Poker Tax may shut down UK Rooms

Ever since the dawn of poker, the UK has been a hotbed for the game with tons of rooms operating across the country.  Unfortunately, rooms like these in the United Kingdom are in jeopardy due to a new poker tax that is threatening the very existence of the game.

Britain is currently in a crisis politically due to several scandals by politicians, and so the countries lawmakers have decided that now is a good time to try and bring in more revenue through increased taxes on casinos.  Before, casinos had to pay a 15% tax on money made from poker rooms which was quite adequate and still allowed the casino to make a decent profit on the game. 

However, a new law has taken effect that taxes all of London’s casino poker operations way more heavily.  Cutting through all of the legal talk, the final number amounts to a tax of about 50% which is a 35% increase on what was previously charged.  Obviously at a tax rate this high, some of London’s most notable card rooms are considering closing their doors instead of trying to fight their way through this unfair tax.

Some of the places that could close include the Grosvenor Victoria Casino and the Nottingham’s From Dusk Till Dawn poker club.  The only good thing about the new law is that it doesn’t seek to impose such a heavy tax on the casinos outside of London which will at least keep other rooms open.  But the damage has already been done in London, and it looks like some of the finest rooms the city has to offer won’t be able to stay in business much longer.

Jeffrey Lisandro is a WSOP Stud

Coming into this year’s World Series of Poker, few people would have ever really considered Jeffrey Lisandro as part of poker’s elite class.  Sure Lisandro is well known among those who follow poker closely and is a respected player, but we’ll just sum this up by saying he’s no Phil Hellmuth or Phil Ivey.  However, that’s all about to change with the way Lisandro has performed at the 2009 WSOP. 

Jeffrey Lisandro recently won his third gold bracelet at the WSOP which ties the record at a single World Series of Poker event, and he still has time to play at least a couple more tournaments if he so chooses.  With 3 victories at the WSOP, many people think that Lisandro is a shoe-in to win the WSOP Player of the Year Award too.  But whether that happens or not, people will still remember this performance by Lisandro at the WSOP.

What’s most impressive about Lisandro’s bracelets is that he has won them all in Seven Card Stud events which will definitely put him in a class by himself in this poker variation.  Jeffrey won a Stud high, Stud 8′s or better, and a Razz tournament which is pretty amazing.  In fact, I’d be willing to be that nobody else will ever win 3 Stud events in the same WSOP.

This is truly an impressive accomplishment and something which I definitely think you’ll be seeing go down in WSOP lore next time websites starting pounding out those top WSOP moments in history articles.

The Overuse of Three-Bets

When people start studying poker strategy, three-betting is one of the first things they learn since it is a rather easy concept to grasp.  All a three-bet involves is betting over the top of someone who has just made a raise at the table.  And three-bets are definitely useful when you know how to properly make that third bet and get the maximum value out of your hand.  However, lately it seems that the concept of three-betting is just becoming fashionable rather than a useful tool.

Whether it’s the recent influx of strategy articles centering on three-bets or the fact that TV commentators are constantly talking about three-bets nowadays, it’s hard to deny that people are overusing them.  Every time I get online I manage to play with somebody who wants to three-bet every 5 or 6 hands.  But to me, people are just fooling themselves when they overuse three-bets.

For starters, you have to be sure that your hand is the best at the table when trying to pull off a successful three-bet.  Otherwise you’re just raising more money for someone else to take from you.  Another thing you need to make sure of when three-betting is that you’re getting the maximum value out of the wager.  Nobody is going to call your re-raise if their hand isn’t strong enough and they’re a tight player.  On the other hand, you also need to be mindful of getting aggressive players to commit as much to the pot as possible with a three-bet by not underbetting. 

It’s a delicate balance that I think most people have forgotten when they use three-bets, but I’m glad because it’s not money that is coming out of my pocket when three-bets are misused.

Potential Poker Triple Crown Winners

When Roland de Wolfe claimed WSOP gold he became only the second player other than Gavin Griffin to win a WSOP, EPT, and WPT event.  This is essentially the triple crown of poker, and it’s obvious from the fact that only two people have accomplished this feat that it’s not easy to do.  Of course I don’t think that de Wolfe and Griffin will be forever immortalized in this class since there are other players capable of joining this group.

One of these players has got to be Jason Mercier who recently won his first WSOP bracelet this year.  In addition to his gold bracelet Mercier has also won 2 different EPT events, and we should certainly see him entering some WPT events in the future.

Canadian Daniel Negreanu is another person who I think could eventually accomplish the triple crown feat since he’s already got 4 WSOP bracelets, 2 WPT titles, and has made several recent appearances in the EPT.  If Negreanu keeps traveling to Europe he’s likely to win a title over there soon.

One player that is lightly regarded in the poker world, but could definitely win the triple crown is Sebastian Ruthenberg.  Ruthenberg has made a bigger name for himself lately after winning EPT Barcelona and defeating Chris Ferguson heads-up to take the WSOP in the Seven Card Stud championship.  Ruthenberg has also had some solid cashes in WPT events which means it’s only a matter of time before he wins one.

David Benyamine is one more person who I think could accomplish the triple crown some day.  He’s already experienced the winner’s circle in the WSOP and WPT, and he’s played well in the EPT.  Benyamine is one hot streak away from adding an EPT title to his resume.

Should Parents teach their Kids Poker?

There are many things that parents would like to pass on to their kids some day.  A few notable things that come to mind right away are a good work ethic, important life skills, and a sense of what is right and wrong.  But I doubt that you’d find many parents ranking poker up there with the things they want to teach their kids as they’re growing up.

This subject recently came to my attention when I saw a forum thread asking whether or not parents would teach their kids the game of poker.  Since this was a poker forum, there was a high rate of people who said they would teach their children poker since the game offers many values beyond just winning money.

One value poker teaches kids is discipline since every successful poker player must exercise discipline at the table or they’ll bust out quickly.  Along with discipline players must also be patient too since you must pick your spots in every cash game and tournament where you can make a big move.

Overcoming adversity is another great virtue of poker since every player is going to come across hard times where plays just don’t seem to be going their way.  Tilt is definitely an underlying theme here too because players must control emotions during rough stretches as well or they risk losing a significant amount of their bankroll.  There are plenty of other great things kids can learn from poker as well.

The only problem is that parents who don’t understand poker will quickly dismiss it as gambling and try to steer their kids away from it.  And I don’t blame parents for doing this since plenty of people don’t know how to control themselves at the poker table.  But I still think poker teaches children some worthwhile life skills in the end.

Why is Poker On TV So Mesmerizing?

I can seem to figure it out. I mean baseball is boring to watch on TV, Tennis sucks too. Even some football and Soccer gains are like watching paint dry.

But every time I walk by a TV with ANYthing poker on it, I stop dead in my tracks. Whether its some charity poker crap or WPT finals, I stuck there watching.

It’s really confusing, its not like Phil Helmuth is very charasmatic in any way, or that the majority of pro poker players are great to look at…If you put some WPT tour members in a police lineup with a NASA scientist, a math teacher and a meter maid, there’s no way I could tell any of them apart.

So this begs the question – Why do I LOVE watching it?

Pretty soon, I’ll have to sell my TV, and never go into Best Buy again.

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If you’re nice enough to hang around and do some reading, you’ll find oodles of Poker related News, Strategies and tidbits.

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Cheers!

-PBM