March 13th, 2008 at 10:07 am
On Wednesday, March 5, a reader sent me the following email (edited):
I’m trying to make sure my seat changing procedure is correct. I had two tables of eight, Tables A and B. The player in the big blind busts out of the tournament at Table B, leaving Table B with six players and Table A with eight players. The Tournament Director stopped the clock while Table A finished the current hand. He then moved the big blind at Table A into the small blind at Table B. I’m 99% sure this is correct except for the clock stoppage, but since Table B was told to stop play until the change occurred, my feeling is that burning valuable blind time is not in the best interest of the game. Should the clock be stopped?
Dear Reader:
To answer you question: No, the clock should not be stopped; however, there are more factors at work here that may better explain why the clock should not be stopped.
First, the right player did not move to Table B. The person who was next in line to be the Big Blind should have moved tables, not the person currently in the Big Blind. When that person moves tables, he does not necessarily take the seat of the last person eliminated, but takes the empty seat that will be the Big Blind the soonest. In your example, he would have probably taken the seat of the first person to be eliminated, not the second person to be eliminated.
Second, the players at Table B should not have been instructed to stop playing. They can continue play while they are waiting for the tables to be evened. If the player to be moved is on his/her way to the table, there is nothing wrong with slightly delaying the hand, but if he/she is still in a hand, continue playing.
I hope this helps. Good luck on the felt.
Until next time,
KC
March 11th, 2008 at 8:38 am
EDITOR’S NOTE: Over the next few weeks, I will occasionally be publishing articles from guest writers. This is the first of such articles and I would like to thank Grundy for being the first guest writer to pen an article specifically for The Grand Slam Poker Source. He was gracious enough to agree to an exchange of articles and I look forward to writing an article for his fine blog in the very near future. If you would like to read more of Grundy’s articles, please visit his blog, Hell’s Cold Day - The Unlikely Guide to Poker. I highly recommend visiting it.
The opinions expressed by Grundy are not necessarily those of The Grand Slam Poker Source, The Grand Slam Poker Source Forum, or any of it’s affiliates.
Hi, I’m Grundy from HellsColdDay.com. I’ll be your guest speak … er, writer today - attempting to stay in line with the theme of home poker pitfalls.
Like most, I started playing poker with friends. We gathered around the table every Monday night, broke out our cheap plastic chips, and started passing coin around the table. It was a lot of fun.Poker is a social game. If you are an Internet player, you might not have a good grasp on that, but it is.
This social aspect fits well into home poker tournaments where a host invites you into their home as a guest to play their favorite game. Sure it’s for money, but it usually has less of a cutthroat feel than casinos and more shady gambling venues. You are playing with friends and with friends of friends.
This leads us to a pitfall in and of itself. Friends have a range of feelings towards each other formed from outside the game, placing everyone on a different playing field. Let me clarify. When I play with strangers, I play equally against all. When I play against friends and family, a type of caste system is put in place. I fold more often to my wife because I don’t want to take her money; after all, it’s my money too. I may not push hard against my buddy who recently lost his job. I may show aggression to the point of mania against my brother who dented my car. These are just examples, I don’t even have a brother, but you get the idea - I’m playing bad poker.
Most likely it’s a friendly, low-stakes game, so no big deal. True…unless this impaired play carries over to bigger money or it becomes unfair play. This atmosphere also breeds unintentional collusion. Collusion is when two or more players work together to profit from the others. If I play soft against my wife and she returns the favor, is that collusion? If in a conversation outside the game my friend has told me the hand he goes all-in with every time and no one else knows, is that collusion? I’m not sure, but I wouldn’t want it going on in a big money game. I may be getting carried away with my suspicions of conspiracy. I know my friends aren’t nefarious and I’m sure your friends aren’t either.
Like I said before, this is unintentional collusion if anything; however, if we are all to grow as card players, we need to work on playing good, fair poker against everyone. You can’t improve anybody’s game by playing softball.
Grundy
March 10th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
As many of you have probably already read, the final table of the first event of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit series at Caesars Atlantic City was highlighted by the disqualification of Lesley S. Thornburg. With five players remaining, WSOP officials had enough of his antics, removed his chips from play, and had him physically escorted from the playing area. Congratulations to the WSOP and the officials in charge who made a rule and stuck to it!!!
The $300 buy-in no-limit hold’em event, which attracted one of the largest fields in the Circuit’s history, was won by Frank Panetta, a 76-year-old former real estate developer. Unfortunately, Mr. Panetta’s victory was overshadowed by the antics of Thornburg. According to a tournament report by the WSOP media director, Thornburg received two warnings for unsportsmanlike behavior during the event’s first day for “a ceaseless display of loud comments and baiting tactics lasting several hours.” It sounds to me like Thornburg has played in a few too many home games that have no regard for rules and sportsmanship. No player should have to put up with this behavior. He probably should have been disqualified long before he reached the final table.
According to the CardPlayer Magazine online article, the fun seemed to really begin when Thornburg ended up all-in against Andy Santiago, who had Thornburg dominated with A-Q versus A-7. A 7 on the flop gave the boisterous Thornburg the chip lead, to the dismay of the remaining players, who were forced to further endure his tactics. When Santiago’s AQ did not improve, he was out of the tournament.
Two hands later, Thornburg made another bonehead play and found himself in a big pot as a heavy underdog again. This time, he called an all-in raise by Edward “Yank” Sullivan, who held pocket sevens. When Thornburg felted pocket fours, the remaining players thought their nightmare might soon be over, but a 4 flopped and knocked Sullivan out of the tournament.
According to the WSOP media director’s report, this is when the nightmare escalated:
Then, all hell broke loose. Literally. Holding onto a perilous chip lead, Thornburg lost self-control and began jamming chips into the pot with reckless abandon. Warned by tournament officials (repeatedly) to stack his chips properly and obey the rules, Thornburg crossed the final demarcation of everyone’s patience when he shoved half of his stack into the pot and then later announced, “all in.” Fed up with the annoying and confusing antics, officials announced Thornburg’s immediate disqualification. Lesley Thornburg, a general contractor from Richmond, Va., earned $19,026 in prize money.
It’s about time somebody stood up and said “enough is enough.” Poker is about winning, there is no doubt about it, but it’s also about sportsmanship and ensuring there is a level playing field for all - Thornburg’s constant taunting and disregard for the rules was a travesty. Not only should he have been disqualified from the tournament, the WSOP, Caesars Atlantic City, and all casinos owned by Caesars should ban Thornburg from all future events.
I hope Thornburg is happy with himself. Not only did he cost himself thousands of dollars (he surely could have coasted to a better finish as the chip leader), but he put another black eye on the poker world with his antics. I hope this disqualification sends a huge message to poker players around the country and the world. Shape up or don’t bother entering the tournament.
I searched for a picture of this moron so I could post it on here for the world to see, but I couldn’t find one. If anybody runs across one, please send it to me.
Until next time,
KC
March 8th, 2008 at 8:43 am
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second article in the “Home Poker Tournament Pitfalls” series. Future articles will include such topics as determining the number and type of chips to use, how to handle dealing responsibilities, identifying issues with common rulings, and many, many more. Please stay tuned for more articles in the very near future.
In the first article of this series, Home Poker Tournament Pitfalls: Logistics and Comfort, we discussed ways to determine how many players you should invite to your tournament. Now that you have a number in mind, you must determine how long you want the tournament to last and an appropriate blind structure for it. While there are no steadfast rules on blind structures, there are some very good guidelines.
For beginners, I suggest using blind structures that have already been used by others and are known to work well. There are a couple very good sources from which you can obtain proven blind structures. Continue Reading »
March 5th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first article in the “Home Poker Tournament Pitfalls” series. Future topics will include such topics as determining the number and type of chips to use, designing an appropriate structure for the tournament, identifying issues with common rulings, and many, many more. Please stay tuned for more articles in the very near future.
What is the most important part of any home poker tournament?
I’ve seen people play without chips - I personally prefer using M&Ms if chips are not available, but I tend to eat my profits. I’ve seen people play without cards - they used 52 index cards. I’ve even seen people play without tables, timers, dealer buttons, and even chip covers. However, there is one thing I’ve never seen people play a home poker tournament without - PEOPLE!!!
The first step in having a successful home poker tournament is to determine who you want to invite, and just as importantly, determine how many people you want to invite. This may sound like a simple task, and it is, but giving it some thought can put you on the right track. Overlooking it may only make your job more difficult down the road. Continue Reading »
March 5th, 2008 at 6:44 am
Over the next several days, I will be writing a series of articles on the most common pitfalls of home game tournaments, including dealer errors, rule issues, player behaviors, tournament director responsibilities, etc. I hope you will enjoy it. The series will start “pre-flop” with a look at inviting players and reserving seats; it will continue “past the river” by wrapping up the series with an analysis of how to end the night; and hit many, many topics in between.
When completed, I hope the series will give home game tournament directors a short manual on how to run a home game tournament and avoid the most common pitfalls that plague and ultimately destroy many home game tournaments.
I hope you will visit often to read the entire series; however, if you miss an article, don’t worry. They will be archived on the Tournament Support page. Just click the “Tournament Support” link at the top of the page to read past articles.
Until next time,
KC
March 3rd, 2008 at 11:06 am
I recently hosted a tournament for the completely inexperienced and players who knew next to the nothing about No Limit Texas Hold’em. I can honestly say, I haven’t laughed that hard in a long, long time. I don’t say that to be mean for I was laughing with them, not at them (more on that later). However, I think the experience may have been as valuable for me as it was for them. By watching these players form their strategies for the very first time, I gained great insights into the logic and motivation of players. Continue Reading »
February 27th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
I will be hosting a No Limit Texas Hold’em tournament tonight for about 16 co-workers. For most of them, the only experience they have with this format or even this game is what they’ve seen on ESPN. I wonder how it will go.
I’m looking forward to it. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to deal with teaching the basics of the game. I think I’ll enjoy getting back to the roots of the game, ensuring people are having a good time, and teaching the fundamentals.
I’m looking forward to impressing people with the way I deal “just like on TV”. I think people will get a treat out of playing with quality poker chips and I really hope I can give them a quality experience that they will remember. For this tournament, it’s not going to be about winning. It’s not even going to be about enforcing the rules. For this one, it’s only going to be about fun. I hope I deliver.
Until next time,
KC
February 26th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Linda Johnson wrote in a recent CardPlayer magazine article (and since I’m sitting in a hotel room in Williamsburg, VA, I don’t have the article with me) that she has three goals when she sits at a table. They are: To win money, have fun, and ensure other people at the table have fun. Those sound like good goals to me and it got me to thinking; those are pretty basic concepts and I think I learned them in Kindergarten.
The first goal, to win money, is really nothing more than “do your best.” Isn’t that something we are taught at an early age. Sure, in today’s ultra-active society in which parents are trying to make their kids the next Tiger Woods, A-Rod, or Tom Brady before they turn six, it may get lost in the shuffle; however, the basic premise is still there. Practice hard, play hard, and do the best you can. You can’t do better than that. There really is no “we give 110%.” You can’t give more than you have, you can only do your best. That’s something we try to teach our kids as early as possible. Continue Reading »
February 24th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
The Grand Slam Poker Source is proud to announce the grand opening of The Grand Slam Poker Source Forum. To better serve my readers, I wanted to provide them with a place to exchange their own thoughts, ideas, and opinion. I hope The Grand Slam Poker Source Forum can provide that for everybody, including me.
I wanted to get this project off the ground and running early. I hope by doing so, membership will grow at a good pace and I will be able to keep up with the demands of the forum while learning on the job and improving the forum with additional features.
I encourage everybody to jump in with both feet, join The Grand Slam Poker Source Forum (for free, of course), bookmark it (http://bb.grandslampokersource.com), visit it often, make many posts, and provide me with as much feedback as you can. Try it out and give it a test spin. If you have any problems with it at all, please email webmaster@grandslampokersource.com.
