Drake wins WSOP bracelet
By Arnold Warner

At the 2011 World Series of Poker Folsom resident Sean Drake won Event #1: Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em, Northern California’s only bracelet so far this year.

There were 850 entries paying the $500 buy-in for this tournament held May 31 to June 2. The prize pool totaled $382,500 and Drake’s share for the victory was $82,292.

Born in Santa Barbara, Drake had early stints living in San Luis Obispo and Middle­town, but his family moved to Jackson when he was still young. He grew up on a ranch and said he was involved in rodeo until he was 18, while also playing middle linebacker on the football team. After two years of football at Modesto Junior College he returned to Jackson and took up poker in 2004, playing at Jackson Rancheria Casino. click here to read the whole article!

2010 POY coming to Lucky Derby in August
By Barbara Engler

Mark Lamb, The Cardroom’s Nor­Cal Player of the Year in 2010, is getting ready to hit the road in order to give as many players as possible the opportunity to say they went up against the champ.

First up is the Lucky Derby Casino in Citrus Heights. They will be hosting the Player of the Year Mark Lamb Invitational Bounty Tournament on Aug. 20 at 3:00 p.m. This event will have a $60 buy-in for 10,000 tournament chips and every player will have a $10 bounty on their head (except Lamb, for whom the bounty will be $100).

Last year’s POY tournament at the Derby featuring 2009 champion Gerry Davidow was a great success, with players coming from all over Northern California to take a shot at the top dog. click here to read the whole article!

NorCal Poker Ambassador
Expanding south ... maybe east too
By Randall Rapp

Instead of my usual travelogue of poker, Your humble Ambassador would like to take this opportunity to share with you some recent events affecting Northern California poker players, plus some  plans/strategies/changes that are either on the drawing board here at The Cardroom, or already up and running.

Extending our reach

We had been told about a great new cardroom in Delano, but hadn’t actively pursued the issue because that’s just a little bit south of what we considered to be our area. Then last month Mrs. A and I were going north on Highway 99, heading home after a few days checking out the World Series and the many other poker options in Las Vegas this time of year. click here to read the whole article!

Book Review
Yang wins again with biography
By Raymond T. Akers

In his new book “All In: From refugee camp to poker champ” (Medallion Press), Jerry Yang (with Mark Tabb) tells two compelling stories. What they add up to is the tale of how a mischievous boy playing in the mountains of Laos came to be an American World Series of Poker champion.

He starts off with a bit of background on how the Hmong people left China in the eighteenth century (where they were less than welcome) and settled in Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. There they resumed their lives and traditions, carving farmland out of mountainsides. “The Hmong had farmed like this for generations,” he says, “and if the world had simply left us alone, we would have farmed like this for generations to come.” click here to read the whole article!

Semper Discentes
The meanest article ever written
By Mark Lamb

Alright people, it’s time to set the record straight on some issues that never seem to dissipate through the years. I don’t expect to win over a bunch of fans and followers with this article, but I did promise I would keep it real, and keep it real I shall. Many bubbles will be burst, and many egos shattered. Some will emerge enlightened, and some will emerge possibly enraged. Either way, let’s get it out on the table.

One would have to be completely and utterly oblivious to the world not to notice the abundance of idiots in cardrooms. At least, that’s what many players will have you believe after listening to the constant bombardment of whining complaints. “This idiot calls me with blah, blah, blah.” “That idiot donkey calls me all the way to the blah, blah, blah.” click here to read the whole article!

The bitter truth about reading ability
By Bernard Harris

I recently took a trip via train and passed the time by reading “Harrington on Cash Games Volume I” by Dan Harrington and Bill Robertie (excellent book). As luck would have it, two poker players sat across from me and it wasn’t long until we were talking poker. They had played since the ‘90s and were eager to discuss their poker prowess (to include why reading poker books is a waste of time).

Unfortunately, the more they talked, the more they butchered key concepts. Soon, our discussion turned into an argument that they were losing. But not to fear, they retreated to the time honored justification for why the math doesn’t matter—their reads.

“Well, there’s more to the game than the math. I have to look at the player and get a read on him and then I can make the right play,” said the man sitting across from me. His friend concurred and launched into a well rehearsed spiel about body posturing, heavy breathing, shaky hands, twitching lips, and other observations that awesome soul readers like themselves use to make the correct play. click here to read the whole article!