It was shocking to read of the Partouche Poker Tour cheating scandal which involved Ali Tekintamgac and the media at this event, and is apparently not the first time this poker pro has been suspected/caught in cheating scandals. What was of great concern, was not so much his cheating; a cheat will always be a cheat; but the fact that media allowed on the poker floor, were allegedly his co-conspirers! It called into great concern the integrity of the media the game and its security.

The burning question is now; “should media be allowed to freely move around the poker floor when hundreds, thousands, even millions of dollars worth of prize money is at stake?”

Apparently it IS an absolute necessity that they are able to access the floor in order to do their job properly. However, if they are going to be involved in cheating scandals, this is a double edged sword. The media has always been granted special privileges in return for their reporting efforts, so access to the poker floor or any other reporting scenario has to come with a high standard of integrity and responsibility. While we believe that the media is by the most part committed to game integrity, it only takes one bad apple to spoil the entire barrel. The belief that this level of responsibility and integrity is maintained has obviously been seriously dented and the image of the media is now being looked upon with suspicion by many players and fans.

If you aren’t too clear on this story; basically during September the PPT took a break after playing down to the final table. This is a very similar scenario as the World Series of Poker, where the final table determines the November Nine and the nine return to the event for that specific game. Before the PPT resumed Ali Tekintamgac was disqualified for cheating and this was evidenced by video footage of what went down. This video footage revealed that reporters were standing behind Tekintamgac’s opponents and relaying hand signals to the player. What makes matters worse is that this player had already been tarred with the “cheaters” brush, at the EPT – Tallinn.

Long story short; after listening to complaints from other players and them refusing to play – video footage was viewed and Tekintamgac was disqualified together with his chips. The incident understandably set off outrage and poker fans wanted to know how reporters get so close to the action that they are able to read hole cards. The answer is simple, this is their job and they have this privilege granted provided they adhere to certain restrictions. If truth be told, they are compelled by these restrictions to be at least 3 – 4 feet from any player. If a player does not protect their cards the reporter can catch a glimpse of these. However reporters with integrity have been trained to walk away and they are also not allowed to interfere with the game in any way – even if a player short-pays the prize pot! So there are actually rules in place. If the media disregards the rule they are also banished from the floor.

The second most popularly played form of Texas Hold’em is Pot – Limit. Unlike No-limit pot games, this is a gentleman’s poker game. No-limit pot games are brutish and the player who wins generally needs a good deal of luck and very little skill. They bet with massive stacks of chips and at any time during a hand they are allowed to bet every chip in that hand. This makes for some pretty exciting poker play and some incredibly huge bluffs. 

Fixed Limit and Pot Limit Texas Hold’em is a game of finesse; it is this game which separates the men from the risk-taking boys. The poker is played by exploiting small edges and using timing as well as refined aggression strategy and skills. 

Because this game is Pot Limit, at no point are the players able to place all their chips on the table in a massive display of bravado, but they are allowed to make a maximum bet. The limit rules are set and these have to be adhered to throughout the entire course of play. 

The bet size determines the size of the game and in a $4/$8 game, the small bet is $4 and the big bet is $8. The small blind will be $2 and the big blind – $4. The big blind is always the same size as the small bet. 

The game proceeds as in any Texas Hold ‘em game with bets and raises in increments. These can be placed before the flop as well as on the flop and the increment size is the size of the small bet. So if you were the first to bet, you would place the small bet which in this example is $4, the next player can call or raise and a call would mean they also place a bet of $4. A raise on the other hand would be the call of $4, plus another increment of $4. The raise is now $8, and the next call may be also $8, but the following player may decide to raise and his wager would be the call of $8, plus $4 raise, equaling $12. And so the game would go! 

In Fixed-limit holdem games there is a capped amount, so the raising is not allowed to go on interminably. Most typically the bet can be raised four or even five times before it is capped. House rules of each game will tell you what the capped amount is. Capping the bets means that the players no longer have the option to raise but they can still call until the next street is dealt.  

This has the affect of increasing the prize pot and a good poker player with a winning hand should be skilled enough to keep the other players on the table calling until he is happy with the size of the prize! 

If you are playing Pot-Limit poker, this actually means although you are unable to put all your chips into the prize pot at any point in the game. You are still able to bet the same amount as is already in the prize pot at the correct time. This is a maximum bet and it includes all the chips in the pot, all the bets on the table and any call the wagerer would make before raising.