Final Table Poker Radio Show w/Dennis Phillips & Paul Harris

Final Table #157: Jack Effel, WSOP 2012 Schedule

dennisphillipspoker@gmail.com (Dennis Phillips & Paul Harris) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:50:00 +0000

Today on the Final Table radio show, we talked with Jack Effel, tournament director of the World Series Of Poker, about the schedule he's just released for the 2012 WSOP. The biggest changes have to do with the Main Event. If you play, it won't take two full weeks to get to the final table, and if you do, you won't have to wait all the way until November to play it out.

We also talked about other changes Jack has made to the WSOP, from new events like an Ante Only tournament to increasing capacity by 24% to fewer $10,000 buy-in events. He also talked about the satellite and deep stack tournaments that will take place every day.

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes or click here to subscribe via Stitcher (for Android phones and other devices).

We do The Final Table show every Tuesday 3pm to 4pm CT on 590 KFNS radio from the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis.

Final Table #156: Secret Accounts

dennisphillipspoker@gmail.com (Dennis Phillips & Paul Harris) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:01:00 +0000

Today on the Final Table radio show, we weren't able to talk with guest Will Failla because he was in the midst of Day 2 of the Borgata Winter Open Championship, one of many final tables he's made in that series (we'll reschedule him for a future show).

Instead, we spent the hour talking about some recent poker stories and controversies, including:

Chris Ferguson's secret Full Tilt bank accounts;
Phil Ivey returning to the Aussie Millions and winning the $250,000 buy-in Challenge;
Las Vegas poker rooms offering rakeback for multiple hours of live play;
MIT students competing to see who can write the best pokerbot software.

We also discussed this weekend's Big Game 2 at Harrah's St. Louis, some of the prop bets for Super Bowl XLVI, and the poker player who left $1 million in his will for his chauffeur.

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes or click here to subscribe via Stitcher (for Android phones and other devices).

We do The Final Table show every Tuesday 3pm to 4pm CT on 590 KFNS radio from the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis.

Final Table #155: Matt Savage

dennisphillipspoker@gmail.com (Dennis Phillips & Paul Harris) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:58:00 +0000

Today on the Final Table radio show, we recapped our weekend poker road trips. Dennis was at the Choctaw Casino in Oklahoma for a World Series Of Poker Event, along with such notables as Scotty Nguyen, TJ Cloutier, Men The Master, and Todd Brunson. Meanwhile, Paul was in California to play cash games on Live At The Bike (watch it here, with commentary by Bart Hanson & David Tuchman) and at the Commerce Casino, where the LA Poker Classic kicked off with a massive field in its first event. That led to a discussion of the pros and cons of re-entry tournaments, as well as a piece of cash game strategy you should use whenever you play in a poker room against players you don't know.

In our guest segment, Paul talked with the very busy Matt Savage, tournament director of the LAPC, the Epic Poker League, Bay 101, and the World Poker Tour. The conversation touched on those re-entry events and other new tournament ideas, the obscure questions Matt answers via his Twitter account, strategy changes he's noticed in recent years, and much more.

In our news segment, we discussed Zynga admitting that customers of its free-play internet poker platform (with more than 30,000,000 players per month) are interested in playing for money online, progress on i-poker legislation in Iowa, and a story about the man who bought Peter Eastgate's 2008 WSOP Main Event Champion bracelet and wants to use it to raise more money for charity.

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes or click here to subscribe via Stitcher (for Android phones and other devices).

We do The Final Table show every Tuesday 3pm to 4pm CT on 590 KFNS radio from the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis.

Also on The Final Table...

Final Table #154: Matt Glantz

dennisphillipspoker@gmail.com (Dennis Phillips & Paul Harris) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 04:39:00 +0000

Today on the Final Table radio show, Dennis shared more stories from the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas, including an oddly-played hand in a cash game and a great run of events for 2010 WSOP Main Event Champion Jonathan Duhamel.

In our guest segment, we talked with Matt Glantz, who has won over $4 million in poker tournaments, including a big year in 2011. He discussed his success in high-stakes mixed-games, his involvement in the Epic Poker League Standards and Conduct Committee, and his recent blog post about Responsibility In Poker (in which he urged poker pros to realize how their actions reflect on the entire industry).

Reminder: if you're going to be in St. Louis over the next two weekends, there are a couple of events you should be a part of at Harrah's St. Louis. On January 21 and 22, you can play in the $200 double-shootout World Series Of Poker Main Event Qualifiers, and on January 27-29, it's Big Game 2 weekend -- with at least two tables of $25-50 no-limit hold'em ($15,000 minimum buy-in) and two other tables of $10-20 no-limit hold'em ($2,500 minimum buy-in). If you're interested in playing, send your name and e-mail to the address on the right side of this page and we'll send you full details on how to lock up a seat, get a discounted hotel room, wire money to the poker room cashier, etc.

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes or click here to subscribe via Stitcher (for Android phones and other devices).

We do The Final Table show every Tuesday 3pm to 4pm CT on 590 KFNS radio from the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis.

Big Game 2

dennisphillipspoker@gmail.com (Dennis Phillips & Paul Harris) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:36:00 +0000

We've had several requests for information about Big Game 2, which is coming up at Harrah's St. Louis on the weekend of January 27-29, 2012. Here's what you need to know:

HOW DO I LOCK UP A SEAT?
Players for the $25/50 game may lock up a seat by contacting us before Thursday, January 26th.

Players for the $10/20 game – and any other $25/50 players who haven’t locked up a seat -- can call Harrah’s Poker Room at 314-770-7600 beginning at Noon on Friday 1/27 to reserve a spot on the list.

HOW DO I RESERVE A HOTEL ROOM?
We have a few rooms left at the discount rate which you can reserve before Tuesday, January 24th, by calling Harrah’s St. Louis (314-770-8100) -- use the hotel discount code “Big Game.”

PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY!
The games will start at 6pm on Friday, January 27th – but please don’t wait until then to show up. Last time, we had a logjam at the cashier’s window when all the players arrived just before game time. To avoid that crush and delaying the game, please be in the Harrah’s poker room by 5pm Friday so you can buy chips or access your wire transfer. If you need a safe deposit box, they will once again be available at the Harrah’s Hotel front desk for all Big Game players at no charge.

GAME DETAILS
The Big Game will be $25/50 no-limit hold’em with a $10 ante. Minimum buy-in is $15,000 with no maximum. The Harrah’s poker room cashier will have a window open for Big Game players and will have large denomination chips ready ($1k and $5k). Rake will be $8/player/half-hour with 9-handed tables.

There will also be a $10/20 no-limit hold’em game with $5 ante per player. Minimum buy-in is $2,500 with no maximum. Rake will be $7/player/half-hour. Tables will be 9-handed.

HOW DO I WIRE FUNDS TO HARRAH’S?
If you want to wire money to Harrah’s, you must do it no later than Tuesday morning 1/24. The Harrah’s contact person for this is Victoria Werckle at 314-770-8367.

ALSO IN THE ROOM
On Friday, Harrah’s will also spread $1-2 NLHE ($200 max), $1-2-5 NLHE ($500 max), $1-2-5 PLO ($500 max), and $20-40 Limit Hold’em (no max). On Saturday, same games except $20-40.

NEED A LIFT FROM THE AIRPORT?
If you’re flying into town, give us details on your flight no later than Tuesday 1/27 and we’ll arrange for the Harrah’s limo to pick you up.

QUESTIONS/PROBLEMS?
Contact us via the e-mail address on the right side of this page.

HOPE TO SEE YOU AT BIG GAME 2!!

Final Table #153: PCA 2012 + Chris Krafcik

dennisphillipspoker@gmail.com (Dennis Phillips & Paul Harris) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:01:00 +0000

Today on the Final Table radio show, Dennis reported from the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas, with stories of its Main Event, its Super High Roller ($100,000 buy-in) Event, and the effect Black Friday and the loss of US players had on attendance. We also discussed whether a new Guinness record for Fastest Online Poker Player (set by Randy Lew at the PCA) was really about poker.

In St. Louis, Paul revealed details for the first World Series Of Poker Main Event Qualifiers of the year at Harrah's St. Louis (1/21-22), and for Big Game 2 weekend at Harrah's St. Louis, January 27-29, with at least two tables of $25-50 no-limit hold'em ($15,000 minimum buy-in) and two other tables of $10-20 no-limit hold'em ($2,500 minimum buy-in). If you're interested in playing, send your name and e-mail to the address on the right side of this page and we'll send you full details on how to lock up a seat, get a discounted hotel room, wire money to the poker room cashier, etc.

Other topics we touched on included a goodbye to Jimmy Sommerfeld (retiring after 18 years as one of the best tournament directors in poker), whether Phil Ivey was worth the $11 million/year he was paid by Full Tilt, and Daniel Negreanu offering to sell pieces of himself for the $1 million buy-in One Drop tournament at the WSOP this summer.

In our guest segment, we talked with Chris Krafcik, research director for Gambling Compliance, about the latest developments in getting internet gaming back into the US, including:

how Nevada may lead the way in licensing online poker this year;
comments from the heads of two Las Vegas casinos who oppose online poker;
how New Jersey's attempt to legalize sports betting will have to overcome a federal obstacle;
whether Missouri and Illinois are likely to allow any of this in those states.

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes or click here to subscribe via Stitcher (for Android phones and other devices).

We do The Final Table show every Tuesday 3pm to 4pm CT on 590 KFNS radio from the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis.

Final Table #152: Tristan Wade

dennisphillipspoker@gmail.com (Dennis Phillips & Paul Harris) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 04:09:00 +0000

Today on the Final Table radio show, we talked about what a recent ruling by the Department of Justice regarding online gambling could mean for the return of legalized online poker in the United States. We also discussed an odd hand Dennis witnessed in a local Vegas tournament, the unique feature of Jamie Gold's poker room at the Tropicana, and how PokerStars has developed a new way to ensure that player funds are protected.

We also revealed details for Big Game 2 weekend at Harrah's St. Louis, January 27-29, with at least two tables of $25-50 no-limit hold'em ($15,000 minimum buy-in) and two other tables of $10-20 no-limit hold'em ($2,500 minimum buy-in). If you're interested in playing, send your name and e-mail to the address on the right side of this page and we'll send you full details on how to lock up a seat, get a discounted hotel room, wire money to the poker room cashier, etc.

In our guest segment, we talked with Tristan "Cre8ive" Wade, who won his first bracelet at the World Series Of Poker Europe a couple of months ago in a Shootout event. He explained the different strategies necessary for six-max games vs. full ring games, as well as how bet-sizing is a key to successful play in both cash games and tournaments. Tristan is one of the DeepStacks Live pros who will take part in the new DeepStacks Poker Tour, which kicks off next month at the Seneca Niagara Casino.

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes!

We do The Final Table show every Tuesday 3pm to 4pm CT on 590 KFNS radio from the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis.

Final Table #151: Poker Year In Review

dennisphillipspoker@gmail.com (Dennis Phillips & Paul Harris) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 03:36:00 +0000

Today on the Final Table radio show, we recapped the biggest poker stories of 2011, with help from two of the industry's top reporters, Chad Holloway of Poker News and Kevin Mathers of AllVegasPoker.com. Among the items we discussed:

the impact Black Friday had on players, tournaments, cash games, sponsorships, and the poker media;
how near-live streaming coverage of the WSOP Main Event has changed the way we watch poker on television;
the loss of most other TV poker shows, including "High Stakes Poker" and "Poker After Dark";
the launch of the Epic Poker League and its chances for success going forward;
whether we'll ever see Full Tilt founders Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson playing poker publicly again;
our picks for the person who had the most impact on poker this year.

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes!

We do The Final Table show every Tuesday 3pm to 4pm CT on 590 KFNS radio from the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis.

Final Table #150: Jean-Robert Bellande

dennisphillipspoker@gmail.com (Dennis Phillips & Paul Harris) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 23:40:00 +0000

Today on the Final Table radio show, we recapped the final weekend of the Gateway Poker Classic at Harrah's St. Louis, as well as Dennis' weekend at the inaugural event of the CardPlayer Native American Casinos Poker Tour at Choctaw Casino in Oklahoma. That led to a discussion of other new poker tours that are planned for 2012 and the latest super-high-roller tournament at Bellagio. We also touched on whether remarks last week by Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson (who said he was "morally opposed" to internet gaming) will affect ongoing efforts to legalize, license, and regulate online poker -- and whether players should direct anger about those remarks at The Venetian, a Sands property.

In our guest segment, we talked with Jean-Robert Bellande, the poker pro who was a "Survivor" contestant four years ago and is now living like a millionaire in Las Vegas, despite the fact that he's constantly broke. We talked about his huge Twitter fan base (over 30,000 followers), how he gets staked to play cash games and tournaments, which games are in the mix he plays in the Aria poker room, whether he played differently in this year's WSOP Main Event (where he finished 65th), and what his new website and bankroll management app will offer players. He also reviewed a famous hand on "Poker After Dark" earlier this year which did not end well for him.

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes!

We do The Final Table show every Tuesday 3pm to 4pm CT on 590 KFNS radio from the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis.

Follow us on Twitter: Dennis is here, Paul is here.

Final Table #149: Gateway Poker Classic

dennisphillipspoker@gmail.com (Dennis Phillips & Paul Harris) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 08:00:00 +0000

Today on the Final Table radio show, we recapped the first few days of action at the Gateway Poker Classic, including Paul playing in Friday's tournament, Dennis playing in today's event (he was being blinded off while we did the show!), the unique structure of Thursday's Jack and Jill event, and the schedule for the rest of this week, leading up to the Main Event this Saturday at Harrah's St. Louis. We also discussed Dennis' weekend at a Heartland Poker Tour event at the Peppermill Casino in Reno, Nevada.

Among the topics in our news segment:

The revelation that Facebook is planning to expand into real-money online poker in the UK, while the CEO of Zynga Poker (the free-money poker site that has more players than any other) says his company has no plans to shift to a real-money platform;
Why Pius Heinz' net take from his WSOP Main Event victory was more than any other winner in history;
Why it took so long for PokerStars to sign a deal with WSOP Main Event runner-up Martin Staszko;
Why "High Stakes Poker" is being yanked off the schedule at GSN at the end of this month after a six-year run

We also answered several listener e-mails about Full Tilt Poker's potential settlement with the US government, including whether the Department of Justice will turn over players to the Internal Revenue Service, whether the DOJ can go after "phantom funds" never collected from players' accounts, and whether it would be worth it to take a piece of the new Full Tilt in lieu of cash still in your account.

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes!

We do The Final Table show every Tuesday 3pm to 4pm CT on 590 KFNS radio from the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis.

Final Table #148: Greg Mueller & Jamie Gold

dennisphillipspoker@gmail.com (Dennis Phillips & Paul Harris) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 04:41:00 +0000

Today on The Final Table poker radio show, we squeezed in two guests, plenty of news, and full details on the schedule and structure of the tournaments that will make up the Gateway Poker Classic series beginning this Thursday (December 1) at Harrah's St. Louis.

We began with two new kinds of tournaments Dennis encountered at Bellagio, each of which requires some novel strategic thinking. In one, you can buy-in to Day 1a, 1b, and 1c -- and keep all the chips you've accumulated going into Day 2, rather than just your biggest stack. The other was a "position poker" tournament, in which the person who wins each hand then gets to act last (after the button!) on each betting round of the next hand.

In our news segment, we discussed Tobey Maguire, Gabe Kaplan, and other Hollywood celebrities settling a lawsuit filed by victims of a Ponzi scheme operator looking to recoup huge amounts of money lost in a Hollywood home game. And we debated whether Barney Frank's impending retirement from Congress will hurt the effort to get online poker legalized, licensed, and regulated in the US.

Our first guest was Greg Mueller, winner of 2 WSOP bracelets and over $1.7 million in tournament winnings. We talked with him about his hand analysis work on ESPN's coverage of the World Series Of Poker this fall, a famously classy play he made in this year's Main Event, how he controls his inner maniac, and -- since he was a Full Tilt pro -- his thoughts on the indictments and possible sale of that online site.

Then we spent a few minutes with 2006 Main Event champion Jamie Gold, who's promoting a poker seminar he'll do this Friday at the Peppermill Casino in Reno, where he and Dennis and other pros will play in a Heartland Poker Tour event this weekend.

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes!

We do The Final Table show every Tuesday 3pm to 4pm CT on 590 KFNS radio from the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis.

Final Table #147: An Online Poker Update

dennisphillipspoker@gmail.com (Dennis Phillips & Paul Harris) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 04:45:00 +0000

Today on The Final Table poker radio show, we covered the latest developments in the online poker story, from the Full Tilt/Department of Justice agreement to when players can expect to get their money back from that site (and Absolute Poker/Ultimate Bet) to whether last week's congressional hearings are bringing us any closer to legal, licensed, regulated online poker in the United States. Rich Muny joined us for updates from the Poker Players Alliance's perspective.

Also on the show:

We previewed the first-ever Gateway Poker Classic coming up at Harrah's St. Louis December 1-11 (click here for the full schedule);
We considered whether any poker pros are properly bankrolled to take part in Guy LaLiberte's $1,000,000 buy-in tournament benefiting his One Drop charity next summer at the WSOP;
We got some help from listeners on the math from last week's amazing hand;
Dennis recapped his trip this weekend to the Hollywood Fall Classic.

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes!

We do The Final Table show every Tuesday 3pm to 4pm CT on 590 KFNS radio from the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis.

Final Table #146: Lon McEachern + Barry Greenstein

dennisphillipspoker@gmail.com (Dennis Phillips & Paul Harris) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 11:40:00 +0000

Today on The Final Table poker radio show, we welcomed back Lon McEachern, the voice of ESPN's World Series Of Poker Main Event broadcasts, and Barry Greenstein, the newest member of the Poker Hall Of Fame.

First, we talked about our travels this weekend to a couple of poker events, and Dennis revealed the story of an amazing hand he was involved in at a Venetian Deep Stack tournament that ended up like this:

We talked with Lon about the challenges he faced in anchoring the unprecedented near-live coverage of the November Nine finale last weekend. He explained how he and Norman Chad and Antonio Esfandiari filled the time despite having two players who barely spoke at the table, whether they purposely withheld information about tells they spotted to keep it from getting back to the players via supporters in the stands, and how they'll compress those 18 hours and all those hands into a two-hour highlights show that will air on ESPN for the next year.

Then Barry was back, to talk about his Poker Hall Of Fame induction last Tuesday (you can see video of his acceptance speech here). He also explained his role as captain of the US team in the Nations Cup matches that will be played later this week in London against poker teams from around the world -- and one unusual team that's part of the mix. Then we discussed Nevada's plans for licensing intrastate online poker, his thoughts on the Full Tilt fiasco, and his advice for why young players should not skip college to play poker fulltime.

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes!

We do The Final Table show every Tuesday 3pm to 4pm CT on 590 KFNS radio from the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis.

Also on The Final Table...

Final Table #145: Matt Giannetti + Main Event Finale

dennisphillipspoker@gmail.com (Dennis Phillips & Paul Harris) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 03:48:00 +0000

Today on The Final Table poker radio show, we spent the hour analyzing the WSOP Main Event November Nine, who played down to the final three on Sunday. Dennis was at the Rio for most of that day and explained what the scene was like, both in the crowd and on the stage, while Paul watched ESPN's near-live broadcast from home. We discussed the play, the coverage, and which of the three finalists -- Martin Staszko, Ben Lamb, or Pius Heinz -- would be best for the game of poker if he wins the finale tonight.

Our guest was Matt Giannetti, who finished fourth, winning $3 million. Matt offered a very frank analysis of two big hands he lost to Heinz and Lamb, revealed how he'd prepared for the final table, and explained the impact of friends and fans sharing information with the players from the 15-minute-delayed TV broadcast.

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes!
We do The Final Table show every Tuesday 3pm to 4pm CT on 590 KFNS radio from the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis.

Also on The Final Table...

Matt Giannetti talked about making the November Nine and analyzed a hand vs. Ben Lamb in July where he tanked for over 10 minutes (9/6/11)

Final Table #144: Orel Hershiser + Ed Miller

dennisphillipspoker@gmail.com (Dennis Phillips & Paul Harris) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 04:53:00 +0000

Today on The Final Table poker radio show, we started with a recap of the Big Game we played at Harrah's St. Louis this weekend, a $25/50 no-limit game with a $15,000 minimum buy-in and lots of action. Then we turned our attention to the big event coming up this weekend, the November Nine playing out the finale of this year's World Series Of Poker Main Event. We each made our predictions of who's likely to win, and which of the nine is likely to go out first. And we offered our congratulations to Barry Greenstein and Linda Johnson, who will be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame next Tuesday.

Our first guest was Orel Hershiser, a recreational poker player who was in St. Louis last week to work on the ESPN Radio broadcasts of the Cardinals winning the World Series (of baseball!). We talked about that exciting series, his opinion on the impact of manager Tony LaRussa's retirement, and his poker preferences, too.

Finally, Ed Miller returned to our show to discuss his new e-book, "How To Read Hands At No-Limit Hold'Em." He offered some basic tips on how to put your opponent on a range of hands, why bluffing is so rare in small-stakes games, and what to do when a "scare card" shows up on the board. He also joined us in analyzing a hand that a listener e-mailed us, in which he flopped a monster but did not get all of his opponent's chips because of the way he played it.

If you have a hand you'd like us to analyze on the show, send it to us via the e-mail link on the right side of this page!

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes!
We do The Final Table show every Tuesday 3pm to 4pm CT on 590 KFNS radio from the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis.

Also on The Final Table...

Ed Miller talked about his book, "Small Stakes Hold'Em" (9/22/10)

Final Table #143: Dennis' Appendix + WSOP's Ty Stewart

dennisphillipspoker@gmail.com (Dennis Phillips & Paul Harris) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 04:49:00 +0000

Today on The Final Table poker radio show, we started with Dennis telling the amazing story of how he won a WSOP Circuit Event at Horseshoe Hammond last week despite suffering from severe stomach pains, and how he left the tournament several times to go lie down for awhile before returning to chip up again. In the end, he had all the chips, the $55,000 payday, and his first WSOPC ring. Unfortunately, a few hours later, that pain in his gut turned into a burst appendix, and he had to have an emergency appendectomy. The good news is he's alive to tell the story, and recovering enough to go home and rest up.

In our guest segment, we talked with WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart about the changes to the November Nine weekend, when all the hands will be shown on TV (ESPN2 on Sunday 11/6/11 and ESPN on Tuesday 11/8/11). Ty explained how the nearly-live coverage will work, when viewers will be able to see hole cards, restrictions on players using cell phones at the table, and why the WSOP and ESPN decided to present the Main Event finale this way rather than in the edited 2-hour highlights package they've used for the last 3 years. Ty also revealed how the WSOP hopes to expand to Asia and Australia, some changes they're working on for next summer's WSOP in Las Vegas, how he views the future of poker on TV, and whether they'll use the same TV format for next year's Main Event.

Finally, Paul recapped the congressional committee hearing on online poker that took place earlier today, and explained why Americans shouldn't plan on playing on licensed and regulated sites until 2014 at the earliest.

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes! We do The Final Table show every Tuesday 3pm to 4pm CT on 590 KFNS radio from the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis.

Final Table #142: WSOPE, WSOPC, Bernard Lee

dennisphillipspoker@gmail.com (Dennis Phillips & Paul Harris) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 07:02:00 +0000

Today on The Final Table poker radio show, we started with details on a new tournament series coming to Harrah's St. Louis in December, The Gateway Poker Classic, with poker room manager Denise Taykowski explaining the different events, which begins with the unique format of a Jack And Jill Tournament and then proceeds through three tournaments a day with all sorts of buy-in levels from $125 to $1,100 for the Main Event. There will be lots of Hold'em events as well as several Omaha tournaments, plus a Seniors event and Ladies event. The full schedule will be posted soon on the Harrah's St. Louis Facebook page.

Next, Dennis discussed his trip to Cannes for the World Series of Poker Europe, which had a record turnout and a couple of new tournament formats, too, as well as a very odd rake structure for the cash games. Then Paul added some stories about playing in biggest WSOP Circuit event in history last week at Horseshoe Hammond, and we were joined by their poker room manager, Jason Newman, who explained how they've grown their fields so much and how they'll meet the $1.5 million guarantee for their Main Event later this week.

In our guest segment, ESPN Inside Deal co-host Bernard Lee joined us to talk about making the final table at the WSOPC at Horseshoe Southern Indiana, how he explains the large crowds that continue to show up for live events, and why he really wants an Epic Poker League card.

Then the three of us launched into a discussion of the changes to the WSOP Main Event November Nine broadcasts, which will now be shown on ESPN2 and ESPN3 (every hand on a 15-minute delay with hole cards) beginning Sunday, November 6th, beginning at 1:30pm CT with coverage continuing until there are 3 players left. Then they'll break until 7pm CT on Tuesday, November 8th, when play will resume and ESPN will stay with the near-live coverage until a new world champion wins it all. How will this impact what happens at the table if players can find out about a previous hand just 15 minutes later thanks to friends on the rail, online, and on smart phones passing along information -- and will it be good or bad for ratings?

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes! We do The Final Table show every Tuesday 3pm to 4pm CT on 590 KFNS radio from the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis.

Previously on The Final Table...

Final Table #141: Bart Hanson & David Tuchman

dennisphillipspoker@gmail.com (Dennis Phillips & Paul Harris) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 21:01:00 +0000

Today on The Final Table poker radio show, while Dennis is in Cannes at the WSOPE, Paul had an extended conversation with Bart Hanson and David Tuchman. They're the hosts of Live At The Bike, the streaming coverage of a live cash game from the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. They also did some hosting and commentary this summer for ESPN's online and on-the-air streams of the World Series Of Poker.

Among the topics we discussed:

the Full Tilt Poker indictments and related stories;
the reaction of poker pros to showing hole cards during almost-live streaming of tournaments;
how cash game players forget to consider the effect of the house rake;
American citizens who have moved out of the US to continue playing online;
which poker pros provided the best commentary on the WSOP streaming coverage;
and much more.

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes! We do The Final Table show every Tuesday 3pm to 4pm CT on 590 KFNS radio from the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis. Follow us on Twitter: Dennis is here, Paul is here.

Final Table #140: Jared Tendler & Scott Long

dennisphillipspoker@gmail.com (Dennis Phillips & Paul Harris) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:02:00 +0000

Today on The Final Table poker radio show, Dennis was in London, where he played the EPT Main Event, while Paul was at Harrah's St. Louis, joined by Scott Long, publisher of Ante Up Magazine (which has a nice story on us in this month's issue).

We talked about the French businessmen who want to acquire Full Tilt Poker, what that would mean for players who still have cash on the site and whether they would return to play there, whether the DOJ and the Alderney Gaming Control Commission would permit new owners to re-start the business, and whether any pros would want to be sponsored by a business whose name has been de-valued so much in the marketplace.

Then Scott explained what it's like to be a poker media outlet dependent on advertising in this post-Black-Friday environment, and the effect it's had on the brick-and-mortar casinos he's been visiting. He also provided an update on the poker scene in Florida, where he's based.

In our guest segment, I talked with Jared Tendler, author of "The Mental Game of Poker" (which is now available in paperback, Kindle, Nook, and pdf editions). He explained the different types of tilt players experience, how to handle them, and how tilt can be beneficial to your game if you recognize the problem. He also defined "mental game fish" and the role of emotion while playing.

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes!

We do The Final Table show every Tuesday 3pm to 4pm CT on 590 KFNS radio from the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis.

Follow us on Twitter: Dennis is here, Paul is here.

Final Table #139: More Full Tilt Fallout + Poker Refugees

dennisphillipspoker@gmail.com (Dennis Phillips & Paul Harris) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 21:01:00 +0000

Today on The Final Table poker radio show, we continued following the fallout of the Full Tilt Poker indictments, including:

the DOJ's warrant to seize the bank accounts of Full Tilt principals Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, Ray Bitar, and Rafe Furst;
public statements from Furst;
claims by attorneys for both Ferguson and Full Tilt that there was no "ponzi scheme";
comments from Tom Dwan (one of Full Tilt's sponsored pros) who says the indictments are "good news";
the Poker Players Alliance's attempts to get restitution for Full Tilt players;
Epic Poker League stripping Lederer and Ferguson of their eligibility;
Congressman Barney Frank saying he'll return Full Tilt's campaign contributions;
the possible identity of the possible investor that could possibly save Full Tilt;
several questions from our Twitter followers, too.

In our guest segment, we spoke with Kristin Wilson, who runs Poker Refugees, a service for Americans who want to move to another country so they can continue playing online poker legally. She explained which places are the easiest to move to, what the regulations are regarding establishing residency, how long it takes to get set up in a new home, and much more.

In our poker coach segment, Joe Tehan of StackEmCoaching.com (use the promo code "finaltable" for a free trial) explained how to simplify your game instead of over-thinking it.

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes!

We do The Final Table show every Tuesday 3pm to 4pm CT on 590 KFNS radio from the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis.

Follow us on Twitter: Dennis is here, Paul is here.

Final Table #138: Full Tilt's Ponzi Scheme + Vince Van Patten

dennisphillipspoker@gmail.com (Dennis Phillips & Paul Harris) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 02:54:00 +0000

Today on The Final Table, we discussed the big breaking poker news of the day -- the US Attorney in Manhattan who filed the Black Friday indictments has added to those charges a federal lawsuit against Full Tilt founders Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, and Rafe Furst, saying they weren't running an online poker company, they were operating a "global ponzi scheme." We went over each detail of the federal government's allegations, including the $444 million that Full Tilt paid to its owners over four years, how it continued accepting player funds despite owing $300 million to players around the world while having only $6 million accessible, and how Full Tilt insiders -- to quote Preet Bahrara, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York -- "lined their own pockets with funds picked from the pockets of their most loyal customers while blithely lying to both players and the public alike about the safety and security of the money deposited."

We got some legal analysis from attorney Josh Schindler about whether Lederer, Ferguson, and Furst are facing a jail sentence and seizure of their assets and property, and if the Department of Justice would then distribute those funds to players who had money in Full Tilt's accounts. We also discussed the $130 million in "phantom funds" that Full Tilt allowed players to deposit and play with, even though it was never transferred from their bank accounts.

Want to see what the DOJ says about Full Tilt insiders in the amended complaint? Read pages 71-76 of this PDF file. You'll be left shaking your head in amazement.

In our guest segment, we spoke with Vince Van Patten, who is now in his tenth season of co-hosting the World Poker Tour telecasts with Mike Sexton. Vince is at the Borgata Poker Open, which boasts the largest field in WPT history. We talked to him about changes to this season of the WPT, whether he'll play any of the events, and why he thinks the controversy over streaming final tables with hole cards is overblown. He also revealed what goes on in the Hollywood home games he's been part of for many years.

In our poker coach segment, John Kim of StackEmCoaching.com (use the promo code "finaltable" for a free trial) explained the strategy behind "donk betting."

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes!

We do The Final Table show every Tuesday 3pm to 4pm CT on 590 KFNS radio from the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis.

Follow us on Twitter: Dennis is here, Paul is here.

Final Table #137: Hall of Famer Kristy Gazes

dennisphillipspoker@gmail.com (Dennis Phillips & Paul Harris) — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 03:40:00 +0000

Today on The Final Table, we opened the show with Dennis rebutting recent reports that PokerStars has severed its relationship with him, as he explained that he's still affiliated with the site and will be playing at the EPT London later this month as well as the PCA in January -- and wearing a PokerStars patch.

In our guest segment, we talked with Kristy Gazes, one of the new inductees to the Women In Poker Hall of Fame, who made deep runs this summer at the WSOP in both the Main Event and a 7-card-stud high/lo event. We discussed what it was like as a woman to sit down years ago in such a male-dominated environment, what it will take to get more women to play poker (and win!), and her advice for anyone who may be intimidated about playing in live cash games and tournaments. Kristy also explained how her poker background has helped her take on Wall Street with her own successful options trading company.

In our news segment, we discussed:

the poker player who's a contestant on the new season of "Survivor" that starts tomorrow night;
the continuing efforts to convince Congress and state legislatures to license and regulate online poker;
another class action lawsuit that's been filed against Full Tilt Poker;
the Tweet Of The Week from tournament director Matt Savage.

In our poker coach segment, Nick DiVella of StackEmCoaching.com (use the promo code "finaltable" for a free trial) explained how and when to use a blocking bet.

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes!

We do The Final Table show every Tuesday 3pm to 4pm CT on 590 KFNS radio from the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis.

Follow us on Twitter: Dennis is here, Paul is here.

Also on the Final Table...

Kristy Gazes made her first appearance on the show on at the 2009 WSOP (6/23/09)

Final Table #136: November Niner Matt Giannetti

dennisphillipspoker@gmail.com (Dennis Phillips & Paul Harris) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 04:12:00 +0000

Today on The Final Table, we talked with Matt Giannetti, another member of this year's World Series of Poker Main Event November Nine (he's third in chips). We discussed how he's planning to prepare for the finale two months from now, which of his opponents he thinks will play differently at that point, and what he thought of ESPN's live streaming video with hole cards and its affect on the game. We also discussed a big hand he played against Ben Lamb on day 7, in which Giannetti spent 10 minutes thinking before making his decision after Lamb made a huge bet on the river.

In our news segment, we discussed:

the continuing bad news for players who still have money locked up on Full Tilt's site after the company's recent statement offered no hope they'll return those funds any time soon;
the poor showing for Epic Poker League's second series of events;
the controversy over a player who had his seat in Epic's main event taken away when it was discovered he was a convicted sex offender;
Greg Mueller (who won the Epic Pro/Am) having to chase down a thief who stole a $5,000 chip from him at a craps table;
the sad news of the death of poker pro Thuy Doan from cancer at age 25;
and more.

In our poker coach segment, Jon Hemmer of StackEmCoaching.com (use the promo code "finaltable" for a free trial) explained when you should and shouldn't raise out of the blinds in low-limit ($1-2) games.

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes!

We do The Final Table show every Tuesday 3pm to 4pm CT on 590 KFNS radio from the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis.

Follow us on Twitter: Dennis is here, Paul is here.

Also on The Final Table...

Final Table #135: Brian Rast, Matt Affleck, Chad Holloway

dennisphillipspoker@gmail.com (Dennis Phillips & Paul Harris) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Today on The Final Table, we talked with Brian Rast, who won two bracelets at the World Series of Poker this summer for a $1,500 buy-in Pot Limit Hold'em event and the $50,000 buy-in Poker Players Championship. He explained how he managed to beat Phil Hellmuth heads-up in the latter event despite having a 7-1 chip deficit, and analyzed a couple of hands that they played. We also discussed how his life has changed since meeting his fiancee in Brazil and what it's like to play high-stakes poker in Macau.

In our poker coach segment, Matt Affleck of StackEmCoaching.com (use the promo code "finaltable" for a free trial) explained how you can handle a downswing, which every poker player goes through at some point. We also talked with Chad Holloway of Poker News who was outraged at the way a hand between Mike Matusow and Phil Hellmuth was allowed to play out on "Poker After Dark."

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes!

We do The Final Table show every Tuesday 3pm to 4pm CT on 590 KFNS radio from the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis.

Follow us on Twitter: Dennis is here, Paul is here.

Also on The Final Table...

Matt Affleck talked about what it was like returning to the 2011 WSOP after his very deep runs in the 2009 and 2010 Main Events (6/15/11)

Final Table #134: Ben Lamb

dennisphillipspoker@gmail.com (Dennis Phillips & Paul Harris) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 06:35:00 +0000

Today on The Final Table, we talked with Ben Lamb, one of this year's November Nine for the WSOP Main Event and the leader in the Player Of The Year race (he also made the final table of the Poker Players Championship and won a bracelet in the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship). Since Ben was one of many players who lent money to Chino Rheem, we asked his opinion of the sanctions placed on Chino by the Epic Poker League (which Jeffrey Pollack alluded to on last week's show). Then we moved on to discuss how Ben is preparing for the November Nine, what went through his head in a big hand on Day 7 against Matt Gianetti that lasted over 10 minutes, and whether he's learned anything by watching the ESPN coverage of the World Series Of Poker.

In our poker coach segment, Jared Tendler of StackEmCoaching.com (use the promo code "finaltable" for a free trial) explained how you can solve your tilt problems. We also recapped our weekend at the Hollywood Casino, where Dennis played in the Indiana State Poker Championship while Paul played in the PLO cash games, and got some insight from poker room manager Thomas Krauss and tournament director Kevin Dawn about how Hollywood boosted its tournament attendance 100% from last year.

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes!

We do The Final Table show every Tuesday 3pm to 4pm CT on 590 KFNS radio from the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis.

Follow us on Twitter: Dennis is here, Paul is here.

Also on The Final Table...

Matt Giannetti shared his perspective on that big hand and big decision (9/6/11)