June 24th, 2002 Vol. 2 Issue 12

Content... PokerSchool Online Poker Dollars Program Press Release Player Articles Crossword Poker in America Poker in Europe Poker in the UK and Ireland Poker Down Under by David Parlor Shopping at PokerPages.com Sponsors Paradise Poker - World's Largest Online Poker Room Real People, Real Poker TruePoker.com Inside PokerPages Directory of Poker Rooms & Casinos Search our worldwide poker directory! Tournaments Search for major tournaments, schedules, results & reports Poker Info Rules, history, world wide poker and & more! Poker Articles Articles, player profiles & archives Interactive Section Quizzes, puzzles, chat room, forum & more! Women's Section Special features for women poker players including forum Poker Store Shop online for poker gifts & accessories Classifieds Looking for a game? Got something to sell? Check here first Site Map A diagram of the PokerPages website Mark's Recommended Reading Read Is Your Play Too Predictable? By Debbie Burkhead

Current Tournament Spotlight: Californian State Poker Championship Battle of the Bay Summer Tournament - Aviation Club Taleon Masters Major Tournaments: PokerSchool Online The Big One II Click on banner to read how it could be you playing in one of the big Poker events with a Sponsorship from PokerSchoolOnline. $100,000 Sponsorship could be yours. What's New at PokerPages/PokerSchool Online See who won the Fun Play leagues and free membership See who won the PokerSchool leagues and sponsorship points The Pokerschool Online Tutorial Team Mike Caro "Mad Genius" Nolan Dalla Noted Columnist Lou Krieger Poker for Dummies Promotions PokerSchool Sponsorship Leagues Refer A Friend to PokerSchool and Earn Bankroll, Extend Membership or Earn $$$ Businesses Earn $$$ through the PokerSchool Affiliate Program Return to Top Poker Dollars Program If you have registered and downloaded our software and play in the fun play cardroom of PokerPages you can Win Poker Dollars. The Top 3 players on the ranking system at the end of the month win, 3 months, 2 months and 1 month respectively in PokerSchool Online. If you are an existing school member you can still play in the Fun Play cardroom and win Poker Dollars towards your existing school membership. Return to Top Press Release GOLD STRIKE POKER ROOM IS MOVIN' ON UP TUNICA, Miss. - Gold Strike Casino Resort proudly announces the opening of a new and improved eight-table poker room. Gold Strike's original five-table poker room closed its doors late on Sunday, June 16, 2002. Within 48 hours, the new, eight-table poker room was open and in full-swing. Located on the second floor of the casino, Gold Strike can now boast an entire floor dedicated to the game of poker. With eight live poker tables and approximately 70 video poker machines, poker fans are finding the second floor quite welcoming. According to Poker Room Manager Ronald "Pepper" Munsey, "The guests absolutely love it. We moved upstairs to make for a better experience for our poker players and it is really paying off," Munsey adds, "With eight tables instead of five, we can accommodate more players and even when the tables are full, the wait is greatly decreased." Read More Return to Top Player Articles The Worst Beatin' of my Life By Kevin We play a game we call 1-2-3. 4 cards are dealt to each player, then 3 community cards are placed in the center and we bet 1 on the first card, 2 on the second, and 3 on the third. We were playing $3, $6, $9 bets on this particular hand, with the variation that the high club splits the pot. I draw a pair of Q's, a duece and a 10. The first card is a Q, giving me a set. 5 players pay $3 to see the next card, and the Ace of clubs lays low and doesn't raise. On the next card a king pops it's ugly head up. Harry bets and Dan raises, I figure him for the A of clubs, and I am sitting with three of a kind, hoping to fill my boat with a 10. So someone catches a straight and thinks they are sitting in high cotton, so I call. Harry raises and Dan caps the bet. So what do we have here? One of them has the Ace of Clubs, and one of them has already made their straight or holds 4 of a suit and made their flush with the King. I have to call to see if I fill my boat. The final card is turned and it is another Queen. I am looking to fill my boat and I end up with Quad Queens. I bet, Harry raises, Dan reraises and I figure I got them so I cap the bet and each of them call. I throw up my pair of queens, Harry throws up his A of Clubs and Dan Throws three Kings out of his hand to go with the other one on the table. My jaw dropped to the floor. I would have bet my farm on that hand. This happened three weeks ago and it still feels like one of those nightmares you know you are going to wake up from. I guess I was lucky that I couldn't have bet more. I used what was left of my bankroll to win back what I lost in that hand plus quite a hefty chunk of change by the end of the night. Return to Top Let's Look After the Dealers By Tina and Ed I cannot stress enough that the players should be looking after the dealers. It is easy to say "Well, they should all get a union together and fight it." But why don't the players look after them until this day arrives? Below is a sad example of what I'm talking about. Tina I was at a casino in Tunica, MS, last month when the bad beat went off for $116,000. Notice I said "at the casino." Not "at the table." I had gone to dinner with friends when it hit. The guy who got beat got $46K, the guy who beat him - $23K, and the balance was split among 54 people playing the game at six tables - $900 each. (Me - I had some delicious comped barbecue). The $900 winners tipped the dealer generally $25, $50, or $75 (1,2 or 3 chips). The big winner - get this - told the dealer he would mail him a check!!! What a chisler!!! It takes all kinds. Sure glad that barbecue didn't cost me anything. -Ed Return to Top Crossword Puzzle This section features crosswords created by some of the best poker minds around. Have fun while developing your poker knowledge and skills by challenging yourself with this month's puzzle, "Winning", constructed by Michael Wiesenberg. Return to Top Poker in America By Tina Napolitano Let's see what has happened in the American poker world since our last newsletter on the 7th June... The World Poker Open to be held January in Tunica (bought to you by The Goldstrike and Horseshoe casino), is getting ready to make the dates public. We expect to release these to you over the next week. They announced last week that the poker room is going non-smoking and they will be adding another 8 tables. I am sure that the WPO 2003 will be bigger, and if possible, even better than last year. This will be a hard task as the staff, the food and the hospitality were second to none, and not one poker player could say a bad word about the effort that went into this most magnificent event. The first event at The Commerce, the $300 buy-in Limit Hold'em, was won by a good friend of Mark's from the UK, Peter Costa. The lucky guy took home first place and the wonderful prize of $115,662. Not bad for one nights work. As this newsletter goes out the Californian State Poker Championship is still taking place, and the other $250,000 event took place the 21st. We will see which other player takes home over $100,000 in the next newsletter.  Californian State Poker Championship Round Up: Peter Costa Event#1: Limit Holdem June 7 Winnings: $115,662 Seyed Mazarei Event#2: 7-Card Stud June 8 Winnings: $21,060 Carlos Mortensen Event#3: Omaha Hi/Lo Split June 9 Winnings: $25,191 Kirby Reed Event#4: No Limit Hold'em June 10 Winnings: $31,875 Men "The Master" Nguyen Event#5: Stud Hi/Lo Split June 11 Winnings: $21,060 Vinnie Vinh Event#6: Pot Limit Hold'em June 12 Winnings: $24,755 Joe Belfonsky Event#7: Lowball June 13 Winnings: $14,040 Ron Faltinsky Event#8: Limit Hold'em June 14 Winnings: $51,800 "Miami" John Cernuto Event#9: 1/2 Hold'em and 1/2 Omaha June 15 Winnings: $23,940 Phil Ivey Event#10: 7 Card Stud June 16 Winnings: $17,600 David Cai Event#11: No Limit Hold 'em June 17 Winnings: $35,150 Randy Holland Event#12: Stud Hi/Lo Split June 18 Winnings: $19,695 Tony Grand Event#13: Pot Limit Hold'em June 19 Winnings: $27,750 Carlito Lampaya Event#14: Omaha Hi/Lo Split June 20 Winnings: $12,180 The North West Iowa Championship was held recently at The Winnavegas, and was a huge success. Please see below photos of winners  Northwest Iowa Poker Championship Round Up: Chuck Anderson Event#1: 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo June 6 Winnings: $2,890 Jim Getting Event#2: Omaha Hi-Lo June 7 Winnings: $4,960 Max Miller Event#3: Limit Hold 'Em June 8 Winnings: $4,865 Doc McCoy Event#4: No Limit Hold 'Em June 9 Winnings: $4,000 The Hat and Jacket one day tournament from Ocean's Eleven was won by Long Tran. The next event to watch for is one from Ocean's Eleven called, The Oceanside Open which runs from July 3rd to 7th. The Battle of the Bay is in full swing at Lucky Chances and Matt Savage hardly had breathing space between the end of the WSOP and the organizing of the Battle of the Bay. Read the story so far. The 2nd event from The Bellagio is in the final day. However, starting from day one, R.A. Head was in the chip lead with 30,300 chips. We all know that this could be a great position to be in, or by the end of day 2 the worst position to be in as we saw happen to John Shipley at the last WSOP. News just in: David Benyamine from Paris, France, is now the chip leader with 82,500 chips. R.A. Head is now in 2nd with 72,500. Diego Cordovez is in 9th position and Peter Costa is in 3rd with 67,000. Way to go Peter. Maybe this will be his 2nd big win this month. The first event at The Bellagio, was a $10,000 buy-in event at the end of the WSOP. It attracted 146 entrants. This latest event, which is only a $3,000 buy-in 3 day Limit Hold em event, attracted 78 players. So it is looking promising for them that the schedule of monthly events will continue. What's in the not too distant future? I must say that things have quieted down considerably, but this is mainly due to the summertime and come Fall, the action will start to heat up again with a whole variety of tournaments to choose from. Last September there were over 36 events going on in just the one month. So now is the time to relax and maybe consider joining PokerSchool Online to practice and improve your game for those big events later on in the year. PokerSchoolOnline.com is producing winners and we certainly had a few at the WSOP that went home with more than they arrived with and a big grin on their faces at their achievements. The Bike is having their annual Stars and Stripes, which starts on June 25th and runs until July 4th (Happy July 4th!)... The Casinos Europa is hosting many celebrity events as part of their 2nd annual Linda Johnson Challenge. So get a flight from Houston directly to Costa Rica and take part in their famous Rebuy events. There is also lots to do there if you have spare time for site seeing. The Northwest Poker Championship starts on June 26th at Spirit Mountain Casino, Grand Ronde, Oregon, and this runs until June 30th. They also have free poker instruction on Mondays-Thursday from 9.00am-11.00am, so you can brush up on your skills before taking part in one of the events. The Casino San Pablo is hosting the very popular San Francisco Open from June 29th until July 7th, and I will bring you full information of the winners in the next newsletter. This event is always a huge success, and because it is middle of the road buy-in events from $50 - $100 with a guarantee of $25,000 on some of the events, the attendance is always high. It is nice to know that you can attend some events and not always rub shoulders with or become a victim of the professionals. Wherever your poker playing may take you in the next two weeks, remember to be lucky, be safe and take care, and one last note please be kind to the dealers. Tina Napolitano Return to Top Poker in Europe By Tina Napolitano As per usual June sees the return of the Austrian Masters from The Concord Card Casino in Vienna. Please see list below of the players that made it to the top to win one of the events :- Event Player Country Winnings Event 1 - 75 Euro Limit Hold'em Risto Ponnio Finland Euro 11,700 Event 2 - 100 Euro Pot Limit Omaha Harry Casagrande Austria Euro 10,440 Event 3 - 100 Euro Pot Limit Hold'em Istavan Hamori Hungary Euro 9,040 Event 4 - 150 Euro Pot Limit Omaha Harry Casagrande Austria Euro 10,440 Event 5 - 150 Euro Limit 7-Card Stud Ali Salem   Euro 9,740 Event 6 - 150 Euro No Limit Hold'em Peter Muhlbek Austria Euro 13,380 Event 7 - 400 Euro Limit Hold'em Shin   Euro 14,190 Event 8 - 500 Euro Pot Limit Omaha Rob Hollink Holland Euro 25,220 Event 9 - 200 Euro Pot Limit Hold'em Peter Muhlbek Austria Euro 17,050 Event 10 - 300 Euro Pot Limit Omaha Ross Boatman England Euro 14,320 Event 11 - 300 Euro Pot Limit Hold'em Pascal Perrault France Euro 17,290 The last event, a 2 day No limit Hold'em event with a Euro 1,500 buy in, was won by George Rholdo from Israel, and he took home 24,140. It is always wonderful to see so many players from different countries winning these events, as it means that the game of poker is truly spreading across the continents. Of course in between all this action, there was The 2nd World Heads Up Poker Tournament, which saw fewer numbers than the first one last year. There were 75 players in the first year and only 45 for this 2nd year, which is really surprising as it is a great concept. It may be that all those players that didn't do well in the WSOP this year, followed by the big $10,000 event at The Bellagio straight after, just returned home to lick their wounds and catch up on some sleep. Unfortunately, giving the World Heads Up a miss for this year. With so many new players coming into the poker arena, casinos both in America and Europe are in strong competition to keep their home players on their home turf. They don't want them to travel the globe to find other poker action. Of course it goes without saying that every poker player's dream is to not only participate in the WSOP, but to win it. So other than that exception, I think that you will find in the next 12 months that the poker calender will be exceptionally full, with many choices of venue for players to attend locally and worldwide. It will be up to the tournament organizers and directors to pull something different out their hat to entice the critical mass of poker players that is so essential to a successful event. Many congratulations to Kiril Girasimov from Russia, who became this year's World Heads Up Champion. He defeated Roy Brindley in the final heads up match to take the title. Russia is now becoming a voice to reckon with in the poker world, and in this month alone there are 2 events taking place. The Taleon Club in St Petersburg started the Taleon Masters on the 19th June. Not to mention, the Conti Casino, also in St. Petersburg, starts their White Nights Festival on June 24th. In between this excitement, the Casinos Austria are holding their Poker Masters event from their Seefield venue. This begins on June 20th and finishes on June 22nd. Paris is in full swing again with their Summer Tournament starting at The Aviation Club on June 19th. This runs until the end of June and finishes on the 30th. There are some exciting developments in other European countries as well. Sweden has just broken the ice and now all of the Swedish players will be delighted to hear the news that they can now play poker in their home country. The Casino Cosmopol, in Kungsparken, Slottsgatan 33, Malmo, is now holding Texas Hold'em and 7 Card Stud live games. You can contact the Casino Manager Rolf Hedman for more information, on telephone number 46 40 664 18 00. The limits for the games are in Swedish Kroner. $1.00 is equal to approximately 10 Swedish Kroner. More great news is that there may be poker in the casino in Lugano, Switzerland. We will keep you posted on that one. With the PokerPages now in Europe and with the contacts we now have, we are hopeful that we can be instrumental in getting poker into more of the European countries. By the time you read this newsletter Mark and I will have our feet firmly planted on Spanish soil. We are looking forward to all the exciting developments that will come with having our very own European office for PokerPages and PokerSchoolOnline. Until next time... Adios Amigos Tina Napolitano Return to Top Poker in the UK and Ireland By Tina Napolitano The Grosvenor Casino in Ramsgate are having a 3 day event called the Mini Hold'em Tournament. This starts on Friday 21st with a Pot Limit Hold'em with a 100 pound buy-in. On Sat 22nd the main event starts, a 2 day, No Limit Hold'em event with a 300 pounds buy-in. On Sunday they have a 50 pound Pot Limit Hold'em event which starts at 9.30pm. Then, it's all roads lead to London and in particular the Vic, where on June 30th there is the start of the European Poker Championships. This runs until July 7th. On June 30th, you can participate in a Super Satellite event to win your entry into the main event on July 6th, a No Limit Hold'em Championship Freezeout 2 Day tournament with a buy in of 2,500. There is always limited space so be sure to call ahead of time or just arrive very early on the night of the event to guarantee you have a seat. After that, there is not much happening on the UK front until the end of July. Tina Napolitano Return to Top Poker Down Under By David Parlor The The Crown San Pellegrino 2002 Melbourne Poker Championships has reached its conclusion and was once again enjoyed by all that attended. Many players made their way to Melbourne for this event and were not disappointed by the action both in the tournaments and in the live games. The live game action ranged from 4/8 Holdem to some large pot limit games of Dealers Choice, Holdem and Omaha. The 8/16 Holdem/Omaha (round of each) is still generating a lot of interest and action with many pots exceeding $400. The popularity of this tournament became very apparent to me when arriving for work at 12 p.m. on Sunday and immediately asked if I would mind dealing for the day. There were so many entrants, the staff was stretched to the limit. Of course, I jumped at the chance as I rarely get this opportunity any more. It was when dealing that I heard the funniest comment of the tournament after turning a last card flush on the river to knock out Gary Benson, one of Australia's most famous players. His friend who had been playing at the same table and witnessed this unfortunate event commented that I should be dealing soup in Sydney. It was very hard to keep a straight face as I began to deal the next hand and Bendigo started to laugh behind me. I guess that's what I love about Poker players, you never quite know what they will come out with next. The next tournament will be held at Casino Canberra and will be for Casino Employee's only. This is a one day only event and will be held on July 9. Interest has already been shown from three states and two other countries with my guess being of around 40 entries. I wish the best of luck to all that enter and look forward to the title heading south to Melbourne. For any questions about Poker in Australia please email me. David Parlor Return to Top Shopping at PokerPages.com Be sure to browse through our Shopping Mall! Our Shopping Mall features a huge catalog of products, with you the poker enthusiast entirely in mind. Products by KEM Playing Cards, Kestall tables and Wilson Software are among the many items available. So be sure to visit the mall for all of your poker needs. Our recommended product for June: The Biggest Game in Town By A. Alvarez A sought after classic that is finally back in print.. Delves into the world of high-stakes poker in Las Vegas and in particular the World Series of Poker, where "the next best thing to playing and winning is playing and losing." 192p (paper). $15.95 + $5.00 US shipping $15.95 + $11.00 Outside US shipping Please allow 2-3 weeks shipping time. Texas residents add 8.25% sales tax. Return to Top Feedback Poker Pages has produced this newsletter for you, the poker enthusiast. We have a worldwide audience of Beginners, Intermediate and Professional players and we try to accommodate all. With this in mind we would really appreciate your feedback and ideas on how we can reach perfection in this newsletter and at www.PokerPages.com. This Newsletter is being distributed to over 70 countries worldwide. I for one would be very interested in hearing about Poker in your part of the world. I would be delighted to hear from players from anywhere in the world that is not currently being covered at PokerPages.com. Please contact me and we can discuss it. Tina Napolitano Submit Your Profile We would love to feature you in our Player Profile section. Just send us your photo along with a Profile summary. Click here to submit your profile.