• Poker Term of the Day

    brick--A "blank", though more often used in the derogatory sense of a card that is undesirable rather than merely inconsequential, such as a card of high rank or one that makes a pair in a low-hand game.

  • Poker Fun Facts

    Did you know that Chris Moneymaker gets a lot of credit as the spark of the poker boom by proving that an amateur can not just take on but take down the pros when he beat Sammy Farha to win the 2003 Main Event but it was Hal Fowler back in 1979 who was the first amateur to win the Main Event.

Category Archives: The Beat

2013 WSOP Event Results—Event 1 $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em

May 31, 2013   Mike "Daggum" Krisle   No comments
chadholloway

The 2013 WSOP is underway and the first event is under wraps. There were 898 hopefuls that entered the event all looking to grab that coveted gold bracelet.  In the end only one could win and that honor went to Chad Holloway.

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The Beat – Tournament Recaps: WSOP Asia-Pacific Main Event

April 24, 2013   Mike "Daggum" Krisle
negreanumaineventapac

Event 5 – $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event

Over 400 players signed up for the first ever main event at the WSOP Asia-Pacific. All were hoping to become a new bracelet holder and hold the title as the main event champion. In the end however only one could be crowned. The lucky individual was poker super pro Daniel Negreanu.

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The Beat – Tournament Recaps: WSOP Asia-Pacific

April 11, 2013   Mike "Daggum" Krisle
poker_e_collopy01jr_600

Event 2 – $1,650 Pot-Limit Omaha

Event 2 attracted 172 players all seeking to become a bracelet winner. The event paid out to 18 players which included the Asia-Pacific captain Joe Hachem (17th) and Jeff Lisandro (14th). However the when the final table was reached no former bracelet winners were a part of it.  There were also a few Australian pros that made the final table including Tino Lichich (3rd) and Martin Koslov (8th). In the end though it was another American who would take home the crown in what was one of the largest PLO tournaments in the Crown Casino. Jim Collopy was the man of the tournament as he ripped his way into the final table and never really got into much trouble. After falling

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The Beat: Origins of Poker; Obscure Forms of Poker Part 2

June 26, 2012   Mike "Daggum" Krisle   2 Comments
poker

In this edition of The Beat we continue our look at obscure forms of poker. The poker world has heard of lowball. Many famous poker players play the game regularly and at the WSOP every year. In fact, the most famous of all lowball players and perhaps the greatest of all time, Billy Baxter says it is even more difficult to master than the popular hold ‘em. However, have you ever heard of 3-card low draw?

What in the world is 3-card low draw?

This is a game that was developed in home games around the U.S. as an alternative to other poker variants of low poker, primarily 2-7 lowball and triple draw. The exact origin is unknown. The game started with each player being dealt 3 cards. Then there was a round of betting. Next, there is the first drawing round in which a player may discard any, all or none of their cards. If a player chooses to draw none, it is considered standing pat. After the drawing round there is another round of betting. After the 2nd round of betting there is one last drawing round, same rules as the first draw. There is one more round of betting and the cards are revealed. The player with the best low hand wins the pot. In low poker the worse the hand, the better or the lower the hand, the better is the proper term. In 3-card low the Ace is always low and never high, similar to the old A-5 Lowball that used to be played at the WSOP in the 70′s. Flushes, straights, pairs etc. count against you. So the best possible hand is A-2-4 of at least one different suit. This hand is also known as a “pup.”

Strategy for 3-card low draw:

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The Beat: Origins of Poker; Obscure Forms of Poker Part 1

June 04, 2012   Mike "Daggum" Krisle   2 Comments
pokerhands

Are you aware of just how many forms of poker there are? There is the ever popular and dream killer, Texas Hold ‘em, Omaha, 5-card draw, 7-card stud and Lowball. However, there are some other forms of poker out there that not many people are not aware of. In this edition of The Beat we examine a few of these unknown styles of the game. This is part 1 of a multi-part series on obscure forms of poker.

Oxford Stud:

Maybe you have heard of stud poker, but how about Oxford Stud? It was a game that was made popular in the premier colleges in the 1960′s, particularly MIT. Although it was called stud, it was more of a hybrid game because it included community cards as well. Many people may think, “How do you decide who acts first?” In stud games it is usually based on the rank of the cards showing for each player. While in community card games it is the player left of the dealer who acts first. In this game stud rules apply when deciding who acts first. First each player is dealt two cards face down and one face up, just as in 7-stud. Then there is a round of betting. After the first round of betting two community cards are dealt, followed by another round of betting. After the second round of betting another up-card is dealt to each player and another round of betting ensues. Finally a 3rd community card is dealt, followed by a fourth and final round of betting. The player with the best 5 card hand combination made from the 4 cards he was dealt and the 3 community cards, wins the pot. Oxford stud is usually played with a High/Low split.

Kuhn Poker:

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The Beat: Pot Limit Omaha Pre-flop

May 29, 2012   Mike "Daggum" Krisle   No comments
pot

Omaha is quite a different game than hold ‘em. In fact most hold ‘em players hate it because of the amount of hands that would be premium can be worthless in Omaha. In this edtion of The Beat we take a look at some pre-flop strategy in the unpredictable game of Omaha.

The most important factor in PLO (Pot Limit Omaha) is deciding whether or not to enter the pot. You have to consider several factors before deciding to play a hand. The strength of your hand, your position on the table, if the pot was raised and/or re-raised and tendancies of your opponents all are factors in making your decision.

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The Beat: 2012 WSOP Outlook

May 22, 2012   Mike "Daggum" Krisle   No comments
wsop

With less than a week before the WSOP 2012 begins, it’s time to see what’s in store for all the poker fans. This year’s WSOP will feature 61 events, awarding nearly $200 million in prize money. Once again the Rio all Suites and Casino will host the events in their 125,000 square foot ballroom. This room will house an astonishing 480 poker tables filled with players from over 100 different countries.

Some of the more notable events are the larger buy in events.

Event 12 will be the challenging $10,000 Head’s Up No-limit Hold ‘em. This is a new event for the WSOP and promises to be a tough one. Heads up tournaments are especially tough because you have to play a single match several times in order to win. Jake Cody, last year’s $25,000 Heads Up champ, will no doubt be vying for this one.

Event 16 will feature the best pot-limit hold ‘em players in the world. The defending champion is Amir Lehavot, who navigated the 249 person field to win the title last year.

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The Beat: The Ups and Downs of Poker

May 14, 2012   Mike "Daggum" Krisle   No comments
calm

Poker is a challenging game. It takes a minute to learn, but a lifetime to master. Perhaps that is why so many people are drawn to it, always looking for that big win. That is every player’s dream. Except it never happens that way, at least not all the time. The swings in poker can make players leave wondering why they even sat down in the first place. The swings can get so bad at times, some players end up quitting for awhile or all together. One minute you are up and the next few hands you are railed. In this edition of The Beat we explore how to manage the ups and downs of this crazy game we call poker.

The best way to you can avoid letting the swings get to you, is to simply realize they are going to happen. No poker player in the world runs well all the time. In fact, many pros will tell you they have busted several times in their careers. Tom Dwan, a famous online player and poker pro for a now defunct Fultilt poker, has claimed several times that he has never lost it all. Now that may be true or a bluff, but despite any of his claims he can attest to the ups and downs of poker. If you play poker you know that a bad beat is bound to happen. Even if your goal is to play perfect poker by getting your chips in when the odds are the best possible and with the best hand, you will still most likely suffer a bad beat. However, on the reverse side you will also be on the beneficial end of some of those bad beats. Ultimately, it evens out. No limit hold ‘em is the worst version of poker when it comes to swings and bad beats. Players knows that you can go from a few chips to the chip leader in a matter of a few hands. On the other hand, squandering a giant chip stack isn’t too uncommon either. You have to realize that these things are going to happen and we should accept the beats and move on. I will admit myself that moving on and forgetting a session or hand is difficult at times. Often I find myself saying “I hate No limit hold ‘em.” However, living with swings is a must if you want to be a consistent winning player.

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The Beat: Playing Pocket Jacks

May 07, 2012   Mike "Daggum" Krisle   3 Comments
jacks

The most infamous (not the most popular) of all pocket pairs has got to be Jacks. Does anyone REALLY know how to play these things? Some classify it as a middle pair and others as a large. The reality is they are in a class all by their self. Knowing when to play this tricky hand is key. Today’s edition of The Beat focuses on pre-flop play of pocket Jacks. Many players, especially beginners, will look down to see J-J and be ecstatic, because they see it as a top five hand to play. However, many players will not even play them because it is such a trouble hand to play. So what makes pocket Jacks so difficult to play?

The real problem comes in when players over raise with J-J. This concept goes on the notion “If nobody sees a flop than I can’t get busted.” The idea is to win the pot without risk or get called and assume your opponent has a higher pair. The only problem with that theory is you rarely win more than just the blinds. However, when you lose it tends to be most, if not all, of your stack. It’s because players tend to lose grip on some poker fundamentals.

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The Beat: Legends of the Game; Tom McEvoy

April 30, 2012   Mike "Daggum" Krisle   3 Comments
tom_mcevoy

Thomas K. McEvoy was born on November 14, 1944 in Grand Rapids, MI. He learned to play poker at the age of 5 and played so often he would regularly get in trouble throughout elementary school for his habit. McEvoy began his work career as an accountant, playing poker on the side. After being laid off from his job, he decided to make poker his life and started playing full time.

McEvoy’s first major tournament cash was at the 1982 WSOP where he placed 6th at the $1,000 Razz Event. The following year would prove to be his best showing at the WSOP in his career. He won his first bracelet at the $1,000 Limit Hold ‘em event defeating Irish poker pro, Donnacha O’dea. He also was the Main Event champion that year. He finally defeated Rod Peate to secure the 1983 World Championship in what was the longest heads-up match in WSOP history. The record would last 22 years until it was broken by the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event in 2006 by Chip Reese and Andy Bloch. McEvoy’s main event victory was the first time anyone had won the title by qualifying previously through a satellite event. Since his two wins in 1983, McEvoy would go on to win two more bracelets. The 3rd of his 4 WSOP bracelets came in 1986 when he bested Alma McClellend at the $1,000 Razz Event. Six years later he won his 4th bracelet defeating 1986 Main Event champion, Berry Johnston at the $1,500 Limit Omaha Event. However, since his 1983 win McEvoy has only cashed in one other main event, finishing 371st in 2006.

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