Poker Hall of Fame Finalists Named

Poker News / Matthew Pitt / 05 October 2011 / Leave a Comment

The Poker Hall of Fame was created by Benny Binion back in 1979 and since then it has recognised and inducted some of the games key figures and legendary players. Johnny Moss, "Puggy" Pearson, Doyle Brunson and David "Chip" Reese are just some of the names that have been inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame and now another two players are set to join them.

Voting panel

The public votes have been counted and the ten finalists are now public knowledge. These finalists will now be voted on by the 18 living Hall of Fame members, including last year's inductees Erik Seidel and Dan Harrington, along with a select 17-person panel made up of members of the poker media. The ten Poker Hall of Fame finalists are, in alphabetical order;

Annie Duke
Barry Greenstein
Jennifer Harman-Traniello
Linda Johnson
John Juanda
Marcel Luske
Jack McLelland,
Tom McEvoy
Scotty Nguyen
Huckleberry Seed

Each person must meet a number of criteria such as playing poker against acknowledged top competition, have played for high stakes and done so consistently well and have stood the test of time. For those non-players amongst in the selection they must have contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker.

Who will be inducted?

Personally I would love to see Barry Greenstein inducted and I think he is almost certainly going to be. He has played in the highest cash games for years on end, won three World Series of Poker bracelets, two World Poker Tour main events and spends a lot of time, effort and money raising money for various charities.

The other shoe-in has to be Tom McEvoy, who has been touted as potential Hall of Fame member for as long as I can remember. Although he may not be as much of a force as he used to be, McEvoy has won four WSOP bracelets and has cashed 38 times in WSOP events. McEvoy was also instrumental in making all poker rooms and casinos in Las Vegas non-smoking, along with being the author of 14 poker strategy books.

The newest inductees into the Poker Hall of Fame will be unveiled at a ceremony in the Penn & Teller Theater at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino on November 8.

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Premier League Bets: What next for the two Carling Cup finalists?

Premier League / Andrew Atherley / 02 March 2011 / Leave a Comment

Not only does defeat in the Carling Cup final suggest Arsenal wil suffer a slump but tey will have to make do without Robin van Persie

"For Arsenal, who have now gone 21 major competitions without a trophy, the future may not be too bright either. Having missed skipper Cesc Fabregas in Sunday’s final, they now face a critical sequence of matches without Robin Van Persie and Theo Walcott."

They produced a cracking match for the neutral and Birmingham were worthy winners but what do the stats tell us about what lies in store for these two after Sunday's result?

One statistic leapt off the page after Birmingham's victory over Arsenal in the Carling Cup final: winners of that competition in the past decade have improved by 10 per cent from the final to the end of the season.

If it was true, Birmingham would be almost certain to add Premier League survival to their list of achievements this season because a 10 per cent improvement would take them to 45 points by the end of the season.

The ten-year average for Carling Cup winners does indeed reveal a 10 per cent improvement but, unfortunately, that headline statistic does not stand up to closer scrutiny because most of the improvement was achieved by a few top-performing sides. For example, Manchester United's points average was 2.14 per game before last season's Carling Cup win but rose to 2.5 in their remaining league games (a 17 per cent increase).

If we strip out Carling Cup-winning teams that finished in the top six, the stats don't look anything like as good. Since the Premier League was formed, there have been eight Carling Cup winners that went on to finish outside the top six and five of those eight regressed after their cup triumph.

The overall points average for those eight teams dropped and, of the five that regressed, four did so by ten per cent or more - precisely the opposite of what that eye-catching headline statistic told us.

If Birmingham regress by ten per cent between now and the end of the season, they will finish on 42 points, which should be enough to survive. If their performance levels drop any further, relegation is a real possibility.

And there is another telling statistic that suggests Birmingham will suffer a hangover from their cup celebrations when they host West Brom in a crucial relegation match on Saturday. Of the previous eight Carling Cup winners that finished outside the top six, only one won their next league match.

For Arsenal, who have now gone 21 major competitions without a trophy, the future may not be too bright either. Having missed skipper Cesc Fabregas in Sunday's final, they now face a critical sequence of matches without Robin Van Persie and Theo Walcott.

While Barcelona will be particularly happy they don't have to face the lightning-quick Walcott in the return leg of their Champions League tie on March 8, the knee injury suffered by Van Persie is more quantifiably a major blow for Arsenal.

This season Arsenal have won four out of five in the Premier League when Van Persie has scored and they are unbeaten in the nine games he has started, winning seven. Their win rate without him drops from 78 per cent to 56 per cent, which is a significant decrease for a team chasing trophies. As the Dutchman is set to miss the Barcelona return leg and a possible FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester United, Arsenal's trophy chances could be significantly reduced in his absence.

And there is another reason to doubt Arsenal's ability to bounce back from their Carling Cup defeat. In three of their past four trophyless seasons, the Gunners have slumped dramatically from the start of March to the end of the season, with their Premier League points average falling by at least 16 per cent in those three seasons.

Perhaps the explanation lies in their young and relatively shallow squad, but their efforts to continue their trophy quest are not going to be helped by the latest spate of injuries to key players.

Sunderland are the visitors to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday and at the odds it is worth chancing that they can get a result against wounded Arsenal.

Recommended bets

Lay Birmingham v West Brom at [2.42]
Lay Arsenal v Sunderland at [1.52]

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