Archive for the ‘Tournaments’ Category

Spare a thought for Luke Staudenmaier who became the first player to be knocked out of the World Series of Poker main event - his demise came in the cruellest of fashions.

Holding pocket aces in the very first hand to be played at the event, the 21-year-old could not believe his luck when an opponent called an all-in before the flop. Doing what any sane poker player would do, he called the bet and saw his rival’s cards of Ac-Kc.

Staudenmaier was to be bitterly disappointed as he was beaten on the river with a flush draw.

“I’m sure I’ll never live it down although I couldn’t do anything to change it,” said Staudenmaier.

“I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.”

A pretty commendable attitude considering his bad luck meant that his ten-minute appearance at the tournament (buy-in $10,000) had cost him a cool $1,000 per minute.

There has been much talk about the numbers entering the main event this year being down on last year’s record total of over 8,000 contestants, but there a couple of reasons why this was the case.

First, the US legislation which bars players based in America from playing online poker for money has obviously had a huge effect- considering where the tournament is held.

However, most importantly it is because players who won through to the series by playing in satellite tournaments have been keeping the cash rather than using it to buy into the competition.

This is due to the organisers banning online sites from directly entering players who had won tournaments on their sites.

The numbers are still up on the 2005 figure and the supporting games have attracted huge numbers.

The tournament has come on in leaps and bounds since its inaugural event in 1991 when just 215 hungry poker players turned up for the event.

The prize money this year goes down to 621st place with the player in that position able to double his buy-in fee with the player finishing one place behind getting free entry into next season’s tournament.

One player who was not too happy at this year’s event was Tommy Giampialo who fell foul of the long established rule about not revealing your hand during play. Asked by an opponent, who was thinking of calling him, whether he held a king, Tommy replied that he had and his opponent folded.

Like a schoolboy snitch, the opponent went to get a ruling and Tommy was penalised with a nine-hand penalty. “Had you lied about the hand,” the official told Giampialo “that would have been okay.”

And I thought honesty was always the best poker policy.

Online poker rocks and here’s just ten (of many) reasons why it’s more fun to play from the comfort of your own home.

Safety first. Play at a reputable poker lounge like the one at littlewoospoker.com and you can leave with your winnings whenever you want. No sideward glances or fearing for your life. Just scarper with your money and you, your family and the cat are nice and safe.

No one knows you. Playing online Texas Hold’em is completely anonymous. If you don’t want anyone to know you, play a little bit of poker now and again then they won’t know. If you’re making £100,000 a month as a professional or playing for a few pennies then nobody will be any the wiser.

The best way for a newbie. For a novice it’s the best way to play poker. No nervousness around the table, no catty comments from other players, no one laughing at your mistakes and no fearing for your life when you win a huge pot off a big bruiser.

Online poker is timeless. No getting kicked out late at night and no need to go banging on the door to get some action at the local rooms. Play when you want, as long as you want.

Wear what you want. No more having to wear a jacket or a tie (or that ten gallon hat you like to slip on). Online poker means you can don what attire you like, when you want. Hell, go naked if you want – though that does bring a whole new meaning to strip poker.

Lower Stakes. Play online and you will be able to start off in low stakes games until you get the feel for the game of Texas Hold’em. Why risk more money at live games when you don’t need to? Remember, poker is fun

Faster play. Online poker is much faster than in real life. The dealer flings those cards at great speed and there is never a need for a re-deal. Play is quicker and it sharpens the brain. No more waiting round for the slow players to eventually decide to fold.

No dealers to tip. Okay, you might like to slip the dealer a couple of quid but online this is not a consideration. No more awkwardness, feeling of uncertainty and possible embarrassment. The computer does not want your money!

Better shuffling. Online shuffling has been proven to be more random than at casinos. Sophisticated tracking software makes collusion and cheating difficult to impossible.

And the most important (in my opinion) ………..No poker face. It doesn’t matter if you have a rubbish poker face and can’t control your emotions when you see pocket rockets or try and bluff with an unconnected seven three. Do what you want – whoop in delight or kill the cat. No one knows or cares. On second thoughts, don’t kill the cat.

Convinced? Go to littlewoodspoker.com now and join in the action.