PZ 76: Yaser Al-Keliddar Beats Captive Audience

Dean is unleashed this week and talks with a familiar face, east coast tournament grinder, limit player, and general smart-ass Yaser Al-Keliddar. If you’re on the tournament joyride, you know Yaser or should get to know him – he’s a great table presence. In today’s pod, Al-Keliddar recounts his rough introduction to the game involving the Trump Taj, a reluctant vehicle, and his parents. It’s all downhill from that, of course, and his Hendon has grown impressive – including a coveted WSOP bracelet.

Yaser plays in Dean’s Charlestown games and gives us the downlow, in case you, too, are lost and end up there. (Dean will occasionally interview players in his area – here’s Chase Bianchi.

I myself met Al-Keliddar in my tournament reporting days, where I ingratiated myself by telling him his name was funny, and soon we collaborated on this gem. For some reason, they don’t want me back at Borgata.

Stuff Dean mentions in the pod:

Standup routine on YouTube

Day 1a WPTDS Maryland Chip Leader – Yaser Al Keliddar interview

Here’s a selection from an interesting old article, “In Defense of Limit Poker”

Limit Poker Opens Door to More Poker Games

Fourth, if you get interested in Limit play you will suddenly discover a lot of other poker games that are only played with fixed stakes. In recent months I’ve become a big fan of Stud, Stud/8 and Razz. It all began when I started playing in H.O.R.S.E. tournaments and discovered that most of my opponents do not know how to play the Stud games.

In fact, the discrepancy in skill here is so great that I’ve hit on a workable strategy, which I offer to you free of charge. During the Hold ‘em and Omaha/8 rounds, only play premium starting hands and never draw to anything but the nuts (always good advice in Omaha/8 where even the nuts can get you quartered).

Try to break even here and build your stacks on the Stud rounds. To get you started on your education, try:

Stud: Konstantin Othmer’s Seven Card Stud – that’s right, “Othmer.” You almost certainly never heard of him, which is good because your opponents won’t have either. It’s the best book on Stud I’ve seen.

Stud/8: Todd Brunson’s chapter in his Daddy’s Super System 2.

Razz: The chapter in David Sklansky’s Sklansky on Poker and Linda Johnson’s chapter in Championship Stud co-authored with Max Stern and Tom McEvoy.

I’ve had so much fun in these tournaments that I’m now putting in more hours playing cash Stud games. Not only has it been good for the bankroll, it has been good psychologically.