Hot TV bet: Poker series

BY GENETTA M. ADAMS; JUDITH H. BERNSTEIN
Newsday Editor; Staff Writer

April 12, 2006

Now that March Madness is over, gamblers and sports fans will be dealing with another form of madness - poker. Las Vegas and ESPN are gearing up for the granddaddy of poker tournaments, the World Series of Poker (June 25 to Aug. 10). This month, NBC will air season two of the 2006 National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Similar to the college basketball bracket system, 64 poker players will compete one-on-one, playing Texas Hold 'Em until there's a champion. The six-episode season will air at noon on Ch. 4, beginning April 16.

The ones to watch

Phil Hellmuth. Last year's Heads-Up champion, Hellmuth is the John McEnroe of poker, famous for throwing tantrums when things don't go his way.

Chris Ferguson. Last year's Heads-Up runner-up, Ferguson has a PhD in computer science and is one of the most calculating players in the game.

Phil Ivey. One of poker's best pros and recent winner of Card Player Magazine's best heads-up player award.

Annie Duke. One of the top women pro players, Duke is also the sister of Howard "The Professor" Lederer, another contender.

Jennifer Tilly. Having won the World Series of Poker's Ladies event in 2005, she's becoming better known for her poker skills than her acting. She's also dating pro player Phil "Unabomber" Laak, who's in the tourney as well.

Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson. An old-school legend, Brunson wrote what is considered the bible of poker, "Super System."

RULES OF TEXAS HOLD 'EM

Called the "Cadillac of Poker," Texas Hold 'Em has become the game of choice at Internet sites and in poker rooms around the globe. No Limit Texas Hold 'Em means that at any time, players can bet any amount, even going "all in" - pushing all their chips into the pot. While Hold 'Em is easy to learn, the nuances of the game take a lifetime to master.

1. Blinds. Two players bet the small blind (half the minimum bet) and big blind (twice the small blind). Blinds are antes made before cards are dealt to encourage action.

2. Hole cards. Each player is dealt two cards. Players can choose to call or raise the blinds or fold.

3. The flop. Three community cards are dealt face up. Players will share these cards to create the best five-card hand. After the flop, players can check, bet, raise or fold.

4. The turn (aka "fourth street"). The fourth community card. Another round of betting.

5. The river (aka "fifth street"). The final community card. Another round of betting.

6. Showdown. Players reveal their hole cards. The best hand wins.

- Genetta M. Adams

MATCHMAKER, PICK ME A TUNE

Are the mere 1,000 songs you loaded up in your 60-gigabyte iPod just rattling around in there? Still listening to '60s classic rock or Broadway show tunes by Rodgers and Hammerstein?

There's a whole world of music out there, but some folks just don't know where to begin to find new artists - or artists new to them. Launched last year, Pandora.com is aiming to be your friendly PC-based music matchmaker. The "music discovery" service, which is free if you're willing to look at ads on the site ($36 a year, ad-free), is named after the character from Greek mythology (she released evil out into the world, but Pandora.com's founders focus on the fact that her name means "all-gifted"). The service allows you to pick your favorite songs or artists to create "stations," then it starts playing music it thinks you'll like (it eventually will play the song you used to spawn the station).

For instance, this year's Grammy song of the year, U2's "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own," created a station that played songs including "Flight Test" by the Flaming Lips, "Your Every Color" by Train and "Black Balloon" by the Goo Goo Dolls. Handed Kanye West's "Gold Digger," Pandora gave back, among others, "Work It" by Nelly, "Pop Shots" by ODB, and "My Baby" by Bow Wow before playing West's hit - about 14 songs in.

You can fine-tune what Pandora picks for you with the "Guide Us" button, which lets you give a thumbs-up or down on the song that's playing. You can also add more songs and artists to your station to get a Shuffle-like experience, share stations with friends or check out why Pandora picked a song for you (choices are made based on the Music Genome Project, an effort started by Pandora's founders, which analyzes pop tunes' elements to find similarities and differences).

And, if you find music you really like? Pandora doesn't allow you to save or replay it at will, but it does provide links to iTunes for downloads or to Amazon.com so you can buy the CD.

- Judith H. Bernstein

Source: http://www.newsday.com

Enough talk! Take me to the featured poker room!