Archive for May 2007

Trip to Macau

May 28, 2007

My lawyer Jack Fox, Maryann, and I went Macau in a continuing effort to expand poker globally. Macau is an island that is a stones throw from China and just a 45 minute ferry ride from Hong Kong. You would not know it from the size of it when flying in but this island has been reported to make more than the Las Vegas strip and when you enter one of the casinos you know why. Player are three deep in some casinos and the action is fast and furious. There is currently NO POKER in Macau however, I have made a connection with some people at a casino to be named later that are very interested and it looks like a go. I went to the Macau gaming board with their executives and answered questions about tournament poker. They seemed very excited to move poker to the far east and with the addition of 700 more gaming tables in Macau in 2007 there will definitely be room. More details to come and if you would like more information please contact me at Matt@SavageTournaments.com.

Daniel Negreanu is WRONG!

May 21, 2007

I usually respect Daniel's opinions but I do feel that he is way off here. In his most recent blog entry he challenged Tournament Directors to get rid of the the rule that you cannot expose cards during a hand when there is still action pending. Here is the quote from Daniel "Then I squeezed my cards. After squeezing the first card, I revealed it to Sammy. Remember now, this is REAL poker, with no interference from tournament directors that are trying to take the psychological aspect of the game away from us. Frankly, it's a tragedy what these tournament directors are doing. The players need to unite and get rid of this ridiculous rule that prevents players from showing their hole cards in heads up pots. I don't know of ANY professional player who thinks this rule has any value. Ask anyone from Phil Hellmuth to Howard Lederer and they will tell you that the right to show a card is part of the game."

First of all it was during High Stakes Poker and NOT a tournament, I agree that in a live game showing cards is a legal move. He then goes on to say "Taking this out if the game is so unnerving to me. What's next, no speaking at the table? No prodding for information? Then finally, no bluffing at all? It's absurd! I would happily challenge Matt Savage, Jack McLelland, and any other tournament director in favor of this rule to a public debate on the merits of it. The only reason I've ever heard them give is that it prevents people from "needling" their opponents. Give me a break! We are poker players here and don't need anyone out there to hold our hand. It's free information, and if the guy doesn't want to look, he doesn't have to.

Has anyone ever heard of a poker player getting upset, and thinking it was "unfair" that an opponent, in a heads up pot, showed him a card either during or after the hand? Are you kidding me? It's time that we rethink some of the rules and ask ourselves if they really make any sense at all. This one, the "show one show all" rule, clearly doesn't."
He is so WRONG here if he thinks that showing another player cards during the hand should be legal in tournaments. BTW, he also feels that you should be able to say whatever you want during the play of the hand. So I suppose he thinks what Jamie Gold did during the 2006 WSOP Main Event should also be allowed? Even Norman Chad and Lon Mechron could see that he was breaking the rules by claiming what he had in his hand with action pending. Here is just some of the problems that could arise if this was allowed. Let's suppose Daniel was involved with a friend of his and shows him the best hand before that person calls, should that be allowed Daniel? When you are in a tournament you are never heads up until there are two players left and TD's should not have to make constant judgment calls about whether there is collusion or not and that would definitely happen if this was allowed.

David Lamb writes "Remind Daniel that tournament player's are on a clock and the inevitable inequity occurs anytime one player takes a long time to do the mental sparring- showing or talking about their hand to induce action. It becomes more inequitable if the pro takes a long time messing with the amateur but not their contemporaries. In fact, it seems like allowing rules that favor the seasoned pro and prime time TV are more important than maintaining an even playing field."
While we all know it makes for great TV and it is what the Steve Lipscomb's of the world want we cannot make this concession in tournaments.
He mentions needling as the only reason we as TD's use that rule and that is just another reason to stop players from exposing their hole cards verbally or by showing cards. Could you imagine if players were allowed to show cards when they wanted to needle someone, some players would do this constantly and only to particular players. We need to create an even playing field and showing cards becomes totally subjective. I love Daniel but I would welcome a debate with him on the subject........BRING IT ON!
I welcome your opinions and thoughts on this topic, please send your emails to Matt@SavageTournaments.com.

Lucky You Premiere

May 03, 2007

My wife just returned home from the world premiere of the Warner Brothers movie "Lucky You" starring Drew Barrymore, Eric Bana, Robert Duval, Debra Messing and Matt Savage :-) Many of us have waited a long time for this movie to come out. The premiere took place in New York at the Tribeca Film Festival. I served in the movie as technical adviser and slid into the role of WSOP Tournament Director. I was in quite a bit of the movie that made it fun for me to watch. Other poker pros in the movie include Sam Farha, Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, Jeniffer Harman, Chau Giang, Doyle Brunson, Dan Harrington, John Hennigan, and David Oppenhiem with many other cameo appearances.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with the movie as I had been scared with all the delays that this movie had in its release. The movie has plenty of poker which of course the poker players in attendance liked. It also had many funny scenes that had the entire theater laughing. Like Rounders I think there are plenty of hands for poker players to analyze for years to come.

I have organized a Las Vegas premiere tonight at 7:30pm (Thursday) at the Red Rock that will be attended by media, poker players that appeared in the movie, and a couple of the actors. It should be a lot of fun to watch it again with the industry.

The movie opens worldwide Friday May 4th, make sure you check it out.