Must-flips for Tournament Life

I played in a rebuy poker online event on cake recently. I got off to a good start by catching pocket aces twice and playing them rather savvy. The event was very fast paced, as rebuy events normally tend to be. Players could not wait to get their online poker chips in. And as opposed to trying to see cheap flops and chase big draws, they were content to make huge raises preflop with hands like AJ and KQ suited. Every pot was large. My strategy in this tournament was to combat their aggression with passive play. I would limp into any poker hand I played. Sometimes, this would mean I would have to call a raise after I’d limped in with a hand like Kd-9d. In a rebuy format, hands like these can be invaluable. You’re trying to get in cheap if at all possible, but almost any multiway pot you can see for a reasonable price can pay in dividends. After the rebuy period was over, I was in the top 20 of about 200 players. I maintained my stack for a while, but without increasing much the other stacks started to catch up. The blinds were 300/600 with a 50 ante and I had about 17,000 chips, almost 30BBs. I looked down at QQ in early position and made a standard 3x opening raise to 1800. A following player with about 10,000 chips instantly moved all in. Action folded back around to me, it was about 8000 more to win 13,000 or so. If I was against AA or KK I was obviously in trouble, but I could also be against JJ, 10s, 9s AQ or AK. I easily made the call. Folding Queens here is way too tight. I didn’t have a monster chips stack where I could afford to sit on my haunches. The blinds and antes would soon be chopping my stack away. My opponent had AK off suit. The river made a 4-flush on the board and both of us had the flush, his to the K and mine to the Q. I was hurt very badly by this flip, but it was essential at this point in the game. There might be an argument to fold QQ at a different point in the tournament (around the bubble perhaps) or if I was in the top 10 in chips and didn’t want to take many preflop risks. Here, it was a must-flip.

February 25th, 2010

Hand Analysis: 3-A

Playing an ace of any sort is tempting for a wide range of poker players. Aces alone can often be enough to make the hand better than the cards an opponent would come with, and thus are appealing as opening bets. The problem with weaker aces, such as this Ace Three, is that even when you do pair your top card, the ace, it is hard to be sure in the face of aggression that your opponent does not also have an ace, with a better kicker. In heads up poker online playing most any ace for a raise is recommended, especially when you are on the button, but in larger ring games the weak ace’s value goes rapidly downhill. Odds are if an ace flops and you get any action, you are at the very least vulnerable and often behind an opponent who has you out kicked. In some instances you might flop two pair, which can be worth something, but other times you might get caught under a better two pair in the same way. Ultimately playing weak aces just isn’t worth the time. It might be good here and there to put in a raise from late online poker position in an unopened pot to try to pick up blinds, but when faced with reraises or action after the flop, you must proceed cautiously.

January 8th, 2010

Making Your Wedding Day Unique with Wedding Musicians

Your wedding musicians can leave everyone in their seats – or get everyone up, smiling, singing, and dancing. Here’s how to choose.

Continue Reading January 2nd, 2010

The State of Legalized Poker

Speaking of which, a study released this week confirms what I already know, that legal, regulated online poker gambling is easily attainable. Harvard Professor Malcolm Sparrow wrote the study showing that the best way to address the risks of Internet gambling is through regulation, not a prohibition. The study, commissioned by Wired Safety, a leading Internet safety non-profit, was released during the House Financial Services Committee hearing on H.R. 2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act. “Following last week’s decision by the Federal Reserve and the Department of Treasury to delay the implementation of the flawed Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), the release of this study adds even more fuel to the fire that a prohibition like UIGEA won’t work and that licensing and regulation, such as Chairman Frank’s H.R. 2267, is the right answer,” said Poker Players Alliance Chairman Former Senator Alfonse D’Amato, in a press statement. “Robust and effective licensing and regulation will not only protect poker players, children and problem gamblers, but also collect billions in tax revenue that is currently being lost. This is a win-win situation.” As more attention is being paid to the appropriate way for the U.S. to oversee online poker gaming, the Wired Safety study provides an academic view of how best to protect consumers. The study cites evidence that millions of U.S. consumers currently gamble online through offshore gambling sites, outside of American oversight and thus offering no consumer protections. The study concludes that a prohibition on online gambling would only serve to continue down this misguided path and turn a blind eye to protecting American consumers, especially children and problem gamblers. The second, and equally important, component of the study is that not only is licensing and regulation the best approach, it is also realistically achievable given the technologies available today – and being used in other countries. Learning from what works around the world, the report identifies regulatory tools and technologies that have reduced the risks associated with underage and problem gamblers, money laundering, fraud, privacy and security.

December 15th, 2009

Yee Peng Thai Lanterns Set Sail

Celebrations aplenty in Asia, many of the most awesome of which come about in the South East. Not astonishingly Thailand is the place of Thai Lanterns and are now gaining in popularity as they hit a extensive audience.One Such Festival by the name of Yee Peng follows the Buddhist Calendar and translates to the twelfth lunar month. November is when this happens if your waiting on a Western calendar. Loy Krathong is what you will hear it referred to if you hap to be in another part of Thailand.The Thai people watch this religious festival and the customs it claims. My favorite activity is the liberating of ‘Thai Lanterns’ or ‘Khom Loy’. Following the Lanterns enlighten the nightsky is a truly grand view to lay eyes on. Thai people trust that the departing lantern is companioned by any sufferings. A happy and fulfilled life is said to be described by the lanterns flame leading in the dark. Bamboo chassis with a Rice Paper shell is how these Thai Lanterns are built in a biodegradeable way.Flight time is about 12 min and the Lanterns are notable to reach upward of 900 ft!Popularity has been on the rise (excuse the pun) and reduced airtraffic and airport warnings about prospective turbo impairment have even been made out by the Royal Thai AirForce.

December 3rd, 2009

What Are Playing Card Indices?

It may seem obvious that playing cards need to be marked in order for a poker player to know their values, but this is actually a modern invention. Before cards were marked players were just expected to infer the value of the card based on the photos at the casino. For example, the decorations of some cards in Germany showed the rankings of members of the royal household. The lower valued cards were represented as maidservants or lower members of the royal household.

This kind of assumed card ranking was not always applicable. Standardized number systems were an easy way for players to recognize at a glance the value of their cards. The card markings, called indices, were often placed in the upper corner of the cards so that players could tightly fan their cards together in their hand. The most popular form of indices was in alternating corners so that players did not have to rotate the cards in their hands to read the values on the poker cards.

Because the cards could be tightly squeezed together, the earliest versions of cards with indices were often called squeezers. These cards significantly cut down on the possibility of players cheating by reading off another player’s hand. Squeezers have become the standardized form of playing card, and are still used today.

March 17th, 2009

Turbo versus Regular Poker Tournaments

In turbo poker en ligne tournaments, the periods in which the blinds increase are much shorter than an average tournament. Where a usual MTT consisting anywhere between 10 and 1000 players will often have 10 to 15 minute rounds (after each of which the blinds are slightly increased), in turbo tournaments the periods are doubled. This effect has several functions.

The first, obviously, is that the online poker tournament as a whole goes much quicker, as the times erupt and blinds increase to such an extent that players go out much quicker than they would have. In these situations you will often see the field narrow very quickly, especially as time increases.

The second effect of the increased blind periods is that the value of hands goes way up. Because you don’t have time to wait around forever to make a monster, hands that normally would have been played with caution will often get pushed to the wind. In turbo tournaments, it is especially vital to be aggressive and apply pressure, as those who allow themselves to get blinded off waiting for the hands they would play in a regular length tournament go out without much presence.

Through turbo online poker tournaments definitely require a greater degree of luck, there is also an art to them that can be deciphered by study of patterns and play, just as in other sorts of tournaments.

November 18th, 2008

Christmas Party Game Ideas

This holiday season, have fun with holiday party games. One great game to try is “White Elephant.” It’s one of those holiday party games that used for a secret santa or any kind of gift exchange. It’s a lot of fun and guaranteed to inspire lots of laughs.

Continue Reading October 30th, 2008

Realy terrific computers to be won at Dutch Windeprijsvraag.nl this year

Online promotions advertised as online contests, yet, can require an entry fee or license of purchase.

The Dutch translation says: Leeft u in Schiedam of Stede Broec en wil je veel prijzen winnen’ Met Windeprijsvraag winnen is nergens zo eenvoudig. Leuke prijzen winnen met de website windeprijsvraag.nl‘ Vaak 180 prijzen per week. Van Velsen tot Twenterand, met Win de prijsvraag.nl winnen gaat hier altijd. Een meneer van 42 heeft deze week nog een vakantie in de wacht gesleept.

7 hours ago also a European web company started a fun website and is also legally absolutely different. Internet sweepstakes are also legally completely different from the fun websites in Chesapeake Virginia. Cyber sweepstakes and online actions are proscribed from requiring a buy to enter. Funny online contests are treated much more indifferently than the conquerors who are not chosen by run of risk but by an fine piece of special. Really anyone can win marvelous cash prizes now every 15 weeks even if you live in Dallas Texas or in Danville Virginia, isn’t that absolutely fantastic. That’s why there are really great Ipods to win at online game contest and online sweepstakes this week. Many more online game contests are choosing to enter online easy sweepstakes. Sweepstakes are generally much lighter and faster to enter than contest websites. Entering online sweepstakes by mail is slumping in well known popularity at this present. That should be great to win BMWs worth 1405 euro and that simple.

September 19th, 2008

Texas Holdem: Watching out for Sucker Hands

A sucker hand in the game of poker is a pocket consisting of a high card paired with a low card. For the beginner or the impatient veteran, a sucker hand can look mighty tempting, as a face card is always pretty. Keep in mind however, that there are at least three others of your rank out there, and who knows how many higher cards there are in everyone else’s hand.

The problem is your low kicker. The kicker is the card in your hand that isn’t paired. If you and another player have a pair of Kings, what decides the winner is who has the higher kicker. If you’ve got a King-two and he’s got a King-ten, you’re out of online poker luck, my friend.

I’m personally guilty of falling in love with an Ace even though it was paired with a weaker card. Sometimes you just get so desperate to see something, anything that looks good, you’ll play a King with a two- bad news. Even if you pair that King, odds are there’s someone at the table with a better kicker. Hence the term “sucker hand”.

Trust me, that King starts looking a lot worse when there’s a two or three next to it. Don’t be a sucker. Know when to dump that sucker hand. You poker play will improve dramatically. Oh, and so will your wallet.

September 3rd, 2008