Texas Holdem Blinds

• Author: admin
• Filed under: General
• Date: Nov 6,2008

Posting blinds is a very important aspect of the betting structure of Texas Holdem poker. It keeps the action in a poker game moving and influences the way people play the game, including whether or not they will fold, check or increase their bets. As the blinds increase, they can also make the game more exciting.

In Texas Holdem there are two types of blind bets: the small blind and the big blind. These blinds are forced bets, which must be made by players who are participating in a hand. In Texas Holdem, the dealer button indicates the position of the dealer and the dealing schedule; the button moves around the table to keep track of the dealer position. The small blind is always posted by the person to the left of the dealer. The big blind is always posted by the person to the left of the small blind. So, the onus for posting these bets is rotated as the dealer button moves around the table.

The small and big blinds are posted before the pocket hands are dealt, before the community cards are dealt and before the players have a clue as to the outcome of the dealing or the hand. Because they have made an initial investment in the hand, these players are then motivated to stay in the hand, even if they dont like their cards, in order to get a return. This becomes especially risky as the game progresses, others are eliminated and the blinds increase incrementally. At some point, the blinds will be so high, that paying them can break a player.

Normally, the small blind is half of the big blind and the big blind is the same amount as the minimum bet. In a Texas Holdem tournament, these amounts are pre-determined. At the beginning of the tournament, the blinds will be a lower amount and will begin to increase as the tournament moves forward. The blinds are either increased after a pre-determined set period of time or after a pre-determined set number of hands. This increases the action of the game and eliminates any low-ranking players from the game.

Another forced bet that can be applied is called an ante. This can be used in addition to bets in a Texas Holdem tournament. The ante is a pre-determined amount that each player must post before the cards are dealt. This can increase the action of the game and considerably increases the winnings in the pot before a hand has even begun. For instance, if the small blind is $20 and the big blind is $40 and the ante is $10 in a five player game, the pot already contains $110 before the cards are even dealt.

As you can see, forced bets are an important part of the betting schedule in Texas Holdem style poker, needed to keep the game moving, eliminate straggling opponents and motivate betting.

Location, Location…

• Author: admin
• Filed under: General
• Date: Nov 6,2008

One of the best basic rules of Texas Hold’em No Limit poker you can learn is the principle of location. Essentially, he who acts last profits from the most amount of information. Information, you will find, is critical to your decision making in Texas Hold’em No Limit poker. As such it is advantageous indeed to be ‘on the button’ as they say, or to have the dealer button positioned on you as this means you are the last to act.

This rule applies whether you are playing Texas Hold’em No Limit poker live or online at one of the many online poker rooms available on the internet.

Oftentimes, examples are the best way to illustrate the prinicple of location in Texas Hold’em No Limit poker.

Here are just 3 of the best available examples we can provide to consider the benefits of location in Texas Hold’em No Limit poker:

a. there are say, 3 players in the hand and the board comes J-10-3 rainbow. You are on the button and everyone checks to you. If your hole cards are 10-Ace this may be a suitable time to bet knowing that neither player looks to have an J pair, and you may well have the best hand amongst all the players at the moment.

b. in the same situation as a., if you have K-Q and are one card short of a straight, you can call any raises down to see if you hit a straight by the time you get to the river. Compare this to acting first - you may choose not to bet out any chips (representing you have a pair from the board) as someone may re-raise you, costing you more chips to see if you will hit a straight. Because you always act first, are unkeen to raise yet call his raises, it may become apparent to your opponent that you are waiting for the straight. Knowing this, your opponent can then bet against you on the flop, turn and the river, and, if he thinks you are drawing for your straight, put in all his chips to chase you off the round.

c. in the same situation as b., if you get to the river and still have not hit a straight, if your opponent(s) have never bet all the way to the turn or the river, neither your opponents may have hit any cards. You may want to bet, suggesting you have a pair or better, getting everybody to fold and thus winning the pot with nothing but a King-high.

These are just 3 examples to illustrate the value of position in Texas Hold’em No Limit poker. Whether you are a live or online poker player, these are one of the best poker principles you can learn in playing the game. The later you act the more information you have, and information, you will find, is one of the most important aspects of Texas Hold’em No Limit poker.

Playing Omaha Poker

• Author: admin
• Filed under: General
• Date: Sep 23,2008

In online poker, there is no doubt that the Texas hold-em poker is still considered the most popular. But it probably would not hold that spot for long, as Omaha hold-em is steadily gaining ground in the poker popularity contest. You’ll find many respectable poker rooms and other live dealer casinos offering the Omaha Poker version.

Omaha hold-em, or simply Omaha, is the game of choice of a lot of poker players because it is perceived that the mathematical probabilities that poker nerds look forward to computing are more obvious there. Also, because these probabilities are more apparent, Omaha is said to be more of a game of wits than a game of chance.

Another characteristic that makes Omaha distinct from the other kinds of poker games is that in Omaha, it is not always the player with the highest hand who wins the pot. The object of Omaha is to come up with both the highest and the lowest hand. The two players who got the highest and the lowest hand respectively get to split the pot. In some cases, two or more players tie in having the highest and lowest hand, and so they split the pot amongst themselves. Of course it is entirely possible for just the player with the highest hand to get the whole pot to him/herself.

There are, however, restrictions as to how a hand of cards can be considered a low hand. First, the highest card in the hand should have a value not bigger than eight. Second, the five cards making up the hand should all be unpaired.

In addition, in Omaha, a player makes up his/her hand, be it the highest or the lowest, using exactly two of his/her four hole cards and exactly three of the five community cards.

Here is how Omaha is played, step by step:

1. The dealer deals out the four hole cards to each player one at a time. Once all the players have their cards, an initial round of betting is made. The person to the left of the dealer makes the small blind and the one to his/her left makes the big blind. The other players can then check the big blind, raise it, or fold.

2. After this first betting round is done, the dealer draws out the first three community cards, also called the flop. Another betting round happens, with players raising, checking or folding. Afterwards, the dealer draws the fourth community card, called the turn, which is then followed by another betting round with the subsequent raising, checking or folding. The same happens with the fifth community card, also known as the river.

3. The showdown happens among the players who have not folded after the river is placed down. Again, the players use exactly two of the hole cards and exactly three of the community cards. The players with the highest and the lowest hand win the pot and split it among themselves. If there are no hands that qualified for the lowest hand, then the player who got the highest hand gets to have the pot entirely to him/herself.

So What’s with all the sponsorship?

• Author: Ed
• Filed under: General
• Date: Jul 21,2008

These days, it is noted that at many of the more popular poker tournaments, there are a-lot of sharks out there looking to ’sponsor’ new and upcoming players.  It can be seen clearly at the WSOP when a great deal of players were wearing as many corporate logos as they could or touting they belonged to a various poker site.  But why?

For many these popular events can be hard to enter.  They can be invitation only and or require a high buy-in for example WSOP has a buy-in of $10,000.  For many a buy-in like this is unthinkable.  For a few sponsorship is the only option. 

Nowadays you can even gain online poker sponsorship, due to the games amazing popularity online.  Online poker sponsorship is perhaps key to making a professional career sooner rather than later.  There are risks involved just like any sponsorship deal - so here’s a bit of general information.

So how do you obtain sponsorship ?
The secret here, is not actually a secret.  Many, many poker sites nowadays run many online tournaments.  In fact for many - it is the main attraction.  When an event comes up; such as the WSOP more often than not most of the best poker rooms will be offering a tournament to win a spot (sponsored by them) in the competition.  This in turn gives them the chance to win big, and the poker-site the chance to get a lot of visibility.  However, in this day and age - one needs to be careful and know what they are signing up for.

What is Online Sponsorship?
Online sponsorship is also available for some people.  Many online casinos have been known to sponsor players due to the fact that it brings them more players! also - nowadays, all the bonuses of signing-up to online poker sites could be seen as sponsorship also.

But if you are looking for a more direct approach - we found a rather interesting web-site offering online poker sponsorship - pokerinside.com - who have a range of online sponsorship deals.  Quite lucrative for both parties involved I would think, But it does open up the door and get you started, that is if you already have what it takes…

Good Luck!

WSOP - It’s almost over Roundup Day 7

• Author: Ed
• Filed under: Tournaments
• Date: Jul 19,2008

It’s all eerily quiet in Las Vegas as the World Series of poker 2008 almost draws to a close.  Today saw the final day being played until the grand finale which will be played in November.  From 6,844 down to 27 we are finally ready to find out who will be playing for the $9 million dollars.

We’ve seen all our celebrities die out.  We’ve seen many brave warriors fight until the last breath, but succumb to younger, older, better and worse players.  The truth is it’s done.  It’s almost decided and for those that didn’t make the cut - you have still been a part of poker history just like every other WSOP tournament entrant - you’ve played your role and you should be proud.  You can tell your friends I’ve been there, and maybe if you’re lucky you even have a bracelet.  For many you are already in the annals of poker fame and for us we tip our hats and congratulate you all for a very brave and fearless battle.

But meanwhile, the fight continues.  Today is day 7 and there is one last showdown. 27 will enter, and 9 will survive.  So what happened and who survived?  This year there remains maybe one poker celebrity still in the fold.  The majority of players are relatively unknown although highly successful.  They are both old and young, and come from all walks of life.  This year the table will see many American faces, as five Americans managed to survive.  Everyone that managed to survive today’s competition will continue on to the main event in approximately 117 days on the 9th November 2008.

Dennis Phillips 26,295,000
Ivan Demidov 24,400,000
Scott Montgomery 19,690,000
Peter Eastgate 18,375,000
Ylon Schwartz 12,525,000
Darus Suharto 12,520,000
David Rheem 10,230,000
Craig Marquis 10,210,000
Kelly Kim 2,620,000

Congratulations.  You’ve earned a three-month vacation.  I think you definitely need it!

WSOP Day 5 & 6

• Author: Ed
• Filed under: Tournaments
• Date: Jul 17,2008

Following on from Day four, day five sees 189 players enter the game ready to see who will be the next WSOP poker champion.  Popular players remaining in the contest include Allen Cunningham and Phil Hellmuth to name a few. 

Players started today with a rough average of 760,000 chips and today saw Phil Hellmuth survive ready for day six.  At the end of the day only 79 players managed to survive, and all will claim prize money. 

Today’s top players include

Mark Ketteringham 5,800,000 chips
Jeremy Joseph - 3,100,000 chips
Nikolay Losev 4,058,000
everyone who entered the contest today was guaranteed a minimum of $38,600 dollars in prize money.  The loser fund is significantly rising, so no one will go away empty handed.  Tomorrow this figure will rise to approximately $77,200.
Today saw three female players eliminated, and it looks like two will survive on over until day six.  Tiffany Michelle and Lisa Parsons are carrying on into day six.  We wish them the best of luck and hope to see them at the final table.

WSOP Day 6

Today’s entrants are down to 79 and this is the last day until the main event.  Undoubtedly day 6 is to be the fiercest yet, and today will see a large number of players drop out and go home with at least some amount of winnings.

ESPN as usual are selecting ‘feature’ tables, and today every table is being filmed for the chance to air it on television later.  If you’re playing today -chances are you’ve already been featured on TV. If not - you may very well be today. 

Today finally saw Phil Hellmuth eliminated, and we are very pleased.  You can maybe tell we aren’t a big fan, but he finished in 45th place which is a great achievement, and it does prove us wrong.  He is a good poker player.  Last year however, he took 27th place so maybe this is a decline for the poker-pro?

Surviving players today are 27, and today saw both Mark Ketteringham and Jeremy Joseph eliminated.  Today’s leader is now Dennis Phillips and now has a staggering 11,910,000 chips.  Second place falls to Craig Marquis with 11,460,000 chips.  Of our female players from yesterday, Lisa Parsons was eliminated in 79th place, and Tiffany Michelle currently survives with over 9,755,000 chips. 

WSOP Day 3 & 4

• Author: Ed
• Filed under: Tournaments
• Date: Jul 15,2008

Day 3

The WSOP continues to be fiercely fought and it is still unclear what will happen, but one thing is for sure.  Many players will succumb to the contest and drop out.  Now we are into Day 3 everything just gets fiercer and fiercer, and it seems like the numbers are dropping considerably.

This is day 42 of 47 days total and today sees 1308 players enter the fold.  Remarkably, of those 1308 players, a great many were from different countries.  This is a major increase over last year - and it can prove only one thing: the popularity of online poker.

666 is the number of people who will take home prize money.  This means 642 players will not take any winnings home today and leave empty handed until next year.

But how did they perform?  Of them all Chris Moneymaker lost his form and was seen exiting after just 6 minutes of play.  For the former champion, this must be a real disappointment but for many others I’m sure it is a relief.

Today was a fierce brawl for many poker players, and the remaining field is only 474.  This is down from 6844 entrants and just goes to show how fierce this tournament is.

Day 4.

Today sees the 474 players from yesterday compete for the grand prize.  Starting nice and late to give our fierce warriors a rest after yesterday’s very gruelling and tiring day, today seems set to be a little bit easier in terms of number of players, but far more intense because we are now getting down to the final few.  Prize money is in and anyone that goes home at this stage will be leaving with at least $21,000 dollars.  Which is not bad for a $10,000 buy-in?

However, we know one lucky person will collect over $9 million in prize money.  The question is: who will it be?

Today’s most popular players are the infamous Phil Hellmuth and Johnny Chan.  After maybe two hours into the game, the former champion succumbed to a bad beat.  This will be his fifth "cash-in" at the main event, and his first finish in which he didn’t reach the final table. 

40% of the field survived, and 189 players will continue to tomorrow.

Today’s leader is Jeremy Joseph - 23 years old and currently holding over 2.1 million chips
Second and third place are held by Nikolay Losev and Cristian Draogmir respectively.

WSOP Round-up Day 2

• Author: Ed
• Filed under: Tournaments
• Date: Jul 13,2008

Just like Day 1 has been split into various ’sub-days’ to help make it easier for all of the 6844 entrants of this grandiose competition, so has day 2.  Today we’re going to cover the whole two days in "one".  Because, with this year being the largest in history, there is a lot to tell!

The total number of players in Day2A was a staggering 1251.  Of that number after approximately 10 hours of play - we had 465 very battered, bruised but victorious individuals.  Today saw witness to a large number of professional players taking the fall and amongst those included Scotty Nguyen, Barry Greenstein and Bill Edler. 

Top 5 players for today were:

Brian Schaedlich with a staggering 8011,000  chips
Hunter Frey followed in second amassing 397,000 chips
Jeremiah Smith trails with 386,000

All in all 465 have survived to earn their day off and return after tomorrow.

Day 2B saw 2,378 players come into the fray yet again, and only 842 will manage to survive to see Day 3.  Today also saw the previous winner - Mr.Jerry Yang fall out of the contest, as well as many bracelet holders.  Top 3 players for today were:

Peter Biebel 531,000
Alex Outhred 486,800
Baja Kattamuri 411,100

As you can see no one took a significant lead compared to Day 2A.  This just goes to show how fierce the fight is, and how the 2008 WSOP will be the most competitive yet.

Stay tuned and enjoy!

Grand Entrances

• Author: Ed
• Filed under: General, Players
• Date: Jul 11,2008

In keeping with the WSOP theme we have right now, while we wait for the players to return after their hard earned break - we are going to take a look at some of the extents players will go to make sure that their identity is hidden or well known. 

Today - the two most famous examples have to be both Phil Hellmuth and Phil Laak.  The former made his grand entrance dressed in a general’s outfit with a company of very attractive young women.  One has to ask why a stunt such as this was devised.  Mr Hellmuth is neither good looking nor tremendously successful to date.

On the other hand - Phil Laak done completely the opposite - This stunt we actually quite liked however, it didn’t quite help the 35-year old who had spent over 6 hours with a professional make-up artist to get the stunt to work.  To explain it, you really have to see things.

Yes. They are the same person.  Apparently, the players at Phil’s table really did fall for it and as a result they believed they were playing with a genuine 100% real old man!

However, Phil is not the only old man playing.  Jack Ury beats his record.  This gentleman is the worlds’ oldest WSOP poker player at a staggering 95 years young!  He’s currently more successful too as the fabulous disguise of Phil Laak’s did not help him get past round 1.  Mr Ury is still battling and survives round 1 waiting for the rest in round 2.

Stay tuned for our coverage of the WSOP Day 2 very soon.

WSOP Main Event - Day 1D Round up

• Author: Ed
• Filed under: General, Tournaments
• Date: Jul 8,2008

This is the grand final for Day 1.  The Day 1D is the last chance people get to join the tournament, and as a result stands to be the busiest day in the tournament.  Today saw aggressive play from many well-known players as well as many ‘amateurs’ or should I say soon to be Pros.

Today’s grand total of entrants was a staggering 2,461.  This is more players than Day 1A and Day 1B combined - and it just goes to show how popular this tournament is, and how many people were ‘waiting’ to judge the field before they stepped in with their $10,000 buy-in.  Now we know today’s figure we can tell you how many people are going to be in the main competition.

Are you ready? 6844.  This gives a staggering total of over $64 million dollars in the prize pool and it looks set to be a very fierce competition this year, as only the top 666 players will win any money.  The good news is however, we have a lot of poker to play and hands to deal before we get anywhere near the good stuff.

So With Day 1D being the largest, was it the fiercest also? It looks set to be, with many professional players coming into the fold today.  With Phil Hellmuth making his ‘grand’ entrance today as well as Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey and Johnny Chan.

Today’s competition ended at nearly 1AM and the top six were

Steve Austin 149,000
David Oppenheim 123,000
Victor Ramdim 121,000
Carlos Mortenson 109,000
Gus Hanson 105,000

Surprisingly Phil Hellmuth’s wondrous entrance did not seem to help much, as he managed to finish the day with a mediocre 75,800 chips.  Enough to qualify, but certainly not enough to lead.  Surprisingly, last year’s champion Mr. Jerry Yang - managed to scrape by with a very mediocre 26,600 chips. 

This really was an aggressive and a well played day by everyone.

Congratulations, and enjoy your well-deserved one day vacation!