Ladbroke Poker Million 2004?

[da_cfo]

Any chance FOX Sports World will pick up the Ladbroke Poker Million 2004 from Sky Sports (via a world-famous NewsCorp "tax-managed" transaction of course)?

FOX Sports Net/National Sports Partnership has picked up an old series "Late Night Poker" from Wales (shown on Channel 4 UK during its run).

FOX Sports Net/National Sports Partnership carried the first Ladbroke Poker Million in 2000 (long before Poker became a hot TV "sport" in the US), with poker pros Howard "The Poker Professor" Lederer (winner of 2 World Poker Tour events in 2002-2003), Barney Boatman (a member of the infamous "Hendon Mob"), Phil "Poker Brat" Hellmuth (1989 World Champion) and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson (2000 World Champion) involved with the TV production and the infamous Jesse May doing play-by-play. Another infamous announcer in Matt Vasgersian (XFL) hosted the FOX Sports Net show.

[da_cfo]

bump

[texgator]

I heard that Binion's was shut down last week......is that the end of the World Series of Poker? I assume another casino will just takeover the tournament. Have you heard anything about this, Oliver?

[da_cfo]

Originally posted by texgator
I heard that Binion's was shut down last week......is that the end of the World Series of Poker? I assume another casino will just takeover the tournament. Have you heard anything about this, Oliver?

Harrah's Entertainment (NYSE: HET) bought out Becky Binion Behren on Monday, assuming about $50 million of outstanding liabilities (including about $8 million owed to the IRS for unpaid taxes).

However, Harrah's will sell Binion's Horseshoe Casino as it does NOT want to operate a casino in downtown Las Vegas.

The "Horseshoe" brand will be moved to a new casino megaresort on "The Strip" (Las Vegas Boulevard in unincorporated Clark County, Nevada).

The 34th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) will be held in 2004, with location yet to be determined.

The latest rumor: Harrah's wants to to move the WSOP around the country, with New Orleans being the likely venue in 2005.

One thing is almost certain: Harrah's will retain the services of Matt Savage, tournament director at Bay 101 Casino in San Jose, California, to run the WSOP no matter where it is held.

Savage has run the WSOP for the past 4 years, as well as the 2003 "Showdown at the Sands" in Atlantic City, the 2002 World Poker Tour (WPT) event in Costa Rica (WPT no longer goes to Costa Rica because Casinos Europa owner Luis Milanes is now on the Interpol Top 10 most wanted list for embezzling millions of dollars from investors), and the 2004 Cajun Poker Classic at Harrah's in New Orleans last weekend.

Savage will run the 2004 WPT "Bay 101 Shooting Stars" event in San Jose on March 3-5.

[texgator]

I knew you would have the dirt. How long is ESPN's rights deal with the WSOP last? I think they did a decent job this year, but I though the WPT on Travel was better. Of course, this whole thing could be a passing fad by this year's tourney, so they might be the only one interested. I'm sure some poker traditionalists might not agree, but I've really enjoyed it much more with the addition of the hold card cameras. I for one actually enjoyed the Celebrity Showdown, but couldn't they have found 25 "celebrities" that actually knew how to play, I mean Scott Stapp was just horrible, he really embarrassed himself.

[da_cfo]

Originally posted by texgator
I knew you would have the dirt. How long is ESPN's rights deal with the WSOP last? I think they did a decent job this year, but I though the WPT on Travel was better. Of course, this whole thing could be a passing fad by this year's tourney, so they might be the only one interested. I'm sure some poker traditionalists might not agree, but I've really enjoyed it much more with the addition of the hold card cameras. I for one actually enjoyed the Celebrity Showdown, but couldn't they have found 25 "celebrities" that actually knew how to play, I mean Scott Stapp was just horrible, he really embarrassed himself.

---

I understand that ESPN has the rights to the "final table" of the WSOP main event for at least 2 more years.

---

As for the "celebrities": don't let some of their acts fool you.

Ben Affleck is a battle-tested major league tournament poker professional. He was knocked out of the 2003 WPT "Legends of Poker" at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California (just east of Los Angeles) while holding pocket aces (Casino developer Bob Stupak, with pocket 4's, sucked out a 4 on the river.)

Mimi Rogers is also a very solid player. She appeared a bit "weak tight" in "Celebrity Poker Showdown", but she redeemed herself in the upcoming episode of "World Poker Tour - Hollywood Home Game 1" (January 25 on the Travel Channel). She has won a seat for the 2004 WPT Championship at the Bellagio in Las Vegas (April 19-23).

Also note that WPT on-air personality Lou Diamond Phillips seems to make the final table EVERY WEEK at the Sunday night ($330 buy-in with $300 add-on) No Limit Hold'em tournament at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, California (just east of Los Angeles). He is the one Hollywood hombre that you don't want to mess with.

[texgator]

Originally posted by da_cfo
---

I understand that ESPN has the rights to the "final table" of the WSOP main event for at least 2 more years.

---

As for the "celebrities": don't let some of their acts fool you.

Ben Affleck is a battle-tested major league tournament poker professional. He was knocked out of the 2003 WPT "Legends of Poker" at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California (just east of Los Angeles) while holding pocket aces (Casino developer Bob Stupak, with pocket 4's, sucked out a 4 on the river.)

Mimi Rogers is also a very solid player. She appeared a bit "weak" in "Celebrity Poker Showdown", but she redeemed herself in the upcoming episode of "World Poker Tour - Hollywood Home Game 1" (January 25 on the Travel Channel). She has won a seat for the 2004 WPT Championship at the Bellagio in Las Vegas (April 19-23).

Also note that WPT on-air personality Lou Diamond Phillips seems to make the final table EVERY WEEK at the Sunday night ($330 buy-in with $300 add-on) No Limit Hold'em tournament at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, California (just east of Los Angeles). He is the one Hollywood hombre that you don't want to mess with.

Dont' get me wrong, I've heard that several of these guys are good, just some were complete novices. Kind of ruins the fun when a guy like Affleck is at the same table as someone who doesn't know that a 3 of a kind beats two pair. I thought that the runner up guy played well through out, and was quite funny to boot. Supposedly Schwimmer is a good player, but he didn't show very well. "Evil" Willie got some lucky breaks and he played all over the place, 9 out of 10 times he doesn't win that first game vs Affleck. Now the winner, either she's a quick learner or that was all an act.

[da_cfo]

bump

[da_cfo]

bump

C'mon Dermot. Get the US TV rights from Sky.

[DAGSports]

Originally posted by da_cfo
bump

C'mon Dermot. Get the US TV rights from Sky.

Whenever the next TV negotiations for the product come up, I'd imagine that NewsCorp will try to get worldwide rights through tax management. ESPN does hold the rights to a number of billiards and poker competitions initially televised by Sky.

[striker]

What game do them play in Ladbroke Poker Million 2004?

[pc4th]

Fox Sports Net got "Late Night Poker" showing at least in my region at 10:30 PM weeknights.

http://www.presentable.co.uk/html/news/news_release.html

[da_cfo]

Originally posted by striker
What game do them play in Ladbroke Poker Million 2004?

No Limit Texas Hold'em.

a.k.a. "The Cadillac of Poker"

Sky Sports UK will televise the preliminary "heats" (a.k.a. "satellites") starting in March, with the final to be televised LIVE on Sky Sports UK in July 2004.

http://www.ladbrokescasino.com/Poker/eng/masters2/masters2.htm

The joint betting favourites at 16-1, as set by Ladbrokes, are David "Devilfish" Ulliott (winner of 2003 WPT Jack Binion World Poker Open at Tunica, Mississippi) and Ram "Crazy Horse" Vaswani (a member of the infamous "Hendon Mob" along with Joe "The Elegance" Beevers and the Boatman brothers: Barny and Ross).

[da_cfo]

Originally posted by pc4th
Fox Sports Net got "Late Night Poker" showing at least in my region at 10:30 PM weeknights.

http://www.presentable.co.uk/html/news/news_release.html

Yup. I tape Late Night Poker EVERY NIGHT, usually off FOX Sports Net Northwest or FOX Sports Net West because it almost always airs at 10:30pm PT.

FOX Sports Net West 2 airs it at 12:30am PT so I always have a second chance to tape it if there is any screw-up.

The air times on FOX Sports Net Bay Area are all over the place.

----

Late Night Poker looks almost primitive by today's standards, but the low-budget production works for the bottom line.

The World Poker Tour (WPT) loses a ton of money because of its outrageous production cost of $250000-$300000 per 2-hour episode.

A bare-bones production could be done for 1/10th the price.

www.latenightpoker.tv

[striker]

Originally posted by da_cfo
No Limit Texas Hold'em.

a.k.a. "The Cadillac of Poker"


Is No Limit Texas Hold'em the premier game played around the world? I used to think it is just a US kind of game.

I love watch the poker matches on TV. However, after much viewing, I still cannot figure out the exact betting scheme. Is there a fixed ante or does it increase as the game progresses? I would love to read a basic description of the rules of the game.

[texgator]

It is different by tournament, but most all of them have escalating "blinds". Basically the first and second player dealt are required to bet a set amount "blind", or without knowing their hold cards. It is kind of like a rotating ante, but it also forces the other players to make a decision about staying in the hand. You won't get a free look at the "flop" cards, the first three community cards, you will have to at least match the second blind bet. Of course, the first and second position rotates around the table, one spot each hand. As players are eliminated, or as a certain time elapses, depending on the tourney rules, the blinds are increased. The blinds accomplish several things. One, like I wrote before it forces players to make a decision and doesn't allow them to stay in with junk. Two, it means a player can't just enjoy a free ride and only play really good hold cards, since they are forced to bet a small amount each time their turn comes around. A player will eventually bust out just from playing blinds if they play long enough. Third it can stimulate some early "action" on a hand.

[da_cfo]

In most no-limit hold'em tournaments, there is an ante in addition to the two blinds to the left of the dealer button.

The ante is usually added after the 4th level to 1) punish passive players and 2) to put more "dead money" in the pot before the cards are dealt so that the "big stack" who is in the "big blind" always has "pot odds" to call all-in bets made by a player with a "short stack" even if he has two garbage cards i.e. 2-7 offsuit (which actually wins 37% of pre-flop all-in showdowns against two high unpaired cards such as A-K or A-Q).

(Yes, I have lost with A-K or A-Q in all-in situations against random junk such as 2-7 and 3-8, probably way too many times. I have also been on the other end, eliminating players with A-K or A-Q with 2 garbage cards.)

===

As for cash games (instead of tournaments), most American card rooms offer LIMIT Texas Hold'em or LIMIT Omaha High-Low Split instead of no-limit hold'em.

In LIMIT games, the amount you can bet during each round is FIXED.

LIMIT Hold'em and NO-LIMIT Hold'em are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT games even though you are dealt 2 cards and you see 3 cards on the flop, another card on the turn, and another card on the river.

You can get away with playing "trouble hands" such as A-K (the biggest trouble hand of them all because so many players either overplay or misplay "big slick"), A-Q, A-J, A-T, K-Q, K-J, K-T, K-9, Q-J, Q-T, and Q-9 in limit hold'em without doing too much damage to your chip stack, but if you play those hands too often in NO-LIMIT Hold'em, you'll go broke very quickly.

Most European casinos prefer to offer POT Limit Omaha High (PLO) as the cash game of choice. PLO is the most volatile form of poker available.

On the Internet, however, NO-LIMIT Texas Hold'em is the cash game of choice in addition to being the poker tournament of choice.

NO-LIMIT Texas Hold'em tournament players on the Internet outnumber LIMIT Texas Hold'em players by about 10 to 1.

Only one LIMIT Hold'em tournament is on TV each year (WPT PartyPoker.com Million). The rest of the TV tournaments, in both the US and Europe, are all NO-LIMIT Texas Hold'em.

NO-LIMIT Hold'em tournament poker is simply the most dramatic and the most brutal psychological blood sport on TV today. Every player has the mentality of a serial murderer who plays to kill off their opponents.

The brutality of the sport, along with the outrageous bluffs (a.k.a. "moves") made by the players at key moments, are what drives the viewership.

Even though there are several "World Championships" being decided each year at the World Series of Poker (3 "World Championship" events in 2004: LIMIT Omaha High/Low Split, LIMIT 7-Card Stud, and NO LIMIT Texas Hold'em), the winner of the No Limit Texas Hold'em main event is recognized as THE "World Champion".

The last two "World Champions" in New York-based software engineer Robert Varkonyi and Tennessee -based accountant Chris Moneymaker were both recreational semi-pros (there are no "amateurs" in the sport of tournament poker because everyone plays for money. You are either a pro or a semi-pro if you play at least once a week. )

(My cash poker game of choice, like many players with math, science, business, or engineering backgrounds, is LIMIT Omaha High-Low Split because that form of poker is 90%+ mathematical. No-Limit Hold'em and Pot Limit Omaha High are way too volatile, even though I do occasionally play low buy-in no-limit Hold'em cash games against novices, or "fish", who mistakenly play cash games the way players play at the final table of a no-limit hold'em tournament. I am not a fan of limit hold'em because too many players approach that game like bingo. I do play no-limit hold'em tournaments because everyone who is someone in the sport, from the minor league semi-pro to the big buy-in pro, plays no-limit hold'em tournaments.)





Originally posted by texgator
It is different by tournament, but most all of them have escalating "blinds". Basically the first and second player dealt are required to bet a set amount "blind", or without knowing their hold cards. It is kind of like a rotating ante, but it also forces the other players to make a decision about staying in the hand. You won't get a free look at the "flop" cards, the first three community cards, you will have to at least match the second blind bet. Of course, the first and second position rotates around the table, one spot each hand. As players are eliminated, or as a certain time elapses, depending on the tourney rules, the blinds are increased. The blinds accomplish several things. One, like I wrote before it forces players to make a decision and doesn't allow them to stay in with junk. Two, it means a player can't just enjoy a free ride and only play really good hold cards, since they are forced to bet a small amount each time their turn comes around. A player will eventually bust out just from playing blinds if they play long enough. Third it can stimulate some early "action" on a hand.

[striker]

"The ante is usually added after the 4th level"

What is the 4th level?

[da_cfo]

Originally posted by striker
"The ante is usually added after the 4th level"

What is the 4th level?

Each ploker tournament has timed "levels" with the amount of "blinds" doubling at each level.

A typical no-limit hold'em tournament at a land-based card room will have levels similar to this:

(Level Small blind-Big blind Ante)

Level 1: 25-25 0
Level 2: 25-50 0
Level 3: 50-100 0
Level 4: 75-150 0
Level 5: 100-200 25
Level 6: 200-400 50
Level 7: 300-600 75
Level 8: 400-800 100
Level 9: 600-1200 200
Level 10: 800-1600 300
Level 11: 1200-2400 400
Level 12: 1500-3000 500

etc.

The levels can go anywhere from 10 minutes for a typical small buy-in Internet "Crapshoot" tournament to 2 hours at the main event of the World Series of Poker.

By adding an ante, the cost of playing an "orbit" of 9 or 10 hands (depending of the number of players at the table) go up dramatically. (An "orbit" is defined as one trip around the table for the dealer "button".)

Taking "level 8" above for example, instead of costing 1200 to play an orbit, it'll cost 2100 or 2200.

The cost of each orbit is also the amount of "dead money" in the pot before the cards are dealt.

If you start with only 2500 chips (typical for a short crapshoot tournament), you can see the dramatic difference an ante makes on tournament strategy.

You simply can't sit and wait for good starting hands forever.

You have to gamble and attempt to "steal" blinds and antes with marginal hands (and hope that you don't get called by someone with a big hand) in order to survive.

(Also note that you get to play more hands per hour on the Internet. A 10-minute level on the Internet is equivalent to a 15-minute level at a land-based card rooms. Most mid-major tournaments use 20-minute levels on the Internet and 30-minute levels at land-based card rooms.)

[striker]

Oliver,

Thanks a lot for the lesson. Here are a few more questions. If I understand it correctly, in the example of level eight that you used and assuming a table with 9 players, the player at position A (with the dealer button at position C) has to put in $400 before the cards are dealt. The player at position B has to put in $800, and the other players each has to ante up $100. Upon receiving the two down cards, the player at position A initiates betting. What if this player calls "check"? I presume it means a bet of $400 for players C to K (and player A does not have to put in any more money). What happens to player B? I presume he/she also does not have to put any more money into the pot since he already put in $800 before the cards are dealt.

If the levels are upped according to a time table and not rounds (orbits?) finished, does it favor any player at a particular position in the round, and does it affect how fast or slow a player may want to play (e.g., to avoid having to be the first or second blind at a higher level)?

This is fascinating!