Annie Duke Will Never Shill for WSOP.com

Late last week, news broke in the poker world that Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke were leaving their positions as sponsored team pros for the UB online poker site.* My initial reaction to the news was a big "Who gives a flying pig?" Generally speaking, I think endorsements are an overrated marketing strategy, so the mere fact a certain poker player or stable of players are affiliated with a particular online poker site really makes no difference to me. Seriously, does it matter to Joe Recreational Player if Phil Ivey or Tom Dwan is playing high stakes poker at the Bellagio or Aria? If not, then why should it matter that they play at a particular online poker site?

Several respected poker media members and poker insiders—most notably F-Train and Katkin—have engaged in a bit of informed speculation about why Hellmuth and Duke left UB, and where they'll likely sign their next deals. The consensus opinion seems to be that Hellmuth is a natural fit for the WSOP.com site, operated by Caesars Entertainment (f/k/a Harrah's Entertainment). Given Hellmuth's current record of WSOP bracelets and his visible presence in the poker media, it's hard to argue for a better landing spot for the Poker Brat. Whether a WSOP.com signing of Hellmuth portends optimism by Caesars for near-term online poker leglaization is a tougher nut to crack, but as F-Train points out, one rarely goes astray when following the money.

But what about Annie Duke? F-Train thinks Caesars / WSOP is a natural fit for Duke as well:

Duke also has significant ties to WSOP through her work for WSOP Academy. Her standing as one of the top female tournament players in history, along with her "celebrity tv" cross-over appeal, are good fits for WSOP. She would bring to the table what Hellmuth lacks in terms of corporate spokespersonship.

Katkin has similar thoughts about Duke, though a bit more guarded:

As for Annie — well that’s a little more complicated. I personally wouldn’t be surprised to see Annie end up joining the Caesar’s team alongside Phil as she too has a long-standing relationship with them as their lead WSOP Academy instructor. The thing is, I don’t know that Annie needs the spotlight as much as Phil does. In recent tournaments, she’s looked a little burned out while sitting at the table and, honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if she just takes a year off from the game to regroup and to work on one of her pet non-poker related projects.

Although I have great respect for F-Train and Katkin, personally, I can't see Annie Duke ever signing on to be a Caesars / WSOP representative. Why not?  Two words:  Ladies Event.

Although the longstanding WSOP Ladies Event has become controversial over the past several years, during the 2010 WSOP a small number of men decided to protest the event by playing in the event (and in some cases, being rather rude about it). During the ensuing firestorm of controversy, Annie Duke came out as strongly opposed to the Ladies Event being a WSOP bracelet event, a position she has long held. Although I may not completely agree with Duke's position, there is no question I respect her for holding a reasoned, principled position on the issue.

The problem with Duke's anti-Ladies Event position is that there really is no way to reconcile her position with  a possible paid position as an endorser and spokesperson for WSOP.com. The WSOP is the crown jewel in the Caesars poker empire, and the Ladies Event is an historic and popular event in the WSOP. As WSOP.com builds its presence in the United States poker market (whether through play money marketing or eventual real money play), there will almost certainly be marketing and promotions related to the WSOP Ladies Event. Ads and offers directed to known Caesars women live action poker players as well as freerolls or satellites feeding the Ladies Event are inevitable.** There is no question that Caesars would expect their paid spokesperson for women's poker to be an integral part of the marketing of the Ladies Event, and likely even require her to play in the event.

Say what you will about Annie Duke, she has always struck me as a person who stands firm on what she views as core principles. If Duke in fact signs on to be a spokesperson for Caesars / WSOP.com, she will have repudiated her entire argument against the Ladies Event for a few pieces of silver. I don't see Duke selling out like that, but maybe Caesars will find the right price for Duke's integrity. Only time will tell.

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* Now UB, of course, is the successor site to the scandal-ridden Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker sites, where high-profile cheating occurred via "superuser" accounts which enabled certain players—who were company insiders—to view their opponents' hole cards during live play (background on the Absolute Poker "PotRipper" scandal and the Ultimate Bet "Russ Hamilton" scandal for those of my readers who aren't in the online poker loop).  So, Hellmuth and Duke have certain credibility issues within the poker community for their continued association with UB post-scandals, particularly since they were long-time paid company representatives who may even have held an ownership stake at some point in time.

** Trust me, Caesars is quite good at leveraging its Total Rewards data for micro-marketing. I get plenty of gay-oriented email ads, as well as offers and promos related to poker and Midwestern residents. I may, in fact, be targeted as the sole professional, Midwestern, gay poker player in the Total Rewards database. Big Brother for degenerates ...

Meet the New Year, Same as the Old Year

Meet the new boss,
Same as the old boss.

—The Who, "Won't Get Fooled Again"

After a day of boring college football, I managed to sneak away for an evening poker session at the Meadows ATM.  For a holiday and Saturday night, the room was rather dead, with maybe four 1/2 NLHE games and two 3/6 LHE games.  But the action was decent, and the game was entertaining.  A few highlights and lowlights:

• Early on, I had a great read that two guys were weak, so a big river bluff with 9-high on a busted draw bought me a nice pot.  It's good to be back on that part of my game.
• I had Aces once (small win), Ks twice (medium loss, small win), and Queens once (big win).  I also had the Spanish Inquisition twice (two small losses) and the Deuce-Four twice (two small losses).  Clearly I am running bad so far this year.
• Speaking of running bad, I had 33 on the button, and called a preflop raise to $15, as did most of the table and the cocktail waiter.  I saw a trey in the door, which gave me that wonderful "flopped set" thrill, but I got downright tingly when the dealer showed two treys on the flop! Yahtzee!  Even better was getting a bet, raise, and small stack push for action, all before I made the very reluctant call.  Easy game.  Oh yeah, the run bad part of the hand. Unfortunately, my opponent did not have pocket Tens, which would have made quads on the river for a nice $60K+ bad beat jackpot.
• Still speaking of running bad, I managed to melt away my stack with three coolers:  Q5s for flopped trip 5s vs. K5s; 96s vs. J9o for flopped straight over straight; and QJs where I flopped top pair of Yaks, then turned trip Yaks, but my opponent turned the nut flush.
• I also threw in some play bad.  Notably, I tried to semi-bluff an ET, which sort of makes the play just a semi-draw.  Error.
• In the realm of the bizarre, a middle-aged guy at the table was eating his sandwich and fries, when all of sudden he spits out half a tooth which had broken off.  Seriously, a chunk of this guy's tooth was suddenly his new card capper.  Yuck.

There was a lot of fun chatter at the table, but the only exchange I really remember was on the hand where I had Queens.  The guy next to me walked a few steps away to take a phone call, when his buddy across the table raised me all-in on the flop.  I eventually made the call (the flop was low cards with possible straight and flush draws, and two pair or sets also possible).  The board went running threes, and my Queens were good (other guy did not show).  Phone Call Guy returns to the table to see me stacking chips and his buddy getting out money to rebuy:

Phone Call Guy:  "Wow!  What happened?"

Me:  "I had Queens."  [pause]  "He didn't."

Best wishes to all my readers for a happy, healthy, and positive-variance year!

Wine & Whine O' the Week (v. 1.16)—When The Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Surly

Over the holiday weekend, I played a session of 1/3 NLHE at the Horseshoe in Council Bluffs. I happened to be seated at a brand new table that opened as players busted out of the Sunday noon tournament.  The player seated to my immediate right was a young guy wearing the de rigueur baseball cap and hoodie, as well as a sullen frown; let's call him "Young Einstein".  Within minutes of the game starting, another young hoodie-wearing kid stopped by to inquire how Young Einstein busted out of the tournament, which led to this diatribe:

I had Ace-King suited on the button.  Some lady [well, a different word for a woman was used] raised to 400 from under the gun.  Blinds were only 100/200, so it wasn't much of a raise.  I made it 1400 to go, and she called. Flop was all rags, she checked, I bet 2000, and she min-raised.  I couldn't see how she could've hit the flop, so I pushed for like 12,000.  She called me and showed Seven-Deuce suited, for a pair of twos.  Seven-Deuce!  Can you believe that [expletive] [expletive]?!?  What a [expletive] [expletive] call!!

Yes, yes, I can see how someone calling with a better hand is a terrible play.  Wow, she was horrible to commit her stack with the best hand.  If it weren't for donkeys getting lucky like that, the good players would win 'em all.  It sucks that geniuses like Young Einstein have players like that lady keeping him down.

Now, within the next orbit or two, a hand came up where there were several limpers to Young Einstein who was in the small blind.  Young Einstein raised to $15, a bit on the high side for the table.  I was in the big blind and looked down to find Seven-Deuce of spades—the Velvet Hammer.  Given Young Einstein's tilt factor, I figured it was worth taking a gander at the flop.  Sure enough, the flop came out all rags, with a deuce.  Young Einstein bet, and I called.  Turn was another rag.  Young Einstein bet, and I min-raised.  Young Einstein muttered, but called.  The river was another rag. Young Einstein checked, I bet big, and Young Einstein agonized a long while before folding.

Young Einstein asked, "Jacks?  Tens?"  I smiled and said, "No, I got a monster" and rolled over my hand.  Young Einstein jerked back, then started muttering darkly about the usual, "How can you play that trash?" and "Twice in one [expletive] day."  Apparently, he failed to appreciate the irony of the situation.  Within a few hands, he had pushed preflop with a suited Ace-rag and busted out, whining all the way out of the poker room.

Our surly Young Einstein immediately reminded me of the faux-bounty given to me by Drizz after my WPBT fiasco—a bottle of Surly "Darkness" Russian Imperial Stout.

Surly Darkness is an exceptional example of the Russian Imperial Stout style of beer, with a very dark (almost black) color, strong molasses and espresso aroma, creamy head, and high alcohol content.  The flavors are dark chocolate, caramel, coffee, and sweet dark fruits—mainly raisins and figs, with a hint of blackberries and plums—with a definite bite of spice on the finish.  The hops are noticeable in the background, but they don't interfere with the smooth, easy drinking character of the beer.  Surly Darkness is an amazingly tasty, refreshing beer for those of you who aren't afraid of the dark.

Doing the Hokey Poker-y at the 'Shoe

You put your red chips in.
You put your red chips out.
You put your red chips in,
And you shake them all about.
You do the Hokey Poker-y and you change your bet around.
That's called an angle shot!

This weekend I played a 1/3 NLHE cash game session at the Horseshoe in Council Bluffs. After seven or eight years of playing live poker, I thought I had seen just about every possible poker rules issue.  I was wrong.  There truly is something new under the sun.

To provide the appropriate context, the Horseshoe has two rules which factor into this situation.  First, the 'Shoe uses a betting line, with any money put in the pot while action is pending being required to stay in the pot, even if the player made a mistake (e.g., player puts out a call, not seeing a raise; the call money must stay in the pot if the player folds). Unlike some poker rooms, however, the 'Shoe does not enforce any rule about chips crossing the line in the air; it's only chips in the pot that must stay in the pot. Second, there is this ridiculous house rule:

On called all-in bets, once all action is complete, all live hands must be tabled.  If the all-in action occurs prior to the river, all live hands must be tabled before the remaining board cards are dealt.

During the hand in question, there was a multi-way pot with a small preflop raise.  On the flop (J-9-7 with two to a flush), Yahoo #1 bet, Yahoo #2 raised, and Yahoo #1 was the only caller.  Now the Two Yahoos were two younger guys who had been jousting with each other and a couple of the other young guys at the table in fairly typical aggressive internet hoodie style.  The Two Yahoos clearly had some history and seemed to be gunning for each other.  Also, an important factor in the events was that the two Yahoos were across the table from each other, occupying Seats 3 and 8.

The drama occurred on the turn.  The turn card was a Jack, giving the board two Yaks to go with a variety of straight and flush draws.  Yahoo #1 checked.  Yahoo #2 thought, then grabbed roughly half a stack of red chips and crossed the betting line, started to cut off three red chips as if to bet $45-$60 (three or four stacks of $15 each), then stopped, took back his chips to his stack, and then pushed his entire stack of roughly $175  across the line while saying, "All-in" (he actually cut three chips, then picked up all his chips, put them on top of his stack, and pushed all of his chips into the pot).  Yahoo #1 immediately says, "Call" and triumphantly stands up and slaps down Ace-Jack.  The dealer was still looking at Yahoo #2's bet and says, "I can't let you make that bet."  Yahoo #2 pulls back his stack, and the dealer reaches out and grabs $45 in red chips from Yahoo #2's stack and says, "I'm going to hold you to this amount as your bet." Honestly, I think Yahoo #1 acted so quickly in calling, while the dealer was focused on Yahoo #2's strange action, that the dealer was oblivious to Yahoo #1's "call".  In any event, Yahoo #2 looked at Yahoo #1's hand, laughed, and mucked, taking back his remaining stack.

So, this is a fine kettle of fish.  Yahoo #2's action seems to be a pretty clear string bet.  But, it seems possible that he was angle-shooting, using the betting line rules to gain an advantage.  On the other hand, although Yahoo #2 said "all-in" and pushed his stack across the table, Yahoo #1 did act a bit precipitously in tabling his hand, even though it was required by house rule, prior to the dealer indicating action was on him or clarifying whether the all-in was a legal bet.  On the third hand, the dealer was slow to issue a ruling on a string bet and correct Yahoo #2's action prior to Yahoo #1's "call".

So, dear readers, what do you think?

• Should Yahoo #2's "all-in" stand?
• Should the dealer have handled things differently?
• Is Yahoo #1 at fault for tabling his cards?
• How should a floor rule if he is called to the table by Yahoo #1?

(Here are Robert's Rules of Poker for basic betting and no-limit betting, though this situation seems not to be contemplated within those rules).

Distributing Lumps of Coal at the Horseshoe

This weekend, I headed to west Nebraska for the holidays.  After a nice couple of days with the parents back on the family farm, I was more than ready to stop off at the Horseshoe for some poker on the way back home.  The room was busy for a Sunday evening, with four 1/3 NLHE games, two 3/6 LHE games, and a full 110-runner tournament.  I played in a no-limit game for about 12 hours and had an enjoyable evening.  A few of the more entertaining highlights:

• I played a rather tight game (for me), since the game was generally short-stacked and nitty.  I still managed to build up a stack, thanks in part to flopping set over set with AA vs. 44, then turning quad Aces.  Donkey Kong!  Also, I managed to flop trip Kings with AK, proving that even I can hit a flop with that ridiculous hand.
• In a hand I was not involved in, there was another flopped set-over-set, this time with KK vs. 33.  Of course, the treys turned quads.  Hilarity ensued.
• I did encounter a couple of coolers.  I flopped a set of 5s on a board of 5-6-7 with a flush draw, got it all-in against the monster draw; he hit his draw on the turn, and I missed the boat on the river.  Later, I had KhTh and got it all-in on the flop of Ts8h5h.  Turns out my opponent had AhQh.  Doh!  Sure enough, heart on the river.  Le sigh.
• A young kid sat down at the table, and clearly was inexperienced to live play.  He had trouble handling chips, figuring out raises, the usual newbie stuff.  But the best moment was when someone bet $50 into him, and he threw out a yellow chip—a 50-cent chip!
• In a weird hand with little in the way of Christmas spirit, a guy raised preflop, got a call from a fairly nitty older woman.  Flop was T-8-7, and the guy got annoyed when the lady check-raised him on the flop.  He pushed all-in, and was insta-called by the lady who rolled over J9s for the flopped nut straight.  The guy whined about terrible calls, then rolled over Kings.  Of course, the guy then goes running King-Ten for the full house.  Just as Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer was running though my head, a kid on his third buy-in pipes up, "That's justice! Justice for all the bad play at this table!"  The kid would bust out (again) and leave muttering within the hour.   His departure certainly spread some peace and goodwill at the table! 

My favorite moment of the evening, however, occurred when I was involved in a rare, multiway monsterpotten.  I had limped in late position with JdTd.  When the button raised, there were five callers to a flop of 6-7-8 with two diamonds.  I liked my monster draw, so I checked along with the rest of the players to the preflop raiser, who threw out a small c-bet of about 1/4 pot.  The small blind, a friendly but talkative young kid, smooth-called.  It folded to me, and I put in a $100 raise as a semi-bluff. The button folded, and the kid started chatting, trying to get a read on me.  He kept jabbering away, and I initially ignored him, but we finally had this exchange:

Kid:  "I got a big hand."

Me:  "Then get your chips in the middle."

Kid:  "Did you flop a straight?"

Me:  "Do I need a straight?"

Kid:  "I can beat two pair."

Me:  "Then yes, I have a straight."

Kid:  "I know I'm ahead here."

Me:  "The book says if you're ahead, you should raise."

Kid:  "What book?  I haven't read any poker books."

Me:  "It's available as a comic book."

The Kid laughed.  Then he got serious again:

Kid:  "Dude, I have pocket Sevens!"

Me:  "Sure you do."

Kid:  "Seriously, I have pocket Sevens!"

Me:  "Well, you're playing them very badly."

The Kid folded his "pocket Sevens".

Christmas truly is the most wonderful time of the year!