By Karaoke Phil Fuehrer

A couple of months back I wrote about Wyn Santo beating me out by one point to win the bar I play in for the MN Poker League (Free Poker Network).

Karma has a way of balancing out life.  Ying doesn’t exist without yang.  And, the bad that may have happened to you is, most often, balanced out by something good.

I found such balance in the current Free Poker Network promotion that’s going on.  I continue to tackle Erik’s Bar in St. Paul each Tuesday evening.   After finishing May in 2nd and 33 pts behind Jody Hamilton I took the lead from him the first week of June.

He missed the next week which allowed me to extend my lead when I finished 2nd.   It’s the break I needed as our battle down the final three weeks of June had Jody outperforming me with 2nd, 7th and 4th place finishes to my 8th, no points and 6th place results.  In the end I held on by 2 points to win Tuesday and qualify directly to the state tournament in my 5th consecutive promotion.

What goes around, comes around – the sweet grace of karma has that way of balancing things out.

Check out our latest podcast – Episode 86 and 86.5 – covering Listener Feedback, Poker News including the 2010 WSOP, Part II of our interview with poker Pro Marcus Steinhauer, a Hand of the Week and the Minnesota Music Segment featuring: Stellar Vector

Karaoke Phil

The MN State Championship for the FreePokerNetwork (MN Poker League) took place last weekend at the Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen.  It was their 2010 WSOP Promotion and my fourth consecutive appearance at an FPN State Championship event.  I hadn’t had great success in the last three but did pretty well this time – if you follow us on twitter ( @cplpokerpodcast ) you know I finished an even 40th (out of about 215 entrants) when my short stacked A/J suited ran into Big Slick.

I came home and continued my Tuesday night league play at Erik’s Bar in St. Paul.  Lo and behold I won this week (about 40 players in attendance).  I got to thinking - does the State Championship affect my play at all?  I mean, even my two wretched Championship finishes had me in a strong poker frame of mind. I spend plenty of mental energy evaluating various aspects of my play and that of my typical opponents.

So, I did a little analysis of past performance in the week following State play.  A great aspect of FPN is that they record and keep a great set of statistics on players – you want to know how you did on that Saturday night two years ago when you were deer hunting outside of Ely and stopped in to play at that bar?  They have it.

We already know I won this week.  In looking at the past three State Championships and the regular league week immediately following it I find that I have one other win, a second and a 4th place finish.  The two wins came after my two better/deeper finishes.  Average attendance is 36 or 37 players over this sampling (so, it’s more than a really slow week of only 2 tables).

Sure, it’s a small sample but there does seem to be a strong correlation.  I final table a little more than half the time on average and have recorded 5 wins (in 74 matches), yet have final tabled 100% of the time and have 2 of those 5 wins in the 4 matches after a State Championship.  It seems that the more intensified focus and stronger play overall raises my game.

Maybe next time I’ll try to stage a mock State Tourney a few days before actually going so I can stop saying: “Why didn’t this happen a couple days ago?”.   After all, I really wanted that shot at the WSOP this year.

Check out our latest podcast – Episode 84 – covering the CPL Podcast Challenge, the CPL Hand of the Week (Phil vs. Phil), News and Fan Feedback. This episode’s MN Music Segment features the band:  Flavor.

Suck Out! The CPL’s own Docu-Series continues….Read the earlier posts in this series here (Intro) and here (Staking) and here (Backer’s Perspective).

By Karaoke Phil

I’ve been called a donkey. Now, I’m a horse. Mark (my backer) and I have fantasized about the WSOP and tried to develop schemes to get there. Haven’t we all? Many times I have talked about selling “pieces” of myself to raise the needed money to play (only half in jest). No one ever took me up on any such ideas. Til now.

“Really?” I think I actually said that out loud to myself during that CPL Monday Madness game. Mark told me to check my email because as he wrote in the table’s chat box, “I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.” Yeah, surprised is as good a word as any.

Okay, sure, Mark and I are friends. We go way back – to about the time of the transition from Carter to Reagan. For you younger readers those were Presidents last century. This stake is for $55. I know Mark would just give me the $55 if I really needed it. But, he didn’t have to make this offer – let alone actually transfer the money over (within minutes) when I said “sure.” Yes, I am surprised, but I am also honored. Mark likes to play cards himself, but he’s entrusting this money to me.

I must, obviously, enter this with a plan. Foremost, I cannot let Mark down. I am taking this as a very serious business arrangement and I want to make good on my end of the bargain. As I do with many such things I’ll have staged goals. First, I need to “break even”. At the very least I don’t want any “cake” weighing me down and giving me poker diabetes. Beyond that, of course, is the desire to earn some money.

FullTilt Poker offers plenty of games selection from which to choose. I will certainly play a Midnight Madness on the 4th or last tournament. It’s a big field with a total guarantee of $15K and always ends up with about a $17K prize pool. If things don’t go well that Midnight Madness shot will be the attempt to make things right (and, likely, the best shot at “big” money).

There are numerous No-Limit Hold ‘em (NLHE) full and short table tournaments from which to choose. And, there are daily Stud H/L and HORSE tournaments that look quite appealing. Then there are the Sit-n-goes (SNGs): NLHE offers 1, 2, 3 and 5 table options – 9 handed of course. Finally, there are Matrix SNGs for HORSE, OH8 and Stud H/L that may not make much money for anyone, but are a good bet for not losing much. That’s a conservative route I won’t likely take.

Upon deeper reflection my one wish is that I had a little more flexibility, but my backer set the parameters at 5 – $11 tourneys or SNGs – my choice of which ones. It would have been nice, however, to poke around at the regular $8.80 tourneys where I have had some good success. There also seems to be more variety at the $5.50 level including 2 table HORSE SNGs which are a favorite of mine. I think Mark would certainly alter the terms but, I can work under these parameters. We have our marching orders and I have a plan. Let’s shuffle up the cards and start the dealing.

Check out our latest podcast – Episode 83 – covering the Durr Challenge, the CPL Podcast Challenge, the CPL Cada Challenge, and Fan Feedback. This episode’s MN Music Segment features Sunshine Behavior.

By Phil Fuehrer

It’s a 16-week season (comprised of two 8-week sessions).  Come out ahead on points and you get a snazzy card protector as your League Champ “trophy”.   I speak, of course, of the Free Poker Network (MN Poker League) bar league that I regularly play.

We just concluded our WSOP 2010 promotion at Erik’s Bar in St. Paul where I play on Tuesdays.  It was my fourth promotion with FPN.  I won the bar during two of the previous three seasons (promos) I’ve played.   During this season I took down session 1 (first 8 weeks); that put me in the driver’s seat for a third bar championship and a growing collection of card protectors.

Session two started badly for me.  While I was at Running Aces during week 1 playing my home poker league winnings (an entry into RA’s $185 POY tourney) Wyn Santo was taking down Erik’s.   I missed out on gaining some bar points, but did get a chance to play with POY-Leader Everett Carlton.  When we collapsed to 2 tables he came over.  I busted out in 14^th.  I think Everett went on to win.

Okay, no big deal.  I had a good lead and after finishing a spot ahead of Wyn in week two (4^th to his 5^th) he went on a four week cold streak while I pointed with 5^th and 14^th place finishes.   Two weeks to go and I have a 192 point lead.  I haven’t clinched but I’m looking good.

I reached the final table of session 2’s week 7 (the 15^th week overall).  It’s good for 96 points.  Unfortunately, Wyn is still alive and goes on to win – collecting 221 points.  My lead is down to 67 points.   It’s a tenuous position, but Wyn will need to point (top 30% of the field).  If I make points myself he’ll need to finish 4 or 5 spots above me.  I reach the final table again – busting out in 6^th place.   And, yes, Wyn is still there, still collecting chips.  He needs to finish first or second though – I have some hope.   That hope fades as quickly as the Eric Bana/Drew Barrymore movie “Lucky You” left the theaters.  Players start falling like dominoes.  Wyn takes second.

I play 15 of the 16 weeks and reach the final table a solid ten times (winning twice) in fields averaging 38 players.  Wyn also plays 15 weeks and wins twice.   He only reaches the final table 9 times but the second place he grabs in week 16 is enough to pass me – 1440 points to 1439.  I hate you Wyn.  Congratulations on taking down the bar.

Check out our latest podcast – Episode 82 – covering the CPL Cada Challenge –Deep Stack Thoughts with Jack PokerHandy –  Hand of the Week-Phil vs Phil and our MN Music Segment featuring: Pen15. Minnesota’s ONLY poker podcast.

By Mark Cardenas

What is an average poker player to do?  To me, it seems we are in a Poker No Man’s Land.  In tennis, No Man’s Land is the area on the court around the service line; about 1/2 way between the base line and the net.  It’s called No Man’s Land because when you are in this area, you are not in position to attack or defend very well…and you will most likely lose the point to your opponent.  From No Man’s Land you are indecisive, you don’t have the angles, you don’t have purpose…you are simply looking to have your opponent win the point by sending a passing shot down either lane. The average poker player can sometimes find themselves in the poker equivalent of “No Man’s Land”.  Unwilling to stay in the game levels where they have had success, itching and excited to move up, but lacking the tools to attack effectively at higher levels.

I consider myself an average poker player.  Average players are better than those just starting out or your run-of-the-mill recreational poker player (like Uncle Al and his Annual Thanksgiving Family Free for All).  Average players are better than most on the bar poker scene (didn’t get all their poker strategy from ‘that guy playin pool over there’).  However, average players have not hit ‘The Big Score’ which allows them to quit their day jobs and get a condo in Vegas.  They’re likely a little too short on their skills to live life as a grinder. And, they certainly do not have the bankroll to support a steady diet of mid to large buy-in tournaments.

What is an average poker player to do?  My suggestion is to manage your bankroll effectively.  Keep being profitable where you have success until your bankroll supports moving up! Keep honing your skills in a solid home poker league.  It’ll take patience and endurance to ‘grind it out’ on weeknights and weekends – while keeping that Monday to Friday day job.  You’ll need to buy into satellites to give yourself a shot at some serious cash…and it may take several satellites before you make it to a bigger tournament.  Keep in mind that once you make it to a bigger tournament you’ll still face the Matterhorn-like climb of making it into the money.  But, don’t fret and don’t give up!  You are in good company with many many other average poker players! All it takes is one tournament!  Stay out of Poker’s No Man’s Land and stay where you are effective until you hit that big tourney!

Be sure to check out our latest podcast – Episode 81 – covering the Minnesota State Poker Tour at Running Aces, Poker News, Hand of the Week  (from the 04/09 MSPT Satellite) sponsored by Mike Behr Photography, MN Music Segment by Jakes Obsession. Minnesota’s ONLY poker podcast.

There are several reasons to form and play a home poker league: camaraderie, something fun to do or to win some coin are just a few.  Aside from these aspects one founding idea for our home league was to improve our players’ games.  If our games become great so will our poker bankrolls – at least that’s the theory.  Hence, an additional aspect of play in the CPL is player improvement.

That leads us to today’s Home Game Resource Tip.  In our league we implemented what we call the “Missouri Chip”.   As we all know (okay, maybe not more than 10% of the population outside of Missouri) is that the Missouri state nickname is “The Show Me State”.

What does that have to do with poker, you ask?   Implementing a Missouri Chip gives you an opportunity, once per match, to force an opponent to show his/her cards.  Most players hate to show their cards and will often go so far as to try and wait for a caller to show down first so they can muck their losing hand (if need be).  The Missouri Chip forces an occasional show.

For leagues that are dedicated to player improvement as a goal the Missouri Chip is an innovative way to add an educational element to the game.  No, not teaching trivia to your members about all 50 state nicknames, but allowing a player to learn just what forces them to fold.  Did they get the pants bluffed off of them? Did they make the lay down of the century?  Does Tina really go all in during the first level any time she’s dealt 8/3 off suit on the button and she’s first in? The Missouri Chip gives players a chance to learn a little something about playing styles, difficult situations and their “reading” ability.   A player winning the hand also benefits from needing to monitor the times a Missouri Chip is used against him/her so that they can adjust their game in future similar situations.

Obviously, each league needs to create their own rules for usage of such a device.  For our league, it’s one chip per person per match. You may only use your chip immediately prior to (or with) your fold. If more than one other opponent is still in the hand (say a bet from Tom and a raise from Jane) and you fold you must designate which player’s cards to see (for example, “I’m going to use my Missouri Chip on Jane and fold.”).  Finally, if a player doesn’t use their chip and gets knocked out the unused Missouri Chip goes to the player winning the hand – giving that player a little bonus on top of knocking someone out. There are a few more minor rules regarding the chip but this gives you a starting idea for your home poker league.

Use the Missouri Chip in your league to add an extra element of learning for your players and improve everyone’s game.

Be sure to check out our latest podcast – Episode 75 – covering Minnesota Bar Poker updates, Listener Mail, CPL Casino Review (Aria Las Vegas), plus the CPL Minnesota Music Segment features The Khakis!  Minnesota’s ONLY poker podcast.

Ok, let me try to give you some perspective on where I’m coming from.  I have been playing real poker (holdem) for about 3+ years, and I can tell ya that playing regularly online, at the casinos, and in a weekly poker league, teaches you a thing or two (or ten) about your poker playing skills. And, although I have improved dramatically from the first few months of playing…I have not improved nearly as much as Karaoke Phil.

This is partly due to the fact that Karaoke was sooooo bad when he started playing (yes…I said bad…and yes, this directly contradicts Karaoke’s statement in the previous Docu-Series post that he was an ‘ok’ poker player when he started), but also due to the fact that Karaoke has honed his skills of reading players well beyond my current level.  I’ve seen this guy make “Kid Poker” type reads over and over again when he is ‘tuned in’. Then again, I’ve seen him completely talk himself out of a hand.

There are many reasons that I am excited to Stake Karaoke Phil in his quest to become a Poker Pro.  I’ve listed the main ones below:

• Karaoke is simply a better player than I am. As such, I have a better chance of winning if Karaoke is playing with my money! It is a no brainer to me. Every day people give stock brokers money to do what they feel is right to make us money. I look at this similarly. I have trust that my poker money in Phil’s hands will be managed well.
• I have seen truly great poker playing of Karaoke, both live and online. I know that he is approaching a turning point in his early career and I am looking to help him turn that corner.
• This is one of those fabulous ‘win-win’ scenarios…Karaoke gets to play without risk and I get to possibly earn some cash along the way.
• Both Karaoke and I knew this would make a great blog….so if nothing else it is entertaining!
• If this turns out incredibly well….’Mr. Karaoke Phil’ may make his best friend, who supported him through the early days, his own personal Poker Manager.

I am confident that my backing of Karaoke Phil is a good move and a smart investment. On a personal note, I think it is exactly the type of activity that Phil needs to get over the ‘hump’ and make a run at something big!

I am excited to be the “Backer”, the “Cash”, the “Money Clip”, or whatever else you would like to call it. I am also excited for Phil to participate in this opportunity!

Good Luck Karaoke Phil! I’ve got a piece of you! And you’ve got Irons in the Fire! Now bring back the goods!

Like my fellow blogger here at MN Poker Mag – Michael Hughes: My Journey to the WSOP – I, too, play in the Free Poker Network (bar league).   I’ll be joining Michael for the State Tourney in May (or whenever it happens) for the WSOP promotion after winning session 1 at my bar (Erik’s in St. Paul).  But, first comes the State Tourney for last Season – “The Fall Spectacular” – my third consecutive FPN State Tourney.

I’ll be heading up to the Shooting Star Casino on Friday to prep for the big day on Saturday.   Across the state there have been 251 qualifiers – the top 7 players will win airfare/hotel packages and a spot in the exclusive 25-player National Championship in Vegas.   Main prize there? A $5k WSOP Circuit Main Event seat!  Another $7K in various others entries will also be given away.

The odds will be difficult but I feel a few things are in my favor.  First, not all 251 people will show.  The last time we were in Mahnomen there were 30 or so no shows for a bigger prize pool.

Second, I’m playing well.  I’ve struggled recently in our home league, but finally took that down this week.   In the FPN, I’ve final tabled (it’s an 8-player table in their league) 8 of the last 10 tournaments (average field size of 33) and played better than my finish looked a couple weeks back in an HPT League Match (36^th of 75 players).

Next, I hope to learn from experience – as I noted above, this is my third straight FPN State Tourney.  I have much more confidence now in how to play my way through it.  It’s a bit of deeper stack tournament and I’ve “rushed” a little too much in my first two appearances (going out about a third of the way in on one and about level 3 in the other – ouch).

Finally, FPN does a great job of keeping track of various stats – average points earned per tourney, “winning” and “losing” streaks (really streaks of finishing top 30% or not), a “power” ranking they created and more.  Players are segmented out in numbers of matches played – allowing for more apples to apples comparison.  You need to play at least 25 times before they start listing your stats.  I’m currently in the 50 to 99 matches played category and ranked 11^th statewide (of 2720 players) for average points earned per tournament with a Power ranking of 74^th. It’s simply another chip in the confidence stack – I can compete with these guys (and gals).

I hope to have some good news to report on soon.

Karaoke Phil/MNted

Listen to MN’s only poker podcast at: www.cplpokerpodcast.com

Note: This is the second post in our “Suck Out!” serial. You can read the first posting here.

Staking

This serial is about staking and our encounter with it. Before we get too far into the series we should be sure we are all on the same page as there are a few terms and concepts you should know.

Poker is divided into tournaments and cash games. Tournaments play down to a winner (or until a “deal” is reached) while a cash game is simply ongoing play where you sit down to play and then leave as you wish – while the game continues (or breaks up if it’s 3 am and your wife is screaming at you to shut the hell up so she can get some sleep). Usually, at lower stakes anyway, players pay their own way.  If it’s a $125 tournament at a casino or sitting down at a home cash game with $40 the player digs into his pocket uses his own cash.

Sometimes players are “staked”. This is certainly more common for pricier cash games or tournaments, but with online poker it can be for any amount or money level. Staking means that someone else is putting up the money being used. Stu Ungar’s third WSOP Main Event (ME) win in 1997 is, perhaps, the greatest story about staking.

For years Ungar had abused cocaine and led a self-destructive lifestyle. The 1980 and 1981 back-to-back ME winner had reportedly gone from broke to millionaire to broke 3 or 4 times. His poor decision-making in his life meant that he had barely played in the WSOP since 1991. But then April 1997 rolled around. Stu wanted to play again, redeem himself. His bankroll had other plans. Stu was broke. Billy Baxter, a close friend of Ungar’s, offered to stake him in the Main Event and Ungar was able to register minutes before start time, the last player to register for the tournament. Stu went on to win his third WSOP ME Title.

So, in staking, you have someone who provides money, or invests, in a player. The one with the money is called a backer. The player, or the one being staked, is typically called a “horse”. The backer and horse come to agreement on the terms of a staking including money splits, playing requirements and any other conditions.

Staking is often a losing proposition in the short term in tournament play.  A horse may go several tournaments without cashing. As a result, many stakings include a “make-up” or “cake” clause. Simply put, a make-up clause means that if a horse loses an initial stake – say a $1500 WSOP tourney buy in that the player busts out of before cashing – then the player will need to make up that $1500 the next time the backer stakes him. For our example, say the backer decides to stake the player for a second $1500 tourney. This time the player cashes in the amount of $5500. Rather than splitting the $4000 profit from this tournament the player needs to “make up” the previously lost $1500 due to the cake clause they had in place. That means the actual split is on only $2500 after the player makes up for the other $1500 he lost.

For “Suck Out!” the total stake is $55 to be used in 5 – $11 tournaments. The tournaments may be multi-tables or sit-n-goes: horse’s choice.

Listen to MN’s only poker podcast at: www.cplpokerpodcast.com

I haven’t seen much talk about this but a couple weeks back Full Tilt added a double stack option to their heads up sit-n-go’s (sng’s).  These may be the best thing since numbers were put on cards.

Pre-1880 Anglo-French Playing Cards

Many are saying that Full Tilt’s recent Rush Poker implementation is the new “crack” of card games.  If that’s the case then this new double stack heads up sng structure is the way to cover payments for your “addiction”.   In my experience, most players aren’t very good at heads up play – okay, I’m talking the $1 and $2 level where I’m trolling around.  They are alternately too aggressive, too impatient, too transparent and/or too static in their play allowing one to exploit them with some ease.

The new sng structure has you starting with 3000 chips instead of the usual 1500.  This allows for plenty of room to make some plays while still surviving a mistake or a bad beat.  It also allows plenty of time to accurately figure out what style your opponent falls into so you can alter your play to beat him.  These extra chips really help the patient player and, I think, allow for superior play to ultimately prevail (usually).   Most of my games are going 70 to 90 hands, with several breaking the 100 mark.  Only 1 match lasted but a single hand (a third time tiebreak rematch against an overly aggressive chap who moved all-in after I flopped bottom two pair) – he flopped top pair as I suspected and I held on to win.

Since “discovering” this update I’ve won nearly 75% (17 of 23) of the matches I’ve played for a tidy profit of a little more than $15 – which is a good thing since Rush Poker losses have put my bankroll back on life support.

Karaoke Phil/MNted

Be sure to check out podcast episode #73 – released 02/14 – Minnesota’s ONLY poker podcast!