www.CardPlayer.com Vol. 34/No. 18 August 25, 2021 Daniel Negreanu Breaks 7-Year Title Drought To Win The Inaugural PokerGO Cup Hall Of Famer Says His Poker Game Is Better Than Ever SixTime Bracelet WSOP Champ Greg Tournament Strategy: Winner Layne Flack Raymer Explains How To Street By Street Passes Away Prep For The Main Event Bet Sizing PLAYER_34_17B_Cover.indd 1 8/3/21 11:13 AM PLAYER_17_GlobalPoker_DT.indd 2 7/19/21 3:58 PM PLAYER_17_GlobalPoker_DT.indd 3 7/19/21 3:58 PM Masthead - Card Player Vol. 34/No. 18 PUBLISHERS Barry Shulman | Jeff Shulman Editorial Corporate Office EDITORIAL DIRECTOR 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] VP INTL. 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Published and printed in the United States. 4 CARDPLAYER.COM FOLLOW US ON TWITTER CardPlayerMedia 004_MastheadB.indd 4 8/3/21 10:59 AM PLAYER_18_MarylandLive_FP.indd 3 8/3/21 11:13 AM Table of Contents - Card Player Vol. 34/No. 18 20 24 12 Features Tournament Circuit Also In This Issue 20 16 4 Daniel Negreanu Breaks 7-Year Title Player Of The Year Update About Us Drought To Win The Inaugural PokerGO By Erik Fast 38 Cup 18 Tournament Schedules By Erik Fast Tournament Results 38 24 By Morgan Young Poker Leaderboards Poker Pro Layne Flack Passes Away At Age 52 By Steve Schult Strategies, Analysis, Tournament & Commentary Hand Matchups 28 The Inside Straight 29 8 Bluff Catching On A Four-Flush Board By Jonathan Little David Coleman vs. Ali Imsirovic Poker News Recap 29 vs. Sergi Reixach 12 31 Seven Card Stud Eight-or-Better: Head Games: Street By Street Sometimes Playable Hands Daniel Negreanu vs. Ali Imsirovic Tournament Bet Sizing By Kevin Haney By Craig Tapscott 33 31 David Coleman vs. Daniel Negreanu Preparing For The WSOP Main Event 36 By Greg Raymer David Coleman vs. Daniel Negreanu 33 Strategic Soft Play: Can I Fold My Hand? By Scott J. Burnham 6 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 18 006_TOC.indd 6 8/5/21 9:51 AM PLAYER_18_ACR_FP.indd 3 8/3/21 11:13 AM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT the INSIDE STRAIGHT News, Reviews, and Interviews From Around the Poker World MICHIGAN POSTS LARGEST ONLINE GAMBLING REVENUE IN ENTIRE COUNTRY By Steve Schult Michigan’s online gambling market is quietly establishing itself as one of the strongest as the state’s operators posted the largest revenue totals in the country for the month of June. Online casino revenue, which includes poker, totaled $89.2 million. When the $25 million in winnings from its online sportsbooks are taken into account, the number jumps to $114.2 million, according to fi gures released by state gaming regulators. By comparison, New Jersey, which was generally considered the gold stan- dard in terms of online gambling, won a reported $107.1 million in online revenue for the month of June. e state record was $113.7 million, which was set last March. Michigan surpassed the Garden State’s all-time record in just its fi fth full month of online cent decline from May to June shows internet gaming and gambling. It took New Jersey nearly eight years to achieve online sports betting continues to draw Michigan residents’ those numbers, although the market didn’t fully mature and visitors’ interest.” until about 2017. On the poker front, Michigan only has two online e Great Lakes State also outperformed another pow- operators. PokerStars launched its Michigan offering erhouse gambling market in Pennsylvania. e Keystone almost immediately after the market rolled out in January, State’s online operators reported $100.8 million in online and BetMGM entered a few months later. gambling revenue in June. Nevada is the largest gambling Caesars Interactive Entertainment, which owns market in the country overall and set a gross gaming rev- the WSOP.com, obtained a license in Michigan but has yet enue record in May with $1.2 billion, but there is no online to announce a launch date for the site. It’s expected to be gambling in the Silver State outside of poker and mobile available to the public sometime later this year. sports betting. It didn’t take long after it launched for PokerStars e surge in action came as online operators actually Michigan to become the largest regulated online poker site dipped ever-so-slightly compared to May’s reported earn- in the state. In the fi rst week of operations, the site was ings. averaging 400 players online at any given time. Just from “Summer is here, and Michigan is reopening after the the state of online poker in Michigan, which is a microcosm pandemic restrictions so there are many entertainment of the overall online market, it’s no surprise that Michigan opportunities,” Henry Williams, the board’s executive has quickly cemented itself as one of the largest markets in director told e Detroit News. “ e slight tenth of a per- the country. 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 VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 18 008_News.indd 8 8/5/21 10:04 AM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT ABANDONED LAS VEGAS STRIP BUILDING WILL OPEN AS JW POKER PRO SUES ATLANTIC MARRIOTT IN 2023 CITY CASINO FOR $1.25 By Steve Schult MILLION OVER LIFETIME BAN By Steve Schult e biggest eyesore on the Las Vegas Strip is expected to open as a Marriott property in a little more than two years from A poker pro is suing now. an Atlantic City casino According to a local ABC for $1.25 million after a affiliate, the tallest building on poorly timed suicide joke Las Vegas Boulevard will open resulted in a lifetime ban. as JW Marriott in the fourth According to a report quarter of 2023. The building from the New York has been abandoned since construction halted on the Post, Scott Robbins is 63-story hotel tower in 2008, when it was supposed to open suing Borgata Hotel as the Fontainebleau Las Vegas. Casino & Spa for the e facility has been plagued with bad luck since the seven-figure sum. Last initial pause 13 years ago. It sits on the north end of the Las September, the poker pro from Massachusetts reserved Vegas Strip and has undergone several changes in owner- a room and was checking in at the front desk. ship, as well as several starts and stops on new construction e lawsuit states that the employee checking in plans. Robbins asked him whether he wanted a room on a Miami-based developers Turnberry Associates initially floor on a lower level or one on a higher floor. Robbins broke ground on the building in 2007, but lenders of the then asked, “If I had to jump from a high-floor window, deal backed out in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, would I make it?” e hotel employee then pleaded with ending the initial idea of mimicking the iconic Miami Robbins not to jump out of the window. property in Sin City. Robbins allegedly assured the employee that he Billionaire Carl Icahn purchased the property in 2010 wouldn’t jump and that he was kidding, but also asked for $150 million. He let the building sit empty for seven if he would survive a leap from a room on a lower floor. years before selling it to Steven Witkoff in 2017 for $600 Ultimately, he was given a room on the 30th floor, million. and then things got interesting. Witkoff planned on turning it into the city’s newest An “armed security force” showed up at Robbins’ casino and would’ve named it after his son, Drew, who room and informed him that he would need to undergo died in 2011.