Hollywood Poker Open Toledo Regional Main Event Day 1a: Wright Can Do No Wrong

 The Hollywood Poker Open kicked off its second event of the season in Toledo, Ohio, and James Wright topped a field of 104 runners on Day 1a by finishing with 255,500 in chips at the completion of 14 levels. Fifteen other players joined Wright in making it through to Day 2.

Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts

Rank    Player              Chips
1       James Wright     255,500
2       Charles Maxcy     202,500
3       Wayne Smith     196,000
4       Neil Coughlin     181,000
5       Michael Hahn     178,000
6  Kim Schinco     152,000
7  Bobby Brown     150,000
8  Chuck Schwanger 147,000
9  John Nelson     145,500
10  Ron Bell             112,000

Wright got his day started off right, making a straight in the very first level with the {9-Diamonds}{8-Diamonds} on a board of {a-Hearts}{6-Clubs}{7-Clubs}{3-Diamonds}{5-Diamonds} and getting his value raise called on the river by a player with {4-}{4-}. With nearly double the starting stack early, Wright kept things rolling with an above-average count before playing a monster pot during Level 13 (1,000/2,000/300).

There, Wright decided to get tricky and flat-call aces in the small blind to a Mike Ross button raise, and the big blind jammed for about 33,000. Ross reshoved, thinking he could isolate the big blind, but Wright called off for 86,100. Ross held {a-}{8-}, while the big blind had the {k-Spades}{9-Spades}. Things got hairy for Wright as {8-Clubs}{5-Hearts}{6-Spades}{10-Spades} were the first four to emerge from the deck, helping both opponents, but the {j-Diamonds} brought the blessed brick he needed. Ross was left with just a few big blinds and busted shortly thereafter.

Charles Maxcy (202,500), Wayne Smith (196,000), Neil Coughlin (181,000), and Michael Hahn (178,000) rounded out the top five, and other survivors included Kim Schinco (152,000), Bobby Brown (150,000), Ron Bell (112,000), Kenny Zuspan (82,500), and Raymond Ezzie (45,000). Hahn will be looking to do one better than his runner-up finish at HPO Lawrenceburg last year, and the Indiana native boasts more than $400,000 in live tournament cashes, making him one of the most accomplished tournament players in the field.

Others joining the rail were Patrick Steele, Rex Clinkscales, Nick Pupillo, Allen Kessler, and former World Series of Poker Main Event champion Chris Moneymaker.

Steele was looking good for most of the day until dwindling late and ultimately shoving with {q-}{4-} in the big blind over a small blind raise and running into {a-}{k-}. Kessler, meanwhile, was sent packing when he bet 2,000 on a {5-Diamonds}{9-Diamonds}{2-Hearts} flop during Level 6 (200/400/50) and called the shove of Coughlin, who held the {q-Spades}{9-Spades}. Kessler's kings were well in front, but Coughlin found a third nine on the river to bust the man they call "Chainsaw."

All of the fallen will have the opportunity to take another crack at this prize pool when Day 1b commences at 12:15 p.m. on Sunday. PokerNews will be back on the scene for live updates once more, and you can be ready for some more exciting poker action.

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2015 partypoker WPT National London Accumulator Day 2: Bubble Bursts; Down To 24

The second day of the 2015 partypoker World Poker Tour National London £200 No-Limit Hold'em Accumulator at Aspers Casino started fast and furious with one-fourth of the 205 remaining participants being sent to the rail within the first two levels. After 12 levels of 40 minutes each, only 24 players remained, and it was Laurence Essa who bagged up the lead with 1,069,000 in chips.

Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts

Rank Player          Chips
1 Laurence Essa         1,069,000
2 Rahim Tadj-Saadat 921,000
3 Christopher Yong 784,000
4 Kevin Allen         709,000
5 Jesus Gracia         687,000
6 Jeraint Hazan         625,000
7 Matas Cimbolas 589,000
8 Paul Siliceo         587,000
9 Karl Roberts         574,000
10 Lucio Pacifico 537,000
Among the early eliminations were Carlo Citrone, WPT Champions Club member Tony Dunst, James Akenhead, Tamer Kamel, and WPT National London champion Gabriel Tuna.

On the stone-cold bubble, Jeraint "JJ" Hazan would make a hazardous move to crack the pocket kings of Francisco Manuel Salvador Flores, and the bubble burst in Level 19 when Jacques Arama could not hold up against Christopher Yong.

Once in the money, the eliminations came in quickly, and Surinder Sunar, as well as Xuan Nguyen, were among those to settle for a min-cash worth £600. With Kelly Ann Saxby (34th) and Alexandra O'Brien (31st) bowing out in the second payout step for £690, an all-male affair for the final day of the tournament was created.

The chip lead was decided in a massive coin flip that sent Martin Spearing to the rail in 30th place, and then another five players ended up on the rail in the last level of play. With upcoming blinds of 10,000/20,000 and a running ante of 3,000, more fireworks can be expected on Day 3.

All remaining 24 players are guaranteed at least £895 for their efforts, whereas the first-place payout of £22,500 and the title of WPT National champion are still up for grabs. Some of the contenders with big stacks include Rahim Tadj-Saadat (921,000), Christopher Yong (784,000), Kevin Allen (709,000), Jesus Gracia (687,000), and WPT Nottingham champion and Day 1b chip leader Matas Cimbolas (589,000).

You can read the full article here:Poker News

CPTV Video Spotlight -- Mike McDonald Discusses Poker Preflop Checklist

 When Mike “Timex” McDonald offers you advice about playing poker, you should probably listen. Not only does his own playing resume stand as a ringing endorsement, with over $11.3 million in live tournament earnings and nine career tournament titles to his name, but he also has an impressive track record as a poker coach.

He was hired by both 2011 World Series of Poker main event champ and 2012 WSOP main event third place finisher Jacob Balsiger to help prepare them for the November Nine. Heinz and balsiger both entered the final table among the three shortest stacks and walked away multi-millionaires. So, McDonald’s poker advice is definitely worth heeding.

During the 2012 WSOP “Timex” was nice enough to share some advice with CardPlayer TV regarding a preflop checklist of things you should be considering before acting on your hand, including your position, stack sizes at the table, metagame and the range of hands you will play given that information.

“Before you make a decision in a hand you have got to pay attention to all of the variables that are at play,” cautioned McDonald in the interview before launching into a description of some of those important factors. Check out the video below to find out just what those are:

More classic Card Player TV videos can be found in the archives, with plenty more episodes of “High Stakes Living” available in the lifestyle section.. Keep a look out for more news stories in the future highlighting some of the best of the nearly 3,500 videos in the CPTV library.

You can find the full article here: Poker News

2015 PokerStars.net ANZPT Perth Day 3: PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang Leads Final Table

The first stop on Season 7 of the Australia New Zealand Poker Tour continued on Saturday evening when 36 players returned to the felt of Crown Perth in Western Australia. After seven levels of play, just nine remained in contention for the ANZPT Perth title and the AU$105,000 top prize.

Leading the way is none other than Team PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang. He dominated the penultimate day of action, finishing up with 779,000 in chips, well ahead of Australian tournament regular Michael Guzzardi with 537,000.

Huang has been a staple of the Asia-Pacific poker scene for several years, amassing a résumé which includes well over $650,000 USD in tournament results. Some of the highlights of Huang's career includes winning the 2010 Asia Player of the Year award and claiming $153,841 USD for a third-place finish in the 2008 APPT Macau Main Event.

Huang will be looking to win his first ANZPT title this weekend, but will have to overcome a tough final table featuring Guzzardi, Macau's Raiden Kan, and the UK's Michael Kane.

Final Table Seat Draw

• Seat       Player                Chips
• 1    Stephen McHugh 304,000
• 2    Navin Bechar         237,000
• 3    Raiden Kan          448,000
• 4    Robert McLean  406,000
• 5    Michael Guzzardi 537,000
• 6    Michael Doyle         195,000
• 7    Gregory Wheeler 390,000
• 8    Michael Kane         382,000
• 9    Bryan Huang         779,000

There were 36 players to begin Day 3 and 27 of those were eliminated throughout the action. Of those players, and perhaps the most devastated, was Andrew Molodstov, as he ended up the "bubble boy."

Molodstov was relatively short stacked when he got his chips in preflop with the {a-Diamonds}{q-Diamonds}. Huang looked down at the {a-Spades}{k-Diamonds} and put Molodstov at risk. The board ran out {k-Spades}{10-Hearts}{7-Hearts}{6-Hearts}{6-Clubs} to keep Huang in front and burst the bubble.

Once the top 21 players had made the money, there were a steady stream of eliminations with Henry Szmelcer (21st), Canada's Xuan Liu (18th), Stevan Chew (16th), China's Yaxi Zhu (13th), David Lim (12th), and Walter Treccarichi (11th) as some of those to finish in the money.

It didn’t take long for 10 to become nine as local player Wayde Rickhuss was eliminated on the final table bubble to usher in the end of play.

Rickhuss was the short stack during 10-handed play and was happy to get his chips in with the {a-Spades}{10-Clubs}. Michael Doyle made the call with the {j-Diamonds}{j-Clubs}, and with no help for Rickhuss, the final table was set.

Each player at the final table is guaranteed at least AU$10,500, but will hoping to ride the pay waves all the way to a six-figure victory. Play kicks off at 2:10 p.m. local time Sunday, so make sure you to return then for the exciting conclusion of our ANZPT Perth live coverage.

Here you can see the full article: Poker News

Playing Good Hands

How Much to Bet?

 In the chart above, S&M have arranged the hands into groups. Each grouping has
different rules to follow. S&M put forth a general guideline that is still in use today, and
makes great sense.
Generally speaking, for group 1 and 2 hands, you want to raise 4 bets pre-flop. In
No-Limit, this means 4x the big blind. Group 3 hands you want to raise 1 bet, just to
eliminate the riff-raff, or enrich the pot.
I would say, group 4 to 6, I would look at your position, and how much they are
asking to see the flop.

Group 7&8 you ONLY want to limp-in, and mostly, ONLY from LATE position.
I don’t know about ONLY playing 7’s and 8’s from late position, but ANYWHERE you
play them, you need to play them with DISCIPLINE.
Assuming you limped it in with only paying the big blind, you need to know to
FOLD if you do not hit a 4-card flush draw, trips, or 2 pair. DISCIPLINE. Do not
chase ANYTHING but the flush. If everyone just checks it around, then yeah, stay in the
hand, but definitely don’t call a raise.
There are correct ways to play the top hands, and you NEED to know how to play
them in order to get the value you deserve from them. They are rare, and hopefully, if
you get them, you will get some sucker that lets you double or triple up with them.

You need to KNOW YOUR TABLE. If you are playing an SNG, and you get AA
and raise a 15 blind to 75 and get zero callers, then the game is pretty darn tight. You
will need to remember that for later. But, if you raise the 75 with AA, and get 5 callers,
you obviously undershot and have a good chance at losing.
In a real money game, with $.50 blinds, I’ve seen everyone fold to a $2, but 6
people call to a $1. Sometimes, with the better hands, you just end up eating the blinds.
Which is just fine later in an SNG game when the blinds are up there. In a ring game
where the blinds stay the same, you don’t want to make only $0.75 every time you get
AA.

You need to know your table and see how much money to get callers, and how
much to get folders. Hopefully, you won’t be dealt any of these group 1’s or 2’s until a
few hands in so you can get a feel of how tight, or loose, the table is. Generally, at a $6
SNG, the table is pretty loose. For a 75-chip bet, you will usually get 2 or 3 callers,

which is just fine.

Pros and Cons

  There are pros and cons to doing this.What if this happens 10 times? Now you are out 150 more chips and at 500 instead of 650, if nothing ever hit. Not really that big a deal, but you are playing for a “miracle” flop. Something along the lines of flush draw, 2 pair or 3 of a kind. The odds say, with your crappy hand, this is not going to happen.
 Generally speaking, if you are trying to limp in cards that are at least connectors,
or suited, then maybe you should put in the extra 15. If you are limping in something like
K5 or A6, maybe also. But the 10 4 I mentioned previously, I wouldn’t.

 You are hoping on just blind luck. If someone raised, even 15 chips, it means they have something they are positive about and are trying to either increase the pot, or weed people out.
Remember, as always,  DON’T get sucked in. If you don’t get 2 pair, a flush
draw (with 2 suited cards or the ace) or trips, FOLD! Nothing is worse than when you
go in with said 10 4, get a 4 8 9 flop, and nobody is betting. They all bet 15, so you do,
because you have low pair and a pseudo-straight draw.

Turn comes with a Q. Now you have low pair and a gutshot straight draw.
Another 15, and you call. River comes with an ace. Someone bets big, and it’s time to
fold.
 “Playing” this hand cost you 45 chips, and you were never really in contention. It
is easy to do this, and do it often. This is the reason why the best players only play good
starting hands. They don’t want to keep throwing a “little” money at small percentages.
They like to load up and throw a LOT of money at high percentages.
In the previous example, if the J came on the river, odds are the worst you are
going to do is split the pot. But, you could lose it also if the other guy came in with K T.
That would give him 9 through K instead of your 8 through Q. This happens a lot,
actually.
 When people are in on rags, you will see folks bet up the “ignorant” side of a
straight and be pissed when they lose. The ignorant side is the low side.
Lets say everyone is limped-in on a 15 bet. The flop comes 6 7 8. The guy in the
big blind is excited all you “suckers” let him stay in the hand with his 45. He bets it up,
and gets called. An ACE comes on the turn. Being that he still has the straight, he bets
even bigger, figuring he’ll get extra money from the folks looking for the ace. He gets
plenty of callers. River comes with a J. SWEET, he thinks. Bet BIG. He gets called
down and loses to ANYONE with a 10.

When you have the ignorant side of a straight, it can’t get any better, it can only
get worse. Either bet it big to try to force everyone else out, and hope for no callers, or
just ride it in watching to see if a better straight becomes apparent.
Betting the ignorant side of an obvious straight is an easy way to lose.

Limping-in Bad Hands

You must have discipline though, if you are going to limp-in during the 15 blinds.
It is much easier to limp-in from the button or late position as you know if anyone ahead
of you raised or not. From early position, you are just hoping. You must have discipline.
Even 72os is a decent limp-in with the right flop. But, a hand that is decent for a
15 bet may not be a good bet at all at 30. Just like a good bet at 30, may not be a good
bet at 50. 
I have heard so many folks lament throwing away 10 4 only to have 10 10 4
flop. They get miffed and say they should have stayed in. Being the ass that I am, I
always retort, “It was only 15 chips. Were those 15 chips going to break you?”
The one pet peeve I have is when I’m on the button, and am trying to limp-in. It
gets around to me, and I put in my 15, only to have the SB or the BB raise to 30. Ugh.
At this point, it is a mistake to raise to 30. You need the discipline to fold it down. Of
course, you will think, it is only another 15, so why not.