Tom Dwan wins largest poker in poker history

With American high stakes online pros unable to play online, many have taken up temporary residence in Macau. Players like Tom Dwan, Sam Trickett, Andrew Robl, and Alec Torelli to name a few. They are very secretive about who plays in the games because they don’t want to scare off the fish Chinese billionaires who frequent the games.

PokerPortal.asia’s Twitter reports that Tom Dwan has won the biggest hand in poker history, a whopping $3.8 Million US in the Macau high stakes poker games. The hand came when the blinds were HKD $10,000/$20,000 (USD $1300/$2600) at StarWorld Hotel’s Poker King Club in the Macau Big Game.

This week Viktor Blom aka Isildur1 scooped 2 scoop events at Pokerstars. I predict announcement of Pokerstars purchase of Full Tilt Poker to come tomorrow or Friday. With pledge to pay off US players within 90 days. Within those ninety days, I expect to hear a new Isildur1 VS Durrrr challenge.

Getting the most of your drawing hands in no limit hold’em

When you are playing limit hold’em, it will be rare to have inadequate odds to get a flush or straight. Even when the pott odds are not enough, the implied odds will somehow dictate that you can stay in the pot if you are only facing a single bet. The scenario is different though for no limit hold’em.
Here are some poker tips on how you should handle a draw

Flush draw or straight draw
No need to call the bet if you have a straight draw or a possible flush. If you are playing heads up and the other player makes a pot-size bet, you will not have the right price to call. The pot size bet gives you a 2 to 1 odds. Your flush draw will have nine outs while the straight draw will have an 8. Calling will be very risky.

Play your draw with aggression
When you have a draw, do not forget to inject some aggression when you act on them. Bet and you can easily get it paid off. When you bet, your opponent will not now if you are still pouncing with the same cards, or maybe you were able to get something, or got a draw.

When out of position, do not build
When you are out of position and you have a draw, better avoid building it. This also helps you avoid uncomfortable situations when your opponent has a good advantage in terms of position.

Fraternal Order of the Police Supports Online Poker Regulation

The Fraternal Order of Police, which lobbies Congress on behalf of 330,000 law-enforcement officers, sent a letter to leadership of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives last week asking for federal action to create a strong regulatory framework for legal Internet gaming to protect U.S. consumers and provide law enforcement the tools necessary to put offshore sites out of business.

The letter was signed by FOP president Chuck Canterbury and addressed to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker of the House John Boehner and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

At face value, the letter doesn't seem that important to the cause of officially legalizing online poker. Nowhere does the letter even specifically mention poker. The FOP seems more interested in shutting down allegedly illegal offshore poker sites still serving the U.S.
However, regardless of if the FOP's interests exactly align with players, the letter is a valuable chip for the movement.

As Canterbury mentions in the letter, the FOP supported enactment of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in 2006. Now the FOP realizes that millions of Americans want to play online poker, and that if it is not regulated in the U.S., they will just play on offshore sites beyond the reach of the federal government.

"Today, there are no controls on Internet gambling to give U.S. consumers recourse to U.S. courts to provide prompt and accurate payments; no protections are in place to prevent or detect money laundering; no firm and transparent licensing of operators exists; and no regulatory controls are in place to prevent criminals from entering the marketplace, rigging games, or misusing customer financial data," Canterbury wrote. "This has created a situation in which U.S. law enforcement authorities cannot shut down illegal activity, nor is there any way for those victimized by fraud or other criminal acts to seek redress."

For legislation to license and regulate Internet poker to pass through Congress, many policymakers who voted in favor of the UIGEA will need to support sanctioning one of the key forms of online gambling.

No one in politics wants to be called a flip-flopper. By establishing its belief that supporting online gambling regulation is a logical progression from backing the UIGEA, the FOP is setting a key precedent.

It's also clear from the statement that the FOP has taken notice of the damage done to U.S. consumers by formerly trusted sites, such as Full Tilt Poker, and views it as a reason regulation is needed.

As the largest union of police officers in the country, the FOP has significant influence in both political parties. The Poker Players Alliance was particularly excited to get FOP as an ally.

"The simple truth is the status quo is not working," said PPA executive director John Pappas. "Even our law enforcement officials recognize that regulation is the only way we can protect U.S. consumers and ensure their basic rights are upheld. We are proud to have the FOP join our efforts to ensure a safe and regulated online poker market for all Americans."

Inter interim coach is hailed new Boas

Inter Milan official website announced coach Claudio Ranieri formal class at the same time to be youth team coach Stella Maggie O'Neill temporary charge of the pointer. Inter coaching change, the news was announced sparked heated debate, the interim coach of the Inter Stella Maggie O'Neill has also become a focus of concern.

Although this is Stella Maggie O'Neill coached the first team for the first time, but now 36 years old, he has made tremendous achievements in Italy for training young field. Stella Maggie O'Neill also is a player, and had at that time still in the Italian C League Bologna effect, but a serious injury led to his early retirement. This O'Neill, 4 km from the city of Rome Romulea youth team coach.

2005 the two clubs in Rome and Lazio at the same time sent to Stella Magee oni the invitation, but the final Roman youth the person in charge of Conti personally visit to convince the Custom Soccer Jerseys young coach, he then joined the Roman youth camp after Stella Maggie O'Neill, six seasons in succession to Rome, U13, U15, U17 youth team, and rate Rome U15 and U17 level youth team coach to have won the league title.

Last season when Claudio Ranieri in Rome after the resignation of the Club of Rome has considered three candidates to succeed are: U19 youth team coach and old De Rossi, U17 youth team coach Stella Maggie O'Neill and U15 youth team coach Montella. Although the final is a player known more loud Montella become coach of Rome, but to become the first team coach candidate card the Munster Rama Ji Aoni the unanimous approval of the Club of Rome already.

At that time the Italian Football Federation technical advisor Sacchi very optimistic about Stella Maggie O'Neill, and even invited him to coach U17 national team, Italy. Stella Maggie O'Neill I prefer to coach the club team, therefore declined Sacchi inviting, Germany Soccer Jersey and accepted the invitation of the Inter Milan to become the coach of Inter Milan U19 youth team.

This season under the coaching of Stella Maggie O'Neill's Inter U19 youth team performance has been a great improvement. This Inter Milan youth team staffing, there are some shortcomings, but Stella Maggie O'Neill's reasonable scheduling, Inter Milan youth team kicked out of the wonderful football, and the young players of the squad has also been growth. Inter Milan youth team leader known as "Sneijder Besa, has said publicly that the coach Stella Maggie O'Neill is not only guide our tactics, but also know how to guide us forward. He always give our various encourage and inspire our potential, even those who played a small player, he always doubly encouraging, let our team as a fertile environment. "

U19 Champions League final last weekend, Inter Milan youth team in the case of a man sent off by penalty shootout victory over Ajax youth Song Jersey team, and successfully won the championship. After the match Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti and CEO Paolillo, Stella Maggie O'Neill coach for the team eventually won made a great contribution. Temporarily took over the Inter first team coach, Stella Maggie O'Neill said, "Moratti's move touched me, he is unique. Coaching the first team? President Massimo Moratti needs, I would certainly accept. "

Although a lot of media that Inter will still find a new coach this summer, but does not rule out Stella Maggie O'Neill excellent and stay on the possibility of coaching performance in the next game, maybe he is in Italy Boas . " Of course, even the next season can not stay at Inter, Stella Maggie O'Neill also hope that as the current coach of Catania's Vincenzo Montella, coached briefly teams half of the season, the Serie A the middle and lower reaches of the team's coach candidates and in Serie A to get more exercise.

Click www.soccerleagueshop.com to buy soccer jerseys. It is composed by nasoccerleagueshop 03.27.2012

Bluffing Tips for Poker

Bluffing is a huge aspect when it comes to playing poker and being successful at it. This article will highlight some of the most popular bluffing tips in order to take your game to the next level.

For starters, for those who play poker, you know that its all about reading your opponent. Therefore, if you want to make sure that your bluff really works you need to be predictable. You will want other plays to realize that if you have a weak hand you fold, if you have a strong hand, you call. You will need to do this for a few hands so that they ‘think’ you have no bluffing ability at all. Then, when you feel the time is right, and you have a weak hand, play as if it is a strong hand. Chances are, the other players will fold because you are showing that you have a strong hand. Thus, your bluff was successful.

Other players take the opposite way of playing poker and play unpredictably. This is probably the hardest way to go since it does require that you show no emotion when you have a good or bad hand. You basically want your face to be blank and devoid of all emotion. This will make other players a little weary of you, but you will be able to bluff them all you want. In addition, when you walk away from the game the other players still have no idea if you were bluffing or not. In the example beforehand, players will eventually figure out your game, in this situation it remains a mystery.

In order to bluff successfully at poker, you will have to take the time to master the skill and preparation that it will take in order to fool your opponents, and be absolutely ice cold. However, if you are truly wanting to win when you play poker, bluffing accounts for a huge percentage of those that win at the games that they play.

How come girls can't win in a tournament?

Have you ever heard a female won first place in the World Poker Tour? Aussie Millions? WSOP Main Event? We'll this blog will explain you why.

First of all, I'm a female poker player, there are lots of criticism I usually received every time I tried to play in a certain tournament. In that part, I just want to enjoy playing with lads, oldies and everyone who preferred to put their selves in poker game. This game is more fun rather than playing other card games which haven't known yet in our town. Ok, girls can't enter into the championship? we'll that's pretty obvious, if men can do this, girls can do that too. I bet the only way why everyone doesn't have any title in that certain event is because they judging them immediately the vulnerable things that girls can do while playing.

I think it's a bad idea to take over the vulnerable sides of girls can't do those things. Supporting is one of the primary things you can do to give more confidence in playing. You'd better love girls rather than to take down some our precious skills.

Ira Rubin Pleads Guilty to Black Friday Charges

Ira Rubin, one of the 11 men indicted by the United States Department of Justice on Black Friday, pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy charges in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Sentencing has been set for May 17th.

Rubin admitted to working with online poker rooms PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker as a payment processor. He said he made sure cashouts from the online poker rooms were “disguised as payments from nonexistent online merchants,” so that U.S. banks would not be able to detect their true origins and therefore not be able to block the transactions. This activity went on from 2006 through March 2011, the month prior to the Black Friday indictments.

In June 2011, the 53-year old Rubin had requested $300,000 bond and to be permitted to live with his parents in Florida, but Judge James Colt denied Rubin bail, citing “unlimited reasons,” including flight risk. Assistant U.S. Attorney Arlo Devlin-Brown said that Rubin chartered a plane from Costa Rica to Guatemala on April 15th, the very day of the indictments, with Thailand as the eventual destination. Rubin was arrested upon arrival in Guatemala. His attorney denied any nefarious scheme, claiming that the trip to Guatemala had been planned before Black Friday, but Devlin-Brown also cited a conversation Rubin had with a fellow inmate in which he said he wanted to acquire a fake passport once in Guatemala.

Rubin was charged with nine counts in the Black Friday indictment: three counts of violation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), conspiracy to violate the UIGEA, conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and three counts of operation of an illegal gambling business. According to an Associated Press article, he faces up to 80 years in prison if convicted of each charge, but his plea agreement with the prosecution stipulates that the recommended sentence be between 18 and 24 months. Because Rubin has been in jail since his arrest, he is not likely to serve much more time, at least relative to what he could have served.

Ira Rubin’s problems with the law date back to before Black Friday. In 2006, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a complaint against his company, Global Marketing Group, for committing telemarketing fraud by assisting at least nine Canadian telemarketing firms in selling fake unsecured credit cards to customers. The victims were required to pay an advance fee for the cards, but these cards often never appeared in their mailboxes. In December of that year, a temporary restraining order was issued and the following month, a preliminary injunction prohibited Rubin from engaging in telemarketing and payment processing. Rubin violated both the restraining order and injunction and in January 2008, a judge ordered him to appear in court to show cause as to why he should not be held in contempt for the violation. He did not show, an arrest warrant was issued, and Rubin fled the country.

Ira Rubin’s guilty plea comes a month after Absolute Poker co-founder Brent Beckley pleaded guilty to a single charge of conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud.

Article Source: Poker News Daily

2012 Aussie Millions Day 7: Sandeep Pulusani Sole Survivor of Shootout

The 2012 Aussie Millions Championship is in full swing and has already knocked out three of the 26 scheduled events. Brendon Rubie and Dan "djk123" Kelly claimed respective victories in the first two events, starting things off with a bang. More of poker's top pros have been arriving at Crown daily including Jeffrey Lisandro, Gus Hansen, Randy Dorfman, and Erik Seidel, all of whom have had past success in Melbourne. There are still plenty of pros on their way, as well.

Event #3: $1,100 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout


On Tuesday, Jan. 17, the Aussie Millions Event #3: $1,100 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout reached its 150-player cap and played down to a final table. A number of notables came and went on Day 1 including McLean Karr, Vitaly Lunkin, Van Marcus, Billy Argyros, Maria Ho, Jonathan Karamalikis, and Marc Convey, with Karr finishing in 12th place and falling just shy of his second consecutive final table at the 2012 Aussie Millions.

The next day, the final 10 players returned to play down to a winner, with Aussie Millions ring-winner Oliver Speidel leading the pack with 384,500 chips. Joining him at the final table was Joey Lawrence, Mark Segal and Jackie Glazier.


Less than four and a half hours into the final table, a winner was crowned. Speidel managed to make it to heads-up play, but by that time his opponent, Sandeep Pulusani, held a 4-1 chip lead. Unfortunately for Speidel, there was no comeback as Pulusani, a music blogger from the United States who started the final table fifth in chips, captured the $37,500 first-place prize.

Here’s a look at the Event #3 Final Table results:

2012 Aussie Millions Event #3 $1,100 Shootout Results

Place                  Player                                     Price (AUD)

1st                      Sandeep Pulusani                    $37,500

2nd                     Oliver Speidel                         $24,750

3rd                      Ash Gupta                              $17,250

4th                      Matthew Pearson                    $13,500

5th                      Mario Ljubicic                        $11,250

6th                      Jackie Glazier                         $9,750 

7th                      Joey Lawrence                       $8,250

8th                      Salman Behbehani                  $6,750

9th                      Eric Sclavos                           $5,250

10th                    Mark Segal                            $3,750

Event #4: $1,100 No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha

Event #4: $1,100 No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha kicked off on Wednesday and attracted 158 entrants, creating  a prize pool of $158,000. Among the entrants were Sam Holden, Dan Kelly, David Gorr, Joseph Cheong, James Dempsey, Mel Judah, and Jim Collopy.

Seat                     Player                                   Chip Count

1                          Sam Vakili                            102,500

2                          Eric Sclavos                          100,000

3                          Michael Benvenuti                 137,000

4                          Cheng Lui                              199,500

5                          Ali Ghezelbash                       236,000

6                          Casey Kastle                         315,000

7                          Dean Francis                          228,000

8                          Khiem Nguyen                       68,500

9                          Aaron Lim                              205,500

Upcoming Events

Events #5 $1,100 Six-Handed NLH is scheduled to kick off on Thursday, Jan. 19 and PokerNews will be providing live updates from the two-day event. Visit our Live Reporting section to follow the action Event#5.



News Source: Poker News Website

John Dibella Defeats Kyle Julius To Win 2012 PCA Main Event

After fighting back from the short stack on Thursday and hitting a two outer to make his way to the final table, John Dibella emerged as the champion of the 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event late
Friday night, defeating Kyle Julius in heads up play.

The eight players who came to the felt Friday afternoon were led by Faraz Jaka, who seemed to be atop the leaderboard for much of the event. While Jaka was in the lead, it was a slim one, as only 122,000 chips separated him from the second and third place competitors, Julius and Xuan Liu. Dibella began the action on Friday as the fifth place stack, holding three million chips less than Jaka did.

Over the first level of play, Liu had the most difficult time as she lost almost half of her chips. In a particularly key hand, Liu raised the pot with pocket fours, only to find Julius next to her with pocket Queens. After Julius called her raise, a tricky K-9-7 rainbow flop came, causing Liu to put in a continuation bet. Julius called again and, after both checked the three on the turn, saw an eight on the river. Liu checked the action to Julius, bringing out a 420K bet from Kyle. Xuan decided to take a stab at the pot with a check raise, but Julius didn’t believe her, making the call and taking the pot.
Dibella was making small moves at this point and, by the end of the first level, had pulled into the third place slot. Jaka and Julius were still the pacesetters of the field, while David Bernstein and Mark Drover brought up the rear of the pack.

The first elimination of the tournament was a surprising one, as the player who was eliminated was one of the bigger stacks to start the event. Ruben Visser, after doubling up Drover when his A-J couldn’t catch Drover’s A-Q, would end his tournament on the very next hand. After a raise from Julius (holding A-Q), Visser found pocket sixes on the button and shipped his remaining chips to the center of the felt. Julius made an immediate call and the duo were off to the races.

The race didn’t last long; a Q-2-K flop moved Julius into the lead in the hand, leaving Visser looking for two outs to survive. The turn seven and river eight didn’t bring one of those two outs, knocking Visser (who came to the final table in fourth place) out of the event in eighth place and moving Julius into the lead.
Dibella’s stack continued to grow as play continued, as he was responsible for knocking Bernstein out of the event in seventh place when his pocket Aces held up against Bernstein’s pocket fours. Liu was able to get a bit healthier when she was able to eliminate Anthony Gregg in sixth and, barely an hour and a half into the final table action, the final five players were determined.

Over the span of the next couple of hours, several players took the helm as leader of the tournament. First it was Liu (taking a big pot off of Jaka), then Julius (also defeating Jaka). Jaka, however, kept up his rapid fire pace and took his place atop the leaderboard again when he eliminated Drover in fifth place. In beating Drover, Jaka became the first player over the ten million chip mark.

At this point, Jaka and Julius were neck and neck for the chip lead, with Liu in third and Dibella sitting on the short stack. Dibella, however, would find a key double up against Jaka when he pushed his stack in with pocket fours following a raise from Jaka. Jaka made the call, tabling a dominating pair of Jacks, but the board didn’t cooperate. A four came on the flop and, once no Jack came on the turn or river, Dibella became a contender for the crown and Jaka became the short stack.

By the time the foursome went to the dinner break, Julius had been able to overcome Dibella as well as Jaka. Julius, sitting on more than 14 million chips, held twice the amount of Jaka and almost 2 ? times the chips of Dibella. Liu, for her part, was in dire straits with just shy of four million in chips.

Following the dinner break, the pace of action picked up. On the first hand back, Liu pushed her chips in with an A-7 of diamonds and found a caller in Jaka, sitting on A-6 off suit. The flop couldn’t have come any worse for Xuan; the 3-A-6 fanned out, giving Jaka two pair and leaving Liu looking for one of the three sevens left in the deck. Although a five came on the turn to give Liu a chance at a gut shot straight as well, a river deuce wasn’t what she was looking for, eliminating Xuan Liu in fourth place.

Jaka held the lead following his knockout of Liu, but it would be the last of his glory for Friday. As three handed play proceeded into the night, Dibella slowly grinded up his chip stack to take over the chip lead, while Julius went for the big double up through Jaka.

After a Julius raise to 700K, Jaka made a three bet to 1.85 million. Julius paused momentarily before making a four bet, bringing a five bet all in from Jaka. Julius immediately made the call, tabling a dominating A-K against Jaka’s K-J, and the flop ended all drama. The 7-A-K flop virtually ended the hand and, once the nine came on the turn, Jaka was drawing dead. The monumental moved Julius into contention, while Jaka was left with only 1.35 million. A few hands later, Julius would finish the job, eliminating Jaka in third place.
Prior to the start of heads up play, Julius and Dibella discussed and completed a deal, giving each player $1.5 million and leaving the remaining $275,000 and the PCA Main Event trophy to play for. Holding a five million chip lead, Dibella took just about an hour to finish the night.

From the start of heads up action, Dibella was never seriously threatened, extending his lead to nearly 5:1 after a half hour of play. On the final hand, Julius made a raise with a 9-6 off suit and Dibella came along with his 6-5 of clubs. An A-Q-3 (two club) flop brought another bet from Julius, which was called just about as quickly by Dibella. After both players checked the eight on the turn, the ten of clubs on the river brought the fireworks. Dibella bet out at this time with his flush, one million chips, and Julius chose an inopportune moment to try to bluff. After Julius’ all in push, Dibella calmly made the call, tabled his hand and was the champion of the PCA Main Event.

1. John Dibella, $1,750,000
2. Kyle Julius, $1,500,000
3. Faraz Jaka, $755,000
4. Xuan Liu, $600,000
5. Mark Drover, $468,000
6. Anthony Gregg, $364,000
7. David Bernstein, $260,000
8. Ruben Visser, $156,400

Although the Main Event has been completed, there is still a bit of unfinished business at the PCA. The $25,000 High Roller event’s final table will play out on Saturday, with former World Champion Jonathan Duhamel in the mix. Duhamel has made four final tables in side events at the PCA, including the Super High Roller, and he heads into today’s final table behind only Jason Koon. Other players in the mix include Nicolas Fierro, Isaac Haxton and Randy “nanonoko” Lew.

A Review Of Party Poker And The Party Poker Bonus Code For Beginners

People who are thinking about taking up playing poker online have a wide choice of poker rooms to play at, such is the global popularity of the game. However, such an abundance of choice can often actually be confusing for newcomers. After all, if you have never played the game before, how do you know which online poker room is the best? In this article I will review one of the leading poker rooms, Party Poker, and explain how the Party Poker bonus allows new players to get started and learn the game with the least possible risk.

About Party Poker 

PartyPoker is part of online gambling company PartyGaming Plc. The website was launched in 2001 and has the biggest number of online poker rooms in the whole world. The company attracts around 4 million customers every single year. It's easy to understand why because PartyPoker places a lot more emphasis on the complete experience of playing poker online. Everything else follows poker as opposed to poker following sports betting or a casino.

The Party Poker Bonus Code 

New customers to PartyPoker can enjoy a Party Poker Bonus Code. This can give them up to $500 in free chips to start using in any of the poker rooms online. PartyPoker is easily recognisable as a brand and the website makes a number of assurances that should convince new players to sign up.

The Party Poker Website And Client Software 

The website design is very basic but the PartyPoker download feature is very quick and easy to install. The desktop client can be played on most Microsoft Windows operating systems as well as those of Apple Macs. The desktop client opens quickly and is easy to get into for existing customers. The graphics that PartyPoker use are a little more advanced than customers will find with other online poker clients. This doesn't seem to slow features of the game down such as the dealing of cards or the gathering of chips. PartyPoker has a website that constantly displays a long list of up and coming tournaments. These tournaments all have various buy in limits and pot limits. This is very good for new customers who may want to jump into the heart of the action and compete straight away with some of the website's free capital.

Customer Help & Support At Party Poker 
PartyPoker displays a very good help section that is easy to find and use at the top of the screen. The website opens up a help page with various different options that include e-mail addresses and telephone numbers. It's very easy for a customer to find the area of the company they need to contact whether they have a problem with the PartyPoker game engine or a banking issue. User controls are also superb on this website because PartyPoker gives customers complete authority over their account. The regulation feature of being able to set deposit limits applies and this stops customers from throwing more money than they possess into various poker rooms.

There are good features within the desktop client that allow customers to talk to other PartyPoker users who they may have gotten to know through the website. Customers can play the game in three dimensions as well as shifting from table to table as they please.

The website provides a range of information at the base of the screen at all times, which customers will find useful. This information includes PartyPoker links about responsible gambling as well as a link that allows customers to download the terms and conditions of the website.

All of this information gives the impression that PartyPoker wants customers to enjoy poker in the safest possible environment. The website has built up a reputation that it clearly intends to maintain.

Article Source: Ezine Articles - About Party Poker

Shorthanded Tournaments

Do you think that shorthanded tournaments are from Mars and ring games are from Venus? Are you tired of sitting down at a short table and not knowing what to say? Do you feel like an old dog in need of new tricks? You're not alone. As an increasing number of tournaments designated as “shorthanded” materialize on tournament schedules nationwide, there is a void of in-depth strategy analysis dedicated to this very unique breed of tournament poker. 

However, success in shorthanded games where the maximum number of players at a table is six rather than the traditional 10, requires a very different skill set than that which triumphs in more traditional tournament settings.

Play fast and loose

Taking it slow is out the window: Where 10-handed (or ring-style) tournaments reward patience, shorthanded tournaments play fast and loose. This is because the blinds are coming around at a relatively quicker pace. For instance, at a six-handed table, a player is forced to contribute to the pot as a blind bettor one-third of the time (two out of the six hands he is dealt per round will be as either a small or big blind). On the other hand, a player is only forced to partake in the action through the blinds one-fifth of the time (two out of 10 hands) at a traditional table. Therefore, action is forced almost twice as often at short tables! For this reason, patience is both inappropriate and unprofitable in shorthanded scenarios.

Get used to variety

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder: A player will have to become comfortable with a wider variety of starting cards to succeed at short tables. The ring-game luxury of waiting for more premium starting cards is not similarly bestowed upon shorthanded players. Since shorthanded action is more frequently forced, the minimum bar a hand must pass to become playable is far lower.

This works in tandem with the fact that, with fewer hands dealt, the average caliber of a hand in play at a short table is lower to begin with than that at a larger table. Think about it: The odds that your opponent has pocket aces is lower at a short table since there are only five opponents to worry about, rather than the nine you will face in a ring game. Therefore, don’t be afraid to play that A-8 off suit in second position (a play that is not normally recommended at a full table) -- you simply cannot afford to wait around for prettier starting cards.

The importance of getting to know your tablemates and more.

Play passively at first

The importance of foreplay: Shorthanded play allows an attentive player to extract a lot more information about his opponents much more quickly than at a traditional 10-handed table. This is a simple result of the fact that with only five (or fewer) other players at the table, he will be witnessing the actions of his tablemates more frequently. Moreover, he will more regularly be able to play each of his opponents personally, thereby extracting even more information. A player’s goal should be to acquire as much information as early -- and cheaply -- as possible. Therefore, I play more passively than normal for the first 20 minutes at a short table. Why pay to extract the information that I can garner for free by observing the forced play of the others at my table? 

Furthermore, I want to delay the acquisition of information by others about me for as long as possible -- and, ideally, until I can decide the sort of image and style that I should project to most profitably exploit the nature of the particular opponents I am facing. This strategy is specifically tailored to short tables. 

Full tables allow for players to be very selective about the hands they choose to be involved in; thereby greatly lengthening the amount of time that I would have to spend as an observer to have the same quantum of information about my opponents that I would have very quickly at a short table. And, in a full ring-style tournament where timed blind levels are the major constraining factors, I do not have the luxury of a time surplus to make this as effective a strategy as it is at short tables. So, the best way to succeed when you are short is to start slow and increase speed as your stack increases and as you learn more about those you are playing with.

It’s all about position: On average, more flops will miss most hands at a short table, given the weaker nature of the cards a player is forced to play in this setting. As a result, a player in a later position will most often have the strongest likelihood of taking down the pot. This is because position merely translates into an advantage in information: The last to act has the most information available to him when he is forced to make a decision. Given this, when the players in front of you have demonstrated weakness in their actions (by, say, checking into a multi-way pot on a flop containing a flush draw), do not be afraid to put in a big bet in an attempt to win the hand. Not only should you exploit position when you have it, but you must also beware of those who are attempting to use it against you.

Get to kow your tablemates

Don’t take an animal lover to the zoo. The importance of knowing your tablemates is that once you have acquired information about the players at your table, tailor your behavior to their individual styles. If your opponent is passive, you want to apply pressure by raising and betting into him. If your opponent is scared (or playing above his bankroll), do not be afraid to make oversized bets in order to make him think his tournament life is at stake. If you face an inexperienced player, you want to exploit her lack of knowledge about shorthanded play by representing stronger hands than other, more experienced players would be willing to give you credit for at a short table.

Finally, if your opponent is loose or unpredictable, you want to make him scared and confused about your own play, which will minimize the number of moves he will be willing to make against you, thereby making him more predictable and passive.

Learn why control of the table is important in shorthand and more. I’ll show you mine if you show me yours: Control of the table is a very valuable commodity in shorthanded play. If you feel that another player has taken control of the table and you wish to slow him down, the following play (taught to me by a fellow professional player who has had much tournament success thorugh the years) may prove to be useful. Wait for the aggressive player to raise into you when you have a very weak hand (the weaker the better). 

Then, come over the top with a reraise. If the player folds, show the hand before you muck. If the player comes back over the top with another raise, show your willingness to reraise him with such a weak hand before you fold. If you play the hand out, be sure to show the hand in the end. The important point is that you will have demonstrated that you are unpredictable to the player who perceives that he has control over the table. He will be forced to slow down as your behavior is now less conventional -- and his control of the table depends on his ability to count on predictable opponent behaviors like reraises with only the most premium of starting hands.

Size matters

Size matters after all: When you build an above-average stack in shorthanded tournaments, it is critical that you exploit the weaker, small stacks. You should never hesitate (if you have a hand) to put pressure on your opponents at the table to make a decision for their tournament life. Remember, by and large, their hands will not improve much on the flop (this is a statistical truth). Moreover, due to the quick pace of shorthanded play, short stacks are not able to wait around for the monster starting hands they would prefer to play: Exploit this!


Go long, go strong (mental and physical stamina): Shorthanded tournaments require an immense level of mental concentration for hours and hours on end. Therefore, during the later stages of a tournament, you will face many exhausted opponents. Through the course of the many decisions they have been forced to make throughout the day, their mental acuity will have taken a serious blow. Not only should you seek to make the most of the mistakes that will be made by others, but you should strive to minimize your own errors at this critical phase in the tournament. Be sure to get enough sleep the night before the tournament and try to keep a stable blood sugar level over the course of the day. Ultimately, both mental and physical staying power are essential in order to avoid a premature bust.

get out there and win

In the end, there is no substitute for experience. So get over the hump and get out there already. He’s waiting. And fasten your seatbelt, because your courtship with shorthanded play is guaranteed to be the ride of your poker life.

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Resources:

1. AskMen Website

2. Shotrthand Article - AskMen 

MGM Resorts International Granted Injunction Against "Cyber Squatters"

MGM Resorts International has been granted a preliminary injunction against four individuals and two companies that had registered poker-related websites associated with names of MGM properties between 2002 and 2005.

iGamingBusiness reported Tuesday that a federal judge sided with MGM last week and ordered hosting firms GoDaddy.com Incorporated, Wild West Domains Incorporated and Melbourne IT Incorporated to place the following domains on hold bellagioonlinepoker.com, circuscircuspoker.com, excaliburpoker.com, luxorpoker.com, mandalaybayonlinepoker.com, mgmpoker.com and ariapoker.com.

“Plaintiff will suffer irreparable injury to its valuable trademarks and associated goodwill if the defendants are not enjoined from transferring the AriaPoker.com, BellagioOnlinePoker.com, CircusCircusPoker.com, ExcaliburPoker.com, LuxorPoker.com, MandalayBayOnlinePoker.com and MGMPoker.com domain names, which contain plaintiff’s trademarks, namely Aria, Bellagio, Circus Circus, Excalibur, Luxor, Mandalay Bay and MGM, to other domain name registrars or from transferring their registrations for the domain names to other persons or entities,” read the judgment issued on Friday, Jan. 6.

In December, MGM filed a motion against the six defendants alleging they were trying to capitalize on MGM's investment in each property. The motion charged that each of the casino names has become famous because MGM spent billions of dollars on advertising and promotions over the years. Attorneys for MGM Resorts requested a temporary restraining order against the defendants that would block them from using the domain names.

Article Source: Poker News

Tips and tricks to win in Poker

Poker is an extremely popular card game in which players bet on the value of the card combination (“hand”) in their possession. 
The history of Poker is thought to have evolved for over more than ten centuries from various games, all involving the basic principals of ranked card or domino combinations and the use of ‘bluffing’ to deceive opponents. 
On of the popular belief about the origin of this game is that a game very similar to poker was first invented in the China sometime before 969 A.D, by The Chinese Emperor Mu-tsung who used to play “domino cards” with his wife on New Years Eve. 

To win in Poker, you must first find and decide on a system. You must choose a system that suits the style you like to play. Because if you try to use a poker system that calls for bluff after bluff, and this is not the way that you like to play then you will end up in a bad spot from the start. That’s why, when searching for a system, consider who you are as a player and then, you will be able to modify the details of the system to better suit your needs.

Plus, you must not forget that when you are developing your poker system you are sure to run into trouble along the way. This is something that is inevitable, but in the end, having a system is not necessarily a bad idea. Even when you are relying on a poker system you obviously cannot expect to win every game that you play. Therefore, the most important point is that you need to have enough confidence in what you are doing so that you will be able to stay with things even when times get rough.

There are different systems that are for sale online that claim to show you what it takes to win every hand that you play. But you must realize that while you may be able to get some useful pointers from one of these, you should spend most of your time trying to develop your own system and strategy. Since you are your own unique player, you should have your own unique strategy to fall back on during every hand.

Overall, there are many tricks that you can develop the perfect poker plan. As long as you are willing to put time and energy into putting together a poker system you should be able to reach all of your goals in the end.

The basic trick to win in Poker is to hold and hide your system and tricks from your competition. If you can keep your strategy as secret as possible, you will give yourself the best chance of winning the game. But you must also remember that it is not worth your time to spend all your time at the table trying to hide things because even if somebody does learn what type of system you use, they will still have to find a way to beat you.  So, don’t worry and enjoy the game!


Article Source: Just Poker News

WHEN TO RAISE WITH A POKER HAND YOU WOULDN’T NORMALLY PLAY

In poker tournament play – depending on table conditions – it can be a good idea to implement ‘the Gap Concept’. In an absolute nutshell, it means that your hand value goes up as more people fold towards you.

So a hand you could raise with after three or four folds to you might not be a hand that you would even call a raise with.

Let’s say that you are holding pocket fives in middle position around a six seater table in a live poker tournament. If someone before you raises then depending on who they are, you may not normally call this raise and seriously consider folding. But by using the gap concept if three or more players have folded to you then you should consider a raise here as your hand has now gone up in strength. This will help clear the field and build the pot, not to mention that when you turn over your pocket fives it will keep people guessing in future. One note on this, if others at the table are also aware of the gap concept then watch out for a re-raise.

So to summarise, it’s raising with a poker hand that you wouldn’t normally call a raise with if a ‘gap’ has developed in front of you.

Another Example

Let’s say that you are in late position and three or more players fold to you in a texas holdem poker tournament. This has created a gap. You look down to see 56s, not one of your normal hands that you would raise with, however using the gap concept you decide to crank it.

This play is another way of mixing up your poker game, clearly you’re not just going to raise with anything (unless on a stone cold bluff!! Hehe) but when you turn over your 56s after making your straight or flush, the people paying attention will think “he raised with that!?” – keeping them guessing next time you raise.

Article Source: Stone Cold Bluff

Top 15 poker hands to start with

Depending on how long you have been playing poker, you have probably won hands with every imaginable combination of starting cards in your hand. We have all started with a 3 and a 6 and ended up hitting a straight, but it never quite feels right when we do this. The reason being is because in situations like this we depended on luck instead of skill to win the hand. No matter if you are lucky or unlucky, the only assured income for all online poker players is rakeback. For example you can receive 30 % Ultimate Bet rakeback paid monthly into your poker account. While there is nothing wrong with getting lucky in poker or anything for that matter, a good poker player will never depend on luck to get him through a hand.

I understand this can be a touchy subject, as most poker players, no matter how much their game depends on luck, simply do not like to hear that they are simply lucky poker players, and not necessarily skilled poker players. That being said, in all honesty, with a few exceptions, if you are playing any other combinations besides the ones I am about to show you, then you my friend are depending on luck to win at texas holdem online.

In no particular order, here are the top fifteen starting poker hands:
A-A, A-K, A-Q, K-K, Q-Q, J-J, 10-10, 9-9, 8-8, 7-7, 6-6, 5-5, 4-4, 3-3, 2-2

If you find any of the above combinations in your pocket, then what exactly should you do? There are truly endless options here, but if you want to play it safe and protect your chip stack, while at the same time slowly building it then I would recommend the following:

If you get A-K, A-Q, or any pocket pair of 10’s or above than I would move all in before the flop. This may sound funny as it is likely all of your opponents will fold and you will not even be able to play the hand, but it is by far the safest way to go. By moving all in pre-flop, and getting your opponents to fold you will eliminate the possibility of another player; one who is depending on luck; making a straight, a flush, a full house, or three-of-a-kind; in which case you would end up losing all of your money. Now, would you rather win $10 right off the bat by buying the pot, or lose $100 or more by playing the hand and allowing your opponents to catch a hand?

If you have any of the pairs from 9‘s on down to 2’s, then you should play the hand completely differently. If it is not overly expensive always try to see the flop when you have these cards. If you make a set (three of a kind) with the cards on the flop you should move all in and buy the pot to avoid another player making a hand that could beat yours on the turn or the river. If you do not hit three of a kind then it is time to fold (unless all other players check giving you the opportunity to see another card).

When you are just starting out in the world of Texas NL Hold’Em poker, if you stick to this strategy, and only play these fifteen hands you will nine times out of ten come out on top. Sure there will be times when someone will call your all in and end up catching a hand, but these are rare exceptions; and the exact reason you should only ever bring 5-10% of your bankroll to any given poker table at a time.

Once you feel completely comfortable playing these hands and only these hands, they are a few other hands that you can incorporate into your reservoir of playable hands; such as having an ace and another card of the same suit in your pocket, giving you the possibility of hitting an ace high flush. But these hands and the others are for another discussion after you have mastered playing the top fifteen hands I have discussed in this article.
Please do keep in mind that above all else, the practice of playing on the fifteen top poker hands is mostly about teaching yourself control; something that is of the utmost importance to all professional poker players; and something that will ensure you are a profitable poker player!


Note: The real resource of this article can be seen here. 

My First Poker Blog Post

Welcome to my Poker Blog, this is my first poker blog. All I want to do is to share all of the things that I've learned in playing poker online. The reason I was amazed in playing poker is because of colors of chips and the way they played it. 

It's a minor thing why should I, must be addicted to the Poker Game. For me, Poker is not a gambling. It is another way to feel the logic of each part of the poker game, while doing some of my designs, I keep looking and reading for some trends regarding the poker and also on the new technologies on poker.