We have re-launched our Community Discussion Board where you can discuss poker topics such as tournaments, no limit hold’em, limit hold’em, beginners questions, televised poker, WSOP, WPT and much more.
If you have a bad beat story or a great win experience you would like to share with other poker players, register then post a topic in our Ultimate Poker Forum Community Discussion Board.
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) has brought back the Tournament of Champions – an invitation only tournament with a top prize of $1,000,000.
The 2010 WSOP Tournament of Champions will kick off in June and you can decide who plays for the $1 Million.
Vote now for your favorite players amongst all living WSOP bracelet winners. Your top 20 nominees will be invited to play in front of the ESPN cameras alongside past TOC champions Annie Duke, Mike Matusow and Mike Sexton.
Reigning WSOP champion Joe Cada and reigning WSOPE champion Barry Shulman are also participating in the Tournament of Champions.
Keeping the Pot Small by Jennifer Harman
Jennifer Harman - Full Tilt Poker Pro
Poker is a game of decisions. Some decisions are very easy to make, while others will keep you awake all night if you choose poorly. In my experience, the larger the pot size, the harder the decision you’ll be faced with.
On the other hand, the smaller the pot is, the easier the decision. Which is why, especially in tournament play, you want to keep the pot small when you’re holding a marginal hand. You don’t want to be facing a decision for all of your chips in a situation where all you’ve got is something like top pair with a medium-strength kicker. You want to avoid that scenario as much as possible. It’s better to keep the pot small by checking and calling rather than building a huge pot, even if you do hold an advantage in that hand.
Let me give you an example from a hand I played at a World Series of Poker event last year. We were still fairly early in the tournament, and I was in the cut-off (the seat before the button) holding K-J. The action folded around to me, I put in a raise and was called by the button. Both blinds folded, and we were heads-up going to the flop.
The flop came J-9-3 with two diamonds. Yes, I had top pair with a strong kicker, but with straight and flush draws on the board I was in no mood to go crazy with my hand. So I checked, and the button bet about two-thirds of the pot.
A check could also tempt my opponent to bluff in this spot, especially if he put me on something like A-K or A-Q. With a bluff or a drawing hand being the button’s most likely holding, I made the call.
The turn was a harmless 5, not a diamond, and very unlikely to help out the button in any way. Once again, I decided to control the size of the pot and keep it small by checking. If I’d bet and the button had a monster draw, there’s a good chance he’d come over the top of my bet to try and push me off the pot. I liked my hand there, just not enough to go broke with it.
After I checked, the button put in another bet, which I called. The river was a non-diamond 2, meaning that neither the flush draw or the straight draw got there. Confident that I had the best hand at this point, I still decided to check the river.
Why? Well, there was a small chance the button had made a set or two pair somewhere along the way, and it’s better to check-call in that spot rather than face a tough decision for a lot of chips if he raises. Also, if he did have nothing but air, checking might induce a bluff on the river.
As it turned out, the button checked behind me and I took down the pot with my K-J. I didn’t win a big pot with that hand, but I also didn’t lose a huge pot. The decisions I faced on each street were made much easier by the fact that I kept the pot small.
Jennifer Harman plays online poker exclusively at Full Tilt Poker.
Download the free Full Tilt Poker Software to play poker with Jen and other Full Tilt Poker Pros
2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) satellites are beginning at online poker room Cake Poker.
Many online poker rooms require satellite winners to wear their logo. Cake Poker satellite winners do not have to wear a Cake Poker logo, though they wouldn’t discourage you if you did decide to wear their gear.
Cake Poker is currently offering their players the chance to win $2,500 and $12,500 prize packages for the 2010 WSOP in Las Vegas. You can use your prize package to enter any WSOP event, you are not obligated to buy-in to a specific event like many other poker rooms require.
They are running Steps Sit n Go Tournaments with buy-ins starting at just $1. There are also $350 + $24 multi-table tournament on Sundays at 4 PM ET. Satellites into the $350 tournaments start at just $3.
For more information on 2010 World Series of Poker satellites at Cake Poker, click on the link below:
Daniel Negreanu posted a recent blog entry where he gives his opinion on what is the world’s toughest poker tournaments.
He has stated that the number one variable in determining the toughest tournaments are the strength of field. The second variable of importance is tournament structure, and finally a third important factor, but to a much lesser degree, is field size. Generally speaking, the larger the field, the more likely that the level of skill drops.
Here is a list of the Top Ten Toughest Tournaments in the World according to Daniel Negreanu:
10 – WPT LA Poker Classic
9 – PokerStars Caribbean Adventure
8 – $10,000 No Limit Hold’em WSOP Heads Up Championship
7 – PokerStars EPT Grand Final
6 – WSOP Main Event
5 – WPT Championship
4 – PokerStars NAPT Bounty Shootouts
3 – WSOP Europe Main Event
2 – $25,000 WSOP 6 Handed No Limit Hold’em Event
1 – $50,000 WSOP Players Championship
Notice that the WSOP Main Event is not in the Top 5? That is a rough spot to put the Main Event, but Negreanu is right that there are tons of qualifiers in this event. But, let’s not forget that everyone who is a poker professional is also at the WSOP Main Event.
To read the complete blog entry and more in depth explanations on how he rates the top ten, click on the link below:
Ultimate Poker is currently running satellites where players can win a seat into the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event.
Here is a list of tournaments at Ultimate Poker where you can win a seat into the 2010 WSOP Main Event:
* Weekly Super Satellites Every Sunday – $500+30
* Satellites to the Sunday Super Satellite – from $10+1
* Step Tourneys – from $0.10
* VIP Tournaments – Watch your email for exclusive invites
* 25-seat Guarantee – Sunday, June 6th at 4pm ET – $500+30
* 50-seat Guarantee – Sunday, June 20th at 4pm ET – $500+30
* Satellites to both Guarantees – from $10+1
They have Weekly Super Satellites every Sunday with a buy-in of $500 + $30. But, you don’t have to buy-in directly to the Super Satellites, you can get in for as little as $11.
They also have Step Tournaments with buy-ins starting at only $0.10 – you could actually get into the World Series of Poker for investing a dime.
On June 6th at 4PM ET there will be a 25-Seat Guaranteed tournament with a buy-in of $500 + $30 – get into this event for about $10.
On June 20th at 4PM ET they will have a 50-Seat Guaranteed tournament with $500 + $30 buy-in – satellites starting at only $10.
There are several ways to qualify to get into the 2010 WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas. Ultimate Poker gives you more chances to win a seat into poker’s most prestigious tournament – the World Series of Poker.
Download Ultimate Poker now win a seat into the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event
At Spin32 Poker, World Series of Poker (WSOP) satellite tournaments are running daily.
Every day at Spin32 Poker you have the opportunity to win an entry into this year’s World Series of Poker by playing in the lower buy-in satellites.
There are Multi-Table Tournaments (MTT) and Sit’n'Go Satellites starting from as low as $2 buy-in.
You can buy in at any level or work your way up to the Grand Final Events where there are large guaranteed prize pools or $12,500 Real Life Tournament Packages given away.
World Series Satellite Tournament Schedule:
Sit’n'Go – $2, $10 & $55 Tournaments registering 24/7, visit the Tournaments > Sit’n'Go > Satellite tab of the Spin32 Poker software.
$2 MTT – Every day at 06:30, 09:00, 13:45, 16:00, 20:30 & 00:00 Spin32 Poker time (GMT-5 / ET-1).
$10 MTT – Every day at 10:30, 14:30, 19:00 & 21:30 Spin32 Poker time (GMT-5 / ET-1).
$55 MTT – Every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday at 18:00 Spin32 Poker time (GMT-5 / ET-1).
The first Grand Final Event was held on Sunday 21st February 2010.
However, don’t worry if you missed this. As there are more Grand Final Events coming up over the next three months.
Getting a seat into the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event is not as hard as it seems. There are several ways to get your seat in this year’s WSOP Main Event.
Ultimate Poker is currently running qualifiers and satellites:
Weekly Super Satellites Every Sunday – $500 + $30
Satellites to the Sunday Super Satellite – From $10 + $1
Step Tourneys – From $0.10
VIP Tournaments – Exclusive e-mail invites
25-seat Guarantee – Sunday, June 6th at 4pm ET – $500+30
50-seat Guarantee – Sunday, June 20th at 4pm ET – $500+30
Satellites to both Guarantees – From $10+1
This year, Ultimate Poker is also running some great WSOP promotions. They will be paying a minimum of $1,000 cash just for playing in this year’s WSOP Main Event. The prize pool is progressive so the more Ultimate Poker players in the WSOP, the bigger the bonus will be. You can get up to $5,000 in cash just for winning a seat into the WSOP at Ultimate Poker.
King of Satellites
Ultimate Poker is paying top poker players tournament dollars for winning multiple Main Event seats. Win your seat through Ultimate Poker, and for each additional seat you win, they will credit your account with $12,000 in cash. For each additional Main Event seat you win, you will earn one point. Onl July 1st, Ultimate Poker will look at the leaderboard and award the top five winners up to $5,000 in cash.
Ultimate Poker is also willing to pay you to go deep in this year’s World Series of Poker Championship. Make the Final Table of the Main Event and they will give you a solid final table sponsorship deal that is worth up to $750,000.
Visit Ultimate Poker and play in their WSOP Qualifiers and Satellites
2009-2010 World Series of Poker Circuit
Horseshoe Council Bluffs
Feb. 27
Event #20
No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $300 + $45
Number of Entries: 329
Total Prize Money: $95,739
Final Results:
Place Name Hometown Prize
1. Steve Kats Omaha, NE $26,683
2. Danny Parde Lincoln, NE $15,318
3. Mark Fink Sioux Falls, SD $7,659
4 Michael Dreiger Omaha, NE $6,702
5. Scott Pape Omaha, NE $5,744
6. Duane Gerleman Ridgeway, IA $4,787
7. Mitchell Ricknell Pittsburg, KS $3,838
8. Jason Fennell Chicago, IL $2,782
9. Dave Muller Cedar Rapids, IA $1,915
10.Tony Treiber $1,149
11.Daniel Collier $1,149
12.Nicholas Srille $1,149
13.Gerald Walter $957
14.Daniel Roth $957
15.Dave Ward $957
16.Randal Simmons $765
17.Larry Nichols $765
18.Robert Conway $765
19.James Schertz $574
20.Gary Fleischman $574
21.John Nohr $574
22.Lyle Bryan $574
23.Jefferey Fielder $574
24.Kyle Schroeder $574
25 Kirk McKenzie $574
26 Carl Mellecker $574
27.Nathan Robda $574
28.Morgan Carr $383
29.Michael Albert $383
30.Michael Fong $383
31.Dennis Moffitt $383
32.Paul Hansen $383
33.Daniel Rinkel $383
34.Timoth Sciscoe $383
35.John Johnson $383
36.Cullen Oldham $383
Circulation Salesman Steve Kats, Playing Only His 2nd Tournament, Wins Event 20
Key Hand Comes in Heads-Up Match When he Makes an Inside Straight
Council Bluffs, IA — Steve Kats, a circulation salesman for the Omaha World Herald, scored his first tournament cash by winning the 20th event of the WSOP Circuit tour at Horseshoe Council Bluffs, $300 no-limit hold’em. The win brought him $26,683 and a diamond-and-gold trophy ring. He came to the final table with a good chip and held it throughout, although Danny Parde came close to catching up during their heads-up match that lasted nearly an hour.
Kats, 27, is from Omaha and has been playing 10 years, mainly in home games and online. He played one tournament here last year, but only got to 90th place. He said he never got pocket aces throughout the tournament and had only half average until about four tables were left when he began moving up.
This event drew 329 players and the prize pool was $95,739. Play kicked off with blinds of 8,000-16,000 and 2,000 antes, 23 minutes on the clock. With 483,000 chips, Kats had a sizeable lead.
Here were the starting chip counts:
Seat Name Chip Count
1. Michael Dreiger 174,000
2. Duane Gerleman 130,000
3. Danny Parde 204,000
4. Dave Muller 32,000
5. Jason Fennell 78,000
6. Scott Pape 326,000
7. Mark Fink 330,000
8. Mitchell Ricknell 162,000
9. Steve Kats 483,000
9th place: On the first hand, Lowest-chipped Dave Muller pushed in his last 30,000 with A-6, called by Scott Pape with 6-4 A board of 9-7-5-2 gave Pape a double belly-buster straight draw (either an 8 or a trey), but he settled for a paired 4 to leave Muller ninth, worth $1,915. Muller, 46, is an eye surgeon from Cedar Rapids, IA. He’s had several Heartland Poker Tour cashes, and this is his first final table.
8th place: It didn’t take long to lose another player. We had a classic match-up: pocket queens for an all-in Jason Fennell, Ac-Kc for Kats. A board of 6c-8d-3c-4h gave Kats 15 ways to knock Fennell out, with a club, an ace, or a king. A jack of clubs rivered, and Kats’ flush gave Fennell, a 27-year-old army sergeant from Chicago, his discharge to eighth place, which paid $2,782.
7th place: With blinds of 10,000-20,000, Mitchell Ricknell found himself all in and in bad shape with A-10 against Kats’ A-Q. A board of 7-10-J-5-3 left both players with 10s, and Kats’ ace kicker was the decider as Ricknell took home $3,838. Ricknell, 49, from Pittsburg, Kansas, is self-employed. He won the Masters of Oklahoma tournament twice and played in a WSOP main event.
6th place: For the fourth time a player would go all in, and for the fourth time fail to get out. The victim this time was Duane Gerleman, ahead with A-Q against Mark Fink’s K-J. The flop was 10-3-2, and then Fink caught a fourth-street king to outrun Gerleman and leave him in sixth place, paying $4,787. This was the third final table in this tournament series for Gerleman, a 54-year-old farmer from Ridgeway, Iowa. His other cashes include a 23rd out of 2,240 entrants in the WSOP Seniors event two years ago.
Blinds jumped twice, to 12,000-24,000, before we had another all-in. This time it was Danny Parde, who had A-8 to Pape’s pocket kings. For the first time we had a survival when Parde paired his ace on the flop.
5th place: Scott Pape went out with pocket 10s when Kats flopped an ace to his A-6. Pape, 54, is a maintenance technician from Omaha who’s played weekly tournaments here for the last four years. He took out $5,774 for fifth.
4th place: Soon after, Michael Dreiger, 59, a programmer from Omaha, checked out fourth for $6,702 when his A-9 could not overtake Kats’ A-K. Last year he finished seventh in a similar event here.
3rd place: This event got heads-up when Mark Fink went out on a bad beat. He had A-J against Parde’s A-3. Both players were nearly even chips, but Parde just had his opponent covered. The board came K-3-7-9-5, and Parde’s paired trey knocked Fink out in third place, which paid $7,659. Fink is 30, from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and works in his family electrical contracting business. He has four Circuit and two WSOP cashes.
2nd place: The final match lasted just under an hour. Kats started with the lead, but Parde was never far behind as the chips went back and forth. With blinds now at 20,000-40,000 and 5,000 antes, the killer hand came down. The flop showed 8-7-3, and all the chips went in the middle. Parde, with Qc-8c, was in the lead with a paired 8, while Kats, with Jc-10h, had two overcards and an inside straight draw. A 9 turned to give Kats a straight, and Parde, drawing dead, was suddenly down to 80,000 chips. Parde was all in on the next hand with 9h-7h against Kats’ Ks-7s. A board of 4-2-8-Q-J didn’t make any difference, and Kats had his first big cash.
Parde, 33, a U.S. Postal Service mailman from Lincoln, Nebraska, was making his second Circuit final table. His second-place finish paid him $15,318. He also has a couple of cashes in the Poker Classic events here.
2010 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit – Event #20 Final Results
2010 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Events Schedule and Results
– Max Shapiro
Director of Poker Operations for Harrah’s Entertainment – Jack Effel
Horseshoe Council Bluffs Poker Room Manager – Gary Margetson
Tournament Director – Kevin Ferguson
2009-2010 World Series of Poker Circuit
Horseshoe Council Bluffs
Feb. 26
Event #18
No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $500 + $55
Number of Entries: 153
Total Prize Money: $74,205
Final Results:
Place Name Hometown Prize
1. Timothy Morgan Pompano Beach, FL $24,045
2. Joel Wassom Dickens, IA $12,615
3. Danny Walker Omaha, NE $7,421
4. Roger Lipton Greenwood, NE $5,936
5. Bernard Morrow Grand Island, NE $4,452
6. Saad Vasquez Castle Rock, CO $3,710
7. Eric Koffman Bay City, MI $2,968
8. Lee Patitz Hastings, NE $2,226
9. Jeff Banghart Bennington, NE $1,484
10.Kyle Caslin $1,187
11.Mark Fink $1,187
12.Randy Crow $1,187
13.Cary Long $1,039
14.Doug Carli $1,039
15.Joel Merwick $1,039
16. Stanley Schrier $890
17.Joe Farb $890
18.Derek Masek $890
Despite Big Chip Lead He Agrees to Deal In Order to Get His First Title and Ring
Council Bluffs, IA — Timothy Morgan has had a lot of cashes – 19 along with nine final tables in 2009 alone – but no wins. He came close a number of times, including a second in the Southern States Poker Championship. Tonight he got heads-up in the 18th event of the WSOP Circuit tour at Horseshoe Council Bluffs, $500 no-limit hold’em. At that point, he had better than a 2-1 chip lead, but was afraid of bubbling a win again. So he made an even-money chop in order to bring home his first title along with the diamond-and-gold trophy ring. “I did it for my wife Lisa,” he said. “She’s put up with my shenanigans for a long time.” First place paid $24,045, but he and Joel Wassom got $18,330 each for their split in this event.
Morgan, 57, is a full-time player from Pompano Beach, Florida. He used to be a commercial diver in the New England area doing salvage, bridge and underwater demolition work. He later bought a marine salvage and towing business which his wife now runs. He’s been playing poker for 20 years, seriously since the Moneymaker revolution.
This $500 event attracted 153 players. The prize pool was $74,205. The second-day final table was totally dominated by Danny Walker until the very late stages when Morgan began grinding him down, sometimes three-betting him, until he finally knocked Walker out by flopping two small pair to beat Walker’s pocket kings.
As a side note, Doug “Rico” Carli had tournament payouts the past two days, extending his world’s record for Circuit cashes to 42.
The final table began with blinds of 1,500-3,000, 15 minutes left. About four laps ahead of everyone else in chips was Walker, with 423,000.
Here were the starting chip counts:
Seat Name Chip Count
1. Danny Walker 423,000
2. Saad Vasquez 151,300
3. Lee Patitz 43,900
4. Bernard Morrow 77,400
5. Eric Koffman 102,200
6. Joel Wassom 32,200
7. Jeff Banghart 116,000
8. Roger Lipton 68,900
9. Timothy Morgan 68,900
9th place: Jeff “MrRain” Banghart was first to check out after he was all in with A-8 against Walker’s pocket 7s. A board of 4-4-8-7-K gave Walker a full house and even more chips (as if he needed them). Banghart’s nickname comes from his ownership of a lawn sprinkler company. He has so many poker accomplishments that he provided a printout of them because there wouldn’t be room on the bio sheet. Online he has more than $1.2 million in cashes, including four six-figure payouts. He has three prior Circuit final tables at Council Bluffs including a win in the opening event last year. His biggest cash ever was $237,500 for coming in 41st in the WSOP main event in 2007. The Rain Man is from Bennington, Nebraska. His finish tonight paid $1,484
8th place: Not long after, Lee Patitz, winner of the opening event here, had all his chips in with 9d-8s against Roger Lipton’s A-8 Three diamonds and an ace flopped. Patitz missed his flush draw, and Lipton’s paired ace ended his hopes for a second ring, but he cashed for $2,226. Patitz, 73, is from Hastings, Nebraska, where he works as a power plant operator. When he won his first event, he said that he was having “fun, fun, fun.” He still is, he said.
7th place: After a break, blinds were 2,000-4,000 with 400 antes. Holding pocket aces, Eric Koffman made what turned out to be a big mistake when he just limped. Walker, in the small blind, called for the additional 2,000 with 9-2 suited. A flop of k-9-9 gave him trips. He put Koffman all in, winning when a J and 10 came. Koffman, 35, is a property manager from Bay City, Michigan. He has a prior Circuit final table, cashing 7th in a $500 event at Tunica earlier this year. .
6th place: After several all-ins and survivals, another player exited. This time it was Saad Vasquez, who went in with K-J and couldn’t catch Walker’s A-2 after the board came Q-10-4-8-A. Sixth paid $3,710. Vasqez is from Castle Rock, Colorado, where he owns an unusual business: a medical marijuana dispensary.
Walker, meanwhile, had knocked out three of the first four players and had now amassed about 450,000 chips, close to half of all those on the table.
5th place: With blinds of 3,000-6,000 and 500 antes, an unstoppable Walker continued his massacre. His next victim was Bernard Morrow, who moved in for 40,000 with K-Q, well ahead of Walker’s Kh-10h. No problem. Walker promptly made a flush on a flop of 9h-7h-5h, and we were down to four. Morrow, 58, is a 58-year-old government worker from Grand Island, Nebraska. This final table is his best yet. Fifth place paid $4,452.
Walker went after the next all-in player, and again was behind with A-7 to Joel Wassom’s A-J. The best Walker could manage this time was a chop when the board came 4-10-A-K-4. Was Walker slipping? Maybe. On the next hand he challenged an all-in Roger Lipton, again behind with 6c-3c to Lipton’s A-6. He was about to knock Lipton out with two pair, 6s and 3s, when the board showed 4-3-8-6. But he let Lipton get away when a river 4 gave his opponent 6s and 4s. Shame on you, Danny.
4th place: Perhaps Walker had now given up knocking out players, because he let Morgan do the next job. Roger Lipton was all in with Ac-10c and Morgan had Ah-Qh. A board of Jc-5h-7h-Kc gave both players flush draws. Morgan got there when a 2h gave him the flush and Lipton left in fourth place, paying $5,936. Lipton, 36, from Greenwood, Nebraska, owns a trucking company. This is his first final table here.
3rd place: Three-handed, Walker still led, but by now not nearly as much, and after losing a couple of pots to Morgan, dropped back into second place behind him. Soon after we had another confrontation between the two players. When the flop came Q-8-6, Walker bet 55,000, Morgan made it 120,000 to go and Walker, with pocket kings, moved in. Morgan turned up 8c-6c for two pair, and won after a jack and deuce came. Finishing a disappointing third, Walker settled for $7,421. Walker is a 25-year-old gambler from Omaha. His cashes include a win and a second in Circuit events here, three final tables at the L.A. Poker Classic, and a 30th in a $1,500 7-card razz event at the WSOP.
2nd place: Despite being well in front, with about 800,000 chips to around 350,000 for Wassom, Morgan agreed to the chop and first-place honors. Wassom, 40, is from Dickens, Iowa, where he is a security/safety director.
2010 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Event #18 Final Results
2010 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Events Schedule and Results
– Max Shapiro
Director of Poker Operations for Harrah’s Entertainment – Jack Effel
Horseshoe Council Bluffs Poker Room Manager – Gary Margetson
Tournament Director – Kevin Ferguson
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