The Legends of Poker organized by the WPT just started. We didn’t cover anything about it so I thought now was the momment to post theTournament Schedule.

WPT Legends of Poker - Tournament Schedule

Start Date: 30 July 2008

Finish Date:  29 August 2008

Location: The Bicycle Casino - 7301 Eastern Ave - Bell Gardens, CA

Event Details:

• Jul 30 NL Hold em Event 1 $300 + $35
• Jul 31 NL Hold em Event 2 $300 + $35 Single Rebuy
• Aug 01 NL Hold em Event 3 $500 + $45
• Aug 02 NL Hold em Event 4 $300 + $35 Multiple Rebuys GTD: $150,000
• Aug 03 NL Hold em Ladies Event 5 $300 + $40
• Aug 04 Omaha High-Low Event 6 $300 + $35
• Aug 05 NL Hold em Event 7 $300 + $35
• Aug 06 NL Hold em Event 8 $500 + $45
• Aug 07 Limit Hold em Event 9 $300 + $35
• Aug 08 Seven-Card Stud High-Low Event 10 $300 + $35
• Aug 09 NL Hold em Event 11 $1,000 + $70
• Aug 10 NL Hold em Event 12 $300 + $35 Multiple Rebuys
• Aug 11 NL Hold em Event 13 $500 + $45
• Aug 12 NL Hold em Event 14 $1,000 + $70
• Aug 13 Omaha High-Low Event 15 $500 + $45
• Aug 14 NL Hold em Event 16 $300 + $35 Multiple Rebuys GTD: $150,000
• Aug 15 NL Hold em Event 17 $500 + $45 Single Rebuy
• Aug 16 NL Hold em Ladies (LPA) Event 18 $500 + $50
• Aug 17 NL Hold em Event 19 $500 + $45 Multiple Rebuys
• Aug 18-19 NL Hold em Event 20 $1,000 + $70
• Aug 19 Limit Hold’ em Event 21 $500 + $45
• Aug 20-23 Mega Super Satellites $1,000 + $30
• Aug 21 NL Hold em Invitational (Legends/Media) Event 22 $0 + $0
• Aug 21-22 NL Hold em Mariani/Buss Event 23 $1,000 + $70
• Aug 23-28 NL Hold em Championship Event (WPT) $9,500 + $500
• Aug 29 NL Hold em Player Appreciation Event 25 $200 + $25

The serie of videos High Stakes of Poker its all about a poker table full with the best poker pro in the world, plus their minimun stake to enter the table is $500.000 dollars. Impressive quantity of money, but for this big boys that-s not the end of the world, its only half a million.

Stay tuned for new updated on this section, well add up all videos corresponding to HighStakes Poker as it appears on tv, the full serie for free at this page using vodpod.

This is just the beggining.

get your vodpod

 Loading ...

btw, did you know that VC Poker is offering $35 free no catch no deposit instant bonus? check it out clicking the banner.

Pro Tip: Entablish a Tight Table Image

This is Pro Tip 124, wrote by the hand of the Pro poker player Allen Cunninghan who work for FullTilt Poker, don’t miss your chance to read this invaluable and priceless content, which is wrote by a REAL pro player and not just a wanna be like us.

In poker, image matters.Throughout a tournament, your table image will help determine how much action you’ll get and, ultimately, how you can manipulate your opponents into making big calls or big laydowns at the wrong times.

While establishing a loose, aggressive image early on can help build your initial chip stack, I believe it’s important to develop a tight table image in the later stages of a tournament because it gives you the ability to maneuver at the times when the chips matter most.

When the action is folded around, some players will always raise from the cutoff and the button. The problem with this play is that’s its predictable and can be easily exploited. If you always raise from the button, the players in the blinds catch on sooner or later and will put in a big re-raise with any two cards. You will also find players just calling you with a much wider range of hands from the blinds before putting in a big check-raise on the flop.

Why do they do this? Because you have been presenting a loose table image by raising any time the action is passed to you. During late-stage play, this image hampers your ability to maneuver because any time you try to make a move, it’s likely that someone will play back at you.

It doesn’t take long before your loose table image will make you a target for the experienced players at the table (or even the inexperienced players who get tired of being pushed around). The amount of chips you risk by being loose in these situations is usually not worth the reward of just picking up the blinds. Be careful, though, because when you play too tight you end up missing many opportunities to slowly accumulate chips or even just stay afloat. Ideally, you want to project a very tight image while actually being somewhere in between the standard perceptions of “loose” and “tight.”

I have one very simple piece of advice to help you with this part of your game. It may sound so simple you would wonder why I bother mentioning it but, in fact, this is one of my most important rules: Always fold junk.

By always folding junk hands, you accomplish a number of goals:

• You resist the temptation to attempt a blind-steal just because action was passed to you. With the level of aggressiveness that characterizes today’s play, it’s better to pass on bad hands even in position.
• You avoid pot-committing yourself with a hand that will usually be dominated in a race with a short-stack. For example, if you raise from the cutoff for 3x the big blind with J-3 attempting to steal the blinds and a stack with 8x the big blind moves in behind you, you are in a bad spot. It’s better to just avoid these situations altogether.
• Most importantly, you further cement your image as a tight player. Now when you raise with a hand like A-8, you can feel confident that your tight image will allow you to steal the blinds although you’re actually playing a bit looser.

Another temptation players face is to pick on someone’s blind just because they view that player as “weak.” I rarely pick on someone’s blinds without a decent opening hand. Opening from the cut-off with a hand like K-9 suited is about as low as I’m willing to go in attempt to just pick up the blinds.

Using my tight table image enabled me to maneuver through a very tough field in the $5,000 Pot-Limit Hold ‘em event at the . After I doubled up early in Day 2, I used my table image in the late stages to steal blinds and to pick up a number of pots in key situations. I was able to carry this momentum to the final table, where I was fortunate enough to win the bracelet.

Remember, it takes more than good cards to be a winning player. By creating a solid table image in the late stages of a tournament, you may actually be able to play a wider variety of hands than your opponents expect and take down key pots at critical times.

Allen Cunningham

Phil Ivey

DON’T READ THIS TIP

This tip 125 was wrote November 6th 2007 by Phil Ivey Himself! Don’t miss the chance to read about this PRO poker player thoughts. We love Full Tilt Pro Players.

When it comes to advice about poker, my attitude is very simple: seek it out, absorb it, but while you’re at the table, forget it.

I’m a firm believer in learning the game by playing the game. I’m not saying there aren’t a lot of great resources around to help players improve their games or that poker books and tutorials don’t have their place. They do. However, the problem I see with people who rely on these kinds of aids is that they end up playing poker like someone else or - even worse - like everyone else.

One of the things that makes poker great is that it’s a game where there’s really no right or wrong way to play. Every player has their own approach to the game and the key, in my opinion, is to take the things you learn from other players and incorporate them into a style of play that works for you.

There are some players who take a very mathematical approach to the game, and for them, it works. They study the odds and make decisions based on whether they think they’re getting the right price to commit their chips to a pot. It’s a solid way to play, but the fact is, it’s not the right approach for everyone. What’s more, even the best of these players will tell you that math only takes you so far.

Calculating the odds can certainly help you decide whether you’re making a smart move, but it doesn’t take into account who you’re playing against. There are many times when you can do all of the math you want and your decision still comes down to intangibles and a feeling about your opponent or the situation you’re facing. Does this guy have a hand? Can I push him off the pot? Am I getting myself into trouble here? Even if the odds say you should play, your gut may be telling you something else, and that’s something you can only develop by playing.

Relying too much on other peoples’ advice can actually make it harder to develop this kind of reading ability because it tends to clutter up your head. You get so focused on thinking about odds, probabilities and strategies that you forget that you’re playing against someone else and that you have to try and figure out what he or she is doing. Are they scared? Will they fold to pressure? Are they a maniac? In my opinion, these are the important things to keep in mind during a hand.

It’s been said before, but it bears repeating. Poker isn’t about the cards; it’s about the players and the situations. Winning players understand that sometimes you have to take chances. Sometimes they work and other times they don’t. Whether you win the hand or not, you have to make the play that you believe is best.

At the end of a hand or a session, go back and study the things you did well and be honest with yourself about where you made mistakes. Don’t, however, overanalyze how you could have played a hand differently because this can negatively impact how you approach your next hand or session. Identify your mistakes, learn from them, and move on. Just because some play or move didn’t work the way you wanted doesn’t mean you were wrong to try it. As I said before, there are just some things that you have to learn by playing.

So here’s my advice. Read this tip. Read other tips and poker books. Talk to your friends. Absorb as much information as you can. But at the end of the day you have to trust your instincts and play your own game – not someone else’s.

Gus Hansen: Being a Bully.

This article has been written by Gus Hansen himself! It’s tip 122 of FullTilt Pro Poker Players

Many players understand the concepts involved in building a large chip stack during a tournament. What they don’t understand, however, is how to use their chips effectively once they’ve gotten them. Once they’ve accumulated a lot of chips, many players want to control the action, but they haven’t thought through how to take command of the table.

When I’m the big stack in a tournament, being the bully is always my first consideration. I want to eliminate players, continue to build my stack, and avoid dangerous situations. If I can create a scenario where I’m the table captain – meaning I dictate the size of the pots – the rest of the action becomes easier to read. I can frequently steal the blinds and antes, and if someone else re-raises, it’s pretty easy to put them on a hand because I know they can only play back at me with really strong cards.

One of the first keys to becoming an effective big-stack bully is to stay aware of your fellow players and the size of their stacks. Don’t give short stacks easy access to all-in moves with any Ace. If you raise with a hand like 9-8 suited and a short stack comes over the top and pushes all-in, then you’ve created a bad situation. Even if you’re getting the right odds to call, you don’t want to double anybody up.

You also have to recognize those players that won’t stand for your bullying or who are just trying to survive and make the money, but are so low in chips that they have no choice but to push. At some point every player reaches their breaking point. You should be conscious of that moment so that you don’t needlessly hand over chips to someone who is ready to play back by pushing all-in and putting you to a tough decision you don’t want to face.

Sometimes, being the bully means that you’ll have to make a crying call even when you don’t want to. For example, if I feel like the short stack is pushing with any Ace, I’ll sometimes gamble even if I think I may be behind before the flop. If I’m holding something like K-Q suited, I’m going to try to knock the player out of the tournament. I’ll basically play with anything down to K-8 suited, because if he has something like pocket 6s or a naked Ace, it’s a choice I can live with.

Of course, being a bully doesn’t mean you should let your aggression outweigh good sense. Playing smart poker – raising at the right times against the right opponents – is always something to keep in mind. For example, if you’re raising on the button with a weak hand like 10-6 against two small stacks in the blinds and one of them pushes, you’ve created a bad situation that you really could have avoided.

If I’m raising in these spots with hands like K-9, J-10, A-9, I’m not worrying too much about getting called or re-raised by a short stack. But with 10-6 off-suit, you have to think – maybe I don’t need to lose a bunch of chips with this hand and double someone up. A good rule of thumb here is to ask yourself if your opponent would push with 10-6 themselves. The answer is, probably not. They would have folded with 10-6, so you created a bad situation by raising with it in the first place.

When you’re trying to be a bully, try to think about what your opponent would do if they were holding your cards. Put yourself in their position and reverse the hands. If you think they would push all-in with the same hand you’re holding, then your hand is strong and you should be a bully and push. If they would have folded your hand, then you should probably let it go too.

There are some hands you’re going to play no matter what, and if you’re behind, you can’t worry about losing. Just say to yourself – that time I was unlucky, next time it will be different. If you raise with A-8 on the button and the blind pushes with A-10 – well, it happened. Put the hand behind you and move on.

To be a successful bully, you have to be willing to take some risks and to lose some chips. Remember, it’s OK to lose the occasional battle in order to win the war.

Chris Ferguson Jesus

Chris “Jesus” Ferguson is one of the most recognizable faces in poker. He has a unique look with his long hair, beard, sunglasses, and hat. He obviously got his nickname, “Jesus”, because of these looks. I had always heard that Chris was one of the nicest and most popular players on the circuit, but I had never played or talked with Chris. I also heard that he likes it when people introduce themselves to him because he is usually not one to approach people, so I figured the next time I saw him I would make sure and say “Hi”. I finally got the chance to meet him at the 2005 World Series of Poker and I have to admit that the rumors were true. He is one of the nicest people I have met in this business.

Chris lives in Pacific Palisades, California. He does not travel the circuit as much as he used to. He attends the larger, bigger buy-in events and focuses on other interests including day trading and swing dancing. I think the two are an ironic combination: the individual competition of poker with huge amounts of concentration, and swing dancing in which you must rely on a partner and just let go of your inhibitions.

Chris won the prestigious Championship No Limit Holdem main event at the 2000 World Series of Poker. He beat another top competitor, TJ Cloutier. The final hand of the series was one that will be remembered. TJ held AQ to Ferguson’s A9. The flop came 2K4 with a King on the turn. If the board paired, the pot would have been split and Ferguson would have been saved, but if the 9 came the tournament would be all over. The 9 came and Ferguson was World Champion. The A9 combination was pivotal to Chris’ win twice during the tournament. The night before he won, Annie Duke lost with the A9 to Chris giving him the chips that he needed to continue in the competition.

In one interview, Chris stated that his favorite place to play was at the final table. That is the mark of a true champion. I think the combination of the desire to make it to the final table and his mathematical skills is what makes him the great player that he is today. He has earned himself five World Series of Poker titles, two of them in 2003. His titles are 2000 Seven Card Stud, 2001 Omaha High-Low, 2003 Mixed Games, 2003 Omaha High-Low, and the main event in 2000.

Some of his other accomplishments include first place finishes in No Limit Holdem at the WSOP Tournament Circuit Las Vegas, the WSOP Tournament Circuit Rincon, and the championship event at the Winnin’ O’ the Green in 2004. You can play with Chris at his own table at online card room Full Tilt Poker

Profile by Shirley Rosario got from www dot poker-babes dot com

Humberto Brenes

Known as the “Godfather of Costa Rican Players”, Humberto Brenes was born May 8, 1951 in San Jose, Costa Rica and holds a degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Costa Rica. Introduced to poker as a youngster, he learned the ins and outs of the game from his father. The money didn’t mean a great deal to his father if he lost, so sometimes he would win a pot and give the money back, because he felt bad for his opponent. As Humberto sat and watched men take advantage of his father’s generous good nature, he decided then that if he was to become a poker player, he would always play to win. And win he has…

Beginning his career in 1974, solely as a tournament player, he has risen to the top of the poker elite. Humberto Brenes has over $5,000,000 in tournament winnings. Some of his most notable accomplishments being gold bracelets in the 1993 $2500 Limit Hold’em and $1,500 PL Omaha events at the WSOP, and wins at Jack Binion’s World Poker Open $10,000 NL Hold’em Championship (2002), and Seven Card Stud (2003).

Unlike other professionals, Brenes does not play in cash games, preferring to concentrate on the tournament circuit. His games of choice are No-Limit Hold’em, Pot-Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha and Seven Card Stud. Humberto’s strong card sense, his uncanny ability to read his opponents, and his ability to remain calm at the table are what he believes to be his keys to being a successful player

Aside from being immensely talented, Humberto is one of the most entertaining players to watch on the circuit today. From his famous “All-Eeeen” declarations, to his open-mouth shark card protectors, he is a master entertainer at the table. While playing, he can regularly be heard singing old rock classics or a number of Spanish ballads native to his home of Costa Rica – much to the chagrin of his less level-headed opponents

A classic Humberto story took place at the 2007 WSOP Limit Hold’em Shootout event. Sitting at the table with Rolf Slotboom, Brenes was seen searching through his iPod. Having discovered his song of choice, he proceeded to sing in Spanish at full volume. After a few bars belted out surprisingly in tune, he turned to Rolf and asked, “You know this one? Sing with Humberto!” Not amused, Rolf went back to rustling his stack of chips topped by a box of Tic Tacs. “You no fun”, quipped Humberto, waving his hand playfully. “You be careful or my sharks come for you.” Brenes then maneuvered his sharks to the nearby vicinity of Rolf’s chips and pretended to nibble away at his stack. “My sharks like candy and chips. Feed Humberto’s sharks”, he proclaimed. It’s easy to see why Humberto has become a crowd favorite at any event in which he plays.

Respected by many of his fellow poker players as a great tournament rival, he is not the only Brenes that is a success on the poker circuit. Humberto has two brothers, Alex and Erick, who are equally talented. Alex made a name for himself when he won the WPT Hollywood Invitational 3 and was followed months later by Erick who captured the win at the WPT Aruba-Ultimate Bet 3. Read about Humberto’s Invitational, Foxwoods and Bellagio World Poker Tour appearances.

Profile by Shirley Rosario got from www dot poker-babes dot com

Chris MoneyMaker

Chris Moneymaker is the real name of the man who won the 2003 World Series of Poker No Limit Hold’em Championship. His story is fit for a Hollywood movie, beginning with winning his entry into the Series via the PokerStars online card room. His total investment was forty dollars, and he won $2,500,000. After winning his way into the event, he realized it would be difficult to scrape together airfare and hotel costs. His father, Mike and a friend, David Gamble (also his real name) put up some money to cover the cost for the trip in exchange for a portion of his winnings. He also donated $25,000 of his prize to cancer research.

Christopher Brian Moneymaker took the World Series of Poker 2003 by storm. There are many people who insist that it was the luck of the cards that earned Chris his victory. Although, luck played a part in his victory (it plays a part in every victory), he showed that he has the skill to play with the big boys. He had been playing three years before he won the Series, but had never played a live tournament. The first day he had Johnny Chan sitting on his right and Phil Ivey on his left. He said that he got outplayed and that night decided to not be afraid anymore. If he got beat, he got beat, but he was going to play his game. Indeed he did. He mixed it up beautifully and made some great plays along the way. The one hand that sticks in a lot of people’s minds is when he went all in with his pocket 8s against Humberto Brenes’s pocket A’s. He caught the 8 giving him a set and sent Humberto to the rail. Yes, he got extremely lucky, but I don’t consider what he did to be a bad play. If he had known that Humberto was holding the pocket aces, then yes that would have been a terrible mistake, but he didn’t know.

The play that Chris made that I loved was against Russ “Dutch” Boyd. Moneymaker was holding pocket threes while Dutch held KQ. The flop came down 925 and Chris bet $100,000 into the pot. Dutch Boyd thought, and then moved all-in. After thinking for awhile, Chris called the bet. Before the two of them flip their cards over, Chris asked for low cards proving that he read Dutch correctly in having high cards, no pair. This key move crippled Dutch and helped give Chris the chips he needed to win the tournament.

The other thing that I really respected about Chris was what a great sportsman he was at the table. I saw him shake hands with everybody that exited the game and he even welcomed Dutch back into the game when he won a pot with his pocket fives.

He is not only a sportsman at the table, but a gentleman away from it. I met Chris when we were filming the video Poker for Dummies. He was so down to earth and congenial. After the filming took place, we went to the Bicycle and played in a tournament together. I told him it might not be wise to ride in the car with me since I just totaled my Infiniti. He asked me what model I had and I told him an I30t. He told me he used to have a I30 as well. I asked him if he had the “t” version, the one with the fin on the back and he told me “No, mine came with a tree in the middle of it”. He explained that he crashed his as well. We talked about everything on the ride to and from the casino, including family. He mentioned that he does not want to be the best poker player ever, he just wants to provide for his family.

I thought the celebrity status might get annoying, but he takes it all in stride. He still uses his screen name of Money800 when he plays at PokerStars and tries to answer questions when people direct them at him. He said once in awhile, he has to turn his chat off, but that is rare. I mentioned that it seemed people went after him in the tournament that night so they could say they beat the World Champion. He told me it works both ways. Sometimes it works in his favor and sometimes it doesn’t. Another example of how he is taking the celebrity status in stride is when we began to play, the tournament staff got on the microphone to announce his presence. He waved his hand in the air to acknowledge what was being said and I apologized for that happening. He told me he expected it and it did not bother him. He is a fine example of a World Champion and I wish him continued success in poker and outside of it.

Chris won the final hand with a full house, fives full of fours, defeating veteran ring game player Sam Farha’s top pair. Sammy Farha got 1.3 million for his second place finish. Chris was an accountant at the time of his win. He now travels the world as a spokesman for various poker related products and plays tournaments when he can. The one thing Chris will never be able to do is use what he did to help him achieve his victory in 2003… being an unknown.

Chris came in second at the season two Shooting Star World Poker Tour event.

Profile by Shirley Rosario got from www dot poker-babes dot com

Gus Hansen

Gus Hansen broke into the mainstream poker world during the debut season of the World Poker Tour. During that first season alone, he made final tables at the Bellagio Casino and the Commerce Casino, and he won both events. He also won the Pokerstars Caribbean Poker Adventure and The Bad Boys of Poker WPT event in the second season. I don’t know Gus that well, but he is still one of my top two tournament players because his game is so exciting.

I really enjoy his No Limit Hold’em game because he is so great at mixing it up. The first time I ever saw him on television, he played like a maniac, but there was a method to his madness. He put the pressure on the other players to decide if they wanted to risk a substantial amount to find out if he was bluffing. He has an aggressive style with cards that others might think are unplayable. They probably are unplayable by most players, but Gus knows how to play them great. He can play weak cards because his post-flop play is excellent. He showed in these events what No Limit Holdem is all about. It’s not about playing the cards; it is about playing the players.

One of my friends used to play with Gus before he ever made a television appearance. This person told me that Gus has always played like that. My friend said when Gus would turn his hand over that he would say, “I have a Gus” meaning that he was about to turn over 74 offsuit or something like that. An example of him “having a Gus” is when he was on the World Poker Tour at Commerce Casino and held T3 against Andy Bloch’s AT. He raises the $10,000 big blind to $37,000 and Andy called him (just called him). The flop came down J53, Andy checked and Gus checked behind him. The turn was a ten and Andy checked again. Gus bet $35,000 and Andy called him. The river was a three and Gus bets $140,000. It almost looked as if he was trying to buy the pot. After Andy thought about it for awhile, Andy called. This hand showed what many players just don’t understand. It is okay to play that junk if you are capable of getting players to throw money at you.

Gustav Hansen has been a competitor for many years. Before he played poker, he was a ranked backgammon player. He was also a champion youth tennis player. He actually tried to make a living off of being a professional backgammon player, but found there wasn’t enough money in it. He eventually turned to poker.

Gus is originally from Copenhagen, Denmark. He started playing poker in 1993 while he was attending college at University of California at Santa Cruz as an exchange student. He has taken his game to a higher level and plays the biggest cash games and some of the larger buy-in tournaments. Although he does not play in as many tournaments as other players, he has succeeded in the ones that bring him recognition.

During the World Poker Tour, contestant Andy Bloch said Gus is going to play a lot of hands and play them perfectly. He can get away with playing K7 and J5 and things like that because he is so good. Gus is a little more humble about his ability. He merely says, “Not to say that I am a great player or anything, but somebody has to win.” Gus almost defended his inaugural World Poker Tour title, finishing third at the Bellagio Casino second season event. In 2004, he was one of the first three inductees into the World Poker Tour Walk of Fame, with Doyle Brunson and James Garner.

Other notable finishes include winning the Aussie Millions and the first Poker After Dark tournament.

If you want to play with Gus, you can find him at Full Tilt Poker.

Profile by Shirley Rosario got from www dot poker-babes dot com