Poker Community Celebrates Thanksgiving

If you hail from the United States, this weekend is a time for family, food, shopping, and some nice downtime from the stresses of life. If you’re a poker player, it is also time to squeeze in a tournament, be it in Costa Rica, Las Vegas, Atlantic City, or Los Angeles and put in some extra time at the tables in between bites of turkey.

Players like Jean-Robert Bellande, Jon “pokertrip” Friedberg, David “Bakes” Baker, and Team PokerStars Pro Maria “Maridu” Mayrinck decided to escape the cold weather and squeeze in a tropical vacation shortly before the holiday, flying out to Costa Rica to take part in the Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) event. Meanwhile, other players like Eric “AvrilSharapova” Ladny, Men “The Master” Nguyen, and World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Brian Lemke spent their time at the final table of the United States Poker Championships at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Even poker players who stayed at home still found themselves unable to stay away from the felt for too long and several players turned up for the $2,500 buy-in Main Event of the final Venetian Deep Stack series of the year. Some of the players who took part in the event included Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler, UB.com Pros Bryan “badbeatninja” Devonshire and Brandon Cantu, Full Tilt Red Pro Jeff Madsen, Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, Nenad Medic, Jamie “TheCronic420” Rosen, and Christina Lindley.

Lindley filled Poker News Daily in on her last minute change of plans when it came to her holiday vacation. After a successful run online the past two weeks, including a runner-up finish in Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) Event #24 worth more than $106,000, Lindley decided to delay her trip home to Nashville, Tennessee in order to take part in the Venetian event. She flew out the morning the event started, played until she busted, and then headed home for the typical Thanksgiving fare. “I told my mom I’d get there in time to make a pumpkin pie,” Lindley explained. “And maybe some karaoke with my little brother, who is home from college, if we’re lucky.”

Another player who is opting to stay away from the felt is Nick “fu_15” Maimone. When Poker News Daily asked what his Thanksgiving plans were, he responded, “Not playing poker? AKA trying to be normal.” Others are following Maimone’s lead and opting for traditional holiday plans including trips home. A quick glance at Twitter indicated that poker pros and “The Amazing Race” teammates Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle would both be spending the holidays with friends and family.

Just because a fair share of players are heading home for the holidays doesn’t mean the poker rooms will be empty this weekend. The Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California will once again be holding their annual Turkey Shootout/Ho Ho Hold’em Series, with the first of 13 events kicking off Thanksgiving Day. The “Turkey Shoot” tournament will feature a $100 buy-in. If you are wondering just how many people would opt to play a poker tournament Thanksgiving Day, last year’s installment drew 230 players and offered up a first place prize of $8,600 to tournament winner Susie Baranowski.

Even players who take Thursday off for a little family and feasting may skip Black Friday shopping for some card playing. The first event of the Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic, the $500 buy-in SpadeClub.com tournament, is scheduled for Friday and players like Mike “GoLeafsGoEh” Leah plan on taking part. Granted, Leah is Canadian, so his Thanksgiving happened a few weeks ago and he isn’t skipping any festivities to take part. The Bellagio also has two other tournaments scheduled throughout Thanksgiving weekend, with events continuing daily until the World Poker Tour Main Event begins on December 14th and wraps up shortly before Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at Poker News Daily.

Related Poker News:

Huge 100% Match Bonus up to $500 Free! Plus $75 Free Refer-A-Friend!

Full screen 3D animated & 2D ("bird's eye") view options, Extra games

Poker lexicon:

FULL HOUSE - A hand consisting of 3-of-a-kind and a (different) pair.
TAPPED [OUT] - Out of money. Can refer to a player running out of money in the course of a hand, thus still active for the main pot; or can refer to a player who has lost his bankroll and can no longer play.
WALK - A pot won by the last blind when no one opens.
OVERCALL - To call a bet after one or more players already called.
POT ODDS - The amount of money in the pot divided by the amount of money you must bet in order to call. Often used to determine if a pot offers enough reward to play on the come.
LIVE BLIND - The last and largest blind bet may or may not be LIVE. If LIVE, the blind bettor has the option of "raising" his own blind in the event the bet is called around to him. This is normal, and is sometimes referred to as "blinds are live".

♥ Bookmark Us! ♠

Poker Information