Brandon Routh in 20 years
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Friday, July 21, 2006
The odd couple and some marked cards
Everytime I get my Kia Spectrum (this is a midsize car?) from the Binion’s valet and drive up the interstate toward the Rio, I see at least one plane taking off from McCarran and I have to wonder…are these people sad? I know I would be, having to leave Las Vegas after what was undoubtedly for most a stay of a few short days.
The media room is a nice quiet respite from the thundering herds outside, in and around the tournament area. It’s nice to chat with my fellow www.pokerblog.commers to see what interesting stories they have to tell, and of course Pauly (taopoker.blogspot.com) always has the down and dirty about what’s going on. (Though I had one even he didn’t see yesterday, Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott grinding with one of the Sapphire strippers in the hall.)
This will be my last full day in Vegas until Tuesday. Friends Brian and Heather are flying in Friday evening and we’re driving to L.A. Saturday to hit some sites. On Sunday, we’re taking the Universal Studios tour and Monday is the realization of the five-year dream, attending a taping of The Price is Right.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Last night, some more of my Tuscaloosa pals – my poker playing pals – flew in and we hung out at the Rio. I showed Jerry around the tournament room and he stood agape at the zoo exhibits behind the ropes – the Seidels, and the Tillys and the Forrests. He truly looked like the kid in the candy store. And then I showed him all the beautiful hospitality suite girls and he was the Jerry I’ve always known again.
I ducked my head in the Poker Stars suite at 6 in the evening for the David Sklansky seminar, which had a surprise guest when Norm McDonald plopped himself down beside a beautiful blonde on one of the couches.
One’s a balding straight-laced mathematician who prefers poker theory to parties. The other’s a wise-cracking comedian who’s not afraid to do a little dirty work and never misses his headline news. I give you the new odd couple: David Sklansky and Norm McDonald.
The “Saturday Night Live” alum was among the guests at a seminar held by poker’s greatest theorist in a hospitality suite at the WSOP Thursday night.
Wearing blue jeans and a Boston Red Sox baseball cap, McDonald enjoyed a little give and take with Sklansky.
When a listener asked about the all-in system for novices that Sklansky discussed in his book, “Tournament Poker for Advanced Players,” Sklansky replied that the system had been perfected in the new book “Kill Phil” by Blair Rodman and Lee Nelson.
“Did you get a piece of that?” McDonald asked in his deadpan delivery.
“No, I didn’t,” Sklansky said with a glum grin.
The theme of Sklansky’s talk was how to make proper all-in preflop decisions. He noted that even a mediocre hand can draw out on a good hand by the time the river hits.
“It makes it a reasonable play to move in preflop,” he said. “You can win two ways – the other players can fold or your hand can win.”
“It turns out there are a lot of moves that show a profit even if you will be called only when you are beat.”
Sklansky had the look of a 10-year-old giving his class a speech, or a deer in headlights, until he started writing on the dry erase board and doing mathematical computations and his comfort level started to grow. McDonald watched from a nearby couch as Sklansky wrote various hand matchups on the board and asked the audience to guess the winning percentages in all-in situations.
Many in the audience, including McDonald, guessed and missed.
“How many of you would call with jack-ten suited?” Sklansky asked about one situation.
“I would,” McDonald said.
Sklansky shook his head at another incorrect answer.
“Where you playing next week?” an older man in the front row asked McDonald.
Sklansky discussed a fairly comprehensive list of possible hand matchups and emphasized the need to memorize the list.
“When you’re in these hands you’ve got to know the pot odds,” he said.
Sklansky was busted in the second day of the $1,500 NLHE tournament on Wednesday when the small blind, with 100,000 in chips, raised with T-3 to 11,000 and Sklansky moved all in for 14,000 more with A-9 from the big blind. The T-3 was then priced in, called and won.
“He forced himself to call me,” Sklansky said. “He should have moved me all in or raised less where he could get away from the hand.”
Sklansky said it used to be that participants in the WSOP main event could tread water on day one and still have a chance to win the event. Now with the large fields, Sklansky said many players, including himself, find themselves having to take more risks to build a bigger stack on day one.
“If you’re trying to get 670th place and win $20,000 that old strategy will still work,” he said.
I spoke with McDonald after the speech and told him he should crash that movie they’re filming at the Golden Nugget. He said he hadn’t heard about it, but his ears perked up when I told him it was a movie about poker.
And on another note:
Almost everyone I talk to is complaining about the cards, and I'm not talking about getting cold decked. Most of the decks in use at the WSOP either have spots on the back or nail indentations in them. In short, many of the decks are marked in one way or another.
You may have read of the incident in the $50,000 HORSE tournament in which Andy Bloch ripped some cards in half that had obvious marks on them, finally getting the attention of the tournament directors to put new decks in play. His argument was that it was ridiculous that such a prestigious event with a high buy in (in which Harrah's was making the equivalent of the gross national product of Mozambique in rake) did not have fresh decks in play.
I spoke to a friend Thursday and he put it matter of factly, "They need to protect the integrity of the goddamn game."
Harrah's is making a mint on the WSOP so you'd think they could splurge for another few thousand decks of cards. But if they want to pinch pennies, here's my solution: play with the decks for a few days and then sell them on eBay as game used WSOP decks. Collectors will snatch them up and Harrah's will make most of its money back on the cost of the cards, which can then be used to buy new nail and spot free decks.
The media room is a nice quiet respite from the thundering herds outside, in and around the tournament area. It’s nice to chat with my fellow www.pokerblog.commers to see what interesting stories they have to tell, and of course Pauly (taopoker.blogspot.com) always has the down and dirty about what’s going on. (Though I had one even he didn’t see yesterday, Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott grinding with one of the Sapphire strippers in the hall.)
This will be my last full day in Vegas until Tuesday. Friends Brian and Heather are flying in Friday evening and we’re driving to L.A. Saturday to hit some sites. On Sunday, we’re taking the Universal Studios tour and Monday is the realization of the five-year dream, attending a taping of The Price is Right.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Last night, some more of my Tuscaloosa pals – my poker playing pals – flew in and we hung out at the Rio. I showed Jerry around the tournament room and he stood agape at the zoo exhibits behind the ropes – the Seidels, and the Tillys and the Forrests. He truly looked like the kid in the candy store. And then I showed him all the beautiful hospitality suite girls and he was the Jerry I’ve always known again.
I ducked my head in the Poker Stars suite at 6 in the evening for the David Sklansky seminar, which had a surprise guest when Norm McDonald plopped himself down beside a beautiful blonde on one of the couches.
One’s a balding straight-laced mathematician who prefers poker theory to parties. The other’s a wise-cracking comedian who’s not afraid to do a little dirty work and never misses his headline news. I give you the new odd couple: David Sklansky and Norm McDonald.
The “Saturday Night Live” alum was among the guests at a seminar held by poker’s greatest theorist in a hospitality suite at the WSOP Thursday night.
Wearing blue jeans and a Boston Red Sox baseball cap, McDonald enjoyed a little give and take with Sklansky.
When a listener asked about the all-in system for novices that Sklansky discussed in his book, “Tournament Poker for Advanced Players,” Sklansky replied that the system had been perfected in the new book “Kill Phil” by Blair Rodman and Lee Nelson.
“Did you get a piece of that?” McDonald asked in his deadpan delivery.
“No, I didn’t,” Sklansky said with a glum grin.
The theme of Sklansky’s talk was how to make proper all-in preflop decisions. He noted that even a mediocre hand can draw out on a good hand by the time the river hits.
“It makes it a reasonable play to move in preflop,” he said. “You can win two ways – the other players can fold or your hand can win.”
“It turns out there are a lot of moves that show a profit even if you will be called only when you are beat.”
Sklansky had the look of a 10-year-old giving his class a speech, or a deer in headlights, until he started writing on the dry erase board and doing mathematical computations and his comfort level started to grow. McDonald watched from a nearby couch as Sklansky wrote various hand matchups on the board and asked the audience to guess the winning percentages in all-in situations.
Many in the audience, including McDonald, guessed and missed.
“How many of you would call with jack-ten suited?” Sklansky asked about one situation.
“I would,” McDonald said.
Sklansky shook his head at another incorrect answer.
“Where you playing next week?” an older man in the front row asked McDonald.
Sklansky discussed a fairly comprehensive list of possible hand matchups and emphasized the need to memorize the list.
“When you’re in these hands you’ve got to know the pot odds,” he said.
Sklansky was busted in the second day of the $1,500 NLHE tournament on Wednesday when the small blind, with 100,000 in chips, raised with T-3 to 11,000 and Sklansky moved all in for 14,000 more with A-9 from the big blind. The T-3 was then priced in, called and won.
“He forced himself to call me,” Sklansky said. “He should have moved me all in or raised less where he could get away from the hand.”
Sklansky said it used to be that participants in the WSOP main event could tread water on day one and still have a chance to win the event. Now with the large fields, Sklansky said many players, including himself, find themselves having to take more risks to build a bigger stack on day one.
“If you’re trying to get 670th place and win $20,000 that old strategy will still work,” he said.
I spoke with McDonald after the speech and told him he should crash that movie they’re filming at the Golden Nugget. He said he hadn’t heard about it, but his ears perked up when I told him it was a movie about poker.
And on another note:
Almost everyone I talk to is complaining about the cards, and I'm not talking about getting cold decked. Most of the decks in use at the WSOP either have spots on the back or nail indentations in them. In short, many of the decks are marked in one way or another.
You may have read of the incident in the $50,000 HORSE tournament in which Andy Bloch ripped some cards in half that had obvious marks on them, finally getting the attention of the tournament directors to put new decks in play. His argument was that it was ridiculous that such a prestigious event with a high buy in (in which Harrah's was making the equivalent of the gross national product of Mozambique in rake) did not have fresh decks in play.
I spoke to a friend Thursday and he put it matter of factly, "They need to protect the integrity of the goddamn game."
Harrah's is making a mint on the WSOP so you'd think they could splurge for another few thousand decks of cards. But if they want to pinch pennies, here's my solution: play with the decks for a few days and then sell them on eBay as game used WSOP decks. Collectors will snatch them up and Harrah's will make most of its money back on the cost of the cards, which can then be used to buy new nail and spot free decks.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Alexander makes an appearance
As promised, I made my way to the Golden Nugget poker room again Wednesday night. I was seated beside a gentleman named Larry who was used as an extra in this new poker movie "The Grand" that's in production in a ballroom in the casino.
Larry said he and two friends are staying at the Nugget and were asked if they wanted to participate in the filming, so they jumped at the chance. The three friends were seated at a poker table in the background while the film's stars sat at the main table.
Larry and his pals earned $56 for their day of work on Monday. Oh, to be a highly paid extra.
As we were chatting, I spotted Jason Alexander at the floorman's desk, looking for a game. Alexander sported his usual eyeglasses, plus a beard and a fanny pack that made him look like a middle-aged woman ready to tackle a slot machine followed by a buffet at the El Cortez.
Unfortunately, our no limit game was full so the former Mr. George Costanza was seated at the other NL game in the room. It was unsurprising then that half our table asked for a table change when seats came open on the other table.
The dynamic quickly changed when a seat opened in our game and a middle-aged Asian woman sat down with $300 and the line, "I've never played before."
She proceeded to quickly give that money away (nearly all of it to Larry) and dig into her purse for more.
"I'm not going to need that table change anymore," Larry said as the floorman Adrian walked by.
I guess money trumps celebrity every time.
Larry said he and two friends are staying at the Nugget and were asked if they wanted to participate in the filming, so they jumped at the chance. The three friends were seated at a poker table in the background while the film's stars sat at the main table.
Larry and his pals earned $56 for their day of work on Monday. Oh, to be a highly paid extra.
As we were chatting, I spotted Jason Alexander at the floorman's desk, looking for a game. Alexander sported his usual eyeglasses, plus a beard and a fanny pack that made him look like a middle-aged woman ready to tackle a slot machine followed by a buffet at the El Cortez.
Unfortunately, our no limit game was full so the former Mr. George Costanza was seated at the other NL game in the room. It was unsurprising then that half our table asked for a table change when seats came open on the other table.
The dynamic quickly changed when a seat opened in our game and a middle-aged Asian woman sat down with $300 and the line, "I've never played before."
She proceeded to quickly give that money away (nearly all of it to Larry) and dig into her purse for more.
"I'm not going to need that table change anymore," Larry said as the floorman Adrian walked by.
I guess money trumps celebrity every time.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
The Grand
The Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas has become L.A. East this week as scenes for an upcoming movie about poker are being filmed in the casino.
“The Grand,” described on the Internet Movie Database as an “improvisational comedy centered around a handful of actors in an actual poker tournament,” features an all-star cast of comedic actors, including Jason Alexander, Woody Harrelson, Ray Romano, Cheryl Hines, Michael McKean, Richard Kind and David Cross.
Some of the stars have darkened the doors of the Nugget’s real poker room to partake in a little no-limit hold’em. Alexander played on Monday night, though unfortunately this intrepid blogger was not around that evening. I’ve already imagined what I would have said if I took a big pot off of him. (Warning: obscure “Seinfeld” reference ahead.) “I’ll use this money toward a home with TWO solariums,” I’d say. OK, a bit cheesy perhaps.
I was playing at the Nugget Tuesday night when Kind walked in. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, he played Paul Lassiter on ABC’s TV show “Spin City.”
I talked with Kind about the movie and he told me he gets to bust both Phil Hellmuth and Doyle Brunson in one scene from the big tournament, which is called The Grand.
Kind said he walks up to Hellmuth in one scene and asks, “Who are you?”
“I’m Phil,” the Poker Brat replies.
“Oh yes! You’re Phil Gordon, right?” Kind says.
I asked Kind when the movie might be released and he said he didn’t know. IMDB lists the movie as a 2007 release.
You might wonder how well Kind plays. I’d assess his play as pretty good. He certainly knows what the good hands are and he bet them strongly. His weakness seemed to be calling too many sizeable pre-flop raises after limping in, subsequently having to fold after the flop.
Kind unsurprisingly drew a fair amount of attention, although many couldn’t quite place him. One fellow walked by and did a double take.
A player at the table said, “He was in a television show.”
“I don’t watch TV,” the other guy replied and walked off.
“The Grand,” described on the Internet Movie Database as an “improvisational comedy centered around a handful of actors in an actual poker tournament,” features an all-star cast of comedic actors, including Jason Alexander, Woody Harrelson, Ray Romano, Cheryl Hines, Michael McKean, Richard Kind and David Cross.
Some of the stars have darkened the doors of the Nugget’s real poker room to partake in a little no-limit hold’em. Alexander played on Monday night, though unfortunately this intrepid blogger was not around that evening. I’ve already imagined what I would have said if I took a big pot off of him. (Warning: obscure “Seinfeld” reference ahead.) “I’ll use this money toward a home with TWO solariums,” I’d say. OK, a bit cheesy perhaps.
I was playing at the Nugget Tuesday night when Kind walked in. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, he played Paul Lassiter on ABC’s TV show “Spin City.”
I talked with Kind about the movie and he told me he gets to bust both Phil Hellmuth and Doyle Brunson in one scene from the big tournament, which is called The Grand.
Kind said he walks up to Hellmuth in one scene and asks, “Who are you?”
“I’m Phil,” the Poker Brat replies.
“Oh yes! You’re Phil Gordon, right?” Kind says.
I asked Kind when the movie might be released and he said he didn’t know. IMDB lists the movie as a 2007 release.
You might wonder how well Kind plays. I’d assess his play as pretty good. He certainly knows what the good hands are and he bet them strongly. His weakness seemed to be calling too many sizeable pre-flop raises after limping in, subsequently having to fold after the flop.
Kind unsurprisingly drew a fair amount of attention, although many couldn’t quite place him. One fellow walked by and did a double take.
A player at the table said, “He was in a television show.”
“I don’t watch TV,” the other guy replied and walked off.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Over/under three hours?
Once again the under wins. If you'd bet the under every time I've played a World Series bracelet event you would be 3-0. Didn't get outplayed or make a boneheaded blunder. I just didn't catch any cards, yet again. Well, let me clarify. I did catch a couple hands, but at the wrong times...T-T and raise to 300 after a couple of limpers with 25-50 blinds and get mini-raised to 600 by a guy with 400 behind (tell me that's not a monster hand, so I lay down)...and the last hand I push all in 800 with J-J into the 50-100 blinds and guy goes over the top with kings...say goodnight Gracie.
Just never had any chips.
Meanwhile, John Phan is sucking out on everyone at the table behind me and builds a monster stack of about 10K in two hours. Must be nice to be lucky...
The poker playing celebrities were also in full force at the Rio Tuesday as James Woods and Jennifer Tilly were playing on tables near me.
I sat down to play a $275 satellite after my bust out. Apparently, Woods wasn’t far behind as I saw him go from satellite table to satellite table telling anyone who would listen that his aces were cracked by ace-king.
Meanwhile, Jerry Buss, the owner of the Lakers and probably the richest man in the room, wandered through the aisles in his standard poker gear of worn out blue jeans and untucked shirt waiting for a satellite to start.
Satellite director Margie Fasold tried to help this $660 buy in seven-card stud satellite begin by announcing, “If you want to play a well-known personality, Jerry Buss, owner of the Lakers, is sitting over here on table 106. If you want a lesson in stud, Jerry will give it to you.”
Just never had any chips.
Meanwhile, John Phan is sucking out on everyone at the table behind me and builds a monster stack of about 10K in two hours. Must be nice to be lucky...
The poker playing celebrities were also in full force at the Rio Tuesday as James Woods and Jennifer Tilly were playing on tables near me.
I sat down to play a $275 satellite after my bust out. Apparently, Woods wasn’t far behind as I saw him go from satellite table to satellite table telling anyone who would listen that his aces were cracked by ace-king.
Meanwhile, Jerry Buss, the owner of the Lakers and probably the richest man in the room, wandered through the aisles in his standard poker gear of worn out blue jeans and untucked shirt waiting for a satellite to start.
Satellite director Margie Fasold tried to help this $660 buy in seven-card stud satellite begin by announcing, “If you want to play a well-known personality, Jerry Buss, owner of the Lakers, is sitting over here on table 106. If you want a lesson in stud, Jerry will give it to you.”
Monday, July 17, 2006
Gimme the green
Last year, I struggled in Vegas during my trip to the WSOP until the very last week, when I finally had success in those two tournaments at Binion's. This year has been exactly the opposite as I've barely lost in the past week (knock on wood, cross my fingers, rub a bald man's heard).
The big one was last night when Scott, a buddy from Tuscaloosa who got into town on Saturday, and I went to Caesars to play the 7 p.m. tourney, a $120 buy in with a $100 rebuy. I was the shortest stack when we got down to 11 on the money bubble, yet ended up chopping it 3 ways for $4,200 and change. Tournaments are crazy. You never know when you'll catch fire and move up to the top.
That's a good omen as I prepare for the $1,500 NLHE at the WSOP tomorrow, my first tournament at the Rio this year.
I haven't played a hand of poker today. Stephen Ladowski, the fellow I met in Reno, called and said he was at the final table in the Omaha Hi-Lo today so I went to watch this final table that also featured Phil Hellmuth vying for his 10th bracelet.
Of course, Hellmuth was the last one to the party. He entered the ESPN final table area and walked around the felt, shaking each player's hand. Hellmuth paced the floor while the tournament director announced the nine contestants and noted that the Wisconsin native had another chance to win his tenth bracelet.
Stephen started sixth in chips, but couldn't catch a break and exited in eighth. The table is ongoing so I don't know if Hellmuth won.
I also had lunch with Gary Wise (www.wisehandpoker.com) who took me to the secret employee lunchroom in the bowels of the Rio. Gary told me he used to be a professional Magic player, with earning in the low six figures in tournaments of the card game. He met the likes of future poker players David Williams, Thomas Keller and Eric Forelich while playing the Magic tournament circuit.
"Little did they know, they were providing a breeding ground for future professional poker players," Gary said of Wizards of the Coast, the manufacturer of the card game.
There are hurricane force winds pounding on my hotel room window as I type and lightning flashes every few seconds. The weather seems quite strange for a city of Vegas' location and temperament.
It's off to study Harrington on Hold'em game and get a good night's rest for tomorrow. Blog you later.
The big one was last night when Scott, a buddy from Tuscaloosa who got into town on Saturday, and I went to Caesars to play the 7 p.m. tourney, a $120 buy in with a $100 rebuy. I was the shortest stack when we got down to 11 on the money bubble, yet ended up chopping it 3 ways for $4,200 and change. Tournaments are crazy. You never know when you'll catch fire and move up to the top.
That's a good omen as I prepare for the $1,500 NLHE at the WSOP tomorrow, my first tournament at the Rio this year.
I haven't played a hand of poker today. Stephen Ladowski, the fellow I met in Reno, called and said he was at the final table in the Omaha Hi-Lo today so I went to watch this final table that also featured Phil Hellmuth vying for his 10th bracelet.
Of course, Hellmuth was the last one to the party. He entered the ESPN final table area and walked around the felt, shaking each player's hand. Hellmuth paced the floor while the tournament director announced the nine contestants and noted that the Wisconsin native had another chance to win his tenth bracelet.
Stephen started sixth in chips, but couldn't catch a break and exited in eighth. The table is ongoing so I don't know if Hellmuth won.
I also had lunch with Gary Wise (www.wisehandpoker.com) who took me to the secret employee lunchroom in the bowels of the Rio. Gary told me he used to be a professional Magic player, with earning in the low six figures in tournaments of the card game. He met the likes of future poker players David Williams, Thomas Keller and Eric Forelich while playing the Magic tournament circuit.
"Little did they know, they were providing a breeding ground for future professional poker players," Gary said of Wizards of the Coast, the manufacturer of the card game.
There are hurricane force winds pounding on my hotel room window as I type and lightning flashes every few seconds. The weather seems quite strange for a city of Vegas' location and temperament.
It's off to study Harrington on Hold'em game and get a good night's rest for tomorrow. Blog you later.
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