December 2013 Ante Up Magazine Article

December's article previews the North Dakota Texas Hold'em Championship.  This is one of the largest poker tournaments in the country.  It also covers the Fall Poker Classic from Canterbury Park and  Adam Dahlin's domination of the series.

http://www.anteupmagazine.com/news/large-u-s-charity-poker-event-returns-to-n-d.htm

November 2013 Ante Up Magazine Article

November's article covers the Michael Carlson's win at the Midwest Poker Classic and Kou Vang's announcement at a new Running Aces pro.

http://www.anteupmagazine.com/news/carlson-wins-midwest-main-event-53k.htm

October 2013 Ante Up Magazine Article

October's article covers Matt Alexander and Kou Vang's chop of the Tournament of Champions at Running Aces.  It also covers Mario Hudson's win at Canterbury Park's Twin Cities Poker Open.

http://www.anteupmagazine.com/minnesota/news/alexander-vang-chop-toc-event-at-running-aces.htm

Why you should care about the MN Poker Hall of Fame!

First let me do full disclosure.  I am a huge fan of poker.  There are few things I would rather do than play a game of poker.  Hold'em, Omaha, stud, draw, tournament, cash, I love it all.  If I'm not playing poker, I'm probably reading about it, writing about it or listening to a poker podcast (after all my nick name is poker geek).  So keep all this in mind to help understand my point of view.

Canterbury Park recently announced that they will be starting a Minnesota Poker Hall of Fame.  I think this is great news.  It helps legitimize the game and gives recognition those who have worked to support the poker in Minnesota for a long time.  It isn't clear what the criteria will be for becoming a member of the Hall, and I'm not going to propose a list of who I think is worthy for consideration (others with more qualifications have already done that).  But I do think this hall will help with something that all poker players should care about, growing the game itself.

Just like other group activities, if you aren't growing, you're shrinking.  And we need lots of people playing to make sure that there are a variety of stakes (e.g. $2-4 to $50-100) and formats (e.g. Hold'em, Omaha, tournament and cash) available. We always need new people coming into the game. Several of the smaller rooms around the state have closed, so is this going to be the start of the decline of poker?  I'd like not to think so.  Things may have grown too fast during the early days of the poker boom.  And we may need to have a slower, more sustainable growth trajectory, but I think poker can be a growing industry for years to come.

And now that online poker, which I believe is one of the best ways expand the game, isn't readily available to Minnesotans, we have to find other creative ways to grow the game.  Lots of people are looking for something to get their competitive juices flowing and poker has that in spades.  Likewise people are always looking to be part of something larger than themselves.  Something to give them a sense of community.  Things like the MN Poker Hall of Fame can help do that.  The recent team tournaments are another example.

People with a cynical bent may be saying this is all a marketing ploy by Canterbury Park.  And I do agree this is a brilliant marketing move by the card room, but I believe it will be as much a marketing campaign for the game of poker as for the card room itself.   I'd like to shout from the rooftops that poker is the greatest game in the world and everyone should give it a shot.  But likely no one would listen, and I'd probably either fall or be arrested.  (Assuming the roof was strong enough to support my weight.)

For more great news I have heard from John Morgan, part owner of Canterbury Park, that they will be working with Running Aces to establish the members of the hall.  I think this is fantastic.  The two rooms can only make it so far by trying to lure players from each other.  They both must try to recruit new players.  And as the saying goes, "A rising tide lifts all boats."

So my thanks and congratulations go out to Canterbury Park for starting up the Hall of Fame.  I'm looking forward to hearing who the first round of inductees will be on October 4.  (Also looking forward to the screening of Bet Raise Fold starring Minnesota's own Danielle "dmoongirl" Andersen the same day.)

Let me know what you think.  Do you agree?

NOTE:  It should be made clear that the hall of fame is for Minnesota poker, not just Canterbury Park or Running Aces. 

September 2013 Ante Up Magazine Article

September's magazine article covers Danielle 'dmoongirl' Andersen's role in the new documentary Bet Raise Fold.  It is an excellent movie and you'll have a chance to watch a screening at Canterbury Park just prior to the Fall Poker Classic.  There wasn't much room left, but I also cover Brian Soja's win and the great turn out for the Anniversary tournament at Running Aces, David Gonia and Chris 'Fox' Wallace joining the Running Aces Club Pro Team and Canterbury Park's new Minnesota Poker Hall of Fame.  Lots of exciting news, so little space. (But the editor did extend the space to actually fit it all in.  Thanks Chris)

Here's the full link.
(EDIT: 9/2/2013 - the link has been corrected.)
http://www.anteupmagazine.com/featured-column/andersen-steals-the-show-in-new-poker-documentary.htm

Team Tournaments Bring Fun Back to Poker

Running Aces just had its first of three team tournaments.  It was the most fun I've had playing a poker tournament in a long time. The atmosphere in the poker room was jubilant and laughter and shouts could be heard that are normally reserved for the pit games.

The tournament pitted two teams of five players against each other.  One team in the even seats, the other in the odd.  Play continued until only players from one team was left standing.  There were 16 teams that played bracket style

I think there are several reasons that the tournament was such a success.  Here they are in no particular order.

• The team format is new.  No one knows the optimal way to play so there is a little less seriousness.  It is very odd being able to give your teammates advice during the play of a hand.
• There is a team.  Normally poker is an individual competition and when one person win a pot, only that person is allowed to be openly happy.  In the team event you had four other players cheering for every pot you won.
• Everyone signed up with the intent to have fun.  It's only a $65 tournament, no one was going to lose a lot or win a lot.  Therefore they could afford to have fun.
• Only poker players with friends could find a team to play on.  Okay that one is a mostly a joke, but there is a little bit of truth in it.

I think the tournament was a big success.  I hope they run this format again, although not too often.  I don't want the novelty to wear off, and keep the format and the fun fresh.  Also it is a lot of extra work to coordinate both for the poker room and the poker players.  Well worth it for an occasional treat, but too onerous for an every day tournament.

Congrats to Running Aces for running a successful event.  There are two more weeks to play the team format, sign up before it's too late.

August 2013 Ante Up Magazine Article

August's Ante Up Magazine article covers the phenomenon that was Minnesota Poker Player at the WSOP in June.  In particular covers the four final table appearances made by Minnesotans: David Gonia, Blake Bohn, Everett Carlton and Mike Pickett.  Awesome presence at the WSOP!

http://www.anteupmagazine.com/featured-column/minnesota-players-made-their-mark-at-the-world-series.htm

A Kinder and Gentler Poker Nation

While most poker players (especially players in Minnesota) are pleasant company at the poker table, we all have been around players who seem like they would rather be having a root canal.  There are also those players that take the game so seriously they suck all the fun out of the room.  I think it's time to  bring the fun back into poker, and I also think it's good for the game.  The more fun people have, the more people will want to play, even if they happen to be losing players.

Wil Wheaton

Wil Wheaton (You may know him from the movie Stand By Me, as Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation or  The Big Bang Theory as evil Wil Wheaton) coined  a phrase a few years a go that became known as Wheaton's Law.  Its simple but powerful.

Wheaton's Law: Don't be a dick

This was originally coined for gamers, but I think it applies equally and maybe more importantly to poker.  Poker has become much more competitive over the last several years, and even the bad players have gotten much better.  People are feeling more stress at the poker table as the games have become more competitive.  And while we all look for that last little edge, it's important to remember that poker is a game.  It's meant to be fun and exciting.  That's where Somsky's Law comes in. (I know it's a little pretentious to name a law after myself, but Poker's Law didn't seem to have the right ring and I don't really mean it or expect anyone to call it that anyway.)

Somsky's Law: Don't be a dick at the poker table

We've all seen players that look miserable playing at the poker table.  And I'm not even talking about the brutal losing streaks that are inevitable in this game.  I've seen some players that were winning look like they'd rather be eating dirt.  But if we want the game to grow, we need to play for the love of the game.  The poker table should be an inviting place, where people go to enjoy themselves and spend their discretionary income.  It shouldn't be an intimidating place where people fear getting berated for making sub-optimal plays

That's even more important if you are trying to make money playing poker.  Remember the poker rooms aren't paying you a salary to play (even if you are earning comps or rake-back).  In fact poker player's as a community pay for the poker rooms to keep the lights on, pay staff, and get those fancy chips.  So where does the money come from to feed the poker community, to play professional poker player's salaries?  It comes from recreational players.  And that brings us to the corollary to Somsky's Law.

Corollary to Somsky's Law: Don't be a dick at the poker table especially if you are trying to make money

Now one nice thing about poker is every poker player thinks they are better than they really are (especially me).  But most know they don't make any significant money and are playing it for recreation.  They play to have the fun of taking down that big pot.  But if the atmosphere at the table becomes to hostile they'll take their discretionary income elsewhere.

In order for the poker industry to grow the game must be fun.  I've heard some poker pros state that part of their game is putting other players on tilt and needling them so they spew chips off.  But  in my opinion this is a short-sided approach.  You may win that players money today, but cost yourself the opportunity to win more in the years to come.  If players aren't making money and they aren't having fun, why would they keep coming back?

Personally, I love the game.  I enjoy my time at the table, and I've met some great people.  I'd like to eventually play in some of the bigger tournaments, but I really just want to share this great game with everyone I know. I consider myself a poker cheerleader or evangelist trying to let people know about this great game.

I know poker can be frustrating, especially when you get two outed on the river, but we really need to stop berating each other at the poker table and learn to have fun.  There are several Minnesota players that have awesome attitudes at the poker table.  Jay Philips is one of the nicest women I've ever met and a pure joy to play with at the poker table.  (Although she will take all your chips given the chance.)  Josh "Rooster" Oien is another great example of a friendly demeanor at the poker table.  While it is true that he can be loud, obnoxious and a little vulgar at the poker table, I've never seen anyone have more fun.  And I've never sensed anything mean in anything he does or says.  For him the poker table is  a party and he plans to have fun and tries to make sure you do too.

In fact if you follow Minnesota poker, Team Poker Joker (#teampokerjoker)  and Team Hammerdong (#TeamHammerDong) are excellent examples of what we need in poker.  Both teams have are very competitive and have some big egos, but in the end they all really love the game of poker.  And they keep their rivalry fun and cordial and I believe they respect each other.

I know I am far from perfect.  I can be a little introverted and maybe have too much of a "game face" some of the time.  I've also had my share of frustrating days where I probably wasn't the most pleasant person at the table.  But in general I try to be kind and courteous to other players as well as the dealers and staff.  I want everyone to smile and enjoy themselves and I win all their chips.

And maybe if we all stop being dicks at the poker table, we can all have more fun.  So crack a smile, don't take it all so seriously and have fun!

Minnesota Poker Player Twitter List

I've been working on following what's going on in the Minnesota poker scene ever since I became the ambassador for Ante Up Magazine.  In order to help with this I've been creating a list of all of the twitter accounts that I know of for Minnesota poker players.  https://twitter.com/PokerGeekMN/minnesotapoker is the list.  It currently has 231 people on it.  Feel free to follow it yourself, and let me know if you or anyone else should be on the list.  I'm hoping to make it a fairly complete list of Minnesota poker players that have twitter accounts.

July 2013 Ante Up Magazine Article

July's article covers John "JohnnyGStaks" Hayes win of the Northern Lights Casino MSPT event.  It also covers Running Aces decision to make Erick Wright the ambassador and card-club pro for Running Aces Harness Park.  And despite published proof in a competing publication, Tristan Wilberg did NOT call Erick Wright the best poker player in Minnesota.  After all those would be fighting words!  Although I don't think anyone would argue that he is definitely one of the best.
http://www.anteupmagazine.com/featured-column/hayes-wins-northern-lights-poker-tournament-43k.htm

June 2013 Ante Up Magazine Articles

This month I had a couple of articles.  The main one is covering the Ante Up Poker Tour event at Running Aces.  http://www.anteupmagazine.com/tournaments/a-look-back-at-the-aupt-at-running-aces.htm.  For the full glossy article including picture, check out page 34 of the following link: http://www.anteupmagazine.com/issue/ante-up-magazine-june-2013.htm  or of the pdf http://www.anteupmagazine.com/rw/issues/pdf/June_2013.pdf.

The other article covers the MSPT event at Canterbury Park as well as the Ultimate Overlay tournament coming back to Canterbury Park. http://www.anteupmagazine.com/featured-column/younis-wins-poker-title-at-canterbury-park-in-minnesota.htm

May 2013 Ante Up Magazine Article

May's article covers the Spring Poker Classic at Running Aces and the Minnesota State Championship at Canterbury Park.

http://www.anteupmagazine.com/featured-column/radio-s-cove-wins-spring-poker-classic-main-event.htm

April 2013 Ante Up Magazine Article

April's article covers the MSPT kickoff at Running aces.  Congratulations to David Gonia for the win!

http://www.anteupmagazine.com/featured-column/gonia-takes-down-running-aces-poker-event-93k.htm

March 2013 Ante Up Magazine Article

This month's article covers Colin Anderson's win of the Great Minnesota Freeze Out held at Canterbury Park.  It also covers Robby Westrom's win of the Big Stack Avalanche held at Running Aces.

http://www.anteupmagazine.com/featured-column/anderson-wins-great-minnesota-freeze-out-poker-event.htm

February 2013 Ante Up Magazine Article

This month's article covers the season finale of the MSPT at Canterbury Park won by the first Canadian James Gibson.  It also covers Dan Sun's win of the MSPT player of the year points race.

http://www.anteupmagazine.com/featured-column/gibson-is-first-canadian-to-win-mspt-event.htm

January 2013 Ante Up Magazine Article

This month's article covers the MSPT event Grand Casino Mille Lacs.  This was an impressive second win for Matt Kirby.

http://www.anteupmagazine.com/featured-column/kirby-wins-his-second-mid-states-poker-tour-title.htm