Friday Online Results

Congratulations to the following
London PIC Tour players for
their great finish on Friday night.

7th Jeff Smith
6th Chevy Gies
4th Janice Meyer
3rd Linda Cunningham

Dec 28th
Winner

Rob
Hamilton

Online Tx Update

There will now be 2 opportunities
to play online every week.

Friday nights at 8pm
Saturday afternoons at 4pm

Poker In Canada Tour Online
tournament players will now receive
ten (10) points for participation.

Final Table (top 8) points will remain
the same as at live events, only the
participation points are changing.

Stats

New Season 6 Statistics are now available
from me at tonights event. They should be
uploaded to the pokerincanadatour site
tomorrow.

Dec 21st

Winner

RUSS

AVON

Dec 18th

Winner

MIKE
MCINTYRE

Dec 17th

Winner

JUSTIN

DYMOND

Dec 14th

Winner

RUSS

AVON

Mexicali Rosa's

They have decided to end
their relationship with
the Poker In Canada Tour
as of the new year.

The events there are
cancelled effective
immediately.

A replacement venue
is currently in the works.

Dec 13th

Winner

MATT

MALLON

Championship Photos

Ben Bart has posted the photo's
he took at the Season 5 Championship
on Dec 3rd HERE:

http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e201/Tiger955/


.

Dec 11th

Winner

HEATHER
FINLAY

Dec 10th

Winner

SEAN

"CHIP"

SLEE

Dec 10th

Winner

RANDY

MEYER

Dec 10th Prize Giveaway

This Sunday

Dec 10th, 2PM at

Mexicali Rosa's

I'll be giving

away this

RCA 4GB

MP3 Player

to the Winner.

Holds over 100 hours of music

and is valued around $135 at BestBuy

http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0926INGFS10082311&catid=22578

Friday Online Results

Another fine showing from
the London crew online at
the PokerInCanada.com
tournament.

3rd GINA REED
4th JEFF SMITH
5th WILL FALKINER
6th CHRIS MARKLE

Are these 2 Related ? ?

Dec 7th
Winner

SEAN
SLEE

Dec 6th

Winner

MATT
MALLON

December 4th

Winner

ROB
WILLIAMSON

Season 5 Championship

Big

Congrats

to

JORDAN
MINTER

for his

2nd place
finish at

sundays

championship

tournament.

Jordan battled

hard and did

London proud
with some

fantastic
final table play.

Great job Jordan !!

More photo's and

complete stats

to come.

Friday's Online Tournament

Congratulations to Scott Paterson
who finished 2nd ($123) and to
Neil Millson who finished 6th.

Season 5 Final Standings

Congratulations to all who made it to
the Season 5 Championship

If anyone wants the complete stat sheet
(xcel spreadsheet) please email me

1st RAY FALCONER 1555 (TOP POINT GETTER)

2nd PENNY STODDART 1500
(TOP FEMALE/TIED MOST WINS)
3rd NEIL MILLSON 1475
4th JANICE MEYER 1390 (TIED MOST WINS)
5th ROBERT PATERSON 1295
6th FLOYD KNIGHTS 1260
7th CHEVY GIES 1215 (TIED MOST WINS)
8th WENDI GLADSTONE 1205
9th JAMES MCMULLAN 1155
10th JEFF HEJNO 1125
11th JIM MCDONALD 1070
12th SYLVIO SMITH 1040
13th JACQUES PITRE 1040
14th MIKE MCINTYRE 1030
15th RANDY MEYER 1010
16th GLORIA MILLSON 980
17th KATHY MCDONALD 940
18th ANDREA COLLINS 930
19th JOZSEF KISS 910
20th DAVE COFFER 910
21st ALEX ZAROWNY 900
22nd ABBY BIRBARI 900
23rd LESLIE GLADSTONE 890
24th DOUG SHORT 875
25th JUDY WEBSTER 845
26th RYAN HAMILTON 840
27th RON MACDONALD 835
28th LUIS COY 830
29th BRAD NELSON 780
30th JORY MEISNER 775
31st CHRIS MARKLE 770 WILDCARD
32nd DAVE METZLAR 765
33rd ANNE MARIE HOWARTH 760
34th MARY DELSEY 750
35th BERNADETTE HOWARTH 740
36th GINA REED 730
37th HAROLD WALLS 720
38th MATT MALLON 695
39th DAVID HAWKINS 685
40th KIM GIES 680
41st DENNIS FILIPCHUK 675
42nd GEORGE LARGE 665
43rd DAN MOSER 655
44th RON FAHNER 655
45th TREVOR MACARTHUR 650
46th HEATHER FINLAY 640
47th IVAN RAMSKOGLER 635
48th JASON BEST 630
49th DAVE WEBB 630
50th KELLY NOLAN 625
51st TOM WEBSTER 620
52nd STAN PARKES 620
53rd RUBEN PAIVA 615
54th DAN RAPP 610
55th ROB PINCOMBE 605
56th BEN BART 590
57th DAN FORSTER 585
58th DAN KUSHNER 580
59th SCOTT MCCALLUM 580
60th JORDAN MINTER 575
61st ROBIN D 570
62nd PAT MIDDLEMISS 560
63rd ALIM RAMJI 560
64th MIKE VINNETTE JR 560
65th JEREMY LEBLANC 560
66th FRED DELSEY 535
67th KEN ROY 535
68th LINDA CUNNINGHAM 535
69th SIMON LATTER 530
70th STEPHEN HOBSON 525
71st SEAN SLEE 525 WILDCARD
72nd CAITLIN SPRATT 505
73rd CHRIS CHAPMAN 500
80th BARRY BOWDEN 490
82nd ROB HAMILTON 480
97th DANIEL ASANTE 430
104th TU NGUYEN 390
109th SAM BYCZOK 375
114th KAREN CACCIAVILLANI 365
126th SABASTIEN DEROY 320
129th JUSTIN DAWSON 310
140th JUSTIN DYMOND 265

Nov 29th

Winner

JUSTIN

DAWSON

Toronto Poker Club Robbed,
Shots Fired in Police Chase

November 28, 2006
Haley Hintze

An early-morning robbery attempt on a Toronto social-club poker game recently went awry, when police responded to a call-in about the heist in time to locate and chase the robbers' fleeing van.

About eighteen players where participating in the overnight game at Toronto's Thornhill Club when two masked, armed robbers burst in at about 4:00 a.m. Wednesday morning, a third waiting in the getaway van behind the club. The two reportedly 'roughed up' the players while relieving the game of its cash and valuables, but someone, likely one of the players, managed to alert police, who responded in time to see the van leaving the area.

Having identified the van, trailing officers signaled it to pull over. The van slowed momentarily, seeming to comply, before speeding away. A high-speed chase ensued and moved onto a local freeway, the 401. Here, one of the van's passengers rolled down a window and fired on the pursuing offices, who then broke off the chase; neither officers nor vehicles were hit.

However, the police had already identified one or more of the likely robbers, with two of them being arrested shortly thereafter and the third picked up around noon on Wednesday in Toronto's London suburb. The three robbers, Omar Jermaine Betty, 25, Ryan Shields, 26, and Ezra Lottery, 21, face a total of 130 charges between them, including attempted murder, armed robbery and forcible confinement. The three were denied bail in their initial hearings, and will return to court next week.

Nov 29th
Winner

STEPHEN
HOBSON

Because of the Championship Tournament,
there will be NO POKER on Sunday December
3rd at either location.

Nov 27th
Winner

TREVOR
MCARTHUR

Nov 26th

Winner

PENNY

STODDART

Nov 26th

Winner

RAY

FALCONER

Reminder

Today's event at Mexicali Rosa's
is pushed forward 1 HOUR.
3pm Start time


Bradley Roadhouse time remains
the same (7pm)

Fridays Online Tournament

Congratulations to GINA REED
for Winning yesterdays Poker
In Canada Tour Online tournament.

NEIL MILLSON finished 3rd.

It was a very strong showing from
London with GLORIA MILLSON,
LESLIE GLADSTONE, RANDY MEYER,
and JANICE MEYER all making
the final table.

Nov 23rd
Winner




CHEVY

GIES

Vote

Starting today you can vote
for London's Most Improved
Player for Season 5.

Ballots will be available at
the registration table.

Wild Card

Winner

Chris Markle

Photos Uploaded

All of Season 5's Winners Photos
are now on the blog. Check out
the archives if the photo you're
looking for isnt on the main page.

Nov 20th Table #5 Action

Reminder

Tomorrow, WEDNESDAY Nov 22nd
at 7pm is our last WILD CARD event.

Winner earns a spot at the Championship
Tournament on December 3rd.

Nov 20th Winner

RODNEY LUNO

Nov19th
Winner

JEREMY
LEBLANC

Nov 19th Winner RANDY MEYER

Friday's Online Tournament

Congratulations to Neil Millson
for finishing 3rd (60pts & $53)

and to Scott Paterson for
finishing 4th (50pts & $43)

There was some exciting heads up
action after the London crew was
eliminated. leafsfan97 (ryan) showed
great skill by overcoming a 5:1 chip deficet
to beat basset1 (nancy) in only seven hands.

But We Were Heads Up ? !

by Scott Paterson

There seems to be a pretty big misconception
about heads up play versus full table two player pot play.

The Scenario

Three early position players fold.
Player A, in middle position, opens for a raise with AJ of clubs.
The next player folds. Player B, on the button, calls.
The blinds both fold.
The flop comes 8h, As, 3d.
Player A, with top pair and a J kicker,
bets into player B. Player B calls.
The turn comes 4h.
Player A, thinking he has the best hand,
bets into player B again. Player B calls.
The river comes 9s.
Player A bets into Player B again. Player B calls.
Player A flips over his cards. A pair of aces with a jack kicker.
Player B flips over AK, and has a pair of aces with a king kicker.
Player B takes the pot, and player A inevitably says something
like “I thought my AJ was good because we were heads up.”

The Analysis

Although Player A’s chances of winning the pot
were increased because there were only two participants
playing to win the pot, he negelected to take into account
the difference between heads up play and full table
two player pot play. When you pair your ace (with a jack kicker)
heads up you very likely have the best hand because only
four cards have been dealt out to start. The chances your
opponent has AA, AK, or AQ are minimal.
When you pair your ace (and have a jack kicker) at a full table,
but an opponent behind you called your raise it’s quite possible
they could have AA, AK, or AQ because sixteen cards have
been dealt out to start (the chances of running into a bigger
hand increase). My point is that even though the chances of
winning a pot when fewer people are involved are greater
your actual hand strength only increases or decreases
as the number of cards dealt out increases or decreases.
If you hold AJ, and flop an ace heads up you can often take it
right to the river and prevail. If you hold AJ, and flop an ace
at a full table (even though only two people remain involved
in the hand) you should play much more carefully.
Heads up play is not the same as playing two handed at a full table.

Nov 16th Winner

LUIS COY

Another Royal Flush !

Congratulations to Sebastien DeRoy
for making a ROYAL FLUSH the other
night at Mexicali Rosa's. Its was the
second royal flush in as many nights.

Nov 15th Winner

CHEVY GIES

Wild Card Winner

Congratulations to SEAN SLEE who won
Monday's Wild Card event at the Bradley.
Sean gets an automatic entry into the
PIC Tour Championship tournament on
December 3rd at Bobby D's in Burlington.

Your next opportunity to win a Wild Card
seat is on Wednesday November 22nd
at Mexicali Rosa's.

High Hand

Congratulations go out to Ken Roy
who last night at the Bradley Roadhouse
had our first Royal Flush !

Nov 13th WildCard Winner

SEAN "CHIP" SLEE

POKER SKILLS: Betting Patterns

Betting Patterns are a Goldmine of Information

By Scott Paterson


Betting patterns can often reveal what your opponents
are holding. They are by far the most reliable tell
in poker because everyone must bet at some point
and because creating patterns is human nature
(players do mix up their play, but often play the same
hands the same way because it’s “safe” and “correct”).

In order to successfully put the pieces of the puzzle
together you must pay a great deal of attention
as the hand proceeds, and then work quickly to
reconstruct the action when cards are shown down.
When a player shows down you want to ask yourself
questions such as:

1. Did this player limp or raise preflop?
From what position? How many other players entered
the pot first? Did they limp or raise in front of the player
in question?

2. Did this player bet the flop? If so were they betting
top/middle/bottom pair, a draw, or an overpair to the board?
Was it a stone cold bluff, or a semi bluff? Did they check
a legitimate hand hoping to trap an aggressive opponent?

3. Did this player bet or check the turn? If they bet was
their hand complete, or were they drawing to a winning hand
at that point? Was it a bluff? If they checked was it out of
weakness or strength?

4. What happened on the river ? (ask yourself similar
questions to the ones you asked after the turn)

Of course these questions are only a fraction of
the ones you could ask yourself. There are literally
millions of ways a hand could unfold depending
on the cards, the number of players in the hand,
and the styles of the players involved. A few betting
patterns occur frequently enough as to be easily
recognizable.

Raise, Bet, Check - The player raises pre-flop.
He bets the flop. Then he checks the turn after his
flop bet is called because he only has one card left
to hit one of his six outs. This betting pattern is very
common. Think of it as the AK or two big overcard hand.

Call, Check-Call, Raise - The player calls pre-flop.
He checks the flop and calls an opponent's bet.
Then he raises the turn. Think of it as a drawing hand
that has been completed on the turn. Also watch carefully
if the turn card matches the bottom or middle flop card.

All Check-Raises – This (unless your opponent is
very aggressive)
is a betting pattern of great strength. You should proceed
very carefully when you are check raised repeatedly
because you are almost always behind in the hand.

Another thing to watch carefully is Betting Amounts.
Frequently players will bet the same amounts with
the same hands (or similar hands). Some players
always raise the same amount preflop with big pocket
pairs (usually measured in relation to the big blind).
Some players underbet the pot with big hands hoping
to get called, and some players underbet the pot to
represent a big hand. Some players overbet the pot
to scare opponents away because they possess a
weak hand, and some players overbet the pot hoping
they appear weak.

Nov 12th

Winner

LUIS COY

Nov 12th Winner

CHRIS MARKLE

Nov 11th

Winner

JEREMY

LEBLANC

Upcoming Wild Cards

Upcoming Wildcard Events


Sunday November 12 - The Collins

Monday November 13 - Bradley Roadhouse

Wednesday November 22 - Mexicali Rosa's

Thursday November 23 - Black Bull


The Winner of each event gets an automatic seat
in the Poker In Canada Tour Championshipon
December 3rd at Bobby D's in Burlinton.

Because of Christmas Party Bookings and a
Charity Event, Poker at the Locker Room will be
cancelled on:
November 18th
November 25th
December 2nd

Poker is still on this Saturday November 11th.

Poker at the Locker Room Will Resume on December 9th

Nov 9th Winner

Penny Stoddart

Nov 8th Winner

RANDY MEYER

POKER SKILLS: The Free Card

by Scott Paterson

This is a trick designed to save you money when
you’re on a draw by letting you see the river card for free.

An opponent limps in early position.
You pick up the A10 of hearts in late position and
decide to call. The button and SB fold. The BB checks.
The flop comes 4 of hearts, K of clubs, and 9 of hearts.
The BB bets out and the early limper folds.
The action is on you. You have the nut flush draw
and have detected weakness in the BB. Maybe he
has bottom or middle pair. You have the nut flush
(9 outs) plus any A (3 outs) or 10 (3 outs).
You’ll make the winning hand if you can see the turn
and river cards about 50% of the time. What should you do?
I’d consider raising against a passive opponent. You have
a great draw, so it’s not like your throwing your money
down a rat hole. In addition, you’ve decided your passive
opponent is weak. If you raise now the chances are pretty
good your opponent will check to you after the turn comes.
Then you can check behind him and see the river for free
if you missed your draw on the turn.

Let’s look at how this can be a money saver.
First, when you raised your opponent after the flop.
You called the BB (50 chips), your opponent bet
after the flop and you raised (the 100 chips your opponent
bet plus your 100 chip raise), and your opponent feeling
a bit nervous about your raise checked the turn and you
checked behind them. You’ve seen five community cards
for a total of 250 chips. Now, what could happen if you
didn’t raise. You called the BB (50 chips), your opponent bet
after the flop and you called (100 chips), and then your
opponent bets the turn and you call in order to see the river
(200 chips). You’ve now seen the five community cards,
but it’s cost you 350 chips instead of 250. It’s only 100 chips,
but every little bit matters.

Some things to consider are:

Your opponent

If your opponent is very aggressive this won’t work
because they’ll likely bet the turn regardless if you
raise after the flop or not.

Position

Obviously this play won’t work unless you can
act last after the flop.

Your reading ability

This play will only work if your opponent flops
a weak hand. If you’ve misread the situation,
and your opponent has flopped a strong hand
they’ll either reraise after you raise or they’ll bet the turn.

POKER SKILLS: Using Player's Aggression Against Them

by Scott Paterson

In Harrington on Hold’em, Dan Harrington talks about
two defensive strategies that can be used to combat
very aggressive players. These are “The Hammer”
and “The Rope-a-Dope”.

“The Hammer” is a preflop move used against very
aggressive players that raise with trash hoping to steal
the blinds and antes. These players are not looking for
an expensive confrontation, and since their starting hand
requirements are probably lower than yours the proper
move is to reraise or backraise them. Occasionally you’ll
find yourself in a world of hurt, but usually they’ll let their
hand go. This move takes intestinal fortitude, but if you
don’t try it once in a while the aggressive player will
run over the table. This move is also highly effective
against loose players that like to limp in with trash
hoping to flop big hands.

NOTE: You probably want some kind of hand to do
this with in case it goes to the flop.

“The Rope-a-Dope” is a postflop move that can be
employed when a very aggressive player has position
on you. Check when you flop a strong hand, let them bet,
and just call. Repeat after the turn comes. After the river
comes, check to them, let them bet, and then raise.
Always keep in mind that although your hand might not
appear that strong it probably is because the very
aggressive player is playing weaker than average hands.

New Start Times

Starting tonight, Monday November 6th
Poker In CanadaTour evening events
in London will have a new start time of 7pm.

Monday 7PM -- Bradley Roadhouse

Wednesday 7PM -- Mexicali Rosa’s

Thursday 7PM -- Bradley Roadhouse

Saturday 7PM -- Locker Room

Sunday 2PM -- Mexicali Rosa's

Sunday 7PM -- Bradley Roadhouse

Nov 6th Winner

TU NGUYEN

Nov 5th

Winner

RETA

VANSTONE

Nov 5th Winner

NEIL MILLSON

New Stats Available

Point Standings have not been updated yet
at pokerincanadatour.com but will be available
at the Sunday & Monday events.

Londoner's have captured 4 of the top 5 spots ! !
(points as of Oct 26)

1. Penny Stoddart - 965 pts
2. Ray Falconer - 940 pts
4. Neil Millson - 930 pts
5. Janice Meyer - 900 pts

There are also 22 London players in the top 65 !

Nov 4th Winner

STEPHEN
HOBSON

Nov 2nd Winner

IAN CUNNINGHAM

TOURNAMENTS: Survival vs. Accumulating Chips

There is a mind-set shared by all great
No-Limit Hold'em Tournament Players.

It is the polar opposite of most beginner
tournament players.

Tournament poker is about Accumulating Chips
NOT about Survival.

But I know you're saying ... "but the person who
survives the longest wins the tournament".

True enough... but in order to win the tournament
you must eventually accumulate ALL the chips into your stack.
You can't do this by playing survival poker. No one ever
folds their way to the final table.

At best, playing poker with a survivors mindset will get you
to the final table when you get a run of better than average
cards or you are playing against opponents with considerably
less skill than you. You may even make your share of final tables.
But when you do, you will be short stacked and praying for cards
that you can double up with.

Survivors dont want to risk their entire tournament on one hand.
The fear of being eliminated causes them to fold and miss
opportunities to accumulate chips. The truth is, there is little value
in remaining in a tournament. Bubble boy earns the same as
the very first person eliminated.

Dont get me wrong... Chip Accumulators dont have to play
wild and crazy trying to win every pot. They look for any edge.
They put their chips in the pot with the best hand or a situation
with a positive long term outcome. (EV or Expected Value).
You can play a Tight/Aggressive (TAG)
style and be a chip accumulator, but you must
Emphasize the Aggression and be willing to be
Less Tight when opportunities to win big pots arise.

The bottom line is....
Survivors will have marginal success, but rarely win tournaments.
Chip Accumulators may bust out early some times, but they are
the ones who win tournaments

Fundamental Theorem of Poker

Poker is a game of incomplete information.
You rarely ever know the exact 2 cards your
opponent holds until the cards are flipped over.

This theorem from David Sklansky is one
you should keep in mind whenever you're
faced with a decision at the poker table.

It may seem overly simple, but that's the beauty of it.
Applying it on the other hand, is not always so simple.

The Fundamental Theorem of Poker
"Every time you play a hand differently from the way
you would have played it if you could see all your
opponents' cards, they gain; and every time you play
your hand the same way you would have played it if
you could see all their cards, they lose.
Conversely, every time opponents play their hands
differently from the way they would have if they could see
all your cards, you gain; and every time they play their
hands the same way they would have played if they
could see all your cards, you lose. " (1.)

As your play improves, you should be constantly trying
to make your opponents play in a way that would be wrong
if they knew what you had.

This is accomplished by reading your opponents
and their hands accurately, and by playing deceptively.

1. The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky, 1987

Nov 1st Winner

RAY FALCONER

Happy Halloween