery                    24,000
KD Groves                           37,000
Louis Perry                          90,000
Warren Bowlby                 91,500
Frankie Bolin                      32,000
Gary Fisher                         93,000

Tuesday Chip Totals

Oliver Anderson               117,500
Hung Le                                25,000
Sam Ragsdale                    16,000
MD Wyde                            66,000
Quyet Tran                         119,000
Shane Van Loon               38,500
William Hickey                   245,500
Jim Gaston                          118,000
Dylan Easley                       26,500
Nathan Halbert                 172,500
Christopher Perez           26,000
Charlie Ryan                       336,500
Jay Chensonbath             55,000
Don Vongprachanh         80,500
Brian Rendien                    69,000
Michael Heygood             28,500
Brian Burney                      119,500
Marty Lowe                        116,500
Ahmad Popal                     83,500
Teddy Gill                            357,000
Wayne Null                         99,000
Jim Rhodes                         142,500
Mike Paciella                      55,000
Thao Truong                       44,500
Dallas Ward                        32,500
Peter Donnelly                  42,000
Tracy Morgan                    67,500