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Monday, September 25, 2006
Get a hold over your poker opponents
When reads are right the player seems like a magician, especially as they present it on television where you can see the hole cards. The problem is that the shows are edited and you are seeing dramatic moments, not the whole play. Furthermore you are likely in a game-show atmosphere at a short table with the blinds increasing rapidly. In this situation many players are getting creative and overplaying random hands in an effort to beat the clock and make good television [both]. What I am attempting to say here is that a lot of sexy moves made at the poker table are actually driven by the math of the situation, not by incredible reads and amazing actions. A lot of times we, as players, get the door when we make a mistake in our reads. Numerous times in each tournament it becomes key to make the right decision—not that you will win every one, but to give yourself a fighting chance you have to have a sense of where you stand vis a vis your opponent. If you are a television watcher you do not see these mistaken reads very often. The oversized bet is an interesting weapon and can be another useful tool for the professional player and has become much more of an option for every player in these past few years. Gavin Smith had an important insight about that this past August when he mentioned how much he loved bets that could only be called by hands that had them beat. My favorite quote on this subject was at the WPPA tournament at the Orleans a few years ago when Chip Jett was asked what he thought about Jim McManus's alleged play of moving all-in at the first level (50,000 in chips are given for the 25,000 buy-in at the WPT championship event) with AA over tiny blinds. Chip responded, "Why not? Aces are not part of my plan for gathering chips anyway." It stings when an amateur nails me with this play, but seldom shocks me. If you are someone I have never seen before it might work for you too! One reason I have a hard time beating 'weakies' is that I always think they are thinking. Some players just seem to beat certain other players consistently. I know that Dennis Waterman holds over John Juanda, Layne Flack, Barry Greenstein, and Tom Franklin, but that Billy Duarte, Scotty Nguyen, Paul Wolfe, Alan Cunningham, and John Cernuto hold over him. What do I mean when I say "hold over"? Well the answer is that it usually means that what you hold beats what they hold and so the skill might be in getting as many chips into the pot as possible, but then again it can also mean that you know what they have, what they are thinking, and what your best move is to counteract their strategy. In all cases "holding over" someone is a very good thing. Whereas if someone "holds over" you, you are in trouble! D.Waterman
Online Poker Kingpin Free: Louisiana Prosecutors Don't Have Dicks!
(Louisiana Prosecutors' Need Publicity? Guess that must be what this is about or else they don't have enough rapists, murderers and crack dealers to keep the Louisiana Prosecutors and state courts busy...)
Peter Dicks, the former chairman of online gaming giant Sportingbet, has been released from New York State custody, as the Louisiana extradition warrant was considered by a judge to be too weak to hold him in custody.The decision came from Judge Gene Lopez in a Queens criminal court late yesterday. In what appears to be a move to focus specifically on his legal troubles, Dicks resigned as chairman of Sportingbet yesterday as well.According to a UK news site www.timesonline.uk, the state of Louisiana has issued over 50 similar arrest warrants for executives from Internet gambling companies that have clients within the state’s boundaries. Reports indicate that warrants have been issued specifically for board members of companies like PartyPoker and 888 Holdings.Dicks was originally arrested by the Port Authority Police Department and later freed on $50,000 bail while awaiting a court decision on the legality of his detainment.
Atomik Poker, a brand new Prima Poker site, will set up a $100 freeroll for PokerNation and add the following promotion:
Play 200 hands and recieve 50% match to what you win in the tournament in your account. Play 500 hands and recieve a 100% match to what you win in the tournament in your account.Play 1000 hands and recieve a 200% match to what you win in the tournament deposited into your account
Check the professor77.com forum for date/time & password
Not only is poker good for you, it's the American way, where winners play fair, have the right stuff, and nothing else matters, except, perhaps, a bit of luck every now and then.Lou Krieger
Poker is a microcosm of all we admire and disdain about capitalism and democracy. It can be rough-hewn or polished, warm or cold, charitable and caring, or hard and impersonal, fickle and elusive, but ultimately it is fair, and right, and just. ~L.K.
First ParadisePoker.Com Million Final Table in Costa Rica (L-R: Lee-Hugo-Me)
If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if not now, when? Leon Pinsker
PokerNation Freeroll 9pm EST Fridays at AtomikPoker & Saturdays at TitanPoker
Understand all of the potential consequences of your actions so that you may properly balance the competing goals of survival and chip accumulation.Every time the action passes to you whether it is to bet, check, raise, or fold, any action or inaction you choose will have consequences.Therefore, it is imperative that you consider all of the consequences prior to making a decision.In no limit hold âem tournaments, a failure to consider all of the consequences can be fatal.If you make a substantial semi-bluff bet from early position after the flop, you must know what you will do in the event of a re-raise.Any tournament strategy should revolve around two main driving forces â chip accumulation and survival.These two forces will frequently be at odds with each other because in order to survive, you must protect your chips and in order to advance, you must accumulate chips.Therein lies the paradox of tournament poker.You must accumulate chips without jeopardizing your own stack.How do you accomplish this?While it is impossible to play poker with zero risk, careful consideration of all of the consequences of every action on your part can certainly minimize your risk and give you a significant advantage.Poker is a game of imperfect information, which is why it is so important at least to know all of the available information each time it is your turn to act.Maximizing your knowledge will open the door for you to pick up chips at minimum risk.To learn more about this principle and other principles, read Tournament Poker and The Art of War.
Times Square Billboard
Whether he likes it or not, a man's character is stripped bare at the poker table; if the other players read him better than he does, he has only himself to blame. Unless he is both able and prepared to see himself as others do, flaws and all, he will be a loser in cards, as in life.Anthony Holden
In fact, good poker players are more likely to be the victims of luck than the beneficiaries. Michael Craig
http://www.pokerplayernewspaper.com Poker news, tournament reports, strategy, biographies, stories and reviewsCopyright 2005Tue, 26 Sep 2006 12:30:12 -0500http://www.lasvegasvegas.com/pokerblog/http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss - - -
In the early nineteen-eighties, I defined a concept that would become central to my teachings about poker and the world beyond. It explains the enigma of relationships. It defines a world of comparative talents that isn't always easily listed in ascending order. Understanding it will make your life less confusing. Here is a lecture I delivered about a decade ago on the subject...
Caro's Conception: The lecture
It is a concept that takes us far, far beyond just the basic strategies of winning at poker. "Caro's Conception" makes us aware that there is a level of poker prowess that is very real, yet nearly not definable. This doesn't just happen at poker, but in real life, too. But, I'm getting ahead of the story. First, I've got to tell you what the Conception - or concept - is based upon.
It's based upon a puzzling truth, long known to those who ponder such things - the truth that strengths are not always ordered by hierarchy. Sometimes stren... Continue reading Today's Word is... Conception
If I told you that you could win a half of a million dollars playing poker without leaving your house or apartment, would that be something you'd be in interested in? Of course, you are! The World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) sponsored by PokerStars allows you the opportunity to play in the largest online poker tournament with prize pools that rival the World Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker. The most appealing aspect of the WCOOP is that you do not have to travel long distances to play against some of the best players in the world. All you have to do is turn on your computer and log on to PokerStars.
On September 16th, PokerStars kicks off the 2006 World Championship of Online Poker featuring 18 different tournaments, ending with the $3 million guaranteed NL main event on October 1st. Just like the winners at the WSOP, every event winner in the WCOOP will also be awarded a gold bracelet. The 2006 WCOOP will be the largest series of online poker tournamen... Continue reading 2006 WCOOP
In my prior article I addressed starting requirements of stud and how they differed from hold 'em. Let me address the later streets in this the second part of this two part series.
If you are selective on Third Street, you will generally continue to bet your Premium Pairs, even if they don't improve, unless you see opponents who seem to have surpassed your hand. On the other hand, if you are going for a straight or a flush with a drawing hand, you generally want to call or check, sticking around cheaply until you make your hand.
In Stud, unlike in Hold Em, you have extra information available to you to help you determine where you stand relative to your opponents - both in terms of your hand's current value and its prospects for improvement. You need to take advantage of this information.
You need to keep an eye on the cards you need to make your hand, as well as the cards that may help your opponents' hands. Stud is a game of live cards. If... Continue reading A Stud Lesson for Hold'Em Players, PART 2 OF 2
Last issue I revealed how our local maniac stumbled onto an extremely effective strategy in tournament play. The wording here has double meaning as Doug was usually plastered at this point in the tournament as a result of his intake of alcohol. While everyone else was tightening up their play hoping that someone else would get unlucky and bomb out, Doug was stealing pot after pot and increasing his stack size even more. It didn't matter to Doug whether he won or lost and as a result he had no fear. This made his aggressive play even more effective than usual and doubly so in tournaments (at least on the sober and reasonably minded players).
There are several strategies that one can utilize to make it deep in a tournament ( the structure of the tournament does influence these strategies ). The two most common styles that are successful in most tournaments are loose aggressive play and tight aggressive play. There are definite advantages and disadvantages to each style of ... Continue reading A Maniac Named Doug
]]> http://www.pokerplayernewspaper.com 3Mon, 25 Sep 2006 12:00:00 -0500 - - - I've run into people even now who do not know that I have not dealt a card in over 5 years - sans some extra curricular activity that I am waiting to divulge. No matter, to them I am still that dealer that dealt them broke, a jackpot or have always given them good cards. So, even though your opponents at the table are either betting, folding, or receiving cards, the one person that players remember just as well are the dealers.
Conversely, when I dealt the cards and then played afterwards, I would make mental note of most of the player's tendencies as it related to some unconscious gestures they would do.
That brings me to the point that I was illustrating in my last paragraph in the last issue. People reveal more about themselves unconsciously than if they were to engage you in conversation. Before there was ever card games people were revealing "tells" about themselves on a daily basis.
Why else would a person gifted in this respect -readi... Continue reading Listen Carefully
