Based on this it would appear that there are 8 packages on the table for ND and MN.  Based on past experience, 5 for MN and 3 for ND (the past combined state championship had just over 2x the number of players from MN than ND) would probably be the breakdown.  However, not sure if any of the other 10 packages could possibly go to other states, or if they would be in addition to these 10 if they would happen to see their attendance increase.

As long as any error in this fashion is discovered before the deal of the next hand, the hand is a misdeal.

Once a new hand begins, all action stands.

It used to be that severe overbets were signs of 2 things:

Rookies not knowing how to extract the most money or,

People on some kind of draw.

Lately, I've seen much more of someone with the nuts just pushing all-in banking that some hero is going to call the big bet because it looks like a steal.  Obviously good reads on players are very important here, but even in that situation, depending on your style of play, you can make a case for playing or folding your hand.  I think we can determine, nearly no matter what the player has, you are a coin flip.  Then the question becomes, is it worth all your chips (or virtually) to win this hand at this point.  Are the extra chips that conducive to YOUR style of play and helping you WIN the tournament, or are you a player who is confident that can find better spots and pick away at the field. 

One version just may be better suited for a certain type of player than another.

The point I would try to emphasize here, is that at THIS point in the tournament, you should tend to avoid playing any big pots.

This is the reason I tend to select 75s.  You play it the same way as any other hand, with the one benefit being that if you actually hit it against a monster, you can still win that big pot. 

And, it's probably the easiest of the hands to get away from in my opinion if you encounter resistance.

Alright, I'll bite on discussing this type of hand more in depth - if nothing else, just to see what happens, lol.

First, at this point in a tournament, my personal opinion is that it is a complete waste of time to be thinking about 'M' and number of BB, either in your stack or in the pot.

IMO, any tournament should be looked at the same way the main event of a major poker tournament is looked at.  Part I; survival, Part II; accumulate, Part III; Setup for Final Table, Part IV; what else - WIN.

To me I don't necessarily like the premise of the hand (reraising at this point in the tournament with that range of hands), but it is the premise.  Given that, once called, I would still switch to, as redeposit would call it, a very weak mode of play.  It is much more important to not lose 3500 chips at this point than to win 3500 chips.

Now, obviously, if I have 88 here, I still am going to bet if checked to, just for the simple fact, there is nothing telling me I don't have the best hand.  Once called, I agree with slowing down, mainly because any bet at this point makes the pot much too great and unmanageable.  In other words, if we bet 1,400, we've now committed 3,000 to the pot and can almost not realistically fold to any bet of like size on the river.  There is nothing wrong with committing yourself to check-call after the turn to a decent bet.

I agree with putting your opponent on a range of hands, but our information is very limited in how this person plays and in addition to playing a range of hands, you have to play off experience.  In other words, how many times have you run against a player who had x type of hand to have you beat and how many times did he have y type of hand to have you beat.  How many times did the villian bet on the river when an overcard or scare card peeled, and he had it? or not?  We don't know enough about our villian to know how he might play AK or 77, but our experience has told us based on the action in this hand that our hand is good.

Now, that is admittedly pretty much level 1 thinking, but guess what, the vast majority of players are still level 1 and therefore you should not try to think too far beyond that in most instances. 

Now, if we were to profile, and see that our villian is a 21 yr old with a bunch of Full Tilt apparel on, we may want to rethink our play.  A check on the turn after an obvious continuation bet on the flop is a big sign of weakness that a lot of players will pounce on and a player like that may put us in a situation to make a hero call.  And while your gut would tell you your hand is still good, how many chips will he make you put in to prove you're right?

All those thoughts that are going to run through your mind towards the end of the hand, need to run through your mind BEFORE you pop him preflop.

What if he calls?  What if he raises?  etc., etc., 

Again, I think a preferable way to play ANY of the hands listed at this point in the tournament would be FOLD, with the exception of the 88, which could be a call in this situation to setmine, or gather information on your opponent's after flop play.

I love how they term it 'ENHANCEMENT' of the final table.

But in all seriousness, this IS really good for everybody BUT the 9 players who actually have to PLAY.  It will definitely create more buzz about the event for TV purposes, which is what it is seemingly all about now.

As a poker player, I am EXTREMELY superstitious and I would not like this at all PLUS I'd have already spent the prize money by the time we actually play the final table!

I think it might have been just a timing issue with how busy servers were, updating the site, etc.  I was having the same issues yesterday for awhile.

And I was using Firefox already, lol ...

Could also be an issue of caching pages.  If the site was updated and your browser had to completely reload all graphics and scripts, that can take a lot longer than typical.

Correct on the first one, even the WSOP has clarified the ruling on this sort of circumstance in that an exposed hand is no longer deemed 'dead'.

2nd situation, would like clarification from the league, because it's becoming more common that when a player moves from one table to another they accept ANY responsibility, big blind, small blind, or button.  The ONLY position they cannot move to would be BETWEEN small blind and button.

As far as both players moving into a blind, I guess if UTG and big blind were eliminated the previous hand, it would be possible, but this would require play on the table to have been stopped while another table was broken to fill those 2 seats, also a very rare occurence.

Harrah's has released the new & revised rulebook for the upcoming 2008 campaign.

One of the biggest changes I found was this Nixed Rule:

Last year’s controversial rule that stated, “At the end of a hand, if a player exposes one hole card, he or she must also show the other hole card if asked to do so by any player,” has been removed. Players will now be allowed to show only one card, but only after the hand is over.

The story can be found at CardPlayer.com

At the bottom, you can click a link that will take you to a PDF format of the 2008 rulebook.

Hey everybody, now that the Dead Money is done and gone, I'd like to let everyone know about another tournament upcoming on the 1st of March.

This is a 1-time benefit tournament for a young lady named Kayla Dumas.  She was in a near-fatal car accident the day after Christmas.  For more details on Kayla, please visit www.caringbridge.org/visit/kayladumas.

The tournament will be a $120 buy-in with $20 & $30 satellites running on Friday starting at 2 pm.

I will be posting more details about the tournament concerning structure, etc., as time goes on to keep the link fresh.

Hopefully everybody comes out and has a great time at Hagge's and plays some great poker!

Well, it does sound like the busted player did speak up before the deal of the next hand.

This is obviously touchy:  I will just say I have seen in a casino before where the dealer will not recognize who won and wrongly award the hand, calls the floor and they come to some conclusion.

However, what that conclusion is for sure, I do not know, but I do believe it is more than within there powers to give Player 4 the chips he's entitled to if it is agreed that he did actually split the pot.

We are also dealing with free poker and the dealer could have been more than a little hasty and things get awfully loud and it's not always the easiest to see the best hand in a short amount of time for some of these people.  There is room here to give Player 4 chips back in my opinion.  But, yes, it has to be done before the deal of the next hand.

So you're saying I can bust out of 2 places before the points in 1 night?!?!?!

SWEET!!!

Ah yes, our lovely Paternal Government, sent to Earth to protect We The People .... oh wait - isn't that the FIRST line of the Constitution?

Wow!

I'll just say this:

The Network GUARANTEED a Bahamas trip package worth $12,500 to Nebraska last fall and they paid it although the numbers were less than 10% of what even the Dakotas came up with.  I would doubt that this is an issue with the Network, but probably something local.

Direct buy-in is $150, Jeremy.  Pre-registration is available at the jar bar anytime before the day of the tournament.  Registration begins at noon on Sunday the 27th, but that is a madhouse, and they have filled their seats before.

Hope that helps, Jeremy!