I just got back from two weeks at the World Series of Poker. It had the usual mix of high drama, low humor, insanity, and all the things you count on at the WSOP. More importantly, it had the wonderful opportunities to reconnect with friends from all over the poker world that I don’t get to see often enough. It is certainly the grand gathering of the community. If you’ve been to it, you know what I’m talking about; if you haven’t, you need to go in 2010. Here’s my highlight from this year:
Late one night after the work day was done, I got a text message from some North Carolina poker buddies that they were in a rocking $1-2 No Limit Hold’em game at O’Shea’s – a tiny casino opposite the Mirage. I high-tailed it over there and sure enough, they were in a wild and crazy game that was taking place right at the edge of O’Shea’s carpet, letting out onto the Strip. Much drinking and merriment was taking place. So imagine my surprise and delight to see that two of my Cake Poker coworkers were in the game too. I immediately sat down and bought into the madness. Pretty soon, two European poker pros (and friends of mine) Henning and Benjamin wandered by, saw me in there, and knew that they’d found a good game. Within seconds, their bankrolls were out, their drink orders were with the cocktail waitress, and they were in the thick of the action. I look around and announced that I was very definitely in the toughest $1-2 No Limit Hold’em game in all of Las Vegas.
Sitting at essentially Ground Zero of the Las Vegas Strip, literally a one-dollar chip toss to the street, we were having the time of our lives. There were no massive pots that we’d remember the next day. But we were enjoying great company, alerting each other as pretty girls walked by just a few feet away, and having a dynamite poker game.
When you come to the WSOP, don’t forget to get out and play some poker for fun. Get together with your friends and play for stakes that won’t matter to anybody. Remember that this game can be fun just as it can be profitable. And if you find yourself in a really good game with players in high spirits, send me a text – I’ll be right over.
That’s the good news. Now let me tell you a sad story about the WSOP. It is especially sad because it didn’t have to happen. I will paste in here an excerpt from the official WSOP update web page. In one paragraph, you see a small poker tragedy – a needless one at that:
J.C. Tran opened the pot with a raise from middle position, and the action passed to Estelle Denis. She moved all in, and the table folded back around to Tran. Somewhere in the folding frenzy though, Denis’ cards were pulled into the muck, leaving her all-in with no cards. “Floor!” [Tournament Director Steve Frezer] listened carefully to the dealer and to Denis before making his decision. The rule is that the player is 100% responsible for protecting [his] own cards, and Denis failed to do that. […] By rights, Frezer probably could have taken her whole stack, but he showed a little mercy and only took enough chips out of her stack to cover the initial call. The remaining 110,000 of her chips were returned to a very upset Denis.
It’s no longer an apocryphal story told by us old-timers to scare youngsters into protecting their cards. We have the venue (the 2009 WSOP, Day 5), the actors (J.C. Tran and Estelle Denis), and the referee (Steve Frezer). I don’t know any more details of what happened than what was on the WSOP report, but the reporter’s comment that “[Frezer] probably could have taken her whole stack” suggests that things could have been even worse for Estelle Denis.
I’ve been going on about this topic for years now. Ever since the Internet kids have been playing live, the practice of “capping” your cards (as it’s called) seems to have lost favor. I don’t know if it’s because they don’t think about it (nobody can accidentally muck your cards online) or if it doesn’t look cool. I just know that if I’m sitting there with uncapped cards, it makes me feel like I’m driving I-15 between Barstow and Las Vegas. Not wearing a seatbelt. Please, don’t get into the WSOP updates next year the way poor Estelle Denis did this year. Spend the half-second it takes to cap your cards.
And while I have your attention with this tale of woe, I’ll finish up with the other half of the card protection sermon.
Quite often these days, I see a player bet, his opponent fold, and then the winner immediately fire his cards toward the muck. Again, this may come from playing online, where the pot is pushed to the winner a handful of milliseconds after the last opponent folds. But you shouldn’t do this.
In live play, don’t release your cards until the dealer has pushed you the pot.
There are three reasons for this:
- If the dealer is not paying attention, gets confused, etc., then he will suddenly find himself with a pot, but nobody to push it to. Dealers like to see one card-holding player to whom they can push a pot. Look, if there’s any confusion about it, there’s a 99% chance that it’ll get straightened out in your favor. But poker has enough uncertainty in it already.
- Occasionally you will honestly think you’re the last player with cards, but some unaware person will still be holding a hand. Now you throw your cards in, the dealer mucks them, and the guy that was talking with his friend says, “Oh – I’ve got cards.” He’s also got the pot, and your chance of getting the pot pushed to you is very close to zero.
- Occasionally there will be a thieving rat bastard at the table who will purposely conceal his cards. And believe me, such “people” watch for players who release their hands too early. He will wait until a sufficiently big pot has been built, and for you to do your patented bet/detect-fold/muck sequence. Then he’ll say, “Oh wait – I still have cards.” The floor will get called over, and you’ll have about a 1% chance of recovering the pot.
One happy story, one sad one. Let’s concentrate on more happy ones for next year.
Lee Jones is the cardroom manager of Cake Poker and has been in the online poker business for over six years. He is also the author of Winning Low Limit Hold’em, which is in its 15th year of publication.