Poker Betting Strategy

Launch of no commission Pai Gow game, EZ Pai Gow was recently pronounced by DEQ Systems. In Missouri casinos, EZ Pai Gow is doing better than all other forms of Pai Gow.

In the market, Deq’s EZ Pai Gow Poker is the only stand-alone commission free Pai Gow game. Official state statistics have shown that EZ Pai Gow has been the players’ favorite game, since its introduction in late August 2010 in Missouri.

President and CEO of DEQ, Earle G. Hall stated that when compared to all other forms of Pai Gow, EZ Pai Gow has dictated the floor wherever it is deployed. He added that it is the only true non-commission form of Pai Gow, where by a very alluring optional side bet, the push mechanism is offset.

He added that from the clients and the operators, the response has been very encouraging and he would like to congratulate Lubin-Jones for this groundbreaking invention. Within the scope of Lubin-Jones no commission Pai Gow intellectual property portfolio, these methods are protected.  He added that he is very thrilled about the future placements of this game all over the USA.

According to the company, in EZ Pai Gow, by eliminating the 5% commission on winning hands, this revolutionary method of accelerating the speed of Pai Gow poker has been introduced. When the dealer gets a Queen High Pai Gow (Queen high hand), the commission is substituted by imposing a push. The side bet is trademarked as the “Queens’ Dragon” and players can side bet on the occurrence of the dealer’s Queen high Pai Gow.

This side wager produces an additional way for the player to win and it pays 50 to 1. It has also been a new revenue source for the casino.

On a desert casino-hopping trip, came a retiree from Hemet, CA, George Hayes with a friend. A 1¢ Super Spin Wheel of Fortune machine was the one that George simply walked up to and put in $40 or $50. Not long after that, he watched across the centerline, five Wheel of Fortune symbols lined up and he knew it had to mean something big. It turned out to be $1,127,123,88. At Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Claude Dickerson of Indio, CA says he and his wife have been playing for years. In case Claude was dealt a straight flush, he placed a side bet on a Pai Gow Poker table and he took home the huge progressive table jackpot of $16342588.

Claude Dickerson and his wife decided to kill some time playing their favorite games in the casino after enjoying dinner at the POM restaurant at Fantasy Springs. Claude sat down at a Fortune Pai Gow Poker table. Always making sure to place a side bet on the progressive jackpot, he began with $100 and eventually increased his take to $200. Claude could not believe the hand he was dealt, a straight flush – 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 of Hearts, after about 30 minutes at the table. Claude said he was awestruck that on one hand, he won $163,425.82.

Featuring 30 “Best of Gaming” awards from Casino Player magazine, Fantasy Springs Resort Casino provides an oasis in the desert. Fantasy Springs Resort Casino stands to meet and exceed the needs of its guests and the community by offering world-class table games, 2000 of the hottest slots, hotel, dining, entertainment and golf at Eagle Falls.

World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Showdown no-limit hold’em main event caught the attention of field of 406 players. By the end of Day 1, just 290 players remained. Randy Dorfman with 160,000 was the overnight chip leader. Until the start of play, registration was kept open so the field size could grow even more before the official prize pool is pronounced.

With 130,925, James Carroll is also near the top. Florida poker has been great so far for Dorfman. At the Seminole Hard Rock, he ended Day 1 first in chips with 160,000 from his 30,000-chip starting stack. It is too early to tell, for the BLUFF Player of the Year contender if this will be yet another final table, but his latest record of achievement plus his big stack could mean big things for Dorfman in the next few days.

In the event, several other big names are faring well too, including former online poker pro Nick Grippo, who bagged up 149,375. Ending with 124,975, Todd Terry also had a productive day. The event has other distinguished Floridians, including Jason Mercier, Matt Waxman, Rob Mizrachi, young Harrison Gimbel and Adam Levy. Taking advantage of 18, Gimbel is one of a handful of players and he ups being able to play on the property.

With $602,006 in live tournament earnings just four months into 2011, Dorfman has matched his $552,239 score, which still marks his career best.

The WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown runs through May 2.

Vanessa Selbst, for the second year in a row, has won the NAPT Mohegan Sun Main Event. With $4,562,979 in live tournament winnings, she now lies in second spot on the ‘Woman’s All Time Money List’.

A prize pool of over $1.23 million was created by the $5,000 buy-in event. To all of the final poker tablists who were playing in front of the televised final table, the prize pool was still up for grabs.

On the other hand, from live tournaments since 2001, Michael Bernstein has made $318,652. Selbst recently on his Cardplayer blog post just accounted for the scathing write-up Bernstein gave Selbst.

Steve O’Dwyer got himself caught up in trouble against Selbst after only three hands had been played. From the big blind, he opened to 60,000 and Selbst three-bet to 215,000. The call was made by O’Dwyer and the flop came down Jc-9d-6s. The Kh turn saw Selbst bet 220,000 and O’Dwyer made the call and the two players checked. Selbst moved all-in and the river bricked. O‘Dwyer, crippling his stack in the process eventually folded, although he tanked for several minutes.

The televised final table was reduced from the field of 387. To the final hand that was dealt, Selbst’s experience and class shone through. She put Steve O’Dwyer to an early decision for all of his chips from the early stages.

In the all time money list, the win bumped Selbst up to third, ahead of Annette Obrestad and behind Annie Duke and Kathy Liebert. One would not bet against her with the WSOP right around the corner, thereby adding a second bracelet to her tournament haul in 2011.

Russian Dmitry Gromov reached the final table and went strength to strength against other rivals to claim the WPT Vienna title. He is no stranger to the winner’s circle, even though the €447,840 first-place prize marked his largest career score. At the PokerStars Russian Poker Series Kiev Grand Final last December, he posted a first-place finish for $201,363. Last July, he won $316,759 at the 2010 Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza III in Las Vegas. In career live tournament earnings, he now has well over $1 million.

Creating a €1,776,000 prizepool, WPT Vienna drew 555 Players, thereby shattering the previous record for entrants in a European WPT event set at WPT Amneville last November. The winner of this event is entitled to a nice bonus of € 447,840.

24-year-old Italian Alessio Isaia’s name was on the marquee, even though Gromov came into the final holding the chip lead. Last month, Isaia completed as a runner-up on the Malta leg of the PokerStars Italian Poker Tour and he had booked a win at WPT Venice for €380,000.

Gromov held the lead all the way through and Isaia could do no better than seventh place. In just five hands, Gromov beat fellow Russian Maksim Kolosov heads-up.

Gromov started the final table and he aimed to conclude it with all the chips. In the ultimate day, the leader became the winner and the top three players on the leader board would be the last three players standing. The third day of the WPT Vienna meeting also marked the elimination of all French players like Yohann comotyelavinia Aubé and Marc LocSta Inizan, who were still in the race. The former player finished at 13 and won € 15,500, while the latter player was eliminated from this poker tournament at the 30th rank.

The World Poker Tour now moves on to Bratislava. The main event begins at the Golden Vegas Casino.

At the seventh annual National Heads-Up Poker Championship (NHPC) presented by GoDaddy.com, Erik Seidel reigned absolute over a privileged field of 63 of poker’s excellent at the Caesars Palace Poker Tournament Room. Up from $500,000 in last year’s competition, to claim the championship and the $750,000 first-place prize, Seidel overpowered Chris Moneymaker in the competition’s best-of-three final table.

The first four times, Erik Seidel entered this event and he has really struggled. This year he managed to turn his chances around and take down the event for an enormous $750,000 payday, although last year he flared his way through the field to finish second. He lost to Annie Duke in the final. This year, before taking the seat against Chris Moneymaker, Seidel overwhelmed Jennifer Harman, Andrew Robl and Vanessa Selbst.

In 2005, J.C. Train sent Moneymaker packing, although the latter endured to the second round. In 2006, in the opening round he lost to Tuan Le and one year later, he experienced the same fate against Main Event winner Joe Hachem. In 2008, Moneymaker was relegated by Main Event champion Jerry Yang in the first round. Last year, in Sweet 16 of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, Seidel got rid of Moneymaker.

Into the Poker Hall of Fame, Eric Seidel was admitted at the end of last year in acknowledgment of his dazzling career. His career includes WPT title, $10 million tournament winnings and 8 WSOP bracelets. This year has now accumulated $4,342,284 in winnings already, ever since then Seidel has been on an unbelievable run, including six final tables and now three tournament victories.

The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas has been allowed by the lenders to postpone a debt payment while trying to restructure $1.25 billion in debt. The Hard Rock and lenders agreed to the standstill on Sunday, and was reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

In a regulatory filing, Hard Rock Hotel Holdings LLC says that the agreement sets a Feb. 28 deadline for a new agreement. Morgans Hotel Group owns the resort and it is separate from the restaurant chain of the same name.

Morgans Hotel Group Co., which it holds a minority interest in the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Las Vegas have entered into a Standstill and Forbearance Agreement. Under the applicable loan documents, including remedies with respect to Morgans’ management agreement, subject to certain conditions, lender agreed not to take any action or assert any right or remedy. The second mezzanine lender agreed to withdraw its foreclosure notice. It had delivered the same on January 28, 2011.

Morgans Hotel Group Co., which manages and owns a minority stake in the Hard Rock Hotel, in another regulatory filing disclosed its chairman had a conflict of interest. He had rescued himself from any matters concerning the hotel-casino.

The filing said that chairman of Morgans Hotel Group in New York, David Hamamoto is rescued from all board and management discussions and all board determinations regarding the outstanding Hard Rock debt, as the company implemented special governance procedures during the third quarter of 2010.

The company said that all Hard Rock debt related matters were and are being considered by a committee of independent directors of the board of directors.

At the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi, Day 3 of the World Poker Tour’s Southern Poker Championship may have gotten off to a slow start, losing just six players in the first two hours of play, but by day’s end, the action was virtually non-stop.

After Day 3 of the Southern Poker Championship, Arizona’s Ryan Hughes is the leader in the clubhouse, a stop on the World Poker Tour (WPT), although all eyes are on two former winners. Allen “AawwNutz” Carter has a stack of 530,000, about half of Hughes’ mammoth tally of over one million. He won this event two years ago. Hughes has 220,000 more in chips than his next closest competitor does and he is the lone player to pass the seven-figure mark.

When the day began, in the tournament area 66 players took their seats but six levels of poker later only 19 remained and the money bubble had burst. Followed by notables like Ben Klier, Jason Mercier, Ali Eslami, and Jonathan Little, Nick Schulman was the first bustout of the day. With Hughes taking complete advantage of the looming money bubble, players like Ryan and Alexander began to amass big stacks.

Gavin Smith hit the rail, followed shortly thereafter by Michael Benvenuti in 29th place, with the 27-person money bubble just a few players away. Players went to hand-for-hand play, which dragged on for two hours without elimination, once Benvenuti busted. While, other players seemed to just be doing their best to tread water, Hughes was chipping up. Alistair Melville managed to get it all-in and more than double up, although he blinded down to just a couple of big blinds.

For the $601,000 top prize, a total of 19 players remain in the hunt and the entire field is in the money. On Tuesday, Carter delivered the final knockout of Day 3 when he sent Andrew Batkin to the rail with pocket tens against 9-8 of clubs.

Corkins dropped a significant chunk of his stack, just a few minutes prior, after doubling up Bobby Keller. Against Keller’s J-9 of diamonds for top pair, Corkins had Keller covered with pocket eights for a pair and a straight draw. However, Keller was given a running 3-4, the critical double up. When all was said and done, Corkins bagged up the 11th largest stack, but he would have likely been in the top five had he not doubled up Keller.

Paul Hobson has been appointed as the property’s general manager by Stratosphere’s owners American Casino & Entertainment. Since December 2008, Hobson has been general manager of the Aquarius in Laughlin, which is also owned by American Casino & Entertainment. Hobson spent 10 years in positions with the three Primm resorts at the Nevada-California border, prior to joining the Aquarius. With Caesars Palace and Caesars Tahoe, Hobson also held financial management positions.

The Stratosphere Casino has centerpiece 1,149-foot tower in an 80,000-square-foot casino. The centerpiece is the tallest freestanding observation tower in the United States. Between the northern end of the Strip and downtown, the property, which is located on Las Vegas Boulevard, has 2,427 hotel rooms. In April last year, the property’s upgrades began with a SkyJump attraction, which takes thrill-seekers on an 855-foot controlled descent from the tower along cables.

The Stratosphere has long toed the line between an Old Vegas resort and a modern mid-level hotel, straddling the Strip and downtown. Its rides atop its tower say family fun on a budget, although its Top of the World restaurant with its pricey steaks speaks of a luxury resort.

Now, about $20 million on renovations has been spent by the Stratosphere to better position itself among its posh neighbors to the south. The resort has a new marketing campaign to match its updated rooms and casino floor.

Hobson said that the hotel rooms were the first priority in the renovations, with a small budget of $20 million. He said that to offer guests, the Stratosphere has about 900 revamped rooms, with more to come. He added that they wanted to put a new face on the entire casino and public areas and wanted to definitely address a good portion of the hotel rooms. They then wanted to relocate the entrance of the property.

World Series of Poker in the year 1999 featured three hundred and ninety three competitors. Each player is responsible for a ten thousand dollar entry fee. This would produce a pool of money of nearly 4 million dollars.

The winner of the field would win a 14 karat gold bracelet and a million dollars. With such an enormous field it would be difficult for the best players to stand out like they did in years past. The presence of so many players has allowed sub-par players to take control of the sport, what many people have said.

In the early stages of the World Series of Poker, the good and the poor players were all among the victims falling. Huck Seed, Padraig Parkinson, Erik Seidel, Alan Goehring, Chris Bigler and J.J. Furlong were the remaining players at the final table. Furlong was able to take control early on as he had 1.5 million in chips going into the table. Huck Seed was the first player that was eliminated from the table. After Seed fell Bigler was eliminated from the table. Seidel tried to make a move, but things just didn’t go good for him. He was eliminated with his big move. He left the table with 279, 500 dollars. The next player to fall out of contention was Parkinson. Furlong eliminated him personally. Parkinson would leave with a prize of 489,125 dollars.

Even though in the end Furlong had too much going in his favor, Furlong and Goehring, these two players fought it out for a while. Furlong had pocket 5’s and a 5 was laid out. He managed to take home the 1999 World Series of Poker championship. He would win the million dollar prize and the 14 karat gold bracelet. Goehring would go with 768, 625 dollars.

Furlong was more of a player than played for fun rather than someone who pursued it as a career. Before ever playing through other business, he had made his money.