Tom Dwan’s Bid for the Poker Hall ...

Posted in Poker Pros on 08 10th, 2009 | No Comments

Out of the 10 players who were selected as nominees for the Poker Hall of Fame, Tom Dwan is by far the youngest.  Just 23 years old, Dwan is not only the youngest nominee this year by 12 years (Daniel Negreanu is second at age 35), but he would be the youngest person ever inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame by 17 years; the late Chip Reese is the youngest now at age 40.

But I seriously have to wonder if Dwan has any chance at all of getting in this year.  When looking at Tom “durrrr” Dwan’s accomplishments, he doesn’t really have anything that jumps off the paper right now.  He has never won a major land-based tournament, earned a WSOP gold bracelet, or done anything outstanding in the contributor department such as Mike Sexton. 

Perhaps durrrr’s biggest accomplishment is the fact that he best personifies the new era of poker where younger people are shedding the shackles of the traditional workforce in order to pursue a career in poker.  Dwan is the poster boy for this movement, and he is also one of the richest online poker players out there since he consistently plays $500/$1000 limits at Full Tilt Poker.  But is this enough to earn him a Hall of Fame induction?

In the end, I don’t think that Dwan has any real shot at making the Poker Hall of Fame.  He is definitely one of the better players in the world and will eventually wind up in the Hall as long as he keeps up what he’s doing.  However, I think that his nomination was more of a sign that, with the fan vote, people will be nominating the most popular players instead of the most deserving.

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Is Sexy Wii Poker any Good?...

Posted in My Rants on 08 6th, 2009 | No Comments

I think that any game entitled Sexy Wii Poker has to pique the interests of video game players (or anybody for that matter) just a little.  I myself have wondered what Sexy Wii Poker was all about ever since I heard news about its development months ago.  Would it include strip poker?  Would Sex Wii Poker feature real people in it?  Was there going to be some online camera that would allow you to play strip poker with other people over the Internet?

Alright the last question (or two) might be a little far-fetched and perverted, but the strip poker question was definitely viable.  And it seems even more viable after I found out what Sexy Wii Poker is all about.  According to a couple of reports issued earlier this week, Sexy Wii Poker is not going to be as sexy as it sounds, but it will have some element of strip poker to it.

The people stripping their clothes will be Japanese Manga girls who will use their cartoon clothing to place bets with rather than chips or money.  As a person begins to win, the Manga girls will strip off their clothes until they are down to their underwear or swimsuit. 

I guess that I couldn’t expect too much more from a game system and company in Nintendo that has catered more to kids than adults over the years.  Watching cartoon girls strip down to bikinis is not exactly my idea of erotic, but I guess that it could be fun.  Apparently Sexy Wii Poker is too erotic for Australians since the country has decided to ban the game from their shelves.  But then again not everyone can handle near nude Manga girls.

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Does Second Guessing hurt your Play?...

Posted in Poker Tips & Strategies on 08 6th, 2009 | No Comments

It’s often been said that with things you are unsure of your first guess is right about 80% of the time.  Whether this is completely true or not I don’t know, but I’m sure that there had to be some heavy research done to come up with this statistic.  And so I have often used the first guess theory whenever I run into a situation that I am unsure of…even in poker.

And poker is one game where second guesses will creep into your head a lot so it really puts the whole 80% theory to the test.  Especially when you’re on the river without the nuts and facing a decision on whether or not to call your opponent’s raise.  In fact, these situations bring up third, fourth, and fifth guesses as well which puts even more strain on your mind.

A lot of times I try to go with my first guess since, as stated before, it’s right about 80% of the time.  But poker involves lots of critical thinking so you can’t just fire out a bet or fold on the river without putting much thought into the decision.  So using your first guess becomes even more complicated in situations where there is no clear choice available.

Still I like to use my first instinct whenever possible simply because of the fact that it’s all too easy to sit there and convince yourself that you should make this play or that play after sitting around and thinking about it forever.   Of course there are many players who would probably attest to this line of thinking and have the success to show for it.

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Inside Deal presents an Interesting Pros...

Posted in Poker News on 08 6th, 2009 | No Comments

TV executives have already trotted out a number of poker-related shows in an attempt to captivate audiences and bring in major sponsorship revenue.  But nobody has presented the idea that Inside Deal brings to the table yet because it’s an original webcast show that appears on ESPN.com.  Inside Deal debuted Tuesday on ESPN.com and it is very similar in format to SportCenter as it’s also filmed in Bristol, Connecticut. 

On the show, hosts Bernard Lee and Laura Lane discuss lots of news and other happenings around the poker world.  The topic of discussion during Tuesday’s show was none other than the WSOP Main Event final table.  As expected, the pair talked about the November Nine with Phil Ivey garnering a lot of attention within the discussion.  Lee mentioned that Ivey can really cement his legacy with a big finish on the final table.  The issue of Jeff Shulman saying he’d trash the Main Event gold bracelet if he won it was also brought up with both anchors admonishing his behavior.

Some of the other good stuff that they talked about included the controversy that arose when over 500 players were locked out of Day 1D of the Main Event.  Lee gave good insight on this by saying that poker players are known as procrastinators and this was just one more good example of that fact.  Chris Moneymaker was the special guest on the show and he finally admitted that he can’t hang with Texas Hold’em players anymore and has switched to Omaha because he can actually make money there.

Whether or not the Inside Deal will continue (I don’t know if it can survive away from the WSOP days) is up for question, but this was definitely a fun first episode to watch.

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MMA Stars and Poker team up for American...

Posted in Uncategorized on 08 5th, 2009 | No Comments

It’s now been almost 8 years since we sent lots of troops to the Middle East in order to do god knows what by now (at first it was obviously to find the culprits for 9/11).  Unfortunately, while many of us are still puzzled as to why troops are still in the Middle East, it doesn’t look like they will be coming home any time soon.  However, there are still plenty of people who want to provide support for the troops including mixed martial arts star Randy Couture.

And the way in which Couture is looking to provide support for the troops is through a poker tournament called Operation All In.  Couture, who has already been involved with the poker world before and is sponsored by Full Tilt Poker, will be holding Operation All In for the second time.  The tournament will be held on August 22nd at the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas and the proceeds will go to the Xtreme Couture G.I. foundation.

The buy-in for the tournament is $330 and $100 re-buys are offered as well.  All of the money that is made in Operation All In will go to helping out soldiers who have been wounded in action as well as their families. 

Some of the notable fighters who will be in attendance at Operation All In include Dan Henderson, Stephan Bonnar, Phil Baroni, and Frank Trigg.  Noted professional poker players that will be attending include David Williams, Chip Jett, Lee Watkinson, Todd Brunson, and Adam Schoenfeld.  I think this sounds like it will be an incredible event and it is a great way for Couture, who is also a veteran himself, to keep a real good tradition going.

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