Daniel Negreanu
Poker Blog
Daniel Negreanu's Poker Blog. He will blog about poker, golf, the WSOP & WPT and various other subjects like politics and hockey."Kid Poker" is one of the most successful poker pros in the world.
| High Roller Tomorrow, Angle Shooting, and Amir Vahedi |
January 10, 2010
I had some fun two nights in a row. We had the elevator debacle and then last night
PokerStars threw another patented, sick party. PokerStars parties are legendary. The one
at the WSOP every year is off the hook, and last nights party was awesome. At the
pre-party all the WCOOP winners got bracelets for their wins. Also, Kenneth Cole, fashion
designer and chairman of AMFAR spoke to the audience about the research that AMFAR is
doing in regards to HIV/AIDS research.
From there the party got moved to the ballroom where there was a large spread of food for
all those attending, and of course there was a free bar which costs a pretty penny! The
entertainment for the evening, was none other than Kelly Rowland and she rocked the
house with a 30 minute set.
I didn't drink TOO much on the second night after nursing a bit of a hangover from the
previous nights festivities. I had a beer or two, then just took it easy drinking some white
wine. I packed it in pretty early, knowing that today would be a day of rest in preparation
for the high roller event tomorrow.
I'm excited to play, and we are introducing a nice little tweak to the structure of the event
and we've gotten tons of positive feedback on the changes. You start with 50,000 in chips,
but instead of wasting time at the 50-100 level the tournament will start at the 150-300
level and stay there for four hours. The first two hours sans an ante, and for the second
two hours we'll play it with a 25 ante.
I think a push to playing higher in the early stages of the event is going to catch on with
more events that are geared towards high rollers. I don't think you'll have to worry about
this change affecting the smaller buy in tournaments, because in those events you do have
a good number of recreational players who want more play early. High rollers want more
MEANINGFUL play early, and this move will give them that.
After the four hours, the tournament will proceed as normal with one hour levels. My plan is
to listen to my music, and take the event seriously. I'm really looking forward to what I
expect to be tough competition.
*****************************************************************
There was a bit of controversy as to whether or not I shot an angle at the PCA by asking
for a floorman to make a decision at the table, and while there were a few people that
believed it to be an "angle" not one reputable tournament director or respected poker
player thinks I did anything unethical at all. Not one. To think I did something unethical is
beyond preposterous. Anytime you are in a tournament and it appears that a rule may
have been broken, it's in yours, and everyone's best interest to call a floor person to the
table and let them handle it. Leave it in their hands, since there may be house rules you
are unaware of.
Matt Savage echoed that sentiment, because when he runs a tournament he wants to
make sure that the correct ruling is made. Often players take it in their own hands,
assuming they know the right ruling, only to find out later that the rule is different from
what they'd thought it was.
It wasn't the first time I'd called the floor for a decision in the tournament. Earlier I limped in
from the cut off position and everyone folded, including the big blind who assumed I raised.
He threw his hand in, but the dealer just left it there. I don't want to argue with her, but
she did push the hand back to the player and he then quickly grabbed it back. I called to
the floor to ask if the hand was live or not. I felt like the player folded, but the floor ruled
that because the hand didn't hit the muck, the hand was live. If anything, it was a dealer
error and I can live with that. She was supposed to simply muck the hand. Not a situation
that comes up too often, but clearly the dealer wasn't supposed to tell the guy he doesn't
have to fold AFTER he'd already done so. No big deal, but I called the floor and they ruled
against me.
The second time I called the floor it wasn't a big deal either, but clearly an infraction of the
rules took place when my opponent tabled his hand with action remaining. The video
doesn't show it, but the players at my table all saw his hand, I saw the Ad and only half of
the other card, which looked like the 4s or 5s. I was wrong, it was the 10s. I told the truth
about what I thought I saw. I said to him, "I saw your hand," which is true. I saw the Ad
clearly, and the other card as well, but didn't have it exactly right. The players seated next
to me did.
It was all very confusing as to what should happen here, so I gave up trying to figure it out,
and I handed it over to the floor. That's EXACTLY the right thing to do and any competent
tournament player knows that.
It does boggle my mind a little bit that anyone can honestly believe I was shooting an
angle there. It's just complete nonsense and pretty out of line to be honest. I've been
playing tournament poker for many years now, and no one has EVER questioned my
integrity in terms of cheating, or shooting angles at the table. Never. To call me out for that
silly hand is both classless and uncalled for, especially since the first half of the hand was
not shown on the video.
*****************************************************************
A few words about Amir Vahedi:
I'd played many tournaments with Amir over the years and we often did business together.
I trusted him, and admired his work ethic. He was a dedicated father and worked very hard
to try and support his family, hustling in all kinds of tournaments with buy ins as big as
$10,000, and even as low as $100.
When he put his mind to it, he was also a very dangerous tournament player to have at
your table. He wasn't afraid to play a big pot, and he certainly wasn't afraid to run a big
bluff!
I feel bad for his family. The road ahead for them is going to be tough in more ways than
one.
Amir was always a loud advocate for players rights and early on spent lots of time and
energy trying to form some kind of poker players union, so the players as a group could
obtain benefits, like health care, and what have you.
He was one of the early "personalities" in poker, always joking, always laughing, and he
never took himself too seriously.
I was shocked to hear that he'd passed, and I'm saddened for his family. Poker lost a good
guy yesterday, Amir Vahedi will be missed by many.
I had some fun two nights in a row. We had the elevator debacle and then last night
PokerStars threw another patented, sick party. PokerStars parties are legendary. The one
at the WSOP every year is off the hook, and last nights party was awesome. At the
pre-party all the WCOOP winners got bracelets for their wins. Also, Kenneth Cole, fashion
designer and chairman of AMFAR spoke to the audience about the research that AMFAR is
doing in regards to HIV/AIDS research.
From there the party got moved to the ballroom where there was a large spread of food for
all those attending, and of course there was a free bar which costs a pretty penny! The
entertainment for the evening, was none other than Kelly Rowland and she rocked the
house with a 30 minute set.
I didn't drink TOO much on the second night after nursing a bit of a hangover from the
previous nights festivities. I had a beer or two, then just took it easy drinking some white
wine. I packed it in pretty early, knowing that today would be a day of rest in preparation
for the high roller event tomorrow.
I'm excited to play, and we are introducing a nice little tweak to the structure of the event
and we've gotten tons of positive feedback on the changes. You start with 50,000 in chips,
but instead of wasting time at the 50-100 level the tournament will start at the 150-300
level and stay there for four hours. The first two hours sans an ante, and for the second
two hours we'll play it with a 25 ante.
I think a push to playing higher in the early stages of the event is going to catch on with
more events that are geared towards high rollers. I don't think you'll have to worry about
this change affecting the smaller buy in tournaments, because in those events you do have
a good number of recreational players who want more play early. High rollers want more
MEANINGFUL play early, and this move will give them that.
After the four hours, the tournament will proceed as normal with one hour levels. My plan is
to listen to my music, and take the event seriously. I'm really looking forward to what I
expect to be tough competition.
*****************************************************************
There was a bit of controversy as to whether or not I shot an angle at the PCA by asking
for a floorman to make a decision at the table, and while there were a few people that
believed it to be an "angle" not one reputable tournament director or respected poker
player thinks I did anything unethical at all. Not one. To think I did something unethical is
beyond preposterous. Anytime you are in a tournament and it appears that a rule may
have been broken, it's in yours, and everyone's best interest to call a floor person to the
table and let them handle it. Leave it in their hands, since there may be house rules you
are unaware of.
Matt Savage echoed that sentiment, because when he runs a tournament he wants to
make sure that the correct ruling is made. Often players take it in their own hands,
assuming they know the right ruling, only to find out later that the rule is different from
what they'd thought it was.
It wasn't the first time I'd called the floor for a decision in the tournament. Earlier I limped in
from the cut off position and everyone folded, including the big blind who assumed I raised.
He threw his hand in, but the dealer just left it there. I don't want to argue with her, but
she did push the hand back to the player and he then quickly grabbed it back. I called to
the floor to ask if the hand was live or not. I felt like the player folded, but the floor ruled
that because the hand didn't hit the muck, the hand was live. If anything, it was a dealer
error and I can live with that. She was supposed to simply muck the hand. Not a situation
that comes up too often, but clearly the dealer wasn't supposed to tell the guy he doesn't
have to fold AFTER he'd already done so. No big deal, but I called the floor and they ruled
against me.
The second time I called the floor it wasn't a big deal either, but clearly an infraction of the
rules took place when my opponent tabled his hand with action remaining. The video
doesn't show it, but the players at my table all saw his hand, I saw the Ad and only half of
the other card, which looked like the 4s or 5s. I was wrong, it was the 10s. I told the truth
about what I thought I saw. I said to him, "I saw your hand," which is true. I saw the Ad
clearly, and the other card as well, but didn't have it exactly right. The players seated next
to me did.
It was all very confusing as to what should happen here, so I gave up trying to figure it out,
and I handed it over to the floor. That's EXACTLY the right thing to do and any competent
tournament player knows that.
It does boggle my mind a little bit that anyone can honestly believe I was shooting an
angle there. It's just complete nonsense and pretty out of line to be honest. I've been
playing tournament poker for many years now, and no one has EVER questioned my
integrity in terms of cheating, or shooting angles at the table. Never. To call me out for that
silly hand is both classless and uncalled for, especially since the first half of the hand was
not shown on the video.
*****************************************************************
A few words about Amir Vahedi:
I'd played many tournaments with Amir over the years and we often did business together.
I trusted him, and admired his work ethic. He was a dedicated father and worked very hard
to try and support his family, hustling in all kinds of tournaments with buy ins as big as
$10,000, and even as low as $100.
When he put his mind to it, he was also a very dangerous tournament player to have at
your table. He wasn't afraid to play a big pot, and he certainly wasn't afraid to run a big
bluff!
I feel bad for his family. The road ahead for them is going to be tough in more ways than
one.
Amir was always a loud advocate for players rights and early on spent lots of time and
energy trying to form some kind of poker players union, so the players as a group could
obtain benefits, like health care, and what have you.
He was one of the early "personalities" in poker, always joking, always laughing, and he
never took himself too seriously.
I was shocked to hear that he'd passed, and I'm saddened for his family. Poker lost a good
guy yesterday, Amir Vahedi will be missed by many.
Read More Entries from Daniel Negranu's Poker Blog
Site Search
Enter Keywords
Holdem Genius
Poker Software uses advanced mathematical algorithms to consider multiple variables -opponents, position, fold depth, pot odds - so you get the most accurate poker advice possible.
Popular Links
Poker ReviewsCasino Reviews
Slot Signup Bonus
World Series of Poker
WSOP Circuit
WSOP Europe
WSOP Hall of Champs
World Poker Tour
WPT Articles
Poker Software
Daniel Negreanu's Blog
Poker Advertising
Poker Link Exchange
Poker Links
Poker Reviews
Full Tilt Poker
PDC Poker
Carbon Poker
Spin 32 Poker
Doyle's Room
Ultimate Bet
Absolute Poker
Poker Stars
Bodog Poker
Tony G Poker
Pacific Poker
Party Poker
Paradise Poker
Mansion Poker
Noble Poker
Titan Poker
Lucky Ace Poker
Poker Ocean