www.CardPlayer.com Vol. 33/No. 15 July 15, 2020 New Jersey Sets Record For Online Gaming Revenue Life Variance And What To Do During A Pandemic Making The Best Deal FARID JATTIN’S BREAKOUT YEAR ON PAUSE COLOMBIAN PRO, NOW WITH MORE THAN $5.6 MILLION IN LIFETIME WINNINGS, HAD RACKED UP MORE THAN $1.2 MILLION IN 2020 PLAYER_33_15_Cover.indd 1 6/24/20 3:45 PM PLAYER_15_GlobalPoker_DT.indd 2 6/23/20 2:51 PM PLAYER_15_GlobalPoker_DT.indd 3 6/23/20 2:51 PM Masthead - Card Player Vol. 33/No. 15 PUBLISHERS Barry Shulman | Jeff Shulman ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Justin Marchand Editorial Corporate Office MANAGING EDITOR Julio Rodriguez 6940 O’Bannon Drive TOURNAMENT CONTENT MANAGER Erik Fast Las Vegas, Nevada 89117 ONLINE CONTENT MANAGER Steve Schult (702) 871-1720 Art [email protected] ART DIRECTOR Wendy McIntosh Subscriptions/Renewals 1-866-LVPOKER Website And Internet Services (1-866-587-6537) CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER Jaran Hardman PO Box 434 DATA COORDINATOR Morgan Young Congers, NY 10920-0434 Sales [email protected] ADVERTISING MANAGER Mary Hurbi Advertising Information NATIONAL SALES MANAGER Barbara Rogers [email protected] LAS VEGAS AND COLORADO SALES REPRESENTATIVE (702) 856-2206 Rich Korbin Distribution Information cardplayer Media LLC [email protected] CHAIRMAN AND CEO Barry Shulman PRESIDENT AND COO Jeff Shulman Results GENERAL COUNSEL Allyn Jaffrey Shulman [email protected] CHIEF MEDIA OFFICER Justin Marchand VP INTL. 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Published and printed in the United States. 4 CARDPLAYER.COM FOLLOW US ON TWITTER CardPlayerMedia 004_Masthead.indd 4 6/23/20 1:25 PM PLAYER_15_Coushatta_FP.indd 3 6/23/20 2:51 PM Table of Contents - Card Player Vol. 33/No. 15 20 14 16 Features Strategies, Analysis Also In this Issue 20 & Commentary 4 Coronavirus Halts Farid Jattin’s Breakout 24 About Us Year On Live Tournament Circuit Making the Best Deal 34 By Steve Schult By Greg Raymer Tournament Schedules 24 38 The Inside Straight Life Variance And What To Do Poker Leaderboards 8 During A Pandemic By Steve Zolotow Poker News Recap Tournament 13 26 True Tales From A Hollywood Poker Player Of The Year Update Hand Matchups Hustler: The Prop Bet TV Show that 10 14 Never Aired! - PartT 1 Dan Shak vs. David Peters Hand History Rewind: Jerry Yang By Houston Curtis Dominates The 2007 World Series Of 29 27 Poker Main Event Short-Handed Strategy As Poker Linus Loeliger vs. David Peters By Card Player News Team Rooms Reopen 29 16 By Jonathan Little Ali Imsirovic vs. Sam Greenwood Table Talk: Lex Veldhuis Discusses His 30 37 Record-Breaking Run On Twitch Back To It Jonathan Van Fleet vs. Pauli Ayras By Erik Fast By Gavin Griffin 31 Deuce To Seven Triple Draw Lowball: Small Blind Play By Kevin Haney 6 CARDPLAYER.COM FOLLOW US ON TWITTER CardPlayerMedia 006_TOC.indd 6 6/24/20 3:08 PM PLAYER_15_TurningStone_FP.indd 3 6/23/20 2:54 PM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT the INSIDE STRAIGHT News, Reviews, and Interviews From Around the Poker World NEVADA REGULATORS UPDATE PROTOCOLS, FORCE GAMBLERS TO WEAR MASKS WHILE PLAYING TABLE GAMES By Steve Schult Face coverings are no longer optional in Nevada casi- nos after the Nevada Gaming Control Board released updated health and safety protocols in mid June. e eight-page document outlined new procedures for operators to abide by but the most notable takeaway was the forced use of masks or face coverings for gam- blers. Before the update, masks were optional for players, but mandatory for staff . Starting June 18, casinos were required to have masks available for all guests and masks must be worn by play- ers in any game that does not have a shield separating the dealer from the player. Regulators are also mandat- ing that casinos have proper signage notifying guests of the changes. Gov. Steve Sisolak ordered Nevada to shut down its gambling market in mid-March in response to the out- @GovSisolak Sisolak Governor © break of coronavirus in the state. He allowed casinos to reopen two weeks ago on June 4. A video tweeted by Los Angeles Times sports columnist "Starting June 18, casinos Arash Markazi during the fi rst weekend of Las Vegas’ reopening went viral after it showed massive crowds, a were required to have lack of social distancing and very few masks. Before the unveiling of the new protocols, there were rumors on masks available for all social media that Sisolak saw the video and was unhappy guests and masks must with it. In an interview with CDC Gaming, NGCB be worn by players in any Chairwoman Sandra Douglass Morgan confi rmed that regulators were not happy with the level of safety imple- game that does not have a mented by Silver State casinos. “Social distancing was not where we wanted it to shield separating the dealer be,” said Morgan. “We still want the casinos to strongly from the player." encourage patrons to wear masks.” ere were no changes made to protocols regarding slot machines. Guests are not required to wear masks opted to open properties in a gradual manner. e two while playing machines. gaming giants only opened Bellagio, MGM Grand, New Many casinos on the Las Vegas Strip are still closed York-New York, Caesars Palace, Flamingo and Harrah’s as MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment both have during the fi rst two days of reopening. m Sign Up For Card Player’s Free Poker School. Review Hundreds of Articles and Videos On Winning Poker Strategy. www.CardPlayerPokerSchool.com 8 CARDPLAYER.COM FOLLOW US ON TWITTER CardPlayerMedia 008_News.indd 8 6/24/20 3:09 PM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT MORE POKER ROOMS OPEN IN LAS VEGAS By Steve Schult ree more Las Vegas Strip casinos opened their poker rooms June 18, giving poker players seven rooms to choose from in the entire city and four on the Las Vegas Strip. Sahara, Caesars Palace, and Bellagio all welcomed poker players back. ey joined Venetian, South Point, Golden Nugget, and e Orleans as the only poker rooms currently operating in Las Vegas. Sahara opened its room at 6 p.m. and ran its games five- handed with a $4 max rake, according to Sahara’s poker operations manager Steven Pique. e room reinstated free drinks and comps, as well as progressive high hand promos. Initially, the room will only operate between 6 p.m. and 2 "Of the seven available Las a.m. Vegas poker rooms, only Caesars Palace opened its room at 10 a.m. and closed operations at 2 a.m. It runs five-handed games and, in Bellagio and South Point are accordance with the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s newest safety protocols, masks are required for all players. open at all hours of the day." Initially, the room will only operate ursday through Sunday, according to Caesars Entertainment’s Director of Unlike the other rooms, however, Bellagio was cleared to Public Relations, Chelsea Ryder. spread six-handed games and will be using plexiglass divid- Bellagio also opened its room June 18 and operates 24 ers to separate players and dealers, similar those used by the hours a day, 7 days a week. Of the seven available Las Vegas Seminole Hard Rock properties in Florida. poker rooms, only Bellagio and South Point are open at all To continue social distancing efforts, Bellagio is using 23 hours of the day. of its 36 poker tables. p NEW JERSEY SETS RECORD FOR ONLINE GAMING REVENUE By Steve Schult New Jersey brick-and-mortar casinos are still closed, but the online versions set revenue records in May. According to figures released by the New Jersey Department of Gaming Enforcement, online casinos in the Garden State won $85.9 million during the month. e figure represents a whopping 129 percent year-over-year increase from May 2019 and sets a record for online gam- ing revenue. Sports betting revenue, which also needed to be placed Online casinos in the Garden State online but isn’t counted in online gaming revenue, added another $9.9 million in revenue, bringing the gross gaming won $85.9 million during May. The revenue to $95.9 million. With the brick-and-mortar iterations closed, the overall figure represents a whopping 129 numbers took a predictable 65.4 percent decrease from the percent year-over-year increase from $276.8 million won in May 2019, but those numbers will return to normal when Atlantic City casinos reopen.