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Regular readers know that a theme I periodically return to in this space is that of tournament structures. Particularly I have looked at how deep-stack structures are not really the be-all, end-all Holy Grail that they appear to be. What a deep-stacked structure does is allow a greater number of players to make the middle stages of the tournament. I strongly felt that one of the reasons the WSOP went to triple stacks this year was just so that more players could say “I made Day 2!”. If the players don’t feel like they’re wasting their money or are dead money, if they feel like they’re getting some sort of value (”I played for 8 hours before I busted”) they’re more likely to play additional events in the future.
Of course once the middle stages hit the structure rapidly starts to deteriorate, with the mystical “40 big blind” threshold quickly approaching and then forcing the tournament’s pace as dictated by the blind increases. I’m not sure I’ve ever been very articulate about why the structure deteriorates the way it does. Therefore allow me to pass the mantle to esteemed TD Matt Savage, who wrote an excellent article in this month’s 2+2 magazine about why deep stacks are problematic. There is a reason that Matt is universally regarded as one of the foremost TDs and it’s on display in his discussion of tournament structures in that article.
Matt also happens to be the TD for the Asian Poker Tour. I’m covering their Macau event in a few weeks in what is sure to be an excellent structure devised by Matt.
Go to: Riding the F Train
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Party :$3528 (+$487 over 168 games) FT $95 ( -$8) ,Stars $410 ( +$253 over 8 games)
Total $4033 (+ $732 for July)
I had a decent July at the virtual felt, especially considering I played under 200 sng’s.In fact I barely played at all during the first ten days of July and my poker psyche felt all the better for it.
Off out tonight.Back after the weekend…
Go to: Littleacornman’s poker n life blog
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I am not a huge fan of science fiction, generally speaking, but I do have a few favorite authors to whom I return time and again. And I like very much what the best SF can do, namely, position itself as what the theorist Darko Suvin once called the “literature of cognitive estrangement.”
In Suvin’s definition — outlined in his influential Metamorphoses of Science Fiction (1979) — “cognitive” refers to the “science” half of science fiction, the half that concerns SF’s focus on logic and reason, while “estrangement” refers to the “fiction” making, that is, the creation of a new world that is different from the one in which the reader lives. That’s what defines the genre, says Suvin — what makes a book “science fiction” and not something else. A work of SF presents us a new world, but does so in a way that still pays heed to rational, scientifically-sound explanations.
What happens then (Suvin goes on to explain) is that the reader does get to “escape” his or her world, in a way, while reading, but on finishing the fiction is then encouraged to return to his or her world with a questioning attitude. Thus you get SF books that function as cogent commentaries on various aspects of our reality. Some of these comment specifically on the pursuit of scientific knowledge and understanding, but some also give us things to think about with regard to the many other disciplines by which we try to understand our reality such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, poltics, and so forth.
Like I say, I have a few favorite SF authors and books, and the ones I like always do more than simply provide an “escape” but force me to take that next step and think about the world in which I live in a different way.
A couple of days ago I was reading Otis filling out one of those “memes” which included listing “15 Books I’ve read that, for whatever reason, stand out in my mind.” Otis’ list has about three SF titles on it, and I think if I were to fill out such a list mine would also include a few SF books, though not the same ones.
My list would include Octavia Butler’s Kindred (1979), a time-travel book about slavery that some (including Suvin, I’d guess) might argue isn’t technically SF but fantasy. It would also include Frederick Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth’s brilliant, witty satire on crass commercialism called The Space Merchants (1952).
I’d additionally be tempted to include Philip K. Dick’s Time Out of Joint (1959), which starts out as a very realistic — even somewhat mundane — narrative about a not-so-inspiring hero whose main talent is an uncanny ability to solve the daily puzzle in his local newspaper. Then, about halfway through the novel, we — along with the hero — come to realize nothing is what it seems. (I’ll say no more, but think The Truman Show or other, similar stories that were undoubtedly influenced by this novel.) Simply an amazing book, really, that like the other two “for whatever reason” tends to “stand out in my mind.”
There’s a fourth SF book I’d definitely include on the list, one by the Polish author Stansilaw Lem titled His Master’s Voice (1968). Lem is best known for a book called Solaris (1961) from which a couple of films have been made. I also recommend that book, as well as the 1972 film by the Russian director, Andrei Tartovsky. But the Lem novel I keep going back to is His Master’s Voice.
I took His Master’s Voice to Vegas this summer, actually, and was rereading it beside the pool on those days off from helping cover the World Series of Poker for PokerNews. And, in fact, the point of this here post was to suggest at least one of the ways Lem’s book — set in the Nevada desert, in fact — might be said to relate to the experience of playing poker.
His Master’s Voice is presented as an autobiography by a mathematician named Peter Hogarth, a person who becomes involved in a governmental program called “His Master’s Voice” (abbreviated as HMV), the object of which is to try to decipher what is thought to be a message from space, delivered in the form of a neutrino emission. The set-up perhaps calls to mind those various “SETI” (“Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence”) projects in which people use computing power and other means to try to glean out some sort of communication coming to us via the skies.
It is the presence of what seems to be some sort of pattern in the emission that leads many to believe that some entity has sent it as a message — “that behind the object of investigation there indeed stands a Someone” — and the HMV project is created to figure out just what the message says. The novel takes some surprising twists, with the message alternatively being understood as instructions for the creation of a new, previously unknown life form as well as a recipe for a weapon of mass destruction. Ultimately, the book — which is very academic in tone and almost reads like a philosophy text at times — ends up making a lot of profound observations about the ways humans interact with one another, particularly the ways we “communicate” (or fail to).
I guess the aspect of His Master’s Voice that most directly makes me think of poker has to do with this effort to seek out patterns — a “signal” amid the “noise” — and interpret them in ways that make sense to us. At the poker table, we watch an opponent’s behaviors and actions, we make note of betting decisions and amounts, and we build some sort of understanding of what “message” that player is sending to us.
The fact is, though — and Hogarth (the narrator) kind of insists on this point throughout the book — any “message” is going to be imperfectly delivered and imperfectly understood. Hogarth often stops and points out how “one’s personal experience in life is fundamentally unconveyable. Nontransmittable.” He acknowledges repeatedly that his memoir is riddled with gaps and references to things that are “unconveyable.” And Hogarth also knows that even what he does manage to convey will likely be understood differently than he intends. Thus is the HMV project also doomed to fail, in Hogarth’s view.
So, too, are our efforts to read others’ messages at the poker table always imperfect, unfinished, taken from inadequate sample sizes. We may still profit from them, but we can’t ever really come away with an utterly absolute, unequivocal understanding of the meaning of others’ “messages.”
Indeed, I am aware that it is very likely you’ve arrived at the end of this post still searching for its “message.” Take from it what you will, but do at least take these book recommendations as part of whatever communication it is I’m trying to deliver.
Go to: Hard-Boiled Poker
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In recent news released by Playtech, which operates the popular iPoker Network, it was revealed that the company’s Gross Income for the second quarter of 2009 rose by 23.3% year over year to €33.1 million. That figure was slightly below the €33.8 million recorded during the first quarter of 2009.
For the first half of the 2009 calendar year, Playtech recorded Gross Income of €66.9 million, up 29.8% from the €51.6 million recorded during the first half of 2008. A statement released by the company explains, “The Board is confident the Company will deliver strong growth for the full year to December 2009 compared to 2008. However, owing to the slower than anticipated start to WHO and the general challenging economic environment impacting some of our licensees, the Board believes that full year trading will be below current market expectations.” The acronym WHO refers to William Hill Online, which partnered with Playtech to open the 2009 calendar year.
Total Group Revenues for Playtech were €27.0 million, a jump of 0.4% compared to the second quarter of 2008 and a drop of 4.2% from the €28.2 million recorded during the first quarter of this year. Poker revenues rose by 17.8% year over year to €8.2 million; that figure represented a 6.4% drop in comparison to the €8.8 million recorded in the opening quarter of 2009.
Playtech derived 62% of its revenue from the European continent, down from the 72% that this region provided during the second quarter of last year. Contrastingly, its portion of revenue from Asia Pacific grew from 21% during the second quarter of 2008 to 32% during the recently completed quarter. A partnership with Betfair to provide casino and Bingo software to the independent site is expected to add increased revenue during the fourth quarter. In addition, Playtech will provide its full spectrum of products, including casino, poker, and mobile games, to NetPlay TV.
With regards to its Italian market, Playtech notes, “The Italian poker network is exceeding management’s expectations and is now Italy’s third largest poker network by revenues generated by the network licensees, while further positive progress in regulations will bring new opportunities in Italy from this strong base.” In the wake of new internet gambling laws in Italy, PokerStars recently transferred players from its dot-com site to PokerStars.it. Playtech has also forged a partnership with the iPoker Network site Chili Poker “in anticipation of the introduction of new regulations liberalizing the French market for online gaming.”
The company also spent the second quarter hard at work on a strategic partnership with the Serbian State Lottery. Playtech will provide casino and poker products in the Serbian language in its first agreement with a country’s lottery. New Serbian players will join the world’s third largest online poker network behind PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. The iPoker Network is largest that does not accept players from the United States, boasting a seven-day running average of 5,500 real money ring game players. At its peak, expect to see over 10,000 poker hopefuls heading to the felts of the massive network to compete in cash games.
iPoker Network sites include BetFred, Boyle Poker, CD Poker, Expekt, Mansion Poker, Noble Poker, Paddy Power Poker, Poker Ocean, Titan Poker, and VC Poker. Playtech is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol “PTEC.” The stock closed trading on Friday at ?291.75, down ?11.00 on the day (3.63%). Last September, prior to the worldwide economic meltdown, Playtech’s stock had been trading as high as ?528.
The company was founded in 1999 and forged its first deal, with Swiss Casino, two years later. The iPoker Network came to life in 2004, one year removed from Chris Moneymaker defeating poker pro Sammy Farha in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event.
Go to: Poker News Daily
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This week saw Congressman Barney Frank’s (D-MA) HR 2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act, officially break 50 co-sponsors. The bill establishes a complete licensing and regulatory framework for internet gambling outfits to solicit U.S. customers.
The addition of two Congressmen officially pushed the support to over 50 co-sponsors. On July 27th, just a few days removed from the conclusion of National Poker Week, Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA) lent his name to the bill to become co-sponsor #50. One day later, Congressman Dan Maffei (D-NY) joined on. Flanking Thompson and Maffei are Congressmen from both sides of the aisle. Each has come out to support legalizing the internet gambling industry in the United States and reaping tax revenue in return. Here is a full list of HR 2267’s co-sponsors, as given by the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative (SSIGI), along with the political party each belongs to (Democrat or Republican):
Alaska
Don Young (R)
Arizona
Raul Grijalva (D)
California
Michael Thompson (D)
George Miller (D)
Michael Honda (D)
Linda Sanchez (D)
Bob Filner (D)
Colorado
Jared Polis (D)
Ed Perlmutter (D)
Connecticut
Joe Courtney (D)
Florida
Robert Wexler (D)
Alcee Hastings (D)
Hawaii
Neil Abercrombie (D)
Idaho
Walt Minnick (D)
Illinois
Luis Gutierrez (D)
Bill Foster (D)
Indiana
Andre Carson (D)
Massachusetts
James McGovern (D)
Barney Frank (D)
Michael Capuano (D)
William Delahunt (D)
Michigan
John Conyers (D)
Nevada
Shelley Berkley (D)
New Hampshire
Paul Hodes (D)
New Jersey
Robert Andrews (D)
Frank LoBiondo (R)
John Adler (D)
Steven Rothman (D)
New York
Tim Bishop (D)
Steve Israel (D)
Peter King (R)
Carolyn McCarthy (D)
Gary Ackerman (D)
Joseph Crowley (D)
Jerrold Nadler (D)
Edolphus Towns (D)
Mike McMahon (D)
Charles Rangel (D)
Paul Tonko (D)
North Carolina
Melvin Watt (D)
Ohio
Steve Driehaus (D)
Tim Ryan (D)
Oregon
Earl Blumenauer (D)
Tennessee
Steve Cohen (D)
Texas
Ron Paul (R)
Ciro Rodriguez (D)
Virginia
Bobby Scott (D)
Tom Perriello (D)
James Moran (D)
Washington
Jim McDermott (D)
HR 2046, introduced during the last Congressional session and labeled the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act, garnered 48 co-sponsors. Frank unveiled it to the world in April of 2007, but it was not acted upon. The new version forbids gambling on any event that would violate the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. However, Poker Players Alliance (PPA) Executive Director John Pappas noted during National Poker Week that sports leagues are seeking clearer language in the bill. He explained, “Changes need to be made to explicitly outlaw sports betting.”
HR 2266 was introduced on May 6th, the same day as HR 2267, and calls for industry compliance with the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) to be delayed by one year to December 1st, 2010. The measure is dubbed the Reasonable Prudence in Regulation Act and is up to 32 co-sponsors. On its sister bill reaching the milestone 50th co-sponsor, SSIGI spokesperson Jeff Sandman commented in a press release, “Reaching this milestone illustrates that momentum is growing for a shift in U.S. policy and a rewrite of U.S. internet gambling laws. We also expect an increased spotlight on internet gambling as a way to augment federal revenues and help cover the cost of necessary policy initiatives.”
During a Fly-In orchestrated by the PPA as part of National Poker Week, over 100 meetings were held with Congressmen and their staffs from around the United States. Attendees included 33 PPA State Directors and a handful of poker’s elite, including Poker News Daily Guest Columnists Annie Duke and Linda Johnson, PokerStars pros Dennis Phillips and Greg Raymer, Full Tilt Poker pros Andy Bloch and Howard Lederer, and online poker sensations Chris “Fox” Wallace and Jordan “iMsoLucky0” Morgan.
Over 375,000 concerned players signed an online poker petition, which was presented to U.S. President Barack Obama last week. In addition, nearly 200,000 letters and e-mails were sent to Representatives and Senators during National Poker Week. The PPA’s Randy Law admitted that just 80,000 were sent during the entire 2008 calendar year. The organization currently has over 1.2 million members after boasting only 50,000 in mid-2006.
Go to: Poker News Daily
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One of the poker players looks like hes 12, he must be older than that to be gambling in a casino. I wonder if he gets tired of being carded
Go to: poker – Twitter Search
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RT @bluebustees alright its poker night.
Go to: poker – Twitter Search
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RT @livinglovingit Join Poker in the Pub at Poker in the Park 2009, Leicester Square @ 15:30 August 13th http://bit.ly/DwFYk
Go to: poker – Twitter Search
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RT @crimescenenight Join Poker in the Pub at Poker in the Park 2009, Leicester Square @ 15:30 August 13th http://bit.ly/DwFYk
Go to: poker – Twitter Search
