Poker Blog and Poker Gossip

Or, at least, a piece of his poker history. Thought not publicly explaining himself, TJ Cloutier sold his 2005 $5,000 No Limit Hold’em bracelet to a pawn shop. When he was unable to meet the terms of getting it back, the Pawn shop then placed the bracelet on E-bay. The bracelet was purchased by Cake Poker for $4006.00. Some news agencies have speculated that buying this piece of poker history was a ploy by Cake poker to add Cloutier to their roster of “Pros,” but this afternoon it was announced by Cake Poker that they were intending on returning it to the rightful owner. “We can’t, in good conscience, keep it from the man who rightfully won it; which is why we’ve decided to return it to T.J. Cloutier… just as soon as we’re done having some fun with it.” No specific plans for the bracelet were given, although Cake Poker officials mentioned “photo shoots” and “wearing it to a buddy’s home game” as several possibilities.

What Happened?? I Thought Cloutier was…good?

From Cloutier’s perspective Wicked Chops Poker stated: “We called T.J. He didn’t want to come on the air… but told our producer the following: ‘I don’t want to talk about it… yeah it’s mine… I was short… I pawned it… I tried to get it back with my ticket but I was too late.’”

While poker players make a lot of money in the very short term, living day to day risking money to earn money can wear on you. But, unfortunately in this day and age, winning a big title wont keep you in the money forever. Between paying back the people who staked you, paying off your living expenses, and making sure your bankroll is intact, there is very little room for mistakes. And when you live in Vegas (or Atlantic City) there is plenty of opportunity to misuse that bankroll. For a lot of poker players, Sport betting is their vice (Phil Ivey anyone?)…for TJ Cloutier, Craps was a contributing factor to his financial situation.

So, potential WSOP champions, take note: Winning a bracelet DOES NOT guarantee you anything. Mr. Cloutier won many bracelets over his career…and now Cake Poker has it.

This is not in the rumor category, but not in the “done deal” category either. Currently PartyGaming is in talks with Bwin about a merger that has potential to be worth more than £2bn and give PartyGaming some footing in internet sports betting. Merging with Bwin would give Partygaming a commanding position in sports betting. The Austrian company is not the only potential partner with which it is talking, although PartyGaming refused to name other potential partners. London-listed 888 Holdings and Sportingbet, and Sweden’s Unibet, are all understood to be looking at consolidation opportunities.

This isn’t a new trend for Partygaming, in fact they are positioning themselves to be leaders in all aspects of online games if their current trends of purchasing and takeovers of major European online gambling firms continues. Last july Partygaming announced the takeover of Cashcade (owners of popular UK Bingo site “Foxy Bingo”…their commercials are quite annoying), and in November picked up the assets of WT Enterprises (orginizers of the World Poker Tour). And, with the potential benefits and cost saving strategies of a merger (lower technology costs, combining central operations etc) it’s no wonder the bigger companies are talking to each other.

A combination of Party Gaming and Bwin would give them the top slots in online casinos and bingo, the best sporting bets book and enhanced liquidity in poker. Bwin’s chairman and largest shareholder was quoted recently as saying: “Talks are going on but we don’t know yet whether they will succeed.”

What could this mean for our Online Casino Fare?

Truth be told, this could mean a whole lot of not much. While people generally fall in love with one website, or a few websites to do their online gambling / poker, there is a lot of churn depending on who is offering the best package and rake-back that year/month/week. The real meat and potatoes of this is that Partygaming, who was largely pushed out of the American market due to the UIGEA passing in 2006, has gone away (to Europe) and learned a few things. And those lessons could be benefiting all of us.

What did they Learn?

1) Poker is NOT the only “skill” game out there (that people will load their online account for)

Okay, as far as gambling goes, Poker is not yet viewed by the law as a game of skill (despite what most poker players know). That being said, there are a lot of people out there who play other games much more religiously than poker, and will argue until they’re blue in the face that they are good at these games. The best example is this: In the UK, online bingo is HUGE. I wouldn’t go as far as saying it’s bigger than online poker, but it’s really big. And the kicker of this phenomenon? It doesn’t appeal at ALL to poker players. And this leads us to….

2) Diversity is King

The demographic is totally different; and so by offering these games that seem to be hugely different games they expand their client base. And who knows..when you get older, you might get excited by hearing “B – 3.” And so…

3) Offering the “Best” of a huge cross section in the same general niche is equal to cash in the bank

When you have a lot of players coming for one thing (80,000 a day for online poker alone at partygaming), and show them that you are the BEST at this other “skill” game, you have 80,000 potential customers. Having a bad night? Try some blackjack? no? Sick of cards you say? How about some nice, comfy bingo! it’s just a dollar a card!

So, we could be seeing some huge changes in Partygaming, or we could see them not take this opportunity and keep it at the status quo…but Either way, it looks like Party is roaring back to the American Market with bells on, and they just might give Full Tilt, and Poker Stars a run for their money (or not…)

Detecting a huge bluff and calling is a feeling like no other. People at the table look at you with wonder, and you’re opponent often tells you all the reasons you shouldn’t have called (“you didn’t have pot odds” “how the hell can you call that big a bet with second pair and a shitty kicker” “you donk!”). But the reality of this situation is that by the time you get past the flop the frequency of bluffs goes down by a huge amount. There are very few players who will do what is necessary to make a bluff look good (re-raising the river with air for example), and the potential to lose a lot of money by not believing that a big raise on the turn means exactly what it looks like it means is a folly that a lot of poker players make.

Why does this happen?

Despite what you may think, this is all an internal struggle. For whatever reason, folding a hand to some players is like admitting you were chasing, or admitting that you had no reason to be in the hand in the first place. They want to save face, and catching a no good dirty bluffer is a great way to save face! Note: saving face is also the reason that new players bluff…only they usually don’t know enough to stop themselves before re-raising all in on the turn.

How to Avoid this?

Make sure you don’t talk yourself into calling in a bad spot. As much as we don’t like to admit it, usually the people saying “you shouldn’t have called for these 3 reasons” are exactly right. Poker is all about advertising your hand, and ultimately going on your instinct. If a person puts out a big bet on the flop (advertising a good hand), a bigger bet on the turn (my hand still beats your hand), and pushes on the river (please put all your money in so i can take it..), and you’re rocking 2nd pair…nine times out of ten, you’re beat. But, and here is the crux of the matter, if you know your player…either through playing with that person for a long while, or through watching them at the table and they’re a known bluffer, or a hyper aggressive player, and you think you’ve got a read on them; by all means make them question their play. That doesn’t mean check calling, that just tells them that you’re willing to put money in the pot to lose. Make them question their play early in the hand by check-raising, or come out betting (if you’re out of position).

But overall, don’t talk yourself into making a “hero call” with a brutal hand. Fold, and save up.. if he was bluffing you’ll have your chance to keep him honest when you flop a monster.

With the casino business of Atlantic City taking a beating over the tough economic times the New Jersey Government has become the first state to seriously explore online gambling (poker) revenue. Senator Raymond Lesniak introduced the S3167 Senate Bill that would permit Atlantic CIty Casinos to provide online versions of their games. Permitted games would be BLackjakc, Baccarat and of course, online poker.

The New Jersey Casino Control Commission would be the regulatory body for the new iniative under a new division of Internet Wagering. Anyone is able to set up their own online gambling site, but for the with the costs involved only major Atlantic City Casino’s are expected to take advantage of the new proposed laws.

How Much Will It Cost?

Up Front Fee $200,000

Non-Refundable Deposit $100,000

Yearly Renewal $100,000

Problem Gambling Levey $100,000

Benifits

There are barrieres to setting up this type of business, but with little overhead and approx. 500,000 online poker players in New Jersey alone this could be a huge win for online gambling, and for Atlantic City Casinos. Giving it a chance could showcase the amount of revenue that the states have been denying themselves (Senator Lesniak estimates $100 million), as well as profiting from a higher tax rate on online gambling revenue (20% instead of the 8% on gross revenue currently incured by brick-and-mortar profits).

Drawbacks

The new regulations would allow for anyone to play online poker and gambling games, provided they were in a “restricted area of a casino hotel or a secure facility off the premises of the casino hotel.” Terminals would also be placed at racetracks. Sadly, not all New Jersey residents will be able to get their hands on legal online poker, should the bill pass. The law only applies to those people “within the territorial limits of the Atlantic County.”

As pokers transformation from back room, smoke filled hobby to full fledged, bright lights and multi-million dollar sponsorship deals (okay, maybe not multi-million yet, but well on the way there) is in full swing, I’m struck by the fact that the marketing of poker players is largely left to themselves, or their employer. Sure, this is a cost effective way of doing things, and generally the major players get great press, and up and comers are talked about when they win big multi-table tourneys. But are they missing the big picture?

How Marketing Poker Players can Create a Brand

So far, this has been accomplished mainly through promotion on their own network as well as wearing their own team’s swag on final tables at all the major tournaments. Think of Phil Helmuth for UB, Phil Ivey for Full Tilt and the list goes on. But, there is very little thought that goes into this. The poker player is often not very savvy when it comes to managing a public persona (mainly due to a lack of experience), and unless you’ve been in the public eye for a while you may not be able to survive the rigors of public life. Or your poker game may suffer because you’re trying to market your own brand, while promoting your teams brand at the same time. On the flip side, if you have an agent managing your public persona, and working to secure endorsements, and other forms of poker related income, your earning potential could skyrocket. And, (and this is probably more important to an up and coming major poker player) your name would become synonymous with poker, similar to the Daniel Negranu or the Phil Ivey, and with half the learning curve.

But do we Really Need More Agents?

I don’t want this to be a “get an agent” love fest. That’s not my intention. My real question is this: Is the learning curve required to get your name out there a serious enough issue that you’d be willing to pay a percentage of your earnings; poker or otherwise? Has the internet, and the ability to get a great website at a very low cost made an agency obsolete? There are currently very few agencies catering strictly to poker players, and the business of marketing players is changing all the time.

From an Article on PokerPlayer.co.uk:

Things have changed so much since we started. Before, it was all about having a logo on the player – now it’s about aligning a sponsored player with the brand that’s sponsoring them. The area where I’ve seen the biggest changes over the last three years is getting players into reality TV shows or cameo appearances in movies. Once the US market opens up again it will make times interesting for us all. – Per Hagen President of Poker Icons (a poker player agency).

I am a multi-tasker at heart. I love to have Call of Duty on, with my laptop in front of me and MSN open, while listening to some music. And in that situation, there are no problems, COD is a game that requires a little concentration, but if i die, i will just respawn.

Poker is the exact opposeite of that situation. Online poker has given the ability to play anywhere, any time, and with that ability comes a lot of distractions. If you’re not focused entirely on your game, you will likely miss something, and that could lead to your entire stack being literally given away. Play in an environment that enables comfort and no interruption, and make sure people are aware of what you’re doing! (we’ve all seen those commercials where the guy misses dinner with his friends, and they’re all like “he’s the one missing out!” – Ridiculous!)

If you’re of the mind to play a big MTT, make sure that you have enought time to get through it. Nothing is more frustrating than putting your time in, grinding your way to the top of a field of thousands, and with MTT’s lately, it could be 4-6 hours! Just when you’re about to cash you find that you have to go pick your kids/wife/girlfriend up from somewhere. Don’t sell yourself short when signing up for these, and make sure you can complete the tourney on your terms, and not some other commitment.

I’m not saying don’t listen to music, or don’t have some background music on. But what i am saying is don’t cripple yourself before you’ve even sat at the table.