Archive for the Hold’em Poker category.
October 25, 2007
The wealth of poker tournaments isn’t limited to just the East or West Coast, which is good for the many people who can’t make it to Atlantic City or Vegas. Beginning next week, the state of Oklahoma will be offering one of the bigger tournament events, featuring one of the premier stars of poker.
On November 1, the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge IV starts up, culminating with its $5,000 buy-in event, which will run Nov. 18-20.
“The Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge is one of three large tournaments that we run each year,” stated Chris Province, promotions manager at the Cherokee Casino in Tulsa, Okla., where the Challenge will take place.
“We have the Oklahoma State Poker Championships and the Cherokee Poker Classic, but the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge has been extremely popular since its inception a couple of years ago.”
The 35-table poker room is renowned in the area for spreading all disciplines of poker and the schedule for the Challenge reflects that its players don’t want to only play Texas Hold ‘em.
“Many players come from Texas, Kansas, Mississippi, Tennessee and Oklahoma, and they have told us they want to play the other games,” Province said. “Thus, the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge reflects the wishes of our players, who are critically important to us. We even expand the poker room to 51 tables to get all the players in the game.”
The Challenge features a unique “Jack and Jill” Hold’em tournament to start the festivities on Nov. 1 and will also have tournaments in Omaha (Limit, Pot-Limit and Hi/Lo), Seven-Card Stud and H.O.R.S.E. as well as Limit, Pot-Limit and No-Limit Texas Hold’em tournaments.
Buy-ins for the tournaments also won’t put tremendous stretches on the bankrolls of poker players. The smallest tournament buy-in is $100+$10 and, other than the $5,000 championship event, the other buy-ins range from $150 to $3,000 (all tournaments have a 10% vig and 3% of the buy-ins are taken out in a staff appreciation fee).
“We definitely treat the poker players special, like they used to be in the casinos,” Province said.
The smaller buy-ins also create large prize pools that can reach $150,000 for certain tournament events.
Professional poker player Scotty Nguyen, the namesake of the tournament, is very active during the run of the tournament.
“Scotty normally will play anywhere from four to seven of the tournaments,” Province said. “For the tournaments that he isn’t playing in, he definitely makes a point to go around the poker room and wishes the players good luck … He is very involved with the event, whether he is playing or not.”
Challenge won’t be lacking in these tournaments either, especially in the championship event. The second Challenge was won by professional player Nam Le, who came back to defend his title during the third Challenge this May.
After the 91-player starting field was whittled down, the final table featured the defending champion Le as well as fellow poker professionals Tony Cousineau and Thang “Kido” Pham. In the end, it came down to Pham (who has also been a champion on the World Series of Poker Circuit) and Le, with Kido taking the title.
Pham should be back to defend his Challenge championship along with a contingent of poker pros who have been to the tournament in the past.
“We have had Alex Jacob, Clonie Gowen, Mike Matusow, Linda Johnson and Jan Fisher here [in the past] and have heard they will be making the effort to be here this year,” said Province. “Also, along with Scotty, fellow former World Champion Berry Johnson (1986) will be here as well.”
The tournament director will be Jimmy Sommerfeld, widely recognized as one of the best TDs in the poker community.
The championship event of the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge IV will definitely be one of the tougher fields around, but the entirety of the tournament schedule will feature some of the best players in the Midwestern United States.
The Cherokee Casino is expecting around 5,500 players for this year’s version of the tournament, generating total prize pools that should exceed the $2 million mark. So for a chance to enter into one of the toughest tournaments around, be sure to learn more about the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge IV at www.cherokeecasino.com.
October 25, 2007
Die sehr beliebte TV-Show High Stakes Poker, im übrigen die einzige TV-Ausstrahlung von
No Limit Holdem Cash Game, erhöht das Buy-In ab dem kommenden 5. November für die
letzten sieben Episoden der vierten Staffel von $100.000 auf unglaubliche $500.000.
Somit werden insgesamt etwa $5.000.000 am Table zirkulieren, was eine neue Dimension im
Cash Game darstellt. Geplant sind sieben Episoden von High Stakes Poker IV mit dem neuen
Buy-In.
Laut Wikipedia.de wurde neben dem SB ($300) und dem BB ($600) ein dritter Blind im Wert
von $1200 eingeführt. Rebuys sind für mindestens $250.000 möglich und Add-Ons ab
mindestens $50.000.
Damit dürfte der bereits legendäre Pot zwischen Gus Hansen und Daniel Negreanu über fast
$700.000, bei dem Hansen mit einem Vierling über Daniel Negreanus Full House siegte,
bald getoppt werden.
Die Spieler spielen hier mit ihrem eigenem Geld und werden nicht von den Produzenten
gestaked. Nach langer Abwesenheit wird auch die Pokerdiva Phil Hellmuth wieder mit am
Tisch sitzen. Brian Townsend hingegen wurde von den Verantwortlichen nicht zugelassen,
da sein Verhalten am Tisch für eine Fernsehübertragung wohl zu unspektakulär war.
Das Line-Up besteht weiterhin aus einigen der weltbesten Pokerspieler und einem
wohlhabenden Geschäftsmann, diesmal der CEO des Cirque du Soleil:
Doyle Brunson
Sammy Farha
David Benyamine
Barry Greenstein
Antonio Esfandiari
Jamie Gold
Daniel Negreanu
Patrik Antonius
Mike Matusow
Jennifer Harman
Phil Hellmuth
Guy Laliberte
October 25, 2007
Luzern, 25. Oktober 2007 – Nach der erfolgreichen Pokerlancierung im April dieses Jahres
hat sich das Grand Casino Luzern dafür entschieden, auch die Pokervariante Omaha Hold’em
anzubieten. Zudem kann man neu bei allen Pokervarianten (Texas -, Omaha -, Ultimate
Hold’em sowie Lion Jackpotpoker) „All In“ setzen.
Omaha Hold’em – Taktikwechsel für Neugierige
Omaha Hold’em entspricht den Regeln des Texas Hold’em – mit Ausnahme von zwei wichtigen
Unterschieden: Zu Beginn des Spiels erhält jeder Spieler vier verdeckte Karten und am
Ende müssen zwei Hole Cards und drei Board Cards zur Bildung der bestmöglichen
Pokerkombination verwendet werden. Diese beiden Regelabweichungen erfordern eine
komplett andere Strategie als bei Texas Hold’em. Auch diese Hold’em Pokervariante wird
von mindesten zwei bis maximal zehn Spielgästen an einem Tisch gespielt.
„All In“
Neu kann auch bei allen Pokerspielvarianten „All In“ gegangen werden. Das bedeutet, dass
der Spieler alle seine Chips auf einmal setzten kann.
Informieren und sich für eine Pokerpartie anmelden können Sie sich auf
www.grandcasinoluzern.ch oder vor Ort, wir haben täglich ab 12 Uhr für Sie geöffnet.
Das Grand Casino Luzern bietet den Carded Mystery Jackpot mit 245 Automaten an. Weitere
Jackpots wie Pilatus -, Fun- und Swiss Jackpot warten darauf gewonnen zu werden. Im
Grand Jeu sind 13 Spieltische mit den Spielen American Roulette, Black Jack, Poker und
Punto Banco vorhanden.
Die Öffnungszeiten sind täglich von 12 bis 04 Uhr. Zutrittskontrolle:
Ab 18 Jahren und mit gültigem Ausweis (Pass, ID oder europ. Führerschein) sind Gäste
herzlich willkommen.
Grand Casino Luzern AG - Haldenstrasse 6 - CH - Luzern - Telefon +41(0)41 418 56 56 -
Fax +41(0)41 418 56 55
October 25, 2007
Zumindest beim DSF ist Poker nun endgültig zum Sport mutiert. Denn zur besten Sendezeit
gibt es nun schon sehr viel Poker zu sehen. Mit der European Poker Tour (EPT) und der
FullTiltPoker Million Euro Challenge kommen nun zwei weiter Highlights dazu.
Für PokerOlymp Experten Michael Körner ist das Kommentieren der Pokersendungen wirklich
schon zu einem Vollzeitjob geworden. Aus anfänglichen “Ab und Zu Ausstrahlungen” sind
die Pokersendungen nun schon ein Fixpunkt beim DSF geworden.
Morgen Donnerstag, den 25. Oktober, startet ab 21.15 Uhr die Aufzeichnung der EPT Season
3. Zwar ist es die letzte Saison und viele hätten gerne schon die neuen Folgen gesehen,
aber da heißt es doch noch ein wenig gedulden. Jetzt gibt es mal die EPT Barcelona, die
letztes Jahr von 13. bis 16. September im Casino Barcelona stattgefunden hat, zu sehen.
Sieger war übrigens der Norweger Björn Erik Glenne vor Phil Ivey.
Ein weiterer TV-Höhepunkt ist die Berichterstattung über die Full Tilt Poker Million
Euro Challenge, die vor einigen Wochen ganz Deutschland in Atem gehalten hat. Sechs
Events in sechs Städten haben Tausende Pokerfans angezogen. Nicht nur der Einzug ins TV-
Finale war Priorität der einzelnen. Alleine schon die Chance, gegen einen der Stars
Heads-Up zu spielen, war für viele schon wie Weihnachten und Ostern zusammen. Denn
schließlich hießen die Gegner Phil Ivey, Gus Hansen, Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson oder
Jennifer Harman.
Am 26. und 27. Oktober geht es auf DSF nun los mit einer Zusammenfassung der sechs Pre
Events. Am 3. November gibt es dann das Amateur-Finale zu sehen, das Finale mit den
Profis am 9. November und das absolute Highlight am 16. November. Erst dann wissen wir,
ob die Million tatsächlich gewonnen wurde.
Die DSF-Sendezeiten der FullTiltPoker.net Million Euro Challenge:
Freitag, 26. Oktober, 19.45 bis 20.45 Uhr: Pre Events in Wiesbaden und Köln
Samstag, 27. Oktober, 19.30 bis 20.30 Uhr: Pre Events in Berlin und Hamburg
Samstag, 27. Oktober, 20.30 bis 21.30 Uhr: Pre Events in Stuttgart und München
Samstag, 3. November, 19.30 bis 21.30 Uhr: Amateur Finale
Freitag, 9. November, 20.30 bis 22.30 Uhr: Pro’s Finale
Freitag, 16. November, 21.00 bis 23.00 Uhr: Final Table
October 25, 2007
To some, a victory in poker is a matter of luck, but don’t tell that to Hideki Susaki.
The sophomore international business major, Susaki, 18, has been developing his poker skills since early high school. Now he plays daily and even hosts a weekly poker event in The Depot on the lower floor of the Cesar Chavez Student Center on Fridays.
“When I was a sophomore in high school a couple of my friends wanted to play, so I played with them, only for a little bit of money like $5,” said Susaki who has been hooked on poker ever since and one day aspires to play the game professionally.
His interest in the high stakes card game came around the same time poker blew up in popularity after ESPN started televising tournaments in 2001. And though he wishes to master all forms of poker, no limit Texas Hold ‘Em is what he does best at.
Though not being 21-years-old his age limits Susaki’s access to gain some real experience in casinos, but he still tries to find opportunities when he can. Last year he participated in a 16-person tournament in Fresno where he came in second and in his most recent endeavor, a 60-person tournament, he took first.
“[Susaki] really wants to be pro and he’s a really good tournament player. He’s got a lot of desire,” said Yves Xazier, 19, a liberal studies major who started playing with Susaki back in high school.
Susaki’s skill at the table may come off as risky or foolhardy to the untrained eye, yet he exhibits one aspect above the rest and that is dedication. After losing an intense $20 heads-up match to his friend, Susaki went to Borders bookstore and bought books on poker and began diligently practicing. Now he’s better than all his friends and most strangers.
Aside from poker, the San Franciscan of Japanese decent illustrates an active lifestyle. He enjoys playing football, basketball and is in his 11th year of Shorinji Kempo. a Japanese Buddhist martial art.
“I took American martial arts but I didn’t like the system of belts. I didn’t feel like I earned the status,” said Susaki who also teaches Shorinji Kempo near Japan town, “[Shorinji Kempo] goes by attendance; by age group and how many years you’ve been doing it. I feel like I’ve earned something.”
It’s hard to say whether Susaki’s competitive activities are the source of his success in poker or vice versa, but he does admit to finding pleasure in the adrenaline that comes from playing poker which he says is a “heart-pounding experience”.
One such intense experience came on the first hand of his first match at Jackson Casino, an 18 and over Indian casino outside Sacramento. Susaki raised with a 2-6 unsuited with an all-heart flop. Two players at his table checked to which he raised again. One called and one folded and the next card on the flop was a heart. Thinking his opponent had a flush, Susaki attempted a bluff and went all in on a hand he knew he would lose. His opponent got scared and folded allowing Susaki to rake in the winnings.
Not a lick of luck to a chip by the looks of it, Susaki adapts to every situation at the poker table using his skill at the game to read player’s trends and exploit weaknesses. But make no mistake, Susaki’s talents didn’t come from birth—they were earned.
“Never quit. When I started I really sucked, it was a horrible feeling. But I accumulated so much knowledge of the game and now I’m so much better. It’s like school, if you don’t study you’ll see the results,” said Susaki.