Archive for February 2007
Poker Dome Show 40
February 25, 2007
Season one is drawing to a close and the Poker Dome series may be as well sad to say as the gaming legislation may have claimed another victim. Mansion has pulled out of the United States and therefore made it unrealistic to keep the series going. I sometimes wonder if that is what our forefathers had in mind when they made us a free country. This show played out a little different than normal as both women players had a huge chip lead over the Jason Phipps with three left but in the end the women found a way to lose. I have said this many times that I cannot figure out why women are having such a hard time winning these shows as they comprise between 5-10% of the players but do not win at the same percentage. I am very happy that more women are coming into the game but I think it would be great to see them win as well. Jason was a very gracious winner and a true gentleman in the end. It was also nice to see someone win that really needed the money.
Card Player Media
February 23, 2007
Card Player has been a big supporter of the TDA so I did an interview with Lizzy Harrison for Cardplayer.tv and Lisa Wheeler wrote a very nice article for the website and magazine.
Poker News Article
February 22, 2007
Tim Lavalli wrote an article about the TDA Summit.
TDA Summit Day Two
February 21, 2007
Day two was the Q and A part of the Summit. The panel consisted of the TDA board, WSOP Td's Robert Daily and Jack Efffel, Commerce Casino's Cheri Dokken, Foxwood's Mike Ward, Johnny Grooms and Jimmy Sommerfeld. The meeting was informal but there were so many great ideas that came out of this meeting. Subjects included re-buy accountability, random draws, cell phones, registration, etiquette, and other suggestions that will help the industry get organized. The four hours seemed to fly by and hopefully we will make effort to meet again in the next two years.
TDA Summit Day One
February 20, 2007
Heading over to the Venetian at 9am to get things ready for the Summit Dave and I went over our notes and prepared the copies of the current and proposed rules and also a page of the new proposed penalty rule.
Here are some of the highlights of the meeting
(TDA Board) Matt Savage, Linda Johnson, Dave Lamb, Jan Fisher
116 Attendees from all over the world/ 8 Media Members
WSOP and WPT both represented
40 Rules Old rules combined and new rules added
Biggest Changes
Penalty rule
At your seat
Communication devices can talk but cannot disclose contents of your hand, repeated etiquette violations- leaving seats early folding out of turn, and excessive chatter
Dealers call string raises
Time called
Best Suggestions
All- in button
Announcing new chips in play
Dealers announce button position at breaks
Rebuy accountability
Heated Debate
Headphones
Show one show both
Family rule
Forward motion with cards
I have to tell you that we were shocked at how well the meeting went, there were 116 attendees and we seemed to all work together as one for the purpose of standardization. See the Cardplayer.tv video
Please go to the TDA Website for the current 40 rules and to register as a member, ask questions, or to get more information.
TDA Summit Preliminary Meeting
February 19, 2007
I picked up Dave Lamb at the airport at 10am and we headed straight over to Jan Fisher's house to meet with Linda Johnson. The four of us are the founding members of the Tournament Directors and decided to meet and discuss the agenda for tomorrows Summit. Nine hours later after lengthy discussions, minor arguments, and a lot of laughs we came to to the conclusion that we were screwed when it comes getting agreement. The four of us could not agree on some of the rules how were we going to get over 100 TD's and CRM's to agree????? We did combine, reword, and renumber the current rules so they was better flow and used a big part of the day setting the agenda.
TDA Summit Proposals
February 18, 2007
In contacting players and TD's around the country and world I have been able to compile a list of questions and complaints that will be brought up at the TDA meeting.
Hot topics
Talking during play
Cell phone use at the table
Current penalty rule
Show one show both
Family rule
Random seating
Ethical play
In addition there will be much discussion regarding procedures and many other issues facing tournaments today and in the future.
Tournament Directors Association Summit
February 17, 2007
Last year TDA board members Jan Fisher, Linda Johnson, Dave Lamb and I agreed that the TDA needed to meet again and I starting planning two months ago. I knew that this year would be bigger than ever because it had been three years since the last meeting. I have been emailing/ calling Tournament Directors and Card Room managers for two months and the interest level has been high. I will cover the TDA summit in upcoming days. The TDA Summit has been scheduled for February 20-21 at the Venetian.
Aussie Millions
February 16, 2007
I went to Australia for the Aussie Millions Tournament on January 6th as a consultant and liaison for Fox Sports Net. I have to say that Australia is one of my favorite places in the world which I hate to say. The reason is because one of my best friends Justin "Aussie Wanker" Huxley is from there and I needle him all the time about Kangaroos, Men at Work, Outback Steakhouse, and his accent. If you have not met "The Hux" he is loud, obnoxious, a little nuts but is passionate about poker, work, a despite all of his flaws is a really good guy.
Meanwhile, back to the tournament, the Aussie Millions is truly become one of the top events in the world and Crown Casino and their staff is really the best. They are so friendly and go out of their way to make you feel right at home after your 20 hour flight. It starts at the top, COO Richard Longhurst is a class act and really comes off as just one of the guys. Sean McCreery, Jayne McKenzie, Jim Preston, Tim Jones, and staff need to be commended for there personable excellent customer service. The tournament itself has been built up over the year by their Tournament Director Danny McDonough who unfortunately is leaving Crown to pursue a job in Sydney. I also know that Joe Hachem's worldwide success has had a lot to do with Australian pokers growth. I respect Danny and he always listens to my suggestions and has the event run smoothly. His replacement Bret Jones has big shoes to fill but he is also passionate about the tournament and his employees so I think the event won't miss a beat in the coming years.
We were scheduled to have 8-10 shows come from the $10,000 buy-in main event and 2 shows from a cash game that had a $100,000 minimum buy-in. They also had a $100,000 tournament with 18 players and Erick Lindgren finished first and Eric Seidel second. There was a lot of action to be had outside the tournament on the golf course with Phil Ivey dominating there, and a $250,000 buy-in cash game also took place with Juanda, Ivey, Lindgren, Antonius, Lisandros, Masaka from Japan, and Michael Samporna (owner of MansionPoker.com). The main event was great, I lost a bet as I had under 718 players but was happy to pay as the success of the tournament made me happy. Patrick Antonius has the most interesting tournament I think I ever saw, on day one he was the huge chip leader and had over $300,000 in chips which was almost impossible to do. Then late on day to he was down to $2,800 when he went all in and got 4 way action, before I knew it he was back near the chip lead. Patrick eventually went busted to Gus Hansen in a huge pot. Kristy Gazes, Haralabos Voulgarous, Joe Hachem, and Andy Black also had great tournaments. The final table came down to Andy Black, Gus Hansen, and a 19 year old named Jimmy Fricke. Fricke is another kid to come from the game of Magic to become a great poker player. He is a very cocky kid but has the game to back it up and he was the chip leader most of the final table and when Andy Black was eliminated in third it looked like the kid would capture the title and the $1,500,000 aud. However he seemed to collapse heads up was outplayed by Gus Hansen. On the final table day I was able to announce the action to the house, poker room, and audience area which was a lot of fun. I am so happy to see Gus win again and despite what Matusow says Gus played outstanding to win this event. The tournament week was capped off with a great closing party and Maryann and I were back on the plane the following morning as I had a Poker Dome show the same night I arrived home. I would not suggest working after flying for 20 hours as I was a little out of it but got through it fine.
Catching up on the blogs
February 15, 2007
Blog writing has to be one of the easiest things to do but for some reason I make it hard. I spend at least two hours on the computer a day (Maryann says more) but for some reason cannot put a paragraph together for my website. I want to thank those that keep giving me a hard time to update which is the reason I am doing so now. Veerob, Hux, Kyle, Buxx, and my parents are the most frequent complainers about my lack of blogs.