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ReversalSports   About RSA       Handicappers   Contact Us   Purchase Picks   Free Picks       Performance   Capper's Corner   Boyz Room   Links   Members   Log-On   Information   Live Scores      Odds      Weather      Injuries      Game Match Ups      Power Ratings   Betting Rules      Dictionary     NFL Challenge   TF Group         RSA POKER         RPT The ReversalSports Poker Tour was founded in the spring of 2005 with Poker Showdown.  With a solid showing, we decided to add the Poker Challenge in the Fall.  Since then the Tour has continued to grow from 13 players at our initial event to 35 in 2007.   Check out all the details of the RPT   ON-LINE POKER Play with Zip Zalapski On-Line   Poker Players Alliance Poker Terminology World Series of Poker History   9 Tips from Hellmuth Solid poker decisions are not made quickly. Take the time you need to fully assess each and every situation. Bluffing only works against smart players. You can only bluff someone who is smart enough to recognize the hand that you are representing, and has the discipline to lay down a decent hand. There is no such thing as being pot committed if you know you're going to lose. Trust your gut. If you have a feeling you should call, you probably should. The same goes when something makes you feel uneasy; folding at such times is probably the best policy Folding before the flop is a powerful tool. Most amateurs play too many hands. Remember that most pros see less than one out of four flops! The most revealing tells might not be physical at all, but might be based on the way a player habitually bets during particular situations. For example, the player may always check when he has made the nuts, or may regularly fold after being reraised. Patience is the key to playing poker at a high level. It’s easy to become frustrated by aggressive players, but being patient and picking your spots judiciously will give you the advantage in the long run. Pay attention to the hands your opponents are playing. Keeping track of their game will prepare you to play against them the next time. In order for the check-raise to succeed, someone needs to make a bet behind you. If no one makes a bet, you have missed out on adding money to the pot in this round, and any opponent with a drawing hand gets to see a free card. If there is any doubt, it is always better to bet a strong hand.   Poker Terminology Action Money that is being bet. "No action" means a hand or game has few bettors and fewer raisers. "Gimme some action" is ostensibly a plea for calls and raises. All-In To have all of one's chips in the pot. A player who is all-in cannot be forced out of the pot by more betting, but is only eligible to win that portion of the pot he has contributed to. Generally, a SIDE POT is created each time a player is all-in. Ante A small bet all players are required to make before a hand is dealt. Not all games have an ante. Related terms: BLIND, FORCED BET. Blind A mandatory bet made by certain player(s) usually sitting left of the BUTTON before each new hand is dealt. Used in place of antes or in conjunction with antes. Buy-In The minimum amount of money necessary to join a game. Also, the amount of money one actually used to join the game. See also: REBUY. Buy In To purchase chips at the start of a game. Thus in a game with a $100 buy-in one might buy in for $147. Call To put in to the pot the minimum amount of money necessary to continue playing. Check To bet zero, when it is legal to do so. Frequently a sign of only a fair hand, but may be a bluff. Check Raise To check initially, then raise a bet made later on in the same betting round. Frequently a sign of strength, but may be a bluff. Community Cards Cards that are available for every player to use in making a hand. Usually dealt face up somewhere in the middle of the table. Cold Call Calling both a bet and raise at the same time, as opposed to calling a bet then later calling a raise made after the call. Dead Money Money contributed to the pot by players who have folded. Doyle Brunson In Hold'em, 10-2 in the hole. So named because Doyle Brunson won two straight WSOPs (q.v.) in 1975 and 1976 with 10-2 on the last hand. (Suited (spades) in 1975, unsuited in 1976). Draw Out To catch a card that improves your situation from a losing hand to a winning hand, especially when you beat someone holding a hand that usually figures to win. Fish A player who loses money. An old saying is "If you can't spot the fish at the table, *you* are the fish." Flop In Hold'em, the first three community cards, dealt simultaneously. Flat Call To call a bet. Emphasizes that the caller did not raise. Freeze-Out A table-stakes game that continues until a small number of players (possibly only one) has all the money. The major event in The World Series of Poker is a freeze-out game. Giving Away Revealing one's hand by obvious play. Heads Up Playing a single opponent. Hit To make a hand or catch a card or cards that improves one's hand. "I hit a gut-shot draw on the river." Hold'Em [1] Generic name for a class of poker games where the players receive a certain number (2 to 4) of hole cards and 5 community cards. Usually there are betting rounds after dealing the hole cards, then after dealing 3 upcards (FLOP), after dealing a 4th upcard (TURN) and finally after dealing a 5th upcard (RIVER). Hole Cards In stud and Hold'em, the face-down cards dealt to each player. Inside Straight Four cards to a straight, where only one rank will complete the hand. E.g., 4-5-6-8 is an inside straight since only a 7 will fill (i.e., complete) the hand. Often called a GUT-SHOT. Late Blind In addition to "regular" blinds, some games allow a player (particularly a new one) to post a blind bet in return for the right to enter the game immediately and act last on the first betting round. The amount of the blind is determined by house rules, usually somewhere between the last blind and double the last blind. It is frequently a LIVE BLIND. Little Slick In Hold'em, hole cards of A-2, suited or not. Muck A collection of face-down cards near the dealer composed of discards, i.e., folded hands, burns and discards for drawing purposes. No-Limit Poker A game where there is no maximum bet; a player can wager any amount (perhaps above some minimum) up to whatever money is on the table in front of him. Nut The best possible hand of a given class. The "nut flush" is the highest possible flush, but might still lose to, e.g., a full house. Usually used in Hold'em games. Omaha A variant of Hold'em where each player receives 4 hole cards and must use exactly two of them (together with 3 of 5 board cards) to make a hand. Often played high-low split with an 8 qualifier for low. On The Come A situation where the player does not have a complete hand but hopes to make one if the right cards come up. Overpair Hold'em, a pair in the hole that is larger than any community card on the board. Pocket [Cards] Hole cards in stud and Hold'em. Pocket Rockets In Hold'em, a pair of aces for hole cards. Pocket Pair Generic Hold'em term for 2 hole cards of the same rank. Quads Four of a kind. Rainbow In flop games, a flop in which no two cards are of the same suit. "The flop was A 9 7 rainbow." Sandbag Playing a strong hand as if it were only a fair one. See To call, as in: "I'll see you" or "I'll see that bet". Short-Stacked Playing with a only a small amount of money, thus limiting one's risk and reward. Small Blind In games with two blinds the first blind is the SMALL BLIND because it is usually one-half (or less) the second or large blind. Stand Off To call a raise. "Opener raises, I stand off." Turn The fourth community card in Hold'em. Under the Gun The position that has to act first in a round of betting.     World Series of Poker History Though the World Series of Poker made its official debut in 1970, the idea of the Horseshoe's annual tournament was actually conceived more than two decades earlier. In the summer of 1949, as the story goes, inveterate gambler Nicholas "Nick the Greek" Dandolos approached Benny Binion with an unusual request - to challenge the best in a high-stakes poker marathon. Binion agreed to set up a match between Dandolos and the legendary Johnny Moss, with the stipulation that the game would be played in public view. During the course of the marathon, which lasted five months with breaks only for sleep, the two men played every form of poker imaginable. Moss ultimately won "the biggest game in town" and an estimated $2 million. When the Greek lost his last pot, he arose from his chair, bowed slightly, and uttered the now-famous words, "Mr. Moss, I have to let you go." Dandolos then went upstairs to bed. Though significant in its own way as a chapter in poker history, the five-month marathon took on added importance to Benny Binion. He noted that the public had gathered outside the casino each day to watch the game with the fervor of dedicated sports fans, and he was amazed at the attention the event had attracted. But it wasn't until 1970 that Binion decided to re-create this excitement and stage a battle of poker giants - dubbed the "World Series Of Poker" - to determine who would be worthy of the title "World Champion." Some of the best players in the country were assembled, and Johnny Moss came out on top. The decision was democratic in that the champion was decided by popular vote. The following year, the winner was determined by a freezeout competition, with players being systematically eliminated until one player had all the chips. Moss again was declared the World Champion. In 1972, when Thomas "Amarillo Slim" Preston won the title and went on the talk-show circuit, the WSOP began to gain a wider following. It was only a year later that Binion participated in the Oral History Project at the University of Nevada-Reno and discussed the World Series with interviewer Mary Ellen Glass. "This poker game here gets us a lot of attention," he told Glass. "We had seven players last year, and this year we had 13. I look to have better than 20 next year. It's even liable to get up to be 50, might get up to be more than that." Binion then paused, and as if gazing into the future, prophesied, "It will eventually." In the early 1980s, with the introduction of preliminary satellite competitions with lower buy-ins, Binion's prophesy came to fruition and the popularity of the World Series of Poker soared. But even Benny Binion, who passed away on Christmas Day of 1989, would have had difficulty foreseeing the enormous growth the Horseshoe's annual tournament has experienced in the past decade or so. In 1982, nine years after Mr. Binion participated in UNR's Oral History Project, the tournament drew 52 entrants. Five years later, there were 2,141 participants, and the 2002 event attracted 7,595 entries. The prize money has increased proportionately, from $7,769,000 a decade ago to a staggering $19,599,230 in 2002. Whereas only 12 events, mostly Texas hold'em and seven-card stud, were scheduled as recently as 1988, the 2004 tournament offers 33 competitions that feature a wide variety of games. Today, the legacy Benny Binion left the poker community ranks as the oldest, largest, most prestigious, and most media-hyped gaming competition in the world, and no doubt it holds the promise of an even brighter future. But equally important, The World Series of Poker has touched thousands of lives over the years, affording talented players the opportunity to follow their dreams, reach for the stars, and perhaps one day achieve greatness in their chosen endeavor.   World Series of Poker Champions 1970 - Johnny Moss 1971 - Johnny Moss 1972 - Amarillo Slim Preston 1973 - Puggy Pearson 1974 - Johnny Moss 1975 - Sailor Roberts 1976 - Doyle Brunson 1977 - Doyle Brunson 1978 - Bobby Baldwin 1979 - Hal Fowler 1980 - Stu Ungar 1981 - Stu Ungar 1982 - Jack Straus 1983 - Tom McEvoy 1984 - Jack Keller 1985 - Bill Smith 1986 - Berry Johnston 1987 - Johnny Chan 1988 - Johnny Chan 1989 - Phil Hellmuth Jr. 1990 - Mansour Matloubi 1991 - Brad Daugherty 1992 - Hamid Datsmalchi 1993 - Jim Bechtel 1994 - Russ Hamilton 1995 - Dan Harrington 1996 - Huck Seed 1997 - Stu Ungar 1998 - Scotty Nguyen 1999 - Noel Furlong 2000 - Chris Ferguson 2001 - Carlos Mortensen 2002 - Robert Varkonyi 2003 - Chris Moneymaker