Cards counting is a well-known and useful tactic that has gained notoriety as a result of several poker-related films and publications. On occasion, it is shown how a player wins enormous sums of money with solely card counting. Another widely held belief is that card counting is mostly utilized in the game of blackjack. In this essay, we will examine the usefulness of this tactic in Texas Hold’em poker games.
In essence, card counting is a strategy for keeping track of which cards have been drawn from a deck thus far during a game. The issue is that although certain cards (community cards) are known to all players throughout play, other cards are solely known to the person who keeps them in his hand. It is simple to state that knowledge is power while playing poker, and for that reason card counting may be quite beneficial.
To begin with, if you have a certain card, it cannot be found in the deck or in the hands of any other players. A basic principle that is often ignored. Then, you may use this knowledge in conjunction with what is occurring or has previously occurred throughout the game to determine which cards may still be in the opponent’s deck or in their possession. Card counting is often referred to as “blocking” in poker since it allows you to identify blocked combinations based on the cards that have previously been dealt. Card counting is one of the best strategies for winning games quickly, even when playing against the most skilled opponents, thus it must be used correctly. Card counting will go easy if you practice your memory and pay attention to the game.
PokerStars announced that two Platinum Passes to the 2023 PokerStars Players Championship (PSPC) will be up for grabs at the EPT London.
In the morning of Saturday, October 22, the Platinum Pass Flipout event presented the first $30,000 prize package. The second is now concealed behind a Mystery Bounty envelope as part of the EPT £3,000 Platinum Pass Mystery Bounty tournament, which begins later today at 3 p.m.
Spulber Awarded PSPC Seat
On Saturday morning, any player who had qualified online for either the £1,100 UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) Main Event or the £5,300 EPT Main Event was automatically put into the flipout event, the winner of which would get a Platinum Pass.
Each fortunate Platinum Pass winner will get more than $30,000 in value, including the following:
$25,000 buy-in to the PSPC 2023 event
6 nights’ hotel accommodation for the winner and a guest in a 5* hotel
Airport transfers
Bespoke PSPC merchandise
$1,900 in expenses
Plus Platinum Pass winner experiences during the event
In a flipout tournament, each participant is instantly all-in, and the person with the best hand after the runout progresses to the subsequent round. This procedure is repeated until a victor is determined.
The final table of ten players received their hole cards. The dealer then shuffled the following board: a-Diamonds-10-Hearts-6-Hearts-5-Clubs-a-Hearts. After the participants handed up their cards, it was revealed that the winner was Iosif Spulber of Romania, who had three aces after being dealt a-Spadesk-Spades.
The 32-year-old Software Engineer is an active member of PokerStars Ambassador Lex Veldhuis’ Twitch community and a self-proclaimed recreational poker player.
“I adore Twitch poker,” he said on the PokerStars Blog. “I believe it has several characteristics that make it ideal for streaming. It is so exciting that the whole crowd “invests” in deep runs, and the anticipation when something monumental is about to occur is wild.”
While clutching the final reward, Spulber said to his rail, “This is the weirdest thing that has ever occurred.”
Hidden Platinum Pass in £3,000 Mystery Bounty
Juan Pardo claimed almost £250,000 in the Mystery Bounty High Roller
Juan Pardo and Henrik Veldhoem won the £10,200 Mystery Bounty and the £440 UKIPT Mystery Bounty Cup, respectively, in the first two Mystery Bounty competitions held at EPT London. The £3,000 EPT Platinum Pass Mystery Bounty, which starts in a few hours, will, nevertheless, be the focus of all attention.
Although the mystery bounty awards are only eligible for selection on Day 2 of the PSPC tomorrow, participants will still be eager to reserve their spots there, maybe even more so than they would be to win the top mystery bounty prize of £100,000 itself.
Day 1 of that competition begins at 3 p.m., and participants must make it through 12 levels of play to bag and tag a stack for Day 2. In contrast, they may skip the opening flight as late registration is still accepted up to the start of Day 2, which is on Tuesday, October 25. One of the mystery reward envelopes will contain a platinum pass, and only one fortunate player will get the epic bundle.
Throughout the Platinum Pass Mystery Bounty, the PokerNews live reporting crew will be on the scene, so be sure to follow all the developments to see who wins huge payouts.
Nakai Acquires Platinum Pass in Barcelona EPT
Yamato Nakai
At EPT Barcelona in August 2022, Yamato Nakai was the first player to get a golden pass inside a mysterious package.
Toby Stone, the director of the EPT tournament, handed the trophy to an overjoyed Nakai, who was beaming broadly.
At the time, Nakai had only made a meager $15,848 from live performances, with his most recent win being at the EPT Barcelona event. In the Estrellas Poker Tour Main Event, he earned €3,340 after placing 313rd.
The Joker is an uncommon card. It developed an entire cultural phenomenon based on the character shown on the card – the clown for most decks. However, we will just examine the card’s gameplay purpose in this article. A joker may be used in two unique poker games: as a Wild Card and as a slang phrase for a pair of Jacks in Texas Hold’em.
Historically, the Joker has been used as a Wild Card in home games, but seldom in professional poker tournaments or casinos. The Joker brings variation and amusement to the game. The poker deck has two jokers. There is neither a suit nor a number on the card; just the Joker is shown in a variety of ways. When a player draws a Joker card, it becomes a Wild Card that may be substituted for any other card in the deck, so aiding the player in forming the needed combination. Keep in mind that Wild Cards may have a significant influence on the game and radically alter the result, since no one knows when they will get their lucky Joker. The Joker may serve as a Wild Card in some online poker games. Remember to read the rules carefully before commencing a game.
In Texas Hold’em, Joker is merely a nickname for a pair of Jacks. There is no such card in the deck. If you hear the term “Joker” during a professional tournament or at a casino, they are most likely referring to a pair of Jacks, not the card itself.
Blinds and antes are obligatory wagers. Both are generated prior to the card distribution. Nonetheless, if just two players (seated to the left of the dealer) create blinds, every player must make an ante. It is more appropriate to see the ante as a payment for playing the game and a contribution to the pot. The ante is typically equal to one-tenth of the value of the huge blind. The primary purpose of the ante is to prevent artificial prolongation of the game – players who would otherwise repeatedly discard their hands in search of a better one are now required to actively engage in the betting or risk losing their chips. Ante are not usually present; verify the table description carefully before playing. An ante is not usually present in “casual” games, and it is often omitted in blinds games. However, its presence has a profound effect on the game; even before the flip, a large pot is already available, which speeds up and enhances the excitement of the game. Consequently, ante appears often in tournaments, especially in the latter stages. With ante, more players remain in the game rather than folding, resulting in larger ratings for televised poker events. Most televised high-stakes cash games also include blinds and antes. In live cash games where the active dealer switches with each turn, the dealer may pay an ante for each participant.
What would you do if a gambling or non-gambling online game disconnected you so often that it was almost unplayable? Sam Antar of New York City believes that the solution is to continue playing. Antar claims that MGM Resorts International, its Borgata casino property, international partner Entain, and online gambling brand BetMGM paid him $30,000 each month to be silent, and he is now suing them.
Antar alleges in a case filed in state Superior Court in Middlesex (New Jersey) County that he spent over $29 million over a nine-month period on live blackjack and online slots while losing his connection to BetMGM every 15 minutes. He says he lost hundreds of thousands of dollars as a result, claiming that he was often in the midst of a winning hand when he was removed off the site.
Christopher Gramiccioni, Antar’s attorney, told the Associated Press, “It’s one thing if you have technical troubles sporadically.” “It is quite different when you have them 50% of the time. The casino did not take the appropriate remedial steps. They continued to provide him with $30,000 every month in an effort to evade regulatory bodies’ inspection.
Antar claims he called (or attempted to contact) various individuals and departments with the connection issues, including supervisors and VIP hosts, online customer care, and the casino’s president and MGM’s CEO.
To make things worse, Antar said that MGM and its affiliates are aware of his gambling addiction. Sometimes he played for 24 hours straight. In January 2020, at his height, he wagered more than $5 million in 16 days.
Antar said in the complaint that MGM personnel was aware of the connectivity issues and that others were also experiencing difficulties. An staffer reportedly informed Antar on July 17, 2019, through e-mail and text message, in reference to the $30,000 per month he claims to have been given, that “other players are not receiving anything near what you are getting.”
Antar asserts that he was compensated not to disclose the recurring problems to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, and he obliged.
If his name seems familiar, it is because many New Yorkers recognize it. Eddie Antar, proprietor of the renowned Crazy Eddie electronics shops, was his uncle. Eddie was also notorious for defrauding $74 million from investors.
It seems that Sam has followed in the footsteps of his uncle. In 2013, he was convicted of defrauding investors of $250,000 and sentenced to 21 months in jail. Antar may be incarcerated again after pleading guilty to theft by deceit for stealing money from friends and relatives to fund his gambling addiction.
“I’ve been in prison once, and I’m probably facing prison again, and it all had to do with me not being able to admit to myself I was a compulsive gambler,” Antar told the AP. “When I look at what I did, I’m sick about it. A lot of people have this problem and they need help.”
This week’s high-profile festivals on both sides of the water have produced a ton of major winners. Players have the option to sign up for the most recent PokerStars EPT in London or go to Las Vegas for the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic. Two prominent events attracted large crowds, which as one would imagine led to enormous prize pools. The most significant award was given to Chad Eveslage, the most recent WPT winner. Scroll down to check CardsChat’s Big Winners of the Week ending October 23 to discover who else made our list of victors.
(Image: WPT)
Chad Eveslage
Main Event WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic Bellagio
$1,042,300
Eveslage won the $10,400 WPT Five Diamond main event on Sunday after defeating a talented field. At the Bellagio last week, players from all around the globe competed, including Robbi Jade Lew, the lady at the center of the most recent poker scandal. Albert Calderon took the lead at the outset of play as seven players advanced to Sunday’s championship game. That lead, however, was short-lived. Eveslage quickly assumed command and never looked back. In the end, he earned his second WPT championship, more than $1 million, and a free entry for the $10,400 WPT World Championship in December.
(Image: Twitter/PokerStarsLive)
Henrik Hecklen
EPT London Super High Roller Hilton Park Lane Hotel
£652,700 ($738,935)
A total of 39 players registered for the newest EPT £50,000 ($56,500) super high roller late last week, but only one winner could take home the trophy and more than £650,000 ($730,000). Henrik Hecklen was the participant. On Sunday’s final table, Juan Pardo had the early advantage but was unable to cross the finish line first. The last session was dominated by Pardo, but short-stack Henrik Hecklen never gave up. Hecklen contributed while Pardo was the center of attention. He finally won the heads-up match after taking the lead. The Danish professional has won a Triton main event, a WPT trophy, and four EPT championships.
(Image: Twitter/msptpoker)
Matthew Davis
Michigan State Poker Championship Mid-States Poker Tour Firekeepers Casino
$344,446
Last Monday, Davis achieved the largest career triumph, earning the respect of Michigan native and 2009 WSOP Main Event champion Joe Cada. Davis’ ground-breaking effort saw him win the $1,100 main event over a field of 2,409 competitors. Davis has only occupied the winner’s podium in the live arena twice since 2015 thanks to this triumph. The Michigander’s biggest-ever triumph came after 17 hours of play on Day 2, but the wait was worthwhile.
(Image: Tomas Stacha/PokerStars)
Byron Kaverman
EPT London Single-Day High Roller Hilton Park Lane Hotel
£273,710 ($307,401)
After winning the £25,000 ($28,300) high roller event of the EPT last Saturday against a field of 30, Kaverman secured another six-figure payday. The competition was only supposed to last one day, but Kaverman and his other finalists almost extended it with their cautious moves. Espen Jorstad, the current WSOP Main Event winner, and Orpen Kisacikoglu, who finally pushed Kaverman over the finish line, were among those grinding at the final table. Eventually, however, something had to give, and Kaverman took the title and the $17.5 million in prize money.
(Image: Twitter/PokerStarsLIVE)
Martin Jacobson
UKIPT Main Event EPT London Hilton Park Lane Hotel
£232,300 ($262,688)
Jacobson won the event’s record-breaking competition last Saturday, making the most of UKIPT’s visit to his adoptive home city of London. The 2014 WSOP Main Event champion won the £1,100 ($1,245) competition after defeating a field of 1,458 competitors. The Swedish professional has already experienced victory twice, taking home side events in Vienna and London on PokerStars’ European tours. He now has a UKIPT trophy in his possession, and his career earnings of more than $17 million have increased by another six figures.
(Image: Twitter/WynnPoker)
Kurt Jewell
The Wynn Fall Classic Las Vegas
$257,922
Last Monday, Jewell won the Wynn Fall Classic after defeating a strong field of 1,060 competitors. The American defeated Eric Baldwin in a head-to-head match in the $1,600 Wynn event to earn fortunate title number 13. Prior to his $242,909 victory in the 2010 WSOP Circuit main event in Hammond, Indiana, this victory was Jewell’s largest to date.
(Image: Paul Phua Poker)
Justin Bonomo
Bellagio High Rollers WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic Las Vegas
$229,500
Bonomo shatters poker records. That is true. After taking home the $25,000 high roller prize from the WPT last week, the current all-time top money winner was back in the winner’s circle. Last Tuesday, Bonomo defeated a small but brilliant field of 17 competitors to take home a prize just shy of $230,000. The fact that Bonomo had won another high roller the previous week makes the victory much more amazing. That time, he received $75,792. Bonomo’s total winnings this year at the WPT Five Diamond Classic made him the first player to win two championships, and they also pushed his recent earnings above the $300,000 level.
(Image: Kevin Taylor)
Safiya Umerova
Big Poker Oktober $150,000 Guaranteed Event Bicycle Casino
$28,855
Safiya Umerova extended her recent winning run at the poker tables by winning the second significant event of the 2022 Big Poker Oktober at the Bike. Little two weeks after winning the $100K tournament for $33,750, Umerova defeated a field of 708 participants to win just under $30K in a three-way chop. In this competition, the buy-ins ranged from $170 on Day 1 to $1,100 on Day 2. With instant success at the Bike this month, Umerova revealed after the victory that she had a vacation from events this year before the WSOP in the summer and has now returned to them.
(Image: Double Up Drive)
Chris Kruk
Double Up Drive Charity Event Resorts World, Las Vegas
$24,000
Last Monday, Kruk participated in a charity event for Double Up Drive together with 20 other athletes. Dan Smith, a professional poker player and the creator of Double Up Drive, organized the $2,000 event. Scott Seiver, Joe Ingram, and Stephen Chidwick, among many of his pals, entered ( and re-entered multiple times). When the festivities were over, Kruk was the one to take home the prize.
Badugi is one of many poker variants that offers a unique approach to the classic card game. The main task in Badugi is to get to the end with the lowest possible four-card combination in your hand. This variant is a lowball triple draw game. It means that when the cards are dealt, each player has three chances to get rid of a necessary number of cards they have, and after that draw new cards to get the chance to obtain the best possible hand.
Badugi poker is considered to be firstly invented in Korea. This is how it gets its name. Word “Baduk” can be roughly translated from the Korean language as “black and white pattern”. This game is extremely popular in the asian region, and can be found in almost every big online casino and live poker rooms. Some real live tournaments are even held each year, which is a rarity for non-classic poker variants.
Being the lowball game, you will get victory only if you get the lowest possible combination among your opponents. Yet, Badugi poker uses traditional poker hand rankings, so it means that you don’t need to learn something totally new to play this game. The best possible combination for victory is 4 Aces of 4 different suits.
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) and the GGPoker Network have announced the introduction of WSOP.ca, which is now accessible to Canadian players in Ontario, the first jurisdiction to completely legalize private iGaming and sports betting. WSOP enters Ontario as a legal corporation with an official license to operate iGaming operations.
There Is Now a Brand New Poker Room in Ontario
This will significantly broaden the reach of the WSOP platform, as its specialized Canadian domain will provide players the chance to play poker in a variety of recreational and competitive forms. Existing GGPoker players will be required to switch to WSOP.ca. They will be able to validate and transmit information across platforms.
However, verification is required before the transfer may occur. Additionally, WSOP will conduct events to commemorate the introduction of the WSOP.ca website and platform. This includes the Ontario WSOP Online Circuit Series, which has 12 WSOP Ring events and is now underway. WSOP Rings are among of the most coveted prizes in the poker industry, since they signify accomplishment and often come with a substantial prize pool.
Daniel Negreanu, a WSOP bracelet winner and worldwide brand ambassador for GGPoker, was excited to see the business’s introduction in Ontario, given he spent his boyhood in Toronto. Even as a young boy growing up in Toronto, he said he had always wanted to participate in the World Series of Poker, a goal he rapidly realized over his extensive poker career.
Negreanu had to go to Las Vegas in order to follow his aspirations and continue playing poker. Fans in Ontario will soon be able to play in online WSOP tournaments from the comfort of their own homes and compete for authentic WSOP bracelets and rings. Negreanu said sarcastically, “How great is that?” in a news release.
WSOP Pleased to Offer Ontario Players This Opportunity
Ty Stewart, the executive director of the WSOP, said that the chance to introduce WSOP tournaments and online play to Canadian poker enthusiasts is a fantastic opportunity that he treasured. Stewart said that Ontario players (and Canadian players in general) would have the ability to compete for entry into U.S. competitions. He stated that GGPoker and WSOP are thrilled to make this chance a reality.
A call is a phrase used in poker to describe a particular kind of wager. By placing an identical number of chips on the table, you may “respond” your opponent’s wager or raise with a call. In essence, the call always matches the wager that came before it.
The use of call
If you have the last word or if no one else has increased their wager, the betting round is over. A new card is dealt, or in a showdown, the cards are shown, meaning that all bets are now equal.
Increased wagers from rivals: If you don’t have the final word, it’s quite probable that your rivals will increase their wagers. In this scenario, you must place a call, putting an equal amount on the line as your opponents.
The original wager is still in place; in this instance, each player places a wager equal to the blind amount, and no one raises their wager at this time.
Changes to a call
Preflop, the first player bets, the second player raises it, and the third player calls. This is known as a cold call. If you have a powerful hand, this technique is fantastic.
A snap call is a prompt response to an opponent’s wager. A defining move of seasoned players who anticipate their opponents’ moves, but it may also indicate a young player who is still learning which hands to play and when to fold.
Calling a bet flat when increasing it would have been the better course of action. sometimes seen as a kind of slow play.
The weak cards in your hand may be seen as a form of passive play when you call. This can’t be a trap to get your opponents to keep playing because they believe they have superior cards. This tactic is a classic bluff.
US poker pro and self-professed charity enthusiast, Dan Smith, is hosting his first live event for Double Up Drive on October 17 in Las Vegas.
Dan Smith is hosting his first charity poker event in the name of Double Up Drive on October 17 at Resorts World in Las Vegas. (Image: Twitter/PokerGo)
The $200 charity tournament will take place at Resorts World and feature unlimited rebuys available for $1,000 each. Everyone is welcome to ante up, regardless of whether they’re a poker pro or enthusiast.
Fifty percent of the money collected will go to Smith’s charity, Double Up Drive, and the remaining 50% will go into the prize pool.
Smith sends out SOS
With the Garrett Adelstein vs. Robbi Jade Lew saga filling up everyone’s Twitter feeds at the moment, details of Smith’s first charity tournament have gotten lost in the mix. However, as is often the case when charity is involved, poker pros answered the call for help and retweeted Smith’s message.
CardsChat also wants to help cut through the Adelstein/Lew noise and make sure people hear about the event. We contacted Smith and asked for a full breakdown of what’s happening on October 17.
Double Up Drive charity event details
In addition to enjoying a variety of welcome drinks and canapés, those who attend can ante up in a charity tournament with unlimited rebuys. The details are:
Date: October 17
Location: Resorts World Poker Room, Las Vegas
Time: Welcome reception starts at 5pm, No-Limit Hold’em tournament begins at 6pm
Buy-in: $2,000
Rebuys: $1,000 (unlimited)
Add-on: $1,000 (at the first break)
Structure: 10,000 starting stack, 20-minute levels, unlimited rebuys, registration closes after the first break (at the end of level 6)
Prize pool: 50% to charity, 50% paid out in cash prizes
If charity isn’t enough of a reason to ante up, Smith has timed the event to coincide with other tournaments happening in Las Vegas. The $10K WSOP Online event takes place on October 18 for anyone aged 21+ in Nevada.
And, on October 19, the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic gets underway at the Bellagio. That means there will be plenty more poker action after Smith’s charity event concludes on October 17.
Poker pros do their bit for Double Up Drive
Of course, the real reason to ante up is to support Double Up Drive, the charitable foundation Smith set up in 2014. Double Up Drive works with wealthy individuals, including poker pros such as Stephen Chidwick and Matthew Ashton, to raise money through matched donations.
Money raised from donations and charity events goes into a pool and, whatever amount there is at the end of the year, gets matched by Smith and other wealthy individuals. Double Up Drive has used this system to raise more than $24 million over the last eight years.
This year, Double Up Drive is supporting 10 charities, including the Against Malaria Foundation and Clean Air Task Force. In addition to supporting these charities by anteing up on October 17, anyone can make donations online via the Double Up Drive website.
