World Poker Tour Boot Camp hitting the Trop

The Tropicana will host a World Poker Tour Boot Camp on April 9-10 (link)

The boot camp costs $1,895 and pros include Kathy Liebert, Nick Brancato, Rick Fuller and Nick Binger.

Call Your Hairstylist ...

I know I am a little late on this, but sometimes even the real job gets in the way of things.

On Wednesday, the World Poker Tour announced the creation of the World Poker Tour Ladies League. The WPT is incorporating a title into the events it was previously holding.

I bet all the women out there are asking, well how can I play? Easy. Come to the Borgata on Jan. 20. It’s the first stop of the five-date tour. I have every intention of playing in this tournament. I actually had planned on it before it was given this prestigious title. This is part of my lesson in becoming a better tournament player. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Women are a growing demographic in the game. In every poker room, you can find a handful of women, not all are good, but they are there.

However, the men still seem enamored by the fact women are playing in their game. Some even get scared. One time I sat in a cash game at the Taj and the man to my immediate left got up and said he couldn’t play with women on the game because they take all his money and suck out.
Well, except for that silly Showboat tourney I played in recently, I don’t suck out. I think he just plays badly.

But it’s comments like that that scare women away from the game. It’s relative to high school where there have been studies done showing girls are intimidated by boys. That was never my problem, which is probably why I enjoy sitting at a poker table so much.

These women’s tournaments and women’s events are great for these other types of women though. It’s a much more relaxed atmosphere and they get a chance to enjoy a social game with women of the same interests.

As much as there are other women playing poker now, I find it hard to find another woman I can actually enjoy poker with. Either they think they are better than they really are and don’t want to listen to advice when they ship it, or the women just love the social aspect of the game.

I plan on being at the Borgata for my first major tournament. And as I’ve learned, you have to play bad to win these things. Just kidding.

Here’s the rest of the schedule:
• January 20 – Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa – Atlantic City, NJ – $300+$50
• Feb 2-3 – Commerce Casino* – Los Angeles, CA – $970+$95
• March 16 – Bay 101** – San Jose, Ca. – $300+$30
• March 29 – Foxwoods Resort and Casino – Mashantucket, CT – $530+70
WPT Ladies’ Championship
• April 13-14 – Bellagio – Las Vegas, Nevada – $1500+$90
• April 25 – Final Table

The Borgata Winter Poker Open Sked

Here are live results from the Winter Poker Open.

EVENT TOURNAMENT DATE TIME BUY-IN ENTRY 1 No Limit Hold’Em Tue, 1/15 11am $300 $50 2 No Limit Hold’Em Wed, 1/16 11am $500 $60 3 No Limit Hold’Em Thu, 1/17 11am $750 $60 4 No Limit Hold’Em Fri, 1/18 11am $1,000 $80 5 No Limit Hold’Em Sat, 1/19 11am $1,500 $100 6 WPT Ladies No Limit Hold’Em Sun, 1/20 11am $300 $50 7 Limit Hold'Em Sun, 1/20 12pm $300 $50 8 Modified Shoot Out Mon, 1/21 11am $300 $50 9 No Limit Hold'Em Tue, 1/22 11am $500 $60 10 No Limit Hold'Em Wed, 1/23 11am $2,500 $150 11 No Limit Hold'Em Thu, 1/24 11am $500 $60 12 No Limit Hold'Em Fri, 1/25 11am $5,000 $200 SUPER SATELLITE DAY Sat, 1/26 10am 13 WPT Borgata Poker Classic Championship Day 1 Sun 1/27 11am $9,700 $300 WPT Borgata Poker Classic Championship Day 2 Mon, 1/28 11am $9,700 $300 WPT Borgata Poker Classic Championship Day 3 Tue, 1/29 11am $9,700 $300 WPT Borgata Poker Classic Championship Day 4 Wed, 1/30 11am $9,700 $300 WPT Borgata Poker Classic Championship Final Event Thu, 1/31 5pm $9,700 $300 14 No Limit Hold'Em Sun, 1/27 12pm $1,000 $80 15 No Limit Hold'Em Mon, 1/28 12pm $500 $60 16 No Limit Hold'Em Tue, 1/29 12pm $300 $50

New Column Up, Updates

I have a new poker column up over cactusiv.com. It's about bluffing and how I make such a cute liar. Check it out at cactus i.v.

I'll post Poker Phil's second part of Playing the Draw on Sunday.

The WPT is going strong this week. Even if you aren't a good poker player, but love watching it television, you can head over to the Borgata and check out some of the more popular players. Many are easy to talk to and accessible. I guess it all depends on the beats they get.

I'm on vacation this week from my real job and I am going to head over there to check out what's going on. I think I'll also head over to the Showboat today. I'm curious how the tournament did and whether they will make this a recurring thing.

Leave the Chop Behind (Poker Phil)

This is a report from AC Poker Happenings' correspondent, Poker Phil. (I got nothing better to call him). He's been at the Borgata WPT all week.

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By POKER PHIL

Week One of the Borgata Open has ended with six events in the books. There were four No-Limit Hold 'Em (NLHE) events with buy-ins ranging from $500-$1500, one Ladies NLHE Event, and one Limit Hold 'Em (LHE) Event.

So far in the early weeks there’s been nothing spectacular and few pros have made their way for the opening events. There has, however, been a trend forming early on during this series of tournament events - chopping.

I’ve never been one for chopping. I play in the event to first make the money, but then once that goal has been reached I play for keeps. I have the confidence in my ability to feel that any time I’m in a position to potentially win a tournament, I will most likely do so. So far, that’s paid off. Either I finish top fix or not in the money at all, and that’s the way I prefer it. I’m just not about building a chip stack only to sit down with a number of other players and agree to split it all up, friendly like.

However there’s more to it. I can understand the last three or four offer a chop to each other. Normally at that point there’s a clear cut chip leader with more than half the chips in play, and three others fighting it out for second place. When this happens, normally the chip leader offers to take 85-90% of the first place money (normally dependant on how many of the chips in play he actually has) and the remaining players take an even chop of the remaining money.

Sometimes if the stacks are close, they’ll pool the last four spots together, and work a percentage chop based on position working somewhere along the lines of 15%/20%/30%/35%. Actually, any chop can be worked out to whatever percentages are agreed upon. So far with four final tables in the books, there have been three chops involving the entire final table. That’s nine ways…

I just don’t really agree with this thought process. If that was the case, why even bother playing down to a final table?

Just work out a chop beforehand and set that up. Spread the places more evenly instead of frontloading the most money for a payout. I have never chopped a tournament at any level, and I sure wouldn’t chop it nine ways at the final table. I didn’t play for 14 hours the day before to effectively tie with eight other players. Sure the money wouldn’t be even, but I didn’t “beat” any of them. I’m already guaranteed to make money, and I’m always confident in my ability to outplay any opponent that’s put before me. That’s one of the misconceptions about playing against pros. Sure, they are professional poker players. But that only means they do it for a living. It’s how they get paid. There’s a number of people that consistently play winning poker. The difference is that they have lives that require expenses and can never devote the time and energy it takes to play poker for a living.

When I play poker, it’s a leisurely night out. Sure, I know that chances are I’m going to walk away with more than I walked in with, but to what degree? Sometimes I make close to $1000 off a simple $250 buy-in at a casino cash game. Sometimes I’m making $150 in a small house game at a friends house. However, there are some nights where I come away a fractional winner, or even a small loser. The difference is that when I win, that money is generally spent right away for things like bills, rent, gas, food, and other assorted life necessities. I’m sure that once I get well ahead of the game I’ll be able to start working on a bankroll and move up in cash game limits and tournament buy-ins, but until that time I’m happy where I am.

That being said, any extra money is a good thing, and since I’m guaranteed to walk away with more than I started with after I make the money, I want to walk away with as much as possible. Now I’m not a total fool. If I’m an anemic stack at the final table well to the point where I might see three or four more hands before being forced all-in and someone offers me a chop; I’m taking it if it’s the right number. Otherwise, I’m going to let the cards play and if I should win that hand, all bets are off. I’m in until I have all the chips, or none left at all.