Vincent’s Poker Blog

There are few poker tournaments in the world that are more well known than the World Series of Poker. For players winning the Main Event is a career highlight. In fact many players have burst on to the scene by winning the World Series of Poker as their first tournament win. This is why so many people enter the event every year, there is always the chance that the same thing will happen to you.

The World Series of Poker is the biggest and most well known of all the poker tournaments in the world and has played a large part in making the game what it is today. The tournament got its start in the seventies when it was a much more modest affair. Las Vegas Legend Benny Binnion thought it would be a good idea to bring together the top poker players in the world to see who was the best. The first tournament had just one table, the event has grown to the point where now there are thousands of entrants playing a variety of different games.

When people refer to the World Series of Poker you have to be sure that you are clear on what they are talking about, there are actually several different events these days. The event that everybody wants to win is the Main Event, this is the one that attracts the most competitors and the one that has by far the biggest prize. The amount that you can win will vary from year to year based on the number of people who enter but over the last few years the prize has been in the ten million dollar range.

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I love seeing Annette play. She calls the flop, she improves her hand on the turn and just knows she’s beat. That’s the differnce between a world-class poker-playing machine from Eastern Europe and me. I just stick it in there, Annette Obrestad doesn’t, she gets away from it losing close to no chips. Pure beauty!

Patrik Antonius is one hot cookie but he also has a very very hot cookie for a wife… Maya Geller must be one of the most beautiful women walking around in the Vegas area even though it’s packed with babes…

Well done Patrik — Maya is a wife to be proud of!

Photos below from the ’08 WSOP!

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I realize I’m a year early, but I’ve decided I’m going to try hard to get into the series in 2009. I’m not going to Vegas to just play one event so I’m hoping to have at least $20k to buy in to a couple events apart from the main event.

I’ll probably be doing a couple of small-number player satellites hoping to get in on the cheap and I’ve started putting 5% profit asides from this month on. I’ll keep you up to date of my progress. Wish me luck!

Marcel is so great. He’s being his crazy self at this WSOP feature table — and you can just sense the love he’s getting from the whole table… I’m a big fan myself, especially when he plays the way he was right here.

The KK read was excellent — and even though the KJ 100k call pre-flop against Demetriou was a litte ambitious, he played the rest of the hand perfectly.

I mean you just have to love Luske when he’s himself — flipsides sunglasses, suit, jokes and expecrt poker play: he’s the MAN!!!

Poker is fun, both in a live casino environment and in the Online casino, but make sure to always just play what you can afford -- otherwise addiction is just around the corner!

After being dropped from the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in 1997, Chinese Poker lost favour among players. Recently, however, it has found new converts to it’s old ways. Seen largely as a game of luck, Chinese Poker is not often found in Online poker rooms or in card rooms. But it is a game that the Pros love to play in their down time. Phil Ivey allegedly has been known to play it for $2,000 a point just to kill time on airplanes.

The rules of Chinese poker are straightforward. Each player is dealt 13 cards and has to arrange them into two hands of five cards and one of three that’s it, really. The game has huge variance because of the luck factor being substantial in this game,

Though Chinese poker is a game where you really are in the hands of the poker gods with the luck of the draw, there is a skill to setting the hands. There are often multiple decisions to be made. (Do I break up two pair to make a flush? Do I break up my second full house to give myself a pair in front?) Skilled, experienced players will have a better idea what to do in these situations and will also factor in their opponents’ tendencies, creating an edge (albeit a small one) for themselves. In fact anyone who has bothered to read any Chinese poker strategy guides will be at a distinct advantage. So before you decide to play with real money I would suggest practicing with a few buddies. Maybe on an aeroplane, but maybe not for $2000 a point.

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