The greatest televised moment in poker is now officially (at least PokerNews officially) Chris MoneyMaker’s colossal bluff on Sam Farha.  Many attribute MoneyMaker’s bluff and then improbable Main Event bracelet as the fuel behind the great poker rush of the mid 2000s.
On the play, MoneyMaker put the WSOP on the line with a busted straight and flush draw and incited Norman Chad to make one of the great calls in poker history, calling it “the bluff of the century.”  Farha later downplayed the play as a horrible move, but that’s probably just the bitterness talking.  The truth is Farha was …read more

Tom Dwan has absolutely no fear in him and he’s made a fan out of me.  He’s already a poker superstar, but I think he’s going to be a legend.  He commands a ton of respect at the table and plays as big as I’ve ever seen anyone play.  I found a new Tom Dwan YouTube video of him vs. Bob Safai and it is a great watch if you’re a true poker fan.  Before commenting, I think you deserve to watch this one unfold.  Don’t look at the text below until you see the video.

Warning spoiler text coming after …read more

I know who he is. You know who he is. But does he play good poker? I suspect he does since he is coined a poker pro, but from the clips I’ve seen on tv he’s more “chark” than he is shark. In the dated clip below, Scotty Nguyen – who yearns for the attention of parsed crowds all over casino floors – bluffs Brenes off a decent hand and then makes sure to soak up all the glory he possibly can out of his 83 by showing everyone.

If you’re Brenes here, you probably let this …read more

Ok, I admit it. I’m caught up in Tom Dwan mania. What can I say, the guy is really good and he’s fresh. It’s always good to have a new legit superstar enter the arena and I think Dwan fits that mold. Plus he’s got that metro personality that makes his reactions at the table interesting. Before I tell you more, watch this unbelievable video.

How can JC Tran lay down jacks full of aces in this spot? Given Dwan’s hyper aggressive reputation, this is an instacall for me. I’ll tell you this much, …read more

PokerListings recently blogged on a on a high stakes poker hand where Tom Dwan posterized Barry Greenstein and WSOP champ Peter Eastgate. The Internet sensation bluffed both off better hands in a massive family pot.
Dwan had top pair while Eastgate flopped trips and Greenstein came in with pocket aces.  Durrrr once again proved why aggressive players have an advantage by manipulating the strength of his hand in both Barry and Peter’s minds.
The hand was well described by the blogger although I didn’t care for some of his commentary.  My question to the two muckers is why you would give …read more

I’ll be splicing this poker blog with both Cowboys Poker segments and regular commentary to keep a good mixture for the readers.  Blogs should have more than one gear.  And so in this entry I have a YouTube clip of Mike Sexton rocking Mike Matusow by calling him with a lowly pair of threes.

Daniel was very impressed with the call. And rightfully so – Sexton could have only beaten pocket dueces or a bluff. Sexton did indeed sense the bluff and took a nice amount of chips off Mike The Mouth.
I like Sexton’s play. He’s very even …read more

In the video clip below, Scotty Nguyen pulls the wool over Humberto Brenes’ eyes.  The clip is dated so Humberto is not the same Humberto we know today.  The “chark” didn’t seem to be a part of his repertoire back then and he didn’t say his name over and over.  Scotty bluffs Humberto out of his raise (may have been reraise) and then shows 83o.  Humberto had A10.  I’m not a big fan of hard playing A10 and this hand was a good example of why.  Once you push and get pushed back, you’re presented with a very hard call …read more

I went back to look at the “bluff of the century” as Norman Chad called it at the time.  Here I’m referring to the 2003 WSOP where Chris Moneymaker out dueled Sammy Farha to take home the gold.  I remembered the play as a huge bluff, but seeing the video again it was more like a gusty, aggressive play against someone with a very susceptible top pair.
Farha called it right after Moneymaker went all-in, asking if he had missed his flush.  However, at this point he didn’t want to risk his tournament life on a pair of 9s.  I can’t …read more

I’ve seen a lot of incentives added by house games to induce action at the table lately. I like these options added as it tends to keep the game up and moving and never allows it to become too stagnant, as your regular blind no limit game can sometimes fall into if you have too many tight players.
One game I play in throws a straddle token into the first pot. Whoever wins takes it and cane use it to straddle the big blind when he/she is in position. Thus, at least once a round the pot is straddled. It works …read more