The favourite for the Poker Player of the Year race and the winner of the most prize money this year...
LEGEND OF POKER JOHN PHAN: It’s interesting to see what it takes to win the Poker Player of the Year Race. With five months of 2005 still to go John Phan of Long Beach California is the firm favourite to win this prestigious award having been the only player able to accumulate points in every month of the season to date. In short, consistency is the key to success. To give you an idea of just how good John Phan is, Phil Ivey, the Tiger Woods of poker, can only manage fifth place. It’s way too early to count out poker prodigy Ivey but with Phan holding an almost unassailable 862 point lead over the rest of the field it’ll take a monumental effort for anyone to overhaul him.
MICHAEL “THE GRINDER” MIZARCHI
Amazingly, Michael Mizrachi, having won more money than anyone else in the top ten this year, including John Phan, has been unable to break into the first five. The Grinder hails from Hollywood and had a rocket start to the year but has hit a recent bad run on reaching the final tables of several big contests.
Q: Are you allowed to announce your hand to the rest of the table at any time prior to the end of a game? A: It’s not permitted to announce your hand verbally or physically while it’s still in play. There was however an example of this going unpunished recently at a World Poker Tour. Paul “Dot.com” Phillips faced an all-in raise in a heads- up with Mel Judah. In a wild effort to extract info on Judah’s hand, Paul Phillips announced his own, “I’ve got a flush, Mel!” This caused much amusement and was shrugged off by Judah, but Phillips was warned by commentator Mike Sexton that it was a serious tournament violation and mustn’t be repeated.
Q: What does the term “wired” mean? A: The term refers to two paired hole cards as in “aces wired” or “aces back to back.”
SOME INTERESTING POKER ODDS
Q: If I have a pocket pair what are my odds that the flop will give me three of a kind? A: You’re odds of landing three of a kind are a little over eight to one. Three of a kind can also be referred to as trips or a set.
Q: If I have Ace and King as pocket cards what are my odds of flopping a pair? A: Your odds of flopping a pair are a little better than three to one.
Q: If I have two suited cards what are my odds of flopping four cards to a flush? A: A little over nine to one.
ALL THE ACES daily poker column: Thursday, September 22, 2005: Legends of Poker John Phan and Michael Mizrachi
