Phil Gordon Q&A on All Things Poker

Date: Wed, May 7, 2008

Poker Pro Phil Gordon did a recent interview with those folks over at Freakonomics. Phil has always been an keen observer and no-holds commentator on the real life of the professional poker player. Here are a few of this comments.

Q: What percent of your success would you say is attributable to randomness?

A: Randomness, otherwise known as “variance” at the poker table is much bigger and more important than most poker players realize. I have a simple theory: change 10 river cards in any poker player’s tournament career and I would bet that they would be a losing tournament player for their career.

You might need to set aside players like Doyle Brunson here or maybe just up the number to 20 or 30 but Phil's point is correct. There are several bookkeepers and more than ten chiropractors who would be well known poker professionals today if that one river card had gone the other way. By the same token, there are a couple of guys walking around with a WSOP bracelet on their wrist who should get out before variance brings them down to their true skill level.
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Several of the questions had to do with professional players and their gambling habits, I have grouped those answers together for Phil's harsh but realistic assessment of poker professionals and money management.

Q: What percentage of professional poker players would you consider to be compulsive gamblers?

A: Ninety percent of the “professional players” I know have some serious “leaks” that affect their ability to hold on to their money.

Whether it’s playing too big for their bankroll or betting on sports or casino games, these leaks have a way of keeping many of them completely broke no matter how much they win on the tournament circuit.

One of the “requirements” to be a great player is being able to divorce yourself from money and its value. Making good decisions at the poker table means that you must have the ability to “put a Ferrari” in the pot if it’s right to do so. That lack of respect for the buying power of money leads to financial problems for many of the best players in the world.

If I had to guess, I would say about 50 percent of the “name pros” you see on television on a regular basis have a negative net worth.

Q: What are the finances of some of the top pros like?

A: Some: poor, reckless, with no shot at improving long-term. Others: multi-million dollar mansions, $5-plus million a year income, and no financial worries.

As I said, harsh but true.

And some poker advice from Mr. Gordon, which might run contrary to the accepted wisdom.

Q: What skill is more important in Holdem: discipline in the range of hands you play, or the ability to read the other player?

A: Hand selection is the most important in my opinion. A blind guy who has good hand selection skills could win a world championship. A guy with 20/15 vision who picked up all the tells but played every hand might never win.

Q: What is the most dangerously deceiving starting hand for an amateur player in Texas Holdem?

A: It’s a tie … AQ, KQ, and QJ. Those are death hands to be avoided at all costs, especially if your opponent has made any aggressive move pre-flop.

And you thought he would say AK or maybe JJ, right?

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France and Finland Ponder Different Directions for Online Poker

Date: Sun, May 4, 2008

Two members of the European Union appear headed in opposite directions as far as regulating online poker. One country is considering abolishing existing restrictive legislation, while the other is preparing to regulate online poker for the first time.

The French appear ready to reconsider their online gambling monopoly perhaps due to pressure the European Union. France is reportedly reconsidering its policies regarding online gambling. French residents may soon get the chance to again play at a regulated online gambling sites.

French law currently states that online betting is not allowed. However, the European Commission of the EU is pressuring France to conform to the EU treaty regarding free competition with other member nations. Reliable sources have the new regulations allowing online betting on sporting events – including poker games.

Finland, on the other hand, currently does not regulate online poker but is now looking at this source of taxable income. Gambling in Finland is organized as a national monopoly, but online poker has yet to be managed by government agencies.

I widely circulated report found that Finns spend as much as 50 million Euros annually on foreign online poker sites. Finnish officials obviously feel they could or should keep a significant portion of that money within Finland and, of course, tax it. Their problem will be the same as so many other member nations have faced, the EU regulations.

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Party Poker Introduces Flat Fee Single Table Satellites

Date: Sat, May 3, 2008

In an unprecedented move, PartyPoker.com has slashed the charges for all single-table tournaments over $200 to a super-low flat fee of $10. No matter how high the stakes are above $200, the fee will be just $10 meaning there is huge value to be had for the bankroll, value that cannot be found elsewhere.

To celebrate this, PartyPoker.com has introduced a complete range of high-end STT’s with buy-in’s all the way up to $5,000. With a fee of just $10 this is great value and is simply not available at any other online poker room. For example, on a six seat $5,000 STT the typical saving is $190 and a ten seat $300 STT the saving is $10.

Check out the full list of tournaments today!

PARTYPOKER.COM – FLAT FEE STT’S

$5,000 + $10 6 seat Save $190
$5,000 + $10 2 seat Save $90
$2,000 + $10 10 seat Save $80
$2,000 + $10 6 seat Save $80
$2,000 + $10 2 seat Save $40
$1,000 + $10 10 seat Save $40
$1,000 + $10 6 seat Save $20
$1,000 + $10 2 seat Save $20
$500 + $10 10 seat Save $20
$500 + $10 6 seat Save $20
$500 + $10 2 seat Save $10
$300 + $10 10 seat Save $10
$300 + $10 6 seat Save $10
$300 + $10 2 seat Save $10
$200 + $10 10 seat Save $10
$300 + $10 6 seat Save $6

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ESPN Television Schedule for 2008 WSOP

Date: Thu, May 1, 2008

Along with the announcement of the delayed play for the WSOP main event final table, ESPN has also released the proposed schedule WSOP broadcast events. There was some conversation during yesterday's teleconference about an extended international broadcast schedule, particularly leading up to the main event final table. The two other notable changes from last year are:

- less coverage of the $50K HORSE event, the viewing audience appears not to be so interested in watching Razz, Stud or even Omaha. So there will be only two hours of this event;
- much more coverage of the main event leading up to the virtually live coverage of the final table in November.

The tentative schedule of TV coverage for this year's event is as follows; each listed show is scheduled for two hours:

• July 22 - Event 1: $10,000 pot-limit hold 'em
• July 29 - Event 2: $1,500 no-limit hold 'em
• Aug. 5 - Event 3: $1,500 pot-limit hold 'em or Event 4: $5,000 mixed hold 'em
• Aug. 12 - Event 5: $1,000 no-limit hold 'em with rebuys
• Aug. 19 - Event 45: $50,000 HORSE
• Aug. 26 - Event 50: $10,000 pot-limit Omaha
• Sept. 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, Oct. 7, 14, 21, 28 - Event 55: $10,000 no-limit hold 'em main event
• Nov. 4 - Event 55: WSOP main event final table preview show
• Nov. 11 - Event 55: WSOP main event final table

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WSOP Final Table Will Be Delayed Until November

Date: Thu, May 1, 2008

LAS VEGAS – May 1, 2008 – The World Series of Poker® (WSOP) Presented by Milwaukee ’s Best Light today announced a groundbreaking change that will more closely align the televised presentation of the world’s largest, richest and most prestigious poker tournament with other premier sports broadcasts.

The last nine players of the $10,000 World Championship of No-Limit Texas Hold’em, known as the Main Event, will compete on November 9-10 instead of the originally scheduled date of July 16.

“Our intent is to provide an even bigger stage for our players,” said Jeffrey Pollack , Commissioner of the World Series of Poker. “Now fans and viewers will ask ‘who will win’ our coveted championship bracelet instead of seeing ‘who won.’ The excitement and interest surrounding our final nine players will be unprecedented.”

This change in how the Main Event final table is staged will bring the excitement and drama of high-stakes WSOP tournament play closer to millions of fans around the globe.

All other 2008 WSOP tournament structures and schedules remain unchanged. This announcement affects only the final nine players of Event #54, the Main Event World Championship.

Continuing the trailblazing efforts that have made the WSOP the industry standard, this move is being made in close collaboration with ESPN, the television rightsholder of the WSOP, and the WSOP Players Advisory Council (PAC), the commissioner-appointed committee of professional and amateur poker players who provide guidance and perspective to the WSOP leadership team.

"It's an exciting time for the World Series of Poker and ESPN," said Jamie Horowitz, senior producer, ESPN Content Development. "This adjustment will add a new element to a very successful and popular event. We look forward to documenting all of the exciting stories that make the WSOP Main Event the seminal competition in all of poker."

“This is a huge step forward for poker and more specifically poker on television because it will help create more buzz around the final table and that is good for all of us,” said Daniel Negreanu, a WSOP PAC member, three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner and one of today’s most successful and popular poker professionals. “Not only will this innovative step create more buzz for the final table, the added time prior to the final table will help get poker mainstream media attention. I’m very excited about this decision and can’t wait to see it all unfold, hopefully from a seat at the final table!”

The 39th annual World Series of Poker will take place from May 30th to July 14th at the Rio® All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas . The Main Event will begin on July 3rd, with the Final Table being determined on July 14th. The nine players who advance to the Final Table will return to the Rio on November 9th to play down to just two players. The final two, will go head-to-head late in the evening on November 10th to determine the champion and winner of poker’s ultimate prize.

The winner of the Main Event is expected to be crowned in the early hours of November 11. ESPN will edit the two-day Final Table action and televise it in a two-hour program from 9:00-11:00 PM ET on Tuesday, November 11 just hours after the winner is crowned. This is akin to television coverage of the Olympic Games, where because of time zone differences, the telecaster schedules programs “same day” in primetime to provide the largest possible audience a convenient viewing time.

ESPN will begin its coverage of the 2008 World Series of Poker on Tuesday, July 22. Viewers will see two hours of original poker programming every Tuesday through November 11 (except November 4 when a special preview of the Final Table will be aired at 10 p.m.). Telecasts will be aired at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. July 22 through September 30 and at 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. from October 7 through November 11.

Each of the players who make it to the WSOP Main Event Final Table will receive ninth place prize money on July 14, when the finalists are determined. Harrah’s will then provide each of those players with an all expense paid trip for two for their return to Las Vegas in November to play the final portion of the tournament.

From July 14 to November 9, a span of 117 days, players will have an opportunity to line up sponsorships, coaches, review the play of all their competitors, participate in other tournaments, and take advantage of the new publicity and promotional opportunities that will be available.

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Satan Speaks on U.S. Online Poker Ban

Date: Wed, Apr 30, 2008

The chief architect of the Internet gambling ban on Tuesday said he is losing patience with the Federal Reserve and the Department of Treasury as they struggle to craft regulations to enforce the ban.

Senator Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said the regulations are a year overdue, according to the 2006 prohibition statute. Kyle is quoted as mumbling:

"The longer it goes the less certainty there is. I mean, the people who are violating the law need to know that they're not going to be able the get away with it, and I think that the failure to get these regulations promulgated on time has perhaps given some hope, and it's given life even to an idea over in the House of Representatives to put a moratorium on the regulations."

Kyl was referring to a bill introduced April 11 by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas. The Frank-Paul bill would block the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department from completing regulations to enforce the ban.

The legislation followed a financial services subcommittee hearing April 2 in which Federal Reserve and Treasury Department officials said the regulations are difficult to complete, partly because the 2006 ban does not define unlawful Internet gambling.

Louise Roseman, director of bank operations and payment systems for the Federal Reserve, also testified that the prohibition of Internet gambling cannot be "ironclad."

Another bill, which Frank introduced last year, would repeal the Internet gambling ban and require the Treasury Department to regulate Internet gambling in the United States .

Despite his frustration with the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department, Kyl said he is not worried about efforts to block the regulations and roll back the online wagering ban.

"I would be concerned if something like that were to be adopted by the House ... I'm not sure that the momentum is there to actually get it done."

Jay Lakin, vice president of Poker Source Online and an opponent of the Internet gambling ban, said he reluctantly agrees.

"While many efforts have been made on behalf of overturning (the ban), so far it's just been bills and words on paper," Lakin said. "Nothing has moved forward. Until there's a change in Washington , I don't think we'll see much of a change."

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Party Poker Millions VI Cruise Set to Sail

Date: Tue, Apr 29, 2008

The PartyPoker Millions Cruise is set to sail this Saturday with the sixth edition of the tournament. The cruise will leave from Venice, Italy, and stops off in Greece, Turkey and Croatia before turning back to historic Venice. The ship, the MSC Poesia, is a state of the art cruise liner packed with facilities and the cabins are now full. On board there will be restaurants, bars, tennis courts, mini golf, pools, spas, discos, a cinema, shopping and more…and not forgetting a massive 24/7 card room.

The PPM tournament will be a $8,200 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event which will also be recorded for worldwide broadcast. Mike Sexton will be host and MC, Matt Savage and Dave Lamb are tournament directors and the highly respected Card Player Cruises team that includes Linda Johnson, Mark Tenner and Jan Fisher will be onboard running the poker room.

30 countries will be represented in the main event and amongst those fancied to make an impact include Canada’s history-making Mike ‘Timex’ McDonald, Sweden’s 2008 Late Night Poker winner Andreas Jorbeck, Brazil’s Christian Kruel, Danish sensation Soeren Kongsgaard, Germany’s Florian Langmann and Alexander Jung and Finland’s Mika Paasonen. The line-up is a united nations of next generation poker talent.

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Norwegian Poker Championship Begins in Nottingham, UK

Date: Mon, Apr 28, 2008

The Norwegian Poker Championship begins today in Nottingham, England. The Norwegian government has banned poker. The state governed monopoly "Norsk Tipping" does not offer poker and anyone playing poker with money could face criminal prosecution. So, the Norwegian Championship is held outside of Norway at the Dusk Till Dawn casino in Nottingham.

The Norwegian Poker Championship is Norway's largest poker tournament and is expected to attract over 500 Norwegian players. Since the event was launched in 2002, the tournament has experienced rapid growth, this is the 7th running of the event.

With a total estimated prize pool of £350 000, the winner of the Main Event will also receive a complete 2008 WSOP package. The tournament will be covered with live video blogs and full scale TV production of the Main Event final table. A special poker documentary is also planned for the whole 8 day poker festival.

Below is the complete schedule:

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All Japan Poker Championship

Date: Sun, Apr 27, 2008

Japanese gambling laws are among the strictest in the world. So strict, in fact, that casinos are not even allowed to operate in the country of Japan. This has not stopped the second annual All Japan Poker Championship underway in Tokyo.

The tournament can be held because it does not make participants pay an entry fee and, in fact, no money is gambled at all. Poker tourneys that require an entry fee are illegal in Japan. The winner will get a bracelet and a $10,000 buy-in to the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event in Las Vegas.

The tournament is so popular that there is even a Ladies and Senior tourney which take place before the Main Event on May 18th. Last year, Kunihiro Sakamoto won the Main Event, and the $10,000 buy-in to the WSOP, after outlasting a field that included over 2,000 people.

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Gus Hansen Crushes WPT Championship Early..... and then

Date: Sat, Apr 26, 2008

Gus Hansen was crushing the final table at the World Poker Tour Championship at Bellagio in Las Vegas. Here is a summary of the early final table action:

Beginning Chip Counts for six-handed Final Table:

Seat 1. John Roveto - 2,720,000
Seat 2. Gus Hansen - 8,570,000
Seat 3. David Chiu - 6,050,000
Seat 4. Tommy Le - 1,950,00
Seat 5. Cory Carroll - 6,670,000
Seat 6. Jeff King - 1,305,000

Action at Final table:

Hand #12 Jeff King eliminated in 6th place by Gus Hansen.
Hand #15 Tommy Le eliminated in 5th place by Gus Hansen.
Hand #16 Cory Carroll elininated in 4th place by Gus Hansen.
Hand #22 John Roveta eliminated in 3rd place by Gus Hansen.

Hansen rivered a ten to beat Jeff King's A-Q suited with his 10-9 suited. Hansen flopped a set of tens over Tommy Le's set of fives. Hansen rivered a seven-high diamond flush to overcome Cory Carroll's pair of jacks. And Hansen cracked John Roveto's pocket kings by rivering a jack-high straight with A-10 suited.

Heads Up Chip Count
Gus Hansen - 22,905,000
David Chiu - 4,360,000

By Hand #46 David was up to 11 Million.
On Hand #77 David won a big pot and brought the chips counts to:
Gus Hansen - 14,825,000
David Chiu - 12,450,000
Two hands later, David Chiu takes over the chiplead.

Hand #80: Gus moves all-in on the turn with two pair 10's & 8's; David calls with top pairs Aces and spikes an Ace on the river to finish a remarkable comeback.

David Chiu wins the 2008 WPT Championship.

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Texas Hold'em Plus

Date: Fri, Apr 25, 2008

This report is offered without commentary or critique. Readers are welcome to draw their own conclusions and scathing commentary is welcome in the comment section. There is a new form of poker being tried in several casinos. The Mirage in Las Vegas is one of the largest poker rooms to give Texas Hold'em Plus a trial run.

"Plus" is played exactly like normal Texas Hold'em except that after the hole cards are dealt and before the first round of betting, each player in turn may discard one of their down cards and replace it for an amount equal to the small blind. The "Plus" bet goes into the pot and the deal then plays out like any other Hold'em hand.

One benefit, of course, is that the house is likely to get a full rake on the game with between $0 and $10 in a $2/$4 game or up to $20 in a $4/$8 game being added to the pot pre-flop.

We observed several tables of "Plus" being played at the Mirage and the most common play was for a player to buy a new down card and then still fold the hand. In effect, as many as 50% of the players were paying a small blind in nearly every hand. Players with an Ace-rag were always willing to buy a new card to go with their Ace.

Hold'em Plus is the first patented poker game played in a poker room, as opposed to table games like Caribbean Stud and Let It Ride. Rooms wishing to offer Hold'em Plus to have to pay a licensing fee to the developer.

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Party to the Philippines

Date: Thu, Apr 24, 2008

Party Poker is sending players to the Asian Poker Tour tournament in Manila. You read about all the places poker tournaments take place and all of the online qualifiers but Party is willing to send you to the Philippines. Now I have visited Las Vegas and London but the Philippines, man I am ready to go.

Here are the details.

PartyPoker.com is pleased to announce that online qualifiers have started for 2008’s inaugural Asian Poker Tour event in Manila , the Philippines. An estimated four hundred players will take part in this showpiece event with a guaranteed prize pool of $1 million and PartyPoker.com has 11 packages up for grabs. Qualifiers are already online, starting from $1, but you have to hurry as the event takes place from May 27th through to June 1st.

The package is worth $6,000 and includes the $2,500 main event buy-in, seven nights at the fantastic Dusit Thani Manila Hotel and $2,500 in spending money. There will be two main $300 +$20 satellites a week with routes into them starting at $1.

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Poker Commentary

Date: Wed, Apr 23, 2008

"It looks as if the poker boom is surely here to stay."

No that quote and that picture do not go together. I found that optimistic quote while reading my "B" roll of poker blogs and realized it might be time to comment on the growing divide between those who believe the poker boom is still booming and those who are observing what they believe are the ripples after the shark has already reentered the water. [For the purists, I am aware that it was Fonzi what jumped the shark and the shark never jumped anything but Henry Winkler on skis is just not as compelling a picture as Carcharodon carcharias in mid-air.]

So, is interest in poker still going up or is it on the downslide? Well first, it depends. In the United States the trend is definitely on the downside. TV ratings are down; sponsors are bailing from poker shows; tournament buy-ins are off and yes, there are some poker rooms closing. There is, of course, the profound effects of the UIGEA limiting the online access of new players. But in the States the signs are still mixed, new casinos are putting in poker rooms; old rooms are still being remodeled with more space and more staff and some of the smaller tours are doing well. The problem in the U.S. is at the top of the food chain with the World Poker Tour in particular.

In Europe the boom is in full swing, despite the attempts of nearly ever national government to greedily slow down the expansion. The European Union members have been fencing over online poker rights in general and brick and mortar licensing in many instances too. Still the numbers are up on the European Poker Tour but not without some problems regarding size. The card rooms on the continent are not ready to handle 1,000 player tournaments and regional gaming regulators are clearly not as flexible as they are in the States. Remember the World Series of Poker is run in a large convention hall, far from the security of the day-to-day casino operations. Tournaments all over the United States run in big convention halls that few, if any, European casinos have access to without slow moving bureaucratic gaming commission oversight. When it comes to a poker boom; size does matter.

The Latin America Poker Tour (there were two, now one) requires the cooperation and approval of various countries and whatever governmental machinations they might wish to create, invent or impose. Same goes for the various Asian Poker Tours and the melange of countries in Asia that either oppose gambling or wish to restrict gaming within cultural and social boundaries. The boom may well be history in one part of the globe before a single hand of Hold'em is dealt in another.

What does it all mean? We are not completely sure, but we will keep on eye on the various factors pushing, pulling, and eroding the poker boom. One observation is clearly true: Insider's in the poker world have a very different view of the future of poker then does the average player. Not saying the insiders are right, perhaps they are too close to the subject but clearly, things they are a'changin'.

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Rule Change(s)

Date: Tue, Apr 22, 2008

One of the continuing struggles in poker is to institute standardized rules for all tournament play. There is honest debate among both players and tournament directors on many of the rules. I attended last year's Tournament Directors Association meeting and was impressed with the diversity of views on how rules should be written and applied.

So it was heartening today at the start of Day Three of the World Poker Tour Championship at Bellagio to see some true rule cooperation. Before the cards were in the air, reknown and respected Tournament Director Jack McCelland stood up with Daniel Negreanu and asked the players their opinion of the "Show One Show All" rule. Daniel has written often in his blog that the application of the rule, particularly at Bellagio is not what was intended.

Interpretation #1: If you show your cards to one player, you must show them to all players. This is a rule everyone agrees on.

Interpretation #2: If you show one of your cards to the table, you must show both cards. This is a rule that most players do not think is appropriate.

So Jack stood up and asked the players about the #2 application of the rule. The players nearly unanimously voted against it. At which point Jack changed the rule at Bellagio.

Now that is cooperation.
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Later in the day another new rule:

The Bellagio has implemented another new rule for the money bubble. If a table has players who are all in, they do not reveal their hole cards until all the tables either complete their hands or also reach an all-in situation. That way, players at other tables don't have the advantage of knowing whether a short stack at another table has busted, therefore allowing them to fold into the money.

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