Bay 101 champ goes wire-to-wire
By Arnold Warner

The World Poker Tour came to San Jose again, with the Bay 101 Casino’s annual Shooting Star tournament starting on March 10 and finishing up on Friday, March 14. Brandon Cantu of Vancouver, WA was the chip leader at the end of Day 1A and never relinquished the lead on his way to the title and $1 million first prize.

Bounties of $5,000 each were placed on the heads of 50 poker celebrities and Cantu took down more than his share of these, eliminating Bill Edler, Jennifer Harman, John Juanda, Phil Laak and J.C. Tran. He also received bonuses as the chip leader at the end of Days 1A and 2.. click here to read the whole article!

Lucky Buck hosts 3rd Celebrity Tournament
By Shirley Prokosch

On Thursday, April 17, the Lucky Buck Card Club in Livermore hosted their third annual California Independent Film Festival Celebrity Poker Tournament. With over a hundred players and dozens of onlookers, the Buck had their own “full house.”

Many came to try their skill and luck with the cards, and many came just to see the celebrities and watch the action from the ropes.

Dale Common, owner of the Lucky Buck, presented the California Independent Film Festival with a charitable donation and thanked everyone for their support and attendance. Actor Art LeFleur, from “Field of Dreams” and “Sandlot” introduced the celebrities at each table this year. Ten tables were sponsored by local businesses and each had a player of their choice playing at their sponsored table. click here to read the whole article!

Cullinan edged from lead in POY
By Bud Davis

A couple of months into The Cardroom’s first annual NorCal Tournament Player of the Year contest, we’ve seen a lot of points being racked up by regular tournament competitors. Leading the way has been Phil Cullinan of Lodi, who jumped out to a monster sized lead early on.

However, in the days before we went to press, he was edged out by Aubrey Robertson of Pleasanton who racked up several big finishes at the Lucky Buck Card Club in Livermore to take the lead with 1,011.50 points to Cullinan’s 894.50. click here to read the whole article!

Poker Ambassador
Pausing for sleep in the North Valley
By Randall Rapp

Your Poker Ambassador was recently on a mission to visit as many cardrooms as possible in the vicinity of the North San Joaquin Valley and Delta over the course of a weekend. Because it was a solo mission (Mrs. A was unable to attend) late nights were to be expected, if not outright reveled in.

While looking forward to an overdose of poker, in some respects it proved the old adage, “be careful what you wish for … you just might get it.” Your Ambassador is still attempting to make up for lost sleep. click here to read the whole article!

Kamikaze Korner
Small buy-in no-limit: improve your odds

By Davin Anderson

The huge demand for no-limit poker has forced many poker rooms to start replacing small limit games with small no-limit games having structured buy-ins and small blinds. The most popular and typical games are now $100 to $200 maximum buy-ins with either $3 or $5 big blinds.

These games are usually filled with novice poker players and limit players that are inexperienced at no-limit poker. This combination of players and structure usually creates great action with unique characteristics. click here to read the whole article!

On the Button
Limit Hold'em hand analysis: Don't slow play your monster hands
By Davin Anderson

The following is a hand analysis I did for a student not too long ago. The first half is the hand history, followed by my critique of his play and my advice. It exemplifies a very well-known situation and a common mistake of both novices and experienced players.

The game is $1/2 limit Hold’em with 10 players. The button is in seat 6 and my student (I’ll call him Nick) is in the cutoff (the seat before the button).

Nick is dealt two black aces and after three late position players limp in for a dollar, he limps in for a dollar too. The player on the button then raises to $2, the limpers call, and then Nick decides to reraise to $3. click here to read the whole article!

Book Review
Snyder shares tournament formula
By David Schecter

In the last two editions of The Cardroom I reviewed what has come to be the premier series for teaching tournament play: “Harrington on Hold’Em”  by Dan Harrington and Bill Robertie. These excellent texts have improved my game considerably, but there is one book you have probably never even heard of that has honestly improved my tournament play even more—Arnold Snyder’s “The Poker Tournament Formula” (Cardoza Publishing, 2006). Let’s give it a look. click here to read the whole article!

Virtual Roundtable
Is showing a bluff good for the game?

It seems like you hear it all the time on TV: “Show the bluff. It’s good for the game.”

Is it really good for the game? Whose game? What are the pluses and minuses of showing a bluff when you could have just mucked the hand?

Sticking to our theory that opinions are like rear ends, everybody has one, we asked these questions of the usual assortment of players (both professional and amateur) as well as cardroom personnel. Their thoughts on the subject follow. click here to read the whole article!

WSOP champ Yang plays Fresno tourney
By Barbara Engler

Reigning WSOP Main Event champion Jerry Yang recently loaned his star power to the Mike Dages/Club One Casino Charity Tournament in Fresno on April 5. Over $28,000 was raised and went to the charities of choice of the 10 finalists. Despite a relatively early exit from the tournament, Yang hung around signing autographs and taking photos throughout the event. click here to read the whole article!

Along the Rail
Lucky streak continues for The Cardroom
By Paul Giambroni

For the last two years we here at The Cardroom have spent most of the time with our noses to the grindstone. Between tending the editorial process and fine tuning our massive distribution (40,000 copies), time has literally flown by. Sometimes, it goes so fast I wonder if we ought to slow down and try to smell the proverbial roses.

A recent stretch of good luck has me doing just that. click here to read the whole article!