Errol Potok’s Poker Blog

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With the re-launch of Outstanding Poker V2.0 I have moved my blog over to the new site and no longer need to post here!

View my current blog at http://www.outstandingpoker.com/blogs/killer_be_99 for all new postings!

If you think you have seen it all when it comes to the game of poker you have to hear this story.

A few nights ago I was playing a $5/$10 nl holdem cash game at the Rio. The game has a $400 min buy-in and has an uncapped maximum.  I was sitting in the 9 seat (game is 9 handed). In an un-raised pot with about 3 limpers and the blinds the flop came out 10s 4c Jc. There was a bet of $30 dollars and two callers. The turn brought the 10s. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I have heard stories of this crap happening but to actually see it for my own eyes. Everyone’s money was given back to them that were in pre-flop. The floor was immediately called and instantly grabbed the deck from the dealer. They did not even count the deck down in front of the players. They didn’t want to alert us if we were playing with more than 52 cards in the deck.

(I did not take the picture. It was taken by a middle aged gentleman that was sitting in seat 7. He kindly emailed me the picture upon request)

One of the floors had this to say when asked if he has ever seen this type of thing before. “Apparently this sort of thing happens more often than you think”. A European kid from Belgium (who was stuck multiple thousands of dollars in the game) had previously lost to a set of 10’s about an hour before the duplicate tens were spotted.  He wanted the floor to give him his money back that he lost in the game. An older gentleman who was also stuck in the game was also complaining that he wanted his money back. Fat chance bud!  The floor gave the older guy the card of the gaming commissioner.

The player in seat two who crushed the Belgium kid in the 4k + pot (with a set of 10’s) came in to the game from a broken table.  People at the table suggested that he might have brought in the duplicate ten of spades.

I have to say that the floor handled the situation pretty good. I would have liked to see what cards were missing from the deck and the amount of cards we were actually playing with.  They didn’t give us the satisfaction of finding out any info on this matter.  I assume they had a few good reasons for this.

I have been playing cash for the past few years at the rio during the WSOP. I have have to say that the floor that covers the late night shift (which heads in to the early morning) do a great job. They are pretty strict but these guys know the rules across the board.

Cheers,

Errol

Ok so it’s that time of year. The 2010 WSOP kicks off May 28 with the annual employees event. I wanted to write a blog posting to give you guys a little prep for Vegas Poker during the WSOP.

Tournaments – Of course the WSOP has great tournaments.  Everyone is looking to get that bracelet. However for most this is just a dream. The wsop has improved the blind structures of all the NL events. As of last year you now get triple the buy-in in starting chips and deep structures. This provides plenty of play for everyone. And yes it now favours the pros (slightly for the 1k events). We no longer see the flipaments that occurred 4 or 5 years ago when you only got double the amount of chips relative to your buyin. In addition to the wsop events the Rio is now featuring June $550 No-Limit Hold’em Tournaments  (Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 1:00 PM throughout June).
If you want to read the official WSOP rules… click here for the pdf.

Main event – satellites: Jump into the Sit-n-go’s satellite room. You can get into the main event and other events via Sit-n-go’s. Or you can play one of the many mega satellites (however the structures are bingo ish).  Or you can try your luck online.

Best value for your money – Venetian DEEP STACK EXTRAVAGANZA III

MAY 28TH THROUGH JULY 15TH, 2010.  These tournaments bring out a wide variety players (both amateur and pros). So there is a lot of dead money in the field. And the buyins for the tournaments are quite small compared to the wop events.  When I play these events I shoot for the top. If you don’t finish top 10 you aren’t really going to enjoy a nice payday. So I don’t mind going broke early on.

For a schedule of the deep stack series go to : http://venetian.com/uploadedFiles/The_Venetian/Gaming/PokerRoom/Deep_Stack/DeepStackIII10.pdf

For Deep Stack Extravaganza Blind Structures visit: http://venetian.com/Pages.aspx?id=458

Cash games – For lower limit cash games ($1/$2 nl and $2/$5) I would recommend playing where the pros won’t be found. Some suggestions would be: The Hard Rock, MGM Grand, Palms, and even the small room at the Rio.  I strongly recommend you check out the small room at the Rio beside the sports book as they offer uncapped NL games.

If you are looking for bigger buyin events you will have to check out the 4 big boys (Belagio, Wynn, Venetian and Ceasars). The Rio also features a cash room during the wsop for all the limits.

Best advice: Play smart and try not to go broke. Allocate a certain amount of money for tournaments and for cash games. Don’t try to outdo yourself. If you are running bad or playing bad take some time off. If you are going down for a long period it is good to hit a gym. Most hotels have one. If they don’t you can also go to the Gold Coast and sneak in to there gym (located beside the pool).

If you have any questions feel free to give me a shout!

Cheers,

Errol

Me and a few buddies arrived in BC at the River Rock a few days before the 1k event. We all planned on playing the 1k event and main event ($2700) buy in. I had a pretty good feeling that one of us would make it really deep in one of the tournaments.  We started off playing a super satellite into the main event and about half of us that played got a seat into the main event. I spent $320 to get my main event seat.

The $1k event turned out to be a disappointment. Not a single buddy of mine from Toronto ended up cashing. I thought that the structure and tournament was great.

The cash games that went on during the BCPC were great. I stuck to playing $5/5 nl because the buy-in was $1500 max. This gave a major edge to the more experienced player.  The River Rock ran a few $5/10 nl games and the games played much bigger. The max buy-in was $10k. They also spread a $10/$25 game.  I really liked the supervisors and floor at the River Rock.  They did a fantastic job at running the tournaments and poker room during the BCPC. Some of the dealers were a little weak as they were temps. However, I think that is standard with running a big tournament.  For what it is worth the regular dealers were pretty good.

On to the main event. The $2700 buy in was filled with poker celebrities. With the likes of Brad Booth, Gavin Smith, Lacey Jones, Greg Mueller, and the girls from the Amazing Race (Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle).  Although the competition was much tougher than the 1k event and there was a larger field I still thought that one of us Toronto kids would make a deep run. After all two of the guys I was with from Toronto had final tabled big events in the past. Ivan Mamuzic made a final table at the WPT event in September at the Borgata. His cash was good for $251,955. My buddy John Nixon also cashed for $177,619 in Atlantic City coming second at the Caesars Atlantic City WSOP Circuit Event in 2009. I introduced the two heavy weights in BC as they never met before.

I doubled up early on in the tournament however I got quite short stacked during the 4rth level when I missed an open ended straight flush draw and got drawn out on when all the money got in and a guy hit a gut shot on me. My image was quite maniacal.  I was splashing around chips and looking like a loose agro player. However when I got the money in I had the best of it. I lost an all in when I had 13k in chips with pocket tens. Over all I thought I played a great tournament however I shouldn’t have gotten it in with 10’s. The action dictated that I was losing. However I was tilted from a few bad beats. That is a leak I should really fix.

I think about 4 of us were left heading into day two of the main event. It was my birthday weekend so we partied pretty hard after each day of the main event. Ivan was a trooper. He came out with us to the bar after day one and day two. The only one of us to cash was Ivan. He made it all the way to the final table.   He ended up finishing 4rth place bagging $110k. Good showing.

Apparently, Sophon Sek, who won the British Columbia Poker Championship for $364,364, was arrested on charges of manslaughter and breaking and entering in the infamous 2007 “Surrey Six” murders, one of the biggest news stories in the Vancouver area over the last two years. Who would have thought? The guy was silent during the whole final table when I was watching.

Overall my experience in BC was great.  Will definitely go back.

I wanted to let you guys know about a very good video series called the Cash Game Masterclass.  I usually watch these videos when I am on Tilt and am not thinking right at the tables. The video takes examples from the Poker Heaven European Cash Game. I have summarized the first episode of the series for you so you can get a better understanding of what you are going to be watching.

Cash game Masterclass

Analyzing cash games with Eric Liu and Albert Iverson.

Episode 1: Table Dynamics and Position with Eric Liu:

- playing in position

- Very good analysis of hands from Eric Liu. Takes you through some hands.

- playing out of position

- Talks about check raising.  Bad player a lot of flops are check raised. Good player Check call.

- playing pre flop

- When you pick up hand – fold call or reraise. Decide what to do – look at what opponent has done in the past. If good player is in front fold a lot more. If good player is behind reraise more. If bad player is behind call a lot more.

- playing post flop

- put people on ranges. Value betting range. Bluffing Range.

Episode 2: Your Image and Opponent Types:

Episode 3: Playable Hands:

Episode 4: Borderline Decisions:

Episode 5: Deceptive Plays:

Episode 6: Keeping a Clear Head:

To watch the Cash Game Masterclass Visit: http://www.pokerchanneleurope.com/masterclass

This is a must watch for any poker player no matter what your skill level is.

Cheers,

Errol

I am out in wonderful Las Vegas. So far I played two tournaments and have ran pretty card dead in both.  I played one $1500 WSOP event at the RIO and got knocked out on level 4 (four hours into the event). I had QhQd and opened in early position for 4x the blinds. An older gentleman smooth called on the button. Flop came  out 4d9d2s. I bet out three quarters of the pot and my opponent raised my all in. I started the hand with 11k in chips. My opponent had 9k in chips.  I called he turned over AdKd turn Jh river As. I pick up 88 two hands later and lost my lat 2 k  in chips. For get talking about the tournaments.

On to the cash games. I have been trying to stay away from where the pros have been playing and that has been working out nicely for me. However, I really do like the $5/$10 game in the Rio tournament room. The action is probably the best you can get in a $5/$10 game. Most of the players opt to take advantage of the button straddle ($20 dollars played on the button, and the action starts on the small bling). So the game plays very big.  I buy in for $1500 in this game and top up whenever I get low in Chips.  In terms of $2/$5 games I strongly recommend that you stay away from rooms like the Belagio, Wynn, Caesars or Venetian. Although I have a major edge playing in any $2/$5 game i find that a lot of grinders play in these games. If you are looking to play in a $2/$5 game I suggest that you find a room that non grinders tend to go to. A few suggestions are the following. The Palms, MGM Grand, Small Poker room at the Rio, and the Hard Rock.

I played at the Hard Rock on Trash Talk Tuesdays and the action was just sick. Min buy-in was 300 and max was 3k.  There was a mandatory 10 dollars Hard Rock straddle and the 2-7 game was always on.  The game played like a $5/$10 game and the skill level was quite low.  A lot of gambling and drinking was going on.  If you are in Vegas on a Tuesday then you must pay a visit to the Hard Rock.  Oh and I ran into Alan Boston playing while I was there.  Boy did i want to play on his table.

If you need any advice about playing the WSOP or playing cash games in Vegas give me a shout. And yes I do plan on playing satellites for the main event (The best valued poker tournament in the world).

Cheers,

Errol

So I was playing a week ago at the casino and I thought I would bring up something that went down at the table. There was a donk that brought her stack up to 2300 at a $5/5 nl table. I sat down at the table late in to her session. I could tell that she was inexperienced because she kept on making string bets. She kept on going back and forth to her stack even after constantly being told by the dealer. 

One particular hand between the donk and a regular made me laugh.  The board was 95A9k (no 3 flush board) and there was about $700 in the middle before the river came. The donk was first to act on the river and she put out $100 before trying to go to her stack for more chips. The dealer called a string bet. The regular immediately announced raise and put out $300.  The donk didn’t even think and said “I Call You All-In”. The dealer announced that she was All-In. The regular who obviously had a 9 believed that he was ahead of the donks range and called after two minutes of thinking. The donk turned over A9 for the winner.

I didn’t say anything as I wasn’t in the hand. Heck I wanted the donk to get all of the chips. After the hand I mentioned that the phrasing in which the girl went all in was justifying a call.  If the regular would have made this apparent during the hand and called the floor I believe he would just have had to turn over his cards and the all in bet would not have stood.

I believe a similar situation happened like this against Kathy Liebert in a major tournament. The floor was called over and the ruling was that the player just had to call her bet.

Don’t make the mistake of being a donk.  Make sure you properly phrase your bets.  You wouldn’t want to get donk status for the rest of your life.

Cheers,

Errol

Last week (Friday May 1st) I was up Fallsview Casino playing poker and saw Brody Jenner and his boys playing some $2/5 nl. They just came from drinking the night away at Dragonfly Nightclub (located on the side entrance of the casino). Brody was promoting the club and getting an appearance fee for his time. I had just finished playing some $5/10 NL when my table broke.

I decided to shoot some $5/5 nl (I wasn’t in the mood to leave yet) when I saw Jenner and about three or four others that were with him sitting at the $2/5 nl table ($300 max game). It must have been after 3am.

(image from: hollywoodknights.com)

I told a girl I knew that Jenner was playing and she went over to say hello (she was a big fan of The Hills). He gave her the cold shoulder and remarked “who is Brody Jenner” when she came over. I was a bit shocked that he would be such a dick to a fan. But then again I guess he gets that all the time. Anyways … on to the good part of the story. His crew was very loud and it seemed to me that they did not respect the players at the table. You could tell by looking at the table from a few tables away that these guys did not have any sort of poker etiquette. They were high fiving each other when they won pots etc. I don’t think any of those guys cared if they won or lost any money. The stakes just didn’t mean much to them.

Getting on to the drama. After about an hour or so of them playing I saw Jenner and this Asian fellow get into an altercation. Apparently the Asian fellow wanted to take Jenner outside. Both Jenner and the Asian fellow started swearing and threats were uttered  (I can’t confirm what was being said as I was sitting 2 tables behind them). The floor quickly kicked the Asian fellow out and asked Jenner to leave as well. Jenner seemed to be on the defensive side. Him and his boys continued to utter that they did nothing wrong. The floor took Jenner aside and told him that he had to leave the poker room. He was arguing with the floor for about 25 minutes before security showed up. Jenner kept on bringing one of the waitress’s over to help back his story up. After talking to security for another 30 minutes Jenner and his boys finally decided to leave the casino.

I thought the whole incident was quite comical. It was like the cameras were on Jenner and his crew and they needed to create drama for TV. Oh and if you check out Jenner’s twitter page he makes a comment on the incident: “WOW!!!!! Great times last night.. Except for the death threat hahahaha Words of advice.. If you get a bad beat in poker deal with it!” source: http://twitter.com/BrodyJenner/status/1680298394

Cheers,

Errol

The one thing that has been bugging me lately when playing cash games (live) is the amount of soft play that is going on at the tables.  Soft play occurs usually when friends are in the pot together and end up checking the hand down. This usually happens at lower stakes poker games, however I have seen witnessed this sort of stuff in $5/10 nl games.

I think that soft playing should not be allowed as it ruins the integrity of the game.  If you partake in soft play you are cheating yourself, your friend and all the other players in the game.  Many people don’t realize that by soft playing a hand with a friend they are in fact affecting the action of the other players at the table.  Let me give you an example of how this can happen.

We are in a $5/5 game and there is a raise preflop of $25 dollars with four callers (approx 125 dollar pot). So five players are in the pot and the flop comes out 2s 5h 9h and it is checked around to the preflop raiser who is on the button. The preflop raiser makes it $100 and the first position calls.  Let’s say the stacks are really big. Two other players fold and it goes to the player to the right of the preflop raiser who makes it $300 to go. The preflop raiser folds and then the initial player in first position says “buddy if I call can we check the rest of the pot down”.  This is just an example. The player who raised to $300 and the person in first position may already have established to check down all pots after a bet is called heads up. This sort of soft play is designed to isolate one of the players in the game out of the pot (although might not be intentionally). The player in first position or the re-raiser might get a cheap draw to see the turn and river.

I believe that soft play is a mild form of collusion. More problems with soft play happen in tournaments. But I can’t really stand it in cash games. The next time you are at a poker table and someone asks you to soft play pots with you tell them that there are no friends at the poker table. And always be thinking about the integrity of the game!

Cheers,
Errol

I recently asked a few online poker players what they thought was the biggest negative effect that the UIGEA had on online poker. They all gave me a very similar response. They all said that the UIGEA has caused a lot of the action to dry up on many of the top poker sites in the last few years. Simply put there isn’t as many people who come online with the intentions of dropping a few hundred dollars playing poker. The truth is that people may be scared because they think it’s a crime to play online poker in the United States. This isn’t the case for the most part (there are some exceptions in certain States).

For those who don’t know much about the UIGEA I have summarized some of the most important facts for you (taken from a recent article I found in Cardplayer Magazine).

- Facts about the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA)
- Stands for Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act
- Passed by congress on Sept 30 2006.

- What did the UIGEA do?
- Made it illegal for online financial institutions to transfer funds from potential customers to online casinos and vice versa

- What the UIGEA didn’t do?
- The law didn’t ban the playing of online poker

- What were the negative effects of the UIGEA?
- Forced gaming companies to pull out of the United States
- Made it difficult for customers to deposit and cash out of online gaming sites.

- What people did to fight back?
- Over a million people joined the PPA (Poker Players Alliance)
- Members of congress introduced poker-related bills to repeal or clarify the UIGEA, however none of these bills ever made it to a vote.

So what’s currently happening you might ask? Congressman Barney Frank and the PPA have created a bill that is aimed at repealing the UIGEA.

If you want my take here it is. If poker was regulated and people in the US were forced to pay taxes on their winnings this could generate billions in revenue for the US government. Action would once again be like it was pre the UIGEA. Poker is continuing to become more and more popular, with the WSOP bringing in a record in viewership and overall participation. The US gov’t needs to wake up and realize that poker is a game of skill and it is not the same “gambling” that goes in at online casinos.

I really want to see a bill passed into law so that people in the US can once again easily and legally deposit and withdrawal money from online poker sites. However I find it hard to believe that the United States government can actually regulate online gambling.  Here’s to hope that something will eventually happen sometime soon!

Cheers,

Errol