Know When to Holdem

Home at last

2006-08-06T23:58:00.000-04:00

I'm back home in Virginia safe and sound. I had such a good time in Vegas on PokerStars' nickel that I'm setting my sights on another big tournament. PokerStars is currently running satellites for the European Poker Tour, and today I made it through a 1st round qualifier for the EPT tournament in Barcelona next month. I played in three round one satellites today for 40 frequent player points each. The first two went disastrously awry, but I managed to make the top 16 on the third try. This means that I've gained a seat in the 4000 FPP satellite that runs next Sunday, and which will offer seats in the Barcelona tournament (plus hotel and spending money) to the top two finishers. Wish me luck next Sunday!

I hear Barcelona's pretty nice.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled poker blog...

2006-08-02T20:20:00.000-04:00

So I'm still kicking around here in Las Vegas. I've been feeling pretty poker gunshy this week, since the ring game on Friday night was a blow to my bankroll and the WSOP was a blow to my confidence. But, as they always say, when the poker gods hand you lemons, learn to play craps. (I'm pretty sure they say something like that. Anyway, that's what I did.)

I've been playing a lot of craps over the past few days. It's quite a fun game, and my bankroll is getting all fat and happy on it. Yesterday things got a bit hairy; I had brought about half of my gambling money down to the floor to play craps with and started out quite well -- up over $200 -- when the dice went cold. Really cold. Twice during the next two hours I was down to my last $26 in chips, with all of them out on the table. Fortunately, the ugly run of rolls turned around just in time and after another three hours or so of play I was able to leave with a $250 profit.

That was enough supplement to my bankroll to inspire me to try overcoming those poker fears this morning, and I played $2/$4 limit for about an hour and a half. I lost $27 at it, but at least I got back on the horse. I'm just on a really cold run of cards right now, and the few flops I see are missing me by so much that they might as well be on a different table.

So I went back to craps. And won another $250. I like that game. I like it a lot.

But I got 'em in while I was ahead

2006-07-29T20:55:00.000-04:00

A lot of people went out on the first day. Dan Harrington, Dutch Boyd, Gus Hansen, Phil Hellmuth, Todd Brunson..... and me. I lost about a third of my stack midway through the first round when I limped in behind some other callers with KQc and the flop came K63. Small blind bet out and everybody else folded; I called. Turn brought a raggedy looking 8, but I was already wondering whether my opponent had flopped two pair. He led out again, and I raised him, hoping to figure out where I stood. When he called me, I knew I was beat. River brought another 6 and he checked; I checked behind him, because I knew there was no bet I could make that would get him off his full house. And full house is exactly what he showed me. So even though it was an expensive hand, I was feeling okay about it, because I had put him on the right hand in the early going. My only real mistake was calling on the flop instead of raising there -- it would have saved me a lot of chips.

I did win a couple pots -- a blind steal with A5 offsuit and a nice middling sized pot with AKo against an early position raiser. So those gave me some confidence, but mostly my cards were really cold. I did a WHOLE LOT of folding. And I was telling myself that that was fine. I still had over 6000 chips when we hit the first break, and even with the blinds going up my M was still gonna be over 40. I could afford to keep folding, and wait for a spot.

When I got back to the table after the break, the cards continued to run cold on me, but I noticed the rest of the table had tightened up quite a lot, too -- the standard preflop raise was just 300 (three times the big blind) and the preflop raiser was getting the blinds a lot of the time. I kept folding my cold hands, but finally I looked down at JT of spades in middle position and realized it had been folded to me. I figured it was time to try a move and see if I could at least pick up the blinds with a raise just to get my confidence back up. So I raised it to 300, and got two calls -- one from the button and one from the small blind. I was kind of surprised, actually; because I'd been playing so tight I thought my raise would have a little more credibility. But whatever misgivings I had about playing the hand were considerably alleviated when the flop hit -- Jh, Th, 8d. I'd flopped top two pair and my only worry was that at least one of my opponents would probably be drawing to either the straight or the flush. On the other hand, two pair on the flop means that even if my opponent hits his draw, I've still got a draw to a better hand -- a full house would beat either a made flush or a made straight.

The small blind checked to me and I put in 1000, slightly over the pot because I didn't like those draws. The button folded but the small blind check-raised me to 3000. I only had 4200 chips in front of me, so a call was out of the question. I either had to fold my hand or push all in. When you've got top two pair and you're pretty convinced that your opponent's on a draw, a laydown just doesn't look sensible. At all. I knew that if I was right, and he was drawing to either the flush or the straight I was, at that moment, better than a 2 to 1 favorite. This was my hand -- I'd been waiting to pick a spot, and I decided this was it. I reraised him for all my chips, he called and we turned our cards face up. Sure enough, he was playing A9 off suit. Once again, I took some comfort from the fact that I had put my opponent on the right hand. But that was all the comfort I got: the turn brought him his 7 to make his straight, and the river didn't deliver me either a jack or a ten, so my WSOP tournament ended right there in the middle of round two.

It's a real disappointment. I very much wanted to at least last out the first day, but I know I got my chips in the middle with the best of it, so I've got to take the beat, look around at the big names who went out before I did, and vow -- "next year will be different." :-)

Before play started this morning I spent some time with Mad Harper of the PokerStars blog team. Like everybody else I've met or talked to who's associated with Team PokerStars, she was an absolute joy to talk to -- everybody's just been terrifically supportive and enthusiastic and helpful and generous at every turn. Even though I busted out this afternoon she kept her word and a profile of me has just appeared on the PokerStars blog (click the link at the right to check it out: it features shout-outs to the SDMB crew, my parents, and the ever stalwart and heroic Joe.)

From the Rio, cheers -- to getting 'em in while you're ahead.

America's playground

2006-07-29T09:35:00.000-04:00

Yes, I'm here. Apparently, non-stop is really the only way to fly. Heroic Joe proved his heroism a couple more times yesterday: first, by convincing me at 4:45 am that the alarm really and truly did mean that I needed to get out of bed, and then by driving an unshowered, untoothbrushed, unfunctioning me to BWI and driving around the airport environs until he was sure that my plane was really going to take off with me on it. Which, I'm happy to report, it did. Pretty darn close to on time, too.

Thanks, Joe!!

And before I proceed with a photo recap of yesterday's activities, here's my goodbye photo of my boys, Wimsey (in the tux) and Spenser (the gray one). Just because I miss them.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled recap. I got into Las Vegas at about 9 AM, collected my bag and headed for the hotel via airport shuttle. My shuttle driver wasn't particularly familiar with either written or spoken English, so my impromptu tour of the Vegas strip was a bit more exciting than it might have been otherwise, but I did ultimately arrive at my hotel in one piece and with some semblance of sang froid still intact. Got myself checked in and headed up to my room:

Over there on the far bed is Horace, preparing to take the WSOP by storm:

And here's the view from my hotel window. That dark building back in the distance is the Rio, where the tournament is being held.

After getting myself unpacked and finally taking a shower and brushing my teeth (hoorah!!), I felt human enough to go in search of food. The cheap, quick option seemed desirable, so I gave in to temptation and had myself a Big Mac (but just one!) As I was finishing lunch, the vanguard of my cheering section arrived and I met up with them at checkin.

Duke of Rat (aka Jeff)

And Yeticus Rex (aka Kee)

Once we got them settled in, it was time to head over to the Rio, where I saw Joe Hachem (last year's WSOP winner):

And checked in for the tournament:

I witnessed the most amazing thing ever while wandering around the halls of the Rio. The players went on break just as we arrived, and the hallways were overflowing with players looking to grab some food or make a pit stop. As we fought our way upstream against this mass of people, we passed the bathrooms. There was one of the longest lines I've ever seen for a bathroom snaking its way along the wall. The line was for the men's room. For the ladies room, you could just walk right on in. I'm pretty psyched about that.

Also I collected a second bunch of swag. See, when I went to PokerStars' hospitality suite at the Monte Carlo they gave me my superstuffed goody bag and the nice people there said that the women's apparel came in too late to get distributed to the bags, so I'd need to go to the suite at the Rio for the women's clothes. And the folks in the suite at the Rio not only hooked me up with lots of girl clothes, they also very generously piled on shirts and hats as souvenirs for Yeti and Duke. So I ended up with rather an impressive haul by the end of the day:

And there's gonna be more. The WSOP (or somebody) has decided not to allow any players wearing .com merchandise into the tournament room. I assume this is because the .com sites are the ones on which you can play for real money, the legal status of which activity is not entirely clear at this point. But I have to wear PokerStars gear (and am proud to do it) as part of the deal that gets me this trip and the free hotel room and all that good stuff. So PokerStars (and probably other sites) have had a bunch of .net merchandise made up really quickly and will be handing it out at the Rio today. Although it sounds as if I could wear the .com stuff I've already got as long as I go to the PokerStars kiosk and have them tape over the .com part before I go in. It's all rather ridiculous and silly but it sounds like I'll be getting yet more swag out of it, so I guess that's good.

But enough about the stuff. Once we'd dropped off our amazing haul in my room, Yeti, Duke and I went downstairs to play a little $1/$2 no-limit in the Monte Carlo's poker room. Yeti and Duke awaiting seats:

We had a rough time of it, though Duke managed to leave about $3 up. I was in the worst possible position -- a bunch of solid, predictable players to my right and three loose cannons on my left. I really should have switched seats when the opportunity arose, but I didn't and my bankroll (and Duke's, who floated me some playing money when I hit the felt -- thanks, Duckie!) took a hit accordingly.

But before the carnage got too bad, it was time for dinner with the Dopers. We met at Lotus of Siam as planned and had a yummy meal.

Dag Otto, his wife Ina (sorry if I'm misspelling that), and Yeti:

Yeti and LVGeoGeek:

Sleestak (aka Eric)

And MsRobyn and the Duke:

After dinner, we did a quick, blurry drive down the strip:

Back to the Monte Carlo:

where we met up with some more Dopers for Vegas DopeFest part deux.

DMark:

Duke and DMark:

Silenus and Dee:

And the whole gang:

By 10 o'clock, the long day had more than caught up with me -- it had run me down, knocked me over and stomped on my entrails. So I bid the gang goodnight and sallied up to my room, where I hopped into bed and fell asleep about 4.8 seconds after my head hit the pillow. And now it's time for me to get showered, figure out what combination of illicit PokerStars.com merchandise I'm going to drape myself in, and catch the shuttle over to the Rio, where breakfast awaits. Play will begin at noon.

Why can't I ever just catch a plane?

2006-07-27T23:01:00.000-04:00

I am tempted to say that I have amazingly awesomely horrific airplane karma. But the fact that all the airplanes I have ever taken have actually remained in the air while they were supposed to and landed at an airport on their wheels, rather than in a swamp on their backs makes me retract that statement before I even make it. But what I can say is that in the past 18 months, I've taken a lot of flights. Not one of them left on schedule. That's right, not one. I've been stuck in airports, stuck on the tarmac, and stuck in a city that wasn't the one I was supposed to be going to. Interestingly, in reading Eric Lindgren's Making the Final Table (which I had time to do while sitting in the departure lounge tonight), I learned that according to the FAA there's a 12.5% probability that any given plane will be delayed. That's 7 to 1 against. Some people get all the luck.

Currently, I am stuck in my apartment. On hold with the good people at American Airlines.

My flight was scheduled to leave National Airport at 4:50 this afternoon. I arrived in good time, around 3:15 I think it was, and was told it was delayed by 30 minutes. Fine, this is what I've come to expect when I travel by air. I'm told some planes leave on time. I remember when I used to take planes that left on time . . . but that was long ago. At 6:00 I was still sitting in the lounge at the gate. There was weather in Chicago. I went and talked to the nice American Airlines guy who sweetly offered to cab me over to Dulles for their 7:50 nonstop flight to Vegas. We just had to arrange to get my checked bag off this plane. I said, "Yes! Sign me up!" He said, "Ooops, the four seats they were showing as available two seconds ago are gone now." OK, then. I'll just go back to cooling my heels and waiting for the weather in Chicago to go away along with everybody else. On the bright side, nobody's getting in or out of O'Hare, so all the connecting flights will be just as delayed as we are.

I called the PokerStars folks at the Monte Carlo and told them it looked like I'd be getting in pretty late tonight, so could they make sure that the hotel held my reservation? The guy I spoke to was incredibly nice and helpful and asked about my start date, expressing relief that it's Saturday and not tomorrow, and promised to make sure that I still had a room waiting for me. And suddenly, my flight was boarding! Hurrah!!!

We get in, get settled, and the pilot comes on the intercom to tell us that we're looking at wheels up at 6:38, although there's a chance of further delays, and we'll know for sure at 6:31. We taxi away from the gate and sit on the tarmac for a while. At 6:35, he informs us that air traffic control still won't let us go. Next update to come at 7:30. At 7:35, we learn that we've been rerouted to fly around the pesky weather. Yay!! Only problem? Our new route means we need more fuel than we've got. Back to the gate -- boooo. Get fueled up, taxi back out to the tarmac. And wait again. The plane to our left is 12 minutes ahead of us, so we keep an eye on that as a gauge. It's not going anywhere.

Some time later (I confess, I kind of lost track here), the pilot tells us that he's watching all the other Chicago-bound aircraft taxi back to gates. He's wondering why that might be, and is gonna get on the phone and find out. A couple of minutes later he gives us the news: there's some sort of emergency landing situation developing at O'Hare and all air traffic around the airport is shut down. Also, our crew is scheduled to clock out in an hour and ten minutes, so if we don't get in the air within that time, we're gonna get cancelled anyway. But he's told O'Hare about that, which means we get priority. Um, hooray?

More sitting on the tarmac ensues. Finally, the verdict arrives -- AA's cancelled the flight. In fact, every flight from National to O'Hare's been cancelled. Time to give it up and go back to the gate. Mysteriously, yet more sitting on the tarmac ensues. Turns out there's only one gate that can accommodate our plane, and somebody's already using it. Gonna be another 20 minutes out there.

By now my cell phone battery has bitten the dust, what with the calls to heroic boyfriend Joe to complain and update, and the fact that I short-sightedly didn't bother to charge it up last night (mostly that, actually). So I borrow my seat-mate's cell phone and ask Joe to come and get me. It was about 10:20 when he picked me up at the same airport he'd dropped me off at. Seven hours earlier.

Looks like I'll be taking a non-stop America West flight from BWI tomorrow morning at 7 AM and arriving in Vegas at 8:45. The sweet PokerStars folks at the Monte Carlo have been updated accordingly and once again expressed support and reassurance. I love those people!

Better turn in now -- we have to get on the road at 5 AM.

T minus .... well, it depends.

2006-07-26T19:26:00.000-04:00

On whether I should count down to departure, arrival, or the first deal on Day 1B. But however you count, it's getting close!!

Yesterday was pretty awesome. My parents sent me a sweet bouquet with a little white teddy bear that I've christened Horace (photo soon), who will accompany me to Vegas for luck. And in the afternoon I got a call from PokerStars saying that the Washington Post's Roxanne Roberts wanted to interview me -- would that be okay? Well, yeah. Very much okay. In addition to writing for the Post, she's an uber-cool panelist on NPR's "Wait, Wait -- Don't Tell Me," of which I am a fan. But she hasn't called, so perhaps she changed her mind. Which is also okay.

And now I've just finished making out my list of things I won't remember to pack unless I put them on a list. As opposed to the list of things I always forget to pack AND forget to put on the list. There's just nothing to be done about those. But that is also also okay, because it's how I get new stuff.

Tomorrow will be a bit hectic. I've got an appointment in the morning, then I need to run an errand or two and throw in a load of laundry before packing (unless I get unexpectedly ambitious and do it tonight), then pack and boogie on over to National Airport (which I steadfastly refuse to call Reagan National, because ick!)

Signing off for now -- next update from Vegas!

PS Just found out what PokerStars will be giving me in my goody bag. Rather an outstanding little pile of loot. Link

My Poker Library, part the second

2006-07-19T21:42:00.000-04:00

I know it's been a few days, but I didn't forget. I've been quite busy on a new project at work, which is sucking up all my poker time and energy. But before another day slips by, I thought I'd deliver at least one of my promised book reviews.

Harrington on Hold'em: I consider this two-volume work to be absolutely indispensable for anyone who plays no-limit hold'em tournaments. Harrington draws on some of the concepts David Sklansky introduces in Tournament Poker for Advanced Players, but adds his own insights into the decisions that all tournament players face: what starting hands to play from what position, when is the best time to make a move with a dwindling stack, when and against whom to attempt a steal of the blinds or defend your blind from a possible steal, how to decide whether to raise or go all-in, how to handle a super-aggressive opponent at your table, what are the proper hand selection strategies for short-handed and heads-up play . . . and many more. And following every discussion is a series of really detailed problem hands that let you see the principles he's discussing in action in hands taken from live and on-line multitable tournaments, satellites and sit-and-gos. The problem hands and Harrington's analyses of them are worth the price of the books. These are books that I read and reread cover-to-cover on a regular basis, and then use as reference manuals when I find I'm pondering some question about a hand in the tournament I played earlier, or last night, or last week. My only quibble with these volumes is that Harrington advocates a safe, conservative strategy when it comes to starting hand selection, even though he acknowledges that the aggressive and super-aggressive styles have real advantages in tournament play. I would love to read his advice on how to play an aggressive or super-aggressive style successfully. Despite that caveat, I heartily recommend these books for anyone who wants to improve their tournament play. BUY THEM! READ THEM! LOVE THEM! (Thank me.)

OK, players -- I gave you one. But I'm still waiting for your recommendations. Hurry up -- only a week to go!

How I Lose Money on AK

2006-07-16T19:02:00.000-04:00

I had a nice conversation with my brother today. He called me with a couple of questions about the mechanics of Texas Hold'em, and I realized that some of my audience could probably use a quick primer on the game. For those of you who already know and/or play Hold'em, I've included a brief meditation on my problems with AK, which I have recently realized is the single biggest drain on my bankroll.

In Texas Hold'em, each player is dealt two hole cards (face-down), and then there is a betting round. At the conclusion of the betting, three community cards are dealt face-up in the middle of the table. These cards are referred to as the flop. After the flop, there is another round of betting. Then another community card, called the turn, is dealt face-up, followed by another round of betting. The final community card -- called the river -- is dealt and a final round of betting takes place. At the conclusion of this last round of betting, if two or more players are still in the pot, they turn their cards over and the best five card hand which uses any combination of hole cards and community cards wins the pot.

When Hold'em is played as a private game, the deal rotates clockwise around the table, and the dealer, who will act last in every betting round except the first has a significant positional advantage. In a casino or card-room, the house usually provides a dealer who deals every hand. However, because of the positional advantage that the player to the dealer's right would have if he always got to act last, the card-room provides a little plastic disk, called the button, which is placed in front of the player who would be dealing that hand if there were no professional dealer. The player who has the button is usually referred to as the button, and it is the player to the button's left who receives his cards first and who will act first in all rounds except the first one.

In poker games like stud or draw, all the players ante a small amount before the cards are bet, so that there will be money in the pot to begin with. This encourages players to bet, since there's a pile of money sitting there to be won. In Hold'em, instead of all the players anteing, there are two forced bets which the two players to the left of the button have to put into the pot before the cards are dealt. These forced bets are called blinds, and there is a small blind (usually half a full bet) and a big blind (a full bet). The players who post these blinds are referred to as the small blind and the big blind. Once the hole cards are dealt, because the small blind and the big blind have already acted by posting their forced bets, the betting action starts with the player to the big blind's left, who can fold his cards without putting any money in the pot, can call the full bet already placed by the big blind, or can raise that bet. In Limit Hold'em he can only raise it by one increment, so that if the big blind is $1, he can only raise the bet to $2. In No-Limit Hold'em, he can raise by any amount up to his entire stack of chips. Betting your whole stack is known as going all-in.

The action proceeds around the table, with each player either folding, calling or raising. When the action gets to the small blind, he can either fold his hand and forfeit the half-bet he's already placed, or he can call the full amount of the largest bet so far, or he can raise. If nobody has raised, calling would only involve putting in half a bet. The big blind is the only player who has the option of checking in this first round, and he only has that option if nobody has raised, because then his forced full bet already acts as a call. If the pot has been raised, he has to decide whether to fold his cards, put in enough more chips to call the highest raise, or re-raise.

Once the first round betting is complete and the flop has been dealt, the first player to the left of the button who didn't fold before the flop must act by checking or betting. Subsequent players still in the hand can check or bet if nobody before them has bet, or can fold, call or raise if someone before them has bet. This process will be repeated after the turn and the river, as long as there are still two or more players contesting the pot.

Now, for an example -- here's a hand I recently played on PokerStars:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

(Following is a list of all the players at the table when the hand was dealt, along with how much money in chips each had in front of him before the start of the hand.)

Small Blind ($10.05)
Big Blind ($10.85)
Player 3($6.55)
Player 4 ($9.10)
Heroine ($10.75)
Player 6 ($3.45)
Player 7($9.75)
Player 8 ($9.85)
Button ($5.60)

Preflop: Heroine is in middle position with Kd, Ac.
(That's me. I'm holding the ace of clubs and the king of diamonds. AK is a very strong starting hand in hold'em).

1 fold, Player 4 calls $0.10, Heroine raises to $0.50, Player 6 calls $0.50, 2 folds, Button calls $0.50, 2 folds, Player 4 folds.
(So one player called the big blind, I raised to fifty cents -- five times the big blind -- and two players called me. The blinds folded and so did the original caller).

Flop: ($1.75 in the pot) 9d, 5c, As (3 players)
Heroine bets $1, Player 6 folds, Button calls $1.
(The flop paired my ace, and brought two relatively harmless-looking lower cards. With top pair and the best possible kicker (the king) I lead out with a bet of over half the pot and get one caller. At this point, I figure my caller has an ace and a lower kicker than my king, but not a nine or a five, because that would have given her two pair and she probably would have raised me. Right now, I really like my chances to win this hand and I plan to suck more money out of her by not betting so much that I chase her out of the pot -- I want her to call to the end and pay me off.)

Turn: ($3.75 in the pot) 8s (2 players)
Heroine bets $2.50, Button calls $2.50.
(Even though the turn put a second spade on the board, I'm not too worried. While somebody might have called my preflop raise with a suited hand like KQ of spades, they probably wouldn't have called my flop bet when only one spade came on the flop. That call on the flop really looks like a person holding an ace, and if she's got an ace, she doesn't have two spades, because the ace of spades is on the board. So in keeping with my plan, I bet well over half the pot, but not so much that a person holding an ace with a respectable kicker like a ten or better would be convinced to get out; still, if I were holding an ace and a ten in button's place, I'd be pretty worried that I was outkicked and would seriously think about folding to the $2.50 bet.)

River: ($8.75) 2s (2 players)
Heroine bets $1, Button raises to $1.60, Heroine calls $0.60.
(Okay, the river has put three spades on the board, but I still don't think she has a flush. I bet $1 at her because she only has $1.60 in front of her. I could have bet the whole $1.60 but players are often reluctant to put all their chips in on a call, and I wanted her to call, not fold. Instead she raised me her last .60. I don't like this because I now suspect I'm losing the hand, but I'm not going to fold my hand for a 60 cent bet into a $10 pot, so I call.)

Final Pot: $11.95
Results:
Heroine has Kd Ac (one pair, aces).
Button has 2c Ad (two pair, aces and twos).
Outcome: Button wins $11.95.

(Yep. She hung around with top pair and the worst possible kicker and then caught two pair on the end when the deuce hit the board. And this is one of the reasons I lose money on AK. For the record, even on the button I would have folded A2 offsuit to a 5 times the big blind preflop raise without thinking twice about it. If I'd had some kind of seizure and called the preflop raise with the hand, I would have let it go on the turn, realizing that I was way behind.)

Hold'em newcomers -- feel free to ask questions in the comments section if this is confusing to you. Hold'em players -- feel free to use the comments section to point out errors or inaccuracies in my explanation, express sympathy, critique my play, or tell a sob story of your own. :-)

The book review project begun in my last post will resume this week. Stay tuned!

My Poker Library, part the first

2006-07-14T21:57:00.000-04:00

Over the next couple of days, I'll provide my reviews and commentary on these, but for now here's a quick catalog of my poker library, roughly in order of favorites to least favorites. You poker players out there, tell me what I should have read (particularly in the instructional category) that I haven't -- I've still got two weeks!

Instructional
Dan Harrington and Bill Robertie, Harrington on Hold'em, Volumes I and II
David Sklansky, Tournament Poker for Advanced Players
T.J. Cloutier and Tom McEvoy, Championship No-Limit and Pot-Limit Hold'em and Championship Hold'em Tournament Hands
Doyle Brunson, Super System: A Course in Power Poker
Mike Caro, Caro's Book of Poker Tells
John Vorhaus, Killer Poker Online: Crushing the Internet Game
Lee Jones, Winning Low Limit Hold'em
Andrew N.S. Glazer, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Poker
Ken Warren, Winner's Guide to Omaha Poker

Entertainment
Michael Craig, The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time
Richard Marcus, Dirty Poker: The Poker Underworld Exposed
Phil Hellmuth, Jr., Bad Beats and Lucky Draws: Poker Strategies, Winning Hands, and Stories from the Professional Poker Tour

Schedule for Vegas

2006-07-13T15:14:00.000-04:00

Here's how my schedule seems to be shaping up.

I'll be flying American out of DC around 5 PM on Thursday, July 27th, connecting through Chicago and getting into Vegas a little after 9 PM. The tournament is at the Rio, but PokerStars is putting me up in the Monte Carlo, which will also be playing host to a couple of the Dopers who will be providing moral support. (Hey, Yeti and Duke!) Here's a little map of the strip, showing where all the casinos are.

Friday will be my get acclimated day. I'm sure my pals and I will get in some ring games at the Monte Carlo, but I'm also hoping to get over to the Rio, and scope out the scene. Day 1A of the Main Event will be getting underway there at 11 AM. It looks like our little Vegas DopeFest is gonna take place on Friday night, and the Lotus of Siam has been mentioned as a possible choice for location.

On Saturday the 29th (day 1B) at 11 AM, I get my start in the tournament, with 10,000 in chips and the blinds at 25/50. Blind levels will increase every two hours, and we'll play on Saturday until 800 players remain. Since about 8,000 people are expected to play and they'll be divided up among four first days, it looks like I'll be trying to avoid being one of the 1,200 players eliminated on July 29th.

Assuming I manage that, I will resume playing on Tuesday, August 1st, when the 1600 players remaining from days 1A and 1B will square off at noon and play until 700 players are left.

The day 1C and 1D folks will do the same on Wednesday the 2nd, and the 1,400 remaining players (among whom I very much hope to be numbered) will resume play at noon on Friday, August 4th, and will play until 600 remain. This is the day when people will make the money. There's a ten percent payout schedule for the tournament, so assuming 8,000 players start, the top 800 will finish in the money.

The remaining tournament schedule is pretty straightforward, with play starting at noon each day:

On Saturday, August 5th, 600 will start, and they'll play down to 300.
On Sunday, August 6th, 300 will play down to 150
On Monday August, 7th, 150 will play down to 60
On Tuesday, August 8th, 60 will play down to 27
On Wednesday, August 9th, 27 will play down to 9
And the final table will play on Thursday, August 10th

So that's a little map of the task ahead of me. Daunting?? I don't think so!

(You believe me?)

Is this thing on?

2006-07-12T18:26:00.000-04:00

So another intrepid (all right, I confess -- I'm a little trepid) soul ventures into the blogosphere.

The occasion for this sudden spasm of sharing? I'm gearing up for a trip to Vegas, where I (along with approximately 7,999 other players) will take my shot at poker immortality in the World Series of Poker Main Event.

A little background: I'm a 35-year-old single woman living in Alexandria, VA, just outside Washington, DC. I've been playing poker since I was about 10; after holiday dinners, my extended family always played five card draw, five card stud and seven card stud for nickels, dimes and quarters. A good portion of my Christmas money from grandma and grandpop would get cashed in for chips after the grownups were done with coffee and ready to start dealing the cards.

I didn't start playing holdem until December 2004, when I accompanied a couple of friends up to Atlantic City, after a hurried tutorial on the mechanics of the game late one night in a bar. A couple weeks later, I had an account on PartyPoker and a month or two after that another one on PokerStars, and the rest is history.

On March 30th, I qualified for the WSOP on PokerStars, in a free satellite. The story of my success is chronicled on my favorite message board: The Straight Dope. See posts #21 and #22 for my account of the tournament: Link

I'll be heading out to Vegas on the 27th, and starting my quest for world poker domination on day 1B of the Main Event -- July 29th. In the meantime, I expect I'll post tales of my little triumphs and pratfalls in online poker and document my attempts to prepare for the big show. Feel free to join in!

Addendum: A current thread on the SDMB is the gathering place for all of the Dopers who are planning to get together in Vegas for food and socializing the night before I play. Turnout looks like it will be excitingly large, and I am really, really pumped about that! Link