The most obvious thing to learn is simply, how the game is played. You can pick up the rules (and customs) of the game just by watching. We all have to start somewhere and where better than the Formula One of Cards. Look a bit deeper and you’ll see how players maximize the potential of their (good) hole cards. Check out the early raises, reflecting the higher percentage of winning the pot. It may be Poker Rules Page One to you, but the WSOP shows you how you really make your money work for you. Sometimes the TV producers give you a heads up display on the screen as to what percentage each player has of winning the pot. Take a god hard look at these, and if you find yourself thinking, I’d have stayed in on that hand (when it shows a 12%) chance think again. ESPECIALLY if staying in would have rivered you a straight (respect the odds). Similarly Take note of rounds expert players folding (seemingly) strong hands listen to the to the commentators as they explain the psychology and reasoning, they know what they’re talking about. If you don’t have your own table character watch the pros at The World Series of Poker, as they are some of the finest tight and loose players in the game. Watch the way players play and work out what would work for you.

The next one is a great free tip for playing poker. This is something that is a lot easier to do when you’re off the table. Sit and quietly watch how those pros act when they’re playing. Because of the glass topped tables you’ll be able to know when they’re bluffing. Is there a twitch, a tell, do they look scared do they look overly confident. You may never have the chance to sit opposite them and bankrupt a pro working on his tell till the sun comes up, but in more general terms they will show you how to be “the Grey man” that’s an unreadable slate who could be holding the nuts of garbage. Look at their body language and the way they carry themselves, particularly when they are bluffing.

Once you’ve done your learning and feel that you’ve had enough schooling for one day, crack open a cold one, watch and enjoy some of the best games players on the planet ply their trade at the highest of high tables.

Nine is the magic number

The final table was decided in the early hours of Wednesday 27th July and already bookies are quoting odds on the players. Hailing from the Emerald Isle is Ireland`s Eoghan O`Dea. Who is no stranger to cards as he’s the son and heir of poker legend Donnacha “The Don” O`Dea. Pappy O’Dea must be beaming with pride as his little boy is tied for joint-favorite to win the most prestigious of bracelets at odds of 9/2. It ;looks like we’ve got a top pair at the table already as Junior O’Dea  shares co-favorite spot with the man with more chips than Ronald McDonald, that’s chip leader Martin Staszko who is also at 9/2. If you like your horses dark check out this Czech, as he’s a relative unknown on the scene. What is certainly known is that he’s sitting on a stack of over 40million and that alone gives him a great chance to win the first prize, of $8.7 million (real) dollars.

Next up is Ben Lamb offered up at 11/2 to win his second bracelet of the series. Ben has had a stormingly good WSOP this year, he managed a second place finish in the $3,000 PLO, a twelfth place in $10,000 NL/Six Handed Championship, eighth in the $50,000 Poker Player`s Championship and rounded it off with a first place in the $10,000 PLO Championship. He’s definitely a player to watch, both by poker fans and the eighth he shares the table with. Can you hear it coming in the air tonight? Lamb shares 11/2 with Phil Collins, a Las Vegas local with a weighty online poker reputation, who is now turning to the live poker arena.

The third and final US player at the table is Matt Giannetti, who’s third in chips with 24.7 million. Giannetti is mostly a cash game player and is well respected in poker circles, yet an unknown quantity to Joe-public, he’s quoted at best odds of 15/2.There seems to be a baby at the table as Day 7’s chip leader (possibly worth an outside bet) is 21 year old Ukrainian Anton Makievskyi if he wins he will be the fifth player from the Ukraine to win a bracelet this year, but is out at 9/1 to do it.

There’s also a first at the table as Pius Heinz has become the first German to ever make the November Nine. It looks like turning up will have to do for Herr Heinz as he’s at 11/1 to win it, not surprising as he’s sitting down with just $16.4 million chips. Even worse off is Britain`s Sam Holden he’s the shortest stack at the table and is left out in the cold with odds of 12/1 to turn it around and beat the best, and travel back to the U.K with a bracelet.

Last (and possibly) least we have the oldest player at the poker table and longest in the odds that’s Badih Bounahra. He is still one to watch as he’s the only amateur in the final nine players (possibly an unreadable quantity) and he’s the first player from the Belize to ever make the final table of any WSOP event. He is available at best odds of 14/1 to win the WSOP 2011 Main Event.

Whatever happens it’ll certainly be worth watching come November.

The WSOPC held one if its quieter events this week, with only 98 players caring about the Western Regional Championship that kicked-off last Sunday. The lowest turnout for a Regional Championship so far, the San Diego-based event trails behind Atlantic City (Eastern Regional Championship) and Hammond, Indiana (Midwest Regional Championship, held in Hammond, Indiana).

There was no lack of top-quality talent, however, as a considerable arsenal of world poker’s top guns came out on parade. The likes of Daniel Negreanu, Kathy Liebert, Jonathan Little, Scott Montgomery, Carlos “El Matador” Mortensen, Shannon Shorr.were joined by recently-crowned 2011 National Heads-Up Poker Champion Erik Seidel.

The final started and finished on Wednesday. Tim West, fresh off his Wynn over unpopular Norwegian Annette Obrestad at the Wynn Classic, held a respectable chip lead and this saw him through to the heads-up against Eslami in the battle for the $282,242 first place prize, the diamond and gold WSOP Circuit ring and the seat at the WSOPC National Championship in May.

The heads-up took two hours, with West and Eslami clashing heads in relenting style but neither being able to make any visible damage in the other’s stack. It appeared inevitable that a biggest-hand-takes-all finale would be forthcoming.

Eslami didn’t have to do much once West had gone all-in with a marginally smaller stack, but much worse hand and by the turn he had become the WSOP Circuit’s Western Regional Champion:

Caesars Atlantic City

The very energetic World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit hits Atlantic City fresh off the back of the last event in Florida.

The Caesars Atlantic City casino plays host to the WSOP Circuit from 2nd March 2 to 13th. The tournament will include nine Hold’em ring events and Limit Omaha event. A number of satellite and second chance tournaments and seniors and ladies events will be on offer. Buy-ins for ring events start as low as $350. The Main Event will start on 11th March with a $1,650 buy-in for three days of No Limit Hold’em.

Last year’s Main Event at the Caesers in Atlantic City had a larger buy-in of $5,150 and attracted 174 players to create a prize pool of $817,015. Roland Isra from New York took home the top prize worth $264,715 and the prized gold ring.

The WSOP Circuit moves to Atlantic City straight from the Palm Beach Kennel Club in Florida where the first time the new circuit hit the state, the opening ring game worked its way into history as the largest single-venue poker tournament ever held in Florida.with a mighty whopping 877 participants. The winner of the stop’s Main event was 19-year-old professional, John Riordan, who took home $210,180 for first place. Riordan was also presented with a WSOP Circuit gold ring, the coveted prize awarded to all winners in poker’s biggest and most prestigious national tournament series. The WSOP Circuit stop also crowned Florida’s first major poker tournament female champion – June Amer won a WSOP Circuit gold ring and $65,338 in the $550 No-Limit Hold’em competition.

The next WSOPC series is the Regional Championship at Harrah’s Rincon Casino & Resort from March 10-30; that’s in San Diego. Good luck!

Peter Eastgate

Since retiring from professional poker and only days after the NHUPC in 2010 and just a short a period of time before the WSOP was to begin, Peter Eastgate has sold his WSOP bracelet on ebay to make money for UNICEF and remarked that it was never his intention to make poker his full-time pursuit.

Eastgate was holding an automatic entry bid to the NHUPC for being a WSOP winner in the last three years. The reason for Eastgate’s return has not been made clear, despite the large number of rumours, tweets and posts about it in the last few days.

Could it be Eastgate’s attempt at a swan song? He managed to stay in the same competition until 5^th place last year and did very well for himself. But, unknown to many, the folk tale that the Mute Swan cannot sing during life and only sings one beautiful song just before it dies has been known to be untrue since 77 A.D. Will Eastgate have the star power necessary to whittle down his heads-up opponents as easily after almost a year out of the game?

NBC are to film and later emit the tournament, the president of programming of NBC Sports and Versus, John Miller, “We are proud to broadcast the National Heads-Up Poker Championship for a seventh consecutive year for our viewers to see some of the most exciting poker in the world. … You never know what match-ups you are going to get in Heads-Up.”

WSOPE

The company tha owns and organizes the World Series Of Poker (WSOP) and its baby brother, the World Series Of Poker (WSOPE) , has announced that the city of Cannes, in France, will play host to the Old World version of the world championship for the next three years.

The company, Caesars Interactive Entertainment, announced the move on Wednesday night. A deal has been forged between Caesers, Lucien Barrière Hôtels & Casinos and the new European branch of the Caesers empire means the WSOPE will be played at the Casino Barrière de Cannes Croisette – the same casino that hosted the controversial Partouche Poker Tour final last November that saw the expulsion of infamous German poker “player” Ali Tekintamgac for alleged cheating using bloggers and tournament photographers.

Mitch Garber of Caesars Interactive Entertainment explained: “This is a unique agreement between two casino leaders with great brands. Lucien Barrière Hôtels & Casinos is a well-run organization and we are excited to work with them to access the French market with high-quality and reputable poker events both in their hotels and casinos, and online with BarrierePoker.fr.”

A new poker tour, the Barrière Poker Tour, has been created to act as a series of satellites and qualifiers in France. The Barrière Poker Tour will start in April and will include seven stops, in Toulouse, Nice, Lille, Dinard, Enghien, Trouville and Bordeaux. The new tour play its final event once again in Cannes using the WSOPE as the concluding stop.

Eric Cavillon, operations director in charge of poker development at Lucien Barrière Hôtels & Casinos, commented: “The Lucien Barriere Hôtels & Casinos, BarrierePoker.fr and WSOP alliance allows us to put on an outstanding tournament hosted by a world famous brand in France while positioning us to become a leading operator of both online and live poker.”

The WSOPE will grow from five to seven events and will be played from the 7th to 21st October. The new location will offer 75 tables – double the capacity of London’s Casino Of The Empire en that has been home for WSOPE since its inauguration in 2007.