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Poker In America
Tim Kopp of PokerPages
writes about Poker in America
The Making of a Legend
Hello again everyone and welcome back to Poker in America.
We're well into the relentless dog days of August and here
in Southwest Texas, the constant barrage of 90-plus degree
days is getting to be quite old. What better way to beat
the heat than to run down to your local card room to cool
off for a spell! The Bicycle Casino and Horseshoe Casino
Hotel, in Tunica, are just two places offering loads of
cold, hard, big time, cash action this month. Tournament
action is just winding down at these two casinos with the
Legends
of Poker and The
3rd Jack Binion Mid America Poker Classic; but there's
no better time to head to the card room than when there
is all that new money to be spread back into the poker commonwealth,
right? Last issue I promised to take a look at these two
tournaments, so let's get right to it.
First off, Tunica Mississippi and Jack
Binion's 3rd Mid America Poker Classic at the Horseshoe
Casino Hotel. Jack Binion and his fine poker room personnel
were kind enough to let PokerSchoolOnline play host to a
few "Student's only" events. Needless to say it was a hit
with all the PSO players, many of them getting a chance
to cash in their sponsorship points earned at PokerSchool
to buy into the events. Special Thanks to PSO member Zipman
for helping put it all together. We pick up action in Event
4, the first of the big buy-in events:
Event
#4 Limit Hold 'Em - $550 buy in - 277 players and n
$132,345 prize pool - Rick Tidwell, 1st place and $48,970.
Event
#5 No Limit Hold 'Em - $340 Buy in - 263 players and
390 rebuys to create a $188,023 Prize pool - Richard Klein,
1st place and $69,598.
Event
#6 Pot Limit Omaha - $340 buy in - 141 players and 242
rebuys to create a $109,453 Prize pool - Nick Salomeh 1st
place and $43,753.
Event
#7 Limit Hold 'Em - $550 buy in - 235 players and an
$111,975 Prize pool - Michael Wilkenson, 1st place and $41,450.
Event
#8 Omaha Hi/Lo - $340 buy in - Number of entries not
available - Richard Camette, 1st place and $21,199.
 Event
#9 No Limit Hold 'Em - $550 buy in - 210 players and
233 rebuys to create a $229,830 prize pool - Robert Williamson,
1st place and $85,080.
 Event
#10 Limit Hold 'Em - $1,060 Buy in - 165 players and
a $158,050 prize pool - Johnny Donaldson, 1st place and
$62,250.
Johnny clearly likes playing in Tunica as he also picked
up $145,000 back in January when coming third in the World
Poker Open Main Event.
Event
#11 No Limit Hold 'Em Main Event - $2,080 buy in - 198
players and a $382,120 prize pool - John Gibson, 1st place
and $152,870.
The word out of Tunica was that almost every event needed
to have extra tables brought in from the cash game section
to accommodate all the tournament players. If this is any
sign for next year, make your reservations now!
Now, off to the Left Coast, and to the Bicycle Casino,
in beautiful Los Angeles California for their epic Legends
of Poker. This tournament actually feels quite a bit
like Jack Binion's event, with the slightly pricy, yet budget
minded buy-ins, making the risk worth the reward. The 34-day
event has one extra little bonus however; the $5,000 buy
in, 3-day long, World Poker Tour main event. The winner
of the main event getting a free seat in the $25,000 buy-in
World Poker Tour Finals. PokerPages is happy to have Max
Shapiro sending us the daily results along with his always
interesting and entertaining Tournament reports. Lets take
a look at how things are shaping up in L.A.
Following the Bicycle tradition, the tournament started
off with the All
Casino Employee Event. Vanndy Yem, from Spirit Mountain
Casino Took 1st place and $3,650 to the bank for his efforts.
Vanndy has been dealing Poker for 7 years at Spirit Mountain
and it looks like he's learned a thing or two.
In Event
2 it was the early bird Special. There was a nice low
$100 buy-in for all the players who made it a point to be
the first to arrive. Out of a whopping 489 players, Barry
Marfleet came out on top with 1st place and $17,240
 Next
up was Event
3 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo with a $300 Buy in. Charlie Shoten
(aka Scotty Warbucks) was down to the felt early on in the
tournament when his full house ran into Chip Jett's Straight
Flush. Never one to say "die", Shoten came storming back
to take the win (Jett, however failed to make the money).
Shoten took home $22,080 and 1st place in another fine showing.
Moving along to Event
4 and some more Limit Hold'em. No cheap seats this time
around though, as we had a $300 buy in with 1 optional re-buy.
California Pro John Pham, literally overwhelmed the competition
heading to the final table with the majority of the chips
and making quick work of them. Pham's biggest win to date
netted him $67,500. Good job John!
The First of the No limit Hold'em events was next, Event
5. Another $300 buy-in awaited the day's players. Proving
it's ever-growing popularity, this No Limit event attracted
398 players and the prize pool got jammed to almost $120,000.
Poker Host at the Hawaiian Gardens Casino, and well know
Poker pro Dan Lumello faced a veteran final table, but came
out on top to the tune of $45,000. How did he do it? "I
just tried to dodge bullets and stay out of the way",
said Lumello. Whatever works, Dan!
 Ever
forward to Event
6 and some 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo. One of my favorite "names"
came out on top in this event. Ditching the mullet for this
Years WSOP and sporting a more reserved crew cut, Scotty
Nguyen beat out the other 199 players to take the $22,500.
Scotty had some tough players to go against at the final
table including Tony Ma, and Ngoc Tran. Nguyen estimates
he has an 80 percent win rate at final tables in his career.
If true, that's quite impressive.
Onward to my favorite event, Pot Limit Hold'em. Event
7 featured the first of the $500 buy in events. 128
players combined to create a $93,500 prize pool after 59
rebuys. Winner of last year's Big Poker Oktober, Joe Crew
Found himself with all the chips once again. Joe is now
$37,400 richer (and wiser?).
Next it was time for some Lowball,
and for the third night in a row, the final table turned
out to be largely a one-man show. Entrepreneur, Tony Grand
make easy work of the final 10 and quickly secured the $14,400
1st place prize. 120 players would fill the tournament seats
for this event only to watch Tony run away with it in near
record time.
 Time
for some more No Limit Hold'em in Event
9, this time though we had rebuys to go along with the
$300 buy-in. It's just the recipe to make a delicious prize
pool. Sharks were on hand and a feeding frenzy ensued. In
a Final Table that feature the likes of Tournament Pros
Adam Schoenfeld, Warren Karp and Daniel Negreanu, it was
ultimately a lesser know Pro, Frankie O'Dell who got the
last pork chop. Oh, and $60,075. Congrats Frainkie!
Wrapping up the 1st leg of Legends of Poker we have Event
10 and Limit Omaha Hi/Lo. 117 players dished out the
increased buy-in of $500. Tom Hunt, a Sacramento business
owner took his first ever tournament win. Ever modest, Tom
remarked afterwards, "It was a total surprise that I won,".
You don't hear to many tournament winners say that, but
it was quite refreshing to hear.
It will be interesting to see how this one wraps up, so
be sure to check for the daily results at www.PokerPages.com.
To keep us busy until we meet next time, we have these
fine tournaments coming up to a card room near you:
Speedway
of Poker - August 23rd to 30th - Garden City Casino
San Jose, CA
Labor
Day Weekend Tournament - August 30th to 31st - Chip
Inn Island Resort Casino Harris, MI
2003
United States Poker Championship - September 1st to
19th - Trump Taj Mahal Atlantic City, NJ
Heavenly
Hold 'Em - September 5th to 14th - Commerce Casino Los
Angeles, CA
That's about it for this month, have a sweet September!
Tim Kopp
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Poker In Europe
Kevin Pratt of PokerPages
writes about Poker in Europe
Where else to play?
With the next tournament in Europe being the Bodensee
Poker Championships 27th-31st August in Bregenz Austria,
and with nothing happening since our last newsletter, I
thought I would take a look at where else poker is played
in and around Europe.
The Baltic States seems to be the place where poker is
thriving and growing at the moment, but wait a minute, where
are the Baltic States and what type of players go there
to play poker?
The Baltic States are Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, they
border Russia, and it is the Olympic Poker Clubs in these
three states that are leading the way to put Baltic Poker
on the map. The type of players you may encounter in these
countries will be from Russia and Scandanavia with perhaps
the odd value seeking British players.
The Olympic Casino at Revel Park Hotel and Casino in Tallin,
Estonia has 3 poker tables stretching to 7 for their major
tournaments. They currently have regular weekly tournaments
on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday with buy ins ranging
from €3 up to €13 and a variety of games including
Dealers Choice, Crazy Pineapple and Omaha. In November they
have a mini festival which is part of the Baltic States
Anniversary Tour with the main event being No Limit Hold'em
Short Handed with a €640 buy in on the 9th November.
Cash games can be found on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and
Sunday and are all Dealers Choice, Pot Limit, with the biggest
game being on a Monday with a €640 minimum buy in.
The Olympic Casino Latvia at Radisson SAS Daugava Hotel
in Latviaalso has 3 poker tables with tournaments Tuesday,
Friday and Saturday buy in is usually €16. Their section
of the Anniversary tour is also in November with the main
event being on the 5th a No Limit Hold'em, Double Chance
format buy in €640.
The Olympic Casino Lietuva at Reval Hotel Lietuva in Lithuania
has regular Friday night tournaments that vary in game and
buy in. They kick of the Anniversary Tour on the 29th October
and feature 4 tournaments with the main event being €600
No Limit Hold'em. Cash games are all Pot Limit Omaha and
run every day of the week.
 One
of the first Casinos to play poker in the Baltics was the
Astoria- Palace Casino in Tallin, Estonia that holds 2 major
festivals a year namely, The Fortuna Cup in May, and the
Christmas
Tournament in December. Poker Manager Andres Burget
is the person responsible for getting Baltic Poker off the
ground. Cash games are played Wednesday, Friday and Saturday
and are usually €130 Dealers Choice and tournaments vary
in buy in and type but run on the same days.
So if you are bored of playing with the same old faces
down at your local casino, and fancy a poker trip where
no one's been, why not get a few friends together and give
the Baltic States a spin during the Anniversary Tour 2003?
If you require any further information please e-mail me.
Kevin Pratt
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Poker in the U.K.
Andrew Lacey of
the PokerPages Team writes about poker in the UK.
Hello again and welcome to our bi-monthly update on what's
been happening in the UK and Ireland. I have two events
to report on this time, so let's start up North and see
how things panned out at the Gala Casino in Dundee during
the Scottish
Open
First game to get underway on August 5th was a £50 buy-in
No
Limit Texas Hold'em event With 70 players and 174 re-buys
the prize pool grew to £11,700. L Grant shrugged off the
rest of the field to win the £4,200 first prize and K Thompson
came in second with £2,500.
Next up we had the £100
Pot Limit Omaha event 80 players and 140 re-buys made
a prize pool of £22,000 up for grabs. D Seery won this one,
pocketing £6,870. A McDermid was runner-up with £4,450.
 The
largest buy-in tournament that week was held on August 7th
when 58 players put up the £500 to enter the No
Limit Texas Hold'em game, so there was a total of £29,000
to be won. Alan McLean came out on top in this one, winning
£9,000. L Sarandis had to settle for second and £5,150,
with S Hayes picking up £3,500 for third.
 Then
came what must have been a wild game, the 6
Card Pot Limit Omaha tournament. 63 poker players with
nerves of steel signed up and with 167 re-buys we had a
prize pool of £23,000. When all was said and done it was
A Girasoli who took home the £7,460 first place prize and
the title, after a deal was done. Bambos Xanthos took £7,040
for second, with D Seery settling for £3,500 in third spot.
 The
Gala Casino made the £200 buy-in Pot
Limit Hold'em the week's Main Event. 78 players registered
and the prize pool grew to £39,000 after 117 re-buys. P
Rigg fought off the ever dangerous Mick Cook to win £9,290
for first place. Mick earned £7,770 in second place and
K Thompson won £5,760 in third.
The Gala wrapped events up on Sunday, August 10th with
a £100 buy-in No
Limit Texas Hold'em tournament. 53 players stayed around
for this one and, after 80 re-buys, the prize pool stood
at £13,300. H Motaghian took top spot and £5,000. D Eastwood
won £3,000 in second place.
When events finished up in Dundee, the Londoners dashed
back down south to Luton, to catch the eagerly anticipated
UK
Open at the Grosvenor, as did a number of the Scottish
players. The UK Open ran from August 11 to 18 and here's
a summary of what happened.
 First
up was the £100 buy-in 7
Card Stud event, which attracted 93 players. The prize
pool grew to £23,200 after re-buys. Xuyen Pham did the ladies
proud when she fought off some very tough competitors at
the final table, claiming the £6,360 first place prize.
Bambos Xanthos had to settle for another second place finish
in the space of a week. This one was worth £4,500 to him.
Mike Magee was third with £3,500.
Next was the £100
Pot Limit Hold'em game. With 140 players and re-buys
there was £34,500 to play for in total. Sean Hayes saw off
the rest of the field, after a deal was done amongst the
final 3 players, to win £8,650 for first. Lalit Khajuria
took second and £8,080. Michael Selzer got £7,630 in third.
The £150
No Limit Hold'em tournament attracted 111 players, and
£37,350 was the final prize pool. Kevin Twigg pocketed a
nice £14,400 for winning this one. Graham Pound earned £7,200
in second, with S Xanthos getting £4,680 in third.
Next it was the Omaha fans turn. 82 players took part in
the £150
buy-in Pot Limit Omaha event. Steve Templeman won £8,650
of the £32,100 prize pool for his first place finish, with
T Jugpal getting £7,910 in second. D Makanava finished third
with £6,630.
 Back
to Hold'em again, this time a £250
buy-in Pot Limit game. With 105 players and lots of
re-buys there was £56,350 up for grabs this time. D Courtney
did battle with Lucy Rokach heads-up, and eventually prevailed.
He took home £21,600 with Lucy winning £10,800. Graham Pound
came in third, good for £7,020.
The UK Open's Main Event was a two day £1,000 buy-in No
Limit Hold'em Event and 74 players signed up. Tony Bloom
was back to winning ways, earning £30,480 of the £74,000
prize pool, at what was a very tough final table. Paul Alterman
came in second with £14,400, with Pino Valentino in third
with £9,620.
Our congratulations go to all the winners in Dundee and
Luton, and our thanks to the staff of the Gala and Grosvenor
casinos for supplying us with the results.
Looking ahead to September, UK players will have a choice
of two events. Napoleon's Casino in Sheffield will hold
their September
Festival on September 3rd, running until the 5th. Three
tournaments in total will be contested.
The Grosvenor Group will hold the finals of their Grand
Prix at the Grosvenor Walsall from September 5th to 7th,
details of which I covered in the last newsletter earlier
this month.
The Grosvenor Manchester will stage the Northern Challenge
from September 24th to 28th. We expect to have the schedule
for this event by the end of the week so please check back
at the website then. I'll also include it in our next newsletter,
in early September.
I also hope to have an interview with Julian Gardner who
was second in the 2002 World Series Main Event in that newsletter,
so stay tuned!
Until next time, take care...
Andrew Lacey
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Guess Who
Last few days to enter for August!!
Guess Who? is a new competition introduced on PokerPages
for BugsysClub.com where you can win $50 in a Real Money
account at BugsysClub.
All you have to do to win the Real Money account is to
look at the photo to the left and guess which well known
poker player it is. Post
your answer on the BugsysClub forum. You must be registered
at BugsysClub to post on the forum, and you can do that
here.
The winner will be randomly drawn from all the correct entries
that are posted on the BugsysClub forum. The contest is
judged by BugsysClub.com and then awarded by Bugsy himself.
There is only one guess per username and any posts that
are edited will be disqualified.
We will be having one Guess Who? per month and the next
one will be on the 26th August where we will also show you
July's result.
Three steps to winning a $50 Real Money account.
Step 1. Guess who the player is.
Step 2. Register
an Account at BugsysClub.
Step 3. Post
your answer on the BugsysClub forum under the thread
Guess Who?
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Internet Texas Holdem
Strategy Differences Between Online and
Live Play
By Mathew Hilger
Many players assume that strategy for online and live
games is the same. After all, you still receive two down
cards, five community cards, and play against nine opponents.
However, there are several characteristics unique to Internet
play that require subtle adjustments to your play including
short playing sessions, the virtual environment, and Internet
distractions. Let's discuss these unique characteristics
in a little more detail and the impact they may have on
your strategy...Read
More
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Poker Down Under
Reported by David
Parlor
The Victorian
Poker Championship will commence on Saturday August
30th and will continue for nine days until Sunday September
7th with a Super Satellite for The 10K event in January.
Tournament director, Danny McDonagh has included a good
mix of events that should attract everyone from Poker novices
to the seasoned veterans.
One event that has attracted much conversation and even
more questions since its posting on the Crown Poker Room
walls is the $30 Terminator/Variable Rebuy No Limit Holdem
tournament to be held on Sunday 31st August. While some
are convinced that Danny is out to confuse players that
are familiar with regular tournament structures others are
excited by a tournament that encourages aggressive play.
Variable rebuys will allow players to have multiple rebuys
throughout the first three levels of the tournament. As
each level increases the cost of a rebuy will also increase.
To compensate for this, players that rebuy during level
two or three will receive proportionately more chips. At
the end of the rebuy period a 2 for 1 add on will be offered
allowing players to buy $4000 in tournament chips for just
$200. Then when you would expect the game to tighten up
at the end of the rebuy period, the tournament becomes a
terminator. Every player will be issued a terminator button
and as they are eliminated from the event, the eliminator
will be awarded their button. Each button will receive a
portion of the prize pool expected to be over $100.
Crown Casino is also offering a special deal for those
intending to enter the main event in January. Pay your entry
to the main event in January during August to receive a
$300 Food & Beverage comp when you arrive at Crown.
Email Danny McDonagh
for any information about tournaments at Crown Casino, including
accommodation packages for players.
Finally, a reminder to all casino staff that have not applied
for leave in November. The Canberra Dealers tournament will
be held on the 17th & 18th, so get your requests in now!
For any other questions about Poker in Australia please
e-mail me.
David Parlor
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PokerDollars
Play for free on our PokerPages software and win a chance
to join PokerSchool Online! Just download the PokerPages
software here!
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. You must
play in at least 20 freeroll tournaments during this month
in order to win.
To see our winners so far, click
here!
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
Signing Off
We hope you enjoyed our twice-monthly newsletter. If you
would like to contribute to this newsletter or have any
suggestions, please email tina@pokerpages.com.
So until next time, be lucky!
Sincerely,
The PokerPages Staff.
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