Your “Kicker” is very important
In many games of poker you play, you will find that in a large number of them the “kicker” is the determining factor. But a lot of poker players don’t even think too much about their kicker card until they are on the losing end of a hand that is won by a top kicker hand. A very important thing to remember is to always consider your kicker when deciding to play a hand.
A “kicker” is the card which is unpaired in your hand. It determines the winning hand in the event of a tie with equal pairs. For example, if a pair of Aces was the winner, and you had Ace/King, and the other person had Ace/Jack, your King kicker would beat his Jack.
The Ace May be Weak
A commonly held belief is to play any Ace without giving consideration to the kicker. If you chose to play an Ace with a weak kicker, this is called playing a “weak Ace.” For example, if you make a play with an Ace/6 hand, and an Ace flops, you could still lose because of the weak kicker card.
If anyone else has an Ace, your chances of being the winner in the hand is not good. For someone else holding an Ace to lose, they would have to have a 5, 4, 3, or deuce for you to win against another Ace hand.
The Kicker Pairs Up
The odds are even to pair either of your cards when the flop comes. If you paired the kicker, for example, a six, you would have a small pair with an Ace kicker. However, if you chose to play a single Ace with a bigger card there could be situations where you would be better off pairing your kicker and not the Ace. For example, if you held an Ace/Queen, and the highest flop card is a Queen, you would now hold top pair with the highest possible kicker. Other players holding a Queen would surely give you action with a flop such as this. You could also gain action from opponents holding a solo Ace and are seeking another Ace on the turn or the river. Even if they do, you would win with two pairs.
When you are playing and notice someone who always plays an Ace without giving importance to the kicker, you can always beat them if you only play your Ace with a strong kicker. Many players won’t fold a pair of Aces with a weak kicker even though they should. This type of player will call you all the way through to the river, only to be defeated by a strong kicker.
Use Caution With Blinds
For the players in the Big Blind, they can many times find themselves with kicker problems when they achieve top pair in a flop but have a weak kicker. Many players in tournaments are eliminated when they face this predicament. The players moved all-in with the top pair, and were then defeated by someone with the better kicker. Stop and think about your kicker before you make this play.
Always Fold Weak Hands
You should know that the best way to not get beat holding a weak kicker is not to play the hand. Fold it. Learning to fold a bad hand with a weak kicker is essential to a winning strategy. Beware when you get top pair on the flop from the blinds with nothing as back up. Be alert to the potential pitfalls that can happen by small kickers . This will greatly improve your percentage of winning hands.
Work on Macau casino to restart early 2010
The Las Vegas Sands Corporation has plans to restart construction in January 2010, on its multibillion dollar Macau gambling resorts, after the work was suspended last year. The suspension was due to a financial crunch.
The Sands hopes to earn about $3 billion dollars from an IPO for shares in its casino operation in the small enclave of southern China, which happens to be the largest casino market in the world.
The Sands will use $500 million to renew construction on the casino and hotel projects. The company has a goal to employ about 12,000 workers. When construction was halted, about 11,000 workers were laid-off last year.
The multi-faceted project, which includes not only casinos but Shangri-La and Sheraton Hotels, was stopped late last year when the company struggled with an unexpected shortage of cash which was attributed to the current financial crisis and massive debts accumulated by the Sand Corporation.
According to Sands chairman Sheldon Adelson, his vision is to convert a part of Macau into a Las Vegas Strip with Chinese style. The current resort projects will bring that vision to light. The resort will include a mix of casino action, shopping, various forms of entertainment as well as conventions and other events.
Shares for the new Sands project should begin selling November 30, on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
The first IPO for an American casino company in Macau came from billionaire Steve Wynn last month, with an initial pricing of $1.6 billion.
Palms pays $100,000 after poker dispute
Disputes over how a couple of poker tournaments were operated in 2007, led the Palms Casino Report to fork over $100,000. The Palms paid up to settle the issue with Nevada gaming regulators.
Third-parties actually managed the tournaments which were held at the Palms in Las Vegas.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board issued a statement which said that they don’t want operators from outside the state coming in to licensed casinos in Las Vegas to make less than legitimate events appear to have legitimacy.
The officials said that separate operators held the tournaments two years at the Palms. One was said to be a Charity event. However, the charity did not receive any money until almost four months after the event was over. The second tournament did not pay winners immediately after they won which is required.
The authorities say that the Palms paid each winner in full once they heard about the complaints.
Commissioner of WSOP resigns
Jeffrey Pollack, the Commissioner of The World Series of Poker has resigned his position. This comes just three days after the tournament finished with its second-most profitable competition in its 40 year history.
The 45 year old Pollack said his plans include exploring challenges in new business ventures. Pollack was commissioner of the WSOP for four years, and was a driving force in the success of the series.
Harrah’s Entertainment owns the WSOP, which is now an international event spectacular. Many circuit tournaments are conducted at various Harrah’s properties throughout the U.S. There is also a European WSOP, which has been held for the past two years in London.
This year’s WSOP had over 60,000 players from 115 countries. All were competing in a prize pool of $174 million dollars spread across the winning players. This years WSOP held 57 events over a 50 day period.
Anywhere between 4 and 10 percent of the entry fees are retained by Harrah’s. They collect 6% of fees to enter the main Event. This years Main Event drew almost 7,000 players.
During the four years of Pollack’s tenure, the WSOP awarded more than $675 million dollars, almost double that of the previous 36 tournaments.
Pollack is credited for forging the partnership between the WSOP and cable-sports network ESPN which has brought the event to a worldwide audience. ESPN has 1 contract with the WSOP and Harrah’s for the next 12 years.
