So poker people are buzzing again about the promise of California for online poker. It’s true what RJ gaming reporter Howard Stutz says, that this market represents something of a holy grail for the liquidity dependent. But that’s also the reason I’ll stick by my assertions that California needs about half a country to go pro-poker before they get real about making a deal. Sorry for the buzzkill … but here’s a little Vegas Grinders outtake, recorded about three months ago, in which Andrew, Dave and I address whether or not online pokerers should be packing up their bags and setting up shop in the Golden State.
(Sigh.) Rough WSOP … Jason Mercier and I have so much in common.
With the WSOP and ancillary summertime Las Vegas tournament action coming to a close, Dave has already exchanged his WSOP victory flatscreen for a $400 Target gift card; Andrew finishes with a win at the newly opened LVH poker room, er … poker area; and was Dan even at the World Series of Poker in 2013? Meanwhile, Nevada’s only currently live legal online poker option is seeking feedback about bonus programs and deposit incentives … and who’s in for $125 Open-face Chinese at the Palms? The VG radio fellas are here … to give it all a little thought, and maybe some lip, yo.
Vegas Grinders 1.22
[audio: https://pokerati.com/podcast/VegasGrinders/VG1point22.mp3]
“That’s stupid. Why should I get a job when I’ve got no-limit Texas Hold’em?”
Tom Schneider may have downgraded his status to semi-pro, but that hasn’t kept him from a sickening, multi-bracelet run in Hold’em-Omaha-Razz-Seven-stud-Eight-or-better. And though she’s having a WSOP of her own (with one final table so far), semi-angry Julie jumps on-call to enlighten us about how she’s managing the family bankroll, particularly as degenerate poker urchins gravitate toward her husband, wanting satellite buy-ins but not his advice to “Get a job!”
Meanwhile, Tom advises Andrew on how one might go about moving through the mixed game ranks — which is great and all, but are things going so un-awesomely for Andrew this summer that he’s been relegated to sleeping in his car?
In other-people’s WSOP business … were chips that went missing from a winner’s photo shoot indicative of ubiquitous cheating at the WSOP or just a case of rogue souvenir hunters before tournament officials had a procedure in place to keep better track of photo props? Also the Rio Deepstack fields keep getting more massive. Who knew old-school, underground blind structures and substantive-but-affordable buy-ins would come back in fashion? And secrets to a locals discount that might be one of the best kept secrets at the Rio. And by “best kept secrets” we mean things advertised on billboards, but hey …
It’s EDC weekend — Electric Daisy Carnival — which may or may not bring glowsticks and furry boots to the table. Oh, and don’t forget @KevMath! He’s on this episode, too, at the premiere of Bet Raise Fold afterparty. It’s all so clear now: Andrew hearts Kevmath, Dan hearts Donkeybomber, and Dave’s still lookin’ for a flush-draw to chase.
Vegas Grinders 1.19
[audio: https://pokerati.com/podcast/VegasGrinders/VG1point19.mp3]
Episode Resources
CAPTION HERE if you’re not willing to back me.
In this week’s episode, er, I mean last week’s … Andrew embarks on the Las Vegas Strip low-stakes Summer circuit (Rio, Venetian, Caesars Palace, Bellagio, Aria, Wynn …) only to make a valiant 0-fer run, leaving us time to discuss a caravan of high-stakes cash games sprouting up around town — it’s open-face Chinese blossoming at the Rio, Doyle popping up at the Venetian, and Doyle doing his best Deadmau5 in the Ivey Room. Meanwhile Dave takes a look at the Carnevale of Poker and the fields it draws, and we all get a chuckle out of getting so drunk at the Carnival Court that you’re banned forever from the WSOP. (Surely no one will get that drunk at the premiere party for the online poker documentary Bet Raise Fold, right?) All that and some patch bonuses available for those willing to pimp for WSOP.com, Ultimate Poker, and/or those crazy kinds at QuadJacks.
Vegas Grinders 1.18
[audio: https://pokerati.com/podcast/VegasGrinders/VG1point18.mp3]
Why do I watch Celebrity Apprentice when I know it’s just gonna tilt me!?
It’s the 10th anniversary of Chris Moneymaker, and the big poker events are here — starting with the WPT World Championship, where the final table looks to be a lesson in makeup and collections. But hey, even at only $1.1 million for first, a televised $25k buy-in is still enough to make Bellagio the busiest room in Vegas again. Meanwhile, Dave finds the new lowest stakes action on the Strip in a $.50/$1 NL game at the Quad (which ain’t a bad way to chase the Megabeat) … and does yours truly find his poker passion re-ignited by a missed connection at Red Rock, where a self-professed high-stakes online pro says he’s really impressed by my $1-3 play. (Argh, why didn’t I get his name!?!) Meanwhile, Andrew is keeping it real and chill poolside, with the opening of a new dayclub flavored by the Light Group and Cirque du Soleil. And in our version of “What Would You Do?” the VG crew breaks down an ethical quandry about dealer error and cards speaking when the table won’t … which begs the question: is there a difference between angle shooting another player and pocketing cash from a casino slip?
Oh, you know you want it like we do …
Vegas Grinders 1.15
[audio: https://pokerati.com/podcast/VegasGrinders/VG1point15.mp3]
Is that a prop bet in your pants or are you just happy to see me?
As the Duke of Fremont gets ready for trial, Andrew and Dan are among a field of 200 playing $135 No-Limit Hold’em in the Golden Nugget’s $25,000 guaranteed weekender event. Dave meanwhile hooks it to Planet Hollywood in chase of the Caesars Megabeat (which pays better on a Wednesday afternoon) and damn, that’s a pretty good promo when coupled with their new 20 for 20 freeroll.
At Mandalay Bay this weekend it’s the $10,000 Tiger Jam, and is Wikipedia racist for thinking Phil Ivey = Tiger Woods? The WSOP lays out their summer plan with their annual media conference call. And we check in with David Clark, aka DC n La, from New Orleans, where the WSOP-NOLA circuit event is happening and the WSOP Circuit national championship takes place next week. And when a showdown reveals Dan’s 5c8c < 4s6s … he’s left asking Andrew if it was just an unfortunate river in the midst of sneaky button play or really, against a fellow Texan, just a late-position cliche …
Vegas Grinders 1.14: Going Continental
[audio: https://pokerati.com/podcast/VegasGrinders/VG1point14.mp3]
Resource Links
WhoIsDavidClark
WSOP 2013-14 Circuit Schedule
20 for 20 Freeroll
2013 WSOP Media Conference Call
Clearly my life would be better if it weren’t for that friggin’ flush card.
Nevada online poker is here! Kinda-sorta at least for those not on a Mac and/or Verizon. Dan stops by the offices of the new UltimatePoker.com to find an old-school PokerStars crew manning the Station Casinos outpost, while Dave pops in to a near-Strip location to fund his account with real money he someday hopes to play. Things are looking up for the Vegas Grinders crew, but just to be sure it stays that way, poker’s premier mentalist Jared Tendler pops into the VG virtual studio to see how Dave’s doing, and in the process pumps us full of general life wisdom-science for optimal ways to combat extended downswings, “beaten dog syndrome,” and Mid-WSOP burnout. Yet in the end he tells Dave not to read his new book, WTF?
Vegas Grinders 1.12
[audio: https://pokerati.com/podcast/VegasGrinders/VG1point12.mp3]
Resources:
Ooh, I’m so close to being ready to party!
Andrew’s coming off a discouraging min-cash in a Venetian Deep Stack event, Dave just can’t seem to win no matter what he plays, and Dan’s the one noting an impressive Vegas grinder hourly? In this episode, we discuss table buzz about the major New York sports betting busts, Ivey and Negreanu’s Australian bracelet wins (is it the death of poker’s middle class?) and introduce our growing international listenership to Awesome Andrew’s Vegas Social Calendar — just in time for the opening of Hakkasan! But then we really do have to drill down on Dave’s recent woes at the table … to help you find your best way out of your poker holes before an extended downswing becomes a downward spiral of total life despair. And our HOTW … pocket 9s under the gun! Do you know a better way to address the pressing societal issue of open-raising vs. limping in early position with small-to-medium pairs? That’s what we thought. (Enjoy the extra links while listening …)
Vegas Grinders 1.10
[audio: https://pokerati.com/podcast/VegasGrinders/VG1.10.mp3]
Episode Resources:
VG: Why do I sometimes feel so small?
Awesome Andrew and Random Dave hit East Fremont and the Arts District for some First Friday non-poker fun, then go home to sign away all future affiliate value sign up as beta-testers for the real money WSOP software … but not before yours truly donks off 1.4 million in play money Omaha on the EA Sports app, and somehow pays $3 in real US currency to reload!
Meanwhile back in the VG studio, we bring in Tournament Dave to report from the daily tournament tables of Venetian and Aria, where he keeps chopping up the top-heavy tournament cash and finishing ITM 2/3 of the time. Up for high-quality discussion here: the allure of tournaments with buy-ins over $100 … why early events offer more value to regs … the rationale of cutting deals at a final table … unique emotional swings of tournament-structured tilt … and was that a creatively appropriate way for floor to pull cards out of the muck?
All that and you’re ready to enjoy some hand porn. This week we look at a man who’s not afraid to get a little sexy in position with a relatively big stack and J-9s on the bubble.
Vegas Grinders 1.9
[audio: https://pokerati.com/podcast/VegasGrinders/VegasGrinders_13-04-10.mp3]
Hmmm … I wonder if I’m a lark or an owl …
I’ve joked since even before this show began that guys like Andrew ran with a bunch of thugs — grinder thugs I like to call them, for the way they go after tourist money in Vegas — and sure enough, a 5/10 Vegas reg we know just got out of jail. Find out how a presumably responsible family man poker coach pro like John Kim could end up in in the clink — sharing a cell no less with a former friend/sketchy acquaintance of Chris Moneymaker.
And speaking of jailbirds, or just birds I suppose … are you a lark or an owl? New(ish) scientific evidence suggests the nocturnal nature of many poker players, Andrew included, is genetically coded and comes with distinct evolutionary advantages.
Meanwhile Dave tries his hand at $2/$5 NL for a score … but not before sitting next to Michael Phelps in a drinky 1/3 game at the Palms, where the supposedly cool Olympic megachamp kinda sorta turns out to be a Tobey Maguire-like dick when it comes to unlicensed photography.
All that and how you may or may not want to play KQ-suited when sizing up future action on subsequent streets!
Vegas Grinders 1.8
[audio: /VegasGrinders/VegasGrinders_13-04-03.mp3]
C’mon somebody pour some sugar on me …
They’re gettin’ deep in the NCAA tourney, and not one of us has filled out a proper bracket? With basketball tourists in town, Boyz II Men are playing 1/3 and 2/5 at the Mirage … and Kenna James is sitting behind some big stacks in a 25/50 game at Red Rock? Good time to discuss the practicalities and pitfalls of selling your action in cash games. And if you’re looking for backers on Craigslist and end up in a poker-coaching pyramid scheme … well, we’re not ones to judge, but just be sure to watch your wallet and wear a condom. All that and Awesome Andrew’s Awesome Vegas Living on the View, a new sky-high lounge at the Palms that replaces the Playboy Club of old with checkers and Connect Four … at a time when casinos are kinda-sorta cracking down on drugs and hookers at their nightclubs and pools.
Vegas Grinders 1.7
[audio: /VegasGrinders/VegasGrinders_13-03-28.mp3]
Crap. Free hotel room on the Las Vegas Strip, and I left my bathing suit at home.
The Wynn Classic wraps up, and so does Erick Lindgren’s brief flirtation with redemption. (LOL-ouch on the bubble.) Likewise, Multi Action Poker is out @AriaPoker (like we knew it would be) but Phil Ivey is in — making a not-so-regular stop to play behind his namesake glass walls. Meanwhile, as Nevadans, we begin to think about playing online again, starting with some online satellite freerolls at GoldenNuggetPoker.com … while Dave enjoys a free room at Bally’s — a nice perk for a man hoping to hit it with a bad beat jackpot!
Over @CLVPoker, Hoops and Hold’em is underway; Andrew laments that the one tournament he won has been discontinued. While there may or may not be an upside to being forcibly undefeated, seriously, how-TF do you remove a heads-up bracket tourney from a seasonal series created around March Madness?
Semi-related … can you believe it’s almost pool season?
All that and more in another jam-packed, rip-roarin’ episode of every Vegas local’s favoritisimo new podcast …
Vegas Grinders 1.6
[audio: /VegasGrinders/VG20130320.mp3]
All I want is for you to love me like a Facebook friend.
We’re not just a 1-2 or 1-3-trick pony at Vegas Grinders … and to prove it we invite anti-Howard Lederer petitioner and middleweight grinder thug Nick diVella to report from the 5/10 and 10/20 NL tables at Aria, Bellagio, Wynn, and (sometimes) Venetian … just as we get word that the DOJ has launched a website to facilitate the repatriation of Full Tilt bankrolls.
Also … the Caesars Megabeat Jackpot hits at Planet Hollywood for $672k, paying off not just quad Queens < Queen-high straight flush, but also spreading a cool $2k around to 219 players in eight different poker rooms across Nevada. (Woot! It’s a casino party!) … But (sigh) what’s the point, really, when even Jerry Yang’s WSOP bracelet can end up on the auction block in an effort to pay off the IRS? With Dave boldly (and wrongly) folding pocket kings, good thing at least one of us finally took down a tournament FTW. Sure, it was just a little $45 tourney at the Stratosphere, but hey, don’t tell that to the 50 semi-grizzled players I bettered!
Vegas Grinders 1.5
[audio: https://pokerati.com/podcast/VegasGrinders/LVG20130313-c.mp3]
It’s National Problem Gambling Awareness Week … (what’s it worth when the fun may or may not stop on the river?) And on this week’s show: large tournament crowds but lack of cash game space at the Wynn Classic … a semi-secret billionaire’s charity event at the Venetian … tales from Choice center life-coaching spreading across the felts … and speaking of the need for feelgood, Andrew goes on a downswing this week, and is still waiting for funds on Lock … while I try to win a $40 tournament at Luxor (WTF?) … and Dave breaks down pre-flop and post-flop contemplations of folding pocket kings. Ah yes, choices choices indeed … such is life at the 1-3 tables in Las Vegas, with NASCAR fixin’ to rumble through town:
Vegas Grinders 1.4
[audio: https://pokerati.com/podcast/VegasGrinders/VegasGrinders20130307.mp3]
I’m tired of losing my shirt. What I could really use is a New Jersey.
This could turn out to be a momentous week in poker history … with both Nevada and New Jersey supposedly doing their part to bring online gambling properly to the American people. Of course even amid signatory celebrations, the day-to-day lives of Vegas Grinders have yet to change …
In this episode: Dave and Dan consider the implications (and a timeline) for the new Nevada law, while Andrew stays on his normal-hours kick long enough to find himself ballin’ with plumber cash. We inquire about the difference between daytime tables and nighttime tables in Las Vegas; there’s a pretty big and regular 30/60 O8 game taking shape at the Venetian; and with the Wynn Classic underway, what’s all the to-do about the latest specially named big-field tournament series anyhow? Is it like logging hours at South Point to wield a monster stack in their $125k freeroll? And is Mirage home to the softest 2/5 game in town?
Vegas Grinders 1.3
[audio: /VegasGrinders/VegasGrinders20130228.mp3]
All that and more … because while we may not be in iTunes yet, we do have listeners already, and they write in to ask about, er, actual poker hands? That’s right, Vegas Grinders break it down for you … this week exploring the nuance of playing pocket 10s as a local vs. any potential value-shove from a probable tourist. At least I think that’s what we’re talking about. Boo-yah. Have a listen and a nice day!
