Poker Winner Blog

Players are expected to abide by a number of conventions in order to facilitate the smooth running of the games. These can be summed up as follows:

• Do not engage the dealer in conversation
• Do not put money or chips into the dealer’s hand
• Do not throw chips or money at the betting layout
• Never move another player’s bet
• Give up seats to players if you are watching.

Although all dealers are trained to be friendly and welcoming, they must also pay attention to the game and be alert for cheats. If you try to engage a dealer in casual conversation he or she may ignore you, as distracting dealers is a trick frequently used by cheats. If you need assistance, the best person to approach is one of the floor managers, as their duties include socializing with players. If you have a query about a game, ask the dealer to call an inspector. Read the rest of this entry »

Before starting to play roulette, players first need to buy table chips. These can be purchased with money, cash chips or, in some casinos, with a personal cheque (check). Although bets may be placed using cash chips or money, it is advisable to always take a colour so that your bets are not confused with another player’s bets.

The value of the colour chips will be marked on the table. The chips are stacked in piles of 20. Each set of colour comprises 200 chips. To prove that there are 20 chips in each stack, the dealer will cut the chips down into four piles of five chips and spread out one of the piles. The dealer will push the chips across the table and leave them in front of you. Read the rest of this entry »

A wide choice of bets can be played on craps, some of which are better value for the player than others. Before betting it is best to compare the difference in house advantage (the profit made by the casino) for each bet. The best-value bets are the pass/don’t pass and come/don’t come bets. These allow the player to make an additional bet called odds. By playing the odds bets, the house advantage is reduced to less than one per cent. Read the rest of this entry »

At one point Ungar raised seven hands in a row. No one called. Was he bluffing? Of course he was — some of the time. Everyone knew that. But no one knew when. Every contestant hoped one of his opponents would be eliminated first. It didn’t matter which one. Every time someone was knocked out, the surviving players climbed another rung on the pay ladder. Ungar knew that.

Ungar’s mastery of the table seemed palpable. He was a shark among a school of fish, and he sensed blood in the water. Bao, short on chips the entire day, was the first to fall — eliminated by Judah. By 1:30 p.m. Ungar had more chips than his remaining four opponents combined. Read the rest of this entry »

The main event is what draws the crowds to Las Vegas, and the 1997 and 1998 World Series of Poker were more dramatic than most. One event is the thrilling yet ultimately sad tale of an incredible comeback, the other a quintessential American success story.

Stu Ungar: The Comeback Kid

A dozen former world champs competed in the 1997 event, including two- time winners Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, and Stu Ungar, along with 27-yearold defending champion Huck Seed. Formerly an engineering student at Cal Tech, Seed took a year’s sabbatical to play poker and never returned. Read the rest of this entry »