Course Demo is UP!

As many of you know, my latest venture is PokerSlamU.com. It's a site that will eventually have 50 courses on poker. It will start with some preliminary courses on the rules of the game, but it will then have Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3 courses on Basic Hold 'Em, Tournament Play and Live Games respectively. Since I'm a former Business School Professor, I couldn't help but structure the courses like a University Major. Each course will build on the preceding one. You can also specialize in online, tournament or live play.

I'm proud to say, I've finished the course demo and it can be viewed online. I hope to have the first batch of 12 courses up within a week or two.

This venture is very similar to the company I started back in 1998, CEU.com. In that case, I created an online course delivery system for insurance agents. It was a new way for them to get those pesky CE credits that the states where now requiring. It's still going strong today. The difference is that in the case of PokerSlamU.com the technology is much better.

Let me know what you think of the interactivity, the clarity and the sound. The platform is FLASH 10 and I've been very pleased with its capabilities and ease-of-use for the viewer.

I'll keep you posted as courses are added.

The Frustrations of Tournament Poker

I know. I know. Poker tournaments are ridiculous. You get in with the best hand time after time and eventually some numskull sucks out and you lose all your chips and out the door you go. It seems just ridiculous. All luck. Play for hours or even days and get nada.

I hear it all the time and its true. You need to have a very thick skin to play tournament poker. If you are cashing in one out of every five tournaments you are doing very well. But the suck outs over and over and over again can test anyone's ability to stick with it.

I just finished two rather frustrating examples myself. I'm in a shoot out. (A tournament where you stay at one table until three players are left then it consolidates into a regular tournament.) I breeze through the shootout phase. The next day there are 70 players left out of 204. That means that 20 get paid. I churn, grind and bluff my way down to 23 players. I'm short stacked. It's folded around to me on the small blind. The big blind is a gambler. I have A9 of spades - a 76% hand. The blinds are too big to just call. It's either all in or fold. I couldn't fold. I'm just the type of guy who has the hardest time playing soft. It might have been the best play, but I was playing to win, not simply to cash. I went all in and the big blind called me with 55. Two spades on the flop all the cards above a five. The turn pairs the board. I have the maximum number of outs or close to it - 21. But I don't get there and out I go in 22nd place.

Then two days later I'm in a $600 event. There are 99 players. I get down to two tables. Only 9 get paid. We are now down to 15 players. I'm on the big blind and short stacked. Under-the-gun (1st position calls). Two others call. I have 9/10 of diamonds. Now I could go all in, but I know the 1st position guy has a big big hand. So I check. The flop comes J/8/3 rainbow. I go all in with my open ended straight draw. The 1st position guy calls immediately. The rest fold. He has KK. A ten on the turn. More outs. Blank on the river. Home I go in 15th place.

I kick the dog and punch the wall, but really I'm not that upset. I made the right plays. I got lucky on a few coin flips along the way and I went as far as the cards could take me. Poker tournaments go like this: lose. lose. win a little. lose. lose. lose. lose. win a little. lose. lose. lose. lose. win a little. lose. lose. lose. win a little. win a little. lose. lose. lose. lose. lose. lose. lose. win a little. win a little. lose. lose. win a little. lose. lose. win a huge amount! lose. lose. lose. lose. win a little.

It's just the nature of the beast. If you played well. Won some coin flips. Bluffed successfully a half dozen times or so. Then you did all you could do and you should be satisfied. Its kinda like the salesman who knows he needs to call a hundred prospects to make one sale. You just have to shake off the losses. If you can't then tournament poker is not for you. Tennis anyone?

Stop! Thief!

Here is an entry I'd like you to think about and I'd really appreciate it if you give me your feedback. I'm going to change the names of this true story to protect the not-so-innocent.

Back in the summer of 2006 I had a big run at the WolfTree poker room. They had a great $150 re-buy tournament on Tuesday nights which I won six times. Each time netting an average of $15,000. The guy who ran the event was Ken and his assistant, Hobo.

Then in the fall of that year, Ken and Hobo are no longer running the tournament. I talk to my friends at WolfTree and it turns out the two were skimming thousands of dollars out of the tournament. Their scam was to pocket chips during the color-up periods and steal the same amount of cash from the prize pool figuring everything would balance and no one would know the difference. I had some inkling something was amiss when I saw Ken playing in a 10K event in AC. How could a floor person buy into an event that high? Then there was always a player complaining that his chip stack was low after a color-up break.

So WolfTree doesn't want the bad publicity so they don't press charges against him and Hobo, but they force them to leave. (They probably didn't care that much because it wasn't the casino's money, it was the player's. If it was the casino's money they'd throw away the key.)

So for a while, I'm pissed off about this since I was the one who lost the most money. I figured they probably took $5000 out of my pocket alone. But there wasn't much I could do and, being the easy going guy that I am, I forgot about it.

Now yesterday, I'm competing in a little shoot-out tournament and I make it through to the second day. And who is sitting at my table? You guessed it, none other than Ken the thief. I couldn't believe it. Also sitting at the table is an old poker friend of mine named Billy. Ken is trying to be all nice and friendly to me and I'm just burning up inside. I give him the cold shoulder. Billy didn't know about the scam and was chatting it up with Ken. I'm thinking, if I get knocked out before this Ken prick, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind. I'll stand like Moses and point at him and say something like: Thou art a THIEF! Return to me what is rightfully mine, oh crook! But seriously, I really wanted to say something to him. He had some nerve strutting in there and thinking the past is the past and he was somehow our friend.

We both get pretty deep into the tournament. I got knocked out in a race with Billy and finish 22 out of 204. Not bad but they only paid 20. I stand. I put on my jacket. I shake Billy's hand. I wave to the other players. I ignore Ken's salutations and leave.

I know I did the practical thing. I didn't make any waves. I didn't leave Billy in the uncomfortable position of having to play with Ken after I call him a crook which I really really wanted to do. But I didn't. Should I have done or said something? What do you think? Please post a comment or send me an email. I'm dying to hear what you would do.

The USA and Gambling

Where does our country stand on the question of legal gambling? We can't seen to make up our minds. We need to make a fundamental decision here. Is gambling an activity we are going to allow or outlaw?

In my mind, we have already made the call on this issue. Gambling is here to stay. We have legal casinos in 28 states. Horse racing is in almost every state. Lotteries are not only condoned by government, they run 'em. They market them. Its apparently OK for states to run numbers. Fine. But if states can push gambling on us, why not let everyone choose what kind of gambling they like to do?

But there are those out there who feel we are not capable of doing the "right" think with our money. We need laws restricting what we do with our own cash. I'm speaking mostly of those evangelical Christian republicans who say that gambling is not apart of "family values" - whatever those are - and should not be allowed. But those people seem to think lotteries and horse racing are OK. I don't quite get it. Lotteries are 100% luck and horse racing is at least 90% luck. How is this not gambling? What makes these activities OK and others are not?

Its time for some consistency in our policies. Its time to get away from these obvious facades. This is not about any kind of "values." It's about the certain people who have control of certain gambling ventures and influence in government. That's all there is to it. Case closed. This has nothing to do with "family values" or "christian ideals." It has to do with money and business. Powerful people are making a lot of money and they don't want to lose their monopoly. Plain and simple.

Also, when it comes down to it, we're talking Bill of Rights here. I work hard for my money. Shouldn't I decide where it goes. Do I tell the Baptists in Mississippi how to conduct their prayer meetings? What business is it of anybody else how I spend my Fall Sunday afternoons. Who am I hurting when I bet a few bucks on the Super Bowl? Man 'o man, it just makes my blood boil sometimes when I hear these people trying to rationalize their views on this stuff. You live your life buddy and I'll live mine.

Case in point is that ridiculous law called the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. It makes it illegal to play poker and casino games online but allows an exception for horse racing and lotteries. How do they pass that and keep a straight face?

We need to make this all right. Maybe the new president, a poker player, will get some rationality injected into our system. I understand he has his hands full at the moment with the economy and all. But when you get a second, Mr. President, can you help us poker players out a little. We'd really appreciate it.

Two Interesting Hands

I've been on two poker trips recently; Las Vegas and Atlantic City. In each trip a single hand stood out from the rest.

In Las Vegas, I started out slow. Couldn't get a hand. Couldn't hit a flop. Finally, oh finally, I get pocket aces under-the-gun, first to act. Now you gotta understand this table was somewhat wild. The World Championship of Rodeo was in town and we had a cowboy at our table sitting to my right (luckily) who was playin' every hand and hitting everything. Draws, full houses, you name it. So cowboy was on the big blind. I wanted to bet enough to get him heads-up because I knew he was calling anything. So I raise to $100 in this $5/$10 No Limit Game. Which was higher than I would generally bet. The guy to my left calls and, of course, cowboy calls. The flop comes out 7, 7, 4 rainbow. Guess what cowboy does? He bets $1400 straight out. I have about $1300 in front of me. What the . . .?

Now I'm deep in thought. If he had a 7, wouldn't he check, let me or the other guy bet, then go all in? Was he playing an over pair or maybe even a single 4? Pocket 4s would fall into the same category as a 7. Finally, the only hand I could put him on was 5, 6. I called. The guy next to me takes a few minutes, then folds. Probably had jacks.

The cowboy, shakes his head and says; "I've got a little kicker problem." Not what I wanted to hear. My read was off by only one blip. He didn't have 5, 6. He had 5, 7. After cursing to myself as I staggered out the Bellagio door, I had to admit that his play was very creative. If you hit a big hand and you know your opponent has a big pair, just go all in right off. He'll never know what hit him. I know, believe me, I know.

The other hand took place at the Borgata in AC. Again, I started out the trip really slow. Lost half my bankroll in the first day. So I was in another 5/10 no limit game on day 2. Just got to the table. I was again under-the-gun. But this time I had the premium, but very worrisome hand of AQ of hearts. I made it $60 to go and got 6 callers and the big blind was next to act. Turns out he was very short stacked. "I'm all in for $110," he says and tosses his few chips forward.

I immediately ask the dealer if I can raise. I figure its a great way to show strength and, besides, I needed to pare down this field. The dealer says; "I don't think you can raise because you made it $60 and the $110 the big blind bet isn't double that." Immediately the players at the table continue the action by each of them calling. "Hold it. Hold it," I say. "Call the floorman over please."

"FLOOR," the dealer yells and over waddles this pear-shaped nebishy man with crooked glasses and bad skin.

"Well I think thats right. You can't . . ."

I immediately cut him off. "Excuse me but I raised 50 not 60, so he min raised me, so I can raise. Right?"

"You gotta point there buddy." I was on foreign turf so I needed to be convincing. "Yes. The man can raise," the pear then walked away trying, in vain, to straighten his glasses.

"I raise," I said in a firm, authoritarian voice. "$350 on top." I figured they'd all fold at this point. How could they not put me on a huge hand. Then I'd get mister short stack big blind heads up.

"I'm all in," came a declaration from the next player to act. Like a flash, everyone folded and it was back on me.

The guy seemed to be playing solid poker. What could he have? It seemed that he was too good of a player to smooth call with AA, KK or QQ or even AK, although the last two were possible. Hell, anything is possible. But it seemed, unless this guy was some kind of a whack job, the most likely hands for him to hold were JJ or 1010. Maybe AK was third. If he had the first two I had to put the rest of my stack in, about $800. If he had the third, I should fold. I liked the first two hands better, but I wish I had a better profile on the guy. Too much money in there. 60 X 7 + 150 + 700 = 1200. Plus the matching 800. Thats 2.5 :1. Gotta go for it.

"I call."

The guy had QQ. Luckily the flop came out AKK and I held up. But did I make a bad call? Or did this guy make a poor smooth call for my 60. I just gave the guy more credit than he deserved and it cost me. I did not have a clear sense of the players at the table. But in poker, as in life, things often work out for the better in the end.