The May 13th radio show is now online. This week the guys were joined in studio by fellow Canadian and tournament specialist Gavin Smith. The focus was local again this week with lots of talk about the Johnny Chan Classic which just wrapped up at the River Rock Hotel and Casino. Local poker pros Greg "FBT" Mueller and Jody Trainer were also on the program to discuss their experiences playing in several of the events at the Johnny Chan Classic. Feel free to leave any comments or suggestions in the show forums.
The West Coast of Canada, That Is
by Ken R. Auliffe
Unbeknownst to many Americans, Canada is claiming more and more
noteworthy places to play poker. Players willing to travel to the
greatest games in North America should not discount their friendly
northern neighbors.
This chronicle is the second in a five-part
series that takes you to the hottest (or coldest) places to play poker
in Canada. This month we focus on arguably the most proactive poker
province in Canada – British Columbia.
Poker (West Coast style)
has produced some of the greatest Canadian poker talent recognized
across the globe. Many players rising through these ranks are now coming
of age in the new age. Players like Greg “FBT” Mueller, Shawn Buchanan,
Jody Trainer, Robert Cheung and Terrence Chan are not household names,
but they are all West Coast residents and represent a talented breed.
Holding an assortment of WSOP bracelets, WPT titles, major tournament
wins and several near misses, BC is well represented in the upper
echelons of the poker hierarchy.
There are six casinos in BC
that offer live poker. The legal gaming age is 19, which is a great
selling point with not-quite-legal players in the U.S. The Greater
Vancouver and its suburbs are home to four out of the six – Vancouver,
Coquitlam, Richmond and New Westminster. Each casino is less than an
hour’s drive from the others on the mainland. North of Washington State,
and a mere two hours drive from Seattle (not including border
crossing), all are easily accessible by car, although beware of rush
hour in the city since traffic can easily double regular travel times.
While the Starlight Casino opened only scant weeks ago, the Great
Canadian Casino (Holiday Inn) – the first permanent casino in the
province – closed its doors after 21 years.
Your two best bets for poker on the West Coast are River Rock and Edgewater.
River Rock Casino & Resort
The River Rock poker room opened its doors in July 2004 with a
province-leading 20 tables, which expanded to 25 tables in April 2005.
Tournaments made the scene in September 2004. River Rock is known for
hosting the most and largest events in Canada.
Games offered:
Limit hold’em ($2-$4, $4-$8, $10-$20, $20-$40), NL hold’em ($1-$2,
$2-$5, $5-$10, $10-$25), along with pot-limit Omaha and O/8.
Action: A wide range of players of all ages with a heavy concentration
of locals. Generally lower no-limit games dominate the action, which are
pretty soft, with enough games going for players to find their sweet
spot. Peak times are from 7 p.m. to midnight and on weekends. During the
week-long tournaments, the cash-game lists are insanely long and
lucrative for those who seek higher action.
Tournaments: Daily
tournaments run nearly every day of the week with the Early Bird $25+$5
at 10 a.m., the Triple T $35+$5 at 3 p.m. and Red Eye $45+$5 at
midnight. They have also hosted phenomenal televised events, were a
mainstay on the Canadian Poker Tour and have a dedicated poker staff
that runs a smooth operation. The Show Lounge is able to accommodate
more than 50 tables each day for large tournaments.
Room
Features: A Bad Beat Jackpot (aces full of tens beaten by quads or
better) is available; in 2007 more than $1.3 million was awarded in bad
beat payouts, the largest nearly $200,000. The rake is 10 percent up to
$2 maximum for the $2-$4 limit game, $4 max on the larger limit games
and 10 percent up to $5 on the no-limit games. A phone call-in system
allows players to register for as many games as they like for up to an
hour, using the QueueOS electronic waiting list.
Contact: 604-247-8983 for call-in registration.
Website:
www.riverrock.com/casino/poker_room.
Inside Tips: River Rock is a resort with a hotel (advance booking highly
recommended), spa, restaurants and entertainment – all at West Coast
prices, which tend to be expensive. But being minutes from Vancouver
International Airport, you can be on the table in less than an hour
after touching down.
Edgewater Casino
The Edgewater
poker room opened in February 2005 with just four tables running $4-$8
limit hold’em; in November 2006 the room expanded to 16 tables, and two
more will be added this year. Located in the heart of downtown
Vancouver, the room is creating a loyal player following and actively
listens to suggestions on how to improve the room.
Games
Offered: Limit hold’em of $4-$8 and $20-$40; no-limit hold’em with $1-$2
and $2-$5 blinds. To accommodate players, poker room manager Lorea
Ytterberg says, “We are willing to open any games players wish to play
from heads-up poker to Omaha high-low.”
Action: Best on the
weekend where the casino’s location off the main strip of nightclubs
injects a younger crowd coming in during the wee hours to keep games
open throughout the night. This is prime time and when the games are at
their softest. There are a handful of regular pros who inhabit both the
limit and no-limit games with the $2-$5 no-limit being the most
aggressive game – with a $200 to $1000 buy-in, big stacks on the table
are the norm.
Tournaments: Daily Early Bird tournaments at 10
a.m., along with biweekly Saturday tournaments with buy-ins ranging from
$100 to $270. Once the additional two tables are added, Edgewater will
begin promoting midnight tournaments Sunday through Wednesday, as well
as increasing a monthly Saturday tournament to $500.
Room Features: A bad beat jackpot on all games except special request games, such as heads-up, $10-$25
no-limit or Omaha; the jackpot hits frequently, reaching $118,855 last
October, which was the highest to date. Edgewater also advertises the
lowest rake in the Vancouver area: 10 percent to $3 max on limit games
and 10 percent to $4 on all no-limit games. Players can call-in to
register for up to two games on the electronic waiting list for up to an
hour. Edgewater regularly offers food comps to players and once a year,
on the anniversary of their expansion, they set up a complimentary food
buffet along with a gift. Non-alcoholic beverages are free and they are
currently redoing a poker menu to add better food value and selection.
Contact: 604-408-4060 (direct line) or 604-687-3343 ext. 555 (main line)
Website: www.edgewatercasino.ca.
Inside Tips: Lorea prides her room and staff on customer service.
They do not have players waiting around for long periods of time to get
seated and the rake is reasonable. The room itself has a great vibe, the
washrooms and smoking areas are located nearby, with a self-serve
coffee and tea station located inside the room.
In regard
to well-run multi-events with large prize pools, the tournaments in BC
have not been matched anywhere in the country. Hosting several televised
shows such as the BC Poker Championships, Johnny Chan Poker Classic,
Women’s Poker Classics and the Pacific Poker Shootout, the province has
established the vision and desire to be the leading innovator in
Canadian poker action.
With no-limit hold’em in great demand
and an ever-increasing influx of young players weaning themselves off
online play, British Columbia has been a great breeding ground for
players stepping up their games. «
Ken R. Auliffe resides in Canada and owns ACEhigh Entertainment, a poker
consulting company. He has worked on several televised poker
productions, the Canadian Poker Tour and is the former the editor of Canadian Poker
Player magazine.
Jody Trainer wins first place in Pot Limit Hold'em Tourney
Wednesday, 29 November 2006
British Columbia native Jody Trainer has cashed in at Western
Canada’s biggest poker tournament winning $130,000 –his biggest pot
to date.
Trainer won the Pot Limit Hold'em tournament at the River rock Casino.
Trainer won the Pot Limit Hold'em tournament at the B.C. Poker Championships held at River Rock Casino in Richmond, British Columbia on November 21.
'It's an awesome feeling to win at my home casino,' said Trainer. 'This is one of Canada's biggest poker events and nothing beats playing among the country's best and coming out on top.'
A heavy-duty equipment operator by day, Trainer has won two major poker tournaments since turning professional in 2006. He started playing poker when he was six years old but got serious about poker in 2006 after finishing third out of 1,000 online players in the Paradise Poker Masters tournament in May.
Since then Jody has played in the World Series of Poker, finished first at the 2006 Orleans Open in Las Vegas and played in the World Poker Tour's North American Poker Championship in Niagara Falls . Jody is a rising star in the poker world
Thu, 6 December 2007
Mark and his co-host have two guests this evening. Poker Pro Jody Trainer is the first. Chris P. from Cake Poker wraps up the show. If you've never heard Chris P. you're in for a good time!
This show is sponsored by www.suitedpockets.net
Direct download: 12-05-07__Pumped_on_Poker_Podcast.mp3
Category:Pumped On Poker Shows -- posted at: 3:00 AM
Category:Pumped On Poker Shows -- posted at: 3:00 AM
Jody Trainer appears on Breakfast Television -- T.V Interview
WPT CANADA™ LAUNCHES TODAY WITH COAST TO COAST POKER CHAMPIONSHIPS AT RIVER ROCK CASINO RESORT
First Stop on the Dedicated Canadian Tour Features Seven Events, Five-Figure Prize Pools, and Two WPT Canada Televised Final Tables
(LOS ANGELES) May 5, 2008 – WPT Canada™ (WPTC) tour kicks off today with its first stop—Coast to Coast Poker Championships, presented by British Columbia Lottery Corporation—at River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond, British Columbia. WPTC is the dedicated tour for Canada, a country where some of the world’s greatest poker professionals call home and poker is booming in best-in-class casino properties nationwide.
“Canada is an incredible destination for poker, which we have experienced first-hand during three successful Canadian events on the main WPT tour,” said Steve Lipscomb, WPT Founder, President and CEO. “The sport of poker has long been growing in Canada, fostering poker fans and creating world-class poker professionals. It was only a matter of time before WPT offered a tailored tour unique to Canadian poker fans, and couldn’t be more thrilled to finally launch it today.”
Held May 5 – 13, 2008, the event features multiple tournament options including a super satellite, bounty event, and a $3,000 CDN main event where players will face pros like Gavin Smith, WPT Season IV Champion and Jody Trainer Canadian Poker Tour Player of the Year and WPT Canadian Ambassador. Antonio Esfandiari, face of the WPT Poker-Made Millionaire™ will also play in the bounty and main events, representing www.worldpokertour.com. Esfandiari recently placed eighth out of 842 players at the European Poker Tour Grand Finals in Monte Carlo.
Jody Trainer places 3rd after ugly bad beat
- BLUFF Staff | May 15, 2007
After three days of tournament play Jody Trainer of Abbotsford beat out 497 players including poker pro Johnny Chan to take home 3rd place prize money of $125,000 but couldn't overcome a horrendous bad beat with 3 players remaining or he may have just takin this one down at the main event of the British Columbia Lottery Corporation’s first Johnny Chan Poker Classic at River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond.
Final Results
1st. Nghi (Henry) Tran $325,000
2nd. Joe Corbett $200,000
3rd. Jody Trainer $125,000
4th. Tony Ng $100,000
5th. Nelson Batista $75,000
6th. Tommy Pavlicek $55,000
7th. Keith Wintermans $45,000
8th. Spyros Giannelis $35,000
9th. Paddy O’Hara $30,000
Canada vs Usa Poker Event
My friend Dallas keeps reminding me about a story I was telling in a previous blog about getting a lesson from Barry Greenstein about how I played a hand. He’s anxious to hear what exactly the lesson was and I don’t blame him as anytime Barry speaks there’s something to learn. I was blessed when he took the time to give me his input while we were waiting to be seated at The Steakhouse in the Foxwoods Casino after the end of day 1 from the main event.
His advice had to deal with my continuation bets. In short, he said that bets on the flop in a tournament are much less then they are in a cash game. Where I bet 70%-to the size of the pot in a certain situation on the flop he said that was a mistake and was more of a cash game strategy. Follow up bets in tournaments should be the same whether you’ve floped a monster or nothing at all and should be just slightly more then your original opening raise. Perhaps 20-35% of the pot. In this way you minimize your risk and also make your bets look more like trapping bets as long as you’re consistent. I’m still playing with the adjustment and feeling out how it works for me and will let you know in the coming months but I will say that I’ve been burned a couple of times already. But not in my last event….
In Vancouver we played a shoot out pitting Canada vs. the U.S. Canada was represented by Brad Booth, Gavin Smith, David Matthews, and Jody Trainer. Playing for the U.S. was myself, Antonio Esfandiari, Joe Seebok and Lee Markholt. The winner of this promotional televised free roll would receive a $10,000 buy-in to a WPT main event of their choice.
The field was seated like this:
Seat 1 Lee Markholt
Seat 2 Brad Booth
Seat 3 Joe Seebok
Seat 4 Dave Matthews
Seat 5 Antonio Esfandiari
Seat 6 Jody Trainer
Seat 7 Kenna James
Seat 8 Gavin Smith
We started with 100,000 in chips and blinds of 500-1000. With the levels 15 minutes and a structure designed to last for just over two hours this was truly a shoot out format. The fireworks started early with David Matthews slinging his chips into the middle only to be outplayed and out-kicked by Joe Seebok who took him out when his AK held up vs. David Matthews K8 as they went to war on a King high flop and then got the rest of it in on the turn.
Next to head to the rail was Brad Booth who on a relatively short stack moved in with Ax UG and I made the call with AQ. Jody Trainer moved his short stack to the middle with 9/7 suited and I woke up with AA behind him and that held up which sent him packing. Gavin Smith was the only remaining Canadian player and with a dry run of cards never got out of the cinder blocks. It looked as though he might have turned things around when he doubled up with K3 against Antonio who held Ax. The blinds moved up quickly though and soon enough he found himself all-in a second time without a premium hand. He had J9 and was in tough shape against Antonio who once again made the call with A9. A minute later there were no Canadian’s left at the table and we were down to four.
Joe lost his commanding lead on a race situation. He re-raised with pocket JJ’s and then called an all-in move from Lee who held AK and they were off to the races. A King came and Lee doubled up and Joe’s commanding lead was reduced to just above average chips.
In the early going I felt like Lee Markholt had me pegged as his target. In the first couple of rounds he raised my BB twice and then came over the top of my UG limp another time. So when he raised my BB a third time I decided to take a stand and make a big (5x) re-raise with 2/3 off. He mucked and I picked up some valuable chips in a fight for table domination. Joe Seebok moved in on my BB for about 100k and I held A8. Joe had a pretty solid game plan. His hand frequency was well balanced and he never showed down a rag so I let it go even though it was short handed and I could have made an argument for calling since I had him doubled in chips. The situation however just felt wrong.
Now playing with just the four Americans and increasing blinds to 8k-16k with a 1500 ante, Lee who was first to speak moved All-In for 105k. Everyone folded to me in the BB. With the blinds and antes totaling 32k I knew his move in range would be quite large not wanting to go through the blinds again and reduce his fold equity. This time the situation felt right and I made the call with A6 and was pleased to find my read was right when he turned up A4. The flop fell 4/3/5. The turn was a 3. The river – 6!
So we were down to three. The 800k chips in play were divided like this:
Joe 100k
Antonio 200k
Kenna 500k
I forget the exact hands but Antonio busted Joe on a 3/2 (forget who held the edge) and when we entered heads up I held a slight chip lead. There were two crucial hands heads up the played out like this. Antonio limped on the button and I checked the BB with J/7. The flop fell K/J/5 with two spades. I checked and Antonio bet 30k. I check-raised 75k more making it 105k to go. After about a minute he moved all-in! Did he really limp with a king on the button or is he on a flush draw or perhaps a naked bluff trying to force me to fold? These are the thoughts that were going through my mind. Even if he had a king it probably wasn’t a big one and how did he know I didn’t get lucky and flop two pair on a limped pot? I was real close to calling but looking at his body language I determined he had me beat and I folded. Later I found out he had K7 so this fold was the key hand for me.
A few hands later he again limped on the button. I checked the BB with 7/8. The flop fell 7/8/T. I check-raised again and he moved all-in, this time with 9/T. I made the call but had to dodge a lot of cards to secure the pot and my first win of the year. Okay, it was an 8 player field but these days a win is a win my friends.
I filmed the on camera stuff for WPT Canada, had a business meeting and by the time I wound down for the night it was 4 a.m. and I had to awake to make my way to the airport by 8 a.m. It was a great time up here in Vancouver and I’m looking forward to doing more events for the WPT poker tour up across the country.
Enjoy the Journey,
Kenna James
2007 Wccop Event 14 ($1,050) NL $3.3 Million --Jodys online name is Trickybstrd---watch final table below
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=F67A216D89CF7798 watch entire final table hereJODY WINS $210,472.00
