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Date: 2005.11.23
23:24:08 +08'00'
 editor’s letter
www.bluffmagazine.com

EDITORIAL STAFF

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF • Michael Caselli
FEATURES EDITOR • Phillip Conneller
ASSISTANT EDITOR • Nick Wright
ART
CREATIVE DIRECTOR • D’Yanna Morris McDowell
ART DIRECTOR • Franklin Bachrach
SENIOR DESIGNER • Josh Puckett
I
s it the WSOP again? No, it’s Christmas, officially our second
favorite holiday. Christmas may not involve as many parties,
celebrity poker players or cash as the WSOP, but we’ve been
doing Christmas since I was a kid, and I only started celebrating
WSOP a few years ago. But in the spirit of the times, I have decid-
ed to forgo my usual editor’s letter and provide you with a sentiment
that combines the best of both seasons.

BLUFF MEDIA, LLC ‘Twas The Poker Night Before Christmas

PUBLISHER • Eric Morris
CO-PRESIDENTS • Eddy Kleid, Eric Morris ‘Twas the poker night before Christmas, and all through the room,
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The blinds moved up quickly and always too soon.
The cards were dealt sharply and the dealers all fair,
Knowing in big pots their tips would be there.
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I’d just settled down with the second big stack,
BLUFFMAGAZINE.COM When what in my trembling hand did I score?
VP OF ONLINE OPERATIONS • Jeff Markley But two pocket aces and a board with two more.
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FOCUS MEDIA & MARKETING • Ken Shoemaker I read my opponents; I read them all quick,
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I pushed my stack forward and the big stack did call,
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A king pair! A flush Draw! Jack pair and king high!
US SALES & DISTRIBUTION DIVISION A smile! A chuckle! A smirk and a sigh!
Bluff Media
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info@bluffmedia.com

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PUBLISHED BY BLUFF MEDIA

© Bluff Media 2005. All material is strictly copyrighted,
and all rights are reserved. Reproduction without
permission is forbidden. Every care has been taken in
compiling the contents of this magazine, but we assume
no responsibility for the effects arising there from. The
views expressed herein are not necessarily those of
the publisher. Printed in USA.

6 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005 www.bluffmagazine.com

Starring:
BLUFF MAGAZINE CONTRIBUTORS
DECEMBER 2005
with special guests:
Clonie
Gowen Jeff
pg. 105 Gordon
pg. 74

Annie
Duke Phil
pg. 60 Hellmuth
pg. 42
Mike
Caro
pg. 100 Courtney
Friel
pg. 36

Jennifer
Tilly
Phil pg. 52
Laak Antonio
pg. 67 Esfandiari
pg. 63 Lyle Berman
Edward pg. 94
Moncada
Kenna pg. 26
James
pg. 48 ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Marcel Luske, Michael Mizachi, Rob Huxley, Jim Weaver,
Bryan Bailey, Carl Sampson, Rich Ferguson, Alex Kahaner,
Jennifer L. Leo, James Ernest, Mike Selinker, Adam Small

www.bluffmagazine.com DECEMBER 2005 BLUFF 7

 c ntents
DECEMBER 2005 VOL 1 ISSUE 10
By Amy Calistri

www.bluffmagazine.com

[FEATURES]
94 In the Beginning – Lyle Berman
recalls the founding of the WPT and
tells us how to live life to the full

42 PRO-file – Bluff shares a whine or

two with living legend Phil Hellmuth

85 Holiday Gift Guide – The

essential poker stocking-fillers

90 Christmas Wishes – What

our heroes want this Christmas
and their New Year’s poker
resolutions

COVER STORY
Jeff Gordon – Jeff teams up with Chris 74 36 Courtney Friel – Shana who?
Bluff fawns over the new face of
the WPT >>
Moneymaker and Harrah’s for a good cause.

[THRILLS]
16 Poker Skinny – Gossip from the all-new 28 Online Report – The Who’s Who of cyberspace
Bird on the Rail
30 Surfer Dude – Everyone’s favorite cyber-surfer
18 Bluff Power Rankings – Who’s top of the does it again
poker pyramid?
32 Room Review – Why Bluff loves The Aviation Club
21 Upcoming Events – Where you need to be
this December 35 Dealers Choice – Join The Hux at the
Dealer Olympics and see what ‘flair’ dealing
22 Bluff Updates – Loads of Bluff Stuff is all about

26 Rising Star – Check – Bolivia introduces the 119 Poke Fiction – Is Cowboy Matteson the greatest
hottest new players in poker – catch them here first bad guy since Darth Vader? My wife thinks so...

8 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005 www.bluffmagazine.com

c ntents
52
[PRO-SPECTIVE]
48 Kenna’s Korner – More pearls of
wisdom from a man in a Stetson
52 Jennifer Tilly – This one’s a
masterpiece. Just read it!
60 Poker Girl – Why Annie’s a fish
in Aruba
63 Poker Like a Rock Star –
Barcelona: Antonio loses his bags and
gains a wad of cash
67 Phil Laak – The Unabomber meets
the next generation
70 Tilt Boys – The Complete Angler
SPECIAL CREDIT:
Cover photography by Troy Plota
10 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005
www.bluffmagazine.com
42
[WISDOM]
100 Mike Caro – More from the
Mad Genius: always a must-read
103 In Their Head – KrazyKanuck goes
all in on the first hand. Is he Krazy?
105 Ask Clonie – Don’t worry, Clonie
Gowen has the answers
108 Fish Food – We’ve got a live one here! 100
109 WPT Bootcamp – Tip of the month
110 Fish Quiz – If you can’t spot the dufus,
leave the table
112 Michael Mizrachi On... – Knowing
your opponent and tournament strategy
115 Marcel Luske – Focusing, learning
from the pros and respecting the table
107 Strange Games – Learn to play
freaky poker
117 Chip Tricks and Card Stunts –
Bamboozle your opponents, with Rich Ferguson 115
www.bluffmagazine.com
 THRILLS the thrill of poker > > > > > >

Not a bad
four days
work.

– DAN HARRINGTON
When told about his prize
by Mike Sexton

THE
WINNER
>>
MINH LY

14 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005 www.bluffmagazine.com

The Doyle Brunson
North American Championship
at the Bellagio
BUY-IN: $10,000 + $200

TOTAL PRIZE POOL: $4,074,000

# OF ENTRIES: 420

THE FINAL TABLE

No Limit Hold’em - Bellagio
1. Minh Ly $1,060,050 (Seat 2)
2. Dan Harrington $620,730 (Seat 3)
3. Gavin Smith $327,610 (Seat 5)
4. Don Zewin $189,630 (Seat 4)
5. Jan Sorensen $137,940 (Seat 6)
6. Tony Grand $96,560 (Seat 1)

DECEMBER 2005 BLUFF 15

 THRILLS poker skinny

Bird on the Rail By Jennifer L. Leo

There’s a new bird in town! Bluff is delighted to welcome Jennifer Leo to the fold.
And believe us, she’s just as tuned in to the poker scene as the last one. Here’s all
the best babble from the poker world.

HOT BABES
GET HOOKED
ON POKER usic diva Mariah Carey is playing cards – and

M winning! The singer known for dominating the

billboards in the 90s with chartbusting hits Love
Takes Time and I’ll Be There won $27,000 at the opening
of Tao at the Venetian. She was at Vegas’s hottest new
nightclub for producer Jermaine Dupri’s birthday party.
On the Hollywood front, Cameron Diaz might give
Jennifer Tilly a run for her money at next year’s WSOP
Ladies Event. Diaz claims to be “hooked” on poker, has
taken her lumps in rebuy tournaments,
and gives comedienne Ellen Degeneres all
the credit for teaching her Texas Hold’em. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
You show them, Cameron, there are no “THE U.S.
angels at the poker table! VERSES
THE WORLD”
‘NATIONAL • • • • • • • • •
Continuing their rela- POKER’S
HEADS-UP tionship with Fox Sports
News, Full Tilt Poker shot MOST
POKER a new TV show at the
ELIGIBLE
CHAMPIONSHIP’ Palms in December. The
MOVES TO program, The U.S. Versus
the World, will consist of BACHELORETTE
The mere mention of Isabelle Mercier’s presence
CAESARS PALACE two teams made up of
makes most male poker enthusiasts weak in the
both professional and
amateurs. Full Tilt Poker knees. But who is her lucky guy? We can’t get a read
“The National Heads-Up Poker Championship,” is sponsoring the show, on the mysterious Mercier. Word on the street is that
in which American poker she’s single. Is she? The most beautiful member of
which brings together 64 of the world’s best play-
players will have it out Team Poker Stars was seen being chummy with Luca
ers competing in a unique one-on-one, single- Pagano at the European Poker Tour in London. In a
against players from an
elimination, bracket-style format, will move to international team. It airs recent interview, Isabelle gave us a hint as to what
Caesars Palace. NBC will broadcast 10 hours of on FSN in January and she’s looking for in a guy, “Most of the poker players
tournament action over six shows next April and February, both in the I meet are either very old or very young. There are not
United States and in many guys of, say, 30 to 35 who are good-looking,
May. Phil Hellmuth won the inaugural tournament nice, interesting, and reliable.” So, Isabelle… have you
select countries abroad.
held earlier this year at the Golden Nugget. met anyone that fits that bill? Come on, give us a tell…

16 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005 www.bluffmagazine.com

 THRILLS

OH MR. CASINO MAN, I’VE GOT

EXPERT INSIGHT!
Poker pro Andy Bloch, who won the $10k buy in at the 2005 Ultimate Poker
Challenge, has gone back to his blackjack roots and teamed up with Expert Insight for
a new DVD. Andy is a former member of the infamous M.I.T. Blackjack team that took
casinos down for more than $3mil as featured in the bestselling book Bringing Down
the House. Expert Insight: Beating Blackjack with Andy Bloch ($24.95,
ExpertInsight.com), is the second in the EI series of instructional DVDs, and takes the
viewer into Andy’s mind to get the lowdown on basic strategy, card counting, team play,
and camouflage play. Production and promotion of the DVD has taken Andy a smidge
off his tournament poker play, but he still expects to be at all the TV tournaments in
2006. Look for him at the 2006 WSOPC in Tunica, and the WPT at the Commerce,
where he’s made the money the past three years.

THE PARTY’S OVER THREE IN

FOR PARTY POKER’S PARTNERS
op online poker site PartyPoker.com voluntarily
T (though without warning) shut its site down recent-
ly, and cut all of its network partners (called skins)
off from playing on the Party Poker Network. Essentially,
a ‘skin’ is a sister site where players can register, and
have an account, but also play against players on the main
site (in this case, Party). Many top internet players were
left out in the cold, as they had long grown used to play-
ing against the softer competition on Party Poker, but
doing so with the perks that some of the sister sites
offered that Party did not. Internet poker forums lit up
with discussion on the move, which is expected to drive
the players seeking softer action back into the Party fold.
A ROW FOR
POKERSTARS?
PokerStars.com was the
online home of the 2003 World
Champion (Moneymaker), and
the 2004 Champ (Raymer).
After a recent party in New
York City to launch their
PokerStars Caribbean Adventure tournament, tongues are wagging that
PokerStars might have snared its third champion in a row. Current world
champ Joe Hachem was at the party, dressed in a PokerStars shirt, and
taking photos with the rest of “Team PokerStars”, which includes
Moneymaker, and Raymer. In addition, there was a 20-foot-high poster of
Hachem wearing a PokerStars shirt on one of the walls. At press time, no
one from PokerStars could confirm the signing, but sources at the online
poker giant called the signing “imminent”.

FOR YOUR BOOKSHELF….

It’s no surprise that the poker craze that has swept the world in the past two years would light the book world on fire.
USA Today reported that Cardoza Publishing, best known for Super System by Doyle Brunson, grew their catalog to 60
poker books in 2005. Naturally, the most business-minded faces in the poker world are broadening their branding to the
literary platform as well. Here are a few hot new books to add to your collection.
Annie Duke : How I Raised, Folded, Lyle Berman’s name may be unfa-
Bluffed, Flirted, Cursed, and Won miliar to you, but his company
Millions at the World Series of Poker is shouldn’t be, Berman is the CEO of
a refreshingly honest look at Annie’s Lakes Entertainment Inc. that
life and play in the 2004 World Series. founded the World Poker Tour,
She digs deep with how she’s had to which he also resides as Chairman
rebuild her skills and mental attitude of the Board. Berman’s new book,
towards in the changing face of the I’m All In: Lyle Berman and the Birth
game, and still come out a winning of the World Poker Tour released in
player. This is definitely a book about November and lets us into his
Annie, Veteran players should look world, his take on the game and
elsewhere if they’re looking for advice what has become a growing global
on how to play. Newbie poker players, phenomenon. Check out Bluff’s
however, should step right up. exclusive excerpt, page 94.

www.bluffmagazine.com DECEMBER 2005 BLUFF 17

 upcoming tournaments THRILLS

2005 4th Annual Five Diamond World Poker Classic

Dates: November 29th, 2005 to December 16th, 2005
Location: Bellagio Hotel Casino, Las Vegas, NV Information: 702-693-7111
Day Date Type of Event/Results Buy-in/Entry Day Date Type of Event/Results Buy-in/Entry

Tue.-Wed. 11/29-11/30 No-Limit Hold’em $1,500+$70 Tue.-Wed. 12/06-12/07 No-Limit Hold’em $2,500+$100
No Rebuy No Rebuy
Wed.-Thur. 11/30-12/01 No-Limit Hold’em $2,000+$80 Wed.-Thur. 11/07-11/08 No-Limit Hold’em $3,000+$100
No Rebuy No Rebuy
Thur.-Fri. 12/01-12/02 No-Limit Hold’em $2,500+$100 Thur.-Fri. 12/08-12/09 No-Limit Hold’em $5,000+$150
No Rebuy No Rebuy
Fri.-Sat. 12/02-12/03 No-Limit Hold’em $3,000+$100 Fri.-Sun. 12/09-12/11 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em $2,500+$100
No Rebuy No Rebuy
Sat.-Sun. 12/03-12/04 No-Limit Hold’em $5,000+$150 Sat. 12/10 No-Limit Hold’em Super $1,500+$70
No Rebuy Satellites - No Rebuy
Mon.-Tue. 12/05-12/06 No-Limit Hold’em $2,000+$80 Sun. 12/11 No-Limit Hold’em Super $1,500+$70
No Rebuy Satellites - No Rebuy
Mon. 12/05 No-Limit Hold’em $1,500+$70 Mon. 12/12-12/16 No-Limit Hold’em $15,000+$300
No Rebuy Championship Count

2005 WSOP Circuit Event

Dates: November 28th to December 9, 2005 Day Date Type of Event/Results Buy-in+Entry Fee
Location: Showboat Casino, Atlantic City, NJ
Sat. 12/03 No-Limit Hold’em $1,000+$80
Information: 609-343-4000
Sun. 12/04 No-Limit Hold’em $200+$30
Day Date Type of Event/Results Buy-in+Entry Fee
Mon. 12/05 No-Limit Hold’em $200+$25
Mon. 11/28 No-Limit Hold’em $300+$40
Tue. 12/06-09 No-Limit Hold’em $9,700+$300
Tue. 11/29 No-Limit Hold’em $500+$60
Wed. 11/30 No-Limit Hold’em $500+$60 *Super Satellites will take place at 8PM nightly (except 12/5 –12PM)
$200+$25 Buy-In.
Thur. 12/01 No-Limit Hold’em $500+$60 **Mega-Super Satellite on Mon. 12/5, $1,000+$60 Buy-In.
Fri. 12/02 No-Limit Hold’em $500+$60

www.bluffmagazine.com DECEMBER 2005 BLUFF 21

 THRILLS bluff update

BLUFF POKER RADIO

Bluff Poker Radio now 2 hours!
Join Bluff Magazine’s Nick Geber and Dirty Wally for the nation’s ONLY syndicated Poker radio show!
Tune in every Wednesday evening (8PM EST / 5PM PDT). Bluff Poker Radio can be heard on Sports
Byline USA affiliates, Sirius Satellite Radio (channel 122), the American Forces Radio Network, and via
the web at:
WWW.BLUFFMAGAZINE.COM/RADIO
RECENT HIGHLIGHTS
JAMES WORTH FREDDY DEEB
(UB’S “I had a great vacation and
KRAZYKANUCK) made a million dollars.”
“If people are actually — Freddy Deeb on his trip to
working together online it’s Aruba
much easier for the site,
based on the software, to pick up “In the old days I would be
and counter that than it would be in a tournament, and I see a
even in a live game. It’s a lot easier to good cash game on the side, I
catch online. It’s arguably one of the just can’t wait to throw my
safest areas to play.” chips off and go play in the
-— KrazyKanuck on cheating online cash game. Last year I changed
my mind.”
—Freddy Deeb on tournament
poker.

Dirty Wally says:

Dirty Wally's name.What's in a name? Why
Dirty Wally? For 72 years, starting as a teenager,
we were 5 friends -a gang so to speak, but not
the little rascals. We were called the
Dirty Six. Together we enlisted in the
service just before World War 2. We
were gung ho, happy go lucky depres-
sion time punks serving together. Then along
came the war and we all ended up fighting on the
same island called Guadalcanal (ed. note - Bluff thinks
maybe Gettysburg) . We played lots of poker. They
always got aces and eights. I always got the Joker. The
Joker must have been the nutz because I was the only
one of the gang that survived. After the war I started to
play for a living - the only way I knew how to support 5
wives (not at one time). I won my first tournament at
Stardust where my number one friend Bob “Silver
Eagle” Thompson, the Tournament Director, named me
“Dirty Wally” because my play is from a dirty, horny
old man who loves women. They keep me alive after
all these years. Now I'm stuck with the name and I
love it. I played for my buddies, for my gang so
why change it? Let's play some poker!
Note: Supposedly, Wally showers every day. His
Ladies tell us so. He is still looking for chicks to
spend his money on - they must enjoy poker.

22 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005 www.bluffmagazine.com

 THRILLS rising star

Check by Ed “Bolivia” Moncada

DANIEL ALAEI
HOMETOWN >>> Los Angeles
WHO TAUGHT YOU HOW TO PLAY? Father
WHICH PLAYER DO YOU MOST RESPECT? Gabe Thaler
FAVORITE FORM OF POKER? NL Cash games and tourneys

M
ost 23-year-olds wouldn’t
have the first idea what to
do if they were to sit in one
of the $50/$100 No Limit
games around Vegas and
Los Angeles. They’d be tak-
ing a shot, risking an
amount of $$$ on the table
that would clearly be incorrect relative to
their bankroll. In fact, most professional
players wouldn’t feel too comfortable at these
stakes either. This isn’t the case with Danny
Alaei. This kid looks as cool and composed as
can be in the big games, and with good rea-
son – he’s been crushing them. Don’t believe
me? Ask any of the regular players in the
$50/$100 games just who the dominating
sharks are and Danny will be on the list. How
many guys his age do you think have won
pots over $100k, or lost $25k in one hand?
Danny didn’t rocket into the bigger games
overnight. He’s put in his time, having spent
two years in the Bay Area playing regularly
in sizable No Limit Hold’em games at Lucky
Chances in South San Francisco. The Lucky
Chances games are the No Limit training
grounds that produced top players Antonio
Esfandiari and Phil Laak, among others.
Like many other young players, Danny pol-
ished his tournament game online. But it’s in
the last year or so that he’s really started put-
ting serious effort into live tournaments, with
immediate and impressive results. Danny
cashed in the last two main events of WSOP,
already has a couple first place preliminary
event wins under his belt, and most recently, a
four-way chop for first at the main event of the
California State Poker Championships at the
Commerce Casino. As a clear candidate to
break through in one of the major televised
events, I’ll be very surprised if Danny doesn’t
make it onto your screens in the next year.

A
NOAH BOEKEN
t 24 years old, Noah Boeken has a
life most his age could only dream
of. He is the close friend and pro-
tégé of Marcel Luske, thus placing
himself in the lineage of European
poker royalty. He resides in one of
Marcel’s “modest” abodes in
Amsterdam (apparently right next to the swanki-
est club in town), and travels around the world at
a whim just to play cards.
However, like many other young players, Noah
paid his dues early on as an online player. Playing
under the online handle “Exclusive”, he’s consid-
ered one of the top online tournament players.
Now he’s aiming to make an impression on the
worldwide circuit as well. Having taken first place
at this year’s EPT main event in Copenhagen,
picking up a cool $191,000, as well as a final table
finish (ninth) in the $2,500 limit event at this
AGE: 24
HOMETOWN: Amsterdam, Holland
YEARS PLAYING POKER: 4
FAVORITE FORM OF POKER: NL tourna-
ments, Former Magic player (strategic
card game)
year’s World Series of Poker, it looks like he’s off
to a good start.
Noah is the kind of guy who plays hard and,
well…plays hard, both at and away from the
tables. During tournament times you’ll often
find him sporting table service at any one of the
premier night clubs in Las Vegas, typically
accompanied by a who’s who list of close bud-
dies like Marcel, David Williams, Antonio
Esfandiari, and the Mizrachi brothers, among
others. It appears Marcel’s social graces have
rubbed of on the young gun.
Photo courtesy of PokerListings.com

26 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005 www.bluffmagazine.com

 THRILLS online report
PocketFives.com
ONLINE REPORT
The PocketFives.com player rankings are compiled based on a number of criteria, the most important of which being that the top ranked play-
ers must be consistently playing and succeeding in the biggest online tournaments. Top players’ opinions are regularly sought on who the best
players are, but the main source of information is the rigorous observation of tournaments on a daily basis by the PocketFives staff. Rankings
are updated weekly to reflect recent results, but the players at or near the top have all been proving their abilities over a longer period of time.
T
hree players have recently moved into the top ten in the
PocketFives.com online tournament player rankings.
DoubleLucky and Soupie have both been there before,
and neither has dropped out of the top 15 in the last sev-
eral months, but there’s a newcomer to the list:
iMsoLucky0. This 21-year-old phenom has taken the
online tournament scene by storm, winning tourna-
ments left and right, and he doesn’t take prisoners – you will rarely
see the kid finish second, third, or anything else besides first when
he reaches the final table.
IMsoLucky0 has already won satellites into several big live tour-
naments, and he recently had his first cash in a WPT event, the
$10,000 Doyle Brunson North American Championship. He had pre-
viously won many large prizes online, including a $50k cash on
PartyPoker in their Million Dollar Guaranteed Tournament.
Soupie has been red hot lately, including several wins in the
biggest $10 rebuy you will find anywhere; PokerStars has recently
Top Ranked Online Tournament Players:
1. JohnnyBax – It’s hard to dispute that JohnnyBax is the top
online tournament player this year. He can consistently be found
at the final tables of $100+ tournaments on all the major sites.
He also won a 2005 WSOP bracelet in 7-card stud.
2. SamENole, a.k.a Matt Smith – A recent college gradu-
ate who has been consistently beating online poker for over a
year. He picks his spots well and rarely gets his chips in without
the best hand. Matt finished second in the $1,000 NL Hold’em at
the 2005 WSOP.
3. TheBeat, a.k.a Pete Giordano – TheBeat has finished
in the top five of the PokerStars tournament leaderboard each of
the last three years.His consistency is rarely matched by other
players. He also has a WPT final table under his belt.
4. Sheets, a.k.a Eric Haber – A backer for “The Crew” in
the 2004 WSOP and master of the rebuy tournament, he also
gets his share of final tables in freezeouts. One of the most
aggressive and fearless players on the net.
5. Leggggggggggy – A real “old school” player, who was
around the game long before its popularity surged. He plays a
tight-aggressive style, rarely making mistakes, and that style
lands him at several final tables every week.
28 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005
increased their nightly guarantee to $45k every day of the week, and
the prizepool is typically between $60k and $70k. Somehow, Soupie
manages to fight his way through approximately 1,500 competitors
to the final table approximately twice per month. DoubleLucky has
just been flat out consistent. He had an enormous win of $121k on
Pokerroom a few months ago, but he is one of the best at just always
being at the final table in the biggest tournaments, particularly on
UltimateBet and Full Tilt, sites he prefers to play on because of their
slow blind structures that allow for skilful post-flop play.
Another player who has been flat out killing it lately is
JOEYTHEB, who has won five Foxwoods packages on Paradise Poker,
each worth $11.5k. While he generally only plays on Paradise, he has
been consistent enough there to be one of the biggest overall win-
ners in online tournament poker, with over $90k in winnings in just
the last six weeks (starting at the beginning of September).
And predictably, JohnnyBax and SamENole are doing more of the
same, both consistently winning several tournaments every week…
6. Gank, a.k.a Brett Jungblut – A former member of “The
Crew” and one of the best all-around players on the net, regular-
ly showing prowess in many different types of tournament,
including Hold’em, Omaha, and Omaha 8/b. He won a WSOP
bracelet in 2004 in the $5k Omaha 8/b event.
7. Gator93 – A full time professional online player, who has
won satellites to virtually every live event he’s entered in the last
year. He has had two cashes over $40k in 2005.
8. DoubleLucky – One of the most consistent players online,
DoubleLucky plays fewer tournaments than others in the Top Ten
but still produces strong results on a regular basis. He won the
PokerRoom “Grand” $1000 tournament in July 2005, worth $121k.
9. iMsoLucky0, a.k.a Jordan Morgan – This 21 year old
phenom has truly taken over the online tournament scene. His
poker genius is matched by few, but it’s his fearlessness that
makes him the most dangerous – he’s willing to risk his whole
stack at any time.
10. Soupie – A regular winner of some of the biggest daily tour-
naments on all of the major sites, he is one of the most studious
players to be found, and rarely makes mistakes, which is
an advantage when trying to work through over 1,000 competitors.
www.bluffmagazine.com
 A LOOK AT… JOEYTHEB > >
Quick Glance
Favorite Site: Paradise (by far)
Least Favorite: Party Poker
Favorite Game: No Limit Hold’em
Worst Game: Blackjack
Favorite Online Player: hoodini10 (my nephew)
Best Online Player: bax (by far!)
Biggest Win: Paradise Sun 100k back to back wins (60k)
Best Week: A couple of weeks ago: 2 WPT Foxwoods Seats;
2 wins, Paradise Atlantic $300 tourney; 7th, 100k Paradise
tourney; 8th, 17th, 45th, 50k Paradise tourney; 1st, $30
Paradise Ocean tourney; plus three cashes in Paradise 20k
tourney (can’t remember placing).
Worst week: After the World Series, I only cashed in the
money twice that week!

M
y nickname has been JOEYTHEB since my childhood days, most-
ly from the football field. When I was 12, my father died of a heart
attack and I learned very young about the ups and downs of life.
I come from a large family of eight children (one brother, six sis-
ters) and work for our family business. I am married with two
children (Danielle and Joeytheb Jr). I feel I am so fortunate to have
such a great family, especially my mom and wife. They truly are
a big part of my success. My kids are the absolute pride and joy.
I also spend a lot of my free time coaching baseball and wrestling trying to instil
the same animal instinct I played with for years. I enjoy watching the kids grow
up into competitive athletes.
I began playing poker only three years ago. My wife got put on bed rest when
she was pregnant with our son and I was stuck home with her as her nurse. I
found plenty of time to kill and decided to join ParadisePoker.com. My first tour-
ney was the 30 rebuy (20k) on Paradise. After rebuying at least four times, I fin-
ished 208th. I loved the game, but I needed to work at it big time. I began to read
lots of books by the pros and play, play, play! My first big win came on Paradise
for a seat into the WPT Championship (25k buyin for 250 bucks), where I drew a
first day table with Doyle Brunson, Ron Rose and Dewey Tomko, and on day two
I had Dave Williams, Phil Ivey, Eric Lindgren, the Grinder and Greg Raymer! All
that and I was able to place 47th and cash for 37k. Priceless experience. I also
play a lot in live tourneys in Atlantic City (Borgata, Taj, Harrah’s). I‘m currently
ranked 33rd in the world of online poker by PocketFives.com and plan on mak-
ing it to the top ten soon. My goal is to win a WPT event or a World Series bracelet.
It’s funny to be called a pro by some people, but I’m easily getting used to it!

www.bluffmagazine.com DECEMBER 2005 BLUFF 29

 THRILLS surfer dude

Mojo Secrets
I
by Bryan Bailey
n last month’s issue, I was trying to convince you – my dear reader – to buy
me poker stuff. So unconvincing was I that nothing, diddlysquat - showed up
in my editor’s office labeled “To the dude”. But it’s cool — really. If you’re
strapped for cash, I can relate. I’m not here to leach off of your good will, or
to beg. I know what it’s like to be cheap. In a previous life, I was pretty
cheap too.
But then I may be getting ahead of myself. Perhaps by the time these
words are printed, there are some little surprises waiting for me. Chances “ Yes, intimidate and antagonize
are, they weren’t from you – and guilt can be a difficult thing to deal with. Just think your opponents – even if you’re
about how much money you spent on this magazine, and then think about how
much the advice or guidance I have given you by now (first time readers should playing your buddies at home.
order previous issues). Am I being manipulative, or just plain annoying? Or maybe, What the hell — you want their
I’m just messin’ with your mind.
I’ve mentioned this before, how poker is a mind trip – and how it’s important to money too, so screw ‘em.”
be able to mess with people’s minds during the game. At least I think so. Just look
at some of the professional players and see what they do. Chillin’ sunglasses and
baseball caps – scary mannerisms – facial tics – annoying poker garb; it’s all there
to mess with your mind.
CHECK ‘EM OUT
Yes, intimidate and antagonize your opponents – even if you’re playing your bud-
dies at home. What the hell — you want their money too, so screw ‘em. It’s time for
some psychological operations. Rumor has is during the 100 years war, Edward III
had his armor, as well as the armor for his knights and nobility, fitted with larger
than life cod-pieces. Why? Because in those days (1350s or so) a large manhood was
directly related to one’s prowess, cunning, and vigor on the battlefield. The site of
the large cod pieces sent the French soldiers scurrying away. Hell, I would run too.
But at the poker table, you’re sitting down. No need to fit your Levis with a cod-
piece unless you want to look like a pervert. And if you’re a female, you’d just look
like some whacked out bitch. (note to editor: you may want to replace the word bitch
with “sicko” since it may offend some female readers. Your call. It just sounded good
and earthy and it came out naturally). (Note from editor: Nah, I’ll leave it in, and
then leave this in, and then everyone can blame you)
So, how about something equally intimidating that both boys and girls can use?
Try using Poker Card Protector Coins. After taking a peek at your cards, and you
place them gently back on the table, whip out one of these coins and slap it down
Card-Sharx.com
on top of your cards. Besides protecting your cards from accidentally flipping over
as you reach for that beer, you’ll look like a pro. Actually, you’ll look more than just
a pro, you’ll look intimidating as hell. You’ll have that “I’m gonna bust out a can of
Texas Hold’em whoop ass,” look.
Where can you find these coins? Check out the coins at Card-Sharx.com,
www.card-sharx.com. They have over 50 to choose from – all listed at $24.99. Some
really smart designs and themes are available – cowboys, skulls, trains, planets,
snowmen and Route 66, are but just a few.
And if what you want isn’t there, if you have your own idea for a stylin’ coin,
check out Monterey Coins at www.montereycoins.com where they will design coins
at your whim for a modest fee.
For an added touch of some personal mojo at the table, ask the players if
they wouldn’t mind if you invited a guest. Before they fully answer, whip out a
bobblehead of one of your favorite poker players – for instance Phil “The
Unabomber” Laak, and place it on the table next to you (these can be found at Card- MontereyCoins.com
Sharx.com as well). State that he is there merely to observe and to give you advice
after the game. Warning: this will only work at home with people you know. If you The “Dude” is a professional lurker and casual
do this at a public table, you’ll probably just piss a lot of people off. observer who has not lost his mojo.
But nevertheless, pull these off with nary an emotion (think like a Vulcan), and www.thedudepoker.com
you’ll be messin’ with their minds and perhaps be messin’ with their game as well.

30 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005 www.bluffmagazine.com

 THRILLS room review

The Aviation Club>>

DE FRANCE, PARIS
TEN REASONS why we love
why we love the Aviation Club:
1 – It’s in Paris – You can combine poker with a romantic
01 break. A win, win, situation, hopefully.

02 2- The club’s style and décor is very classy, buy her a martini,
then buy yourself a seat at a table whilst she’s not looking.

03 3 – It’s on the Champs Elysees, right in the heart of Paris,

sweet!

04 4 – It has a world famous restaurant on site, serving, amongst

other dishes, one minute grilled foie-gras with potatoes. Try
saying it in a French accent and it’ll taste even better.

05 5 – French girls – armpit hair apart – are hot! Ooh la la!

6 – It was originally founded to help support widows of avia-

06
tors. Wow, a classy card club, with a conscience.

07 7 – Bruno Fitoussi, the card room founder, is a living legend.

08 8 – Its nearly a 100 years old (the club, not Bruno), Vegas you
got nothing!

09 9 – It’s the only European venue on the World Poker Tour.

10 10 – Despite it’s exclusiveness, as pretty much the only place

to play poker in Paris, anybody can come and become a mem-
ber straight away, if they have some I.D like a passport.

32 BLUFF NOVEMBER 2005 www.bluffmagazine.com

 THRILLS
MEET THE PEOPLE BEHIND
THE AVIATION CLUB…
Sabine Hazoume, tournament director
Background: I’ve been involved in casinos for a decade and started working at the Aviation
Club eight years ago as a poker dealer. After three years, I moved up and became a floor
manager, then I became tournament director.

Aviation Club’s History: The Aviation club was founded by aviators in 1907 in order to
help widows and children of aviators. The rules of the club are still in place to help these
associations. The founders got permission from the French Government to run some games in
order to collect the money.

Poker in France: They started showing poker on TV in France about a year ago and since
then we have had more and more players, especially young guys who have seen poker on TV
and want to try it. Everyday we have two tables set aside for No Limit Texas Hold’ em and this
game is very popular. We are seeing many new faces, especially younger people, because
traditionally the club is mostly full of middle aged or older players.

Bruno Fitoussi, poker pro, founder and

ex-manager of the poker room
Bluff: How did a grand old club like the Aviation Club, come to be known
for the modern upstart that is poker?
Bruno: The club was running old games like baccarat and it became a bit empty
and lost some of its appeal in the mid 1990s. So I came to see the person in charge
of the Aviation Club in 1995. I proposed the opportunity to open a poker club,
because I thought it was the future of the club. So it all started for poker in early
1995, and I think the first international tournament that we ran was at the begin-
ning of 1996. And after two to three years the Aviation Club’s poker room was one
of the main places in Europe.

Bluff: Tell us about the Poker scene in France in general…

Bruno: France has many players, but poker is still not allowed in casinos in France.
There are, I think, only three licensees in France, all of which are private clubs like
the Aviation. The other clubs are very small, maybe one or two tables, so we can say
that the Aviation club has a unique position in poker in France today.

Bluff: What kind of clientele do you get at the Aviation Club?

Bruno: Aviation club is a very classy place; it’s situated right on the Champs Elysee.
Mostly our customers are businessmen; we have very few professional poker
players. We also get the younger player. We have a small buy-in freezeout No limit
Hold’em tournament every day at 2.30pm, and this has been a huge success. We
have between 70 and 90 players every afternoon. So we are modernizing the place
whilst still keeping it classy. I do not think there is another example of such a classy
and beautiful place in Europe or America to play poker.
Oops!!!!!
In last issue’s review of
Bluff: What do you look for in a great card room?
the Wynn poker room,
we inadvertently
Bruno: It has to be well-located, well-operated and also classy-looking to make it
changed Deborah
successful. And this is important because poker is not a huge source of revenue for
Giardina’s name and
casinos, in comparison to roulette or blackjack.
apparently gave her a Your card room is made by the locals, not the big tournaments. It’s about the regu-
new title as well. The lars who come 365 days a year. You have to look after them to keep them coming
correct info is as follows: back again and again. I think we do that well.
DEBORAH GIARDINA
Director of Poker Bluff: Are there any plans to take the Aviation Club into Online territory?
Room Operations Bruno: Yes, we have a deal with Ultimate Bet, and we now have our own online
Wynn Las Vegas
poker room - acfpoker.com.

www.bluffmagazine.com NOVEMBER 2005 BLUFF 33

 dealer’s choice THRILLS

The Dealer
Olympics
T
he 2005 WSOP saw some of the best poker players in the world
battle it out for record prize pools. 2005 was also the year for the
first ever Dealer Olympics. The dealers at this year’s WSOP were
given a chance to compete in four grueling events, with the win-
ners awarded trips to Monte Carlo, courtesy of Matt Savage and
www.savagetournaments.com. Contestants had to complete all
four events, and the best times from each event, along with the top
ten overall times, moved through to the final, which was filmed live on stage
for Players Network during the Lifestyle Show at the WSOP.
♥
♣ ♠
The final event saw dealers attempting to pay out a four-way split Omaha hi/lo
hand in the quickest possible time. Apart from the regular pressure the contest-
ants faced, the final was filmed and telecast live via the web on www.playersnet-
work.com. All of the finalists found the final event to be one of the most chal-
lenging hands of poker that they had ever dealt, and some admitted that they
felt more pressure during the Dealer Olympics final than some of the final tables
of the WSOP. The top ten finalists were sent one by one to the Players Network
stage to compete in the final event with the other contestants waiting offstage in
a sound proof room. None of the contestants knew what to expect for the final,
THIS YEARS EVENTS
which was shrouded in secrecy. Thus, the dealers either had the skills or they
didn't. And the four winners were truly sensational dealers. 1 The Shuffle Race. Dealers
Along with bragging rights for next year, the top four finishers won an all had to take a scrambled deck
expenses paid trip to Mote Carlo and a chance to deal the most prestigious poker of cards and perform a regular
event in the world, the Monte Carlo Millions. Situated on the Mediterranean poker shuffle consisting of a
ocean, Monte Carlo is one of the premier getaways for the world’s elite, and now riffle, a strip and two more
four dealers from this year’s WSOP will be living in high society for a week. riffles.
Working closely with Matt Savage, the four winners will get the chance to trav-
el the world, working some of the most sought after dealing gigs that money
2 The Set-up Race. Dealers
can’t buy. had to take a shuffled deck of
There were some impressive results in all events, yet one contestant stood out cards and suit them as fast as
amongst all others. Originally hailing from Las Vegas, Derek Glover scored the possible.
best overall time, and thus went straight to the finals where he showed all other
competitors that consistency and accuracy, as opposed to raw speed, are the best
qualities in a poker dealer. Derek managed to complete the final event without 3 The Sweetest Pitch. Dealers
any errors, and in the fastest time, thus crowning himself the first ever Dealer had to pitch out an entire deck
Olympics Champion. You can watch highlights of Derek's performance on the on a specially built poker table
web at www.playersnetwork.com, and if you’re ever in Las Vegas, drop by the as fast and as accurately as
Monte Carlo hotel and casino (Yes, he works there and this event was not a set possible. There were six holes
up!) and say hi to Derek; he is now the Tournament Director for their poker in the table that represented
room. See what winning the Dealer Olympics can do for you! player positions. Dealers
Another dealer on her way to Monte Carlo is Jolyn Havilland. Last year ESPN received a penalty for each
camera crews claimed that Jolyn Havilland had the fastest shuffle they had ever card left on the table or for
seen. Originally from Florida, Jolyn didn't disappoint the crowd. After a bad cards that flew off the table.
warm up round, Jolyn found her form and was able to perform the entire shuffle
process in an eye popping eight seconds. No dealer was able to match her time,
so Jolyn had a free pass to the finals where she was able to showcase her all 4 Rack Attack. While in the
around skills and score a second place.
box, the dealer had to com-
plete a fill for that table as fast
UNTIL NEXT TIME MAY THE FLOP BE WITH YOU…ALWAYS as possible.
THE HUX

www.bluffmagazine.com DECEMBER 2005 BLUFF 35

 Photos courtesy of WPT Enterprises
36 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005 www.bluffmagazine.com
Poker’s newest

Queen of

Hearts
The WPT’s Courtney Friel wins us over
You’ve made the WPT final table and you’re chasing a
life-changing million-dollar prize, when some schmuck sucks out on
you on a 20:1 shot and shatters your dreams. But guess what? It
doesn’t matter, because you get to meet the beautiful and charming
Courtney Friel, and Courtney’s soothing interview technique soon
calms your desire to pull out all your teeth. Today, Bluff pulls the old
switcheroo and interviews her, instead.

T
hanks for talking to us,
Courtney. We understand
you’re a very busy lady…
I have about four jobs. I
report for the local CBS Palm
Springs on the weekends and
other times when they need me
to fill in. News is my background. I
moved to the middle of Tennessee for
my first job; I literally shot, edited,
rolled the teleprompter with my foot
while anchoring the news – I was a one-
woman band.
Did you ever get in any dangerous
situations as a news anchor?
Not really dangerous. Police are
always around to protect you. I was at a
stand off once for about ten hours and
that was quite scary.
Were you a big poker player
before the WPT found you?
I always played video poker in Vegas,
that’s about as far as it goes. But for the
WPT job, I went to Boot Camp to learn
how to play. I also host a video game
show, so I have the WPT game. I’m
learning, but I always blush when I get
good cards, which is a pretty obvious
tell – I’m trying to work on that.
How’d you get the job if you
didn’t play poker?
It seems like every girl in Los Angeles
auditioned for this role. It started out as
an audition through my agent. They
knew that I didn’t have any poker expe-
rience. I remember auditioning and I
was like, ”…er…someone’s going all in,”
and I didn’t even know what that meant.
So I think they hired me for my person-

www.bluffmagazine.com DECEMBER 2005 BLUFF 37

 ality and my ability to interview peo-
ple. As a news reporter you have to
go out and find out about something
new every day. You have to get the
facts and relay them to an audience,
so I guess they were confident that I
could cope. But I love poker now.

Did you feel a lot of pressure

filling Shana Hiatt’s shoes?
I think it’s always difficult to
replace someone. But look at Kelly
Ripa, she took over from Kathy Lee,
but she’s doing a great job. I know
that Shana was very charming – I
actually haven’t met her – but I’m
glad I’m stepping into the shoes of
someone who was so well-liked, as
opposed to someone who
was…annoying (laughs).

Who’s your favorite player?

Well… I’ve spent a lot of time with
Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Laak –
they’re great guys – but I don’t want
to pick favorites.

Is it hard to interview the play-

ers as they bust out? Do you
have a good bedside manner?
I always feel so bad. I mean, tech-
nically they’ve still won a lot of
money, but it is kind of awkward.
Normally I can cheer them up by
smiling and just being… happy. At
least they pretend to cheer up. But
some people are great. Like if they’re
internet qualifiers, they’re usually
just excited to be there.

Is Vince Van Patten the most

handsome man in the world?
(Laughs) He’s definitely up there,
but his personality is awesome too.
He’s such a nice guy. There’s not one
bad thing you could say about him.

When all that money’s on the

table, do you ever get the urge
to grab it and go on the lam?
It’s Monopoly money. Most of the
time it’s fake.

No! Not another illusion shat-

tered. That’s a bombshell…
When we were in Paris they had
all the pretty Euros. They were real.
America needs more beautiful
money. Our money’s old. We need to
revamp it. Euros are pretty.

Photo: Larry Kang Doesn’t the WPT have half the

38 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005 www.bluffmagazine.com

money in America anyway? We
could just ask them to dye it
pink? What’s the funniest thing
that’s happened while shooting
the show?
Touch wood, it’s all gone pretty
smoothly. The one time they let the
money fly down from the ceiling, the
director’s like, “You can’t mess up, you
can’t mess up…” because we had to do
it in one take. Of course, someone
messed up…

What has been your favorite stop

in the tour so far?
I loved Paris, it’s such a beautiful
city. But I love travelling and that’s the
best part of the job. It’s awesome. I
always said I wanted a job with the
Travel Channel, and here I am, 25-
years-old, and I have that job.

Which is your favorite

hotel to travel to?
I actually like the
Borgata. Everyone
loves the Bellagio,
but the Borgata’s
like a mini-
Bellagio.

Do they set you up

with a bling-bling suite?
Normally I get the junior
suite. Vince and Mike get the
big suites (laughs).

If you could choose any

person living or dead to
invite to your home game,
who would you choose?
I’ve always wanted to interview
President Bush. I’d interview him
and then beat him at poker.

What would you ask him?

Just what it’s like to be under all
that pressure all the time. He’s got
a billion different issues on hand.
How does he deal with it?

It’s that time of year.

What do you want for
Christmas?
An iPod Nano.

What’s your new

year’s resolution?
To be a better poker
player. And to be
neater.

40 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005 www.bluffmagazine.com

 PRO-spective
READING
PHIL
HELLMUTH
He’s been dubbed ‘Poker’s Bad Boy,’
but can a guy this good be all that bad?
Life can be tough when you’re an international
superstar Pokerbrat. Bluff recently caught up with
Phil Hellmuth to find out about the man behind the
tantrums.
Phil, is it true that a mysterious English
clairvoyant predicted your rise to superstar-
dom?
Yes. This woman’s name was Rose Gladden. She
was a very famous old psychic. I think I remember
something about how she could see angels and auras.
She attended a conference for psychics (Uri Geller, the
spoon-bending guy was there) in Madison, WI when I
was about 17 years old. Anyway, my mother went
along and befriended Rose Gladden and brought her
back to our house afterwards. I’m the oldest of five
kids, and we were all pushing her to read our palms,
and I think she was probably tired, but she did it. I
remember she kind of turned blue – it was weird –
and she said, “You’re going to be very famous – or
infamous!” She then read my brothers’ and sisters’
palms and she didn’t mention fame to any of them.
The thing was, in high school I was a bit of a loser. I
wasn’t very socially adept, I didn’t have a ton of
42 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005
straight from the pros > > > > > >
friends and I wasn’t getting high grades. I had proba-
bly a B average, which was considered terrible in my
family, and all my brothers and sisters were getting
A’s. So I felt pretty down about that. I had no friends, I
had bad acne, but I always clung to this deeply
embedded belief that I had some kind of amazing tal-
ent and that I would do some amazing things. Rose
Gladden’s prediction just fuelled that belief.
So how did you transform yourself from awk-
ward no-hoper, to nine-time World Champion
superstar?
Well, even in college I wasn’t doing particularly
well as far as grades go, but I was holding my own. I
discovered a regular poker game, and just started
working hard on learning how to play. And the next
thing you know, I guess I did achieve some amazing
things.
We hear they’re making a film of your life…
It hasn’t been green-lit yet, but it looks like it’s
gonna happen. Hayden Christensen’s committed to it.
From Darth Vader to Phil Hellmuth. He’s in
www.bluffmagazine.com DECEMBER 2005 BLUFF 43

danger of getting typecast…
(Laughs) Yeah, that’s right. But they
have a beautiful script in place, and they
have a major actor, a major director, they
have the money and a major distribution
partner – so it’s looking good.
It was great to see you win NBC’s
National Heads Up poker
Championship. Why has there been
such a drought lately?
Anyone that watched televised poker in
’04 and ’03 saw me take a lot of bad beats
– key hands in key situations. Also, from
2002 to 2004 I didn’t play more than four
or five events a year. And despite that, I
made a couple of final tables in 2003. So I
didn’t do too badly, all things considered.
How would you describe your style
and how does it differ from the way
these young kids play today?
My style is hard to describe. I read the
reviews and it’s funny: sometimes they say
I play super-aggressively and far too many
hands, and sometimes they say I play
super-tight. They write about me in all dif-
ferent varying degrees, it’s kind of… (exas-
perated) I don’t know…
But I’m capable of doing anything at any
time, and I will say this: I have all the
gears. Not many people in the world have
all the gears, but I have all the gears.
You once said that if there was no
element of luck in poker, you’d be
unbeatable. Do you still believe that?
(Laughs) Come on! You’ve got to under-
stand the context in which I said that. I
was at the World Series in 2004, I had two
www.bluffmagazine.com
queens and I got some guy to put all his
money in with A-3. He hit a runner-runner
nut flush on the river. When we broke, I
went over to my sister and my mom and
I’m like, “Wow! If it weren’t for luck, I’d
win ’em all.” We were on tournament
break, I didn’t know the camera was
rolling, I didn’t know the microphone was
on… they caught me making a private com-
ment to my sister – and that was just the
way I felt, because I was playing great
poker and just getting unlucky.
Do I still feel that way? (Pause) No, prob-
ably not, because I haven’t been winning
enough tournaments lately. But I will say
this: if you watch all the telecasts, it’s stag-
gering. I always had the best hand. There
was one exception – in all those frickin’
programs – when I happened to hit a ten
against Johnny Chan. I had 10-10 against
his K-K and I hit a ten on the river. But you
have to understand that when you’re a
champion, you always have the best hand
in the big pots. That’s what separates me
from the rest. Therefore, it stands to reason
that I’m more likely to get unlucky than
lucky, because I don’t usually need to get
lucky to win a hand. That’s the other guy’s
job.
How do you really feel about the
‘Pokerbrat’ image?
Well, I deserve it. I think it’s funny that
TV portrays me as the ‘bad boy of poker’.
When you play in front of a crowd,
they often root for the other guy.
Does that affect you?
You know, in 2003, I was at a final table
at the World Series and there were three
players left: Daniel Negreanu, Eric Seidel
pro-file
and myself. They took a popularity vote
with the audience and, for the first time in
my life, I noticed I got the loudest cheer by
far. So not everyone is against me. But I
whine and cry too much at the poker table
and I understand why people don’t like it.
Do you ever ham it up just for the
cameras?
Rarely… I mean… that’s the way I am. I
used to be even worse. People have always
asked me to change and improve and
whine less. The great irony, of course, is
that all my sponsors now want me to con-
tinue to be the Pokerbrat. Nonetheless, I’m
really trying to get better and whine less.
Did you have a lot of tantrums as a
little kid?
I think I did. If you look back at my
childhood – like a said, I was a kind of awk-
ward loser – but being the eldest of five, I
always had to win. And I was damn good at
games! I worked hard to become the best at
games like Scrabble. I had to win; I was
hyper-competitive. If one of my siblings
beat me, I’d have all the excuses. I was
never a good loser.
What’s the greatest bluff you’ve ever
made?
I don’t know about the greatest bluff,
but this is one of my favorites. I’m playing
No Limit Hold’em and the blinds are
$100/$200. I’m playing against the best
players in the world: There’s me, Stuey
Ungar, Johnny Chan, Hamid Dastmalchi –
right there you have four World
Champions – and Freddy Deeb. At that
time we were considered the best No Limit
DECEMBER 2005 BLUFF 45
 pro-file
Hold’em players in the world. I used to play
in the high stakes No Limit side games all
the time, and I rarely lost, but as the games
got smaller, I lost interest in playing.
Anyway, this great hand came up
between Stu Ungar and myself. Hamid
raised with two kings, Stu called, and I
called with Jd 5d. I used to have fun in
those games and play a lot of hands. I was
playing the best in the world so I used to
have fun trying to bluff them, run over
them and control them. That was the kick –
if I could control the best in the world, who
was going to stand in my way? So I called
this rather large raise that I probably
shouldn’t have, and the flop comes A-2-3.
Hamid bets out at the flop and Stu raises it.
Now, something told me that there was no
way in hell that Stu had an ace. I hadn’t put
him on a pair, so I didn’t think he had trips.
I didn’t think Hamid had an ace either. So I
thought, “Okay, Hamid has a big pair and
Stuey has a hand he probably can’t call a
reraise with.” So I moved all in for $16,000.
I think Hamid suspected I didn’t have
much, but he couldn’t call with Stuey
behind him. Stuey called me instantly. I’m
like, “Oh, shit!” I look over at Stu – our
VITAL STATS
cards are still face down because in those
days you didn’t have to flip them over – and .......................
I say, “Stu, let’s split it.” And he starts to :: Name: Phil Hellmuth, Jr.
think. Now, the fact he’s thinking about it
tells me he doesn’t have an ace.” Stu actual- :: NICKNAME: Poker Brat
ly had 5♣ 6♣, so, ironically, if I had made :: BIRTHDATE: July 16, 1964
my wheel, I would have lost to the 6-high
straight. :: BIRTHPLACE: Madison, WI
Stu said, “Let’s see fourth street then :: RESIDENCE: Palo Alto, CA
decide. I think he thought I had a pair of
deuces or threes. The J♥ came out and Stu :: WSOP BRACELETS: 9
said, “Split it?” Now I know I have the best
hand because Stuey would never ask for a glass line – it’s just huge. I like to golf. I like to spend time with my
split if he had anything. I said “Nope. Deal.” wife and kids – it’s not the most relaxing
Stuey sat there in disbelief. What’s the craziest bet you’ve ever thing, but there’s something very comfort-
taken? ing about it.
What’s the worst job you’ve ever had? Huck Seed and I used to make a lot of
Well, I’ve never really had a job… crazy proposition bets. One time he bet me What has been Phil Hellmuth’s great-
$20,000 that he could float in any body of est triumph?
We’ve noticed you wear sunglasses water for 24 hours. He didn’t go through Winning the WSOP in 1989 was a huge
indoors after dark. Are you wearing with it in the end. He had to pay me off. We moment. That was a lifetime goal. Winning
them now? used to play pool for $2,000 dollars a game three bracelets in 1993 with a second place
It’s just me in the room so I’m not wear- back in the early nineties. That’s a lot of finish – that was pretty big, too. And for
ing them. I’ve actually got my own line of money when you’re playing 50 games. We some reason, winning the Poker EM in
sunglasses with Oakley. Oakley have done once bet $5,000 on whether a certain bas- Vienna in 2000 was pretty special. It was
six lines of sunglasses in their history. The ketball player would play in the NBA for my first 7-Card Stud victory. I just liked the
last three were Lance Armstrong, Michael more than two years. He was the third pick pageantry and flair of the whole thing. And
Jordan and Rusty Wallace. Now they’re in the draft. I had the nuts. I couldn’t lose. when my book, Play Poker Like the Pros,
doing a Phil Hellmuth line, which is really Huck was totally dead. And then the guy made the New York Times bestseller list – I
historic. Oakley has decided that I’m a ended up getting in a car wreck and didn’t was on cloud nine.
poker icon. They’ve already done a limited play for years. Wake up to Phil every morning with his
edition set, but the new line will be coming new poker calendar, which includes 365 of his
out some time in the next year. That’s huge What do you do when your not play- finest poker tips. You can also suck out on him
– for a poker player to have his own sun- ing poker? at www.ultimatebet.com.

46 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005 www.bluffmagazine.com

 PRO-SPECTIVE kenna’s corner

The thinking man’s

game
by Kenna James
“To Be or NOT to Be
That is the question.”
— William Shakespeare
A) Be recognized and respected by your friends, and peers.
B) Be the champion of a World Poker Tour event.

If you had to choose one without the other, which choice would you
make? No one is looking over your shoulder and there is no right or
wrong answer. It’s simply a choice. Let me give you my perspective
using a couple of examples from my experiences at the recent World
Poker Tour event at the Bicycle Club Casino.
With all six remaining on the TV table, everyone folded to Alex
Kahaner, who decided to move all-in from the small blind for one and a
half million in chips. I was in the big blind with just over three million
and holding K♥ Q♥. I had picked up a tell on Alex and, after about
a minute, decided to make the call. Alex turned over the 6♥ 4♥!
Now, back to the question. Do you think Alex was concerned
about what his friends thought of him when he had to turn his
hand over? Was he worried that he would be laughed at or
ridiculed if he was first out by pushing in over a million
with 6-4? If he was, I don’t think he would be capable
of making this move in the first place. His biggest
concern was winning the tournament, despite
how he might appear to others. In the television
show (which is to air early next year), you may
find some fault in his play, but not in his results.
He won the tournament! Why? Because, more
than anything else, that is what he set out to do.
Rather than trying to do the "right" thing or letting
his actions be determined by what others might think,
he played with his heart and trusted his instincts, right
or wrong, and accomplished a great feat in capturing the
title. An extraordinary accomplishment, since it was his
first live poker tournament! Alex had played kitchen table
poker with friends, but never for serious money. Working in the
construction business, he would sit at home with his wife on
Wednesday nights and watch the World Poker Tour and dream of what it
must be like. Two years later, he climbed into his TV set and won it.
Amazing!
Option A is what a lot of us choose, even if it’s subconsciously. Afraid what
people might think, we opt not to take the risk. The fear of looking like a fool
or just flat out trying to play “right” will sometimes win out and keep us short
of the goal. Tim Pham is a great player who has played in the top cash games
and is a proven winner on the tournament circuit. He was many players’
choice to win this event, and I have to admit he was the one I was most con-

48 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005 www.bluffmagazine.com

 kenna’s corner
cerned about going into the final. With
18 people left, Tim was knocking people
out left and right. He sent people to the
rail like Mike Tyson once sent oppo-
nents to the mat – quickly. After com-
piling a stack of chips that dwarfed
everyone else’s in the tournament, Tim
suddenly had something to lose: All
his friends and supporters now expected
him to win and he didn’t want to disap-
point them. Not only is Tim a great
player, but he had over three million
when the chip-average was only 400k!
But Tim caught a cold run of cards
and by the time we were down to four
players, the field had caught up with
him. I remember a hand between Tim
and Alex in which Tim raised and Alex
moved all-in. Tim thought for a while,
remembering how tight Alex had played
the day before. He decided to show his
A-8 suited and he knew the “right” play
was to throw it in the muck, and so he
did. Alex quickly turned over the 8-9 of
diamonds for a complete bluff!
50 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005
My point isn’t to say Alex played
great and Tim didn’t, but rather to look
beneath the surface to answer the ques-
tion that many people ask: “How does
an unknown without a lot of experience
win a major poker tournament against
all these pros?” Alex had nothing to lose
because nobody (except maybe himself)
expected him to win. When you play No
Limit Texas Hold’em like you have noth-
ing to lose, you become a very danger-
ous player. If the cards fall your way and
your timing is right and if you’re not
overly concerned with Option A (at least
as far as poker goes), then you might
just find yourself in the winners’ circle.
This tournament set many records for
a WPT event. It drew the largest field,
with 839 entrants. It was the longest
final table up to that point, and what
started off pretty slowly finished with
such excitement and electricity in the
room it made your hair stand up. I was
thrilled to be in the middle of it all, as it
was a dream come true. My wife, my
Kahaner (glasses) raises
the stakes against James.
Photo courtesy of WPT Enterprises
brother and sister (who had flown all
the way from Michigan) and all my
extended family were in the audience.
So what did I do to overcome Option A
when I called with a measly K-Q, or
decided to move all-in with just an A-4,
in a pivotal hand of the contest? Believe
me, the voices were there, “Caution is
the better part of Valour,” and, “Don’t do
anything stupid.” I pushed them aside,
trusted my instincts, and pushed ALL-
IN baby! I love this game!
As I battled it out on the final table
for over a million dollars on national
TV, my kids were there in the produc-
tion truck watching the monitors – they
weren’t allowed inside the casino. I
hear that they even got them on camera
shouting, “Go all-in Dad! Go all-in!”
Considering that, how can anyone ever
say I came up one spot short of victory?
I couldn’t lose Option A, you see, I was
already secure with it, so Option B was
now determined by nothing more than
a turn of a card.
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 2
PRO-SPECTIVE
Tournaments
Tournaments
E
ver since I won my bracelet the offers
have been flooding in. Everybody
wants to fly me places, and pay for my
buy ins. I remember when Phil had to
scrounge around trying to get me a
discount on my entry fees. Now there
are so many tournament and website
deals, it’s hard to figure out which ones to do.
The only problem is, because of my new TV
series, I am finding it increasingly hard to work
in my poker schedule. The best I can do is put in
a request and keep my fingers crossed. This
month there are two tournaments that I really
want to go to: the Borgata, because Atlantic City
sounds iconic to me, and Aruba.
Aruba always seemed like the best place to
play poker. I liked turning on the TV and watch-
ing the final table, which was usually filmed in
front of palm trees, an impossibly white beach,
and a blindingly blue ocean. I liked seeing my
favorite players squinting in the bright light,
looking uncharacteristically healthy due to sud-
den tan, and wearing improbable Hawaiian
shirts.
At the last minute, it turns out I am not in two
52 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005
j.tilly
by Jennifer Tilly
episodes. I can go to both tournaments! We are
ecstatic. I pack a big suitcase with Borgata out-
fits: t-shirts and jeans, and Aruba outfits: sun-
glasses and bikinis.
Phil brings Between a Rock and a Hard Place, a
book he’s reading about a kid who has to cut off
his arm to survive. “It’ll make me feel better
when I bust out of the tournament,” explains
Phil. “I’ll just be happy I still have all my body
parts.”
ATLANTIC CITY
The Borgata is a luxurious Vegas-style hotel
complete with the requisite Chihuly sculptures
in the lobby. The first night we go to a big party
where the new World Poker Tour video game is
being unveiled. You can choose what player you
want to go heads up with. Phil, of course, choos-
es to play The Unabomber. Live Phil beats
Computer Phil easily, which causes Computer
Phil to register myriad expressions of disgust. He
sneers, and mutters, and in general manages to
look sinister. At no time does he leave the table
to do push-ups.
The next morning I find myself playing with
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 PRO-SPECTIVE

www.bluffmagazine.com DECEMBER 2005 BLUFF 53

 j. tilly
Carlos Mortensen and Mike Matusow.
Carlos is very aggressive, winning pot after
pot. At one point he is the chip leader with
over 70k. Mike keeps up a constant com-
mentary. “Hey, if you’re Carlos, they just
give you their chips…I want to be Carlos
Mortensen when I grow up!”
Carlos is pretty quiet, but he smiles at
Mike’s jokes. Mike says to me, and anyone
else who will listen, that he is going back to
his old style of playing. “I’m tightening up,”
he announces. “That’s what I did in the
WSOP and it worked really well for me.”
Carlos has built an impenetrable fortress
of chips in front of him. He seems incapable
of losing. At one point he calls my bets (big
bets, almost the size of the pot) all the way
to the river. I have top two pair, Kings and
Jacks. He has a pair of fours. Then on the
river catches an ace for higher two pair. It
tortures me. I want to get inside his mind
for a minute. Why would a person call off
nine thousand dollars in chips on bottom
pair? Unless…there was a flush draw on
board…maybe he thought I was on a draw?
I don’t know. I would love to crawl inside
his mind for just one minute.
There is one empty seat. We are all try-
ing to figure out who it is, because, in the
poker world, the bigger the star you are the
later you arrive. I’m thinking Phil Hellmuth
Jr. Mike volunteers that Layne Flack was
out late last night. Finally, after three hours
or so have elapsed, a fairly innocuous fellow
comes and sits down.
“Did you forget what time it started?” I
ask.
“No,” he says meekly. “I couldn’t get off
my construction job.” He takes out a tiny
pin in the shape of four aces studded with
eensy red lights, and puts it on top of his
chip stack.
“What’s that?” asks Mike.
“This is my lucky pin,” he says proudly.
“When do the lights go on?”
“When I have aces.”
Two hands later we’re heads up. I have
A-K. The flop comes K-rag-rag. I’m positive
I have the best hand at this point. I bet
1,500. The newcomer calls. The turn, a am on the verge of folding when he picks because I doubled up, it was a great call. If
blank. I bet 3,000. “Well I think I’m going to up his little pin, turns the flashing light on, I’d gone out with that call, rather than a
have to call that,” he says in a somewhat and puts it protectively on his two cards. genius, I would have been the world’s
jolly way. Now I’m puzzled. I think I still Suddenly I know he is unsure of his hand. I biggest fish.
have the best hand but why would he call? call. I feel sorry for the guy, though. Because
Is he on a draw? The river, a blank. I check. “What do you have?” he says anxiously. he has slightly more than me, he gets two
He goes all in. “She called you,” says Mike. chips back. He sits there for another hour
I am upset. Most of my chips are in the I flip over my cards, and he shows… K-9. squeezing, until finally he goes all in, and
pot. If I abandon the hand, my chip stack is He only has top pair. I have top pair, top Mike Matusow finishes him off. I feel bad. I
decimated. But if I call, I’ll be out. It’ll be kicker. The table goes wild. My knees are picture him saving up for years to go head
beyond embarrassing to go out so early. weak. I can’t believe I am still alive. to head with his poker idols. And then to
Everybody is quiet, respecting my all-in Everybody is talking about what a great call lose all his chips on the second hand to a
struggle. I stare at the guy. He looks away. I it was. The funny thing about poker is that girl! But later on Phil says he didn’t pay for

54 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005 www.bluffmagazine.com

 j. tilly
his seat, he probably won it online, so then
I feel a little better.
After about eight hours I am moved to
another table. I can’t say I’m unhappy.
Between Carlos and Mike, it was really
hard picking up any loose change. The next
table isn’t much better. David Benyamine
and Amir Vahedi. I am playing tighter now.
Even though I have 20,000, which is above
average, I haven’t volumed up, so essential-
ly I have four chips. It makes me feel poor. I
promise myself I will play looser as soon as
I win a hand.
On the button. Everyone limps. I call a
queen-seven suited. The flop comes up
three hearts. I can’t believe it. I have
flopped a flush. My heart starts pounding. I
hear Phil’s voice echoing in my brain.
“Always bet your monsters.” I bet. To my
delight, I get two callers. The guy to my left,
and David Benyamine.
The turn, a blank. David bets big, I
reraise all in. The guy to my left calls,
which puzzles me. Now, like a bad
dream, I hear David asking if he can
reraise the other guy or if he has to
just call. I know that’s not a good
sign. I stare at the board. There is no
possible full house showing. Maybe I
misread my cards. I peek at them
again. No, phew! Still suited. I decide
to just relax and wait to triple up.
The river comes a blank. I stand
and triumphantly turn over my cards,
congratulating myself on my
patience. But there is something
wrong. Nobody is looking at me.
They are staring at David
Benyamine’s ace-high flush. I don’t
even know what the other guy had. I
gather my things and flee.
Even though I didn’t make it to “In The
Money,” I don’t go home empty-handed.
While doing an interview on the radio, I vol-
unteer Phil’s opinion that the Borgata Bed
is the most comfortable bed in the world.
According to him, my own bed, with its
overpriced Swedish system of mattress lay-
ering, only comes in third, behind the
Borgata and the Bellagio.
Apparently Mr. Borgata himself, Bob
Boughner, heard me on the radio, and said,
“Send that girl a bed!” Phil and I are
thrilled. “Honey, soon we’ll be sleeping
every night on the most comfortable bed in
the world,” says Phil excitedly.
Although the casino is fabulous, Atlantic
City doesn’t live up to expectations. It’s
kind of rundown. One hot, humid afternoon
we go to the boardwalk, because I want to
buy saltwater taffy. Besides us, the board-
walk is practically deserted.
56 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005
At Johnny Rockets, the workers drop
what they’re doing to indulge in a joyless
line dance to the strains of I Will Survive.
Phil gets up and joins them. Only Antonio
and I are amused. The workers don’t even
notice the addition to their grim chorus
line, and the old age pensioners stolidly
masticate their food without even looking
up.
Antonio and Phil amuse themselves by
pretending they are going to play the board-
walk games, taking the free shot and walk-
ing away. I give money to all the panhan-
dlers, (I’ve never seen so many amputees in
my life). I try to give a dollar to a woman
caterwauling horribly out of tune, but Phil
won’t let me. “Don’t encourage her,” he
says, “She needs to get into another line of
business.”
Because of my blinding migraine, I end
I try to give a dollar to
a woman caterwauling
horribly out of tune,
but Phil won’t let me.
“Don’t encourage her,”
he says, “She needs to
get into another line of
business.”
up at the local Rite Aid, trying to get a refill
on my Maxalt. Ahead of me in line is a
large, sad woman, trailed by her husband.
There is a problem with her insurance, and
she is waiting to see if she will be able to fill
her prescription. “I just get so depressed,”
she is telling the sympathetic pharmacist.
“Some days, I just want to take an overdose
and end it all,”
“Oh don’t do that…” murmurs the clerk.
“Well, I would,” the lady insists, “but the
government won’t pay for that many pills.”
About now my brain is about ready to
jump out of my forehead from pain. I sin-
cerely hope there is no problem with my
prescription. “Is it ready?” I ask.
The lady with insufficient pills stares at
me. “Are you…Bride of Chucky?” she gasps.
“Yes, I am,” I say modestly.
“Bride of Chucky! Bride of Chucky!
Omigod! Look honey!” she pushes her hus-
band forward. “It’s Bride of Chucky!”
They both beam at me, momentarily
happy again. I collect my Maxalt and
escape.
ARUBA
The UltimateBet people are waiting for
us at the airport with what is probably the
only Mercedes on the island. It is a ten-
minute ride to the hotel, where we are
already checked in. Our room is expansive,
with a gift basket of snacks, and a bottle of
Dom Perignon chilling on ice. We can’t
believe the opulence. “Maybe we got Phil
Hellmuth’s room by mistake,” says Phil.
By the time we finish the Dom it is late
afternoon. I am astonished to see that the
pool and beach are practically deserted.
Phil isn’t surprised at all. “These are poker
people,” he explains. “Everyone’s playing
cards.”
That night Phil goes downstairs
to play in the cash games and suf-
fers one bad beat after another. To
add insult to injury, a kid with a
fake id pulls in eighty thousand.
“He’s not even eighteen!” says Phil
indignantly. “When I was his age I
was making five dollars an hour!”
“Never you mind,” I say soothing-
ly. “You can get the money back
tomorrow.”
“With what?” says Phil, “I’m out
of cash.”
The next morning we wake up
bright and early for us. Noon. As we
walk to the tournament room, a gar-
gantuan iguana scuttles across our
path. “Look Phil,” I exclaim, “a
lucky iguana!” And it suddenly
occurs to me that, by saying it,
maybe I could make it be true, so that two
days from now, when we are settling into
the final table, I can say, “Hey Phil, remem-
ber when that iguana walked across our
path? I guess it really was lucky.”
Later on Scotty Nguyen shows me his
wrists covered with angry red slashes. He
tried to wrestle that same lucky iguana into
submission, and it fought like nobody’s
business. “But look!” he announces proud-
ly, “I got the picture!” He clicks the play-
back on his digital camera, and sure
enough there is the reptile and Scotty,
seemingly the best of friends.
The iguana turns out to be anything but
lucky for Phil and me. Phil goes out early,
and I cannot catch a hand to save my life.
It’s like trying to start an old rickety car
with a sputtering ignition. One guy in par-
ticular seems to personally delight in shut-
ting me down. Every time I have a mediocre
pair, he calls. Every time I bluff, he raises. I
www.bluffmagazine.com
 j. tilly
find myself folding again and again.
My final hand pretty much sums up my
whole tournament. I am on the big blind
with A-10 offsuit. Only one caller. (Not the
guy that’s been dogging my footsteps, he’s
taken a temporary respite from torturing
me and wandered off.)
The flop comes Q-10-rag, with two hearts.
I confidently bet 2,000. My opponent is a
tall skinny man who is prone to asking,
“How many chips do you have left?”
Psychological warfare. Or maybe he really
wants to know. In this case, he
wanted to know preflop. He
raises five. I am sick. I’m tired
of laying down hands.
Everybody thinks they can
push me around. I remember
he just called preflop. What
could he have? What are the
odds he has a Q?
I take off my sunglasses and
stare at him. He stares back, his
naked eyes pale and blank. I put
him on a draw. I don’t know why.
I just want him to be on a draw. I
want my three thousand back. I
remember back at Borgata where I
was the master caller. My chip
stack is little more than five thou-
sand. “All in,” I say weakly. And
then a little stronger. “All in, all in,
all in!”
He rolls A-Q. Not on a draw at all.
My face turns red with humiliation.
What a terrible call. What the hell did
I think he had? Did I think he would
raise with nothing? He’s shortstacked
too. Of course he had a made hand.
“Goodbye” say my new friends.
(This table is slightly more friendly
than usual) I gather my stuff and go. I think
how gratified my nemesis will be when he
comes back and I am gone. “Oh she don-
keyed off all her money on a terrible call,”
the others will tell him. Everyone will gig-
gle. “Maybe it was that time of month…”
I trudge past John Vorhaus. “You’re out?”
he says in surprise. “What happened?”
I want to keep walking, but I stop, trying
to put some logic on my demise.
“I…well…I had A-10…and the flop…the
flop was...” I pause, hoping he will lose
interest, but he seems fascinated. “10- Q
…with …with two hearts, so I end up going
all in and he, he had a queen.”
“He had a queen?” John seems puzzled.
“I thought he was on a draw…” I say in a
low voice.
He chuckles and writes that down. “You
thought he was on a draw…famous last
58 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005
words.”
Great. I’m glad he finds my ignominious
departure so amusing. I climb the stairs
and wander the muggy corridors looking
for my room.
Later on I click on the UltimateBet web-
site, and sure enough, there is a picture of
me, my mouth open in protest like Mr. Bill,
and underneath the immortal words: “ I
thought he was on a draw…”
Phil is asleep, but I wake him
up. “I
n d P h i l i n A ruba
Me a
made a terrible call.” I say
mournfully. He stares at me with bleary
eyes. “So did I,” he says. I can tell he is even
more depressed than me. It strikes me that
being a professional poker player is not
such a great vocation after all.
Our plane doesn’t leave until Friday. Now
we have nothing to do but stare at the ocean
for two days.
Day darkens into night. Phil finally
wakes up. “Baby, baby I had a terrible
dream!” he cries out. I come running into
the bedroom.
“We were all at a final table. I had a boat-
load of chips. I limped in with a K-6. David
Wells calls. The flop comes King, Queen
deuce…I bet. David Wells raises me all in…I
call. I am worried he has a better kicker, but
he has King four. The turn comes a six. But
a six of spades. Now he has four to a flush.
The river, ace of spades.”
“Wow.” I say, “That sucks.” We lay in rev-
erential silence for a moment, as if his bad
beat were real.
“The reason I slept so much is to get
away from the grossness that is poker,” says
Phil sadly. “But I can’t get away from
it…even in my dreams.”
“Never you mind,” I tell him. “Let’s go
drink a nice bottle of wine.”
The next two days mainly consist of us
scrambling around trying to raise money.
We actually go to the airport one day trying
to catch someone who owes Phil 27K
before he gets on the plane. We find the
guy, but we are too late. Not less than half
an hour earlier he was waylaid by some-
one else, and he gave the money to him.
We end up playing a small tourna-
ment with our last thousand. I get
bumped out early, but Phil makes it to
the final table with a massive chip lead.
We are exited. If he comes in first, and
it looks like he will, we will uptick 27k.
Unfortunately, two or three bad beats
later, and he is out fifth. After he signs
for the cash, and tips the dealers, we
only have a thousand more than we
started with. Oh well.
That night is the Ultimate Bet
party. It is outdoors. The night is
balmy and the drinks plentiful. We
run into Phil Hellmuth, who talks us
into playing a freezeout with a
bunch of people. Once again we
entertain the fantasy that we will
increase our net worth. But it does-
n’t work out that way. I’m not the
best of players when I’m sober, but
when I have a few drinks in me I
get expansive, and elaborate bluffs seem to
be a good idea. I am sidelined fairly quickly
and then I sweat Phil until he goes out.
After that we sit glumly and watch Kenna
James take everyone’s money.
“What about Kasey? “ I say hopefully.
“Maybe you can borrow from…”
“You know what?” says Phil. “Let’s not
play anymore. Let’s go for a walk on the
beach.”
The walk on the beach is free. The moon
is big and close, and eventually we shed our
clothes and end up in the ocean. We float
on our backs and stare at the stars remem-
bering all the cool things we’ve done in
Aruba… the games of gin at the gelato café,
and the perpetually deserted beach…we
remember the Dom, and the helicopter
ride, and most importantly we remember
that we still have two arms. And even
though we are stuck 40K, and have lost two
tournaments, we feel very lucky indeed.
www.bluffmagazine.com
 PRO-SPECTIVE poker girl

How to beat
me at poker
Pocket Queens and sandy beaches

P
By Annie Duke
laying a poker tournament in Aruba is a complete
freeroll. If you do well in the tournament, you win lots of
money. If you don’t…well, you are in one of the most
beautiful places on earth and does it really matter that
you got knocked out?
It was with this attitude that I flew down to Aruba to
play in UltimateBet.com’s Aruba Classic WPT tourna-
ment. The first year I played this event, I dreaded going down there.
I brought my two littlest children, ages six months and two years at
the time respectively, and just wasn’t looking forward to the ten-hour
plane ride with them from Las Vegas. But once I was there, I knew
the plane ride was worth it. Aruba has great restaurants, beautiful
beaches and, of course, a ton of my friends to hang out with. I went
from dreading it on my first trip to looking forward to it every year.
This year I had to go alone. I usually bring all four of my kids, but
they have just started a brand new school, so taking them out for a
week didn’t seem feasible. My boyfriend was supposed to go with
me, but he booked a movie and was still filming in Philadelphia. So
being a single girl down with a suit at the Radisson, I invited two of
my friends, Karen Roberts and Karen Williamson, to come hang out
down there and share my suite.
As usual, the Radisson was beautiful, the weather amazing, the
food sumptuous, and the company was better than I could have
hoped for. All the players who qualified through UltimateBet.com
had a fantastic time, combining poker with vacation. Many of them
brought their families, everyone enjoyed the fabulous parties
UltimateBet threw for them and they all got a shot at the million dol-
lar first place in the tournament.
The problem for me was that I was having so much fun with my
friends just hanging out on the beach and drinking pina coladas at
night that I played a very gambly style in the tournament. I figured
I was either going to get hold of a lot of chips early and then buckle
it down, or I would be out on the beach enjoying myself for the rest
of the week. I think my friends were all rooting for me to get
knocked out early.
Well, they got their wish when I crippled myself with 10-10
against a 6-high board in a spot where, in another tournament, I
might have put more thought into the hand. But it was within the
first four hours of play and, as I said, right or wrong, I was willing to
gamble a little more since the beach was waiting. I might have actu-
ally called in another tournament somewhere else, but I sure called
faster in Aruba! Well, my opponent had Q-Q and I was quickly out
the door. It was the least painful elimination I have ever experi-
enced.
I was on the beach within an hour of getting knocked out, enjoy-
ing the sun, enjoying my friends, enjoying the food and drink, and
enjoying meeting all the cool people who qualified for the tourna-
ment on UltimateBet.com. I hope I get to meet a lot of new people
down there next year. You all know that I am easy money in that
tournament now!
60 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005 www.bluffmagazine.com

POKER IN
EUROPE:
BARCELONA
E
by Antonio Esfandiari
~ I have always want-
spana!!
ed to go to Spain. I have
heard for years that the
women in Spain were
amongst the most beautiful
in the world. Being the
curious creature that I am,
I had to see for myself. After London it
was either Athens, Rome, or
Barcelona. It was tough but in the end
Spain took the cake.
My father went home from London,
so it was just the four of us. Victoria,
Paul (my little brother a.k.a. Bird),
David Wells and myself.
Normal people would reserve a
hotel room before arriving in a foreign
country. Not us. We land in Barcelona
in high spirits with no place to sleep!
It didn’t take long before David and I
made our first bet. And it was a sweet
one at that. As our baggage carousel
starts to spin, someone says, “What if
they lost our bags?” David says he flies
all the time and the airlines almost
never lose bags. Under normal cir-
cumstances, I would agree with David.
www.bluffmagazine.com
poker like a rockstar PRO-SPECTIVE
PART III
If you check your bags I think you are
a CLEAR favorite to retrieve them
upon landing. However, on this occa-
sion I remembered that at the London
airport there was a problem with the
conveyer belt and the airline had to
manually deliver the bags to the load-
ing section. I was pretty sure that our
bags were coming out, but David was
laying me 8:1 and I couldn’t resist. I
was the clear underdog and I even
liked his side better, but hey, you just
never know right? A miracle COULD
happen.
The bet was such. All six checked
bags had to come out. All I needed to
win was to have one bag not show.
His $2,400 to my $300. I didn’t love
my side, but I sure didn’t hate it
either. The greatest would have
been if all the bags EXCEPT
David’s popped up! Can you imag-
ine the anger in him? That would
have been the ultimate bad beat!
Here I was rooting against our
luggage to arrive. $2,400 to live
without my bags for a few days? No
DECEMBER 2005 BLUFF 63
 poker like a rockstar
CLOSER LOOK AT ...
problem!
Round and round went that belt. No sign of our bags.
About half the people on our flight just stood staring down
BARCELONA
the belt line. It was rather clear that our bags did NOT
make it! I couldn’t believe it myself. What are the chances?
The look on David’s face was priceless! He was not a happy
camper. Comfort level down. Financial net worth up.
We found a hotel on the internet at the airport. David
was miserable. Not only did he not have his luggage, he
also just lost 24 hunji. Ouch! I might have been a bit over
the top with the rubbing it in. He wouldn’t even talk to me
for an hour or so.
That night we went to a tapas restaurant. This place was
awesome! I had never really tried tapas before, but I was
hooked! We all tried this Spanish beer that was nine per-
cent alcohol. That’s about two times the alcohol as
American beer. This stuff was tasty and strong! We got
tossed.
The airline told us that our bags should arrive the next
day. When they tell you this, never believe them. That
would be too easy. Victoria couldn’t handle wearing the
same clothes for so long, but us guys didn’t care. It took
three days to get our luggage. Are you ready for the kick-
er? The delivery guy showed up with six bags; however,
one of them was not ours. Yup, you guessed it. They mis-
takenly mixed David’s bag up with someone else’s! I could-
n’t stop laughing. My cheeks literally hurt from laughing
so hard. It was the ultimate bad beat!
David got his bag the next day and life was good. We
were in Spain. We had tapas everyday. The women were
hot. Now, it was time to do some touristy things. We went
to see the Gaudi church and the Gaudi park. I could not

SAGRADA FAMILIA
believe the purity of these buildings. They had been work-
ing on this church since 1820, and it was the most alluring
edifice I had ever seen! It truly was beautiful. The park was
no joke either. You have to go see it for yourself.
The Spanish are good at many things. One thing they
figured out for sure is the siesta! That means ‘nap’ in
Spanish. They always take a nap during the afternoon and
start their evenings way later. I was a big fan of the siesta!
I love seafood, and Spain had the freshest seafood I have
EVER had. It was unreal. Fresh as can be. Their wine was
right up there too. I really appreciate the Spanish culture.
And the women! Wow! Where do I start? Unbelievable bod-
ies. Beautiful faces. Strikingly soft skin. Lavish dark hair. I
love the whole ethnic look. I’m so over the typical blond
hair, blue eyes. Oh, and the Spanish can party! The clubs
stayed open till the wee hours. And to top it all off, it was-
n’t ridiculously expensive.
My favorite moment in Spain was when Victoria had to
do pushups in the middle of the restaurant! We had all
made a pact that if any one of us said ‘thank you’ versus
‘gracias’ they would have to get down right then and there
and pop out 10 push-ups! So in the middle of the restau-
rant there was this total hottie doing push ups! It was a
sight.
All in all, Spain was an unbelievable experience. You
really get a different outlook when you see a completely
different way of life. Spanish people are very family-orient-
ed and very courteous to others. It’s a beautiful country
and whether you want to go for the food, the sites, the
GUELL PARK
nightlife, or the women, I highly recommend it!

64 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005 www.bluffmagazine.com

 school of laak PRO-SPECTIVE

Island
happenings
D
by Phil Laak
isciplined and Dispassionate.
That is what I saw. And it was chilling. Yup. The internet
kids have arrived and the first wave is hitting the offshore
casinos. Aruba. Stop one. Legal betting age 18. By the way,
how pure is that? 18! I love that. Ultimate Bet hosted another
poker tourney in the sun and it was great. But in the side
games something else was at hand. The internet kids were getting rich.
During the day. Business as usual.
You were either playing in the tourna-
ment, or, if you shared my plight... kickin’ it
They had seen
in the sun (early elimination). At night there
were lots of island options. But for a proper
so many hands in
degenerate like myself, there is only so much their life already
island in me. Eventually I will need to gamble.
And for me that meant the money games. that they couldn’t
Playing the money games in Aruba is a lit-
tle different than Bellagio. It is louder, more
be bothered having
people per square foot, often ten-handed, tells, it was all a
and only happening from about dinner to
6am or so. But when the action gets going pattern they had
you couldn’t care less. The cast of char-
acters is comprised of some regional
visited so many
locals and the traveling pros. A nice
blend.
times that
Random side note – MANY (not none of us could
all) of the top name tournament
no limit poker players are never tell when they had
seen in the no limit money
games. They either 1) prefer
turned the nuts.
online no limit, 2) like the
mixed high limit games, and some just play the tourney. Whatever,
they are all crazy if you ask me. How can you NOT play in the no limit
side games? Some of the stuff I see could not be scripted in a movie
it is sometimes so insane. But I diverge.
Back to the island games. Oh yes, the Aruba money game texture
changed for the first time in Aruba history. The 25/50 no limit game
had three new kids. All internet bred and all first time casino play-
ers, but not new to poker. These guys came pre-honed. They were
disciplined and dispassionate. Don’t get me wrong. These kids
were hardcore passionate about poker. But they were dispassion-
ate about all the right things. Game theory, appropriate bluffs,
reraises, position bets, probe bets, all of it. And without fanfare.
They were good. They had seen so many hands in their life already
that they couldn’t be bothered having tells, it was all a pattern
they had visited so many times that none of us could tell when
they had turned the nuts.
At the airport on the way home, I saw one of the kids, Mario.
Earlier in the trip some of the guys were guessing his age to be
14 or 15. And when he whacked somebody in a hand, the table

www.bluffmagazine.com DECEMBER 2005 BLUFF 67

 school of laak
would ask the whackee what it was like to
get whacked by an 11-year-old. This was
funny for the first or second time. But some
of the guys wouldn’t stop... like every night
for three days not letting up. But he didn’t
seem to care. He was raking it in. So what
if he had to get chided along the way?
Anyway, I was impressed. He could play.
I also had a good laugh when the casino
security guy came over and was like... ‘Sir,
could we see some ID?’ And out it came. 18.
Foiled. At the airport (leaving Aruba) I got
the real skinny. We were in line together.
He was happy to share a bit about himself.
We all got to know him as Mario but this
68 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005
was only a cover. He was underage. He
had been playing for a year online and was
only 17 (Fake ID). Curiosity got to me. I
had to see it. LOL. It was a high school ID
that barely looked like him! And he was
renting it for 50 bucks from the kid (Mario)
on the ID. But the best part of the whole
thing was when I asked him, “How did you
do in the cash games?”
“Only 15 (thousand),” he shrugged.
I wish you could hear his tone. He was
serious, he felt a little ashamed that he had
only won 15k. I mean, after all, his other
two buddies made more. And the games
were juicy. One did 30k and the other did
large. On one night alone I saw him win
75k! Who knows what his total take was.
All three under 21. All of ’em making mad
chop. And they did it while vacationing
and in under a week. Very impressive.
I hear internet kids this, internet kids
that. Well folks, let me tell you. There are
lots of ’em and even though they are just
entering the casinos now, they are coming
in as freshly-minted 21-year-old poker
machines. They are making their way to
the casinos with TONS of poker savvy.
TONS. They are disciplined, and they are
dispassionate. A very lethal combination.
Be careful.
www.bluffmagazine.com
 PRO-SPECTIVE
The Importance
of Being Angled
Tales from the Tiltboys:
Starring: Bruce Hayek,
a.k.a. Tiltboy SpaceCadet
F
riends and family tend to look
on in dismay as the Tiltboys
spend entire poker games and
social events (Thanksgiving,
weddings, christenings) trying
to ‘angle’ one another.
Sometimes it’s for a trivial bet;
sometimes it’s for some serious tilt.
The thing is, our long-suffering loved-
ones are overlooking the beauty of the
angle. When you successfully angle some-
body, you don’t just nab their dollar, or
1,000 dollars, you get to gloat, brag and
strut around in front of the other Tiltboys.
You become the hero of the hour, and you
go up three notches in everybody (except
the anglee’s) estimation.
What’s not to like?
Here is my favorite angle, as well as a few
others I’ve admired and secretly wished I
had worked myself.
One night, when Phil Hellmuth was
invited to our home game, I decided I need-
ed to demonstrate the Tiltboy phenomenon
to him directly. So I started fishing around
for an angle. When Josh called me and told
me that he had inside-information (literally,
via ultrasound) about the gender of his
pending baby, I had my ammunition.
Now, making a bet and pretending not to
know something you do know isn’t angling,
it’s cheating. We leave that to Paul. The
rest of us adhere to a strict code of ethics:
an angle has to fool somebody, not lie to
them. So it wouldn’t be right for me to bet
on Josh’s kid’s gender and pretend that I
didn’t already know the outcome.
Instead, I offered to the table at large this
proposition:
“Listen, Josh already knows whether he’s
going to have a boy or girl. I’ll let anybody
here ask him what he’s going to have, then
they have to decide whether he’s lying or
70 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005
tilt boys
telling the truth,
and I’ll take
other side.
For 100
bucks.”
Rafe
and Paul
jumped
all over
this.
“Josh,
w h a t
are you
having?”
Josh
told the
truth and
said he was
having a boy.
After heated
debate amongst
themselves, Rafe
and Paul reasoned
that he was lying, since
his first two kids were
girls, and there’s a tendency
for people to repeat a sex that
they’ve had before (not just with girl- down.
friends, but in the reproductive sense). So I took, won
So they insisted that they would bet $100 bucks and left Phil Hellmuth with his
“girl”, and that I had to take “boy” (oh jaw unhinged at what a fucked up group of
darn!) for 100 bucks. gamblers we were. Cha-ching!
At this point, I confessed that I couldn’t I’ve been the victim, too. Once, in Vegas,
bet, since I already knew the sex. Rafe and I was playing in a game with Perry and was
Paul asked Josh if that were true, and Josh stuck a bunch. I bet Perry I couldn’t get
replied that it was. They immediately even in an hour, then had a miraculous
became suspicious that they were being comeback and gloatingly insisted he pay
angled and that Josh was in on it, which led me. Perry pointed out that I must I pay him,
them to deduce that Josh was just lying to because I wasn’t even, I was ahead.
help me get out of the bet. They insisted Perry may love the angle better than any-
that I had to take the bet and, of course, I body. He once spent months concocting an
“begged” them to let me out, since I said it elaborate scheme to angle a casino out of
wouldn’t be right. But they wouldn’t back bets. He tried to recruit a bunch of us to join
www.bluffmagazine.com
 tilt boys

him in his master plan. It would be unwise to divulge the

details here, but the long and short of it was, after spend-
ing about 20 minutes working his plan, he successfully
cheated the casino out of… a nickel. Was he upset that his
Grand Scheme resulted in enough to make a phone call in
the 1980’s – no chance – he was in heaven.
Not all angles are black and white. Borderline angles are
something to consider before you embark on a career in
angling or on a night out with the Tiltboys. Here’s a bor-
derline angle (okay, really cheating) that increased the
Tiltboy membership by one. Paul’s introduction to the
Tiltboys was to whisper the outcome of a replay game that
was on the TV to Phil, who then used the information to
win a bet with Rafe. He split his winnings with Paul, right
in front of Rafe to rub it in. Paul became a Tiltboy there and
then.
Of course, angles can backfire. In fact, that usually hap-
pens when trying to angle Diceboy, the world’s luckiest
man. Paul once removed all the fours, fives, and sixes
from a deck, which is a huge advantage to a player against
the house when playing blackjack.
When Diceboy came back from the bathroom, Paul
offered to play blackjack with him letting Dice deal. After
Dice won the first six hands, Paul had to give up on his
angle. He then switched tactics, and demanded his money
back after he confessed to cheating.
You see, in all these cases, pocketing the money was the
least important part about pulling off the angle. The real
currency involved was Tilt, and everybody knows that’s far
more valuable than money.

72 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005

74 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005 www.bluffmagazine.com
 R
Jeff Gordon
acing at speeds of over 200mph, chances are that Jeff
Gordon is the fastest man at the poker table. (OK, Phil
Ivey’s $425,000 Mercedes-McClaren has a top speed of
208mph, but we seriously doubt he’s ever driven it that
fast, well, then again…). The man is also a legend in his
own sport: four-time NASCAR Series Cup champion; three-time Daytona
500 winner; four-time Brickyard 400 winner – we could go on and on.
Jeff first got behind the wheel aged five, and although he hasn’t been
playing poker for as long as he’s been driving, his competitive streak and
no-fear attitude has seen him take to the felt almost as successfully as
he has to the pavement. Maybe he’s been getting some tips off Phil?

PHOTOGRAPHY BY TROY PLOTA

www.bluffmagazine.com DECEMBER 2005 BLUFF 75


A DYNAMIC DUO
J
eff Gordon has gone all-in to form a
partnership with World Poker
Champion Chris Moneymaker and
Harrah’s Operating Company, inc., a
subsidiary of Harrah’s Entertainment.
Moneymaker has teamed up with the
Jeff Gordon Foundation for a series of
world class No Limit Hold’em tourna-
ments for poker enthusiasts, motorsport
fans, celebrities and pros, which began in
November at various Harrah’s locations.
The events will climax with an event at
Caesars Palace in March 2006, to coincide
with the annual Las Vegas NASCAR Race.
Chris told us, “I have had the privilege
to work with Jeff and his team on a series
of licensed products and I was honored to
be asked to co-host this world class No
Limit Hold’em Tournament with him at
Caesars.” The 2003 WSOP champion
beamed, “I’m looking forward to playing
against the NASCAR champion, and have
offered my personal contacts of celebrities
and pros to play for such a worthy cause.”
Four-time NASCAR champion, Gordon
was just as effusive about the possibilities
of the partnership. “We are excited about
teaming with Chris and the WSOP to raise
funds for children and families in need of
support,” said Gordon. “I look forward to
the opportunity to play against Chris at
Caesars Palace. To have the support for my
foundation at Harrah’s and the World
Series of Poker tournament, teamed
with Chris’ personal involvement, is a
76 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005
great honor.”
Fans will have the chance to bid for spe-
cial memorabilia at the event, such as a
Moneymaker Gaming Foundation poker
table signed by Gordon and Moneymaker,
with all proceeds going to the foundation.
A DAY OF RACING,
POKER, AND ROSHAMBO
When Bluff caught up with Jeff, we
knew he was in high demand, but this
guy’s schedule just blew us away… and
this was his day off!
The day kicked off with the Fifth
Annual Jeff Gordon Go-Kart Challenge at
Victory Lane Indoor Karting. The event
allowed corporate sponsors to race along-
side the famous number 24 to raise
money for the Jeff Gordon Foundation.
Before the event, however, Jeff managed to
find time to squeeze in a special four-man
exhibition race with Poker World
Champion Chris Moneymaker, Jason
Hervey (Bischoff-Hervey Productions and
formerly of The Wonder Years), and Craig
Reynolds (NASCAR Nation). Chris, Jason
and Craig were given a ten-second head
start in this short four-lap race. Our first
thought was, “Wow, this is way too much
of a head start for Jeff to even dream about
catching up, even if the guy is a four-time
NASCAR Series Cup Champion”.
Shows how much we know about pro-
fessional racing!
Amazingly, Jeff passed Chris and Jason
on the first lap, but he could only make up
half the distance on Craig Reynolds (we
reckon Craig’s done this before), who ulti-
mately emerged the winner.
After the race, it was straight over to
Hendrick Motorsports for make-up, photo-
shoot, interview, and most importantly,
some friendly heads-up poker with Chris
Moneymaker. We were under strict
instructions not to mention to anyone that
Jeff would be there, lest the facility be
overrun by thousands of Jeff’s rabid fans.
The poor guy has to sneak into his own
race shop!
Following our interview, it was finally
Moneymaker’s time for revenge on the felt
– or so we thought. The action was almost
as fast and furious as the karting. Then,
with all the chips in the pot, along with
Jeff’s helmet and gloves and Chris’s 2003
WSOP Championship bracelet, they were
all-in after the flop, with Chris holding
A♥K♥ and Jeff, Q♣ 6♣, and a board of
K♠Q♥ 2♥. The turn was 6♥, giving Chris
the nut flush and Jeff a five-out boat draw.
Magic river card: Q♦, and Jeff sucked
out on Chris on the home straight. What
a finish!
Chris, never the quitter, would have one
last shot at redemption, as the two faced
off in an impromptu best-of-five Roshambo
competition. Jeff took the early lead, 1-0,
then 1-1, 2-1, 2-2, and, after six ties, Chris
finally won his bracelet back. No time for
a rematch, though, as the racing star was
whisked away to a charity dinner. The
next day it would be back to the office for
Jeff, albeit an office that travels at over
200 mph, to get ready for his next race.
Let’s just hope Bluff provided him with
just a little bit of fun on his day off.
www.bluffmagazine.com
 Bluff: How long have you been
playing poker?
Jeff: In terms of Texas Hold’em and tour-
naments, not that long. Maybe three
years. The only time I ever get to play
poker is on the airplane, when we’re fly-
ing back and forth to races. I play with
friends who fly with me, and it’s just a
great way to pass the time. I try to keep
chips with me wherever I go. I always
liked poker, but it never became really
interesting until I started to learn Texas
Hold’em, and then I fell in love with it.

Bluff: Do you have a lucky hand?

Jeff: Nah, not like Doyle’s 10-2. But you
know, (laughing) pocket aces or A-K suit-
ed, I like that! I usually win more with that
hand!

Bluff: Do you ever think about

playing 2-4 just for sentimental
reasons?
Jeff: You know, I’ve got to admit that
when 2-4 comes up it definitely pops into
my head. If it doesn’t cost me too much to
see the flop, or if it’s suited, then I might
play it. But other than that, I don’t care
about 2-4.

Bluff: You have a royal flush on Bluff: (In surprise) Really?

the back of your helmet. Has
that been there since you got
into poker?
Jeff: I’ve probably had it there for about a
year. I do new helmets every year, and I’ve
been having so much fun at poker tourna-
ments that I wanted to put something on
the helmet to signify that.
Bluff: Are you superstitious?
Jeff: No…
Jeff: I’ve been racing a long time and I’ve
realized you make your own luck. I’m
more of a routine person; I like to go
through the same routine, so I guess that
could be a little superstitious.
Bluff: Do you ever play poker
with other drivers? Established in December 1999, the
Jeff: We did a tournament on the Speed foundation aims to support the physi-
Channel last year with a couple of friends cal, social and intellectual needs of
of mine. I’ve played with Jimmie Johnson, children and their families. It’s a non-
Brian Vickers, Casey Mears and Ryan profit organization that benefits the
Newman. Every once in a while, a lot of Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the
crewmembers will get together and we’ll Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Riley
have a little fun tournament together.
Hospital for Children, the Marrow
Bluff: Which driver would Foundation, in partnership with the
you least like to see at Hendrick Marrow Program, and the
your poker table? Jeff Gordon Children’s Hospital at
Jeff: Tony Stewart is pretty North East Medical Center. The foun-
good; he plays quite a bit in dation also benefits other charities on
Indiana. Ryan Newman is pret- a case-by-case basis.
ty good too, so it’d be between
those two.
The foundation, with the support of
the WSOP, will also be the official char-
Bluff: How’d the Speed ity of the 2006 World Series of Poker.
Channel tournament go?
Jeff: You know, the first tourna- For more information visit
ment I ever did was the celebrity www.JeffGordanFoundation.org
poker one on Bravo, and it’s so
well put together that it’s tough
to compare.

77 www.bluffmagazine.com DECEMBER 2005 BLUFF 77

Bluff: Tell us about the Celebrity Poker Showdown
tournament. What was that like?
Jeff: I hadn’t played much prior to that; I’d only just started play-
ing more Hold’em around that time. I’d started watching it on TV
and then I got asked to be in this tournament. Even though I’m not
a great poker player, I wanted to do it. I went there and I got lucky,
won the first round and made it into the finals. That’s probably
what got me hooked.
Bluff: OK, you had one hand…
Jeff: (Laughing) Yeah, you mean the one with Angie Dickinson?
(Jeff, with 44,000 in chips, raises pre-flop to 5,000; Angie with only
5,600 in chips goes all-in, Jeff folds.)
Bluff: Yeah, what were you thinking in that hand?
Jeff: I was gonna lose no matter what, but looking back,
compared to what I had invested, it wasn’t going to cost me too
much more, even though I knew I was gonna lose. So I guess I
could have put more money in, but, at that point, I was just
cutting my losses, and I certainly learned from that.
Bluff: We talked about your appearance on
Celebrity Poker Showdown, how do you think
Phil Gordon would do on Celebrity NASCAR
Showdown?
Jeff: (Laughs) You never know, probably about as well as I did!
But you never know how well someone is going to be at something
that isn’t their main profession. Like in anything else, experience
and practice are key.
Bluff: What’s the worst bad beat you’ve ever had
in poker?
Jeff: When I did the Bravo thing and I was the first guy out at
the final table. The way I got there was by playing it slow and
waiting for the good cards. In the final, I got a little overconfi-
dent because I started winning some hands, and then I bluffed,
but didn’t quite manage to finish the bluff, and it practically
knocked me out.
Bluff: Tell us your worst racing bad beat.
Jeff: I was leading a race in Charlotte one time, and on the final
lap I ran out of gas. So, that wasn’t too good.
78 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005
Bluff: You raced Chris Moneymaker earlier, can you
analyze his form?
Jeff: You know what? He did a lot better than I thought he was
going to do. I saw him practicing before we went out and I was
impressed. He was carrying some good speed. I know he got beat,
but I raced a lot of people today that were much slower than him.
Bluff: It was pretty amazing that you passed two of
the other racers on the first lap after such a large
head start, what was your strategy there?
Jeff: Well, corner speed is the most important thing – carrying
momentum – and that’s what I practice every weekend. When
you’re racing somebody, it’s about trying to pick and choose
where their weaknesses are. You kind of force them to make a
mistake and take advantage of it.
Bluff: Jeff, what’s been the scariest moment in
your racing career?
Jeff: I’ve had plenty of them. You can’t get to this level without
crashing, just like you can’t get to level Chris is at in poker with-
out losing some big hands. I hit the wall in Texas one time, blew
a right front, and knew it was going to hurt... and it did! I’ve been
very fortunate throughout my career, but I’ve hit a lot of things,
but, luckily, we’ve built a safe racecar.
Bluff: When you hit the wall like that, do you even
see it coming?
Jeff: Yeah, you know it’s coming, and you’re holding on. You
know you’re going to hit something really hard; you just hope that
when you hit, it doesn’t hurt too bad, and that you survive. Once
that happens, you hope nobody else hits you. It’s bad enough tak-
ing one impact, you don’t want to take another one, especially
when you can’t see it coming.
Bluff: Any chance of seeing Jeff Gordon playing in
the 2006 WSOP?
Jeff:If it can fit in my schedule, I’d love to play a big tournament.
I don’t know if I would start out with that one, though. One day I
would like to do it for sure, but right now, with my schedule,
there’s just no way I could dedicate a whole week to it. Not that I
would last that long. I guess I could just go schedule a day
(laughs).
www.bluffmagazine.com
 ON TRACK WITH JEFF
You don’t need a WSOP championship when you’re put-
ting up numbers like Jeff Gordon does in racing. This
may be the first year since 1993 that his winnings do not
exceed the WSOP top prize. But with with 4 races left to
go at press time, there’s no guarantee. Joe Hachem
scored a cool $7.5 million at this year’s WSOP.

Career Race Data Top Average

Year Races Wins Poles 5 10 DNF Finish Start Winnings
1992 1 0 0 0 0 1 31.0 21.0 $6,285
1993 30 0 1 7 11 11 17.7 13.1 $623,855
1994 31 2 1 7 14 10 15.8 9.8 $1,507,010
1995 31 7 9 17 23 3 9.5 5.0 $2,088,460
1996 31 10 5 21 24 5 9.5 6.3 $2,409,018
1997 32 10 1 22 23 2 9.6 9.4 $4,191,227
1998 33 13 7 26 28 2 5.7 7.0 $4,156,417
1999 34 7 7 18 21 7 12.9 7.4 $4,312,292
2000 34 3 3 11 22 2 12.9 12.2 $2,676,065
2001 36 6 8 18 24 2 11.0 9.5 $6,635,896
2002 36 3 3 13 20 3 14.1 12.6 $4,981,168
2003 36 3 4 15 20 5 12.9 8.6 $5,107,762
2004 36 5 7 16 25 4 11.4 9.6 $6,437,665
2005 32 4 2 6 11 9 19.1 11.4 $6,180,125
Totals 433 73 58 197 266 66 13.8 10.2 $51,313,245

For up-to-date stats, visit

www.nascar.com

80 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005 www.bluffmagazine.com

Bluff’s

Holiday GIFT GUIDE 2005

Sick of the same boring old stocking-stuffers
each Christmas? Don’t worry, simply leave this
mag lying around the house, open on this
page, and we promise Santa will do the rest.
Here’s all the cool stuff we want this year.

Oakley’s
Thump 2
Sunglasses
With these beauties you can see through your opponent’s card pro-
tector and catch a glimpse of what’s underneath. Okay, maybe they
aren’t that good, but you’ll look the business when you wear them,
and you also be listening to 1GB of your favourite music through its
built in MP3 Player – So 2006!
– www.oakley.com

www.bluffmagazine.com DECEMBER 2005 BLUFF 85

 ♦ CHIP SETS

HOME GAME ESSENTIALS

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Living the Playboy lifestyle and winning
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The Final Table Company burst onto the scene fashioning luxurious tables for Know when to hold 'em, know when to
poker professionals and celebrities in 2004, and has announced their 2005 fold 'em. Know when to walk away, know
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Let there be no mistake, a Final Table Company game table is to poker what a the plate. Price $129.99, for info visit
Porsche is to driving enthusiasts, simply the best. Call 1-866-592-9862 or www.upperdeckstore.com
visit www.FinalTableCompany.com for more information.

86 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005 www.bluffmagazine.com

 SPORTS&POKER
♦PHIL HELLMUTH JERSEY
Admiring Phil’s game? Your crew will be admiring
yours when you join the game in your “Poker Brat”
Hockey Jersey. Look great and intimidate your oppo-
nents at the card club or your favorite home game.
Wear what the pros wear! Price: $89.99
www.flopgear.com
♦BLUFF POKER PUTTER
It’s a little bizarre, but you can now buy your own set of
Bluff golf clubs. Buy the whole set, or just pick up a lucky
putter. At the very least, every golf bag should have a Bluff 1-
iron because that’s what most of us are doing with that club
in our bag anyway. E-mail bluffclubs@bluffmagazine.com if
interested in learning more about these bad boys.
 STOCKING STUFFERS
♦STACKED: VIDEO GAME
The Daniel Negreanu endorsed video game that is set to raise the stakes. Sure to be a top
seller this holiday season, but remember that Bluff gave you a heads up on this one when we
reviewed it three issues ago.
♦COPAG PLAYING CARDS
COPAG Playing Cards – OK, so the deck costs $14.95
– but the cards are 100% plastic and will last 100 times
longer than a normal deck – that means that, mathe-
matically, they only cost the equivalent of $0.14 – does
that logic compute? They are from Brazil, and if you
lose one they have a replacement card service – I’m not
kidding! www.majorleaguepoker.com
88 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005
♦FINAL TABLE POKER
Phil Gordon’s Final Table Poker
DVD – It’s only $24.95 and you’ll
be supporting one of the tallest
men in the game! But besides the
height, this video has the weight of
one of the best players on the cir-
cuit behind it. Get it at www.exper-
tinsight.com. Did you know that
Phil is a Tiltboy?
www.expertinsight.com
BOOKS
Michael Kaplan and Brad
Reagan’s Aces and Kings
This is a cult classic in the making
and a must for every poker fan’s stock-
ing this year. The authors delve into
the lives of your legendary poker stars,
to today’s superstars.
Doyle Brunson’s
Super System II
Doyle updates Super System for the
21st century with new contributors
such as Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer
Harman and Todd Brunson. With the
first Super System widely acknowl-
edged as the most influential book
ever written on poker, the second
installmentlives up to the hype.
Barry Greenstein’s
Ace on the River
The man who gives his poker win-
nings to charity, is going to teach you
to do the same – win that is – with his
book on poker and life. Isn’t that nice?
He’s giving to charities with a new
book that takes charity-case poker
player and turns them into sharks.
www.bluffmagazine.com
MAY ALL YOUR CHRISTMAS DREAMS COME TRUE… > > >
Ah, Christmas. Don’t you just love it? We can picture you now. You woke up this morning to find
your stocking crammed with Bluff magazines. Now you’re sprawled contentedly on the couch
beside a roaring hearth with a bowl of nuts clasped firmly between your thighs and eggnog drib-
bling down your chin onto the pages of this fine publication. But how do the pros spend
Christmas, you wonder, as you slip into unconsciousness. And what do they want from Santa?
Well wonder no more, because we asked ’em.

♦MIKE “THE ♦DOYLE BRUNSON ♦ANTONIO ♦GREG RAYMER

MOUTH” “What I want for Christmas ESFANDIARI “For Christmas,”
MATUSOW is good health for me, and In Antonio’s dreams, he announces the Fossilman,
For Christmas, Mike the prosperity for says he would like to find “I'd like harsher sentences
Mouth wants to “quit tak- DoylesRoom.com.” “a brand new Ferrari” for parole violators...”
ing bad beats late in big We’ll drink to that, Doyle. stuffed inside his stocking (Long awkward silence)
poker tournaments.” on Christmas morning. ”... and World Peace!”
New Year’s resolution?
Let’s not forget that three Wouldn’t we all. And in the “Seriously, though, I don't
“My New Year’s resolution
kings and all the gold, real world? even know what I want for
is to slow down a little bit.
frankincense and myrrh in “Mmm… maybe, like, a Christmas. I haven't even
I’m moving a little bit too
Vegas couldn’t save Mike super-duper high-tech thought about it. I'm not a
fast. My family tell me off.”
from that bad beat at the poker table?” very needy person, and
World Series (ouch, sorry don't have a lot of gadgets
New Year’s resolution?
Mike). Let’s hope Santa or such.”
can help. “My New Year’s rez is “to
PLAY POKER this year. No New Year’s resolution?
New Year’s resolution? “And I never make New
more screwing off. Time to
My New Year’s resolution is focus. Oh, and to maintain Year's Resolutions. It just
to “quit playing online the workout I’ve been never made sense to me.
poker and get back to live doing for the past year.” Why would you only do such
play. And to be a good
boy.” a thing on this one day?
There’s no reason that such
a thing should work better
OVER THE TOP ♠♣♥♦ on that day, unless the
“New Year” thing means
Seat at 2006 WSOP – $10,000. something to you. I guess
If someone buys you this they are either: just like poker is one long
A) PokerStars.com game, your life is one life,
B) Paying for it with your credit card or and there’s no point into
breaking it up into meaning-
C) Have access to your medical history and
less segments. As such, I’m
are eager to get a spot on your will.
just as likely to make a res-
www.worldseriesofpoker.com
olution tomorrow as on
New Year’s Day.”

90 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005 www.bluffmagazine.com

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS ... > > >

♦PHIL LAAK ♦LYLE BERMAN ♦MARCEL LUSKE ♦CHRIS “JESUS”

All the Unabomber wants
this year is: “Invisibility at
will, eternal life on earth,
mind-reading powers, and
the ability to fly.”
Looks like Jennifer Tilly’s
got her work cut out.
Sweater it is, then…
New Year’s resolution?
Phil’s New Year’s resolution
is: “To use my new gifts
wisely.”
What do you get the man
who has everything?
“For Christmas I’d like to
see WPT and Lake’s enter-
tainment stocks to be rec-
ognized for the value that
they’re worth,“ says Lyle.
“The WPT stock has been
pummeled the last month
or so. I’d also like to win a
WPT tournament this year.”
Does this guy ever stop
thinking about business?
New Year’s resolution?
“My New Year’s Resolution
is the same as every year:
To spend more time with
the family and slow down
in business. I don’t manage
that every year…”
No kidding?
“All I want for Christmas is
the opportunity to play
good tournaments in
healthy environments, with
nice blind structures that
don’t just become crap-
shoots.”
Well said, Marcel. Although
I’m not sure we can buy
you that at Macy’s…
New Year’s resolution?
“For my New Year’s resolu-
tion,” continues The Flying
Dutchman, “I want to finish
what I start. I take on too
many things, be it new
projects or poker tourna-
ments. You lose focus that
way. I just need to focus on
one thing at a time.”
FERGUSON
Let’s not forget that
Christmas is really about
Jesus. Although when we
asked him what he wanted,
he seemed a little dis-
armed and went into the
think tank. “I think…” he
said eventually, “I’d like a
year like the last one. I had
a good year last year.”
New Year’s resolution?
“To work harder,” he says
immediately. “Always to
work harder…”

POKER CAMP ♠♣♥♦

This one time… at poker camp… I stuck a chipset in my… You get the
picture. But what you may not know is that you can go from Bluefish to
Barracuda in a weekend at one of these things, and you’ll probably earn
the entire entry fee back the next time you play a multi-table tournament.
Besides that, you get to meet people that say things like, “This one time,
at poker camp…”
BLUFF Recommended Poker Camps:
WPT Bootcamp – www.wptbootcamp.com – price: $1,495
Camp Hellmuth – www.camphellmuth.com – price: $1,995
Howard Lederer’s Fantasy Camp – www.allincamp.com – price: $2,999
Antonio Esfandiari’s Poker Camp – www.thepokercamp.com – contact for pricing

www.bluffmagazine.com DECEMBER 2005 BLUFF 93

IN THE
BEGINNING…
PART SELF-HELP BOOK FOR THE ASPIRING BILLIONAIRE, PART HIGH-
STAKES POKER PAGE-TUNER, I’M ALL IN, BY LYLE BERMAN, IS A
POWER-DRIVEN ODYSSEY THROUGH A REMARKABLE AND FASCINAT-
ING LIFE. IN THIS EXCLUSIVE AND UNABRIDGED EXTRACT, THE MAN
WHO CHANGED POKER FOREVER TELLS US THE STORY OF THE WPT
FROM INCEPTION TO EXECUTION.

S
ome cultural historians refer to poker as “America’s card game.” Bridge or gin rummy players might take exception to that
claim, but regardless, I suspect that many of you remember playing poker as a kid at a friend’s house or around the kitchen
table. In high school, I remember writing a paper about the popularity of poker, and that was way back in the 1950s. I esti-
mated that between forty and fifty million people played poker on a regular basis, usually at home or the local country club.
So from the outset, I recognized the wide appeal of poker. The moment I started playing the game seriously, back in the
early eighties, I also recognized that poker would work great on television.
On March 21, 1985, I wrote a two-page business synopsis
entitled “Proposed Plans for a Poker Players Tournament Tour.”
The idea was to develop twelve separate tournaments – eleven two-day tourna-
ments and one three-day grand finale – to be shown on television. I tested the
waters and didn’t make waves. A major obstacle was the subject matter of the
show. Gambling was far less acceptable back in the eighties than it is today,
and many television producers wouldn’t touch the theme because it was con-
sidered taboo. So, I dropped the idea and moved on to other things.
Enter Steve Lipscomb. Bright. Personable. Ivy League graduate. Successful
attorney. Well respected filmmaker. And a man with an idea.
I first met Steve in the spring of 2000 when he approached me with his idea
while I was playing in the World Series of Poker. I had just lost a lot of chips in
a big pot when he walked up and told me that he wanted to bring poker into
the mainstream by putting it on television. At the moment, I would have pre-
ferred to choke Steve and the guy across the table who had just beaten me out
of the pot, but frankly, I was interested in what he had to say. So, I told him to
get in touch with me when he put something together. Then I went back to the
table and promptly got knocked out of the tournament. Steve went home and
worked out a plan.

MAKING THE WPT THE PGA OF POKER

In the fall of 2001, Steve met with me in Las Vegas. He brought along his
plan and two associates – Mike Sexton and Linda Johnson, both well known
and respected in the poker world. I liked his proposal immediately. I had
already wanted to put poker on television, and Steve had further developed that
idea into an attractive package, complete with a multistop, worldwide tourna-
ment format, a set that looked like something out of Who Wants to be a
Millionaire, and a reality show format that captured the imagination and
involvement of the viewers.

94 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005 www.bluffmagazine.com

 He and I both saw the need for sharing each player’s holecards,
and now, he had the technology to make it happen.
Furthermore, we both shared a vision. We wanted to take poker to
the next level, to make it a spectator sport like the PGA, NBA, or NFL.
We believed that tournament poker would draw a spectator base, just
like the established sports leagues, but with a distinct difference:
amateur players could compete against professionals. All they need-
ed was an entry fee! Imagine trying that with the Yankees in the
World Series or the Patriots in the Super Bowl.
I was convinced we had a winner. It was my old impulsiveness
again; I didn’t do any research, I just went with my gut. I was certain
that if we put up a quality production that showed the players’ hole-
cards (watching a poker tournament without seeing the players’ hole
cards is like watching leaves falling off a tree), we could garner a sig-
www.bluffmagazine.com
nificant viewership from among the millions of poker players around
the country. Even though my 1985 attempt at televising poker tour-
naments had failed, these were different times and different circum-
stances. Gambling was no longer the taboo topic it had been in the
eighties. Everywhere you looked there were shows on Vegas and
gambling. Further, legal card rooms and casinos were multiplying
and spreading across the country like fast food restaurants. Then
there was the reality show craze on television, and we had the ulti-
mate “Survivor,” a guy or gal that could outlast six competitors and
take home a million bucks or more – all in two hours!
I told Steve to go home, work out the financials, and come up with
a complete business plan. Meanwhile, I went out to see if I could
round up some investors and raise the necessary funds to bankroll
the idea. I already had some names in mind.
DECEMBER 2005 BLUFF 95
 and I turn it down. Yeah, life’s strange and so are the choices that
people make in life.
My next stop for financial backing was the Board of Directors at
Lakes. Quite frankly, I was very apprehensive about their reaction.
Our board is not as aggressive as I am with start-ups and new ideas,
and many times they have said to me, “Lyle, we love you, but we just
don’t think this is a good business for us to go into. Let’s stick to our
roots.” It turned out that my apprehension was unfounded. They all
liked the idea very much but with one caveat: The deal couldn’t go
through unless Steve could secure long-term contracts to stage our
tournaments in world-class casinos. With financing now assured, it
was time to meet with Steve and hammer out the final terms of our
deal.

TABLE STAKES
As William Grace used to say, it was “net-net” time: time to find
out what the bottom line was going to be on our deal. The meeting
was held at my home in Palm Springs. I brought down two of our
executives from Lakes, and Steve was joined by an attorney friend by
the name of Shari Leinwand. It was the only time Steve and I would
sit on opposite sides of the table. Steve brought a Hollywood back-
ground to the bargaining table, an approach that would have afford-
ed him a larger slice of the financial pie. I countered with an entre-
preneurial model that preserved a larger chunk of the financial ben-
efits for the people putting up the money. It turned out that in addi-
tion to all of his other skills, Steve is adroit at driving a hard bargain.

STEVE LIPSCOMB
It is one decision I’m
sure they all regret. At the
WILL DOYLE “CHIP” IN?
Doyle Brunson and Chip Reese are both poker legends. They are time of this writing, Doyle
also my friends. Plus, they have some money. That was a trifecta in
my mind, so I approached them, saying: “Guys, lets each put a mil- and Chip’s decisions cost
lion dollars of our own money into this venture, and we can get it
done.”
them approximately forty-
All three of us agreed to do it. That was on a Monday. On Tuesday,
I got a call from my two partners. “Lyle,” they said, “we’d like to
five million dollars each.
include Jack Binion in our arrangement. He’s a good friend and he’s
But then again, so am I. It was a tough meeting. There were times we
done so much for tournament poker he deserves to be in on the deal.”
both thought the deal wasn’t going to fly.
“Good idea,” I agreed. “I like Jack.”
We went back and forth for quite a while, but that’s okay. My atti-
That night, we all agreed to meet at the Bellagio steakhouse in Las
tude is, if you want to finish a deal, you go into a room with the peo-
Vegas to present the idea to Jack. I called Steve and told him to fly out
ple you are doing the deal with, and you sit there until you do it or
from LA to make the sales pitch. He’s the ultimate salesman and he
you don’t.
would have come in a heartbeat, but due to a cell phone snafu, he
Two hours later, we did. Lakes got 80 percent of the company
never got the message. I think things would have turned out differ-
while Steve and his management team got 20 percent. The only deal
ently if he had.
breaker was if Steve couldn’t line up the casinos to sponsor the tour-
It fell on me to make the presentation at dinner that night. I laid
naments. He achieved that objective, and as he likes to say, the deal
out the plan and described our business strategy. Jack thought about
“was a wrap.”
it for a while and said, “Man, that’s a lot of money. I don’t know who’s
The World Poker Tour was in business.
going to buy it, and I’m not sure anybody’s going to watch it on tele-
vision. Nah, I don’t think I’m in.” I guess that spooked Doyle and
WE STRATEGIZE AND SHOOT
Chip because they decided they didn’t want in either.
When it came to capturing a meaningful market share for the
It is one decision I’m sure they all regret. At the time of this writ-
World Poker Tour programs, I had three major concerns:
ing, Doyle and Chip’s decisions cost them approximately forty-five
1. Dedicated air time
million dollars each. In a column posted on his online poker room,
2. Length of our program
Doyle laments:
3. Number of programs to be aired
When Lyle Berman…offered me a chance to buy in [to the WPT], I
I was convinced that, if we wanted to build viewer numbers and
was so gun shy from failed investments that I turned it down. Life’s
loyalty, we needed a designated time slot each week so that people
strange. Here I am, all my life taking shots at shaky investments hav-
could turn to that channel and know our program would be on the
ing nothing to do with poker. Many of those shots are doomed from
air. The term for this in the industry is “appointment television.”
the get-go, and here’s one with the right people behind it, with the
Further, the program needed to be two hours, rather than the one
right vision, at the right time, involving the right game—my game—

www.bluffmagazine.com DECEMBER 2005 BLUFF 97

hour originally suggested. I just didn’t think it was possible to cap-
ture the drama and continuity of the final table in a sixty minute
time slot. From my point of view, two hours was hardly enough time
to do the job well. Finally, there had to be a sufficient number of WPT
tournaments broadcast so that the television industry, the advertis-
ers, and the viewers would see the events as a series, not a one- or
two-part special or documentary. That was the only way the WPT
would ever be able to achieve its objective of being viewed as a true
spectator sport.
We were so sure our program would be a winner that we decided
to go ahead with shooting the first tournament whether we had a
firm commitment from a television network or not.
If the worst came to pass and we couldn’t get a sponsor, I told Steve
that we’d pay to have the show put on the air, like they do with those
infomercials.
In 2002, Steve and his production crew began shooting the first of
twelve tournaments at prestigious, upscale casinos and card rooms
around the world. Getting poker players to participate in the tourna-
ments didn’t prove to be a problem.
From the outset, hundreds of participants showed up ready to do
battle, paying their own way in with entry fees that ranged from five
thousand to twenty-five thousand dollars. During the filming of each
tournament, seventeen cameras were used to capture the full action
of the game, including the special WPT Cams that showed the play-
ers’ holecards to the television audience. Added to the mix were the
play-by-play comments of Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten – both
Writing an autobiography is a great
exercise in self-analysis. What did
Lyle Berman learn about himself in
writing this book?
I don’t think I learned anything really new.
The book is mainly about my business
career, so I saw that I’ve accomplished a lot
and realized that I’ve been on a kind of race-
track my whole life. But through talking
about it in the book, I realized how much
I’ve enjoyed that. I like to tell people I never
went to work a day in my life.
What’s been the secret of your success?
I guess I’m goal-orientated, and everything I’ve done has
been for the sense of accomplishment. Making money is a
wonderful thing, but it was always just a by-product of doing
what I do.
What’s the greatest bluff you’ve ever made in life?
(Laughs) I’ve always thought of business as a win-win situa-
tion. I’ve never seen it as me against them; I’ve always tried
to conduct business so that both sides come out well. So I
don’t bluff people in that sense…
How did you get involved in poker?
As kids, we played a lot of poker. Then I went to the Warthon
School of Business and Finance at the University of
Pennsylvania. My two roommates and I were thrown out in
our junior year for running a card game. Nowadays there’s a
poker club at Warthon. (Laughs) I guess it’s fair to say I was
ahead of my time.
98 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005
well-versed in the finer points of the game – and color commentator
Shana Hiatt, who gave a decidedly positive spin to the term “poker
face.”
After the first tournament was shot, Steve and his production crew
edited the tremendous amount of footage down to a manageable two
hours, a process that took eight months to accomplish! Part of the
process involved analyzing every hand played at the final table,
approximately 150 of them, and selecting the thirty most memorable
ones to feature on the program.
Fortunately, we never had to pay for television time to show our
tournaments. The Travel Channel decided to pick up our show and
agreed to our three major terms. We’d get a two hour slot in prime-
time every Wednesday night. In addition, the same episode would be
aired back-to- back on Wednesday and again on Saturday. And, of
critical importance, we’d air enough tournaments to ensure that the
WPT would be seen as a television series, just like any regularly slot-
ted program on other channels.
Everything was in place. Our first televised show was only a few
days away. That’s when one of my friends, who happens to be
extremely conservative when it comes to betting, decided to make
me a ten thousand dollar wager that the World Poker Tour would
never make a profit. This was the same guy who bet that the Yankees
would beat the Red Sox in the 2004 American League Championship
Series and was waiting at the betting window to collect his winnings
before Game Four was even over. He’s still waiting. And he owes me
ten big ones.
But then I went dormant for a while. When Doyle Brunson’s
Super System came out in 1978, I bought it, but never read
it. Then I remember picking it up in about 1981 and that kind
of rekindled the flame. I was out in Las Vegas playing craps
and I’d won about $10,000. So I quit and was looking for
something to do, when I saw one of these $100 No Limit
Hold’em tournaments. I entered and I think I lost $300,
because it was a rebuy tournament. But at one point I led
the tournament. Strangely enough, Tom McEvoy, who was
the current World Champion, was playing in that tourna-
ment and I knocked him out. That, to me, was a big
moment. I realized I’d enjoyed losing that $300 more than
I’d enjoyed winning the $10,000. So I started playing a lot of
tournaments. I graduated quite quickly to the high stakes
games and I’ve playing them ever since.
You’re known as a great Omaha player, but is
there any form of poker you don’t like to play?
I don’t really like Limit Hi/Lo games. I think there boring,
and you spend too much time splitting the pot. I just like the
No Limit and Pot Limit games better. When Omaha first
became popular in the eighties, I was one of the first people
to run a computer program to analyze the new game.
What’s the strangest bet you’ve ever made?
A group of us laid Doyle Brunson a million dollars that he
couldn’t lose 200lbs in 18 months; and he did.
How did you find time to write the book when
you’re so busy?
It was written with a guy called Marvin Karlins. He inter-
viewed me for about two weeks straight. He went and wrote
it and I edited it.
www.bluffmagazine.com
 WISDOM
BE CAREFUL WITH
YOUR SANDBAG
“I
love playing against these idiots,” Three Tree Pharaoh
told me years ago. “You can sandbag them the first
time for free, because they never expect it, and then
they go into shock and stop playing against you. I’m
serious. Just one little sandbag scares them back
under whatever rock they crawled out from.”
He was just a 25-year-old kid and I wasn’t much
older. He cackled annoyingly after revealing this
truth. He was proud of his game. Too proud. In fact, he didn’t have
much game at all, in my mind. And he lost consistently, even though
he boasted so frequently about his wins that he probably had delud-
ed himself into thinking he was an all-star.
How he got the nickname “Three Tree Pharaoh,” I’m unsure. He
was proud of that, too. Once I asked him and he would only say,
“Watch me play and you’ll know.” Well, I watched him play for weeks,
until he went broke and disappeared, but never figured
it out.
Chose to have fun
There was something else about what TTP said that underscores
what I believe to be a poor winning attitude. He had said, “I love play-
100 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005
improve your game > > > > > >
ing against these idiots.” Well, listen closely. If you want to have the
best chance of making money at poker, don’t think of your weak
opponents as “idiots.” Often they aren’t anything like that. Some of
the loosest, weakest, most lively opponents I’ve faced have been top
lawyers, surgeons, and celebrities. I’m sure some had genius IQs and
could have devoted themselves to playing poker seriously if they
wanted. But, instead, they chose to have fun at poker, using a small
portion of the ample money they had at their disposal. I’m glad. You
should be, too.
Players like that aren’t idiots, they’re intelligent opponents. It’s
just that their poker sucks. You need to nourish any relationships you
have with them, and mostly you need to respect them. That’s why I
never allow my students to talk about opponents as suckers or idiots.
Customers is more like it. And, usually, you shouldn’t think bad
things about your customers.
Anyway, I’ve strayed from the topic. Hell, I can’t even remember
the topic. Oh, yeah, sandbagging. I nodded politely without commit-
ting myself to his viewpoint about being able to sandbag weak play-
ers once for free and then scaring them into not playing much
against you. In truth, I strongly disagreed with what he had just said.
I even more strongly disagree today.
www.bluffmagazine.com
 then they do. You giggle with them, send them Christmas cards, buy
them coffee. Do anything to make them happy. But don’t sour their
adventure shopping in your store by giving them a bad experience.
That’s what a sandbag does. It feels like an act of war to them.
Now, hear me clearly, I’m not saying to throw sandbagging out of
your poker arsenal. It’s a potent and profitable weapon. I’m just say-
ing that your weakest, loosest opponents are not the appropriate tar-
gets for that weapon.

Serious strategy
When you sandbag those opponents, they take it personally and
become confused. Into a friendly poker game where everyone was
laughing and gladly throwing their money into pots so you could col-
lect it, you’ve injected serious strategy. And you don’t ever want to
inject serious strategy into any poker game unless it’s invisible.
That’s important and I’ll repeat it. You should never use what looks
like serious strategy in a poker game.
Once opponents – particularly weak opponents – see that you’re
mercilessly trying to outmaneuver them by using sophisticated tac-
tics that they don’t fully understand, you’re doomed. TTP was right:
They’ll quit playing against you. And there goes your profit.
Recommendation: Don’t sandbag weak opponents.

Simple. — MC

HOT TIPS FROM

So, let’s talk about sandbagging in poker. If you’re new to the
game, it’s the term used when we check a big hand, hoping our oppo-
nents do our betting for us so we can then raise. If used correctly by
regular players in middle-limit games, sandbagging will add many
thousands of dollars to their bankrolls every year. If used incorrect-
ly, it can destroy them. Today we’re talking about one of the incorrect
ways to use sandbagging.
Who knows what his point was
When TTP said, “… and then they go into shock and stop playing
against you,” I winced. Well, actually, I can’t remember whether I
winced or not and I don’t even know what his exact words were. I
mean, this was over 30 years ago, so what do you expect from me?
Anyway, I thought something like, “Duh!” I mean, the guy was right.
Weak players don’t expect you to sandbag, you can do it the first time
for free, and they stop playing against you once you surprise them
with it. And his point was? Who knows?
My point is that weak opponents who typically call far too often
and pose little threat through their own aggression should be cher-
ished. They’re your very best customers. They’re already buying
your product by calling way too much when you have better hands
THE MAD GENIUS
Don’t discourage a bet if you’re planning to call.
It’s instinctive to try to keep an opponent from betting if
you hope he doesn’t. A natural reaction is to reach
toward your chips, trying to intimidate the player, hoping
he’ll check and you can then see the showdown for free.
This makes no sense if you’re planning to call. You want
to encourage a bet, not discourage it. You might succeed
in making a weak hand or a bluff reconsider and not bet.
But those are exactly the hands you want your opponent
to bet, because those are the ones you can beat. Always
encourage a bet if you intend to call it. -- MC
If an opponent shrugs and bets, beware.
You should seldom call any player who shrugs while bet-
ting. A shrug is a gesture that means, “I’m not sure if this
hand is strong enough.”
Don’t be a victim of that act. Your opponent is encourag-
ing your call by pretending to be vulnerable. Fold against
even a faint suggestion of a shrug, unless you also hold a
monster hand. -- MC

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 in their head
In Their Head
BY JIM “KRAZYKANUCK” WORTH
W
hen I get my seat assignment in a new
tournament, I’m rarely the first one to sit.
I find my seat and walk straight past it. I
generally like to scout out who’s at the
table before I sit down, and then I will plan
out my strategy, based on the players that
I see at the table. If I’m unfamiliar with
some of them, I’ll ask advice from
friends that I’ve made on the circuit about their style of
play. When I found my seat for the $10,000 No Limit
Hold’em event at the RIO, for the main event of the WSOP
Circuit event in March of 2005, I saw right away that I
had a tough table. I had drawn Seat 6 and realized I had my
work cut out. There were three California-based pros sitting to
my left, and Alan Boston and Daniel Negreanu sitting to my right. I
didn’t like my draw too much, but tried to plan out my strategy any-
way, based on the three fast-playing wildcards
to my left, and the totally unpredictable
Negreanu sitting on my right.
I had arrived a good 20 minutes before the
event had started and began to stress once I
saw the players start to take their seats at my
table. The problem with such a table is that it
can rarely be predictable. The fast playing play-
ers to my left were capable of making unortho-
dox plays and chasing draws that could become
expensive if they were lucky enough to hit.
And with Negreanu there, I knew that there
was a great opportunity to chip up given the
right situation, but it was going to take some
cunning to catch Dan fast playing a hand into a
strong holding of mine.
As I arrived at my seat, the tourney director
announced, “Dealers, shuffle up and deal!”
Without time to unpack my IPOD or my favorite
pair of shades, I sat down in time to get my first
hand, a pair of threes. The button was in seat 9
with the blinds in seat 10 and 1. Alan Boston,
who was in seat 2, was first to act and came out
raising the 25/50 blinds to 150 right away. Dan
Negreanu was in seat 2 and quickly called. Two more players in front
of me called as well, which made my pair of threes an easily called
hand. I called and three more people called behind me. I already
knew that, unless I flopped a set, I wouldn’t see past the flop with
any bet. The flop came down 2-3-4 with 2 hearts. I had flopped my
set, but was facing a very scary board. I knew full well that Alan
Boston likely had a large pair with his under the gun raise, but Dan
Negreanu and the three fast-playing pros from LA behind me could
have almost anything in their hands, so I had already made up my
that I was going to play the hand cautiously.
The two blinds checked the action to Alan Boston, the original rais-
er, and he came out betting strong, 700, into the pot. Dan Negreanu
called pretty fast, as did one of two in front of me. Considering the
action so far, I had a big choice to make here. I had flopped middle
www.bluffmagazine.com
WISDOM
set, but by no means had an unbeatable hand. In fact, with the pot
being the size that it was already, there was potential to go broke,
based on all the potential holdings and draws that might be out
there. I wasn’t worried about Alan’s hand, as I didn’t put him on 5-6,
A-5 or pocket fours. I put him on Q-Q, K-K or A-A. I was hoping it was
Q-Q or K-K, as that would reduce his potential outs on me. I was, how-
ever, scared to death of what Dan Negreanu, the caller in front of me
and the three wildcards to my left were holding. Any one of
them could easily have a flush draw, a 5-6, A-5 or 4-4. I
decided to play it safe and just call, rather than over-
commit by raising. I wanted to see how the action would
play out behind me and hopefully get to see the turn
card before I made a move to isolate the competition. Two
players called behind me, putting six players in the pot to
see the turn. The pot was already huge and I was nervous
as hell about my hand.
The turn card paired the twos and I breathed
a sigh of relief. Two hands could beat me at
this point, 4-4 or 2-2, but I was willing to put
my chips on the line now – because no one
had raised the flop, I was pretty sure that no
one else had flopped a set.
Then Alan Boston did the unthinkable. He
bet 3,000 into the pot. I couldn’t believe it
because he had so many people call his flop
bet. I felt that he had a large pair and I had
really only been worried about the other play-
ers in the hand. After a long period of time,
Dan Negreanu folded his hand, as did the
other player in front of me. Rather than push-
ing all in, I decided to raise Alan’s 3,000 bet,
but wanted to price him in by only minimum
raising him. I made it 6,000, and the two
remaining threats behind me folded their
hands quickly. I knew in my heart I had Alan
beat. Alan looked at me and remarked out
loud, “What? Am I going to go broke on the
first hand of the tournament?” (I was hoping
he would). Alan looked at me again and
shocked me by announcing that he was all in.
I said, “Well sir, if you have 4-4 or 2-2 it’s your pot.” He turned over
Q-Q and I rolled over my threes full of twos and watched as he went
white. The river card was a face card and I thought for a split second
that it was a queen. I felt my stomach drop, but noticed the mous-
tache on the card; it was a king, giving me a win and putting my
stack at almost 24,000 after the first hand.
I think it took almost a half hour for my hands to stop shaking. The
thrill of putting my $10,000 buy in on the line a minute into the tour-
nament was one of the most exciting and scariest things I’ve experi-
enced in tournament play in my career. You mustn’t be afraid to mix
it up, but doing so on the first hand of a major tournament must rat-
tle the most seasoned professional.
Knock Em Dead
Jim “KrazyKanuck” Worth
DECEMBER 2005 BLUFF 103

GOT A QUESTION FOR CLONIE?
DROP HER A LINE AT
CLONIE@BLUFFMAGAZINE.COM.
YOU CAN ALSO PLAY POKER AGAINST
HER AT WWW.FULLTILTPOKER.COM.
DEAR CLONIE,
Recently I was playing in a tournament and saw a flop of K-K-2.
There were three people in the hand. I checked, another guy
checked, then the third guy went all in. I then made a big mistake
and I want to know if it is “legal”. I threw my cards down on their
backs, forgetting that there was someone after me in the hand. I was
trying to get a read off of the guy that went all in, thinking it was just
him and me. I had K-3. He looked terrified, so I called his all in bet
and went on to eliminate him from the tournament. What should the
ruling be there? Was that legal? What if the guy after me had not
been there?
– TIM CHADWICK
DEAR TIM -
Most tournaments these days are played under rules set down by
the Tournament Director’s Association. TDA rule number 36 states:
“A player who exposes his cards during the play may incur a penal-
ty, but will not have his hand killed.” Showing your cards was a
clear violation of this rule, whether or not there was still another
player to act behind you. Although the rule states that a player will
not have his hand killed, I have seen tournament directors kill a
hand in this situation. The penalties that should have been available
to the tournament director in your situation could have ranged from
a verbal warning to time away from the table. If you continued to
show your hand you could have also been disqualified.
This rule is in place in tournaments to help stop collusion amongst
friends, where a player shows his cards to get another player to fold
or raise on the basis of that information. In a cash game, you can
show all the cards you want to and can even play with your cards
face up, should you so desire. But in a tournament, you should never
intentionally show your cards, or make verbal comments about the
strength of your hand, in order to get a read on an opponent.
– CLONIE
www.bluffmagazine.com
ask clonie WISDOM
DEAR CLONIE,
I have just begun playing Pot Limit Omaha after playing Texas
Hold’em player for several years, and I have found I am having a
hard time playing a hand that contains a pair of aces. When I raise,
it seems like I get several callers and then I get beat by some moron
when his queen and seven make two pairs. When I just try to limp
in with them, the same thing happens. What is the best way to play
aces in Pot Limit Omaha?
– JOHNNY GREENWAY
DEAR JOHNNY,
There is no absolute best way to play pocket aces in Pot Limit
Omaha. In Texas Hold’em, pocket aces are the best hand you can be
dealt and they are a powerhouse favorite over any other hand. In
Omaha, however, depending on what two cards you have along with
the aces, there are many hands that are just as powerful as those
aces. I play aces differently depending on my position at the table
and the type of players I am playing against.
The first thing you should keep in mind is that aces alone do not
play very well in Omaha. When I play aces, I prefer at least one of
them to be suited with one of the other cards in my hand, and for the
other two cards to connect in some way. Hands like A-A-J-T or A-A-9-
8 suited or double-suited play much better than hands like A-A-T-3
with no suits. If I hold a hand like A-A-T-3 with no suits, and I am in
early position, I may limp with it to try to see a cheap flop, trying to
flop an ace, but I will fold it if I get any pressure from the players
behind me.
If I hold a quality aces hand like the A-A-J-T double suited, then
I will play it aggressively. If there are several limpers or a raiser
before me, I will raise the size of the pot. If I am first to act in an
aggressive game, I may limp in, but will re-raise the size of the pot
if I get a raiser after me. The idea is to, ideally, see a flop heads up
with a large pot out there. In Pot Limit, you are limited on the
amount you can bet. I like to play these hands with a large pot
because then I can bet out an amount that makes my opponent less
likely to call with a drawing hand. Remember that, in Omaha, your
opponent will nearly always flop either a made hand or a draw, and
if there are multiple opponents you are likely to be up against both.
If I am unlucky enough to be facing multiple opponents when I
see the flop, then I am not going to get married to the hand if I don’t
flop anything to it. I am ideally looking to flop an ace or some type
of combination straight and flush draw. If I don’t, then I will dump
the hand and wait for a better opportunity.
The thing to remember in Pot Limit Omaha is that, with aces or
any other hand, you need to manipulate the size of the pot to give
you the best opportunity to win after the flop.
– CLONIE
DECEMBER 2005 BLUFF 105

Sports
Sportsbetting
betting by James Ernest and Mike Selinker
BASEBALL
If a poker game called “Baseball” didn’t exist, we’d have
to invent it. Most poker players are sports fans too, and even
the ones who occasionally lose their shirts at the sportsbook
still enjoy a spirited game of Baseball.
We’ve all played Baseball, but it’s always a little different:
it’s usually Stud, seven cards or five. Nines are wild, and
threes might kill you, or might cost you money, because
they’re wild and somehow better than nines. Fours get you
another card, sometimes for money, face up or face down, no
one’s really sure.
After studying as many versions as we could find, here’s
our favorite way to play Baseball: It’s 7-card stud; threes and
nines are wild. If you get a four faceup, it’s a “walk,” and you
can buy another upcard for ten cents (that’s two small bets).
If you get a three faceup, you must match the pot or fold.
Some versions give you your walks for free. In other ver-
sions, threes kill you (three strikes, you’re out!), a joker is
wild if down, but dead if up (designated hitter), and a
faceup queen of spades “rains out” the game and makes all
the live players start over.
If you love playing in the dark, you can play Night
Baseball, where every player gets seven cards to start, but
can’t look at them. The game is played by the rules above
(whichever set you like best), but players take turns reveal-
ing their cards one at a time, until they can beat the best
hand showing. This means the first player turns over one
card, and there’s a betting round. Then the player to his left
rolls cards until he has the first player beat, and there’s
another betting round. This means that a player in late posi-
tion will have to participate in several betting rounds before
he sees even one of his cards. That’s why, when we play this
game, we let players roll one card at the beginning, then
start the betting with the high card showing. At least in this
version table position won’t kill you.
www.bluffmagazine.com
strange games WISDOM
FOOTBALL
Elsewhere in the wide world of sports, are a few less-known poker
variations, including Football. Football is basically a version of Baseball:
fours and sixes are wild, and a faceup two (representing, perhaps, the
thrill of a 2-point conversion) will get you an extra facedown card. Some
versions replace the two with a ten (ten yards, we guess) and some play
a split-pot version in which the highest spade in the hole (the “referee”)
gets half the pot. Considering the relative salaries, we prefer to give the
referee one-400th of the pot.
Another football-themed game is Quarterback, so named because
everyone antes an additional quarter (or five normal antes) and, if you
stick around until the showdown, you get that quarter back. This game is
best as 5-card stud, since it’s easier to justify sticking it out through four
betting rounds than five. To add wild cards to this game, choose your
favorite quarterback of all time, and use his number(s). John Elway makes
sevens wild, Joe Montana is aces and sixes, Dan Marino is aces and
threes, and so on. Be ready to support your choice with statistics and, if
necessary, stern language.
BASKETBALL
You’ll need a clock with a second hand to play Basketball. It’s
7-stud, twos and threes are wild. (Mike says this is because of Michael
Jordan’s jersey number. James thinks Michael Jordan plays golf.) Each
player has a 24-second shot clock, which is timed by the other players.
If you don’t act in time, you fold. We suggest you count off the last ten
seconds out loud: it’s suitably nerve-wracking.
And now, some others, with all the attention
Y
HOCKE
they deserve: Hockey is Texas Hold’em with
facedown sevens (“hockey sticks”) wild.
Badminton is 7-card stud where the winner
splits the pot with the player directly opposite, if
that player is still in. In Synchronized Swimming, it’s 5-
card stud, and you can treat all face cards in your hand as though they
were the same suit. And, as soon as they make poker into an Olympic
sport, we’ll come up with an official variant called “Olympic Poker,” in
which all cards are wild and no one ever gets to look at them.
Mike Selinker and James Ernest are contributors to Dealer’s Choice:
the Complete Handbook of Saturday Night Poker (Overlook Press), a
compendium of more than 200 crazy poker games just like these. There,
if you wish, you can learn the subtle nuances of Night Baseball of the
Living Dead.
DECEMBER 2005 BLUFF 107
 WISDOM fish food
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to think about what your opponent is thinking, based on your ear- chronic insomniacs out there
lier advertisement. But he is thinking about what you think he is who just can’t get enough of
thinking about. Then you get into triple reverse psychology and online action and are constantly
the next thing you know your brain short circuits and you can searching for that next poker
smell burnt toast. high, is that the more hours you
You always want your opponents to second guess themselves, put in at the virtual felt, the more
to never be sure if they were right or wrong. Inspire doubt in your green you’ll get in your pocket (or
opponents, not confidence, and you will have an advantage. at least your online account).
There are three different ways to
LINGO earn while you play: 1) one point
is earned for every hour you play
The Nuts. “The nuts” is a term for the best possible hand at any
given time. Before the flop, the nuts are pocket aces because it’s
at a cash game. 2) You get a half-
impossible have a better hand. Suppose the flop is 9-6-2, the nut dozen points for every dollar you
hand would now be pocket nines. If the turn is a 5, the nuts spend in tournament entry fees.
becomes 7-8 for the nine high straight. And if the river is a 2, now 3) You earn points for every cash
the nuts are pocket deuces for four-of-a-kind. The nuts change pot you contribute to.
throughout the hand, so the best place to have them is when you Every three months, the total
can’t be outdrawn; after all five cards are on the board. points earned by members are
Runner Runner. If a player gets two consecutive cards on the pooled and you get your share of
turn and river to win a hand, they have just hit “runner runner”. 40% of the site’s profits deposit-
Two players are all in after a flop of K♠ 9♥ 3♦. Steve turns over ed directly into your account. So
K♣ 9♣ for the top two pair. Bob turns over K♥ 6♥ for top pair. if the total points are 10,000 and
Bob is about an 18-1 underdog after this flop. His only chance is you have 500 then you’ll get 5%.
to get two consecutive cards, or runner runner, to make the best Bluff thinks that’s more than
hand. The turn and river bring the 7♥ and 4♥ to give Bob the run- enough to banish the bad beat
ner runner flush, and Steve another bad beat story to tell his blues!
friends.

ETIQUETTE
Don’t react to other people’s flop. If you fold 6--8 to a raise and
the flop comes out 6-6-6, don’t jump out of your seat screaming
about how you folded a monster. Just bite your lip. It happens to
everyone, and if you aren’t playing a hand, you shouldn’t influ-
ence it. If one player wants to represent the fourth six, it will be
slightly difficult when you’re running around the table crying.
Everyone folds winning cards. The right thing to do is let the oth-
ers play without giving away information about what they are, or
aren’t, holding.

108 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005 www.bluffmagazine.com

THE ANGLE IS IN THE DETAILS
In my limited spare time that I have when I’m not analyzing hands at the WPT, or
teaching on weekends at the WPT Boot Camps, I actually manage to play in a vari-
ety of live poker games. Cash games, One-table tournaments, Multi-table tournaments, Shoot-Outs, home cash
games, and home tournaments. This has put me at a table with every player-type and skill-level of player imaginable.
I thought I’d share a few important things that I’ve picked up from this vast field of competition.
Watching players when you first sit down is probably the smartest thing you can do. Watch everything. I like to pick up
good things from players I learn to respect, and take advantage of the bad things I see from players I’ve learned not to
respect (as far as respecting their skill, of course). No matter how good you are, someone will always make a move or do some-
thing that impresses you. Learn from it. Repeat it. When someone exposes something that you are doing wrong, like giving off a tell, or
flashing your hand, making a string-bet, or anything at all, learn from it. Do not repeat it. Period. When you see errors in other peoples
games, if it’s technical, tell them or the dealer, but be polite. If it’s a matter of skill, feast on it and adjust your game.
The basic tip here is to remember that the Angel is in the details. There are so many tiny factors and rules to NL Hold ‘Em, that if ignored,
any one of them can cost a player all of their chips in a cash game, or knock them out of a tournament, and Ive seen it happen to the wis-
est of players. Showing cards at the wrong time, not capping your cards, betting improperly (size and/or string bets), stacking chips improp-
erly (hiding the big chips, or dirty stacks), having facial reactions to cards. Any one of these things qualify. If you want any table-cred what-
soever, master these areas, as common-sense oriented as they might seem. If I see any player make errors in these little details, they
become the bulls-eye. I know that I can outplay these players deep into a hand, and I will adjust my game accordingly.
For example, if I see a player that never caps his cards, I will immediately know that he is either an online fiend and will have many tells
that I should look for, or will be largely inexperienced in general. Anyone that has spent enough time in a casino should know that unpro-
tected cards will automatically be folded if any other card touches them. I’ve played on a few slick felts where cards move faster than Phil
Helmuth when he’s trying to get back to his seat as cards are being dealt. Ahhh nothing like a ricocheted fold to muck your nuts-hand with
thousands on the line. Watch. Learn. Adjust. If you don’t know by now, you better ask somebody. Best of skill.

Alex “The Insider” Outhred is a producer with the World Poker Tour™ and an instructor with the WPT Boot Camp™ and can be reached at
theinsider@wptbootcamp.com
 WISDOM quiz

F SHQUIZ RATE YOUR POKER PROWESS

Are you a minnow or a shark?
Answer these questions to find out!
by Carl "The Dean" Sampson

POKER HISTORY/TERMINOLOGY DISCIPLINE

1. Which famous poker player is associated with 6. To be playing poker correctly, what must you
the hand 10-2? do a lot of?
A. Johnny Moss A. Talking
B. Stu “the Kid” Ungar B. Folding
C. Doyle Brunson C. Raising
D. Phil Hellmuth D. Slow playing

2. The term “runner-runner” means what? 7. The longer you play poker, what must you
expect to happen?
A. A player who is on a winning streak
B. Aces in the hole in Hold’em A. You will experience very bad runs
C. A player who has been outdrawn on two consecutive hands B. You will feel frustration at seeing weak players hit their
D. A hand that improves enormously by catching consecutive draws time after time
cards on the turn and river C. You will win if you are a good player
D. All of the above
3. Who was the last player to successfully defend
the $10,000 buy-in World Series title? 8. Why is watching your opponents so crucial to
winning play?
A. Johnny Chan
B. Phil Hellmuth A. It will prevent you from becoming bored and losing focus
C. Scotty Nguyen B. It will greatly increase your chances of winning
D. Dan Harrington C. You will be able to recognize them again
D. Both A and B
4. What is meant by the term “taking a walk”?
9. What is a very bad trait to have in a poker
A. Going for a stroll after taking a bad beat in order to clear game?
your head
B. Getting dealt consecutive hands of A-K A. Aggression
C. Being forced to take a timeout for using foul and abusive B. Impatience
language at the table C. Courage
D. Everyone folding around to the big blind who wins uncon- D. Both A and B
tested

5. Which two players at the 2005 World Series

won their tenth WSOP bracelets?
A. “Amarillo Slim” Preston and Phil Hellmuth
B. Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan
C. TJ Cloutier and Erik Seidel
D. Chris Ferguson and Doyle Brunson

110 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005 www.bluffmagazine.com

 WISDOM

10. When you are losing hand after hand and there PSYCHOLOGY / TELLS
seems to be no end in sight, what must you
do? 16. The power of the bluff is far more important in
which form of poker?
A. Stop raising to reduce the amount of fluctuation in your
bankroll A. Limit Hold’em
B. Look at yourself to see if you are still playing your “A” game B. Limit 7-card Stud
C. Remain calm and patient C. Pot Limit Hold’em
D. Both B and C D. It is equally important in all three

GAME PLAY 17. When deciding to act on a tell, it is very impor-

tant to do what?
11. In No limit Hold’em, what type of odds are the
most important? A. Bet or raise
B. Be sure of the tell having observed it several times
A. Pot odds C. Get your opponent talking
B. Current odds D. Ignore it, as any tell is too vague to act upon
C. Implied odds
D. Odds against making your hand 18. Where is it important to look whenever a com-
munity card is being dealt out?
12. Position is important in any form of poker but
in which of these games is position of least A. At the player who is talking the most during play
importance? B. At the board so you don’t make a mistake with the content
of your hand
A. Limit Hold’em C. Directly at an opponent who is your potential greatest threat
B. Pot limit Omaha D. At the dealer’s hands
C. No limit Hold’em
D. Pot limit Hold’em 19. Any player who is raising and calling far more
than conventional theory calls for is said to be:
13. You are 30 minutes into a fairly long No-Limit
Hold’em freeze-out tournament and you still A. Loose and passive
have your original starting stack. The chip B. Tight and aggressive
leader raises an amount that is only 4% of your C. Loose and aggressive
total chips in early position; you have 5-5. D. Average aggressive
What is the best play?
20. A player who instinctively glances at his chips
A. Call when a fresh card is dealt is:
B. Reraise
C. Fold A. Likely to want to bet or raise
D. Ask for time B. Checking his stack total
C. Likely to be checking
14. In Limit Hold’em, you have the Ah-Jh in middle D. Likely to be folding
position, it is raised and re-raised before it gets
to you, what is the best play?
Answers: 1.C 2.D 3.A 4.D 5.B 6.B 7.D 8.D 9.B 10.D 11.C 12.A 13.A
A. Reraise 14.D 15.B 16.C 17.B 18.C 19.C 20.A
B. Call
C. Call and play aggressively from the flop onwards How well did you do? Add up the total number of questions
D. Fold answered correctly to find out your score.
18-20.................................................... Shark
15. In Omaha Hi-lo 8 or Better, what type of start-
14-17 .................................................... Barracuda
ing hands are the most preferable?
10-13 .................................................... Bluefish
A. Hands that can win the high portion of the pot 7-9 ....................................................... Flounder
B. Hands that can win either high or low Less than 7........................................... Minnow
C. Hands that have full-house potential
D. Hands that contain an A-2

www.bluffmagazine.com DECEMBER 2005 BLUFF 111

 WISDOM pro tips

Marcel
Luske on ♠ ♠♠
AS POKER PLAYERS, WE FEEL A RUSH OF ADRENALINE
AS WE SIT DOWN AT A TOURNAMENT. BUT BE CAREFUL:
THIS BURST OF EXCITEMENT IS NATURAL, BUT IT MAY
CAUSE YOU TO LOSE FOCUS AND COULD COST YOU A
GOOD TOURNAMENT START.

FOCUSING
Some of us have taught ourselves to focus as an instinctive disci-
pline, but sometimes you’re so thrilled just to be there that the
long-term goal of the game is far from your mind. Your emotions
take over and you lose your focus. You need to refocus; it is very
hard to recover from a bad start, especially when you are
feeling the ‘money-pressure’. Gaining an advantage over
each individual opponent takes time and demands study and
patience. Take time to relax and study tells. The more you are
armed with accurate information about other players, the bet-
ter your chances are to succeed. Don’t forget that any player
who counts on the luck of the cards alone will eventually lose.
Remember, winning pots brings pleasure, losing pots brings pressure!
Focusing on your opponent in a tournament is just one of the keys to develop-
ing your tournament game plan. In my DVD, Poker My Way, I will help you to inte-
grate this into the overall backbone of your tournament play.

LEARNING YOUR TOURNAMENT GAME FROM THE PROS

I also recommend that you take the opportunity, each time you play a poker
game, to play with the skills and tips that you have learned through studying as
many game situations as possible. There are lots of great books out there, and more
DVDs coming out all the time. All of them can help you hone your skills through under-
standing the basics of the game. Coupling this with the study of educational material
authored by the industry’s best pros makes a lot of sense, as you may well find yourself
sitting at the table with them one day soon.

ALWAYS RESPECTING THE TABLE

By taking the players you play with seriously and treating them with respect, you will auto-
matically gain respect from the players around you and achieve better results in your game.
Take your time before you really start to play to observe the table, and see how they each play.
Analyze the situation and use it to your favor. Once you start to build a foundation to work
from, drawn from the information that’s being given to you during play, decisions become eas-
ier to make, and you can avoid situations that might strangle your game. This way, you avoid
pressure and gain strength, which will lead you to the top. Try it and feel the difference in
your game.
May the cards be with you…
Marcel Luske
The Flying Dutchman
You can get more tournament tips from me on my new DVD,
Poker My Way, at www.PokerMyWayDVD.com or at a store
near you. Or you can share your tournament experiences
with me directly via my website at www.marcelluske.com.

112 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005 www.bluffmagazine.com

 pro tips WISDOM

Michael “The Grinder”

Mizrachi on♠♠♠
KNOWING YOUR OPPONENT
When I first sit down at I table, I spend some time trying to figure out my opponents’ personalities. Are they into the game and there to
make money? What’s their purpose? You should be able to recognize the guys who just want to have fun. Those players are very talkative;
they’ll ask everyone how they’re doing, and just chat away. The people who appear the coolest, they’re the ones who are there to win.
Once play begins, it takes me at least an hour to figure out who is tight, who is loose-aggressive, who is tight-medium, and so on. You need
to see everyone play a good few hands and pick up patterns in their play. And then, with an aggressive opponent, I might play a little more
passively than usual, flat-calling pre-flop rather reraising, because I want to get reraised on the flop and outplay him. With a passive player,
I’ll take advantage, reraising a lot before the flop and try to win the pot right there. The important thing is to make adjustments depending on
the way you’ve analyzed and profiled your opponent.
When you’re playing against the guys who are just there to have fun, you need to figure them out too. If I see repetitive plays that suggest
they just want to gamble and they don’t really care at all about the outcome, then I’ll wait it out. I’ll only gamble with them if I have a strong
hand. If they look like they want to take some risks and hope to get lucky, they’ll be going on big draws, so you might have to make some
laydowns.

TOURNAMENT STRATEGY
In tournaments, I like to see a lot of hands during the early levels. This way, I get to see flops cheap and try to pick up as many chips as I
can when the blinds are low. Then, when the blinds and antes go up, I can make a lot of raises and pick up blinds preflop with my big stack
because I can afford to. This is one of my key strategies: see more hands in early levels.
It’s interesting, because this is exactly the opposite of what a lot of the books say and I guess I do exactly the opposite of what guys like
David Sklansky think. But I’ve experimented with every strategy, and this is the one that works for me. The important thing is to remember
that the best way to become a good player is to try out many different strategies and experiment with your game. Play as many tournaments
as you can until you find what works for you, and stick with it. It doesn’t matter how many books you read or what other people say. If you
win, play it.

www.bluffmagazine.com DECEMBER 2005 BLUFF 115

 chip tricks WISDOM

Chip-Clipping
and Flicking
BY RICH FERGUSON

Effect: You manipulate a chip from the front of the fingers to the back of the fingers repeatedly
until you cause the chip to suddenly jump to the other hand or onto the table!

Explanation: First grab a chip with your thumb and middle fingers. (Figure 1) Position your fin-
gertips to line up across from your thumb tip at the middle of the chip.
With your middle fingers and thumb, slightly pull the chip toward the palm creating a circle out
of all of your fingers, just like with you’re binoculars. Your first finger and pinky should now be in
contact with the top and bottom edge of the chip. If you were to remove the thumb and middle fin-
gers, the chip could be held in this position with the first finger and pinky. (Figure 2)
While continuing to grip the edge of the chip by the first finger and pinky, you will allow your
middle fingers to bend toward your palm until their first knuckles are touching the center of the
chip. Notice that the chip is starting to rotate while pivoting on its edges held by the first finger and
pinky. (Figure 3) The red dot in the first four illustrations will help you visualize the rotation of the
chip. Look at how the red dot pivots around 180 degrees.
As the chip rotates toward the back of the fingers, your first finger and pinky clip the edges a lit-
tle more than when you were just allowing the chip to rotate. Continue to push against the chip from
the back with the middle finger knuckles. (Figure 4) From here, you can extend your fingers com-
pletely open and have the chip clipped behind your hand. This is half the ‘clipping’ effect. The goal
is to get the chip back to the position in Figure 1. Curl all the fingers toward the palm, grab the back
of the chip with the thumb, pull the middle fingers out so their tips are on the back of the chip again
and flatten the chip and fingers back to the original position.

Tips: Extremely sweaty or dry hands could make this clipping technique slightly harder. Also, a
newer chip will have a better “biting” edge for beginners; however, it will start to wear out your skin
quicker where you are pinching hard.

Advanced: I am very excited to teach a technique never shared before in books or videos! Once
you have managed to rotate the chip back and forth with the clipping technique try this clever chip-
flicking trick.
The Chip Flick is accomplished at the point when the chip is held behind the fingers or on the
knuckles of the middle fingers. Instead of rotating the chip back to the fingertips, pinch it hard with
the first finger and pinky that overhang the edge of the chip by pulling back against the chip with
the first finger and pinky while pushing away with the middle fingers. You will allow the bottom
edge, held with the pinky, to release. (Figure 5) Meanwhile, the first finger continues to pull back
toward the palm as the middle fingers push out very quickly. (Figure 6) Once you get the timing
right between pulling the first finger back and the middle fingers forward, you will be able to con-
trol the chip to land where you want or shoot to the other hand.

Preview at www.officialpokerinc.com

www.bluffmagazine.com DECEMBER 2005 BLUFF 117


The Nuts part 4
by James L Weaver
T
he plane ride back to Kansas City passed in a
cloudy haze, although I was glad Vegas was fading
away. A flabby blonde sitting in the middle seat left
me crushed against the hull of Southwest 646. Her
fat arms flailed as she recounted every sordid detail
of her escapades on the craps tables at The Mirage.
After five minutes and a stiff drink under my belt, I
drowned her nasal tones to a dull roar and looked out into the
blackness of the sky caressing the silver wing. But all I could see
was Cowboy Matteson's four kings - the four kings that shattered
my full boat of aces over kings at the final table of the Vegas
International Poker Championship.
Two hours later, we landed in Kansas City and the woman
thanked me profusely for talking with her, although I don't think
I said more than five words. With the $75,000 check for sixth
place in my jacket pocket, I headed to my car and drove home.
“You should know, Johnny,” Matteson had said, “I always win
with kings.” I could still see his face; that cagey smile and those
steely eyes would haunt me for a while.
The house was dark when I pulled into the circle drive. I wished
my daughter Sara could be there, but I knew she was at her moth-
er's house. Jesus, I felt pathetic. I crawled into bed and let the emo-
tions of the day wash me away into a deep and surprisingly peace-
ful slumber.
The next morning, I cruised down I-35 and hit the tables at
Harrah's with marginal success. My head wasn't in the game and
I should have gotten out sooner than I did. When I slowed played
my set of jacks and let some old fart across from me draw out his
flush, I knew it was time to get the hell out of there.I drove back
up I-35, wading through the summer construction and heading to
the ritzy neighborhood I used to call home. As I exited off the high-
way, I passed the Quik Trip where I used to get my coffee in the
mornings before heading to the casinos. I passed the flower shop
where I used to buy my wife and daughter roses on the way home
from a winning trip. I passed a lot of things that used to hold bet-
ter memories. Now they're just reminders of a life gone awry,
www.bluffmagazine.com
poke fiction WISDOM
blown away with an ill-timed opening of a hotel room door.
Pulling into my old subdivision, I passed by the white-columned
monstrosities some people actually called home and into the part
of town where the houses were nice, but people still did their own
lawn work. Pulling up the drive to my ex-wife's house, I saw that
my alimony money was going to good use, helping to fund the new
Jaguar sitting in the driveway. Then again, my ex had other
sources of income these days. Sara ran out of the house as fast as
her long twelve-year old legs could carry her.
“Daddy!” she screamed, jumping up into my arms and clamping
a vice-grip around my neck. “I missed you.”
“I missed you, too, baby girl,” I said, burying my face in her
freshly washed mane of blonde hair. The hug of that little girl did
more to ease my troubled soul than anything else could have
managed.
“I heard you lost,” she said. “That was one bad beat.”
“That's poker, baby,” I sighed, lowering her to the ground.
“Sounds like you played it right.”
I laughed. My daughter was destined to be a heckuva poker
player if she chose to go that route. At twelve, she could knew all
about gutshots and double-bellybusters, could calculate pot odds
faster than some of the cronies I had over for the occasional home
game, and could read people better than some of the pros I know.
Yeah, she'd picked up a thing or two from her old man, mostly to
her mother's dismay.
“You ready to go?” I asked her.
“Definitely,” she said. “Mom's been a bear this week.”
“How come?”
“You-know-who didn't call all week,” she sighed. “I'll go get
my stuff.”
She ran up the front steps, past Beth who now stood at the door,
her thin, tanned arms folded against a yellow, sleeveless summer
dress. Her long blonde hair hung just past her shoulders and her
dancing blue eyes were as enticing as always. Damn, my ex still
looked good and I wished to God that I didn't still love her.
“Hey, Johnny,” she said sadly. She knew; I could tell it in her
DECEMBER 2005 BLUFF 119
 poke fiction

AMATEUR POKER
LEAGUE TOP 20
as of 10/25/05

No. Name Results

1 Greg Musselman 30,678.35
2 Robert Truelson II 28,127.70
3 Roger Foos 26,347.05
4 Dwayne Hefley 26,014.60
5 Jerry Sanders 25,104.50
6 Keith Brossman 24,864.75
7 Lewis Garrett 23,865.10
8 Shawn Haworth 23,702.95
9 Monica Brown 23,664.85
10 Sheila Hoehn 23,663.15
11 Paul Poropatic 23,659.00
12 Steven Thomas 23,523.35 eyes. As if reading my mind, she walked down the steps and
13 Kerry Nelson 23,404.85 stood before me. Not sure what exactly to say, I just shrugged
as if to say, “Well, what can you do?” I had a flash the two of
14 Joe Segura Jr. 22,969.05 us dancing long ago, bodies pressed together, the world spin-
ning obliviously by. I had the mad urge to lean in and kiss
15 Alan Swihart 22,802.45 her like I'd done that very night.
16 Dana Boone 22,737.95 “Jake called this morning and told me,” she said.
Cowboy had called her that morning. She may as well
17 Gena Truelson 22,570.95 have punched me in the gut with a sledgehammer. I man-
18 Robert Vanbibber 22,105.45 aged to keep a poker face, but it was tough. Losing to Cowboy
in the tournament was bad enough. Knowing that he was
19 Jean Gibson 22,096.10 banging my wife right under my nose at the end of our mar-
riage was something else. Knowing that he was my best
20 Greg Kuhl 21,960.60 friend while he was doing it hurt even worse. That's right,
Jake “Cowboy” Matteson had been my life-long best friend
right up to the moment when, five years ago, after calling it
an early night at the riverboats, I walked into my hotel room
and caught him in bed with my wife.
Sara came out the door with a gym bag of clothes in one
hand and the poker chip set I'd bought her in the other. She
gave her mother a rather cold look, but politely said goodbye.
Sara hated Cowboy more than I did for shattering her world
to pieces. We climbed in my car and she turned to me.
“We're going to get you ready for Atlantic City, Daddy,”
she said.“We are?” I asked.
“Yeah, and you're going to nail that bastard Jake to
the felt.”
Normally, I would chastise my baby girl for such harsh
language, but she'd been through a great deal because of
Cowboy and she couldn't have captured my sentiments more
succinctly.
For more information visit www.amateurpokerleague.com “Let's do it,” I said with a grin.

120 BLUFF DECEMBER 2005 www.bluffmagazine.com