Here is the final points list for the CSOP Most Valuable Player for 2010.  The Points are determined by what place you finish in the tournament, the buy in of the tournament, and the amount of players in the tournament.  So if you played in the $20 Early Bird with 100 players in it and took first place, you would not get as many points if you played in the $100 Deepstack with 100 players and took first place.

The Chicago Series of Poker MVP will take home a $500 CCG Prize Package.  Congratulations to Jose Escamilla who is the 2010 CSOP MVP!  This was a much closer race than the points do justice for.  Jose’s play on Friday before the main event at the VFW in Oak Lawn catapulted him into the top three on the points list.  He chopped the Deepstack on Friday three ways for first place, and then final tabled the Deepstack on Sunday at the Mexican Grille.  Those two key finishes, along with an outright win in event #9 ($100 Deepstack), gave Jose the crown as CSOP MVP in 2010.

Thank you to all the players who came out to support the hosting charities poker fundraisers that work with Chicago Charitable Games.  The charity poker players at Chicago Charitable Games are arguable the best poker players in the state of Illinois.  I cannot thank everyone enough for all your help and support the last few years.  Good luck at the tables, and keep those bad beats to a minimum.

Remember the awards ceremony for the Chicago Series of Poker is at the VFW in Batavia on Friday April 9th.

CHICAGO SERIES OF POKER MVP POINTS LIST 2010
1    Jose Escamilla    1018
2    Robert Moreno    798
3    Bradley Henkin    756
4    Paul Gooding    563
5    Arthur Martin    559
6    Paul Smith    457
7    Bryan Skreens    439
8    Rohit Gupta    425
9    Joshua Sigale    384
10    Katya    377
11    Mac Antigua    376
12    David Hammerschmidt    373
13    David Schultz    373
14    Richard Crystal    325
15    Karl Sederberg    319
16    Ray Mancini    310
17    James Yario    308
18    Terry Holmes    301
19    Renee Gibbon    288
20    Syed Ahmed    266
21    Kevin    266
22    Jeffery Pearson    264
23    Shari Klien    264
24    John Castillo    264
25    Ed Blazer    262

The Chicago Series of Poker will come to an exciting conclusion on Saturday March 27th at the Signature Rooms in Woodridge at 2:00PM.  This is the most player friendly charity poker tournament of the year.  $400 is also one of the largest charity poker tournaments in Chicago.  Come and support the ND Teachers Fund by coming out to the Signature Rooms and enjoy a great day of Poker.

$400($340+$60) CSOP MAIN EVENT TOURNAMENT 2:00PM
This will be a $400 NLH Deepstack Tournament.  Each player will start with $20,000 in tournament chips (there is no add-on or bonus chip in this tournament). The blinds will increase with ante’s every 30 minutes.  This tournament will not be limited to the amount of players that can participate.  The blind structure used in this tournament is found under the games offered page, or can be found by clicking here. If you have any questions about this tournament please call the poker hot line, and press 0 for an operator. You can also pre-register for your seat by clicking on the pre-registration tab at the top of the website.

Remember that at every event from now until the CSOP Main Event the hosting charities will be offering $55 Single Table Satellite Tournaments into the CSOP Main Event.  You could win your way into the CSOP Main Event for only $55 bucks!  Check out the Chicago Charitable Games website for more information on the $55 CSOP ME Satellites…

Come and check out this weekend’s charity poker events and see if you can win your way into Chicago’s biggest and brightest Charity Poker Tournament.

Good Luck at the Charity Poker Tables and tell your friends about the Chicago Charitable Games Poker Blog.

Wednesday March 31st from 4:30pm to 8:30pm.

Click on the picture to enlarge, and please come out to support Beth.  Beth is a regular at the Chicago Charitable Games events and as some of you know she has started her battle with cancer.  This movie night at a great place to see movies by the way, will help her with her trip to Texas where she can hopefully start her successful treatment of this awful disease.

Please come out and support her cause, and enjoy one of Mel Brooks greatest films…Blazing Saddles! Or you can come out and see the movie theater, hang out with friends, and receive a coupon to see a movie another night at the Hollywood Palms Theater in Naperville.

Check out the flier for more information.

Thank you.

The Chicago Series of Poker is Chicago Charitable Games month long poker tournament series dedicated to giving players a great tournament structure as well as a chance to play in some of the different events that the World Series of Poker has to offer.  Chicago land charity poker players deserve a chance to play in different poker events than just your standard no limit holdem…in comes the Chicago Series of Poker or the CSOP.  20 Events, tons of different poker games, and plenty of deepstack tournaments, all building up to the $400 CSOP Main Event on the last Saturday of March.

Each Chicago Charitable Games charity poker event in March will have two CSOP tournaments offered.  Typically a crazy or mixed game and then the Deepstack tournament of the day.  There will be a CSOP points list kept for all the tournament winners (anyone who cashes in a CSOP event), and on the last Sunday of the Month the CSOP Most Valuable Player will be awarded a $500 CCG Prize Package.  This means that if you play and you cash in any CSOP tournament you could be crowned the CSOP MVP.  Last years winner will also be recognized on March 28th and will hand over his CSOP MVP Trophy (yes you get a trophy)! The Main Event will be charity poker at its finest, with a $400 buy in, it should be one of the most prestigious poker tournaments of the year, and it will be packed with Chicago lands poker powerhouses.

Here is a schedule of what events will be held at the Chicago Series of Poker: UPDATED

1. $100 Deepstack Tournament – 3/5/2010
2. $100 20 Man NLH – 3/5/2010
3. $100 Deepstack Tournament – 3/6/2010
4. $60 Limit Holdem – 3/6/2010
5. $100 Deepstack Tournament – 3/7/2010
6. $60 Pot Limit Omaha – 3/7/2010
7. $60 Seven Card Stud – 3/12/2010
8. $100 Deepstack Tournament – 3/12/2010
9. $100 Deepstack Tournament – 3/13/2010
10. $60 HOSE – 3/13/2010
11. $220 Heads Up NLH Tournament (may limited to 64 players) – 3/14/2010
12. $100 Deepstack Tournament – 3/14/2010
13. $60 HO – 3/19/2010
14. $100 Shoot Out Tournament – 3/19/2010
15. $100 Deepstack Tournament – 3/20/2010
16. $60 Omaha 8 or Better (H/L) – 3/20/2010
17. $60 Badugi Tournament – 3/26/2010
18. $80 Mini Deepstack 3/26/2010
19. $400 CSOP Main Event – 3/27/2010
20. $100 Deepstack Tournament – 3/27/2010
21. $100 Deepstack Tournament – 3/28/2010
22. $60 NLH Tournament – 3/28/2010
23. CSOP AWARDS CEREMONY – 4/9/2010 (must be present to claim CSOP Grand Prize)

These are the twenty-two events that will comprise the CSOP.  Some pretty good tournaments here, and some games I am sure no Chicago Charity Poker players have ever played before (Badugi?).  I am very excited to offer the Chicago Series of Poker, and I hope that every one will enjoy the entire month of March.

Please feel free to email Chicago Charitable Games at events@chicagocharitablegames.com if you have any questions, or call the poker hot line at 888-715-4837.

Thank you and good luck at the tables.

There has been some talk about game security and the integrity of the game, and how the two deck shuffling systems is a sure fire way to encourage cheating.  This is 100% false, and I believe to be a marketing plan from competitors to drive business their way, and to plant a seed of doubt into the collective Chicago charity poker players mind at large.

I would like to let everyone know how the two deck system works, why it works, and why the integrity of the game could not be more carefully watched.

The two deck system is as follows.  Deck one is shuffled and dealt out on the first hand of a new table.  While deck one is being used the button or dealer will shuffle deck two.  The player in the dealer seat will shuffle the second deck.  When the hand is completed the dealer will move the button, give deck one to the player on the button, and deck two will be used for the second hand.  BEFORE STARTING HAND NUMBER TWO DECK TWO IS SHUFFLED ONCE, AND THEN CUT BY THE DEALER PRIOR TO THE START OF THE HAND.  Every dealer at least shuffles once (some of the faster dealers will shuffle twice) and then cut the deck on top of a cut card so no one can see the bottom card.  Therefore if a player was dexterous enough to manipulate the cards to his advantage, any and all manipulation would be void when the dealer shuffles and then cuts the cards prior to the next hand.  So there is no way a player could manipulate the deck, because every dealer shuffles and cuts the deck prior to dealing the next hand.

A perfectly shuffled deck of cards, or a truly random shuffle, requires the cards to be shuffled twice, cut into thirds, shuffled and then cut one more time.  That is how the single deck shuffle without a shuffle master works.  This is how the dealers shuffle at the WSOP and WSOP Circuit Events shuffle the cards.

One large accusation of the two deck player shuffle nay sayers is that players could mark cards.  This is 100% true, players could mark cards while shuffling the second deck.  However it would be much easier to mark a card that was dealt to you in normal game play, then when shuffling the second deck.  For example, it would be much easier to mark a card that was delt to you, rather than shuffling the second deck finding the card you want to mark and then marking it with no one noticing you doing anything funny with the second deck.  So experts would say that if a player wanted to mark a card, it would be eaiser to do during regular play, and not when shuffling the second deck.

Marked or Damaged cards and decks (the picture to the left is a small portion of the decks that are pulled from play due to damage or wear and tear) are pulled from regular play at every event.  Typically the cards are removed because players squeeze their hands out so hard that the corners become bent.  OR the cards have been in use for a while and they are becoming faded and beat up.  The charity poker dealers count down their decks before and after every shift, and if a card is beat up they chuck the whole deck into the bad deck box(pictured on the left). This common in every card room in the world, and it is no different at Chicago Charitable Games poker events.

With all that being said in the last year (2009) Chicago Charitable Games, to my best ability of estimating the number of hands played at each event, has dealt out over 675,000 hands.  That is averaging 25 hands an hour (a very reasonable guess) on 150 events a year.  I think that is a conservative estimate on the number of hands played in the year.  Out of those 675,000 hands, 150 events, and the last year of charity poker, there has not been one accusation of cheating, not one instance of cheating, and not one reason to believe any foul play.  In fact in over three years of business and arguably 2 million hands of poker, there has never been any instances of a player cheating at these charitable poker games.

I hope this helps clarify the validity of the two deck shuffling system and it eases players mind.  If anyone has any questions about the two deck system or about charitable poker games in general please feel free to contact me on the 888 Poker Hot Line (888-715-4837) or on my email address at Ken@chicagocharitablegames.com

Thank you and good luck on the tables,

Ken Kaulen
President and Co-Founder
Chicago Charitable Games Inc.
www.chicagocharitablegames.com

Player of the Year points are accumulated by playing in Multi-table tournaments and cashing (making the money).  When you win money in any CCG charity poker tournament you will give the tournament director your ID, he or she uses your ID to write down your name and give you player points.

The south side poker tour is abbreviated SSPT, and is a bi-yearly points list from the SSPT events in Tinley Park, IL.  How do you know if an event qualifies for a SSPT event?  Every event in Tinley Park (VFW, American Legion, Viking Lodge, and Eiche Turner Lodge) make up the South Side Poker Tour events.  A prize package of cash, tournament seats and CCG cash will be given away to the top winners on the SSPT points list.  Each year the SSPT is made up of events prior to July 4th and events after July 4th.  So from January 2010 to the end of June 2010 will consist of SSPT Season 4.   

Now that you know how player points are won, how many are you winning?  Well, the player point algorithm takes into account the total number of players, the buy in of the charity poker tournament, and what place you finished.  Therefore, if you won the $20 Early Bird Tournament with 100 players in it, you would not receive as many player points as a person who won the $100 Deepstack with the same number of players.

The player points are uploaded via a PDF file on the Chicago Charitable Games website (www.chicagocharitablegames.com for those of us who did not know) underneath the points list tab at the top of the website.  Once on the player points page you can click to download the PDF file which will have the player points listed and when they were last updated. The PDF file will include both Chicago Charitable Games player of the year points list, and South Side Poker Tour Points list.

The Chicago Charitable Game Player of the Year points list is a year long points list, and at the end of each year a CCG Player FREEROLL will be scheduled.  The top 40 players in the CCG Player of the Year points list will qualify for the CCG Player FREEROLL.  Chicago Charitable Games will give away $500 in CCG Cash to the winners of the Player Freeroll. 
For the South Side Poker Tour, the winners will take home cash, prizes and tournament entry seats into major tournaments such as the W.S.O.P, HPT, and WPT.  The SSPT Season 3 winners will be splitting up over $2500 in cash and prizes.

The Freeroll will be announced at the end of the year and will be open to the top 40 players and 5 alternates.  The starting chips will be determined by where you are on the player points list.  For example:

• 1st place finisher would start with 6000 in starting chips
• 2nd place finisher would start with 5500
• 3rd and 4th place finisher would start with 5000
• 5th through 10th place would start with 4500
• 11th through 20th place would start with 4000
• 21st through 30th would start with 3500
• 31st through 40th would start with 3000

This way everyone who qualifies for the Chicago Charitable Games Freeroll would have a chance at the $500 in CCG Cash, but the players who are farther up on the points list are at an advantage.

The 2010 year Chicago Charitable Games is also going to be giving away a player of the month prize to anyone who wins the most player points in any given month.  This way if you do not find Chicago Charitable Games until halfway through the year you still have a chance at becoming the player of the month.  Prizes will include Deepstack Tournament Seats, CCG Cash Prizes, CASH, and preferred seating in cash games, and several other promotions happening every month. 

Events@chicagocharitablegames.com is your best place to ask about player points.  At the events there is not really any way for someone to help you with player points.  When you have a question about player points remember to specifically include the tournament you played in, what place you finished, and what the situation was.  This will help Chicago Charitable Games rectify the situation as quickly as possible.  As always if you have questions about Player of the Year Points please feel free to email me at Ken@chicagocharitablegames.com or ask me at any of the events.  Please refrain from asking when I am yelling at another player, or running around like a mad man, or playing spades with friends   But 9 times out of 10 I am ready and able to answer all of your questions.

Happy New Year and Good Luck and no bad beats to all my favorite poker players, which happens to include myself!

The $20 Early Bird is a great tournament to play in.  I know what you are thinking already…”The $20 is not enough money to keep me interested!”  Well think of the $20 Early Bird as a Satellite Tournament into a bigger tournament or a chance to try new things with your game!

Just imagine taking down a $2k first place prize when you are only in the tournament for $20.  This is what you should be thinking if you are not a normal $20 Early Bird Tournament poker player.  I mean first place on average is $576 in the $20 EB.  That is pretty sweet return on your money for a $20 tournament entry.  Not to mention you only need to finish in the top 5-7 to get your Deepstack entry paid for from this tournament.  There is also the benefit that you are going to get hours of tournament poker experience for $20. 

The $20 Early Bird is also a great venue to practice some new techniques and change up gears.  It is difficult to try new and intresting things when you are playing in a $100 Deepstack Poker Tournament.  Where as if you are only into the tournament for $20 you are much more likely to change up your play an really get in there an test the water, because you are only risking $20.  There is nothing more important to improve your tournament poker play than getting out there and playing in poker tournaments.  Play deepstacks, short stacks, turbos, marathon poker, knockouts or bounty’s, and plenty of other poker tournament styles that you can get involved with and if you can do so with real live poker players (rather than solely online) you are getting even more live poker experience.

The $20 Early Bird is a great place to practice new techniques and a cheap way to satellite into bigger tournaments.  Where else can you get live tournament poker experience for $20 with an average of 100+ players 3-4 times a week?

A flip or a showdown is when players put in an amount of money into the pot, deal out the cards, run the flop turn and river without any more betting rounds.  So basically everyone gets two cards and you run out a normal Texas Holdem hand but there is no more betting, and the winner takes the pot.   You can play any poker game, and turn it into a flip or showdown.  Omaha, Holdem, Seven Card Stud, Five Card Stud, RAZZ, High Card, modified Blackjack, etc… anything will work for a flip or a showdown.

So the question is… do flips or showdowns increase the action in a cash game, or do they just slow the game down?

I have two schools of thought.  One, a flip increases the action in a cash game.  It will distribute funds to tighter players that are peer pressured into “flipping their money”, which will increase the action in a cash game because money won is much easier to gamble with than money one worked for.  So with this theory the game is looser and money flows easier because with $140 flips exchanging hands every half hour (7 players in a $20 flip = $140 pot). Plus it breaks up the monotony of the poker grind at a cash table. 

Second school of thought, flips can break a cash game.  Whenever you involve luck into a cash game (more luck than is inherit in poker) people can get even more upset than when they are rivered a few times for a big pot.  For example, one player wins three flips in a row, second player gets frustrated by player ones incredible luck he decieds to up the ante and do $50 or $100 flips instead of the standard $20 flip.  Now the poker game turns into a raffle game and has become quite volatile.  Players that are not intrested in just rolling the dice for their money begin to leave or play other games.  Other players go broke, or one player wins all the chips on the table.  The point being is that you begin to stop playing poker, and begin to just gamble.

Flips and Showdowns… good for cash games if you can keep it under control?  OR is flipping starting down a path that will inevitably lead to straight gambling and no longer playing poker.

The verdict is in there will be a $200 Mega Deepstack at the Odeum on 12/26/09 starting at 4pm.  Each player will start with 14,000 in chips plus their 1,000 chip pre-registration bonus (or $5 add-on) where blinds will increase every 30 minutes with antes. 

Chicago Charitable Games helped make deepstack tournament play the norm on the Illinois Charity Poker scene.  With a great tournament structure, and arguable the best volunteer dealers the last Mega Deepstack at Chicago Charitable Games should be a great turn out.  Last Mega Deepstack there were close to 70 players to turn up to test their charity poker skills against what some would say was Chicago lands best poker players (don’t believe me just ask them).  Play stopped at the final table when the last two players in the field decided to “chop up” the tournament each taking home a sweet little prize pool. 

Here is a few links to some of the tournament information if you are unfamilar with Chicago Charitable Games and their tournament rules, and blind structure. 

Chicago Charitable Games Tournament Rules…

Chicago Charitable Games Tournament Blind Structure…

12/26/09 Charity Poker Event Information…

Good luck and live cards to everyone!