July 28th, 2010
If you are new to playing poker for real money or are just a generally tight poker player it can be a little nerve wrecking when you think about playing aggressively. After all, if you play aggressively in a high stakes game and lose then you can stand to lose quite a bit of your poker bankroll. However, sometimes you have to play aggressively if you want to maximize your winnings. The following tips can help you ease yourself into playing poker aggressively so that you can maximize your poker winnings.
If you are thinking about playing more aggressively, the first thing you need to think about is your bankroll. You want to play in a game with limits that are affordable, so that even if you play aggressively and lose you won’t be left with nothing. You should try to choose a game with limits that will allow you to make between 200 to 300 big bets, or even more. For instance, if you’ve got only $80 to play with then you don’t want to play in a $2/$4 limit game. It is much better for your bankroll to choose a $0.10/$0.25 game. This way, even if you lose on an aggressive play you aren’t going to eat much of your bankroll.
Also, before you start playing aggressively you want to master strategy. Start out with a free poker game while you are learning about odds and strategy. You only want to play aggressively when you’ve got the nuts and are pretty confident you have a good chance of winning.
Tags: Aggressive Poker, Free Poker, poker, tips
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July 23rd, 2010
A few times a month I get together with some friends to play poker. Last night, one of my buddies was totally off his game. Usually he kills the rest of us at poker, but last night he was playing worse than I’ve ever seen him play before. I asked him what was up and he told me he was out of practice. He and his wife are saving up for a nice vacation later this summer so he hasn’t been playing poker online.
My friend is a big online poker player, but he only plays for real money. He tries to get in at least an hour a night, but in order to avoid losing valuable vacation money he had taken a break from online poker and his game really suffered because of it. I asked him why he didn’t continue playing free games, just to brush up on his skills, and he said that oddly enough he hadn’t even considered that idea.
If I could only give online poker players one piece of advice it would be this: Don’t write off free online poker games! I understand that playing poker for real money is exciting, but sometimes if you are saving money like my friend, or just want to get in a little bit of free poker practice, a free game can be great.
The next time you are thinking about taking a day, or a week or a month off from your real money online poker games to save money, just switch to a free game. You’ll thank yourself for it when you get back to the real money gaming.
Tags: Free Online Poker, Free Poker, Online Poker, poker, practice
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July 20th, 2010
After 78 strenuous hours over 8 days of poker sessions, the Final Table for the WSOP 2010 Main Event has finally been determined. The final nine players, known as the “November Nine”, are set to compete on ESPN on November 9 of this year. So who made it? Read on to find out.
Seat 1 – Jason Sentl is a 25-year old professional poker player from St. Louis Park, MN. This is Sentl’s first time to cash in a WSOP event.
Seat 2 – Joseph Cheong is a 24-year old professional poker player from La Mirada, CA. He won a WSOP Circuit gold ring three months ago.
Seat 3 – John Dolan is a 24-year old professional poker player from Bonita Springs, FL. He has a total of 6 WSOP cashes, including three this year.
Seat 4 – Jonathan Duhamel is a 22-year old professional poker player from Quebec. If Duhamel wins, it will be the 6th gold bracelet-win for Canada this year.
Seat 5 – Michael Mizrachi is a highly successful and well-known poker player. At 29-years old, he won his first WSOP bracelet in this year’s Poker Players Championship.
Seat 6 – Matthew Jarvis is a 25-year old professional poker players and student from Surrey, BC in Canada. He primarily plays online poker and this is his first time cashing in the WSOP.
Seat 7 – John Racener is a 24-year old professional poker player from Port Richey, FL. He is well known on the national WSOP Circuit, and won the Main Event championship victory in 2007 at Harrah’s Atlantic City.
Seat 8 – Filippo Candio is a 26-year old professional poker player from Cagliari, Sardinia in Italy. He is the first Italian to play at the WSOP Main Event final table.
Seat 9 – Cuong “Soi” Nguyen is a 37-year old medical supply salesman from Santa Ana, CA. He is the only amateur to make it to this year’s final table.
Tags: Final Table, November Nine, world series of poker, WSOP, wsop 2010
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July 19th, 2010
The World Series of Poker is the biggest thing on everyone’s minds in the poker world right now, but Phil Ivey is taking a little bit of the spotlight of the WSOP by setting records with his 9th World Poker Tour final table. Everyone knows that Phil Ivey is awesome, with eight WSOP bracelet wins and one WPT title. Now he is proving yet again that he is a King of the poker world.
In the end, Ivey didn’t win the event. He lost to Moritz Kranich and Justin Smith, but still managed to come in third place, taking home $363,650. Ivey did manage to rise to chip leader at one point during the game. However, he bust with a Queen-4 against Smith’s King-8 and was out.
Before last week’s event, Phil Ivey had cashed out in 12 World Poker Tour events, and of these he had been in the final table for eight. Ivey is not the only player to score nine final tables in the WPT, though it is a very rare occurrence. Daniel Negreanu and Scotty Nguyen have accomplished the same feat. Gus Hansen has achieved a seat in 10 WPT finals.
The final rankings in the event are as follows:
First Place – Moritz Kranch – $875,150
Second Place – Justin Smith – $594,755
Third Place – Phil Ivey – $363,650
Fourth Place – John Caridad – $237,902
Fifth Place – Robert Akery – $169,930
Sixth Place – Eric Afriat – $118,950
Tags: Final Table, Phil Ivey, World Poker Tour, WPT, WSOP
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July 13th, 2010
Peter Eastgate became a household name in the world of professional poker when he beat Ivan Demidov and took home the title in the WSOP 2008 Main Event, taking home $9,152,416. In 2008, Eastgate was the youngest player to ever win a Main Event in the WSOP (though Joe Cada overturned the record the following year). Now, Eastgate is one of the youngest professional poker players to retire, throwing in his chips at the age of 24.
Eastgate has been lucky enough to rake in win after win over the course of his poker career. In 2009, he took home $343,000 in a European Poker Tour Caribbean Poker Adventure Hold’em event; he also won over $1.3 million when he took second place at the EPT London Championship Event. Eastgate is in fourth place on the all-time money winners’ leader board and has earned more than $11.3 million in a few short years. Why is he giving all of this up?
Eastgate says that he never had any intention of playing poker forever, and he’s ready to figure out what he wants to do with the rest of his life. He says, “When I started playing poker for a living, it was never my goal to spend the rest of my life as a professional poker player. My goal was to become financially independent. I have decided that now is the time to find out what I want to do with the rest of my life.”
There are poker players who strive for their entire lives to earn a quarter of what Eastgate has won in the past few years. It will be interesting to see if Eastgate will be as successful at whatever he decides to do with his life as he has been in the world of professional poker.
Tags: Peter Eastgate, poker, professional poker, Retirement, WSOP
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July 12th, 2010
Going into the third day of the 2010 WSOP Main Event, the number one chip leader with $387,800 in chips is David “a$$ou” Assouline. Assouline is a 25-year old from Montreal, Canada. His name may be new to you, as this is Assouline’s first WSOP Main Event. However, Assouline is showing the poker world that you don’t have to be a well known, seasoned professional to kick “a$$” at the World Series of Poker.
Although Assouline has never played in a WSOP Main Event before, he does have some experience with big buy-in tournaments. He played in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure earlier this year. He also has won a variety of other online poker tournaments. Last October, he took home $149,171 as the winner of the Sunday Warmup tournament, he won the Sunday Second Chance for $53,831 in April, and he recently won the Sunday Million for $61,500, all PokerStars tournaments.
Assouline is excited about participating in the WSOP Main Event and his wish for a smooth transition from online to live poker tournament events seems to be going his way. He is playing a strong game, but Assouline admits that lady luck isn’t hurting either. He says, “To have as many chips as I do at this point in the tournament, you have to have a few coolers go your way. Don’t get me wrong, I’m playing well, but I’ve had my aces run into kings twice already.”
Keep an eye out for David Assouline as the WSOP Main Event continues.
Tags: Chip Leader, Main Event, World Series Of Poker David Assouline, WSOP
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July 8th, 2010
When you play in real money poker tournaments online, of course your objective is to make money. However, if you stick to playing in the low-limit sit-and-go tournaments you won’t be able to maximize your profits efficiently. Read on for some tips about how to make money when you play in sit-and-go and other tournaments online.
For starters, think about the payoff versus your time. If the first prize in a 1-hour sit-and-go is $5 it’s probably not worth you time, unless your main objective is to work on your tournament skills. You probably wouldn’t do your day job for $5 an hour so think about how much money your time is worth before you sign up to play in a online poker tournament.
It is also important to choose a tournament where you will be competing against other people who play at your same level. If you play against more experience poker players in a tournament then your chances of winning and making any money are pretty slim. Start out with lower level tournaments and work your way up as you win in order to find the perfect level for you. Usually the more experienced players play in more expensive tournaments.
If you need to brush up on your poker skills before you start in with real money tournament play then practice with a free poker game online. Once you are ready for real money play, don’t forget to have fun. Because after all, the time and money isn’t worth it if you aren’t having a good time!
Tags: Free Poker, Online Poker, poker, Poker Tournaments, Sit-and-Go Tournaments
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July 7th, 2010
I love stories about regular people who get to live their dreams, so when I heard about WSOP freeroll qualifier Belinda Roberts I couldn’t resist writing about her. Roberts, a 49-year old Australian woman that used to work as a casino dealer, has taken her place in the 2010 WSOP Main Event.
Roberts qualified for the World Series of Poker by playing in an exclusive VIP Champion Camp freeroll, held b PokerListings and 888. She earned a free spot in the WSOP Main Event, as well as a flight and accommodations from PokerListings and yesterday she took her seat at the Main Event to play alongside poker’s greatest players.
Roberts said, “I’ve been dreaming of sitting under these lights for so many years. I was actually planning on 2011 Aussie Millions and hopefully satellite into the Main Event.” Luckily she didn’t have to wait for Aussie Millions and was able to qualify from the online freeroll. Roberts says she has always been fascinated by poker. She has watched the WSOP and other televised poker events for years and now she gets to finally be a part of it.
When Roberts took her seat at the main event she was sporting an Australian bush hat with a fancy mosquito veil and was hard to miss. When asked about her hat she said, “It’s an Aussie thing to keep out all the flies. I suppose it’s something that identifies who I am and gives me the added bonus that you can’t see my face. It’s sort of a joke amongst my friends and family.”
Tags: Belinda Robers, freeroll, tournament, world series of poker, WSOP
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July 1st, 2010
As the World Series Of Poker tournament progresses things are heating up and the question on every player’s mind is, who is going to win the race for WSOP 2010 Player Of The Year? Each year, players are ranked based on their cumulative measure of performance and the player that comes out on top receives the Player Of The Year Title.
This year, Frank Kassela and John Juanda are currently tied for first place in the rankings, with 225 points each. Kassela has won two bracelets so far and Juanda has not won any, however his cash wins have given him a top spot on the leader board.
Juanda says that if he wins Poker Player Of The Year “it will make me feel a bit better about not winning a bracelet. But every year I go without a bracelet, it’s disappointing.” Kassela says that he has “been playing in a ton of events since [he] won the last one, just because [he] knew [he] had a decent chance at Player of the Year.” It’s a close race, and if either player wants to go home with the title they will have to up their game, compete in a lot of events and either win or place in the top with cash wins.
The current standings for Poker Player Of The Year are as follows:
John Juanda – 225 points
Frank Kassela – 225 points
Vladimir Schemelev – 210 points
Dan Heimiller – 200 points
Michael Mizrachi – 190 points
Men Nguyen – 180 points
Richard Ashby – 180 points
Jeffrey Papola – 180 points
James Dempsey – 180 points
Allen Kessler – 175 points
David Chiu – 170 points
David Baker – 170 points
Tags: Frank Kassela, John Juanda, Player Of The Year, world series of poker, WSOP
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June 29th, 2010
Live poker games have been available to Californians for some time now. However, there are currently no licensing requirements, regulations or law enforcement tools designed to protect the millions of poker players in California who play real money games on the Internet. Today at 3:30pm PST, California’s Senate Government Organization Committee will discuss the state’s first Internet poker legislation.
The legislation, known as Senate Bill 1485, will implement several rules and regulations on the Internet poker industry and players in California. The bill will authorize three hub operators to allow legal poker gaming online in the state. This means that Californians will only be able to play at those specified hubs when in California. Additionally, these hubs must fork over at least 20% of their gross revenues to the Internet Gambling Fund each month, a newly created Californian fund. Online poker players must be at least 21 years old.
Both the Morongo Band of Million Indians and the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) have issues with the bill in its present form. John Pappas, the executive director of the PPA said, “We have some legitimate concerns with the legislation that hopefully will get remedied. A lot of people think the chances of this bill moving forward this year are slim because no one has really gotten behind the current draft and there seems to be a lot of division on what the best end product would be.”
It will be interesting to see what results from discussion of the bill in California today.
Tags: California, Internet Poker, poker, Poker Legislation, poker players alliance, SB 1485
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