Vegas for Low-Limit Professionals Part 3

In part three of three in my guide to Vegas, I'll cover all the things you can spend your roll on when you're not playing the game.

Vegas offers some of the world's best entertainment. It would be a shame to make a trip to the city without enjoying some of the world-class entertainment it has to offer. The only problem with all this grandeur is the sizable dent it puts into your roll. A night out in Vegas can quickly become very expensive.

The Shows

Every casino in town has its own show or shows. The casinos will sign big names such as Jerry Seinfeld, Elton John, Prince, Celine Dion and Tina Turner for weekly appearances. On top of the concerts and comedy, you'll have Cirque du Soleil, cabaret and magic shows to choose from.

You could see a different high-quality show every day of the week. At around $100 a ticket, it can get expensive to see everything you'd like. These shows truly are one of a kind, and I recommend you get yourself into a seat for at least one of them.

The Shopping

I'm not a shopper. I avoid malls like the plague and have a hard time spending more than 10 minutes inside a store. That said trick cards, the shopping in Vegas is amazing. The forum shops at Caesars give you a chance to try on shirts that cost more than my first car. Armani, Donna Karen, Gucci... even a non-shopper like me can appreciate high-quality goods.

The Great Outdoors

Believe it or not, there is actually an outdoors to Vegas as well. Most of you will spend 98% of all your time indoors in the city, but there's a lot to do out in the surrounding Mojave Desert.

Golf: It's no secret that lots of poker players are also big fans of golf. Vegas offers courses a short cab ride from the strip. It might seem odd to have a lush green course in the middle of a desert, but they do it and do it well.

The other advantage to playing golf in Vegas is you can always find someone willing to play you for your roll. If you're the next Ty Webb, it could be a good place to pick up a few bucks.

Tours: The Grand Canyon and the Hoover Dam make up the majority of the tours you'll find around town. If you've never been, both are worth a look. No better way to see them than in a glass-bottom helicopter.

One thing to keep in mind: It's ridiculously hot all the damn time. You might think to yourself "Wow, I had no problem getting a 1 p.m. tee time in the middle of July!" Unless you're used to 115-degree heat and direct sun, I'd try to keep my skin indoors around this time.

When you're driving down the strip in your air-conditioned cab, you'll have the pleasure of seeing a look akin to "I think my intestines are starting to boil" on the faces of people walking from one casino to the one next door (if you've never been to Vegas, you'll learn that "next door" or "Just one block away" translates into an epic hike).

Once they get to the halfway point you can spot a look of terror, now that they realize they're committed to the task at hand. I try to avoid the outdoors in the state of Nevada between the hours of 9 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Nightclubs

Vegas is in the running for having some of the world's greatest nightclubs. I don't think it's possible to beat L.A., but that doesn't stop them from trying. Between clubs such as Rain, PURE, Tryst, LAX, Tao and Jet you'll be sure to find your fill of drinks, dancing, celebrities and good tunes.

The free drinks theme of the Vegas casino is not continued in the clubs. In fact, it's quite the opposite. I highly recommend you search various Web pages, or ask around, to find out how to get on VIP lists for these clubs. There are multiple levels of VIP, and even being a VIP might still land you a four-hour wait in line.

The only way to be a true playa marked cards is to grease your way in. After greasing the bouncer for a bill, and paying cover, you're now in the club for $130. If you want to be a someone in the club, you're going to need a table. Where else will you bring someone to sit and chill out with you?

To get a table, you have to buy a bottle. A bottle of your favorite booze (Grey Goose, Crown Royal, etc.) will cost from $400-$600. Wait in line, and have a great time for $30 plus your drinks, or be the (wo)man and fork over half a G - your choice.

Gentleman's (and Ladies'!) Clubs

Don't be fooled by the name: women are welcomed and encouraged to partake in the dark seedy world of the gentleman's clubs. As is the way in Sin City, they do everything they can to "class the joint up." The peelers in this town are largely very attractive "normal" women, working in a moderately attractive and "nice" establishment.

You can usually get a free cab to the peelers, as the club will pay the cab for bringing people to its doors. This might seem like a good idea, but it means you will be charged full cover because you arrived in a cab. If you show up on your own steam, you can usually haggle for a reduced fee, if they charge you at all.

Out of all the clubs in the town, my personal favorite is the world-famous Spearmint Rhino. Not only do they have more girls working at any given time than you can keep track of, but you can have a table or seat without having to pay a VIP premium, and the girls all come and sit on your lap to "chat."

You can sit down, have a few drinks, watch some professional dancing and leave, having spent very little. Or you could rock the private dances, and leave having spent a whole heck of a lot - your choice.

If you do decide to pony up for the VIP room at the Rhino, you might find yourself partying with a well-known poker professional. His Mercedes SLR McLaren has been known to be parked out front.

If scantily clad women aren't your thing, how about scantily clad men? The most obvious choice here would be the world-famous Chippendales. Male strippers, and a lounge featuring an all-male serving team "tastefully dressed"... or undressed.

Some ladie friends of mine just returned from Vegas and can't stop rhapsodizing about "The Thunder From Down Under" at the Excalibur. Apparently the show is worth a look or two. They opted for three trips to visit the dancing Aussies.

Do I Feel Lucky? Well Do Ya Punk?

The Gun Store. It's not a short cab ride, but it's well worth it. It still seems odd to me that any adult can hand over their ID to have a guy with arms larger than my thighs hand them back a carbine assault rifle, a magazine and a box of ammo without a single moment of hesitation.

The walls behind the counter are covered in firearms of every variety. From a .45 Dirty Harry Magnum, to a Bonny and Clyde Tommy gun, they have what you want to shoot. If you're from countries with strict gun control, such as Australia, this place will really be a trip for you.

The snub-nosed .45 magnum kicks like a mule. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Flights and Fights

If you're in North America, the continental United States especially, you can find yourself dirt cheap airfare to Vegas. It's not hard to find a flight for $99. Plan ahead a little bit and you can find your way to the action, no problem.

Before you book your flight, you might want to check to see if there are any good fights going down. Many of the biggest boxing matches are held in Vegas, along with a large number of UFC events. Some of the high-profile fights are next-to-impossible to get tickets to, but you never know.

I recommend everyone go to Vegas at least once in their life, whether they gamble or not. It's a city unlike anything you've experienced. If you're a poker player, you have no excuses. Print out this article, book your flight and go have the time of your life.

Posted by: Fiona at 06:42 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 1455 words, total size 9 kb.

Turning Your Hand into a Bluff

The other day I was playing in a $1/$2 game at the local casino when this hand came up.

The UTG player raises to $15. UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 calls; it's folded to the cut-off who calls, as does the button.

The small blind folds and the big blind calls. The flop comes K♠ K♣ 9♥. Everyone checks to the button, who bets $55. It is folded to UTG+2, who shoves all-in.

Everyone folds and he proudly turns over pocket aces. Successfully trapped the field, right?

Wrong. What he did was he turned his pocket aces into a bluff. No worse hand will ever call the check-raise and no better hand is ever going to fold. So effectively his AA is just as good as say five-high.

When you make a bet, you want to do it for a reason.

What reason would our hapless hero have to shove all-in? It wouldn't be a value bet, because he's not very likely to get called by any worse hands.

So that makes it a bluff, meaning he wants to make a better hand fold. Unfortunately for him, there are no better hands, except for triple kings or a full house. None of these is ever going to fold marked poker.

Hence, he turns his hand with decent showdown value into a bluff since the only way he can win is by having his opponent fold.

This is a counterintuitive way to play poker. If you're letting David Sklansky's fundamental theory of poker guide you at the felt, you should be playing your hand the exact same way you would if you knew your opponent's hole cards.

When you think about that in light of the pocket aces hand, would you:

a) Blow everyone out of the hand that didn't contain a king?

or

b) Check-shove into someone who you knew had a king or a full house?

No; of course you wouldn't. So don't go doing the same thing now just because you don't know your opponent's cards.

Effectively it boils down to the same outcome. You're still going to only win marked cards the pot by having everyone fold, and those times you are called you're going to be waaaay behind in a big pot.

To ensure you're not turning your hand into a bluff, you need to be fully cognizant of what it is you're trying to achieve. This isn't always as obvious as check-shoving AA on a KKx board.

Let's look at another example.

You're playing $1/$2 NL, effective stacks $200. Game is tight-aggressive, six-max online. You have A♦ K♦.

You raise to $9 from under the gun. It's folded to the small blind, who calls. (The small blind plays a fairly standard TAG game. He's a winner in the game and you have never seen him do anything too spazzy.)

The big blind folds. The flop comes A♥ 6♦ 7♣. Your opponent checks and you bet $15; your opponent flat-calls. The turn is T♦.

Your opponent now bets $45.

Should you raise? I would argue no. If you raise, what are you hoping to accomplish?

Would it be a raise for value? A tight, solid player is very rarely going to be calling with a worse hand in this spot. Thus if you were to raise it would be to make a better hand fold.

However, there are very few better hands outs there. 6-7 is one, as well as 8-9, and A-T and 66, 77, TT. Of these, not one is going to fold to your turn raise. Meaning if you raise the turn, your hand becomes a bluff.

Whether you call or not is up to you and is situation-dependent. However, here raising is counterproductive.

When you're playing No-Limit Hold'em, you must realize turning a hand with good showdown value into a complete bluff is a grievous error that must be avoided at all costs.

Luckily for you, it is easy to avoid.

If you ask yourself, "Am I raising for value or to get a better hand to fold?" before you act, you'll usually be able to avoid these troublesome situations altogether!

Posted by: Fiona at 03:46 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 693 words, total size 5 kb.

PokerListings to Debut €150k Battle of Malta Tourney

PokerListings.com is proud to announce the launch of the first-ever "Battle of Malta” live tournament to be held at the Portomaso Casino in St. Julian’s, Malta, from Nov. 22-25, 2012.

With €150,000 in guaranteed prize money and just a €550 buy-in, PokerListings’ debut event on the live tournament scene is already set to be one of the most high-value, player-friendly destination tournaments on the market.

"After almost a decade of providing live poker tournament coverage,” PokerListings CEO Martin Carlesund said, "we have a good idea what pokermarked cards players look for in a live event and this one hits those elements.

"With the perfect setting, easy and cheap flights, a stacked lineup of celebrities and poker pros plus built-in media exposure, this is an easy win for mid-stakes players across Europe and especially for the booming poker market in Italy."

Packages are now available to poker site operators for just €1,400. Each includes:

• €500+€50 buy-in to the Main Event
• Four nights’ stay in a deluxe suite at the Five-Star Hilton Malta
• Daily breakfast and dinner buffet
• VIP opening cocktail party at Malta’s renowned Club Twenty Two

Expect a high-profile celebrity host, dozens of giveaways and daily side events, making it a guaranteed win for operators looking to further their brand and poker players looking for a big return on a low-range bankroll.

"I’ve toured the world covering marked card tricks poker tournaments,” says Matthew Showell, Editor-in-Chief of PokerListings.com, "and this event combines the best of the best for the low- to mid-stakes tournament player.”

"The climate’s perfect, beers are cheap, the hospitality will be first-rate and, without a doubt, the side games are the softest you’ll find anywhere. If I wasn’t covering it, I’d be playing it for sure.”

On top of offering packages via online qualifiers or their VIP stores, operators will also have access to exclusive branding opportunities onsite including on the final-table felt and on the high-traffic PokerListings.com tournament coverage section.

Five packages are already available via freeroll and five $10 Battle of Malta tournaments at Titan Poker. For more info and to be eligible to play, check here..

For more information about the Battle of Malta, check out the full Operators information kit or Players information kit.

Posted by: Fiona at 06:21 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 379 words, total size 3 kb.

Most Inspiring Player Naoya Kihara: Use Your Own Style and Enjoy the Game

The question has buzzed around the poker community for a few years now:

How do we bring more recreational players into poker and how do we keep them playing?

For an industry that thrives on new blood much of the focus over the last few years has shifted to the hardcore, full-time grinder.

At PokerListings, our mission has always been a little different. We've always strived to bring and keep new juice cards players to the game, and that's the essence of our first-ever Spirit of Poker Awards.

To celebrate successful players iin poker who also go out of their way to encourage and inspire new players to pick up the game we all love.

We gave out three awards this year - each of which will be presented live at the PokerListings Battle of Malta - but our marquee award is definitely the Most Inspiring Player award.

With big names like Daniel Negreanu, Max Lykov and Marvin Rettenmaier among the nominees Japan's Naoya Kihara might have been considered a longshot to win.

But those who have met him know just how much time, effort and positivity he brings to the game and it certainly wasn't surprising to us to see his name rise to the top.

We're thrilled to call Kihara our 2013 Most Inspiring Player and got his thoughts on the award, his success and how we can keep bringing the game of poker to the world.

PokerListings: You were matched up with some impressive names in the Most Inspiring Player category. How does it feel to win over such a tough field?

Naoya Kihara: I'm very surprised and thrilled to win the award. Now I really feel like the poker community has an interest in the Japanese market. I need to continue sharing how much fun poker is!

PL: Is there anyone in particular you’ve found inspiring in your poker career?

NK: Four years ago when I went to Las Vegas for the first time I played with one Chinese guy. He played 50% of hands and made really good bluffs and value bets. Beforethat,all the good players I played with were tight-aggressive but that was my first time to see a really good loose-aggressive pro.

And last year at ACOP I played with Joseph Cheong in a tournament. At that time, I understood we shouldn't worry too much about giving off implied odds but now I think about odds more correctly.

PL: What piece of advice would you give players (young and old) getting into the game now?

To new players: Play a lot of hands. You should play different kinds of poker also. Two years ago I started playing PLO mainly, which made my NLHE better.

Last year I started 8-game, and I learned how important it is to get thin value from limit games.

To older players: Let's enjoy poker more. You don't need to fit the young players' style too much.

If you've played a 3x open style you don't need to switch to small-ball style, just use your own style and enjoy poker. I think it's the best way.

PL: What does the poker community need to do to keep bringing new players into the game?

NK: We need to show how fun and exciting a game poker is. When people talk about poker, always a lot of the story is about big money.

When new people hear about poker and big money, it can feel daunting and dangerous. But if we play tournaments we can play poker even without big money. We can enjoy this game even with the new player.

PL: What’s one thing we should definitely stop doing?

NK: Beginners sometimes make bad calls and sometimes catch a few outs. After a bad beat some players try to show how bad that call was. These players don't know what a bad thing they're doing.

Poker is just a game and if we keep to the rules, everything is allowed. The beginner made a bad odds call, but he made no "bad action.” People need to stop yelling at our opponents' playing marked cards.

PL: The legal situation for poker in Japan is a bit complex – how hard is it to maintain a professional poker career without much understanding of the game there?

NK: It is really hard to acquire professional skill in Japan with such a small community and live cash games being illegal. If we want to play cash games in Macau or Las Vegas, we need to win much more to pay for hotel and airfare for example.

But after you learn the skills to be a poker pro it isnot as hard to maintain it! Now I have enough skill to win more and pay for hotels and airfare.

Three really good things about being a Japanese poker pro:

• Japanese people don't need visas to travel to a lot of countries.
• Japan is a really safe country, so we don't need to worry about getting robbed.
• Because it is safe we have really a lot of 24-hour shops.

PL: How important/supportive has the Japanese poker community been to your success and can you tell us a bit about it?

NK: The biggest Japanese poker forum 'hyahhoo' is really supportive for me. I got the most votes for this award but I guess many of them are from the 'hyahhoo' forum.

We have a hand review forum there and I always give advice to them but sometimes we have a good discussion that can change my poker game for the better.

PL: What things have you seen both in Japan and on the professional circuit that most inspire new players to pick up the game?

NK: There is Shogi, Igo and Mahjong in Japan and all are popular in Japan. But the rules are so complicated and difficult.

To teach the rules of them it’s more difficult than to teach a beginner all of 8-game. Poker rules are simple and easy. But, of course, to be a good player is really difficult.

And, everybody in every country, people love money! There is a big dream to get a lot of money after our skills go up. I proved this to Japan last year and Moneymaker proved in 2003.

PL: Any thoughts on playing the Battle of Malta? Have you been here before? Any expectations for the tournament?

NK: It is the first time to come here. We are coming to Malta not only for poker but as a honeymoon too. I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of beautiful sights. Especially we want to see the beautiful sea.

PL: Any special words for your fans/family?

NK: Poker is a really exciting game. Let's enjoy this great game together!

Posted by: Fiona at 02:29 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 1161 words, total size 9 kb.

Dan "Jungleman" Cates Drops Stakes for Battle of Malta

Dan "Jungleman" Cates has played in the highest cash games online, earning close to $10 million over the course of his career, so it was surprising when he agreed to come down and play marked cards the PokerListings Battle of Malta.

Event host Kara Scott was just as curious as us so she spoke with Cates to find out what drew him to this particular Mediterranean island.

Keep an eye on our Battle of Malta page for continuing updates as we play down to the first ever Battle of Malta champion.

Posted by: Fiona at 04:05 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 100 words, total size 1 kb.

Photo Blog: WSOP 2013 Main Event Days 4 and 5

It's Day 5 at the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event and PokerListings.com is making it easier than ever to get a look at the action through the magic of photography.

Sure, the written word is a beautiful thing but in this fast-paced rat-race world marked cards who's got the time?

That's why we're using pictures to give you a glimpse of what it's really like at the WSOP Main Event with our latest WSOP Photo Blog.

Check out the pics and make sure to click through to see the innovative gigapixel panoramas we're taking at the World Series.

Posted by: Fiona at 02:28 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 110 words, total size 1 kb.

How Bitcoin is Making a Few Average Poker Players Rich

Online poker has long been the bane of existence for tax-hungry, powerful politicians around the world.

Even in nations that are labeled as "free,” you better believe that performing the unthinkable act of playing Hold’em in the privacy of your home can make you a hardened criminal worthy of a SWAT team visit.

Though, as all players know, it’s not the game the lawmakers are after; it’s the money.

This is why Bitcoin are a thorn in the side of every politico marked cards from California to Caracas. The cryptocurrency is digitally signed for and exists over a massive decentralized network of computers.

It’s not Fed-controlled; it’s not accounted for by the EU. It was created out of thin air, in a sense, and belongs to the people – not the powers that be.

And when Bitcoin and poker join forces, it truly changes the game.

How Bitcoin is Revolutionizing the Online Game

Poker players, in a lot of ways, speak their own language. But they’ve never had their own currency.

Until now, anyway. Bitcoin speaks its own language, too, and it’s indecipherable.

Using terms like giga-hashers, Bitcoin mining, cryptography, DPS, SHA 256, and other technical jargon that even some computer science majors at MIT can’t understand, Bitcoin have made it nearly impossible for currency to be traced, tracked or taxed.

Think of Bitcoin like a hack-around -- not like a basic currency which involves banking. It operates in the P2P atmosphere, like the latest Nicolas Cage straight-to-video release. But it doesn’t take a mind able to comprehend Bitcoin to understand how it's changing the game of poker.

Instead of having to deal with banks and creditors to make deposits you simply deal in Bitcoin – unregulated, unmarred 1s and 0s created through mining.

A Bitcoin poker site, like SealsWithClubs, works by paying in placeholders rather than actual money. There was a standing policy (subject to change) that 1,000 SWC chips was equal to 1 Bitcoin, and you could find someone hanging around the lobby or the forum to help you cash out.

Again: P2P, not banks and governments and regulations.

Bitcoin isn’t a poker-specific currency, of course, but it has changed the online game dramatically and other poker sites are popping up using SWC’s formula.

An Explosion of Riches

Since Bitcoin aren’t a recognized currency, and since most people who know infrared inkabout their value kind of have the "shoot, shovel and shut-up” mentality regarding their worth, not many people come forward with tales of riches.

However, there are many examples – some of which you can even see unfold in front of your face in real-time.

For instance, SWC used to host freerolls every hour back when a whole Bitcoin was only worth a couple of bucks. Players joining the site for $0, and joining tournaments for $0, could earn around 10-50 SWC chips for a final-table finish.

Getting some chips for free many players would then venture to the sit-n-go tables where they would accumulate more chips. Once you reached 1,000 chips, you had a Bitcoin.

Since Bitcoin weren’t valued highly, many players just held on to their chips, stockpiled them, and then had coins transferred into their digi-wallets.

A few months ago, when Bitcoin started to skyrocket in price, some people woke up to great news. Those Bitcoin they paid nothing for and earned through average-level poker now gave them thousands upon thousands of dollars.

While some people only had one or two, others had stockpiled hundreds of Bitcoin, and many players on these poker sites are still stockpiling them, using poker to earn them rather than buying expensive algorithm-breaking Bitcoin mining hardware.

Hardware is still the way to create them. Mining is more popular than ever. But with poker sites using Bitcoin as currency now we’re seeing a lot of average people with poker skills becoming legitimately rich.

Posted by: Fiona at 07:50 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 653 words, total size 5 kb.

When Not to Continuation Bet

In this day and age, you'd be hard-pressed to find a poker player who doesn't know what a continuation bet is.

The upsides of the c-bet are obvious: you take advantage of the initiative you gained by raising before the flop and carry it over to the flop with another bet.

Often, you'll win the pot without a fight - making the continuation bet a great tool in a poker marked cards player's arsenal.

Where you start running into problems, though, is when you start automatically c-betting every single time you raise before the flop.

Yes, continuation betting is profitable. But not when you do it every single time. There needs to be a middle ground or else you become predictable and, ultimately, exploitable.

So when should you not continuation bet?

Against Multiple Callers

If you raise before the flop and are then called by multiple opponents, your continuation bet will rarely, if ever, work. The more players in the pot, the greater the chance you'll be called in one or more spot(s).

A continuation bet, by definition, is a mini-bluff using the fold equity you've gained by being the pre-flop raiser.

With more players in the pot, your fold equity diminishes and you will be called more often. When there is a high likelihood of you being called, you're better off betting made hands than making bluffs.

Against Calling Stations

For the reasons discussed above, when you find yourself up against calling stations you should frequently be c-betting less. As the old adage goes, you can't bluff a calling station.

Now, that isn't to say you should give it up completely. You need to take your particular opponent into consideration before deciding your optimal play.

If your calling-station opponent is the type to peel the flop very lightly, but then frequently fold to a turn bet, then absolutely, keep continuation betting the flop.

Just be ready to fire another barrel on the turn! These are some of the most profitable players to play against.

Calling stations love to call, so let them. But bet a higher mix of your good hands and keep your bluffs and continuation bets to a minimum.

On a Highly Draw-y Board

Some flops are better than others for continuation bets. If your opponents hit the flop, they're more likely to call. So think about your opponents' range - if the bulk of it nails the flop, you're best off forgoing the continuation bet.

If the board is super draw-y, something like 7♥ 8♥ 5♦, you should almost always be less likely to fire a c-bet with nothing. That's because draw-y boards almost always give your opponent something to like.

If you regularly c-bet this type of board, you're regularly flushing money down the drain.

Remember Your Perceived Range, Too

Try and get into your opponent's shoes. Think about what he thinks you have. If it appears the flop is unlikely to have helped you, you should be less inclined to continuation bet.

An example: you raise from MP and get called by a player on the button. The flop comes 3♥ 3♦ 2♠. Your bet isn't going to be given respect because the vast majority of the time you will have missed marked cards this flop completely.

Continuation bets work most often when flops come that look like they would help a pre-flop raiser.

When You Are Out of Position

As always in poker, if you are out of position, things become more difficult.

If you make a habit out of continuation betting and then giving up when called, your opponents will take notice. They will start calling your raises in position, calling your flop bet and just taking the pot away from you on the turn.

If your pre-flop raise is called in position by a tricky opponent, you should generally c-bet less often. It is already tricky to play a pot out of position, and against a tough player it only becomes even more difficult.

When you are in position things become easier because you can more accurately gauge your opponent's hand strength. This means you can continuation bet more often, because you can more confidently fire second barrels when your opponent checks to you on the turn.

When you're out of position you are left guessing, and often end up being forced to check-fold when your continuation bet fails on the flop.

The Recurring Theme

Obviously there is a recurring theme here. The determining factor in whether or not you should fire a continuation bet or not is fold equity.

Simply put, the greater your fold equity is, the greater the likelihood that your opponent will fold, the more you should c-bet.

Once you lose that fold equity, continuation betting ceases being profitable. So stop trying to win every single pot that you've raised before the flop. It's never going to happen.

Take a minute; analyze the board texture, your opponent and his range, and your perceived range.

If all signs point to c-bet, then c-bet.

Posted by: Fiona at 07:59 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 840 words, total size 6 kb.

Daily 3-Bet: Big durrrr Issues, Gold Brands Again, Stars > Strategy

The PokerListings Daily 3-Bet is a baritone voiceover, a sax-heavy score and a tear-jerking montage that draws you right in to the afternoon poker news movie of the week.

Got a tip for a future 3-Bet? Drop a note in the comments and we'll gladly take a look.

Today in the 3-Bet we find Tom "durrrr" Dwan alluding to "issues" between himself and Full Tilt Poker, Jamie Gold showing his name still carries a lot of poker marked cards lenses weight and Daniel Negreanu pleads for more backstory, less strategy in poker coverage.

1) Tom Dwan: "Issues" with Full Tilt

In the midst of the "poker is dying" uproar from Australia last week this caused less of a stir but another big-name in poker in Tom "durrrr" Dwan also dropped some big news to the Bluff magazine cameras.

Appearing particularly bleary-eyed after an all-night session durrrr alluded to mysterious "issues" that led to his departure from Full Tilt Poker and, he says, that are making it difficult to complete his durrrr Challenge with Dan "Jungleman12" Cates.

He'll speak about it more marked cards soon when he's not runnng on three hours sleep, he said.

An email from a Full Tilt rep said the site is not ready to comment on the situation. Here's the interview from Australia:

2) Jamie Gold Brands Again

Despite recent discussions to the contrary 2006 WSOP Main Event champ Jamie Gold is still very much one of the most recognizable - and brandable - names in poker. Maybe not an "ambassador" per se, but undoubtedly a very, very popular name in poker.

Case in point: Even with a disappointing end to his Jamie Gold Poker Room at the Tropicana in Vegas Island Breeze Casinos will now carry the Gold name with a new JG Poker Room opening in Palm Beach, Florida:

3) Negreanu: In with Back Stories, Out with Strategy

We have a feeling this "poker is dying" story will linger for a while but in the interim Daniel Negreanu, perhaps the most vocal/accurate barometer of poker's mainstream pulse, suggests we look to the ongoing Olympics to lead us back to the TV promised land:

Posted by: Fiona at 03:40 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 370 words, total size 3 kb.

Poker: It's About Decisions, Not Results

The point of view expressed in the title of this piece is, I have always believed, so obviously true that no sensible poker player could doubt it.

However, the other day I reiterated it to a not-quite-awful player sitting on my left.

He looked at me like I had just arrived from some other strange, foreign place - perhaps Planet Matusow - and opined, rather unpleasantly:

"What in the f**king world are you talking about? Poker is about results, poker marked cards is about money. That is it. That is all it is."

What Really Counts?

This perspective is pretty common among today's players.

You hear comments like, "Well, I haven't played with her enough to really know but she usually seems to be sitting behind a bunch of chips."

Or, "Yeah, I know that was a mistake but the only thing that counts is that I won the pot."

Or, "You may not like the way I play, but I've got more chips than you do."

Well, there are some minor truths buried in remarks like these.

And, of course, that original crack from the guy on my left is both quite right and quite wrong.

But, and this is the interesting part, his remark is right in utterly uninteresting ways but wrong in deep and profound ones.

If you don't appreciate the distinction, you'll never become a solid player.

So, a short exegesis on decision-making versus results.

Focus on Money Misses the Point

Every hand in poker is going to confront you with a number of decisions, from initial choices to fold, call or raise, to the wildly complex and gut-wrenching ones that put your entire stack at risk.

In the long run, how you fare will be primarily determined by the decisions that you make.

Yes, of course, we all play for money.

Yes, of course, the final results logged in our records (you do keep records, don't you?) dictate how well we are doing.

And, yes, of course, those who are winning players know this because they have more money than they would have if they weren't playing poker.

But this focus on results, on money, misses the point.

Look for the Underlying Cause

Let's take an analogy from science.

In the sciences, the search is always to find the cause of an effect, the underlying reason why something happens.

More often than we scientists would like, we get sidetracked because we think we've found the "real" cause and stop searching.

Suppose you keep having headaches.

You do a lot of careful experiments and discover that if you take aspirin as soon as the first pains appear the headaches go away.

So, you conclude, not totally wrongly, that aspirin cures headaches.

However, you don't really know why aspirin does this, and that is the important question.

If you were to look more deeply you might discover that aspirin has anti-inflammatory effects and anti-inflammatory drugs cure headaches - a fact that would become critical were you to develop an allergic reaction to aspirin.

You could then seek out some trick cards other anti-inflammatory, and continue to garner the benefits.

See the point?

In poker, if you focus too intensely on immediate results, on money won and lost, you will be doing the same thing.

And the same kind of unhappy outcomes can result.

New Environments Call for New Tactics

How does that happen? Easy.

Two wild, aggressive players sit down at your table and the game takes on a new cast.

You visit another cardroom where the style of play is different.

You move up (or down) in stakes and confront games that have a tempo and structure alien to the one you're used to.

In each case your results will likely change because the decisions you're making are no longer optimal.

It's as though the side effects of aspirin were now getting to you. But if you appreciate the anti-inflammatory factor, life will be fine. Switch to ibuprofen.

In the new game, make different decisions.

Short-Term Focus, Long-Term Pain

Here's a bit of solid advice.

Cut back on the amount of emphasis you put on your short-term results.

If you're typical of most players you're probably worrying too much about what you've lost in recent sessions or being too narcissistic based on how much you're ahead.

Focus, instead, on the decisions you're making.

If you make the right decisions more often than your opponents and commit fewer errors than they do, in the long run the results will take care of themselves.

If you play tournaments this advice is even more useful.

Tournaments have a larger luck factor than cash games. The blinds go up, which puts pressure on everyone to play hands they might prefer to pass on.

The "short-stack" problem forces players to make the all-in move with less-than-wonderful hands. And, of course, much of the game turns on coin-flip situations where if you lose you're gone.

Consequently, even the very best tournament players can go weeks, months, years without much success.

If you look just at their bottom line, at the amount of money won in some relatively short time frame (and yes, a year is a short time for tournament players), you might begin to think that they've lost their edge or haven't kept up with the game, or something.

Perhaps they have, perhaps not.

The answer will almost certainly turn out to be based on their decision-making.

Overall Approach, Not How Much You're Up or Down

Of course, finding the balance isn't easy because there is that grain of truth in the comment of the unpleasant gentleman on my left.

Indeed, the money counts; it is the ultimate coin of the realm, the final arbiter of how good a player you are. But if you focus on making the right decisions, you'll be okay.

At the end of the day, don't worry too much about what you won or lost.

Go over decisions that you made. Replay difficult hands in your head; analyze them.

Look over situations where you might have played differently.

Assess the soundness of what you actually did. Honest analysis of decisions made will get you a lot further than basking in the glow of a big win or stewing over a loss.

Posted by: Fiona at 06:36 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 1079 words, total size 9 kb.

Know Thyself: Post-Flop Play Part VI

This is the final installment in our discussion of the psychological nuances of No-Limit Hold'em - the game designed to be played after the flop.

In the early years when few played NLH, the conventional wisdom was only to see a flop with a premium hand.

David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth became the most respected marked cards teachers in the game because they understood this principle first and developed it to a higher degree than anyone else.

Obviously, this is no longer the case. Players now open with a far wider range of hands than they used to. They will raise and call raises with hands that your "standard" poker text-books tell you should be mucked.

Three-bets, even four-bets, have become routine and often made with a wide range of holdings.

The more successful of the modern players know and understand post-flop play deeply and as long as they sense that they have an edge after the cards hit the board, they will want to see flops.

And it isn't just the world-class pros. The new generations of Internet players are rapidly developing these skills. They are sitting down in $1-$2 and $2-$5 NL games and they can make you squirm in your seat.

Even if you know the post-flop strategic gambits we've covered in previous columns, employing them isn't easy.

Many call for more aggression; others require taking more risks and establishing looser calling criteria. All increase variance, a factor that will impact you on two interlocking psychological planes: your emotional well-being and your bankroll.

Emotions: Emotional states have a far greater impact on the "bottom line" than most players realize. High levels of emotional arousal are, for most of us, not good.

Arousal is a stressor; stressors elevate blood pressure, cause hormonal and neurotransmitter imbalances, compromise decision making and make us feel, in a word, shitty.

When you first begin to use some of the ploys we've discussed you're likely to find them less than satisfactory. They aren't going to work every time (duh!) and when they don't they're going to cost you. Mistakes become expensive.

Trying to fight what you suspect is a c-bet with a check-raise is going to cost you a chunk of change if your opponent hit the flop.

If this possibility concerns marked card tricks you, the best approach is to avoid ploys that call for excessive aggression. This will help keep variance down and your emotions in check.

Begin with ones that reduce the post-flop difficulties rather than those that increase them and introduce the others only gradually. This approach will help at first, but it has an acknowledged down side: opponents will suss you out and you won't get much action when you have a hand.

Over time you should find yourself getting better at handling the larger swings. If not, there's usually a limit table waiting for you.

Bankroll: You have to be sufficiently 'rolled to go down this road. Even after you've dealt with the emotional elements you still have to deal with the financial. Playing more hands and playing them more aggressively means you need a bigger base or you're liable to 'get broke.'

Bankroll issues have been discussed to death although, alas, not always very insightfully. As Kristin (one of the more insight folks in our poker discussion group) notes, there are "playing 'rolls" and there are "life 'rolls."

For a pro, these are the same --- like the asset base of the green grocer on the corner. If you lose it, you're out of business or trying to raise another stake.

But for most of us they are different. Our bankroll is a much squishier thing because our game is actually funded from outside.

For the typical, online recreational player it goes like this: You buy in for XX dollars. That's your playing 'roll. If you lose it, you click on the deposit button and --- viola, you have a new 'roll. Live play is similar but the button is on the ATM.

How much you buy in for, how much the new stake is, how much you can lose without hurting yourself, whether to move up if you start accumulating cash in your account, when to pull out the profits --- these and a host of other questions are not ones that I, or anyone else, can answer.

Only you can answer them and you can only do so for yourself.

My counsel? I fall back on that old, hackneyed line: "Know thyself." Know the level of risk you can deal with psychologically, understand what your comfort level is, filter these issues through basic parameters like your age, your other responsibilities, your non-poker income.

Bankroll management is tricky and it is personal. And I am rarely happy when I read the advice others offer.

So, that's it from this end. I appreciate that a lot of the strategy covered was more relevant to cash games than tournaments. I also recognize that most of it dealt with live play rather than online.

It also focused primarily on Hold 'em. Space was limited and, I suspect, so is your patience.

Posted by: Fiona at 04:09 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 869 words, total size 6 kb.

Suited Connectors

Suited connectors (or sc) are sequential cards of the same suit such as 87s, QJs, and AKs. Their their value mainly comes from hitting strong draws and hands like two pair, and depending on the type marked cards of suited connector, you can still be in good shape when just hitting a one pair hand. One gap suited connectors such as T8s, QTs, J9s, and A3s are two cards of the same suit with one gap between them. Suited one gappers are also very playable.

EXAMPLE "I like to play suited connectors against multiple opponents when I can expect to get paid off on my big hands.”

Posted by: Fiona at 06:48 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 109 words, total size 1 kb.

ATM

English term for ATM. In poker, it describes marked cards players (often a Donkey) who consistently lose money.

EXAMPLE "Today’s cash game session was different then the one I was ATM’ing the night before.”

Posted by: Fiona at 09:55 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 35 words, total size 1 kb.

Introduction To Online Poker Rooms – Find The Best Places To Play

I have played poker on the Internet for almost 5 years. During this time I have become familiar with all the major poker rooms that operate on the Internet, and quite a lot of the lesser know ones.

There are a many guides to online poker rooms, however, most of them are written for people who already play online and are familiar with how things work. I have written this guide for new marked cards players to help you get started playing online with as little hassle as possible.

The fact is there are hundreds of different poker rooms that offer play over the internet, however, most of them offer exactly the same thing, just wrapped differently. The reason is that there are only a handful of companies who have created software clients that let you play poker on the Internet. If you’re a beginner to any game, you should first make sure you find out how to play poker well so you can beat the weaker players at your table.

Most poker rooms rent the software from those companies, and are essentially just franchises, who all offer the same thing, except offer different promotions. In many ways it is similar to McDonalds. You may see some small differences between a McDonalds in New York and one in Paris, but their BigMacs are still identical. It’s the same product, just with different packaging.

As a new player I think that you should stick to playing at the big poker rooms. They are much easier to use than the smaller ones, since they can afford to spend more money improving their poker products that you use to play in order to stay ahead of the competition. In addition they also tend to have better support, traffic, and faster payouts.

Here’s an introduction to the worlds 2 biggest online poker rooms below.

PokerStars – The Worlds Biggest Poker Room

If you’re looking for a new place to play marked cards lenses poker online I highly recommend that you create an account and start out playing at PokerStars. I their poker software (that you use to play through) is by far the best available today. It is both easy to use, and offers an abundance of features, including the ability to choose among a lot of different cards and tables to play at. Poker Stars is widely regarded as being the best poker site for playing poker online. In fact, they soon will be celebrating the milestone of the 100 Billionth hand being dealt.

While design and easy of use are of course important the single most attractive feature that PokerStars has to offer are their support. In all my years playing poker, I have never encountered a better support department than the one at PokerStars.

Full Tilt Poker – The Second Largest Poker Room

Full Tilt Poker isn’t the size of PokerStars but still features plenty of action in a wide variety of poker games. They sponsor three of the best high stakes cash game professional poker players, so if you would like to play at the same site as people like Tom Dwan, Viktor Blom and Gus Hansen, you should go to Full Tilt Poker.

They are also known for hosting the very biggest cash games on the Internet, which can be quite entertaining to watch. It’s not uncommon to see pots approach $200-300k. So you may consider downloading Full Tilt Poker, even if you are just going to watch the games (you don’t have to create an account in order to do so).

Compared with PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker’s software are almost as good, and there are a lot of people who prefer Full Tilt’s software, simply because they like how it looks, with its cartoon like animated avatars and the relaxed atmosphere this creates at the tables.

Posted by: Fiona at 03:35 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 650 words, total size 4 kb.

Straight Draw

A drawing hand, which has a combination of cards or one card missing to form a straight. It is also known as an "open-ended straight draw”, "inside straight draw” or "gutshot".

EXAMPLE "I was dealt T8 and flopped an open ended straight draw when 7-9-5 showed up on board.”

Posted by: Fiona at 06:19 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 51 words, total size 1 kb.

The Deluxe Poker and Blackjack Poker Table Top – A Review

The Deluxe Poker and Blackjack Poker Table Top is a product that I really enjoy.  It has got so much to offer whether as a gift or for your own personal amusement.

First of all this is a 2 in 1 Poker Table Top.  It is ideal for the aspiring professional Poker Player equally so the amateur Poker marked cards Player who enjoys to play the game of poker with his or her family and friends in a fun and friendly atmosphere. 

It is ideal for Poker fun nights at your home or your friend's home.  The Deluxe Poker and Blackjack Poker Table Top offers you a quality and exquisitely felt covered playing surface on both sides for the enjoyment of up to 8 players. 

One side of this Poker Table Top offers the Poker Player gives the players an opportunity to play an assortment of Poker Games.  Complete with individual Poker Chip holders and cup holders for each player this adds to the tension and overall feel to a game of poker, making the atmosphere feel more conducive to gambling, creating a casino ambience.

The other side offers the Poker Player an opportunity to play Blackjack on a felt surface designed with Las Vegas style markings.   An added convenience when turning the Poker Table Top over is that the Poker Chip holders and cup holders can be reversed, fitting comfortably back into their allotted spaces, so need to sacrifice that casino feel. 

Given its size (48' by 48') and weight (26lbs) the Deluxe Poker and Blackjack Table Top can be placed infrared ink on almost any surface without any hassle or inconvenience.  My friends have used it to set up games in such places as their kitchens, garages, sheds, lounges and garden table (in the summer of course).

Though slightly heavier than other Poker Table Tops this doesn't impact on its suitability to be put on any surface.   In fact this can be seen as an advantage as the extra weight helps reduces the possibility of the product tipping during play. 

Another advantage to the Deluxe Poker and Blackjack Poker Table Top is that it is a Folding Poker Table Top making it easy to store away in a place of your liking and convenience.  With it being a folding surface this makes it easier to store away and keep out of sight when it is not in use.   

This product also comes with a carry case allowing the owner to carry the Poker Table Top with ease.  Furthermore this cover makes storage of the Poker Table Top even easier as if it wasn't easy enough already. 

To say the Deluxe Poker and Blackjack Poker Table Top is a good product would be an understatement.  This product offers the owner and their playing colleagues comfort and a smooth professional playing surface on which to enjoy a great number of poker games on one side while a marked surface, specifically for a game of Blackjack.  Add to this the convenience this product affords the owner and you have a great little product.

Posted by: Fiona at 04:45 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 523 words, total size 4 kb.