World Series of Poker has begun

[Brandon]

I think that would go for any board.

Except the genius and tragedy of the "i wont million" Russian guy that binked a chop of a anniversary Sunday Million with some absurd guarantee then went straight to 5k and 10k HU and multi-tabled. It was the greatest luck box amateur story and also the gnarliest crash in history. Someone posted his graph during the aftermath and it would induce suicide.

[DerekGMZ]

Unfortunately, that isn't my graph. I just searched the googles for a losing graph. Although, it probably wouldn't be too far off from one of mine back then. 

[Tank]

I don't understand most of what you are talking about, but I find it fascinating.

 

same here. it's like reading ebonics for poker.

[gotbeer]

Unfortunately, that isn't my graph. I just searched the googles for a losing graph. Although, it probably wouldn't be too far off from one of mine back then. 

 

Derek somehow found my poker graph.  

[Mark68]

Actually, it began back in May, but I digress.

Ironically, our very own Derek finished 2nd in a bracelet event and Baby Huey there was at his final table and finished 5th or 6th, if I remember correctly. I think Derek won 124k for the 2nd place finish.

He's actually had a great series, teo final tables and some deep runs, and has a healthy stack in the main event at the moment.

Which event was that?

 

Admittedly, I haven't been able to follow the Series as closely as I normally do, as I have been swamped with school work. I did happen to see that Hellmuth won his 14th (2nd non-hold 'em) bracelet, and I was paying pretty close attention to the last couple days of the $10k NLH (Main Event). Sucked to see Negreanu go down so close to final, as he's always been one of my favorites.

 

I do plan on getting a little time in at the felt when I come out to SoCal for Labor Day weekend. I'm looking for low-stakes tourneys or really low-stakes cash games, preferably limit, doesn't matter if HE, Omaha, or stud. I'll be looking at probably either Bike or Commerce. Any recommendations?

[Mark68]

Yeah, forget Max made it when I posted. He's well known.

Read their profiles after posting. CL seems legit, the New Jersey kid with the rail of doom (Mizzi, Gross, plus others) is probably at least decent with a pro rail, and I had head of the old Belgium dude but don't know anything about him. He seems pretty boss.

I mentioned to my wife that two of the November Nine are older than us (47), and she did a double-take. She doesn't follow poker nearly as closely as I (as in, she got burned out by watching it as much as I), but even she knows that having two old farts at the final table is quite rare.

[aznhockeyguy]

Which event was that?

 

Admittedly, I haven't been able to follow the Series as closely as I normally do, as I have been swamped with school work. I did happen to see that Hellmuth won his 14th (2nd non-hold 'em) bracelet, and I was paying pretty close attention to the last couple days of the $10k NLH (Main Event). Sucked to see Negreanu go down so close to final, as he's always been one of my favorites.

 

I do plan on getting a little time in at the felt when I come out to SoCal for Labor Day weekend. I'm looking for low-stakes tourneys or really low-stakes cash games, preferably limit, doesn't matter if HE, Omaha, or stud. I'll be looking at probably either Bike or Commerce. Any recommendations?

 

I highly suggest not playing low stakes cash poker here in Southern California due to the rake, but there's plenty action all around.  Each room has their own daily tournaments check out http://www.pokeratlas.com/poker-tournaments/los-angeles/upcoming

[aznhockeyguy]

I think that would go for any board.

Except the genius and tragedy of the "i wont million" Russian guy that binked a chop of a anniversary Sunday Million with some absurd guarantee then went straight to 5k and 10k HU and multi-tabled. It was the greatest luck box amateur story and also the gnarliest crash in history. Someone posted his graph during the aftermath and it would induce suicide.

What?  I remember this story about him winning some huge MTT off a FPP satty, might have been a low or mid level SCOOP, but did not follow up on the aftermath.

 

Edit: found it, wow his run was even more impressive than I remembered.

Edited July 16, 2015 by aznhockeyguy

[Mark68]

I highly suggest not playing low stakes cash poker here in Southern California due to the rake, but there's plenty action all around.  Each room has their own daily tournaments check out http://www.pokeratlas.com/poker-tournaments/los-angeles/upcoming

Damn...how much is the rake there?

[aznhockeyguy]

Damn...how much is the rake there?

 

Not quite sure but I think it's either 5+1 or 6+1 regardless of pot size.

[Mark68]

Not quite sure but I think it's either 5+1 or 6+1 regardless of pot size.

Then I guess it would make sense to get very TAGGY.

[Brandon]

Which event was that?

His runner up was in the 50/50 event, I forget which event # and his other FT was in the online event.

[mrwicked]

So for a non-poker player - how does the tournament work?

I hear a lot of "at the final table" then "at another final table"

Are there different events, with different pay outs, each with it's own final table? 

Or it is one big event, like a march madness, where you win a table and move on to the next round?

[aznhockeyguy]

Mr wicked, when the term "final table" is used for a tournament it usually means the last final table, as it's the final 10/9/6 players remaining.  Sometimes in huge tournaments like the WSOP main event after a long time, it's sometimes referred to when there are the final 3 or 2 tables remaining in the tournament.  It's still the same tournament but they're just referring to it as the final 2 or 3 remaining tables, while the "final table" term is usually reserved for the last and final table left in the tournament.  
 

The March madness type of poker tournament is called a shootout where there's 1 winner from each table that meet again at another table during the same tournament, until the final 10/9/6 players are playing at the last final table.

[Brandon]

What? I remember this story about him winning some huge MTT off a FPP satty, might have been a low or mid level SCOOP, but did not follow up on the aftermath.

Edit: found it, wow his run was even more impressive than I remembered.

Yeah, it was legendary. I remember someone taking his graph and adding a stick figure falling off the cliff of that downward spike. Still the funniest shit I've ever seen.

Now I'm going to look it up. I think they tracked him down and interviewed him a year or so after.

[Slegnaac]

I highly suggest not playing low stakes cash poker here in Southern California due to the rake, but there's plenty action all around. Each room has their own daily tournaments check out http://www.pokeratlas.com/poker-tournaments/los-angeles/upcoming

I seem to recall that the Native American Casino off the 210 near Highland had a decent rake at the 4-8 tables.

[Brandon]

So for a non-poker player - how does the tournament work?

 

- The best way to describe this is any and everyone can buy in to a tournament for a set amount, from $10 to $100 to $10,000 to the $1,000,000 dollar buy in event shown on tv (I think the Aria just had a 500k buy in event). Everyone that buys in starts with the same amount of chips. So that play isn't boring and stagnant there are always blinds and blind levels, blinds are forced bets before anything happens and goes counter-clockwise the same as antes. Blind levels start at something small and increase in increments called levels or blind levels....so as play progresses, so do the blind levels, say every 20 minutes, and this makes play and decision making important as the blind levels can get to a point of making your chip stack menial if you don't accumulate more chips. Aside from those basic rules, last one standing wins. The prize pool is all the buy ins put together and is usually a sliding scale where first gets something like 20%, 2nd gets 15%, 3rd gets 13%, 4th 11%, 5th through 8th 9%........those are just random, but shown for effect because as you see, there are pay jumps. In a huge tournament with, say, 1,000 people, maybe 250 get paid....so these jumps in pay are money bubbles, 251st place gets nothing, 250th through 225th gets double their buy in. This also effects play if you know someone is short and trying to squeak in the money. That's kind of the easy gist of it.....everyone buys in for the same amount, starts with the same chips, a timer keeps track of blind levels as they go up, and you get paid based on where you finish and dependent upon how many people enter. There basically a myriad of strategies involved with all aspects as well....do you have more chips than others? How big is your stack in comparison to the blind levels? When is the next pay jump? Where do I need to be in correlation to the blind level, the average stack, and can I get to x pay jump safely?

 

I hear a lot of "at the final table" then "at another final table"

Are there different events, with different pay outs, each with it's own final table? 

Or it is one big event, like a march madness, where you win a table and move on to the next round?

 

- There is no league or season for poker, it's just year round average joes and whenever a casino or online site decides to put on an event. A lot of the big ones generally have set dates and expected buy ins. Generally, a big event will be more than just a single event and have at least a handful of events....and these are not only different buy ins, but different games as well. So yeah, different events, different payouts based on the buy ins, participants, and structure, and in whatever event it may be, there will be one final table.....final tables are like the final four, you obviously want to win, but getting to that stage seems to be as big or memorable as winning. Plus with the sliding percentage pay scale, most of the money is paid to those final participants.

 

The easiest example I can think of is showing you this single event called the World Series of Poker. It happens in Vegas every May and runs until mid-July. It usually is 50-60 different events, all different buy in types, different game types, different structure types, and even things like casino employees only, seniors only, or women only events.

 

http://www.wsop.com/tournaments/

 

The link should show it comprehensively. Date and start time of event, poker game type, buy in amount, and it will have a structure sheet where you can see when the blinds go up, when breaks are scheduled, and once they stop taking buy in they will have a total prize pool and then have it broken down into how many people get paid and how much.