Russia's first ever Poker Conference was held in Moscow from the 2nd to 4th of April. Delegates from casinos throughout Russia were in attendance, as well as from Finland & the Baltic countries where poker is a fledgling industry.

Surprisingly, there were 7 delegates from various casinos in Siberia, so maybe it's not so bad to be sent to Siberia anymore. As ever, "Bendigo" Sloan was a polished & professional presenter, & he has firmly established his credentials here in Russia where numerous regional casinos are now eagerly bidding for his services.

"Bendigo" has offered a training course to poker management in Russia, & it looks very much like we are going to see a real poker revolution here, with casinos ready to adopt international standard practices in casino poker management. "Bendigo" even took time off to participate in the Dealer's Choice event on the Sunday night, finishing 2nd & showing us that he can play a bit too.

Results of the "Moscow Trio" of tournaments held from 5-7th April were as follows: (all events USD 250 entry fee with re-buys & add-on). Players are Russian unless otherwise noted.

1. Friday 5th April at Cosmos Casino: Pot Limit Omaha. Prizepool: USD 32,500

1st: Valery Illikian	2nd: John Kocbek (Australia)
3rd: Vladimir Makeev	4th: Armen Minasyan (Armenia)
5th: Manvel Avagyan (Armenia)	6th: Alex Leviev
7th: Arseny Mesheryakov	8th: Valery Zheleznyakov
9th: Mel Judah (Australia)	10th: Eddy Kapitonov

2. Saturday 6th April at Shangri-la Casino: Pot Limit Texas Hold'em Prizepool: USD 35,500

1st: Akob Vardanyan (Armenia)	2nd: Sergey Pevzner
3rd: Aram Piruzyan	4th: Abraham Item
5th: Alexei "the gorilla" Popov	6th: Eddy Kapitonov
7th: Igor Kudryavtsev	8th: Phil Cannon (Australia)
9th: Oleg Makovenko	10th: Alex Kravchenko

3. Sun 7th April at Corona Casino: Pot Limit Dealer's Choice Prizepool: USD 22,750

1st: Armin Valimahomod (Kenya/India)	2nd: "Bendigo" Sloan (Australia)
3rd: Dan Hill (USA)	4th: Alex Kravchenko
5th: Jack Lee (Australia)	6th: M. Vidgesingh (India)
7th: Aram Piruzyan	8th: Grigory Dvorkin
9th: Aram Martirosyan (Armenia)	10th: Arseny Mesheryakov

BEST OVERALL PLAYER STANDINGS: Prizepool USD 13,457 (3% deducted PLUS $9,000 ADDED)

1st: Akob Vardanyan $4,441	2nd: Valery Illiakin $2,960
3rd: John Kocbek $2,018	4th: Aram Piuzyan $1,346
5th: Eddy Kapitonov $1,077	6th: Alex Kravchenko $942
7th: Sergey Pevzner $673

5-Card Stud - Analysis Play on the End (5th Street)(continued)

In the last newsletter we considered the options on the end in heads-up situations either where you had the nuts or where you were facing a bet from a player representing a better hand than yours.

2. Picking Off Bluffs: Due to the nature of 5-card stud, being able to catch an opponent's bluff is a skill that ultimately will determine whether you are a winner or loser at this game. Everyone is going to get their fair share of wired Aces or Kings whether they stand up or not, so the better player's edge must come from other areas of the game.And catching bluffs is one of the most important.

Since the "chaser" in 5-card stud is rarely a huge dog, pot sized bets on the end put you in the position of receiving 2 to 1 odds for calling a bet from a player who was probably no worse than a 3 to 1 dog on 4th street. In fact, if you take implied odds into consideration, the "dog" on 4th street may well be a money favourite in certain situations if he is able to utilise game theory to maximum effect. This has been proven mathematically by David Sklansky in his poker book "The Theory of Poker". And whats more, there is no defence against optimum utilisation of game theory - all you can do is limit your losses.

However, since poker is a "people game", you will play according to what you know about an opponent's game, assess the play of the hand, do a count of the number of cards that your opponent could possibly be holding, & finally assess all those factors by translating them into a concrete number that tells you whether the 2 to 1 odds are acceptable for a call. This could perhaps be called the "intelligent guess".

EXAMPLES: In each of the following examples O has bet the pot heads up.

e.g. 1.

You: (A) A T 9 Q

Opponent O : (x) 9 Q T J

Does O have a straight - an 8 or K in the hole. It's hard to believe that O could go all the way with either card in the hole, but there are players who do it.

e.g. 2.

You : (A) A T 9 Q

Opponent O : (x) 9 J Q K

Since some players play the 9T combination, it's more likely here that O has a straight than in example 1. Both these examples come down in the end to knowing your opponent, but unless O is a player who rarely bluffs, you will usually just have to call.

e.g. 3.

You : (K) K Q J 8

Opponent O : (x) Q J T K

This is much more difficult because an A or K in the hole will beat you - that's 5 cards - but you win if O has a Q J or T in the hole( 9's can be discounted against all but the loosest of players). You must know your opponent's game well if you are going to include cards like a J or T in your calculations.

Assessment 1. O is capable of playing with a J or T. O wins with 5 cards & you win with 7 ( 2 Q's, 2 J's & 3 T's) - call unless O rarely bluffs.

Assessment 2. O rarely plays with a J or T. O wins with 5 cards & you win with 2 (Q's) - fold unless O tends to bluff more often than optimally.

e.g. 4:

You (J) J K 7 T

P1: (x) 9 K 7 9

P2: (x) K J 9

In a 3-handed game P2 has brought it in for the maximum, & both you & P1 call. On 3rd street P2 checks, you bet the pot & only P1 calls. On the end P1 bets the pot. Your action?

Usually when a player calls a bet on 4th street with a holding like 9 K 7 you would expect him to have a pair. Since it's unlikely that P1 has a K or 7 in the hole( if he had a K he would have raised earlier in the hand & it's very hard to imagine anyone but the loosest of players calling the opening maximum bet with a 7 in the hole & then calling again on 3rd street holding (7) 9 K), the question is whether he has the last 9.

Let's get into P1 's head - he has seen 3 K's & 2 J's & is therefore probably thinking that no-one has a pair. He's assuming (or hoping) that you are betting an Ace in the hole - therefore if he has an Ace or even a Q in the hole, he's likely to call on 4th street. Is P1 the type of player who would have raised your bet on 4th street with a 9 in the hole (which, incidently is usually the correct play against all but the tightest & most reliable of players)?

If he is, then a call on the end in this example is mandatory. If he isn't, then you still call because only 1 card beats you , but you win when he has 1 of the 4 Aces (& 4 Q's if you want to include them as possible holdings).

Note 1: Even if the other 9 was not showing, the logic is fundamentally the same if you can assume that that this particular player would have called on 4th street with an Ace in the hole.

Note 2: In general, when a player calls on 4th street with no pair showing & no possible draw to a straight, you have to assume he has a pair.However, there are some very good players who are capable of making these calls with no pair when all the board cards are live, since hitting an open pair allows him to bluff with impunity in many variations.

Bill Marczak

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