Gus Hansen about Phil Helmuth

«I don't think Phil Helmuth is a very good poker player. The best I can say about him is that he's great against bad players»...

Gus Hansen

Gambling major boost to economy

From BBC Text- TV today:

Gambling could become one of the most lucrative industries in the British economy, researchers have claimed. By relaxing regulations surrounding betting and gaming and by abolishing tax on punters, the government has ensured an economic boost they said. That could eventually see more money generated by the gambling sector than any other, said the Betting Research Unit at Nottingham Trent University. It could «only be good news for the economy», said researchers.

The Paradise Poker PLO Masters

I was out after about three hours, and never took off, really, and in a field of just above 500 players I never went above the one percent of the total chips range. It was a slow table, and also hard to dominate, and the cards were slow as well.

Not the best of evenings.

Paradise Poker Masters Omaha

I’m going to play the $215 Omaha Paradise Poker Master tournament on Wednesday. I like Omaha, and I’ve discovered that my changes are currently slightly higher there, comparatively speaking, then in Texas Hold’em. And the buy-in is within my current direct buy-in range.

Omaha is different from Texas Hold’em in two important aspects: You get four «hole» cards, and only two of them can be used to make the end result. And thus, by default only three on the table, can be used to make the counting hand. This creates a variety of situations clearly differing from those in ordinary Hold’em. I see seasoned Hold’em players fuck up constantly while stumbling on to an Omaha table, which is both profitable and always fun watching.

One could argue that Omaha and especially pot limit Omaha is more poker than Texas Hold’em. I agree with those saying that it’s «easier» to read the game, and that it’s not that much prone to the coincidences haunting Texas Hold’em. Anyway, It is a preference. I am better at it, comparatively speaking. And playing Omaha, you will also avoid the insanely large fields of Texas Hold’em No Limit. The game on Wednesday will have a guaranteed price pool of $150000, and will probably reach about $200000, and a first price of about 40 to 50k. I can live with that. I choose this game, this battle, at this time, this hour, in yet another attempt at making a good starting point to a great year of Poker.

WSOP 2005 Stats

Some essential (and funny) WSOP 2005 stats:

5661
Total number of registered entrants

5619
Total number of official entrants

1895
Players expected to take their seats on day 1A

1870
Players actually taking their seats

13
Registered players whose buy-in got lost somewhere in transit

10
Online qualifiers refused admittance because they were under-age

2
Online qualifiers who died before the big event...

The Amos Keppler Poker Blog

I have been playing poker, in various forms, since I was eight. Except for the minor gambling aspect of it (I like to gamble, to make an educated gamble in life), it’s an odd undertaking of mine, a bit out of tune, perhaps, with my other activities. Or perhaps not. Poker, in its foundation, is very much tied to anarchism, to independence, to freedom. It’s one way out, for people not fitting in. People perceived as gamblers, as «professional gamblers» have always been frowned at (at best) by the mundane, established part of the population, and they used to be chased from towns dipped in tar and rolled in feathers. It’s just by the onset of television and later the Internet it has been hailed as a somewhat acceptable «profession». Poker players have become the modern gladiators, fighting it out around the felt, not spilling blood, but rather sarcasm and veiled insults, while the bloodthirsty audience cheers from the sideline…like they always do, while forgetting for a brief moment their sordid lives.

I have been able to make a living of playing poker since my late teens. There have been times when I could live comfortably because of it… and times when I couldn’t. Economically speaking (too) my life has been a rollercoaster of ups and downs, of «swings» if you want. I used to play mostly Five Cards Draw, a preference I now, in hindsight very much regret. I didn’t start playing serious Texas Hold’em until I began playing on the Internet five years ago. «Nobody» play Five Card Draw anymore. So I, like all the millions out there, play Hold’em. It has become the game of choice for any prospective player. I struggled a bit with the adjustment, but now I’m fine, more than fine with it. There were opportunities for me to learn to play Hold’em earlier in my life, on my numerous travels to the city of London, for instance, but better late than never. Like a friend of mine predicted would happen: I don’t play Draw anymore, and have practically forgotten how to play it, at least how to play it well. The game that sustained me economically for many years has become obsolete. It was just mostly local games anyway, and it was always hard finding players, finding enough fish to fry, so to speak. These days, you can find all the players, the Hold’em players you want by flipping a switch or pushing buttons. There is a game happening, either on the Internet or live, every second of the day and night, on present day planet Earth.

It’s a both exciting… and dangerous time to be a Player.