Friday 29 April 2016 13:17, UK
Like any other walk of life I suppose, Poker is full of myths and misnomers, but surely the answer has to be Las Vegas?
It's the unofficial World Headquarters of Poker, and where many of the biggest pros live, including Doyle Brunson and Phil Ivey.
Those big cash games always centred around Bobby's Room, in the Bellagio on the strip, and the room was named after Bobby Baldwin. You may not have heard of Bobby Baldwin, even though he has won no less than 4 World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets, but that was a very long time ago. Later, he became involved in Casino Management, and very successfully too. In fact, he was President of Bellagio Casino and Hotel when it was decided to name Bobby's Room after him. You may be forgiven for suspecting there may be a connection between those 2 facts.
Later, the big games in Vegas moved a few yards up the strip to the Aria Resort and Casino, this time, more appropriately, it took place in Ivey's Room, named after 10-time WSOP winner Phil Ivey.
Are the world's biggest cash games still held there, in Las Vegas? Absolutely not.
Big cash game Poker is a dynamic thing, it follows the money, and soon the game moved to China of all places, or more specifically Macau, which is a sort of political subsidiary of China, and it sits just across the Pearl River Delta from Hong Kong. And we all know how the Chinese love a gamble, so that fits nicely.
Soon, though, the game moved again, and remarkably, its next stop was the most densely populated city in the world, Manila, in the Philippines.
Why does the game move so often? Quite simply, it follows the money, and this is where it gets interesting. It does not follow the big Poker pros like Phil Ivey, Dan Cates and the like, it follows players called "whales." A whale is actually a rather unkind and unfair description of a very wealthy person who likes a game of Poker. I'm sure you are ahead of me here, but you can see where this is going - the pros follow the whales, because they can smell easy money.
Who are these guys? Well let's start with a chap named Richard Yong, who, really, is common to Las Vegas, Macau and now the Philippines. He was in all the big Las Vegas cash games, but then an odd thing happened - Richard was arrested in his Caesars Palace condo after an FBI raid, and accused of illegal sports betting. Slung in jail, with bail set at $1.5 million, he was bailed out by Poker pros Phil Ivey and Dan Cates. That's how much they valued his cash game action. Happily, all charges were eventually dropped, and Richard was completely cleared. And so Richard decided it was time to dodge out of Dodge, and next popped up in Macau, as did - yup, you've got it, Ivey, Cates and Co.
Soon, he relocated to the Manila, and obviously, the game followed him there, and as long as he and his ilk are in Manila, the game will stay there. And that's just how it works.
There are plenty of so-called whales, of course, including a few from the UK.
One such is Paul Newey. Paul made his name with Ocean Finance, who were a pioneer of pay day loans, and are based in the Midlands. He eventually sold out in 2004 for a whopping £250 million. Paul won't ever need a pay day loan, that's for sure.
Since then, he has played the high roller Poker circuit, and very successfully too, with his biggest cash being $1.4 million, though the buy-in for that event was a staggering $1.1 million. He lives in Jersey now, for tax reasons, but spends his time travelling the global high roller circuit.
He has another hobby too - high roller "slots", both online and live. Earlier this year, he wanted to go to Melbourne to play the Aussie Millions, so he decided to go via Las Vegas, and play some slots en-route, and did very handsomely, too, collecting a most pleasing half a million dollar payout from a Vegas slot machine. It brings a whole new meaning to "what a life", eh? Am I jealous and envious? You bet I am. He's a nice fella though, so good luck to him.
Talal Shakerchi is another UK based high roller, and he does pretty well at the game, too. If you met Talal, you'd never believe he was a Poker player, he is quiet, unassuming, softly spoken, polite, and a complete gentleman. Don't mess with him at the Poker table though, he's a beast. Big sums of money don't bother Talal, as his day job is managing a high roller Hedge Fund. No scared money there, then.
Canada's Guy Laliberte is perhaps the biggest of these whales. Guy is the founder and 95% owner of the fabulous Cirque du Soleil circus troupe, who have stage productions all over the world, including no less than 8 currently running in Las Vegas.
Guy is a perfect example of why it's a little rude and unfair to make the assumption that Poker whales have more money than sense. Guy founded the "One Drop" Poker tournament - the one with the $1.1 million price tag - but the whole thing is based around his One Drop Foundation. The aim of One Drop is to provide sustainable water supplies to those parts of the world where running water does not exist. Guess you might describe him as a whale out of water.
So there we have it. Can anyone join these high roller cash games? Why yes, of course. You just need to pull up the minimum buy-in, which is usually about 2 milly. For you and me, think we'd best stick to being fish, and tiddlers at that. So if you fancy some 5p - 10p cash action, I'm your man. Pull up 2 million to play Poker? Err, PASS.
