General

The Best Poker Training Program – A Strategic Approach

No one would ever consider running a business without a strategy. Well, some people do it, but they probably aren’t in business very long. The same can be said for poker. Many people decide to play poker without any strategy for getting better, but they probably lose their money rather quickly. To take this a step farther, many people embark on a poker training agenda with the intent of improving, but very few approach their poker training with any strategy. I believe that this is a critical mistake.

The first step in devising an appropriate poker training plan is doing a Big-Picture Analysis of your long-term goals and the steps that it will take to reach them. The bigger your goal, the more time it will take. The farther along you are to accomplishing your goal, the less time it will take. The program I am going to suggest today is directed primarily at beginning and intermediate poker players, but many aspects of it are useful for advanced players also.

January 18th, 2015|General, Poker Training Tips|Comments Off on The Best Poker Training Program – A Strategic Approach

Bovada Anonymous Poker for U.S. Players

Bovada is the leading online poker room for U.S. players, and it is also the only site with 100% anonymous poker. Over the past several years it has grown to become the most trusted site in terms of reliable payments to U.S. players.  So what is anonymous poker and how can you use it to your advantage?

April 3rd, 2014|General|1 Comment

Internet Gambling and Online Poker in the US – The Latest News Part II

“The proper role of the federal government is not that of a nanny, protecting citizens from any and every potential negative consequence of their actions. Although I personally believe gambling to be a dumb waste of money, American citizens should be just as free to spend their money playing online poker as they should be able to buy a used car, enter into a mortgage, or invest in a hedge fund. Risk is inherent in any economic activity, and it is not for the government to determine which risky behaviors Americans may or may not engage in.” – Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)

In our last post, we discussed the newly pending legislation in the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. In this post, we would like to discuss the lobbying activities of organizations interested in legalizing online poker in the U.S.

March 12th, 2010|General|Comments Off on Internet Gambling and Online Poker in the US – The Latest News Part II

Internet Gambling and Online Poker in the U.S. – the Latest News Part I

“Americans ought to be free to do what they want with their own money” – Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass)

Congressman Frank summarizes the feelings of many Americans with his support of Internet gambling in the United States. He has been a staunch supporter of officially legalizing, regulating, and taxing Internet gambling, and he has recently received support from many very big power names in the worlds of gambling and politics. Over the next several posts, we are going to provide an update on the state of Internet gambling in the U.S., what attempts are being made in Congress to regulate and tax Internet gambling, what these efforts might mean to online poker, and what you can do to help out the cause.

March 3rd, 2010|General|Comments Off on Internet Gambling and Online Poker in the U.S. – the Latest News Part I

2009 World Series of Poker Final Table — Recap

SPOILER ALERT:

These are some of my comments about the WSOP final table. The heads up part won’t be played until tomorrow night, and then it will be on ESPN on Tuesday. If you don’t want to know anything until you see it on TV, read no further.

Bring-Your-Own-Posse

The four month break gave everyone a chance to take some poker lessons. More than that, it gave them a chance to round up a posse. Several of the November Nine had large, very vocal cheering sections. Fights were even breaking out, and spectators were being ejected. I’m not making this up! But the rest of the audience – I mean everybody – was for Phil Ivey. Even when Ivey just took down the blinds, the crowd would roar with approval. But it wasn’t meant to be…

November 8th, 2009|General|Comments Off on 2009 World Series of Poker Final Table — Recap

World Series of Poker, 2008 Main Event Final Table, Part II

So, as I indicated in my last post, I’m going to be reviewing one hand from the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event Final Table, primarily to demonstrate that the hands shown are not necessarily the best-played hands. I believe this was the second hand shown on ESPN. Amateur Dennis Phillips entered the final table as the chip leader, lost some chips on the first hand, and was in second place to Russian professional Ivan Demidov when this hand came up. Phillips was first to act, Demidov was near the button. I’m going to jump right into the hand, and evaluate each action. I’ll indicate some thought on how I think the players should have played each action too.

December 16th, 2008|General|Comments Off on World Series of Poker, 2008 Main Event Final Table, Part II

WORLD SERIES OF POKER, MAIN EVENT FINAL TABLE, PART 1

Now that everyone has gotten to watch the World Series of Poker Main Event final table several hundred times on ESPN, I thought I would post some reflections on the success or failure of this new method of waiting 4 months to hold the final table. As many people have commented, waiting this long totally changed the dynamics of the table, because it gave the players months to get endorsements, sell percentages of themselves, hire personal coaches, etc. From a TV standpoint however, the public has spoken and they like it. Viewership was up almost 50%.

December 4th, 2008|General|Comments Off on WORLD SERIES OF POKER, MAIN EVENT FINAL TABLE, PART 1