Poker News

When the fifth season of “High Stakes Poker” begins on cable channel GSN, a debut tentatively scheduled for March 1, poker fans will again see all of the signature fixtures that have made the show so popular.

It will again feature poker’s most recognizable live-game players, stalwarts such as Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth.

It will also include the czars of Internet poker’s “nosebleed” stakes who have generated huge followings under their online screen handles, such as Tom Dwan (“durrrr”) and Ilari Sahamies (“Ziigmund.”)

Don’t forget the bundled $50,000 bricks of U.S. currency — in play along with high-denomination poker chips — that give the show extra flair, or the verbal jousting that regularly occurs to accompany monster-size pots.

What viewers won’t see, though, is poker pro Phil Laak polishing off a plate of sushi during a break in the action as he holds forth on a play scheduled to open on London’s West End in the spring — and, believe it or not, how it relates to his view of the contemporary poker scene.

The production, “Grasses of a Thousand Colours,” will be directed by Andre Gregory and was written by his longtime collaborator Wallace Shawn, the accomplished actor and playwright.

Or, as Laak put it: “You remember the guy in ‘The Princess Bride’ who goes, ‘Inconceivable!’ ”

The play will keep Laak’s girlfriend, Jennifer Tilly, busy in London, Laak said, during a period that overlaps the World Poker Tour Championship, a $25,000-entry tournament at the Bellagio that Laak has circled on his calendar.

“I can’t wait to see the play, but it looks like Jennifer and I won’t be in the same town for a while,” Laak said on the “High Stakes Poker” set at the Golden Nugget this past weekend. “I would never miss the 25K event at the Bellagio.”

Laak also considers any taping of “High Stakes Poker” one of the few “must-play” events on the poker circuit, having competed in every season but the first.

The show, which portrays a high-stakes cash poker game rather than a tournament, made its debut on GSN (Cox cable channel 344) in January 2006 after a taping at the Golden Nugget in November 2005. Subsequent seasons were taped at the Palms and at the South Point (twice).

As in previous seasons, about 27 hours of play from the weekend will be divided into a series of hourlong episodes.

“It’s such a ‘sick’ honor to be invited to this thing,” Laak said. “To poker’s credit, there are so many tournaments with really cool structures now that you don’t have to travel too much if you don’t want to. For me, I’ve been sticking mostly to the West Coast or London, and that’s enough to keep me busy.

“You can’t get a game like this too often.”

Players are required to sit down at the table with at least $200,000, although some have opted to bring as much as $1 million to the “High Stakes” game.

The appeal of the show is easy to explain, Laak said: All poker fans know how to play no-limit Texas hold ’em, and many believe they have what it takes (with the exception of a ready supply of bricks of $100 bills, perhaps) to beat the best at their own game.

“This is phenomenal for poker,” Laak said. “You might see some funny stuff happening in the hands, stuff that looks ‘sick’ on TV, but it actually has game theory behind it, which the average viewer might miss out on. So an average viewer might think, ‘Oh, I could do that.’ You know, they would have called the bet in that spot.”

Laak is far from the only player who places a premium on making it to “High Stakes Poker,” according to Kevin Belinkoff, a consultant on the show who has been involved since its creation.

The roster of players varies somewhat by season, but it’s safe to say there are more players willing to compete than spots in the game, Belinkoff said.

“We get requests from everywhere,” Belinkoff said. “We try to get a nice mix of personalities and players of different ages and levels of experience that tell the story of what’s going on.

“If you’re a brash, obnoxious guy, we’ll find a place for you. But we might not put you with some other brash, obnoxious guys if we think that would blow up the table. Some guys are quiet, and there’s a place for them, too.”

Although the heart of the order consists of high-stakes professional poker players, the show’s executives round out the lineup with a selection of personalities from the entertainment industry.

A poker subculture thrives in Hollywood circles, said Sam Simon, the acclaimed TV producer who was competing on “High Stakes Poker” for the first time this weekend.

Simon, known for his work on “The Simpsons,” “Taxi” and “Cheers,” calls himself a recreational poker player and participates in a $5 and $10 no-limit hold ’em home game a couple of times a week.

Among his peers in show business, Simon gave high marks to Tobey Maguire and Hank Azaria for poker acumen.

“There are a few legendary home games in Hollywood, and the poker boom after Chris Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker (in 2003) reverberated in Hollywood, too,” Simon said. “Then, you have people with a lot of money and a lot of time, so you’ve got some big games that go in Hollywood.

“I think it’s probably the same as it is all over America. It’s just that some of these guys happen to have bigger bankrolls.”
By Jeff Haney

( PRWEB ) December 4, 2008 -- Once again bringing together the most talented and celebrated poker players in the game, the fifth season of NBC's hit late night show Poker After Dark was recently filmed at the Golden Nugget Las Vegas, resulting in thirteen weeks of action-packed new episodes that will air in 2009. Viewers will see a more balanced mix of both cash games and tournaments than they have in the past, with seven weeks of cash games and six weeks of the popular single table no-limit hold'em winner-take-all tournaments taking place, all in six-handed formats. Fans of the show will be treated to the return of many of their favorite players, along with the introduction of several new players that they have been asking to see.

This season, an interesting mix of fourteen players will make their PAD debut, including online phenoms Taylor "Green Plastic" Caby, Cole "CTS" South, David "Raptor" Benefield, and Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies. Celebrities Don Cheadle, Jason Alexander and Orel Hershiser will headline one star-studded match, while online qualifier Arnold Thimons gets his shot in another Dream Match. The remaining newcomers are John Phan, Kenny Tran, amateur Bob Safai, Max Pescatori, Dario Minieri, and 2008 WSOP Main Event runner-up Ivan Demidov.

Tournament overview

As mentioned above, six new $20,000 buy-in winner-take-all tournaments were filmed. One entitled "The Magnificent Six" will feature six of poker's most recognizable faces in Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, and Phil Hellmuth. There are no soft spots in this lineup for sure! National pride will be on the line in the "USA vs. Italy" as the United States will be represented by Ferguson, Lederer, and 2008 World Series of Poker Player of the Year Erick Lindgren, while Marco Traniello and 2008 WSOP bracelet winners Max Pescatori and Dario Minieri will play for Italy. Look for this to be an extremely tough match.

"Celebrities and Mentors" will feature three pros and three poker playing celebrities who credit these pros with helping them improve their games. Former MLB pitcher Orel Hershiser received some coaching prior to his success in the 2008 National Heads-Up Poker Championship from Gavin Smith; actor/comedian Jason Alexander cites Barry Greenstein with giving him pointers on how to become a better player, and accomplished actor Don Cheadle has received some tutoring from poker professional/author/commentator Phil Gordon. This will be a fun match to watch and one for the record books.

In the past, the "International Week" matches on Poker After Dark have proven very popular, and the third edition of this theme features yet another stellar lineup. Those competing will be "Yukon" Brad Booth from Canada, David Benyamine from France, Alan Cunningham of the United States, 2008 WSOPE Champion John Juanda from Indonesia, red-hot tournament player John "The Razor" Phan from Vietnam, and the only player to have reached the final table at both the 2008 WSOP and WSOPE in Russia's young rising talent Ivan Demidov. This promises to be a great match-up sure to spark interest the world over.

There will be a "Dream Match III" as 44 year-old amateur Arnold Thimons from Greensburg, PA has chosen Phil Laak, Jennifer Tilly, Mike Matusow, Johnny Chan, and Daniel Negreanu as the players he wants to compete against for the $120,000 first place prize. And rounding out the tournaments will be "Sit-N-Talk" featuring six players not shy about engaging in banter at the tables in Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari, Jennifer Harman, David Grey, Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, Jean-Robert Bellande, and Vanessa Rousso.

All in all, six great matches that should interest and entertain even the most casual of fans.

Cash game overview

The cash games will all be no-limit hold'em with $200/$400 blinds. The minimum buy-in will be $100,000 and the maximum $250,000. Straddles and antes may be employed at the discretion of the players, as well as increasing the stakes should all players agree.

One week will be another "Nets vs. Vets" and will feature three new pros that have enjoyed tremendous success in online cash game play against three seasoned veterans of cash games in live settings. The newcomers, all instructors at CardRunners.com who have tremendous fan bases online, include Taylor Caby, Cole South, and David Benefield. The "Vets" are "The Godfather of Poker" Doyle Brunson, actor/comedian/commentator Gabe Kaplan, and high-stakes action-player Eli Elezra. This game is sure to generate a considerable amount of interest, especially among those in the Internet community.

Two full weeks will be devoted to "The Hellmuth Bash" as the Poker Brat himself goes up against Tom "durrrr" Dwan, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak, Kenny "Sick Call" Tran, and high-stakes recreational player Bob Safai. Whether the definition of the word "bash" applies to dissing an opponent or a party where everyone has a great time will be left to the viewers to determine.

Another two weeks will be featured in "Railbird Heaven," where viewers can now watch several of the players in the biggest games on the Internet in a live setting rather than logging on to an online poker site where no hole cards are shown. This game will showcase the skills of high-stakes cash game players Patrik Antonius, Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, Gus Hansen, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, and David "Viffer" Peat, who will share time with Hansen. Look for additional side action between these players in the form of props and never-before-seen "flips," which are sure to have even casual fans shaking their heads in disbelief.

The remaining two weeks of cash game action has the potential to be among the most talked about games ever televised. This game will feature Eli Elezra, Tom Dwan, Patrik Antonius, Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, and exciting newcomer Ilari Sahamies of Finland. Expect more prop bets from this group, and strap yourself in for some wild swings.

In addition to these new episodes, the final three matches that were filmed during Season 4 that have not yet aired will now kickoff Season 5 beginning on December 29, bringing the number of new episodes that will be shown in 2009 to a minimum of sixteen. Popular model Leeann Tweeden will return as the show's host, while Ali Nejad will provide limited commentary. More detailed information about air dates through the beginning of July, as well as profiles on all of the players, old and new, can be found at www.nbcsports.msnbc.com/poker. For those who do not have the ability to stay up late to watch or have recording devices, the episodes can also be seen online within hours after the show airs at the above website. But however one watches, the next season of Poker After Dark should be "must see" viewing for poker fans around the world, and is certain to have fans clamoring for more.

LAS VEGAS — Peter Eastgate, a 22-year-old from Denmark who wears his ball cap backwards, earned $9.1 million Tuesday when he became the youngest player to win the main event at the World Series of Poker. Perhaps most surprisingly, he kept his poker face even after his triumph.

As friends from Denmark jumped around and shouted in the seating area, Eastgate displayed hardly a hint of a smile while posing for photos in front of cash piled on the green felt table.

"I guess I haven't really realized how big this is," said Eastgate, who erased the youngest-winner record set by Phil Hellmuth at 24 in 1989.

"It will come in the next weeks or the next days. I will become very emotional at some point."

The main event began last July with 6,844 players. There was a 117-day recess after the field was cut to final nine. Eastgate finished off his last foe, 27-year-old Russian Ivan Demidov, at 5:33 a.m. ET.

The Russian was down to about 16.45 million chips. Eastgate had more than 120 million. Demidov went all in with two pairs (twos and fours).

Eastgate won the pot and the biggest prize in poker with a straight (ace through five).

Demidov was in a spot where he had to double up to stay competitive.

"I was lucky that he hit two pair. … It's kind of inevitable when that happens he's going all in," said Eastgate, whose final-table victory will be televised on tape by ESPN at 9 p.m. ET Tuesday.

Demidov, who earned second-place money of $5.8 million, said of the final hand: "I was just thinking he was bluffing. I read a few big bluffs at the wrong time."

Eastgate's friends wore t-shirts with the slogan, "It's in the stars." During final table play, they sang a boisterous song in support of the champion. It included the words "oooba, oooba, oooba." Eastgate says they made the song up.

Also in the seating area at the Rio hotel and casino were the winners' parents, Robert and Lise Eastgate.

Did Eastgate show anything in his childhood suggesting he'd excel in high-stakes poker?

"No way," said Robert. "He was straightforward in all aspects … studious, industrious."

The mother said he was a "very sensible" boy and that he liked mathematics.

"He calculated," said Lise.

Eastgate was asked if he especially liked sports or computer games growing up.

"I'm just a gambler," he said. "I like to gamble. The way I've learned to play poker is by putting a lot of hours into it."

He got interested in poker in high school. Instead of going to college, he opted to play online poker for money.

He said he was "fascinated" by poker and its "psychological aspects." And he was lured by the World Series.

Before the main event, his biggest pay day came when he won $46,714 at the 2007 Paddy Power Irish Open.

"You see the World Series on television, and you get fascinated by it, all the attention," Eastgate said. "It's the biggest tournament, the biggest in the world. I wanted to see how I could do."

The two-day final table play took 274 hands and 15 hours and 28 minutes play, surpassing the previous long of 14 hours and two minutes in 2005.
By Gary Mihoces

Poker, once nearly muscled off casino floors by gimmicky table games and flashy slot machines, is hotter than ever in Las Vegas, thanks to the game's popularity on TV.
Now the Venetian Resort Hotel & Casino will try to build on those winnings by staging "The Real Deal," an audience-participation show, in its Venetian Showroom. It was scheduled to begin last week.

The show combines the elements of a game show with comedy and celebrities, all revolving around the now-familiar poker game of Texas hold'em. Since this is Las Vegas, there are prizes, including the long-shot possibility for an audience member to win $1 million.
In "The Real Deal," the audience watches a 90-minute poker tournament featuring some of the best-known players, such as Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu.
(Read Negreanu's poker column Tuesdays inside Accent.)
About 10 pros have signed up.
Every audience member can play along because each theater seat is equipped with a wireless, handheld touch-screen device.
"People who come to Vegas want to play poker," Negreanu says, "but obviously they can't play in a big game with the likes of Doyle or Phil Hellmuth. But in this show, they actually can."
At the beginning of each show, six audience members are chosen at random to sit at the poker table onstage with two pros. Each audience member becomes the virtual ninth player, as every person in the theater is electronically dealt a hand on the handheld device to go along with the cards dealt onstage. Big-screen monitors help everyone keep track of the action.
Each audience member starts with 100,000 points and tries to increase his or her total, with an electronic leader board keeping track.
Near the end of the show, the surviving professional player and the final amateur from the original six are joined by the audience member who accumulated the most points. The three battle it out in a showdown.
"But you don't have to be a poker player to enjoy the show," says Merv Adelson, one of the show's creators, who once helped run Lorimar, the company that produced "Dallas" and other hit TV shows.
Adelson explains that audience members also can add to their point stacks by making simple bets, such as the suit of the next card or whether a poker pro can correctly guess whether anyone in a certain row is from, say, Pennsylvania — all on the handheld devices.
"The technology is what makes this show so amazing," he says.
Comedian Paul Rodriguez should produce some laughs as the show's host, but the poker pros are expected to ante up most of the entertainment.
"You get a guy like Scotty Nguyen, and to watch him work a room is absolutely amazing," says Negreanu, referring to the flamboyant player and five-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, nicknamed the Prince of Poker.
"The professionals can joke and needle each other and be more comfortable in a way that they can't when they're playing for hundreds of thousands of dollars," Negreanu says. "Plus, the audience will learn a little bit about the game as the players explain why they played a hand a certain way."
Audience members will get prizes — from logo merchandise to jewelry and plasma-screen TVs — at random and for playing performance.
At the end of each show, a $1 million jackpot will be up for grabs when selected audience members are dealt a royal flush.

Poker books go into great detail discussing the various strategies necessary to get to the final table of a tournament. However, not as much has been written about final table playing strategy.

Take What the Table Gives

This is a simple concept but one that can’t be overlooked. In fact, this philosophy applies not only to poker, but also to sports like football and basketball.

Sometimes, late in NFL games, the team protecting a lead will often go into a prevent defense, trying to defend against the long pass. Trying to throw a bomb against that type of coverage isn’t a very good idea. Instead, the opponent takes what the defense gives, and throws shorter passes while continuing to move the chains.

In the NBA, Kobe Bryant has the ability to blow right by players who guard him too closely. But, if someone lays off of him, he’ll just pull up and shoot a jump shot.

Pretend for a second you’re the Laker’s star, and the defense is playing tight and guarding the rim. Well, they’re giving you an open look at a 15-foot jumper! Would you try to drive the lane or take the easy shot?

I hope you said the easy shot.

At the final table of a poker tournament, you, too, must base your choices on how your opponents are playing -- in other words, what they’re giving you. If the table is playing passively, and everyone is waiting for others to get knocked out, that's your cue to drive the lane and play aggressively.

Conversely, if there are overly aggressive, wild players at your table, then the best course of action is to sit back and wait for them to pick each other off.

You cannot win a tournament when there are still nine players at the table. So, your goal in the early stages of final table play is to set yourself up for the short-handed battle to come.

Adjust

One of the most difficult challenges novices face at a final table is making the necessary adjustments for short-handed play.

During most tournaments, play is nine-handed all the way down to the final table. As you get down to six, five, or four players, though, the correct playing strategy will change dramatically.

It’s true that a player may succeed by waiting for premium starting cards on his way to the final table. However, if he continues playing that way short-handed, the blinds and antes will surely eat away at his stack.

Hands like A-7 offsuit, cards you wouldn't play in a nine-handed game, become raisers when play becomes short-handed. To stay afloat you need to win one set of blinds per round. If you’re playing four-handed, that means you need to pick up a pot one out of every four hands. If you fold A-7, you may not get a better chance for a while.

Play the Players and Your Stack

The cards become less important at the final table than they were in the early stages of a tournament. At the final table, shift your focus to determine who you can steal pots from and who you can trap. You’ve got to play the players.

Unfortunately, it’s difficult to play the players when you don't have many chips. If you’re on the short stack, you'll be forced to sit back and wait for a good opportunity to either double up or to steal the blinds.

It’s a much rosier picture if you’re one of the bigger stacks at the final table. Now you have virtual free reign to attack and pressure your opponents. There’s no need to be reckless; the other players will be forced to respect your stack size since any hand they play could be their last.

So let’s review. Let the game come to you in the early stages. Make the necessary adjustments once play becomes short-handed. Finally, always be aware of your stack size in relation to the others.

If you focus on those three key elements, you'll often find yourself playing heads-up for the title.
By Daniel Negreanu