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."

‘High Stakes Poker’ New Hostess Named As Kara Scott

It would seem that the rumours which started circulating concerning AJ Benza’s replacement on GSN’s hit show ‘High Stakes Poker’ might finally be laid to rest as it was announced today on Pokernews.com that Kara Scott would be the new co-presenter on the show.

Kara certainly has the experience to take on the role having spent a great deal of her working life in and around the industry. In 2005 Kara was the host of a series called ‘High Stakes Backgammon’ and also hosted the “World Series of Backgammon” in 2006.

However, poker is where Kara’s heart lies and she soon became the main host of tv show “Poker Night Live” whilst also writing articles for ‘Flush’ magazine and ‘Poker Player Magazine.’ In 2007/08 Kara hosted the European Poker Tour but after a 104th place finish at the 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) $10,000 buy-in Main Event for $41,816 Kara announced she would be leaving the show she was then working on, Sky Poker on the Sky Television channel, to concentrate on a career as a poker professional.

The following year, at the 2009 WSOP, Kara Scott finished 238th at the same event for $32,963 and in so doing became only the second woman ever to cash at consecutive WSOP Main Events.

Kara has enjoyed success in her poker career having earned $537,797 from live tournament wins including her biggest victory to date, a second place finish at the 2009 Irish Open for an impressive $443,594 pay day. Following that win Kara commented:

“I know a lot of people don’t think I can play and there are always going to be people who say I can’t. But I have made the final of a female championship, I won a Sports Star Challenge, I went deep in the World Series of Poker Main Event and now I’ve come second in the Irish Open.I think my game is improving.”

We wish Kara all success in her new role of ‘High Stakes Poker’ co-presenter.

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.

Learn How to Play Battle Royale

Battle Royale is a card game, similar to the children's card game of War but played between one player and a dealer. A regular deck of 52 cards is used, with one card dealt face up to the player, and one card dealt face up to the dealer.

The game is very simple in that whoever has the higher card wins. When it comes to rank, aces are high and twos are low. The game carries on in this fashion until a tie occurs between the dealer and the player.

If this happens, the dealer will ask if the player would like to battle or surrender. If the player chooses to surrender, the dealer takes the bet and deals a new hand. If the player to battle, the original wager must be doubled, and cards are then dealt out one by one to the player and to the dealer. If the dealer wins, the doubled wager is lost, but if the player wins, only the original bet is returned. However, if a second tie occurs during the battle the player is payed out at a rate of 7:1.

Season Two of Best Damn Poker Show Debuts in Europe October 20th

Leading online poker site sportsbetting.com hits the airwaves on the Poker Channel this month with second season of “Best Damn Poker Show,” a poker series featuring Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke and 24 would-be poker champions.

Poker announced that Season Two of “Best Damn Poker Show” will debut in Europe on Tuesdays and Wednesdays on The Poker Channel Europe throughout the run of season, beginning October 20th, 2009 at 22CET. The 7-episode series will be repeated on Thursdays and Saturdays at 16 CET on Europe’s largest dedicated gaming TV network, available online to a global audience and to more than 18 million cable and satellite homes in Europe.

The second season of “Best Damn Poker Show” aims to determine which poker legend –—Phil Hellmuth or Annie Duke—can better teach the game of Texas Hold’em, transforming ordinary poker players into champions capable of competing on the world stage.

Each episode includes player eliminations, so expect the pressure to escalate from week to week as the race to survive the cut builds to a dramatic finale. See Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth highlighting card play, analyzing the competition and commentating on eliminations. Extended versions of the intense showdowns between the two poker champions will be available exclusively online.

Tune in to see who emerges as the one to watch as the weeks roll on. Will the Moneymaker effect play out to perfection with the winner ‘freerolling’ right into the Champion’s seat? Don’t miss a beat as the episodes progress; bets are on to decide if Team Hellmuth or Team Duke will triumph come time for the show’s finale.Much like the first season of Best Damn Poker Show, which aired in early 2008, online poker players at sportsbetting.com competed for a spot on the show by creating and submitting an audition video that highlighted why they deserved to be on the ultimate poker reality series. Many of the user-submitted videos can be seen on YouTube.

The online site also invited Texas Hold’em fans to take part in a series of qualifiers that paid out spots on the show. What’s more, a live audition process took place at the 2008 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. The majority of the 24 poker hopefuls were cherry picked from the legion of on-camera interviews conducted here, where producers had access to the thousands of talented Texas Hold’em fans who were in town for the world’s most prestigious poker tournament.

Free Ride Poker - Casino Game Tips

Free Ride is a relatively new game which is similar to Let it Ride and based on Poker.

The object of the game isto get a pair of 10's or higher. There is an ante to start the game ranging from $5-$100. You are dealt 5 cards, 3 will be face up and 2 will be face down. With the 3 that are face up, you will have the option of doubling your wager. You can select "BET" or "PASS". If you select "BET," you will double the wager and if you select "PASS," you won't. The dealer will then flip one of the cards. You, again, will have the option to "BET" or "PASS," either, just keeping your ante, doubling, or tripling your wager.