Monthly Archives: May 2021

The Pros: Landon Tice, Shannon Shorr, and Niall Farrell

Craig Tapscott: Variance and downswings will hit every poker player at one time or another. Can you please share a few times you have crashed and burned and how you recovered to become a better player?

Landon Tice: The first time I had a substantial downswing was about three months in, playing $1-$2 online. I was breaking even in dollars, but up around 30 buy-ins in EV (Expected Value). That was a pretty brutal experience, when I didnt necessarily have anything to show for my work other than a yellow EV line that was increasing, while my bottom line stayed the same.

Im pretty close with [poker vlogger] Joey Ingram. I called him to talk about it, just because it was such a new feeling. I had realized that someone could actually make some decent money playing those stakes. He just told me not to worry about it too much and just grind through it and everything would work itself out. I trusted his advice wholeheartedly, and just kept playing and learning. This was about 18 months ago now, but I still remember the feelings of despair like it was yesterday. Now, downswings still happen of course, but the dollar amount is much, much different than it was back then. Poker just sort of does that to you when you move up in stakes, where the one below it just gets to a point of being numb, and the stake above becomes the new normal.

The first time I went through a near six-figure downswing was when I started playing higher stakes live and online. I was playing $20-$40 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, and $25-$50 and $50-$100 online. Thats when I first experienced a significant downswing in terms of money. I felt like I was playing better than I ever had been at the time, through studying a lot and working on my game. But sometimes the deck has other ideas, and I just couldnt win an all-in at those stakes to save my life for about a month straight. That was definitely frustrating.

I just grinded some MTTs and studied every day to give myself the best chance of recovering, and I ended up winning a lot of MTTs online and recovered those dollars in a quick fashion. I remember thinking it was going to take me a year to get out of the hole I was in. But I kept putting one foot in front of the other and continued to learn and improve, and I was out of it in 45 days. Shortly after getting out of that hole, I ended up winning the $1,100 buy-in MSPT main event at Venetian for $201,000.

Shannon Shorr: There have been multiple periods in my career of playing tournaments where Ive felt like I couldnt get any footing and watched in a state of panic as my net worth plummeted. A huge key is making sure one is playing within his or her bankroll and to accept the reality of how much variance is involved in playing MTTs.

Ive found that during those downswings in the past, I had a difficult time separating my identity as a person from my poker results, and often found that I beat myself up badly. At times I found myself with tunnel vision and in a mindset that I had to get out of a downswing.Ive had a decade-long meditation practice, regular fitness training, and a healthy eating routine for some time now. And I have found all of that to be super helpful for long-term sustainability in this tough business.

Niall Farrell: When Im downswinging, I like to try and take a step back and get another few pairs of eyes on my game. I want to make sure that negative variance isnt affecting how I play. Its super easy and very human for a run of bad luck to start to change your play for the worse. For instance, you dont pull the trigger on a good bluff because youve been running into it for weeks, you dont make a good bluff catch because everyone always has it, etc. The Pokerstars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) events are a good example of this. I lost during SCOOP for the first five years, but just being calm and reasonable with myself I can step back and say, These are great value tournaments. Im a good player, and I just need to control what I can control. And now I have two SCOOP high titles and am way up in profits on SCOOP overall.

The World Series of Poker is also a great example of this. I lost for the first few years, which is easy to do with big field tournaments. I then had a purple patch in 2013-2018 where I made three final tables, including the $111,111 High Roller For One Drop. I only played because Id been doing well that summer. In 2017 in Europe, I won my bracelet in the $25,000 event and then made the final table of the main event where I ran kings into aces for the chip lead with five or six left, ending a decent shot at a hilariously unlikely Greg Merson-esque back-to-back win. The last couple of years Ive been on the other side of variance at the WSOP, but when you look back at my hot run in those other years its actually fair enough for me to maybe retroactively pay some dues.

Craig Tapscott: Going on tilt and letting a bad beat or bad decision adversely affect you at the table can ruin your chances of going deep or even cashing. What are some of the ways you deal with the emotional swings of poker?

Landon Tice: To start, Ill admit that Im definitely an extremely emotional person when it comes to poker. I care about the game a lot. Its what I gave up college and other conventional jobs for. I really understand having attachment and pain when results dont go my way, and still do to this day.

I think that at the start of my poker career (which includes now), I still have the same, if not greater drive to reach my best possible self. I still really love clocking in the hours, going through the ups and downs that poker has to offer, and making the most of every day. I have a bunch of very successful friends whove been around for decades now. They tell me all the time that as I get older, my relationship with poker is going to change in some ways. It takes being in the game longer and going through the day ins and day outs for a longer period of time. While I think theres a benefit to having an emotionless attitude towards playing and seeing poker as a game of one hand into the next, theres also a personal enjoyment I feel through experiencing the game as it goes moment to moment.

I think whats helped me a great deal is the ability to forgive myself for mistakes I make, and realize that poker is a long game, and Im never going to be able to play perfectly in every situation possible. The best thing I can do for myself is accept the consequences of my actions, good or bad, and keep moving forward.

I remember running pretty deep in the $1,600 Venetian event right after my big win, where I had piles of chips on the stone bubble and went for an extremely aggressive all-in bluff after facing a bet. I ended up getting tank-called where I lost a bunch of chips. Rather than feeling sad and upset at myself for losing the pot, I was happy with the fact that I trusted myself and took an action that I thought was winning a good amount of EV. Sometimes, you dont get the result you want, but the real pain is not taking the chance if you think something is going to net a positive result.

The way I deal with some tough spots after the fact is just spending time with my friends, talking about the hands after and trying to learn as much as I can. Then I focus on the nextopportunity that I have to improve, whether its MTTs or cash games. Spending time away from the computer is something that Ive been doing more now after tough days and having a community that truly supports me is unbelievably amazing. Im very thankful for it.

Shannon Shorr: Being mentally tough is everything in terms of staying focused in a game where you are constantly going to experience disappointment or have yourself tested. Ive found that doing deep breathing at the table from time to time is great for bringing oneself back to the moment. Its super important not to get caught up in previous hands as mistakes can be very costly, especially when playing no-limit holdem.

I think that making an attempt to take care of yourself in your personal life goes a long way in terms of helping you deal with emotional control issues that will be costly in poker. Something that I cannot recommend more highly is that poker players should force themselves to sit with their emotions., sometimes after poker sessions, rather than trying to always escape them with alcohol, sex, weed, etc. Its even better if you can journal your thoughts. An individual will experience such a wide range of emotions on any given day. Its nice to know where you are with things and what you can do differently to improve your game.

Niall Farrell: For me its super important to be comfortable at the stakes youre playing. If everything is chill with your bankroll, then running bad for a bit isnt the end of the world. I think this comes with experience, mostly, once youve come out the other end of downswings a few times. Mainly because you become a bit more chill knowing that youve done it before and will do it again. I might take a bit of time off and go hang out with friends and stuff, and also return hungry and ready to go.

Making poor decisions is basically the only thing that gets me on tilt nowadays. Sure, Ill have a 15-minute tantrum if I get two-outed for a lot of equity, but after a little self-pity party (and a few beers) Im fine again. You can only control what you can control, so getting tilted over stuff like that is pretty pointless. If I bust a big tourney from making a mistake, I usually go straight to the pub and wont think about it for a bit. The next day Ill dissect the hand and hopefully become a better player for it. Nothing trains the mind to play better than hungover lab work.

Landon Tice started playing professionally in early 2019, making the jump from the micro-stakes to mid- and high-stakes cash games and tournaments. In November of 2020, the Florida native won the MSPT main event at the Venetian for $201,529. He is also a coach for Matt Berkeys Solve For Why.

Shannon Shorr broke out on the tournament circuit in 2006, final tabling the Aussie Millions main event and winning the Bellagio Cup main event for another $960,690. The University of Alabama graduate has numerous other final tables, including a runner-up showing at the 2019 WPT Gardens Poker Championship. He now has more than $8.2 million in career earnings.

Niall Farrell was the eighth person to win pokers Triple Crown, having earned a WSOP bracelet, WPT title, and EPT main event championship. The Scottish poker pro took down the 2015 EPT Malta main event, the 2016 WPT Caribbean Poker Party, and the 25,000 buy-in high roller at the 2017 WSOP Europe. He has just over $6 million in career earnings.

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Poker Strategy: Withstanding The Variance Of Tournaments - Poker News - CardPlayer.com

Prominent global online poker site Unibet Poker has disclosed to its customers in Germany that, as of July 1, 2021, much of the sites offerings will no longer be available to those players. Due to changes in Germanys tax laws, Unibet will no longer offer cash games or single-table tournaments (aka, sit-n-gos or SNGs).

The planned changes mean that only two areas of poker action will be available to Unibets German players multi-table tourneys (MTTs) and the sites popular jackpot-tourney variant, Hexapros. Also on the no longer available list in Germany: rewards that could be earned by players through Unibets loyalty program.

We felt it was best for the players to give you this information as soon as possible to allow you to the maximum time to use bonus points, tickets, and bonuses if you normally play one of the affected game types, wrote Unibets Andrew Paton in the sites community forum. We would also like to reiterate that these are proposed changes and are subject to change if there are any developments regarding the implementation of the new tax before July 1st.

The culprit responsible for Unibets decision to yank its cash games and SNGs from the German poker market is the countrys new State Treaty on Gambling, which takes effect on July 1 after being ratified by all 16 German states. The new treatys rules call for a 5.3% rollover tax on both online slots and online poker, which in the case of poker, translates to more than half of all the net revenue generated by the games. The allegedly prohibitive tax rates also dash the promise for a broadly regulated German online poker scene that seemed poised to flourish only a year ago.

Germanys federal legislative body, the Bundesrat, ignored the gambling industrys warning in opting for a rollover tax. The tax rate was lowered, however, from an initial proposed rate of 8% that likely would have meant no operators would even attempt to operate within the countrys framework. Gambling operators and industry lobbying groups such as the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) urged, to no avail, that Germany instead mirror most other regimes and assess taxes as a percentage of gross gambling revenue (GGR).

The EGBA issued a statement earlier this month saying that Germanys new taxation scheme will end up driving consumers to unregulated sites, and alleging that the scheme itself is illegal under European law. According to the EGBA, the new tax rules breach European Union law by favoring land-based gambling operators compared to the excessively taxed online sites.

While Unibets German players will no longer have access to cash games and SNGs, Unibet did acknowledge that the planned withdrawal could be reversed if the countrys legislators rethink the situation. For the time being, Unibet promised to eat the tax on the MTTs and Hexapros, though it warned that could change as well.

Meanwhile, the Kindred Group-owned offering promised to make good on all bonuses and loyalty rewards earned to date by its players. Some challenge rewards and earned bonuses will be converted to cash, based on percentages earned, and while no new bonus points or rewards can be earned as of July 1, the sites bonus store will continue to operate to allow players to cash out accumulated balances.

Unibet wont be shutting down any accounts, either, meaning that its German players can continue to participate in the limited formats available, or can cash out balances at their leisure.

Written by

Haley Hintze

Contributing writer Haley Hintze is a 20-year veteran of the poker world, a Women in Poker Hall of Fame finalist, and two-time Global Poker Awards finalist.

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Unibet Poker Plans July 1 Partial Withdrawal from Germany - CardsChat.com

A 32-year-old male, allegedly involved in a burglary from the home of the professional poker player Chad Power, was arrested and sent to jail earlier this week. Brock Brewer, Las Vegas resident, is one of two people who are suspected to have stolen $1 million in cash and poker chips from the poker pro back in February.

A Las Vegas resident was arrested earlier this week by Clark County police officers. Brock Brewer, 32, was arrested and jailed over suspicion to be related to a burglary at the home of the poker pro Chad Power, dating back to February this year. During the home invasion that happened on February 10, roughly $1 million went missing from Powers home in Las Vegas.

Back then, Las Vegas Review-Journal confirmed that the police report noted that the poker pro had a safe with approximately $750,000 in cash in $100 bill denominations, mostly organized into $50,000 bricks, that went missing. Furthermore, some $250,000 in high-value poker chips also went missing from the safe following the burglary.

Allegedly, Brewer was one of two men that carried out the home invasion at Powers home in Henderson. On the day of the break-in, the poker pro left his home and headed to play poker. At some point, Power received an alert from his security system, but by the time he went home, the robbery was already completed. With that in mind, two men without masks were captured by security surveillance fleeing Powers property.

After his arrest on Tuesday, Brewer was charged with 8 felonies related to the home invasion. His charges include conspiracy to commit theft, conspiracy to commit burglary, conspiracy to commit home invasion, and theft of $100,000 or more. Furthermore, Brewer is also charged with home invasion with possession of a deadly weapon, two counts of gun possession when prohibited, and burglary with possession of a deadly weapon.

Here, it is important to mention that although Brewer is a suspect in the home invasion investigation his guilt is yet to be proved. His bond is set at $200,000 and currently, he remains incarcerated at a detention center in Clark County. Brewers hearing is expected to take place ten days from now on June 1.

Besides the most recent arrest, Brewer has been previously arrested over similar crimes back in 2006. Back then, some $15,000 in cash and poker chips went missing from a professional poker player. Consequently, Brewer was identified as a suspect for that crime. He was then charged with conspiracy, robbery, and assault with a deadly weapon. Consequently, Brewer was sentenced to two to five years.

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Man Suspected of Stealing $1M from Poker Pro Goes to Jail - GamblingNews.com

May 18, 2021Casino Gaming

Poker players across the UK are riffling chips again after almost six months of casino closures in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland.

The constituent nations of the UK have all been in some form of lockdown since January. Even before that, a series of regional restrictions meant so-called non-essential businesses were required to close.

Now, with almost 55% of the nation vaccinated and COVID-19 deaths at near-negligible levels, normality is returning. Although not quite on the scale of Las Vegas, UK casinos welcomed back customers yesterday.

Picking up tells might still be a challenge because facemasks and social distancing measures remain in place at all UK casinos. But, despite what some see as unnecessary restrictions due to the low levels of infection across the UK, live poker rooms were buzzing yesterday.

It was a great day to welcome you back again!

Cheers to that #empirecasino#discoverlsq#leicestersquare#londoncasino#casino pic.twitter.com/zdLcbj2wzI

Empire Casino (@EmpireCasino) May 17, 2021

Londons Empire Casino, former home of the WSOPE, has had a 1/2 cash game running non-stop since yesterday. The poker room has also paid out its first 500 high-hand jackpot of 2021.

Just a few yards across Londons Leicester Square, the Hippodrome Casino is also back in business. Cash games at its PokerStars Live room are running from 12pm until 8am throughout the week.

Since the doors opened yesterday, there have been nine 1/2 NLHE games and some 2/5 tables. Theres even been a bit of PLO action.

Cash Game Update 4 x 1/2 2/5 list building

Rake free draws today at 1pm, 2pm and 3pm for 12 hours of free play!

We Are Poker We Are Back! pic.twitter.com/Vcb8lJFUOl

PSLive@TheHippodrome (@PSLive_Hippo) May 17, 2021

Buoyed by the initial surge of activity, the Hippodrome is already gearing up for a tournament this weekend. Entry is by pre-registration only and starting flights are capped at a relatively meager 25 seats due to social distancing laws. Given that UK poker rooms were only allowed to offer cash games last year (when they were open), something is certainly better than nothing.

On the other side of London, Aspers Stratford has been inundated with cash game players over the last 24 hours. Just minutes after opening its doors, a 1/2 game broke out. The action has flowed continuously since then and, on Monday night alone, there were eight tables running.

Finally, Grosvenor Poker is also enjoying a positive return. Its network of 53 casinos saw 65 poker games go down last night which, again, is a great turnout for a Monday.

Cash games were buzzing last night in our Grosvenor Casino Cardrooms.

We had 65 cash tables running across our estate!

It's promising to be another busy night tonight and you'll need to reserve your name on the waiting list via the app.

pic.twitter.com/bD1R6EHwqr

Grosvenor Poker (@GrosvenorPoker) May 18, 2021

There were times last year when companies such as The Rank Group, owner of Grosvenor, were losing 10 million per month. Job losses mounted during that time and the constant cycle of lockdowns and reopening devasted parts of the industry. Genting, for example, was forced to close its poker rooms for good due to financial losses caused by COVID-19 restrictions. Other operators were put in similarly precarious positions but made it through.

The hope now is that Prime Minister Boris Johnson sticks to his promises. He declared that his roadmap out of restrictions was made up of four irreversible steps.

May 17 saw England and its counterparts move into stage three as the pandemics threat weakens. In a nation of 66 million, the UK reported just nine deaths from COVID-19 this week. In England at least, this means things are on course for a complete removal of all restrictions by June 21.

As long as the government keeps its pledge to follow the science and not send the UK back into a lockdown, the surge of poker activity should continue well into the summer.

Written by

Daniel Smyth

Dan Smyth is a poker media journeyman who politely reminds CardsChat readers that poker is played all around the world, not just America.

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KALAMAZOO, MI There is no way Aaron Williams was breaking into a house when he was fatally shot, his family says.

Williams, 33, of Kalamazoo, was shot multiple times just before midnight on Saturday, May 15, in the 3100 block of Whittier Drive in Kalamazoo. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety told MLive that Williams was shot by a homeowner while he was attempting to break into a home. But family members of Williams, who worked as clerk at a nearby convenience store, said he would never do anything like that.

RELATED: Kalamazoo homeowner fatally shot man trying to break in, police say

He would not go there unless he was invited, mother Angelica Gutierrez said. You wouldnt catch him breaking into a home.

Police declined to comment because the investigation is ongoing, KDPS Public Information Officer Ryan Bridges said.

Williams was invited to the home to play poker, according to Gutierrez and Williams stepfather Charles Kelley. They think something happened during the game that led to the shooting.

If he had gone wild, it was because his back was up against the wall, Kelley said. They took something from him, and he was under severe distress.

Williams had two young sons and he loved them more than anything, Gutierrez said.

His kids were his life, she said. He would not put himself in a situation where he would be taken away from them boys, because thats how much he loved and cared for him. They were never really apart, except for work.

He was never in a bad mood and was a funny guy, friend Steven Burnett said. Growing up, they made funny videos and one was even played on Nickelodeon, Burnett said. The two were closed, and called each other brother, he said.

Williams and his sons were supposed to play baseball with Burnett and his sons on Sunday.

We were a big family, Burnett said. We did everything together.

Williams worked at the Sunny Mart convenience store at 2020 E. Cork St. for nearly eight years. He was there six days a week, and working the morning shift, Manager Warren Gupta said.

The store is 1/10 mile from where Williams was shot, and he lived only a few streets away from the store in the opposite direction, Kelley said.

Coworkers and customers loved Williams. His drawer was never short at the end of his shift, and he never lost his patience with customers, even if they were drunk or high, Gupta said.

I dont know underlying factors, but I can tell you from the human side that he is not that guy, Gupta said. We are in shock.

Williams stopped into the store where he worked Saturday night to use his debit card to withdraw around $10 in cash, Gupta said. That was the last time Gupta saw Williams.

There was no way he was going to break into a house, Gupta said. Its just so sad; hes the best kid Ive had working here and Ive had a lot of employees.

Williams family said they want police to keep investigating and get to the truth of what happened that night. They want charges brought against the man who pulled the trigger.

I dont want his name to be out there like that, Gutierrez said. Whatever theyre saying, its not him.

More from MLive:

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Family of Kalamazoo man killed during alleged break-in says he went there to play poker - MLive.com

The poker world is eagerly anticipating the return of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) to Las Vegas later this year, perhaps none moreso than Natural8 Ambassador Danny Tang.

Tang holds the distinction of being the winner of the last bracelet event at the 2019 WSOP, the last time a full live Series was held. Originally born in London, Tang won over $1.6 million in Event #90: $50,000 Final Fifty and now sits atop Hong Kong's all-time money list.

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There were plenty of big names in The Final Fifty that Tang had to battle through, Dan Smith, Adrian Mateos, Michael Addamo and Almedin Imsirovic to name but a few, but that didn't stop him walking away with the title, the bracelet and seven-figures worth of prize money.

The achievement event saw PokerNews name him Player of the Week, rounding out a series that saw him cash four times.

"I think it's every poker player's dream to win a bracelet," Tang told PokerNews. "Especially in Vegas. Winning a bracelet was the pinnacle of my career. I cannot wait for the festival to return and I look forward to participating in it."

Tang bagged another $944k score a few months after his bracelet win, finishing third in the EPT Barcelona 100k Super High Roller, before live poker ground to a halt as a result of the pandemic.

Despite the pandemic, Natural8 continued to host events online such as the Asian Poker Tour, Vietnam Series of Poker and of course the highly successful 2020 WSOP Online.

"Nobody was happy with the pandemic of course, since poker players are so used to travelling a lot and able to see friends all around the world.

"But now, are stuck in one place and we have to play online more than live. Im sure when live poker is back, definitely its going to be a bang!"

Related: 2021 WSOP Online Dates Announced - 33 Bracelets to be won across the GG Poker Network

Tang has quickly shot up the Hong Kong All-Time Money list, ahead of the likes of Stanley Choi (pictured) and Winfred Yu, two players he greatly admires.

"I remember coming up the ranks and watching them playing really high stakes and I remember how I always wanted to play alongside these guys. I think they are very good recreational players.

"They are extremely successful and I would like to thank them for the contribution that they have made to poker in Hong Kong and across Asia. Poker players all around the world know who they are and they have done a very good job in promoting the game as well."

Although he hopes to get back to high stakes live poker tournaments, Tang says he's enjoying playing online at Natural8.

"I havent had any huge results under my belt online yet as I tend to play more live. But I have won a Main Event before on Natural8 and I remember that it was special feeling as well and I wont forget about it.

And does the young bracelet winner have any advice for players starting out on Natural8?

"There are a lot of options on Natural8. My tip is to make sure youre not playing too many tables, make sure youre playing your A-Game and dont feel pressured because of the guarantees. If you can focus best on 4-8 tables, do that. Don't feel like you need to have something like 24 tables open!

"I wish everyone good luck and I hope to see you in Natural8!"

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Getting to Know Natural8 Ambassador and WSOP Champion Danny Tang - PokerNews.com

Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe has teamed up with filmmaker Gary Fleder for thriller Poker Face. Written by Stephen M Coates, film will see Crowe essay the role of Jake, a tech billionaire who gathers his childhood friends to his Miami estate for what turns into a high stakes game of poker, reported Deadline.

Those friends have a love hate relationship with the host, a master game-player/planner, and he has concocted an elaborate scheme designed to bring a certain justice to all of them. However, Jake finds himself re-thinking his strategy when his Miami mansion is overtaken by a dangerous home invader whose previous jobs have all ended in murder and arson, the official plotline read.

The project, which comes from Arclight Films, will be produced by Gary Hamilton, Addam Bramich, Ryan Hamilton, Jeanette Volturno, Jason Clark and Keith Rodger. Fleder is known for directing films such as Runaway Jury (2003), The Express: The Ernie Davis Story (2008) and Jason Statham-starrer Homefront (2013).

Crowe most recently starred in thriller Unhinged. He will next feature in Chris Hemsworth-led Thor: Love and Thunder and horror thriller The Georgetown Project.

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Russell Crowe to lead thriller Poker Face - The Indian Express