Tournaments » 2 Hole Cards

Review: Poker Ace Portable Tournament Director

Do your run poker tournaments at home? Do you also play in these tournaments? If you’ve answered ‘yes’ to both questions, you know how much work it can be to keep track of time, blinds, and everything else while still trying to concentrate on playing poker. The Poker Ace Portable Tournament Director (PTD) will make your life much easier and make your poker tournaments more enjoyable.

The first thing you’ll see when turning on the PTD are two options:

Start New Tournament
Set Preferences

I chose preferences right away and was presented with:

Backlight
Brightness
Contrast

Not a whole lot to configure as far as the preferences go. It took me a few button presses to figure out which buttons actually changed an option and which one moved to the next option. The button use here was actually very confusing and the opposite of what you’d expect it to be.

After selecting to start a new tournament you’re presented to choose from one of 10 structures. Eight of the structures are preset (but still editable) and two of them are for storing user configured tournament structures.

Once a tournament structure is selected, you’ll be prompted to choose:

# of players
Buy in
Addons
Rebuys
Rebuys/Addons end of level

The next screen to come up is the payout structure, which is editable just as the tournament structure details are. Finally after everything is set you’ll be prompted to start the tournament. As soon as you press a button, the timer will begin and PTD goes to work. The screen displays the level, time remaining for the level, current blinds, next blinds, ante, and how much time is left during the rebuy period. During the last 10 seconds a beep will come from the device every second as a warning.

What didn’t I like?

I didn’t think the device is very user friendly. I mentioned the button use during the Preferences screen earlier in the review, but there were several times when I didn’t know which button to press. For example, when ending a tournament, the screen displays “Are you sure you want to end tournament?” but it doesn’t give any options such as Yes or No. Also, when I first was choosing a tournament structure I couldn’t figure out how to edit anything, so I had to consult the manual and found the Edit option was all the way at the bottom of a long list on the screen. This should be at the top. Using a device such as this should be as intuitive as possible and the manual should be a last resort, not required reading. A little more time spent on User Interface design and the manual wouldn’t even be needed.

The buttons don’t always bring up the next screen or change an option right away.

The beep used during the last 10 seconds of a level is not nearly loud enough. I tested the PTD by myself in quiet room and I could barely hear the beeping. If you’re playing a tournament with any kind of noise at all, you’ll need to have the PTD strapped to your ear to hear it.

Overall

The Poker Ace PTD - Portable Tournament Director is a great little device to use for your poker tournaments. The biggest challenges using the device are during setup, which can be done well before a tournament. The PTD runs for $49.99 at the Poker Ace PTD web site. I think it’s very good value for the time and hassle it will save you during a tournament.

2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Results

A list of the winners so far in the 2006 World Series of Poker.

$500 No-Limit Hold’em Casino Employee - Chris Gros
$1,500 No-Limit Hold’em - Brandon Cantu
$1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em - Rafe Furst
$1,500 Limit Hold’em - Kianoush Abolfathi
$2,500 No-Limit Hold’em Short Handed 6/Table - Russ Boyd (Dutch Boyd)
$2,000 No-Limit Hold’em - Mark Vos
$3,000 Limit Hold’em - William Chen
$2,000 Omaha High-Low 8/OB - Jack Zwerner
$5,000 No-Limit Hold’em - Jeff Cabanillas
$1,500 Seven Card Stud - David Williams
$5,000 Omaha High-Low 8/OB - Sam Farha
$1,500 Limit Hold’em - Bob Chalmers
$2,500 No-Limit Hold’em - Max Pescatori
$1,000 No-Limit Hold’em w/ Rebuys - Allen Cunningham
$1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold’em - Mary Jones
$10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha - Lee Watkinson
$1,000 No-Limit Hold’em - Jon Friedberg
$2,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em - Eric Kesselman
$1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Seniors - Clare Miller
$50,000 H.O.R.S.E. - David Reese (Chip Reese)
$2,500 No-Limit Hold’em Short Handed 6/Table - William Chen
$2,000 No-Limit Hold’em - Jeff Madsen
$3,000 Limit Hold’em - Ian Johns
$3,000 Omaha High-Low 8/OB - Scott Clements
$2,000 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout - David Pham
$1,500 Pot Limit Omaha w/ Rebuys - Eric Froehlich
$1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha - Rafael Perry
$1,500 No-Limit Hold’em - Mats Rahmn
$5,000 Seven Card Stud - Benjamin Lin
$2,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em - John Gale
$5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Short Handed 6/Table - Jeff Madsen
$2,000 No-Limit Hold’em - Justin Scott
$1,500 Seven Card Razz - James Richburg
$5,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em - Jason Lester
$1,000 No-Limit Hold’em - Phil Hellmuth Jr.
$1,000 Seven Card Stud High-Low 8/OB - Patrick Poels
$5,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball - Daniel Alaei

The $10,000 No-Limit Main Event starts tomorrow and it’s scheduled to run through August 10, 2006 when we’ll have another world champion crowned.

The WSOP Player of the Year race is still wide open. Jeff Madsen, a 21-year-old college student, is currently in the lead with 4 final table appearances, 2 bracelets, and over $1.4 million in winnings. After winning his record tying 10th golf bracelet the other night at his 3rd final table, Phil Hellmuth sits in 2nd, and has won over $1.1 million. Hellmuth also ranks #1 in career cashes at the WSOP with 55.

List compiled from results at CardPlayer.

Jeff Madsen Who?

Jeff Madsen is a 21-year-old poker player from Los Angeles, CA and he’s dominating the 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP). This year is obviously his first WSOP and he’s already won 2 bracelets and finished 3rd in another event. Early this morning he made yet another final table and will go for gold bracelet #3. Currently he’s 2nd in the WSOP Player of the Year standings to Phil Hellmuth (20 points behind), but that will change after today’s event is over.

The kid’s results are quite impressive.

07/05/2006 Omaha High-Low 8/OB - 3rd place ($97,552.00)
07/16/2006 No-Limit Hold’em - 1st place ($660,948.00)
07/22/2006 No-Limit Hold’em Short Handed 6/Table - 1st place ($643,381.00)
07/26/2006 Seven Card Stud High-Low 8/OB - 3rd place ($65,971.00)

The interesting thing is that Madsen isn’t dominating any single type of poker. He’s made the final table in 4 completely different games of poker. That’s skill.

2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) FAQ

Otis at the PokerStars Poker Blog has a helpful WSOP FAQ posted.

First Trip to Las Vegas: Day 6

First Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1
First Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2
First Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3
First Trip to Las Vegas: Day 4
First Trip to Las Vegas: Day 5

Wednesday, July 5, 2006

Woke up around 9am. Showered and packed up the hotel room. Borrowed a key from Jere and stored our bags in his room. Walked the strip thinking maybe I could catch the Bellagio water show, but they were doing some kind of maintenance on the fountains. Jumped on the free shuttle to the Rio from Caesar’s. Much better than taking any bus! Putzed around the Rio for a bit and then took off looking for the World Series of Poker (WSOP). It’s quite a walk from the casino floor.

I walked into the largest poker room I’ve ever seen and was in awe. Started snapping photos. I had left my camera at the hotel, so was borrowing Lindsay’s and not quite sure how to use it. Got yelled at by security within 2 minutes of being in the room because the flash was on. Whoops!

I was quite surprised how close I was able to get to all of the players and how few tourists/fans were in the room. I saw the Brunsons, Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke, Dutch Boyd, John Juanda, Clonie Gowen, Johnny “Fucking” Chan, and the list goes on. I can’t wait to get the pictures and see how they turned out, but not quite sure how long that will take since it wasn’t my camera. I imagine the enjoyment of being around all the top poker players in the world would grow old, but I was floating as I walked through the room. It was pretty damn cool.

Met up with the girls and checked out to see if there was a line yet for the seafood buffet. There wasn’t, so I blew some money on video poker. An old lady sat to my left just after I sat down and hit quad twos with an ace right away for a big win. Bitch! The seafood buffet was beyond words. We ate stuffed our faces for an hour and a half before finally calling it quits. There were so many choices, but I have to say the tortellini was the best I’ve ever had. I could have been satisfied simply filling up on those cheese-filled noodles. I’ve always wanted to try out different kinds of sushi to see if I’d like it and that’s exactly what I did. It was edible, but not something I’d ever order up on my own. I’ll stick to lobster, crab legs, shrimp, clam strips, etc for my seafood fix.

After eating we headed up to check out the sites from the Voodoo Lounge. Some storms were rolling in off the mountains so the view was pretty neat. Nothing like being on top of the Stratosphere at night, but still something to see and experience.

We caught a cab back to Excalibur, changed our clothes and headed out back to wait for our shuttle to the airport at 7:30. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 10:20pm and arrive back in Detroit after 5am local time. During checkin I noticed there were exit seats open all over the place, so I grabbed the three right by the door for us and I was in heaven with all the leg room. Got a good hour or two of sleep in on the plane. Got back to Detroit on time, were picked up by Rose, drove back to Lindsay’s place, and I was on the road back to Saginaw. Made it back around 8am. HOME SWEET HOME!

First Trip to Las Vegas: Final Thoughts

2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Winners

The 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) has been going on since June 26, 2006. A lot of new poker players are making names for themselves and a lot of professionals are adding to their poker resumes. Following is a list of those players who have taken home bracelets so far.

$500 No-Limit Hold’em Casino Employee - Chris Gros
$1,500 No-Limit Hold’em - Brandon Cantu
$1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em - Rafe Furst
$1,500 Limit Hold’em - Kianoush Abolfathi
$2,500 No-Limit Hold’em Short Handed 6/Table - Russ Boyd (Dutch Boyd)
$2,000 No-Limit Hold’em - Mark Vos
$3,000 Limit Hold’em - William Chen
$2,000 Omaha High-Low 8/OB - Jack Zwerner
$5,000 No-Limit Hold’em - Jeff Cabanillas
$1,500 Seven Card Stud - David Williams
$5,000 Omaha High-Low 8/OB - Sam Farha
$1,500 Limit Hold’em - Bob Chalmers
$2,500 No-Limit Hold’em - Max Pescatori
$1,000 No-Limit Hold’em w/ Rebuys - Allen Cunningham
$1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold’em - Mary Jones
$10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha - Lee Watkinson
$1,000 No-Limit Hold’em - Jon Friedberg
$2,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em - Eric Kesselman
$1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Seniors - Clare Miller
$50,000 H.O.R.S.E. - David Reese (Chip Reese)
$2,500 No-Limit Hold’em Short Handed 6/Table - William Chen
$2,000 No-Limit Hold’em - Jeff Madsen

There are many more events to go before the $10,000 No-Limit Main Event even gets started on July 28, 2006. It’s scheduled to run through August 10, 2006 when we’ll have another world champion crowned.

List compiled from results at CardPlayer.

World Series of Poker (WSOP) Live Updates

For this year’s World Series of Poker (WSOP) it seems the Rio has made some changes in regards to live updates by the media. Last year I was continually refreshing Pauly’s Poker Blog to get the most up-to-date information about the WSOP, not to mention his top 5 lists. Today I’m following the events of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event and the best live updates I can find are from CardPlayer. If anyone knows of a site with more current updating, please leave a comment.

2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Live Updates

The 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) starts in one week, so this is the time to get your web sites bookmarked in order to follow all of the action. Pauly over at Tao of Poker will be have the best live updates found anywhere on the web.

2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Schedule

Full schedule for the 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP)

25-Jun-06 Sunday 9:00 AM Satellites/Live Action begins
26-Jun-06 Monday 12 noon Casino Employee No-Limit Event (2 day event) $500.00
27-Jun-06 Tuesday 12 noon No-Limit Hold’em (3 day event) $1,500.00
28-Jun-06 Wednesday 12 noon Pot-Limit Hold’em (3 day event) $1,500.00
29-Jun-06 Thursday 12 noon Limit Hold’em (3 day event) $1,500.00
30-Jun-06 Friday 12 noon No-limit Hold’em Short Handed, 6/table (3 day event) $2,500.00
1-Jul-06 Saturday 12 noon No-Limit Hold’em (3 day event) $2,000.00
2-Jul-06 Sunday 12 noon Limit Hold’em (3 day event) $3,000.00
3-Jul-06 Monday 12 noon Omaha Hi-low Split (3 day event) $2,000.00
4-Jul-06 Tuesday 12 noon No-Limit Hold’em (3 day event) $5,000.00
5-Jul-06 Wednesday 12 noon Seven Card Stud (3 day event) $1,500.00
6-Jul-06 Thursday 12 noon Limit Hold’em (3 day event) $1,500.00
6-Jul-06 Thursday 2:00 PM Omaha Hi-low Split (2 day event) $5,000.00
7-Jul-06 Friday 12 noon No-Limit Hold’em (3 day event) $2,500.00
8-Jul-06 Saturday 12 noon No-Limit Hold’em w/re-buys (3 day event) $1,000.00
9-Jul-06 Sunday 11:00 AM Ladies Event No-Limit Hold’em (2 day event) $1,000.00
9-Jul-06 Sunday 12 noon Pot-Limit Omaha (3 day event) $10,000.00
10-Jul-06 Monday 12 noon No-Limit Hold’em (3 day event) $1,000.00
11-Jul-06 Tuesday 12 noon Pot-Limit Hold’em (2 day event) $2,000.00
12-Jul-06 Wednesday 11:00 AM Seniors No-Limit Hold’em (2 day event) $1,000.00
12-Jul-06 Wednesday 12 noon H.O.R.S.E. (3 day event) $50,000.00
13-Jul-06 Thursday 12 noon No-Limit Hold’em- Short handed 6/table (3 day event) $2,500.00
14-Jul-06 Friday 12 noon No-Limit Hold’em (3 day event) $2,000.00
15-Jul-06 Saturday 12 noon Limit Hold’em (3 day event) $3,000.00
15-Jul-06 Saturday 2:00 PM Omaha Hi-low Split (3 day event) $3,000.00
16-Jul-06 Sunday 12 noon No-Limit Hold’em Shootout (3 day event) $2,000.00
17-Jul-06 Monday 12 noon Pot-Limit Omaha (2 day event) $1,500.00
18-Jul-06 Tuesday 12 noon No-Limit Hold’em (2 day event) $1,500.00
19-Jul-06 Wednesday 12 noon Seven Card Stud (2 day event) $5,000.00
19-Jul-06 Wednesday 2:00 PM Pot-Limit Hold’em (2 day event) $2,500.00
20-Jul-06 Thursday 12 noon No-Limit Hold’em- Short handed 6/table (3 day event) $5,000.00
21-Jul-06 Friday 12 noon No-Limit Hold’em (3 day event) $2,000.00
22-Jul-06 Saturday 12 noon Pot-Limit Hold’em (3 day event) $5,000.00
22-Jul-06 Saturday 2:00 PM Seven Card Razz (2 day event) $1,500.00
23-Jul-06 Sunday 12 noon No-Limit Hold’em w/re-buys (3 day event) $1,000.00
24-Jul-06 Monday 12 noon Seven Card Hi Low Split (2 day event) $1,000.00
24-Jul-06 Monday 2:00 PM Limit Hold’em Shootout (3 day event) $1,500.00
25-Jul-06 Tuesday 12 noon No-Limit Hold’em (3 day event) $1,500.00
25-Jul-06 Tuesday 4:00 PM No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball w/rebuys (2 day event) $5,000.00
26-Jul-06 Wednesday Satellite Day
27-Jul-06 Thursday Media/Celebrity Event and Satellite Day
28-Jul-06 Friday No-Limit Texas Hold’em World Championship Event $10,000.00
28-Jul-06 Friday 12 Noon Day 1A 2000 play down to 800
29-Jul-06 Saturday 12 Noon Day 1B 2000 play down to 800
30-Jul-06 Sunday 12 Noon Day 1C 2000 play down to 800
31-Jul-06 Monday 12 Noon Day 1D 2000 play down to 800
1-Aug-06 Tuesday 12 noon A + B 1600 to 700
2-Aug-06 Wednesday 12 noon C + D 1600 to 700
3-Aug-06 Thursday Day off for main event
3-Aug-06 Thursday 10:00 AM No-Limit Hold’em (2 day event) $1,000.00
4-Aug-06 Friday 12 noon ABCD Play 1400 down to 600
5-Aug-06 Saturday 12 noon Play 600 down to 300
5-Aug-06 Saturday 10:00 AM No-Limit Hold’em (2 day event) $1,500.00
6-Aug-06 Sunday 12 noon Play 300 down to 150
6-Aug-06 Sunday 10:00 AM No-Limit Hold’em (2 day event) $1,500.00
7-Aug-06 Monday 12 noon Play 150 down to 60
7-Aug-06 Monday 10:00 AM No-Limit Hold’em (2 day event) $1,500.00
8-Aug-06 Tuesday 12 noon Play 60 down to 27
8-Aug-06 Tuesday 10:00 AM No-Limit Hold’em (2 day event) $1,500.00
9-Aug-06 Wednesday 12 noon Play 27 down to 9
9-Aug-06 Wednesday 10:00 AM No-Limit Hold’em (1 day event) $1,500.00
10-Aug-06 Thursday 12 noon Final Table

More details at the World Series of Poker site

PokerStars Blogger Tournament

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 5468872

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2 Hole Cards is a poker and gambling blog written by Nick Momrik.

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Review: Poker Ace Portable Tournament Director

What didn’t I like?

Overall

2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Results

Jeff Madsen Who?

2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) FAQ

First Trip to Las Vegas: Day 6

2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Winners

World Series of Poker (WSOP) Live Updates

2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Live Updates

2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Schedule

PokerStars Blogger Tournament

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