2007 October | All Africa Poker Blog

October | 2007 | All Africa Poker Blog

Ryan Dreyer All Africa Poker commentator

Oct.29, 2007

All Africa Poker commentator, Ryan Dreyer, played in the PokerAce Tournament held at Gold Reef City on Sunday finished 2nd, winning prize money of R150, 000. There were 153 players in the R3,000 buy-in tournament which was configured with re-buys and add-ons. The tightly contested heads up match between Dreyer and eventual winner Cyril Jasinowski lasted well over an hour before the champion was finally crowned.

The Tournament started at 10.30 Sunday morning, playing all the way through to 3am Monday, with only two breaks of half an hour each. “It requires deep concentration” says Dreyer, “but the more you play these long sessions, the better you get at coping with the long hours and learning the mental stamina required to maintain focus. Fortunately, you are also not playing every single hand, which helps. But you have to stay sharp and focused and spend the breaks wisely, and that means not listening to all the distracting bad-beat stories of other players.”

Dreyer works for Michael Collet Productions, a company that manages and runs the DSTV All Africa Poker Channel found on channel 393 of the DSTV bouquet, which was launched in October last year. The company also produces tournaments for TV, where Dreyer directs and then has to edit at least 400 hours of footage from 16 cameras down to a mere 7 hours of screening material. “This is where my degree really comes in handy” said Dreyer. He acquired B.Sc. Journalism for which he studied in Texas while on a golf scholarship and graduated in 1996. The final portion of the tournament production is the voice over where Ryan Dreyer does commentary, with one of South Africa’s other top players such as Ryan Brauer, David Dadic or Darren Miller. Dreyer has done commentary on well over 50 hours of aired poker-tournament footage.

Before moving into the TV production industry, Dreyer was a professional golfer, with eleven years on the local Sunshine Tour as well as playing on the Canadian tour and other mini tours in the USA. Although he was reasonably successful, making well over 100 cuts on the Sunshine tour, victory seemed to elude him and his best finish was 2nd at the Kalahari Classic held in Sission. When asked why he stopped playing pro golf, Dreyer responded,” Golf became a grind and I stopped having fun. Luckily for me, the opportunity to get involved with poker production came around at just the right time”.

Ryan has only been playing live poker tournaments for the past 18 months, which have included participation in the World Series of Poker 7 Card Stud High Low event in Las Vegas in both 2006 and 2007. As far as the more popular version of the game goes, Dreyer only played in his first big Texas Hold-Em event earlier this year where he finished 6th out of a field of 290 players at Sun City. He has aspirations to play in the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event, where the Buy-In is $10,000 and the first Prize is expected to be in excess of $8 million.

Dreyer says that the game of poker, both locally and internationally, is seeing massive interest and incredible growth. He credits the “pin camera” for this growing popularity. “The pin cam allows viewers to see the hands of all players and this generates great interest in the game. From watching the game, people then move on to playing it. Celebrities such as Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, James Woods and Shannon Elizabeth are all serious players, which has really helped raised the profile of poker in general.”

The latest All Africa Poker footage from the August 2007 tournament can now be seen on DSTV Channel 393 and Dreyer is once again the lead commentator.

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Category: News 2008

Poker charms

Oct.17, 2007

Sometimes the most unusual scenes will occur around a poker table. Picture this: A miniature dragon figurine sits in between a stack of chips. After every game, his owner, one of the players, talks to him (as if he could hear). If the game ended in “their” favour, the dragon receives a smooch. If it didn’t- he receives an apology. Does this sound weird? Trust me, this is for real, and in a game of poker, no one will even bat an eye about a scenario like that. Everyone knows that to be accepted in the poker fraternity you have to play by definite rules and follow the poker etiquette stringently. But when it comes to players, their good luck charms and their superstitions, everyone has their own eccentric set of “rules.”

The magical process to create good luck already starts when preparing for a big game or poker tournament. Poker players will do anything from kiss their mama’s goodbye or flipping a coin, to making love the night before and avoid any contact with any activity or item that is regarded as unlucky. Many will ensure that their lucky items are ready to accompany them to the game itself. Some will wear their lucky charms around their necks or on a bracelet, or have a “lucky” item of clothing. To ward off evil and bring good fortune, others will keep amulets in their pockets that could vary from herbs or a piece of chocolate to a rabbits’ foot. Johnny Chan, an accomplished international poker champion and former winner of the World Series of Poker, is known to not play without his “lucky” orange.

There are even more mystical associations surrounding players in a poker room. It is said that if you’re unlucky in love, then you’ll be very lucky in poker. So if you’ve trying to make a pass at a poker player and he or she does not respond, don’t always take it personally. There’s probably more to it than meets the eye.. Many players refuse to play when there’s a dog in the building. It is said that this probably stems from the fact that dogs were witches’ companions some centuries ago.

Poker players also take the utmost care to avoid or perform certain rituals during the game itself. And just in case you’re looking for ways to change your luck in the game of poker, let us take a look at the superstitious “don’ts” around the table:

• Do not pick up your cards before everyone else received their cards as well

• Do not pick up your cards with your left hand

• Do not drop a card during the game

Naturally one has to wonder whether there is place for superstition in the game of the intelligent. Poker is after all known as the most sophisticated game in the world. And most will agree that it requires a lot of skill to consistently fare well. However, there is always that element of chance that could create some unexpected twists and turns in the game. And since that is the case, it pays to have Lady Luck on your side.

Could amulets, charms and rituals really influence chance and turn your luck? Maybe, maybe not, but many poker players will swear by it… And even if you don’t believe in it- Who can explain why seasoned players will sometimes be on the roll for the whole duration of a game and then the next time they will not even have one single good hand…? Personally, I don’t have a specific good luck charm. But I must admit that some days I do feel luckier than others….

So how do all you poker junkies out there feel about it. Can you afford to be superstitious in the game of poker? Do you think there are some supernatural powers that can influence your luck? If so, why don’t you share your good luck charms with your fellow poker players here…?

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Category: All Africa Poker Info

Swing in for a game of Poker

Oct.15, 2007

Everyone will probably agree that Chris “Jesus” Ferguson is one of the most well known faces on the poker scene. I mean, who can not immediately conjure up images of his long, wavy hair that earned him his nick name, with his black Cowboy hat, and dark sunglasses? But an interesting fact about this rough and tough “Poker Cowboy” that many people might not know though- is that he is an extremely educated and refined gentleman. And apart from playing poker, his other pet hobby- is to dance!

Chris has been dancing for almost a decade, during which he also managed the U.C.L.A. dance club for three years. Yes, believe or not, this very versatile man, has an exceptional aptitude for all the ballroom dance types, ranging from the more basic to the more complicated ones. He can waltz, do the foxtrot, tango or mambo. But his very favorite is the Swing, particularly the West Coast Swing.

For those of you that don’t know, the West Coast Swing is a partner type of dance- that is said to be derived from the Lindy hop. According to Arthur Murray, it is simply another variation of the jitterbug type of dance. The Swing involves that you walk a sequence of various patterns in synch with your partner. This leads us to believe that it is in that very aspect that the attraction lies for Ferguson- who seems to have an analytical and mathematical approach to more areas of his life, than the game of poker…

Another well known name in the poker fraternity that dances and even taught Country Western Dances, is the video poker teacher- Bob “Dancer”, whose real surname nobody remembers anymore. He particularly dances the Texas two-step and like Ferguson, he favors the West Coast Swing. Mike Sexton, the international poker champion & world poker tour announcer will probably agree with Bob, that being a professional dancer is a fine occupation. Before playing poker for a living, he was a ballroom dance teacher himself.

The list of poker players that dance, either professionally or for recreational purposes, goes on and on. Which makes us wonder- do dancing and poker have some elements in common? How many of you poker junkies out there dance as well, and if you do, what about it attracts you? Is it the challenge of a competition, the social aspect of it, or do you do it to compensate for the lack of exercise that one gets when playing poker….??

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Category: All Africa Poker Info

Betting too little on a Big Slick could set you up for big losses

Oct.08, 2007

When you are dealt a “Big Slick”, generally regarded as the best possible cards you can be dealt pre-flop, you are not automatically guaranteed of a win. Your Big Slick holds the very welcome promise of a royal Flush, a possible Full House, Alabama Night Riders, or alternatively a pair of Bullets or Gorillas. But trust me, unless you play them right- you could be setting yourself up for a really unpleasant surprise!

So what is the best way to play your Big Slick to optimize this great chance to win then? You have to defend your Big Slick of course. And what is the best way to defend? Yes, you have to ATTACK! Although I’m generally not in favor of overplaying any particular hand, this is one of those times where you have to be completely aggressive. Raise an unusually high bet, that will immediately eliminate those that simply don’t have the balls to risk too much. When you do this, you will immediately have the advantage of knowing that whoever stays, most probably really has a good hand. In spite of the fact that you will now be up against an opponent with a good hand, at least you’ve ruled out having your high cards beaten by baby pairs, straights or flushes- which are still possible, depending on what comes out on the flop.

Once the flop is dealt- you will have fewer competitors that you have to read and you’ll almost exactly know what your options are. Should there be baby cards on the table, your opponent could very well have the same cards or better than you. In that case, depending on your position, its best to first see what your opponent does. If he/she persists, it’s probably best to cut your losses right there and run. However, if there are a few more Aces and Kings on the flop, depending on how many, chances are good that your opponents could not have them as well. So if you continue to raise the stakes, you will scare those off with weak hands that are still around and stand an excellent chance to take the pot.

So next time you get dealt a Big Slick on the pre-flop, go all out at inception. If you play this one too conservatively, you’re more likely to be very disappointed with the outcome of the game!

- The Poker Idiot

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