Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop in the comments.
Today in the 3-Bet we have Mike Sexton telling fellow poker pros they are “blowing it”, an interesting comparison between professional Street Fighter players and poker players as well as a major robbery at one of the private vaults in Las Vegas.
Sexton Offers Word of Warning to Fellow Pros
There are very few poker players who have been as good for the game as Mike Sexton.
Over the last decade the WPT commenter has travelled the world, done countless interviews and played pretty much every major tournament in existence.
That’s why you take notice when the man calls out the entire poker industry.
In a blog post on Party Poker titled “Poker Pros – Wake Up and Smell the Coffee” Sexton said he was “disappointed” and “disgusted” by what he perceived to be a lack of professionalism from some poker pros.
“I feel many have no vision for the future or an understanding of the present. They can’t see the forest for the trees. They don’t see the big picture – growing our industry and making it a better place to play and/or work in and doing what it takes to bring sponsorship into the poker world. They just live in their own little worlds.”
Sexton went on to highlight three main issues with modern poker players. One was blowing of media, two was dressing like slobs and three was becoming more marketable to mainstream sponsors.
Finally Sexton finished with a brief list of what each poker player can do to help the industry. It’s a pretty good list (we especially like #3) and it likely wouldn’t hurt a few big name pros to write it down.
Be professional (such as being courteous to poker staffs and not verbally abuse other players), Be responsible and on time Fulfill all media requests Sign autographs and take pictures with fans when asked If you’re fortunate enough to make televised final tables, dress nicely Continue to support charity events If poker is your profession, to paraphrase John Kennedy, “Ask not what the poker industry can do for you, ask what you can do for the poker industry.”To read the complete article head over to the Party Poker blog.
Private Vault Robbed in Las Vegas
The poker economy may have taken a bit of a hit this weekend as a private vault facility in Las Vegas was robbed.
Located on East Sunset Road, the 24/7 Private Vaults was robbed at approximately 5:15 a.m. on Saturday.
Three masked men entered the building and then opened many safe deposit boxes and stole the contents.
Because the company operates on anonymity, the Las Vegas Police Department is urging victims to come forward.
Reportedly the vault is offering refunds to customers who want to stop using the service.
We might suggest using the box at the casinos if you happen to have millions in poker winnings. You know what happens if you try to rob a casino, unless it’s Grand Hyatt Hotel casino in Berlin.
Or you could just put your cash in, you know, a bank.
Street Fight and Poker: A Winning Pair?
We’re suckers for comparing poker to other games or sports (see chess, golf, MMA etc.) so we were very interested to learn that Cassandra Khaw penned an article titled “Why Street Fighter Players Make Great Poker Players” for G4tv.com.
While slightly light on proof (although Street Fighter player Randy “nanonoko” Lew did win APPT Macau in 2011) the article does draw some very interesting parallels to the pattern recognition that is useful in both games.
A particularly strong part of the article included a quote from professional Street Fighter player Arturo Sanchez.
Seth Killian is the Community Manager and 'Special Combat Advisor' at Capcom. But even before he began working with the people responsible for the Street Fighter franchise, he was already a part of the scene. A former professional Street Fighter player, Killian has, among other things, helped organize the famed EVO fighting tournaments. Additionally, he is also a semi-serious poker player who has trained under 1996 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Huck Seed.
“Good fighting gamers are some of the best in the world at pattern recognition.” It is a statement that few others can make with such impunity. After all, Killian is living testament to this. ‘You could show me 10 anonymous matches of good Rufus players in SFIV and I'll be able to tell you which one was [SFIV champion] Justin Wong, win or lose, just because I know how he moves.
Killian added, “When you're in the top tiers, you must not only be able to pull off complex combinations and moves, you must also be an expert at reading your opponent. You have to make sure you can't be put into unfamiliar situations where you're likely to make mistakes."
Reading opponents? Pattern recognition? High-pressure situations? Almost entirely male community? Yeah that sounds an awful lot like poker.
Check out the complete article on G4tv.com.
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