The Final Table Radio Show

Final Table #155: Matt Savage

2012-01-24T19:58:00.005-06:00

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

2012-01-17T22:39:00.001-06:00

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

2012-01-17T21:36:00.002-06:00

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

2012-01-10T16:01:00.004-06:00

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

2012-01-03T22:09:00.002-06:00

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

2011-12-20T21:36:00.001-06:00

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

2011-12-13T17:40:00.002-06:00

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

2011-12-07T02:00:00.002-06:00

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

2011-11-29T22:41:00.005-06:00

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

2011-11-22T22:45:00.001-06:00

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

2011-11-16T05:40:00.002-06:00

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

2011-11-08T21:48:00.001-06:00

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

2011-11-01T23:53:00.003-05:00

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

2011-10-25T23:49:00.005-05:00

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

2011-10-19T02:02:00.005-05:00

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

2011-10-11T16:01:00.006-05:00

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.

Final Table #140: Jared Tendler & Scott Long

2011-10-04T23:02:00.004-05:00

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

2011-09-27T16:01:00.004-05:00

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

2011-09-20T21:54:00.010-05:00

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

2011-09-13T22:40:00.005-05:00

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

2011-09-06T23:12:00.002-05:00

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

2011-08-31T12:00:00.000-05:00

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

2011-08-24T01:35:00.004-05:00

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)

Final Table #133: Jeffrey Pollack's Epic Post-Mortem

2011-08-16T19:42:00.009-05:00

Today on The Final Table, Dennis talked about playing in the Empire State Poker Championship, a Heartland Poker Tour event at Turning Stone in upstate New York, before we both head off to the Hollywood Casino for the Indiana State Poker Championship later this week.

In our guest segment, we welcomed Jeffrey Pollack back to the Final Table. He's executive director of Federated Sports and Gaming, which ran its inaugural Epic Poker League tournament at the Palms in Las Vegas last week. We asked Jeffrey about the turnout (just over half of the eligible pros played, with very few from Europe), whether the league has lined up any sponsors to cover the cost of its rake-free tournament with $400,000 added to the prize pool, whether Epic is planning a real-money online poker site, when their TV coverage will begin, and how he responds to recent comments about the league from Daniel Negreanu. Jeffrey also addressed how Epic will deal with league pros whose reputation isn't exactly clean in the poker community -- like Chino Rheem, who won their first tournament.

In our new weekly poker coaching segment from StackEmCoaching.com, Joe Tehan talked about bet-sizing and how too many players are putting too much money in the pot instead of just enough to get the job done. If you'd like a free trial of their site, use the promo code "FINALTABLE" at StackEmCoaching.com.

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.

Note: Brian Rast, winner of the 2011 WSOP Poker Player's Championship, was scheduled to be on today's show, but wasn't available for airtime. We'll reschedule him for a future show.

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

Also on The Final Table...

Jeffrey Pollack explained why the World Series Of Poker has such trouble getting big name corporate sponsors (6/9/09)

Final Table #132: David Sands & Erika Moutinho

2011-08-10T00:55:00.002-05:00

Today on The Final Table poker radio show, we talked with David Sands and Erika Moutinho, the couple that finished 30th and 29th, respectively, in this year's World Series Of Poker Main Event. We discussed the strategy of playing against each other at a televised feature table, how David feels he improved his game by teaching Erika, and whether they're considering following other young pros in moving from Panorama Towers into Las Vegas to somewhere outside the US so they can continue playing online poker.

We also got an update on potential internet gaming legislation from Chris Krafcik, an analyst who's been keeping an eye on attempts to regulate and license online poker at both the federal and state level -- from California to DC to New Jersey. Then he explained how the CEO of Harrah's parent company views the future of internet poker.

Today we introduced a new weekly poker coaching segment from StackEmCoaching.com with John Kim, one of their pros, kicking it off. If you'd like a free trial of their site, use the promo code "FINALTABLE" at StackEmCoaching.com.

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...

Chris Krafcik explained why Missouri is unlikely to be among the first group of states to embrace intra-state internet poker (6/1/11)

Final Table #131: Phil Hellmuth

2011-08-02T22:10:00.002-05:00

Today on The Final Table poker radio show, we talked with Phil Hellmuth, owner of 11 World Series of Poker bracelets, who almost won his 12th this summer, finishing 2nd in 3 WSOP events and cashing in 2 others.

While Hellmuth still has a big ego, he did quiet some of his critics with his performance this summer, and you'll hear no evidence of The Poker Brat in our conversation. He was remarkably blunt in admitting mistakes he made when it got to heads-up in the $50k Poker Players Championship, analyzing several hands in detail and explaining why he regrets playing them the way he did.

We also talked to him about:

why he's still haunted by some of those hands;
how he improved his non-hold-em games, and who helped him;
his advice for this year's November Nine;
why he gave props to Minh Ly when he was eliminated 3rd in the PPC;
whether he'll play in the upcoming Epic Poker League, and whether it's good for the game.

In our news segment, we discussed a controversial hand at the EPT Grand Final, whether the Epic Poker League's TV deal will attract more players to its inaugural event later this week, and the two Bad Beat Jackpots that have hit in the Harrah's St. Louis poker room in the last 3 days -- for a total of almost $400,000.

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...

Phil Hellmuth talked about coaching Jeff Shulman for the 2009 November Nine and shared his thoughts about Phil Ivey's play (11/3/09)

Final Table #130: Phil Collins, November Niner

2011-07-26T23:18:00.003-05:00

Today on The Final Table poker radio show, we talked with Phil Collins, one of the November Nine for this year's World Series Of Poker Main Event. Collins, who is one of only 3 Americans who will return November 5th to play for the $8.7 million first prize and is currently fourth in chips, discussed:

what went through his head as the 10th player busted out;
how he's planning to prepare for the big finale in November;
how he felt about the almost-live ESPN coverage giving away hole card information;
why he played ace-king differently in this year's tournament;
whether he'll bet on himself at the Wynn sports book, which is taking wagers on the November Nine; and
whether, as an online player, he considered moving out of the US after Black Friday.

In our news segment, we covered the breaking news about Bodog shutting down US operations at the end of this year, the postponement of a hearing regarding Full Tilt Poker's license (which means players who still have money on that site won't get any relief for almost two more months), how much the value of making the November Nine has decreased since Black Friday, and the just-announced schedule for the upcoming World Series Of Poker Circuit season.

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

Here's the Las Vegas Review Journal story about Dennis that we mentioned on today's show.
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 #129: Main Event + Tom Oldcroft

2011-07-19T22:30:00.001-05:00

Today on The Final Table, we continued our coverage of the 2011 World Series Of Poker Main Event at the Rio in Las Vegas. Dennis, who cashed for the third time in four years, talked about how he managed to make it to the money despite being short-stacked from very early in the tournament. He also explained the strategy behind a couple of hands he played just before the money bubble burst.

We also discussed the controversy over a player who refused to show his hole cards to ESPN's cameras, our thoughts on ESPN's almost-live coverage and the break-out performances of analysts Olivier Busquet and Antonio Esfandiari, whether Black Friday explains why Europeans seem to be doing better than Americans this year, and much more about the Main Event.

In our guest segment, we talked with Tom Oldcroft, a St. Louisan who has survived prostate cancer and quadruple bypass surgery and finally got to cross "playing in the Main Event" off his bucket list. He got there on the cheap via an online tournament, then lasted through Day 6 before being knocked out in 128th place (in a field of 6,865!), earning a payday of $54,851. Tom explained why he loved the experience so much, the strategic guidelines he'd written for himself (which included tips he'd heard Dennis discuss several times on The Final Table), and how he added fun to every table he played. He's an outgoing and gregarious guy, and we enjoyed having him share his story with our audience.

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 #128: The Main Event & Kara Scott

2011-07-13T02:27:00.005-05:00

Today on The Final Table, we began our coverage of the 2011 World Series Of Poker Main Event at the Rio in Las Vegas. Dennis, who has made it to Day 3, discussed the atmosphere, the huge turnout (the 3rd largest field ever, remarkable considering the online poker shutdown that happened three months ago), playing with NBA superstar Paul Pierce, and a hand he played on Day 2 that had him thinking about his decision -- with his tournament life on the line -- for more than five minutes.

There are always plenty of bizarre stories around the Main Event, and we touched on some of them, from the player who brought his own leather chair to sit in to the guy who showed up with no pants to the pro who wasn't allowed to return for Day 2 (even though he had a nice chip stack) because he was barred from the Rio after an incident with a woman in his room.

We also spent several minutes being amazed at Phil Hellmuth's run this summer at the WSOP, coming in second in three events, including the $50,000 buy-in Poker Players Championship -- an achievement that may change the minds of his critics.

In our guest segment, we talked with poker pro Kara Scott, hostess of "High Stakes Poker" on GSN, who is also part of ESPN's expanded coverage of the WSOP, both on TV and online. Among the topics we touched on, the normally mild-mannered Kara explained what set her off on a Twitter rant earlier in the series in an event where some of the other players were acting like jerks, and we got her reaction a piece Mike Sexton wrote, in which he said that poker could have no better public relations victory than having Kara win the Main Event -- which she unfortunately can't do this year because of her ESPN work (Mike explained his rationale on our show last month).

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.

Previously on The Final Table...

Final Table #127: Tony Dunst & Dwyte Pilgrim

2011-07-06T02:28:00.004-05:00

Today on The Final Table, we continued our coverage of the 2011 World Series Of Poker at the Rio in Las Vegas as it approaches the beginning of the Main Event on Thursday. We discussed the tremendous turnout they're continuing to get, as well as the guy who made the final table of the Ladies Event, and Doyle Brunson's announcement that he won't play this year's Main Event.

In our guest segments, we gleaned some terrific advice from two tournament pros.

First, we talked with Tony Dunst, who does the Raw Deal segments on World Poker Tour telecasts (one of the reasons their ratings are up 35% this season) and has some good advice for anyone planning on playing the Main Event for the first time. He also explained why he only plays no-limit hold'em tournaments, and whether any poker pros have complained to him about his hand analysis on those WPT broadcasts.

Then, we brought in Dwyte Pilgrim, who has been on a remarkable run for the last two years, with big scores in WSOP Circuit and WPT tournaments, including an event he won earlier this year and "shocked the world." Dwyte also offered some Main Event strategy and talked about the difficulties of being a pro on the tournament circuit.

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.

Previously on The Final Table...

Tony Dunst shared stories from his travels to Melbourne for the Aussie Millions and the wild action in Macau, China (2/9/11)

Final Table #126: Vanessa Rousso

2011-06-29T00:17:00.003-05:00

Today on The Final Table, we continued our coverage of the 2011 World Series Of Poker at the Rio in Las Vegas at the end of its 5th week (with over $100,000,000 paid out in tournaments so far). We also discussed three big poker stories in the news:

a hand played in Macau in which a player who was all-in refused to give up his $45,000 in chips to the other player;
a lawsuit filed against Tobey Maguire and other celebrities who won money from a hedge fund embezzler in a high-stakes private cash game;
the new federal online poker legislation proposed by Congressman Joe Barton (R-TX).

In our guest segment, we talked with Vanessa Rousso, who has racked up over $4 million in tournament earnings over the last few years. She explained what she'll be teaching at her Main Event Prep Camp at the Aria on July 7th, and shared some of that advice for free, including some basics for anyone who will be playing the WSOP Main Event for the first time next week. We also asked Vanessa to update us on how her husband (poker pro Chad Brown) is doing after his cancer scare earlier this year, and share her thoughts on the "hard stop" rule for WSOP tournaments. Then the three of us discussed a controversial hand from the new season of "The Big Game" (which you can only watch online, not on TV), in which Tony G blatantly angle-shoots against Phil Hellmuth in a big hand.

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 #125: Mike Sexton at the WSOP

2011-06-21T21:42:00.004-05:00

Today on The Final Table, we continued our coverage of the 2011 World Series Of Poker at the Rio in Las Vegas, from the record-breaking attendance in the Seniors Event and other tournaments to Phil Hellmuth's quest for his 12th bracelet (he just missed again) to the controversy over the ten-level hard stop rule.

We also talked with Mike Sexton, the Poker Hall of Famer best known for his announcing work on the World Poker Tour, which has had a 35% ratings increase this season. We talked to him about making the final table at the WPT event at Bay 101, why he would like to see Kara Scott with the WSOP Main Event, what he thinks of the plans for next year's Million Dollar Buy-In tournament at the WSOP, 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.

Previously on The Final Table:

Final Table #124: Buying Heartland + Matt Affleck

2011-06-15T03:01:00.001-05:00

Today on The Final Table, we continued our coverage of the 2011 World Series Of Poker at the Rio in Las Vegas, but first we dove into some breaking news -- the acquisition of the Heartland Poker Tour by Federated Sports & Gaming. Todd Anderson, one of the founders of the HPT, joined us to explain how the sale will affect both companies, with one targeting poker pros and the other targeting recreational and amateur players.

Then we had an extended conversation with Matt Affleck, who has racked up 19 cashes in 3 years for nearly a million dollars in winnings, including deep runs in the 2009 Main Event (finishing 80th) and the 2010 Main Event (finishing 15th). Matt explained what it was like walking back into the Rio to start this year's WSOP, shared some very valuable advice on how to play $1k and $1,500 buy-in WSOP events, talked about how he made the move from online poker to live cash games even before Black Friday, 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 #123: WSOP + Maria Ho

2011-06-07T16:00:00.003-05:00

Today on The Final Table, we're at the Rio in Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker. We recapped the action of the first week, from the size of the crowds to the tournaments to the cash games to the Grudge Match between Johnny Chan and Phil Hellmuth. We also discussed the latest on the Phil Ivey lawsuit against Full Tilt.

In our guest segment, we welcomed Maria Ho back to the show. We recorded this interview Friday morning, just before she went off to play Event #4, the $5,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament -- where she finished second! Maria shared a great story about her first WSOP experience, whether it's become easier for women in the world of poker, whether she and Tiffany Michelle would go back on "The Amazing Race," and her new deal as poker ambassador for a Winstar casino in Oklahoma.

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.

Previously on The Final Table:

Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle talked about their experience on the CBS reality show "The Amazing Race" (9/22/09)

Final Table #122: Lon McEachern & Chris Krafcik

2011-06-01T04:25:00.003-05:00

Today on The Final Table, we talked about the 2011 World Series of Poker, which began today and will continue for 7 weeks. The open questions are about how many players will show up and what effect Black Friday will have on tournaments and cash games. We also discussed the news from Full Tilt Poker that they're still not ready to return funds to US players, and what the backlash could be from players who encounter Full Tilt (and Ultimate Bet) pros at the WSOP.

Our first guest was Lon McEachern, the play-by-play man for ESPN's coverage of the World Series Of Poker. Lon explained how they're expanding to include near-live online streaming of several events on ESPN3.com -- including the $25,000 Heads Up, the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, the Grudge Matches (Moneymaker/Farha, Chan/Hellmuth, and Chan/Seidel) and 6 days of the Main Event -- in addition to the dozens of hours of televised coverage this summer and fall.

Next, Chris Krafcik joined us for updates on online poker legislation at the state level, which is moving forward faster than in the US Congress. He had information on new developments in Nevada, and explained why Missouri is unlikely to be among the first group of states to embrace intra-state internet poker.

Next week, we'll have coverage of the first week of the World Series of Poker from the Rio in Las Vegas, with special guests!

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 #121: Kathy Liebert

2011-05-24T16:51:00.001-05:00

Today on The Final Table show, Dennis checked in from the Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas, where he was on a break during their championship event. He recapped about his weekend in Reno, where he played in Jennifer Harman's charity tournament and the Nevada State Championship, including a hand he played against Men The Master Nguyen.

In our guest segment, Paul talked with Kathy Liebert, the winningest woman in tournament poker history. She's been outspoken in her criticism of the top pros at Full Tilt Poker, which still hasn't refunded money to its US players, and Paul asked her if she thinks that those who made millions off the site are obligated to reach into their own pockets to pay back their customers. We also discussed whether she'll play in the Federated poker league that Annie Duke and Jeffrey Pollack are running, why she's considering getting a condo in Florida, what it's like to be a touring poker pro without a big endorsement deal, and her plans for the World Series Of Poker (which starts a week from today).

Our news recap included the newest phase of the online poker shutdown, which yesterday saw DoylesRoom.com and several other gambling sites seized by the US Attorney of Maryland, and one of the defendants from the Black Friday indictments pleading guilty (and likely to cooperate with the feds).

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...

Kathy Liebert had some harsh things to say about Phil Hellmuth (2/23/10)

Final Table #120: Daniel Negreanu

2011-05-18T06:37:00.005-05:00

Today on The Final Table show, in an exclusive extended interview, we talked with Daniel Negreanu about a variety of issues, starting with the WPT Championship Event, where he pointed out a player who's been accused of cheating at least 2 poker tournaments in Europe, yet was still allowed to be in the field at Bellagio this weekend, and even made it to Day 4. Daniel explained why he thinks tournament directors need to get together to prevent players like this from entering future tournaments, including the World Series of Poker.

Speaking of the WSOP, which kicks off just 2 weeks from now, we asked Daniel what the impact of Black Friday will be on attendance at the Rio, both in the smaller and larger buy-in events, as well as in the Main Event. We also asked if he's going to play in the new Federated Poker League which is being run by Annie Duke, whom Daniel has had some harsh words about over the last few years. And we discussed whether the loss of sponsorships will make it near-impossible to be a poker professional who travels from tournament to tournament around the country and the world.

Dennis and Paul also touched on the latest online poker news, including the problems Full Tilt, Ultimate Bet, and Absolute Poker players are having getting their money back from those sites, as well as Doyle Brunson removing his endorsement from the site named after 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.

Previously on The Final Table...

Daniel Negreanu talked about "High Stakes Poker," his friendship with Doyle Brunson, playing in the big cash game in Bobby's Room at Bellagio, and using Twitter (9/16/09)

Final Table #119: Annie Duke & Dusty Schmidt

2011-05-11T01:44:00.003-05:00

Today on The Final Table show, we talked with Annie Duke about the new professional poker players league that she is commissioner of, which last week announced the first 217 players who will be invited to take part in the league's first season, beginning in August. She explained which pros have agreed to play in the inaugural tournaments, where the funding is coming for the league, whether they have a TV deal, and more. We also discussed a chapter in Annie's new book, "Decide To Play Great Poker," where she talks about how much you should raise pre-flop in no-limit hold'em.

We also talked with Dusty Schmidt, author of "Don't Listen To Phil Hellmuth," who has some ideas of his own about pre-flop raise sizes, as well as why "donk bets" aren't always a bad idea, and how some very successful pros (e.g. Tom Dwan) have cultivated an image of crazy play but are really just playing great poker. Dusty also shared some ideas on how players and the poker industry need to work together to clean up the game's image.

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.

Previously on The Final Table...

Final Table #118: Jennifer Harman Returns

2011-05-03T23:47:00.004-05:00

Today on The Final Table show, we talked about the just-released criteria and list of 218 players eligible for the Federated poker league, the new tournament series run by Jeffrey Pollack, with Annie Duke as Commissioner, which will have its debut events in August. We discussed how players qualified, the surprises among those who didn't make it, what kind of turnout they'll get, and where the money's coming from to produce all of this.

In our guest segment, we welcomed back Jennifer Harman, the only woman to win bracelets in two WSOP open events, and a regular in the biggest cash game in the world in Bobby's Room at the Bellagio. Among the topics of discussion:

what advice she has for former online players who now have to play live cash games and tournaments for a living;
whether it's possible to be a touring pro without sponsorship;
whether she'll play in the Federated poker league (she's one of the qualifiers);
why she's now splitting her time between Vegas and Reno;
whether she wants her twin sons to grow up to be poker pros;
why limit poker -- her specialty, which she wrote about for Doyle Brunson's "SuperSystem 2" -- doesn't get more TV time, and whether she thinks it's a good "next game" for no-limit players;
what she has planned for her 5th annual Throwdown, a celebrity poker tournament at the Peppermill in Reno, Nevada, on May 21st to benefit the Nevada SPCA.

Jennifer Harman revealed what it's like to play in Bobby's Room and discussed the legendary matches against banker Andy Beal -- note: this is our most-downloaded Final Table podcast of all time (4/7/10)

Final Table #117: Online Poker Update

2011-04-27T01:36:00.001-05:00

Today on The Final Table show, we continued our coverage of the aftermath of the online poker shutdown with guests:

Oskar Garcia, a correspondent for the Associated Press, who has covered the developments in this story since before Black Friday, including the reaction of brick-and-mortar casino owner Steve Wynn;
John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance, who explained how the shutdown will affect the efforts to get online poker legislation passed in Congress. John also answered criticism that has sprung up in online forums and blogs about whether the PPA is representing players or the online sites that have helped fund it;
Steve Day, an executive at PokerStars, who revealed for the first time that the cashier has re-opened so that US players can now get their money out of their accounts. Steve explained the procedure, how long it will take, how your tournament tickets will be converted to cash, what happens to your Frequent Player Points, why Americans can't just take a weekend trip to Canada and start playing online again, and whether US players can win prizes by playing freerolls on PokerStars.net (as opposed to cash games and tournaments on PokerStars.com, where they are now banned).

The fact that PokerStars players can now withdraw their money is a big deal, and we're waiting to hear whether Full Tilt Poker will follow suit. Meanwhile, Absolute Poker/Ultimate Bet are involved in a lawsuit that's been filed in Antigua against the US government, via the World Trade Organization, claiming it had no right to freeze funds, seize domains, and take any action against online poker sites that are housed in other countries.

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.

Here's the Fortune magazine op-ed by Gary Loveman, CEO of Caesar's Entertainment, about getting online poker legislation passed, which we mentioned in today's show.

Final Table #116: Online Poker Shutdown

2011-04-20T11:40:00.002-05:00

Today on The Final Table show, we discussed the shutdown of the three largest poker sites -- PokerStars, Full Tilt, and Absolute Poker/Ultimate Bet -- after the indictments handed down Friday by the Department of Justice.

Joining us for complete analysis of this story were Eric Morris (publisher of Bluff magazine), Donnie Peters (Live Reporting Manager for Poker News), and attorney Josh Schindler. We talked about:

what the indictments mean for online players
whether we'll see more players in casino poker rooms now
the impact on big tournaments like the WSOP
which TV poker shows are canceled and which will continue
the shutdown's effect on other poker media
whether we're likely to see online poker legislation in Congress and state legislatures
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.

Update: as this podcast was being posted, the US Attorney's office announced that it is allowing PokerStars and Full Tilt to regain their dot-com domains. This will allow US players to get money out of their online poker accounts, but they still can not play in online cash games or tournaments. The sites may use those domains for their business outside the US.

Final Table #115: Greg Raymer & Ari Engel

2011-04-12T18:59:00.003-05:00

Today on The Final Table radio show, we wrapped up our coverage of the 2011 World Series Of Poker Circuit Event at Harrah's St. Louis.

Greg "Fossilman" Raymer joined us at the feature table to talk about the WSOPC Main Event we all played in (which was down to its final 4 while we were on the air). Since the final table of one Ring Event last week contained two brothers, and another one included two best friends, we talked about whether playing against someone you're close to can affect your strategy. We also talked about an odd hand played on Day 2 of the Main Event involving two big stacks.

Our other guest was poker player/trainer Ari Engel, who played in several Ring Events here, cashing in one. He explained how he helped prepare Joseph Cheong for last year's November Nine, the most important strategy he advises his students to use, and whether -- at age 28 -- even he has to work hard to keep up with players much younger than 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.

Also on The Final Table...

Final Table #114: Pat Walsh & Mori Eskandani

2011-04-06T10:16:00.005-05:00

Today on The Final Table radio show, we broadcast live from the lobby of Harrah's St. Louis, where the 2011 World Series Of Poker Circuit Event is taking place. It has already set records, with the two largest poker tournaments in Missouri history over the weekend and lots more action to come all week, leading up to the Main Event on Sunday.

Our first guest was Pat Walsh, the St. Louisan who recently won the $10,000 buy-in Big Event Shootout at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. Pat is also one of the top pot-limit Omaha players in the country, so we discussed the high-stakes games he plays and how he learned PLO strategy.

Our second guest was Mori Eskandani, who produces more hours of televised poker every year than anyone else. We discussed the decision to replace Gabe Kaplan with Norm McDonald as host of "High Stakes Poker," whether we'll see any PLO on "Poker After Dark" this season, and the process for choosing the field of 64 players for the "NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship" (which will air over six Sundays beginning April 17th).

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 #113: WSOPC Preview

2011-03-29T22:51:00.000-05:00

Today on The Final Table radio show, we previewed the World Series Of Poker Circuit Event that starts this Thursday night and runs through April 12th at Harrah's St. Louis, including a rundown of the schedule and buy-ins.

We also discussed:

an outrageous tournament move by a sit-and-go player at the Wynn Classic
how the partnership between the Wynn and PokerStars might affect the licensing and regulation of online poker
the unusual cards that won the 60,000,000,000th hand on PokerStars this morning
why the announcements about more super-high-roller tournaments are bad for poker
how Dennis lost the minimum in a tournament hand where he flopped a monster

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, which will host the World Series Of Poker Circuit Event March 31-April 12.

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

Final Table #112: Jason Alexander & Peter Eastgate

2011-03-22T16:01:00.005-05:00

Today on The Final Table radio show, we have more interviews we recorded two weeks ago at the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.

First up was Jason Alexander, best known as George Costanza on "Seinfeld," but also one of the Friends Of PokerStars celebrity roster, who joined us just after losing his match to Liv Boeree. He talked about his poker experiences, including the Ray Romano home game he plays in regularly, as well as his showbiz career.

Next up was Seth Palansky, Communications Director for the World Series Of Poker, who talked about the upcoming WSOP Circuit Event at Harrah's St. Louis (3/31-4/12), how other events on the circuit have done this season, and changes for the big tournaments at the Rio this summer.

Finally, our conversation with Peter Eastgate, 2008 WSOP Main Event Champion (he beat Dennis and Ivan Demidov), who explained why he quit poker last summer, and why he has returned from that self-imposed hiatus.

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, which will host the World Series Of Poker Circuit Event March 31-April 12.

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

Previously on The Final Table...

Peter Eastgate talks about playing on "High Stakes Poker" and his perspective on the famous AK-AQ hand between Dennis and Ivan Demidov

Final Table #111: Ann-Margaret Johnston, Poker CPA

2011-03-15T19:26:00.002-05:00

Today on The Final Table radio show, we tackled a topic we get asked about all the time -- poker player finances. We talked with Ann-Margaret Johnston, a CPA whose client list includes a lot of poker players, and author of "How To Turn Your Poker Playing Into A Business."

She explained what you're supposed to do tax-wise if you're a tournament player, a cash game player, or an online player -- from what records you need to keep to whether you have to report the money in your online accounts to what expenses you can write off to how to handle swapping stakes to declaring yourself a professional.

We also discussed our weekends in Los Angeles, where Paul played at the Commerce Casino while Dennis played at the Bicycle Casino in a big cash game that was streamed online, as well as the $10,000 buy-in Bounty Shootout (which was won by Pat Walsh, a fellow St. Louisan).

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

Next week, we'll bring you two more interviews we recorded at the NBC National Heads Up Poker Championships -- Peter Eastgate (in one of his first interviews since returning to poker) and Jason Alexander (yes, from Seinfeld).

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, which will host the World Series Of Poker Circuit Event March 31-April 12.

Final Table #110: Galfond, Hachem, Selbst

2011-03-08T18:36:00.003-06:00

Today on The Final Table radio show, we continued our coverage of the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. Dennis talked about his victory over Erick Lindgren in round 1, and then his loss to Doyle Brunson in round 2, including the strategy behind the way he played two hands against the poker legend. And we congratulated winner Erik Seidel, who has won over $4.3 million this year alone, and runner-up Chris Moneymaker, who's been on a hot streak of his own since January.

In our first guest segment, we talked with Phil Galfond, just minutes before he played Joe Hachem heads-up -- and were surprised when Joe sat down and joined the conversation. The two of them discussed the differences between live and online play, the importance of having a group of friends to discuss strategies with, and why some online players struggle when they sit down in brick-and-mortar poker rooms.

Then we were joined by Vanessa Selbst, who had remarkable results in 2010 and recently played on "High Stakes Poker," where she got into a controversial hand against millionaire amateur Phil Ruffin last week. We discussed that hand, her heads-up strategy, and more.

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

In case you missed it, we put out a special podcast-only bonus edition of The Final Table this weekend, with Gus Hansen, Faraz Jaka, and Barry Greenstein (all at the NBC Heads-Up). You can listen to that show here.

On a future show, we'll bring you two more interviews we recorded this weekend -- Peter Eastgate (in one of his first interviews since returning to poker) and Jason Alexander (yes, from Seinfeld). And if you missed Paul;s story about the wild poker night he had with a bunch of pros and media folks and a big bad beat, you can read that here.

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, which will host the World Series Of Poker Circuit Event March 31-April 12.

Final Table #109: Hansen, Jaka, Greenstein

2011-03-05T11:51:00.008-06:00

Today on The Final Table radio show, we have a special bonus edition recorded at the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. Before Dennis played his match against Erick Lindgren (and won, to move onto round 2 tomorrow against Doyle Brunson), we recorded several interviews with some of the other players in the field of 64.

In this hour, you'll get:

Gus Hansen, who explains how changing his strategy and wildman image has helped him win over the last few months;
Faraz Jaka, who cashed in 4 WSOP events last year with his play-any-two-cards approach;
Barry Greenstein, the high-stakes cash game master and longtime poker veteran.

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

On next week's show, you'll hear Phil Galfond and Joe Hachem together, plus Vanessa Selbst. Later, we'll bring you Peter Eastgate (in one of his first interviews since returning to poker) and Jason Alexander.

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, which will host the World Series Of Poker Circuit Event March 31-April 12.

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

Also on The Final Table...

Final Table #108: Greg Raymer

2011-03-02T08:04:00.002-06:00

Today on The Final Table radio show, we previewed the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship, which takes place this weekend at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. Dennis, who came in 3rd last year, will be in the field of 64 players along with some other poker veterans and a few new faces.

We also talked about the new season of "High Stakes Poker," which debuted this weekend, and analyzed a hand played by Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst, who limped in with a pair of queens and then played them very oddly against millionaire amateur Phil Ruffin, who flopped a set of threes.

Our guest was 2004 WSOP Main Event champion Greg Raymer, who spent the weekend at the World Series Of Poker Circuit Event in Florida playing in tournaments and cash games. One of them was a wild night of Dealer's Choice that included some poker games that you may not have heard of before (we hadn't), including Reverse PLO, Double Board Hold'em, and a combination flop-and-draw game called Sweten (which he learned from a Swedish player).

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

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

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

Also on The Final Table...

Final Table #107: Joe Navarro

2011-02-22T00:02:00.005-06:00

Today on The Final Table radio show, we'll talk with Joe Navarro, the former FBI agent and expert on non-verbal communication, who for several years has been teaching poker players how to read their opponents' tells. We'll discuss his new e-book, "200 Poker Tells" and he'll share with you some of the things you should look for next time you sit down in a live game or tournament.

Note: unfortunately, after this show aired live on KFNS, we had a power failure which caused us to lose the recorded audio, which we could not recover. Therefore, this show is not available as a podcast. Our apologies, but we'll have Joe back on the show at some point, and hope never to have that problem again. You should still get his book and learn the valuable information he's sharing about tells.

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

Final Table #106: Erik Seidel

2011-02-16T05:51:00.007-06:00

Today on The Final Table radio show, we talked with Erik Seidel, one of the most successful poker players of all time, with 8 WSOP bracelets, 1 WPT title, and over $13 million in tournament winnings -- $3.4 million of that last month alone!

We talked with Erik about the super-high-roller tournament he just won in Australia (with a buy-in of $250,000), from how it came together to how he rallied back from a huge chip disadvantage to beat Sam Trickett heads-up. He also reminisced about his early days at the Mayfair Club in New York, where he and other poker legends like Howard Lederer, Dan Harrington, and Steve Zolotow, played and learned from each other. Erik responded to several questions from listeners, including whether he thinks anyone over 35 can win the World Series Of Poker Main Event now, considering the crop of extremely talented young players in the field, as well as some strategy questions about what to do when you're in a slump.

Speaking of strategy, Dennis explained how, in a recent $1,000 buy-in deep-stack tournament at the Venetian, where he was below chip average from the very first round, he managed his stack well enough to finish 11th in a field of over a hundred. We also touched on Peter Eastgate's announcement that he's returning to poker, and plugged that Greg Raymer will be here in St. Louis for the WSOP Circuit Event in April, where he'll conduct one of his Fossilman Poker Training clinics (more details on that next month).

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

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

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

Final Table #105: Tony Dunst

2011-02-09T07:20:00.003-06:00

Today on The Final Table radio show, we talked with Tony Dunst, the poker pro known online as Bond18, who will be part of the broadcast team for the new season of the World Poker Tour when it premieres this weekend on Fox Sports Net. He explained some changes in the show, shared stories from his travels to Melbourne for the Aussie Millions and the wild action in Macau, China, and joined us in answering strategy questions from listeners (if you have one, e-mail us and we'll try to get to it on a future show).

In our news segment, we covered the arrest of the Bellagio Biker Bandit, Norm McDonald replacing Gabe Kaplan on "High Stakes Poker," and why you didn't see PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker advertising on the Super Bowl. We also discussed recent comments by Doyle Brunson, Jennifer Harman, and Phil Ivey bemoaning the lack of big games in Las Vegas.

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

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

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

Also on The Final Table...

Tony Dunst joined us for a post-mortem on his first season doing The Raw Deal on the WPT telecasts (7/6/11)

Final Table #104: Jeffrey Pollack & Jack Effel

2011-01-26T11:59:00.004-06:00

Today on The Final Table radio show, we talked with Jeffrey Pollack, former commissioner of the World Series of Poker, about the new professional poker league he's created with Annie Duke, which will include several made-for-TV events later this year. He explained that, while the criteria for which pros will be included hasn't been worked out yet, reports that the league won't include online pros are false. In fact, many of the details are still being developed (including the name of the league!), but we dug into as many questions as he could answer at this point.

We also talked with Jack Effel, director of the World Series Of Poker, who just announced the schedule of tournaments he has put together for his year's WSOP, which will run from May 31 to July 19 at the Rio in Las Vegas with 58 gold bracelet events. He explained the tournaments that are new to the WSOP this year, how late registration will extend to four hours for all events, and how he has added more lower-stakes events, mega-satellites, and deep-stack tourneys than ever before.

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

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

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

Also on The Final Table...

Final Table #103: Prahlad Friedman

2011-01-19T09:28:00.003-06:00

Today on my Final Table radio show, we talked with poker pro Prahlad Friedman, who said he'd never "sell out" and be sponsored by an online poker site, but did just that in a deal signed earlier this month. He explained why he changed his mind, and why he made the deal with UB -- the same site where he was cheated out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Prahlad answered some tough questions about the endorsement from some of our Twitter followers, and also discussed the controversial "countdown" hand he was involved at last year's Main Event, which included a ruling that may lead to a change in WSOP rules.

In our news segment, we touched on:

the TV broadcast of the PCA Main Event final table this weekend, the first time American viewers have seen every hand unedited, with hole cards, over the course of several hours;
whether Full Tilt's new Multi-Entry tournaments will give too much of an advantage to players with bigger bankrolls;
Isildur1's potential $150,000,000 tax bill;
the new league Annie Duke and ex-WSOP commissioner Jeffrey Pollack are forming, with made-for-TV events open to well-known poker pros only

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

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

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

Final Table #102: Dennis At The PCA

2011-01-11T16:01:00.005-06:00

Today on The Final Table poker radio show, while Paul was in snowy St. Louis, Dennis reported from the sunny Bahamas at the PokerStars Carribbean Adventure, the world's second-largest poker tournament.

We talked about Dennis playing Day 2 of the $2,000 buy-in event today, the results of the $100,000 buy-in Super High Roller event, the cash games full of loose online players, and one of the hands Dennis played in the PCA Main Event this weekend.

In our news segment, we talked about two big stories:

the recent theft of a player's cash and chips from a game in the Bellagio poker room (which Paul wrote about here);
the New Jersey legislature passing a bill that would allow online gambling within that state (not just poker, but craps, blackjack, roulette, and any other game offered at a casino in Atlantic City), and whether that's good or bad for poker players.

Next week on The Final Table, we'll talk with Prahlad Friedman, who said he'd never "sell out" and be sponsored by an online poker site, but did just that last week in signing with UB.com.

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

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

If you've missed any of our shows, you can browse through the list of previous guests in the sidebar on the right side of this page and listen to them via the embedded player.

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

Final Table #101: Linda Johnson & Annie Duke

2011-01-04T20:25:00.005-06:00

This week on The Final Table poker radio show, we talked with Annie Duke about why she has ended her relationship with UB.com, the online poker site that had sponsored her for the last 9 years. She dispelled some of the rumors that have spread since the announcement of her departure, as well as Phil Hellmuth's, and what they'll do next. Annie also discussed speculation that UB is going to sign Prahlad Friedman, a move that surprised many in the poker community because he was the highest-profile victim of the cheating scandal at UB several years ago.

Then we spoke with Linda Johnson, nicknamed The First Lady Of Poker for her long service to the game. Johnson has won a World Series Of Poker bracelet, published Card Player magazine, organized Card Player Cruises, worked for the World Poker Tour, co-founded the Tournament Directors Association, and helped start the charitable organization PokerGives.org. Linda shared stories about:

how tournaments have changed from the first time she played (when she was the only woman in the field) to today;
why she didn't recognize Robert Duvall, Jason Alexander, Tobey Maguire, and Macauley Culkin when they showed up a celebrity events;
why the poker cruises always stop the games at dinner time
what the TDA can do about deep stack tournaments that offer too much play.

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

We do The Final Table show every Tuesday 3pm to 4pm CT from the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis on 590 KFNS radio. Follow us on Twitter: Dennis is here, Paul is here.
Also on The Final Table...

Final Table #100: Year In Review

2010-12-29T12:02:00.003-06:00

This week on The Final Table poker radio show, we reviewed the Year In Poker, including our adventures in cash games and tournaments in St. Louis, across the USA, around the world, and on TV.

We also recapped the poker stories that got our attention this year, from Tom Dwan's multi-million-dollar WSOP bracelet bet to Phil Laak's endurance record to Michael Mizrachi's amazing bookend tournaments this summer. We looked back at the death of legislation to license and regulate online poker, the states that embraced poker (Florida and Pennsylvania), and the ones that fought it (Washington and Kentucky). On the tournament front, we covered the first-ever WSOP Circuit Event at Harrah's St. Louis, the debut of the NAPT, the re-boot of the WSOP Circuit and the WPT, and a breakout year by poker pros Vanessa Selbst and Jose "Nacho" Barbero.

Finally, we made predictions for what to expect in poker next year, including our over/under on the number of players in the 2011 WSOP Main Event.

Before we turn the calendar page, we offer big thanks to you, our listeners, for helping us get to this milestone 100th show. There's more to come!

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

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

Final Table #99: Antonio Esfandiari

2010-12-22T10:58:00.002-06:00

This week on The Final Table poker radio show, we talked with Antonio Esfandiari, who just won the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond Classic against one of its toughest final tables ever (and where he pulled off a monster bluff against Vanessa Rousso). We also discussed how he ended up in a new movie with Bruce Willis and 50 Cent ("Setup"), some of his wacky prop bets, what we can expect in the new season of "High Stakes Poker" (he recorded a session last week), and stories from his Las Vegas nightlife.

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

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

Final Table #98: Online Poker Bill Update

2010-12-16T13:58:00.000-06:00

This week on The Final Table poker radio show, Dennis Phillips and Paul Harris updated the possibility of Congress passing the online poker bill before the lame duck session closes at the end of this week. John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance, joined us to explain why it seems unlikely, what the obstacles are, what it means for online players if the bill is not passed, and whether there's a chance it could still become law in the next Congress.

Other topics we discussed:

whether antes in cash games should affect the size of your pre-flop raises
Daniel Negreanu's reputation as a calling station on high stakes TV cash games;
the amateur on "The Big Game" who got up $140,000 and then folded the next 53 hands in a row -- including pocket aces;
a daring early-morning heist at the Bellagio that raises more questions about their security.

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

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

Final Table #97: The Online Poker Bill

2010-12-08T04:01:00.002-06:00

This week on The Final Table poker radio show, we had a comprehensive discussion about the online poker regulation and licensing bill that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is trying to pass in the last two weeks of this lame duck session of Congress.

In our in-depth analysis, we explained:

the 15-month period in which no online poker sites will be allowed to operate in the US;
which sites could be licensed to operate after that period, and which might have to sit in a "penalty box" for another year after that;
how online players in some states may never be able to play legally;
how the sites and the players will be taxed
how big tournaments like the WSOP and televised poker shows like "High Stakes Poker" will be affected;
what this means for poker in general in both the short-term and long-term;
and much more.

While a new draft of the bill is still being revised, this is the latest information on what could happen if the online poker bill is attached to other major legislation, passed by congress, and signed by President Obama -- which could happen in the next 2 weeks.

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

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

Final Table #96: WSOP Champ Jonathan Duhamel

2010-12-01T11:50:00.004-06:00

This week on The Final Table poker radio show, we talked with Jonathan Duhamel, winner of the 2010 World Series Of Poker Main Event, the first Canadian to take that title.

We discussed what led to the big blow-up hand with Joseph Cheong at the November Nine final table, how he played a couple of big hands against Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, who gave him advice on his way to the championship, and how many times he's been propositioned by women since winning the $8.9 million prize.

In our poker news segment, we discussed the surprisingly high price that Peter Eastgate's 2008 WSOP bracelet went for on eBay, why major tournaments shouldn't make their main event the last one on their schedule, and whether any online poker site wants Phil Hellmuth as their spokesperson anymore.

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

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

Also on The Final Table...

Jonathan Duhamel explained how he became chip leader by exploiting the November Nine bubble (9/15/10)

Final Table #95: Why Win The WSOP?

2010-11-24T11:31:00.001-06:00

This week on The Final Table poker radio show, we talked with Chris Moneymaker about the burden of winning the World Series Of Poker Main Event. The topic came up because of some online comments regarding our discussion last week about whether Joseph Cheong blew up in this year's Main Event because he didn't want the pressure that comes with being the champion. Since Chris has arguably gotten more media attention than anyone since sparking the poker boom by winning the title 7 years ago, we wanted his perspective.

Then we recapped our weekend at the Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg, Indiana (outside Cincinnati) (where Paul made the final table of the deep stack event), as we sat down with tournament director Kevin Dawn and poker room manager Thom Krauss, who shared some great stories from his long career in the poker world.

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

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

Also on The Final Table...

Chris Moneymaker discussed how no-limit hold'em has changed since he won the WSOP Main Event in 2003 (3/4/09)

Final Table #94: John Racener, WSOP Runner-Up

2010-11-16T23:17:00.006-06:00

This week on The Final Table poker radio show, we talked with John Racener, the runner-up in this year's World Series Of Poker Main Event.

This was a terrific in-depth discussion, with some serious strategy. John explained how, when it got down to 3-handed play, he was thrilled to see the two big stacks (Jonathan Duhamel and Joseph Cheong) going after each other, a battle that allowed him to sneak into second place and win an extra $1.5 million in prize money. He also analyzed a couple of big hands from that final table, including his ace-king versus Michael Mizrachi's ace-eight, and the hand in which Mizrachi shoved a huge stack with a pair of threes against Duhamel, who called for his tournament life with ace-nine and won the hand.

Among the other topics Dennis and Paul touched on:

Peter Eastgate auctioning off his 2008 Main Event bracelet for UNICEF;
Full Tilt following PokerStars' lead and banning any players in Washington state;
Whether "Poker After Dark" can help get more players interested in pot limit omaha;
Why viewership of the November Nine was down 26% this year;
The Hollywood Fall Classic in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, which both of us will play in later this week.

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

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

Also on The Final Table...

John Racener analyzed some of the hands that got him to the November Nine (7/28/10)

Final Table #93: Main Event Finale w/The Grinder

2010-11-09T17:41:00.000-06:00

This week on The Final Table poker radio show, Dennis Phillips and Paul Harris talked about the finale of the 2010 World Series Of Poker Main Event, which played out this weekend at the Rio in Las Vegas, as the November Nine was whittled down to this year's champion, Jonathan Duhamel. Since Dennis was there, he offered some first-person observations of the heads-up resolution of the second-largest poker tournament ever, which started with 7,319 players, as well as the Poker Hall Of Fame inductions of Eric Seidel and Dan Harrington.

We were joined by Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, who finished 5th to bookend a remarkable WSOP that began with him winning the $50,000 buy-in Player's Championship and boosted his career tournament earnings into poker's all-time top ten.

Grinder was very candid in talking about some of the hands he played, including a call with ace-eight when his friend John Racener (who was short-stacked at the time but went on to finish 2nd) moved all-in with ace-king, and another hand where Mizrachi shoved with a pair of threes and got called by Duhamel (also short-stacked at the time) with ace-nine. Grinder lost both of those hands, but also had some big winners, including an unbelievable turn of the cards that knocked out Matthew Jarvis in 8th place. We also discussed the way Joseph Cheong seemed to blow up when it came down to the final three by getting involved with Duhamel in the biggest pot in WSOP history, which crippled Cheong and led to his elimination in 3rd place.

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

Final Table #92: Brandon Steven, WSOP Bubble Boy

2010-11-02T17:42:00.001-05:00

This week on The Final Table poker radio show, Dennis Phillips and Paul Harris talked about the November Nine, the last men standing in the World Series Of Poker Main Event, who will return to the table this weekend to play down to the winner, who will get around $9 million. Since Dennis was part of the original November Nine in 2008, he gave some perspective on what the players have to endure this week before the cards are in the air.

Our guest, Brandon Steven, just missed being part of this year's November Nine. He's the Wichita car dealer who was knocked out of the Main Event in 10th place. Although he earned more than $600,000 for his deep run, he explained why he still hasn't gotten over it. We also discussed what it was like in those nearly six hours before he got knocked out, went over some big hands he played, and analyzed which of the November Nine has the best chance of winning it all (and who will likely be the first one eliminated). Brandon will be hosting his fifth annual charity poker tournament this weekend to raise money for the Genesis Foundation -- an event Dennis will take part in, along with two other Team PokerStars Pros, Joe Cada and Victor Ramdin.

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

Final Table #91: Liv Boeree

2010-10-27T05:30:00.003-05:00

This week on the Final Table poker radio show, Dennis Phillips and Paul Harris talked about a recent crackdown on online players using poker bots, including one guy who's upset that he was thrown off one of the top sites, claiming that he'd done nothing wrong in using his own software to win $200,000+ from other players while his computer played with no hands-on assistance from him.

Our guest was Liv Boeree, who went from a college degree in astrophysics to modeling and co-hosting poker TV shows to life as a poker pro -- and she's done pretty well at it recently, winning the EPT San Remo event in the spring, cashing in three WSOP events this summer, two deep runs at the WSOPE in September, and a 2nd place finish at the EPT London earlier this month. We talked about a Discover magazine piece that profiles Liv and other poker-playing physicists, how she told her parents she was leaving science behind to play poker for a living, how she got her training in the game from Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke, and Devilfish Ulliott, and the difference between US and European players. Liv also discussed how she uses her sex appeal at the table to gain an edge over male players, and her thoughts on getting more women to overcome intimidation and play the game.

We also discussed Howard Lederer's blog on why Phil Ivey should not have been nominated for the Poker Hall Of Fame this year, the huge turnout for the main event and regional championship at the WSOP Circuit tournament at Horseshoe Hammond, and some poker TV news.

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

Final Table #90: David Williams

2010-10-20T11:36:00.003-05:00

This week on my Final Table poker radio show, Dennis Phillips and Paul Harris talked about playing in cash games in Las Vegas and at the WSOP Circuit Event at Horseshoe Hammond this weekend, the newest inductees to the Poker Hall Of Fame (Erik Seidel and Dan Harrington), and a court case in South Carolina involving five guys arrested for playing poker at home.

Our guest was David Williams, winner of the 2010 World Poker Tour Championship and runner-up to Greg Raymer in the 2004 World Series Of Poker Main Event. David discussed how he's changed his game in the last few years by being less aggressive and more patient, a couple of odd prop bets he's been involved in, why he left Bodog to become a member of Team PokerStars Pro, and more.

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

Final Table #89: Daniel "Jungleman12" Cates

2010-10-13T13:30:00.003-05:00

Today on the Final Table poker radio show, Dennis Phillips and Paul Harris talked with Daniel Cates, known online as "Jungleman12," who has roared onto the scene as one of the newest stars of poker.

We talked with Cates about the nose-bleed stakes games he's been playing against Tom Dwan (The Durrr Challenge) and Isildur1 -- $200/400 no-limit, heads-up -- from how they schedule the matches to which player he thinks is better, as well as his recent trip to the World Series Of Poker Europe and the differences between playing live and online.

Other topics:

Paul's weekend trip to Las Vegas, where he was disappointed to find almost no pot-limit Omaha action
Whether a casino should have reimbursed a well-known player who was robbed in one of its bathrooms
The poker site that's suing Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi for promising to wear its logo during the main event, but then switching to another site halfway through
The St. Louisan who just took down the HORSE tournament at a WSOP Circuit event

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes!
Next week on The Final Table, we'll talk with Brandon Steven, the Wichita car dealer who finished 10th in this year's WSOP Main Event, making him the November Nine Bubble Boy.

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

Final Table #88: Annie Duke

2010-10-06T05:52:00.003-05:00

Today on The Final Table poker radio show, Dennis Phillips finally returned from his trips to Argentina for the LAPT Finale and England for the EPT London, while Paul Harris reported on his trip to Florida to play in some of the new cash games there. We also discussed last week's ruling by an appeals court judge that makes online poker illegal in the state of Washington, which led PokerStars to no longer allow anyone with an IP address in that state to play on the site.

In our guest segment, we talked with Annie Duke, who beat Dennis in the semi-finals before going on to win this year's National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Annie testified before Congress about regulating and licensing online poker, so we spent some time on that subject. Then we turned to why she didn't play in the World Series Of Poker Europe, and whether she thinks that bracelets won there are equivalent to the bracelets awarded at the WSOP in Las Vegas. Finally, we touched on the aftermath of the feud she had this summer with Daniel Negreanu, which started out as a disagreement about ladies-only tournaments.

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes!
Next week on The Final Table, we'll talk with Daniel "Jungleman12" Cates, who is playing some of the highest-stakes no-limit hold'em games online versus Tom "Durrr" Dwan and Isuldur1.

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

Also on The Final Table...

Final Table #87: Jen Harman & Johnny Chan

2010-09-28T16:00:00.004-05:00

Today on The Final Table poker radio show, with both Dennis Phillips and Paul Harris traveling, we reran two of our most popular interviews of the year, both featuring people who play in the highest-stakes cash game in Bobby's Room at the Bellagio.

First up was Jennifer Harman, who was inducted into the Women In Poker Hall Of Fame earlier this month. Then you'll hear Johnny Chan, owner of ten WSOP bracelets, who was still one of the chip leaders in this year's Main Event at the time of our conversation.

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes!
Next week on The Final Table, Dennis will recap his adventures at the LAPT in Argentina and the EPT in London, and Paul will have stories of playing in the new cash games in three card rooms in Florida.

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

Final Table #86: Ed Miller

2010-09-22T12:00:00.006-05:00

This week on the Final Table radio show, Dennis Phillips checked in from Argentina, where he's just arrived for the finale of the Latin America Poker Tour, while Paul Harris was in the poker room at Harrah's St. Louis.

Our guest was Ed Miller, a columnist for Card Player who has done 4 poker DVDs and written 5 poker books, including his latest, "Small Stakes No-Limit Hold'em." That's a subject we don't talk about often enough, so Ed offered some tips for players in $1-2 and $2-5 cash games, including what they often do wrong, what they do right, and why players used to bigger games fall into easy traps when playing these smaller games.

We also reviewed an interesting hand Dennis played on PokerStars in a WCOOP tournament, discussed Kathy Liebert's tweets about why she doesn't get more attention from sponsors and ESPN, and recapped some results from the World Series Of Poker Europe.

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes!
Follow us on Twitter: Dennis is here, Paul is here.

Also on The Final Table...

Ed Miller talked about his book "How To Read Hands At No-Limit Hold'Em" (11/1/11)

Final Table #85: Matt Savage & Jonathan Duhamel

2010-09-15T03:50:00.004-05:00

This week on the Final Table radio show, we brought on Matt Savage to comment on last week's topic about whether the structure of deep stack poker tournaments is really giving players the best value, or whether it's excessive to offer so many chips and such long rounds that it takes 2 days to finish even a smaller buy-in ($200-$600) event. Matt knows a lot about the topic because he's tournament director for Commerce Casino, Bay 101, and Hard Rock Las Vegas, and was one of the founders of the Tournament Directors Association. Since he used to be TD of the World Series Of Poker, we asked his opinion of the controversial Prahlad Friedman countdown hand we discussed on last week's show. We also talked about changes he's made as executive director of the World Poker Tour, which has begun its 9th season and will begin airing of FSN in a few months.

Our other guest was another member of this year's November Nine, Jonathan Duhamel, who will be the chip leader when the WSOP Main Event resumes in two months. This is the position Dennis was in 2 years ago, so they compared notes on strategy, and Jonathan revealed how he exploited the bubble when there were only 10 players left.

Dennis added some stories about playing in the only legal poker room in Massachusetts this weekend, we updated the chances of online poker regulation legislation being passed now that Congress is back in session, and we marveled at how PokerStars (which celebrated its 9th birthday this weekend) will soon deal its 50 billionth hand.

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

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

Also on The Final Table...

Final Table #84: The Big Game's Joe Stapleton

2010-09-08T00:02:00.001-05:00

This week on the Final Table radio show, with the World Championship Of Online Poker underway, we discussed whether online tournaments are getting harder to beat, as live tournaments are. We also talked about whether a recent trend in the structure of live tournaments -- offering a lot of chips and a lot of play early on and extending smaller buy-in events to play out over two days -- is really good for the players.

Then we dug into a controversial hand from last week's ESPN broadcast of the World Series Of Poker Main Event involving poker pro Prahlad Friedman and amateur Ted Bort. In the hand, Bort called the clock on Friedman, who waited until the floorman counted down to 1 before saying "call." But the floorman said it didn't matter because Friedman's hand was dead as soon as he said "one." Other players protested and WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel has made some comments about the ruling that we found interesting. As you listen to the show, you'll hear the audio of the hand, and can make up your own mind.

Next, we were joined by Joe Stapleton, co-host of the "Two Jacks In The Hole" podcast and analyst on "The Big Game," the newest televised high-stakes cash game. We have talked a lot about how much we like this show, so it was good to have Joe offer some insight into where his analysis comes from, why the format of "The Big Game" works so well, and when we can expect to see a fresh series of shows. Joe also joined in on our discussion of the 10 nominees for the Poker Hall of Fame and a clip of Barney Frank vs. Jay Leno over licensing and regulating online gambling.

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

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

Final Table #83: November Niner Matt Jarvis

2010-08-31T18:17:00.005-05:00

This week on the Final Table radio show, Dennis Phillips and Paul Harris were in the Harrah's St. Louis Poker Room to talk about Dennis' experience in the Canadian Poker Open in Calgary and a tournament at the Hollywood Casino outside of Cincinnati. We also discussed the heated feud between the Poker Players Alliance and the Commerce Casino over the online poker legislation passed earlier this month in Barney Frank's congressional committee.

Our guest today was Matt Jarvis, another one of this year's November Nine for the Main Event of the World Series Of Poker. Since Matt was at the Canadian Poker Open with Dennis and won the $5,000 buy-in heads-up event, we talked about that before delving into how he hung on to make the November Nine, who he has helping him prepare for that final table, and how he almost didn't play in the WSOP at all because his father got seriously ill.

Finally we reveal the results of some online research to figure out which poker pro has won the most, and who has lost the most, over the six seasons of "High Stakes Poker." Got a guess?

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes!
Follow us on Twitter: Dennis is here, Paul is here, Matt is here.

Final Table #82: Phil Gordon

2010-08-24T16:01:00.012-05:00

This week on the Final Table radio show, Paul was in St. Louis while Dennis checked in from the Canadian Poker Open in Calgary. The Main Event, which Dennis is playing today, is a $5,000 buy-in heads-up tournament, so we discussed strategy for facing an opponent one-on-one -- from raising regularly on the button to how to respond to an aggressive player and use that strategy against them.

Our guest today was Phil Gordon, the onetime host of "Celebrity Poker Showdown" who won this summer's Ante Up For Africa tournament and convinced lots of WSOP players to donate 1% of their winnings to his Put A Bad Beat On Cancer organization. We talked with him about all of that, plus the amazing 40th birthday party he just celebrated with 30 friends on his ranch in Washington, and why he did so poorly in his annual rock-paper-scissors championship during the WSOP this summer.

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

You can hear The Final Table from 3pm to 4pm CT every Tuesday on 590 KFNS Radio, brought to you by the Harrah's St. Louis poker room.

Phil Gordon's ESPN.com podcast is The Poker Edge.

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

Final Table #81: Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi

2010-08-17T20:43:00.003-05:00

This week on the Final Table radio show, we talked with Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, who not only won the $50,000 Player's Championship (his first bracelet) to start the 2010 World Series Of Poker, but finished it by outlasting 7,310 other players in the Main Event to become one of this year's November Nine.

We talked to Mizrachi from Cyprus, where he and his friend Chino Rheem are spending a few days playing in tournaments and enjoying vacation. Among the topics we covered:

what his strategy will be at the final table this fall;
whether he changed his play to ensure he'd make the November Nine
how he knocked his brother out of the $50k event by getting lucky with a weaker hand;
what's happened to the poker scene in his home state of Florida now that the limits have been lifted;
whether he pays attention to the race for Player Of The Year, where he stands on the all-time tournament money list (12th at the moment), and other impressive statistics he's racked up.

Dennis and I also discussed Annette Oberstad's poor sportsmanship during the Main Event, a bad strategic move by the Loose Cannon on last week's "Big Game" telecast, and more developments in the effort to legalize and regulate online poker.

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes!
You can hear The Final Table from 3pm to 4pm CT every Tuesday on 590 KFNS Radio, brought to you by the Harrah's St. Louis poker room.

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

Final Table #80: November Niner Jason Senti

2010-08-10T22:09:00.000-05:00

This week on the Final Table radio show, we talked with Jason Senti, the short stack of this year's WSOP Main Event November Nine.

We talked about how he played to stay alive when there ten players left, including folding a big over-pair that he's sure he'll be mocked for when it airs on ESPN (their coverage of the Main Event begins this evening and continues every week until Senti and the others play their final table in November).

Also discussed:

a former stockbrocker who confessed to financial fraud and is being allowed to play poker to get money to compensate his victims and keep himself out of jail;
Kathy Leibert and Jennifer Harman being inducted into the Women In Poker Hall of Fame;
how the predicted Year Of The Woman at the WSOP turned out to be a bust;
the return of "The Big Game" on TV, where a millionaire businessman may be the real loose cannon at the table;
why Phil Hellmuth and Robert Williamson III should stick to poker instead of TV trivia shows

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

You can hear The Final Table from 3pm to 4pm CT every Tuesday on 590 KFNS Radio, brought to you by the Harrah's St. Louis poker room.

Final Table #79: Gavin Smith

2010-08-05T01:12:00.002-05:00

This week on the Final Table radio show, we talked about the online poker legislation (HR2267) that passed Barney Frank's banking committee in the House last week, from what the bill says to its chances of becoming law in the next year.

Then we had an extended conversation with veteran poker pro Gavin Smith, who finally won his first World Series Of Poker bracelet this summer in a mixed limit/no-limit hold'em event. We discussed that, and:

why he gave his WSOP bracelet to his brother
why he thinks Phil Hellmuth and other loudmouths are good for poker
why he hopes his soon-to-be-born child doesn't become a professional poker player
an update on the tattoo prop bet with Joe Sebok and Jeff Madsen
why he's no longer doing his Poker Road radio show

Final Table #78: John Racener & Norman Chad

2010-07-28T00:37:00.007-05:00

This week on the Final Table radio show, we talked with 24-year-old poker pro John Racener, one of the November Nine for this year's World Series Of Poker Main Event, who explained:

how he debated with friends whether he'd fold a big hand earlier in the tournament when they were just a few players away from min-cashing;
why it took so long (5+ hours) to play down from 10 players to 9 ;
why so many of the players at the final table are under 26 years old; and
why lots of pros are now playing a lot more poker in Florida (his home state).

Next, we had a conversation with Norman Chad, commentator for ESPN's coverage of the WSOP, which will air every Tuesday night for the next three-and-a-half months. He revealed what kind of stories they look for as the event takes place, why a goofy outfit doesn't guarantee you camera time, which pros he knows he can turn to for a great interview, and what happened when he tried to get ESPN to show other games besides no-limit hold'em on television.

That interview took place in two parts, separated by a segment in which Dennis explained how and when the online poker sites approached Main Event participants to get them to wear their patches, and how much they were paid. We also updated the status of the Barney Frank internet gambling legislation that would clear up the legality of online poker

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

Next week on the show: Gavin Smith talks about winning his first-ever WSOP bracelet this summer, and Paul reports on the World Poker Open in Tunica, Mississippi.

You can hear The Final Table from 3pm to 4pm CT every Tuesday on 590 KFNS Radio, brought to you by the Harrah's St. Louis poker room.

Also on The Final Table...

Final Table #77: Howard Lederer

2010-07-21T03:00:00.012-05:00

This week on the Final Table radio show, we continued coverage of the 2010 World Series Of Poker Main Event, which has now reduced a field of 7,319 players to the 9 who will come back in November to play for the most coveted championship in the game.

We discussed the members of this year's November Nine, as well as some amazing stories from the Main Event, including:

a horrible bad beat with a pot of over 42,000,000 chips;
a European player who made it to Day 3 but went home because he couldn't afford to change his flight;
the $2,000,000 fifty-pound weight loss bet between Ted Forrest and Mike Matusow

Next, we talked with Howard Lederer, known as "The Professor" for his years of teaching up-and-comers how to play poker, who has cashed in over 70 tournaments and won two bracelets at the WSOP. We discussed his second place finish in the Tournament Of Champions (behind Huck Seed), his big-money bets with Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey over WSOP bracelets, and -- since Lederer was one of the founders of Full Tilt Poker -- what he thinks of the chances of getting legislation through Congress this year that would allow online poker sites to be licensed, regulated, and taxed in the USA.

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

Next week on the show: John Racener (one of this year's November Nine) and ESPN's Norman Chad (just hours before ESPN starts this year's coverage of the WSOP).

You can hear The Final Table from 3pm to 4pm CT every Tuesday on 590 KFNS Radio, brought to you by the Harrah's St. Louis poker room.

Final Table #76: Johnny Chan

2010-07-14T10:10:00.004-05:00

This week on the Final Table radio show, we continued coverage of the 2010 World Series Of Poker Main Event, including details on some hands Dennis played before being eliminated on Day 2, and a story about an inspirational young player playing the most important tournament of his life.

We also talked with poker legend Johnny Chan, who was one of the chip leaders going into Day 4 of the Main Event, and who rarely gives interviews. Johnny explained the difference in the opponents he's facing now compared to those he defeated in 1987 and 1988 when he won back-to-back Main Event bracelets. He also discussed what it's like playing in Bobby's Room at the Bellagio in the biggest cash game around, and whether he cares that Phil Hellmuth has one more WSOP bracelet than Johnny does.

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

You can hear The Final Table from 3pm to 4pm CT every Tuesday on 590 KFNS Radio, brought to you by the Harrah's St. Louis poker room.

Final Table #75: At The Main Event

2010-07-06T16:01:00.005-05:00

Today on the Final Table radio show, we are at the Rio in Las Vegas, where the 2010 World Series Of Poker Main Event is underway.

We recapped some of the highlights and lowlights of the last few days and looked back on a couple of players who had been overhyped to have big results at the WSOP, but fell short -- Tom Dwan and Annette Oberstad. Joe "The Poker Coach" McGowan joined us to talk about making the final table of the $1,500 Limit Shootout tournament a few days ago, and about a guy who was disqualified in the middle of that event under some very odd circumstances. Then Paul spoke with Jack Effel, the WSOP Tournament Director, who explained some last-minute changes he had to make to the structure of the Main Event, and an addition he's already planning for next year's WSOP.

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

You can hear The Final Table from 3pm to 4pm CT every Tuesday on 590 KFNS Radio, brought to you by the Harrah's St. Louis poker room.

Final Table #74: Gavin Griffin & Chino Rheem

2010-06-30T16:13:00.003-05:00

This week at the Final Table, we continued our coverage of the 2010 World Series Of Poker, where Dennis stepped away from the triple-chance event to do this show. Our guests:

Team PokerStars Pro Gavin Griffin, who remembered his first trip to the WSOP and a classic hand he played against Phil Hellmuth before becoming the then-youngest-ever bracelet winner in 2004. He also discussed teaching at the WSOP Academy, and revealed strategies for winning tournaments instead of just running deep in them.
Chino Rheem, who was with Dennis as part of the first-ever November Nine, the players that made the final table of the 2008 WSOP Main Event. He remembered the camaraderie that group had and the overwhelming media attention they had to deal with. Chino was also brutally honest about the mistakes he made in the year after making that final table and winning a WPT event at Bellagio, which led to big financial trouble.

Listen to this week's show, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes!

Next week, Dennis and Paul will both be at the Rio to cover the beginning of the 2010 WSOP Main Event. You can hear The Final Table from 3pm to 4pm CT every Tuesday on 590 KFNS Radio, brought to you by the Harrah's St. Louis poker room.

Also on The Final Table...

Gavin Griffin discussed being the first player to win poker's Triple Crown (a WSOP bracelet, a WPT event, and an EPT event) (4/1/09)

Final Table #73: Joe Sebok & Kara Scott

2010-06-28T21:42:00.006-05:00

This week at the Final Table, we continued our coverage of the World Series Of Poker and talked with Joe Sebok, the man behind PokerRoad.com, about:

why he's asking all poker pros to wear green track suits on the first day of this year's WSOP Main Event;
how he defends Ultimate Bet after yet another scandal about that poker site's integrity;
how Chau Giang became his Vietnamese uncle;
a followup on that sick tattoo prop bet with Gavin Smith and Jeff Madsen that he lost this spring.

Then we welcomed back Kara Scott, hostess of "High Stakes Poker" and the only woman to cash in both the 2008 and 2009 WSOP Main Events. Among several topics, we discussed a TV poker show she hosted in England -- a 48-hour marathon game with a unique vote-a-player-off-the-table strategy.

Speaking of TV poker, if you live in one of the cities where the Fox affiliate is not showing "The Big Game," a new nightly high stakes cash game show, we urge you to call the station and complain. In St. Louis, that would be KTVI (channel 2). Their number is 314-213-2222 and the General Manager is Spencer Koch. Get your friends to call, too. In the meantime, you can watch "The Big Game" online here).

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

Listen to this week's show, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes!

Also on The Final Table...

Final Table #72: Phil Laak

2010-06-16T08:47:00.005-05:00

This week at the Final Table, we continued our coverage of the World Series Of Poker and talked with Phil Laak, who did a marathon session of 115 hours in the $10/20 game at Bellagio last weekend to raise money for Camp Sunshine. He shared stories about how he did it and what his new world record says about human endurance.

We also discussed "The Big Game," a nightly high stakes cash game show, which Laak appeared on, where the pre-flop betting is pot-limit only, and then becomes no-limit post-flop. Laak explained why he loved this format so much that he'd like to see it played in casinos around the country and as a new event at the World Series Of Poker.

He also gave us his insider's perspective on a remarkable hand that involved Poker Brat Hellmuth and Loose Cannon Wiggins on a show that will air tonight. You can watch the unfinished video of that hand (there's no commentary) here first...

Then hear what Laak said about it on our show.

Listen live to The Final Table at our new time of 3pm to 4pm CT every Tuesday on 590 KFNS Radio from the Harrah's St. Louis poker room. Click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes!

Final Table #71: WSOP, LAPT, Vanessa Rousso

2010-06-09T01:45:00.006-05:00

This week on The Final Table poker show, we continued our coverage of the 2010 World Series Of Poker and the Latin American Poker Tour, with Dennis in Lima, Peru and Paul at Harrah's St. Louis. We talked about Dennis' adventures as captain of the America's Cup team, which had a big run to the finals, and the question of whether accused murderer Joran Van Der Sloot was supposed to play in the same LAPT tournament he was in.

In WSOP news, we covered:

Tom Dwan making a final table in a $1500 buy-in no-limit hold'em event, which drew lots of attention because several high-stakes poker pros had big bets against him getting a bracelet;
Phil Laak's record-setting session of 115 consecutive hours in a $10/20 no-limit game at Bellagio as a fundraiser for Camp Sunshine;
Paul's experience in the live-action cash games at the Rio all week while Dennis was in Latin America; and more

Then we were joined by Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso, who announced her brand new iPhone App (Poker 1 On 1 With Vanessa Rousso), remembered her first experience at the WSOP (where she passed out and still made a deep run!), and offered some advice for playing sit-and-go qualifiers.

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

Also on The Final Table:

Final Table #70: WSOP w/Barry Greenstein

2010-06-01T15:00:00.006-05:00

Today on The Final Table, we were at the Rio in Las Vegas to begin our coverage of the 2010 World Series Of Poker.

After a recap of the opening weekend (especially the $1k event, which Paul played in), we had an extended conversation with poker legend Barry Greenstein. He shared his memories of the first time he played in the WSOP, where he cashed but still lost money, and explained how he handles the grind of playing tournaments every day for the six weeks of the series.

Then, during a conversation about big-money televised cash games, Barry made the startling revelation that he thinks he's at a disadvantage on those shows because -- in his words -- he's past his prime. Delving further, Barry detailed mistakes he still finds himself making, which poker players at every level will be able to relate to.

We were enthralled listening to one of the best minds in poker go into such thoughtful analysis of his own game, including which games in the 8-game-mix (that made up the $50,000 Players Championship this weekend) Barry considers his best and worst, and how he changes strategies for each one.

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

For more Barry Greenstein, check out his blogs and podcasts at PokerRoad.com. His book, which we highly recommend, is "Ace On The River."

Also on The Final Table...

Final Table #69: Final Prep for the WSOP

2010-05-26T11:25:00.007-05:00

Today on The Final Table, we were joined by Kevin Schaffel (one of the 2009 WSOP November Nine) and Bernard Lee (13th in the 2005 WSOP Main Event), who each shared some advice for you about how to prepare for the 2010 World Series Of Poker, which begins later this week in Las Vegas.

We discussed what to watch for at the table, why you should get there early to see what's where, and how to prepare yourself mentally and physically for the world's biggest live poker tournaments. Kevin and Bernard offered a great been-there-done-that perspective, especially for anyone making their first trip to the WSOP (a trip that we all agree every poker player should make at least once in their life!).

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

We usually do The Final Table in the poker room at Harrah's St. Louis, but next week we'll have a special show from The Rio in Las Vegas, reporting on the first weekend of the 2010 WSOP. You can listen live Tuesday 2-3pm CT on 590 The Fan KFNS Radio.

Previously on The Final Table...

Final Table #68: Chad Brown + UIGEA Update

2010-05-18T23:16:00.004-05:00

Today on The Final Table, we discussed our weekend at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut for their MegaStacks Challenge, where Paul had a very deep run in one event, and on the big finale to the SCOOP (Spring Championship Of Online Poker) on PokerStars, where Dennis cashed in a couple of events.

We also talked to Chad Brown, who gave up his soap opera career ("Another World") to become a successful poker pro. Chad talked about getting his start in poker games in the back rooms of Italian cafes in the Bronx, and working his way up to over $3 million in career tournament cashes. He's had lots of success in mixed games, so we discussed the 8-game-mix that will make up the $50,000 buy-in Player's Championship, the first big event of the 2010 WSOP, which kicks off at the end of next week. And we brought up a few points about Vanessa Rousso, a fellow member of Team PokerStars Pro who became Chad's wife last year.

Finally, we got an update from Poker Players Alliance executive director John Pappas about the impending implementation of the UIGEA, its possible impact on online poker, and whether there's a chance of carving out an exception for poker as a game of skill.

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

Next week on The Final Table, just days before the world's biggest poker tournament begins, we'll get more advice on how to prepare for your first time at the World Series Of Poker from Kevin Schaffel (one of the 2009 November Nine) and Bernard Lee (13th in the 2005 Main Event).

We do the show live each Tuesday 2-3pm CT in the poker room at Harrah's St. Louis. You can listen on 590 The Fan KFNS Radio.

Also on The Final Table...

Final Table #67: WSOP 2010 Preview

2010-05-11T16:46:00.002-05:00

Today on The Final Table, we previewed the 2010 World Series Of Poker, which starts in just over 2 weeks.

We were joined by Jack Effel, WSOP Tournament Director, who explained some of the changes in events and venues, how they'll spread out entries for the Main Event to avoid last year's last-minute crush, and how you can register online in advance to ensure you don't get left out of the tournaments you want to play.

We also discussed Dennis' play against Eli Elezra in the "NBC National Heads-Up Championship" that aired Sunday, what we've heard about PokerStars' new high-stakes TV show "The Big Game" (which debuts on Fox next month), and the controversy about players wearing sunglasses in both live and televised poker games, including some recent remarks on the subject by Daniel Negreanu and Tom Dwan.

We do The Final Table every Tuesday from 2pm to 3pm CT in the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis. You can listen live on 590 The Fan KFNS Radio.

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

Final Table #66: Shannon Shorr

2010-05-05T11:47:00.007-05:00

This week on The Final Table, Dennis returned to report on his experience at the EPT finale in Monte Carlo. We also talked about:

Why you should bet out more often with big hands rather than trying to trap your opponent (with an example from Tom Dwan).
PokerStars' new high stakes TV show, "The Big Game"
Another new poker TV show from Mori Eskandani, producer of "High Stakes Poker," "Poker After Dark," and the "National Heads-Up Championship";
The impending implementation of the UIGEA and whether its enforcement will change online poker (join the Poker Players Alliance to help fight against government interference in all forms of our game);

In our guest segment, we talked with Shannon Shorr, a 24-year-old poker millionaire who took a couple of years off from school to turn pro, but went back to the University of Alabama, where he's getting his degree in business management this week. With so many young players dreaming of playing poker for a living, Shannon seems to have his priorities (and money management skills) in order.

Next week: a preview of what's to expect at this summer's World Series Of Poker, with tournament director Jack Effel explaining the new events, the venue changes, how they'll spread out registration for the Main Event, and why they killed the Poker Kitchen.

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

We do the show every Tuesday from 2pm to 3pm CT in the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis. You can listen live on 590 The Fan KFNS Radio.

Final Table #65: Monte Carlo + Paul Wasicka

2010-04-28T07:42:00.004-05:00

This week on The Final Table, Dennis checked in from Monte Carlo, where he took a break from the $5k event at the EPT Finale. We analyzed three hands he lost on Sunday on the way to being knocked out of EPT main event, talked about Daniel Negreanu's continuing bad run on "High Stakes Poker," and discussed new legislation in Congress that may clear up the legal situation for online poker.

Then Paul was joined by Paul Wasicka, runner-up to Jamie Gold at the 2006 World Series Of Poker Main Event and winner of the 2007 National Heads-Up Championship. They talked about the WSOP Circuit Event he played here in St. Louis a couple of weeks ago and the one he won in Tunica earlier this year. They also discussed whether it's distracting for him to be recognized by other players in a tournament, how he keeps his concentration at the table, the new book on heads-up poker he's writing, and his plans for the WSOP this summer.

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

We do the show every Tuesday from 2pm to 3pm CT in the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis Casino & Hotel. You can listen live on 590 The Fan KFNS Radio. If you've missed previous shows, the podcasts are always available right here.

Follow us on Twitter: Dennis Phillips, Paul Harris.

Final Table #64: Jeff Roper, WSOPC Champion

2010-04-20T23:58:00.005-05:00

Today on The Final Table, we talked with Jeff Roper, the St. Louisan who won the Main Event at last week's World Series Of Poker Circuit Event. Jeff, who is well known in the poker rooms around town, explained how he used his aggression and a big stack of chips to defeat all of his opponents -- and explained the strategy behind some two big hands towards the end.

We also welcomed back Joe "The Poker Coach" McGowan. After a two-week hiatus, Joe shared tips for cash game regulars who want to start playing tournaments but don't know the difference in strategies.

As we dug into this week's poker news, we discussed:

the get-up that Phil Hellmuth is planning to wear for his WSOP entrance this summer -- and the reaction from Daniel Negreanu
the documentary about Joe Cada's run to the 2009 WSOP Main Event title that recently showed up on YouTube
the big-name pro who lasted exactly one hand at this week's $25,000 buy-in WPT Championship at the Bellagio
the top 20 vote-getters so far for the WSOP Tournament of Champions

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

We do the show every Tuesday from 2pm to 3pm CT in the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis Casino & Hotel. You can listen live on 590 The Fan KFNS Radio.

Follow us on Twitter: Dennis Phillips, Paul Harris.

Final Table #63: WSOPC + NAPT

2010-04-14T09:30:00.006-05:00

This week on The Final Table, we were at Harrah's St. Louis for the $5,000 main event of the World Series Of Poker Circuit Event that got underway Tuesday. There were 129 entrants, which is more than showed up for the main events in Tunica and Council Bluffs combined. We recapped some of the earlier tournaments that made up this WSOPC over the past two weeks, which also had a very solid turnout, and hope to see it return to St. Louis next year.

One of today's players, poker pro Bernard Lee -- co-host of ESPN's Inside Deal and spokesperson for Foxwoods Casino -- joined us to talk about the NAPT event Dennis just returned from at Mohegan Sun, and we did a strategy session about how many players are afraid to be bluffed because their egos can't take it. We also answered a listener e-mail about why Dennis revealed his cards to the other players on "High Stakes Poker."

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

We do the show every Tuesday from 2pm to 3pm CT in the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis Casino & Hotel. You can listen live on 590 The Fan KFNS Radio.

Follow us on Twitter: Dennis Phillips, Paul Harris.

Final Table #62: Jennifer Harman & Doug Carli

2010-04-07T11:52:00.003-05:00

This week on The Final Table, we were right in the middle of the first-ever World Series Of Poker Circuit Event at Harrah's St. Louis, and the show was packed with stories and guests.

We talked briefly about Paul's 5th-place finish in Event #2 this weekend, a $560 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament with a field of 288 players. This was his third cash of the year (15th at the WPT event in Biloxi and 14th at the WSOPC in Tunica), and his first final table at an event with a field that large.

We were joined by WSOPC Tournament Director Jimmy Sommerfeld, who has devised terrific structures for these events, giving us plenty of room to play. We discussed a controversial ruling he made on Saturday, when a player with a pair of tens moved all-in and a player with a pair of nines called -- but the dealer didn't hear him. Even though both hands were exposed, he pulled the cards face-down into the muck with the rest of the deck and pushed the chips to the all-in player. Everyone at the table pointed out the mistake immediately, so the dealer called the floor, who called a supervisor, who finally called Jimmy, who had to make a tough decision. You'll hear what he did (and why) on today's show.

Our next guest was Doug Carli, who has cashed over 100 times on the tournament circuit, including more than 40 in WSOPC events -- a record. He talked about what life is like as a middle-aged poker millionaire on the road with his wife, how he manages his bankroll, how many events he plays, and more. For anyone who has ever fantasized about living the life of a touring poker professional, you can learn a lot from Doug's experience.

Finally, we talked with Jennifer Harman, the only woman to win bracelets in two WSOP open events, and a regular in the biggest cash game in the world in Bobby's Room at the Bellagio. She explained how often the best players in town play their game, how often an outsider sits down with them, and which games are usually in the mix. We also discussed billionaire banker Andy Beal, who has taken on Jennifer and the rest of a team of top-flight poker pros in some of the highest-stakes games ever (if you're not familiar with that story, read Michael Craig's "The Professor, The Banker, and the Suicide King"). Speaking of cash games, we asked Jennifer why she hasn't been back on "High Stakes Poker" for a couple of years -- the answer will surprise you -- and she revealed how she ended up writing the section on limit hold'em for Doyle Brunson's "SuperSystem 2."

Jennifer will hold her 4th annual charity poker tournament for the Nevada SPCA on April 13th at The Venetian, and her Jennifer Harman Throw Down for the National Kidney Foundation at Peppermill Reno on May 8th. To vote for Jennifer as one of the players in this year's WSOP Tournament of Champions, click here.

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

We do the show every Tuesday from 2pm to 3pm CT in the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis Casino & Hotel. You can listen live on 590 The Fan KFNS Radio. If you've missed previous shows, the podcasts are always available right here.

Follow us on Twitter: Dennis Phillips, Paul Harris.
Also on the Final Table...

Jennifer Harman offered advice for online pros in the post-Black-Friday environment and explained why limit poker (her specialty) doesn't get more TV time (5/3/11)

Final Table #61: Vanessa Rousso's Tips

2010-03-30T21:31:00.006-05:00

Today on The Final Table, we discussed more hands Dennis played on "High Stakes Poker" Sunday night and "Poker After Dark" last week against Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey, and David Peat. Dennis also answered critics who complained that he wasn't involved in more action on those shows.

Then Paul talked with Vanessa Rousso, who will be conducting her Big Slick Boot Camp next Monday (4/5) in New Hampshire, and offered some tournament tips for anyone playing the World Series Of Poker Circuit Event that starts later this week at Harrah's St. Louis -- particularly players who have never been part of a big-field event (click here for the tournament schedule).

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

Follow us on Twitter: Dennis Phillips, Paul Harris.

Also on The Final Table:

Final Table #60: Dennis Does High Stakes Poker

2010-03-23T23:36:00.003-05:00

Today on The Final Table, we talked about Dennis' debut on "High Stakes Poker," which aired Sunday night (he'll also be on the next two Sundays at 7pm CT on GSN).

We analyzed three hands he played, all of them involving Tom "Durrr" Dwan, including one in which he bet the flop with the best hand (ace-jack on a jack-high board), but then checked the turn, allowing Dwan to catch up. He explained why he did that, and Joe discussed why it's so hard to play against Dwan. We also reviewed an "HSP" hand where Phil Ivey had kings and Patrick Antonius had aces, both were deep-stacked, yet they didn't play a huge pot.

Then we were joined by Mori Eskandani, the executive producer of "High Stakes Poker," as well as "Poker After Dark" (where you'll see Dennis later this week) and the NBC Heads-Up Championships (where you'll see Dennis in April and May). Among other topics, Mori answered criticism from some online posters who think the structure of the heads-up tournament is too fast and doesn't give the better players a chance to play their game.

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

We do the show every Tuesday from 2pm to 3pm CT in the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis Casino & Hotel. For details on the upcoming WSOP Circuit Event, click here. You can listen live on 590 The Fan KFNS Radio.

Follow us on Twitter: Dennis Phillips, Paul Harris.

Also on The Final Table...

Final Table #59: Sit & Go, Joe Cada, Andy Bloch

2010-03-16T15:00:00.006-05:00

This week on my poker radio show, The Final Table, Paul Harris and I talk with Joe Cada, who won the 2009 World Series Of Poker Main Event in November, but hasn't played a lot of live tournaments since then. Our other guest is Andy Bloch, who goes one-on-one with Joe "The Poker Coach" McGowan to discuss an interesting hand that led to Andy's elimination from the NBC Heads-Up Championship last weekend (by eventual winner Annie Duke).

We also have an extended strategy session about playing Sit & Go tournaments -- like the ones that will run every day during the WSOP Circuit Event at Harrah's St. Louis during the first two weeks of April (click here for the tournament schedule).

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

For details on the upcoming WSOP Circuit Event, click here.
We do the show every Tuesday from 2pm to 3pm CT in the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis Casino & Hotel. You can listen live on 590 The Fan KFNS Radio.

Follow us on Twitter: Dennis Phillips, Paul Harris.

Also on The Final Table...

Joe Cada talked about winning the 2009 World Series Of Poker (11/18/09)

Final Table #58: NBC Heads Up + Kara Scott

2010-03-10T12:32:00.002-06:00

This week on The Final Table, we talked about Dennis' weekend at the NBC National Heads-Up Championship in Las Vegas, where he competed against (and beat) Chris Ferguson, Doyle Brunson, and Eli Elezra -- before losing in a semi-final match to Annie Duke.

His first victim in the tournament, Kara Scott, joined us to recap the experience and her now role as co-host of "High Stakes Poker." We also talked with Mike Johnson and Adam Schwartz, co-hosts of the highly entertaining Two Plus Two Pokercast. And you'll hear "Poker Coach One-On-One" interviews that Joe McGowan recorded with Doyle Brunson, Phil Gordon, and Annette Oberstad at the NBC Heads-Up event.

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

We do the show every Tuesday from 2pm to 3pm CT in the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis Casino & Hotel. You can listen live on 590 The Fan KFNS Radio.

For details on the upcoming WSOP Circuit Event, click here.

Follow us on Twitter: Dennis Phillips, Paul Harris.

Also on The Final Table...

Final Table #57: How To Play Heads-Up

2010-03-02T23:57:00.006-06:00

This week on The Final Table, as Dennis heads to Vegas this weekend to play in the NBC National Heads-Up Championships, we talked with Collin Moshman, who wrote the book on heads-up tournaments and offered advice on the wider range of starting hands, the importance of raising on the button, how to defend from the big blind, and much more.

We also talked with Greg "Fossilman" Raymer, who is just back from lobbying some politicians in Washington on behalf of the Poker Players Alliance, and why anyone who believes in personal freedom should be part of the fight. On that same front, Dennis shared my own story of meeting with an entirely different group of DC big shots last week. Greg also offered tips for you regarding the WSOP Circuit Event at Harrah's St. Louis, which starts in four weeks.

Joe "The Poker Coach" McGowan joined us to talk about playing in the WPT's LA Poker Classic at Commerce over the weekend, where he observed first-hand the aftermath of that sick last-longer prop bet between Joe Sebok, Gavin Smith, and Jeff Madsen. And Paul told a story about a couple of well-known pros who weren't exactly image-conscious as they played big-money cash games while very drunk.

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

We do the show every Tuesday from 2pm to 3pm CT in the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis Casino & Hotel. You can listen live on 590 The Fan KFNS Radio. For details on the upcoming WSOP Circuit Event, click here.

Follow us on Twitter: Dennis Phillips, Paul Harris.