Champions of Poker

I was playing in a tournament the other day when the following scenario occurred. I was in late position and looked down to pocket eights. I have a stack that was beginning to get short and I had decided that if the action got to me, I was going to shove. I was waiting for a couple of players to act and after a while, I said that I was going to go all-in and that the players should probably just get out of the way. The player just before me then moved all-in. This play is a very tight player and would shove with no worse than A-K. Since I had said that I was going to move all-in, I figured him on a bigger hand.

I decided to go ahead and fold. After I folded, the table blew up at me. They told me that since I had declared my action, I must bet. I told them politely that it was not my turn to act and that verbal bets are not binding unless action is on me. They insisted that they were binding. Which is correct here?

Jacob

Jacob,

Your friends were partially correct. If you had declared that you were going all-in and nobody ahead of you had put in a raise, then your verbal declaration of your bet is indeed binding. Since a player did indeed raise, then the action had changed and therefore your action was no longer binding.

Your actions here constitute both acting out of turn. If you were to do this at the World Series of Poker, you would receive a penalty for your actions. You must wait until you act before making any betting declarations. Otherwise, you are changing the natural course of the game. How do you know that your player that went all-in wasn’t going to just call. He may have indeed had you beat, and then again, he may not. You may have cost yourself bets here.

I am thinking about playing at the World Series of Poker for the first time and I am wondering what you would recommend to play. Thanks!

Well, this is a tricky question to say the least. My main answer starts with a question. Are you planning on winning satellites or are you directly buying in? If you are playing satellites, then be prepared to play a lot of NL Holdem sit-n-gos unless you plan to do so the day before the event. The day before a non-holdem event is the best time to find satellites for non-holdem games.

If you are directly buying in, then my suggestion would be for you to play whatever game you are best at. Many writers will suggest that you look at one of the lower buy-in NL Holdem events as they have huge soft fields. This is good if you are a NL player, but what if you are a PLO player, a Stud player, or a mixed game player.

You want to play in an event that gives you the best chance to do well. Normally this means that you should play your best game. In some cases, you should play the game that you have the most success in.

For example, my best game is Stud 8 or Better, but I do better in Limit Holdem tournaments overall. (Although in reality, my % of making the money in Stud 8 tourneys are a lot higher than Limit Holdem, but there are more Holdem tourneys.) As a result, I chose to play Limit Holdem at the WSOP as my game of choice the first year. It paid off as I made the money in the event. I did the same the next year. I also played the Stud 8 and did go deep, but fell short of the money.

Essentially, play what gives you the best chance to do well and play your best. Good luck to you at the tables.

Gus Hansen was born in 1974 in Denmark and is known as one of the best No Limit Holdem players alive. He started his gambling career as a backgammon player and actually tried to make a go at being a backgammon player, but the action was not big enough for Hansen and he moved onto poker. His aggressive and wildly aggressive style always keeps his opponents guessing. He is known to play almost any two cards and is regularly paid off when he has a hand or when his garbage connects. When someone is playing really wild and crazy at the table, they are usually referred to as another Gus Hansen.

Hansen is one of the most successful players in the history of the World Poker Tour. In the WPT’s very first season, Hansen won two WPT titles. His very first title came at the World Poker Classic in 2002. The final table included John Juanda, Freddy Deeb, John Hennigan, and Scotty Nguyen. He would outlast John Juanda heads up to win his first title and $556,460. He would then win the 2003 L.A. Poker classic for his 2nd title and $532,490.

Later in the year, he would also take down the Bad Boys of Poker event that WPT put on specifically for TV. He outlasted Paul Darden heads-up for the win. Hansen’s third WPT title came at the 2004 PokerStars.com Caribbean Adventure. Daniel Negreanu, Hoyt Corkins, and John D’Agostino all made the final table. Corkins and Hansen would play heads up and in the end, Hansen walked away with the $455,780 top prize.

Besides his three WPT titles, he has four other WPT final table finishes. His most noted came at the 2008 WPT Championship. Hansen made the final table of the event with David Chiu, and Jeff King. In the end, Hansen and Chiu would battle heads up. Hansen would fall short of his fourth WPT title, finishing in 2nd place. Second still paid a hefty $1.71 Million. In total, Hansen has won over $4 Million on the World Poker Tour.

Outside of the WPT, Hansen’s only other major title came in 2007 when he took down the Main Event of Aussie Millions. He won over $1.19 Million after outlasting both Jimmy Fricke and Andy Black at the final table. Hansen has not had much success at the World Series of Poker to date. He finished in the money in the 2004, 2007, and 2008 Main Event, with his best finish being 61st in the 2007 WSOP. He did come up just short of the final table of the WSOP Europe Main Event, finishing in 10th place.

For his career, Hansen has won over $7.29 Million in live tournaments. This ranks him 18th on the all-time money list and 5th on the WPT all-time money list. At only 34 years of age, Hansen still has many years left in him to terrorize players at the poker table. With his ever changing style, he should be able to take down several more titles in his career and make a run at the all-time money lead before his career is complete.

Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi got his start in poker from his older brother Robert Mizrachi. Michael saw how much his brother was making at playing poker online that he started to play and after while had moved up in limit up to $100-$200 Limit Holdem. Mizrachi was actually studying to become a doctor but dropped out of college to pursue professional poker.

Mizrachi first started playing on the tournament circuit in 2004. He had some mild success that first year. He won a weekly tournament at the Bellagio in Vegas and finished 11th in the $1,500 No Limit Event at the World Series of Poker that year. It wasn’t until near the end of the year that he hit his first large score when he won a preliminary event at the World Poker Classic for $273,040. Little did anyone know what type of success Mizrachi would have, and that success would start in 2005 on the World Poker Tour.

Mizrachi made his first WPT cash and final table at the 2005 Jack Binion World Poker Open in Tunica, MS. He would finish 5th at a table that would include Daniel Negreanu, Chau Giang, and Scotty Nguyen. Clearly this fanned the flamed of Mizrachi as not only did he make the final table of the very next WPT event, but he won it. Mizrachi would outlast a strong final table including Hung La, Ted Forrest, and Erick Lindgren to win his first WPT title and $1.85 Million. A couple of months later he would finish 11th at the WPT Championship.

2006 would see Mizrachi have back to back final tables as well. First, he finished 2nd at the World Poker Open in Tunica, MS behind Scotty Nguyen. Nguyen gave Mizrachi a huge compliment during the event saying that Mizrachi was the real deal. Just 10 days later, Mizrachi took his 2nd WPT title at the Borgata Winter Open when he outlasted John D’Agostino to win the $1.17 Million top prize. In total, Mizrachi has won over $4.16 Million on the World Poker Tour.

To date, Mizrach has not won a bracelet at the World Series of Poker. He came close in 2008 when he finished 3rd in the Pot Limit Omaha World Championship. Of course, Mizrachi is still only 27 years old, so he still has many more chances to try and win his bracelet, and with his skills, one should be in reach soon.

For his career, Mizrachi has won over $6.7 Million in live tournaments. At just 27, he is 22nd on the all-time money list. He also ranks 4th all-time on the WPT money list. His ability to grind people down at the table earned him his nickname of “The Grinder.” Mizrachi is one of the most feared and respected No Limit players at the table today. His grinding style has allowed him to win more money by 27 than most players earn for their entire career. Expect to continue seeing great things from Michael Mizrachi, including a few more titles in both the WPT and WSOP.

Sometime people are forced into a particular career out of sheer neccessity. Freddy Deeb is one of those men. Deeb grew up in Beirut, Lebanon where he learned to play different card games, including poker, from his family members. He never considered a career in gambling as he went to college at Utah State University in the U.S. to study Mechanical Engineering.

Then, Civil War broke out in Lebanon. Deeb lost contact, and subsequently college funding, from his parents for two years. Deeb was unable to go to work in the United States because he was here on a student Visa. Deeb then decided to become a gambler and moved out to Reno to pursue this. Deeb became successful out in Reno playing poker and decided to make that his career.

Deeb started having success in tournaments in 1990 when he finished 2nd in the $2,500 No Limit Holdem Event at the World Series of Poker. He took $130,000 for this win. In 1994, he took the $5,000 No Limit Holdem event at the L.A. Poker Classicfor $134,000. Deeb would then win his first major title in poker in 1996 when he won his first gold bracelet at the World Series of Poker. He took down the $5,000 Deuce to Seven Lowball event and $146,250.

Deeb would also have great success on the World Poker Tour. He has cashed seven times on the WPT, with three final tables and one WPT Title. He won his WPT title at the 2005 Ultimate Poker Classic in Aruba. This win earned him $1 Million. Deeb has won over $1.58 Million on the World Poker Tour.

Deeb’s greatest feat in poker occurred at the 2007 World Series of Poker. Deeb made the final table of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship with Bruno Fitoussi, John Hanson, Amnon Filippi, Kenny Tran, David Singer, Barry Greenstein, and Thor Hansen. In the end, Deeb would weave his way through the stacked field to win the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship and over $2.276 Million in cash. The $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. Event is considered by many to be the true World Championship of Poker and Deeb now had claimed this prestigious title.

Deeb is well known for his patterned multi-colored shirt. The shirt became famous at the 2003 WSOP when after Phil Ivey flopped a set of seven’s against Deeb’s kings, Deeb would catch a third king to win the pot. Ivey would say, “Must be the shirt.” Deeb has regularly worn the shirt, or one similar since.

To date, Freddy Deeb has won over $5.9 Million in live tournaments. This puts him 28th on the all-time money list. The circumstances of Deeb’s life changed his path from being an engineer to being a professional gambler. Sometimes our lives need a little push to get them going in the direct they were intended. Whether Deeb would have become a poker player if not for the Lebanese Civil War is unknown, but in the end both Deeb and the poker world are better off for him being forced down an unlikely path.

Chau Giang is the definition of a survivor. Born in Vietnam around 1955, Giang fled Vietnam in the late 70’s via a small boat and arrived in Florida. Here he started working minimum wage jobs to survive. Afterward, he moved to Colorado where he $160 per week as a chef. While working as a chef he began to learn the game of poker. After honing his abilities he decided to move to Las Vegas to become a professional gambler. After he moved to Vegas, he made over $100,000 in the first year he was there. From that point Giang never looked back.

Giang has primarily focused on cash games over the years. As a result, he really didn’t start playing tournaments until the early 90’s and then very sparingly. The only tournaments that he frequented were at the World Series of Poker. Giang won his first WSOP bracelet in 1993 when he took down the $1,500 Ace to Five Draw event. He also finished runner-up in the $1,500 Pot Limit Holdem event that year.

Giang’s tournament play over the next few years centered almost entirely around the WSOP. When he did play, he did achieve a lot of success. He cashed six times in 1995 and made two final tables. In 1996 he finished 13th in the Main Event. In 97 he finished 3rd in the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Event. In 1998, Giang won his second bracelet when he took down the $2,000 Omaha 8 or Better event.

From 1999 to 2004, his only tournament cashes were at the WSOP which included 4 final table appearances. In 2004, Giang started to play a few more major events due to his family wondering why he was never on TV. This led to his third bracelet win in 2004 when he won the $2,000 Pot Limit Omaha event. Giang would continue to make strong showings at the WSOP including eight cashes in the 2008 WSOP. He just missed the final table by a couple spots in 3 of those events and made his 2nd cash ever in the Main Event.

Giang has also had a lot of success on the World Poker Tour. He has cashed in 13 WPT events and has made two final tables. He finished 2nd at the World Poker Open in 2005 and he finished 5th at the L.A. Poker Classic in 2007.

In total, Giang has made over $3.29 Million in live tournaments. This amount could have been a lot higher but Giang prefers to play high stakes cash games. For years he has been a highly respected high stakes player and regular participant in the “Big Game” in Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio.

Chau Giang escaped from Vietnam to make a better life for himself in America. Through hard work, he has made a name for him in the poker world and is among the most respect high stakes players in the game. Whether at the poker felt or in major poker tournament, Chau Gian is a force to be reckoned with at the poker table.

Have you seen the movie about the ex-con that got out of prison, went into business, and then became a successful poker player? Probably not, because the movie hasn’t been made yet, but if it was, it would be based on the real life story of David “DevilFish” Ulliott.

David Ulliott dropped out of high school at 16 and started playing cards in local casinos. He was also part of a group of men that went and robbed safes at various businesses. Eventually Police caught one of the men committing the robberies. Ulliott was named as an accomplice and he went to prison for nine months. After getting out, he was later arrested for armed robbery and public fighting and went to prison for another 18 months.

After getting out of prison, Ulliott straightened his life out and opened a pawn shop that later was converted into a jewelry business. During his time as a businessman, Ulliott was playing poker, but eventually the games dried up and he was outright banned from card rooms because nobody wanted to play with him.

Eventually Ulliott went on to play in professional poker tournaments, where he had success at both the World Series of Poker and on the World Poker Tour. Ulliott won his first bracelet in 1997 when he won the $2,000 Pot Limit Holdem event and $180,310. He nearly won the $3,000 Pot Limit Holdem event a year later but finished 2nd. He would also have two runner-up finishes in the 2001 WSOP, just missing out on the $2,000 Pot Limit Holdem Bracelet and the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha bracelet.

Ulliotts biggest win on the World Poker Tour came at the 2003 World Poker Open in Tunica, MS. He was able to take down the event for his first WPT title and $589,175. His next biggest win was actually his largest score in a poker tournament to date. He finished 3rd at the World Poker Classic in 2007 for $674,500.

In addition to his WSOP and WPT success, Ulliott has many other large wins in poker tournaments around the world. He has won over $5.28 Million in live tournaments. This puts him 34th all-time in career earnings. His win in the first series of Late Night Poker prompted the network to continue to air the show, mainly in part to Ulliott’s prescience. At one point, Ulliott was sponsored by UltimateBet.com and has recently started up his own site DevilFishPoker.com. He was banned from all Fox Sport Net poker events after flashing an advertisement of his site in his jacket after being forbidden to do so by the network.

Ulliott still owns his jewelry business back in Hull England. He has recently tried to change his image. He used to come to the table with his hair slicked back and wearing sunglasses. He decided to change when he noticed a lot of people were looking like him. He still wears his signature Devil Fish brass knuckles at the table.

David Ulliott has made quite a name for himself in the poker world. He came up from criminal roots to become a businessman and a fearsome poker player. If you sit at a table and the “Devil Fish” decide to sit down with you, you may want to find yourself a new game.

One of the nicest professionals that you will meet at the poker table is Chris Reslock. Reslock is a professional poker player in the Atlantic City, NJ area that used to be a cab driver. Once poker became legal in AC, he started playing poker and became proficient in most games but favored $10-$20 Holdem. He made so much money playing poker that he decided to park the cab and to stick with poker.

For the first few years of Reslock’s pro career, most of his wins centered around the Atlantic City area. He won a stud event at the 2001 United States Poker Championship, two events at the 2003 Tropicana Poker Championship Series, and one at Showdown at the Sands in 2003. He also made numerous final table appearances and money finishes.

His biggest poker score to date and his first significant tournament win came at the World Series of Poker Circuit in 2005. He took down the Main Event of the Atlantic City WSOP-C stop to win his first gold championship ring and $335,235. Ten days later he would finish runner up at the Trump Classic Main Event and take down $126,000. Reslock would win his 2nd WSOP Circuit ring in 2006 when he won a preliminary event at the Harrah’s Atlantic City circuit event.

Relock at present has only seven cashes at the World Series of Poker for his career, but two of them are some of the biggest accomplishments on his poker resume. First, Reslock won his first, and so far only, WSOP bracelet when he won the 2007 Seven Card Stud World Championship. The final table of this pro heavy field included Phil Ivey, David Oppenheim, Ted Lawson, and Marco Traniello. Reslock made it heads-up with Ivey and defeated Ivey in short order to win his first WSOP bracelet. Later, Reslock would make the money of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship, finishing 15th out of 148 of the best players on the planet.

Reslock has several other poker titles in the AC area. He took two titles at the 2006 Trump Classic and then came back in 2007 to take another title at the Trump Classic and make 2 other final tables. He also made two final tables at the 2007 United States Poker Championship.

2008 has also been a good year for Reslock as he started off the year winning his 3rd WSOP Circuit ring at the circuit stop in Tunica, MS. He then won two titles at the 2008 United States Poker Championships and made two final tables at the World Poker Finals. In total, Chris Reslock has earned over $1.45 Million in live tournaments. Not bad for a former taxi driver.

Chris Reslock brings a solid style of poker to the table in any poker game he plays and has enjoyed in just about every form of poker played inside of a casino. This former taxi drive will come to the table and charm you with his friendly personality. Afterward, he will “taxi” your chips right into his stack.

Hoyt Corkins is probably one of the most soft spoken poker players that you will ever meet. He comes to the table wearing his signature cowboy boot and hat. Upon talking to him and finding out about his ranch in Alabama, you would likely peg him as a fun loving cowboy at the table to have a good time. You will soon find out that he is a fearsome poker player after all your chips are in his stack.

Corkins learned how to play poker at the age of 19 from his father. He started playing professional poker tournaments in the late 80 and had some mild success, including a win in Pot Limit Omaha at the 1990 Super Bowl of Poker and a 1990 WSOP Main Event win. However, his first major poker title did not come to him until 1992.

Corkins won his first World Series of Poker bracelet in 1992 in Pot Limit Omaha. His win earned him $96,000 and his first major title. He would then finish in 10th in the Pot Limit Holdem event later in the series. After his win, Corkins would leave the poker scene for 11 years. He went through a divorce and decided to stay away from the game. It wasn’t until his new fiancé prompted him to return to poker that he decided to give poker another go.

Corkins came back to poker in 2003 and in short order took down his 2nd major title, this time with the World Poker Tour. Corkins won the World Poker Finals to take home his first WPT title and the $1.089 Million prize. Two months later in early 2004, Corkins would finish in 2nd at the PokerStars.com Caribbean Adventure for another $290,065.

Corkins was now a force in the poker world and continued to make many strong finishes in poker. He finished 3rd in the Main Event of the United States Poker Championship in 2004 and then followed up with a 2nd place finish at the 2005 WSOP Tournament of Champions. He then made his third WPT final table in 2006, finishing 3rd at the Legends of Poker.

Corkins would win his 2nd WSOP gold bracelet in 2007 when he took down the $2,500 Six Handed No Limit Holdem event. A few months later Corkins would come just short of his 2nd WPT title, finishing 2nd at the World Poker Open in Tunica MS. The 2008 WSOP was also strong for Corkins. He finished in the money five times, including a 4th place finish in the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. event and money finish in the Main Event.

Hoyt Corkins has earned over $4 Million in live tournaments for his career. Outside of poker, Corkins tends sixty head of cattle at his ranch in Alabama. His fearsome play at the table has earned him the nickname of “nightmare.” Phil Hellmuth says that he is a “great bluffer who constantly puts people to the test.” With the support of his family, Corkins has come back to the poker world after an 11 year absence to dominate it. At just 40 years of age, Corkins will be bringing his soft spoken nature to the tables for many years to come, and walking away with most, if not all, of his opponent’s chips.

Mel Judah was born in Calcutta, India in 1947. He first learned how to play poker at the age of 14 by watching his father play five card draw. Later, Judah would become a hairdresser for Vidal Sassoon. He later left being a hairdresser to pursue professional poker.

Judah has many strong finishes at the WSOP and a couple of historic ones as well. Judah won his first WSOP bracelet in 1989 when he took the $1,500 Seven Card Stud Event. He would nearly capture his 2nd in 1990 when he finished runner-up in the $1,500 Limit Holdem Event. He would record his first WSOP Main Event cash that year, finishing 17th in the Main Event. Judah would have another runner-up finish in 1991 in the $1,500 Omaha 8 or Better event. Judah would also record Main Event cashes in 1992 and in 1995.

1997 was Judah’s best year in the WSOP. First he made the final table of the $1,500 Stud 8 Event where he finished 8th. Next, he won his 2nd gold bracelet by taking down the $5,000 Seven Card Stud Event.

For those of you that watch poker on TV, you probably remember Judah most from his final table appearance at the Main Event in 1997. This final table was famous for two reasons. First, it was the first, and thankfully only, final table to be played outdoors. Next, it featured Stu Ungar, who hadn’t come close to winning the Main Event since his 2nd title 16 years earlier. Judah was an unfortunate victim to history as the day was meant for Ungar. Judah finished in 3rd place and Ungar went on to claim his third WSOP Main Event title. It would sadly prove to be Ungar’s last title as Ungar died in 1998 after complications due to drug use.

After his 1997 finish, Judah has headlined several final tables at the WSOP and finish in the money in numerous events. He finished in the money in the 2000 Main Event and had another runner-up finish in the $5,000 Stud Event in 2003.

Judah also has had success on the World Poker Tour. To date, Judah has had only two cashes on the WPT, but he has made both of them count. Both cashes occurred within months of each other in 2003. First, Judah won the WPT Event at Legends of Poker after outlasting a final table that included T.J. Cloutier, Phil Laak, and Chip Jett. Later, Judah would go on to make the final table of the World Poker Classic where he would finish in 6th place. Judah has won $783,059 on the World Poker Tour to date.

For his career, Mel Judah has made over $3 Million in live tournaments. His conservative yet stellar play has earned him the nickname of “The Silver Fox.” Lately, Judah does not play as large of a schedule as in years past, but is always in the field for several major events and the World Series of Poker. Judah has also helped to create the World Poker Championship in Dublin, Ireland and helps run the event as its Tournament Director. Judah is well respect for his accomplishments at the poker table and with good reason. He has won Millions in his career and played with the greatest players of all-time. In the case of Mel Judah, his respect is well earned.