Casino Planet Cash

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Ten bucks gets you into the UB.com and AbsolutePoker.com charity event with proceeds going to the Sharon Osbourne Colon Cancer Program at Cedars-Sinai. This online fundraiser is part of the “Second Sundays” series benefiting national charities held monthly by the CEREUS Network.

Remember to register for the 10AM PST tournament. All entrants are guaranteed to win cash, prizes, swag, entries into CEREUS Network’s $200,000 Guaranteed tournaments or entry into the next day’s freeroll. The winner will also take home a limited edition “Pink” sports watch from Rockwell Time.

Last week I accompanied Vera Valmore to West Palm Beach, Florida in order to watch some top-level dressage at the Palm Beach Dressage Derby. And since Florida is one of those states that offers live poker, I thought I’d take the opportunity to play some while there.

As far as the Derby went, it was cold and windy the first day, but the weather turned quite pleasant afterwards, with highs in the low 70s. Thus did Vera and I enjoy relatively nice conditions for watching the rides, some by Olympians and others with high achievements in dressage on both the national and international level.

One very sad note — a top rider, Courtney King-Dye, suffered a serious head injury while schooling one of her horses the day before the show began. The young horse she was riding apparently slipped, causing King-Dye — who wasn’t wearing a helmet at the time — to fall. She remains in a coma, though her condition is stable. The wearing of helmets either in practice rides or during competitions is a big issue in dressage, and the accident has brought new attention to the importance of taking safety precautions.

After that first day at Horse Park at White Fences Equestrian Estates in Loxahatchee, Florida, Vera and I decided to take a quick trip over to see the Palm Beach Kennel Club, located near the airport and not too far from the hotel where we were staying. I’d heard the guys on the Florida-based poker podcast Ante Up! refer to the PBKC frequently, and was curious to see just what they had to offer. It was early evening. If any limit hold’em tables were going, I would sit down for a short while, then we would try to find some place to eat.

The PBKC has a long history, with folks having come there to bet on the greyhounds since way back in the 1930s. The poker room — actually two rooms, one larger one on the lower level, and a smaller room for tourneys upstairs — came much, much later, probably in the late 1990s when parimutuel facilities were first allowed to offer poker. The club boasts that with the addition of the upstairs room a couple of years ago it now has the most tables (60 total) of any place in the entire state.

I knew through Ante Up! that live poker had experienced something of a resurgence in Florida over the last few years, thanks largely to a bill that went into effect in 2007 allowing for the addition of no-limit games (though with a $100-max. buy-in). The new terms also meant the maximum bet in limit games was raised — but just to $5. Another bill was proposed last year that would remove the caps on buy-ins for NL games, take away maximum bet limits in limit games, and also allow for extended hours, although various machinations between the Florida legislature and the Seminole tribe have prevented that from being implemented just yet.

I spoke with Scott Long of Ante Up! (who co-hosts the show with Chris Cosenza) just to make sure I was clear on what the current laws were. Indeed, the $100 max-buy in remains in place for NL games, as does the $5 limit on bets in limit games. The maximum buy-in for tourneys is $800 or thereabouts (Long says some places have managed to find a way to finagle up to $1,000 buy-ins somehow). Long shared with me the comparison he and Cosenza often make when highlighting the present absurdity of the poker-gambling situation in Florida.

“I can go down to the Kennel Club and bet $50,000 on a dog running around the track, but can’t buy in for more than $100 to play poker,” explained Long. He added how the motorcycle-riding thrill-seeker Evel Knievel, who lived his latter years in Florida prior to his death a couple of years ago, apparently used to go place $10,000 bets on the greyhounds from time to time, screwing up the odds considerably when he did.

It does sound as though the law to remove caps and betting limits has a good chance of going through this summer, though, and so perhaps the situation will be different in Florida soon.

Vera and I found the PBKC without too much difficulty, although figuring out how to enter the place was less obvious. After a half-minute of wandering around the front, someone directed us to the turnstiles, through which we went and then entered the building from the back.

There appeared to be a lot of activity, with perhaps 20-25 tables going (of the 40 in the downstairs room). Most tables were spreading $1-$2 and $2-$5 NLHE, with three $2-$4 LHE games going. (Long told me that was what you mostly find as far as limit hold’em goes, with a few $1-$5 or $2-$5 spread limit games here and there.) I grabbed a seat at a LHE table, though I knew I wouldn’t be playing for long as there didn’t seem very much for Vera to do while she waited.

I took a seat at a full table, noticing a lot of trash underneath the table and unclaimed bottles and napkins everywhere. In the end, I’d probably play no more than 40 minutes or so — like 20-25 hands at most — and thanks to some ridiculously good cards walked away up a surprising $90. What happened? I caught cards, made hands, and got paid. Not too complicated.

After losing the first hand with pocket jacks, I began collecting chips in rapid fashion starting with a hand in which I got in the small blind, flopped two pair, then turned a boat. Followed that with another hand in which I limped in with the rest of the table with A-6-suited to see a flop come 8-6-6. Two of us made it to the river on that one, with my opponent angrily showing the case six (with a lesser kicker, presumably). He left soon afterwards, grumbling to a friend about his misfortune and/or the quality of play.

A few hands later I picked up pocket treys in late position and limped along with about six others. Flop 6-3-3. Whoa. Some nice cards they be dealing here, I thought. Afterwards I thought of Mike Fasso, who used to appear on Ante Up! now and then as a guest host, and one time when he memorably exclaimed “I never flopped quads in my life…. IN MY LIFE!”

Well, I’d done it. And even better, there was a bet and call before it got to me. I called, as did two more. The turn brought another six. It checked to me, I bet, and two just called. Couldn’t quite figure why neither would raise there (assuming at least had to have had a six). River was a face card, I bet again, and just the older fellow called. Indeed, he had a six, and was just calling down his sixes full.

The ridiculous run good continued, as the very next hand I picked up two black aces. There was a raise before me, I three-bet, and ultimately there were two callers. Flop . It checked to me, I bet, and both called. Turn was the . This time the preflop raiser bet, I raised, and the early position player called the two bets, which signaled he probably couldn’t have the straight. The preflop raiser — whom I thought might have K-K or Q-Q — called as well. The river brought the , and when the preflop raiser again bet I just called, a little wary the EP player might have chased down his flush. But he just called, too, and we showed our cards.

The early position player had pocket sevens — he’d flopped a lesser set. And the preflop raiser had — he’d flopped two pair. Definitely a cooler for both, although it could’ve been even worse for them had the turn and river not coordinated the board like that.

Thus the big win. Much more luck than skill, for sure. I cashed out, grabbed Vera, and we were out of there. As I said, there wasn’t really much for Vera to do there. I mentioned the trash laying about. The felt on the table was worn down, too, adding a little to the sordid atmosphere. The dealers were competent and friendly, though, and aside from the one grumbler the players were cordial, too. After my quads hand, the dealer had passed me a slip to fill out to enter the high-hand jackpot, to be awarded on Saturday.

I ended up returning on Saturday for another session and to see if I might have won the jackpot. There were multiple drawings throughout the day, starting at 1 p.m. (when the place opened). Got there early and explored the place a little more, checking out the theater-style seating upstairs from which to view the races as well as wandering outside at the track a bit. Many folks — including a lot of old-timers — were there early studying the day’s races and settling on their picks. A line formed outside the poker room, too, which opened at 12:30 p.m. Probably 30 tables were filled with players by the time the first hands of the day were dealt.

The early drawings were for $1,000, and one had to be present to win. While there I again played, this time for an hour-and-a-half or so. As I (mostly) folded hands, I listened hopefully for my name to be called. Alas, it was not, although I would pick up another $49 before I left. Wasn’t so much good cards this time as bad, loose, passive play by others. If I had stuck around until the evening, I’d have learned if I’d won the larger $5,000 jackpot, but I wasn’t going to be spending the entire day and night there.

Again, I’ll say the dealers were fine and all of the staff with whom I interacted were pleasant. Getting a cocktail waitress did appear to be a bit of a struggle for others at times. I cashed out, grabbed a copy of Ante Up! magazine, and made my way back around the building and out to the rental car. Vera and I ended up that night in City Place — a nice, pedestrian-friendly downtown area in West Palm Beach with lots of stores, restaurants, and live music. All made extra fun by my being able to pay our way with poker profits.

Will be interesting to see what happens in Florida once the caps and limits are lifted and places like the Palm Beach Kennel Club possibly become more of a targeted destination for serious poker players. Imposing those limits doesn’t much affect a recreational type like me, but I know many are anxious to see “real” poker start to be offered.

I’d had no time at all to play while covering the NAPT Venetian the week before, so it was good to get to play, even for just a couple of short sessions. And especially good to flop quads, even at $2/$4.

Playing poker at a casino you have to be on the lookout for yourself. You may find the occasional angle shooter at the table or a crooked dealer who looks to short a chip or two from a big pot. Thankfully these sorts of occurrences are the exception and not the rule. If there ever is a situation you know there’s a process to make a wrong right, from supervisors to gaming floor managers. However when playing online poker there’s no visible dealer. You are left to the mercy of the poker rooms to provide security. All online poker rooms use a process for dealing cards called a random number generator (RNG).

For example Full Tilt Poker RNG uses three separate sources using algorithms to generate random numbers.  The goal is to get random numbers which are used to provide the cards you see. To ensure randomness and security Full Tilt uses three separate layers of RNG’s. I e-mailed Full Tilt to find out more information about their RNG and they assured me they were also accredited and tested by two separate companies.

Online poker rooms understand that actual and perceived security is critical to their success. If players did not believe the card shuffling was random they would not trust the poker room. If a player was able to predict what cards would come next the integrity of the poker room would be called into question and the cascading effect would be a flight of players from the tables.

Two major online poker rooms that have had difficulties with security in the past are UB.com and Absolute Poker. In both instances a “superuser” account was available and the person could actually see the hole cards. Proper poker room security means players will feel comfortable putting real money on the table. After the superuser scandal broke both Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker lost players and they have not yet recovered.

If you are new to online poker and are unsure of what room to play on there’s a few factors you should consider. The security of the room should be paramount and the next important consideration is probably the type of bonuses they can offer such as rakeback. Once you start playing the last thing you want to worry about is how secure the room is.

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Playing poker at a casino you have to be on the lookout for yourself. You may find the occasional angle shooter at the table or a crooked dealer who looks to short a chip or two from a big pot. Thankfully these sorts of occurrences are the exception and not the rule. If there ever is a situation you know there’s a process to make a wrong right, from supervisors to gaming floor managers. However when playing online poker there’s no visible dealer. You are left to the mercy of the poker rooms to provide security. All online poker rooms use a process for dealing cards called a random number generator (RNG).

For example Full Tilt Poker RNG uses three separate sources using algorithms to generate random numbers.  The goal is to get random numbers which are used to provide the cards you see. To ensure randomness and security Full Tilt uses three separate layers of RNG’s. I e-mailed Full Tilt to find out more information about their RNG and they assured me they were also accredited and tested by two separate companies.

Online poker rooms understand that actual and perceived security is critical to their success. If players did not believe the card shuffling was random they would not trust the poker room. If a player was able to predict what cards would come next the integrity of the poker room would be called into question and the cascading effect would be a flight of players from the tables.

Two major online poker rooms that have had difficulties with security in the past are UB.com and Absolute Poker. In both instances a “superuser” account was available and the person could actually see the hole cards. Proper poker room security means players will feel comfortable putting real money on the table. After the superuser scandal broke both Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker lost players and they have not yet recovered.

If you are new to online poker and are unsure of what room to play on there’s a few factors you should consider. The security of the room should be paramount and the next important consideration is probably the type of bonuses they can offer such as rakeback. Once you start playing the last thing you want to worry about is how secure the room is.

Discuss this article in our forum

One of the neat things about keeping a blog is the feedback one sometimes receives. Particularly fun are those times when I have written about a particular person and gotten a comment or email from the subject of my post. Sometimes those responses come right away, while other times many months might pass before the response arrives, the sender perhaps not seeing the post until much later.

For example, earlier this week I received some nice feedback from Kyle Siler on that post from last month in which I discussed his study “Social and Psychological Challenges of Poker” (appearing in The Journal of Gambling Studies). Siler responded both to my summary of his study as well as to observations made by poker pro Andy Bloch there in the comments section. For those who were following that discussion, you might check that out.

Of course, sometimes comments or responses come much later. In July 2008, I had just gotten home after a summer of reporting on the World Series of Poker. While in Vegas I had visited the Gamblers Bookshop and picked up some old magazines, including some issues of Gambling Times.

I ended up writing a post titled “Reporting on the 1979 WSOP” in which I shared a lot from one particular article in that magazine chronicling the ’79 Series, one written by John Hill. I got a kick out of comparing how the WSOP was covered in 2008 and how it was covered some three decades earlier.

Anyhow, it was about six months later that John Hill himself came around and left a comment on that post. “Glad to see a reprise of my coverage,” he began, noting that “those were heady days of the game and provided grist for many a mill.” He shared a few more memories of those days in his comment — take a look if you’re curious.

I also had some feedback just recently to another post I had written some time ago. In August 2008, I spent a little time going through the first 40 years’ worth of Rolling Stone magazine (a task made easier by my having gotten them on DVDs), searching for references to poker. I thought it would be interesting to see how poker had been covered — or not covered — in this non-poker, mainstream publication.

I ended up writing two posts, focusing in particular on a few articles that had appeared along the way. Here are those posts: “Poker & Pop Culture: Rolling Stone (1967-2007) (1 of 2)” and “Poker & Pop Culture: Rolling Stone (1967-2007) (2 of 2).”

In the second of those posts, I gave some attention to a particular article that appeared in 1981 amid a series of pieces about college life. Actually it was two articles — companion pieces that dealt with students and professors interacting in social settings: “On Drinking with Professors” by Grif Fariello and “On Drinking with Students” by William Kittredge.

Both of the writers — the student (Fariello) and teacher (Kittredge) — make reference to poker games, and finding all of that very interesting I summarized it in great detail in my post, noting both how the students were routinely beating the profs and also what the game seemed to signify to each.

Anyhow, just last week I received a nice email from Grif Fariello offering some background on how the articles were put together. I asked him if it would be okay to share some of what he told me here on the blog, and he said it would be fine.

“I should fill you in on that piece I wrote for Rolling Stone,” he began. Apparently William Kittredge (“Bill”) had gotten a last-minute, panicky request from the editor at Rolling Stone. “They’d come up short for the next issue and could Bill fill in with X amount of words in 24 hours,” came the appeal. The editor had come up with the student-teacher “gimmick,” and Kittredge asked Fariello, then a grad student in the writing program, if he could write the student half. “I said sure,” responded Fariello.

“We blasted the stuff out overnight,” Fariello told me. “Some of the anecdotes in my half are true, but the poker aspect is not.” Indeed, it turns out that while the articles are somewhat based in reality, there are several embellishments in there, some likely resulting from the necessity of the quick turn-around. Fariello said that while he’d “shared plenty of drinks with Bill… I’ve never played poker with him or any other Prof. If I had I would’ve lost my shirt. I’m a lousy poker player and never really enjoyed playing cards much beyond cribbage and not even that anymore.”

The fact is, the articles weren’t really meant to be taken as on-the-scene, documentary-like reports (as I did in my post). “Both articles were intended as amusing blather in the heroic mode, quick filler, not reportage,” explained Fariello. He added a few more comments about how other details of the interactions between the students and teachers were further enhanced for added drama.

I thought it very interesting to learn that the poker angle had been introduced into the articles as a way of helping flesh out the student-teacher dynamic a bit more, even though no poker had actually been played. Kind of says something about the symbolic value of the game, really, as a way to bring together different groups and have them interact in ways they might not otherwise.

As I said, I asked Fariello if it would be okay to share his postscript here, as I know some readers might remember those Rolling Stone posts and thus might find it as interesting as I did. Big thanks to him for letting me do so, as well as to John Hill and Kyle Siler for their feedback, too.

For another example of a story I thought once to be true but later found out otherwise, check out my Betfair article from today, “The Nuts, the Wheel, and the Hammer.” And, as always, feedback is welcome!

Have a good weekend, all.

The sixth season of  High Stakes of Poker will make its premiere next Sunday, February 14th on GSN. Featuring a minimum cash buy-in of $200,000, HSP season six features the toughest line-up of professional poker players ever, comprised by online poker specialist Patrik Antonius, David Benyamine, multiple World Series of Poker bracelet winner Doyle Brunson , Full Tilt promise Tom Dwan , Eli Elezra , Antonio Esfandiari, Barry Greenstein, UB.com sponsored pro and 11 time WSOP champ Phil Hellmuth, 2007 EPT Dortmund winner Andreas Hoivold, Full Tilt pros Phil Ivey and Mike Matusow, Team PokerStars players Daniel Negreanu, Dennis Phillips and Lex Veldhuis.

The show recorded in November, 2009 at the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, will be co-hosted by Gabe Kaplan and  Kara Scott, who will interview poker players and comment about poker strategy and table dynamics, giving viewers first-hand feedback from the players after the most significant hands.

Previous to sixth season of High Stakes of Poker, GSN will air a special eight-hour “I Love Poker” marathon presenting the best episodes from seasons one through five. The marathon will begin at 12:00 PM (ET) on Sunday, February 14th and continue until the sixth-season premiere at 8:00 PM (ET). Season 6 of High Stakes of Poker will air every Sunday at 11:00 PM (2:00 AM ET) on GSN.

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UB.com‘ UBOC 2010 continues this week with a line-up of tournaments offering players a range of buy-ins and events, including a $1 Million Guaranteed UBOC Championship No Limit Hold ‘em event scheduled on Sunday, January 31st at 16:00 ET.

Players have the opportunity to enter the stellar event for a fraction of the buy in $100+ $9 buy in UBOC Championship Super Satellite 100 Seat Guaranteed scheduled on January 31st at 12:30 ET. UB members also have the chance to play their way into the big seat giveaway though the daily satellites available on the site from as little as $5+ $0.50. The top 100 places in the UBOC Championship Super Satellite will earn automatic entry to the $1,000+ $50 buy-in UBOC 18 event later in the day.

Players can participate in the $100+9 UBOC Championship Satellite 5 Seat Guaranteed tournaments running daily at 21:50 ET  and awarding five $1,000+ $50 seat at the UBOC Championship No Limit Hold ‘em event. UB Poker is also offering 1 Seat Guaranteed Satellites about six times per day and even more on the day of the UBOC Championship event.

UBOC 2010 $1 Million Guaranteed tournament prize pool will be hosted by 11-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth and is also expected to attract the best online poker players from across the globe.

“This has got to be not only my favorite UBOC so far, but my favorite online tournament series ever. There’s another $1 million event coming up on Sunday with plenty of satellites to get you into it, and if it’s anything like last Sunday’s big $1 million Guarantee that ended up having a $1.5 million prize pool, it’s going to be huge.” said Team UB Pro Phil Hellmuth.

UBOC 2010, which kicked off on January 20th, is UB’s biggest online poker tournament series yet. The 12-day series Features 18 guaranteed events, 16 Mini-UBOC events, and over $4 million in prize money. For more information, please visit UB.com.

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Cereus Network sites, UB.com and Absolute Poker have revamped their leaderboard system to reward the best performing tournament players across all buy-in levels with $1 million in prizes throughout the year.

“We’ve revamped our Leaderboard system to make them more accessible for all players, so that everyone has a fairer chance to win in a big way. UB and Absolute Poker continues to be a top choice for the world’s best poker players and a magnet for a growing number of young, emerging online poker guns. With $1 million on the table in this year’s Leaderboard competitions, expect the CEREUS Network to be an even more exciting place for poker fans to park their chips.” said Annie Duke, UB’s Cardroom Consultant.

The biggest update introduced by UB Poker and AbsolutePoker to its Leaderboard system is an improved Leaderboard’s prize structure rewarding players with more Aruba Poker Classic and World Series of Poker seats, as well as tournament dollars to each leaderboard winner.

The weekly Multi Table and Tournament Leaderboard winners each receive $1,000 in tournament dollars with exception of January. During January, each weekly TLB winner will get a $1,000+50 UBOC Championship seat. SnG TLB winners in the Diamond, Heart and Spade categories will share over $10.000 in weekly prizes.

The Monthly MTT winner will get a $6,500 Aruba package, which includes the $5,500 Main Event entry plus $1,000 for personal and travel expenses. Players who finishing from 2nd through 10th will share $7,500 in prizes each month. Diamond, Heart and Spade Leaderboard winners will split over $20.000 in monthly prizes.

The yearly TLB winner will win and exclusive prize package comprised of a $10,000 WSOP seat, a $5,500 entry for the Aruba Poker Classic, plus $4,500 in tournament dollars. The runner up will receive a a $10,000 WSOP seat, a $5,500 entry for the Aruba Poker Classic, the third and fourth places will each get a $5,500 Aruba entry plus $4,500 and $1,500 in $TD. In addition, the top 50 yearly MTT TLB winners will get an invitation to an exclusive tournament awarding 1st-3rd places a full $8,500 APC package, and 4th-5th spots, a $5,500 Aruba Poker Classic entry.

To learn more about the improved Leaderboard system, please visit AbsolutePoker.com and UB.com.

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Cereus poker sites, UB.com and Absolute Poker are giving online poker players the opportunity to win three prestige prize packages for two to the greatest sporting event on the planet: the Super Bowl XLIV.

All players have to do is to enter any of three “Touchdown” Texas Hold ‘em tournaments at either of UltimateBet or Absolute Poker, and scheduled to run on Wednesday, January 6th, 13th and 20th at 21:30 ET. Players can enter these ‘Touchdown’ Events for $200 + 15, or play their way into the main event though  the daily satellites available on both sites and starting for as little as $3.00. Players finishing in first place in any of the three events will each get a special Super Bowl prize pack valued at $12,000. Each pack includes $2,000 cash for travel expenses,  4 nights accommodation at the Bold New Eden Roc (Feb. 4th-8th), limousine transport to and from the Dolphin Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL, dinner for two at a top Miami restaurant (hosted by UB and AbsolutePoker), exclusive VIP access and table service to a top Miami nightclub and  two tickets to attend the Super Bowl XLIV on February 7th in Miami, Florida.

For full details on the Super Bowl online poker promotion at UB.com and AbsolutePoker.com.

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A mysterious online poker player, known only as “XBLINK”, has been on an incredible winning streak at UB.com ever since he turned just $11 into an amazing $833,193 bankroll in a little over a month. Now the online poker player has revealed, on an online poker forum, how he accomplished this amazing feat.

Even though the identity of “XBLINK” remains a mystery, a member of the Two Plus Two online poker forum claims to be the Ultimate Bet poker player and posted details of how he banked $833,193 with only an $11 investment. Forum member “89blist” describes his meteoric rise in the following post stating:

1. $11 tournament won 1st place —> $750 (all I had on my account, was going to redeposit if i lost the tournament)
2. $750 grinding low stakes omaha.
3. $750 –> $4k the next day, move up to 2/4 and 3/6 PLO, then to 5/10.
4. 4k –>$16k, played 5/10 and 10/20 PLO
5. For the next 2 days, I was bouncing from $20k – $60k playing 10/20 PLO.
6. 5th day: Start 25/50 PLO , I see 6 digits now.
7. 6th day till now – play 25/50, 50/100, 100/200, 200/400 PLO, and NL when there’s no PLO.

“Went busto 20+ times by now for $500 each. Hope I dont go busto this time.”

It has not been all uphill for “XBLINK” though, as he hit his highest point at $833,193 and since then has lost $214,870 with his bankroll now at $618,323. Now, many followers have been chiming in with advice on how he should handle his massive bankroll such as:

“stop playing ASAP. I railed some of ur matches. Most notably vs S ON MY CHEST (U are terrible) take the bulk of the $$ and run/play lower” and this other suggestion: “Cash out half and play with the rest. At least then you’ll have something to show for it when you go bust.”

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