During the summer months in Las Vegas, the only thing hotter than the temperature is all of the poker action. Things begin to heat up at the end of May with the World Series of Poker, but that isn't the only tournament series in town.
Barry Greenstein is the consummate cash-game professional, and he has been ever since he entered the scene. He is an all-around player and says that he plays every game at the same level of expertise. Greenstein's cash-game play supports a lifestyle that costs more than $1 million per year.
This hand took place at Commerce Casino in Southern California. The game was $50-$100 no-limit hold'em, which is usually played with many of the same players, and is almost like a home game because of that. It is, in fact, my regular game when I am in L.A., so I thought it would be interesting to discuss a real-life high-stakes cash-game situation.
At only 27 years old, Gavin Griffin already holds one of the most impressive collections of poker's most prestigious titles. The former poker dealer won the $3,000 buy-in pot-limit hold'em event at the 2004 World Series of Poker, a win that, at the time, bestowed upon him the record as the youngest bracelet winner in history. Since then, he has accumulated more than $4.5 million in live tournament winnings, and made history again by winning the European Poker Tour Grand Final Championship, which boasted the biggest prize pool in EPT history, more than $2.4 million.
Other poker tours and TV shows have done their part to create household names domestically, but a new breed of poker superstar is sprouting up abroad. And, thanks to the European Poker Tour, which allows players who are at least 18 and up to play, they're getting younger and younger.
Though the games are quite different, Texas hold'em is often called a variant of seven-card stud. This is mainly because no draw takes place in either game and players have a board of exposed cards in both -- individual in stud, shared in hold'em -- for a total of seven cards from which to make a five-card poker hand.
As poker becomes more and more popular on a global scale, players now have more choices for big buy-in tournaments than ever before. But, if you look at recent marquee poker events in the U.S., the numbers show a downswing. At the recent $25,000 buy-in World Poker Tour Championship, 545 players ponied up, compared to 639 in 2007, a 15 percent decline. The three WPT events prior to this one also saw notable field shrinkage: a 39 percent reduction at Reno's World Poker Challenge, a 17 percent downturn at the Foxwoods Poker Classic, and a 16 percent dip at the Bay 101 Shooting Star event.
In early March, on the heels of the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship, Calgary hosted the Canadian National Heads-Up Championship. Many of the top poker players were there, including world champions Huck Seed and Joe Hachem, Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari, Phil Laak, Jennifer Tilly, Mel Judah, and Greg Mueller.
In my last column, we left off in San Jose at the Leo Brian Charity Tournament. Now, let's move on to the real tournament, the Bay 101 Shooting Star, where you're probably going to hear a first from me, self-doubt. I'm usually very confident in my play, and even if I make what turns out to be the wrong decision, it usually never bothers me, as I figured it was the right decision at that moment, with the information available to me at the time.
Sometimes this poker stuff just ain't easy. Decisions aren't always clear. The right thing is not apparent. All you can do is make your best play at the point of decision, based on the information you have available, and let the results be what they will. And when you turn out to be wrong, just suck it up and play the next hand.
