WSOP Media Conference Call Breakdown

With just 4 weeks to go until the start of the 2009 WSOP there was the annual media conference held by Jeffrey Pollack, Seth Plansky, Jack Effel and one guy from ESPN. Beside a lot of already known stuff (for those who read the news) there were still some interesting and new announcements:

The capacity of tables has been expanded again. The total is now at 306 tables. Again the majority of these will be in the Amazon-Room. In addition Harrahs is now using the full Brasilia-Room (95 tables) and the Miranda-Room with 56 tables.

Sit&Go's are now moved to Brasilia and there will be up to 48 tables for SnG's starting at $120. Cash game capacity has been expanded by 10 to 75 tables total.

For the $1,000 event Harrahs expects something between 5,000 to 6,000 players. In general it was said the the pre-registration numbers are up from last year. So this is a first indicator that we might get a real good number of participants again.

As already made public players get now 3x the buy-in as their starting-stack. This is valid for all events including the main-event and the 50K H.O.R.S.E. Harrahs also tries to improve the payout structure but this is not completely finalized yet. But there will be still least 10% in the money with a minimum payout between 1.75-2x of the buy-in.

The Champions Invitational (of former main-event winners) will be held on May 31st and June 1st. The winner will receive the newly created Binion Cup ... which will be presented by Jack Binion himself. No decision yet if this is a one time event or will be part of future WSOP years.

Regarding the TOC (Tournament of Champions) that was canceled by Harrahs some years ago there will be an announcement for a new kind of "All-Star-Event" quite soon.

To honor the bracelet winners better then in the last years there will be now a bracelet ceremony in the Amazon-Room at 2pm on every day.

As already known the delayed final table is back and will be held from Nov. 7th to 10th at the Penn & Teller Theater. Some more informations about the particular timetable will be released once the WSOP has been started.

The announcement of the TV coverage feels a bit like a dissapointment. While the general number of hours remains the same the selection is somewhat poor. Only the Champions Invitational, the 40K event, Ante-Up for Africa and the Main-Event will be televised. Seems that ESPN goes the save route to ensure to have televised events with a lot of "known names". In light of the improved structure this may be a short-sighted decision as we may see the Pro's rising again this year...

The good news on the other hand is that live streaming (via ESPN360 and other sources) will be back. No more details yet and most probably not free of charge.

Another point that may raise eyebrows is the way the WSOP handles penalties. Keeping a detailed log about all penalties given to certain players is a very good thing (and allows for escalating penalties). The new "one hand penalty" is good too. Before there was either a warning or a "one round penalty" but nothing in between. But saying that a Pro (who should know better) may be punished different then a first-timer sounds somewhat strange. In an example Jack Effel said that "acting out-of-turn by a first timer maybe worth just a warning while a pro or regular WSOP player may receive a one hand penalty". While I can see the idea behind it, it opens the door for a huge grey area and many people who may feel getting treated worse then others.

Rooms are still available at the Rio and current rates are told to be between $69 midweek and $109 on weekends. But due to the weak economy cheap rooms can be found everywere in Las Vegas!

And of course the "Twitternation" has reached the WSOP. There will be an official Twitter account (@WSOPliveupdates) reporting from the felt as well as @JeffreyPollack himself (who stopped blogging and is now twittering). But the device rules for the WSOP are still remaining. Therefore absolutely no twittering is allowed while at the table!

Hope you enjoyed that little breakdown from the media conference and see you in Vegas in about 4 weeks.

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In Memory of Frankie Manning

This is one of the seldom times were I write about something that isn't related to the game of poker at all. Some of you may know that I have another passion: dancing ... in particular the Lindy Hop (a swing dance from the 30's and 40's).

Today is a sad day because the idol of all swing dancers around the world Frank Manning died this morning at the age of almost 95.



For those who don't have an idea how Frankie danced ... just look here:


He's the guy from the last couple (at 1:22 min) ... scene from "Hellzapoppin"


It was in 1992 at the famous dancecamp in Herraeng (Sweden) were I met Frankie for the first time. Beside the wonderful music he was for sure the main reason that I fell in love with the Lindy Hop. I had never before met a guy who still was sooo young at the age of 78. One of the happiest people I ever met. It seemed that he enjoyed and loved every minute of his life. From there I had the pleasure to meet him and learn from him several times over the next years.

We all knew that this day would come someday but it's still so unbelievable that he won't be around anymore. I will miss his happy smile when he danced and his laughter when he told us stories from his early years. I think I must have heard some of those for at least ten times ... but I enjoyed them every time again.

I was in Herraeng again the year before he got his artifical hip. He hardly could walk ... but he still could dance almost like before. And then he came back the very next year ... one year older but looking at least 2 years younger ... still dancing, dancing, dancing!

It was that time when it felt like he would never leave us. He got 85, 90 and he still danced and teached everywere around the world. It was in 2006 when I met him for the last time. It was so great to have him back at the Boogie-Baeren Whitsun Camp in Germany after so many years. So great to see that already the next generation (many people who never met him before) felt the same fascination that I had felt when I met him for the first time. When we said goodbye in that year I didn't know that it was the last time that I would ever meet him.


This is how he danced in 2006 at the age of 92

I believe that leaving this place isn't the end of it. And I am sure that his special spirit will leave a mark at his next destination too. And for us he left a big legacy. He never wanted to be famous. All he wanted to do was dancing. But his love for the dance "infected" more then one generation of swing dancers. Frankie has left the dancefloor forever but the dance will stay. Isn't that one of the greatest things somebody can leave behind when he finally he has to go?

And from now one every swing dance danced anywere in the world is a memory of the great and wonderful Frankie Manning!

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WSOP 2009 ... I will be back to Vegas in June!

I had to solve some things in advance but now the trip is finally booked. I will be in Vegas from June 7th to June 14th. And I got a real bargain as I found a flight from Munich to Vegas for just €409. The lowest price I was able to get for years. It's not a short trip as it takes 18 hours via Amsterdam and Detroit but this price is worth the slight detour.

I also got a good rate for my hotel room. I had booked a non-pre-paid rate early enough which was a good idea. Now the same room would be $20 more per day. I will stay at the same place then 2008 again (the Grandview) as I liked the huge suite-like design of the room. It's a bit outside, south of the airport and close to the new M resort. But this doesn't feel like a downside to me. Driving back and forth often helps to clear the mind.

Most probably I won't play a WSOP event (also the improved structures look very good) because it's still not really my buy-in range. But again the Venetian DeepStacks and the Caesars Mega-Stacks are running. The detailed plan for the Venetian is already published. In addition I saw some non official plans for the Mega-Stacks and it seems that they match the buy-ins of the Venetian for the same days. So at the end it will be a decision of personal choice (I like the room at Ceasars more) and structures (which are not out in detail yet). In addition there is a series at the Golden Nugget with buy-ins as low as $240 (Venetian & Caesars start at $340). Even the series at Binions is back. The buy-ins are even lower then the Nugget but it doesn't look like Binions structures meet my requirements.

Of course I will sell some of my action at ChipMeUp. So far I have put in four events of the "Mega-Stack Series".



So it's just 52 days from now until I will be back to Vegas. And in case I hit big I reserved myself another week of vacation ... so I might be even able to extend my trip. I'm really looking forward to this as this will be again my personal poker highlight of the year.

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SCOOP Main-Event (Low) on PokerStars

That was a strange tournament. In the first hour I got 4xJJ, 2xQQ, 1xKK and several other pocket pairs. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make money on those hands. They even cost me like the QQ that ran into KK. So I went down to 8,000 (from the 10k startstack). But finally AT was a winning hand. Hit two pair on the flop and was faced with an all-in. That guy had played this hand very strong but had tried to push people off the hand very often too. So I decided that two pair could have been good here and called. He showed AQ and I doubled up to 19k.

Then I went into a dry run but finally managed to get up to 22k again. My highest point was reached at 30k but at this time the average was also now close to 27k.

Then I played my final hand: I had raised to 1,500 pre-flop with Ax-suited and two others called. Blinds had been 300/600 (75). The flop came Q-5-x with two hearts. I bet 3,500 into a 6,000 pot and the small-stack goes all-in for 11k total. I assumed he had hit something but the pot was now 20,500 and I had to pay "just" 7,500 more. If I lose I would have had still close to 20k.

Unfortunately there was a player behind. So calling wasn't an option. I either had to fold or go all-in to isolate the short-stack. The other player had only little more then me so I decided to force him for an almost tournament-life-threatning decision. Unfortunately he had called immediately and as the cards were opened I knew why: The Shorty had 55 for a set and the other player had QQ for the higher set. Wow, that wasn't what I had expected. I still had outs. But none came and I was out in 7,138th position of 18,747 (with 3,150 getting paid).

I don't think it was a mistake trying to isolate. With anything less then the top set the 3rd player would have had a hard time. My fault was to bet the flop with my draw. If I had just checked it here I still could have called a reasonable bet but easily would have been able to fold against an all-in of 11k into a 6k pot.

Of course if I had hit my flush I would have had now 70k in chips but was it really worth the risk? That's exactly the problem I have with pot-odds and outs in tournament poker. There are times when a play might be mathematically correct but it can cripple you too much or even cost your tournament life. And then you may lose a good position in a tournament. This was for sure the case here. I wasn't in a hurry to push things. And here it seems that I pushed too hard.

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Easter Special Poker Tournament at Casino Savoy (Czech Republic)

Once again I drove up to Česká Kubice for a very good structured tournament at Casino Savoy (organized and held by pokerandmind.com). Just recently the pokerroom was moved into a separate area. Although it's a bit cramped with 6 tables in there its a very nice location with it's own bar and service (and restrooms not far away). The whole style of the room is somewhat countryside-like. You may like it or not ... I must admit I do.

With 6 tables available they had split the event into two starting days. Unfortunately Easter doesn't seem to be the best choice for an event like that and the good weather wasn't helpful either. But they still got 42+35 participants creating a good prizepool of €18,000.

With 12,000 startchips and slow 30 minute blinds there was again room for lots of play. The PF=22.82 is lower than in the Pokertour event last week but anything over 20 can always be considered as a good structured tournament.

Unfortunately it wasn't my day and the hands I received would have been good enough to bust in three tournaments in a row. First hand in the tournament I raise ATs in late position and get a re-raise from the big blind. Easy fold ... he shows KK. Second hand in the tournament I get AKo (Ace is a club). This hand goes till the river on a Jc-9c-3c-8h-Tc board. I had raised pre-flop and bet the flop. We checked the turn and the other guy then bet the river. This guy was either a complete donk or...! I smelled a rat and just called. He showed me then KQ of clubs for straight flush. I know a lot of people that would have been busted in that hand. He was shocked to see that I just called his bet with the "not-so-nuts-nut-flush" ;-)

I continued to get decent cards but wasn't able to profit much from them. A little later I got KK in middle position. There was a raise in front from a guy who earlier rivered me with K3o (hitting a 3 on the flop while I hit my Ten with AT and paying all streets until he finally hit his King). I called the raise and another player called the raise too. Flop came A-K-x. The original raiser bet 3k (which was a reasonable bet). As he had only 3k left behind and there was a flushdraw on the board I went all-in for 11k to shoot-out the other player. That guy thought for a long time and finally folded (later telling he had AQ). The raiser called and guess what he had? AA for the higher set!

Down to 4k and then made my way up to 21k again due to two dumb plays of players that thought they were smarter then they are. But the blinds already had been costly now and I went down to 13k again when we reached two tables. There I found AK on the button. Everybody folded to me and I raised to 2,000 with blinds 400/800 (75). The big blind put me all-in with a 15k bet and I decided to call. There are a lot of circumstances were I could discard AK. But 600/1,200 (100) blinds were close around and this move could have easily been an attempt to get me off the hand (he had about 45k total). Unfortunately it wasn't ... as he had AA. Flop got me some outs but none appeared on turn and river. Went out 18th of 35.

Must admit I wasn't to unhappy. The way this whole tournament went I could have easily been out after 30 minutes. That I lasted that long showed that even with bad cards and bad beats you can survive longer then you might think if you do it the right way.

The tournament didn't went much better for Thomas and Silke from minraser.me so we sat down and had some nice talks about our last tournaments for a few hours before I drove back home.

Will play the low leg of the SCOOP main-event. You can follow me on twitter (@ShadowBJ21) if you like ... and of course there are still some shares available on ChipMeUp ;-))

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Another final table and a lesson about the context of information

I made it again! The fith time I played the Pokertour.at series and the third time I made a final table here. Went into Day two as 10th in chips out of 20. So there was no need to rush things but also no reason to fold my way into the money. Lot's of options available.

Quite early I got a huge present. Finding AA in middle position there was a raise to 6,000 at the 1,000/2,000 (200) level. I reraised to 20,000 and it was folded to the raiser. He thought for a long time and finally went all-in (he had about 5k more then me). I called in a split-second and he asked surprised "so strong?" showing AK. He later told me that he would have folded this against many other players but not me ... because he had seen some weired moves from me last year at our final table in Linz. Funny that he can remember my moves but forgot the context they were played in. If he did, he would have known that I was dead serious about my hand. I doubled up to around 100k and he went out one hand later out of the money.

From there it was an easy sail to the final table keeping my stack between 100k and 150k. Still avoided the coinflips and played good textured boards very strong. Unfortunately I went into a dry run of cards at the final table. I was still able to make some moves but never really came across the 150k border.

At the end we reached the 5,000/10,000 (1,000) level with six players left. My stack was down to 85,000 chips and the blinds came around again. Still no good cards so I tried a move with a suited one gapper and ironically ran into aces of Peter Hoellhuber again. The same kind of exit against the same player then at the final table in Linz. History repeating ;-)

But I learned another lesson about the context of information and how it can hurt if you miss the context. The other players later told me that they didn't put me on a big hand because it was the first time I went all-in directly but had always only raised to 20K or 25k before. Good observation ... but they missed the fact that this was with blinds of 4,000/8,000 and/or a stack of more then 100k. It didn't matter against the aces here but could have hurt me against other hands as my opponents made wrong assumptions because they were ommiting the right context.

So 6th place paid €1,055 plus a €220 ticket to the final in Vienna in December. Overall I am very satisfied with my performance in these two days. Great poker with only one single lucky strike. Next stop ... not sure yet. Will let you know soon.

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Survived Day 1 at the Pokertour in St. Pölten

After making the final table at this series two times last year I had high hopes for this event ... but still experience a huge downswing im my general game. And down was exactly how it started. At the beginning nothing seemed to work right and my stack went down to about 6k (from 10k start). Nothing to worry to much with 45 minute blinds at 100/200 in the second level. But not how it was supposed to be ;-)

Finally I turned it around when I got a huge payoff with Quad 5's versus a Full House. Up to 12k and even 15k somewhat later. Then I got the opportunity to force an all-in from a smaller stack while I was holding Pocket Aces. Flop was J-Q-x. Turn was blank. All the money went in on the turn and he showed KQ for just one pair! He had called my big bets on flop and turn with that? He must have smelled that something was coming! A King on the river smashed me down to short-stack-land.

What followed then were the best two hours of poker I have ever played in my life so far. I manged to convert my short-stack into a medium stack and controlled the whole table from there. Within those two hours my stack went from 4,500 to 25,000 by winning a lot of small pots but not a single big pot. Can you imagine how the action was at the table? "Terror-Shadow" was on the run ;-)

Unfortunately I gave up control by overplaying an OESD and destroying my good chipposition. Back into short-stack-land ... but not by a bad beat. Just by one single bad play. I then got my daily share of luck as my desperate 57s advanced to trip 5's and survived against KK.

From there I started to regain control again. After a table change I was able to bust a shortstack and cripple another one. Now we are talking about big pots as we are now in the 800/1,600 (200) blindlevel. At the end of the day there were 20 left out of 87 starters. The final table of nine will be paid. I am sitting now at 47,500 chips (avg. 43k) and reside in 10th position in the chipcount. My table draw for tomorrow isn't too bad.

The biggest stack has 77k and the smallest has 7k. There's so much that can happen when play restarts at 5pm CET. None of the 20 is guaranteed to make the money at this time.

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SCOOP Event #1 and Live Poker this weekend

Originally I hadn't planned to play the $5+0.50 6-max rebuy SCOOP event at PokerStars as I wasn't willing to throw out a lot of money. for rebuys in a donkament. But a closer look at the structure showed that there was no need for a huge number of rebuys. They offered 2,500 startchips and a 3,500 add-on with a slow 15 min. blind-structure.

So I took an immediate rebuy at the start and played with 5K chips. Two double ups against the same player brought me up to 17k. First AA vs. KTs and then KK vs. 55. After a table change I went up to 24k with a Full House over a straight. A five hit on the river and made me the house and him the straight.

So I spent a total of $15.50 (including the add-on) and made it up to 29.5k chips after the first hour. Largest at this time was around 180k. Total number of entrants was 27,134.

After the rebuy hour I got a hard time. Missed the nut-flush draw against shorties two times and ran into KK of a shorty ... being behind with JJ. But thanks to a stack that was really big in comparison to the blinds I wasn't out already but now somewhat crippled.

With 14,000 chips left (blinds 150/300 ante 40) I overplayed my final hand again in some way. I hit an Ace with AT on a A-J-4 board. Bet and was re-raised for my remaining 11k chips. His all-in looked suspicious to me and I put him on a move to get me off the hand. Bad read as he showed AK. Out in 9,113th out of 27,134 (with 5,400 getting paid).

Beside the last hand this was quite a good tournament and felt much better then the bad beats I received since February in a big way. Too bad I missed both of the nut-flush draws. That was a real cooler for the game. But in general I liked my mix of small-ball play and selective agression I showed in the game.

Hopefully I can continue with that on the weekend. The CCC in St. Pölten, Austria is host of the second Pokertour.at event in 2009. 45 min. levels and 10K startchips will again make a good tournament. So I am really looking forward to this one. In case I miss day two I will be back home to play the low leg of the two day SCOOP event (#8).

For the Pokertour.at and the SCOOP tournaments there are still some shares available on Chip Me Up.

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