I’m watching WPT on GSN tonight. (You can see a clip on their website wptongsn.com.) Vince Van Patten and Mike Sexton are making the call with their trademark hushed announcements.  Phil Ivey is the star of the show, making his 7th appearance on a WPT Final Table.

Some quick commentary on the show.  First, why does the crowd have to fake applaud after everything?  The enhanced motion lighting and forced applause reeks of a Who Wants to be a Millionaire episode.  Second, these guys are really playing some poker.

When you watch the WSOP or other ESPN covered events, you’re usually watching a highlight reel of poker.  Pocket aces, flushes, straights, and all the big hands at almost every stop.  WPT gives you a better glimpse at the grinds in the game along with the calls and laydowns that seperate the players from the amateurs.

Phil Ivey and Darrell Dicken were really pushing the action with very little.  As I’m watching, I’m wondering if WPT even makes cuts.  They seem to be showing a bunch of subpar hands.

Really good poker on GSN and I don’t see any of the antics that ESPN showcases.  Very refreshing.

Tags: grind, gsn, wpt

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A few years ago when I had more free time and couldn’t get enough of poker, I turned to NLOP.com.  The acronym stands for the National League of Poker.

The site’s outline was pretty cool.  Everything was absolutely free and there was a tournament running every 15 minutes.  The prizes ranged from hats, shirts, keychains, and other neat tangible items to cold hard cash.  Yours truly took down a few cash tournaments of $5, $10, and maybe a few higher.  If you weren’t the big winner or second place (sometimes larger cash would trickle down), then you got points with which to play in more tournaments.  These points were helpful because you could keep playing instead of waiting for a recharge at the end of the week (or something like that).

The only thing that disappointed me was how many amazing bad beats there were.  It was almost as if you were an overwhelming favorite going into a heads-up showdown, you were 50-50.  For example, pocket kings vs 87 off was a coin flip.  I was not the only one who thought this.  It was the center piece of running dialogue while the games were being played.

Recently, I saw a friend playing PurePlay, a similar setup to NLOP, and it motivated me to catch a game for old times sake on NLOP.  Things have changed.  For one, the charge is $19.95/month for “VIP membership” which gets you in all the games with big payouts - and there are decent payouts.  Secondly, Mike Sexton has his stamp all over the site (see below), even proclaiming in the opening video that NLOP is “free.”  While yes, it is free to play, one would definitely be tempted to ante up the $19.95 a month to get in the real games.  There is no denying the available cash and prizes.

You can still get in the game and play for money if you find the right times to play, but the membership level looks really tempting.  I couldn’t play enough to make it worthwhile, but if you have several days with idle time, it wouldn’t hurt to try their free 14 day trial.  If I was a security guard in a watch tower, I’d have it for sure.

Tags: nlop, reviews

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The World Cup of Poker is an event hosted by PokerStars featuring 10 poker teams representing their individual countries.  What I’m a little bit confused about is whether the PokerStars page is current or the 2009 WCP has already taken place.

If you look at the official WCP webpage, Germany is the 2008 WCP V Champions.  However, the clip I have is of Daniel Negreanu and his fellow Canadiens discussing the event as dated January 9, 2009.  I’ll go ahead and email PokerStars to get the official word.

Before Germany won in 2008, the United States took home the crown.  Typically each squad of 5 has an established pro (though not always recognizable) who is supported by lesser known poker talent to round out the team.  In past years Greg Raymer has led the US, Philip Helm has led Poland, and of course there is Daniel with Team Canada.

Edit: I think I already have my answer and all it took was an auto reply.

Hello,
This is an automated reply.

The next World Cup of Poker live event will be held in The Bahamas in
January 2010. Online qualifiers will begin in later in 2009.

If you have a general inquiry, please contact support@pokerstars.com

Regards,
PokerStars

Tags: poker stars, wcp v, world cup of poker

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The video below is an interesting poker discussion on pro poker players’ demeanor and how much is real and how much is strategy.  The expert panel includes Daniel Negreanu, Phil Gordon, Howard Letterer, Phil Hellmuth, and Mike Matusow.  Chris Rose from Best Damn is the informal interviewer.

I thought this was a very interesting piece because you get to see the poker players commenting on how they themselves act.  Phil Gordon was very open and said both Phil Hellmuth and Mike Matusow take their antics to the point it hurts them.  Phil Hellmuth intimated part of his table behavior was an act, but others weren’t buying it.  Mike Matusow said that is really how he is and I think we all believe him on that.

Another interesting dissention was Phil Gordon saying that Mike’s actions weren’t good for the game of poker.  He said people play to see them play good poker, not act ill-behaved.  Everyone of them had insightful comments, but the most intriguing part was how shy Mike “The Mouth” began the interview.

Tags: interview, poker, pros

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I’d like to thank you for reading my blog, showing an interest, and sending me messages and comments.  It definitely helps me write when I see people taking an interest in the blog - whether you disagree or agree with me.

Last month my viewership increased nearly 50% which is absolutely awesome.  This month I’m already ahead of that benchmark and I’m hoping the trend can continue as more people find out about this blog and tell others.  I will try to keep the quality at a premium level and update this blog on a very frequent basis.

If you have any interesting poker tips, news, stories, videos or websites to pass along, please do so.  I read every comment and every email I receive and always enjoy receiving these items to add to the blog.

Thank You very much for contributing to AllPokerAddicts.

Tags: allpokeraddicts, more page views

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Australian Stewart Scott took down a star studded 681 player field to win AUD $2 million.  Amazingly the 36 year old took the chip lead on day 4 and never relinquished it.  That is certainly an awesome accomplishment.

American Peter Rho took home second place and half of Scott’s prize winnings.  The buy-in for the main event was AUD $10,500.

Scott noted that he was running good and said that “dreams can come true” in an interview shortly after winning. The final heads up battle of Rho vs. Scott lasted only 13 hands, ending in a very climatic fashion as Scott won with pocket aces.

Here is the full clip of Scott after winning the AussieMillions 2009.

Stewart Scott - Winner of the 2009 Aussie Millions Poker Championship from PokerListings TV

Tags: aussie millions, stewart scott

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The good people at NeverFold.net were kind enough to link to me so I wanted to take this opportunity to make my readers aware of their forum.  NeverFold.net is a solid, laid back poker community for all discussions related to poker.  Thus far in the forums, users have rated the best online poker sites, talked about spotting online cheats, and whether cheating in poker is wrong.

Makes for some pretty interesting fodder.  I’ve actually signed up to this place and plan on contributing when I get a few minutes.  No, NeverFold isn’t paying me.  The owner just made a really nice gesture by linking here in his column and I appreciated the gesture.  Still, my review isn’t forced.  It really does seem like a great place to hang out and talk poker.  Its really at a great stage right now as its big enough to get reactions but not too big that your voice is drowned out.

Oh, one note on AllPokerAddicts.  CowboysPoker is done.

Tags: neverfold.net, poker forum

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Chapter 4

Rock didn’t know it at the time, but he had just become a core component to the Fantastic Four, a quiet poker group Matt had very selectively put together.  The name wasn’t overly imaginative or necessarily accurrate but both words did start with the same letter.

Matt explained to Rock in the hotel late that night that Justin and Dalworth, the two Texans, were also in the group.  The premise of Matt’s plan was for the four players to pour their assets into one pile of cash and to parlay that pile of cash into even more money on the A.M. poker tables at Vegas.  Of course every secret plan has some sort of wrinkle or else there would be no reason to keep it secret.

Matt’s wrinkles were 1) the players would use their cohesiveness and numbers to gain an advantage at tables, 2) the players would play around the clock, non-stop for 5 days to maximize profit and offset costs, 3) he already had an aquaintance in Vegas personally scouting the tables for the easiest plays and times.

Each player chosen had a good all around game but also had a particular individual strength none of the others had.  Dalworth had a great play mix in his game that made him virtually unreadable.  Within his game, Dalworth also had the uncanny ability to turn over the top hand when called down but rarely get caught bluffing.  Many players would think they had Dalworth all figured out only to dump 100s to him in cash games.  He was definitely one of the top 5 players in the 50 or so that made the rounds.

Justin was a very underestimated player.  Some even called him a bad player and the best compliment you’d ever hear anyone say was he was “ok”.  This was because Justin looked like he was about 17.  His actual age was 24, but his youthful looks yielded him little to no respect at the poker table.  Its true that at times he had made costly slip-ups, but Matt watched the lanky college grad closely and he really was a lot better than people gave him credit for.

He had a very quiet presence and choose his spots very carefully.  When he played, he never spoke any more than he had to so nobody heard a boisterous pat on the back or trash talk when he won.  And because he never really befriended anyone, no one talked him up much either.  Things just got swept aside when he was in a pot.  Idle side chat would ensue about previous hands or sports instead.  However, Matt never lost track of Justin while playing.  He calculated Justin actually took home more than he came with 80% of the time.  50% of the time, he doubled up his money or more.  Very few at the poker table noticed, but Justin was a silent assassin.  He came, won in an efficient manner, and left quickly.  Justin was also a top regular.

Rock wasn’t on the same level as Justin or Dalworth, but Matt felt strongly that he was the missing piece to his formula.

Chapter 6 will continue next blog entry.

Tags: justin, poker, poker group

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I’ll be splicing this poker blog with both Cowboys Poker segments and regular commentary to keep a good mixture for the readers.  Blogs should have more than one gear.  And so in this entry I have a YouTube clip of Mike Sexton rocking Mike Matusow by calling him with a lowly pair of threes.

Daniel was very impressed with the call. And rightfully so - Sexton could have only beaten pocket dueces or a bluff. Sexton did indeed sense the bluff and took a nice amount of chips off Mike The Mouth.

I like Sexton’s play. He’s very even keeled and plays solid poker, but is not afraid to make out of the ordinary plays such as the one in this video. I think he’s definitely in the elite group of poker players and I have to believe him being an announcer only helps him gain better reads on the players he calls on. Very good announcer and very good player.

Tags: bluff, mike sexton, mike the mouth

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Chapter 3

“Hey I’m sorry,” Matt said.

Rock wasn’t really mad as much as he was wondering what he was going to do next.

“It happens, it’s part of the game.”

Rock thought Matt’s play was outrageous and was a little surpised at how he still had a dollar to his name with the way he played that hand, but he knew poker was poker and sometimes bad beats happen.

“Well since I busted you with a terrible beat, let me buy you a beer.”

Rock nodded ok and the two set off for another bar that was more low key.

As the two slowly conversed over subpar suds, Matt realized Rock had no more money and nothing else behind him.  Matt felt really bad about what happened, but even moreso now.

“Hey, I have a plan, but I need some others to help me carry it out.  You seem like just what I need.  You join up with me and you can stay at my place for a little while so we can map this out.  Deal?”

Rock was no fan of being a charity case, but was even less of a fan of sleeping on the sidewalk so he agreed.  Matt paid the tab and the unlikely duo headed down the street to Matt’s hotel.  Rock had just smashed Matt’s face and Matt took the last of Rock’s money with three horrible calls and a subsequent bad beat, but there they were walking down the road about to embark on a poker adventure that would be told for years to come.

Tags: cowboys poker, poker stories

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