pokerhag

Some WSOP Thoughts and New Videos Up

2010-07-23T08:49:00.000-07:00

Have been having some serious WSOP withdrawal for the past week and the whole experience has been on my mind. It was exactly one month ago that I played my first WSOP event and it was just such fun and something that was long overdue.

Being a fan/junkie/mediocre player.....the week spent in Las Vegas during the Series just fed into my OCD and gave me a whole new vision of how it all works. I have been keeping up for years...during the series every year, I keep the updates constant and watch any and all live streams for the entire time. I print out the schedule ahead of time and write the winners and event details/notes every year like a score sheet.

While at the Rio, was there for eight days, I took some pictures, and small video clips (my bad) and have posted on youtube. Here is the link to the first one. There is a total of 4 and many are blurry and choppy but it kind of gives the newbie an idea of what it was like....so much to see and so many choices.

http://www.youtube.com/user/PokerHagProductions#p/u/3/O1WRgKhkV0E

Already thinking will go back next year and will be doing somethings differently but is good to have learned the ropes and the gawking/tourist thing is out of the way

Gaming in Texas......latest buzz.......

2010-07-09T12:06:00.000-07:00

With the election for Governor of Texas heating up, the gaming possibilities for the state subject is starting to get some play. This morning in the Dallas Morning News, an article appeared and although has no new information, it sort of addresses the efforts by some groups to get a gaming bill on the ballot for Texas voters to approve or disapprove.

The fact still remains that it is in Rick Perry's hands.....it would be nice to have a new governor in Texas next year but in reality, Bill White is a real longshot. Also, White is not too keen on expanding gaming in Texas either but may at least be open to letting it pass the legislature in 2011 so that residents of the state can decide.

Rick Perry has made a lot of $$$ by keeping gaming/casinos/poker out of Texas but with the purchase of properties in Texas by some of the Tribes in Oklahoma, their opposition my subside........it is really the only hope for the forseeable future.

Here is the link to the DMN article today....guess we can read between the lines...not much has changed. We are still funding school and state budgets for Oklahoma and Louisiana as well at Texas by sending our gambling dollars to those states.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/state/stories/070810dntexgamble.11e3f00ec.html

Avid Fan at WSOP 2010.....Part Three.......What I will do differently next year..........

2010-07-06T10:52:00.000-07:00

Now that the Hag has a year under her belt she is speculating on what will be different about next year. Now that all the "avid fan" issues have been resolved.....the favorite players spotted and lots of railing, the real poker playing is due for review.

While the high profile action was at the Rio, there was lots going on all over town. At least three major lower stakes. deep stack series were taking place at the same time. The Golden Nugget was featuring the "Grand" series which was a series of 57 events that offered deep stack tournaments ranging from $125 to $330 with a grand finale with a buy in of $1080. They had Hold'em, HORSE, and Omaha events with two starting each day. This attracted about 100 to 300 runners for each tourney and first place payouts in the $5k range.

The Venetian held their deep stack tourneys, 50+ events, each day also that ranged in buy ins from $330, $550, and $2,100 with super satellites for $5,000. These tourneys had several hundred entrants and payouts of $40K to over $150K on each day. They also offered Hold'em, Omaha and HORSE events and it was common for some of the well known players to be regulars in these games.

At the Rio, WSOP was also holding $200 buy in, deep stack tournaments each day with 200-700 runners depending on how close to the Main Event and/or the weekends. Big payouts and deep starting stacks make this a great warm up to one of the WSOP events.

I played one of the Grand Series tourneys at the Nugget and was able to cash.....played for 13 hours and it was great experience. Since I live in Texas, have to drive to Oklahoma to play live and do not have access to regular deep stack tournaments. The weekly tourneys I play at Winstar are 3 or 4 hour events and it is helpful to have that long play experience. There are plenty of deep stack offerings online..but is just not the same.

After seeing all that is out there my decision for next year will be to go and play some of the lower buy in events and get used to playing deep stacked. There is good money to be won and the chances for the average player is much better. My idea is that if you cannot hold your own in a $200 to $500 tourney then why pay the big $$$ to play at the WSOP. Now......I would not take anything for playing the event that I played and have no regrets. Now that I see the reality first hand, it makes sense to play some of these alternative events. Also, if you find you can win or even cash in some of these events, it would be a definite advantage to play the higher buy in events at the WSOP.

Playing in the $1k or $1.5 events gives you 3,000 and 4,500 starting chips respectively and one mistake or bad beat virtually wrecks your tournament. If you choose an event with $2,500 or $3,000 the starting chips gives players a lot more flexibility. It seems to me that if you go with the idea of playing the lower buy in events in some of the alternative casinos and have no success whatsoever, you may want to rethink playing in the WSOP. Also, it seems that if you have consistent success at some of these events, you may be better off to keep playing in those. There are really some good payouts and you would have to beat out thousands rather than hundreds at a WSOP event. The higher buy in events at WSOP would then be comparable to the deep stack structure and the number of entrants would be similar.

Another thing I would suggest is if you settle on some of the deep stack events at one of the other casinos, I would suggest that you stay in the hotel in that casino. It is such a long day and traffic in Las Vegas is a real beating that it helps to go for the comfort and familiarity. Next year I will probably play in one of these series and will plan on playing a tournament every other day. This will give plenty of time for cash games and doing other LV fun things. If I achieve some success, will go play one of the higher buy in WSOP events........

One thing I do know is that there are really good players in all of these events.....from the lowest to the highest buy ins... Don't go with the idea that you will capitalize on the donkey play alone...while there is some of that and some lucky suck outs and all styles of play......you still need to get lucky and you still have to be playing your A game. It is true that some A games are much better than others.....do not assume that these low buy in events will mean bad play.....it may be players that you have not heard of before and/or that may not have the larger buy ins and/or just do not want to be under so much pressure. Do not underestimate their level of play or ever estimate yourself........

Avid Fan Visits WSOP.........Part Two.........Memorable Moments

2010-07-06T09:27:00.000-07:00

Eight days in Las Vegas during the WSOP was truly a fans dream come true. I have been playing hold'em for about eight years after a lifetime of playing cards. My adult children got me hooked after insisting that I quit playing Blackjack and jump on the poker bandwagon. Guess our whole family got caught up in the poker craze fueled by the Moneymaker win and the first season of World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel.

In about 2003, while my daughters and husband were playing poker live and/or online, I had not played a single hand of Hold'em but had been watching on TV, either WSOP or WPT. Most of what I knew came from Mike Sexton and a page my husband had copied out of a book which listed the starting hands/position recommendations for playing. We were in Las Vegas and staying at the Golden Nugget. We check in, I walked across the street to Binions Horseshoe and entered a $60 tournament that was starting. I got a seat next to the dealer and told him I had not played before and to help me not look like a fool. He was accommodating and I played my very first hand.......lasted about 2/3 of the tournament and had the posting blinds and mechanics of play under my belt. I played 4 tournament in 4 days....left Vegas $50 down for the trip. Did not cash in any tourneys but won enough in Blackjack to offset the entry fees....also left Vegas hooked.

Since that time I have watched every poker show on TV.....many times.....have played in casinos all over and play online nearly every day on several different sites. I play very low stakes......lose mostly online and hold my own in live play. I am a complete fan.......follow all the major and not so major tourneys and read blogs, twitter and generally keep up with all things poker.

This trip to Vegas was a fans dream come true and really was an eye opening experience. While I did know from keeping up for years it was just overwhelming to experience the enormity of the WSOP events. Also was so great to see how much access you had to the players and how easy to rail anyone and everyone. There was something interesting going on all the time!!!

Some of the big moments for me was seeing Jack Binion present the bracelet to Phil Ivey and him standing on the stage, hand over heart while the National Anthem played. Also seeing the bracelet presentations of Dean Hamrick and Gavin Smith was very special.

Watching the first two sessions of the Tournament of Champions being filmed by ESPN was also a high point. To sit for 4+ hours and watch some of the greatest players, unedited was just an avid fan's dream. This just topped off several days of watching some of our favorites and seeing how they act, play, and interact with each other was just more than we expected.

A couple of funny things heard while watching the TOC happenings.....while watching one table a guy behind me was obviously with his friend and impressing with his knowledge of the players...he says "look.....there is Barry Greenfeld and Jackie Chan". About an hour later while watching the other table, a guy behind me says to his friend... "look, there is Huck Finn".

Just too many memories to comment on but we were such fan boys and just had so much fun. Will do it again but as far as the actual playing goes......will change up a bit next time......... next post will address next year.

Avid Fan at First WSOP........ Part One.....Overall Impressions

2010-07-06T08:28:00.000-07:00

After following poker and the WSOP for many years, 2010 was my first trek to Las Vegas while the events were taking place and what an experience it was. I tentatively planned on playing two events and ended up playing only one. The hubby and I were having so much fun watching that was just not in the cards for the second event.

The day we arrived we went to the Rio to get registered for Event 42. Had been reading some of the comments on Twitter about the hassle of registration and just did not want to wait until that morning just in case...well, it took about 3 minutes or less. Was prepared with my Reward Card, Driver's License, and SS card if needed. Piece of cake, gave them cash and was ready to go.

While walking down the hall we started spotting familiar faces from the poker world and we peaked into the Pavilion and Amazon rooms and were able to watch several events taking place and some final tables. It was very exciting....all we could have hoped for.

Arrived the next day right at noon for the start. Wish I had been early to do some looking around but went to my table and was seated with Shannon Elizabeth and Lee Childs.....I follow both on Twitter so that was fun. Layne Flack was at a nearby table and again spotted many familiar faces. Shannon was very pretty and nice and Lee quite personable/nice guy. After the first break, had a table change.......moved to table 25 and there was Nam Le....one of my very favorite players to watch.....gulp.....

While at this second table was surrounded by many well known players......Tom Dwan was a couple of tables away and Dean Hamrick...who ended up winning the event, was at the next one. I loved being able to spend hours observing the action.....my problem was getting no cards....at all. At the first table was able to build a little bit of a stack, it was not to be for the second......and I was eliminated right before the dinner break.

Some of the things that were the most surprising to me was the great level of play. I really had expected one giant shove fest from the beginning but that was not the way it was.....at least on my tables. The structure really drove the action. There were all kinds of players from LAG, TAG, and all in between but not just open shoving and careless play. Nam was quite measured in his play......he did cash......and one Northern European guy was quite aggressive and played a lot of hands but when called down either had the goods or was on a credible draw which he hit regularly.

Bottom line was the ones getting the cards were winning.....no cards for 2 or 3 hours is the kiss of death. I had figured how long I had before getting desperate and was patient but just never turned around in time. Others were low stacked like I was and were able to get the hand in time to stay alive........not to be for me. It is just the way it is......no regrets.

Not the "Year of the Woman"............ Not So Fast!!!!

2010-06-18T13:01:00.000-07:00

We are hearing pronouncements that the anticipated "Year of the Woman" is a bust at this year's WSOP.......that the females in poker have not carried through with the momentum set earlier by Liv, Annie, both Vanessas, Annette, and others........ Just hold on a minute!!!!

Yes, it is true that through the first 30 (open) events, we have not seen a woman win a bracelet.... but that is just part of the story. The Hag has been busy today looking back at 2009 through the first thirty events to see what the comparisons are and indeed the Ladies have increased their WSOP results substantially.

Through the first 30 Events last year, women had cashes somewhere in the mid-50s and through the same number this year, they have cashed 70+ times which is an increase of almost 40%. The real story here is how much deeper the ladies have placed in the tournaments. In 2009 with 30 events in the books, women had made 2 final tables and run deep (top 20 or so) about 5 times. In 2010, with the same number of events, they have made 4 final tables and about twice as many deep runs over last year.

As a disclaimer as to these figures, winner lists from last year and this year were used and it is difficult to determine the gender of some names but were researched as best we could so the plus/minus should be pretty much a wash.

It would be interesting to know what the total number of females entering the WSOP events is, but all we get is a guess by participants and reporters. It is clear that there is a definite increase in cashes and deeper runs this year so Ladies...........keep up the good work. Stay focused and work hard........ A couple of bracelets would go a long way to prove this the power but the numbers speak for themselves.... the girls are here and gaining strength.

Maybe the last word on the Ladies Event at WSOP..........

2010-06-14T10:20:00.000-07:00

But Probably Not........

Since writing the first blog yesterday, a number of other posts have emerged......this is a very interesting subject and the opinions are strong and heartfelt. Am taking this opportunity to add a few more thoughts to my earlier post.

Next week I will be playing in my first WSOP events ever.... my first event will be the $1500 NLHE on June 23...... When scheduling this trip, I could have come at any time during the series and played any event(s) that I wanted to. I knew that I would be playing some of the lower buy in events..... and the Ladies Event could easily have been one of my choices. "Choices" is the key word here......and the Seniors Event could also have been one of my choices.

For my first event, I wanted to have the whole WSOP experience..not play an event that was not open to everyone. This was my choice....... in reality, I would have been far more welcomed and maybe even comfortable in either of the afore mentioned events but it was just not what I wanted to do. I have no illusions about how I will be treated, or my chances to make it past the first day....or even the dinner break for that matter. The point is, it is my choice.

The main issue as I see it is whether it is right to have the three closed events that currently receive bracelets. Why do the feelings run so high about the gender issue but the age and casino employee events being closed is ignored??? ...if one is dropped, they all should be.......why would one closed event bracelet event be dropped while others are not????

Personally, I do not want to see any of them dropped. There is nothing about these three events that is harmful to anyone and in fact do give a great deal of enjoyment to those that play them. The last thing I want to see is a bunch of pissed off women, old people, and dealers........

This year the discussions on this matter have been more strongly voiced and seems to have lasted longer...... probably due to the unnessary actions by Harrahs/WSOP and their staff when some of the men registering were harrassed. That was totally uncalled for and hopefully they will not continue this behavior in future years..... It really put a black eye on the event......

I do understand the argument by some that by having a Ladies Event that somehow women are being marginalized but it is not our job to save the women that want to participate from this horrible fate. We are all adults here and it is their own personal choice. It is a little disheartening to me to have this somehow compared to the Civil Rights Movement......... trust me, it is not the same thing. I am an old lady......I have kids the age of Howard Lederer, Ted Forest, Chris Ferguson, and Jeff Lisandro......... I was there for the Affirmative Action movement, supported JFK and LBJ and their efforts for equality...... We are talking about a game here.........we are talking about one event (or maybe 3) out of 57....... while some will continue to feel strongly about this issue, it pales in comparison to the historical events of the 1960's and 1970's.

So on June 23rd I will begin my first WSOP experience and will play at least two events. Am excited and a little nervous but can hardly wait....... If any of you reading this are at the Rio during that time and see an old lady with short blonde hair.......be kind....don't hate me........think of your mom or grandmother and know that I am having the time of my life.......

Women, Brits, and Gingers.........

2010-06-13T11:48:00.000-07:00

State of the Series...

With 21 events complete in this year's WSOP.....we are looking for trends to develop.

Before the start, this was suggested to be the Year of the Woman due to some great success recently by women in other events. While the ladies have yet to garner their first bracelet.....some have gone deep in several events and made final tables. Jen Harman was third in one event an JJ Liu is poised to make her second final table. Also, Christine Pietsch placed second to Tex Barch in yesterday's Stud Event and Liv Bouree has an impressive 4 cashes to date.

One great story is the success of the Brits so far........they have 3 bracelets and multiple cashes. Their fans have been vocal while railing their fellow countrymen at the final tables.......those guys always come for a good time. These were impressive wins by Praz Bansi, James Dempsey, and Richard Ashby.

Also, a great trend for success so far in the series this year seems to be the Gingers......Joshua Tieman, and Peter Gelencser (the pic looks very gingerish), and Dan Heimiller cashing 3 times with two final tables. Also impressive are Jamison "Pumpkin" Painter with two final tables, and Leonard Martin also final tabling. Not to be left out we have Jon Turner and Bryan Micon with 2 cashes each. Also cashing is Melissa Hayden who is a female and a ginger....way to girl.

Keep the momentum gingers........let's see if the trend continues. By this time last year, Ivey had won one of his bracelets and Jeff Lisandro had two under his belt. There is plenty of time left for a big name to take control of the POY race but we have not seen a repeat performance from Ivey, Lisandro, Parker, and Mueller who all won multiple events last year. The Hag had also expected to hear from Mercier, Annette, and maybe Dwan but that has not materialized so far.

For right now will take comfort in the success of the gingers.....our family is riddled with them and so near and dear to my heart....

Ladies Event............ Get Over It!!!!!

2010-06-13T08:48:00.000-07:00

Every year at the WSOP we see a little dust up when it comes time for the Ladies Event but this year was especially ugly........ Many feel it is not right to have a gender biased tournament for a bracelet.....all bracelets should be for open events only. Well..if the Ladies Event goes.....then the Senior Event and the Casino Employees Event must go also.

Now.....none of these three events earn POY points but they are a tradition at the World Series and give lots of people an opportunity to play in the WSOP that would not play in it otherwise. I know people that have played in all three and would not had the experience of being part of this......some have been dealers, a couple of women who would never have played an open event, and a life-long player who played in the Senior Event last year.

All three of these events have legitimacy. ....there are well known players in each one. The competition is not all that soft.... several well known pros were in the Ladies Event this year ....some cashed but did not win....same goes for the seniors, some pros play in that also..... the competition level is there.

There is all kinds of inequities in poker......look at the high buy in events with 100-200 players that limits who can play to a select few......winners of those events get the same bracelet as the ones that beat out 4,000 to 5,000 players.... Also, in those large buy in events, many of the players cross book each other....doesn't that put a little tinge on things???

The message here is pick your battles.........there are lots of other issues in poker far more important than a Ladies Event....let them play. If a guy wants to play it in drag or not......let them do it. The ladies need to get over it......the guys should be allowed to play if they want, whether a lost prop bet, for charity or just because he wants to....... To me the real villain here is Harrah's/WSOP for their handling of the situation when the men were registering. Their threats and harassment of those guys was totally uncalled for. I thought Shaun Deeb was so cute and appreciated his sincere youtube statement voicing his point of view.

For those of you that think that women are treated equally in the poker community. All you have to do is go to some of the forums..... Women are not respected by a large segment of the guys......you are judged by how they look, how old they are, they can't act uppity, and poker playing abilities are never recognized as that good. I will also say that some of the women have voiced a similar opinion about other women's play........ yes, we can be bitchy and judgmental at times...

Again......pick your battles....... there is plenty of room for disagreement here and I respect all of the opinions...we can agree to disagree.....let's take on something important like world peace, UIGEA or who controls the thermostat at the Rio.......

State of the Live Coverage for the 2010 WSOP....

2010-06-08T09:41:00.000-07:00

With about a quarter of the events for this year finished or underway, the live coverage has reached a new low. Last year we were treated to 24 live-streamed events and the Hag was a happy little camper and was able to watch 23 of them... it was just the best ever. This year, at this late date, we are told by ESPN that 5 events will be streamed beginning the end of June with Event #44.....almost the end of the WSOP run..

The coverage (lack of) this year of the WSOP has been mind boggling... It is so seriously lacking that it is just a total slap in the face of the whole poker community.....

There is a "hardcore poker audience" and it ranges from the players that are well known and play many events, to dabblers who play here and there, to those who just dream of playing an event someday. ESPN and WSOP are covering this year on the cheap........spend as little as possible...don't do anything but the bare minimum for the fans. Maybe we won't notice...maybe we are so stupid we cannot remember last year. Maybe we don't realize that nearly all of the big events overseas are shown online and that Pokerstars manages to live stream many of the events they produce...even the ones that are later shown in an edited form for regular TV.

Yes it is expensive to do the coverage but with some ingenuity and creative thinking, this could be easily solved. If some techno savvy guys would put together a proposal and figure out a way to professionally live stream many, if not most of the final tables with a minimal level of commentary....ESPN would be nuts to not listen.

There were several guys that stopped by and were in the booth with Nick last year...Jimmy Fricke, Micon, Bonomo, to name a few (there were several)... They were great and it was obvious they loved doing it. I know many of the players would step up to do it.

For almost five days (115 hours) Phil Laak's record breaking poker marathon was live streamed...it was minimal quality and 2 cameras.....it would not take much to show all the player and that camera on the table showing the flops was not bad.

Another problem with the ESPN3 streams is that all of us on Time Warner cannot get the stream (without a secret link)......that is a huge segment of the poker fans so using one of the live streaming sites would work much better for everyone interested. This type of coverage would be basic and not have all the bells and whistles of a full blown ESPN production and I know they want to adhere to a certain standard......but if they subcontracted out to a third party, the coverage would be increased and would benefit them in the long run.

Surely one of the large poker sites or poker publications could afford to sponsor a much smaller operation.......this would be a win win for everyone.

Pokernews has scaled back their staff for the "on the floor" coverage so we, the fans have been dealt another blow. Twitters from the players have helped some but this indeed is a pitiful situation. ESPN/WSOP should open that coverage back up to let more than one company cover the event live.......it has really sucked so far.

We need to have some young entrepreneurs, with a dream, technical skills and 3 or 4 cameras to come up with a plan.....Matt Savage....you got some guys and name recognition to get the ear of the right people..hint, hint...somebody help make this happen. This year is already screwed.... plan for next year.

Go to the forums.......voice your displeasure.......let the fans be heard!!!!

Bring In The Clowns.................

2010-06-06T10:43:00.000-07:00

Last night we saw Men "the Master" win his seventh WSOP bracelet. He did it in his own unique style...drinking, putting down the other players, and yelling at the wait staff.......

The poker community is littered with characters and has their fair share of well known "clowns". This group includes Men, Phil Hellmuth, Humberto Brenes, Mike Matusow and Scotty Nguyen. These are guys we love to hate and some love to love. Men, Scotty and Phil are what I call, "clowns with malice" and will show their dark and vicious side. They will direct anger at any and everyone.

While Mike will take a dig here and there, he and Humberto are in the "clowns without malice" category....they like to talk and be the center of attention but not in a mean or hurtful way. Both can be obnoxious but not really mean spirited........

These guys are in the overall "Clown" category but make no mistake about it.....they have game and they can play poker. Between them they have 28 WSOP bracelets.....262 WSOP cashes and have won about 20 million dollars in WSOP winnings.

The lesson today..........never underestimate a Clown.......

Ready To See the Big Names Make Bracelet Run...

2010-06-03T11:00:00.000-07:00

State of the WSOP so far.............

With a few events under their belt in the WSOP, seems about time for some of the favorites we love to watch to start some serious runs for bracelets. The early part of June last year brought the first Ivey and Lisandro wins and a steady stream of pros scored big for the rest of the month.

The Player's Championship gave us a taste of high level play by the big boys and with Michael Mizrachi winning we are ready for more. It was so good to see Michael get his first bracelet in such a big way after a tumultuous year for him personally was a great story and can hardly wait for the ESPN spin when it airs later this Summer.

With the higher buy-in events, we expect to see the well known player to lead the way...it would have been a big story for an unknown to prevail in the Player's Championship. Last year it was a big story when a mostly unknown, older player Freddie Ellis won the 10K Seven Card Stud Championship. I am expecting to see it won this year by a familiar face.........starts today, stay tuned.

Will we see mulitple winners......new stars.......????? Let the games begin.......warm up is over.

A Woman to be Admired............Nancy Todd Tyner

2010-05-31T11:05:00.000-07:00

The Haters Do Not Have A Clue.........

It was a pleasure to see Nancy's name on one of the leaderboard lists in WSOP Event #3. I was reminded of the very controversial events of 2008 when she won the WPT Ladies event and was at the final table and later, heads up with Vanessa Selbst. While the discussions on the forums acknowledged the bad behavior of Vanessa, there were plenty of nasty comments about the age and look of Nancy. She just did not fit the acceptable profile of the young guns that dominate the game today.

I remember being so shocked by Selbst's rude actions and comments..... am assuming that she thought if she could get Nancy one on one, she could just run away with the title. It was not to be. Nancy just ran over her, was aggressive, focused, tough and fearless. This really put Vanessa on tilt because that was her game plan and did not expect this from the "old lady".

The contrast in these two could not have been more pronounced......NTT was dressed to the nines, feminine, heavily made up and big hair. VS was in a tight tee shirt, short hair and announcing to the world that was not aware, her sexual orientation. Nancy the complete lady, Vanessa the complete ass. Knowing that Nancy was a political consultant and judging by her appearance, it was a good guess as to what her political leanings were...... more tilt!

About a year or so before this WPT event in 2008, Mike Sexton had written about Nancy in his column in one of the poker publications. He told about a woman that had been in one of his boot camp classes and that she was a very interesting person with an interesting background and had the potential to be a really good poker player.

After the WPT event aired, I went online to find out more info on the woman. What I found was really an inspiring story. It was mentioned that Nancy Todd Tyner was a political consultant and while searching, realized that her deep involvement with political campaigns was only a small part of her inspirational and heartbreaking story.

Nancy Todd Tyner is a warrior........as though politics was not a tough enough business, her personal life is the story of a woman who has had her heart ripped out. She lost her oldest son, Hayden, in 2005 after a lengthy battle to save his life.......an odyssey that you must read in her own words. She also has younger twins with challenging health issues that require constant attention.

After you know her story, you should realize that being a good poker player is a piece of cake compared to her professional and personal life. It is funny the lack of respect that is given to the "mature" players, especially the women in the poker community......but the young, mostly male, players cannot realize how tough, smart, and determined some real life experiences can provide......... I hope none have to experience the extremes that Nancy has lived.

Follow Nancy on twitter at pokerqod and or go to her website at pokerqueenofdiamonds.com

Year of the Woman...........

2010-05-18T17:49:00.000-07:00

This has been a banner year for women in the poker world. Annie winning the Heads Up Championship, Liv Bouree's win at San Remo, Vanessa Selbst at NAPT and Vanessa Rousso's deep runs in other events have all eyes focused on the WSOP for more skins on the wall for the girls.

We will all be watching to see how Annette fares in Las Vegas this summer and see if our favorite chicks keep the trend going and if some new stars will emerge. The Hag has some great expectations.

All of the poker world should be celebrating this trend......all you young male players that only want to see the cute, young women do well and then not give credit for their ability.......you should be cheering on all the women that play. It could possibly bring in a new wave of $$$ into the poker pool.

The great thing has been that many of these events have been shown on TV so the female presence is being seen by the general public, not just the poker players. What many do not realize is that there are more women playing and interested in poker than you think. Also what many do not realize is that women have money to spend and will spend on things that they are interested in and on entertainment in general.

Women like to play games and can be pretty competitive, some more than others. Females in general will play in a different manner...some may say are nittier. This is not to say that aggression cannot be part of the game.....it is just different.

The best thing that could happen in poker would be for an average middle aged woman to win a major event. The more " mature" women will come out of the woodwork....they are playing in pub leagues, home games and casinos all over the place and have been for years. No telling how many would come into the more high profile events if they saw a major success by one of their own.

There are many reasons that the full force of a potential female movement has not taken place yet. Some are not comfortable going to casinos and may feel intimidated in a mostly male atmosphere and that is likely to never change. For others who have read the books, gone to the web for information and join forums and read blogs which are dominated by 20-30 year old guys who have little regard for any female that is not a supermodel, the general attitude is discouraging.......and stops those who can afford to play cash games and tournaments to stay home.

You guys out there just do not realize the huge surge in players and money that would come into poker if this segment of the population was encouraged not discouraged from joining in..........boys.....it is your loss.

2010-03-09T07:45:00.000-08:00

The Hag and her monkey wish you a Happy St. Patricks Day.........

We have been very lazy on the blog and have some new ones coming....stay tuned and don't drink too much green beer.... you don't even want to know what makes it green......

Merry Christmas.......from the Hag

2009-12-18T08:11:00.001-08:00

WSOP Final Table.....views of the Hag

2009-11-09T09:45:00.000-08:00

Well.......we are down to heads up at the final table of the WSOP Main Event and the first 17+ hours have been interesting.

With Darvin Moon and Joe Cada being the last two standing, the big stories emerging are some mistakes by Moon and the luck of Cada.

Most will agree that the level of play throughout was generally very good....players seemed to bring their A game. Moon made a couple of questionable plays that were widely discussed but that was a very small part of the story.

Luck seemed to be the biggest story........the ones with the highest percentage of lucky cards on board are the last two playing. Phil Ivey and Begleiter had the lowest luck numbers.

The cliff notes for some of the major hands are:

#59 Akenhead 3 3 vs Shaffel 9 9 9's hold up and Akenhead is out
#75 Shaffel A A vs Buchman K K Quad K's hit board and Shaffel out
#175 Ivey A K vs Moon A Q Q 6 6 3 5 and Ivey is out
#187 Begleiter Q Q vs Moon A Q 7 4 8 3 A and Begleiter is out
#195 Shulman J J vs Cada 3 3 8 4 3 7 Q and Shulman is crippled
#236 Shulman 7 7 vs Saout A 9 10 9 6 Q 4 and Shulman is out
#271 Buchman A 5 vs Moon K J 2 9 Q K 5 and Buchman is out
#272 Saout Q Q vs Cada 2 2 7 2 9 3 6 and Saout is crippled
#276 Saout 8 8 vs Cada A K 5 4 5 10 K and Saout is out

In 17+ hours of play there were 21 All in's with 18 of those being preflop. 43% of the time the dog won. Only 4 of these hands were coin flip situations. Percentage wise, Cada and Moon were the luckiest and Ivey and Begleiter were by far the unluckiest according to a post on the TwoPlusTwo forum with a whopping minus 60% figure, We all know that to get to this stage that all of the players must have some skills and get lucky many times but the luck factor so far has played a big role in the outcome here at the final table.

One thing that has really been great the past two years is the quality of the play. Not a lot of hype and guys just doing their thing. No theatrics......just poker players playing poker. Yes, luck has played a part but the players have been great and a credit to the game.

Tonight at midnight here in Texas....the Hag will be glued to the audio broadcast on Bluff.....do not expect to be the marathon it was last year. Then will be watching ESPN on Tuesday....hate this delay as it greatly changes the dynamic of the game (and a subject for another day) but we will take what we can get.

Hope renewed for gaming in Texas....the writing is on the wall

2009-09-19T09:28:00.000-07:00

An interesting development has just occurred in the quest to get legalized gaming in Texas. Efforts have been successful for years now to derail any attempts by the pro-gaming/poker lobby by the funneling of contributions by the Chickasaw and Cherokee interests in Oklahoma. The pro-gamers have been getting closer and closer to bringing the measures for expanding the Texas Gaming Commission to include casino gambling and/or poker rooms but as long as Rick Perry is Governor and his campaign receives funds from these sources and to keep his religious right constituency in line, a veto will always be a reality.

Now the winds are changing.....Kay Bailey Hutchison is ahead in the poles....right now......and Rick will have a big fight on his hands......he has not managed the State well........the Chickasaws can see the writing on the wall. With the fact that they are bidding on the Lone Star Park, they have showed their hand. This is a brilliant move on their part......good business. They can continue to rake in the $$$ in Oklahoma as there will be some who will continue to frequent the border casinos just because of their location and many of the rural patrons will not be as comfortable coming to the heart of the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area........any business they lose will be multiplied many times over by having a central Metroplex location.

In the Dallas Morning News today, Saturday September 19, 2009 this statement was made "They certainly didn't buy it (Lone Star Park) to race ponies", said Jack Pratt, treasurer of the pro-gaming lobbying group Texas Gaming Association. He said the company is making its bid 'on the basis that they'll get gaming'". You can bet they are not bidding $27 million just to operate a bankrupt asset.....they are looking to the future....

The pieces are falling into place and for once there is a real chance we will get the opportunity to vote on a gaming measure in the Great State of Texas......passing it will be another matter but instead of funding the religious community in defeating the casino issue, the Chickasaws and probably the other Tribes will be on the side to pass the constitutional amendment that will be required.

The Hag can see one fly in the ointment......Rick Perry has appointed the Gaming Commission folks so the process of approving Global Gaming Solutions LSP, a subsidiary of the Chickasaw Nation for a permit to operate Lone Star Park could possibly a problem but we are keeping our proverbial fingers crossed that all goes according to plan.

We will have to wait until 2011 for all this to fall into place but all of us interested must keep the heat on in any way we can.......with KBH in the Governor's Mansion........we have a real shot this time....

Vacation and Poker in Ruidoso.......

2009-08-10T08:53:00.000-07:00

Just back from vacation with the family and managed to work in a little poker....was very fun. Got to spend time with the little ones who, as my husband says "have not turned on us yet". We were in Ruidoso, New Mexico and for this trip had rented a house for a week to have a comfortable place for the kids and adults. Usually for our trips there we stay at the Inn of The Mountain Gods with direct access to the casino, golf, fishing, etc. Luckily I was able to go to the casino for a while about 4 times.

This casino has about 8-10 tables and usually has 2 or more going, is friendly and well run. A really nice feature is that at noon on Monday through Friday they feature a Freeze Out tourney each day at noon. It is a $20 buy in and winner takes all at each table (although it in nearly always chopped 2 or 3 ways) and is a nifty way to get the games of the day started. The 3 days I played there were 3 tables each day.

The thing I liked about these little tourneys is the practice of doing live SNG's. It is hard to find on a regular basis and was a good exercise and warm up for playing the satellites for the big River Tournament coming up later this month at Winstar.

Inn of the Mountain Gods Poker Room is a very good small room to go play in. There is a core of regular players, lots of retired guys that live there full time and some of the regulars are horse people from the track that runs all summer but many live there full time. Then there are plenty of tourists to add to the mix. There are solid players, really good players, and the regular donkeys..... The tourists are a mix of some good and many recreational players that play for fun and have so much to lose....very typical of all poker rooms.

One thing that makes this room like most all the other ones you may play in is....take a jacket...for some reason it seems that most all poker rooms have in common is they tend to be on the cold side. I have played in about twenty different poker rooms and casinos and never go without a sweater, jacket, or layered clothing.......it must be good for poker to freeze your ass off....because they keep them all so cold. My theory is that most are on the same AC system as the rest of the casino and the machines generate so much heat that the poker room just gets colder because of that. My other idea is that it is colder because they need to keep the dealers alert and from getting too warm since they are working.......well whatever the reason..........take your coat and have fun playing as often as you can.

Making The Head Right

2009-07-31T19:46:00.000-07:00

Since the big studio/office clean up, have been studying some of my materials that reference Feng Shui in addition to reading and reaffirming some of the information on sites like Zen Habits.

If you really study the information, not just read, it becomes clear how important it is to have your head straight before taking on important activities that require full attention of both sides of your brain as well as your emotional state and the amount of mental space that is available at that time.

When we sit down to play poker it is best if your full attention is on what you are doing. Most of us know the range of hands we play and what we do in certain positions and how we handle certain players. Much of that can be done by rote but to be truly creative in your play, it is important that other aspect of your current situation are free of distractions.

Say you are playing, you know you will be playing for a certain amount of time, you have the time set aside....no problem....but you are anticipating some event that will happen later, or you really know you have pressing matters that should be attended to instead of playing....these distractions are there even if you have stuffed them back as far as you can. We can only compartmentalize so much before our brain is invaded by these thoughts and feelings of unease.

When you have a losing session and are irritated by some of the actions that have taken place the first thing to do is analyze where the root of the problem is....is it the bad play by others, is it just bad luck....or is it you and not being totally focused on the task at hand.....these are important issues that must be evaluated constantly....

Creative play happens when our mind is free of distractions and our physical, mental, and emotional house is in order....studying strategy will get you so far but to take your game to a higher level....the other parts of your self come into play.

Feng Shui and Poker......yes they are related and can co-exist

2009-07-30T15:56:00.000-07:00

Have been in a funk poker wise for the past few weeks. Have gone to the casino a few times and was playing online some everyday. Really running bad and rarely having a winning session. I could not believe the crap people were playing, how badly I was being sucked out on and how it was obvious that all the online stuff was rigged. Then I convinced myself that in the live play, it was just bad luck and bad play by others the past few times. Then I started thinking about why I was allowing this to happen and how I could change what I was doing to counteract all the bad stuff everyone else was guilty of....the more I thought about it the more pissed off I got.....sad thing is, I was getting more and more pissed at myself....this forced me to have a long overdue talk with myself.

It became apparent that I was doing something causing all this "bad luck". First off I had to admit that I have been very distracted lately.....something was not right in my little universe. My world is multi-faceted. In my real world, I have a husband, who is extremely independent, and I am an artist, and I am working hard with my team to get the Pokerhag website up and running. So I am juggling all that and playing poker everyday.....no wonder I am distracted.

The multi-tasking is only part of the problem....I can do that. When playing online, I am usually playing one table and playing very low stakes.....but still do not have my attention focused....enough.

I started diagnosing the issues and beginning with the most basic and that is my work area......it is a pit. My art files and associated materials are mixed in with my pokerhag crap, I have lists and stickys everywhere, drowning in paperwork......all of it one big fat mess. All surfaces in the office/studio are covered and there is barely a path to the desk area. I have it configured in a U shape with the computer on the left and my art equipment on the right.....also I should add that I have the TV on just about all the time.....also, I should mention that I am ADD.

I work in a room that is about 12' x 14' and the cockpit area that I sit in most of the time is about 60" x 90". Three days ago, I made a plan and started tackling the reorganization of this area. Now I have another room called the office that is more than adequate that I could divide out the art work from the pokerhag business and I can play poker online from any room in the house but have eliminated that option for the time being.

My theory is that if all of these parts of my life can co-exist in my brain, why can't they co-exist in my physical life. This is the approach that I am going on for the present time. Whenever I have moved furniture and set up my work spaces, I have tried to keep the basic principles of Feng Shui to the best that I could and that was one of the criteria for this cleanup project. I have a lot of stuff and it was quite a challenge to get it all split out and into its proper place. I filled trash bags, put files where I can actually find them....everything has a place or it is not here anymore.

It really surprised me that it took 3 full days to get it all pulled together.....all surfaces are clear, the floor is clean, I know where every is.....am already feeling less negative. About 10 years ago, I was in a similar situation only I was not playing poker then but the symptom at that time was that my feet felt like they needed to be amputated.......was lucky enough to find a podiatrist who was also a psychic and Feng Shui practitioner. .......with a Feng Shui reading she diagnosed that if I cleaned my studio and put magnets in my shoes, that my feet would quit hurting......she turned out to be right so I have systematically arranged our living spaces to conform to those principles. As an aside, she told me a lot of other things that turned out to be correct but that story is for another day.

Guess that I have to do one of these re-evaluations from time to time and mine was way overdue. It looks like Feng Shui may have rescued me again.....hope I don't make this the ten year habit......

False Security of Banning Gambling...danger looms in every illegal game......

2009-07-27T14:24:00.000-07:00

What politicians in Texas like Rick Perry fail to understand is the peril posed by not legalizing and regulating gaming. Safety issues and bad influences are usually top of the lists of reasons that they oppose legalizing gambling. The truth of the matter is that the banning of legalized gambling has fuel a number of very dangerous and profitable enterprises.

While there are a lot of slot machine operations around the private poker games are real common, lucrative, and dicey businesses. In Texas it is legal to have a privately held game in a home....they are legal as long as the person hosting the game is not taking a fee/rake of the money in play. People can play for any stakes legally and there are many home games attended by good friends that have been going on successfully for years.

Since the great poker boom which started in 2003, for profit home games have started springing up all over the place. I would not be surprised if there are not illegal operations going on in virtually every city or small town in the State. For a small fee on each pot played the "house" is making a lot of money. Most of the people putting on these games have sophisticated survellience equipment...camera systems that cover the whole exterior of the buildings where the games are played.

It is not uncommon to hear of police raids on these games and large amounts of cash confiscated. One was a couple of years ago in McKinney where some prominent citizens were given citations if not arrested on the spot. Every few months we in the poker world hear of these raids as they don't always make the mainstream news. One thing you do not hear so much about are home game invasions where robbers come in armed and order all the money be handed over. A few months ago a young man outside of Dallas was killed in such an armed robbery. These happen routinely but you rarely hear about them in the news since they usually don't get reported since the robbers do not usually resort to violence unless challenged. There is so much money involved that the practice of hosting the home games continues to grow. It is common for many thousands of dollars to be involved.

It seems that one of the most dangerous aspects of these games are the potential for violence and it just does not end with the players who you might say are willing participants. While some of these games are held in warehouse settings with many tables set up, many are held in apartments and residential areas. Many of these games are in homes where families with children live and you can bet that if there is a threat that a game may be invaded by armed thugs that the players in the games are more than likely armed themselves. A lot of children in that home or just in the neighborhood may be at risk.

Also at these "home" games it is common practice for alcohol to be served. This also bypasses the liquior laws of the State if the drinks are being provided for a fee. That further compromises the safety of the players and possibly families that are present.

It just does not make sense to continue this ban in Texas....at least let the voters decide...let the communities decide. The refusal of Rick Perry and other like-minded politicos to allow a vote on this is symbolic and pandering to specific groups. The bill in the legislature this term was through committee and was ready for a vote and there were enough votes to pass but Rick Perry vowed to veto the bill so it was not worth the time and effort of the supporters. There were not enough votes to override the veto.

The sad thing is that if and when the bill passed, it would still have to be voted on by residents of the Great State of Texas. What Perry is saying is that the people in this state cannot even have the chance to make the decision for themselves........just pandering plain and simple......sad for us, our education system, our low income and unemployed citizens...people losing their homes....people that like to play games and have to go elsewhere.....just politics as usual.

Texas Missing Boat On Legalized Gambling

2009-07-27T09:21:00.000-07:00

So this weekend I went to Winstar, just north of the Dallas area right over the Oklahoma border...about a one hour drive from the Dallas Metro area....have made this trip many, many times over the years but yesterday was very eye-opening, reaffirming and downright impressive. It was extremely busy even for a Saturday and I have never seen so many cars in the parking lot and the busses full of people ready to mostly play the slots and Bingo.

As is the case on many weekends, the poker room was full with every table in the 50+ table poker room filled and waiting lists of 50 or more for the 1/2 no limit hold'em and loads of lists for many of the other games. The high stakes room was filled also. It is amazing how much money that is on these tables at one time...thousands of dollars may be up for grabs in each hand.

It is not a surprise to see the poker room so busy since the "The River", a huge $3,000,000 tournament that will be held next month (August 2009) is running satellite tournaments for the mega-satellites and the big tournament itself......it is that way every year at this time and it is common for good sized waiting lists for poker.....but the poker situation was not really the amazing part of the story.

The Winstar World Casino is huge....you almost need a ride from one end to another. The majority of the casino is filled with an enormous number of slot machines in addition to the game tables for Blackjack and other house games. In the casino world, the poker rooms are probably the least profitable of all the areas.....slots are where the real money is.

Two things that were so jaw dropping was how crowded the whole facility was...you could hardly walk around the place.....just an extremely large crowd that were there for the sole purpose of spending money on food, drink and lots of gambling.

I got to the casino about 2:30 in the afternoon and had to park in the overflow parking lot so walked through a substantial part of the parking lot and while walking started looking at license plates. On my way in, I counted two that were not from Texas.......Two Not From Texas. I left at 8:30 and made the same long walk to my car and again, I looked for empty parking places and license plates.....again, I saw Two Plates Not From Texas.

When are the people of Texas going to wake up and smell the coffee..???? Each time our State Legislature meets, every two years, bills are introduced to get a gaming bill through so that the residents of our Great State can enjoy the same privileges as those in Oklahoma and Louisiana.....but each time the bills are shot down and we have a governor that has pledged to the Christian Community that this will never pass under his watch.....he wants to run for a third full term and needs that support.

Now Texas politics is very interesting....huge amounts of money have been pumped into the effort to keep the casinos out of Texas by the Christian Right........the funny thing is that a lot of this money comes from the Indian Casino interests in Oklahoma......strange bedfellows to say the least. Also, follow the money trail to the politicians who take the campaign funds from these same groups....very interesting indeed.

Texas residents for the most part have no idea how much revenue they are losing....it is a staggering amount. Yea, Yea, Yea.....I know all those arguments from the Religious community....crime, degenerate gambling, organized crime, etc.......well folks, we already have that and we are footing the bill and getting none of the benefits. The people that engage in those behaviors just drive to Oklahoma and Louisiana to do what they do, but they live here in Texas. They don't pay their taxes here in Texas, they get their food stamps here in Texas, their kids get CHIPS here in Texas, when they need to commit a crime, they do it here in Texas.......

Now let's be clear here.....a very, very small percentage of the people enjoying the adult games in Oklahoma are responsible for any criminal or irresponsible behavior....most of us like to go play games, slots, eat/drink and just have a good time in general. The bad element is going to be there whether it is in Oklahoma, Louisiana, or Texas. I am not even mentioning the dangerous underground gaming that exists all over Texas right now...that is a whole other aspect to this subject.

The bottom line on this is that we Texans are paying for and/or supplementing the educational and operating costs for three states not just ours. That makes us mighty generous....but with budgets the way they are, can we afford it. Is it fair to our own residents? Is it fair to our children? Is it fair to our senior citizens on fixed incomes? Is it fair to the property owners?

Texas is missing out on billions of tax revenue and thousands of jobs. The State of Oklahoma rakes a fee off the top of every single dollar spent in their casinos. That is Texas money. The range of jobs we could have in our State touches all levels from custodial workers, food workers, office jobs, security and all the way up to upper management....we are talking about good jobs.

So to deal with the element of bad behavior brought on by gambling (which we already have) the State would have the revenue to add social service programs, education for our kids, and tax relief for everyone. There would be money for more health care, better roads, and adequate law enforcement. We are letting our neighbor states create the perceived problems associated with gambling and sending them home for us to deal with the associated costs.

Yes, politics makes for strange bedfellows....while some in the Religious community want to keep us pure....keep to their standards, just the opposite is happening...they take the money from the gaming interests to keep it away from here so in effect, they are already supporting the industry in a back door way. Why not be in control? Nothing is being stopped.....people are still able to gamble legally, just not in our own State....we are sending our kids money out of state so that we can uphold a principal and by doing so has opened the door to all around us to swoop in and capitalize on our failure.

I challenge anyone opposed to allowing gaming in the State of Texas to drive to Winstar or any of the other casinos in surrounding states on a Saturday, look at the parking lot, they go inside and mentally calculate the number of jobs and tax dollars that could be ours and to reasonably judge how much of humanity we are really saving. Do we want to continue to be a nanny state and keep our head in the sand.....just take an honest and objective view and the answer is there.

All Lines Have been Erased........

2009-07-19T07:38:00.000-07:00

If the WSOP events this year have showed nothing else, the lines between the live and online players have all but disappeared. The big argument has raged on the forums for years about who the better players were...now we see little difference between the two.

A few short years ago, the online players slipped out from their comfy homes and ventured into the casinos to play some of the big money tournaments and made a big splash. By the time many of them could even play in the WSOP they had already been playing for big money online and reaping big money results. Many of the live players, mostly older, were not playing online or were just tipping their toes into those waters......fast forward four or five years and now we see the formerly live only players being competitive online and the online guys playing more and more live and having to fight harder than they did early on.

While the age and style of play of the "old guys" was being trashed, the really good ones have been paying attention and have learned new trick from the youngsters and are giving them a run for their money.....literally. This year during the WSOP, Bobby's Room has been buzzing and the high stakes games have been juicy. The Internet kids have brought their money and they seem to be enjoying the live play action more and more. Many of this kids have been playing each other for years just like the live players were playing each other for year but face to face adds a new dimension for them as well...then they mesh each group with the other and now you got some games.......

See......you can teach an old dog new tricks.......and just remember who wrote those books you all cut your teeth on and just remember the old adage....the cream always rises to the top.......same in poker...players will go where the money and great competition is......great players adapt.......and these lines being blurred if not erased altogether makes the poker world more interesting every day.

Withdrawal Started Early............

2009-07-02T08:16:00.000-07:00

Already bummed because it was the last broadcast of Bluff/ESPN360 for the Internet feeds of final tables at this year's WSOP....imagine my dismay when, due to technical issues and I suspect the long HORSE that morning, the plug was pulled on the last broadcast......really cold turkey....what will I do.....well, nothing.....it actually was not so bad.

Started remembering what I was doing six weeks ago and remembered that I had another life that was not some wannabe poker player sweating as many events as possible in the World Series of Poker.....

The Hag has made peace with the end of a great month+ of fun and has already made her selections for the fantasy league in the Main Event and will be keeping the laptop close by to check Pokernews.com as often as possible for updates on her favs.

As always......the Hag always says that next year she will be there and is very serious about it this time....as she is every year.....but really.....next year will be hers to be there........it is at the top of her bucket list......dreams can come true.......

WSOP Withdrawal

2009-07-01T16:34:00.000-07:00

The last few events are taking place before the Main Events starts on Friday....the coverage this year on the Internet has been wonderful.....now, I am still pissed off that many of the cable companies in the US including Time Warner do not carry ESPN360so a portion of the American fans/players have been excluded....now we all know that someone will find a way around that but we should not have to do that....even with that little glitch....the coverage has been a real bonus with 24 final tables being live streamed.

My problem is that with the last final table this evening.....for a long time..I foresee a withdrawal problem looming. Have been staying up way too late and last night could not keep my eyes open when down to four but then when I got up, it was heads up for the HORSE event and got to see the last of it.

Tonight will be bittersweet....I have loved seeing the FTs and seeing the hole cards was not even an issue. To me was very interesting to guess and learn the ins and outs of many of the games......so much to take in and who cares that you are watching slow action for 10-12 hours at a time....

Will see how the next few days go.....of course will be tuned in to

2009 WSOP Already Making History

2009-06-29T14:31:00.000-07:00

As the 2009 WSOP draws to a close, the completed events are already making history. With the economy in a weakened state, many people were speculating on how the numbers for the various events would hold up to previous years and it seems we are getting a clear picture as most of the events have taken place or in action.

This year a $40,000 NLHE event was added to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the WSOP, 201 entrants played. It is true that the HORSE Event found its numbers down, the 40k event could likely be the culprit with many of the pros already in the hole early on in the Series. Also added was a $1,000 No Limit Hold em event that drew over 6,000 entrants and boosted the numbers of total entrants to a record for this year so far.

The real story so far has been the number of individual players that have excelled in bracelets and cashes. In most years we see one or two players win two events and it was 2002 since a player won 3 in the same year. Already we have seen three players win two events and Jeff Lisandro has already won three. With results from events including the Main Event, the possibility exists for more records to be shattered.

Personal accomplishments seem to be the big story and as this continues to unfold, some old and new superstars are shining. The number of established players who have prevailed has reversed the trend of the past years with a greater number of the unknown Internet players dominating many events. The line between live and Internet players is blurring with both groups crossing over.

On important feature this year has been the added Internet coverage by Bluff Magazine and ESPN of many of final tables of events that will not be shown on ESPN as part of their regular coverage of selected events finishing up with the Final Table of the Main Event.

Many players were dismayed by the decision to not cover many of the favorite events, especially the mixed games and the HORSE tourney in particular. In the previous few years there has been some limited coverage but this year 24 additional Final Tables have been covered live from start to finish. For the hardcore fan, this has been a totally awesome. The few negatives have been that the twelve events shown on ESPN360are not accessible to many in the USA depending on the cable company. Many viewers were disappointed to not see the hole cards but most of the players/fans that watch and play regularly are appreciated of the coverage we have been given and find it not lacking at all.

The additional coverage far outweighs the few complaints by some. To have this extended access to these incredible Final Tables is truly a gift.
For those of us that have not been there in person have been able to see the new stars and the established favorites.....what will we be doing in a couple of weeks when this ends...of course we will be waiting for the November Nine but the daily coverage and seeing and hearing our old favs and new ones will certainly leave us with a lot of time on our hands......maybe we will be playing ourselves or even getting some work done.

IVEY DOES IT AGAIN.......

2009-06-14T14:23:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, June 13 the poker world was again treated to a virtual clinic on play the reaches a level seldom seen. The forums are lighting up with excitement before, during, and since the final table that lasted well into the night in the East. The final was peppered with some of the best Jon Turner, Carlos, Mortensen, Dutch Boyd, Phil Ivey and other players not so well known mostly on the internet.
To watch Ivey play is a truly amazing sight. We were able to watch parts of a live stream of his table although the circumstances were less than perfect. A different final table of NLHE was scheduled to be broadcast and ESPN/WSOP was resistant to making a change with the excuse that the type of games, Omaha/Stud 8 are more difficult to produce. Luckily parts were shown at the beginning with one camera and no announcers. While the second NLHE table was playing, protests were being received via Twitter and Email so in the later stages of the Omaha/Stud event #25, cut aways were done from time to time and when down to three with Phil Ivey, Carlos Mortensen, and Ming Lee the players were wired up and the cameras rolled.
Jimmy Fricke and Brian Micon were announcers for the other table and switched their attention to this event as well and did a good job under the circumstances. To see this being played out in a rather impromptu way with little production was very interesting.
Ivey showed his mastery time and again as he trounced his opponents. As is usual the chip lead was passed around and on his down times, the cool Ivey just waited for his time to come and it did. When Mortensen went out in third, it was apparent it would take a miracle and total melt down by Ivey for Lee to prevail....and prevail he did.
In the interview after he won, Phil was asked about the much talked about bracelets prop bets. Ivey acknowledged the bets and stated he had "scooped" all of those bets. He also made it known that he would be happy to built his bracelet count and that it would take a while to equal or pass Hellmuth's record.
It has been a joy to watch Phil Ivey in the year's WSOP and it is only half way over. In last year's WSOP, Ivey had many of these same bets but it was apparent from his demeanor that he really did not have his head in the game. It seems that Barry Greenstein can take some of the credit for getting his focus back.....that is an assumption on this writer's part.....when he asked Phil which Phil was going to show up this year. This year Mr. Ivey seems to really be enjoying himself and that is a wonderful sight to see.
Mr. Ivey......thanks for sharing your enjoyment with your fans.....gg, Sir!

Americans Not Welcome To Some Live Feeds of WSOP Unless They Have Certain ISP Providers

2009-06-08T16:55:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago, the hopes of poker fans all over the world were delighted by the news that many of the final tables that would not be televised on ESPN TV later this year would be streamed live on the internet. Twenty-four in all, these final events would be divided between Bluff Magazine and ESPN360. In the countries other than the USA, the ESPN360 events would be carried by PKR.com.

Probably most of us assumed that Americans could also get the PKR feed if we were unable to access ESPN360 on the Internet.......how wrong we were. While the rest of the world will be able to watch all 24 final tables, those in the USA who do not have the "right" cable company are out of luck. Many here in America do not have Verizon or the other companies that carry it. In my area, we have access to it but the switch is expensive and having this one feature would be the only benefit of making the change seems like something that should be unnecessary.

The forums have been lighting up with discussion on this issue. Seems rather arbitrary and you would think that WSOP and ESPN would like to garner as much goodwill as possible while this great event is going on so that interest would be heightened by the time it starts airing on TV.

The broadcasts that I have been able to watch so far have been wonderful........and thanks to Bluff Magazine for making those available to all of us. It was just lucky that the first night of the live feeds when Phil Ivey won, that I was able to find a link that did not block the ESPN feed. By the next day, that feed was blocked. I watched every hand for about 10 hours and loved it and if you see the numbers on the forums for that thread, it appears that the rest of the poker community did as well. Last night, watched Daniel and his quest for a bracelet on the broadcast provided by Bluff Magazine. Thank you Bluff........

There is a lot of interest here by the poker community and think that ESPN is really missing the boat on this one. Instead of building favor and possibly an even larger market for poker on TV, they are just pissing a lot of people off. The community I am speaking of was already ticked because of their decision to carry only three events on TV, and cutting out some of those most favored by the poker players. We were thrilled by the trade off of these events being streamed live but that excitement was torn away from many of us with an exclusion determined by our ISP provider......

If the other countries are being accommodated by the PKR link, why do Americans not have an optional way to access? Why not offer it to us for a fee? It seems that Americans are not being fairly treated here. Is our goodwill just not that big of a deal?

Daniel's Series of Unfortunate Events

2009-06-08T12:50:00.000-07:00

Last night spectators were a witness to a serious meltdown by a great player and there was nothing he could have done to stop it anymore that the winner, Brock Parker, could have played differently to make a different outcome. This one was truly in the hands of the Poker Gods.

Daniel Negreanu began the final table as the chip leader in the Six Handed, Limit Hold'em Event #14 of the 2009 WSOP. As the hours passed and the field dwindled, he was in the lead most of the time with some shifts from time to time but while watching, you always had the feeling that he was in control. Being a Limit tourney, dramatic plays were seldom and skill and finesse were the order of the day with all the players on top of their game......of course the top of the game for some is not the same as for others but that said, they all played well.

When the play got to heads up, the first part was pretty routine with Brock and Daniel winning pots and the stacks going up and down. Brock Parker proved to be a very, very good player and has online stats to back it up. Daniel always seemed to be in control and just played masterfully.
After a while the wheels started to come off for Daniel. There was nothing that could be done. He had to play the hands he was dealt.....on a hand that he had QQ and dominated, the board produced a straight and the pot was split. When he played his AJ against the J4 of Brock, the 4 fell and he lost. In the last few hands, Daniel's opponent had an A in almost every hand and every flop/board had an A. Daniel had JJ.......no cigar, an A came and Brock had one in his hand. The shame was that each time Daniel got a piece of the flop and bet/called. His stack started to drop like a rock....it was really painful to watch...It ended this way and the only good thing was it ended quickly.

After it was over and both men were interviewed, Daniel was clearly upset and knew he had received some bad breaks and he said he had gotten lucky early in the tourney to get that far and had many coin flips go his way. It is no secret that luck is a factor and this was Limit.
In his exit interview, the soft spoken, Brock, said he had played well and was "running good" which had to be the understatement of the week. There is no doubt that this guy will be around for a while. He had a great table presence, never flustered and showed little emotion.....he did a great job and Congratulations to Brock Parker.......he played great and won over a great Champion of the game.

For the viewing audience and aspiring players everywhere, there is an important lesson to be learned here.......you can be the very best and be in the best position....but on any day or as in this case, in any half hour...the Spirits of the Poker World can have their way with you.....while you can avoid some situations in the early going......in the late stages of tourney, especially in Limit, there are times when the outcome is out of your control.

For a fan, the ability to watch these final tables is a gift. While to some it is like watching paint dry, to many of us to watch every hand for hour after hour is a truly wonderful experience.

PHIL IVEY IS TRULY THE KING............

2009-06-05T14:53:00.000-07:00

June 4th was a great day in poker. Not so surprising was the fact that Phil Ivey won his 6th WSOP bracelet....it was the way he did it and the way we as fans were able to observe this masterful display of artistry.

The day started with the final table in the 2-7 Lowball, Single Draw event. There were seven at the final table with Ivey starting sixth in chips. Soon after beginning one player was knocked out and over the next several hours, players fell and Ivey got stronger. When down to three, the battle really began with Yan Chen, John Monnette, and Phil Ivey. The chip counts went up and down for quite some time and finally Chen was eliminated. At some point, Monnette asked Phil what the difference in the payout was between first and third place and Ivey said about 3 million which was an indication of the amount of the prop bets he was involved in.

The heads up match lasted for 3+ hours with the lead bouncing back and forth and an amazing amount of skill and patience being displayed by Ivey. Monnette kept up and played extremely well but in the last hour of the match the pressure started to show. When he began to complain to the dealer and called the floor to get a new dealer, it was surely a sign to Phil that it was his for the taking. And take it he did, chipping away and then going in for the win. I had not ever seen John Monnette play before but knew the name. At the WSOP a few years ago, one of the floor reporters had reported that he had received a penalty for tearing his cards up after a hand when he got a bad beat. Since that time I remembered the name and had seen that he played regularly in events and knew he was a seasoned professional.

The most incredible thing about the whole experience as an observer was watching for nine or ten hours seeing very few cards since it was a drawing game and without any commentary. The only sounds you heard was chips, some crowd noise, the players talking and the announcer on the floor at the Rio. The forums were lighting up with viewers of the live video feed discussing the action. There were obviously hundreds if not thousands of people watching the masterful performance by Phil Ivey. At one point he was extremely low stacked and the Mixed Event was starting and he was signed up to play that one. He never lost sight of winning this event. He was not going to go that far and lose...just was not going to happen.

In the past few years, it has been obvious that Phil's head was not totally into tournament play...even last year the prop bets did not seem to motivate him he was reported to have lost a lot of money ....he still had a bad WSOP. A while back, Barry Greenstein had asked him which Phil was going to show up this year at the WSOP.....the impatient one who was only interested in getting a big lead at the very beginning or going out early, or the player, who when on his game, would fight tooth and nail to defeat all others in the field.

With this win, Phil Ivey confirms what most in the poker community know and that when he is on his game, only the luckiest has a chance. It has been reported that Phil tipped the dealers the entire first place money.....What a class act.......Great game sir!

2009-06-03T10:45:00.000-07:00

WSOP rolling right along. Yesterday was supposed to be a bracelet day but took so long to get to final table that it was postponed until today at 2:00pm LV time. It is good to see a "mature" player, Dan Heimiller as the chip leader of the $1K, 6,000 person field. Also will be final table for the Pot Limit Omaha, $1500 buy in.

Some of these final tables can be seen at ESPN360 and Bluff Magazine sites. Will be fun to be able to see some of these events since only a few will be on ESPN later this year.

Probably the most interest will be on the Seven Card Stud World Championship which will be decided today. With just 11 left, the most well know players are Daniel Negreanu, Hasan Habib, Jeff Lisandro, Max Pescatori, Tim Phan, and Greg Mueller. This will be a lot of fun to sweat but will not be televised at all......such a shame.

The second day of the 2-7 Lowball event will take place with 35 left of the 147 field and many favs in that one also including chip leader Layne Flack, Phil Ivey, David Grey, Phil the Brat, Mike the Mouth and Barry G among many others we know and love.

Also the second day of the $1500 nlhe event that started with 2791 players and 2 new events will be starting......

The Hag will be keeping up will all the action at Pokernews.com and Twitter

WSOP Fever

2009-05-31T14:11:00.000-07:00

Well...it has started...my favorite 2 months of the year. Was out of town for the start so could not rail all the updates on the internet as usual but have been catching up. Was able to read some Twitter updates and now have been reading Pokernews.com and the WSOP site.

With the new 40K tourney and the 1K buy-in with 6,000+ entries, it has started with a bang. Today is the final table for the 40K and playing to the end the 1.5K Omaha tourneys and day 1b of the 1K.

The FT at 40K will be televised later this summer and has a very impressive lineup. Greg Raymer, Ted Forrest, and Justin Bonomo are some of my favs but the rest of the field also has Stern, Veldhuis, Haxton, Lunkin, Schwartz and Torelli. This event will be great television

The Omaha Hi/Lo 8-or-better has 19 remaining and will play to the end. Lasts years winner, Thang Luu is currently in 3rd with Freddy Deeb in the hunt.

Day 1b of the 1K is loaded with notables. Day 1a started with 3,000 and ended with 376..they dropped at quite a clip. Today with 3,000+, no reason to think the field will be quickly thinned.

We will be watching and posting updates

2009-05-31T13:50:00.000-07:00

Just came from a long trip and had a great time. We were in Ohio for an art event, then a few days with family that was totally awesome and then on to Tunica for a couple of days of poker.

Had only been there briefly and sort of knew what was available to play in the poker room at the Horseshoe and at Gold Strike. Played a small tourney at GS in the early pm and then on to HS for the evening deep stack in the evening on Friday. Did not cash in either one but made enough in the cash games to make up for the entry fees.

Both poker rooms seemed quite well run. The Gold Strike had a little older, more local crowd and did not offer the array of games that the Horseshoe did. The HS had Omaha, Stud as well as mulitple levels of limit and nl hold'em. All levels of players, some really good pros and very good recreational players as well as beginners and not so good players.

This was a good spot and will probably go back sometime. About a 7-8 hour drive and seems worth the trip.

Disappointed that legal poker in Texas is dead for now

2009-05-15T14:10:00.000-07:00

we are working hard on getting the web site up and running. Girl is working so hard to get it all ready.

The big news has been that the bill that would have set up legal poker in Texas has gone down in flames. The Governor, Rick Perry, had promised a veto so it was not worth the time of the bill's sponsor to bring to vote to have it vetoed and would die anyway.

Rick Perry is expecting a strong challenge from Kay Bailey Hutchinson in the next election and he is pandering to the extreme right to shore up that support. He is also heavily supported financially by gaming interests in Oklahoma who would take a huge hit to their economy.

Kay will be more likely to let Texans vote to allow poker and other gambling in the great state of Texas. She seems to be more supportive of letting the people decide instead of the type of "nanny state" that many conservatives want to keep in place.

The truth of the matter is that Texas sends millions to Oklahoma in fees, rake, and other gambling that the casinos produce land as a result, since much of the funds that go to the State Education System. Texas is giving those funds away everyday.

The anticipation of the stimulus money that is coming from the federal government to offset the deficits is given as the reason that the Governor and his cronies do not feel compelled to allow the vote. This is very strange since Perry has indicated he is not in favor of accepting this stimulus money and also that he is even not sure Texas should remain as part of the USA.

What a phony guy.....he would like the image as a moral/Christian human being instead of the hard drinking, womanizer that has been rumored for years....wouldn't we love to know the truth????

2009-04-15T19:49:00.000-07:00

Going back to Winstar tomorrow and play the tournament again.......don't really expect to have two great weeks in a row but giving it a try. Next week will be off to Kentucky and will be visiting the Harrah's in Metropolis, Ill. It is a 2/5 game with no cap and can get pretty wild...have played there for the past 5 years and have done pretty well so hope that continues.

Have not been too good at the blogging. Slave and I have been trying to get all the stuff for the web site done. That is taking our creative efforts. Also, have been playing way too much online and have had a really bad week. Been mostly playing low limit tourneys and getting my ass kicked......like my aces cracked with seven/deuce............my stars are not lined up right now.

We need to get some guest bloggers for our the web site so we can get lots of different kinds of ideas discussed. We are thinking the site should be ready to unveil in May or first of June.......wish us luck.

2009-04-11T16:17:00.000-07:00

It has been an exciting poker week. Went to Winstar on Thursday and played the bounty tournament....I had not played that particular one so was really looking forward to giving it a try. Started very slowly.....terrible cards.....played 3 hands in the first two hours but luckily I pretty much doubled when I did play and that was just keeping me alive. Also, had not collected any bounties. With the structure of tourneys at Winstar the third hours is the most critical......it is live or die. Started catching some hands and with the blinds rising it was not enough to get anywhere near a chip lead but kept me live. Managed to stay in to the final table which was 10. Since they only paid 8 places, the deal was made to give the 9 and 10 a $100 prize so they would almost have their original buy in back. I was about the 4th lowest in chips with 2 very low so thought it would not take more than a few hands to get to the 8 and that is what happened. My stack kept getting a little healthier.....not great but workable. Ft only lasted a half hour or so....blinds were such a factor that action had to happen. Out of the next 5 players to go out, I knocked out 4 of them and we were down to 3. One guy pretty short, on guy had about a quarter more chips than me and we decided to chop..........I was happy........it was a good day.

After that was over, I went to the cash table and played 1/2 for a little while.......doubled my buy in and called it a day. Had an hour drive home and thought it was a great thing to quit while I was ahead.......what a concept.

Will go back next week on Wednesday or Thursday and give it another try.

National Heads Up Championship

2009-03-09T12:24:00.000-07:00

This weekend was so much fun......the Heads Up Championship was taking place and I had pokernews.com on getting updates starting on Friday. Of course, not the same as watching but keeping track of the whole thing and ending with the Sunday night final between Vanessa and Huck. Of course, it was great to see Vanessa making it that far and I was really torn because I wanted to see a woman win it but at the same time, Huck is one of my favorites. Either way it is good for poker and it will be create higher visibility for women in this community.

Now.......the second part of the fun is reading all the blogs and hearing all the trash talk starting with the roster being announced to the end of the final table. This was such great fodder for the gossip mill........sort of like all the hype with the Super Bowl (well maybe not that big) and this year it was great that the excitement kept going through the entire event.

The great comic relief was the Layne Flack debacle.......did not show up for his round and was replaced.....then word was he was arrested for DUI and then he posted a message that he was innocent and was contradicted by a friend who said on his blog that he was out drinking with Layne.......the saga continues.

I can hardly wait for the NBC coverage and the updates online just made me want more.......and the blogs and online posts on the different sites were quite predictable and at the same time there were enough clever nuggets that it made me laugh.......bottom line is the haters will still hate but there is enough enlightenment to keep it interesting.

trying to improve my habits

2009-03-06T09:57:00.000-08:00

Have not posted to the blog since starting in November. I have a challenge from pokerslave to post every day. I just don't have that much to say but think that I will try to do better with the blog and also try to improve my poker habits.

We are working to get the website up and running and slave has worked very hard on that. I am getting ready to play a tournament and will try to be patient and pay more attention than usual.

We'll se where it goes...........

Happy Thanksgiving from Pokerhag

2008-11-26T10:44:00.000-08:00

The day before Thanksgiving and all is well in the kitchen. Dressing and pies are being made. Tomorrow the Turkey and all the fixings will be ready for our family and friends.

Now there may be a poker game break out later........it does make me a bit sad though.......I hate taking all that money away from the kids and grandkids this close to Christmas.........oh well, they gotta learn sometime.......don't underestimate the value of maturity.