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National Heads
Up Poker Championship kicks off in two weeks,
Courtney Friel new hostess of World Poker Tour
The second annual
National Heads Up Poker Championship kicks off
competition from March 4-6. Phil Hellmuth
looks to defend his title.
The tournament is
unique in that it sets up the 64 players in a single
elimination tournament structured along the lines of
the NCAA Basketball Championship. Four brackets are
arranged with sixteen players in each bracket,
playing down to a "Final Four", who then square off
against each other until only one player is left
standing. Because of the exclusiveness of the field
and the high quality of competition, Hellmuth
commented last year that "the title is more
important than the money" after he vanquished the
field.
The event will be
held in Ceasar's Palace Las Vegas brand new
facilities and hosted by Gabe Kaplan, a celebrity
poker player and the star of Welcome Back Kotter.
One big name who won't
be playing in the National Heads Up Poker
Championship is Andy Beal. He's the real
estate mogul and mathematic theorist who repeatedly
has gone up against poker's elite only to be brought
back down to earth in dramatic fashion, and we are
talking losses of several millions here.
 .....There
is a new face emerging in the World Poker Tour and
it is one we here at Gambling911.com certainly like
to look at.
She's beautiful
blonde Courtney Friel. But Courtney won't be
playing in any of the events. She's the WPT
new hostess and a bombshell hostess at that.
After three years,
previous hostess Shana Hiatt decided it was time to
leave the WPT.
Courtney Friel
tells the World Poker Tour in an interview:
"I started my career
in the news business. I spent a year at the ABC
affiliate in Jackson, TN and then a year at CBS in
Palm Springs. I pretty much had every job from
camerawoman to editor, producer, teleprompter
roller, reporter and anchor. Since moving to Los
Angeles I have been a freelance correspondent and
host for many different channels and shows: Court
TV, Fox's America's Most Wanted, E! News,
Nickelodeon, Oxygen, Comcast, Channel One News,
Loews Theaters, and EBTV gaming."
Friel was born
April 22nd 1980 in Philadelphia, PA. She
holds a BA in Political Science and a Minor in
Broadcast Journalism from San Diego State
University.
.....Today's poker tip
from Gambling911.com: There's a growing interest in
3 card Poker, mainly because people think it's easy
to win big (given the right 3 card Poker strategy,
of course). There are two ways to bring home the
bucks: getting a better hand than the dealer (the
ante) and an optional bet, getting a pair or higher
(the pair plus). It is simple and short, making a 3
card Poker strategy far less complicated than other
variations and ideal for beginners or people who are
looking for a quick game. But you still need to play
your hand right. With the right 3 card Poker
strategy, you can bring in consecutive wins and
watch the chips pile in a matter of minutes.
In general, the house has a 3.4% advantage;
something to consider as you take the first step in
your 3 card Poker strategy: deciding whether to fold
or play, and whether you will play just one or both
bets. It really depends on your hand. In decreasing
order of merit, you can have straight flushes,
triplets, straights, flushes, pairs, and singletons.
Note one of the unique elements in 3 card Poker
strategy: straights have a higher ranking than a
flush, because of the odds of making a three card
straight. Within each category, rankings coincide
with standard poker conventions, the highest being
aces (which can be used for either high or low),
followed by kings, and proceeding to threes and
twos.
The house has a 3.4% advantage; although what makes
3 hand Poker such a "winnable" game is that the
dealer needs to have at least a queen-high to
qualify. This happens in 2 out of 3 hands, and if he
fails, you get even money (1 to 1) on your original
wager as long as you don't fold. As a rule, 4 out of
every 10 ante hands will win the ante bonus.
So how do you know when to fold, and when to forge
forward? Being such a simple and straightforward
game, a 3 hand Poker strategy is pretty cut and
dried. You just have to muck a low singleton
(queen-6-3 or worse) and play with a high singleton
(queen-6-4 or better). The best possible win is a
straight flush, betting on play, and beating a
qualifying dealer. The wrong 3 card Poker strategy
can drag you to the worst possible loss: $3 times
the base, if you play with a singleton, bet on a
play, and get beaten by a qualifying dealer.
Start playing online
poker today at
IGotPoker (See
Web Site Here)
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Gambling911.com News
Wire
Originally published February 19, 2006 11:24 am ET
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