Regarding Poker

The annual conference for the Association for the Advancement Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) hosted the first man versus machine poker championship.

The controlled scientific experiment held in Vancouver, Canada, pitted a poker-playing computer program called Polaris against two top professional poker players, Phil Laak and Ali Eslami. There was also $50,000 on the line for the winning side.

The format of this challenge was a Heads-up Limit Hold’em game that would consist of four 500-hand duplicate matches. Each duplicate match, the same series of cards would be dealt in two parallel Man versus Machine matches, with teammates playing the opposite hands in each game. At the end of the match, the total number of chips won or lost by each team is added together to determine the winning team. This format was used to reduce the element of random luck to a minimum, and get a much better indication of the differences in skill.

Phil Laak and Ali Eslami won two rounds out of three and this year’s match. It wasn’t easy and both players agreed that they had to play their best game to win.

“I really am happy it’s over,” said Eslami, adding: “I’m surprised we won, it’s already so good it will be tough to beat in future.”

The University of Alberta is no stranger to making the ultimate game programs geared to play and beat the best players in the world. Scientists at the University of Alberta developed a computer chess champion named Chinook, and it was so good that it was retired because no one could beat it. It seems as though the researchers are well on their way in making the ultimate man-beating-poker-program with Polaris.

Researchers are in discussion with a company to make Polaris available online. Now that’s a scary thought; imagine this program playing in the online poker rooms? No thanks!

Here’s a video with Phil Laak and Ali Eslami talking about the match after their victory:

I can’t seem to find out anywhere if he did start the Main Event or not, let’s hope he did because I would love to see him win his 12th WSOP Bracelet!

If you haven’t heard about Phil Hellmuth’s race car crash yet then check out this video.

The Crash (7/08/2007):

An UltimateBet promotional race car with poker superstar Phil Hellmuth at the wheel crashed into a cinderblock barrier during a show late Sunday evening at the Rio Hotel and Casino parking lot.

While the racecar was totaled, witnesses report that Hellmuth was conscious as he left the vehicle unscathed but visibly shaken. According to one onlooker, Hellmuth quipped, “Well, you cant win every race”.

“I’d be amazed if he was able to play poker today after such a high-speed collision, stated eyewitness Brian Balsburgh of Poker Royalty. He had severe whiplash.

Tony G offers an inside look into this year’s World Series of Poker (WSOP) through his video blogs.

Tony G Video Blog - June 20

Tony G June 21 Blog

Tony G June 22 Blog

Paul “Eskimo” Clark, a 48 year old professional poker player from Louisiana who now calls Las Vegas home is known for his aggressive style of poker and currently has three World Series of Poker (WSOP) Bracelets: Seven Card Stud (1992), Razz (1999) and Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo (2002).

Paul “Eskimo” Clark almost got his fourth WSOP Bracelet at this year’s WSOP playing in the $1,500 Razz Event. It appears to many that winning a WSOP Bracelet (maybe the cash too?) means more to him than his health.

It all started when Paul “Eskimo” Clark was playing in the $2,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo Event and had to play in the sweltering heat in the problematic Pavilion (tent). Initial reports claim that he suffered a minor heart-attack and that the hot conditions may have been a factor.

Shortly after his apparent heart-attack Paul Clark returned to the WSOP, and many people assumed that he was ok. Well, he was not. He entered into the $1,500 Razz Event and was determined to win it, apparently at any cost.

In the Razz Event he collapsed twice, prompting paramedics to be called in during the second incident. Paul Clark convinced them to let him continue playing. Was his collapse due to low blood sugar? Or maybe it was a stroke, the fact that one side of his body went numb during the second incident looks like evidence of a stroke. The tough Paul Clark signed a waiver absolving the WSOP of liability should he have suffered permanent damage.

Is winning more important than your health? Don’t ask Paul “Eskimo” Clark this question, his answer would be a resounding YES.

I wonder if finishing 4th and winning $31K in that Razz event was any consolation.

Daniel Negreanu talks to Poker News about the 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) and becoming the latest member of Team PokerStars:

Join Daniel Negreanu at PokerStars and get a 100% signup deposit bonus for up to $50.00 (new accounts only). Use PokerStars Bonus Code: First2007

Poker history has certainly been made when Phil Hellmuth Jr. won his record winning 11th World Series of Poker (WSOP) Bracelet. Here are two videos honoring Phil Hellmuth’s amazing achievement.

Phil Hellmuth 11th Bracelet Ceremony (Part 1):

Phil Hellmuth 11th Bracelet Ceremony (Part 2):

Here is a YouTube video interview with Phil Hellmuth about his record winning 11th World Series of Poker (WSOP) Bracelet from the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Event #15:

Congratulations to Phil “The Poker Brat” Hellmuth for winning his record-breaking 11th WSOP Bracelet at this year’s World Series of Poker!

Phil Hellmuth’s winning bracelet came from Event #15, the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Event that had a field of 2,628 players.

For Phil Hellmuth it’s not about the money, it’s all about the title and to prove to the world that he is the best No Limit Hold’em player in the world. It’s hard to argue that now that he is the only person ever to have more than 10 WSOP bracelets.

There may be even more WSOP Bracelets for Phil Hellmuth this year as the 2007 WSOP has really only just begun.

Event #15 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em:

Buy-In: $1,500
Entries: 2,628
Total Prize Pool: $3,587,220

1. Phil Hellmuth $637,254
2. Andy Philachack $394,594
3. Rick Fuller $247,518
4. Morgan Machina $161,425
5. Scott Clements $112,997
6. David Simon $82,506
7. Fabrice Soulier $64,570
8. Ut Nguyen $48,427
9. Taylor Douglas $38,025
10. Keit Tran $31,568

Now, wouldn’t it be interesting if Johnny Chan and Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson who hold ten WSOP Bracelets each win their 11th WSOP Bracelet this year too?

Click here to see Phil Hellmuth’s lifetime WSOP results.

The notice on the home page of Full Contact Poker (FCP) states that they will merge their player base to PokerStars.

“Full Contact Poker will cease all poker and casino operations in all countries and return FullContactPoker.com to its roots as a forum-based poker community…”

Not only will Full Contact Poker (FCP) players call PokerStars their new home for online poker, but Daniel Negreanu will also become the newest member of Team PokerStars.

This transition and having Daniel Negreanu join PokerStars should give a boost to the already king of all online poker rooms.

PokerStars has also agreed to host Daniel Negreanu’s Protégé 3, future Weekend at Daniel’s events, the weekly Negreanu Open and much more.

I personally think this is great news; more players at PokerStars = more game selection (not that game selection was ever a problem there), and having Daniel Negreanu at PokerStars can only be a good thing.

I look forward to playing in Daniel Negreanu’s tournaments and watching him play at PokerStars!

Here is a complete list of professional and celebrity poker usernames for Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars.

Full Tilt Poker Poker Room:

Full Name :: Poker Room ID

Aaron Bartley :: Aaron Bartley
Joe Beevers :: Joe Beevers
Andy Bloch :: Andy Bloch
Barny Boatman :: Barny Boatman
Ross Boatman :: Ross Boatman
Farzad Bonyadi :: Farzad Bonyadi
Alan Boston :: Alan Boston
Steve Brecher :: Steve Brecher
Richard Brodie :: Quiet Lion
“Miami John” Cernuto :: John Cernuto
Lynette Chan :: Lynette Chan
Morris Chestnut :: Morris Chestnut
David Chiu :: David Chiu
Allen Cunningham :: AllenCunningham
John D’Agostino :: John DAgostino
Roland de Wolfe :: Roland de Wolfe
Chris Ferguson :: Chris Ferguson
Layne Flack :: Layne Flack
Perry Friedman :: Perry Friedman
Eric Froehlich :: Eric Froehlich
Rafe Furst :: Rafe Furst
Kristy Gazes :: Kristy Gazes
Phil Gordon :: Phil Gordon
Clonie Gowen :: Clonie Gowen
David Grey :: David Grey
Gus Hansen :: Gus Hansen
Jennifer Harman :: Jennifer Harman
Phil Ivey :: Phil Ivey
Berry Johnston :: Berry Johnston
John Juanda :: John Juanda
Howard Lederer :: Howard Lederer
Suzie Lederer :: Random Donkey
Toto Leonidas :: Toto Leonidas
Erick Lindgren :: Erick Lindgren
Jeff Madsen :: Jeff Madsen
Greg Mascio :: Greg Mascio
Mike Matusow :: Mike Matusow
Robert Mizrachi :: Robert Mizrachi
Greg “FBT” Mueller :: GregFBTMueller
David Oppenheim :: David Oppenheim
Stuart Paterson :: Stuart Paterson
Ben Roberts :: Ben Roberts
Huck Seed :: HuckleberrySeed
Erik Seidel :: Erik Seidel
Keith Sexton :: Keith Sexton
David Singer :: David Singer
Gavin Smith :: Gavin Smith
Ram Vaswani :: Ram Vaswani
Mark Vos :: Mark Vos
Lee Watkinson :: Lee Watkinson
Paul Wolfe :: Paul Wolfe
Steve Zolotow :: Steve Zolotow

PokerStars Poker Room:

Full Name :: Poker Room ID

Josh Arieh :: Razorbax
Aaron Bartley :: GambleAB
Humberto Brenes :: HumbertoB.
Richard Brodie :: p0kerm0n
William Chen :: Bill Chen
John Duthie :: John Duthie
Barry Greenstein :: barryg1
Bertrand Grospellier :: ElkY
Joe Hachem :: JoeHachem
Phil Hellmuth :: #1_Lucky_One
Tom McEvoy :: Tom McEvoy
Isabelle Mercier :: NoMercy
Chris Moneymaker :: Money800
Daniel Negreanu :: doublesuited
Lee Nelson :: LeeNelsonP*
Luca Pagano :: LucaPagano
Steve Paul-Ambrose :: stevejpa
Victor Ramdin :: VictorRamdin
Greg Raymer :: Fossilman
Vanessa Rousso :: LadyMaverick
Katja Thater :: Katja Thater
Wil Wheaton :: Wil Wheaton

To search for any of these players you will need to have installed the appropriate software. To download Full Tilt Poker software click here, for PokerStars software, click here. Once downloaded, you can use the search features from within the software to find any player.

Happy searching…