Ruff Poker Blog
Learn Train Dominate Poker

I see this happen quite often, someone on 2+2 or some other forum/blog/website will explain how the “poker community” wants this or that, or how this is an indication of the wishes of the “poker community,” or how people are misleading the “poker community.” The problem with this thinking is that most people don’t really grasp how diverse the poker community is, or how it functions.

The poker community is made up of three main subgroups:

• Group A: Poker pros and poker activists
• Group B: Poker enthusiasts
• Group C: Casual poker players

Group A are the people you encounter on 2+2 and other forums, and generally are the people you hear from as they are the ones who participate in the conversation. Unfortunately, Group A only accounts for about 5% of the poker community –maybe up to 10% depending on how you characterize someone who is “plugged in” to what is going on in the poker world.

Group B represents a much larger swath of the poker community, probably about 25%. These are the people that play poker a couple days a week, follow the latest major tournament results, and visit forums and poker news websites looking for interesting stories but don’t really contribute. They are not interested in the minutiae of the story, just the gist.

Group C embodies the majority of the so-called poker community –the remaining two-thirds or so. These are the people that play in a home game, head to a casino every now and then, and wouldn’t be able to differentiate between Mason Malmuth and Ike Haxton. If a poker story isn’t on the front-page of Yahoo they likely have no idea about it.

The reason I bring this up is that far too often people talk about the poker community as if it is solely Group A and to a lesser extent Group B. They expect everyone in the poker community to have complete knowledge of the details of what is going on; which is hardly the case.

The truth is, most of the “poker community” has no clue what something like multi-accounting is, never mind what the negative impacts of the practice are. For most “poker players” the conversation regarding boycotting the Venetian Poker Room would go something like this:

“Who is Sheldon Adelson? And you say he owns the Venetian? Ok, so what did he say about online poker?”

Now, you might counter that these aren’t really representatives of the poker community, but they most certainly are! These are the people that are the driving force of the poker community, without them there is no game. Their ignorance of the strategies (which we want) also extends to the machinations of the poker industry (which we abhor) and it’s the tradeoff we have to make to keep poker chugging along. So you can’t argue that they are just ignorant and need to be educated: They either 1) don’t care, or 2) will become a good player.

Let’s put it this way: You are not going to find a person educated on the talking points of the “Poker is skill” debate to be a complete fish at the tables.

So, when we say “the poker community is in almost complete agreement on x” what we really mean to say is, “Group A of the poker community (about 5-10%) is in almost complete agreement on x.”

I’ll give you some recent examples where people from Group A overestimate the poker community’s overall level of knowledge on a topic, which leads them to think there is a consensus when there isn’t, and/or overestimate the impact of the issue on the poker community:

The boycott of the Venetian Poker Room

As much as I love Nolan Dalla, and everything he does for poker, the boycott was doomed to failure from the start. For one thing, even “plugged-in” people had no idea it was even happening. More importantly, 99% of the visitors to the Venetian are not poker players or are Group C players, and just sort of find their way to a poker table, so the room would NEVER be empty even if the entire 2+2 community went along with the boycott.

PokerStars is Full Tilt; Full Tilt is PokerStars!

Here is an interesting experiment: Go to a local home game and ask the participants (individually) what they know about Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars, Lock Poker, legal US poker, etc. You will be stunned at the responses! Most people have no idea that PokerStars bought Full Tilt, or that PokerStars repaid players, or even what Black Friday meant. Furthermore, go ahead and try to explain it to them, and you can watch them tune you out about two sentences in.

Do you have a favorable opinion of the PPA?

The poll on 2+2 is being cited as an actual piece of evidence of the PPA’s standing in the poker community. This is probably the most extreme example of people misunderstanding what the poker community is, as they are not simply going by Group A, but specifically by Group A players who visit the 2+2 NVG forum.

The REAL Poker Community

In each of the above cases we see a huge misjudgment of what the poker community is, and how we should reach out to it. It’s a matter of associating with like-minded people: All the people I hang out with and converse with know about this therefore everyone knows about this. The problem is, the people you are discussing this with on 2+2 represent just a small segment of a small segment of the poker community as a whole.

2+2 and its 370,000 members may seem massive, but let’s put things in a little perspective: the most users ever online was 15,000 (on Black Friday) if we double that number to reflect all forums we are talking about 30,000 people that are relatively “aware” of what is going on in the poker world –Group A and B.

But what about the claim that there are 50,000,000 poker players in the US, and just as many more around the globe, how can this be if only 30,000 people were following Black Friday? Perhaps a better indicator of the size of the poker community is the PPA and their 1.2 million PPA members. if we use the low-end number and say the poker community consists of 1.2 million people, and 30,000 of them are at least casual browsers of 2+2 and other forums, we only have about 2.5% of the poker community following the Black Friday story.

If we revisit the PPA poll we see less than 400 people responded, yet people are treating this poll as if it is a judgment against the PPA and a reasonable measure of the way the poker community feels about the organization. The thread has 5,000 views, less than the 6,000 views the thread titled “Australian government gets mobile poker apps removed from Apple store” has received.

One of the most dangerous traps inexperienced players fall into is when they attempt to employ a “looser” style of play they have seen employed by another player. Poker is a game rife with machismo, which makes this an all too common problem: Players simply refuse to acknowledge that another player might be better than they are, and therefore are able to make a profit with hands you cannot.

I’m going to use a fairly simple example to illustrate this point: The hand I will use is K9s in a game of Limit Holdem. Now, K9s is not the worst hand you could hold, but it is far from the best hand, and at best extremely marginal. So, suppose there is a limper, and you decide to limp along with this mediocre holding. Unfortunately for you, this is where things often go awry: The pot gets raised by another player, everyone else folds except for the initial limper, so you find yourself calling another bet, because the pot odds dictate you call getting 6.5-to-1. My friend, you have just been trapped!

The problem with this hand isn’t when you flop a flush draw or other strong hand; the problem is when you flop pretty-good, like a King, or a 9. This is enough of a problem when the pot hasn’t been raised and no one has shown strength (and could be sitting on a hand like A9/KT/KJ/KQ): When this happens in a raised pot you are in a world of trouble. Often times the pot-odds are such that you are almost forced to call the pre-flop aggressor down: your initial loose call has turned you into a calling station –calling the pre-flop raise because of pot-odds, and then calling when you catch a piece of the flop.

This is one of the reasons I feel players –especially new players—need to be very fastidious with their hand selection, and avoid hands that have a high domination factor like K9s or AT, or even A2-9s. The ability to play these hands comes with experience, and good reads on your opponents. For the up-and-coming player these types of hands will be your biggest profit eaters. Sure, you will do very well when they flop good, but it’s the times you are playing A6s and flop an Ace that will really deplete your chip stack. Very few players are able to let top pair go unless they are faced with multiple bets.

It’s a far better idea to play small pairs and suited connectors that are easy to fold after the flop; you either have something worth chasing, or you don’t! Hands like K9s and A7s leave you with more questions than answers when they flop top-pair.

As Ultimate Poker’s “field trial” period comes close to a close (Thursday was the official day that their field trial ended when the Nevada Gaming Commission gave the company the go-ahead), the first and only licensed online poker site in the United States is readying the launch of their new and improved 2.0 software, which will feature a number of enhancements along with the launch of the highly anticipated Ultimate Poker VIP Loyalty Program.  In this column I’ll take a look at the “Color UP” VIP Program as we currently know it to exist.

Winner Take All Rake Method

One of the most interesting aspects of the Ultimate Poker VIP Program is the way the site will award rake to players. Generally speaking there are two rake allocation methods used in online poker:

• Dealt: In the Dealt method any player dealt a hand at the table will receive an equal share of the rake at the end of the hand. Dealt is the preferred option for mass multi-tablers and tight players.
• Contributed: The Contributed (usually called the Weighted Contributed) method of rake allocation divvies up the rake based on the percentage of the pot you are personally responsible for. Most poker rooms have moved toward this method as it rewards looser “action” players.

There are other methods in between the two, such as any player who puts money in the pot (no matter how little or how much) receives an equal share of the rake.

And then there is Ultimate Poker. UP has decided to go with the “Winner Take All” method, which will credit the winner of the pot with the entirety of the rake. This method goes even a step beyond the Weighted Contributed method, rewarding looser players, while severely punishing tight players who play few hands and win fewer pots.

Color UP Tiers

Some details of the Color UP program at Ultimate Poker have been revealed, including the monthly and yearly tiers –which are modeled on the chips used in casinos around the world. Unfortunately the site hasn’t revealed the monthly requirements to reach each of the monthly levels. However, since we know that the first yearly tier is at $10,000 in rake we can hypothesize that the monthly tiers will likely resemble their chip denomination:

• Tier 1: White Chip
• Tier 2: Red Chip
• Tier 3: Green Chip
• Tier 4: Black Chip
• Tier 5: Purple Chip
• Tier 6: Yellow Chip
• Tier 7: Orange Chip
• Tier 8: Cranberry Chip

So, while I can’t be sure, it would seem that to reach Cranberry (A $5,000 chip in a casino) you would need to reach $5,000 in contributed rake each month.

Here is my best guess at the monthly requirements:

• Tier 1: White Chip = $1 in rake
• Tier 2: Red Chip = $5 in rake
• Tier 3: Green Chip = $25 in rake
• Tier 4: Black Chip = $100 in rake
• Tier 5: Purple Chip = $500 in rake
• Tier 6: Yellow Chip = $1,000 in rake
• Tier 7: Orange Chip = $2,500 in rake
• Tier 8: Cranberry Chip = $5,000 in rake

As I mentioned above, there are also two yearly tiers a player can reach in the Color UP program, which Ultimate Poker has released the requirements to reach:

• Gold Plaque: $10,000 in total rake
• Platinum Plaque: $100,000 in total rake

Once again the 2+2 poker forums have come alive with one of those “only in poker would we have to debate this” threads on whether or not multi-accounting is cheating. Some of the biggest names in the game have weighed in so far and the opinions are fairly mixed and run the gamut from “it’s cheating” to “it’s a gray area” to “it’s not cheating.”

For me multi-accounting is most definitely cheating, but it’s not on the same level as marking cards or hacking someone’s computer. To use a basketball analogy, multi-accounting is the flopping of the poker world. It’s a scummy practice that a select group of players use to gain an advantage, but is easily justified as being “part of the game.” And to continue the flopping analogy, when people flop against you it’s only human nature to want to do it back, but this doesn’t make it right.

There are actually some instances where I have no issue with a player creating a new account, such as when a player has been playing on a site for years and can now get a rakeback deal. I don’t consider this wrong, so long as the previous account is retired. There are probably a few other instances where I would say it’s also ok or falls into the proverbial gray area as well, but these are the exceptions and not the norm. That being said, what is clearly cheating is when you create a new account (without mothballing your old account) for the sole reason to deceive the other players in the game. The notion that this is anything other than cheating is disturbing to say the least. If you can justify this as “ok”, than what else are you justifying as “ok?”

For me this seems like an exercise in Confirmation Bias. By saying that multi-accounting is not cheating (or is acceptable) because of x, y, and z is a way for players who have multi-accounted or still multi-account to downplay the negative effects of multi-accounting in order to maintain their belief that their actions aren’t really cheating and are justified in some way. Multi-accounters will often say things like:

• “I can’t get any action under my main account”

Well, that’s really too bad for you, because one of the aspects of poker (with the exception of tournaments) is that you are allowed to play against whomever you want. One of the lost arts of the Internet generation of poker players is the ability to create a good gambling atmosphere – or more simply put: To make people want to play against you.

• “You don’t know who people are in real life, so it shouldn’t be any different online”

True, but I can see them in a card-room. When I played regularly at Foxwoods in the mid-2000’s I didn’t know everyone’s name, but I knew their skill-set by sight, and if a game was full of tough players I could pass.

• “Everyone else is doing it so I have to”

If you know people who multi-account why don’t you report them instead of joining in on it? If you don’t have proof enough to report them than you don’t actually know these people multi-account.

• “Multi-accounting has been going on for years and almost every famous online player has done it”

This argument has two cognitive biases rolled into one: Anyone using this argument is pulling the Celebrity Bias and Status Quo Bias cards.

• “I was banned from the site so I had to create a new account to earn a living”

This was the Sorel Mizzi argument for why he multi-accounted at Full Tilt Poker, but to use a real-world example to explain why this is bad: Imagine if someone is barred from a specific bar for fighting, should they be able to go into that establishment in disguise? They can, but if they get caught they have broken the law (assuming a no-trespass order was issued) which would make the act itself illegal. Well, the same holds true if you are banned from an online site in my opinion.

What Should Be Done to Multi-Accounters

I’m not trying to say multi-accounting is an egregious offense and multi-accounters should be branded and shunned, as I feel it’s more of a misdemeanor. But it is a crime against the poker world and multi-accounters should be held accountable for their actions.  Do I think we need to perma-ban them from sites and confiscate their funds? No. A suitable penalty would be something like a one-week ban or a monetary fine of 10 Big Blinds at their average stakes played.

Over the years I’ve come down very hard on people caught cheating, scamming, or breaking poker rules (going so far as to write blog posts on some of the more notorious instances) but I’ll also admit that quite a few of these players I’ve been overly critical of have turned the proverbial corner, and I think it’s time that at least one of these players, Justin Bonomo, gets the full pardon from me, and hopefully from anyone else still grinding an axe from his actions –For the back-story you can read this column I wrote in May of 2012, where I was already starting to move into the pro-Bonomo camp. So now I’m ready to seal his juvenile record so to speak, and leave that one red mark off of his permanent record.

It’s a little strange to write this article as I realize that Justin Bonomo wouldn’t or shouldn’t care what I think about him (I have no delusions of grandeur that Justin or any other poker player wakes up wondering what I have written about them), but I think it’s also important that he, and other players in the same situation, know that his efforts at rehabilitating his reputation aren’t going unnoticed, and are having an effect. It should serve as the model for how to conduct oneself for any player now or in the future who finds themselves having committed a transgression against the poker world.

So why am I ready to go the extra step, and basically never mention Bonomo’s past unless it’s pertinent to the conversation? Simply put, he deserves it. Years of keeping his nose clean has changed my opinion on Justin, and the fact that he is now a well-respected player on the live tournament scene shows that most of the poker community trust him implicitly.

Basically, I have evolved my position on Justin Bonomo over the past few years, and I suggest that anyone who is still harboring ill-will towards him reexamine his track record since his multi-accounting admissions back in 2007 when he was a 19 year-old. As they say, the proof is in the putting, and if you’re not ready to redeem Justin at this point than what will it take?

One of the most important factors in my evolution was the fact that there was no PR campaign undertaken and there wasn’t a rush to social media by his supporters; plain and simple Justin let his crimes against the poker community run their course and served his sentence and parole period quietly and without incident.

Compare Justin’s case to another infamous multi-accounter from the same time period, Josh “JJProdigy” Field. Not only is Field a repeat offender, but he’s an unrepentant repeat offender, even as he has grown and –one would think– matured over the past six or seven years.

Another player who is taking a page out of Bonomo’s playbook is Sorel Mizzi. Mizzi has been accused of numerous transgressions from account-buying to bottom-dealing, and after some initially flippant responses on 2+2 he has seemingly decided to take the high road, and just let his past issues run their course while he keeps his nose clean now and in the future. Hopefully in the future I can write a similar article about Sorel.

The first of 26 episodes of the 2013 World Series of Poker tournament series will kick-off tonight on ESPN, with the showing of the inaugural WSOP-APAC Main Event. The two 1-hour episodes will cover the entirety of the WSOP APAC Main Event final table, featuring Daniel Negreanu. In addition to the 26 already recorded episodes ESPN will also show the WSOP Main Event final table in November on a live stream.

Following the WSOP APAC coverage tonight (July 23^rd) ESPN will move on to the WSOP Circuit Series National Championship next week, with two more 1-hour episodes dedicated to the final table.

Beginning on August 6^th ESPN’s coverage of the WSOP will then switch straight to the WSOP Main Event, with coverage picking-up the action on Day 3 of the tournament. A full 22 episodes will be dedicated to the WSOP Main Event, with at least four-hours of coverage of each day (Day 7 of the tournament will feature six hours of coverage) leading up to the November Nine final table on November 4^th and 5^th.

Once again the final table of the Main Event will be shown on a live stream, with ESPN2 handling the coverage on November 4^th, where the final nine players will play down to just three before calling it a night. On November 5^th the three remaining players will return to the Penn & Teller Theater at the Rio to play down to a champion, with the live stream being broadcast by ESPN.

Here is a look at the full television schedule of the 2013 WSOP from ESPN.com:

Stop, please stop. I thought it was bad enough when Annie Duke was landing cable news TV segments earlier this year, acting as if she speaks for the poker community, but at least Annie Duke was actually a professional poker player at one point in her career. It’s bad enough that we’ve already had to deal with Beth Shak calling herself a poker pro (where do you think she got the money to buy all them shoes?) and now we have Tiffany Michelle appearing on the FOX News show Cavuto yesterday, as she put it on Twitter, “Chattin’ poker & politics today on #Cavuto. Its all a big game right? Bluffing, strategy, numbers, game theory…”

This really has nothing to do with Tiffany (or Beth) as a person or anything along those lines, but calling herself, or allowing herself to be introduced as, a professional poker player is misleading at best. That being said, my real issue is with Fox News having such a short rolodex that when they flip to “Poker/Gambling Expert” Beth Shak and Tiffany Michelle are the only entries – apparently Annie Duke was busy yesterday. Not to derail the topic but, can we get Brian Balsbaugh to do a little cable news outreach with some of his clients?

Let’s take a quick look at Tiffany’s Hendon Mob page, and see just what constitutes a poker pro these days shall we? Since November of 2010 Tiffany has cashed in two poker tournaments –that would be 32 months and two cashes. In June of 2011 she finished in 49^th place in a $550 NLHE tournament at the Deep Stack Extravaganza III, pocketing $1,135, and in March of 2013 she finished 47^th in a $300 NLHE event at the Winning O’ the Green tournament series in LA, for a cool $665.

Now I don’t know about you but if my resume over the past three years was highlighted by a pair of Top 50 finishes in small tournaments I wouldn’t feel right adding the title “Professional Poker Player” to my bio, let alone having it appear under me on TV!

And it’s not as if she was tearing up the poker world before this. She had her huge score, when she was the last woman standing in the 2008 WSOP Main Event, and other than a Heartland Poker Tour final table in 2010 (a nice $20,000 score for 7^th place) she has done absolutely nothing in poker. Tiffany is a reality TV star, and poker just happened to be her big break.

Additionally, how does the producer who books these guests (Annie Duke or Tiffany Michelle) not perform the most basic online search and see that Annie Duke is despised in the poker community and has been involved with not one but two shady businesses, or that Tiffany Michelle is not, nor was she ever, considered a poker pro. Emmitt Smith wore an FTP Patch at the NBC Heads-Up Championship in 2011, why not have him on to talk about the Barton Bill?

It actually makes me wonder about the other guests who appear on cable news as so-called experts. What do they actually do? All the time we hear people introduced as strategists, so what are they really? Are they substitute teachers? Are they ushers at the local movie theater? It really makes you wonder how they vet their other guests when FOX News will put “Professional Poker Player” under Tiffany Michelle and bring her on as an expert in the field.

Again, nothing against Tiffany, but if you’re not actually a poker pro don’t go on TV and say you are. I have no problem with her espousing her opinion (you don’t need to be a poker pro to have an opinion on poker) but why couldn’t they just call her a reality TV star with a passion for poker, and let her talk poker and politics?

With the World Series of Poker on its four-month vacation until the November Nine the press releases have been hitting my inbox with everything from Winning Poker Network upgrades to the news today of a new World Poker Tour (WPT) spinoff called the Alpha8 Tour, a series of $100,000 buy-in tournaments that will appear on Fox Sports 1 beginning in March of 2014.

I’m actually not sure how I feel about this idea, as I’ve been both for and against Super-High-Roller tournaments over the past few years. One of my criticisms has always been the haphazard way they are thrown together (usually with lightning fast structures and on short notice), not to mention the incredibly bad timing of adding $100k events, when the poker economy is at one of its lowest points since the Poker Boom of 2003 – How awesome would Alpha8 have been back in 2005?

According to the Press Release (which I have included in full below) the tournaments will take place across the globe with the broadcast of the events appearing on FOX Sports 1, with four hours of coverage dedicated to each tournament. The first event on the Alpha8 Tour will be at the upcoming Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open on August 26. According to the Press Release, Alpha8 will feature a “new” set and will feature PokerNews.com’s Lynn Gilmartin as the anchor of the coverage.

Here is a look at the full press release on the WPT Alpha8 Tour:

World Poker Tour® Teams Up with FOX Sports 1 for the All-New WPT Alpha8™ Series of Televised, Super High-Roller Tournaments to Begin Airing in March 2014

Exclusive, Super High-Roller Tournaments Promise Elite Fields, Unprecedented Poker Action

Twitter: @WPT

Facebook.com/WorldPokerTour

www.WPT.com

Los Angeles, CA (July 18, 2013) – World Poker Tour®, the world’s leading purveyor of high-quality, high-stakes televised poker tournaments is launching WPT Alpha8™, an all-new, global series of super high-roller poker tournaments broadcast on FOX Sports 1, premiering in March 2014.

Held in some of the world’s most prestigious venues in North America, Europe, Asia, and South Africa, each event will feature a buy-in of at least $100,000. Tournament structures designed by WPT Executive Tour Director Matt Savage will ensure exciting poker action at all levels throughout the tournament and allow World Poker Tour to provide four hours of televised action from each event where viewers can watch the game’s very best players compete for millions of dollars in prize money and unprecedented bragging rights.

“I am honored to announce Alpha8, WPT’s newest and most ambitious offering in conjunction with its primetime home on FS1,” said WPT President, Adam Pliska. “Showcasing the world’s poker elite and featuring multimillion dollar prize pools, Alpha8 represents the highest televised treatment of super high-roller tournament poker to date. Playing out over a global stage, this series will give audiences insight into the intensity and skill demanded at the sport’s highest levels.”

Launching August 26, 2013, this exclusive new tournament series will begin with Event 23 of the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open — WPT Alpha8 Florida — held at the prestigious Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. As a frequent host of many WPT Main Event and Regional tournaments in the burgeoning Florida poker market over the past 11 seasons, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino has earned a reputation as one of the region’s elite casino properties, making it an ideal home for WPT’s newest and most exclusive event.

“As a long-time World Poker Tour partner, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is excited to be hosting the first event in this exclusive, super high-roller series,” said Seminole Gaming COO Larry Mullin. “Adding WPT Alpha8 Florida to the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open schedule raises the volume on this already highly anticipated series, including our $10 million guarantee Main Event.”

Befitting an entirely new tournament series, WPT Alpha8 will feature a unique, modern set and will be hosted by fresh, new talent, including Lynn Gilmartin, who will serve as the show’s Anchor. Recorded for broadcast on FOX Sports 1 in 2014, WPT Alpha8 will be a key element of the network’s new original programming and will air as part of its primetime line up every Sunday at 10pm ET. The show’s expanded format will allow World Poker Tour’s cameras to provide viewers with in-depth coverage of all the play down to the final table, affording viewers with unparalleled insight into the strategies and gamesmanship that sets the world’s best players apart from everyone else.

“We’re excited to bring WPT’s new high-roller series to FS1 viewers,” said FOX Sports 1 Vice President of Programming David Sussin. “WPT Alpha8 will be a key part of our primetime line up and a tremendous complement to our other sports programming including MLB, NASCAR, UFC, soccer, and college basketball and football. With this new series, WPT has significantly raised the stakes of televised poker. By increasing the risk and raising the pressure, WPT Alpha8 delivers more drama and bigger personalities, and we’re confident the show will quickly become a habit for our viewers.”

As part of an exclusive, three-year deal with FOX Sports 1, subsequent WPT Alpha8 tournaments will be aired throughout 2014, and will be sponsored by ClubWPT.com, a membership poker site that provides players with great VIP benefits and the chance to play free online poker tournaments for a share of $100,000 in cash and prizes each month.*

Viewers looking to watch the WPT Alpha8 Florida final table before it airs on TV can watch a live stream of all the action on WPT.com on August 27. On August 28, poker fans can visit www.seminolehardrockpokeropen.com for exclusive live streaming of the final table of the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Main Event final table, where players will compete for the title and the winner’s share of the World’s largest guaranteed prize pool of $10 million.

*No purchase is necessary for the ClubWPT sweepstakes and the service is void in states where prohibited. For more information visit ClubWPT.com.

courtesy of www.wsop.com

After the elimination of 21001 WSOP Main Event Champion in 10^th place the 2013 World Series of Poker final table is now officially set. In this series I will take a look at each of the November Nine, and offer up my thoughts on what their winning the WSOP Main Event would mean to poker.

1. JC Tran — 38,000,000
2. Amir Lehavot — 29,700,000
3. Marc McLaughlin — 26,525,000
4. Jay Farber — 25,975,000
5. Ryan Riess — 25,875,000
6. Sylvain Loosli — 19,600,000
7. Michiel Brummelhuis — 11,275,000
8. Mark Newhouse — 7,350,000
9. David Benefield — 6,375,000

JC Tran

The chip-leader heading into November’s final table tilt is also the best-known and most-accomplished player in the field, Justin Coung Van Tran, better known as JC Tran. Tran built up a sizable chip-lead during Monday’s action and will take an 8.3 million chip-lead into the final table. Still, the trail-pack (5 players have 19.6 million or more chips) is close enough on his heels to make this one of the most tightly contested final tables in recent memory.

The 36 year-old Californian (Tran was born in Vietnam) is considered by virtually all of his peers as a pro’s pro, and will likely have one of the biggest cheering sections in recent memory.

Career Accomplishments

Tran is a two-time WSOP bracelet winner, a WPT Champion, the Season 5 WPT Player of the Year, the 2006 PokerStars WCOOP Main Event winner, and has over $9 million in career tournament earnings –good for 32^nd on the all-time money-list.

Here is a look at some of Tran’s career highlights:

• Won the $1,500 No Limit Holdem tournament at the 2008 WSOP — $631,170
• Won the $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha tournament at the 2009 WSOP — $235,685
• 2006 WCOOP Main Event Winner — $670,000
• Won the 2007 Doyle Brunson Five Diamond Poker Classic $5k tournament — $523,075
• Party Poker Premier League III Winner — $300,000
• Runner-Up at the 2007 WPT LA Poker Classic — $1,177,010
• 2007 WPT World Poker Challenge Champion — $683,473
• Eight career Top 7 finishes on the WPT
• WPT Season 5 Player of the Year

What a JC Tran Victory Would Mean for Poker

Tran is a well-liked and well-respected poker pro, so a victory in the WSOP Main Event would be a welcome outcome. Unfortunately, the same things that make JC a well-liked player would also hinder him as a poker ambassador, as he’s a relatively quiet and humble guy. Still, of all the remaining players there is nobody I would rather see as the winner of the Main Event, with his maturity and demeanor serving as the perfect model for future poker players.

*Resources: www.thehendonmob.com, www.wikipedia.org

The 2013 World Series of Poker is coming to a close, so I’ve decided to take a look back at the entirety of the 2013 WSOP and offer up my choices for the five best things form the summer series.

Thomas “Srsly Sirius” Keeling Bluff Interviews

Thomas “Srsly Sirius” Keeling, better known for his satirical poker songs on YouTube, was hired as the Bluff Magazine Multimedia Director prior to the 2013 WSOP and in that role he developed one of the most interesting interview formats I’ve seen. Basically, during the editing process Keeling eliminates all questions and the interview turns into a monologue of sorts for the interviewee.

What really made these videos standout was the decision to let some of the most polarizing people in the game speak their mind; from Chino Rheem, to Dutch Boyd, to Matt Marifioti.

You can watch all of Keeling’s videos here: http://www.bluff.com/news/author/thomas-keeling/

Doyle Brunson cashes in the Main Event

If you’re going to announce your retirement and then come back the least you can do is perform at a high level, and that is precisely what Doyle Brunson did in the 2013 WSOP Main Event. Brunson cashed in the Main Event for the xx time in his career, and now has cashed in the tournament in each of the last five decades.

PokerNews.com’s MyStack App

The MyStack App allows players to update their chip counts to PokerNews.com on their own. This was extremely helpful in getting correct chip-counts for the players who used it, and as more and more players start to use MyStack it should ease the burden of tournament reporters, allowing them to focus on other things instead of constantly updating chip counts.

You can download the MyStack App here: http://www.pokernews.com/mystack/

Nolan Dalla’s blogs

Nolan Dalla has been blogging on his website for a while now, but during the WSOP his blog really came to the attention of the poker community and Dalla seemed to be a bit more prolific with his writings. There are some absolute gems on Dalla’s blog, ranging from everyday rants to backroom poker stories.

I highly recommend visiting Nolan’s blog at http://www.pokernews.com/mystack/

Ladies prove 2012 wasn’t a fluke

After a really slow start the ladies picked-up the pace at the 2013 WSOP following the Ladies Tournament, winning two open-event bracelets for the first time since 2004, and as I write this Jackie Glazier is in 12^th place with 68 players remaining in the WSOP Main Event. It was good to see women poker players build on their 2012 success at the WSOP.