WPT and WSOP ready to burn up Vegas
Las Vegas is all set for another high pressure round of big time tournament poker which kicks off next week, starting with the World Poker Tour's season ending World Championship at the Bellagio, and continuing with the World Series of Poker at the Rio. The WSOP runs a seven week stretch from late June to mid-August.
The WPT Championship, which runs April 18-24 and concludes the tour's fourth season, is a $25,000 buy-in, and is expected to attract as many as 600 players for a total prize pool of as much as $15 million and a first-place haul of $3.5 million.
Attack of the 100ft Housewife
Maxim Magazine has devoted a small section of the Las Vegas desert to Eva Longoria, in a prank that is decidedly out of this world. The cover of this month's Maxim Magazine (starring Eva Longoria of Desperate Housewives fame) was recreated venti in the desert, and is so big that it's viewable from space.
To prove it, you can see the image in Google Earth by clicking a link on their website.
Hellmuth takes over the Showdown
So it seems that Celebrity Poker Showdown, the show that poker enthusiasts love to hate, has been revamped without host Phil Gordon and with Phil Hellmuth instead. I think this is likely a good move... it will create more heated conversation and controversy. It's like American Idol. People don't honestly tune in to hear amateur singers poorly belt out their favorite Barry Manilow tunes, do they? I mean - if the idol comes from your home town... then MAYBE. But for the majority of viewers, they tune in for one reason and one reason alone... to see Simon Cowell rip apart the mediocre talent.
Phil Hellmuth will bring that same feeling to Celebrity Poker Showdown. It likely won't be the same high-level ripping that Cowell has perfected, but expect to see Hellmuth's smarmy, irritating behaviour make itself evident early on.
James Woods Blog on Hollywood Poker
With this blog I do my best to keep you up-to-date about all the latest happenings in the world of celebrity poker. Well, I came across another blog that does a way better job at this task than I can do.
Hollywood Poker now has blogs written by
James Woods ( the celebrity poker king) and
Vince Van Patten. After reading through these blogs I got a better understanding on both the world of poker and how the entertainment industry works.
The first
James Woods Blog is about his month playing poker, and about his final showdown at the World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic. I don’t want to say too much more, it’s definitely worth reading yourself.
Vince Van Patten has a blog on the site as well. The
Vince Van Patten blog has inside information about the WPT and he offers tips on how to improve your game.
So anyway to make a long story short, you should really do your best to check out these blogs.
You Gotta Know When Fold'em
I have heard to most important skills to have while playing poker is patience. It may sound like an easy thing to do, relax and only play hands you think you can win. This probably would be my biggest poker flaw, the inability to fold a medium hand.
The reason for this is boredom, it doesn’t matter if I am playing
online poker or in a live game. I know what a good
poker hand is and I know what a bad poker hand is, but it seems the more I fold the better the bad hands look.
I do have to agree with the point that patience is a poker player’s best friend. Eventually those endless muck hands will turn into good hands, hopefully that good hand will make you some money when you have it, to make up for all the lost blinds.
As great as this way of thinking is, you still have to be careful and try not to fold too much. Even with continuous bad hands you still need to call something, otherwise when you actually have the nuts everyone at the table will know not to call you.
I was having a poker discussion with friend the other day about calling cheap flops at the beginning with a bad poker hand. There is nothing with making these calls, you just don’t want to go overboard and call every hand, even if it’s just the minimum bet. You also have to accept when your hand is bad and get out of the pot. We all have stories of horrible hands turning into golden hands, but that’s the way playing a game of chance works.
Playing a Poker Pro
What is the key to being a great poker player? To be honest I really don’t think that there is one. Poker is luck, but a good poker player knows how the cards play out and can play accordingly to it.
There are a lot of people who brag that they are a great poker player, most of the bragging usually happens right before you sit at the same table with them. I have found that players who talk up how great they are usually are not that great of poker players. After all if you’re a good poker player wouldn’t you want your opponent to think that you’re a horrible player.
When sitting at the table with one of these on-the-fringe poker stars, they will usually talk a lot of smack and they will make big calls. These players are usually easy victims of the check-raise move and they will keep playing hard because they think they can take your chips, or think they can scare you away from the pot.
The easy way to beat these players is to let them steal blinds, let them build up their confidence and get your revenge when the stakes get higher.
I have found that most of the big-talking players out there simply just watch too much poker on television and think that they can play like pros, enjoy these players, because they can win you some money.
The World Of Poker Television
As a poker fan there is a lot of variety to choose from when it comes to watching poker on your television and trust me there is a lot more on the way. Here are some of the more interesting poker shows that may be coming to a television near you.
The Small Town Poker TourThe Small Town Poker Tour will take viewers on a road trip across the country as they watch everyday people compete in smaller tournaments in their small towns. Producers are planning on covering a lot of areas in the United States and Canada, they are also thinking about going to Asia in the near future.
Play for
Mike Tyson’s house
Self-made business man Dominic Marrocco recently purchased Mike Tyson’s old $4-million Las Vegas mansion. He plans on offering the bankrupt boxer a change to win his old house back in a poker match. Anyone interested in playing in the tournament are more than welcomed to play, if they can afford the expensive buy-in. Marrocco is currently working on a television deal for the show.
Annie Duke Takes On The WorldThe Game Show Network recently announced that they are working with female poker star Annie Duke on her own show, Annie Duke Takes On The World. The show will feature Duke offering poker tips to the viewers and will also include a game were viewers come on the show to play against Duke at poker.
