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

If you are playing poker professionally or even recreationally I strongly suggest that you plan a few poker trips. This will allow you to get out there and see the world and make some money at the same time.  I find that the best cash game action is located wherever a big tournament is being held.  This is because big tournaments attract the fish. Simply put most tournament players are not skilled cash game players.

I just got back from a recent trip to Atlantic City and the cash game action at Caesars was amazing. This was because there was a world series of poker circuit event going on. I mainly played $5/10 nl and I can tell you that the level of play was very soft. I also played a lot of $2/5 nl.  The max buyin was 500 for the 2/5 game and some of the tables had 4 or 5 players with over 2k stacks. As you could imagine pots were pretty big.  Two Canadian’s finished 1st and 2nd at the final table of the 5k main event. I got to meet the 2nd place finisher (John Nixon) when I was down there. He seems like a pretty educated poker player.  Go Team Canada!

Although I played a lot of poker at Caesars while in Atlantic City my favourite poker room in AC has got to be the Borgata.  I think that this is definitely the best poker room by far in Atlantic City. The poker room has 85 tables and the stakes vary from $1/2 nl up to the $300/600 limit games.

Now that I am back in Toronto I am going to relax, play online, and enjoy everything this great city has to offer.

Cheers,

Errol

So I was thinking about what makes a real poker professional. You know, what separates the fish from the pro. I have come to the conclusion that it all comes down to Poker Discipline. I have come up with a five key points to help you become a winning live cash-game poker player.

1. Have a good table image – Do not give off the image that you think you are better than the other players at the table. Having a cocky image will just cause other players to gun for you (headhunt). You don’t want multiple players calling you with garbage holdings. Keep a level head when you are up and also when you are down. Your table presents effects how people play against you at the table.

2. Get off Tilt Fast – If you find yourself on tilt get up and go take a break. Or get a table change. Being on tilt is part of the game. If you don’t do something to get yourself off tilt you will not become a winning player.

3. Make sure you are mentally and physically prepared – Setup a simple routine for yourself before play and during play. Make sure you take breaks while at the table. Only play 6-8 hours at a time. If the game is really good you can step outside your given time period by an hour or two at the max. Remember the fish will be there the next day. Make sure you exercise and live a healthy lifestyle. This will lead to you being more confident and comfortable at the poker table.

4. Understand Risk vs. Reward - Make sure you know your limit. Come to the casino with a set limit you have in mind which you will be willing to spend. Do not play more than 10% of your bankroll at once.  Have a weekly, monthly and yearly goal where you want to get to. Do not necessarily leave the table because you are up a certain amount after an hour or so. If you leave after making 2 buyins you will never have a session where you make 5 or 6 buyins.

5. Make sure you have great table selection – Don’t just play at any table. Make sure you are at a table without many regulars. New faces are always good to play with. Most poker rooms have regulars playing from Monday to Thursday from 11am to 5pm. Adapt to that. Start playing weekends and nights and you will notice that you will start to see new faces at the table.

Respect these rules. Sure these rules aren’t graved in stone. You can adjust them to fit your poker routine. However I am sure most poker players agree that this foundation will improve your overall success rate at the poker table.

Cheers,

Errol

So I just got back from a Vegas trip with a bunch of the boys. The trip was great! While in Vegas I stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. The first few nights we stayed in a room that was a non pool side view. This wasn’t our best choice as the hotel was undergoing construction. That meant an early wake up by the construction crew. After we complained we got moved to a poolside view. What a difference that made.

The poker lounge is located right off the main casino floor and right down the hall from the parking garage. There is a nice restaurant called pink tacos beside the room as well as a Starbucks located next door. The floor at the Hard Rock are excellent. All staff at the Hard Rock Poker Room seems to be a tight bunch. They are a very friendly bunch.

The games that were spread at the Hard Rock Poker Lounge were $1/$2 nl and $2/$5 nl. The $1-$2 had a buyin of $100/$300 and the $2 -$5 had a buyin of $200/$2,000. What I did notice is that they could only spread a $2-$5 game from Thursday to Sunday in the afternoons to early morning, which is ok because that’s when the Hard Rock gets the majority of traffic. The $1 – $2 spread 1 table in the early mornings and they would have a floor playing as a prop player to get the game going.  I don’t even play $1 – $2 so i didn’t really play at the Hard Rock until the weekend before I went out to the club.

While playing at the Hard Rock Poker Lounge I played $2 – $5 with Jamie Gold. The game was fantastic as everyone had well over 3k in front of them at one point. No clue why Jamie Gold was playing such low limits.  Most of the time i played  $2 – $5 the game was insanely soft. I would buyin for the 2k max and most players had 300 to 500 in front of them.

I did have one major complaint with the poker room. The floor did not really have a solid foundation when it came to a few specific rulings. It seemed to me that the floor basically took the majority of the player’s word when making a ruling. Maybe it was just the one floor I dealt with but that was my general consensus. Most smaller poker rooms generally make “friendly” rullings to appease the majority of the players (to get them to come back).  Stuff like this wouldn’t ever happen if you go to 1 of the 4 top poker rooms in Vegas (Bellagio, Venetian, Caesars, and Wynn).

That being said, the staff at the Hard Rock Lounge were extremely nice to the players. If you had the players they would spread whatever game and whatever limit you wanted. The staff at the poker lounge even walked us in to the Hard Rock club (Body English) on Halloween. It was pretty much the casinos busiest time of the year.

If the Hard Rock ran a $2 – $5 game around the clock every day i pretty much wouldn’t have left the casino. I did extremely well while playing there and the staff made my stay at the Hard Rock a great overall experience.

Oh and I bumped into Daniel Negraunu while playing at the Hard Rock. Apparently he was giving lessons to a contest winner. Here is a pic of me and Negraunu. I played a lot this summer at the WSOP and didn’t stop one pro for a picture. Heck I even played with Phil Galfond and Jamie gold. I guess I just consider these guys to be regular people.

Cheers,

Errol

So I was playing $5/$10 nl during the week of the WPT (at fallsview Casino Resort) as these were the smallest games that were offered. The action was really soft as a lot of tourists and 5/5 and 2/5 regulars were forced to play much above their bankrolls and skill level. I expected to make a few buyins each day during the time I was there.

I have had some bad streaks over my poker career and this was one of them. Every time I got my money in (and all the money got in) when I was 70% favourite (or better) to win the hand I would somehow end up losing. I can remember 4 or 5 hands where I got my money in with 2 pair or better vs very marginal hands where I would end up losing. And these were certainly not setup hands. Example 78 suited and the board comes k78 rainbow and I get my money in against a k6 off. K hits turn and guy scoops 900 pot. In that situation the guy thought he was committed as there was 175 in preflop and original raiser put in 130 on the flop which he called and I check raised the flop to put him all in. I also recall about 4 or 5 times where I got all my money in when I had two pair or better vs a naked flush draw or a pair and a flush draw. I lost every single situation. Don’t get me wrong I definitely want to get my money in when I am such a heavy favourite. In poker you certainly don’t want to wait to see a card that will hurt your action or better your opponent’s hand. Unless you are playing deep stack poker (which I wasn’t for the most part) most players who wait to see if a blank comes on the turn are generally playing with scared money.

On top of running bad I also got setup horribly. Within a 24 hour period I lost two stacks with set over set. One hand there was a raise under the gun and a call in mid position. I had 22 and called on the button. The board came 2J7 rainbow and the guy UTG (initial raiser) lead out. The mid position called and I raised. Both players called and the turn was an A. No flush draw was on board. Everyone checked to me and I bet pot. UTG folded and mid position raised me. I reraised all in and he called with JJ. This is what we call a cold deck. The same thing happened the next day with 44 vs 77. When board came 4710 turn A. All the money got in by the turn. I also ran into a set when I had top 2 pair and a back door flush redraw on the turn. AQ Spades vs 99. Flop AQ9. 7 spades hit the turn. I reraised the player preflop. By the turn all the money got in.

What can I say about this whole experience? Sick runs like this generally happen very rarely. However I can’t really complain as this is the nature of the business. For about 4 days I felt like I was in Mike Matasau’s shoes. I am taking a few days off of poker and then hitting up Vegas for a week where I will probably play a few tournaments at Caesars. Caesars Palace is having its ‘Mega Stack’ Poker Tournaments during the month of October. Action should be good.

Oh yah I forgot to mention that Glen Witmer took down the world poker tour event in Niagara and a cool 1.2 million. I have played with Glen before in Niagara. Glen resides in Waterloo, Ontario Canada. Glen is a really nice guy and it was a pleasure to see him win.

Cheers,

Errol