ats poker blog

Thursday, November 6, 2008

PokerStars Summer games

PokerStars summer games

Represent your country in the poker event of the year - and win great cash prizes! The PokerStars Summer Games is a one-of-a-kind FREE poker extravaganza that gives you the chance to get your share of more than 80,000 cash prizes and 80 places in our USA vs. Canada $100,000 final!

8 Different Games. Play One or Play All!

Choose from the list of games that you’re strongest in. You can play any game or simply play them all. It’s free to enter - what have you got to lose??

So join us for eight weeks of incredible poker action this summer. And to mix things up a bit, it won't just be Hold'em being played on the tables. The Summer Games has events covering eight different variations of poker, from Hold'em to 5 Card Draw, Omaha to Stud – so there's something for everyone! Each event awards hundreds of daily cash prizes, and every week our Round 2 tournaments will send five players from each country to the $100,000 final! And best of all, it's completely FREE and EXCLUSIVE to PokerStars players from America and Canada!America vs. CanadaPit your poker skills against your neighbors, as Team USA takes on Team Canada in the ultimate poker showdown. But it isn't just national pride that's at stake – there's also some serious cash up for grabs, with $100,000 in the prize pool for the final! To make the final, you'll need to prove your mettle by taking on your fellow countrymen in our exclusive Canadian and USA preliminary rounds.

Win Your Place on the Team! Visit PokerStars

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

World Poker Tour and MySpace join forces

MySpace, the world's premier social network, and World Poker Tour (WPT) ave joined forces to create the first fully integrated poker destination with games and content for all current Myspace members. The MySpace WPT community delivers a unique poker experience with great content for poker players, including expert tips and tricks, player profiles, video clips, tournament news, and behind-the-scenes videos. The community provides a place for poker players to meet one another and interact with their favorite WPT superstars and discover new WPT content.

The MySpace WPT section offers a free multi-player poker game. The free poker game allows MySpace members to compete against each other online in real time, putting their poker skills to the test in live or private poker tournaments. MySpace is bringing a new dimension of entertainment to users with this integrated WPT poker hub and providing an easy and fun way for users to play poker with friends on MySpace," said Angela Courtin, senior vice president of marketing, entertainment and content for MySpace. "MySpace has a balance of a social community base and a global portal platform that allows brands like WPT to create great online entertainment experiences for our users. As the Web becomes increasingly more social, MySpace is at the forefront of innovation and online engagement."

"Poker and social networking have separately reached and engaged people around the world in ways like nothing we've seen before," said Steve Lipscomb, WPT Founder, President and CEO. "As poker continues to see major growth across the globe, this partnership meets the demand for a poker experience that appeals to enthusiasts of all levels by connecting consumers in one unique, fully-integrated gaming and entertainment environment."Poker fans will also see the MySpace WPT community get in the action during WPT Season VII television broadcasts, featured on the final table ring where the remaining six players battle it out for millions of dollars and a WPT title. Premiering on Fox Sports Net later this year, the World Poker Tour follows the pros, newcomers, and all the poker action from Las Vegas to Barcelona, featuring all-new final tables where millions of dollars and a WPT title are at stake.No purchase is necessary for the ClubWPT.com sweepstakes and the service is void in states where prohibited. To get details on how to join, for information on alternative means of entry or to get a two-week free trial, visit www.myspace.com/ClubWPT or www.ClubWPT.com.

Friday, October 24, 2008

PokerStars Caribbean Adventure PCA Tournament

The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure is back for 2009 - and you could be there! The event takes place January 5-10 and includes a $10,000 Main Event, a $25,000 High-Rollers tournament and other side events.

Now part of the hugely successful PokerStars European Poker Tour, the PCA is held every year at the ultra-luxurious Atlantis Resort and Casino, located in the beautiful surroundings of the Bahamas. It’s the perfect place to relax before taking your shot at becoming the new PCA Champion - and winning one of the biggest prize pools in the world!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

PokerStars Million Dollar Men Freeroll Tournaments

PokerStars Million Dollar Men!

It was one of the biggest live tournament fields of all time, with 6,844 poker players gathered from around the world, all competing for life changing amounts of money. The action was intense, the days were long, and the eliminations were brutal. And in the end there were just nine players left - all guaranteed to walk away with at least $900,670 in prize money.
Introducing the PokerStars Million Dollar Men!

There are six PokerStars players at the Final Table, and you can follow them on the road to the World Series of Poker Main Event Final Table this November. We’ll be supporting them every step of the way, as they take their shot at becoming the new WSOP Main Event World Champion, and the winner of the $9,119,517 first place prize money!

The Final Table takes place in Las Vegas, November 9-10.

Latest News
Poker Stars is celebrating the success of the Million Dollar Men with a range of exclusive online tournaments that give you the chance to play poker against all six members and take home huge cash prizes. You could even find yourself winning a share of their WSOP Main Event winnings!

The Million Dollar Men Freerolls

Between September 27 and October 17, we´re running daily freeroll tournaments that give you a shot at winning a seat in our Million Dollar Men Main Event. Make it there and you´ll get to face-off against all six members and play for a prize pool that includes $100,000 in first place prize money. See The Million Dollar Men Freerolls page for more information.
Win a Share in the Million Dollar Men

Finish in the top 100 in any of the individual "Win a Share" tournaments and you´ll walk away with cash and a share of the money that your chosen Million Dollar Men player wins at the World Series of Poker Main Event! Visit the Win a share in the Million Dollar Men page for more details.

Play with the Million Dollar Men
Enter our "Outlast the Million Dollar Men" tournament for just $5.50 and you could find yourself winning a share of $25,000 in added prizes, for lasting longer than our six star players. We are also running special VIP 1-table tournaments, with bounty cash available for busting out the Million Dollar Men. Go to the Play with the Million Dollar Men page to find out more.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Poker Playing Cards as a Crime Fighting Tool

Cold Case Cards

How do you solve a murder that happened years ago with absolutely no leads?

Corrections officials in the state of New York have begun handing out "cold case" playing cards to prisoners to use in the hopes that someone, somewhere knows something about the case. By providing poker playing cards with all of the facts of each case, the hope is that the prisoners will discuss the cases and provide more details and leads for the police to follow. Each playing card has a different cold case file listed with the details of the crime. The prison officials are hoping that someone who has been incarcerated will step up with more information pertaining to the case.

This playing card method of solving old crimes began in Florida state prisons and they say the program is a success. The program in Florida has resulted in eight arrests and one conviction since it began. This ground breaking idea was started by the Lyalls whose daughter has been missing for over 10 years with no breaks in the case. Using donations raised by the Center for Hope charity, the Lyalls have now sent over 7,000 decks of these poker cards to New York's local jails.

Most prisoners say that they like the idea themselves and believe the cards may have some merit. Most jails have a high turn over rate and the number of criminals processed through these facilities are staggering. The more people that read the cards, the more likely someone, somewhere will have some information that was not known prior.

This program is gaining in popularity and the hope is that many more states will supply their prisoners with these decks of playing cards in the future. This is an innovative idea with some merit, and the thought that even one old case can be solved through these poker cards is enough to give the program a chance to succeed. The response has been promising with over 40 to 50 calls coming in per month.

The only negative feedback has been from a small number of prisoners who find these poker playing cards "disturbing" but over all, they have gained wide acceptance throughout the prisons of Florida where the program was initially developed.

The Lyalls know that the work, at times painful, is important. They are convinced that some of the cases will be solved.

"The strength I find is the fact this is a missing part of my life, and I need to find my daughter, and this is our job now. If you have no other job for the rest of your life your job is to find that child that is missing," Mary Lyall said.

Read more breaking poker news and get the top online poker bonus offers available.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

PokerStars Latest News and Poker Bonus Promotions

PokerStars Latest News and Promotions

3645 players took to the virtual felt Sunday afternoon for the $750,000 guaranteed prize pool in the Sunday Warm-Up. The top 540 players picked up at least $375 each, but the real money was at the top of the pyramid, with a guaranteed $101,250.00 for first place. After eight hours of tough poker, the final table was set when allofit29 picked up the unfortunate title of final table bubble boy. His A-7 hit an Ace on the turn to crack chip leader TribunCaesar’s pocket Kings, but the fourth spade on the river sent the check mark back to TribunCaesar, and busted allofit29 in 10th place ($4,500).The final nine wasted no time getting in on the action, with willcutyou moving all in preflop on the first hand of the final table. He got no callers, but a few hands later LoboTommi got it all in preflop with pocket Queens to Djelly’s pocket jacks. On a board of 9c-Ad-10h-3s, LoboTommi was poised for a double up, but the brutal Jd on the river gave Djelly a set and LoboTommi $6,750 for 9th place.
Overpairs continued to fall as willcutyou busted in 8th place ($9,750) when his pocket Kings couldn’t hold against Bajasen’s Ad-10s. A ten on the flop and another on the turn left willcutyou looking for two outs on the river. The 3c wasn’t one of them, and his evening was over.
+ to the EV! picked a tough time to make a move when he moved all in over the top of big stack Djelly’s preflop raise. Djelly insta-called with pocket aces, and EV! was left looking for help with his J-10. The flop made things interesting, as it came down Kh-2d-Jh, but the better hand eventually held up as the rest of the board came down 3s-4h and + to the EV! picked up $15,750 for 7th place.
Short stacks caiimeron and wasylaa both moved in with pocket pairs and found action from chip leader Djelly in a monster three-way all in pot. Djelly’s Ah-Qd was a coin flip against caiimeron’s pocket jacks and wasylaa’s pocket eights, and when the flop came down 7c-5s-Ac, it looked like the field would thin quickly. The 8s on the turn gave wasylaa new life, and the 5c on the river meant that only one player went to the rail in the hand, caiimeron in 6th place ($23,250).
Still pretty short-stacked, wasylaa wasted no time moving all his chips into the middle with Qd-10c from the button. TribunCaesar re-raised all in to isolate with his pocket Kings, and the flop of Jh-As-4d gave wasylaa outs to the straight. No King on the turn or river meant that wasylaa was done in 5th place ($30,750) and TribunCaesar was challenging Djelly for the chip lead.
After a lengthy period of four-handed play, Bajasen became the next to fall when he busted in 4th place ($38,625). TribunCaesar raised preflop with Kh-Qd, and Bajasen moved all in over the top with As-9s. The board ran out 8h-Kd-6c-Ks-8c, and TribunCaesar made kings full to bust Bajasen and tighten his hold on the 2nd-place chip stack.
Short stack cpfz55555 came into the final table with one of the smallest stacks, and dodged bullets and doubled up all the way to 3rd place and a $48,750 payday. Even with the smallest stack, it took a gutshot to send him packing, as he got it all in with As-Qh against monster chip leader Djelly’s Kh-9h. The flop came down 2s-Qd-10h, and quicker than you could say “he needs a jack,” the Jh came on the turn. The 7c provided no suck-resuck action, and cpfz55555’s masterful display of short-stack poker came to an end.
Djelly took a huge chip lead into heads-up play, and extended his lead in the early going over TribunCaesar. Finally, after a dozen or so hands of back-and-forth, all the money went in preflop. TribunCaesar moved all in with Js-7s, and Djelly called with As-10c. The flop of 5d-Qd-4d was no help to either player, but the 10d was the perfect turn card for Djelly, as TribunCaesar was left looking for three outs on the river. The Qh wasn’t one of them, and TribunCaesar was busted in 2nd place for $71,250.
After nearly ten hours of tournament and almost two hours of final table, Djelly claimed the win and the $101,250 top prize! Congratulations to all our final table finishers and the 540 players who cashed in the Sunday Warm-Up!

Sign up at PokerStars and get a Free $50 poker bonus.

Read our in depth, objective PokerStars Review

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Poker Lessons for beginners

In Depth Review of Full Tilt Poker

In the middle and later stages of tournaments, there are often times when you're forced to make a pretty big commitment on a relatively weak holding. These are uncomfortable spots because you never want to risk a large percentage of your chips with a mediocre hand. Things get even more difficult when you're playing from the blinds and out of position.For example, say you're playing late in a tournament. The blinds are $500 and $1,000, and there's a $100 ante. You're in the small blind with $18,000. It's folded around to the button, an aggressive player who raises frequently in late position. He has $30,000 in his stack and he raises to $3,500. You look at your cards and see Ad-9s.You know that A-9 isn't a great hand, but you can't ignore it in this situation. First off, given your opponent's history, he may very well be raising with a hand that is far worse than yours. In fact, in this spot, he could very well have two rags. Another consideration is that there are a lot of chips in play. Between the blinds, antes, and your opponent's raise, you stand to pick up over $5,000 in chips if you can take down this pot, which would be a nice addition to your short stack.So, you're probably going to want to play this hand. But what's the best action?At first, it might seem that calling is a reasonable course, as it would keep you from getting overly committed on this marginal hand. But calling has some pretty big downsides. With a hand like A-9, you're usually not going to like the flop very much. In fact, you'll fail to make as much as a pair about two-thirds of the time. If you do flop a pair of 9s, how are you going to proceed if the flop also has an over card? Even on an Ace-high flop, you'll have a tough time knowing if your hand is good.What's more, if you miss the flop completely, you leave yourself vulnerable to being outplayed. It's going to be very hard to bet if the flop contains three cards that don't help your hand. If you check, your opponent will likely make a continuation bet, and you'll be hard-pressed to continue, even though Ace-high might be good.In spots like this, your best move is to press an edge while you have it - before the flop. Re-raise all-in pre-flop. Your opponent probably won't have a hand that he can call with and, if he does, you'll have plenty of outs. You still have about a 25% chance against AK, for example. Not good, but not dead.The important thing to keep in mind is that, in the later stages of a tournament, you don't want to make many decisions after the flop when you have a medium-strength hand like Ace-middle kicker or middle pocket pair, and you're playing out of position. Put your chips in while you think you have the best of it, and hope for the best. If you let these marginal but good situations pass you by, you might regret it later when your stack has been whittled down even further.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Kentucky courts rule to seize online gambling URLs

Interesting development with the state of Kentucky banning online gambling. In case you have not heard of this new state strategy, the state of Kentucky courts have ruled that online wagering poker room and casinos must block access to residents of their state by November 17th or the state will confiscate their url. Many of the biggest online gambling URLs in the world were targeted by the state for forfeiture. These URLs included fulltiltpoker.com, pokerstars.com, ultimatebet.com and doylesroom.com.

Here is what the judge ordered in regards to the 141 Domain Names on the states list for confiscation:

The defendants will have 30 days (from October 16th, 2008) to install geographic blocks that prevent access by residents of Kentucky. They will then have to prove to the Court that the blocks are "operational"and working properly by blocking access. Once the Court has been satisfied that residents of Kentucky can no longer access the site, the URL will be "relieved" from the effects of the Seizure Order. Kentucky will then serve written notice to the domain name registrar of the URL that has gained compliance that the Seizure Order has been withdrawn. The final hearing for the forfeiture is set for November 17th, 2008.

Most of the websites that own domains listed in the Seizure Order have indicated that they are going to ignore the court ruling. Pokerstars.com, for instance, have their domain with a foreign registrar and their registrar publicly stated that they are going to ignore the ruling. Other online wagering websites have their domains with registrars such as Godaddy.comwho has indicated that they will comply with the Court's ruling. Sites such as Ultimatebet.com and Doylesroom.com will be seized on November 17th unless those two companies can show that they have indeed been able to successfully blocked the residents of the state of Kentucky.

It is unknown what actions website hosts such as Network Solutions will take at this point. This all sounds simple, all these sites have to do is to demonstrate to the court that they have blocked access to residents of Kentucky and go on their way with regular business. The problem arises with the owners of the domains who will have to establish to the court somehow that they have blocked all access to residents of the state of Kentucky. Most of these website owners do not step foot within the United States for fear of being arrested, so this will be a problem. Furthermore, many other states will probably do the same now that the ruling was upheld. The news of this ruling will spread throughout the mainstream media because it is an issue that will possibly end up influencing many different online and land based industries. Some of the companies involved (Pokerstars, Full Tilt Poker) will simply ignore the Kentucky court's ruling. Some of the companies will be forced to set up alternative domain names (with foreign registrars) and redirect traffic to the new domains. By redirecting a URL, the original domain is hidden within a new URL. How will these company executives or lawyers be able to show up in court to prove that they have blocked the residents of Kentucky from accessing their domain without facing immediate arrest in the first place? This is a major disappointing ruling for the online poker community, but I am sure that the legal documents are already being written up to appeal this decision. The problem is that the appeal process takes a lot of time. So, in the meantime, the residents of Kentucky can no longer play at most online poker rooms or online casinos.

Once again the judge stated that this measure is necessary to protect the residents of their state. They further state that online poker is strictly a game of luck, and that the hand you have is the only determining factor in whether you win or lose. Now any serious poker player knows that this simply is not true. It amazes me that the state feels the need to protect its citizens from these websites, yet an exemption allows for state run horse racing and lotteries to continue online. It seems that as long as the state has an economic interest in the wagering, it is fine for their citizens to wager online.

I can see this spreading quickly through the states now. I will keep you posted to any developments.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Poker Strategy when to call a bet

Gavin Smith

Poker Lesson #42 In Defense of the Call

Full Tilt Poker

Most poker literature warns of the dangers of becoming a calling station. Common wisdom has it that when you’re playing a hand, you should be betting, raising or folding. Calling is usually considered the worst thing you can do.

I disagree. When I play in No-Limit Hold 'em tournaments, I find a lot of situations where calling is the best available option. A strategic call might keep me from going broke in a hand where I hold a good, but second-best hand. Or, a well-timed call might allow me to pick up a pot with a hand that would not win at showdown. Take a look at the following examples. I think you’ll see that the call is a powerful and underutilized weapon.

Say you’re in the middle stages of a tournament and you have a stack that is slightly above average. A tight player opens in early position for a raise of three times the big blind. You look at your cards and see pocket Tens. You probably don’t want to fold Tens. It might be as good a hand as you’ve seen in a long while, and it may very well be the best hand at that moment. Many people would say that, in this situation, you should throw in a large re-raise.

But the re-raise can be dangerous. Depending on the size of your stack, you could end up committed to the pot and have no choice but to call if your opponent moves all-in. If that happens, you’re probably up against a higher pair or, at best, A-K. You never want to commit all your chips when you’re either a small favorite or a big underdog.

If, however, you just call the open-raise, you’ll have a far better opportunity to make a good decision after the flop. The flop might come A-Q-7, at which point, you can fold to any bet, knowing there’s essentially no chance your hand is best. Should you see a flop of 4-4-6 and your opponent bets, you can raise. Most opponents holding only A-K would fold at that point. If your opponent then moves all-in, you can be pretty sure that your Tens are no good. You can fold, having preserved a good portion of your stack.

However the hand plays out, you’re sure to have a lot more information to work with if you just call the pre-flop raise. You’ll get to see three of the five community cards before you commit the bulk of your stack. You’ll also force your opponent to react to the flop. His action – his bet or check - is sure to help you determine the strength of his hand.Here’s another situation where calling pre-flop has great advantages. Say you’re in late position with pocket 7s and a player from middle position open-raises. For the sake of this example, assume that the opponent holds pocket Jacks. The flop comes A-K-4. It’s nearly impossible for the player with Jacks to continue with the hand. A good percentage of the time, this player will check. When that happens, you can bet representing the Ace, which will probably force a fold. You’ll have earned a pot by outplaying your opponent. There’s no better feeling in poker.

These are just a couple of simple examples, but I want to make the larger point. A lot of beginners seem eager to make all of their plays before the flop. On any decent hand, they’re raising and re-raising, doing their best to get all-in. I believe that playing after the flop opens up opportunities for tough lay downs and good bluffs that are not available pre-flop. Playing post-flop is actually a lot of fun. In your next tournament, try some calls in spots where you might have re-raised. I think you’ll enjoy the experience.

More Poker Lessons

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Sunday, July 13, 2008

Howard Lederer Poker Strategy Tips

In Depth Review of Full Tilt Poker

Pro Poker Tips and Lessons

Get the best poker playing advice and strategy from the worlds best poker professionals. Poker Strategy and Poker Tips from the pros.

Howard Lederer

Lesson: 55

Bad Position, Decent Cards

For example, say you're playing late in a tournament. The blinds are $500 and $1,000, and there's a $100 ante. You're in the small blind with $18,000. It's folded around to the button, an aggressive player who raises frequently in late position. He has $30,000 in his stack and he raises to $3,500. You look at your cards and see Ad-9s.

You know that A-9 isn't a great hand, but you can't ignore it in this situation. First off, given your opponent's history, he may very well be raising with a hand that is far worse than yours. In fact, in this spot, he could very well have two rags. Another consideration is that there are a lot of chips in play. Between the blinds, antes, and your opponent's raise, you stand to pick up over $5,000 in chips if you can take down this pot, which would be a nice addition to your short stack.

So, you're probably going to want to play this hand. But what's the best action?

At first, it might seem that calling is a reasonable course, as it would keep you from getting overly committed on this marginal hand. But calling has some pretty big downsides. With a hand like A-9, you're usually not going to like the flop very much. In fact, you'll fail to make as much as a pair about two-thirds of the time. If you do flop a pair of 9s, how are you going to proceed if the flop also has an over card? Even on an Ace-high flop, you'll have a tough time knowing if your hand is good.

What's more, if you miss the flop completely, you leave yourself vulnerable to being outplayed. It's going to be very hard to bet if the flop contains three cards that don't help your hand. If you check, your opponent will likely make a continuation bet, and you'll be hard-pressed to continue, even though Ace-high might be good.

In spots like this, your best move is to press an edge while you have it - before the flop. Re-raise all-in pre-flop. Your opponent probably won't have a hand that he can call with and, if he does, you'll have plenty of outs. You still have about a 25% chance against AK, for example. Not good, but not dead.

The important thing to keep in mind is that, in the later stages of a tournament, you don't want to make many decisions after the flop when you have a medium-strength hand like Ace-middle kicker or middle pocket pair, and you're playing out of position. Put your chips in while you think you have the best of it, and hope for the best. If you let these marginal but good situations pass you by, you might regret it later when your stack has been whittled down even further.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

$2Million PokerStars Tournament

Visit PokerStars for more details on the 2x pokerstars promotion.

This Sunday, under the incredible pokerstars 2X promotion going on this month, you can win a jackpot of over $250,000 with a total tournament prize pool of $2 Million guaranteed in the PokerStars Sunday Guaranteed Poker Tournament. There are satellite tournaments going on around the clock to get into this $215 buy in poker tournament, and the payoff can be huge for any player.

PokerStars is the world's best poker site, so it's only right that we give you the best rewards and promotions! This month you can get twice as much as before with PokerStars 2X - this is what happens when the biggest poker site in the world gets even bigger! And because we're rolling the promotion out across many different events, everyone can get in on the deal.

All you need to do is keep playing in our regular tournaments and cash games to be in with a chance of winning big. We'll only be announcing each event just before it starts, but you can expect an exciting new promotion each week.

We'll be keeping you up to date with the latest 2X events through the PokerStars game lobby. Alternatively, bookmark this page and keep checking back for the latest news. You don't want to miss out on what's happening in the biggest online poker promotion of all time!

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Huck Seed Poker Tips

Poker Tips by Huckleberry Seed

More Poker Tips from Full Tilt Poker

Huckleberry Seed

Lesson: 52

Representing a Bluff
My name is Huckleberry Seed and I play online at Full Tilt Poker. If you want to learn more about my poker career, keep reading . . .In 1989 I was an engineering student at CalTech when I took a leave of absence and started playing poker. I never looked back.

I won my first World Series of Poker bracelet in 1994 in a Pot Limit Omaha tournament. Two years later I won the WSOP Main Event, my second bracelet, and $1 Million dollars. In 2000, I won my third WSOP bracelet playing Razz, and I proved my skill at the game again in 2003 when I earned the fourth WSOP bracelet of my career.

When I'm not playing tournaments, I keep my calendar full playing online at Full Tilt Poker and at local casinos in Vegas. I'm known for being very quiet at the tables, since I believe it's always better to have your game do the talking for you.

Deception is a vital tactic in poker. Usually, when a player talks about a deceptive play, he's referring to a bluff - a time when he represented a hand of greater value than the one he held. But this isn't the only deception available in poker - not by a long shot. If you study your opportunities thoroughly, you can use the threat of a bluff to engage in another type of deception, one in which you're trying to convince an opponent that you are bluffing when, in fact, you have a great hand.

Say you're playing in a No-Limit cash game and things are going well. You've been playing actively and aggressively. You've been firing at a lot of pots, using a combination of good cards and well-timed small bluffs to pick up a number of them. To your table mates, it seems as if you're trying to capture every chip on the table. They're starting to grow suspicious and feel you're getting greedy.With the table in this mindset, you call a middle position raise from the big blind. You're holding modest cards - 6d-8d. The flop comes 7c-4h-Qs. You now have a gut shot straight draw and check. You're opponent bets half the pot and you call, feeling that if you hit, you can win a big pot. The turn is the Tc. Now you have a double gut shot draw - any 5 or 9 will make a straight.

At this point, put out a large bet. If your opponent holds Jacks or Ace-King, he'll likely fold. If he's got Aces or Kings, he'll probably call. And, if so, you'll know he holds a good hand that he's willing to defend.

The river brings a 9, completing your straight. Now you can use you're aggressive image to your advantage. Move all-in, even if the bet is two, three or four times the size of the pot. To your opponent, it's bound to look like a bluff. Your bet will seem ridiculously large and impulsive. If you had the nuts, he'd reason, you'd bet smaller, trying to get some value. He'll look at his big pocket pair, feeling that he needs to make a stand against your relentless play. This deceptive play where you're actually representing a bluff will give you a chance to win a huge pot.

If your opponent folds, you'll want to make a note. You'll know he folded a big hand and might be willing to make other lay downs in the future. But, you don't want to push this guy too hard. If you force him to make two or three big lay downs, he's sure to call you down later. When he's reached that state of mind, make sure you have a big hand the next time you play a pot together.

No-Limit poker offers some great opportunities for deception. As you develop your game, look for spots where bluffs and the threat of bluffs can win you big pots.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

World Series of Poker Switches Format

This month, nine players will qualify for the WSOP final table. Due to the new format, the nine finalists will not ply the final tournament until November 9th - leaving four months time before the eventual world champion is crowned.

In the past, the final table took place only a day or two after the final nine players had qualified. This year, ESPN intends to tape the final table and broadcast an edited version on November 11th in a two-hour prime time televised event.

Since Harrahs took over the WSOP tournaments back in 2004, the tournament has been axpanded and its exposure has increased tremendously. Last years tournament drew a record 54,288 entries and a prize pool of over $159 million.

The 2008 WSOP maiin event begins on July 3rd with the final table determined on July 14th. The final nine players will return to the Rio in Las Vegas in November and play until only two players remain. The next day, the final two will go head-to-head.

Daniel Negreanu, a prominent member of the WSOP advisory board and three time WSOP bracelet winner, agrred with the format change. He stated, "This is a huge step forward for poker, and more specifically, poker on television."

Friday, July 4, 2008

Full Tilt Poker Iron Man and Poker News

The greatest online poker series is back and better than ever. Beginning August 6th, FTOPS IX is your chance to claim a share of more than $15 million in guaranteed prize money. With over 25 pro-hosted events, this is your chance to play for the title of FTOPS Champion. FTOPS isn't the only prize worth playing for - take on the Iron Man Challenge and earn valuable Iron Man medals that you can redeem for tournament tokens, cash bonuses and more.
After experiencing success in big tournaments like FTOPS, a lot of online players are ready to move on to live games. Before you take a shot at live action, here's some advice from Jordan Morgan on making the transition.

FTOPS IX is bringing you 25 pro-hosted events with a guaranteed prize pool of more than $15 million, including:
The $2,500 Two-Day tournament on Saturday, August 16th
The massive $2.5 Million Guarantee Main Event on Sunday, August 17th
Four other tournaments, each with at least $1 Million in guaranteed prize money
The series kicks off on Wednesday, August 6th, at 21:00 ET with Event #1, a $1,000,000 guaranteed No-Limit Hold 'em tournament. You can buy in to any tournament directly or satellite your way in for as little as $1 or 50 Full Tilt Points.
Visit FullTiltPoker.com throughout the series for video highlights and commentary from the final table of each event.
Check out the full schedule to follow the action of FTOPS IX.

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If you are not a member of Full Tilt Poker, now is a great time to become one with our Full Tilt Poker Bonus Code POKERPLAY. Get a 100% bonus up to $600 at Full Tilt Poker with our Full Tilt Poker Bonus Code "POKERPLAY"

Happy 4th of July

Hoping everyone has a fun, safe 4th of July! Play online poker at PokerStars

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Scotty Nguyen wins $2 million at 2008 WSOP HORSE Tournament

Scotty Nguyen wins $2 million at 2008 WSOP HORSE Tournament

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Congratulations to the 2008 WSOP HORSE event winner, Scotty Nguyen. Poker professional Scotty Nguyen won nearly $2 million at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas on Monday, topping a field of 148 players and emerging from a strenuous final table with his fifth WSOP gold bracelet.

Nguyen beat 23-year-old Michael DeMichele in H.O.R.S.E., a rotating-game tournament that cost $50,000 to buy in.

The various poker games and limited betting structure reward all around play and is said to truly reward the best players over the long haul. Along with the main event, many players consider H.O.R.S.E. the most important tournament in the World Series of Poker.

Nguyen won the final hand Monday at limit Hold ’em, pushing DeMichele all in with an ace and a 10. DeMichele, far behind in chips, called with an ace and a three, and Nguyen’s 10 gave him the win when both players paired their aces. DeMichele won $1.24 million for his second place finish.

“I guess I’ll have to live with being that guy,” said DeMichele of Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

Nguyen said it felt good to break through and win his first gold bracelet since 2001.

“I’m gonna make Phil Hellmuth squirm,” he said, referring to the World Series of Poker record holder with 11 bracelets.

Nguyen started the final table Sunday with the second-highest chip stack among a tough field that included DeMichele and poker professionals Erick Lindgren, Barry Greenstein and Huck Seed.

Learn more about Scotty Nguyen
Win a seat into the 2008 WSOP main event at PokerStars

Monday, June 30, 2008

Last Chance Free WSOP main event seat

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Do not miss this last opportunity to get into the 2008 WSOP main event tournament for free at PokerStars.

Today is the final day that PokerStars is running satellite poker tournaments for a free seat into the 2008 WSOP main event. After months of tournaments, the final day has come to win your free world series of poker entry package. Hotel room and spending money is also provided by PokerStars. A great chance for the average poker player to become an extraordinary poker player almost over night. Be sure to visit PokerStars before midnight tonite to get the opportunity of a lifetime with free 2008 WSOP main event tournament packages at PokerStars.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

PokerStars Sunday Million

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Another Sunday afternoon and another million guaranteed poker tournament at PokerStars. Every Sunday, pokerstars runs a guaranteed million dollar poker tournament that you can win a seat into through a satellite tournament. This a great opportunity for an online poker player to win big. You will find low buy in satellites all week long at pokerstars that will give you entry into this $215 tournament. Even at $215, a great buy in figure for such a large prize pool. Get in on the action at pokerstars and enter the sunday million guarantee tournament every week and go for the gold at pokerstars.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

PokerStars Online Poker Room $50 free

For a limited time only, you can sign up as a new pokerstars player and get a free $50 bonus! Its a great way to double your poker bankroll and get a free $50 from PokerStars online poker room. PokerStars offers the largest poker tournament prize pools, has great online support for any issue that you may have, is an established and trusted poker room and they have the most players. There is a simple reason why pokerstars has outpaced the competition and is clearly the leader in the online poker world. They deliver with great poker games, lucrative poker tournaments, fast and easy payouts when you need to cash out, and simply the best poker software I have seen. If you live under a rock in the poker world and are not aware, pokerstars has been sending thousands of players to the WSOP main event every year. You too can qualify to become a free WSOP seat winner at PokerStars. They offer incredible support and with their poker bonus offer of $50 free when you deposit $50, you can not go wrong. Making a deposit is easy at PokerStars, all you need is a valid credit card and you can be playing online poker for cash in minutes. To qualify for the free $50 bonus, signup at PokerStars now!

What Happened to Poker.com Poker Room

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PokerStars Download

If you have been trying to visit poker.com to download their online poker room software, you may have noticed that they are NOT a poker room anymore. They are now a portal for other online poker rooms and you can not get the poker.com software from their web site. Thats where I come in. As a poker.com affiliate for over 10 years, I have the software links for you to use to get online and playing poker on poker.com poker room. This is an exclusive download link that you will not be able to find anywhere else. Whats even better is you will get a 100% deposit bonus offer on your first cash deposit at poker.com, and you will be entered in a number of freeroll poker tournaments exclusively for new players. Poker.com is a great online poker room with good graphics, freeroll poker tournaments with real cash prizes, great casino type games like roulette and blackjack and video poker. The poker room is fully functional, as it always was, and there are thousands of players currently signed on and playing online poker at poker.com, you just need to download the poker.com software and start playing.

Where to play online poker and win

There are so many poker web sites and online poker rooms to choose from that players are often confused and a bit leary to provide their personal details and credit card or bank card information with. I would advise all players to do a thorough review of any poker room that you intend to sign up at and check the search engines for any negative feedback from other players. One of the biggest complaints from new players has to do with sign up bonuses. When you utilize a poker room signup bonus offer, you never get the bonus cash up front. The bonus cash value must be earned by playing at the poker room and accumulating points. At certain point intervals, a percentage of the bonus cash will be released to the players account. Most new players expect the full bonus amount of cash to be immediately available for them to use to play online poker. This is simply not the case as all online poker bonuses, and slot bonus offers, must be earned by playing through to a certain level and getting your bonus released in increments as you play. Remember, these poker signup bonus offers are very lucrative for your poker bankroll, so do not forgo a bonus offer simply because you need to earn it, take full advantage of all bonus offers, just remember to be patient with your bonus cash. For great online poker bonus codes, visit Poker Bonus Sign Up Codes.

The growth of the online poker industry