Archive for May, 2007

The latest poker-based film will be hitting the screens soon provided the makers can get the distribution of the low budget production financed.

“The Grand”, staring Woody Harrelson, had its first airing recently at the Tribeca Film Festival – a Festival which provides a showcase for films that do not have the backing of the big Hollywood studios.

The fast-paced film, which uses improvisation techniques, centres around the attempt by Harrelson to prevent the sale of his grandfather’s Las Vegas hotel to an arrogant and power-hungry real estate investor (Dennis Farina).

To stop the sale, Harrelson becomes involved in a high stakes card game. The black comedy has received encouraging reviews to date and its performances are sold out until the end of May at the underground film festival held annually in Manhattan.

Harrelson enjoys playing cards himself and believes many players take up the game more seriously if they are successful the first time they play.

“I think generally if people win early on, then they’re going to be attached to it forever, because that feeling of winning is pretty cool,” the actor told NY1.com.

“But if you just go and you’re constantly beaten, you may not get attached to it. I’ve had luck, so consequently I get attached to it and I always think I’m going to win, then I get crushed. Vegas is not good for me, I can tell you that.”

The film is directed by Zak Penn, better known for writing and directing Incident at Loch Ness and co-writing the script for X-Men: The Last Stand.

Penn explained how the actors did not necessarily know who was going to win a particular hand.

“It is real and it’s weird,” said Penn.

“You know, I basically got the actors by telling them, look you will be playing in character, we will shoot it live and if you win, you win and if you lose, you lose.

“And whatever your personal stake is in the movie, that’s how it’s going to end up for you.”

The film also features Cheryl Hines who has not only become famous for her role as Larry David’s wife in Curb Your Enthusiasm but also as a leading player in Celebrity Poker Showdown – currently being shown on Challenge TV every night this month.

Check out the latest Poker TV listings on this site.

Poker, gambling and horse racing have always been closely linked and it is no surprise there are plenty of poker-related horses over the past few years but giving a horse a poker-related name is not always a sure-fire route to owning a successful racehorse.

Poker (2001 chestnut gelding)

The Poker Players partnership must have been overwhelmed when they found out the name Poker was available to name their first horse.

The chestnut ran three unimpressive races before being gelded by trainer Willie Haggas and sent to a maiden handicap at Southwell. Slower than most horses but faster than his opponents, the three-year-old scooped the pot for his connections scoring by just under two lengths from Jomus.

That, however was the last decent hand the horse would play and the son of Hector Protector never managed to reach the final table again let alone scoop a major prize. Great name but very disappointing racehorse.

Career record of Poker – 8 runs 1 win.

Texas Holdem (1999 bay gelding)

Born in 1999, Texas Holdem failed miserably to live up to its illustrious name. The gelding began life in an Irish bumper but failed to impress either its trainer Margaret Mullins or its owners by finishing 6th of 16 at Roscommon.

The Irish-bred remained potless until wining a Thurles maiden hurdle on his seventh career outing.

More disappointing runs followed and the six-year-old was bought by owner/trainer Michael Smith to race in England. The gelding fared a little better winning two races at Catterick and Hexham before being outclassed at Aintree on his final start and was never seen again.

Career record of Texas Holdem – 19 runs 3 wins

Chip Leader (2004 chestnut gelding)

Although Richard Hannon’s three-year-old has ‘led’ in some of his races, the gelding never quite managed to lead at the important part of the race – the finishing line.

Despite coming from a distinguished family which included Lammtarra and Bosra Sham, Chip Leader proved a dismal failure on the racetrack, managing to finish stone last in three of his eight starts and beaten by double figure lengths on more than half of his starts.

The presence of leading jockeys Ryan Moore and Richard Hughes did not help the cause of the hapless Chip Leader who was ’folded’ by his trainer at the end of his three-year-old career.

Career record of Chip Leader – 7 runs 0 wins.

Most online Texas Hold ‘em players will at one time or another get to play in the flesh - that is play in a non-online tournament or game.

For the first-timer it can be a little intimidating and below are a few rules of etiquette, which although they won’t make you a better player – they will make you a more agreeable opponent to play against and you should have no problems being accepted by your new ‘friends’

Some poker dos

The first rule is to act quickly. Nothing upsets other players than slow play and if people are continually waiting for you to make up your mind, it creates a bad atmosphere.

Be friendly. A friendly poker game is a better poker game. At the end of the day poker is a game and although the object is to win, you can do so in a friendly manner.

Try to be gracious in both victory and defeat. The only thing worse than a sore loser is a bad winner. Take your highs and lows with equal grace.

Treat others as you want to be treated yourself. This makes for a friendlier and ultimately better game of poker.

And some poker don’ts

Concentrate at all times and try not to play out of turn. Playing when it is not your turn can give vital clues to the relative strengths of hands left in the pot. Also, do not fold out of turn for exactly the same reason.

Don’t let anyone else see your cards. Check your holes card carefully, making sure you do not ‘flash’ them to other players. Not only does this obviously weaken your position but it affects other people’s chances of winning the pot.

Never throw your cards back at the dealer. This is just plain bad manners. Would you throw your bills back at the postman?

Never ‘splash the pot’. When you want to call or make a raise in a tournament poker game, move the amount you want to bet to the front of your stash so every player can see the amount that you intend to play with. Some players thrown their money into the pot making it unsure how much you have added. This can lead to problems and some players may even try to suggest you have short changed the pot.

Soon after backtracking on their controversial super casino plan, the government faces more possible embarrassment as UK poker clubs launch possible legal action.

The UK Poker Clubs Association (UKPCA) has hired a PR specialist and will begin the legal action if the government does not back down on legislation in the new Gambling Bill.

The association which claims to represent over 75,000 members want to see changes to the bill which would force them from being able to charge no more than £3 per day to belong to a club.

The government’s insistence that all poker clubs would have to apply for casino licences has infuriated it members.

“The attraction of poker, and in particular Texas Hold ‘Em has spawned an explosion of young players who are not essentially gamblers,” said Geoff Owen, chairman of the UKPCA.

Owen sees poker more of a game of skill than luck and points to the type of players taking part in tournaments.

“To these players poker is a game of skill that uses attributes necessary to thrive in today’s modern business world,” he added.

“Body language, psychology, mathematics and the ability to keep a cool head are all elements of poker. It is no surprise that every university now seems to have a poker society.”

The association believes the imposition of the need to have a licence may see many of these clubs closing down and the possibility that back street poker dens may become more common.

He continued: “The imposition of casino licences on poker clubs is neither appropriate nor fair and could result in the closure of many clubs.

“In its current form, the Gambling Act could also result in a rise in online poker activity and unregulated “underground” poker, as players seek venues away from a casino environment.”

It is ironic that the very thing the government is trying to control – illegal gambling – could become the norm if the badly thought out bill comes into law.

In January this year, the owner of the Gutshot Club in London lost a case in the high courts where he argued that poker was a game of skill rather than luck and should therefore not be included in the new Gambling Act.

Former Eastenders actor, Michael Greco, won £100,000 this week when he walked off with a massive regional poker tournament held in Cardiff.

The actor, who turned to poker after a relationship breakdown two years ago, beat off 300 players to land the prize and will now get entry into November’s Grand Final event sponsored by Grosvenor Casinos.

Greco lifelessly played Italian policeman Beppe Di Marco in Eastenders for four years and was famous for his run-ins with the Mitchell brothers.

Two years ago he started playing on the celebrity poker circuit but has recently established himself as one of the leading celebrity players in the country.

The 36-year-old believes his experience of acting has helped his game and says he can usually spot when an opponent is bluffing in a game of Texas Hold ‘Em.

His ambition is to play poker professionally, with his heroes being Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey.

His win at the weekend was the culmination of four days play and gives him that all-important invite to the Grand Final.

A spokesman for the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour said: “The event, which is being shown on Channel 4 later in the year, is the pinnacle of Greco’s poker career which started shortly after his spell on Albert Square.

“Although he has had minor successes in celebrity events, this was his first win in a recognised professional poker event.”

Since leaving Enders Greco has appeared in Celebrity Love Island and was also was a contestant on ITV’s Soapstar Superstar and competed in the Rest of the World team against England in the Soccer Aid match in 2006.

Greco is also a figure of fun on Russell Brand’s Big Brother’s Big Mouth, using his character name, Beppe.

The London-born star does not play in online poker tournaments because he does not own a computer.

“I’d don’t even have an e-mail address,” he said in a recent magazine interview.

Greco is not the first actor to turn poker player, with heartthrob Ben Affleck famously winning over $500,000 in a tournament he entered in 2004.

However, that is were the similarities end between the pair as while Greco is set for a career as a poker player, Affleck’s career goes from strength to strength.