Archive for the ‘Poker’ Category

Online poker – a global pastime

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

From all over the world, approximately millions of people play poker on the internet. On the web, live poker games played for real money live against real people is provided by many internet poker rooms. Here, people make use of internet payment techniques to place their bets and to buy chips for playing. The players that are playing at the tables are graphically represented and the rooms provide the people to play for stakes ranging between as large as $100/$200 limits to minute stakes for e.g. 40.01/$0.02 limits.

Poker 24/7
With the help of online poker, players now don’t have to leave the coziness and comfort of their houses and they are provided with the freedom to play anytime of the night or day. Online poker strategy can be learnt anytime and throughout the year by people who want to increase their skills of the game as the web offers means to learn and practice. In any available poker site, at any given moment there are many different online games and dozens of tournaments going on. Online poker players are provided with the advantages of information and many features such as analyzing a table’s stats, being able to color code the players and to look at average pot.

Live vs Online Poker
The difference that is easily noticeable between new system and the old one is that the players are not sitting in front of each other and the skills to watch and judge the other player’s body language, non-verbal hints and reactions. In the online poker game, these things have been changed to having the ability to judge, watch and analyze the speeds at which other players bet. As it is with live poker, the concept and ability to judge other player’s habits and style as any moves and actions performed by you opponents could provide you with more knowledge on what sort of cards they are holding and their playing strategy. This thing is important as you can recognize their tells without having to sit across them. Also, there is no delay in the online play as the shuffles and dealings are instantaneous. The rate of play is very fast in addition to not waiting for card dealings.

Online Poker: Here to stay
Nowadays, most internet poker websites offer single and multi-table tournaments with very large profits. Also, many large websites offer their most loyal people the ability to set up private tournaments in which they can invite only those players they want to and set up their own online tournament. Many people still prefer live games in the local areas or casinos but the internet industry has also registered a large jump in the number of internet poker players in a span of last few years. These poker tournaments and games now witness approximately millions of people from all round the globe participating, socializing, interacting and playing with each other. It can be said that the new side of the internet poker that we are seeing is preferred more and is here to stay and dominate.

10 Tips to online poker

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

10 Tips to Play Winning Online Poker

If you want to win at online poker, you need to play the right game with the right moves. Go for these 10 basic tips to edge out your opponent.

Watch Your Pocket: Online players should always be in the administration of money and not jeopardize what they have. You need to provide your bank in the various meetings and when you lose a call from the day of rest.

Sensible Betting: Online poker is very interesting. However, if you do not make sense to bet, it will cost enormous liquidity. A good tip is to bet that you are always very cautious and avoid pumping money plans.

Game with the strategies: Strategically, you play in reducing the local board. With specific strategies you will be able to constantly. Therefore, it is always advisable to plan and use them for maximum results from The Game.

End If On Top: If you win, leave and do not try to play in this session. Any thoughts that you, like “I am a woman who has the good fortune” or “Today is my day” is totally absurd. All courses are geared for the casino and your profits can quit at any time.

Specialize in special categories: Suppose you have little problems, and then you need the mix of games. However, you need a specialization in a certain format, if your bets are higher. The addition of knowledge about the game helps you to realize that the bet you more chances to win.

Search by Subject: Suppose you as a poker better than most, and then you should have a little time to examine the nuances of The Game. You can use books, online articles, Web pages, and always try to learn from our mistakes. Try to become a champion in your game and prevent it for all occupations.

Consider the value: Most casino players have a misconception that prices offers better ways to value in a game. It cannot do that. However, exploiting the potential of the prices as well as your chances of winning.

Be on your game: Online casinos open 24 / 7, and that you become a full access to the meetings longer. This can be tired and exhausted, so that you begin by wrong decisions. Then you should avoid the longer play session.

Go For Free Money: Online poker sites offer Bar bonus for opening new accounts with them. So, you should not miss this opportunity.

Play smaller tournaments first: The reasons for this are many, but mainly to gain confidence at the lower levels if you are able to dominate them. Playing in these small buy-in tournaments, one can receive a ton of experience for just a little bit of cash, with incentive to win some pretty decent prizes if you make it to the end.

Full Tilt Poker

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

Full Tilt Poker Room Review
One of the largest and top online poker sites is Full Tilt Poker. It houses Gus Hansen, Mike Matusow, Jennifer Harman, Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch, Phil Ivey, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson and Erik Seidel which are few of the biggest poker players who also provide poker tips in addition to playing. A lot of play at all limits with a lot of variance is provided by this website. It has Seven-card Stud, Texas Hold’em, Omaha, and H.O.R.S.E. And many more games that one can play. You can also find mixed games such as H.A. (Texas Hold’em, Omaha), O.E. (Omaha Hi/Lo, Seven-card Stud Hi/Lo), H.O.S.E. (Texas Hold’em, Omaha Hi/Lo, Seven-card Stud, and Seven-card Stud Hi/Lo) and H.O. (Texas Hold’em, Omaha Hi/Lo). There are also Re-Buy tournaments where if one even goes totally broke at a table and your stack falls, they can rebuy into the tournament.

Tournaments
The new Double Stack Tournament can be tried where more play with the tourney dollar is provided. In this you start with 3,000 chips in comparison to 1500 chips provided by others. If one doesn’t want to lose all chips in single hand and also enjoys Pot-Limit or No-Limit games then this website’s cap games would be enjoyed a lot by them. Here, the hands are played until the cap is reached and then all players that are left are considered all-in.

Rewards and bonus
Full Tilt Points provided by Full Tilt Poker are industry’s best points reward system. This website offers you up to 3 points per hand, fractional points and for every dollar raked a point is provided. So more can be earned by playing more. Points can be earned in Sit and Go’s and tournaments (with no limit to the points earned here). Points can be used in website’s store where they can be redeemed for goodies like shirts, jerseys, hats etc. plus you get entries to special tourneys through these points.

Safe and secure
128-bit SSL encryption encrypts valuable data, with employees only provided information on the data (otherwise office restricted) for doing specific works like customer service representative or billing clerks. Instant eChecks, Mastercard, Visa, Click2Pay, checks and cash transfers are some of the available Withdrawal/Deposit options. The employees keep privacy and security practices are kept up-to-date. E-mails are many times immediately answered to and quality and time of support responses are excellent. These measures are taken so user can be carefree about the security.

User-friendly software
The software is user-friendly, stable and easily navigable with also having excellent graphics. Players have the option to represent themselves with private personalized avatars and can seat themselves at any seat or table they would like to. Table and deck views are change-able and enjoyable chat options such as filtering chat from associate players, friends or dealer announcements are provided. Up to 9 players can seat at a table and tables are resizable so one can play at the same time at two or more tables. Ranked by many as the topmost online Poker Site it would provide you with a lot of fun, frolic and cash.

Room with a view

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

Picking the right poker room for you

Finding a poker room to play at is easy. Finding the RIGHT poker room for you will take some time.

Each online poker room has its own personality, theme, games, rules, tournaments, and the list goes on. You will need to try on several before you find a place that will hopefully become an enjoyable place for you to play on a regular basis. Download as many poker rooms as you can and try them out. All offer free play options so you can see how the game flow goes and how the mechanics works.

Is the Poker Room user–friendly:
If you are uncomfortable, move on to the next one. You can watch live games as they happen. Go to a few different tables and game types and watch the play. Is it too fast for your playing style? Too slow? Are the games filled with people who are ‘calling stations’ or is it a tight conservative game.
People will seek out rooms that fit their style so you can usually tell what kind of game play you can expect by the players that have decided to call each place their home before you.

Select a popular Poker Room:
Look for the rooms that offer the deposit methods you are comfortable with. Choose the most popular Poker room which offers a fast and convenient way to deposit money into your account.

Check for a Bonus:
Find a good bonus to start with and read the TERMS AND CONDITIONS. All sites offer a bonus and all have different rules that affect how you have to play it and what you need to do to cash it out.

Get Paid:
Some sites hire ‘props’, players that get paid to fill in the tables when it’s slow or to keep a table and game going. You can get paid to play in various ways. Some return a % of the rake; some will pay you on an hourly basis depending on the time of day played, the table stakes you play, etc.
If this is something you are interested in make sure to check it out. Most require at least 10 hours of play a week so if you have the time and love to play this is a pretty sweet deal. You will have to front your own bankroll of course but if you can hold your own in a game, you can get a better edge this way.

Poker is supposed to be fun so make sure you take the time to find a poker room that suits you and you will have a more enjoyable time at the tables.

Stu Ungar

Wednesday, November 12th, 2008

Stuart Errol “Stu” Ungar is said to be the best ever professional poker and gin rummy player to have ever lived. He holds the record of being the only player to win three World Series of Poker main events. Not only that, he has also won three Amarillo Slim’s Super Bowl of Poker. During its time, it is the most prestigious poker title in the world.

Ungar was born on September 8, 1953 to Jewish parents at Manhattan’s Lower East Side. He was exposed to gambling at a young age because his father, Isadore, is a loan shark that operates a social club that’s a front for a gambling den. His father didn’t want him to gamble but Ungar made a name for himself playing tournament gin.

He won a gin tournament when he was just 10 years old. By the year 1976, he was regarded as the best in the state of New York. He dropped out of school to pursue a gin rummy career to help support his mother and sister parents when his father died due to a heart attack in 1968.

This is the time he met Victor Romano, who acted as the father figure to him. They got close because they both share the same love of math and gambling. Ungar love to openly criticize his opponents that are inferior to him and because of his relationship with Romano, other player don’t dare cross him. There’s a story of a man who tried to hit Ungar on the head with a chair after he was defeated. That man was found shot to death a few days after.

Because he was already the best gin rummy player, no one dared played with him anymore. He would even set handicaps to level the field. He would let his opponent look at the last card of the deck, offer rebates, or play each hand at the dealer position. There was a story about Ungar playing a match with a known cheater. The other player blatantly cheated throughout the match yet Ungar still managed to win it.

He then moved to Las Vegas, hoping to find more competitors. He would win or place high in most tournaments that hotels would ask him not to join at their events because players might not enter if they know Ungar is in it.

In 1980 he entered the World Series of Poker and won the main event, beating poker legend Doyle Brunson and at that time became the youngest champion in WSOP history. That’s where his nickname The Kid is from. He repeated the victory the next year be defeating Perry Green for the 1981 WSOP title.

His next WSOP main event win would come 16 years later. Another poker pro and close friend, Billy Baxter, gave Ungar he $10,000 so hat he could join in the event. During the first day of the tournament, he was exhausted because he had to stay awake for 24 hours trying to raise the money for the buy-in. Midway through the first day, he fell asleep in his table. After encouragement from Sexton and a scolding from Baxter, Ungar settled in and made it through day one.

During the whole tournament he kept the picture of his daughter Stefanie in his wallet and would call to update her about the tournament. Feeling refreshed the next day; he eventually got the chip lead going to the final table. He won the event to become the first person to ever win three WSOP main event titles and was nicknamed The Comeback Kid by the media. He split the $1 million purse with Baxter.

Sadly, he lost most of his 1997 WSOP winnings on drugs and sports betting. He tried to stay away from drugs but his addiction is too high for him to stop. Before the 1998 WSOP main event, Baxter again offered to foot his buy-in but Ungar declined the offer, saying that he was tired and did not feel like playing. He would later confide to friends that the reason why he didn’t want to enter the said event was that he feels that showing up in his current condition would be embarrassing than not showing up at all.

After the 1998 WSOP event, he would disappear from the public eye. He would stay at different hotels in Las Vegas, oftentimes not going out his room. He would be spotted outside poker rooms, begging for money. He would say that it would be to start his bankroll but in reality he will use it on drugs.

He was found dead on November 22, 1998 in a room at the Oasis Motel in Las Vegas. Autopsy showed that there are traces of illegal substances in his body but it is not enough to cause an overdose. It is concluded that he died of a heart failure due to his history of drug abuse.

Though his death was tragic, he is still remembered as the best poker player to have ever played the game.

Bluffing and Other Forms of Deception

Monday, November 10th, 2008

Bluffing is part of poker. It is one form of deception used to provoke opponents to fold even if they have the more superior hand. Players who don’t bluff are easy opponents. When your opponent is not a bluffer, then don’t call his bet unless you have a very good hand.

Another form of deception employed in poker is slow playing. This is the opposite of bluffing. When you slow play, you bet weakly whenever you have a strong hand. When you utilize both bluffing and slow playing, opponents will never know how to play you.

Know Your Enemies at Sit-N-Go

Monday, November 10th, 2008

When you’re at the later stages of a sit-n-go, it is important that you know your opponents. The one to consider is the short stacks. They are the ones under a lot of pressure from the blinds. Then there are the middle stacks. They are the ones who’ll most likely fold even when they have decent hands. The most dangerous players are the large stacks. They would be likely to gamble to oust other players. But if you have a good hand, it is wise to go against the large stack.

Max’s Bad Beat Story

Monday, November 10th, 2008

This happened to Max in a home game. About two hours in the game, he was dealt pocket aces. He raised and two players called. The flop was 2-5-8 rainbow. Max bet again but the second player went all in. The third guy folded. Max called the all in bet. The guy had 3-8. The guy who folded has an eight so quad 8s is out of the equation. The turn was an eight which rendered Max’s pocket aces useless. Then the guy said he just wanted to go home that’s why he went all in.

AA in Blind Lost

Monday, November 10th, 2008

This might be hard to believe but it is true. Ben had pocket rockets in the small blind. He raised and one player called. Luck must be on his side when the turn was A-K-K. Trying to small play his opponent with his full house As and Ks, Ben checked. Opponent checked as well. The turn is a 2, nothing significant. Ben bets the pot and the opponent called. River is also insignificant. Ben bet half the pot and the opponent went all in. Thinking his opponent has quad Ks, Ben folded. Then opponent flips his pocket Ks.

How Pocket Qs Lost to Pocket Js

Monday, November 10th, 2008

Simon was ecstatic when he was dealt with pocket Qs. Flop was a rainbow 2-4-9. Bob bet the minimum $2 and his opponent raised $20 while another player checked. The opponent then went all in and the other player called it. Simon thinking he has the upper hand also called.

The one who went all in has pocket Js. The other player had an A-K. Simon indeed had the strongest hand. The river was a J. That’s how pocket Js beat pocket Qs.