TV poker: good for something after all

Last night I had a chance to finally watch Monday's WPT event on GSN. It was the Mandalay Bay tournament from the 2007 season and I decided to watch with Joe Navarro's eyes. Instead of watching for enjoyment or seeing what sick hands would be dealt, I focused on tells. It's not as simple as it may seem because the editing of the show takes away from seeing their reactions when they see the flop, etc. I picked up a few, but there was one very clear tell displayed when the tournament got heads up, and I truly believe it was the difference between winning and losing.

Jared "TheWacoKidd" Hamby, pictured, was about even in chips with Shawn Buchanan when the following hand came up: Hamby had something like A-10 (yes, I know, the Cosenza) and raised preflop. Buchanan called with 33. The flop came somewhat ragged, but I think a queen was in there. Here's where it gets interesting: Hamby, an online pro with a lot of live success as well, bet out fairly quickly and Buchanan called. That's a tell in itself because he's trying to make Buchanan think his hand is so strong he doesn't even have to think to bet. Buchanan may have picked up on this, but that's not the tell I want to discuss. As soon as Buchanan called, Hamby stopped chewing his gum (something he did almost feverishly throughout the match) and when the turn paired Hamby fired out a huge bet. THEN he covered his mouth with the back of his hand. He NEVER did this throughout the whole broadcast. He looked so very nervous when he made that bet. Buchanan had to pick up on this classic tell because he called him all the way down and won with 33!!! This tell is often brought up by Mike Caro, especially in his Book of Tells. When someone is bluffing sometimes they cover their mouth in an effort to "stop the lie" from being told or to cover a smirk. Right after that HUGE hand he did it again later on when he had air. It was classic and something he should work on when he's under stress. He was visibly upset at that point, getting up and pacing and complaining to his horde in the audience that he couldn't believe he called the turn there. "I knew he was weak!" He said. Actually, Jared was the one who was weak, in the Tells Dept.

They both played very well and it was this little tell that probably made the difference between winning and losing. Kudos to Buchanan for picking up on it and cashing in on the title. But if you haven't read Caro's book you should. And of course pick up any of Navarro's books as well. And if you have ANY tells you've seen please list them here I'd love to read about them.

-- Chris

A night of poker potpourri

Monday night is Reality Show Night at the Cosenza household, so I tend to play poker while Mrs. Ante Up watches her Dancing With The Stars and Bachelor. I'm still trying to get Shannon Elizabeth (pictured) on the show, but she must have a gag order on or something because none of my emails to her or her agency has been returned.

Last night I had one of those sessions where you just hang on for dear life and watch your stack go up and down more times than a ride at Busch Gardens. I began by playing NLHE heads up for cold hard cash. We exchanged a few jabs here and there and he kept rebuying for the full amount whenever he would dip below the max buy-in. What do you think of this strategy?

Anyway, the ultimate hand came when I had 7♣8♣ on the button and raised 3X. He called and the flop came with 10♣ 8♥ K♣. He checked and I bet pot. He called. The turn was a 7♥. So I had two pair and a flush draw. He bet out and I raised. He shoved and I was pot-committed. He showed Q♣7♣! I had him crushed at that point, but the river was a club and he felted me. Grrr!

Next I moved on to a $.10-$.25 NLHE 6-handed table. The player on the button during my BB kept raising when it got folded to him, and twice he did it with Ax. So the next time it happened I had K♣ Q♣. I decided to call his 3X raise and trap him. Flop came Q♦ 4♦ 7♥. I checked and he bet pot. I raised pot and he called. The turn: 2♥. So now there are two flush draws out there and I don't want him to get there, so I bet pot again and he shoved. I had to call (again) and he turned over A♦8♦. All he had was an overcard and diamond draw. Can you guess what came? I'm screaming at the computer: "NO BLUE!!! NO BLUE!!!" (Yes I have my screen set to the Lucky Charms colors, as you can now see in this post) A 5♦ on the river gave him the flush and just like that I was down $75 after playing at two tables.

I had been on such a fine streak online that I started to feel like the demons had finally decided to leave me alone. But alas, they returned.

I found another six-handed ring game ($.50-$1) where they were seeing a lot of hands and averaging about $35 per pot. I never really know if that last figure means they're maniacs or if someone just got stacked. But as soon as I sat down I knew they were there to gamble. I made it three-handed and my first hand on the button I was dealt JJ and raised to $3.50. The SB thought long and hard then folded, as did the BB. I think to myself that he's thinking I'm a stealer. The very next button hand for me I get 10-10. I raised the same amount and this time the SB re-raised 3X my bet. I just knew he had a middle pair or some sort of weak ace. I shoved and he waited and waited and waited. Then he called with ... 99. My 10-10 held up and gave me a profit for my session.

That's when Ante Up! National Rant2112, who was railing me and seeing all of these suckouts, said: Want to play heads up? I said sure. We decided to play a $5 HU-NLHE-SNG, and I got some great cards and opportunities. I beat him pretty quickly and then took a break.

When I returned I decided to play $.25-$.50 H.O.R.S.E. I started with $5, fell to $1.50 and then won a decent pot to get back to like $6. That's when another Ante Up! National, I Like Ike, joined the table. We chatted a little as I went on a huge rush, turning my $5 buy-in into almost $25. He wasn't as lucky and left down a bit. But it was great playing with him and chatting.

Finally I returned to heads up play again. I sat down at a $50 table with a guy who already had like $69. We went back and forth for a while, and I was getting the best of him when the following hand came up. On the button I got 9♦10♦. I raised to $1.50 and he called. The flop came K♦ 7♦ 8♥. He checked and I bet pot. He called. The turn was the 4♦. Now he bet pot and I shove. He instacalled with A♦A♥. I have him dead to a diamond and I'm screaming in my head "NO BLUE!!!! NO BLUE!!!" Can you guess what came on the end? It was blue, and so was I. Then he left.

Just like that, all of the profit was gone again, and I never got my money in bad. I was confident my reads of their styles and betting patterns were spot-on, so I continued playing. In my last match of the night I sat down with $100 vs. a guy who had $128 at a $.50-$1 NLHE HU table. In the beginning he was super-aggressive, raising every button, reraising my button raises, punishing my button limps. I started to think he was better than me and should get out of the table while I still had most of my buy-in. But then I adjusted and started trapping. The final hand we played came down like this: On the button I had K♥9♥. I raised to $3.50 and he called. The flop: J♥ 9♠ 10♥. He checked and I bet $4. He called. The turn: 7♥. I had the second nuts. Now he bet out $5. I minraised to $10. He reraised to $40, leaving him only $32 left. I said to myself, "If I shove here and he calls with a naked A♥ and hits, I'm going to throw this computer in the dumpster!" So I shoved, thinking he couldn't fold no matter what he had (hoping he had an 8). He thought and thought and typed in A8, then folded. So he had the straight, but likely not the A♥. I won $90 from him and called it a night, turning a nice profit during a very tumultuous session.

Let's see what happens tonight while Mrs. Ante Up! watches American Idol.

-- Chris

Learn from my mistakes

This really is unacceptable, though I'm not sure I would've gotten away from this hand anyway. Saturday night I visited Derby Lane to play a little NLHE and Stud/8. I had an up-and-down night, which ended down, and likely because of two stupid mistakes on one hand.

Earlier in the night my first buy-in got depleted and ultimately bit the dust when my pocket jacks lost to Ax when a board came with two spades but all unders. I shoved and he called with A♠7♠. He hit an ace on the river. So after I rebought I won a few pots and then took down a massive pot with The Cosenza, A♦10♥. The flop came all diamonds and there was a bet and a raise. I decided to gamble and shoved only to be called by K♦3♦. He already had the second nuts! But a 7♦ on the river ensured my first buy-in was recovered and I had about a $25 profit. The Cosenza rules!!!

Later I moved to a $2-straight Stud/8 table and lost all of my profit and was down about $20 when the table broke because all of the old salts had to go home to go to sleep. Man, don't play this game. No one folds and the bets add up. There was talk of turning it into a $1-5 spread, but NOOOOOOOOOO! One guy said VETO! Damn!

So when that table broke I got a seat change to another NLHE game and turned a very nice profit for the first hour. And within that hour I flopped a sweet flush with the J♥8♥ and just abused this one guy in the hand, taking almost his whole stack with a very sneaky check-raise on the turn and then a shove on the river. He called, mucked, stood up and left immediately! I was not his favorite person. About three guys at the table said "Ooooooo, that's cold! That was cold-hearted!" when I check-raised him. Funny stuff.

Anyway, I looked at my cell phone and it was around 1:15 a.m. At that point the best starting hand I had all night were those jacks; that's about five hours of play and nothing better than JJ (which isn't too hard to imagine since I only saw about 100 hands in that time frame). There was this little old Ukranian woman on my right who was a regular. She was pretty straight-forward but she did do something a lot of older players do: when she had a hand like JJ she raised $15 and when she had AA she limped and slow-played them to the end. I noticed her do this TWICE with each of those hands. So I had about a $75 profit at that point and there was only about 45 minutes left before Derby Lane closed. There were three limpers and then the little old lady in the SB raised to $15. I looked down at Q♥Q♦. From what I saw she had about $80 left and it was at least her second buy-in. So I knew the other guys who limped had nothing because that's how the table had been playing all night: limp with nothing and hope to hit. So I put her on JJ or 10-10 and reraised her all-in because if I reraised the standard three-times-her-bet rule it would've been $45 and if she had come over the top I couldn't lay down QQ for just another $35 or so. I pushed $175 out there and she called when it folded to her. D'OH!!!!!!! She had A♠A♣ again!!! Three times in an hour, and since the dealers at Derby Lane average like 20 hands an hour this was remarkable. And she played them exactly like the jacks instead of her usual slow-play.

Mistake No. 1: Don't assume your opponents play every hand exactly the same way no matter how consistent and predictable they are.

Mistake No. 2: Look more carefully at your opponents' stack or better yet ask how much they have left. I failed to see the three gold $25 chips under her second stack because from my vantage point they were hidden. This meant she had $75 more than I thought and I lost a $146 pot to her aces instead of just $71.

After that hand it was like 1:25 a.m. and I had almost no time to make up for my losses. I won a few pots and got back to being down just $70, and I'm not sure I would've gotten away from those queens regardless of her stack because the flop came all unders. But you never know. I may have just called and then lost less. I'm an idiot.

On the last hand of the night I was dealt 10-10 and I said "Is this really the last hand of the night?" and when they said yes I said "Raisy-Daisy!" and put $15 out there, hoping it looked like I was just gambling. No one called (it reminded me of the last hand at Snuffy's when I had KK and no one played!). So I left down $70 exactly. Bummer.

Oh well. I went home and played till 5 a.m. online and won $71, so I turned a $1 profit for 10 hours work, that's 10 cents an hour!! I could retire on that ROI!

-- Chris

AIPS III Event #4 Champion: theron74

Congratulations to theron74, who wins the fourth AIPS III banana as champion of the Pot-Limit Omaha event, which drew 72 entrants.

theron74 won an epic heads-up battle against Iceland's DrPepperIce, who was playing in his first AIPS events, when his flopped set of deuces improved to quads on the turn. Congrats to everyone who made the final table!

Just-for-recognition bounties go to:

• Mickey Jay (Scott "OffDeadline" 12th place)
• OffDeadline (Fasso "stpetebeach" 21st place - the dunderhead didn't really play, just forgot to unregister and darn near made the money - until he ran into me)
• Zerkaboid (Chris "willhopper" 65th place)
• (columbo DNP)

NEXT EVENT: No-Limit Hold'em with Rebuys, Thursday, May 22, 9 p.m. Eastern

Click here for the Player of the Year standings. (Special thanks to Ante Up! scorekeeper Gambit for compiling them and Blazman for hosting the results).

Click here for the schedule and all the info on AIPS III events. We'll update it as we set dates for future events, and recognize champions. (This link is also permanently posted on the right-hand side of the blog with all the other important links).

- SCOTT

Congratulations to theron74, who wins the fourth AIPS III banana as champion of the Pot-Limit Omaha event, which drew 72 entrants.

theron74 won an epic heads-up battle against Iceland's DrPepperIce, who was playing in his first AIPS events, when his flopped set of deuces improved to quads on the turn. Congrats to everyone who made the final table!

Just-for-recognition bounties go to:

• Mickey Jay (Scott "OffDeadline" 12th place)
• OffDeadline (Fasso "stpetebeach" 21st place - the dunderhead didn't really play, just forgot to unregister and darn near made the money - until he ran into me)
• Zerkaboid (Chris "willhopper" 65th place)
• (columbo DNP)

NEXT EVENT: No-Limit Hold'em with Rebuys, Thursday, May 22, 9 p.m. Eastern

Click here for the Player of the Year standings. (Special thanks to Ante Up! scorekeeper Gambit for compiling them and Blazman for hosting the results).

Click here for the schedule and all the info on AIPS III events. We'll update it as we set dates for future events, and recognize champions. (This link is also permanently posted on the right-hand side of the blog with all the other important links).

- SCOTT

Congratulations to theron74, who wins the fourth AIPS III banana as champion of the Pot-Limit Omaha event, which drew 72 entrants.

theron74 won an epic heads-up battle against Iceland's DrPepperIce, who was playing in his first AIPS events, when his flopped set of deuces improved to quads on the turn. Congrats to everyone who made the final table!

Just-for-recognition bounties go to:

• Mickey Jay (Scott "OffDeadline" 12th place)
• OffDeadline (Fasso "stpetebeach" 21st place - the dunderhead didn't really play, just forgot to unregister and darn near made the money - until he ran into me)
• Zerkaboid (Chris "willhopper" 65th place)
• (columbo DNP)

NEXT EVENT: No-Limit Hold'em with Rebuys, Thursday, May 22, 9 p.m. Eastern

Click here for the Player of the Year standings. (Special thanks to Ante Up! scorekeeper Gambit for compiling them and Blazman for hosting the results).

Click here for the schedule and all the info on AIPS III events. We'll update it as we set dates for future events, and recognize champions. (This link is also permanently posted on the right-hand side of the blog with all the other important links).

- SCOTT

Congratulations to theron74, who wins the fourth AIPS III banana as champion of the Pot-Limit Omaha event, which drew 72 entrants.

theron74 won an epic heads-up battle against Iceland's DrPepperIce, who was playing in his first AIPS events, when his flopped set of deuces improved to quads on the turn. Congrats to everyone who made the final table!

Just-for-recognition bounties go to:

• Mickey Jay (Scott "OffDeadline" 12th place)
• OffDeadline (Fasso "stpetebeach" 21st place - the dunderhead didn't really play, just forgot to unregister and darn near made the money - until he ran into me)
• Zerkaboid (Chris "willhopper" 65th place)
• (columbo DNP)

NEXT EVENT: No-Limit Hold'em with Rebuys, Thursday, May 22, 9 p.m. Eastern

Click here for the Player of the Year standings. (Special thanks to Ante Up! scorekeeper Gambit for compiling them and Blazman for hosting the results).

Click here for the schedule and all the info on AIPS III events. We'll update it as we set dates for future events, and recognize champions. (This link is also permanently posted on the right-hand side of the blog with all the other important links).

- SCOTT

Congratulations to theron74, who wins the fourth AIPS III banana as champion of the Pot-Limit Omaha event, which drew 72 entrants.

theron74 won an epic heads-up battle against Iceland's DrPepperIce, who was playing in his first AIPS events, when his flopped set of deuces improved to quads on the turn. Congrats to everyone who made the final table!

Just-for-recognition bounties go to:

• Mickey Jay (Scott "OffDeadline" 12th place)
• OffDeadline (Fasso "stpetebeach" 21st place - the dunderhead didn't really play, just forgot to unregister and darn near made the money - until he ran into me)
• Zerkaboid (Chris "willhopper" 65th place)
• (columbo DNP)

NEXT EVENT: No-Limit Hold'em with Rebuys, Thursday, May 22, 9 p.m. Eastern

Click here for the Player of the Year standings. (Special thanks to Ante Up! scorekeeper Gambit for compiling them and Blazman for hosting the results).

Click here for the schedule and all the info on AIPS III events. We'll update it as we set dates for future events, and recognize champions. (This link is also permanently posted on the right-hand side of the blog with all the other important links).

- SCOTT

Congratulations to theron74, who wins the fourth AIPS III banana as champion of the Pot-Limit Omaha event, which drew 72 entrants.

theron74 won an epic heads-up battle against Iceland's DrPepperIce, who was playing in his first AIPS events, when his flopped set of deuces improved to quads on the turn. Congrats to everyone who made the final table!

Just-for-recognition bounties go to:

Episode #150: More poker camps

MAIN TOPIC
Chris steered the Family Truckster over to Orlando to check in on our good friend Kenna James and the Amateur Poker League. While there, he nabbed some great interviews about poker camps with Steve Berman, co-founder of the WPT Boot Camp, and online pro Nick Brancato. Be sure to check out Ante Upper Lee Childs' new Web site, too. Click here to hear the show.

OTHER TOPICS

Texas Hold'em Plus: The Mirage in Las Vegas is testing this new variation. Don't like one of your hole cards? Simply slide it with a chip equal to the small blind to the dealer and you'll get a shiny new card.

PPA update: The Poker Players Alliance (now with more than 1,000,000 members) has formed a new political action committee called PokerPAC.

Housekeeping: Starting next week, Ante Up! will be posted to the Web on Thursdays ... And listen to the show on Rounders Radio on Saturdays ... Don't forget about AIPS this Saturday and on May 22 ... Join Fasso and me in Las Vegas during the World Series of Poker. Click here for early details.

Tampa Bay Poker Replay: A One-Eyed Jack's regular wins a huge pot o' gold in Europe ... Florida Senate Bill 1006 would expand hours for cardrooms and allow for high-stakes and charity/celebrity tournaments, but don't get excited, as it's stalled in the House.

One Minute Mystery: Columbo decides he's likely beat, so he mucks his second pair. Turns out, his opponent was on a brazen bluff with a weak flush draw and gutter.

HAND OF THE WEEK
An anonymous caller rings in to tell us about a no-limit hand where he called a min raise with 7-3 in the big blind and saw a pretty darn nice flop of 7-7-7. He got his opponent to bet the entire way, taking down a very nice pot. Getting paid off on a monster is one of the hardest things to do in poker. We share some tips.

NEXT WEEK'S SHOW
Until Chris changes his mind again, it'll be our rescheduled Dissection of a HORSE Tournament.

- SCOTT

AIPS Event #5 created; AIPS Event #4 is Saturday

The fifth event in this year's AIPS has been created and is open for registration.

It'll be a No-Limit Hold'em rebuy event. Buy-in is $2+$1, with unlimited rebuys in the first hour and one add-on. Cards in the air at 9 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, May 22, on FullTilt.

And remember that AIPS Event #4 (Pot-Limit Omaha) is at noon this Saturday.

For all the info on AIPS, from the schedule to past winners to registration details, click here.

- SCOTT

Ante Up! Vegas MeetUp: July 2

Fasso and I have booked our World Series of Poker trips, and we've tentatively set Wednesday, July 2, as the night of the Ante Up! WSOP MeetUp.

We'll firm up details closer to the date, but we'll likely try to get a private table at Binion's again. If you're going to be in Vegas that week, swing by and say hi.

- SCOTT

Limping as a plan of attack

I continue to have moderate success at the microlimits with four straight modest winning sessions. I have discovered I win more when I find a table that likes to limp, but not for the reasons you may think. I love to play short-handed, and I love to see flops. Most "aggros" get to a table that's full of limpers and "play the opposite" as the table is playing because that's what we are told to do. That's a great strategy when you know they'll fold or if you can outplay them. But I do consider myself a player generally better than the ones I'm facing at microlimits. So when someone joins the table and tries to take control I usually have a few tricks up my sleeve to keep him/her at bay when I'm in a pot. But I have to admit I've taken a shining to limping at passive tables and turning on my aggression when it's needed. I like to try to outplay them on later streets, but right now I don't have the gumption to try it at the higher stakes unless I'm playing live.

Limping in lower-stakes games lets me see more flops, plus helps define their hands because it forces them to raise a higher amount than usual with the extra bet in the pot. Also, I can outplay them later because these players tend to check when they miss and then often can be bluffed if I sell the story. And, this method can work for you just like the aggro method works. Aggros raise all of the time whether they have the hammer or the nuts. If you limp with 78 or with AA they won't know and can't put you on a hand. And yes, you can't put your opponents on hands either, but how often can you put an aggro on a hand? So it works both ways.

Don't get me wrong, I still like playing larger stakes when I play live, but I'm pretty firm on sticking with microlimits for my experimentation and strategy lessons. And right now, open limping has been paying off at these levels. And I do believe aggression is the best way to go, but sometimes I choose to use my aggression later, rather than preflop.

Also, I played two heads-up matches last night in PLO and won them both pretty handily. In fact, the first one I won before we got to the second level. I was amazed at how poorly they played the game, but again it was microlimit so they may have still been learning. I enjoy heads-up poker because there's only one person to worry about and I can totally concentrate on him.

I don't mind winning at this level as it sustains my bankroll without having to reload and lets me try things I might not want to try at higher levels. And it prepares me for Saturday's AIPS PLO tournament at noon ET.    

A bad move that turned out well, for once

We had our monthly home game at Snuffy's on Saturday (Remember, Mr. Long was busy in Vegas getting propositioned by a hooker.) and it was a very frustrating session for me. For the first 3 hours or so I never made a hand and when I made a move someone would raise me. I only went to the end in Stud/8 once (scooped that hand at least), only got to the end in Razz once (lost when my 8 was beat by a near-perfect 6-4) and I never stood pat or took a final draw in 2-7 Triple Draw or Badugi. Did I say it was frustrating? So, being down $141, the following hand came up (I had $59 left.)

The game was "Capped No Limit Hold 'Em" (the cap is $50 with $1-$1 blinds). In the "BB" I was dealt 6♠ 9♠. The UTG limped and the UTG+1 made it $3. Two callers, including Fasso in the SB, came along. So I said to myself "I'm stuck a bunch and getting the right price" so I called. The UTG limper folded. With $13 in the pot the flop came Q♠ 4♠ 2♥, and the rags may have been different but it's not important here. Fasso checked and so did I since the guy who raised is notorious for c-betting and I wanted to get in a check-raise. Like clockwork the UTG bet $8. One person folded and then Fasso RAISED to $20. What?!? Now, usually Fasso isn't a check-raise kinda guy. He hates it when people do it to him so he usually doesn't do it. Because of this fact I put him on a queen or MAYBE a small set. I felt if I just called the initial raiser might have the right odds to call as well, and I wanted him out in case he had top pair or another flush draw, plus Fasso could just have a pair as well. So I capped it! The raiser folded (he later said he had a queen) and left just me and Fasso, who thought long and hard about it. Then he said it was a no-brainer (which was funny in itself) and finally called. He turned over A♠ K♠. D'OH!!!!!!

How could I put him on that hand, and at the same time, how could I NOT put him on that hand? What a shocker! First, he didn't reraise preflop, which was odd when he had a limper, a raiser, a caller and one person left to act behind him. So I didn't think he had THAT big of a hand. But then again, he did EXACTLY what I planned on doing after the flop, a check-raise with a flush draw. So how could I not think he had a higher flush draw than me? I think it was the oddity of his check-raise because he NEVER does it. So to me it looked like he was thinking the same thing I was about the initial raiser, that he c-bets after every one of his preflop raises. So I felt Fasso was thinking his QJ was good. If he had a hand like that, I felt like I might be able to move him off his hand because he was being a nit and protecting his profit for the final 2 hours. Plus, since I was in the blinds with him I could have ANYTHING there, such as 2-4 or 2-2 or 4-4 or even Q-4.

Anyway, I said "nice call" and turned over my crappy 6-9. I had six outs and the most beautiful 9♣ came on the turn. Then the board paired and I took down a $121 pot. I actually let out a yell when I saw the 9 because I was so frustrated with my play and cards that I really didn't want to go broke and go home. I later apologized to Fasso, and he was very gracious and said it didn't bother him. The best part of the hand was that I got the queen to fold, because if he does something crazy there like call with just top pair he takes the whole thing!

OK, let the thrashing begin. I played this terribly right?

-- Chris

Tournament disqualification: Agree?

If you don't subscribe to poker magazines then you might not know about this incident. Recently a player was disqualified at the final table of the WSOP Circuit event at Caesars in Atlantic City. The player in question was Lesley S. Thornburg of Richmond, Va. He was warned twice for unsportsmanlike conduct. According to numerous sources, the straw that broke the camel's back was when he shoved half of his chips into the pot then later declared all-in. You can read one of the articles here. He was chipleader at the time, but they removed his chips and gave him fifth-place money ($19K).

What do you think of this? Should this guy be eliminated because he's obnoxious? He was chipleader! THink about how many obnoxious people are in poker and we see them act like idiots on TV all of the time. When you sign up for a tournament, do they tell you this? Have you ever been to a tournament where they tell you (at any point) "If you act like an idiot repeatedly we'll throw you out and take your chips out of play?" Has the dealer or tournament director ever announced at the start of a tournament that numerous penalties could result in your ejection?

I'm not going to say how I feel just yet because I'd like to read some opinions on this. Also, if he WASN'T in the money, would he have gotten his buy-in back?

-- Chris