It's finally here! The conclusion of Matt Stout's WSOPC Tunica final table run.

At the end of my last blog I asked readers to guess what the most ridiculous hand David Dao could be holding after he limp-called 42k more at 8/16k and check-shoved my 80k bet to 520k+ on a 2♥ 5♥ 7♣ flop …

After I snap-called with the A♥ Q♥, David showed me the six and the two of diamonds. The 6♦ 2♦. THE 6♦ 2♦. THE &%#$ING 6♦ 2♦!!!

Naturally, the poker gods couldn't let a hand played that well lose! The 3♠ and 5♣ filled out the board and David doubled up to nearly 1.2 million, knocking me down to just over half a million.

This was misreported by most sites, which claimed the pot was much smaller and left me with significantly more chips.

Shortly after that, Kai crippled L.B. with K♥ Q♥ against his Q♦ 10♦ on a 5♠ Q♣ 9♦ board.

Kai and I both called his 120k shove two hands later, with Kai's 5♥ 6♥ beating my K♣ Q♠ and L.B.'s A♣ 7♠ on a final board of 8♠ J♦ 6♣ 10♣ 10♠. L.B. finished in fourth place, and the three-handed match was on.

Fortunately, David immediately went back to spewing chips left and right. Kai and I obliged him for a while, slowly accumulating the chips that David was doing his best to donate back to us.

In less than a half hour and without a showdown, I had re-crossed the million chip mark.

It came after the only big pot I'd played against Kai up to this point in the short-handed battle, which was three-bet jamming 10♠ 10♣ against Kai's check-raise on 3♣ 8♥ 9♣ flop. He told me after the tournament that he had 7-7 on this hand.

It seemed like we would be able to keep chopping David down and eventually go heads up, which would have been fun because I liked Kai.

In fact, one of the reporting sites even posted about the following exchange between Kai and me during the three-handed match...

Me: "Hey Kai, how does it feel going from being all-in with K-3o to having a mil and a half?"

Kai: ::smirks:: "Not bad, not bad..."

Me: "Yea, I bet it doesn't suck, bro..."

Everyone seemed surprised that we were still laughing and joking with almost $200k on the line.

The scene in Tunica.

I think it just gets even more fun when all the money is on the table. We were all guaranteed nearly $74k, and Kai and I seemed to be cruising to a friendly heads-up match with much drinking and merriment ...

Then Kai blew it...

Three-handed with the blinds at 10/20k (3k), Kai (1.2 million) limped on the button. David (830k) raised to 110k from the small blind. I folded, and Kai called. The flop came 10♦ 9♠ 2♦, and David quickly moved in for about 720k.

Now, David Dao wasa total psycho. But you have to understand what kind of psycho he is, because they vary by case (as any psychiatrist will tell you).

He will bluff with air in this spot, and he's shown a tendency to over-value his hands vastly in these situations ... but not to run huge post-flop bluffs with little in the pot.

Eventually, Kai made the call and showed 4♥ 4♣. He said "You have A-K, right?" I could only shake my head from the sidelines (literally ... it was the last hand before break and I was half-way out the door to run to the car!) while David showed both of us the bad news ... K♣ 10♣.

The turn and river bricked out, and David now had about 1.7 million. That left Kai with about 400k and me with slightly over a million.

We came back with blinds at 12/24k (3k), and it didn't take long before I had to try to bust the shortstacked Kai and gets heads-up with my buddy David.

Kai jammed 360k on the button and I called with K♥ Q♥ from the big blind. He showed the K♠ 9♣.

The board ran out A♦ J♣ 8♣ 2♣ K♣ and Kai doubled through me with his backdoor flush. This left Kai and I with almost equal stacks of around 700k, and David with about 1.6 million.

This is a little thing we call foreshadowing.

Just two hands later, Kai (710k) limped in for 24k on the button. I (700k) raised 70k on top from the big blind with A♥ Q♦. He moved all in and I called pretty quickly, since it was my plan from the start of the hand.

Some players seem to think that I should have folded this hand, solely because of the skill and experience edge on my two remaining opponents.

They believe that I should focus on playing small-ball against these guys and keeping pots as small as possible until I'm almost sure to have the best hand.

It's an idea that has merit, but I still think I made the right play. They, however, think I could never have been ahead, whereas I believe Kai shoves some dominated Aces and possibly K-Q and K-J here.

There's a very slight tilt factor here as well, not to the point that I'd donk my chips off, but it did make me want to gamble and get the chips back quickly to a degree.

I looked at Kai as they were about to deal the flop, and said, "Well, I think I at least deserve this one. You agree, Kai?"

To my surprise, he looked me dead in the eye and said, "Yea, you really do."

Too bad the players involved agreeing on who deserves to win the pot has absolutely no bearing on the actual outcome of the hand. I whiffed the board about as hard as I could have. In fact, he even rivered a set to put the final nail in my coffin.

Third place, $73,590. Game over. I shook both players' hands, wished them luck, and whispered to Kai that he better beat David ... and told him I wanted his number so I could berate him if he didn't. =)

The first thing Kai did after winning the heads-up match was call me and say "Matt...it should have been you, bro."

I've received a decent amount of ribbing since this final table, most of it good-natured, but it's still a little brutal at times. There were actually poker sites writing about how they had anointed me the winner of the tournament the night before the final!

ORLY!?

The expectations of the media and my fans/friends seemed to be that I would take first, and first only.

To be honest, I even told myself the night before the final table that it would be hard to swallow, let alone be happy with, anything less than a first place finish considering my massive chip lead and the relative inexperience of the final table.

However, I've come a long way over these few years of playing tournament poker for a living and I've learned that there is one very powerful phrase that helps to guide me through some of the rough spots in my career (which I've forgot the author of, and stole from my friend Shane "Shanaic" Schleger's blog...)

"The game is the game. I am at peace with my play."

There's a lot of variance in tournament poker, and the fall of a single card will sometimes determine whether you're up six figures or in the hole at the end of the year.

It's sick, but true. All you can do is use everything you've learned through the years and about a particular player and make the best decision you can every time you act at the table.

I honestly feel that I played this final table about as well as I could have.

I could have made some small adjustments in strategy or changed the way I played a couple of hands, but I don't think there was anything reasonable that I could have done to give me a significantly better chance at a higher finish.

I can't beat luck, and my opponents had brought large jars of rungoodsauce on this day. Both were all in for their tournament life repeatedly with the worst of it.

I never got all my money in as a dog until the final hand of this tournament, and even then it was a flip. Every time I had a shorter stack all in at the final table, I had the best hand to go with it.

So to put it all in perspective, I think I played well at the final table and did everything I could to put myself in position to take the whole thing down. In the end, I'm very happy with my finish ... and the game is the game, I'm at peace with my play.

--Matt Stout

"All In At 420"

When I was planning out my schedule for the WSOP, I basically only had two goals for the series. I wanted to have a profitable series (make money), and I wanted to win a bracelet. After my win in Event 5, 1500 PLO, I have already accomplished both of these.

I guess I should set a few new goals, maybe set my sights on WSOP player of the series, a 2nd bracelet, or maybe a million in winnings.

I made day 2 for the 4th straight time yesterday in the 2k NL Event 11. I finished the day with 67,000 in chips with average stack being 40k. Around 240 players left and 171 get paid. We restart at 2 pm today.

What do I say to those that bitch at me about how I'm just running good?

Well, I just smile and laugh. I know I have been and still am running good, but I also believe that a good portion of my success is due to how I play the game and my mindset and a lot of other factors.

The final table of the PLO event was an interesting and pretty fun final table.

It started off playing fairly tight with not too many big pots. And then the chips started flying. I got fairly short losing like 40% of my chips, and was in 7th of 8.

I thought about my WSOPE collapse at the final table of the PLO event where I was 2nd in chips and finished in 8th. I did not want to go out in 8th again.

Steve Burkholder took out An Tran in 8th place to take the chip lead, and I felt a little relief. After someone busted in 7th, I went on a mega-heater winning probably 12 of 15 hands busting guys and running my stack from 400k to 1.6 million and taking an overwhelming chip lead 3 handed.

I was very relieved when Matt Giannetti busted in 4th place, as he was the player I most feared, and probably the only player I really feared at the final table. He is a very, very good PLO player, and I respect his game a lot.

When we got three-handed, the other two guys clashed and got it all in with Steve slightly covering Kevin and holding the best hand. Steve's top set held up and then we were heads up.

He had a slight chip lead, 2 million to my 1.65 mill. He won the first few pots getting me down to 1.2 million and I was staring at a 2-1 disadvantage.

I reminded myself that Steve probably did not have much heads up PLO experience and that I was going to need to outplay him in some spots if I wanted to make a comeback.

I went on a tear heads up winning around 80% of hands to take over the chip lead and eventually have him outchipped 2.65 million to his one milli.

On the final hand of the tournament, I limped the button, he potted OOP and I flatted with QJ82. The flop came J-J-6 and all the money went in. I was behind vs. his AAJ7 but had 9 outs with 2 chances to bink em!

As usual they give it to me right on the turn with a nice little Q of diamonds putting me in the lead and giving Steve only 2 outs with his Aces. Luckily the river was a King and the money, the title, and the bracelet were all mine!

Want to give a shoutout to all my family, friends, and fans who were either there watching, at home keeping up with updates, or have just told me congratulations. I appreciate all the support I get from all of you. I could not do it without you guys.

Thank you!

Time to go BACK to BACK! GL me in 2k

-- Jason

Yesterday one of my poker buddies, who primarily plays cash games online for a living, asked me this question (which I hear quite frequently).

"Who do you think are the better poker players: cash-game professionals or tourney professionals?"

I thought about this for a few seconds. Obviously the kid wanted to hear that cash-game players are better, which I do think that they are ... but only in cash games.

The thing is that cash game grinders are just generally better at cash games, and tourney grinders are just generally better at tourneys. It's that simple.

The real test of how "good" a poker player is must be determined by how well they can do in both settings.

The "best" poker players in the world should be able to dominate in all aspects of poker. They should be able to crush in live cash games, live tournaments, online cash, and online tournaments.

Phil Ivey is the absolute perfect example of someone who is able to do this. Yes, I understand he doesn't play online tournaments. Obviously, he doesn't have to, but I think that if he wanted to, he could do very well at them.

We need a Phil on seven!

Phil Ivey, in my opinion, has to be considered the best player to ever live. People can make their case for Stu Ungar or for Chip Reese. I cannot comment on how either of those guys played because I never saw it myself.

But I do know that the players that they played against were far less advanced than the players that the average player has to play against nowadays.

Phil Ivey has been dominating the highest-stakes cash games, online and live, for the past 10 years, probably more like four years when it comes to online.

At the beginning of the WSOP, me and a few of my friends had heard that Ivey was taking action on himself to win a bracelet this year. We were interested and were planning on laying some odds.

Some things ended up preventing it, couldn't get in contact with him in time etc., and we ended up not making the bet. Thank God! He just ships two bracelets and makes the Main Event final table. HOF?

I don't usually give out this kind of respect to just any poker player, but Ivey, seriously bro, you deserve it man. What you have done this series is an inspiration to me, and should be to all professional poker players.

Whenever someone feels like they have reached the top of the poker world and that nothing else can be accomplished, just look at Ivey.

Congrats on making the final table, it's great for poker and I really look forward to watching it in November. I now have a reason to be excited about the WSOP main event final table. Good luck.

I am sitting here in my condo with 15 minutes left before I am supposed to get started playing online for the next 10-12 hours. This will be my second to last blogpost that I will write for 2009.

I am planning on writing my last one about my new year’s resolutions and 2009’s resolutions and how I did with them.

I am first going to have to come up with my 2010 resolutions, but my brain has been mulling this over for a few weeks now and I got a rough outline of what I want them to be.

I am insanely pumped for the next few months when it comes to poker. I have mapped out basically what I am going to be doing through bay 101, basically being on the road starting with PCA and playing tons of live tournaments for the first 3 months of the year.

I have been going through a pretty rough time with my ex-girlfriend, as we have been talking over the last couple months since breaking up, about whether or not we are making the right decision by separating.

It’s been an extremely difficult time for me, as I love her with all of my heart and wish that we could work things out. I know she loves me too and we both want what’s best for each other.

It worries me that I can’t seem to have a relationship work out. I want to eventually be able to get married and have a family. This is now the third relationship in which things have not worked out partially because of poker, and all three were in a different way.

The first one didn’t work because I had basically just discovered poker and was fascinated by the game and became addicted to it. I was playing 60-70 hours a week and let everything else in my life fall by the wayside.

I got my priorities straight eventually and learned to balance poker with other things in my life.

The second relationship that was affected by poker was with a girl who just basically did not approve of gambling. That relationship I should have known from the beginning was just not going to work out.

And this last relationship, with neither of those previous issues being the problem, just doesn’t work with how much time we have to spend apart.

Neither one of us is ready to make the jump to having her come with me on all my trips, and make that commitment that we are going to basically get married. And it is just way too hard to maintain our relationship with me being on the road all the time.

Will I ever be able to have a normal relationship? Get married? Have a family? Do all poker players have these same issues? These are some of the questions I have been thinking about a lot recently.

Well here goes Sunday! Last day of MTTs for 2009 probably. GL me. Pz! 

Jmerc

Hello, hello. Just wanted to give you guys an update on the weekend's activities.

I believe we last left off with me running super bad at the LAPC and losing the high-roller to a one-outer on the river, the main event kings to aces in the first level like a fish, losing to a free roll in PLO for $50k nuts vs nuts and losing a $45k pot with a wrap and a flush draw to middle set which we ran twice.

So basically, I needed to get out of LA.

It was a good time and we partied hard, went out for my birthday to my friend's club in West Hollywood "Playhouse" after a nice dinner at Mastro's. Peter Eastgate showed up with another friend of mine which was kind of cool.

We got wasted and after partied at JMC2536's place (a stars and tilt 10/20 regular that I play with) and ripped the bong overlooking all of LA from the hollywood hills. The bright lights were beautiful.

The last day before I left LA me and good friend Will Molson munched on some nice prescription brownies and I played a decent no-limit session where I at least salvaged some of my trip. I ran a sick bluff on a commerce regular named Shamalama in the 20-40 game. Here's the hand:

Will Molson

 

Straddled pot $80, under the gun limps for $80, third position makes it $280. I'm fifth to act with T-7 suited and I pop a call for $280. It folds around to under the gun who limp-raises to $1280. The isolator folds, and I call 1000 more.

The flop comes 10-6-2 rainbow and he leads into me for $2,000. I call and the turn is the 2♦, bringing a backdoor flush draw. He bet $3,500 and I called at this point knowing that my hand was probably no good against this specific player, but I was hoping I could turn my hand into a bluff on the river drawing to my two outs.

The river came the K♦ and he bet $4,500, it seemed like a pretty defensive bet on his part, like a bet you would make with two queens on the river when not sure if your good or not. So I just raised him $16,000 on the river and he tank folded queens, had to show that one.

It's funny because in poker I love to bust people who play pots with me, and the hand before I misplayed pocket queens and just flatted $140 pre from the utg raiser and on a six-way flop of 10-9-4, where UTG bet $500 on the flop and I called. Then that same player who I bluffed out of the next hand raised us both to $2,400, utg folded and I called, probably incorrectly as I had him pinned on a set.

The turn came a Jack so I had to call another $3,400, the river came a 9 and he bet all in for another $8,000. Now see how his bet in the next hand on the river is much weaker then this all-in bet. when he moved in I knew I beat almost none of the hands in his range. I might be good 10% of the time or less so I frustratedly folded to the tight player.

I ended up playing decent the rest of the session and winning about $22,000 before calling it quits. It was now time to go back to the room. As I got to my floor in the Double Tree I could smell the stench of pungent kush from down the hall. Molswi was grinding online obviously, towel under the door, the whole nine.

Me and him chatted for a while, he had stayed to sweat two good friends of mine at the final table of the LAPC main event, Mike Winer, and JC Moussa, who finished 5th and 6th much to my disappointment but still had excellent runs in the tournament.

Me on the other hand, I had to go,. I had promised my roommate Dr. Zac Zac, a neurologist and business man who lives in Miami but is originally from Brazil that I would be back on Thursday to meet his beautiful daughter Dani and have a good weekend of fun and relaxation.

I took a cab back from LA to Vegas, I was feeling a little cheaper after losing $50-$60 grand in LA. The cab only cost me $440 as opposed to the $1,500 I paid for a stretch limo which I rode in by myself (waste of room) from Vegas to LA in the first place.

The cab driver who took me back to Vegas was the same guy who almost killed me the night before on the freeway on my way to Katsuya to meet Molson for dinner after his final table high rollers bust. The 75-year-old cab driver told me he was from Hungary and had moved here because his daughter lived here and he hates it.

I just kept asking him when he was going to retire. I used to work at a senior citizens licensing renewal place so I know all about bad elderly drivers and at this point was thinking that my paranoia of flying might cost me my life as this was probably a lot more dangerous driving with a non-English speaking cab driver who had already shown me some unawareness on the road and sucked at changing lanes.

You know your cab driver is bad when you ask, "Want me to drive?" So I couldn't sleep because I felt like I needed to be his eyes and ears haha. I thought to myself, "Great I haven't worked out at all this week, lived super unhealthy and ate a lot of commerce food, now I am meeting this gorgeous girl on no sleep and feeling not so hot."

After 4-5 hours I was back in vegas. The drive both ways in the mountains was pretty breath-taking. When I go back to commerce in a couple weeks to grind I'm going to rent a lambo or ferrari and drive back (man I wish my aston was here). Anyways, I keep rambling, on with it.

I get back to Encore tower suites and am welcomed back by the same gentlemen who saw me off at the valet. I walk into the main living room of our suit, all bedrooms are closed and Andrea Bocelli is playing softly (umm.... okay...). I decided to hop into bed and get a little shut eye.

Little did I know, I was going to need all the sleep I could get to prepare me for what was going to happen in the next 3-4 days.

TO BE CONTINUED

There's a lot of chatter about the astronomical amounts of money (some) people are playing poker for these days. This interest began a couple of years ago with TV shows like High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark.

These shows began with the "usual suspects" (Doyle, Barry, Jennifer, Sammy, Daniel ...), gradually brought in lesser known but capable recreational players, WSOP winners and, more recently, the newer online phenoms.

These folks have crossed swords with serious cash on the line and it has only escalated over time.

But the focus on the "nosebleed" level games has long began in earnest among the online community, especially those on Full Tilt, and it has captured the imagination of poker junkies everywhere.

Now, we all know that there are only a very, select few who have climbed to this level and even fewer who can survive here, let alone prosper, but I suspect that the intense focus on these games being played in this rarefied realm has given a false impression of who is really playing poker and what stakes are they actually playing for.

Is the typical poker player playing for serious stakes (steaks) or for something less (hamburgers?). 

First I started asking friends who play regularly, both live and online. I got fairly predictable answers.

The ones who play live tend to think that most Limit players are playing between 2/4 and 15/30 and that the majority of No Limit folks are playing between 1/2 and 2/5. The players who focus on the online game tended to have similar estimates.

Are they right? Well, for live play you can just walk into a card room and look around. At my local room there are usually a half dozen or more 2/4 and 4/8 Limit games going, four or five 1/2 No Limit and one or two 5/5 NL tables.

But this is hardly typical. Commerce Casino will have scores of games at many levels, some quite high. Bellagio will too, as will other large rooms in major gaming cities, like the Borgata in Atlantic City.

Of course, if you go into small rooms dotted around the country you will not see many games above 1/2 NL or 4/8 L.

So, I wondered, is this pattern also found online? Will we see a similar distribution?  Are my friends basically correct in their estimates?

Not a chance. It is different in cyberspace, so different that, if you haven't taken a look, you are in for one hell of a surprise. I was.

Here are the numbers of tables in action at each of the levels that I found from the No Limit Hold-em games running at Poker Stars.

I didn't bother to record the number of players at each table, largely because there are different numbers (commonly 2-, 6- and 9-max tables) and because the numbers shift around unpredictably).

I'm letting the number of active tables tell us where the players are congregating.

STAKES                                 NUMBER OF TABLES

$25/$50 (and higher)                               2

$10/$20                                                   6

$5/$10                                                   28

$3/$6                                                     26

$2/$4                                                     72

$1/$2                                                   201

$.50/$1                                                496

$.25/$.50                                             456

$.10/$.25                                             696

$.05/$.10                                             516

$.02/$.05                                             288

$.01/$.02                                             576

TOTAL                                            3,363

There was a total of 3,363 tables going and a mere 36 (or 1%) were being played at stakes higher than 3/6. To get a feel for how different this is from live play, imagine a brick and mortar poker room with 100 tables, and only 1 is playing higher than 3/6.

Remember that old line about "nickel-dime poker by the kitchen sink?" Well friends, that's exactly what is going on. A total of 1,380 tables or a full 41% of all the games were being played for exactly those stakes ---- or less.

This isn't "steak." It isn't even "hamburger." It's tofu, or something ... radishes, lettuce?

I collected these numbers at 1:30 PM (PT), which would be 4:30 PM on the east coast, mid-evening in Europe. They are likely different at other times and they are likely different on other sites but I'm reasonably certain that the same patterns will emerge.

I also didn't bother looking at Tournament play or S 'n' Gs but my guess is that we'd find the same pattern.

It there a message here? Damn right.

All the moralists out there who feel like they need to protect us poker players from ourselves by limiting access to the game on the Internet, stop worrying.

Overwhelmingly, the folks playing here are just having a good ol' time. Even the very worst donkey, playing multiple tables with abandon and zero skill couldn't lose more than the price of a cheeseburger, fries and a beer in an afternoon.

Blogs have many uses. One is to treat them like the classic soapboxes of the British parks, where you just stand up and start talking, talking about what you're thinking, why you're thinking it and why everyone else ought to start thinking about it too.

So, this will begin an off-and-on soapbox series looking at the "fine lines" in poker. The ones that we cross, sometimes because we didn't even know there was a line there in the first place.

Today's line is the one that divides the tricksters, the masters of deception and geniuses of artifice from the con artists, the scammers and the cheats. But this line isn't a clean one. It moves about and it's not always clear when it's been crossed.

Many choose to ignore this topic, claiming it isn't of any real importance. They are wrong.

Politicians, the media and the moralists have made it important. The poker community needs to take stock of the situation, examine its nuances and develop codes for appropriate behavior, lest they be imposed from outside.

Recall how 60-Minutes handled poker last year and the underhanded way in which the US Congress passed the UIGEA to appreciate how important this issue is. So:

A Little History

Cheating has always been a worrisome aspect of poker, with the understanding that theissue isn't poker, it's cheating.

Larceny lurks in many hearts and when money is involved and opportunity sits there as open and inviting as a fat cat's belly on a warm summer's day, well, you know what's bound to happen.

Poker became popular in the late 1800's. It had evolved earlier in the century from a French game (called poque) that used a 20-card deck.

As it grew, mainly in the American south, it became a popular way to kill time while on the riverboats that paddled up and down the Mississippi. And it gave us the game's first iconic offspring: the Riverboat Gambler, replete with pencil moustache, frock coat and cheroot and known for odd mannerisms in the shuffling and dealing of the cards.

A lot of these guys were cheats. Marked cards, cold decks, false shuffles, dealing seconds and off the bottom, hold-out devices, mirrors, collusion. If you could think of it, someone was doing it. It didn't take too many 'honorable' churchgoers getting fleeced before the outpourings of Puritanical righteous indignation ended it all.

After poker and other forms of gambling were shut down by changes in the law, the game went exactly where you would expect it to: underground. It still flourished, but in private games held in homes, hotel rooms, social clubs and community halls. Some of these games were pretty big and a generation of 'road gamblers' sprung up to take advantage of the well-heeled but less-skilled.

Several books have been written about this period, the best are those based on the reminiscences of Doyle Brunson (According to Doyle, reissued as Poker Wisdom of a Champion) and Amarillo Slim Preston (Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People), as well as Des Wilson's superb chronicle, .

In these books you get a sense of folks walking this fine line. There's cheating going on all around them. Games are rigged, decks stacked and, yes, they get hijacked and more than once find themselves at the wrong end of a shotgun.

Did these guys, some of them icons of the game, ever cheat? Did they ever stretch the proper bounds of propriety? I don't know, but some eight years ago we were confronted with:

The 'Cheating Tapes'

The late Russ Georgiev, an admitted swindler and cheat made a series of public accusations, mostly on the rec.gambling web site. He implicated several prominent players, including some whose photos hang in the Poker Hall of Fame.

Georgiev confessed to long-term, systematic larceny at poker games in public venues, throughout the 1970's and '80's, mainly in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

He also acknowledged having links with some of the most notorious, mob-connected scoundrels in "old Vegas," including murderer Tony Spilotro. Georgiev does not paint a particularly uplifting picture of the game.

In 2001 Mike Caro, concerned about the possible veracity of Georgiev's claims, sat down with him and two of his confederates (John Martino, a Las Vegas regular as far back as the '60s, and Bill Nirdlinger, another long-time rounder) and made the now infamous "cheating tapes" on which Georgiev and friends 'tell all.'

I've watched the tapes, all six hours. They are not exactly convincing. Georgiev was, moreover, a self-promoter who, until his recent death, used the peculiar 'fame' this episode brought him to establish a career selling DVD's of the sessions and writing about cheating.

Did he have ulterior, monetary motives? I don't know but it's hard to dismiss the thought.

But, independent of the details of the accusations, it is pretty clear that a lot of sleazy stuff was going on from the dusty back roads of Texas to the glitzy casino poker rooms in 'old' Vegas.

Happily, things have changed. The 'industry' appreciates that cheating, real or imagined, is bad for business. Far more revenue is generated when everyone knows the games are 'clean.'

But problems still exist and as the game grows, particularly on the Internet, they've multiplied. Stay tuned as we examine them in future posts in this series.

Sorry to those of you who expected another blog from me sooner. I've been busy this month at home catching up with family, after a long month in Vegas, which included all the highs and lows imaginable.

The money I brought down with me began to fly in all directions mid trip, -50k in tournament buyins, -55k in baccarat, my first table-game loss ever (which I took in one night on weed brownies and too many shots of jager betting impulsively), -55k in shopping by the end of the trip and -30k on Stars and Full tilt playing some small cash sessions and whatnot.

It was safe to say at this point, it was going to be very hard to make this trip profitable. I skipped the Indiana WPT and Bay 101 so my only way to really get even was the Wynn Classic, which I busted before the dinner break on day 1.

But other than all of the non-success going on I forgot to mention I was going out every night having the most amazing time ever, getting wasted, going for excellent dinners, enjoying my newfound relationships and doing fun spontaneous stuff that I don't really feel like sharing right now.

There was no lack of good treatment, that's for sure, but it was time to get out of Vegas. We'd been dusting through comps, even the salon bill was over 9k.

Anyways, eventually we managed to make it out of Vegas in one piece and everyone went their separate ways. Dr. Z headed to Buenos Aires, I headed to Toronto with an online poker buddy from Germany and my brother Ryan who had come earlier that week with my dad in fear that I was going brain bust after seeing the clothing receipts and hearing pit game stories.

I wanted Dani to come back to Toronto with me but she goes to school and had to go back to Miami. We had a great time together and are planning to meet up again in the near future which I am definitely looking forward to.

So I get home, start grinding online viciously to play the 50k VPPs by April 1st needed to maintain Elite. I lost about 70k in a session at 100/200 deep playing with Daniel Kid Poker, who attracts a vicious lineup of players every single time he sits and it is actually - EV to play with him because of the other opponents in the game.

I noticed Negreneau thinks he is Durrrr now, widening his four-betting and five-betting range a lot.

One hand I have QQ and make it 600 to go, three callers and kidpoker makes its 2,100 more in the big blind. I make it 5,750 total and he raises me about double my bet like he has kings or aces. Ace and a king on the flop, he checks it down with me and scoops the twenty k pot with his three-out A-Q off.

Kid poker likes to call me out. He was criticizing me for a show we have in the works, with his usual smart remarks, when many people are super interested in the lifestyle of young gamblers and the highs and lows involved in their lives.

Anyways Daniel, I am more marketable than you, I do live a better life off poker and I don't get a free 2 million from PokerStars every year like you do to keep me from going broke (I actually win my money in the game of poker).

If I was given all of the confidence and support you were given, to make you feel like the best in the world, which you are nowhere near by the way, I would also be a much better player.

Since you are so marketable and "walk the walk" I just want you to put your money where your mouth is. Many people have seen me offer Kid Poker HU at any stakes on Stars, and even offer to pay him up to 500$ an hour per table.

I also asked him at the 2010 PCA during high roller event if he wanted to bet 100k on who cashes for more total in the next ten live events we play together.

During this event he was telling me how I was not marketable. I had blinded off the first eight hours of the 25k, still made it all the way to 7th (busted 77 to AK vs Reynolds).

That was a lot farther then DN, starting with 28 blinds instead of 115 because I was busy playing out the 5k 5 handed, eventually busting 10th QQ to AK who went on to win the tourney for 300k.

Anyways Daniel, my challenges still stand, or maybe if you want we could do a cage fighting match for 100k? I would also be very interested in that! So in the future, unless you're going to back it up, do not open your mouth in the 100/200 game on stars, because you're awfully quiet when I see you in person. Just come speak with me face to face.

Ok, gotta catch my plane to San Remo, time for some EPT events including Monte Carlo and followed by the WPT in Paris, a few 20k euro high roller events, and a whole lot of fun! Let you all know how it goes.

More Matt "ADZ124" Marafioti Blog Posts

A couple of months back we did a psychological analysis of Phil Ivey and his approach to poker. I want to do another one because several recent comments from Phil got me to thinking about the depth of his analysis of the game.

In fact he's taken it so far he's become an implicit psychologist. By implicit here I mean unaware, not conscious.

Phil's game has a number of elements to it that make it remarkably sophisticated from a psychological point of view, although I suspect Phil is unaware of these psychological factors. Indeed, I would have been pleased to have thought of them myself.

If you read carefully, you will see intriguing strategic elements in them.

Ivey on Losing

In this PokerListings interview Phil said, with some passion. "In poker if you're going to get good you have got to learn to lose. 'Cause poker is just like any other game or sport."

Now, everyone knows this; it's become a poker cliché. It's what Phil said next that is insightful.

"But you are going to have to learn how to deal with losing in order to become a better winner. That's why I think poker is such a wonderful game. There are guys that play certain sports that (sic) hardly ever lose, but in poker, you are just going to have to lose."

This is deeply interesting. It is also stunningly obvious but I have yet to hear anyone make this point explicitly. In our game the emotional stability needed to stay on top is of a different kind than in many other sports and games.

If you're the best boxer in your weight class you practically never suffer defeat. If you're on the best team in basketball you're going to win the vast majority of your games and you will routinely thump the weaker opponents. Hell, the UConn women's team is up to 78 straight now. Same for tennis and many other sports and games, like chess. An international grand master in chess can go for months, even years without losing a match.

But in poker you can be among the very best, the most skilled, the most feared, and routinely get smacked around the proverbial room, not just by another top flight pro, but by fish, donkeys, contributors who are so bad they couldn't spell poker if you spotted them the 'p' and the 'o'.

Losing here takes on a different psychological cast. If you cannot become a good loser, you have little chance of becoming a winner.

Ivey on playing style

When asked about his playing style Phil answered that he doesn't have one. Think for a minute about how different this answer is from how the typical pro responds to such questions.

Phil looks to figure out how you're playing and adjusts, which fits with a recent comment by Phil Galfond, who said that playing Ivey heads-up was unnerving. Ivey began check-raising him on virtually every hand (probably feeling Galfond was opening light). So Galfond adjusted, began checking behind more and re-raising ---- only to have Ivey compensate within just a few hands.

Galfond tried shifting again; Ivey spotted the change and adjusted, Galfond noted, faster than anyone he'd ever encountered.

This flexibility is certainly one of Phil's most effective weapons. It is also very hard to do. Most of us have our own personal styles, ways of playing our games, living our lives. His "anti-style," or "stylistic emptiness" (it's hard to know what to call it) is unusual; most of us would feel uncomfortable with it.

However, it meshes with what I recall from the times we played together in Atlantic City when he was a young (actually underage) kid and I was just another recreational player, like I still am.

I couldn't put a label on him then and I still can't (can you?). Sure he's aggressive but then he'll seem so passive at times. Sure he plays position but sometimes he'll almost recklessly make moves from early position. It confused me then; it still does.

Of course, the reason I never figured it out is because I was looking in the wrong place. I was looking at Phil when I should have been looking at the other players.

Ivey on Dumping a Winning Hand

At last year's WSOP main event Phil (in)famously misread his hand and mucked a winning flush.

Now this could be upsetting, and when told about it he didn't look real happy but he made a remark that speaks volumes about his grasp of the larger picture. "If," he smiled, "I do win that pot it would change everything that happened afterward and I may not have made the final table." Yup. He's right.

Ivey on Other Players

I don't know anyone who has anything less than a positive opinion about Phil, certainly not in terms of his poker. But more importantly, he has what seems like a genuine affection for most of his fellow pros, unlike many of his fellow pros who seemed to revel in trashing each other.

The classic case is Phil Hellmuth, the guy everyone loves to hate. Ivey has been at four final tables with Hellmuth. Four times he won. Rather than denigrate Hellmuth's game, he merely refers to him as "His good-luck charm."

Is this tactical diplomacy? Or is Ivey just a nice guy? Does it matter? Nah.

Tell us what you think in the comment section below.

More Guest Blog posts from Arthur S. Reber

In no order whatsoever, I have come up with ten players that I think are going to have an excellent 2010 WSOP.

It doesn't matter whether it's going to be their breakout year, comeback year, or if they're already well established. These are my top ten under 30 year olds to watch at the 2010 WSOP

Sorel Mizzi

Sorel Mizzi is on absolute fire right now. If you want to know what a heater looks like ... just stare into this kid's eyes.

He's already won 4 live tournaments this year with numerous other final table appearances, and just took down a SCOOP event this month. Expect him to be going deep in many of the NL holdem and PLO events.

Yevgeney Timoshenko

In my opinion, this kid has to be considered one of the best NL holdem tournament players in the world. His results speak for themselves, he is insanely tough to play against and I know I wouldn't want him at my table.

Scott Seiver

Another one who is just on fire right now... going deep in everything, crushing everything he sees. He's been regularly working on his mixed game play the last few months. I wouldn't be surprised to see him holding up a bracelet.

Daniel O'Brien

One of my best friends in poker, and the kid just has flat-out skills. He has a table presence that you just don't see in most players with online roots.

He can play multiple games and will be playing a lot of events this year, and I know how hungry he is. Fuel the animal!

Daniel Alaei

Plays tons of mixed games events, solid, aggressive in all forms of poker, and he's been playing poker since he was born... it's in his blood.

Brent Hanks

Another one of my good friends in poker. He eats online kids for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I know how frustrated he was after last year's WSOP with no results, and I know how badly he wants to win.

Christian Harder

One of the nicest kids I've ever met, and in my opinion, is in the top 5 for NL holdem tournament players.

I know the NL events are hard to win because of the big fields, but this kid is skilled enough and so in tune to the game and his opponents, I think we're going to see him deep in a bunch of events.

Allen Bari

Misunderstood by his peers, loved by his friends, hated by his enemies ... I don't care what you think of him, Allen Bari is going to win a bracelet this summer. That is my flat out prediction. He's going to be playing the $50k 8 game and tons of mixed game events.

I talk poker with him all the time and he knows his stuff.

Marco Johnson

Plays a lot of mixed game events, solid player all around. Wouldn't be surprised if he shipped a 2-7 triple draw tourney.

Justin Bonomo

Crushes all forms of poker. He's going to be playing a lot of events this year and he looks motivated. I don't know what event he's going to win, or final table, but I'm sure you'll see him deep in something in the first week or 2 of the series.

PokerListings.com will be on location in Las Vegas for the entire WSOP 2010. Keep an eye on our World Series of Poker 2010 Live Coverage section.

Matt "ADZ124" Marafioti is a writing machine and he's decided to open up and share some personal thoughts and stories from his past.

Matt talks about his early runs in online poker and the reasons he decided to become a professional poker player.

just wanted to add that, after busting my tournament at Borgata I had to go back to drop off my friend’s iPhone before deciding to hop on a plane to London with Tom and Reynolds (I was not planning on going until about two hours before their flight).

Irv Gotti was low stacked and sitting in my old seat in the donkament, and the guy who two-outered me with 77 verse my AA now had all the chips.

Irv plays pretty small at Bellagio (usually 10 20) but one time before dinner I was bored and sat in the game and bluffed off like 3k into him. I then asked David the floor guy there to go get me a hundred k so I could muscle the game but had to go to dinner.

I reminded him of this and he remembered me, I couldn't help but warn him about the guy sitting two seats over. I was a little tilted so I called him Joe Cada #2. I like Joe Cada, nothing against him at all. He’s a cool guy, it’s just that I’d like to play him all day for all that cash he won anytime and stuff.

He is a good tourney regular I guess, but the main event final table just sickened me to watch. Darvin Moon ran like Jesus on water while Ivey gets three-outered for his tournament with AK vs AQ.

I am kind of an old school new generation player, my idols are the Johnny Chans, the Daniel Negreneaus and the Mike Matusows. I used to watch Mike the mouth on TV and think he was hilarious. Now I have his number on my phone and his AIM.

We've played cash a bunch together and some tournaments. It’s funny how things change. Even Hallingol, one of the best regulars on Stars in 2005-2006 stayed at my house last week in Toronto with his girlfriend. The guy is up $500,000 on me heads up but that doesn't stop me from buying him dinner.

It’s funny because he multi-accounted me too. I used to watch him play when I played 25/50 cent all the time. It’s funny how fast things can happen.

My story with poker was no one in my life believed in it, not my parents, not my friends. I used to get made fun of in high school for playing online. I squeaked my way past my last year of high school with honours but began to get heavily into poker.

My parents firewalled all the computers in the house so you couldn’t even type the word poker in. My dad was so upset when he saw 15 declined attempts to buy in for 50$ on Poker Stars. And even if I did win, which I rarely did, I would never cash out.

By the time I was 19 I was off to school with the love of my life and some great old friends of mine. Within a few weeks of being there and going out to the underage bars (as an 18 year old) one night I got into what Daniel would call "Hot-head mode".

After a bunch of shots, and because my girl was flirting with other guys, I started to pick a fight with a guy outside the bar. The next thing I knew I was pushed into the wall and six people surrounded me, including two bouncers (who were friends with the guy ). By the time they were finished I had been beaten so badly I shat myself (gross), my nose was on the side of my face and my girlfriend at the time screamed "oh my god matt your nose!".

The cops in this crooked little town took me to the hospital, but before they did they wrote me a drinking ticket, as I stood there only 18 years old, totally covered in blood with what looked like red jeans on.

I went to the hospital and they snapped my nose back into place as I screamed the F word at the top of my lungs and the two police came into the room and threatened to arrest me for swearing because there were little kids there.

They are lucky that my dad, a big businessman in Toronto, did not press charges. I had so much resentment for the rest of the year because of this. If I wanted I could have all of their legs broken in 24 hours right now, but I moved past it and was the bigger person in this situation.

After the hospital we went back to my dorm room, where usually she would complain about the brightness of my monitors and the fact I would stay up all night playing and not go to class. But tonight was an exception, my face was destroyed, my head was bruised and I couldn’t sleep.

I called my best friend and asked him to send me the 18$ he had on poker stars as I had no money to my name at the time. I started at 10 and 25 cent limits and within 1 week on my 12 inch monitor and 56k internet I had ran it up to $48,000 with only one tournament cash for $6,500. I was so proud as this was my first real run.

I felt like this justified the beating in some ways and something positive came out of it. The next week I went to 25/50 and lost it all. Back to busto, and boy did it hurt that time. I promised myself the next time I went on a run I would do something differently.

Matt "ADZ124" Marafioti is back with the much-anticipated second installment of his poker story. In Part 1 we heard about massive online heaters and personal life experiences.

Part 2 doesn't disappoint with big swings and even bigger wins from the times when high-stakes online poker was still in its infancy. Read on for the whole story and click through here to get up to speed with Part 1.

I came home from school before my finals had even begun, and was already playing in underground games in Toronto at the time. I was being hustled and angle-shot and it made me a better player in the long run.

At one point two guys from the underground game offered me a ride to Turningstone Casino, the one real casino I was old enough to play in at the time. At the last minute I decided to go and I actually ended up winning the tournament outright, with both other players I went with also coming in the top nine.

It was an incredible feeling and it gave me confidence. In the months that followed, I went on to run my $350,000 bankroll into over $1.7 million dollars (none of which I had to pay taxes on in Canada).

It was a dream, I could not believe it. I went from being a student to picking up 40 grand in cash from underground games, sending the money to gangsters online and playing them for it with Brian Hastings on Full Tilt and beating them.

It was a win-win situation. I went to the Bahamas that year and had never had $800k online before. I decided to lend $40k to a guy we’d been playing a lot with since he was great action for the games. That $40k then became $80k, and $80k somehow became $155,000!

He promised me the money back in 3 months but it never happened. It’s been 3 years and I only have $90,000 CAD back and remember, we’re talking US here when the exchange rate was .71, so he owes me another 90 and has not given me a penny for over a year.

I ran so bad at the PCA that year. I called a guy on a string raise and ended up losing my main event when I squeezed in that pot with a nut flush draw versus kings and aces. I lost two pots totaling well over $120,000 with top two pair all-in before the river on both occasions, one to bottom pair flush draw and one to bottom two-pair verse my top two-pair and flush draw.

I played the $3k side event and I was already down over $200k on the trip. With 20 people left I raised AQ in the cut off and got shoved on by Danny Wong in the small blind. I tanked with my AQ and called him. He had AJ and it ran out K98710. I was on life tilt.

I went home from the PCA and before unpacking my bags I played Lars Luzak my friend Sami, heads-up 200/400 on full tilt and lost $98,000 in the first 30 minutes of being home.

I got it in super bad the first hand, with 6♠ 8♠ on a Q-10-9ss flop against AJss. The next pot we got it in again on the flop for $88,000 in a 3bet pot. I had 22 on J-9-2 rainbow and he had K♣ J♣ and hit running clubs.

It sucked, but not as much as the one outer I took the next day from justthenuts on full tilt for $98,000. We got all-in on A-J-6-4 with two spades and I had A♠ Q♠ and he held K♣ K♥. Yes he rivered the Kd. It sucked

We went on a family trip to Aruba where I was 40-tabling on life tilt, timing out Jacks on 8-4-3 boards at 25/50 when someone led the flop because I was playing 200/400 and 25/50 PLO not knowing how to play (calling bets for 4k on the river with the As in my hand thinking I had a flush).

I was young, reckless, and I had no idea how hard some people work to make that kind of money.

Playing high-stakes cash on television for potentially life-changing money isn't something we all get a chance to do. That's why we're so jealous of Courtney Gee.

The PokerStars Big Game is taping a brand new episode this week and Courtney is the Loose Cannon.

She's getting staked $100,000 to play against some of the best players in the world and she'll be blogging about it right here on PokerListings.com!

Read on for Courtney's first post and check back early next week for her trip report!

Hello, my name is Courtney Gee and I live in Vancouver, British Columbia. Tomorrow I’ll be traveling to Vegas to play in the PokerStars Big Game!

Nice to donkeys in real life only.

I'm 25 years old with a Science degree from the University of British Columbia. I learned to play poker when I was going to school around 5 years ago, and I used to always look forward to our home games.

I couldn't get enough of poker, actually, so I started playing online at PokerStars. I built my bankroll playing sit-n-go's, and since then it's been my favorite hobby.

I started to play poker more seriously last year after quitting my full time job. Having run a student painting business for 3 years while in university, I wasn't happy working for someone and I wanted to take some time to figure out what to do with my life. I got a part time writing job with a website and decided to spend my extra time playing poker.

I came across the Big Game concept when I was writing news articles for the website and was really intrigued by it.

I started playing the Round 1 satellites back in May and I remember being amazed at how difficult it was to win them! I don't know how many I played in total, but it was definitely a number in the (multiple) dozens before I finally won a Round 2 ticket. I busted my first attempt at Round 3 but made it after my second try.

About a week later I spent an entire day making my audition video with a friend. My theme for the video was my current goal in life: to avoid working another full time 9 to 5 job as an employee. After I submitted the video, it was a waiting game.

In total, I filled out a questionnaire, did a phone interview, and then did a video interview on Skype. Each time I made it to the next step in the selection process I was a little more surprised. Even though it was a long shot to be chosen as a Loose Cannon, it was exciting to think "I haven't been rejected yet - I still have a chance!"

It's been a rollercoaster ride since I found out that I made the show. I’m extremely excited and of course I am also nervous! I have been practicing my live game, thinking about strategy, and mentally preparing for the big day.

While I obviously would like to leave the game with a healthy profit, my biggest goal is to have fun and enjoy the experience. I never imagined that I would have an opportunity to play a cash game with such an elite group of players!

While all of the pros that play on this show are first class, every Cannon has his or her dream lineup. I think mine would include Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Laak, Doyle Brunson, and a rich businessman.

I'd like to play with Negreanu, Hellmuth, and Laak because they all love to talk at the table and I think it would be extremely entertaining. I would love to play with Brunson because he is just such a poker legend. And then of course the businessman could be the one to double me up!

I really enjoy tournament poker, and I would use my profit in the Big Game to play some high buy-in events. I haven't had the chance to travel much, so it would be a great opportunity to see the world.

If I can get lucky and run good at the right time, maybe I can make a name for myself and achieve that goal of never working another 9 to 5 job ever again!

Check back next week for the trip report from Courtney's Big Game experience!

Courtney Gee is back from playing on the PokerStars Big Game in Las Vegas where she experienced the highest stakes and the toughest competition of her life!

Courtney's not allowed to tell us the profits/losses from the session (Damn you PokerStars) but she's got plenty to say about what it's like playing for big money against the best in the world.

If you haven't yet, check out Courtney's first post that went up last week, the day before she played her Big Game session.

Also, keep an eye out for Courtney's new blog right here on PokerListings.com! She's on a poker quest to never work a 9-5 job again and she'll be keeping us in the loop the whole time.

Take it away Courtney.

I felt weird waking up today. Part of it was that I was waking up in my own bed for the first time in a few days, but the other part of it was that my life felt normal again.

In the weeks before Vegas, I would wake up in the morning filled with thoughts about what I had to do to prepare for February 20th. I would go over my schedule for the day. Usually it included hand history review, a few hours of online cash, some practice with real cards and chips, and maybe some live cash.

I also felt a little nervous every morning because it was one day closer to when I would need to leave for Vegas, and I never felt ready.

As it got closer to the big day, I quickly learned that I would never feel ready. From the end of January to mid-February I played ~60 hours of cash games total, spent countless hours talking to friends about hand histories on instant messengers, laid out my strategy for the Big Game (including bet sizing, starting hands, etc), took notes on pros from season 1 of the show, made Word files filled with new things I was learning and things I wanted to keep in mind, watched a few poker videos, and got coached by some great cash players.

Las Vegas, home of bright lights and a cavalier attitude towards water use.

While I was doing all of this, I felt like I wasn't doing enough. Now that I look back, I can say that I worked hard and probably did just fine.

I felt extremely nervous in the days before I was scheduled to fly to Vegas. I felt fine the day we got into Vegas, but on February 19th (the day before my playing day), I felt more nervous than I had ever felt in my life.

My friend and I hung out on the strip and had an amazing dinner, and I spent the entire time trying not to think about it and trying not to be nervous. Being nervous during a time like that is strange. There was nothing more I could do to prepare, and there was also nothing anyone could say to me that would ease the nervousness.

I expected to feel nervous when I woke up the morning of the 20th, but I actually felt mostly fine. I went to breakfast and ate as much as possible, and then I went to the set. It was a flurry of activity there and I didn't have much time to think between the makeup, instructions for how to walk on the set, photos, and mic hookups.

When it was finally time to sit down and get dealt cards, the most amazing thing happened: I felt right at home. It felt like any live game I had ever played before. The chip sizes were MUCH bigger, but my practice with the denominations at home and my experience playing with tournament chips made it natural for me.

I no longer felt nervous. I was ready to play. And I proceeded to have an AMAZING time. Playing in that game was incredibly fun and an experience I'll never forget.

The next day it was all over and time to go back home. And that brings me to today, waking up in my own bed and feeling weird about life. It's all over. It's done... I went and played in a huge cash game, I played well, and now it's over.

Back when I was preparing and feeling nervous, I couldn't wait for it to be over so that I could go back to my normal routine. Now that I'm back from Vegas and it's all over, though, I'm a little sad and kind of miss it.

I expected to feel this way afterward. It's kind of like falling in love. It's so exciting because you don't know what's going to happen and you feel anxious and excited and nervous all at the same time. You can't wait to just find out what's going to happen with this new person and you can't wait to stop feeling this way, but at the same time, it's the most exciting feeling in the world.

And then, when you finally get into a steady relationship with this person and life is normal again, you're happy and relieved, but at the same time you miss the excitement. That's how I feel about love at least, haha :) And that's how I feel about being done with the Big Game.

I'm not sure when the shows are going to air, but I would guess in 3-4 months. I have a lot more to say about my experience, but I will have to hold back until the shows air. It will be interesting to see myself on TV and to relive everything all over again! But until then, it's back to the normal life for me.

A few months ago Courtney Gee blogged on PokerListings about playing high-stakes poker against some of the best in the world on the PokerStars.com Big Game.

Courtney is continuing her quest never to work another 9-5 job by playing poker professionally and she's giving us the chance to follow her progress in her new blog right here!

Check out this intro post and keep your eyes peeled for weekly updates as Courtney throws off the shackles of the rat-race to pursue her dream of being a professional poker player!

My name is Courtney Gee - welcome to my new blog! You might already know me from a couple posts I wrote in February about my PokerStars Big Game experience. My story for being on the Big Game revolves around a goal to never work another 9 to 5 job ever again. I would like to use this blog to document my experience as I work to achieve this goal.

I'll try to give you some background info to explain why I have this goal, and hopefully it doesn't end up being too boring.

I went to the University of British Columbia and majored in Biochemistry. At the time I thought I wanted a career in the health care industry. In my third year I realized that I absolutely hated what I was studying, but I felt like it was too late to quit. I decided to just finish up and leave with my BSc.

While I was going to school, I joined Student Works Painting and ran my own business. I did this for 3 years. The summers were crazy difficult and I've never worked so hard in my life. It was well worth it, though, because I got through school with zero student loans and got amazing management experience.

My years with Student Works are important because they showed me what it's like to be my own boss and to have freedom with my job. I worked 14 hour days, but I decided EVERYTHING – what time I wanted to start, where I wanted to work, and who I wanted to work with.

I graduated a few months after my last year with Student Works. I was working in cell phone sales part-time, and I went full-time after I graduated. I must admit that the 7 months that I worked full-time for this company were some of the worst months of my life.

The days were long and monotonous. Every day I got up way earlier than I wanted, went to the same office, sat at the same desk, made the same phone calls, and made the same sales pitch. If I wanted a day off, it had to be booked way in advance. If I got sick, there was a lot of pressure to get better ASAP and get back to work.

I could go on and on with things I was unhappy about. Every day I woke up in the morning and could not wait for the day to be over so that I could go back to bed again.

This job obviously wasn't for me, so I started planning for being able to quit. I had a couple things going for me. One was poker. I had learned to play poker a few years ago and I had become quite competent at it. The other thing was a part-time job with FlopTurnRiver.com (FTR). I had worked for them part-time while I was going to school and they were willing to take me back.

I quit my job at the end of 2009. At this point I had a year of living expenses in the bank and a $20k bankroll. I planned to work 15 hours per week for FTR and then spend 25-30 hours per week playing and studying poker.

Because of my part-time job, I only had to make ~$1,500 per month playing poker. This seemed easy to me because it meant making just $13/hour at the tables.

It’s Murphy’s Law, however, that things should be difficult just as soon as you think they should be easy! In my next post, I’ll talk about how my new life went for me in 2010. Thanks for reading and see you next time!

Courtney Gee is back with Part 2 of her introduction! Courtney has vowed to never work a 9-5 job again and she'll be blogging her poker progress right here.

Read on as Courtney brings us up to speed on how she did at the tables in 2010.

In my first post, I explained why I made it a goal to avoid working a 9 to 5 job. I quit my full-time job, got a part-time job writing for a website, and planned to play 25-30 hours of poker every week.

I had been mostly a tournament player but I decided that I would try to earn my income through 6-max cash games.

In this post, I'll give a quick summary of my 2010.

I played mainly cash games the first 8 months of the year with some MTTs here and there. I had trouble, though. I ran well below EV and was running bad in general, but my biggest problem was volume. I was bad at multi-tabling and I also could not bring myself to play the necessary hours. It took me a few months to play 50k hands, which is absolutely unacceptable.

I couldn't understand what my problem was. I was supposed to play 5 hours per day but that was rarely happening. I felt like my cash game sessions dragged on and I just never wanted to play.

Going to London might have cut into the playing time.

By the time August 2010 came around, I was up only a marginal amount for the year playing both cash and tournaments. Obviously my bank account was much lower at this point. I had to change something, so I decided to play tournaments full-time instead.

Making the switch to tournaments was very good for me. Not because I made more money doing it, though. In fact, all I did was lose money for the first 3 months of full-time tournament poker.

It was a great idea because I actually WANTED to play poker again. Time flew by for me when I was playing tournaments and I was able to string together 6-10 hour playing days with ease.

I was finally getting in the necessary poker volume, but the lack of income was very frustrating at first. Between August and late October I lost almost 300 average tournament buy-ins, which amounted to almost $9k and a very large portion of my bankroll.

I was playing over-rolled and therefore not in immediate danger, but it was very stressful. I only had a few more months of living expenses in the bank, and the prospect of having to go back to work if poker didn't turn around was looming very large.

I got a lucky break at the end of October. I won ~$3.5k playing a $26 FO on Full Tilt, and then a week or so later I placed 2nd in the Double Deuce for $21k. Instantly the weight was lifted off my shoulders. I felt very lucky to have such a huge score and it definitely came at the right time.

Since then I have had a couple more decent scores and I am comfortable financially. I'm still working part-time for FTR and I try to play poker 4 days per week. My goal for the year is 4,000 MTTs. I'm behind pace right now because I keep taking time off to go out of town, but I should be able to make it as long as I grind consistently for the rest of the year.

Thanks for reading these boring introductory posts :) I hope my future entries will be much more interesting!

I will update on a regular basis with my progress and share my experience as I try to avoid going back to 9 to 5.

I'm no poker superstar and my game needs a lot of work, so you shouldn't expect enlightening strategy or tips in this blog. You should, however, expect posts regarding discipline, bankroll management, money management, and dealing with variance – things that are often overlooked but very important when it comes to playing poker for a living.

If you have ever considered quitting your job in favor of poker, hopefully I can give you some valuable insight!

I wanted to write an entry with my thoughts about the Big Game.

In case you don’t already know, I was recently featured as a Loose Cannon in the second season of the PokerStars Big Game.

Go to the start of this blog to see a couple entries from February, back when the show was taped.

Let me first talk about the pros at my table.

Back in February I specified my dream line up: “Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Laak, Doyle Brunson, and a rich businessman.”

I have to pat myself on the back and say that three out of five ain’t bad! Both Daniel and Phil were at my table, along with Rick Salomon (the so-called “rich businessman”).

The bad news was that the other two players, Bryn Kenney and Randy Lew, were both poker superstars.

When I found out they were going to be playing, I was not happy since I knew they would make the table even tougher.

I had an extremely fun time, though. The footage that made TV makes it appear I didn’t talk much, and it’s probably because I tend to keep quiet while there’s a hand going on.

In between hands there was a ton of great table talk, though.

I told Rick that I love movie stars, I confessed to Daniel that I would snap marry Bono (that was before I got married, obv), and I called my fiancé an unemployed bum (by accident, though, I swear).

Overall I am happy with how I played. I have received some criticism for playing too tight, and I certainly can’t disagree with this sentiment.

At the time, however, it felt like the right thing to do. The entire table was extremely loose, and I can’t remember any hand that got to me in late position unopened.

I am not a cash player, so playing pots with garbage or without position was certainly asking for trouble.

I feel that my strategy gave me the best chance to avoid making big mistakes while waiting for a good opportunity to play a big pot and book a profit.

In the end I was able to get in the bulk of my stack as a 4 to 1 favorite, which I am extremely happy about. It was very interesting for me to watch my expression on TV as the flop came down because I wasn’t sure how I reacted.

While I looked less stricken than I thought I’d look, my body language clearly showed how disappointed I was. At the time I remember my heart sinking and hearing a collective “ohhhh…” around me from the producers, crew, and Amanda Leatherman.

While I wasn’t particularly looking forward to my shows being aired, I have to say that I am relieved that it’s finally over.

Now people won’t be looking at me trying to guess whether or not I won on the Big Game based on what I am buying, how happy I look, or what tournaments I’m playing!

The biggest thing I learned by participating in the production of a “reality” TV show is that the producers can make people appear any way they want.

I have to admit that I will never watch another TV show again without looking at the way someone is portrayed and wondering, “Is that how she REALLY is in real life? Or did they just want her to appear that way?”

I would like to thank everyone that has supported me since I found out I was selected for the Big Game.

Special thanks to Ben Sulsky, Thomas Leudke, and Isuru Silva for giving me hours of help with hand histories and cash game strategy.

Thanks to Melanie Urbanski for helping me make an awesome audition video. Thanks to my husband for all the emotional support.

I’m finally back to some online poker this week after two weeks off in Vegas for the WSOP.

I’ll be back next week to let you know how it goes. Good luck at the tables!

The jury’s still out on what happens next for online poker players in the United States.

Some, like Phil Galfond, have already left for Canada to keep playing. Some have started the transition to live poker.

Most are still in limbo though. And despite a more optimistic outlook for legislation lately, there’s still no definite timeline for online poker’s mass return to the US.

The hard fact is thousands of people who made their living playing online poker are out of work.

Considering the lifestyle online poker offered – financial independence, massive earning potential, international travel, a tight community of friends and fellow diehards – it’s a double or triple blow for most.

With big gaps in their resumes, specialized skills in a misunderstood field and a less-than-booming job market, it’ll also fairly unlikely most players will find work right away. Especially work that offers a comparable level of autonomy and income.

With that in mind, we went looking for Plan Bs.

Given the natural and well-documented connection between poker and trading, we consulted an expert in the field to see what the crossover potential is.

By Tom Cleveland

For those online poker players that have devoted countless hours to improving their game, maximizing their edge and grinding out a living in online poker over the last 6-8 years, right about now you might be wondering if all those hours invested have been a waste of time.

The upside is your analytical skills are finely honed, you can manage key probabilities to gauge expected value and you’re not risk averse or afraid to follow your instincts.

But is that skill set easily transferable to another discipline - especially one where you can make comparable money?

Same Same But Different

The correlations between playing poker and trading currency pairs in the Forex market are fairly consistent. 

Forex trading is high risk and does require specialized training, but the factors for success – knowledge, experience and emotional control – are the same required at any poker table.

A few other similarities are also worth mentioning:

The Table Game

You won’t be focusing on one specific game like Texas Hold’em or Pot-Limit Omaha, but you'll instead choose between currency pairs.

The major currency pairs are all linked to the U.S. dollar, and each has an individual style and personality to adapt to in order to gain a psychological advantage. 

The Euro and the Yen are steady and most heavily traded, but the Pound Sterling can be erratic and more volatile, requiring a deft touch to warrant your time.

The Players 

You're competing against other traders, large hedge funds and major global banks - all with more capital and experience - so you have to pick your spots carefully and latch onto predictable trends when they appear. 

There is a psychology to trading, and the “tells” appear in the form of recognizable patterns of pricing behavior.

You must learn these various patterns to anticipate the moves of other traders.

The Deck  

The Forex market is the largest and most liquid market in the world with over $4 trillion in daily volume. 

No one is big enough to stack the deck, so to speak, but events on the global stage can influence the market to move in expected ways.

Luck does factor in at the Forex table, but there are many ways that you can make your own luck happen.

Success is all about risk/reward calculations and money management principles.

As in poker you will have losses, but you must cut your losers early and let your winners run.

You won't achieve this end through following a Martingale strategy, for example, but you do limit your bets until an obvious trend can provide a larger than normal payoff.

Practice Regimen  

As with online poker, you must invest the hours on practice systems to gain the confidence and the consistency with your trading plan for the “real game” down the line. 

Most Forex brokers offer free demo systems where you can wager virtual cash with real-time quotes to fine tune your individual trading plan and develop familiarity with the market and your choice of currency pair or pairs.

If you’re serious about getting started in Forex trading, take advantage of these offers.

The Edge

Technical analysis (“TA”) will be your primary tool, supplemented by pattern recognition, to assess whether you hold on to or drop your currencies.

Most academics believe the market is totally random, but traders rely on techinical analysis to provide an edge when it comes to picking market entry and exit points. 

Markets are driven by fundamental economic data, but traders must interpret that data and make decisions about where the market will move. 

The inability of the entire trading community to agree causes volatility, which produces predictable trends and opportunities for gain.

The simple fact is that the analytical skills, ability to assess probabilities at hand quickly and the intuitive recognition of repeating patterns is the essence of both online poker and Forex trading. 

The First Steps

If your interest's been piqued, here are a few steps to take to make a deeper personal assessment whether Forex might be right for you:

Preparation: Immerse yourself on the topic of Forex and read everything you can find on the Internet or in your local bookstore.

The objective here is to become familiar enough with terms and strategies before you take a tutorial or formal class on currency trading.

Knowledge: Enroll in a formal class. Many are offered online. Forex brokers often hold free clinics in major cities.

Your instruction will typically cover the necessary topics of fundamental and technical analysis, Forex brokers and order management, trading systems and strategies, risk and money management and other rules of the road.

As with poker there are no shortcuts, but finding a mentor to guide your efforts is highly recommended.

Experience: A free demo system is your avenue for gaining experience before you put any real capital on the line.

Successful traders claim to have invested months of “practice” trading before ever venturing out into the real market. 

Your actual market experience may vary due to time lags in order execution and other factors, but begin with small positions and work your way up before “turning on the green light”.

Emotional Control: Currency trading is about managing the numbers in a business-like fashion, devoid of any emotional considerations.

You must follow your heavily practiced, step-by-step trading plan to block your mind from undermining your logical decision-making process.

Sound familiar?

Similar Risk, Similar Reward

Make no mistake, Forex trading has a high-risk profile.

There is a high failure rate among beginners because they become impatient or lack the experience necessary to survive and thrive.

Successful trading is not about gambling or luck. It’s about playing the odds, cutting your losers, and letting your winners play out based on a disciplined approach to the market.

If you need a break from poker, or you’re being forced to take one, it may be worth looking at Forex as a substitute.

Author Bio:

Tom Cleveland has over 30 years of experience in executive management, corporate governance and business development. Tom served as CFO for various Visa International entities from 1980 until his retirement in 1999 and was instrumental in expanding the global reach of the Visa system. Tom’s writing on business issues has appeared in the NY Daily News and BusinessInsider among others.

Editor's Note: We know. It’s not a solution for everybody. And there are a lot of spammy Forex systems and sites out there. Proceed with caution. We’re just throwing the idea out there.

Us, we’re holding out for online poker.

There’s been a lot of speculation about the psychology behind the folks who’ve been indicted in the Full Tilt Poker debacle.

A lot of the recent talk has been about the purported actions of Chris Ferguson and Howard Lederer, two of poker’s more respected long-time players.

Lederer is often referred to as “The Professor” because of his thoughtful manner and penchant for deep analysis and insightful questions. Chris is actually closer to this role in real life since he holds a Ph.D. and has spent more than a few hours in front of college classrooms.

Until now few have had anything but admiration and respect for them both.

Of course, we’re still in the classic “innocent until proven guilty” mode. I have no idea what the outcome will be. They may be found guilty; they may be exonerated. I am only interested here in the psychological issues.

The question raised most often is: How could these very smart dudes with position, money and prestige do the things they are accused of? It is a good question. It is also one that gets asked every time an odd-ball crime gets committed.

Howard Lederer

Perception is Skewed by Environment

Some Boy Scout that everyone likes and thinks of as a good kid goes into a school and shoots up the cafeteria. A respected businessman and pillar of the community is indicted for operating a billion-dollar Ponzi scheme. A trusted neighbor and father of two is arrested for running a child pornography ring.

Everybody scratches their heads and wonders how could this “wonderful young man,” “respected financier” or “valued member of the community” do such a thing – just like poker players are wondering about the folks at FTP.

Psychologists who've studied these cases have found that the context, the environment within which we live, is more compelling than we often realize.

We tend to label people based on the things we see them do. So our poker-playing friends at Full Tilt Poker get thought of as smart, caring and sensible because we see them doing smart, caring and sensible things – and we wonder how they could have been scamming us.

But making these attributions neglects the role of the environment -- the kid who seemed so nice, like a Boy Scout should be, turns out to have been bullied for years by school mates and decided to pay them back. The revered investor turns out to be a Bernie Madoff who was consumed with greed and the desire to play with the big boys. The father of two is discovered to have serious money problems and was peddling child-porn to get out of debt.

Corruption is Just an Opportunity Away

The message here was captured nicely by the famous "Prison" study carried out some years ago by Phil Zimbardo at Stanford University.

Students were divided into two groups, prisoners and guards and a mock jailhouse was set up. Zimbardo was stunned at how easily perfectly ordinary, caring kids who just happened to have been put in the role of guards could turn really ugly and sadistic when the setting was right for it.

Even Jesus prays.

So, maybe our very smart and sensible poker "friends" found temptation in large, unregulated stacks of cash. Maybe they just got notes from executives at FT asking them if they’re comfortable having a couple of million dollars shipped to their bank accounts from time to time. Who knows?

But it’s worth asking yourself what you would do in such a situation.

Everyone Has a Price

I’m sure that the vast majority of you are saying you wouldn’t be tempted, that you’re above board and honest. But the evidence is quite clear: Some would be and some would not. Greed does things to cloud the mind. Circumstances can be compelling.

There’s an apocryphal story about Abe Lincoln. He was apparently meeting with a wealthy businessman who offered him a hefty bribe to push for some legislation.

Lincoln just stared at him and stroked his beard. The businessman hesitated and then doubled the offer. Lincoln still looked at him, stroking his beard. So the guy doubled it again. At this, Lincoln got up, grabbed him by the collar and shoved him out the door.

Lincoln’s chief of staff smiled and said, “Mr. President, that was noble of you. That was a very substantial bribe.”

“Indeed,” replied Lincoln, “but nobility had nothing to do with it. Every man has his price and the son-of-a-bitch was getting awful close to mine.”

And so it goes. Remember, Lederer and Ferguson are innocent until proven guilty. But no matter what, their reps are in the toilet and that's gonna be forever. Just like another really smart guy we used to admire and respect, Russ Hamilton.

For ongoing updates Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson and Full Tilt Poker keep an eye on our Black Friday Bulletin Board.

Author Bio:

Arthur Reber has been a poker player and serious handicapper of thoroughbred horses for four decades. He is the author of 'The New Gambler's Bible and coauthor of Gambling for Dummies'.

His new book 'Poker, Life and Other Confusing Things' from ConJelCo Publishing was just released and is available on Amazon.com.

Formerly a regular columnist for Poker Pro Magazine and Fun 'N' Games magazine, he has also contributed to Card Player (with Lou Krieger), Poker Digest, Casino Player, Strictly Slots and Titan Poker. He outlined a new framework for evaluating the ethical and moral issues that emerge in gambling for an invited address to the International Conference of Gaming and Risk Taking.

Until recently he was the Broeklundian Professor of Psychology at The Graduate Center, City University of New York.

Among his various visiting professorships was a Fulbright fellowship at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. Now semi-retired, Reber is a visiting scholar at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.

Editor's note: Nathan "Blackrain79" Williams has played over 6 million hands of online poker at the microstakes and boasts some of the most impressive winrates in the game.

In his new series on PokerListings.com Williams will be giving you the benefit of that experience, reporting from the microstakes on everything from the latest strategy trends to who's been winning the most money.

Today he kicks things off with the first in a beginner series on how to beat microstakes cash games.

For many people who begin playing online poker, the microstakes cash games are where they choose to start. These are among the most widely populated limits played on the internet, and for good reason.

You can cut your teeth in the game at a limited cost. Losing 5, 10, or even 25 bucks in a hand is not enough for most people to worry about. However, these limits are also widely played because many people get stuck playing them with breakeven or worse results for years.

Nathan Williams

Many people scoff at the idea of the micros being difficult but the reality is that online poker has changed a lot in the last 5 years and these games are not a walk in the park anymore.

However, they are definitely beatable. With the right approach and understanding of the fundamentals these games you can crush these games for some pretty outstanding winrates.

Suck-Outs Happen, Suck it Up

For many newcomers to the game, or those coming from live poker especially, I believe success first begins with an attitude shift towards a business-like approach to poker.

Bad beats happen to everyone. Yes, when you play 8 or 12 tables of online poker the suckouts will come faster than you can imagine. What else did you expect?

The single biggest issue that I see with the players at these limits that I work with is a seeming inability or unwillingness to trust the long term and trust the process.

For me personally after having played 6 million hands of online poker I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that trusting in the process really does work. I think a lot of people are looking for that magic pill to end all of their problems in poker.

They want to believe that the top players really are just super geniuses who are making sick river check-raise bluffs and owning everyone.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Trust the Process

The players who have won the most are generally the ones who grind it out day after day and stay consistent in their approach. They aren’t morons by any means but the secret to their success often doesn’t involve anywhere near as much fancy play and soul reading as is often thought.

Keep an eye on the PokerListings.com blog for more from Blackrain79.

They find ways to minimize tilt and they don’t jump stakes. How do they do this? Again, there really isn’t any secret formula that I can offer you. They just do it.

You take poker seriously and you don’t let the emotional swings of the game get to you so much. At the end of the day you are in control of your actions at the table. And if you truly want to succeed then you will find a way to stop spewing away money and stick to the game plan.

This doesn’t mean that if you learn to be an emotionless robot at the tables that you will instantly become the next online phenom. But this is half the battle for most people. And I should mention that it's a battle you can never fully win.

I believe that all players tilt to some extent and different personality types may have an easier time controlling it. But I think that when you truly commit to the long term process and seriously learn the fundamentals it isn't that hard to succeed, especially at the lowest limits.

Attaining this mature mindset towards the game really underpins everything and that’s why I chose to start off this series by emphasizing how important it is.

I've seen countless seemingly talented, smart, good players come and go all because they could not hold it together when the cards went bad on them. If this is you then all the expert theory in the world won’t help you. Get your mind right and succeed in poker.

Next time I will discuss a few of the essentials of winning at the micros such as a good HUD setup and table selection.

Click through here to read more on Nathan "Blackrain79" Williams' blog, and to buy a copy of his book: Crushing the Microstakes.

Happy April! I realized just now that I let all of March go by without updating this blog, and I definitely didn’t mean to do that!

I’ve actually had so much to write about the past few weeks, but I couldn’t seem to sit myself down and get it done.

Last time I wrote, I said that I was going to run a little experiment: I was going to avoid looking at my online poker results for a week. The experiment took place well over a month ago, but I suppose reporting the results late is better than never.

The bad news: I didn’t last a week. I have a couple excuses for this, but I’ll spare you.

The good news: the experiment still lasted five days, and it was wildly successful!

In order to make sure that I truly didn’t know how much I was up or down, I had to do a couple things. The biggest problem was hiding my account balance mid-session because, as you might know, PokerStars shows your account balance every time you register for a tournament.

Courtney on the PokerStars Big Game.

At first I tried to find an AHK tilt blocker, but I couldn’t seem to find one and it seemed like a lot of trouble to try to get someone to create one for me.

A friend suggested I just let TableNinja handle my tournament registration for me, though, and it worked like a charm.

TableNinja just handles all my “ok” pop up boxes, and I never have the chance to see my account balance.

Ignoring Results Really Helps

To say that it helped to avoid my account balance and results during my sessions is an understatement. The experiment taught me that a very large source of my tilt was knowing that I was losing and watching my account balance go down throughout the session.

The experiment also taught me that unless I check my account balance or Holdem Manager, I often have no idea whether or not I am up or down money during a session.

This became clear when one day I thought I was running so badly and I was sure I lost a ton, only to find out that I actually won money. Then another day I thought I ran great and I was up a bunch, only to find out that I had only broken even.

The experiment went so well that I now avoid my account balance and results during my session 100% of the time.

I check every day after the session is over, but I never know whether I’m up or down while I'm playing. As a result, I would say that my tilt has reduced by at least 70%. Things that used to tilt me at the tables just don’t anymore, which is really amazing to me.

The Mental Game of Poker by Jared Tendler

My experiment can’t take all the credit, though. I also started reading The Mental Game of Poker by Jared Tendler.

I read a bit of it before each session, so I have only read a little over half of it so far. It is an excellent book, though, and I have already gotten so much out of it.

I recommend it to anyone that plays poker seriously.

New Direction for this Blog

I haven’t made much money this year so far, but I’m still enjoying online poker more than ever thanks to some of these changes that I’ve made.

Learning to not care about results is something that has become very important to me, and I hope that this blog will start to reflect this. Looking at past entries, the entire blog has been focused on how much money I’ve won or lost and pretty much nothing else.

Moving forward, I hope to talk more about win rates, mental game, and other things that hopefully will be a little more interesting than just win/loss numbers.

The next time I write (which I intend to be sometime later this month), I’ll talk about how my year is going so far, as well as the foolish volume prop bet I made for April. Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables! 

Poker has long been a favored diversion for those serving in the military, particularly during times of war when the game provides a much needed escape from the steeper life-or-death stakes of battle. 

It’s only fitting, then, that the popular TV show M*A*S*H -- a comedy set against the backdrop of the Korean War -- would feature America’s favorite card game so prominently.

Spawned from the 1970 film of the same name, the long-running series became something of an American institution over its 251 episodes. 

On the CBS network for 11 seasons, the show lasted many years longer than the Korean War itself, and remained popular right up until signing off early in 1983 with its farewell show -- at the time the most watched television episode in history.

The M*A*S*H film includes only a fleeting glimpse of the poker played by the those stationed at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital.

However, one verse of the grim theme song, “Suicide Is Painless” (employed as an instrumental in the TV show), does characterize life as a kind of hopeless card game: “The game of life is hard to play / I'm gonna lose it anyway / The losing card I'll someday lay / So this is all I have to say: / Suicide is painless ...”

While the M*A*S*H film features almost no poker, its director Robert Altman would go on to feature poker prominently in his later California Split (1974), one of the better gambling movies ever made. 

McLean Stevenson as Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake.

Meanwhile, the M*A*S*H TV series frequently had its characters engaging in a regular poker game.

Deal Me Out (S02E13)

An episode from the second season titled “Deal Me Out” features chief surgeon Hawkeye Pierce (played by Alan Alda, the actor whose name is sometimes used to refer to pocket aces), surgeon Trapper McIntyre (Wayne Rogers), Colonel Blake (McLean Stevenson), Corporal Klinger (Jamie Farr), and a couple of others playing an all-night session of dealer’s choice. 

They play variations of five-card stud and five-card draw for low stakes, with a buck appearing to be the usual betting amount and pots only occasionally creeping up to more than $20. 

Interruptions occur -- at one point Hawkeye and Trapper get pulled away to the operating room -- but it’s clear that while the game is going it rates as the highest priority.

At one point the players humorously evoke the Old West, with Trapper announcing “I think it’s about time we separate the men from the boys around here.”

He claims to be the “new sheriff,” then jerks a thumb at Corp. Klinger who dresses in drag in a failed effort to get discharged.

“This here’s the new school marm,” he explains. “Deal, Tex,” says another.

Gunshots outside the tent suddenly erupt, further suggesting the Old West setting, and the game is interrupted again while they deal with a gun-wielding private (played by John Ritter in a guest spot) who’s hoping for a discharge of his own so as to avoid being sent back to the front. 

All is settled without much trouble, however, and the game stubbornly continues until the episode ends at dawn. 

“Same time next week?” someone asks as the game breaks up. “I thought this was the same time next week,” comes the reply.

Poker has always been at home in the military.

Payday (S03E22)

An episode from the third season titled “Payday” finds the game returning once again, with several looking to put their paychecks in play.

The unit’s chaplain, Father Mulcahy (William Christopher), joins the game this time around. He explains he’s trying to raise money for an orphanage, although that purpose fails to evoke sympathy from his opponents.

“No extra help, Father,” warns Trapper when he sits down, looking upwards.

“Oh, no no no,” says Fr. Mulcahy quickly in response. He then proceeds to lose enough to have to leave the game, perhaps proving he hasn’t solicited any heavenly aid.

As it happens, help does come to Fr. Mulcahy from an unexpected source after a problem arises with the paychecks. 

An extra $3,000 arrives with the money intended for the officers and enlisted men, and rather than deal with the paperwork Hawkeye (that month’s pay officer) gives the extra funds to Fr. Mulcahy for the orphanage.

Later someone from Accounting and Finance appears looking for the missing funds.

All is swiftly resolved, though, when Trapper wins a big hand with quad tens after having re-bought back into the game with a watch he’s stolen from Hawkeye.

Hawkeye takes the big pot -- just about $3K -- away from Trapper and delivers it to the A & F officer.

The episode ends with the innocent Radar taking a seat and calling a new game.  “Anybody know how to play Go Fish?” he asks. “How about Hearts? Old Maid?

Radar's poker face needs work.

Lieutenant Radar O’Reilly (S05E04)

By the fifth season Radar has learned poker well enough to play with the others, although he clearly needs help with his poker face. 

In a five-card draw hand everyone stays in for the draw, and Radar takes three cards. 

Radar looks at the first and chuckles. Then he looks at the second and begins to laugh. He turns up the third -- “Ha!” -- he says, with a wide grin. Sure enough he’s drawn a full house, and eventually drags a small pot with great satisfaction.

The game soon breaks up, and when a player named Woodruff doesn’t have the $85 he owes he explains how he works at headquarters and has access to the mimeograph machines with which he can somehow manufacture promotions. 

Hawkeye and B.J. Hunnicutt (Mike Farrell) ask him to make Radar a second lieutenant, and a couple of days later we learn he’s obliged.

When the news comes, Radar can’t figure out why he was promoted. But Hawkeye and B.J. ignore his confusion. 

“It was in the cards,” cracks B.J.

Radar is predictably very uncomfortable with his new position of authority. Like that full house he couldn’t really profit from thanks to his inability to hide the truth, so, too, does his honest, generous nature make it hard for him to be a boss to anyone. 

And so by the end Hawkeye and B.J. make sure he’s returned to being a Corporal.

The Merchant of Korea (S06E14)

This episode from the sixth season introduced a new character to the poker table, Major Charles Emerson Winchester III (David Ogden Stiers). 

David Ogden Stiers as Major Charles Emerson Winchester III.

Once more it is payday, although when a screw-up at HQ causes the officers’ pay to be delayed, Charles ends up loaning money to some of the others. 

When Charles lords it over B.J. and Hawkeye -- thus inspiring them to call him “the Merchant of Korea” after Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice -- they get the idea to invite him to the poker game and he accepts. 

A poker novice, all are greatly excited at the chance to win some money from “Losechester.” 

“I must warn you, I’m a very lucky person,” says Charles. “Oh, we all are,” Hawkeye responds. “That’s why we’re in Korea.”

The game begins and in the first hand of five-card draw Charles raises, then asks for four cards, eliciting smiles all around. 

Those happy faces quickly change, however, when he turns over a winning straight and rakes a huge pot, merrily whistling Verdi’s La Traviata as he does.

Charles proceeds to crush the game for several hours until finally the others discover his tell -- he whistles more loudly when he has nothing. 

“Rhapsody in Bluff!” says B.J. Eventually all win their money back and then some, and leave the game whistling themselves.

Wheelers and Dealers (S10E05)

This episode “Wheelers and Dealers” from the tenth season finds B.J. upset about his wife back home having to take a job to help pay the mortgage. 

B.J. takes out his frustration on his opponents in a poker game, beating them mercilessly in hand after hand.

Alan Alda as Captain Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce.

One hand of five-card draw finds the group starting out making small raises of “two bits” before the draw. B.J. stands pat while others take cards. 

“Must be hosting a royal reception” says a wary Sgt. Verbanic (Anthony Charnota). 

After the draw B.J. and Verbanic start re-raising back and forth, with the latter finally saying “let’s play like grown-ups” before raising to $10. 

B.J. comes back with $20 more, and when Verbanic re-raises again B.J. bumps it up another $100, tossing in his wedding ring to help make up the amount.

During that action, a cowboy hat-wearing Hawkeye is fixing a drink when he spots B.J.’s hand -- 10♥ 8♠ 9♠ A♠ 6♦! He’s stood pat with ace-high and is bluffing. 

And it works, as Verbanic folds.

Play continues until the others get tired of losing to B.J. and the game breaks up. Still desperate for action, B.J. hits the officers’ club and starts hustling privates gambling at pinball until finally Hawkeye and Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan (Loretta Swit) intervene. 

It’s Margaret who snaps B.J. out of his self-pity after he complains to the pair about having to be away from his family. 

“Maybe you do have the most to lose,” she says. "But that's only because you’ve got the most.” It’s a life lesson that applies at the poker table, too.

Poker turned up elsewhere on M*A*S*H, including in the episode titled "Your Hit Parade" (SE06E18) when the gang play the made-up game Double Cranko -- a combination of checkers, chess, poker, and gin rummy in which the rules seem to change constantly according to players' whims ("Bishops are jacks!" "Checkers are wild!").

Less dark than the film, the M*A*S*H TV show frequently moved back and forth between comedy and drama, more often than not dealing with its wartime themes with grins rather than grief. 

Thus was poker an especially apt vehicle to infuse some light-hearted fun into an otherwise serious setting.

Martin Harris is a poker writer and player and a part-time professor at UNC-Charlotte who teaches, among other things, a course on poker's role in American history and culture.

In a new bi-weekly column on PokerListings.com, Martin will be exploring the many ways poker and pop culture intersect. Read more work by Martin Harris on his own blog, Hard-Boiled Poker.

Having the right HUD (heads up display) setup and exercising good table selection are two of the most fundamental keys to success in online poker regardless of the stakes.

Beginning with HUD setup, the Coke and Pepsi of the online poker world are Hold’em Manager and Pokertracker. Both companies have recently released new versions and you can’t go wrong with either.

Trial versions are available for both and even if you’re just getting started at the lowest stakes I recommend becoming familiar with using a HUD.

The main utility of these programs is to read the raw hand histories that you receive from the poker site when you play a hand and configure the data about your own play and that of others into useful information on every variety of statistics imaginable.

You can then get this information to show up on the table itself and have it update in real time as you play more hands and gain more information. Being able to quickly discern what kind of player you are up against immediately will be vitally important to making good decisions at the table.

Nathan Williams teaches you to beat the micros.

Less is More in the World of HUDs

I personally recommend a minimalist approach to HUD setup. The most important stats by far in my opinion are VPIP (voluntarily put in pot), PFR (preflop raise) and AF (aggression factor).

These stats, especially the first two, tell you what type of player you are playing against over a sample as small as just 10 hands.

If somebody has a VPIP of 90% (they are playing 90% of their hands) in an orbit or two you can be highly confident that this is a bad player. On the flip side, if their VPIP is only 10% you can be pretty confident that this is a tight regular.

PFR also aids in telling you how aggressive a player is. If the 90% VPIP player has a PFR of 10% for instance you can quickly discern that this is a passive fish. If their PFR is 80% then this player is a maniac fish.

A good rule to remember is that preflop aggression usually translates to postflop aggression and the reverse is also true. Preflop passiveness usually indicates postflop passiveness.

But the player’s AF will also help you determine this. Be careful to have quite a bit bigger sample with this stat than with VPIP and PFR but in general 3 or less is a fairly passive player and 4 or more is aggressive.

Beyond these three key stats you should also make sure that you include a number of other stats such as your opponent’s fold to cbet, fold to turn cbet, their cbet and turn cbet, their 3bet, fold to 3bet and steal percentage.

As I said, I don’t recommend cluttering up your screen with every single stat possible. These 10 or so should provide all the information that you need in 99% of your poker decisions. If you need to access something else, just make use of the full popup.

Table Selection Now More Than Ever

Probably the most overlooked key to success in online poker is good table selection.

HUDs give you important info so you can make faster and more accurate decisions.

In an era where fish are now the exception to the rule rather than the norm, sitting yourself at the right table (with them playing on it and much preferably having them on your right) is of vital importance.

You can of course rely on your HUD to supply you with this information. But using the note system, which nearly all poker sites provide, will also go a long way.

I prefer to colour code the fish in particular the second I notice them. I don’t really even concern myself with tagging the regulars much anymore. The utility of tagging the bad players is that the colour or tag will usually show up in the poker site’s lobby as well. So if you have the weak player already tagged you can easily notice which table he is seated at in the lobby.

It is very important to realize just how much of your profit will come from bad players especially at the micros. One of the easiest ways to notice this is to go through your HEM or PT database and look at the big hands that you have recently won. Almost invariably you will find that most of them involved bad players.

While learning how to exploit and win from the regulars is not a bad thing (and will be much more important at higher limits) I recommend that newer players really focus almost entirely on the fish at the lowest limits.

If you table select well you should almost never find yourself playing at a table which doesn’t have at least one bad player on it. There just isn’t any need as these player types are found a lot more easily at these limits.

Next time I will begin to talk about some of the fundament approaches to solid strategic play at the microstakes.

Click through here to read more on Nathan "Blackrain79" Williams' blog, and to buy a copy of his book: Crushing the Microstakes.

I haven’t updated this blog in forever mainly because I haven’t been playing poker. A couple weeks into June, I had a standard downswing and found myself tilting a lot worse than usual. I decided that I needed to take a short break, and then a short break turned into two weeks and counting.

I’ve spent the last two weeks relaxing, enjoying life, and doing things that I actually want to do. I think a lot of people view poker as a glamorous dream job, and people are often really impressed when they find out I play it for a living.

The truth is, though, that it’s not glamorous for most of us. For most poker players it’s a grind.

Don’t get me wrong. I feel very lucky to have the choice to stay home every day and play a card game at my computer. I love games. I love poker. It’s just that while there are plenty of upsides, there are also plenty of downsides.

I sometimes feel like I live in another world. I almost separate my life into two halves: one that involves poker and one that doesn’t. I don’t really talk about poker to my non-poker friends. Many times they are curious about what I do and ask questions like, “What is the most you have lost in one day? What is the biggest pot you have ever won?”

Courtney started blogging at PL.com when she was on the PokerStars Big Game.

I can answer these questions, but I can’t really talk about the things that are actually on my mind. When I’m on a (super standard) $8k downswing and feeling blue, it’s tough to explain what I’m feeling to someone that doesn’t gamble.

I think that if I called up my mom and told her how much I lost the last week I played poker, she would have a heart attack.

On the other hand, I am still learning to desensitize myself from losing this money. To many poker players $8k is a drop in the bucket, and I’m supposed to be fine with losing it. I usually am. I’ve trained myself to register for SnGs that cost hundreds of dollars and not care about how much I’m in for. Oh I’m down $2k today? No problem. Definitely standard.

Poker-Think Dangerous in Everday Life

I try to never think of my losses using the “non-poker” side of my brain because if I do, I think I’ll be sick. In a given week I will lose twice more money than my graduated-from-university-and-working-full-time friends will earn in a month. If I sit here and put my losses into real-world terms, I might scare myself and never play poker again.

On the other hand, occasionally I’ll find myself trapped in the poker-world mindset and wanting to spend money because it seems like nothing. Like if I want to have dinner somewhere and it costs $100 for a meal, the real-world side of me will think that’s ridiculously expensive.

"I’m hoping that these last two weeks off will help me regain the balance I need in my life to be happy playing poker again."

But the poker-world side of me will go, “WTF that’s only one SnG buy-in, who cares?!” and snap order it. I know that when I start thinking about real-life things in terms of SnG buy-ins, it’s time for a reality check.

I’m hoping that these last two weeks off will help me regain the balance I need in my life to be happy playing poker again. I’ve been reflecting and thinking about poker again the last couple of days, so I think I’m almost ready to get back to the tables.

When I do start up again, I intend on keeping a “mental game” blog. In the Mental Game of Poker, Jared Tendler recommends writing a lot, especially after sessions. I think that writing about things like what tilted me, what I did well, and what I did terribly in a given session is a great idea. I think it will help with my tilt issues, and it will also allow me to forget about poker once I’m done playing for the day.

If you are interested in reading these blog entries, I’ll be posting them on my new poker blog. This is a blog I used to keep before I started blogging on PokerListings, so you can also read some of my old poker entries if you’re interested.

Thanks for reading this long, rambling post. Hopefully I actually have some poker to talk about the next time I write! In the meantime, good luck at the tables.

One thing I’ve learned about playing online poker for a living is that you have to be flexible because things are always changing. Always have a backup plan in case things don’t go as they should. Never put all your eggs in one basket.

Black Friday showed that the state of online poker can change dramatically overnight. I saw many lives get turned upside down as a result, and I feel lucky that I didn’t have to experience the problems many American players faced.

I also feel lucky that I learned a valuable lesson: My “job” can disappear at any time. While online poker will always be available, it might not always be a viable way to make a living. Perhaps something like Black Friday will occur where I live. Maybe the games will become too tough.

Or maybe volume will decrease so much that I won’t be able to get enough games in. For example, the recent segregation of players from Spain has caused a slight reduction in player traffic on PokerStars.

The quality and volume of SnGs has been a growing problem this year, particularly with 6-max. I didn’t play 6-max SnGs until around February, so I have no idea what they were like last year. I do know that they were much better at the start of 2012 than they are now, though.

Courtney Gee

I remember hoping that games would improve in June because of the WSOP, but the opposite happened. The quality of games wasn’t always bad, but the volume was really terrible.

I remember looking at the 6-max lobbies one afternoon and seeing only one SnG over $60 running.

My friends and I suspect that the introduction of $200 hyper-turbo SnGs killed our action. Recreational players tend to enjoy games that go faster, so they are more likely to play a $200 hyper-turbo than a $200 regular turbo.

Adapting Strategy to Changing Online Games

As I’ve said many times before, I am terrible at multi-tabling. Because of this, I was playing fewer games per day but at a higher average buy-in (usually between $100 and $120). So it was a really big problem for me when the mid- and-high stakes didn’t run anymore.

I wasn’t the only one to run into problems. All turbo 6-max games suffered, including lower stakes. Because the high-stakes games weren’t running, the high-stake regs were forced to play lower stakes if they wanted to play. This made the lower-stake games much tougher to beat.

I love SnGs and everything, but this is a huge problem for me. A lot of players can just accept the lower average buy-in and play more tables to compensate for the loss in hourly, but this isn’t an option for me. So what should I do? Settle for making less money? Move to hypers?

I haven’t exactly come up with a solution yet. I actually decided to temporarily run away from the problem and, in the meantime, play a completely different game instead. I briefly explained how I arrived at my decision to try PLO cash games in my Wordpress blog, so feel free to take a look if you are interested.

I apologize for the doom-and-gloom tone of this entry – it wasn’t intentional. While I am frustrated with the state of the games right now, I am optimistic that they will improve in the future. I think that the possibility of real money games on Zynga is really exciting, as is the possibility of legal online poker in the U.S.

It seems like online poker has a bright future ahead, so I think that poker players hoping or trying to make a living playing online should stay patient for now. I plan to keep playing and improving my game so that if and when the next poker boom happens, I am well and ready.

- Courtney

If you've ever been in the market for a poker table, you're well aware the cost for even a basic set-up can run you $1,500+.

For something customized to your home/space or something truly show-stopping, you're looking at twice that or more.

It doesn't have to be that way though.

Guest blogger Jeff Kuronen has put together exclusively for PokerListings.com a full step-by-step guide to building your own poker table including images for every step and detailed CAD plans.

We think it's the perfect Do-It-Yourself solution to building a great poker table for under $300 - and in a reasonable amount of time.

Once you're done, you're all set to host the weekly card game you've always wanted to.

For tips on running the perfect home game, check our complete 14-part guide here.

By Jeff Kuronen

After constantly burning through cheap playing cards while playing poker with my friends I decided to finally invest in some plastic cards.

While scouring the internet for new cards I came across a great local site selling poker supplies.

They sell everything from cards to poker tables and building supplies, and it didn’t take long for my search to turn from cards to tables.

I quickly found out that a higher quality table would cost $1,500 or more.

These tables, at 3.5’ x 8’, were never going to fit in my small basement and I couldn’t justify spending that much.

So I decided to build one myself. The final dimensions of this poker table are 4’ x 6’ and it seats eight people comfortably.

About 25 hours and $300 were spent building it.

What You’ll Need:

Tools:

Home Depot:

Straight Poker Supplies (www.StraightPokerSupplies.com)

Your Auto Trim (www.YourAutoTrim.com)

Foam By Mail (www.FoamByMail.com)

Build It

First, I traced out all the cut lines on both sheets of plywood.

After all my cut lines were laid out, I created a jig out of some scrap wood to guide my jigsaw in a perfect circle through the round cuts.

This process went horribly. Do NOT attempt the same thing.

After messing around with it for about an hour I was forced to admit defeat.

I ended up going really slowly with the jigsaw by hand and then sanding the edges smooth with a belt sander. A lot of imperfections will be hidden by the thick foam layer so it doesn’t have to be perfect.

Here’s a picture of the first few finished plywood pieces. These three pieces were all cut from a single plywood sheet.

The next step is gluing and screwing all the rail pieces together, making sure to avoid putting screws in spots where the future cup holders will go.

Screw from the bottom surface of the rail - the top surface should be as consistent and smooth as possible. Use wood filler if there are any holes from knots.

There are three layers of plywood in this design to give the rail extra height.

The first two assembled layers are shown here upside down – the top surface should be the single plywood piece.

Here’s the bottom view with the third, thinner layer attached.

The bottom layer is used to position the rail on the playing surface.

Next, the two oval plywood sheets are glued and screwed together and the fold-out legs are added.

If you want to stain the underside of the table, you should do it before attaching the legs. I didn’t stain mine because most people won’t see the bottom.

If you want to be a bit fancier install wooden legs instead. I personally needed the portability and this finished table weighs roughly 80lbs.

Here’s a quick look at the rough assembly:

Clamp the rough assembly together to drill the holes for the T-nuts. This is done so that the rail can be removed for cleaning or in case something needs to be replaced (potentially the poker speed cloth).

Use a hammer to drive the T-nuts into the rail surface. This needs to be flush; otherwise you may have bumps under your rail.

Once the T-nuts are installed, fasten the assembled rail to the playing surface using the eight machine bolts coupled with the washers.

Drill the 3-5/8” holes for the cup holders while the table is fastened in this assembly.

Here’s a view from the bottom with the holes cut out:

Now the easy part is finished and it’s time to add foam and upholster the rail.

Remove the rail assembly from the table.

Lay the 1” foam on the ground, spray the top of the rail with spray adhesive and set the rail on the foam making sure to leave enough room so that you can wrap the foam around the rail.

Leave it like this for an hour with a few heavy objects on top. Make some rough cuts in the foam to make it workable.

Use the spray adhesive again on the sides of the rail and wrap it like shown. You may want to clamp the straight sides using a scrap piece of wood to hold it while it dries.

Do the same for the outside and then trim the excess foam.

You may have to re-apply spray adhesive more than once because it may peel off the rail in a few places.

Cut out the foam where the cup holders are going to be placed. Use a sharp knife.

Next up is the vinyl. Start by stapling one straight edge.

You’re going to need a lot of staples for this step; probably around 400-500.

Your hands may hurt for a few days afterwards from all the stapling but it is well worth the effort.

You can see that the vinyl is not long enough to go to the other side in the picture above.

This may seem to be a problem at first but you will need to stretch the vinyl with all your strength to get it all the way around the other side.

You may want a friend to help you with that to make it easier.

After you staple the straight edges you need to staple the round edges. Start stapling at the middle of the curve.

Make sure you stretch the vinyl to make it as tight as you can. Each new staple should be placed in the middle of the largest unstapled section until you feel as if you have it all secured.

This will most likely require staples to be very close to each other. This is very time consuming and you will want some pliers and a screwdriver to remove staples when sections don’t look right.

Don’t be discouraged here. Take your time with this because this is the most important step to make your table look great.

The vinyl will inevitably bunch up a little here but most should be hidden underneath the table.

The next step is to cut the centre of the vinyl like is shown in the picture below.

Don’t cut too close to the edges at first.

You can always cut more if needed as you test out this process.

Start stapling the straight section first and then work on the curved parts next.

Remember to always pull very hard when stapling.

Like before, on the curved section, each staple should be placed in the middle of the largest unstapled section until you feel as if you have it all secured.

Now it’s time for the most terrifying part of the job - cutting the holes for the cup holders.

Be careful. Cut an “X” shape in the middle of the holes.

Start small as you can always make the cuts larger later. Test out the holes using the cup holders.

If it goes in snugly then you’ve done it right.

Although it’s not shown here and is an optional step, there are thin wood rings that were cut using the 3-5/8” and 4” hole saws assembled together on the hole saw drill bit.

This wood ring helps support the cup holder and keep it level when a heavy drink is placed in it.

Put the wood rings into the rail under the vinyl before putting the cup holders in place. They should slip into the “X” cuts easily.

The hardest part is finished! It’s all easy from here on out.

On to the playing surface. Spray the table top with the adhesive and centre the ¼” foam.

You definitely want this foam – don’t skimp here as it adds some give in your table surface that will make playing more comfortable.

Once the foam is attached, cut the excess material off.

Next you need to staple the speed cloth over the table. Center the cloth over the table.

Staple the edges and the cup holder cutouts to secure the cloth.

Trim the excess material around the edges and within the cup holder cutouts.

Attach the rail to the playing surface using the eight machine bolts coupled with the washers from the bottom of the rail and you are done.

It’s time to have a game and a few drinks.

Complete CAD Blueprints for the DIY Poker Table

Click here for the full-size PDF of the CAD plans.

So I changed games again. Last time I mentioned that PLO was a temporary solution while I tried to figure out my next move. I never really expected to play it long term (although a girl can dream).

You might have already guessed that the main problem with PLO cash games as a long term solution is the variance involved. While I didn’t research the variance possibilities myself, my friend did a bit of scouting. We estimated that with my volume, I could easily run bad for an entire year. Losing money for a year? I’m gonna go ahead and say no thank you.

I seem to talk about my multitabling woes and inability to amass volume ALL the time, but can you blame me? It really does cause tons of problems. If I could multitable properly, PLO cash games might be a viable option. Instead, there is pretty much no way to consider it unless I want variance to run my life.

I think PLO is a super fun game, though. I really enjoyed the hours I spent learning it, and I definitely improved a lot in a short period of time. Once I become competent at heads-up hyper turbo SnGs, I intend on playing PLO around once per week so that I can slowly improve at it.

Oh yes, heads-up hyper turbos. That’s the game I switched to. Who knows how long I will play it, although I’m hoping it’s for a while.

Heads-Up: A New Challenge

I’ve always kind of avoided playing heads-up in the past. I think the main reason is that I tend to tilt pretty easily, and heads-up is easily one of the most tilting forms of poker. I just assumed that there was no way I could ever handle the tilt that came from playing it.

Courtney Gee

Unfortunately for me, though, the time to test this theory has come. At this point, I’m running out of options. I don’t want to play MTTs, I can’t play enough volume to make regular or turbo SnGs profitable, and I don’t want to play hyper 6-max. Where NLHE is concerned, this means that I have to play cash games or heads-up SnGs. Given my background, I figured I should probably try heads-up first. I am also lucky enough to have a good friend that does very well at them, so it seems like a wise choice.

I started at $30s and $60s so that I could learn the game without losing too much money. After some review I felt comfortable that I kind of knew what I was doing, so I moved to $100s. I have played 20-25 hours of heads-up over the past week, with plenty of review in between.

So far I find the games pretty enjoyable, although maybe I just like running hot because I am definitely doing that. It’s nice of the poker gods to give me some run good while switching to a new game, though – it always makes the transition easier.

Since I have been running hot, I haven’t had the chance to see if the games tilt me as much as I thought they might. I am definitely going to run bad sometime, though, and I hope I’ll come back to report that hey, I didn’t get tilted at all! Am I being totally unrealistic? Yup. This might be a good time to find my copy of The Mental Game of Poker…

Speaking of The Mental Game of Poker, I need to get back on track with my “mental game blog”. I’m supposed to be updating my other blog after every session to keep track of my mental game progress, but instead I have usually been updating before each session (which is much less useful). I’m gonna really make an effort to do it properly this coming month because I think it’s very important.

This is getting kind of long, so I’m gonna stop here. Hopefully I am still playing hyper heads-up next time I write ;) Good luck at the tables!

So last time I talked about how to properly set up your HUD and the importance of good table selection. And before that I discussed the overall mental approach necessary for success in poker.

In this third instalment of this series I want to finally get into the nuts and bolts of profitable play. That is, how you should play your cards. In my opinion a tight and aggressive (TAG) approach is the most effective strategy at the micros.

Some people will advocate a loose and aggressive (LAG) approach but I think the chances that a beginner or even novice level poker player will be able to successfully pull it off are very low and so I advise against it.

The biggest reason is that a LAG approach will put you in many more marginal situations, which when running bad will make it rain twice as hard, and most newer players will not have sufficient tilt control to deal with this.

Nathan Williams has played millions of hands at the microstakes online.

So what is a TAG strategy? Well in a full ring NL cash game this would mean playing approximately the top 15% of all hands you’re dealt and raising preflop (3 times the big blind is usually fine) with about 12% (I will explain the gap in a moment).

 In a 6max cash game I would advocate something like a 21/18 strategy. If you don’t know what cards these would actually refer to a good free little program to use is called Pokerstove.

You can simply plug in the numbers and it will give you a decent idea of what this range will look like. If you play within these parameters you will be entering the pot with a pretty strong hand the majority of the time. This will help keep your decisions at the table a lot more simple.

The reason for the gap is that sometimes you will be calling a raise preflop or even occasionally limping behind a bunch of other limpers with a speculative hand. But these should be small exceptions to the rule.

You should be raising or re-raising preflop the vast majority of the time that you decide to enter the pot. While there are very few set-in-stone rules in poker here is one: If you are the first person to enter the pot you should never limp. You should raise 100% of the time.

Raising and Re-Raising > Limping

Why do we want to do this many people will ask. Why not limp more and see a flop and get out cheaply if we have nothing? The reason that we don’t want to do this is that winning poker isn’t all about waiting for the nuts and hoping that somebody will pay you off.

Playing microstakes online is the perfect way to perfect your game before taking it live.

Most of the time in NL Hold’em nobody has anything very good. The person who has taken an aggressive stance is usually the one who takes down those pots. When you limp preflop you give yourself only one way to win the pot, make a hand. When you raise you give yourself two ways, make a hand or take it down with a continuation bet.

And you have the added bonus of taking down more money since you built a pot preflop. The numbers simply do not lie. Limping or calling is losing poker.

The other important point to note concerning preflop play is that position matters, a lot. You should be playing very few hands in the first few seats (early position) and playing a lot of hands around the button (late position). You should play a few more hands from the blinds than you do in early position but overall you should still keep it pretty tight.

Why? Well the reason is pretty simple once again. There is an old saying that “money flows towards the button” in poker. It couldn’t be more true.

Over enormous samples I have seen that my winrate in late position is far greater than all other positions at the table. In fact you will straight up lose from the blinds due to being forced to put money in the pot with a random hand once every orbit. But you still need to try and defend them a little bit as I mentioned before. But the principle is simple. Play more hands where it is profitable. Play less where it is unprofitable.

So to sum up, the best strategy at microstakes cash games is TAG. You should only be playing fairly strong hands most of the time and being the preflop aggressor as often as possible. Also, you should be playing much more hands the closer you get to the button.

Next time I will talk about postflop strategy.

Click through here to read more on Nathan "Blackrain79" Williams' blog, and to buy a copy of his book: Crushing the Microstakes.

Read More Guest Posts from Nathan "Blackrain79" Williams:

I haven’t talked much about my experience with heads-up hyper turbos yet, so I figured I’d do that today.

If you follow my Mental Game Blog, you’ll know that I’ m currently playing buy-ins between $100 and $300. I played mostly $60s and $100s for all of September, and then I added $200s at the start of October. I started registering for $300s just a few days ago and have only played a handful.

Because bankroll wasn’t much of an issue for me, I was able to go from playing $30s to $300s between August and now. I often read people asking about the differences between buy-ins while moving up, so I thought I’d briefly share my thoughts about it.

$30s are low stakes and obviously extremely soft. Since I didn’t play many $30s, I’m not too sure about the number of regs at this level. There are so many fish that play $30s, though, that it doesn’t really matter at all.

I spent a bit longer with $60s. There are definitely some regs at this level, but there are also plenty of games. This buy-in is quite popular, so I didn’t play regs that often and I never had to wait around to play.

Be prepared for protective regs

The change is a little more significant going from $60s to $100s. A much smaller number of these run, and there are WAY more regs. Not only are there more regs, some of them are actually competent at this level.

I’m sure that several poker players make a decent clip at $100s when rakeback is considered (which explains why there are so many regs).

The jump from $100s to $200s is even tougher. It comes as no surprise that even fewer $200s run, and unsurprisingly, some of the regs are quite good. If you don’t want to play regs, the games can be very difficult to get. If you are a new player in the lobbies and none of the regs recognize your screen name, you are probably going to play regs all day.

I played tons of regs when I moved up, and I still do. Some regs are protective of their lobbies and go out of their way to sit new players, which I have experienced quite a bit in the past month.

Higher Stakes, Tougher Regulars

The regs are also much more aggressive than the $100 regs, which I had trouble with at first. I have learned quite a lot about adjusting proper amounts rather than over adjusting like a lot of people tend to naturally do. Moving from $100s to $200s has definitely required more work than anything I have ever experienced when it comes to online poker.

I don’t currently have a lot to say about moving from $200s to $300s since I have only played a handful of $300s. Since almost all the $300 regs also play $200s, though, the jump almost certainly won’t be as difficult as it was when moving from $100s to $200s.

Moving from $200 to $300 should be easier.

Despite being in a tough stage of my learning process when it comes to hyper heads-up, I am really enjoying playing a lot. I am more motivated than ever when it comes to actually getting hours in, and working on improving every day has become a source of pride for me.

I try to post at the end of every session I play, so feel free to read my Mental Game Blog if you want to follow my progress.

If you are from the Vancouver area, you will probably know that the WSOP Circuit has come to town. The main event starts at the end of this week and has a $1.6k buy-in, so I’ll be taking a couple days off online poker to play that.

I’ll likely have a couple swaps in the event, which means I’ll probably be tweeting a few updates here and there. Feel free to follow me on Twitter @courtiebee if you want to know how I do.

Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables. If you are playing in the Circuit event, see you at River Rock!

I somehow went all of November without blogging here. I meant to write before I headed off to Peru for the LAPT Grand Final mid-month, but the writing never materialized. But, better late than never, here I am with a tournament trip report!

For those that don’t know, the LAPT Grand Final was a $2.5k buy-in held in Lima. I played a few satellites trying to win a package to the event, but the closest I got was 2nd place in one of the $22r 3x turbos (which are insanely frustrating, by the way).

In the end I made a small profit playing the satellites, but I had to enter the tournament using FPPs.

My friends and I got into Lima the day before Day 1 of the Main Event and stayed at Hotel Estelar (which was across the street from where the tournament was being held). I ended up sleeping pretty badly that night because our room was facing a street that was very loud with traffic both late at night and early in the morning.

Courtney Gee at the LAPT Grand Final.

Despite sleeping badly, I felt fine the morning of Day 1. After some breakfast, we went across the street to Atlantic City Casino and went upstairs to find our tables.

Dealing with the Language Barrier

I discovered right away that only a small number of dealers spoke English and that everything at the table was in Spanish. I know this shouldn’t have been a surprise to me, but I assumed that the dealers would at least be able to speak English if necessary. This was not the case.

The only time the language was a big problem for me was when someone threw out a single large chip and I didn’t know what the amount of the bet or raise was because I didn’t understand what the dealer said.

As time went on at my table, I figured out which players spoke English and they were able to help me when necessary.  

As far as actual poker went, my stack stayed the same for almost the entire day. The structure of the tournament was quite good, so the 20k starting stack didn’t start to become shallow until multiple hours into the event. I went up to 30k and back down to 20k multiple times. At one point I think I got as low as 11k chips at 300/600 ante 100.

My table wasn’t extremely tough, but the worst players got busted during the first half of the day. I could tell by raise and bet sizing that most of the people at my table were at least competent, and I remember thinking that I would love a table change.

I also knew that my table was never breaking, though, and that I was almost certainly going to be stuck there until the end of the day.

First Double of the Day

I finally doubled my starting stack around 7 hours into the tournament. I raised K9 in middle position, got called by two players and was treated to a flop of KKT rainbow.

I made a small bet on the flop, and then check/called both the turn and river until I was all-in. I’m fairly sure my opponent mucked a T.

My stack was 41k at the last break which wasn’t overly impressive but still above average in chips. At this point my night of bad sleep was beginning to catch up with me, and I was starting to feel pretty tired. I remember level 9 going by extremely slowly.

More hiking in Peru.

I still managed to increase my stack, though. I got up to 52k chips by raise/calling preflop with KJ, calling a QJx flop, checking behind a flush draw turn, and making a small value bet on the river.

Then during the last level of play, I raised as many hands as possible because the pots were huge thanks to 200 antes at 600/1200 blinds. Add in the fact that many people were mentally checking out since it was so close to the end of the Day 1, and it was wildly profitable to raise a wide range at my table.

Reviewing for Mistakes

I played one hand particularly poorly during the last level on Day 1. One of the stronger players at my table min-raised in late position with around 28k in his stack, and I flatted in the big blind with T9.

The flop came K77. I checked, and my opponent checked behind. The turn was a K, I checked again, and my opponent also checked again. The river was some small card and I made a bet that was slightly over pot sized. My opponent tanked for several minutes and finally made the correct call with QJ.

The way I played the hand was unfortunate because my opponent’s stack would have allowed me to bet the turn and then overbet bluff shove the river. He would have had to fold almost everything if I’d played it like that, and I instantly knew I made a mistake when I checked the turn.

Nevertheless, I finished the day with 64k, which was just above an average stack. Overall I was pretty happy with the way I played for most of the day, and I was glad to have an average stack considering I sat on starting stack for 7 levels. 122 of us made Day 2, and 56 players were scheduled to make the money.

Stay tuned for my Day 2 trip report!

Catch up with Part 1 of Courtney's trip to Peru here.

I’m a really light sleeper and my hotel room was (once again) extremely noisy, so I slept even more badly the night before Day 2 than I did the night before Day 1.

Having slept around 10 hours in the past three nights, I went to the casino feeling like a zombie on Day 2 of the LAPT Grand Final.

Thanks to my lack of sleep (and how bad I am at dealing with it), Day 2 was a haze for me. I remember thinking that my table was quite aggressive. I also had a couple players from my Day 1 table to my left, which was unfortunate because they knew how I played and had position.

Halfway through level 1, I got dealt QQ and got my 30bb stack all-in preflop with KK. Luckily for me I hit a Q on the turn and doubled up to 120k. Someone said they even folded a Q, so it was a one outer!

No Sleep = Questionable Play

Unfortunately, my sleepy self decided to punt this amazing poker gift shortly after.

I was sitting to the left of two active players, and I decided to make a terrible squeeze in the sb with A7 after one of them raised in mp and the other called on the button.

Playing in the LAPT Grand Final.

Unsurprisingly, I ended up having to play a pot out of position with a terrible hand after the button called.

The flop came KQxr and the button called my continuation bet. The turn brought a T and also a club draw, and I checked intending to just fold to a jam since he had less than a pot sized bet behind.

My opponent suckered me in with an 8k bet into an almost 60k pot, though. I definitely should have folded, but I didn’t.

When the river came the J♣, I shoved all-in out of position, and my opponent snap called me with A♣ T♣. Talk about putting my chips in dead on every street …

After that hand I was pretty much back to where I started with around 60k or 30bb. On my last hand I was dealt QQ again and called preflop against a very aggressive player. I fist-pump-called three streets all-in post flop with my over pair and lost to KK.

It was pretty surreal when I busted because I wasn’t really clear-minded at all. I went back to my room and went to bed, and the only reason I remember anything that happened that day was because I wrote notes about each hand right after I played them.

I felt really horrible once I woke up from my nap and realized I was busto, though. Busting from a tournament because you played badly is probably the worst thing ever – MUCH worse than busting from a bad beat.

If I hadn’t played the A7 hand so poorly, I still would have had chips after the QQ vs KK cooler hand and who knows what might have happened. I felt pretty glum about it for the rest of the day.

Plenty of time to hike after busting the tournament.

Free Time in Peru Isn't So Bad

Luckily I was still on vacation and had mucho access to endless papaya juice and smoothies, so I got over the tournament fairly quickly. I spent the rest of my time in Peru eating amazing food, bartering for alpaca scarves, and hiking to Machu Picchu.

I had a wonderful time in Peru and I would definitely go back. The people are extremely friendly, the food is amazing, and the weather is great.

If you ever go to Cusco, I highly recommend the restaurant Greens Organic. Be sure to get the mango (with pineapple, passion fruit, and lemongrass) smoothie because it’s definitely one of the best things I’ve ever tasted.

Where poker is concerned, I thought PokerStars did a great job running the event. I would definitely go to another LAPT, although this time I would probably try to learn a small amount of Spanish first :)

Now I’m sadly back at home, where it’s cold and I’m trying to win at online poker. Poker has gone quite poorly since I got back. The next time I write here, I’ll give a summary of how $200 and $300 hyper HU has been going since November.

The theme of 2012 was definitely “did not play enough”. I did a rough calculation of the hours I played last year and it probably averages to 15 hours per week at the most, which is pretty sad.

The main problem I had in 2012 was not knowing which game to play. I spent the first part of the year trying to play mainly 6-max turbo SnGs, but those games got really tough.

I wanted to play an average buy-in of ~$220, but I ended up dropping down to an ABI of around $120 before I stopped playing. I just wasn’t +EV enough (if at all) with the number of regs that were in each game, so I had to stop playing.

I barely played any hours at all in the summer, pretty much taking two to three months off. I’d go to my computer, see the games were bad as usual, wait a few hours to see if they got better, then take the rest of the day off.

Some days I played 18-man SnGs, but I didn’t really enjoy playing those. I even played some PLO cash, but that didn’t last long.

I started playing HU hypers at the end of August, and I really think it revitalized my poker career. I had dreaded playing poker every day in the spring and the summer; it was a lot of waiting around, it was boring, and my expectation wasn’t that good.

Courtney plans to play roughly 40 weeks of poker in 2013.

But now that I’m playing HU, I feel motivated to play almost every day. I also feel more motivated to get in hours.

My lack of income last year caused my savings and bankroll to suffer slightly, unfortunately. In 2012 I ended up spending around $20k more than I made playing poker.

I had a lot of things to pay for, so it certainly wasn’t a good year to take so much time off. The one positive is that I made the same amount of money last year as I did in 2011 except I played fewer hours, so at least my hourly went up.

New Resolutions for a New Year

Most people are optimistic when starting a new year, and I am no exception. I made only a small profit playing HU hypers last year, but I improved quite a bit as a player. As long as I keep working on my game and putting in hours, I think this year will be a lot better.

Once again, my main goal for 2013 is to put in a suitable number of hours (which I clearly failed at doing in 2012). I’ll be aiming for 30 hours of playing a week and then a few extra hours per week for review.

Realistically, I’ll probably end up taking around three full months off poker, so I’m planning to play around 40 weeks.

Other than my goal for hours, my only other goal for this year is to move up to $500 hypers at some point. I’m not sure how long this will take me, but I suspect it might be a while. The reg battles can get pretty fierce at the $500 buy-in level, so I will need to increase my bankroll quite a bit if I want to move up and stay up. I definitely don’t expect to accomplish this during the first half of the year.

So that summarizes my 2012 and outlines my two goals for 2013. What are your poker goals for the New Year? Leave a comment and let me know.

I’ll be back in a couple weeks with an update on how hypers are going for the start of 2013. If you are interested in reading post session updates, please follow my other blog as I try to update every day I play. Until next time, good luck at the tables!

Last time I talked about earning money for a three-month trip to Malta. Because I wanted to give notice to my landlords at the end of the month, I had to make all the money necessary for the trip in March.

The pressure was on.

I’m not saying it’s Murphy’s Law or anything, but let’s just say that March did not go well.

By the time the 25th rolled around and there was one week to go, I was running ~$8k below expectation (based on my lifetime EV ROI for the stakes I was playing). Coincidentally, I needed an additional $8k by the end of the month to give my landlords notice.

At this point I started considering what I would do based on how the last week of the month went. I didn’t NEED $8k, it was just something I wanted.

I could still go to Malta and have more than enough bankroll to play comfortably, but my liferoll would be stretched just a bit thinner than I preferred. Plus I could still play a couple weeks in April before I had to pack up and leave.

And that meant I’d probably make money, right? Or I could lose money instead…

Bankroll Nit AND Liferoll Nit

In the end I learned that not only am I a bankroll nit, I am also a huge liferoll nit. My expectation for the remaining week of the month was only around $3k, and I just couldn’t convince myself that I could go to Malta $5k short of what I wanted.

Malta: So close, but so far.

Sadly, I decided to scrap the entire idea and stay home for the summer.

The other thing I learned is that poker is a horrible form of income for planning anything that requires money you don’t already have. I am pretty sure I’m never going to plan for earning a certain amount from poker ever again!

I’d been trying to accumulate the required money since the start of February and felt very sure that I’d make it because I didn’t even have to run at expectation to do it.

But then, lo and behold, I didn’t run even close to expectation for either month and all of a sudden, my plans were out of the window.

The Funny Thing Is ...

The funny thing is that I ran hot the last week of the month. I didn’t end up with the $8k that I originally planned for, but I was a lot closer than I thought I would be and I probably could have gone to Malta after all.

The problem was that by the 25th I had been so convinced that it just couldn’t happen that I had already started planning for being home in the summer. I told my friends and family that I was staying home, so go ahead and include me in that barbeque/wedding dinner/road trip.

I made plans to go to Montreal in May. I rearranged my entire office and decided to buy a new bed. It seems so stupid that I did these things, but I was honestly just doing everything I could to make myself feel better about not being able to go.

So when I looked at my balances on Sunday March 30th and saw that it wasn’t as financially risky to go as I thought it would be, I just couldn’t pull the trigger. I didn’t give notice to my landlords and that was it.

Aussie Millions instead?

Home for the summer.

Plan B: Australia

Because I want to travel for three months but also need to be home for August, I’m going to have to wait until after the summer to relocate.

This isn’t the worst thing in the world since the weather in Vancouver is quite amazing July to September. I’m thinking of leaving in October or November, which gives me plenty of time to prepare.

I also had the idea that I might want to go to Australia instead of Malta. I like the Australian time zone, and it would be during their summer months. It would also mean that I get to go to Aussie Millions in January, something I’ve always wanted to do.

Since I want to purchase my flight as early as possible, I’m probably going to make my decision for where to go within the next month. If you have travelled to Europe or Australia (or both!) and have some input, please leave a comment!

I’d love to hear opinions on where to go and where to live. You can also contact me by email if you’d prefer to stay anonymous; my contact info can be found in my other blog.

Note: Renowned "Pick-Up Artist" Sasha Daygame will be at the 2013 Battle of Malta and put together these suggestions for meeting girls at poker tournaments.

We apologize in advance to female poker players everywhere. But having seen thousands of ham-fisted, awkward pick-up moments at the poker table believe us when we say this is a marked improvement. Girls of Malta, you've been warned.

By Sasha Daygame

Hey guys!

Soon I’ll be on my way to play in the Battle of Malta poker tournament.

As you can imagine, poker tournaments aren’t exactly chock full of babes. If you’re a poker player who’s interested in meeting and connecting with women WHILE battling it out for final table domination… the odds are definitely not stacked in your favor.

This article is intended to even out those odds. Hey – poker players need love too, right?

So, the most likely (and probably easiest) situation in which to meet a girl at a poker tournament would be to approach her while she’s not at the table. This means before or after the event.

At the table is possible, but not recommended. First impressions count for a lot – it’s much trickier flirting with a girl at the table, so it’s best to catch her off the tables whenever possible.

OK: Let’s get into it! 

Before the Event

You look determined to win this thing.

Before the event is likely your best option to approach a female player during an event. First off – she hasn’t been eliminated yet so she’s still in the building! If you wait too long she may lose her chips (and you your chance!)

Also, there’s an excitement before the tournament begins. Everyone is optimistic and bright eyed - the mood is good. 

If you’re going the more social route, keep in mind you don’t have to seal the deal before the break. You can meet her, get friendly, and then try and get her number or set up a date in one of the early breaks. Just hope she doesn’t go bust!

Here are some thoughts for ice-breakers you can use.

In general, I try not to teach “pickup-lines” because I like my students to think creatively and build up their innate charm.

I like to teach how to think in a situation so you can come up with something original instead of just memorizing a line that will come off as try hard.

Here’s a couple of ideas:

We all know most poker players go in there believing they’re going to win – so playing off this assumption can be a fun conversation starter. Something charming along the lines of:

“Hey, you look absolutely determined to win this thing. Remind me to stay out of your way!”

Or if you’re feeling more confident or are naturally a bit cocky:

“Hey, you look absolutely determined to win this thing. Remind me to stay out of your way – a clash this early in our relationship could mess up our whole romance!”

Obviously you need to have a bit of game if you go down that path. So you’d better have something to follow up with as she’ll likely ask “We’re having a romance, are we?”

Easy field, right?

I’d say something like “That’s the plan but... let’s just get through to the next break and talk about it then... Over a drink!”

Why not try:

“Easy field right, should be a cinch!” (wink)

Another fun and obvious topic would be the fact that every player thinks he/she is going to win. So, if you want to be a bit more fun/cocky... something like:

“Hey there. You look like you think you’re going to win this thing... but I’ve got some bad news... You’re coming second” (smile or wink)

Sometimes I make comments about making a deal... Such as:

“Hey, I know one of us is going to win this, we may as well just do a deal right now – 60/40 for me because I’m favorite”

The key to these is to smile or give her a cheesy little wink at the end so she knows you’re playing around. If you’re a German player she might take you seriously and start negotiating percentages!

During the Tournament

Okay, now let’s talk about DURING the tournament. If there’s a woman at your table, a good way to start out would be to have a fun/playful demeanor during the game.

Being friendly and talking to the dealer and other players is a great way to show her you’re a social, fun guy – not a boring poker pro! Most players are serious and just stick to their cards.

NEVER try and get her number or set up a date at the table.

That’s a definite no-no if you’re trying to get the attention of a poker babe at the table.

Once you’re warmed up, have a bit of fun with her in between hands. Tease her a bit, bust her on trying to use her female-skills to win the game! A couple of the fun themes from above can work too.

The most attractive thing you can do DURING the game, is to ENJOY YOURSELF and not take things too seriously. If you’ve made her giggle or have at least noticed a couple of looks in your direction from her - wait till the break and then start up a conversation with her and take things from there.

NEVER try and get her number or set up a date at the table. It’s way too much pressure on her and you’ll be putting her in a position where she’s forced to reject you in front of everybody. That’s a lose/lose situation!

On Breaks

Breaks aren’t a bad time to pick-up a woman at a poker tournament. Everyone’s got the same thing on their mind – survival. So, simple stuff like “Hey, how’s it going?” can do the trick.

However, a theme I’ve used before that’s very fun and flirty is referring to the fact that you may go up against her in a hand. Something like

“Excuse me… Hey I just wanted to let you know – just because you’re cute doesn’t mean I’m going to fold to you when I’m in the big blind. Just so you know.”

Or maybe a fun reference to making it to the final table, such as:

“Hey… If we make it heads up, don’t think I’m going to make it easy on you just because I have a crush on you. Alright?” (wink)

Here’s one I just thought up:

“Excuse me, I have a question. If we both make it to the final table, that counts as a date right?”

If we make the final table, that's a date right?

You want to keep things fun, light, and flirty.

After the Tournament

Okay, so after the tournament is done is probably my least favorite time to meet a woman during a tournament. Here’s why:

The tournament’s over. Statistically speaking, it’s likely that your love interest hasn’t won. If she went out on a bad beat, she may not be in the best mood.

But, standard conversational threads may include commenting on her good performance, or asking if she’s going to participate in another upcoming event can work. If all else fails, you can blame both of your misfortune on the cheating dealer!

The one advantage to approaching a woman after the tournament is that, should things go your way, you could go on a date with her RIGHT THEN. I mean, the tournament’s over, right?

Unless she’s a cash-game fanatic, why not drag her out of there and go for some green tea, a smoothie, or a bite to eat? Phone numbers are flakey but if you spend some time with her – there’s a much better chance you’ll be seeing her again.

Final Thoughts

Remember, the goal here is to get a date with the girl, right? So all this stuff is wasted if you don’t PULL THE TRIGGER and ask her out! 

Your primary goal should be to arrange to meet up with her at some point in the day. This can mean grabbing food with her during the lunch break, or meeting her at the end of the day’s play.

I'll trade you a bad beat story.

It’s always best to hang out with the girl immediately and solidify the connection, but if that’s not in the cards (ha!) then grab her digits so you can fight another day. Simple is always best:

“Hey, you’re fun. We should hang out sometime. Let me get your number” and hand her your phone.

If you want to meet up during the event, you can say:

“Hey, let’s get some food at the break. I’ll trade you ONE BAD BEAT STORY for one of yours… and then we can have some human talk. What do you say?”

See? Easy as that. If it’s DURING the tournament and you can’t get her to eat with you during the break:

“Hey, you’re fun. We should hang out sometime. Let me get your number now – just in case one of us gets knocked out!”

WHEW! OK, that’s enough ideas to get you going. Meeting a woman at a poker tournament is the same as anywhere. Be creative, be fun – SMILE – and let nature take its course!

Just remember:

The game of seduction is no different than the game of poker (in fact, they’re super similar) and many of the same concepts apply, including this:

-Sasha Daygame

You demanded it, and we delivered.

OK demand might be a bit strong. Jokingly suggested, perhaps. But it's here anyway.

When word got out international Adult film star Puma Swede would attend the 2013 Battle of Malta a clamor went up for her thoughts on how certain professional poker players would fare in the, err, Adult film department.

We forwarded the request and, lo and behold, we now know what type of sausage Puma Swede thinks Gus Hansen has.

Don't shoot the messenger; it's all a lark. And don't say we didn't warn you. You can't unread it. Rankings below.

By Puma Swede

The name "Jungleman12" makes me assume he has a 12" vine between his legs that he swings better than Tarzan in the jungle.

Judging by the picture he looks like he's about to fall asleep. I think he'd be more of a romantic-type lover than a gonzo performer. That is if he didn't fall asleep before the cameras start rolling;)

His age 23 gives him potential though. I rate him 6/10 unless he rips his shirt off, shows off some tattoos and does the helicopter in which case I'd give him 8/10.

_Theah_, sorry, the name has to go. Sounds as boring as a cup of tea :) I suggest Mr. Viking if he can live up to that name...

His look in this pic is innocent but I think he can release some Norwegian Viking moves between the sheets :) I'd keep his wholesome look and let him surprise the ladies.

He's 40 so he'll have to work overtime to catch up. I rate him 7/10. If his ambition is to 'win all there is to win' - he better win the ladies over. If he doesn't deliver what I expect he'll be sent back to Vegas to the poker tables :)

Why the sad face Daniel? Instead of Kid Poker I'd name him Kid Pok'em. Since he appeared in a Kate Perry music video I think he will hit fame by doing a celebrity sex tape or tapes.

He's Canadian so they'll name a Canadian bacon after him too when the tapes are out. I think his skills in bed and in front of the camera are 6/10, he does'nt look so enthusiastic.

But he still banks from banging famous chicks so the Kid Pok'em can look how ever the f*ck he wants to :)

The Great Dane is an awesome name. Bet there is a huge Danish 'pölsa' hiding in his pants. He has a cheeky smirk and I think the ladies would like this former '50-sexiest-guy' so I have faith in him and think he'd be 8/10 in performing.

He can keep his style with the suit cause he looks like he could be a gentleman.

Perfect, he makes a career switch from poker to porn and he becomes The Tiger Woods of Porn.

He has confidence from his poker success and looks like he could be a little bit of a bad boy so he later gets arrested for shooting a POV scene at Steve Wynn's private poker table.

Performs with confidence so he gets 8/10.

OK, I might be a little patriotic here, but this Finn is a hot piece of ass. His name doesn't matter. Women & men will love him.

They will just be talking about THAT FINN. He'll win the 'Male Newcomer of the year' straight away and 'Hottest scene in a sauna' too :) GQ magazine will name him 'Stud of The year' 5 years in a row.

This Finn will do good as long as he doesn't consume too much Koskenkorva and cancel shoots because of a hangover. I rate his potential 9/10. You guys have his number by the way? lol

Boys like him I eat for breakfast ;) He might need to leave the computer for a bit though, go outside, catch a tan and style his hairdo :)

I'd skip his poker name and go with his real name Viktor Blom, suits him. Assuming he spent a lot of time playing online poker and not banging chicks, he'll be a little slow at start.

Soon he'll realize getting paid to bang is more fun than playing poker though. Since Victor is one of those that will stay young looking for a long time he'll be humping if front of the camera when he is 60 and still looks like 40.

I rate him 7/10.

Ken will have to find his Barbie. He'll be famous cause he starts making Ken + Barbie porn. Gets sued by various companies. Appears on Oprah with Barbie and they'll get their own reality show.

Ken needs a more plastic look and perfect teeth and he can totally be The Ken. His moves in bed are as exciting as the the real Ken doll is flexible. A 5/10 but who cares.

Barbie doesn't want to ruin her perfect curls and make up from some wild sex anyways so everyone is happy :)

It's the holy grail of poker, really.

The "whale" - a big-moneyed, amateur poker player with a bottomless bankroll, an eye for the gamble and next-to-no sense of what's truly happening on the felt.

Ask any poker oldtimer about the days a big-time whale rolled into their town and you'll see a gleam in their eyes likely only matched on their wedding day(s) or the birth of their children.

Or, likely, never matched at all. Life outside of poker ceases to exist when a whale surfaces and any poker player with a pulse lives for a seat in the game - if only for a few hours.

Lifetimes bankrolls can be made in one epic session, and a lifetime of stories too. In honor of the Discovery Channel's now-infamous Shark Week, guest blogger James Guill takes a look at some of poker's biggest-ever donators in a five-part series we've dubbed #WhaleWeek.

First up: Cirque du Soleil's Guy Laliberté.

By James Guill

When the topic of big-time whales in the poker world comes up Guy Laliberté is almost certainly near the top of everyone's list.

Best known by the general public as the founder of the multi-billion dollar cash cow Cirque du Soleil, Laliberté's passion for the game of poker has seen him become a fixture on the high stakes poker world despite the fact that he has lost countless millions in the game.

His legacy in poker might very well become the charitable Big One for One Drop event at the World Series of Poker. But he made his name in the poker community with some epic sessions of online charity that fueled the careers os some of poker's most famous stars.

For Laliberté, Life is a Show

Guy Laliberté seemed destined to spend his life as a performer. As a young boy, his parents took him to see the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus and that experience sparked an interest in the circus and performing.

Laliberté was highly involved in performing arts throughout high school and, after graduating, he began his career as a street performer. Soon after, he joined up with performance group Échassiers de la Baie and continued to perform as an accordion player, fire-eater and even stiltwalker.

Laliberté made an attempt to take on a standard job at a power plant but when the plant went on strike Laliberté returned to performing.

In 1984, Laliberté and Gilles Ste-Croix founded Cirque de Soleil and what started out as a one year "project" soon became one of the greatest spectacles in the world. Since that time, the company has expanded internationally and has troops performing in 40 countries annually.

Annual revenue from Cirque du Soleil is estimated to be around $800 million, giving Laliberté a personal wealth of around $2.6 billion.

WPT Final Table Makes Laliberté Household Name

Laliberté's fame extended beyond the world of entertainment in 2007 when he finished fourth at the World Poker Tour Season V World Championship in Las Vegas.

His finish earned him $696,220 and instantly put him into the poker spotlight. Afterwards Laliberté became a featured player on shows such as Poker After Dark and High Stakes Poker.

Laliberté went on to lose one of the largest pots in High Stakes Poker history, a $818,100 pot to Doyle Brunson.

#1 All-Time in Online Poker Losses at $26 Million

If Phil Ivey is the poster child for winning at online poker then Laliberté is the poster child for losing at online poker.

In early 2009 Laliberté was rumored to be playing on Full Tilt Poker under five different screen names including noatima, patatino and LadyMarmalade. Those accounts lost a combined $17.1 million on Full Tilt in 2008 alone.

Laliberté's slide only got worse. According to estimates his total losses at online poker are around $26 million lifetime. The biggest beneficiaries? Tom "durrrr" Dwan, Phil Galfond and the Dang brothers, Di and Hac.

Big One Sets Record for Largest First-Place Tournament Prize

In 2011 Laliberté and WSOP officials announced the first ever poker tournament with a $1 million buy-in.

Dubbed "The Big One for One Drop," $111,111 from each buy-in would go towards Laliberté's One Drop charity, an organization striving to provide access to clean drinking water around the world.

A field of 48 poker pros and businessmen took part in the event and Laliberté earned his way to the final table, ultimately finishing in 5th place.

The $1.83 million for fifth was his largest tournament score but paled in comparison to the $18.34 million won by Antonio Esfandiari for first. Esfandiari is now poker's all-time money winner thanks to this event.

With a seemingly unlimited bankroll, it's unlikely that we'll see Laliberté give up high-stakes games anytime soon. His One Drop charity events have also become the event of choice for the World Series of Poker.

While he may be considered a whale, he is one that appears happy to be hooked.

More of Poker's Biggest Whales:

The "whale" is the holy grail of poker - a big-moneyed, amateur poker player with a bottomless bankroll, an eye for the gamble and next-to-no sense of what's truly happening on the felt.

In honor of the Discovery Channel's now-infamous Shark Week guest blogger James Guill is breaking down some of poker's biggest-ever donators in a five-part series we've dubbed #WhaleWeek.

Next up: Dallas banker Andy Beal

By James Guill

Andy Beal is perhaps the best known whale in poker history.

His battles with an elite team of poker pros dubbed "The Corporation" are the stuff of legend with the Texas billionaire wagering - and losing - more in one pot than many people will earn in their lifetimes.

Mind for Business

Andy Beal had an aptitude for business at a young age. In high school, he would acquire broken televisions to repair and resell for a nice profit.

Shortly after graduating high school, he began to buy and renovate business properties. He sold those properties for a substantial profit.

By the early 1980's, Beal had graduated to renovating and reselling apartment complexes and began flipping them for millions.

In 1988, he opened Beal Bank and six years later opened another branch in Las Vegas. Those companies have assets exceeding $9.5 billion.

Throughout the years Beal has made money from financing casino properties to buying up airline debt. He's a shrewd businessman that has accumulated a personal net worth of $8.5 billion.

Poker Funded Early Business Ventures

Andy Beal has played poker since his college years. It has been widely reported that he was a fairly successful player during college and it may have helped fund some of his early business ventures.

His journey into poker history came after a visit to the Bellagio poker room in 2001. He played in games against several professionals and finished his stay up over $100,000.

Beal was smart enough to know that his win was likely the result of running good, so he began to work on his poker game.

In time, Beal decided that he had the ability to take on the best in the world. The only thing he needed was a way to get them to play him.

Ultimately, he put up so much money that the pros had no choice but to play him.

The Corporation is Born

Beal wanted to test his poker skills against the very best players in the world and proceeded to challenge them to a series of heads-up Limit Hold'em poker matches.

Starting in 2001, Beal took on a group of pros known simply as "The Corporation." This team consisted of Jen Harman, Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese, Ted Forrest, Chau Giang, Gus Hansen, Todd Brunson and,, eventually Phil Ivey.

For the next three years, Beal played the pros in a series of matches with varying results. Limits first started at $10,000-$20,000 and moved up steadily to $100,000-$200,000.

The book The Professor, The Banker and The Suicide King, written by Michael Craig, chronicles the matches between Beal and the Corporation until March 2004.

One of Beal's biggest accomplishments against the pros was taking down what was considered one of the largest hands in live poker history -- a pot worth an impressive $11.7 million.

Beal would ultimately lose $16 million to the Corporation as a whole and vowed never to play against them again. However, that changed in a big way in February 2006. Beal returned to battle the Corporation.

After a series of matches at the Wynn Casino he decimated the pros to the tune of $13.6 million. This prompted the pros to pool their resources in an attempt to recoup their losses.

When Beal returned a week later the pros decided to put their fate into the hands of Phil Ivey. Over the course of three days, Ivey proceeded to embarrass Beal and emerged from the tables having won $16.6 million.

The $16-million loss prompted Beal to discontinue his challenge against the pros and he has yet to issue a new challenge.

Still Plays, Still Loses

Beal has kept true to his word and has not reopened his challenge to the pros, but he may still have dropped large sums elsewhere.

According to reports in 2011 Beal took part in some underground poker games including actor Tobey Maguire and billionaire Alec Gores.

Some reports claim Beal lost over $50 million in the course of three days while others claim that those losses may be inflated. If those reports are true, then Beal is quickly approaching losses of $100 million lifetime in poker.

While that pales in comparison to his overall wealth it's more money than most pros will ever hope to make in their career. 

Beal still plays the game today but on a recreational basis. He has been spotted in Vegas poker rooms while in the city on business but still stays away from playing the Vegas pros.

Of course, should he ever decide to give the Corporation another crack at his money, a chair will be available.

More of Poker's Biggest Whales:

The "whale" is the holy grail of poker - a big-moneyed, amateur poker player with a bottomless bankroll, an eye for the gamble and next-to-no sense of what's truly happening on the felt.

In honor of the Discovery Channel's now-infamous Shark Week guest blogger James Guill breaks down some of poker's biggest-ever donators in a five-part series we've dubbed #WhaleWeek. 

Next up: An Old-School Vegas three-pack featuring Major Riddle, Jimmy Chagra and Archie Karas.

By James Guill

From the 1960s to the 1990s, Las Vegas was a true gambler's paradise.

"Old school Vegas" was famous for treating gamblers like kings and whales like gods.

Some of the biggest whales from that era have become part of the allure and legend of Vegas. Below are some of the biggest whales from that era.

Major Riddle

Out of the old school Vegas whales, Major Riddle is considered to be at the top of the list.

Riddle was one of the few businessmen that prospered during the Great Depression, opening a trucking company that became the largest in the Midwest. Part of his success came in part due to his connections with organized crime.

Riddle moved to Las Vegas in 1956 and purchased the Dunes Hotel. Before long he turned the casino into one of the most successful on the Vegas Strip.

While not running his casino he often played high-stakes poker and was a regular loser at the tables. He was often the target of cheating at the table and that helped to compound his losses.

Even when he wasn't being cheated, Riddle's reckless play attributed to many of his losses. Eventually, he began wagering his stake in the Dunes at the tables and in the span of six months lost complete control of the casino.

Rough estimates of Riddle's total losses over his time in Vegas hit about $40 million.

Jimmy Chagra

Jimmy Chagra was one of the most infamous drug dealers in the world during the 1970s. However, due to his deep pockets and tendency to be a great tipper he was welcomed with open arms in Las Vegas.

Chagra was beloved by casinos and those that ran them. He once tipped a croupier $600,000 after a winning session. He tipped $10,000 to a cocktail waitress once just for bringing a bottle of water. He once bailed out a casino with a $10 million loan after players went on a multi-million run.

Chagra was the 1970s equivalent to Andy Beal and high-stakes poker games were often built around him. If you wanted to play against him, you better have a deep bankroll as it took a minimum of $50,000 just to sit at the same table.

Many of Vegas' legendary gamblers grew their bankroll via Chagra's drug money as he seldom walked away from the table a winner. Chagra didn't just lose at poker but also at craps, golf and baccarat.

Chagra's life of crime ultimately caught up to him and he was arrested in 1978 on drug trafficking charges. He was ultimately sentenced to 30 years in prison and remained in prison until 2003. He died in 2008.

Archie Karas

While not the biggest loser in Vegas history Karas is often considered the poster child for degenerate gambling. He's best known as the man that ran $50 up to $40 million and then lost it all and as the player that tested the limits of high-stakes gambling in Las Vegas.

Growing up poor Karas often had to turn to gambling to earn money for food. He ran away from home at age 15 and soon found himself working on a ship for $60 a month. After finding his way to the United States, he moved to Los Angeles and went on his first run as a gambler.

Karas won over $2 million gambling in Los Angeles but lost all but $50 in a high-stakes poker game in 1992. He took that $50 and drove to Las Vegas where he began his first "run."

Over the span of six months, Karas ran $50 up to $17 million playing both poker and billiards. By the end of his initial run poker players quit playing against Karas due to his reputation and the insane stakes that he insisted on.

Karas then switched to playing craps at Binion's Horseshoe where he played for $100,000 a roll. He quickly ran his bankroll up to $40 million and owned all of Binion's $5,000 chips.

What took him months to amass took him just three weeks to lose. He lost $11 million in a single night at the craps table. Shortly afterwards, he played heads-up poker against the late Chip Reese and lost $2 million.

Deciding he needed to change his approach, he decided to switch to high-stakes baccarat. Pushing the casino to raise the stakes even higher, Binion's raised its baccarat stakes to $300,000 a bet. In 10 days, he lost another $17 million.

After losing $30 million, Karas left Vegas to take a break and try to find his mojo but upon his return his loses continued. In less than a month, he dropped all but $1 million of his bankroll and took that to Los Angeles to challenge Johnny Chan in high-stakes poker.

He was able to run that up to $2 million but soon lost that money playing craps and baccarat.

Karas would have several mini-streaks after his $40 million streak but each time he has wound up losing it all back to the casinos. Karas still plays poker tournaments and most recently cashed in the Razz event at the 2013 WSOP.

More of Poker's Biggest Whales:

It's the holy grail of poker - a big-moneyed, amateur poker player with a bottomless bankroll, an eye for the gamble and next-to-no sense of what's truly happening on the felt.

In honor of the Discovery Channel's Shark Week guest blogger James Guill breaks down some of poker's biggest-ever donators in a five-part series we've dubbed #WhaleWeek.

Next up: An off-the-poker-path trio that includes Charles Barkley, Michael Jordan and Alex Rodriguez.

By James Guill

The world of professional gambling is often compared to the world of professional sports thanks to the adrenaline rushes you get gambling for large sums of money.

Given their competitive drive, generous salaries and large amounts of downtime, it's little surprise major sports figures can become some of gambling's biggest whales.

Charles Barkley

Charles Barkley is one of the more colorful characters in NBA history. Always brash and outspoken the 11-time all-star had a 17-year career split between the Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns and Houston Rockets.

"Sir Charles" may be one of the biggest sports whales in the history of the game. Barkley once admitted to ESPN that he has dropped over $10 million gambling with his largest single loss $2.5 million during a six-hour blackjack session.

While, granted, not much of his $10 million in losses may have been at the poker tables but Barkley is known to play poker and uses his skills to benefit charity.

He's entered numerous charity poker events in the past including the $5,000 Ante-Up for Africa Charity Event at both the 2008 and 2009 World Series of Poker. Spike Lee, as you see in the clip above, can also vouch he's dropped a few dollars at the poker table.

Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan is considered by most to be the greatest basketball player of all-time. Winning three NBA Championships with the Chicago Bulls from 1991 to 1993, Jordan retired from the game after the murder of his father only to come back in 1995.

He went on to lead the Bulls to three more titles from 1996 through 1998.

His Airness definitely classifies as a celebrity whale. His gambling exploits caused major controversy during the early 1990s when it was revealed he had multi-million dollar losses in golf, baccarat and blackjack.

Jordan also likes to play high-stakes poker on occasion. As Spike Lee shares in the clip above, at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics Jordan was reportedly more interested in gambling than in playing basketball.

After watching him virtually cripple two NBA franchises in the past decade from the front office, we also have little doubt Jordan was not the smartest player at the tables.

Alex Rodriguez

Love him or hate him Alex Rodriguez is certainly one of the most talented baseball players in Major League history.

A-Rod has put up impressive numbers throughout his career bu tunfortunately his link with performance enhancing drugs has resulted in a long-term ban from the game which he is currently appealing.

Connections with PEDs are not the only blemish on his record as MLB has long been keeping an eye on him due to his connection with gambling.

Rodriguez has long been connected to the world of underground high-stakes poker games in New York and Los Angeles. Major League Baseball has investigated his poker play on multiple occasions, most recently his involvement with an illegal New York poker ring run by Russian gangsters.

Rodriguez has been a participant in various underground poker games since 2007 and even Major League Baseball has warned him that participating in underground games could lead to trouble

Back in August the Federal government indicted 40 people connected with an underground game that was described as "poker on steroids." Rodriguez was one of the whales that the group catered too.

The group laundered over $100 million in the games, making one wonder just how high A-Rod was playing (and losing).

More of Poker's Biggest Whales:

It's the holy grail of poker - a big-moneyed, amateur poker player with a bottomless bankroll, an eye for the gamble and next-to-no sense of what's truly happening on the felt.

In honor of the Discovery Channel's Shark Week guest blogger James Guill breaks down some of poker's biggest-ever donators in a five-part series we've dubbed #WhaleWeek.

Next up: Legendary loser Terrance Watanabe

By James Guill

Terrance Watanabe may well be the biggest whale in the history of Las Vegas.

The Omaha business owner gambled away over $204 million in Las Vegas over the course of a single year.

While his story may be one of having more money than sense some believe that he could have been the victim of a company looking to pad its bottom line.

Amassed Fortune Inheriting Party Favor Business

The Oriental Trading Company was founded in 1932 by Harry Watanabe and initially started out as a gift shop. In time, the company expanded to 17 shops throughout the Midwestern United States.

Import restrictions during World War II forced the company to downsize back to its home base in Omaha, Nebraska. After the War, the company began to flourish in the carnival supply market and quickly became one of the biggest suppliers in the world.

In 1977 Terrance Watanabe took over the company and shifted the focus to party goods. Terrance grew the company to one that brought in revenues of over $300 million annually.

In 2000, he sold the company to Brentwood Associates for an undisclosed sum and seemed ready to head off into retirement as a wealthy man.

Unfortunately, a pattern of gambling and alcohol addiction would put that fortune in jeopardy.

$204 Million in One Year

In 2007, Watanabe began a losing streak of proportions never seen before. Staying at Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip Watanabe was classified as the "biggest of the biggest whales" and had a virtual run on the place.

If he didn't like a certain employee he or she was reassigned in the casino. Whatever he wanted, he got. But there appears to be another side of the story.

According to some reports, and Mr. Watanabe's lawyer, Caesars allowed Mr. Watanabe to play while clearly intoxicated and some reports say that they gave him painkillers to stay at the tables.

Other reports say that the company looked the other way when Mr. Watanabe made sexual advances towards female employees.

Why would Caesars allow such behavior to continue? According to casino records, Mr. Watanabe lost a staggering $204 million across the Rio and Caesars casinos in the course of the year.

While not much of his losses were technically in poker, the total amount was an astounding 5.6 percent of the company's revenues for the year -- money that ultimately flowed into the World Series of Poker brand.

Eventually the money dried up and Watanabe left Vegas broke and owing Caesars $14.75 million. The company ultimately sued and felony charges were taken out against Mr. Watanabe in 2009 for felony theft and writing bad checks.

Watanabe filed charges against Caesars claiming that it had agreed to refund him 30 percent of his losses but never made payment. This type of agreement is customary for high rollers as it usually facilitates prompt payment of markers to the casino and keeps them coming back.

Wynn Casinos Banned Watanabe for Compulsive Gambling Prior

Shortly after the Caesars lawsuit it was revealed that Watanabe had been suspended from the Wynn for compulsive gambling. According to reports, Watanabe gambled away over $21 million at the Wynn.

Steve Wynn himself called up Watanabe to ask him to leave the casino due to his compulsive gambling. Interestingly enough, it was after this that Watanabe made his connection with Caesars Palace. 

A year after Watanabe was arraigned for theft and bad check charges both parties agreed to a settlement in the matter. While the settlement was initially private, it did result in all charges being dropped against Watanabe. He also agreed to drop all pending lawsuits against Caesars.

Later, it was revealed that Watanabe agreed to pay Caesars $100,000 of the $14.75 million it claimed was owed. 

Watanabe May Not Have Been Completely At Fault

Back in March of this year the New Jersey Gaming Control Board fined Caesars Entertainment Corp $225,000 for not stepping in to take action in the case of Mr. Watanabe.

The fine was a bit curious considering that the activity occurred in Las Vegas. However, the company does have several properties in the Atlantic City area and the NJGCB felt that Caesars' conduct "might reflect on the reputation of the state of New Jersey.”

Mr. Watanabe's story is really a cautionary tale for anyone wanting to gamble at high stakes. High rollers can't always guarantee that their best interests are being considered when they are at a casino.

After all, the establishment is there to take their money. Instead of "Welcome to the casino," most hosts really should greet their customers, "Call me Ishmael."

More of Poker's Biggest Whales:

Thanks to another unfortunate biting incident, Uruguayan footballer Luis Suarez served as a representative for online poker for only a couple of weeks – a record low.

His signing had a lot of potential but ended up an extremely short one as an ambassador for 888poker – or AteAteAtepoker, as the poker community humourosly referred to it briefly.

Suarez's signing off has left a big gap in the market, though. With footballers like Ronaldo, Francesco Totti and Andrei Shevchenko showing how successful it can be the trend of football stars repping poker sites isn't going away soon.

Question is, who else is suitable for the job? You’ll have to look carefully, operators, but don’t worry -- PokerListings Germany's Christian Henkel is here to help out.

Goalkeepers

Tim Howard (US)

He drove the players of Belgium and Portugal to the brink of despair. The experienced 35-year-old has 104 matches with the national team and over 350 Premier League games under his belt, having played at Man United and Everton.

His memorable appearance and his impeccable attitude make him the perfect face of the soon-to-begin reopening of the US online poker market.

Guillermo “Memo” Ochoa (Mexico)

Was voted “Man of the Match” twice this World Cup – and that as a goalie. During the group stage he secured the draw against Brazil and he played so well even Brazilian coach Felipe Scolari commended him.

Quite recently, Ochoa’s team Ajaccio on the island of Corse was relegated from the French Ligue 1, and he got kicked out of his contract. He is now unemployed and has offers from a dozen of international football clubs.

With his striking head of curls and his sunny demeanour he would make a valid asset to every live poker tournament and his story is the poker equivalent to the Chris Moneymaker fairy tale.

Manuel Neuer (Germany)

Has quickly become a major sensation on the football pitch. Shows more and more what an extremely cool guy he is – did you see how he raised just one arm to save that dangerous shot of the French in the quarter final?

He is a poker face on the football pitch and the German poker market would surely get another boost if he was involved.

Field Players

Arturo Vidal (Chile)

The former Leverkusen player is now getting overwhelmed with offers by Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and half the Premier League.

The 27-year-old was the obvious leader of a Chilean kamikaze squad at the World Cup. Every tackle he made looked like Kung-Fu and his martial haircut only added to the impression.

At the poker table he would stand out just as well. Particularly if he was plowing through an MTT as if it was a football game.

Toni Kroos (Germany)

He was recently called “the silent dealer” by a daily newspaper. As his team won the World Cup, there's been even more praise for his efficient gameplay.

Also: he's already a poker player. “I live poker, and I often play in home games. It is a great game, and it is more about instinct, insight into human nature, and body control than luck”, he recently wrote on his website.

It looks pretty much like he will be playing for Real Madrid next season, so he could be a benefit for the newly regulated Spanish online poker market.

David Luiz (Brazil)

Said to be the best defender in the world, and after his free kick goal against Colombia he has become something like the savior of the nation.

Without Neymar, Luiz will be the captain of the Brazilian team. Compared to Ronaldo, David Luiz could be a real force to be reckoned withon the Hispanic markets.

Maeouane Fellaini (Belgium)

Not only because of his size (1.94 meters), Fellaini was one of the most striking players on the “secret favorites” team from Western Europe.

He would also lead the “most voluminous afro haircut” ranking, beating out his fellow player Witsel as well as the Brazilians Marcelo and David Luiz.

He wouldn’t even need sunglasses to make for a very memorable advertising campaign.

James Rodriguez (Columbia)

Even basketball superstar LeBron James called him his favorite player after Colombia kicked Uruguay out of the tournament.

Rodriguez scored six goals, which made him the winner of the Golden Boot. The 2-0 goal in the Colombia game could easily be voted “best goal of the tournament”.

Last year, French first league Club AS Monaco paid 35 million Euros to contract him. Allegedly, Real Madrid and Barcelona are now knocking continually on his door.

Thanks to his looks, his amazing football skills and his proneness to tears, he is often compared to Cristiano Ronaldo but we don’t expect the Portuguese star to represent poker anytime soon.

Coaches:

Miguel Herrera (Mexico)

He was like a live wire on the pitch. His team showed the best Mexican performance ever at a World Cup, except maybe at their home tournament.

The way he celebrated made headlines around the world and turned him into a darling of the internet community.

This 46-year-old man could even out-brat Phil Hellmuth, and with his impressive potbelly he’d make a pleasant change from all those metrosexual online stars.

Alejandro Sabella (Argentina)

The South American coach is captivating not only because of his minimalist match plans (Argentina won every match with a one-goal difference), but also because of his androgynous looks.

His theatrical almost-fall-over during the quarter final against Belgium has quickly turned him into an internet celebrity.

With his mob-ish appearance he could bring back more of the Sammy Farha type of charm into poker, and as an ice-cold tactician he’s always good for a couple of spectacular cashes.

In a new five-part series writer Christian Henkel digs deep into Las Vegas history to uncover the truth behind some of the gambling world's most notorious figures.

First up: Titanic Thompson. Check back weekly for more profiles.

By Christian Henkel

He killed five men and married five women. He bet against Al Capone and won.

He hustled golf and lost at horse-betting. He became so famous his life was eventually turned into a musical.

This is the story of one of the men who made Las Vegas what it is today – the greatest and craziest city on Earth.

Archetype of the Poker-Playing Golf Hustler

This guy's going to offer to bet you that he can make the jack of spades jump out of this brand-new deck of cards and squirt cider in your ear.

But, son, do not accept this bet, because as sure as you stand there, you’re going to wind up with an ear full of cider.

- Marlon Brando as Sky Masterson to Frank Sinatra in Guys and Dolls

Long before Las Vegas produced its first "poker stars," Alvin Clarence Thomas - better known as Titanic Thompson or “The Unsinkable” - became America’s biggest gambler and truly a living legend.

Between the 1920s and the late 1960s he made millions of dollars playing golf, poker and making prop-bets – and he lost almost everything again because of his fatal attraction to betting on horse races.

Hustlers and golf-playing poker pros of today still rely on the ideas of Thompson when it comes to crazy side-bets on the golf course.

As Doyle Brunson once said about him: “If Johnny Moss was the typical golf-playing poker pro, then Titanic Thompson was the archetype of the poker-playing golf hustler.”

Set Out with Less Than a Dollar

Got the better of Al Capone - and lived.

In 1908, when he was just 16 years old, Thomas left his home in Arkansas to conquer the world of hustling and gambling.

When he set out he could neither read nor write properly and had less than a dollar in his pocket.

He was drafted late during the First World War, and while he made it to Sergeant, he also reportedly made $50,000 betting with his fellow soldiers.

After his return he went on to become the most infamous gambler in the history of America.

He had incredible hand-eye-coordination and with his neverending, cooked-up stories and empty promises he lured countless victims into brazen bets they could never win.

He once bet gangster boss Al Capone that he could throw an orange onto the roof of a five-story building. Thompson had already played that trick before with a peanut that he filled with lead.

Capone allegedly sniffed it out and personally squeezed the orange but Thompson managed to swiftly exchange it for a more aerodynamic lemon, threw it on the roof and won $500.

After that he had earned himself the lifelong respect of the most dangerous man in America.

The Greatest Action Man on Earth

Thompson invented a legendary bet which he frequently used and that earned him cost-free stays in some of the best hotels in the United States.

The bet was simply that he could throw his room key into its hole.

Action man, action town.

The trick, however, was in the wording because when someone took the bet Thompson didn’t throw the key into the key hole. He threw it into the pigeon-hole behind the reception.

Before he turned 40 Thompson had won several million dollars betting, playing poker and throwing dice. He had also killed five men, successfully claiming self-defence each time and married four times (he married again later).

People compared him with Merlin the Wizard. Legendary pool hustler Minnesota Fats once called him “the greatest action man on Earth."

By 1930 Thompson had discovered his love for golf. At the time he was mostly making money joining with Nick “The Greek” Dandalos and playing poker with lawyers, politicians, bankers and alcohol smugglers.

The games would often last well into the early hours of the morning. But Thompson didn’t head to bed afterwards - he went to the golf course.

It didn’t take long until he had found a way to make money there. He once took $20,000 from a golf champion who was famous for his long drives by offering him three drives per hole.

Before long the man was so exhausted he couldn’t even get one proper drive done anymore.

A Bet So Good Even Amarillo Slim Copied It

A bet so good even Slim had to get a piece.

His most famous and infamous bet was so good even legendary hustler Amarillo Slim copied it.

He bet against several millionaires that he could drive a golf ball over 500 yards. At the time, around 200 yards was the absolute maximum.

Thompson waited until the winter came, went with his partners to a golf course and then drove the ball over a frozen lake on the course. The ball went over a mile before it stopped.

Aside from all the outrageous gambling and betting that he did Titanic Thompson was also considered the best amateur golfer of all time.

He played - and emerged victorious - against a whole range of golfers who later won major titles.

In the 1940s, when he was at the peak of his abilities, he was asked why he never tried to go pro.

“Oh, well," he answered, shuffling a deck of cards, “the salary is so low, I just can’t afford it.”

At the time a PGA professional could earn up to $30,000 a year. Thompson made that kind of money with a single bet.

He Might Be Dead, But I Wouldn't Bet On It

In May 1974, the man who had become an idol since Brando played his character Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls, suffered a stroke.

Johnny Moss.

After seven decades of gambling, betting and fooling people, time finally took its toll. He was found dead at age 82.

A little later, 50 miles from where he was found, a young caddie drove his cart past a couple of golfers and told them, “Titanic Thompson is dead.”

After a short break one of the men asked, “Have you ever met him, boy?”

“No,” said the caddie, “never had the honor.”

“But you’re saying he’s dead.”

“Yes, sir, that’s what I heard.”

“Well,” said the golfer, “he might be dead, but I wouldn’t bet on it.”

Titanic Thompson rarely spoke about his life. But three years before his death he hosted the World Series of Poker, which was won by his old friend Johnny Moss.

Afterwards, he thought about all the money that was lying on the table and said:

“I don’t regret much in my life, but I wish I had been smart enough to put more money on the side.

"I wish I had thought about the future a little more, further than just the next game. That’s the one thing I blame myself for.”

In 2013, French photographer Franҫois-Xavier Thiébaud published a book of poker images taken over a period of three years at the European Poker Tour stop in Berlin.

His photography from those events has now left the printed format and is available as reprints at an internet photo gallery called GALLMO.

The limited-edition reprints are an asset to everybody who works, lives or spends time in any way in the poker industry.

In the first part of a new series on poker photography PokerListings Germany's Christian Henkel spoke to Thiébaud about his work and its meaning.

Working at a Poker Tournament is Calm, Comparatively

Thiébaud is used to fighting for a little time and space to get his shots.

Working as a press photographer for different magazines and newspapers he often has just a split second when the perfect moment appears in the perfect light and perfect position.

Plus, even if you find that exact moment, you will have to fight with other photographers trying to push each other out of the way to get themselves into the optimal spot.

“Compared to that working at a poker tournament is quite relaxing and calm,” Thiébaud says.

The 36-year-old Frenchman knows what he’s talking about. From 2010 to 2012, he was accompanying the European Poker Tour stop in Berlin.

The result of three years of work was a picture book called Poker Faces, a 108-page collection of black-and-white images taken at EPT Berlin - one of the largest poker events in Europe. The EPT marked Thiébaud’s first contact with a completely new world.

“Before that I only knew poker as a pastime with friends. Then I entered this parallel universe, and I was floored by the professional atmosphere in it.

"The ambience is truly special and you meet a lot of interesting people. There is a high level of focus and excitement at the same time.”

It's the Emotion That Stands Out

On any given day at the EPT Thiébaud would press the button up to 1,500 times. About 100 of the images make it through to the second round of selection.

Eventually Thiébaud came up with a collection of poker moments that capture success as well as failure, and often the tenacity that is so essential in poker.

Always it’s the emotion that stands out. Very few players will be able to look at the pocket aces image without feeling that rush to the head only this hand can produce.

“The most astonishing thing for me was that a game that is supposed to be so controlled, unemotional and ice-cold generates so many archetypical human facial expressions.”

A lot of international players have been an inspiration to Thiébaud and his work, inclu.

Poker Fine Art Shows in the Ordinary Moments

Rare images, like the talisman-card-protector cross from his collection, are exceptions.

“Absolute poker fine art," however, shows itself not in the extraordinary but the ordinary – in the moments that show the basics of poker.

The picture showing Ben Wilinofsky and Max Heinzelmann playing heads-up for the title in 2011 is more of an example of the simple power poker can convey.

If you're interested in having one of Franҫois-Xavier Thiébaud’s pictures embellish your home or office, you can purchase them here.

The internet gallery GALLMO is working with several high profile photographers, among them Franz Kovacs (BBC Wildlife photographer of the year 2008) and Leonardo Tommasin (worked for Vogue Italia and Cosmopolitan, Secret Cinema).

In an ongoing look at photography PokerListings will present the works of professional photographers here in the Guest Blog. We're also looking for promising artists so if you think you know somebody who should get more attention by the media, drop us a message.

The Artist: Franҫois-Xavier Thiébaud

Francois-Xavier Thiébaud

*January 15, 1978, Besanҫon, France

Franҫois-Xavier Thiébaud found his love for photography when he was 14 years old.

He was fascinated by artists like Jean-Loup Sieff, Henri Cartier-Besson, Irving Penn and the Magnum photographers.

When he was only 16 he started taking courses in photography for amateurs but then had to put aside his passion for art for financial reasons.

It wasn't until 2003 when he got back into taking pictures. Now that digital photography had become an everyday thing, photography was a lot more affordable than in the past.

Today Thiébaud works for different agencies and print media including Vogue, Gala and others. Thiébaud also studied photography at Mathias Richter’s Imago Fotokunst.

In 2010 he opened his own studio so he could focus on fashion and advertising photography alongside his love for black-and-white pictures.

Thiébaud is also the chairman of the French-German Photography Association. The picture book Poker Faces was made with the support of Casino Berlin.

In a five-part series writer Christian Henkel digs deep into Las Vegas history to uncover the truth behind some of the gambling world's most notorious figures.

Next up: Major Riddle. Check back regularly for more profiles.

By Christian Henkel

When it comes to poker losses, Major Riddle played in his own league.

In the 1950s/60s there was a whole society of people trying to make money from the pockets of the legendary casino owner.

He opened the first “Topless Cabaret” in Sin City and battled with the authorities. He was the godfather of poker's first “Big Game." He was also its first victim.

He co-owned the legendary Dunes Casino and then lost it piece by piece.

These are the stories of the men who made Las Vegas what it is today – the greatest and craziest city on Earth.

Not Just Hard and Honest Work

Riddle grew up in Kentucky and Indiana. He then moved to Chicago and started a shipping company. Within years it became one of the biggest in the Midwest.

Major Riddle

During the depression of the 1930s that ruined the lives of hundreds of thousands he became an incredibly rich man. Of course, this wasn’t possible with just hard and honest work.

Chicago was ruled by the mafia and some people said Major Riddle had certain connections. The methods he used in his company were also a little dubious at times.

For example he would urge his drivers to buy the trucks they were driving by spending part of their salary. When they had almost paid them off, he fired them and kept the vehicles.

In 1956 Riddle left Chicago and went to Las Vegas to invest into the brand new Dunes casino that at the time was struggling to get by.

There have always been rumors that Riddle used part of the pension pool of the Teamsters trade union to invest in Vegas. The Teamsters, of course, was highly influential in Chicago and led by Jimmy Hoffa.

Hoffa later fell victim to his own proximity to the mob. He simply disappeared from a restaurant in Michigan in 1975.

First on the Strip to Offer Topless Dancing

In Vegas Riddle’s career really took off. In the year he arrived he became a co-owner of the Dunes and turned it into a huge success.

One of his best ideas was to sign the successful burlesque dance group “Minsky’s Follies." This turned the Dunes into the first casino resort on the strip that offered topless dancing.

The Catholic Church and the Legion of Decency were furious. “Barebreasted girls on stage in Las Vegas, we can’t have that!” they shouted when they called the authorities.

To this day it sounds bizarre that these institutions worried about a bit of uncovered skin while tolerating everything else Sin City offered.

Riddle didn’t care, anyway. The show had 16,000 visitors per week - a record that stood until 1990.

Riddle also knew some things about promotion.

He went on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson to promote his book The Weekend Gambler’s Handbook and dropped a couple of words about the Dunes, too.

Crazy About and Notoriously Bad at Poker

There could hardly be a worse author on gambling, though, than Riddle. Riddle was crazy about poker, and also notoriously bad at it.

Whenever he sat down at a table a rapidly expanding waiting list followed. He was a player with a large bankroll and little knowledge.

Mobster Tony Spilotro and his companions took thousands of dollars from him. Others lured him into bets that he couldn’t win.

Journalist and Vegas insider Frank Rosenthal declared that there has never been a more efficient cheating system in the city than the one targeted at the co-owner of the Dunes.

“Millions were cheated from the Major,” Rosenthal claims. Dealers like John Martino were part of the system along with tricksters like Marty Carson.

But even when things were going straight Riddle was a fish like no other. As a lifelong Stud player he was prey for the Texas Hold’em players. He just couldn’t wrap his head around No Limit.

One hand he played is still famous in the poker world. It happened in his own casino.

Game Selection Not His Strong Suit

His opponent was Johnny Moss, one of the most famous players of all times. Moss was playing at his best at the time. Game selection was clearly one of the Riddle's major problems.

On a K-K-9 flop Moss fired the first bullet. It was folded around to Riddle, who called. Another 9 on the turn triggered another bet from Moss and Riddle came along.

A jack appeared on the river and Moss went all-in. Riddle almost snap-called with almost $300,000 in the pot.

With a broad grin Moss showed pocket nines for quads. Riddle? Pocket deuces!!! Pocket deuces???

They say that everybody at the table was trying not to laugh. After the turn Riddle had played the board with little chance of improving.

Joe Rubino, a bookie from Alabama, made the mistake of voicing his concerns about Riddle’s erroneous play.

“He should get the money from second and third street back, as he didn’t have a chance to even beat the board,” Rubino said.

Moss, pretty well-known as a choleric and bad guy, exploded in Rubino’s face.

“What the … are you talking about? Sometimes the board is the strongest hand!” He also told him a couple of words about minding one’s own business.

How to Gamble Away a Casino at the Poker Table

So Riddle was apparently not suited to sit at a poker table. That didn’t keep him from betting everything he had whenever he had the chance to, though.

One night he was playing at the Sahara. At one point he raised with the ownership certificate of the Dunes.

He won the hand, luckily, but it was this attitude that made him lose more and more of his property in a pretty short time.

When the biggest game in town moved from the Dunes to the Aladdin, right across the street, Major Riddle followed.

It was about that time that Riddle lost any form of control over his casino. Within a year his shares shrank from 90% to 15% of the business. And he went on to lose that, too.

Today the Aladdin counts as the birthplace of the Big Game. And it’s mostly famous for two incidents.

One: Poker Hall of Famer Tom Abdo died there of a heart attack during a high-stakes game. His last words were, reportedly, “count my chips, I’ll be back."

Two: Major Riddle gambled away a complete casino at the poker tables.

Enlisted Drache and Brunson for a new big game

Shrugged Off His Losses and Started Over

But Riddle, as on countless occasions before, shrugged off his losses and started something new.

In 1977 he bought the Thunderbird Casino and renamed it Silverbird.

He brought in Eric Drache and Doyle Brunson to establish a new Big Game. The stakes weren’t as high as at the Dunes or the Aladdin, but high enough.

You could lose a car or maybe a house in the Silverbird, but not a whole casino.

Riddle continued to be successful in business. He purchased holdings in several casinos and hotels and when he died in 1980 he was a wealthy man.

With Major Riddle gone Las Vegas lost one of the biggest fish, but also one of its most colorful personalities.

After watching some of the game's best players ply their craft for over a decade, we're still surprised by how often were awed by something we see at the tables.

An amazing soul read. A fearless hero call with 10 high. An impossible fold at the most essential moment. What the best of the best in poker can do seems, at times, to be superhuman.

Which is why PokerListings Italy's Francesco Esposito began to notice a few similarities between some of Marvel's most famous superheroes and the players we get to watch at the felt.

Read on as he reveals the hidden identities of 10 superheroes of poker. As you might notice, there are a few villains in the mix.

Think we've missed someone? Let us know in the comments.

# Magneto – Thor Hansen 

Magneto is one of the most powerful Marvel characters of all time. After watching Thor Hansen battle for 13 hours on Day 1 of the 2014 Battle of Malta and leave with a smile on his face, we have no doubt the living legend - still fighting terminal cancer - has some super powers of his own. A true inspiration.

# Black Widow – Liv Boeree

Black Widow has a slowed aging process together with an accelerated cell regeneration. In combat she's unpredictable and astute and she can recover very quickly after suffering an attack.

Sounds like Boeree, yeah? Five years on from her historic victory at EPT San Remo in 2010 she still looks exactly the same -- thanks, we assume, to experiments the government has done on her. There's also all of that heavy metal guitar.

# Iceman – Daniel Colman

Something surprising and paradoxical happens to the charismatic Iceman when he's not in his mutant form: he freezes. Impassive and cold like no other, Dan Colman has shown he can defeat anyone at the poker table.

One of his main qualities, in both forms, is a sort of brutal honesty, which can sometimes lead him into trouble …

# Punisher – Dan Bilzerian

Punisher is a controversial character oscillating between "hero" and "villain," obsessed with revenge and firearms. If Punisher acts in the shadows to hit without being seen, though, Bilzerian does everything in the light of the sun - or as we know it, social media.

# Emma Frost – Gaëlle Baumann

Elegant and refined, Emma Frost is one of the strongest and long-loved heroes of the Marvel Universe. Emma has the ability to read minds but at the same time she can transform her body into a diamond and fight like nobody else.

These features are reflected in Gaëlles style of play. She can be a solid and defensive poker player but she knows how to attack and be aggressive when the moment is right.

# Captain America – Antonio Esfandiari

Captain America is the emblem for American super heroes. Exactly like Esfandiari, who is the most successful US poker tournament player ever with over $26 million earned in his career.

We considered Daniel Negreanu for the part, given he's the all-time money leader at over $30m, but you can't make a Canadian Captain America, can you?

# Jean Grey (Phoenix) – Jennifer Shahade

Jean Grey is one the most complex Marvel characters. A scholar and researcher, with the abilities of telekinesis and telepathy, her true essence is the Phoenix.

When she's not playing poker heroine Jennifer Shahade uses her brain similarly. Skilled poker player and writer, Shahade is a genius in front of the chess board where's she earned the title of Grand Master and won two US Women's championships.

# Cyclops – Dan Cates

Cyclops and his red laser have literally shaped the history of the X-Men. He embodies the hero, strong and brave, not inclined to humor, a leader and master strategist. Qualities that help Cates excel in poker as well, especially online where he is known as jungleman12.

Cates can seem aloof at times, and he may not be sympathetic to many, but behind that laser there's a genuine heart.

# Ms. Marvel – Vanessa Rousso

Ms. Marvel as a heroine has multiple powers and in everyday life she has multiple talents. Rousso is not only a skilled poker player but also an accomplished DJ, violinist and national debater.

She studied Economics at Duke University and got her degree in just two and a half years -- the shortest time to graduate in the history of Duke.

# Doctor Octopus – Phil Hellmuth

Misunderstood, brilliant scientist Dr Octopus embodies the perfect anti-hero -- ruthless and relentless when desiring something.

Phil Hellmuth has basically the same attitude in front of a WSOP bracelet. Irascibility is Dr Octopus' main characteristic: he literally goes crazy when Spiderman thwarts his plans. We've seen that a few times, haven't we?

If you ask the average poker player to name the best poker film ever, nine times out of 10 you're going to hear Rounders.

OK. Maybe 10 out of 10. It's just that good.

Rounders is undeniably one of the greatest poker films in history ... but it's not the only great poker film.

Below guest contributor James Guill shares his picks for the Top Five Poker Movies besides the Brian Koppleman/David Levien classic.

Hitting the Nuts

Be warned: Hitting the Nuts is not your typical movie about poker. It's a mockumentary-style look into poker at its most basic level -- the amateur "hey, let's hold a poker tournament" level.

From the beginning you'll realize this is not going to be a game featuring a bunch of pros or wanna-be pros but rather a hodgepodge of players that look like they were transplanted from your local home game.

This movie pokes fun at our game and all of its idiosyncrasies at the amateur level -- including how the "crazy cat lady" who knows nothing about the game manages to win too much.

The film is completely independent with an unknown cast who manage to pull off one of the funniest poker comedies in existence.

If poker met Blazing Saddles, this would be the result.

The Cincinnati Kid

Before most of the cast of Rounders were even born Steve McQueen was playing the title role in The Cincinnati Kid.

McQueen plays Eric Stoner, aka "The Kid." Stoner is an up-and-coming poker player looking to prove himself.

Edward G. Robinson plays Lancey Howard, aka "The Man." Howard is the film's equivalent of Doyle Brunson.

Unlike modern day poker the primary game is Five Card Stud. In this film there are several forces at work trying to decimate the bankroll of "The Man" but The Kid wants to try to win the game honestly.

The big game, as you'd, comes down to a heads-up showdown between The Kid and The Man. A cheating scandal is discovered by THe Kid and while the cheating actually benefits him, he balances the scales to prove he can win fairly.

The final hand is one of the most dramati you'll see in any poker film although highly improbable for those that know Five Card Stud odds.

All in all though The Cincinnati Kid is a poker movie with a solid storyline that teaches some hard lessons about the game and life.

The Grand

Another mockumentary makes this list but unlike Hitting the Nuts this film boasts an all-star cast and focuses on the elite level of poker.

Woody Harrelson is the film's star and plays the part of Jack Faro, a casino owner and poker player with various vices that have nearly left him bankrupt.

The only way that he can save his casino is to win a $10 million winner-takes-all tournament called "The Grand."

Standing in his way is a ragtag team of characters played by an amazing ensemble cast. Cheryl Hines plays Lainie Schwartzman, a player reminiscent of Annie Duke. David Cross plays Lainie's brother Larry, a character that will remind you of Mike Matusow.

Chris Parnell plays Harold Melvin, an idiot savant at the game. Dennis Farina is Deuce Fairbanks, the old timer that some say is fashioned from Doyle Brunson. Ray Romano, Gabe Kaplan, Hank Azaria, and Shannon Elizabeth also star in the film.

Several poker players make cameos including Phil Gordon, Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Laak, Phil Hellmuth and Antonio Esfandiari. Another cameo in the film is poker player Richard Brodie. One of the best jokes in the film occurs after a hand between him and Harold Melvin.

One little known fact about this film is that no scripts were used during the performance. Characters were given an outline and had to improvise lines as they went along. Also, the final table was actually played out live and multiple endings were filmed ahead of time to account for different winners.

This incredibly crafted film takes a tongue-in-cheek look at our favorite game at the elite level and is a must watch for every poker fan.

Deal

A film that has gotten little traction over the years, Deal stars Burt Reynolds and Bret Harrison. Harrison plays Alex Stillman, a law student that's an online poker player and occasional home game player.

Stillman makes the final table of an online tournament that is played live but is knocked out first. Tommy Vinson, played by Reynolds, is a retired player that sees potential in the kid and looks to take him under his wing. 

This film is both a coming-of-age story set in the poker world and also a comeback story for Vinson. As events of the film progress Vinson decides to come out of retirement and take his shot at the WPT Championship.

As fate would have it Vinson and Stillman make the final table and it's the teacher against the master. Will the kid make a name for himself or will the master take down the richest title in poker and earn the respect that he never had in the past?

The World Poker Tour is featured prominently in this one and that includes cameos by Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten. Poker players Jennifer Tilly, Greg Raymer, Chris Moneymaker, Antonio Esfandiari and Isabelle Mercier all have cameos in this film too. Shannon Elizabeth plays Tillman's "love interest."

This film never received the same press as Rounders and was not well received critically. However, it is a solid film that is one of the better dramatic interpretations of poker in the last few years. 

Poker Bustouts

This last pick is more of a documentary than a true poker film but is a film every player should watch if he or she has aspirations of turning pro in the live poker arena.

Poker Bustouts looks at the other side of poker and doesn't give you an overly positive spin on the game.

In this film you'll meet players from all walks of life that have taken or are taking their shot at the dream. Some have failed, some have had mild success and some are just everyday grinders who realize that poker is a hard way to make an easy living.

If you want a feel-good movie about poker, this isn't it. But if you want your eyes opened, watch this film.

Please note that this film isn't exactly "high quality" and has taken some bashing for its editing and substandard filming. However, if you can watch Blair Witch Project, you can watch this one.

In a new five-part series writer Christian Henkel digs deep into Las Vegas history to uncover the truth behind some of the gambling world's most notorious figures.

This week’s subject is Benny Binion. Check back weekly for more profiles.

By Christian Henkel

Benny Binion went to Vegas after the Second World War. Little did anyone know he would change Sin City forever. His motto “If you want to get rich, make little people feel like big people” quickly turned the Horseshoe into one of the best casinos in Las Vegas.

But the biggest achievement of his marketing genius was the invention of the World Series of Poker.

These are the stories of the men who made Vegas what it is today – the greatest and craziest place on earth.

Tough Times Make Tough People

A young Benny Binion

When the first news reporters and photographers came to Vegas to cover the WSOP in the mid-1970s, they were all impressed by the charming Benny Binion who was constantly smiling and shaking hands.

He was the inventor and the organizer of the growing poker festival and he seemed like an authentic figure in a world based on fraud and illusions.

Thomas “Amarillo Slim” Preston once said about his long-term mentor:

“He was either the gentlest bad guy or the baddest good guy you’ve ever seen.”

Binion’s response: “Tough times make tough people.” He knew what he was talking about.

Born on November 20, 1904, in Pilot Grove, Texas, a village with a population of then 193, he had to fight to grow up from very early on.

He was a weak, sickly boy so his parents didn’t send him to school, instead choosing to keep him on the farm. His father thought the boy would either get tough or die and he made Benny work. It was going to work out. Benny Binion said later in an article with CardPlayer:

“It was pretty cold. And I remember all the men, gettin’ off , and breakin’ up brush, and everything, and warmin’ their feet. And I stayed on that horse all day, and Dad left. And I doubt if I was over five, six years old. I don’t even remember where we went. And almost from that time on, hell, I just been a-going.”

Binion Turns to Illegal Gambling

With the beginning of the world economic crisis, it became difficult for Benny Binion to earn money the legal way.

He started moonshining, was caught twice and learned that his talents must lie elsewhere.

Gambling – illegal gambling – was flourishing, and it was much more to his liking. Binion saw his chance.

He took $50 and started his first lottery. One week later, he had turned his stake into $800.

In the early 1930s Binion was also beginning to show the recklessness necessary to prevail in a violent environment.

He had an argument with a guy called Frank Bolding, a notorious rum smuggler infamous for his brutality. Binion shot Bolding in the neck, but was sentenced only to two years of probation, because he was acting in self-defence.

Benny Binion was extremely ambitious; he wanted to make it all the way to the top. He moved to Dallas, one of these big Texan cities that had become wealthy thanks to oil trading and cattle farming.

Leaving Texas for the Bright Lights of Vegas

Binion started his own little casino, quickly found success, and removed rivals by any means necessary. He allegedly shot two competitors.

One of them was Sam Murray, another Ben Frieden. Both competitors were shot several times with Binion involved. He was accused only in one case, but let go. Again, the judge ruled he had acted in self-defence.

Eventually, Binion was in charge of gambling in Dallas and had enough money to bribe politicians and the police.

Rumors say that there were times when Binion paid up to $600,000 in bribe money per year.

At the end of the Second World War, the Chicago mob came to Dallas. Binon had bribed one of the candidates who were campaigning for mayor but the guy lost the election and soon after major resource allocation conflicts ensued.

Binion lost the battle. He took his wife Teddy Jane, his children, bodyguard “Gold Dollar”, two million dollars and drove down to Las Vegas.

The El Dorado Become’s Binion’s Horseshoe

Benion's Horseshoe

At the time Sin City was in the hands of the mob as well but Binion quickly put his foot on the ground. He acquired the El Dorado casino on Fremont Street and renamed it Binion’s Horseshoe.

But the demons of the past continued to haunt him, particularly Herb “The Cat” Noble, another major player in Las Vegas gambling.

Noble had “dealt” with several of Binion’s most loyal employees and subsequently survived no less than twelve murder attempts.

When Noble’s wife was killed by a car bomb, Noble apparently planned to fly a plane full of explosives into Binion’s house.

The police thwarted his plans and the 13th attack was finally successful – Noble was killed by a bomb that went off when he opened his mailbox.

But Binion had caused too much trouble. The Las Vegas mob didn’t appreciate the fireworks that the new guy in town had lit. They took measures.

Going to Prison in Dallas

Binion's legendary Cadillac.

In 1951, Benny Binion lost his gambling licence and was charged for tax fraud. He was told that if he pleaded guilty, he would be able to buy his way out of a serious sentence.

In 1953, Binion drove to Dallas and turned himself in but was immediately taken to prison and sentenced to five years.

In addition Binion was forced to sell shares of the Horseshoe because he had to cover a lot of the court’s costs. It took him until 1964 to get all of the casino back.

But even in prison Binion kept his ambition. When he got out, he went back to Vegas and turned the Horseshoe into the best casino in town.

He was one of the first to find out that you needed to keep the players happy, and he knew how to do it: “good food, good whisky, good gamble.”

At the time there were about 50,000 people living in Vegas and most of the gambling halls were dark, shady places.

While other locations had the floors covered with sawdust, Binion laid carpets in the Horseshoe. In fact that’s how one of the carpet installers in Vegas worked off a substantial gambling debt he had accrued at Binions.

Revolutionizing the Casino Experience

Binion's Horseshoe

Binion was also one of the first casino owners who gave out drinks for free and made sure the food was of good quality.

On top of the free drinks and great grub, Binion also had a free limo service for high rollers and a regular show on stage. Binion no less than revolutionized the casino industry.

But at the end of the day, Benny Binion always was a gangster. Occasionally Binion’s rivals simply disappeared.

Binion also bribed the police and the authorities. This time around he had to get along with the mob.

He had a firm grip on his casino. If customers were causing trouble, the security staff took care of them in their own special way. It would sometimes lead to severe injuries.

Over time Binion developed paranoid and eccentric tendencies. He would often retreat to his farm in Montana, where he - dressed in a buffalo fur coat - and his bodyguard “Gold Dollar” would drive around in a Cadillac with buffalo horns on the front. 

Bringing Poker to the Forefront

When in Vegas, Binion presented himself as a self-made millionaire and visionary, however. He was always fascinated by poker, although he didn’t consider himself to be very good at it.

Amarillo Slim was a fixture of the WSOP.

In 1949, he organized a heads-up high-stakes poker game between the professional poker player Johnny Moss and one of the biggest gamblers on the planet: Nick “The Greek” Dandolos.

It was designed as a tourist attraction but it was destined to be his legacy and – in a sense - the birth of the largest poker event in the world.

But Binion still had other ideas. He raised the limits at the craps tables, for example. While other casinos capped the bets at $50, Binion allowed bets up to $500. Nobody had ever done that before.

Because of the raised limits people would walk into the casino only to watch what was going on but then ended up playing, too.

The landmark of the casino was a giant horseshoe with a display filled with one hundred very rare $10,000 notes.

In 1957 disaster struck and Binion lost his casino licence for good. His wife and son Jack took over management, while Benny watched the action from one of the coffee tables and assumed the position of “consultant”.

Officially, Binion was off his job but his most important achievement still lay ahead of him. 

The World Series of Poker Begins

In 1970, after a weekend of poker in Reno, Binion invited the players to carry on with the game in the Horseshoe. He jokingly called it the World Championship of Poker.

Benny Binion died the same year Phil Hellmuth won his first bracelet.

They only needed one table and the winner was elected by a secret vote.

The format was quickly changed when everyone voted for themselves in the first edition of what ended up being the World Series of Poker.

Nineteen years later, a player named Phil Hellmuth became the then youngest world champion of poker. The Main Event had grown considerably with 178 players and the side events that brought the total number of tournaments up to 14.

Late in that year, Binion had a fatal heart attack. One year later, he was introduced posthumously into the Poker Hall of Fame.

In the years after his death, the Binion clan and its business slowly fell apart. In 1994, Teddy Jane died, and two of his children later became victims of drug abuse.

The remaining brethren Becky and Jack Binion went to court to determine who was going to take over the Horseshoe.

At the end of the trial, Becky would lead the casino, while Jack received one per cent in shares so he could keep his own casino licence.

In 2004 – which would have seen Benny Binion’s 100th birthday – the Horseshoe lost its concession due to financial irregularities.

The casino was temporarily closed and sold. Although the brand was retained one of the biggest success stories of Las Vegas had come to an end.

Poker fame.

The phrase itself is almost an oxymoron.

Mike "Timex" McDonald has breathless fans following him into the toilet on the EPT circuit but wouldn't even get a nervous twitter in the Chipotle lineup.

Even our most revered and recognizable stars - Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth - hardly face police-taped legions of fans waiting outside of regional airports.

So why is "real" mainstream fame so elusive for a game with strong roots in nearly every corner of the planet?

PokerListings investigates.

Poker’s Big Three

Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu.

When it comes to poker accomplishments, fan recognition and marketability these three players sit comfortably atop the poker fame hieraechy.

If anyone from the poker world is likely to be recognized outside of a casino anywhere in the world, it's one of them.

During the World Series of Poker and other major tournaments across the globe their fame is evident.

They’re mobbed for pictures and autographs and their tables always have a dedicated rail of fans cheering them on.

But even for the big three, fame seems to evaporate the further away they get from the Rio’s frigid, air-conditioned poker tables.

In a sit-down interview with Nolan Dalla for WSOP.com, Phil Ivey said:

“It’s only like that here at the World Series of Poker. If I’m in a mall, if I’m walking down the street, I never really get that. People that play poker, they recognize me and they say, 'Hey how you doing.' I get it somewhat, but it’s not really like I’m Tom Cruise.”

Why, Phil? Why aren’t you Tom Cruise?

Google  - specifically a search for "Why isn't Phil Ivey Tom Cruise" - could not provide an accurate answer.

The theory that poker itself is the limiting factor seems to account for this, but there are a few anomalies.

"Sidepot" Pros

Some professional poker players are rich; some professionally rich people play poker.

Sidepot pros include actors, athletes, professionally attractive people and billionaire hedge fund managers turned pro.

There’s a certain level of celebrity hysteria when players like Matt Damon, Paul Pierce or Gerard Pique play but that mob follows them wherever they go.

They give poker an initial fame bump but it slowly normalizes the more stars get involved in the game.

One exception? Dan Bilzerian.

Bilzerian is a self-proclaimed poker pro who’s out-famed the big three by a large margin in just a few years.

The Big Three

Big Three Plus DB

The cause for this disparity doesn’t seem to lie in tournament earnings:

Or WSOP bracelets.

Those graphs give almost inverse Google trend results.

If this was the case, perhaps the opposite of a poker achievement was responsible for the disparity:

Close.

This graph is on the right track but fails to account for the nuances between Negreanu and the Phils.

(Instagram Followers)

This Instagram graph is a more accurate representation of the Google Trends but is not officially scientific since Hellmuth has no Instagram account.

Theoretical Instagram scientists hypothesized that the graph would be nearly the same if Hellmuth did have an account because it would consist of Hellmuth selfies, WSOP bracelets and have very few followers.

Instagram seems to be a good unit of measurement since its premise --sharing pictures of your life with the world-- fits historian Daniel J. Boorstin’s definition of a celebrity:

The celebrity is a person who is well-known for his well-knownness.

YouTube

The Internet celebrates well-knownness. Like Instagram, YouTube has become a place where people skyrocket to fame for being themselves.

It’s also an area where the big three seem to falter.

Once again, Phil Hellmuth has the smallest online presence on YouTube.

The Poker Brat’s most-watched video, “Top 5 Phil Hellmuth Explosions,” has 1.25 million views.

While this eclipses the amount of views other Wisconsin brats have:

It only holds about 1.5 percent of the views of other popular freakouts:

To increase views, YouTube scientists recommend that Hellmuth’s next outburst include 60 percent more flailing and a 300 percent increase in remote controls.

Phil Ivey’s most-watched video --with 2.23 million views-- is “Phil Ivey v Paul Jackson - Bluff v Bluff.”

With nerves of steel and impeccable form, Ivey’s bluff is now the most-watched poker bluff in YouTube history.

Despite that, the video fails to surpass other demonstrations of amazing skill, poise and unwavering nerves of steel in the face of adversity:

Daniel Negreanu’s “Daniel Negreanu Amazing reads WSOP,” tops the big three’s YouTube charts with 2.85 million views.

When compared to other small, furry Canadians born in the 70s, Negreanu shows a strong lead.

Just 689,000 views for the Hobo.

But when compared to Seth Rogen, a furry Canadian export from the 80s, Negreanu starts to lose his dominance.

Then, when 90s export Justin Bieber comes into play, both Rogen and Negreanu become mere blips on the radar.

It’s been rumored that the Canadian government is still developing an export from the 00s to overtake Gangnam Style as YouTube's most viewed video.

People Like Just "A Little Bit of Poker"

Poker’s unique blend of mainstream accessibility but lack of mainstream fame is partly due to the effort required to succeed in the game.

Online poker’s peak popularity also coincided with the softness of the games:

2005

2015

The effort involved in just following professional poker is also strenuous.

While most professional sports have a set roster of professional players, professional poker allows anyone with a buy-in the chance to compete.

To be fully up-to-date, fans have to follow an array of international tournaments, high-stakes cash games and online poker. This creates a flip of the previous graph:

These graphs suggest that people just like “a little bit of poker.”

This evidence supports the Bilzerian Instagram account, which in order of frequency tends to show:

Instead of the countless hours of work and study required to be a modern poker pro, Bilzerian also manifests the road several amateur players wish they could take:

These results also coincide with recent studies on fame.

In 2008, researchers who wrote “Socialization to Work in Late Adolescence: The Role of Television and Family,” discovered that American college students associated more with famous, well-off characters than everyday broke-ass ones.

In “Rise of Fame,” Uhls and Greenfield found that values in media such as benevolence and sharing have plummeted while individual values like fame, physical appearance and wealth have risen since 1967.

In their conclusion, Uhls and Greenfield state:

The changes in multimedia content and the possibilities for the interactive construction of fame on YouTube may have a measurable impact on the goals and desires of emerging adults[...]

Media, ever prevalent in the lives of today’s youth, are an important source of information for their developing concepts of what the social world outside their immediate environment is all about.

However, early adolescents are not watching characters in everyday environments; instead they are watching and likely identifying with youth who have enormously successful careers to the point of becoming famous.

If tweens observe characters they admire succeeding and achieving wide public recognition and material success with little effort or training, they are likely to believe that this success is entirely possible and easy to achieve. This is an important issue for future research.

Poker players are therefore not doomed to limited stardom. To break that glass ceiling, players, tournaments and media outlets should simply just focus on the luxury lifestyle aspect of poker.

Also: more guns, jets and sex.

Poker, or card games, as inspiration for some of the world's most legendary works of art?

It's not as far-fetched as you might think. In fact dozens of the world's most famous painters - including Caravaggio, Cézanne and Picasso - found bottomless inspiration in the minutiae of cards, card games and its varied enthusiasts.

PokerListings Italy's Francesco Esposito digs a little deeper.

Poker Night (from a streetcar named desire) (1948)

Everyone knows the movie (and some the play), but few know "A Streetcar Named Desire" is also a painting: "Poker Night (from a streetcar named desire)," produced by Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975) in 1948.

The play was staged for the first time on Broadway in 1947 shortly after producer David O. Selznick commissioned the painting from Benton as a gift for his wife Irene. Like all of Benton’s paintings "Poker Night" stands out for its sinuous lines.

Author Tennessee Williams won one of his two Pulitzer Prizes for Theater with this play. The first theatrical release of A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by Elia Kazan, was released in 1951.

In the painting, exhibited at the Whitney Museum in New York, you can clearly recognize the actors including Marlon Brando and Jessica Tandy. Tandy has been quoted as saying she didn’t like the way Benton portrayed her with a thin dress that revealed a bit too much.

The revealing dress is one of a few details typical to the liberal interpretations of the Missouri artist. Photos taken during the play show Tandy appears in a more chaste dress with ruffles and fringes.

"No Women When Playing"

Back to the picture and the movie. Stanley (Marlon Brando) is playing poker at home in the company of three friends. His wife and sister-in-law have returned sooner than expected. He’s made even more nervous by the fact that he’s losing.

A short distance away behind a curtain in the bedroom the radio plays a waltz: Stanley is annoyed while Blanche (Tandy) dances to the music. In the film Stanley throws the radio out the window shortly after. The other players try to calm him down by putting him under a cold shower.

"Poker should not be played in a house in the presence of women," says Mitch, Blanche’s suitor.

Arts of the West (1932)

Another painting where Benton depicts poker players is "Arts of the West,” part of a series of large murals initially intended for the Whitney Museum.

As usual Benton shows more scenes of life in the same painting. In this case, the common denominator is the West.

The work of Benton is associated with the group of American Regionalists, who offered a figurative style in contrast to the European avant-garde.

Benton inspired many artists like the Mexican painter Diego Rivera, famous for his murals, and his pupil Jackson Pollock, the legend of Abstract Expressionism.

Dogs Playing Poker (1903)

The game of poker is not just the prerogative of the human species, as evidenced by the Dogs Playing Poker series of paintings by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge.

The nine paintings, cited in numerous TV shows, cartoons and even in song, were commissioned from the American painter by advertising firm Brown & Bigelow.

Caravaggio’s “The Cardsharps” (1594)

Going back about three centuries the famous painting “The Cardsharps” by Michelangelo Merisi, also known as Caravaggio (1571-1610), represents two young boys playing Zarro, a card game which was very popular in Italy during the time of the Renaissance.

The painting, done in 1594, is now exhibited at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth (Texas). The Cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte commissioned it from Caravaggio. During his stay at Del Monte’s the artist’s popularity grew among the Roman nobility.

Zarro is considered by many to be an ancestor of poker as points were given to twins, both set and color. The set had 20 cards, five of which were available to each player. Considered “socially dangerous,” Zarro was prohibited by Milan by a 1531 edict from Francesco Sforza, which did not however stop the game from spreading.  

"The Cardsharps” are the young boy depicted from the back and his older accomplice: this latter one peaks at the victim’s cards and shows a three with his hand, maybe indicating that he has a set.

The players are using a set of Italians cards which show a French influence. A four of diamonds is placed by one of the cardsharps on the table. The young dishonest boy holds a seven of hearts and a six of clubs behind his back: thanks to his accomplice’s signal, he can switch the six of clubs with one of his cards.

The Theater of Poker

Even in this work of art it’s as if Caravaggio put together a theatrical representation of poker. The theme and subjects - especially the man watching the game - are depicted in a way that resembles a ‘commedia dell’arte’ scene.

The torn gloves of the prompter, the most visible of which is the one on the right gesticulating hand, represent a comic element. The cheaters contrast the honest boy through their movements: the former two express tension and dynamism even through their glances while the “cheated” appears reflective and relaxed in his manner of sitting and looking at the cards.

It's probably the victim’s turn considering his level of concentration.

Tips for Getting Lucky

The theme of card playing in works of art has also been investigated by Joseph Leonard Goldstein, a biochemist and geneticist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine.

Goldstein explored the connection in an article published by the journal Nature Medicine entitled “The card players of Caravaggio, Cézanne and Mark Twain: Tips for getting lucky in high-stakes research.”

Apart from analyzing the analogies between poker and scientific research, Goldstein examines certain paintings including “The Cardsharps” by Caravaggio, “The cheat with the ace of diamonds,” by Georges de La Tour and “The card players,” by Cézanne.

In his article Goldstein notes that in the late 1300s, when card playing had become a popular method of entertainment in Italy and in France, tricks and cheats had overcome ability. This situation also emerges in Caravaggio’s painting.

The American Nobel prize winner explains how several distinguished painters are influenced by Caravaggio’s “Cardsharps,” over the following 300 years.

In 2006 96-year-old collector Denis Mahon bought a copy of “The Cardsharps” for 50,000 GBP at an auction by Sotheby’s in London. A year later it was discovered that the painting was an original by Caravaggio, finished before the painting exhibited in the American museum (although attribution, as well as the date of the painting, remain uncertain).

Soldiers Playing Cards

Caravaggio’s style influenced a lot of young European painters, like France’s Valentin de Boulogne.

de Boulogne represented card and dice games several times in his work, as in his “Soldiers playing cards” (in the image above).

The painting depicts the scene from a slightly different perspective and was later given a permanent spot in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.

The Cheat with the Ace of Diamonds

The same theme in Caravaggio’s painting was revisited in “The cheat with the ace of diamonds” by Georges de La Tour (1593-1652), finished in 1635, which represents the temptations offered by women, wine and play.

Even in this case the construction of glances is given a lot of importance: the oblique look given by the courtesan to the maid who is about to serve her wine; the one by the cheat with cards hidden behind his back; and the one of the young man on the right, probably unaware of what is going on.

It is not to be missed that the courtesan’s look is directed towards the cheat instead of the maid. In another version of the painting, de La Tour depicts an ace of clubs instead of an ace of diamonds.

The card players

In 2012 Vanity Fair magazine revealed that the famous “Card players” by Cézanne was acquired by the Qatar royal family for $250 million. (complete story). One-upping the offers of art merchants Larry Gagosian and William Acquavella, the Arab royals acquired the most expensive painting in art history. 

The previous record, for “Number 5” by Jackson Pollock, sold in 2006 for $140 million.

The painting by Cézanne forms part of a cycle of five works done between 1890 and 1895 in which different peasants were depicted playing cards.

The subjects were probably workers who served in the property of Cézanne’s family outside of Aix-en-Provence. The man on the left with the pipe is the Pere Alexandre, the farmer, while the other man is Paulin Paulet, the gardener.

As noted once again by Goldstein the players are so absorbed by the game that they prefer staring at the cards rather than looking at each other. Art critic Meyer Shapiro has defined the painting as “collective solitaire.”

The contrast between “The Cardsharps” by Caravaggio and “The card players” is impressive. Writes Goldstein:

“Unlike Caravaggio's masterpiece, Cézanne's seminal series depicts no cheating, no money on the table, no melodrama, no skullduggery, no extravagant clothes.

“Cézanne is telling us in no uncertain terms that card play is no laughing matter. The key to skillful play and winning is focus, focus, focus. Luck is not necessary when there are no distractions and no trickery of the Caravaggio type.

“As to which is more important, luck or skill, Caravaggio leans toward luck and Cézanne favors skill”.

Apart from the one in the hands of the Qatar royal family the other paintings that formed the series can be found in London (Courtauld Institute of Art), New York (Metropolitan Museum) and at the Musèe d’Orsay in Paris.

Before it was sold to the royal family “The card players” belonged to Greece’s George Embiricos, who had refused to separate himself from it but changed his mind shortly before dying.

The painting by Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) anticipates the cubism which followed with regards the representation of reality and the simplification of form. Cubism had Pablo Picasso amongst its major exponents.

"Card Players" (1913)

Picasso's “Card players” (1913), in particular, shows synthetic cubism and exhibits a personal representation of reality. Among the characteristic features we find some playing cards and abstract motifs that probably represent mouldings and decorations of a hypothetical pub.

The particular predilection by the synthetic cubists for letters and numbers, and so also for playing cards, is notable also in “Still life with playing cards” (1913) by Georges Braque, a friend and colleague of Picasso.

The painting “The card players” by Gino Severini (1924), on the other hand, falls under the movement defined as the “Return to order,” that proposed the return to figurative and more traditional art.

In this painting we find two characters of the Commedia dell’arte, which is a returning feature of this movement, being represented among the players.

"Women leaning on playing cards" (1954)

Echoes of Picasso’s painting can be found in “Women leaning on playing cards,” painted in 1954 by Felice Casorati.

"Card players"

There are several other well-known artists who have depicted games of cards in a number of paintings.

A Colombian sculptor and painter with an unmistakable figurative style, Fernando Botero Angulo depicted several scenes of card players in his works - frequently with a nude woman involved.

If you’ve stumbled across this article, you most likely have a poker player in your life and no idea what to get him or her for Christmas.

Finding gifts for poker players can be a difficult task but no need to stress; there are plenty of options out there for even the most discerning of poker aficionados.

Here are the best of the best poker Christmas gifts.

DIY Poker Table

DIY projects are fun and economical and if you don’t mind putting in a little extra effort for this year’s gift you can now take it to the next level by building your own table. 

By following our step-by-step video guide you can now build your own poker table at home quickly and easily for under $300.

For a project as easy as this one, no expensive tools are needed and a little creativity can get you a long way. All materials can be purchased at your local building supply store.

Check the video below for a detailed breakdown on how to make this year’s gift an extraordinary one:

Giant Poker

Old or young, no matter the age, poker is a game for everyone. If this year you’re looking for a unique yet humoous present to give to that old time poker player, this is one you can’t miss out on.

Giant Poker is, well, funny. The poker set includes 54 giant playing cards and 108 giant poker chips. So this year there will be no hassle with who lost whose glasses and who can’t see which cards.

Chip Coaster Set

These unique and collectible casino chip coasters are the perfect addition to any high roller's collection. The coasters are large versions of the Las Vegas Caesar's Palace $100 chips.

From the engraved lettering to the screen-printed artwork, these are real winners. Not only is the design outstanding but also cork backs have been added to protect your table during your next home game.

Poker Manual

Have someone on your list who is interested in poker but has yet to learn more? This Poker Manual has 266 Essential Poker Skills.

The manual covers everything from the basics of each type of game and the hands needed to win to specific strategy tips and how to beat the odds.

These skills and many more are all accompanied by some of the most fascinating poker stories in history.

Noise-Blocking Headphones

Buying the poker player in the family a pair of noise-blocking headphones is something they’ll be grateful for, for sure.

Not only will they not have to listen to the constant chip shuffling but they can now put together their master plan in peace.

Chip Stack Bottle Opener

Thanks to the Internet and our good friend Amazon we’ve now found the perfect solution for those hardcore poker players craving a beer.

PokerListings introduces to you the place-push-pop chip stack bottle opener. Need we say more?

Personalized Chips

Going for a more personal touch this year? Whether you'd like a picture or text, Chiplab.com has got it all.

The best part about ordering your chips at chiplab.com is that you don’t have to wait weeks for your order to arrive.

Card Protector

If you don’t have time for a DIY Christmas project but would like to give something as special as a handmade gift, have a look at this card protector we found on eBay.

This card protector is solid sterling silver and hand made in America by Sterlingwerx. Not only is it a good weight and heft for protecting your aces, it’s also one of a kind.

Not bad for $99!

Portable Charger

With this 26800mAh 3-port portable charger, empty batteries are a thing of the past. For only $55.99 you can now make your poker friend or family member happier than ever.

RunGoodGear

Founded during the 2012 World Series of Poker and brought to national recognition with appearances on ESPN by RunGood Pros Huy Nguyen (WSOP National Championship FT-2012) and Robert Salaburu (WSOP Main Event 2012). Not only can the brand been seen every year on the WSOP Main Event Rail but they also offer custom made t-shirts for the November Nine.

Items range from $20 to $75, and can be found on RunGoodGear.com

No Mercy Collection

Know a player who not only likes to play but also “wear” poker? Discover the brand new art and jewellery collection handmade by professional poker player Isabelle "No Mercy" Mercier!

NoMercyMaking.com offers a collection of poker jewellery varying from bracelets and earrings to rings, all starting at a price of $8. Why not get him a steel ace of spades ring or her the poker suits bracelet?

Make this Christmas a special one and give your poker-loving loved ones not only something they’ll love but something they’ll remember!