WOMEN GET A DISCOUNT AT THE WSOP. IS THIS LEGAL?

Update May 13, 2016  I was taking a look at the schedule for the 2016 World Series of Poker Tournaments and I noticed that on Friday, July 8th, event #65 is the "$10,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold'em Championship." Of course it's not unusual for the ladies to have a no-limit championship and it's not unusual to have a $10,000 entry fee for a prestigious event like a Ladies Championship. But what is unusual is that ladies are getting 90% off the buy-in for the tournament. Yes, on the official listing for the tournament it clearly states "90% off for ladies" so this must mean that men entering the tournament must pay full price.

In recent years, and at various casinos and tournaments, men have been entering ladies' events. To close the events to men, it has been decided, would be discriminatory.

Well, is it also discriminatory to charge men the full $10,000 when women can play in the same tournament for only one-thousand dollars? Is this 90% discount for women legal?

We've come to accept senior citizen discounts at restaurants and movie theaters, and we've come to accept kids' discounts at restaurants and movie theaters. Are we ready to accept gender discounts at restaurants and movie theaters? How about race and religious discounts at restaurants and movie theaters? But gender discounts at a poker tournament called a ladies tournament is okay, right?

Clearly, this pricing structure for the Ladies No-Limit Hold'em Championship is an attempt to keep men out. Frankly, I don't know why men would want to play in a ladies' event, but some do. That's too bad. It's also too bad that the WSOP feels the only way to preserve the tournament for the ladies is to give the ladies a 90% discount and charge men full price.

Let's get back to the "legal" question. To answer it, I think we need to know the true price of the tournament. I say that because there is law concerning how gasoline and other consumer products are priced.

At a gas station you often see two prices: a cash price and a credit card price. According to federal law, it is okay to offer a cash discount but it is not okay to charge a fee for using a credit card. So at gas stations the true price is the credit card price. Let's apply that to the poker tournament. If the true price of the poker tournament is $10,000 then using the gas station example it may be legal to give ladies a discount -- as if they were the cash customers.

However, when I checked the history of the Ladies' Championship, I found that the historical price was $1,000 which might very well mean the men are paying a penalty price, even though the WSOP advertises it as $10,000 tournament with the women getting a 90% discount.

I'm not opposed to a special tournament for women just as I'm not opposed to a tournament for seniors and for seniors 65 and older. I just think it's sad there are men who want to crash this ladies' tournament and others.

What is everyone going to do if they ever have to have a transgender tournament to go along with the transgender rest rooms?

CALIFORNIA WILL NOT HAVE PARLORS AND CLUBS TO PLAY ONLINE POKER

Update May 6, 2016  Legislation is now working its way through the California legislature which might soon legalize online poker in the state. The lesislation has passed several hurdles in the State Assembly. What's curious about the legislation is Assembly Bill 2863 (AB 2863) is that it seems to prohibit brick and mortar establishments from being set up to host online poker tournaments. In other words, if a casino in the state wanted to set up a room with computers so it could offer a room for online poker play, the wording in the legislation says it can't be done.

Here is the exact wording in the legislature's own analysis of AB 2863:

The bill would provide that it is unlawful for a person to aggregate computers or any other Internet access device in a place of public accommodation within the state, including a club or other association, or a public or other setting, that can accommodate multiple players to simultaneously play an authorized Internet poker game, or to promote, facilitate, or market that activity. 

It looks to me like the legislation only wants private play in a private setting whether it's at home or in your office or your car, for that matter. That's not a bad idea because it would prevent (in a perfect world) players to get together to conspire to win a tournament or a game by exchanging information. But as we all know, a law on the books of California would not be able to actually prevent this because players out to cheat are going to cheat anyway.

What the law does prevent is a California card club or a Native American Casino in the state, from setting up and operating an online poker parlor or club. That could be an unfortunate consequence because I can envision a card club or Indian casino in the state arranging to have its own online tournaments for players in a ballroom, or having an online poker room. Those types of group play could be monitored with cheating prevented.

I can also envision card clubs and casinos within California arranging private tournaments using the online poker casinos. Not allowing that option also cuts into the possible tax revenue that the state could get.

The legislation as it is explained, also prevents coffee shops and bars and restaurants and donut shops from setting up online poker rooms where customers could play while enjoying their Mochas and Martinis and burgers and glazed bear claws (it's a donut). That also cuts down on the potential for online poker tax revenue as well as additional sales tax revenue for legitimate business.

On the other hand, by limiting play to individuals with their own computers, it will prevent having dozens and dozens online poker clubs and lounges springing up on every street corner. And we have enough of a similar enterprise already doing that -- the marijuana collectives who appear to be on every street corner.

DAILY POKER TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE AT THE BICYCLE CASINO

Update April 1, 2016  The Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, near Los Angeles, is resuming its daily poker tournament schedule after a hiatus to host the World Series of Poker ring events. You will find the complete daily tournament schedule by clicking here for The Bike's website. There are several tournaments with low entry fees including daytime tournaments with a buy-in as low as $40.

CAESARS HAS ONLINE POKER FOR REAL MONEY 

Update February 22, 2016  Caesars Entertainment, the giant brick and mortar casino company that also owns The World Series of Poker and www.wsop.com, also offers Online Poker for real money to its hotel guests as well as those who are within the state of Nevada.

You can play online poker anytime, anywhere in Nevada at WSOP.com.  You can even earn Reward Credits on the Caesars Total Rewards system when you play. Reward Credits are the "comp points" in the Caesars Total Rewards players club program. Ironically, Caesars actually promotes playing online to guests staying in their hotels. There are signs in the casinos telling guests that they can play online poker while on the property and I find that ironic considering that Caesars is telling guests in their brick and mortar casino resorts that they don't have to go to the casino floor or to the poker room to gamble.

MAKING POKER TOURNAMENT PRIZE POOLS RICHER WITHOUT RAISING ENTRY FEES

Update January 23, 2013  It appears that several casinos have adapted the idea of multiple-entry poker tournaments and multiple-day entry poker tournaments as a way to increase prize pools without raising entry fees.  Here in the Los Angeles area, the Bicycle Casino and Hollywood Park Casino have been holding multiple-day, multiple-entry tournaments to generate bigger prize pools.

The latest of these multiple-day, multiple-entry tournaments has just been announced by Hollywood Park.  The tournament starts February 22nd and there are multiple-entry days every day until March 2nd with the final round on March 3rd.  Each day of the tournament, 6-percent of the field will advance to the final day of play, and then 10% of the players on the final day will be "in the money."  The winner is guaranteed $50,000 minimum and the casino has guaranteed a $200,000 minimum prize pool.

Each day's entry is $100 for the buy-in with a $60 rebuy.  And a player who makes the 6% more than once gets $2,000 cash for each additional entry to the final day of play.

What Hollywood Park is doing here, and what other casinos have done including The Bike, is adding the number of entry dates so that the tournament and the prize pool can be bigger.  The casinos could have run daily tournments, but by running a multi-day, multi-entry tournament they can build up the prize pool and certainly a $50,000 first prize is going to attract a lot more entrants than a daily tournament with perhaps a $5,000 first prize.

The Main Event at the World Series of Poker also is building a bigger prize pool with its $10,000 entry over several days.  If the WSOP Championship were limited to only one day of buy-ins, the field would be smaller and so would the payouts.  Of course at the WSOP multiple days for entry are needed because of space and dealer limitations.  Someday, there might have to be even another day or two of "first day play" at the WSOP.  And if some of the other daily bracelet events at the WSOP continue to grow, they too might require more than one day of "first day play."

The Bicycle Casino (also known as The Bike) also has a multiple-entry event on the weekends which tends to generate bigger prize pools.

These multiple-day, multiple-entry events do help to boost prize pools and paydays for the winners, but they also raise the number of players and may make it harder to finish in the money because of the sheer size and rules that allow players to "re-buy" and enter again.

I like the "old rules" where a player cannot buy in a second time, or a third time.  I think that is more fitting for a tournament.  But in the upcoming multi-entry, multi-day tournament at Hollywood Park in late February, players will have nine chances to make it to the final day.  Yes, players can take advantage of all 9 lives in this event at Hollywood -- as long as they have the money.

ONLINE POKER SITES OPERATING IN THE USA

Update October 13, 2012  There are several online poker websites operating in the United States and it appears that they are all legal operations because you don't have to pay any money to play.  These sites do offer small prizes and they can offer the prizes because the sites carry advertisements and the revenue from the ads fund the prize pools for tournaments.  Several brick and mortar casinos have these online sites including the South Point in Las Vegas and the Hustler Casino in Los Angeles.  These casino-branded sites are actually operated by an independent company.  But now an independent site operator is running its own site without a brick-and-mortar casino brand.

The new online poker site without a brick-and-mortar casino brand is www.Cafrino.com which is free to join.  I joined it and I've been playing single table game for "points" and there is also a daily multi-table tournament with a $50 prize pool.  Typically the first place pays about $11 so you're not going to make this a full time job.

The graphics are simple and clean.  If I have a complaint it's that the audio warning about time are soft and sometimes difficult to hear -- even when you adjust the volume on the computer.  The commercial ads are audio and video ads that play during the game, and that's OK.  They have a good system for showing the commercials which are typically 30-second TV commercials: they play in the center of the table while you are waiting for a game to start or when you are not in a hand.  Be prepared to watch the same commercial over and over again because so far the company appears to have only a few advertisers.

This site is being funded by investors and I am sure it is an attempt to stake a claim on the Internet poker turf for when and if full online poker for money is allowed.  It is also possible that this company or others might set up intrastate poker sites because under existing federal law the states are allowed to authorize online poker that is restricted to players within their state.

Another problem with this site is that it is still relatively unknown, so you could be waiting a long time for a table to fill so a single table game can start.  The multi-table tournaments have a fixed start time so waiting for players is not a problem for those games.

Here's what happened.  I was the big blind with $3 on the table.  After the hole cards were dealt, the player who was first to act raised to $10.  The next player re-raised to $30 and then three more players called the $30 raise.  As I looked at my hole cards I thought that I was "priced in," meaning I was getting a good return on my money -- if I got lucky with my cards.  And what were my cards?  I had small, suited connectors -- the 4 of hearts and the 5 of hearts.  As I looked at my cards several thoughts raced through my mind.  First, it was likely that the "raisers" had big cards and those calling also were playing "big cards" which meant that perhaps only small cards were left in the deck?  Secondly, just recently, playing 5 of diamonds and 6 of diamonds also from the big blind I won a big pot making a full house of 6s full of 5s -- beating a player who had pocket kings and other players playing Ace-Queen and Ace-Jack.  I had a profit, and I reasoned, I could afford to take a gamble and see the flop.  I called.  The player who started the action with a $10 raise also called the $30 re-raise. 

I will spare you the boring details, but I flopped an open-ended straight draw with a five on the board giving me one pair.  The flop was 3, 5, 6.  Everyone checked after the flop, which convinced me that the others were all playing "big cards," and then came the turn card and the turn was a Jack and I made the judgment that a flush on the river was unlikely.  I checked and the original raiser checked and then the player who re-raised to $30 went all-in.  Two other players went all-in.  One player folded. 

I went all in with this reasoning: I had an open-ended straight draw and one pair (fives) and I had "outs."  Unfortunately a small straight flush draw was not one of the possibilities.  But I had to call.  On the river came a deuce, there was no chance of a flush, and I knew that my 6-high straight was "good."  The only thing I had to dodge was that a player had a 7-high straight.  No one had a seven-high straight.  The player who initially raised to $30 had Ace-Jack and the other players all had big cards without a pair.  The big pot was mine with the little cards.

You have to be very careful playing small cards.  In my case, the flop came in such a way that I couldn't fold.  But had "picture cards" came on the flop or even a medium or high pair, I knew my 5h,6h were doomed to fail.  Sometimes when everyone is betting and raising you have to think that they are holding big cards -- because betting and raising is what players do with big cards.  Players with small pairs and small suited connectors hope to see a flop for cheap.  But when you have small cards and the others are betting big, you have to be a contrarian and call to see the flop hoping the only cards left to come are the small cards you need to win.

IT'S GOOD TO BE SITTING AT A POKER JACKPOT TABLE

Update August 15, 2012  I am writing this just a few hours after a bad beat jackpot was hit at Hollywood Park Casino.  Quad Jacks beat Aces full of Jacks.  There were only two players in the hand.  The player with AA raised the big blind, the player with JJ went all-in, and the player with AA also went all-in.  The flop came JJK and an Ace came on the turn, and when both players flipped over their cards it was a very happy table.  This is one of the few times it's good to lose with pocket Aces.  In this case the player with AA won about $4,000 and the player with JJ who won the hand won about $2,000.  The player with the "bad beat" gets the bigger payoff.  There were seven other players at the table and each of them was paid a "table share" which was $620.

Sometimes Aces full of tens loses to quads but the player with quads didn't have a pair, and in that case a bad beat jackpot might be awarded.  Check with the rules at the casino.  Some casinos have special payoffs when quads beat quads, or quads lose to a straight flush or a royal flush, and again this varies by casino.  And then there are some casinos that don't have bad beat jackpots.

In the case of last night's jackpot at Hollywood Park Casino, it was a nice payday for the players who folded their cards -- they received a table share of $620 just for sitting there and taking a hand, and I was one of them.  If a player was "sitting out" of the hand, or stepped away to go to the restroom, or went outside for a "smoke" they would not be eligible for the table share.  This has happened and sometimes (but not always) the players who did get a payoff will give the excluded player something.  And the reasoning is that if the player had been sitting at the table, then the hands would not have been dealt the way they were and there would have been no jackpot.

PECHANGA'S BAD BEAT JACKPOT REWARDS ALL PLAYERS IN THE ROOM

Update January 5, 2012  Many casinos offer bad beat jackpots in their poker rooms but the bad beat jackpot at Pechanga Casino in Temecula pays even players who are not at the bad beat table.  The Pechanga bad beat jackpot pays all players in the poker room.  And, it hit again on New Years Day paying two people a lot of Happy New Year money, the other players at the table a big chunk of money, and then there was a Happy New Year greeting for everyone else in the poker room.

More than 250 players in the Pechanga Poker Room had a share in the Mega Share Bad Beat Jackpot when it hit for $157,346.00 on New Year’s Day at 6:25 PM.  The loser of the bad beat hand was paid the most.  Together the winner of the hand and the loser of the hand shared 50% of the jackpot.  These two players each had a straight flush in spades.

Thirty (30) percent of the jackpot ($47,322.00) was paid to the losing hand of 2s,3s,4s,5s,6s , held by Irene Orona of Perris.  The higher straight of 4s,5s,6s,7s,8s, held by Chinh Hoang of Placentia, won the game pot, but it took second in the jackpot payoff, with 20 percent or $31,469.00.  Such is the nature of a “Bad Beat” jackpot, where the losing hand wins.  Seven other players at the table got equal shares of 30% of the jackpot, or $6,743.00 each, and 256 other players of live Hold ‘Em games (39 other tables) received an equal cut of the last 20% of the jackpot, with everyone taking home $122.00 just for being in the room.

From time to time, other casinos have had "room shares" or shares for all players in the casino during certain promotions.  Hollywood Park Casino in Inglewood used to promote a share for all players when a super bad beat occurred during certain times.  But for the most part, bad beat jackpots are limited to the players at the table where the rare event occurs.

EVEN THE PROS LOSE WITH THE BEST HANDS

Update October 29, 2011  I just played in a charity poker tournament at The Commerce Casino and the field of players was filled with celebrities from Hollywood and local TV as well as several of the top professional poker players.  Men "The Master" Nguyen and Annie Duke were both among the field of professionals who took part in the tournament to support both The Renal Support Network which helps those with kidney disease and Hands Across the Ocean which helps families in Vietnam.

I was fortunate to play with Men at two tables during the tournament, at the first table when the tournament started and later when only four tables remained.  I paid particular attention to how Men played because it isn't often that I get to play with a true "master" of the game and someone who has won millions playing poker.  Below is a photo he graciously took with me.

CAN A CASINO CONFISCATE YOUR WINNINGS?

Updated November 4, 2010   We've all heard the stories about a minor who sneaks into a casino, plays a slot machine and hits a jackpot.  Does the minor get to keep the winnings, even if a parent is playing with them?  The courts have ruled "no."  In this case, casinos can confiscate winnings. 

Casinos can also confiscate winnings if someone puts himself on an exclusion list for problem gambling.  In California for example, if you notify the State that you want to be voluntarily banned from casinos your decision is irrevocable.  Players can bar themselves for periods ranging from one year to life.  And if you happen to be on this voluntarily exclusion list and you sneak into a casino and win -- and if the casino finds out (as they would if it is a taxable jackpot) -- your winnings will be confiscated and the money is turned over to the State fund for problem gamblers.  "That's why we tell people to be sure they want to ban themselves," my source in the California Justice Department told me.

We had an interesting discussion about players getting banned and what happens when a "banned player" gets into a casino and plays and wins.  Is the money they won always confiscated?  Well, it could be -- but isn't always.

"There are conditions," my source in the Justice Department told me.  "Let's say a casino banned a player for a period of time for bad behavior, but the player comes back to the casino to play before the suspension period ends.  If the casino knew that the player had returned and allowed the player to continue playing, we might fine the casino for not following rules and procedures and the banned player would keep his winnings."  My source in the Justice Department said that because casinos have video surveillance systems, it can be shown if a player had been playing for a period of time with the casino's knowledge.  "We don't want casinos saying a player is barred, but continue to take his money, and then when a player hits a jackpot to say the player was not allowed to play."

We recently heard about several incidents where players who were "barred" won jackpots in poker rooms and their jackpots were confiscated.  "We have no specific rules about this," my Justice Department source told me, "unless the player voluntarily barred himself.  Then the regulations are clear -- the winnings are seized and turned over to the problem gambler program.  But if the player did not bar himself because of a gambling problem, then the player might be able to prove that the casino knew he was playing and the player would be entitled to the money whether he was barred or not for something like disorderly conduct.  It would be a civil issue.  A court would have to decide."

SO YOU WANT A REALLY GOOD SET OF POKER CHIPS

Some home game poker players really want a "really good" set of poker chips.  Frankly, I didn't know the type or quality of chips made a difference to home game players -- but it does to many home game players.  One player I talked to said he wants the best -- he wants Paulson chips for his home game.  That was reasonable to me until I found out how much poker chips made by Paulson costs.  You see, Paulson poker chips are the chips used in the big Vegas poker rooms such as those at Bellagio and Caesars and Mandalay Bay and Venetian.  The Venetian has the reputation for being the top poker room in Vegas -- and that seems to make it the top in the world.  Anyway, about the best price for a Paulson chip is a bit more than $1 per chip.  Yeah, you could buy plastic chips at WalMart for about ten percent of that price-- but they won't be the quality of Paulson chips, and they won't have that "professional feel."

So, my friend the home player had an idea.  Instead of buying professional Paulson brand chips -- why not "rent them for free."  How do you do that?  Well, his idea was that instead of buying 500 Paulson chips at a price of $664.95 (which was the price we saw advertised on the Internet) his idea was to go to a casino such as Caesars or Bellagio and get 500 of their $1 chips at the cage and bring them home.  He would have 500 Paulson chips to use for his home games -- and when he was through hosting his home games, he could cash in the chips at the casino and get his money back.  "I'm using the chip free of charge," he told me.  "Instead of spending more than $600 for a set of chips, I rent the chips and can get all my money back."  You know, it makes sense.

So, I called a few casinos and asked them -- can you "buy" 500 chips at the cage and take them home?  And the answer was also reasonable -- "why not?"  Actually the casinos would love you to do this because they get the cash for their chips and hope you never bring them back.  In fact, one reason that Caesars Palace and other casinos change their chip designs so frequently is that they hope you will "collect" their chips because every chip you take home as a collectible is profit for them. 

You know who also does this?  The United States Postal Service.  They would love for you to collect their special "commemorative stamps" that are issued every few weeks to honor this or that.  Because every stamp that is collected is profit for the Postal Service.