College Dropout Earns $8.5 M in Poker Win

(CBS) Who says you have to have a college degree to make money?

Joe Cada doesn’t.

A college dropout, Cada's now a multimillionaire after winning $8.5 million Tuesday in Las Vegas. Cada, 21, is the youngest person ever to win the World Series of Poker.

Cada, surrounded by his millions, said on "The Early Show" from Las Vegas that the money is "pretty sweet."

How did he do it?

Cada won the tournament in a preflop.

"I raised it up to $3 million, he made it $8 million, and I moved in for like $60 some million, and he called," Cada said. "I was kind of too scared to look so I just had my back turned, hoping it would work out for the best."

Cada had two nines, trouncing his opponent who held just a jack and a queen of diamonds.

A first-time player in the World Series of Poker, Cada said he'd looked forward to turning 21 for years so he could participate. Cada said he got his start playing cards with his friends at a "young age."

"I was really excited to play," he said. "It's a really long shot because there's 6,500 people in the tournament. But I was still looking forward to playing in it."

However, Cada said playing for up to 12 hours straight some days was "pretty surreal."

"You kind of get in the zone after a while," he said. "The tournament lasted for about 10 days total. Once you start playing for a long time, it was just like you had to wake up and go and play another day."

During the tournament, Cada said he was up and down with his success. At the beginning of the tournament he had the most chips of any player, but on the eighth day he was getting low on chips.

"Fortunately everything worked out well," he said.

As for support, Cada's said his mother, Ann, was skeptical of his involvement in gaming and the tournament because she works as a blackjack dealer at a casino in Detroit.

"She'd always see people gambling and you know, lose money, so she was always kind of nervous about me playing poker for a living," he said. "It brought her to tears when I won the thing. She said she was really proud of me."

So does Cada plan to go back to college now that he can afford it?

He told "Early Show" co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez that isn't his plan, saying he isn't going back "any time soon."

Pennsylvania Poker Tournament Players Robbed

Yet another poker robbery has taken place in the United States and this time it was in Heidelberg, Pennsylvania. Just a few weeks ago a robbery took place in Oklahoma where more than $12,000 was stolen. This time the robbery happened during a poker tournament at the Heidelberg fire hall and most likely over $1,000 was taken.

Police suspect that this robbery was an inside job. About twenty people were competing in a Texas hold’em poker tournament at the Heidelberg Volunteer Fire Department. The space was rented out to host the poker tournament. Around 2:40 in the morning one player got up to leave. As he was leaving through a door that was locked, two men with guns entered the facility through the door the player was exiting.

A side door was then opened to allow a third man in who was carrying a Baton, according to Chief Vernon Barkley of the Heidelberg police. The men then asked for Sara Lazarro. Sara is the woman who regularly plans poker tournaments in the region. The men then demanded cash from the players and Sara was hit in the head with the baton.

Barkley says they are pretty sure it was an inside job and the player who allowed the gunmen to enter seemed very nervous to the other players throughout the night. The man was spending a good deal of time on his cell phone, which was most likely the way he contacting the gunmen.

Barkley stated the player has been contacted by the police and is going to be interviewed. The player’s name has yet to be released.

Pro Poker Tips - Bluffing in full-ring limit Texas hold’em

Many players have argued that full-ring limit play is a game where bluffing is impossible. I think that this incorrect statement may be based on these particular players having played limit poker for a while and a few key instances may be sticking in their mind.

The fact of the matter is that you can bluff in full-ring limit play but the opportunities to do so are severely limited. But defining these bluffing opportunities and successfully executing them could be the one defining factor that turns your month from being a negative one into a positive one.

EXAMPLE:

Game : $2-$4 full-ring

Position: Big blind

Action: One player limps in early position and everyone folds to you including the small blind and you see a free flop. Your hand is the 5-3.

The flop comes Q-7-2 and the action is on you, what should your play be here? Well there is a total of $5 in the pot and you basically have nothing……or do you? Many players who claim that the big blind has nothing here are missing a trick. The big blind does have something, they have a good bluffing opportunity based on several factors.

Firstly they are in a heads up situation and in heads up situations then bluffing opportunities always crop up. Also his opponent did not raise pre-flop so his betting action to date indicates one of potential weakness. Thirdly the flop texture is ideal for a bluff attempt. There are no flush or straight draws out there and your opponent could have limped in with a hand like A-9s and simply give up here.

Finally we have the pot odds and there are $5 in this pot and a flop bet only costs you $2. So your bet only has to immediately work one time in three to show a profit. If you bet here and get called then you have the option of giving up on the turn or firing another barrel.

Many players will call a small flop bet but will release on the turn when the betting limit doubles and you are firing another barrel. If you bet the flop and get check-raised then you can simply release the hand.

But situations like these crop up frequently in limit play and you have to be on the ball to spot them. But do not let statements like “you cannot bluff at limit” deter you from looking for situations like these because not only do they exist but they also exist in ample quantity as well.