WHY PLAYERS SHOULD DO CHIP TRICKS AT THE POKER TABLE

WHY PLAYERS SHOULD DO CHIP TRICKS AT THE POKER TABLE

Chip Flourishes (Chip Tricks): handling chips in a fancy manner.

Poker is fast becoming America's favorite form of entertainment. Hold 'em tournaments are broadcast daily on TV. You and I are able to peek into the pros hole cards, as well as see the way they handle their chips. Some don't flourish at all, but others, work with the chips in a manner that reveal their thousands of hours spent on the green felt. They riffle shuffle their chips. They delicately finger the chips...extracting one, turning it over, and replacing it. They bet their chips with flair.

The colorful tricks include:

• running a chip across the knuckles,

• twirling a chip between two fingers,

• and rolling out a stack of four chips so that a chip is gracefully placed between each finger.

They impress us with their chip acrobatics. And it's second nature...they aren't even thinking about it.

There are several reasons why players do chip tricks.

TABLE IMAGE:

I've read pros suggest that players should project an image that they are a "madman" or "unsure of themselves"....when in reality...they are not. Throw your opponent off. Appear the opposite. This does have advantages, but I just can't get myself to do it. When I sit down at a table I want everyone to know that I grew up with a deck of cards in my hand, that I'm a "player", and that I know what I'm doing at the table...all the time. Performing chip tricks helps me stand out and gives me a bit more control of the table.

I can opt to look like a poker veteran, and unleash my collection of chip handling techniques. Or if I want to look like a beginner, I can simply choose not to do anything fancy.

RELIEVE STRESS:

Just as some people twiddle their thumbs, bounce their knee, or tap their fingers, performing chip tricks can be a means to physically dissipate nervous energy. Poker can be a stressful game in several ways. One is the nervousness one feels at the beginning of a tournament. This is easily decreased by some chip shuffling. Poker is a sedentary game and there aren't many physical ways to "blow off" a bad beat or major chip loss. A player can get out of his seat and walk a few steps, he can verbalize, or pick up a drink. There's not much else to do. Golfers can walk off their frustration. Baseball players can fling their helmets and bats into the ground after striking out. One way to "let off steam" for a poker player, is to work the chips. Moving your fingers and handling the chips, is one physical means to lessen stress, and take your mind off the last hand.

INTIMIDATE OPPONENTS:

I've seen beginners fold solid hands being intimidated by players who look like "seasoned" poker players (many do twirls, rolls, flips, and other fancy fingering of chips and cards). The psychological factor in poker is far more important than in other card games. If you look like you grew up playing poker, you will have your raises respected more. You will find opponents laying down hands because they think you have the winning hand. The confidence you display, and the way you handle your chips & cards, effects other people's decisions and play.

EARN RESPECT FROM DEALERS AND FLOOR PERSONS:

I don't look like a beginner, and I am more likely to be noticed and remembered. I'm looking to maximize my comps and courtesies!

Sometimes a dealer may get "testy" with a tourist or one who is new to the game. I'm not put in that category.

Over the years, I've seen a variety of borderline situations at the table, where the veteran player gets the better shake. My flourishing puts me in the "poker veteran" category.

STAY AWAKE:

During long tournaments, keeping my fingers moving helps me be a little more awake and aware of what's going on. There are some boring stretches to poker, and handling my chips helps me stay alert.

FOCUS:

Handling the chips keeps me focused on the game. My hands are physically on them, and I'm mentally attached to the cards at play. The purpose of the game is to gain chips, and there is no better way to remind me of this than to finger the chips.

HELPS TO WARD OFF CHEATS:

Someone who performs chip tricks and handles cards with a flair does not look like an easy mark. He is thought to be well versed in proper poker shuffling, cutting, dealing procedures, and protocol. He is one who is more likely to be aware of card "mechanics", collusion, and other scams. I am less likely to be the "mark", and any cheat will think twice before trying to pull one on me. For them...there are easier prey in other seats.

OTHERS WOULD LIKE TO DO IT:

Every person at the table would like to be able to perform tricks with their chips. It takes some initial practice but once you learn it, you learn it for life. Make sure you have them second nature before sitting down and gambling. If you have to concentrate on the tricks, and take attention away from the cards at play, you'll be hurting your game. Try performing tricks while talking on the phone, or while playing on-line. If you can do it then, you are ready.

THE PROS DO IT:

No matter what sport or game, everybody wants to emulate the professionals. They are the stars, the successful. Do as the pros do!

IT'S COOL TO DO!

Tom Golabek is an award winning magician, and plays the poker tables of South Florida and Las Vegas. He has produced a step by step instructional DVD on how to perform a colorful collection of poker chip tricks, and card handling techniques. Go to www.pokerchipdvd.com

POKER ROOMS IN ST. LOUIS, MO.

POKER ROOMS IN ST. LOUIS, MO.

There are other poker rooms in the St. Louis area. There's the Ameristar in St. Charles and there's the President on the river downtown. Each has its special charms (Ameristar more than the President, to be sure). But for serious poker players interested in the biggest games, the best tournaments, the highest limits, and the best action, there really isn't a choice of where to go. This is the place.

The poker room at Harrah's is a modern, well-lit, spacious room, full of tournaments and live games and very well run. Unfortunately, they do not spread 7-card stud.

It's not plush or luxurious, but it is very comfortable. They have 21 tables and will soon be expanding to 22 tables. Not bad considering they started with 12 tables just three and a half years ago.

The poker room opens, usually with people waiting to get in, at 8:00 every morning. It closes in the wee hours at 4:00 AM. State law forbids casinos from staying open twenty-four hours each day. There are two tournaments every weekday – at 1:00 PM and 7:00 PM and one or two over the weekend as well. They have regular promotions. When I was there they were just about to start up satellites for the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. This past year they sent eight players – one of whom finished 30th in the Main Event.

They also have an Aces Cracked promotion. $100 goes to each of the first five players of each day who have their pair of aces beaten. The promotion seems to be succeeding in getting players to arrive early. By 8:30 AM, when I arrived, there were two tables going. I stayed and played for a little over an hour (earning $62 in the $1/2 no-limit game). No one had aces beaten while I was there. I had aces once but no one called when I raised the blind pre-flop. In retrospect this was probably a terrible move on my part. I would have made more money had I just called along and either won the hand with no bets or gotten beaten.

On the low end, the room regularly spreads a $1/2 no-limit game and a $3/6 limit game. During the day they are filled with retirees and a few stranglers. Nights and weekends, there are college kids and young adults. They tend to have more games for the higher rollers at night and on the weekends -- $2/5 and $5/5 no-limit and limit of $20/40 and $30/60 each with a half kill.

Those are very big games considering that there is a $500 maximum buy-in at the cashier's window every two hours. That's state law. They don't want gamblers losing more than they can afford. But no matter, regular players in the know just stash chips until they have the large stacks they need for the bigger games.

Players earn $.75 for each hour of play – regardless of what level they play. These points may be used for food or a room. They are also transferable from one Harrah's property to another (they have many including Caesar's in Las Vegas and the Horseshoe in Tunica, Mississippi). Players will need a lot of these points for the better restaurants, Mobey's or The Range. Both are reported to be excellent and are quite dear. The poker room supplies free coffee and soft drinks – and donuts in the morning.

The level of play during the morning, when I was there, was the expected rocking and timid play of retirees. I'd like to check out the action at night and on the weekends when the "old money" and "young hot shots" roll in. But from everything I observed and heard, this is the place to be for serious poker in the St. Louis area.

Harrah's St. Louis Hotel & Casino
777 Casino Center Drive
Maryland Heights, MO 63043
Phone: (314)770-8100
Fax: (314)770-8399

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