Plenty of hotties on show last year

Can anyone tell me about the European Masters of Poker - I'd never heard of it until recently but it seems to be a big event with big prize-pools. Are they good value and/or well run?

There are ones coming up to Barcelona and Malta, which both sound appealing. 

I've done it before.  Trying to think who the villain was too.  Think I called, as the chips went in I said "I know there's no point in raising as you can't possibly call the raise, I'd rather get to see what hand you stood the flop action with."

Think it might have been Tikay, not sure though.  He won't be able to remember anyway so I'll say it was.

Did I disadvantage the table?  Possibly.  Did the table have fun when he rolled over no pair no draw? Oh yes.

World of difference between a noob not realising the should be getting it in and a player that doesn't want to take chips off his wife/flat mate/%swap etc.

If someone calls you when you've got nothing, can you simply muck the cards, or are you obliged to show?

There are situations in tournament poker in which it would be a clear strategic error for you to bet/raise with the nuts on the river.

You are on the bubble. As the big stack you have been bullying the table relentlessly and increasing your stack steadily without ever seeing a flop. The entire table is playing far too tight as they are all trying to sneak into the money, and you have been relentlessly exploiting this. In this situation you want the bubble to continue for as long as possible, and it is actually detrimental to your EV if someone gets knocked out. The reason for this is, of course, that you are likely to be able to increase your chip stack even further if the bubble lasts longer, giving you an even greater chance to win the tournament when the bubble does eventually burst.

You have the nuts on the river. You are hu in the pot against a super short stack. He bets 2/3 of his stack. If you raise he will very likely call and will bust out of the tourney. At that point the bubble will burst, and some of your edge will go down since now your opponents will have made the money and will start to play more optimally. Therefore, raising would be a -EV play. It is in your interest to keep the bubble going longer and this is the only way to do it. In fact, if the short stack had pushed all-in on the river you should probably fold your hand. The EV you would gain from the bubble lasting longer is likely greater than the EV you gain from hoovering up the last of the short stack's chips.

Now granted, this exact situation is not likely to come up in a pure form in practice. However, variations based on its underlying principle  will definitely occur. Clearly a player who chooses not to bet the nuts on the river (or even to fold the nuts) in this sort of spot can be doing so purely for strategic reasons intended to increase his chances of winning the tournament. So the rule that this should not be allowed is wrong imho.

If people are genuinely smart enough to be folding the nuts for strategic advantage in tournaments then my plans to try to satellite into my first major live tournament are on hold! Scary

Yeah he's allowed to do that. In the same way you're allowed to pick up a chair and break it over his back.

Now that's a poker rule I like!

where was this game? presumably it was self dealt?

Yes, self dealt - at the Empire Casino in London. He had a friend who nodded in agreement when he protested his innocence and so I moaned / called him a cheat for a minute but let it go. Perhaps I should have called the card room guy over for a ruling - wonder what their policy is. Ok, well, older and wiser.

Ah, constructive stuff. Thanks

Really? So I was an idiot for not waiting until he released the chips?!

Not sure if I fell for the oldest poker trick in the book, but is this player wily or a cheat?

In a live cash-game on the big blind I get 2 callers. I have  and just check. The flop is:   . The early position caller raises to £5 (blinds 0.50/£1), the second caller folds and I flat call. On the turn ( ) he raises to £8 and I flat call. He now has just £25 remaining. On the river ( ) he moves the rest of his chips over the line silently. I announce call instantly, upon which he says "what? I haven't bet yet" then pulls the chips back towards him. I then announce all in and he passes. He's a cheat...right?! When I told him he was he said he was just looking for my reaction before deciding what to do - is that even allowed?

blimey

Should Greenstein have put down his aces (top pair) on that flop after the massive re-raise? I'd have thought I was behind to trips, but the best he could surely hope for was what he got (a flip, which he lost)?