Brecher captures Shooting Star title
By Arnold Warner

In an epic battle that broke the record for most hands at a WPT final table, Steve Brecher of Reno, Nev. came away with the Bay 101 Shooting Star title (and $1,025,000) when he outlasted Kathy Liebert ($550,000) and four others on March 20, 2009.

The previous record for a final table was 303 hands, but it took until hand number 319 to bring the event to a conclusion. Liebert raised preflop with Qs-10s, Brecher moved all-in with A-9 offsuit and Liebert called. The flop came 6h-6s-2s giving Liebert a flush draw. When the turn brought the 2c, she needed a Q, 10 or any spade to double up, or another 6 or 2 to chop the pot and survive. The river was the 4c, giving Brecher the tournament and Liebert’s $5,000 bounty as an extra bonus. click here to read the whole article!

Sebok takes quick path on the PokerRoad
By Bud Davis

It would be easy to think that Joe Sebok’s path to poker fame was assured when he was just a young lad and his mother married Barry Greenstein, but if you’re assuming he grew up being spoon-fed the right time to draw to an inside straight or how to extract maximum value from pocket aces you would be very mistaken. Despite his stepfather’s success as a professional player, Sebok didn’t even learn how to play the game until he was 27!

Sebok was born on March 3, 1977 in Illinois and moved to the Bay Area with his mother and stepfather when he was eight years old, living at various times in Los Altos, Mountain View, and Palo Alto. He graduated from Palo Alto High in 1995 and enrolled at UC Berkeley where he earned a degree in psychology. “Berkeley might still be, to this day, my favorite city in the world of any place I’ve ever been,” Sebok said.. click here to read the whole article!

NorCal Poker Ambassador
Drawing to a straight around Jackson
By Randall Rapp

The cliché tells you that you should never say “never.” Recently, though, your Ambassador has come to the conclusion that drawing to the open-ended straight is something I should never do.

When you flop open-ended, the odds say you have a 2.17-to-1 chance of completing your hand with two cards to come. While my flush draws seem to get there with the appropriate frequency, the straight draws only seem to make it about one time in 20. I’m not sure why this is but it would take some incredible pot odds to overcome this kind of bad juju.

As I reflect on my most recent Ambassadorial experience, it occurs to me that maybe I should avoid the straight draws and fight the urge to succumb to the allure of appropriate pot odds to continue with the hand. Easier said than done! click here to read the whole article!

Kamikaze Corner
The greatest poker stimulus package
By Davin Anderson

Once again it is the time of year for the World Series of Poker. Literally tens of thousands of poker players from over 30 countries converge on Las Vegas for the extravaganza of poker tournaments and crazy cash games. When you add up all the tournament prize pools, sponsorship money, and personal bankrolls, there will be hundreds of millions in poker money in Las Vegas during the World Series.

If you are one of the lucky few among us that can make it to Las Vegas for this year’s event, I’ve listed some tips for your trip (from my road warrior days): click here to read the whole article!

Poker's future: Pot-limit Omaha
By Allen Briar

It seems like only yesterday that finding a no-limit Texas Hold’em game in the Bay Area (or anywhere in Northern California) was like finding a $100 chip on the floor. They were dropped sometimes, you would hear about someone finding one, but mostly it’s just rumors. Then there was the “poker boom” and everything changed. Almost overnight, everybody wanted to play no-limit Texas Hold’em. Now, virtually every poker room features this very game.

It goes to show that just like everything else in the world, poker changes with the times. We have seen California poker change in the last 25 years from the seedy, deal your own Lowball game (or 5-Card Draw) in a smoky back room, to the extremely efficient clubs that have professional dealers, floor staff, security, and no cigarette smoke! Who would have thought that such a change would come with players like Doyle Brunson and other legends of the game still in action? click here to read the whole article!