Occasionally, I find myself dreaming about playing poker. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, it does disturb my sleep. I find myself unable to relax and drift off to a comfortable night of sleep. Perhaps I should stop playing the game online just before going to bed. I’ve heard this happens to sports fans as well as regards online football betting if they’ve been watching the games all day and placing the odd bet or two. Does this ever happen to you?

poker dream

Last night, in my dream, playing $4-$8 limit hold’em and seated in the Big Blind, I had been dealt A–3 offsuit in the hole. I stayed in the hand only because there were no raises before the flop; otherwise, I was ready to muck that hand. The flop surprised me: three treys. Now I had quad treys – a super monster hand, the absolute nuts.

So as not to force out my opponents and build “my” pot, I checked my hand, and then called a late-position player’s opening bet along with two other opponents.

This would seem more than enough to keep a person awake. In my dream, I kept asking myself if an opponent could beat me with a higher four-of-a-kind. I tried to put it out of my mind – but I just could not. Repeatedly, I thought about it. So, after a while I decided to try to answer that question and did so as I lay in bed. After much thought, I focused on one key question: What are the chances an opponent could river me?

I guess I was at the early stages of falling asleep, but the question kept nagging at me – and kept me awake. (One thing about dreams: They do not restrain your thoughts or your imagination.) Here were my thoughts:

A loose player on the Button had been calling all the way to the river. He would need quad fours or better to beat me. In my dream, I decided that he had been dealt pocket fours.

The turn brought him a third four. Now, he needed one more on the river to make the quad fours…. Mind you, these were my thoughts as I moved restlessly in bed. I could not put it out of my mind – try as I might.

Getting back to my poker dream…

Somehow, I was aware that my opponent needed one more four – the fourth – to beat me out of the pot. With only one more four remaining in the deck, now consisting of about 24 unseen cards, he had just one out! His card odds were 24-to-1 against him – a huge long shot! He had about a 2 percent chance of beating me out on the river. My quad treys looked fantastic. Of course, even in a dream, my remaining opponent could not know the strength of my hand, probably assuming that his full house, fours full of threes, gave him the best hand by far.

So, after I opened the betting on the river, which was a blank, he raised me. I decided to reraise – and took a good-sized pot at showdown as he called and then moaned while showing his full house.

Now, for me, having won the pot, maybe it was a good time to relax and enjoy a well-deserved night’s sleep.

George Epstein ad

Back in 1993 I was working in Marketing for the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. About five years earlier I had met Dr. Jerry Buss, the now-late owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, at a private poker game at the Forum Club. Man, did he love poker! He used to be very private about it though because of the possible negative associations between gambling and sports. I had always hoped to get him to work with us and create some sort of special attraction poker tournament at the Bike, but he always demurred.

In any event, he was in a very good mood that night and I figured it couldn’t hurt to at least try and ask him again. Specifically, I was hoping to run a charity poker tournament that would be called “The Jerry Buss Go For the Gold.” Some proceeds from the tournament would go to benefit the charity Dr. Buss supported, the United Negro College Fund.

To my complete surprise, he agreed! However, he insisted on one stipulation: if that were to be the name of the tournament, it had to be played with real gold chips!

Phyllis Caro Yazbeck

Phyllis Caro Yazbek posing with the gold coins. She’s a Women in Poker Hall of Famer and former Vice President of Casino Operations at the Bicycle Casino.

I was dumbfounded. “How exactly could we pull something like that off?” I asked him. “Get the gold from a sunken ship,” he replied. “Here’s the number of a gold coin collector. Mention my name, tell him your idea, and he’ll take care of it.”

If you think reading that last paragraph was surreal, just imagine actually being told that by Dr. Buss! Was this some sort of elaborate prank?

Well, I had nothing to lose, so the next day I called the number, and lo and behold the gentleman who answered replied in the affirmative: “I have lots of gold from sunken ships. How can I help you?”

A Logistical Nightmare

Having a crazy idea for a tournament and realizing such a thing is possible is one thing. The actual logistics of carrying out such a plan were something else entirely. I realized we’d be in a whole load of trouble if even one coin were to go missing. Me losing my job would only be the tip of the iceberg!

Our Head of Security at the Bicycle Casino took things to a whole new level. Multiple new cameras were installed throughout the building, and our security team began getting special SWAT team tactical training. They also were issued special protective equipment to use while escorting the gold coins to and from the armored car that would bring them to the casino. Other security personnel were stationed on the roof, plus we even coordinated with the local police and sheriff’s departments. It was an entire operation unto itself. Our team trained for an entire month, and in practice they were able to get the entire car-to-tournament area transportation of the gold down to one minute flat.

To the best of my recollection, the total value of the gold coins in play was somewhere between $10- $15 million. We spent more on security for all that gold than we did on the players!

Golden Memories of an Amazing Poker Tournament

While we knew the marketing stunt was a winner, we had no Idea how many players would actually pay the $10,000 buy in as well as give an additional 10% ($1,000) to charity for Dr. Buss. All told, 40 players entered that tournament, meaning we were able to raise $40,000 for charity, a huge sum back in 1993.

James Worthy Jerry Buss Robert Turner Yosh Nakano Frank Mariani

Pictured left to right are poker legend Yosh Nakano, Dr. Buss’ best friend and business partner Frank Mariani, Lakers great James Worthy, Dr. Buss, and me, holding the $40,000 check to be donated to charity.

That meant the tournament had a $400,000 prize pool. The participants in that tournament are a genuine who’s who of “old school” poker legends. Poker Hall of Famers Stu Ungar and Chip Reese played. I know there’s a picture somewhere out there of Stuey with all the gold in front of him. I wish I had that picture.

Marsha Waggoner, a member of the Women in Poker Hall of Fame’s inaugural class, remembers finishing in third place at the tournament, for a payday of around $52,000. It was eventually won by Jim Bechtel, who also won an even more prestigious tournament that same year, the World Series of Poker Main Event.

Thankfully, we didn’t lose a single chip and I was able to keep my job.

Postscript

Dr. Buss was so giving and humble. He not only gave of his money, but also his time. One person who was present at the Go for the Gold event, David Golden, remembers seeing Dr. Buss standing on a chair at some point so he could look over the spectators and watch the final table.

At his own tournament! Can you imagine?!

While the tournament was a success, I didn’t want to have to go through all that trouble and those security issues ever again just to stage a poker tournament. So, I was able to convince Dr. Buss to allow his image to be used on gold-colored chips that the Bicycle Casino would produce and use for future events.

I wonder how many players have played with those chips at the Bike and have wondered why Dr. Buss’s face is on them…

*Note: This legendary poker story, as originally told by Robert Turner, was edited and written by Robbie Strazynski

Every month, members at rec.poker enjoy a seminar put together by the RecPoker Podcast Panel, led by Membership Content Director Chris Jones. For July, the seminar is all about bluffing and we felt this was a great opportunity to showcase the seminars while providing the podcast audience with some great discussion on the art/science of bluffing.

Also check out rec.poker/resources for all the partnerships and bonus RecPoker is offering. Specifically, Red Chip Poker is offering RecPoker listeners a free week of CORE by visiting Rechippoker.com and using the code “RECPOKER.”

Time Stamps

0:00Welcome & Introduction
1:36National Collegiate Poker Tour update
2:56Bluffing: Floats
10:12Bluffing: Scare Cards
13:45Bluffing: River Bluff
20:41Round Robin: Jim (subbing for John) – Home Game Updates including Winners
22:40Round Robin: Taylor – PokerStars mobile
23:25Round Robin: Rob – Book Study updates (Matt Matros, The Game Plan
25:07 Round Robin: Chris – Membership Content update
25:52Round Robin: Andrew – Content Partners update
26:25Round Robin: Jim – Thanks for the birthday wishes! Happy 40th Jim!
27:08Round Robin: Steve – Next Online Play & Hang (OPaH) recap with Sara Herring and June merchandise order
29:10Closing comments

Poker is a wonderful and exciting game that contains multiple layers of skill and luck intertwined together. Betting, however, represents one of the most important of these layers, as winning chips is what poker is all about at the end of a day.

The ability to get value from your opponent is one of the most essential skills one needs to succeed. To achieve this, you’ll need to bet often and in all sorts of situations. This article describes 7 types of bets you can make in poker and briefly explains how these bets will help you boost your profits.

bet

Donk Bet

There are certain dynamics at a poker table that you’ll find in almost every game. One of them is letting the pre-flop aggressor continue their aggression on the flop almost always regardless of how good your hand might be on the flop. Without going into details why it makes sense to do so, it really does for a number of reasons.

Some players, however, choose to deviate from this dynamic and will instead bet into the raiser instead of checking to them. This is known as a donk bet and, as you can guess from the name, it’s not regarded as a very good play. Lately, donk betting has been somewhat redeemed by pros who do use it occasionally in very specific situations, but it still remains something you shouldn’t really do.

Continuation Bet (c-bet)

When a player raises before the flop they’ll frequently continue to represent a strong hand by betting on the flop as well. This is known as a continuation bet and it is one of the most common types of bet in all of poker.

Continuation betting the flop after raising pre-flop is something that even inexperienced players do. This gives you a chance to put more pressure on your opponent and win the pot right then and there regardless of your particular hand strength. The main idea behind c-betting is that the other player is unlikely to have connected with the flop so they’ll often release their hand without any resistance.

Overbet

Properly sizing your bets in poker is very important as experienced players make their decisions based on pure mathematics. In general, you want to size your bets in relation to the pot and, for the most part, you don’t want to bet more chips than what’s already in the middle.

However, every now and again you’ll want to go for some extra value by using an overbet, i.e., betting the full size of the pot or more. Overbets can be used as bluffs and for value alike and they work best against recreational punters who prefer other gambling games found at online casinos like 918kiss but occasionally stumble upon poker tables as well.

Underbet

When you’re trying to calculate the right size for your bet, you want to make it in relation to the size of the pot. Usually, betting something around half the pot is a good amount, as it gives you an opportunity to continue building the pot when you have a hand but also puts your opponent to a decision as to whether or not they want to continue.

Just like you usually don’t want to bet huge, betting very small is also not a typical play. This is what’s known as underbet and it doesn’t really achieve those two goals from the previous paragraph. Sometimes it can be the right play, for instance in spots where you think your opponent just can’t call a standard-sized bet or when you believe they have a hand they just can’t continue with no matter what, and you don’t want to risk more chips in case you’re wrong.

3-bet (re-raise)

When one player raises and another player re-raises, this is known as a 3-bet. This can happen both pre-flop and on later streets. Usually, a 3-bet signals strength as the 3-betting player is coming over the top of the initial opener, showing they’re willing to commit more chips to the pot.

Of course, this isn’t to say that a re-raise always means the player has the goods. Often, this play is used as a bluff, especially in today’s aggressive games. Properly sizing your 3-bets and finding good spots to execute them is a very large area of poker strategy but it’s an important one as well-timed aggression is key to being profitable.

Value Bet

There are typically two reasons for betting in poker. You’re either betting to get your opponent to fold (bluffing) or you’re betting because you have what you believe is the best hand and want them to call. The latter scenario describes what’s known as a value bet.

Usually, this type of bet is made on the river when there are no further cards to come and you know with a good degree of certainty that your opponent is behind. So, your goal is to get them to call with what stands to be the second-best hand, extracting some additional value.

Figuring out just how much to bet in a certain situation isn’t always easy, as you want to bet the maximum the other player is likely to call but not so much that you’ll force them to fold. The “correct size” for a value bet depends a lot on the player type, table dynamics, board texture, and how the hand played out, among many other factors.

Pot Bet

As mentioned in some of the previous poker bet types, your bets usually represent a certain percentage of the pot (be it 30%, 50%, or 70%, etc.). Sometimes, though, you might just want to bet the exact amount of chips that are in the middle. This is known as a pot bet or a pot-sized bet.

While it’s technically not an overbet, a pot bet is right on the border. It is the largest “regular” bet you can make and it will put your drawing opponents in a tough spot (mathematically speaking). At the same time, betting the full pot often means risking more chips than you realistically need to achieve your goal (when bluffing), which is why it is used somewhat infrequently.

Maria Konnikova

In this episode of The Bernard Lee Poker Show on the Cardplayer Lifestyle Podcast Family, Bernard Lee interviews author and poker player, Maria Konnikova, who just released her latest book, The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win. Maria also discusses working with Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel and playing in the WSOP for the first time. She also recalls her tenure as a sponsored pro with PokerStars.

0:00Red Chip Poker Ad
0:49Welcome to The Bernard Lee Poker Show as this week’s guest will author and poker player, Maria Konnikova.
3:03RunGood Gear Ad
3:46Bernard welcomes author and poker player, Maria Konnikova.
4:51Maria joins The Bernard Lee Poker Show.
5:45Maria discusses how she got started with her book, The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win.
12:07Maria talks about working with poker Hall of Famer, Erik Seidel.
18:54Maria describes going to the World Series of Poker for the first time in 2018 including the WSOP Main Event.
28:40ShareMyPair Ad
29:11Bernard continues his interview with author and poker player, Maria Konnikova.
30:40Maria discusses playing poker over the past couple of years and shares her plans to continue playing.
34:25Maria discusses the journey as she wrote her latest book, The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win.
38:31Maria talks about the good and the bad about being sponsored by PokerStars during 2018 and 2019.
42:40Follow Bernard on Twitter (@BernardLeePoker) and retweet his tweet to have a chance to win a copy of Maria’s book.
43:07Maria discusses thoughts she hopes readers will take away from reading the book.

Maria Konnikova

All of the best poker players agree that opponents that could be described as calling stations are probably the best ones to have at your table.

These players are ready to call sizable bets whenever they hit a piece of the board (in flop games), so playing against them is very straightforward.

Never putting up any resistance and calling their chips off until they have nothing left, these guys and girls are your sure way to make heaps of money playing poker, but this only works if you adjust your game-plan accordingly.

While calling stations are generally very easy to play against, you still need to adopt specific changes to your general strategy. What works against good players won’t usually work against them – and vice-versa. So, here are three tips on how to most efficiently deal with calling stations and avoid any traps along the way.

calling station

Try to play as many pots as you can against them

The first and most obvious thing about playing calling stations is that you want to be involved in as many hands as possible with them. They’re ready to give away their chips without much fuss, and they don’t particularly care who takes them – so you might as well.

Ideally, you want to have the position on the player you identify as a calling station and mix things up. When you see them entering the pot, you should be looking for squeeze play opportunities. You want the two of you to be alone in the pot and not have other players interfering with your plans.

via GIPHY

Every table is different, so the exact strategy on how to achieve this isolation will vary. Sometimes, the rest of the table will let you get away with anything, so you’ll be able to relentlessly isolate the station and play many pots against them. Sometimes, other players will be looking for their share of the cash as well, so you might have to rein in your aggression a bit.

That being said, you should be looking to play many more pots than usual and try to get heads-up with the calling station before the flop.

Make your value bets big

While serious male and female poker players think about their bet sizing in relation to the size of the pot, calling stations tend to only see their hand and the pot. They don’t really care about how big the bet is if they believe their hand is good enough to call.

So, one of the best ways to exploit these players is to up your bet sizes on every street.

via GIPHY

You don’t have to worry about disguising the strength of your hand or anything of the sorts. When you have a big hand, size up your bets on the flop, the turn, and the river, and enjoy the money.

This isn’t to say you should just shove all-in on a flop, of course, but if you’d usually bet half the pot in a certain situation, you can go full pot or even a bit over against a perceived calling station. They’ll keep on calling regardless, so you’re actually leaving money on the table by using your usual sizing.

Be quick to adjust and go for the maximum value against these players, and if you notice they start adjusting and folding more often, then just reduce your bet sizing a bit, but always start on the bigger side.

Never bluff a calling station

Bluffing is part of poker, and it definitely has its role in the game, but it is only useful when it makes sense. Against a calling station, bluffing is rarely a good option. Someone who’s ready to see the showdown with a hand as weak as the third or the fourth pair isn’t someone you want to be bluffing – ever.

via GIPHY

One of the first things good players learn about the game is that you can’t win every pot. Sometimes you just have to accept the fact that this one is going to someone else and move one.

When you find yourself in a pot against such a player and miss completely, there is no reason to keep on betting. You may try a small stab on the flop to see if they’d missed entirely, but once they call, it’s time to abort the operation.

Trying to bluff a calling station can eat into your profits in the long run. You can win more money from these players using a variety of other strategies, so why would you even bother bluffing them? Just stick to a solid and reasonable approach, bet big when you have it, and let them win a small pot every now and again when you whiff.

This is the second installment in our Great Poker Reopening miniseries.

The world has never seen anything like the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on our everyday lives. Things that many believed would never be shut down – from majorly important things like government actions, higher and elementary education to lower importance matters like casinos and poker rooms – were closed to try and control the spread of the coronavirus. For the casinos, at the minimum, when they came back it was in force.

Seminole Hard Rock Tampa First in Florida to Open

Closed on March 17 due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino was one of the last operations in the state to shut down. One week later, every casino in the U.S. was shuttered, with the final outposts of casinos in Deadwood, SD, terminating the action. For a lengthy two months, there was no action anywhere in the U.S., save for (perhaps private live home games) and online poker, which exploded, with even many home game players moving their games online.

On May 21, however, that all changed. The Hard Rock Tampa became the first casino to open in Florida and the poker room surged back to life. Opening at 50% capacity that first night and with plexiglass dividers between the six masked players allowed at the table, within hours the players had filled the 23-table limit and the room boasted a waiting list that totaled at least 100 names. This has become the norm for the Hard Rock Tampa poker room since reopening, and the players still are hitting the felt. As capacity has expanded to 75% of the tables in the current phase of opening in Florida this last week, the tables are still packed with players.

Plexiglass set up atop the poker tables at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Room in Tampa, Florida

A similar story exists across the peninsula at bestbet Jacksonville. Opening at the same time as the Hard Rock poker room in May, bestbet Jacksonville has been seeing a similar throng of players hit the baize on their grounds. One major difference was that bestbet Jacksonville did not utilize the plexiglass shielding that the Hard Rock did, but they took all the other actions that their brethren in Tampa did: masks, temperature checks, and extensive sanitation. Although they have had an employee recently test positive for the COVID-19 virus, bestbet Jacksonville is not going to close and the action will continue.

The @BestBet_Jax Poker Room open at 10am today now has 19-6 handed games and no plexiglass

Here are the requirements for:

Players
Temperature checks
Masks
Hand sanitized
Chair and rails cleaned as players leave

Employees
Temp checks
Masks
Sanitize hands every hour pic.twitter.com/imndXIxOwF

— Matt Savage (@SavagePoker) May 22, 2020

Tournaments? North Florida’s Got ‘Em!

When it comes to poker tournaments, it is arguable that the North Florida poker rooms were first on the go for those types of poker games. First up was the Sarasota Kennel Club and their poker room, One-Eyed Jacks, which opened on May 22 and offered its first poker tournament the next day. Those initial tournaments were capped at 72 players, but they had people flooding the cage to get into the tournaments and they’ve been successful every weekend since.

St. Petersburg’s Derby Lane Poker Room has joined One-Eyed Jacks in offering tournaments for North Florida poker players. While they have an 80-player max limit on the tournaments, they are playing seven-handed and the tournaments, like those at One-Eyed Jacks, have been filled to the maximum. Both rooms have also been reporting healthy waiting lists with as many tables in action as allowed by the current guidelines from the state of Florida.

Come join us on Saturday at 3PM for our Summer Tournament Series!
♠️ ❤️ ♣️♦️
$100 Buy-In. 3,000 GTE.
20 Min Levels. 20k units.
5k units $10 optional AO.
80 Player MAX.
♠️ ❤️ ♣️♦️ pic.twitter.com/kCuhGogqzT

— Derby Lane (@Derby_Lane) June 5, 2020

What About the Future?

The state of Florida is in a difficult position right now. Since reopening on Memorial Day, the state has suffered from an increased number of diagnosed cases of COVID-19. This is prompting many areas, such as Hillsborough County where the Seminole Hard Rock poker room is located, to enact mask ordinances to force all people to wear a mask when in public OR IN A BUSINESS in the county. This is being done to prevent the state from having to do something that no state is willing to reengage – the closure and quarantine of non-essential businesses, such as poker rooms.

The good news about the future is that poker is more than alive in Florida, it is flourishing in ways that many thought wouldn’t happen. The cash games have been thriving and are only currently held back by limitations on gatherings in the state. Tournaments, although they have their caps, are also doing quite well and showing that they aren’t going to dry up. The “demise of poker” isn’t happening, at least in the Sunshine State!

Cardplayer Lifestyle would like to thank Red Chip Poker for helping to make this miniseries possible. If you haven’t played much poker since the Coronavirus, enroll in CORE and (re)build your poker skills with the most comprehensive poker course ever created. Now with 200+ lessons, new quizzes, and new $2/$5 and $5/$10 hand reviews! Get started with CORE today for just $5.

Having recently launched a social play poker platform, Faded Spade Virtual Poker has partnered with the Breast Cancer Alliance (BCA) to host the inaugural Charity Poker Tournament on Thursday, June 25, 2020 at 8 p.m. ET.

Faded Spade Breast Cancer Alliance

The poker community has had a long standing of initiatives in order to give back, whether within local communities or on a global scale, and the BCA Charity Poker Tournament is another example of people coming together for a bigger and better cause. The event will be broadcast live on Faded Spade’s Twitch Channel, with the stream being hosted by poker player/commentator Jamie Kerstetter and Faded Spade’s CEO Tom Wheaton.

The partnership between Faded Spade and the BCA was a natural match: “Nearly everyone has had someone they care touched by this horrible and widespread disease,” said Kerstetter of her involvement. Wheaton can relate, stating that his wife’s family has a history of breast cancer as well. When the BCA reached out about hosting a virtual tournament to help raise funds, both parties agreed that Faded Spade provided the perfect platform to bring people together.

LISTEN: Interview with Jamie Kerstetter Part 1 | Part 2

Yonni Wattenmaker, Executive Director of the BCA, was also kind enough to add her remarks:

“Breast Cancer Alliance works to improve survival rates and quality of life for those impacted by breast cancer. We promote these goals, we invest in innovative research, breast surgery fellowships, and essential breast health support for the underserved. During the pandemic, breast cancer patients faced newer challenges and research was often met with delays. BCA is working with Faded Spade to raise critical funds to support the advancement of the field and is grateful to Faded Spade Virtual Poker for supporting our mission and being a true partner in this inaugural event.”

With the added opportunity to stream the tournament, visibility for all parties involved is increased. Bringing Kerstetter into the picture was also a solid option. Missing being in the booth, Kerstetter was elated at the opportunity to commentate for an event with such a good cause, adding that she was “happy to do [her] part to support breast cancer research” when Wheaton asked if she would be interested in commentating on and promoting the event.

As mentioned, Kerstetter will be accompanying Faded Spade’s own Wheaton in hosting the event.

I’m hosting the @BCAllianceCT online charity event this Thursday! Please consider playing or donating for a great cause 💖

Details:https://t.co/NzWTvN0GXl pic.twitter.com/7JC9YLt9Oc

— Jamie Kerstetter (@JamieKerstetter) June 22, 2020

Wheaton’s commitment to charity social programs is becoming a part of the overall Faded Spade mission: “I think that poker as a philanthropic activity is one of the purest forms of our game,” he said. Faded Spade Virtual Poker is still in its relative infancy, and Wheaton feels that the opportunity to utilize the platform for the greater good gives him a higher sense of purpose.

The BCA event is only the tip of the iceberg, with Wheaton suggesting more purposeful programs in the works with organizations such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Boys & Girls Clubs of America in addition to numerous other celebrity, sport, and for-profit foundations also looking to be in the mix in the future.

Interested in playing and contributing to the cause? Check out the Breast Cancer Alliance website for more information or click here to be taken directly to the buy-in form.

This is the first installment in our Great Poker Reopening miniseries.

It is perhaps no surprise that a state with the motto “Live Free or Die” is among the first to re-open poker rooms as we emerge from lockdown conditions. While many states are still pondering the question of whether it’s time to play live poker again and creating new safety guidelines, New Hampshire last week said “shuffle up and deal”.

There are 12 poker rooms in New Hampshire and almost all have now reopened. All New Hampshire poker rooms fall under the state’s charitable gaming law which requires that a set proportion of all proceeds go to charity. Across New Hampshire, charitable facilities collect over $10 million per year for New Hampshire charities. Other than the distribution of proceeds and the fact that rake is set at a standard 20%, New Hampshire poker rooms operate similarly to other poker rooms across the U.S.

The four largest and most active New Hampshire poker rooms are in the southern part of the state, not far from the Massachusetts border. These are the Manchester Poker Room, The Brook, Chasers, and The Boston Billiards Club and Casino. In all four, poker is accompanied by table games (blackjack, Spanish 21, etc.). The Brook and the Manchester Poker Room also offer sports betting. Three of the four normally offer both tournaments and cash games, while Chasers is a cash game-only facility.

The Brook

Current Health and Safety Measures

As a condition of reopening, the state of New Hampshire currently requires that all poker room staff wear protective gear and facial coverings, and that tables hold a maximum of six players at a time. Additionally, the state has created new sanitation rules and prohibited food at the poker table. All four southern New Hampshire card rooms report that employees are having their temperature taken before working and that all rails and chairs are being sanitized between player use. Beyond these ground rules, each room is taking their own approach to health and safety.

The Brook, an employee-owned room in Seabrook New Hampshire, is touting its increased sanitation practices. The facility recommends masks for all players, and offers masks, gloves, and hand sanitizers available for those ready to play. It has also added plexiglass dividers to blackjack tables to protect players and dealers from each other during this time. However, poker tables do not currently feature plexiglass.

We’re re-opening on June 19th and our new Clean Team is trained and ready to personally sanitize any stadium or table games, poker, or racebook seating, upon request! So, when you’re ready, we’ll be ready to play.#GoingtheDistance #ReturnConfidently #PlayAgain #LiveFreeandPlay pic.twitter.com/zw8omtgJUb

— The Brook Casino (@TheBrookCasino) June 16, 2020

The Manchester Poker room also emphasizes increased sanitation practices in their social media postings. Manchester has spread its 20 poker tables across multiple rooms for greater social distancing. Early observations indicate a relatively low percentage of mask-wearing players at Manchester. In fact, pictures of Manchester’s very first tournament in the “new era” show only one or two masks at each 6-handed table.

Chasers is a smaller room, with limited square footage for social distancing. They have compensated for that by reducing the number of tables to maximize space between tables. Mask wearing seems to be more evident at Chasers than at Manchester, with closer to 50%-60% adoption among customers. When visiting Chasers recently, I noted multiple tables where all of the players were wearing masks. While this is not a requirement at the room, several players noted that they were pleased that an all-mask table was an option.

poker table masks

Finally, The Boston Billiard Club and Casino falls within the city limits of Nashua. Unlike the state as a whole, Nashua is currently under a mask order. So, in addition to increased sanitation, distancing and limiting tables, all customers at the BBC&C are required to wear masks at the table. Those who arrive without masks may purchase one at the door for $2.

Early Attendance

Turns out, if you re-open poker rooms, people will come! As has been seen in Florida, newly-opened poker rooms in New Hampshire have proven to be a big draw. Early numbers have been very strong. On the second day that they were open, Chasers filled all 10 open tables throughout the evening (five $1/$2 NLH tables, four $2/$5 NLH, and one $2/$2 PLO table). Chasers also reports extensive waiting lists for $1/$2 games, with up to 50 people waiting to get in the action at any one time. Chasers, being a cash game-only site, has traditionally been one of the most active cash rooms in New Hampshire. In January, they were averaging between 4-6 active tables on weeknights (with more on weekends). So far in June, they are maxing out their 10 open tables every day. Thus, even accounting for six players per table as opposed to nine or 10, Chasers is serving as many players during weeknights as they were prior to the shutdown.

Can’t wait to open our doors again this morning!

Beginning at 11:30AM we will be open for #poker, #roulette and other table games, pool, and indoor #dining.

Get more info on our website!https://t.co/dJXHl0RCp2 pic.twitter.com/jzZNhKtfZx

— Boston Billiard Club (@BosBilliardClub) June 15, 2020

Cash games at the other three Southern NH card rooms have been running at, or ahead of, comparable January numbers ever since re-opening. Aiding New Hampshire’s poker traffic is the fact that nearby Massachusetts has yet to approve the re-opening of casinos. Even when Massachusetts casinos open, they may be without poker for the foreseeable future. New Hampshire’s nearest competition, the Encore Boston Harbor, which formerly hosted a 74-table room, has announced that poker will not resume for the time being. In fact, the Encore has gone so far as to re-structure their poker room for table games and video poker.

Given the New Hampshire regulation that no more than six players may play per table, it is notable that cash rakes have not been reduced in any room. However, there seem to be few complaints about this in social media discussion forums of local players.

Tournament Outlook

Manchester kicked off the first New Hampshire tournament of the “new era” with a triumphant $50/$50/$50 (buy-in, re-buy, add-on) tournament on a Tuesday night. An amazing 90 players entered with a total prize pool of over $8,600.

Manchester has resumed its full tournament schedule (three tournaments a week on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday), and is having clear early success. Tournament fields are comparable to those seen back in January before the shutdown. In a nod to the required six players per table maximum, the big blind ante has been cut in half for all tournaments.

Other rooms have decided that they are not yet ready to move back into tournament play. The Boston Billiards Club and Casino has temporarily put tournaments on hold. It is unclear when and how they will resume. The Brook was the last of Southern New Hampshire poker rooms to reopen. They have announced that they “intend” to post a new tournament schedule soon. However, rumors are that it will be a while before tournaments resume there.

Prior to shutdowns, The Brook, along with its former crosstown rival Hampton Falls Poker Room hosted the largest number of tournaments per week in Southern New Hampshire. Early in 2020, the owners of The Brook purchased Hampton Falls and were in the midst of a plan to fully absorb Hampton Falls staff and tournament structures into the operation at the former Seabrook site. That would likely make them the most vibrant tournament host in New Hampshire by far. The health crisis called an end to this gradual transition, instead shuttering the Hampton Falls site permanently. Thus, tournament players are eagerly looking forward to the release of the new schedule at The Brook to see how they combine the most popular tournament structures of the two rooms.

New Hampshire Poker Moving Forward

New Hampshire residents tend to show an independent and individualist streak, leading to a dynamic environment of differing viewpoints. In political terms, it is a solidly “purple” state. This is currently reflected in spirited online debates among local players regarding the state of poker in New Hampshire. Should rooms be open at all? Should masks be required? How many players should sit at a table? Social media is replete with advocates passionately arguing the pros and cons of these issues and more. New Hampshire will prove an interesting test case for other regions trying to meet the needs of a diverse set of players. Their biggest challenge, however, may making the greatest number of players feel positively about their poker experience.

Stay tuned.

Jamie Kerstetter

In this episode of The Bernard Lee Poker Show on the Cardplayer Lifestyle Podcast Family, Bernard Lee continues his interview with the 2019 WSOP Main Event Commentator, Jamie Kerstetter. During Part 2 of my interview this week, she initially recounts her experience in 2019 being part of the WSOP Main Event commentating team, alongside longtime commentators Norman Chad and Lon McEachern. Then, she also discusses winning Twitter Personality of the Year at this year’s Global Poker Awards and the podcasts that she has hosted (LFG and The Rake).

0:00Red Chip Poker Ad
0:49Welcome to The Bernard Lee Poker Show as this week’s guest will once again be WSOP Main Event Commentator, Jamie Kerstetter, in Part 2 of our interview.
2:30On June 4, Las Vegas casinos reopened and are having surprising success, which has led to other casinos re-opening earlier than expected.
5:05WSOP announces 85 bracelets will be awarded this summer online.  During the entire month of July, WSOP.com will be hosting the 2020 Summer Online World Series of Poker awarding 31 bracelets, one event each day.  Additionally,

GGPoker will also be awarded 54 bracelets during its own summer series from July 19 through September 6.

7:40RunGood Gear Ad
8:23Bernard welcomes back 2019 WSOP Main Event Commentator, Jamie Kerstetter.
9:01Jamie joins The Bernard Lee Poker Show.
9:41Jamie discusses her commentary experience prior to 2019 WSOP Main Event Commentator, including partypoker/WPT, HPT and WSOP preliminaries.
14:55Jamie discusses negative comments regarding her commentary gig for 2019 WSOP Main Event.
20:26Jamie discusses her experience as 2019 WSOP Main Event Commentator, alongside Norman Chad and Lon McEachern, especially in front of the camera.
25:26Jamie praises his fellow commentators, Norman Chad and Lon McEachern.
27:14Jamie misses going to this year’s WSOP.
28:39ShareMyPair Ad
29:12Bernard continues his interview with 2019 WSOP Main Event Commentator, Jamie Kerstetter.
31:29Jamie discusses winning Twitter Personality of the Year at this year’s Global Poker Awards.
38:12Jamie explains why she wasn’t a fan of Twitter doubling its character count in 2017 from 140 to 280.
40:59Jamie discusses her multitude of experiences at the previous WSOPs.
42:02Jamie talks about her podcasts, previously LFG on PokerNews and currently, The Rake.

Jamie Kerstetter

Jerry Yang has an amazing personal story of growing up in Laos, escaping to Thailand, and ultimately moving to the slums of Nashville, Tennessee. He worked hard on his education, which ultimately served to be his path out of poverty. In 2005 he started learning poker and only two years later found himself on top of the poker world having won $8.25 million and the WSOP Main Event Championship… all from a $225 satellite. An amazing story that Jerry wrote about in his autobiography called, All in: From Refugee Camp to Poker Champ.

Please also check out the National Collegiate Poker Tour by following them on @ncptpoker on Twitter or Instagram. They have their next event, the Summer Series, being held June 21-August 2

Also check out rec.poker/resources for all the partnerships and bonus RecPoker is offering. Specifically, Red Chip Poker is offering RecPoker listeners a free week of CORE by visiting Rechippoker.com and using the code “RECPOKER.”

Time Stamps

0:00Welcome & Introduction
0:30National Collegiate Poker Tour & Red Chip Poker special
4:12Welcome Jerry Yang
5:40Jerry Yang: Laos to Thailand to Nashville
16:03Jerry Yang: Learning Poker
24:33Jerry Yang: Verbal Tells in big 3-handed pot of Main Event
32:19Jerry Yang: Advice to Recreational Players
34:21Jerry Yang: Life Lessons
36:25Jerry Yang: On the book, All In: From Refugee Camp to Poker Champ
39:54Jerry Yang: Final Words, Invitation to his restaurant, and WSOP 2021 Lunch Date!
43:35Jim and Steve reactions.
46:07Round Robin: John – Home Game Updates including Winners
48:23Round Robin: Chris – Membership Content update
49:05Round Robin: Rob – Book Study updates (Matt Matros, The Game Plan
52:05Round Robin: Steve – Next Online Play & Hang (OPaH), pins & merch
56:20Round Robin: Jim – Website updates
56:52Closing comments

Jerry Yang

Many of us have been spending more time inside over the last few months, looking for new sources of entertainment online or going back to the ones we loved. Internet gambling has certainly been on the rise lately. Top online operators, like casinos on Casimple, have seen a significant surge in player numbers, both in terms of new signups and old players coming back.

The online poker world has been experiencing a mini-boom as well. With outdoor activities severely limited in most countries around the world, many people have found their way to the virtual felt. At the same time, though, the live scene has been suffering due to almost all major events and series being cancelled or postponed indefinitely.

The good news is that several top poker operators have come up with imaginative solutions for their flagship series by moving them online. So, if you have the itch to play and compete in events with large prize pools – or even win yourself a WSOP bracelet – keep on reading.

online poker

The First Online World Series of Poker

The World Series of Poker is the most iconic live tournament series there is. It’s been taking place annually in Las Vegas for decades. But with the current situation in the US and around the globe, the organizers have decided to postpone plans for a live WSOP until the fall and try something unconventional and innovative for the summer.

The 2020 WSOP Online will officially kick off on Wednesday, July 1, and will span across two months taking place at two rooms. For the first few weeks, there will be one bracelet event taking place on WSOP.com every day, open to players located in New Jersey and Nevada.

Then, on July 19, the World Series of Poker will go global, as bracelet events will go live on the GGPoker Network. The full schedule of events on GG Poker hasn’t yet been reveal but the 2020 WSOP Online is set to last until September 6. This will be the first time players physically located outside of the US will have a chance to compete for WSOP bracelets online.

The unfortunate news for the players in the US is that they’ll only be able to enter events hosted on WSOP.com. GGPoker doesn’t accept players from the United States, so it’s not an ideal solution. On the plus side, there will be plenty of cash up for grabs alongside shiny bracelets.

WPT World Online Championships

Partially overlapping with the WSOP Online is the WPT World Online Championships on partypoker.

The series will kick off on July 17 and will last until September 8, featuring $100 million in guaranteed prizes across 12 Championship Events. Each event will have three different flights with different buy-in levels, so as to allow all players to test their luck and skills regardless of their bankroll.

Moreover, partypoker has announced live coverage for the most important moments of this series and they’re planning to display real names of players at the tables. It may be an online series but the organizers are certainly doing what they can to make it as exciting and “lifelike” as possible both for participants and the audience of poker fans.

Unibet Open Online

Unibet Open is quite the popular tournament series in Europe, and they certainly didn’t want to disappoint their many fans. While they’ve unfortunately had to cancel their upcoming live events series for the remainder of 2020, they’ve decided to see it through instead in an alternate manner, via a virtual setting.

The first online Unibet Open event was concluded on May 27 and it was the British pro Max Silver who claimed the victory in the €1,100 tournament, pocketing €77,320 for his efforts while topping the list among 373 entries.

Although the operator is still to publish official dates, there are two more similar events in the pipeline. The first one should take place in September while the second one is planned for December. Unibet Poker has put a lot of effort into creating a fun and relaxed platform catering primarily to recreational players, so getting involved with one of these could be worth it for the experience alone.

888poker Freezout Series

If you are a fan of tournament poker the way it used to be, you just might love what 888poker has to offer. Their Freezout Series is running between June 14 and June 29 and features 24 events that give you just a single shot at the glory. There are no rebuys and no re-entries. Once you bust the player, they’re done!

The series features $665,000 in guaranteed prizes with the highlight tournament being the $109 Main Event offering the guarantee of $200,000. There are multiple Day 1 flights taking place every day from June 14-29.

The Main Event action will culminate with the final day on June 29 that will bring all players who made it through Day 1 together to fight it out for the title. With so many starting flights and a relatively affordable buy-in, the $200k guarantee will likely be broken.

Of course, there are many other interesting events you might want to try. You’ll find all sorts of formats and structures, such as turbo tournaments and Progressive KOs, and this is a great way to warm up for the WSOP Online.

PokerStars Summer Series

If you’re craving some action right now, the PokerStars Summer Series is currently underway as well. Things kicked off on June 7 but there are still quite a few events to check out before it ends on June 21. This includes two Main Events, both taking place on the last day of the Series, offering some serious money up for grabs.

Both tournaments feature a Progressive Knockout format. The first one can be entered for just $55 and comes with a guarantee of $1,000,000. The second one is for those with bigger bankrolls as you’ll need to pay $530 for your seat. The guaranteed prize pool is $2,000,000 though, so there is nice pile of cash waiting at the end well-worth fighting for.