In honor of Show #100

To commemorate our 100th show I designed a special logo. Everyone knows the standard color for a chip worth 100 units or $100 is black. So with that in mind I took it a step further and made this. I have inserted the logo on the left and what it looks like on a shirt on the right. You can buy this shirt at our store, and we offer different types of shirts (long and short sleeved) but only in white. The chip would get lost in a black shirt.

As for poker, I played in Gambit's home game Friday night and won a little in the cash game portion of the evening but went out first in the tournament when I turned a straight, plus picked up a straight flush draw. Someone bet out and I pushed. After much deliberation he turned over a very low made flush and my one out was in his hand. Oh well, I still played well and went home and won $40 playing Stud/8 and NLHE on Full Tilt. It was a positive weekend despite the tournament bust. Also, Saturday Scott and I worked on Show 100 at his house ... oh, and I kicked his butt in Chinese Poker! We played the standard 13-card game, then the 13-card variation with the middle board playing as 2-7 lowball, and then we played 18-card Chinese Poker where the second board from the top was 2-7 and the first, third and fourth boards were progressively better hands. That's when I trounced him!!!! I may have cured him of his Chinese Poker obsession. If he can't beat, me he can't beat anyone!

Also, keep sending those trivia questions to Fasso@sptimes.com for this week's show. If you don't know what I mean, click here.

-- Chris

Episode #97 recap: Online ethics

MAIN TOPIC

Is there a different ethical standard for online poker than live poker? And what exactly is that standard? Those were some of the questions we weighed in on during a spirited discussion.

Chris sees no difference between online poker and live poker. What isn't acceptable live shouldn't be allowed online, including joint sessions, tracking software and collusion. Scott agrees in theory, but he says he's a realist, and since there's very little we can do to stop the aforementioned practices, we need to accept that it is a part of online poker even if we decide not to use any of them.

Paul Wasicka, runner-up in last year's World Series of Poker Main Event and one of the hottest players around now, got this all started with a recent article in Bluff Magazine where he outlined the advantages of joint sessions online (two players share a bankroll and decisions, but play only one hand). He called in to give us his views on it. He admits that he never considered the fact that anyone would consider it unethical when he wrote the article, but was forced to consider the notion based on feedback he got. In the end, though, he decided that it's alright because online poker is a different animal, and since everyone else can use joint sessions or tracking software or any number of other aids, you shouldn't deny yourself the same advantages. His final point: If you play online, you need to be aware of these issues.

It's all a fascinating discussion, so please join in here.

And we asked Paul about much more than online ethics. Find out what he has to say about that kwickfish nickname, the famous open-ended straight flush draw at the WSOP and his new deals with Poker Royalty and FullTilt. Oh, and yes, Chris tried again to barter bowling lessons for poker lessons. This time, it seems like he's got a kwickfish on the line.

OTHER TOPICS

A TROUBLED CHILDHOOD: Chris pinpoints the exact moment when he knew he'd grow up to be a poker player. He lost $13 to his neighbors in Acey-Deucey at age 6 when he paired his Ace while holding A-2. (No wonder he hates Omaha 8).

SCOTT'S 10-SECOND MYSTERY: Scott was playing in a $32+$8, 5,000 chip multi tournament at Tampa Bay Downs on Saturday. With 18 players remaining (top 9 cash), he was short-stacked with 13K in chips and blinds of 1500/3000 with a 300 ante. He looked down at 9-9 in middle position, and was ready to push all-in when the UTG chipleader opened for a raise. Scott admits most people, including Chris, wouldn't think any longer than a millisecond before calling all-in, but he wonders if there's room in freezeout tournament strategy for at least the consideration of folding and hoping to open a hand with a push. When you're done laughing, weigh in on your opinion.

FLORIDA LEGISLATURE: Lots of action in Tallahassee regarding poker. Scroll down a few posts and find out what's up.

TO TIVO .. OR NOT TO TIVO: Chris gave us the lowdown on Texas Hold Em Billiard Championships. It turns out it has much less to do with poker than it does with pool. Also, Alex Outhred, an instructor at the WSOP Academy series of instructional poker camps and fourth place finisher at the 2006 WPT Mandalay Bay Championship, became the biggest winner ever on FoxTV's hit prime-time game show Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?  He raked in a cool $500,000 - much more than his poker tournament winnings - using poker strategies.

IT'S ALL ABOUT US: Here's a few reminders - call in for the 100th show roll call ... the AIPS razz is event is Thursday ... next week's show is the Ante Up! Game Show edition, so email Fasso some questions.

HAND OF THE WEEK

In honor of Thursday's Razz AIPS event, we analyzed a hand from Rob "RonTrout" from Charlotte, N.C. Trout started out with 6-3-5, but never raised even after catching a 4 on 4th Street (opponents' boards then were A-6 and 3-3) and making his 6-low on 7th Street (remaining opponents' board was was A-6-9-Q). Our advice: Razz is a drawing game, at least through 5th Street. Push the action when you have good draws.

- SCOTT

Building a poker table

I've noticed a lot of the Ante Up! Nation building their own tables lately, and I have to admit I'm quite impressed. I didn't realize we had so many handy people in the Nation.

My wife and I have recently re-arranged the furniture and space in our vast living room, and it turns out we'll have a nice area for what could be a permanent poker table. Jeanne would like it to be multifunctional, serving as a poker table when we play, but then covered (with a really nice wooden top, like this) to serve as a dining table for guests. And this makes sense since I don't want a table that will be folded up and put away, I'd want it to be permanent, but I also don't want an eyesore either. (And I know, no poker table is an eyesore, that's blasphemy, but you get my point.)

So, I had been thinking of building my own table, but the more I thought about it the more I realized this table would end up costing me nearly as much as it would to just buy the damn thing, and it might not come out as nice. I wouldn't want those little fold-out legs or even the poles that remind me of a bar or cafeteria serving line. I'd want the nice carved legs, and the cover would have to be real nice, too (varnished, etc.)

My stepson Charles is really talented when it comes to crafting and working with power tools and building stuff, but I think we'd be out of our league if we wanted to build the kind of table my wife and I envision. So I ask you, how much do you really save by building a table yourself (and I mean a table that rivals the kind you see at casinos or higher quality types online), or is it worth it to just save up and buy one already made?

-- Chris

Episode #96 recap

MAIN TOPIC

Chris returns from the World Poker Tour event at Foxwoods, and he snagged some great multiquestion interviews with some pros:

CYNDY VIOLETTE: Learn about her positive clothing line, her honesty on her blog and an interesting take on while Doyle Brunson shut done his Web poker room to U.S. players.

"MIAMI" JOHN CERNUTO: Get some insights on razz, gastric bypass surgery, how he got the "Miami" nickname, how evil pocket 10s can be, and do it all with a groovin' Whitney Houston soundtrack.

MICHAEL "THE GRINDER" MIZRACHI: He talks about playing Chinese Poker, how he'll return to Florida when, or if, the $2 bet limits are lifted and get some quick advice from a "special guest."

LINDA JOHNSON: She's busy - very busy. From writing a CardPlayer column, to running CardPlayer Cruises to announcing at the World Poker Tour. And she talks about razz (listen to her: she has a bracelet in it. You don't).

DAVID SINGER: Learn about a string of bad TV beats, why you should really be playing on the East Coast and what he thinks about the ability to chat with pros on FullTilt. And he gives a solid tip for stud beginners. :)

OTHER TOPICS

WAIT, THERE'S MORE THAN HOLD'EM ON TV?: ESPN has announced which World Series of Poker events it'll broadcast this year and, surprise, it's good news! We'll get 6 hours of HORSE (and it's all HORSE, not no-limit hold'em. What a concept), plus at least one Omaha event (and as many as three) and some interesting hold'em events (mixed, pot limit and maybe heads-up). Bad news is four more hours of the Main Event than before.

FIGHTIN' THE GOOD FIGHT: Alfonse D'Amato, the new chairman of the Poker Players Alliance, held a Webcast on Thursday. Chris says you didn't miss much at least in the first 20 minutes, but you can visit their site to read the excerpts and see video highlights.

IF YOU CAN HANDLE HELLMUTH, YOU CAN WIN A TV: Check out PokerListings.com, where you can fun your way through some comic strips with Phil Hellmuth maybe win a 52-inch TV. And then invite us all over to watch the WSOP HORSE tournament.

LUXOR TAKING RESERVATIONS: No, not for hotel rooms. Well, of course, hotel rooms. But now poker tables as well. If you have a group, give the Vegas poker room a ring and get your own table. And food service, too.

THE DEUCE MAKES IT THREE: Well, actually four - that we know of. Sam Minutello, who brought poker tournaments to Derby Lane, then built a class facility at Tampa Bay Downs and then outdid himself at the Sarasota Kennel Club (and made a name for himself at the WSOP), is now helping Tampa Greyhound Track set up their room. But don't worry, One-Eyed Jack's fans, he's not leaving Sarasota. And stay tuned here for a post from Scott over the weekend about local card rooms - what he likes, what he'd like to see. Hopefully, the local members of the Ante Up! Nation will chime in, too.

OMM: Mark these fateful words from Columbo: "Don't be an idiot!" He rushes into a call when his dork opponent bets into a dry side pot, and regrets it when the clues add up to A-A. Ouch.

HOUSEKEEPING: Welcome our new producer, Debbie Wolfe! That's her with the camera. She has big shoes (have you seen the size of Dave's feet?) to fill, but she's doing great work out of the gate ... We're lining up Paul Wasicka as a guest for next week's Poker Ethics show, in part to talk about joint sessions ... We've fixed the link to our very first show, so all you sadists out there can relive the pain ... And don't forget to call in your contribution to the Roll Call for the 100th episode. Dial toll-free 1-866-371-9605.

HAND OF THE WEEK

Matt from, well, somewhere, offers us a more cautious way to play a nut flush draw with bottom pair, and later, the nut flush draw with trips. Playing from the small blind, he checks himself into a corner, and eventually folds when he gets too much heat. Our advice: In a cash game, be less afraid of going broke when you have lots of outs.

It's the Ante Up! Game Show!

No, we aren't hiring Vanna White to turn over our cards, but Scott and I are going to put our poker (and Ante Up!) knowledge on the line for Episode 98. Mike "Fatso, Pesto, Bard, Lance" Fasso will be our mediator/host as he tests our tiny brains on poker trivia. Here's where you come in: Email Mike at fasso@sptimes.com with your trivia questions (he will be providing a bunch as well). Since each host will be asked questions, you can tailor your questions to one of us (e.g. Scott, how many times has Chris used the word "Hysterical" on the show?) and of course we don't want the questions to be this hard since there's no way to know the answer to that one. But you get the idea, and you must know the answer and provide it for Fasso. You can also submit True/False questions, multiple choice and general poker knowledge (Who won the first World Series Main Event?). Just be sure to get these questions to Fasso in a timely manner and be sure your answers are correct and maybe we'll use them on the show. Sound cool? Should be fun. And thanks.

-- Chris

Episode #95 recap

MAIN TOPIC

Chris calls in from Connecticut, where he was an intrepid reporter at the World Poker Tour. Foxwoods made some changes to the structure, which pros seemed to like, but it also made for some weird days.

Chris met up with listeners John Silva and Jason, which was a great time, and he won some cash at the tables, to boot. He also gave us a preview of next week's show, which will include interviews with Miami John Cernuto, Cyndy Violette, The Grinder, David Singer and Linda Johnson. Great work, Chris!

OTHER TOPICS

NO BUCKEYE FANS HERE: Chris teases Scott about Ohio State losing to Florida in ANOTHER national championship game, but Scott "reminds" him that he's been a Florida fan every since he was kid.

CLOUDY IN CONNECTICUT: Well, more like cold. And dreary. And thin-blooded Chris can't handle it.

ROCKIN' ON THE RIVER: Conn radio has lost that lovin' feeling. But there's a new station called The River!

OUT OF THE WOMB: In prep for the 100th episode of Ante Up, it's unanimous - we were terrible on Day 1. Thanks for sticking with us! And speaking of the 100th episode, keep those Roll Call calls coming in.

PEANUT GALLERY: Check out the comments on iTunes about the show. Mostly positive ... except one. Ha!

NEW LEVEL TO CHRIS' CHEAPNESS: He has the audacity to call Scott out for taking back the 2 dollars he "gave" him on the last show. He's worse than that punk newspaper kid in Better Off Dead. But word is, there was at least not-displeased waitress at Foxwoods this trip. But don't ask about the dealers.

WPT MOVING: The World Poker Tour is moving to GSN, formerly the Game Show Network, next season. (Call your cable company and tell them you want GSN! if you're as cheap as Chris is). And High Stakes Poker returns to GSN, for a Monday night poker bloc.

CARDPLAYER ON A DIET: A post on Poker Biz about Bluff's deal with the World Series of Poker seemed a little fishy, and it was traced back to ... CardPlayer! And the granddaddy of poker magazines was absent in Connecticut. Word is some staff shakeups are imminent.

HAND OF THE WEEK

Chris stepped up to $2/$5 no-limit table, and won a whale of hand playing off of his tight table image.

One hand after telling a "live straddlist" to his right that he was playing too tight, Chris bumps it to $30 with QQ under the gun. One caller comes along for the ride, and then Straddlist pops it to $110. Chris squeezes out the limper in the middle by moving all-in.

The Straddlist thinks long and hard, and says he puts Chris on one of three hands, only one of which he has beat. Odd? We thought so. In the end, the guy calls with JJ and Chris wins. (Doesn't he always in the Hand of the Week?)

- SCOTT

Episode #94 recap

MAIN TOPIC

Sabina Gadecki, the new host of the World Poker Tour, called us up to tell us about herself and what to expect when the World Poker Tour's Season V debuts on Wednesday on the Travel Channel.

Some highlights:

• She's not the only thing new this season. Look for a brand new set, and plenty of new amateur winners.
• She had about week's notice before her first broadcast, but insisted on attending a WPT Boot Camp to learn the game. Now you can find her in a $2/$4 game.
• The crowd in Canada was the most exciting. (They're were probably still feeling the rush of blowing through a flashing green light).
• Her cellphone rings in the middle of our interview. Can you guess who was on the line?
• She ate more than Gavin Smith in one sitting. Impressive.
• How did we weave NSYNC's tour bus into the interview? You'll have to listen to find out.

OTHER TOPICS

FOXWOOD FOLLIES: Chris is off to Connecticut, where he'll meet up with our Nutmeg listeners and cover the WPT event. Scott gives him a gift. (Hint: It has a picture of our first president on it.)

WTO RULES: Bad news for the U.S. government in an ongoing case with the island nations of Antigua and Barbuda, who have been wondering (in a legal way) why our nation's lawmakers find it OK to let us bet on horses online, but not on anything else. The ruling opens the door to trade sanctions. Read the ruling here.

ROLL CALL: There's still time to get your recording added to the end of our special 100th episode. Just give us a toll-free ring at 1-866-371-9605.

HEAR FROM THE WSOP CHIEF: Ante Upper Alan Stewart interviewed Jeffrey Pollack, the head dude for the World Series of Poker. Hear snippets during our show, including a good one about the HORSE tournament, and stick around after the show to hear the whole interview. Thanks, Alan!

ETHICS, SCHMETHICS: Chris got a heated debate going on the blog about a Paul Wasicka article about joint sessions. We'll do a full show on ethics in the near future. It promises to be heated: Scott says online poker and live poker are different animals, with a different set of ethics. Chris, um, well, disagrees.

OMM: Columbo wins! He does, however, check on the end even after he correctly deduced that he had the best hand, but his opponent's error was "fataler," since he let Columbo catch up.

HAND OF THE WEEK

Brian from Kansas City gave us a hand that illustrates the trickiness of "Big Slick," Ace-King.

Brian bumps it from the big blind, then goes into trap mode when a King hits on the flop. His check-raise plans were ruined when his remaining opponent checked as well, and it proved "fataler" for Brian. A turn card immensely improved his opponent's hand, and left Brian broke. AK is a tricky hand, boys and girls.

- SCOTT

Ante Up! featured on iTunes!

The emails came pouring in from around the Ante Up! Nation this morning and afternoon, letting us know that our podcast was featured on iTunes today as one of their main selections under the Podcast tab. Many of you took screen grabs and emailed them to us, and we are grateful. Here's a cropped selection from one of those grabs. Not too shabby, huh? Hopefully this will generate even more listeners. One day we will be Ante Up! WORLD!!! LOL! Again, thanks. And if anyone ever sees a reference to Ante Up! anywhere, please let us know. We can never know too much about stuff like this.

-- Chris

Neteller: Hold the Turkey & (Canadian) Bacon

Turns out Americans aren't the only ones suffering from Neteller's decision to pull out. It was announced that the e-wallet company will no longer work with Canadian and Turkish accounts as well. Here is the link. Pretty grim.

Is this ethical? OF COURSE NOT!

One of the rising stars of the poker world is Paul Wasicka. He finished second in the WSOP Main Event to Jamie Gold last year and he just won the NBC National Heads Up Championships. Lately I've seen posts on forums (even ours) referring to the column he wrote recently in Bluff Magazine on Joint Sessions. Here is an excerpt:

A joint session is simple: You sit at the same computer with a friend and make the decisions together, splitting profits and losses. You make note of the starting balance in the account, and when you're done, the difference between the ending and starting balance is the profit or loss, which is then divided by two.

How is this ethical? I know that Clever Moniker posted this same question on the forum, mentioning it was brought up on the Circuit as well, but it never really got discussed and no one really had a problem with it on our forum. So, does your silence mean it's OK to use the cloak of the Internet to commit collusion? Cuz that's what it is: Two minds working together to defeat opponents in a game of individuals.

What would happen if you were at Bellagio and a player was sweating another player's cards and they conferred on the hand as it was in progress? They'd get thrown out or beaten up!!! But it's OK to do the same thing at home because no one can see you? OF COURSE NOT! Leave it up to me to be the Ante Up! Nation's voice of reason ... or at least its voice of negativity.

Explain to me how this is fair to other players. Isn't it hard enough to win online without players joining forces to beat you, too? We have to dodge enough collusion online as it is, I don't think we need someone like Paul coming out and condoning buddies sitting in front of a computer and discussing hands. How would you like it if Scott or I asked one of the many pros we interview to sign in to Full Tilt one night, turn on their AOL Instant Messenger or Skype and watch us play in AIPS and give us advice on hands? Would that be fair? I'll say it again: OF COURSE NOT!

Sorry if reviewing a subject like this seems like old news, but I saw Paul on ESPN this weekend and it made me think about it all over again. So I revisited the forum to see what the consensus was among the Ante Up! Nation. When I saw that no one objected and there were really no posts discussing it, I felt I had to bring it up. Plus with the heads-up coverage beginning on NBC on April 8, you're going to see this guy a lot in the coming weeks.

I don't think it's ethical at all. I'll admit at first when I was reading it I thought "Hey, that sounds like a good way to learn and win." But the more I thought about it I knew it was wrong. It's just wrong! If you want to discuss hands with your friends, play against them and then talk about it afterwards. Or, have them watch you but not say anything until the hand is over, and even this last suggestion is iffy ethical territory because you're getting immediate feedback during a session from someone not in the hand, etc.

Am I alone in this?

-- Chris