Famous Poker Quotes...

"It's not enough to succeed. Others must fail."

-------------Gore Vidal

Famous Poker Quotes...

"If you know poker, you know people; and if you know people, you got the whole dang world lined up in your sights.

-------------Brett Maverick

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Well, I'll just pretend I was playin' with someone else's money."

------------ Jodie Foster as Annabelle in the movie Maverick

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Poker may be a branch of psychological warfare, an art form or indeed a way of life – but it is also merely a game, in which money is simply the means of keeping score."

------------Anthony Holden

Famous Poker Quotes...

"You cannot survive without that intangible quality we call heart. The mark of a top player is not how much he wins when he is winning but how he handles his losses. If you win for thirty days in a row, that makes no difference if on the thirty-first you have a bad night, go crazy, and throw it all away."

------------------Bobby Baldwin

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Money won is twice as sweet as money earned"

--------------Paul Newman as Fast Eddie in The Color of Money

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Poker is a combination of luck and skill. People think mastering the skill part is hard, but they're wrong. The trick to poker is mastering the luck."

-------------Jesse May

Famous Poker Quotes...

"The good news is that in every deck of fifty-two cards there are 2,598,960 possible hands. The bad news is that you are only going to be dealt one of them."

-------------Anthony Holden, author of Big Deal (1990)

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Bad beats only happen to good players."

--------------Joe Crow

Famous Poker Quotes...

"The two things you need to be successful in poker are, first, find the muck, and second, don’t play your own money."

---------------David "Devilfish" Ulliott

Famous Poker Quotes...

Dr. Robert Chase: "Gambling doesn't take away his pain."
Dr. Gregory House: [enters] "It does if I win."

Quote from the TV-Series House, M.D.

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Omaha is a game that was invented by a Sadist and is played by Masochists."

--------------- Shane Smith

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Life is like a game of cards. The hand that is dealt you is determinism; thou the way you play it is free will."

-----------Jawaharlal Nehru

Famous Poker Quotes...

"I wonder if a horse-shoe stuck in your butt is something you can look up on WebMD...."



Norman Chad (referencing squabble when Scotty Nguyen tells Michael DiMichele that he has a horseshoe up his butt)

Famous Poker Quotes...

"If scientific reasoning were limited to the logical processes of arithmetic, we should not get very far in our understanding of the physical world. One might as well attempt to grasp the game of poker entirely by the use of the mathematics of probability."


-------------Vannevar Bush, architect of the Internet

Famous Poker Quotes...

"I believe in poker the way I believe in the American Dream. Poker is good for you. It enriches the soul, sharpens the intellect, heals the spirit, and - when played well, nourishes the wallet."


---------------Anonymous

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Your first duty is to the Game; then come Mother, God, and Country."


-------------Anonymous, Motto at the National Press Club, Washington DC

Famous Poker Quotes...

"In a game of poker, I can put the players' souls in my pocket."


------------Beausourire, Haitian Poker Player

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Hold'em is a game of calculated aggression: If you cards are good enough for your to call a bet, they are good enough to raise with."


-------------Alfred Alvarez (2001)

Famous Poker Quotes...

"A faint heart never filled a spade flush."

---------------Anonymous

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Serious poker is no more about gambling than rock climbing is about taking risks."

---------------Alfred Alvarez

Famous Poker Quotes...

Dear Lord, help me to break even. I need the money.

-------------Anonymous

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Industry executives and analysts often mistakenly talk about strategy as if it were some kind of chess match. But in chess, you have just two opponents, each with identical resources, and with luck playing a minimal role. The real world is much more like a poker game, with multiple players trying to make the best of whatever hand fortune has dealt them. In our industry, Bill Gates owns the poker table until someone proves otherwise."


-------------David Moschella

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Life is too long to play bad cards."

------------Frank Di Elsi

Famous Quotes...

"The game exemplifies the worst aspects of capitalism that have made our country so great."


-------------Walter Matthau

Famous Quotes...

"Poker is the only game for a grown man. Then, your hand is against every man's, and evern man's hand is against yours. Teamwork? Who ever made a fortune by teamwork?"

-------------Somerset Maugham

Famous Quotes...

"Opportunity may knock, but it seldom nags."


-------------David Mamet

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Sometimes you'll miss a bet, sure, but it's OK to miss a bet. Poker is an art form, of course, but sometimes you have to sacrifice art in favour of making a profit."

------------Mike Caro

Famous Quotes...

"All I know is, if the cards ever break even — I’m screwed."


------------Rich Korbin

Famous Quotes...

"Is you in or is you out?"

------------Louis Gossett, Jr from the movie "ALL IN"

Famous Poker Quotes...

Mae West: "Is poker a game of chance?"

W.C. Fields: "Not the way I play it. — My Little Chickadee"

Famous Poker Quotes...

"......that's poker and just because you have pains, you don't have to be one."

Doyle Brunson in his blog after talking about losing some big pots

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Who are we waiting on?"



--------------Everyone that plays in a game with the Turlinator

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Once you start thinking you have nothing left to learn, you have everything to learn."

------------Steve Badget

Famous Poker Quotes...

"In the long run there's no luck in poker, but the short run is longer than most people know."


-------------Rick Bennet

Famous Poker Quotes...

"I've often thought, if I got really hungry for a good milk shake, how much would I pay for one? People will pay a hundred dollars for a bottle of wine; to me that's not worth it. But I'm not going to say it is foolish or wrong to spend that kind of money, if that's what you want. So if a guy wants to bet twenty or thirty thousand dollars in a poker game, that is his privilege."

------------Jack Binion

Famous Poker Quotes...

"It's not whether you won or lost, but how many bad-beat stories you were able to tell."

-------------Grantland Rice, Sportswriter

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Egotism is the anesthetic provided by nature to dull the pain of being a damn fool."


------------ Chuck Humphrey

Famous Quotes...

"Money won't buy you happiness, but it will buy you the kind of misery that you can thoroughly enjoy...."

------------Anonymous

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Losing is like smoking. It's habit forming."

--------------Puggy Pearson, 1973 WSOP winner (2001)

Famous Poker Quotes...

"To master poker and make it profitable, you must first master patience and discipline, as a lack of either is a sure disaster regardless of all other talents, or lucky streaks."

-------------Freddie Gasperian

Famous Poker Quotes...

"A person should gamble every day, because think of how bad it would be to walk around being lucky and not know it."

------------- Robert Turner

Famous Poker Quotes...

'It's not whether you won or lost, but how many bad-beat stories you were able to tell."

------------ Grantland Rice, Sportswriter

Famous Poker Quotes...

"A card player should learn that once the money is in the pot, it isn't his any longer."

-------------Herbert Yardley (1957)

Famous Quotes from Stewie Griffin

Stewie (to one of the prostitutes at Cleveland's house): "So, is there any tread left on the tires? Or at this point would it be like throwing a hot dog down a hallway?"

Famous Quotes from Stewie Griffin

"Listen you, I'll use these facilities when I'm DAMN WELL READY!

Until then you shall continue to sanitize my crevasse and be DAMN GRATEFUL FOR THE OPPORTUNITY! Starting right... [He strains for a moment. Nothing happens.]

Well, not now... BUT SOON!"

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Poker is the game closest to the western conception of life, where life and thought are recognized as intimately combined, where free will prevails over philosophies of fate or of chance, where men are considered moral agents and where - at least in the short run - the important thing is not what happens but what people think happens."


------------- Johnny Luckacs (1963)

Famous Movie Quotes...

"I'm perfect if anybody wants a one-balled, deaf, blind, unemployed vagrant with a limp."

--------------Tom Selleck as Jon Aldrich from the 1992 movie "FOLKS"

Famous Quotes from Stewie Griffin

"I bet you lost your virginity to a mechanical bull."

Famous Quotes from Stewie Griffin

Stewie: [Picking up the phone.] Hello, operator. Hello... Oh god, that's right you have to punch in the numbers nowadays. Uhhh, I should know this. Oh yes, [dialing number] Stewie: 867-5309, yes that's it. Wait that's not it, damn you Tommy Two-Tone. Huh, only one thing to do 111-1111, Lois? Damn. 111-1112 Lois? DAMN. 111-1113...



-----------Steve Griffin

Famous Quotes from Stewie Griffin

Do these huggies make my ass look big?


-----------Stewie Griffin

Famous Quotes from Stewie Griffin

"You know, I rather like this God fellow. Very theatrical, you know. Pestilence here, a plague there. Omnipotence ... gotta get me some of that."

---------------Stewie Griffin

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Your best chance to get a Royal Flush in a casino is in the bathroom."

-------------V.P. Pappy

Famous Movie Quotes...

"Give them nothing.... take from them everything."

-------------King Leonidas, 300

Famous Poker Quotes...

"I have not yet begun to defile myself."

-------------Doc Holliday from the movie Tombstone

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

-------------Albert Einstein

World Tavern Poker Open 9

Famous Quotes...

"I think we consider too much the good luck of the early bird and not enough the bad luck of the early worm."

-------------Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Have some patience, they're not closing the doors tomorrow."



-------------Frank Dielsi

Teen fatally shot while running from robbery

http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/5964860/

Teen fatally shot while running from robbery

Posted: Today at 11:58 a.m.
Updated: Today at 2:02 p.m.

Rocky Mount, N.C. — Rocky Mount police are seeking about a half-dozen men who disguised themselves as police officers and fatally shot a 17-year-old boy during a robbery Tuesday night.

Police said that four to six masked men posing as police got out of an SUV near a group of men playing cards around 11 p.m. outside a 2104 Travis Run. The gunmen pulled out handguns, shotguns and rifles and ordered the card players to lie down, police said. They began robbing the card players, as well as people inside the trailer.

Jermaine Larquez Lynch, who lives nearby, saw the robbery going on and tried to run away, police said. One of the gunmen shot him in the back.

Lynch was struck in the shoulder and chest, police said. He was pronounced dead at Nash General Hospital.

A K9 search turned up some of the stolen items in a ditch near 2105 Brandon Lane, but no suspects.

Police officers canvassed the neighborhood and set up a checkpoint to see if anyone had witnessed the incident.

The one gunman who wasn't wearing a mask was described as a black man between 45 and 50 years old, with a thin build and a gray, thin beard, police said.

Anyone with information about the crime should call Detective Michael Lewis at 252-972-1457 or Crime Stoppers at 252-977-1111. Crime Stoppers pays cash rewards for information leading to arrests in certain felony cases, and callers never have to identify themselves.

http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/5964860/

Famous Poker Quotes...

"There's the rest of the world and there's me!"

Phil Hellmuth Jr.

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Be the hammer, not the nail."


------------Barbara Enright

Famous Poker Quotes...

"May the flop be with you."



------------Brandi Williams

Famous Poker Quotes...

"If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun!"

-------------Tom McEvoy

Tournament Coin Flips

Tournament coin flips

If you’re a tournament player, you probably know your coin-flips, and you probably hate their guts too. A poker coin-flip is a situation which carries approximately 50-50 odds for the two players involved. It is generally not a good idea to get all your money in on such odds, but in tournaments such moves are virtually inevitable. The rising blinds and dwindling stack sizes force players to undertake such desperate measures. As a matter of fact, in a tournament, getting all your money in on a coin flip is sometimes the best possible move you can make.
In principle, taking a coin-flip for your stack is a bad idea. There are few exceptions in cash games which justify such a move, and normally, instead of getting your money in on adverse odds, the advice would be to wait for a better opportunity to shove all-in. For the above mentioned reasons though, you’re unable to do that in a tournament.
The bottom line is, you do not want to flip for your tourney life, but you will have to. Since you know you’ll have to do it anyway, you may as well look for ways to better your odds when it comes to the coin flip. That’s right, even if the odds are close to 50-50, there are still ways for you to secure an advantage over your opponents.

One such advantage comes via a subtle little factor known as the fold equity. In every coin-flip, there’s a player who does the shoving and there’s a player who does the calling. The guy who shoves all-in has an advantage over the caller for one simple reason: he has two possibilities to win the hand: his opponents may fold or he may end up winning the coin-flip. Though this edge is quite impossible to put into numbers, it is one that will indeed increase your odds. You cannot possibly avoid taking a coin-flip for your tourney life, but you can pick your spots. Make sure you’re the aggressor, as that always gives you control of a situation and the coin flip is no exception either. If your opponents fold, you may not score a double-up, but you’ll still take down the blinds, which – in the late stages of a tournament - are always substantial.

Make sure your coin flip is indeed a coin flip. I mean keep in mind that a coin-flip should always be a near 50-50 situation. A 30-70 one is definitely not a coin flip any longer.
Hands like Ace-rag are easily dominated and although they have the potential to bust someone’s pocket Ks, most of the time, they’ll lose out to any pocket pair or any other hand that has an Ace in it. When you need to get really lucky just to make the match-up a coin-flip, you’re definitely not getting good value on your do or die move.

A low pocket pair is also an easily dominated hand. Take a pair of 3s for instance. If you get your opponent to call you on something like A,K, A,Q or A,J you’re looking good and you have your coin-flip indeed. If you happen to run it into another pocket pair though, given that it’s one of the smallest possible pocket pairs, you won’t get a coin-flip, but rather a one-sided whooping.
The bottom line is that you need to have a read on your opponent. If you shove all in and some guy with a large stack calls you, chances are he’s making the move on a subpar hand just to push you out of the game. The only way to make sure you are indeed getting coin-flip odds though is to pay attention to the types of hands your opponent plays under the given circumstances.

Being in control is always good, and the coin-flip is no exception here. Make sure you get your coin-flip odds and shove, don’t call. That’s about all there is to coin-flip strategy. The rest hinges on things out of your reach.
Signing up for a rakeback deal makes prefect sense for an online tournament player too. The rake rebate that you get through a deal like the full tilt rakeback or the betfair rakeback will cover your cash game rake as well as your tournament fees.

HIGH STAKES POKER SEASON 5 Episode 13

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Girls just wanna have funds."

-------------Tina Sue

Famous Poker Quotes...

"If life were fair, horses would ride half of the time."


-------------George Marlowe

Top Ten Poker Players Ranked by Overall Earnings...

Top 10 players ranked by overall earnings.
1.Jamie Gold
$12.2 mil
2.Daniel Negreanu
$11.3 mil
3.Joe Hachem
$10.6 mil
4.Scotty Nguyen
$10.2 mil
5.Allen Cunningham
$9.9 mil
6.Peter Eastgate
$9.7 mil
7.Phil Ivey
$9.6 mil
8.Erik Seidel
$9.2 mil
9.T.J. Cloutier
$9.1 mil
10.John Juanda
$9.1 mil

Senate Poker Bill Introduced

Senate Poker Bill Introduced

On August 6th, U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) introduced S. 1597, the Internet Poker and Games of Skill Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act of 2009. This legislation would license and regulate Internet poker and other games of skill in the United States. With the introduction of this bill in the Senate, we are one step closer to clarifying the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) and protecting our rights to play the game we all love. Click here to read the bill and the PPA press release about S. 1597.

We need to keep up the momentum, and we need to help Senator Menendez get his bill moving in the U.S. Senate. Please take 60 seconds right now to send an updated letter to your senators. We’ve made it easy for you. Simply click the button below to send a strong message to Washington that you want your poker rights protected.

HIGH STAKES POKER SEASON 5 Episode 12

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Poker tournaments are a lottery with a positive expectation."



-------------Christian Voorhees

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Drink until he or she is cute."



-------------Tom McEvoy

Famous Poker Quotes...

"The cards don't always recognize talent."



-------------Brad Daugherty

National Poker Week Thank You - Free August of PPA Poker Calculator

From: PPA Member Benefits
Sent: Saturday, August 08, 2009 1:20 PM
Subject: National Poker Week Thank You - Free August of PPA Poker Calculator

If you cannot view this email, click here.

THANKS!

In celebration of the record breaking success of National Poker Week

100% FREE USE OF THE PPA CALCULATOR FOR ALL OF AUGUST

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"I don't play without it - Why? Because I play better with it! Besides, it keeps me in touch with when my favorite past time will finally be legal, and how I can help."

B. Fraley, PPA Member, Austin, TX, 7/6/09

Special Offer Expires 8/31/09

Free PPA Tool to Improve and Expand Your Game

The Poker Players Alliance proudly offers this free online poker calculator to help its members learn and improve their poker playing skills.

The PPA Poker Calculator automatically detects your poker hand and updates important statistics in real-time as you play online! Watch the changes to odds before and after the Flop, after the Turn, and after the River. It also recalculates itself as players fold! This powerful program works for Texas Holdem, Omaha, and 7 Card Stud at more than 40 online cardrooms.

This is an excellent tool for beginners to learn the mathematical fundamentals of poker while they are playing. The tool is also a helpful reference for intermediate players, and great for those looking to expand their game to Omaha and 7 Card Stud.

For more information about the PPA Poker Calculator, click here.

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Play good, and when all else fails ---- suck out."



-------------Susie Isaacs

Famous Poker Quotes...

"The best way to win a tournament is to play every hand."



------------Bob Craig

Famous Poker Quotes...

"I won a bracelet and now people give me guff about wearing it. I always reply, 'When you have one, we can talk!'"

-------------Brian Wilson

Doyle Brunson Wins an $800K Pot

HIGH STAKES POKER SEASON 5 Hachem breaks it down.

Last Action for National Poker Week: Call Your Members of Congress

From: PPA Action Alert
Subject: Last Action for National Poker Week: Call Your Members of Congress

Dear Readers,

National Poker Week has been a huge success and thanks to you and others, we have had great results:

Over 375,000 have signed the petition for President Obama
Over 200,000 letters have been sent to Congress
More than 100 face-to-face meetings with Members of U.S. House and Senate or their staffs

However, one last action is needed to make National Poker Week truly something to be remembered. Call your Members of Congress and let them know that you support the PPA and sensible poker legislation.

Take a few moments to call each of your Members of Congress and tell them the following:

You are a constituent, voter, and poker player

Please support legislation to license and regulate internet poker (in the U.S. House the bill is HR 2267, a U.S. Senate bill will be introduced later this month.)

Regulation is the best way to protect consumers and will raise billions in revenue for our country

Support my right to play America's favorite game of skill

Be sure to call your Members of Congress between 9am - 5pm EST:
Sen. Richard Burr - (202) 224-3154
Sen. Kay R. Hagan - (202) 224-6342
Represenative - Phone

After your call, click here to let us know how the call went. This is important for tracking calls to Members of Congress.

Thank you for your continued efforts.Let our poker freedom ring their phones!
Senator Alfonse D’Amato
PPA Chairman

The Poker Players Alliance
Dedicated to Protecting America's Favorite Card Game The Poker Players Alliance is a nonprofit membership organization comprised of poker players and enthusiasts from around the United States who have joined together to speak with one voice to promote the game and to protect poker players' rights.

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Aces are larger than life and greater than mountains."



-------------Mike Caro

Famous Poker Quotes...

"You have to learn what kind of hand this guy shows down, what that one's moves, watch the veins in his neck, watch his eyes, the way he sweats."



------------Johnny Moss

PPA Member Alert!!! We Need Your Help Today for National Poker Week!

From: PPA Member Alert [mailto:email@theppa.org]
Subject: We Need Your Help Today for National Poker Week!

We Need Your Help Today!

Over 300,000 Have Signed the Petition for Obama

Over 90,000 Letters Have Been Sent to Congress
National Poker Week is in full swing!
ESPN, Associated Press, and more have already written articles about poker players nationwide taking a stand for their rights.
Visit the National Poker Week website at www.nationalpokerweek.com

1. Join 30,000 Others and Send a Letter to Congress.
2. Join 300,000 Others and Sign the Poker Petition.

Let Washington, D.C. know that you believe in personal freedom and want the rights of law abiding, poker-playing Americans protected.

Join the Fight during National Poker Week!

Senator Alfonse D'Amato
PPA Chairman


The Poker Players AllianceDedicated to Protecting America's Favorite Card Game The Poker Players Alliance is a nonprofit membership organization comprised of poker players and enthusiasts from around the United States who have joined together to speak with one voice to promote the game and to protect poker players' rights. Visit us at theppa.org.

HIGH STAKES POKER SEASON 5 Real Poker

Sick bluff or lucky mistake.....

HIGH STAKES POKER SEASON 5 Antonio Loses 50K

I thought this only happened with the Juice...

Famous Poker Quotes...

"If you reraise a raiser, and he doesn't raise you back, you know he has kicker problems."

-------------- Crandall Addington

Letterman

Letterman

Shared via AddThis

Famous Poker Quotes...

"It is easy to smile at an insult and pretend it's funny when the person insulting you is hosing you with money."

----------------Alfred Alvarez

A common thread....

If there is one common thread, one common characteristic that unites all exceptional poker players, I believe it is their willingness to play aggressive poker. Whether you like it or not, aggression seems to have a magical, mystical effect at the poker table. And in many instances, hmm, most instances, seems to be rewarded by the poker gods. A big, strong raise is usually better than a mere call, and when you can't raise, folding should at least be seriously considered.

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Baseball is like a poker game. Nobody wants to quit when he's losing; nobody wants you to quit when you're ahead."

-------------Jackie Robinson

Famous Poker Quotes...

"It's immoral to let a sucker keep his money."

-------------Canada Bill Jones

Math is overrated

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Neither I nor anyone else can guarantee you will win. If someone tells you they can, do not believe them. Run making sure you have a death grip on your wallet."

-------------Ken Pearlman

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Stop cheating!" the dealer told the card player.
"I'm not!" claimed the player.
"You must be," said the dealer. "That is not the hand that I dealt you."

High Stakes Poker Season 5 NICK CASSAVETES Behind the Scenes

High Stakes Poker Season 5 DARIO MINIERI Behind the Scenes

High Stakes Poker Season 5 DANIEL NEGREANU Behind the Scenes

Famous Poker Quotes...

“There have been some good books written on poker, but most of them have been by college professors, or by people who have run something through computers….I had to learn to use my eyes and my ears, and neighbor, I can see a gnat’s keester at a hundred yards and hear a mouse wet on cotton.”


------------------Amarillo Slim

Famous Poker Quotes...

"I must complain the cards are ill shuffled till I have a good hand."


------------Jonathan Swift (1728)

Bluffing in Poker

Bluffing at Poker

Bluffing is an integral part of poker and is a skill that few players master. A bluff is when you make a bet to make your opponents think that you have a better hand than them, causing them to fold despite the fact you have a worse hand than them. This is a very extravagant and exciting play, which is one of the reasons why poker has become such a popular game over the years.

Bluffing has been popularised even further in the advent of TV coverage of some of the major tournaments, where you can see some of the top professional players pulling off elaborate bluffs against one another. However, these coverage shows are usually edited down, and you do not see the build up to these plays and you get the impression that the bluffs were formed on the spot, when in real fact the bluff was probably set up from hours of play in numerous hands. Therefore you can find many online players trying to pull off bluffs at inappropriate times trying to imitate what they have seen on TV, and thus losing money in the process.

Continue reading @ http://slysreviews.blogspot.com

Play Online Poker

Famous Poker Quotes...

“It never hurts for potential opponents to think you’re more than a little stupid and can hardly count all the money in your hip pocket, much less hold on to it.”

-------------Amarillo Slim

Playing Big Pairs in Holdem Texas Poker

Play Online Poker

Playing Big Pairs in Holdem Texas Poker

It is always great to see a big pocket pair like AA, KK or QQ when you look down at your holecards in Texas Holdem. These top 3 pocket pairs are the best possible hands you can be dealt before the flop, and so you should expect to make a hefty amount of money from them throughout your poker-playing career. However, if you are not careful with these big pairs and if you do not exercise good strategy with them, these types of cards can easily lose you money when not play them correctly.

One of the biggest mistakes novice players make when playing big pairs is that they tend to slowplay them at every opportunity. Whilst it may be a good idea to play very strong hands on the odd occasion in poker, it is far too early to start slowplaying a hand before the flop, and by doing so you will just be allowing your opponents to improve on the flop and on future streets. Therefore whenever you are dealt a big pocket pair you should almost always raise before the flop to thin out the number of opponents and build the pot to increase the amount of money that you can win.

Now although AA, KK and QQ have been lumped into the same category here, I am going to split these hands up into two, and give a few basic strategy tips whilst playing them. I will firstly go through a good strategy for AA, and then I will go through tips on how to play KK and QQ well. The KK and QQ have been grouped together due to the fact that there is the possibility that overcards can appear on the flop, whereas this is not possible whilst holding AA. So lets move onto the strategy for each of these hands…

With a hand like AA, you always want to be looking to raise or re-raise before the flop. It is never good Texas Holdem strategy with AA to limp or simply call a raise because you are missing the opportunity to get more money into the pot with the best hand, and you are giving weaker hands the opportunity to overtake you on the flop. You shouldn’t be worried about the fact that players might fold and you win the pot uncontested at this point, as it is always better to win a small pot than lose a big one.

After the flop you should again look to keep the action flowing by betting and raising. You do not want to give anyone the correct odds to call for any straights, flushes or drawing hands at this point, so make sure you put them to a tough decision for their chips. However, there could be the possibility that one of your opponents has made a better hand than you on the flop, and so you should always be aware of the fact that you may no longer hold the best hand. But in spite of this, you will normally still be ahead and so you should continue to build the pot unless you have reason to believe otherwise.

When playing hands like KK and QQ, you should again be looking to bet and raise before the flop. It is very rare to come up against a better hand before the flop when holding either of these hands, so be happy to be betting and raising to reduce the number of players that will be joining you to see a flop. Many players say that you should never fold KK before the flop because by doing so you are losing money in the long run, and I have to say that I agree. You especially want to be limiting the number of players that you are up against with either of these hands because of the fact that opponents can easily make a better hand than you be hitting an overcard like an Aces to make a bigger pair.

Now on the flop you will be in one of two situations; you will either be facing overcards or you won’t. If there are no overcards on the flop, you should continue to play the hand like you would do if you were holding aces, as both situations are quite similar. However, playing a big pocket pair when there are overcards on the board can be a little tricky. A good way to play is to bet like you feel you still have the best hand, and then evaluate where you stand after your opponent responds. It is unlikely that you will be winning a big pot any more in this situation, and if the pot does get big it is likely that you will be on the losing end. So be prepared to let the hand go if you come up against a lot of action.

On the final few streets with big pairs you should continue to build the pot unless you are quite sure that you are no longer ahead. If you haven’t improved by the turn or the river, you should remember that you still only hold 1 pair, which is by no means a monster hand. It is important to never get ‘married to the hand’ when you have a big pair, as they are by no means invincible. Always consider the possibility that your opponent could have a better hand than you if they are also playing aggressively by betting and raising too. It is not easy to lay down a big pair, but you have to learn to do so when you genuinely believe that you no longer hold the winning hand.

Visit my blog at http://slysreviews.blogspot.com for more strategies!

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Related Articles:

• Online Poker vs. Live Poker
• Online Poker vs. Online Casino
• Money Management when Playing Poker
• Position Strategies in Poker
• Maths and Poker
• Bluffing at Poker
• Bet Sizing in Poker
• Table Image in Poker
• Trouble Hands in Texas Holdem Poker

Famous Poker Quotes...

"I never saw a poker player’s money that I did not like."

----------------- Oklahoma Johnny Hale

Borgata Summer Open

For all those who aren't in Vegas this summer, I'll be helping some really talented writers/bloggers cover the Borgata Summer Open from June 7-30. Follow all the action LIVE from the official Borgata Poker Blog.

** Anybody playing this event, contact me and I'll make sure you get some good poker coverage.

Famous Poker Quotes...

“I think that we are all in the right place at the right time almost every day. It’s the people who are prepared to be lucky who can take advantage of being there.”


---------------Phil Hellmuth

Full Tilt Poker Million Dollar Cash Game - Chris Ferguson vs Patrik Antonius

Famous Poker Quotes...

“If they’re helpless and they can’t defend themselves, you’re in the right game.”

---------------Mike Caro

Famous Poker Quotes...

"You call this one and it's all over, baby."


-----------------Scotty Nguyen, during the 1998 World Series of Poker. Down to him and Kevin McBride, Scotty said this to his opponent who called, and it was all over

Famous Poker Quotes...

"You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once."

---------------Amarillo Slim

Poker Million Dollar Cash Game Phil Ivey vs Patrik Antonius

Royal Flush at World Series of Poker 2007

High Stakes Poker Season 1 Episode 1

Join the PPA Today for a Chance to Win a $10k Seat in the WSOP Main Event

Are you a 2009 Premium Member of the Poker Players Alliance? Well, now is the time to join! For a very limited time the PPA is offering both poker players who renew their PPA Premium memberships and new PPA Premium members a shot at winning a Main Event Seat in this year's World Series of Poker. That's right, for a $20 membership you can win a $10,000.00 seat in poker's most prestigious event.

By supporting the PPA you are not only dealing yourself into a seat at the Main Event, you are also contributing to the fight to defend and promote the game of poker. The PPA is active in all 50 states and in Washington DC. This year alone we have scored a number of legal and legislative victories. Just go to our website www.pokerplayersalliance.org and see for yourself what we are accomplishing for poker and the people who play. We cannot continue to succeed without your help. So please don't hesitate a moment longer and become a Premium PPA member.

For only $20 it's the best bet in poker. Thank you for your commitment and we appreciate your support

Sincerely,Alfonse D'Amato
Chairman Poker Players Alliance

P.S. Join as a Premium Member of the Poker Players Alliance - pokers' largest grassroots advocacy organization - today, and your name will be entered into a drawing for a $10,000.00 Main Event seat.*

DISCLAIMER: All entrants into the WSOP Main Event seat contest must be over the age of 21 and the prize winner must show proof thereof. The winner is responsible for paying any taxes associated with the prize. Contest expires 12:00 AM EDT, June 15th, 2009. No purchase necessary to be included in the drawing click here for details. PPA employees, PPA Board Members, Harrah's employees and members of their immediate families are not eligible to win the WSOP Main Event seat. Void where prohibited by law.

Click here to check out the new and improved PPA Poker Calculator.

Borgata 500k Deepstack Event May 17 - 20

I'll be covering the Borgata 500K Deepstack Event from May 17 - May 20. You can follow all the action LIVE on the Borgata Poker Blog, good luck to the field.

run good, play better
Bradley

HIGH STAKES POKER SEASON 5 Episode 11

HIGH STAKES POKER SEASON 5 Episode 10

HIGH STAKES POKER SEASON 5 Episode 9

HIGH STAKES POKER SEASON 5 Episode 8

High Stakes Poker Season 5 Episode 7 Part 1 REVISED

High Stakes Poker Season 5 Episode 7 Part 1

High Stakes Poker Season 5 Episode 7 Part 2

High Stakes Poker Season 5 Episode 7 Part 3

Donald Brashear Cheap Shots Blair Betts 4/26/2009

'BLAZING GUNS' wound two in Franklin County shoot-out

Copied from www.wral.com
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/5021091/


'Blazing guns' wound two in Franklin County shoot-out
Posted: Apr. 24 5:02 p.m.
Updated: Apr. 24 11:11 p.m.

Gunmen dressed as police officers burst into a house in the Pilot community in southern Franklin County, sparking a shoot-out that injured two people late Wednesday, authorities said.

WATCH VIDEOFranklin County shoot-out injures two

Investigators said that a man was standing on the front porch of a house in the 8300 block of N.C. Highway 39 making a personal call on a cell phone around 9 p.m. when two gunmen approached him.

"One had a police hat on, handcuffs and a badge, dressed in dark clothing," said Capt. Tim Strickland, with the Franklin County Sheriff's Office.

The gunmen held the man at gunpoint and then burst into the house, planning to rob those inside, investigators said.

"It's just like the old saying 'Guns blazing.' That's how they went inside," Strickland.

WATCH VIDEOSurveillance video of Franklin County shoot-out

A surveillance camera over the front door, though, had already alerted those inside the house that gunmen were outside.

"The patrons on the inside can actually see what's going on on the outside, so they knew they were getting robbed," Strickland said. "Once the door flew open, one of the robbers screamed, 'This is a robbery.' One of the patrons said, 'No, it's not,' and they started exchanging gunfire."

One of the robbers was shot in the shoulder during the shoot-out, and the surveillance video shows the gunmen quickly running out of the house soon after they entered it.

They chased down one man in the parking lot and shot him in the buttocks, Strickland said. Authorities believe the gunmen made off with about $2,000 from that victim.

The victim was treated and released from at a hospital. Investigators contacted local hospitals, but none reported treating any other patients with gunshot wounds.

Investigators said that poker games might have been going on at the house. Tables were set up in the house when deputies arrived, but no cards or money were present.

"It's pretty secluded. We don't even know how they found out about the place," Strickland said.

Investigators said that they are treating the property owners as victims and that their priority is identifying gunmen posing as cops.

"This probably wasn't their first trip. These guys are dangerous. They're not afraid of firing a weapon," Strickland said.

Reporter: Dan Bowens
Photographer: Greg Hutchinson
Web Editor: Anne Johnson

Copied from www.wral.com
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/5021091/

HIGH STAKES POKER SEASON 5 Episode 6 Part 1

HIGH STAKES POKER SEASON 5 Episode 6 Part 2 900k Pot

HIGH STAKES POKER SEASON 5 Episode 6 Part 3

HIGH STAKES POKER SEASON 5 Exclusive Behind the Scenes

To play them all or specialize in just a few...

There was a response, and advice, to my post from earlier today and it got me thinking about rather to specialize or diversify. The writer didn't say not to diversify but said to specialize for 6 months on one game before moving on but he also mentioned to primarily focus on PLO and NLHE. Games come and go but poker will always be here and by specializing in just the hottest games around limits your long term growth and ability to adapt however mastering the hot games allows you to earn (hopefully) massive profits short term. To me the downside of only fully grasping just a couple of games (at just one time) is that your game selection and pool of dead money shrinks at certain levels. Obviously you're going to have fish play but they're harder to find as you move up and you're dependent on them short term bc either they'll get better, not play you or just quit the game completely. This is for any game at any level rather it be NLHE, PLO, heads up, full ring, razz, or whatever the game may be, you're solely dependent on the need for a wave of constantly new players to play against bc if you're good and specialize at just a few games, after a while you'll either win everyone's money or there will be no one to play against bc they fear you. One point that I should make is that this argument is based on playing mid to higher stakes which already have a smaller pool of players. If someone is willing to grind out 1/2, 2/4, even maybe up to 10/20 (which I think is starting to push it somewhat) then there will always be enough weaker players to be profitable, as long as those games are popular but here's the thing, everyone else is focusing on just hold'em and plo too so the games are getting harder by the day and you have to be very selective about when and where you play and most players are not willing to step down in stakes and play with the same focus and edge as they would at their normal levels.

Sidenote: Let me point out that the writer's advice, from his experience if he had to do it all over again, is to take 6 months and focus on one game only. The only problem I see is that once you get that far into a game and start building your bankroll you really have little interest in branching out to learn and play other games since you'll have to drop down in stakes to learn the game without risking too much.

On the other hand if you build an even foundation of playing all games at certain levels, understanding them and growing as you move up in stakes it not only allows you to have a more broader game choice but makes you better at every other game you play by understanding more concepts and understanding far more situations. That's not to say that if you start playing PLO and it just click's inside you that you should not move up and be as profitable as possible. Oh and btw, just bc you win doesn't mean that you're playing it right. So many times someone may go on a sick heater and just crush the game and before too long they start losing and don't understand why. Luck got them there, but understanding the game and having skills are far behind them. Anyway back to topic...if a player can learn various forms of poker then he should have an advantage over a specialist when it comes to game selection. Let's say I sit down online or go to a local game or a casino, the first thing I am going to do is look around and see where the juiciest games are at. I am able to pick chose from a multitude of options that will make me more profitable with less risk to my bankroll. As I type this I'm skimming over the games at PokerStars and right now seeing 12 tables of FLHE filled with regulars, the NLHE 2/4 & 3/6 is filled with grinders, the heads up NL tables just have sharks waiting for prey, there's just a few open sits on the PLO tables starting at 1/2 (which has some very nice stacks up there so its very tempting to sit down and play there), the O8 tables are filled with novice players it looks like by just glancing at the names and stats, the razz 1/2 & 5/10 tables are split between solid and poor players, i got a hard on looking at the 5/10 badugi table bc I know that just a couple of those guys are regulars and the others are really making some very bad plays, and on triple draw it looks pretty lame right now. From all of this I can sit down and pick and choose from an 100+ tables.

I should also mention that the absolute biggest factor in whatever a player decides to do is personal preference. Some players may be focused on short term domination and profits, others may be focused on playing a ton of hands and tables and be robots since they know what their roi is and the more hands/tables they play the more they make. Others may not care at all and just want to play cards. Some may just want to learn as much as possible. There really is no wrong answer but if you put a deck of cards in front of me, rather it be heads up, 6 max, a full table, mtt, sng, gin, gin rummy, free cell, solitaire, baseball, 357, I don't care just give me some cards and a game to play I can do it. I just want to play cards. To me when you look at who the great poker players are they all can play any game.

Understand that this wasn't a direct response to wait the writer said but a spin off what concepts that he and myself touched on. So what advice do you have? What are your thoughts?

Let's Play!

Saving Grace - Everlast

Starting to play again....

Well its that time of year again. The birds are chirping, the days are warmer, the sun stays out longer which means it time to stay inside and play online again...lol! I've had to take a break from playing anywhere due to personal reasons but I am ready to start playing again. During this hiatus I've been doing a ton of studying and learning about really focusing on my game and being able to hopefully become a profitable player again online. One big change from last year is that I'm going to start grinding low limit sit and go's which will hopefully be the smart way to build up my bankroll. I've joined a coaching site, Deuces Cracked which has really helped me find some leaks in my sng game and will allow me to play more tables which in turn will increase my bankroll. Also, I've also gotten my hands on a tracking program that I can break down my badugi and triple draw 2-7 hands which has been very helpful too. Plus I plan to get back to playing S8 and Razz again which I was pretty solid at and add Stud so that I can play in the weekly HORSE tournaments since the fields are so small with a top heavy payout structure.

With all of this going on, I just hope I don't push myself too soon too fast. Guess there's only one way to find out! Let's Play!

HIGH STAKES POKER S5 Ep5

David 'Chino' Rheem WSOP, WPT, APT - Aussie Millions 2009

"Family Guy" - Seth MacFarlane Interview

Seth MacFarlane's Hulu commercial

HIGH STAKES POKER S5 Ep1

High Stakes Poker S5 Ep2

High Stakes Poker S5 Ep3

HSP S5 Ep4

The challenges of becoming successful at poker

The challenges of becoming successful at poker

All you have to do to beat the game of poker in the long-run is to be diligent enough to learn all the strategies which the various levels of poker thought consist of, right? Wrong. Even though being diligent in your poker-related studies will certainly help you propel your game to a higher level, it won’t be enough to secure your staying ahead of the rest of the pack. The internet features more and more poker articles each day, and what’s even more relevant: it features more useful articles each day too. That means it takes less and less effort on players’ part to seek out the right information and to improve their game.

The game of poker is a living entity. It evolves continuously, and in order to stay ahead of the crowds and to preserve your edges, you too need to be a flexible, evolving player readily taking in the newest trends and acting to adjust your game accordingly.

Take the notion of calling vs raising for instance. Only a few years ago, it was clear that fish called and sharks raised. It was an axiom, a general truth which you could always rely on. Nowadays, that statement is a much trickier one. People read and people watch poker on TV and the internet. The same article that stated the above named axiom a few years ago, may well have been the reason for quite a few people to re-think their calling and raising ways: nowadays, it’s not just the sharks who raise anymore.

Online players – who are usually suffering from a dire overconfidence syndrome anyway – would do anything to play like the greats, and they do attempt to ape them in every possible way. In order to stay ahead of the game, a good player needs to be continuously on the move, taking his game to newer and newer heights all the time.

Let’s take a look at the calling vs raising issue again, this time from a fresh perspective. Calling used to mean weakness. This is generally the same these days as well, but there’s a different meaning behind weakness now. With all the average skilled players going out of their way to be as aggressive as they can be, there’s newfound value in exhibiting weakness now. When you know you have the nuts, merely calling will often prompt your trendily aggressive opponents to try to push you out of the hand by repeatedly betting into you on the wrong read. Add to this the fact that ‘trendy’ players are also likely to put opponents on hands, again – with limited skills – and you have some excellent value in this setup.
These days however, calling can also be a sign of strength. When you are faced with good players, who understand these new levels of aggression, calling in order to show weakness will simply not work, especially not if they understand that you are a higher thought level player yourself.

In these cases, your call will ring a whole bunch of alarm bells, because your opponents will know that your aggression usually means defense of a good yet vulnerable hand, or the creation of better odds through the elimination of opponents who are not willing to face you through hell or high water.

Your call will tell them that you have a hand which doesn’t need exceptionally good pot odds, fold equity or protection.

By raising, you’ll still assert control of the pot. Pot control will enable you to keep the pot size small when you’re working on marginal hands or to increase it when you’re holding the nuts.
One thing that remains static about poker is the rake. This is why you should sign up for rakeback whenever you play in real money cash games or tournaments. Cash games produce more rake (you may even want to consider a poker prop deal here), but you’ll get a rake rebate on your tournament fees as well.

Triangle Poker Journal *** FOR SALE *** www.trianglepokerjournal.com

Yep, I hate it, but it has been a really bad year for me health-wise and I just haven't been able to dedicate the time and creativity to it that I feel it deserves. The TPJ and the TPJ blogsite
have a reasonable daily hit rate and an attractive mailing list and the right person with the
right circumstances could really make a go of it.

What is for sale are all web -related sites and accesses as well as the google groups
distribution list which is in excess of 600 members.

Bids will start at $5,000 and the highest bidder gets it all.

The bidding process will be managed through ebay.

https://webmailcluster.perfora.net/xml/deref?link=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2FeBayISAPI.dll%3FViewItem%26ssPageName%3DSTRK%3AMESELX%3AIT%26item%3D260377452838

I do wish that it wasn't necessary to sell the site. I believe that when/if the state of NC government decides appropriately to legalize poker, it could be huge for the TPJ and whoever owns the site.

Please feel free to email me at charles@trianglepokerjournal.com with any questions. Thank you and good luck bidding!

https://webmailcluster.perfora.net/xml/deref?link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.trianglepokerjournal.com
https://webmailcluster.perfora.net/xml/deref?link=http%3A%2F%2Fbadbeatsandgreathands.blogspot.com
And the following domain names are included as well.
https://webmailcluster.perfora.net/xml/deref?link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.carolinapokerjournal.com
https://webmailcluster.perfora.net/xml/deref?link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncgamblers.net
https://webmailcluster.perfora.net/xml/deref?link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.trianglepoker.com

Thanks for your interest and support of the TPJ. I'm sure I'll still be blogging.

Charles E. Richards
Triangle Poker Journal

Poker Coverage

Elon University alum, Don Peters, is currently covering the WSOPC Event in Atlantic City (Caesars) for Pokernews. You can find current chip counts and post up to date messages in the Shoutbox here:

http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2009-wsopc-caesars-ac/main-event/day1/

Don's Blog, Ramblings from an East Coast grinder, can be seen here:

http://my.pokernews.com/donpeters/blog/



Evereybody in the TPJ run good this weekend, have a Happy St. Patty's Day and root for the Blue Devils to win the ACC tournament...

Bradley

Insufficient Funds? A Letter to the Bank!

Dear Sirs:

In light of what seems to be happening internationally with banks at the moment, I was wondering if you could advise me. If one of my checks is returned marked "Insufficient Funds," how do I know whether it is referring to me or to you?

Playing Against Weak Opposition

Often, you’ll hear players complain about the level of the competition they have to go up against at the online tables. These people are usually not complaining about how good and difficult to beat their opponents are, of all things they’re discontent with the fact that the opposition they’re facing makes bad calls pretty much all the time and yet manages to keep them frustrated.
Never complain about how badly your opponents play. In poker, you’re supposed to make your money off your opponent’s mistakes, and in the long-run, the more mistakes they make, the more you’ll walk away with, regardless of the short-term streaks and bad beats.

You need to understand that Texas Hold'em is a game of high short term variance. The luck factor will throw wild swings at you pretty much all the time, making it appear that weak calls and bad players are getting the better of you. In the long-run however, playing against such bad calls is exactly what you should be looking for. It is statistically proven that – provided you come into the game on a hefty enough bankroll – you will beat the short term variance if you stick to EV+ and remain disciplined.

Here’s a small example: you pick up an A,A and some player calls you down with 7,8o to hit a straight on the river. Does this mean you’ve made a bad call? Not by a longshot. As a matter of fact you should be looking to make such calls as often as possible and let your pocket rockets tackle those 7,8,os as often as possible. There’s no starting hand in poker which can guarantee you a 100% win-rate, but if you get over 50% on your hand, you’re already in the EV+ zone. In the long-run, you will make a profit on such calls.

If you play against skilled opponents, who will fold their 8,7o when faced with your K,K every time, and call you only when they have A,A, you will take down a few small pots and give up several huge ones. That is absolutely not the way to go about making money at the poker table.
If you sense you’re unable to handle the short term variance of Texas Holdem without going on a tilt and wasting all your money, maybe you should think about taking up Omaha or Stud instead. The short term variance and the luck factor are much smaller issues there, while schooling (several bad calls ganging up on your good hand to cut down your odds) won’t happen at all.

Here are some of the mistakes bad players usually make and you should be looking to exploit:
They misread the board sometimes. OK, that’s not something you can consistently capitalize on, but there are plenty of other opportunities.

Weak players and beginners often bluff senselessly. They just fire out a bluff because they know the game of poker is supposed to feature bluffs too. They have no idea of the intricacies behind properly setting up a bluff.

These bluffs are called donk bluffs or dark tunnel bluffs and they represent one of the best sources of revenue for experienced players.

Beginners will often play well above their skill level. Since poker is a lot like driving – everybody thinks they’re better than average – beginners will often outplay themselves. It is all too easy for a beginner to fall into this trap, because without understanding the majority of strategic subtleties they will more often than not spring the trap for themselves through fancy play.
Getting married to their hands or taking losing hands way too far are also typical beginner mistakes which are highly exploitable.

If you find a weak table with players calling your set all-in with straight and flush draws time and time again you know you’ve struck a gold-mine. To avoid being frustrated by lucky draws, focus on your Sklansky dollars instead of the real money and don’t forget to sign up for rakeback. Most poker rooms give you 30% of your rake back, but some rakeback deals, like the PowerPoker rakeback are more generous.

Poker at Harrah's Cherokee

For anyone interested I understand that Harrah's Cherokee will be debuting five electronic Poker Tek tables tomorrow. They were supposed to open a live poker room a few years back but could never reach an agreement with the state and it never happened so looks like they decided to go electronic for now. Of course this won't be as good as actual live games but it's better than nothing and is at least a step in the right direction. Considering this will be the only actual legal live poker in a large area I would expect even these electronic tables to be popular. It appears the tables will be three 1/2 NL, one 2/5 NL, and one 3/6 Limt to begin with.

Famous Poker Quotes...

"Poker... I hardly even know her!"

----------------- Jack Styles

HSP is back!

Sik life...

Not sure of how many of you keep up with the online scene but there is a sick challenge going on right now offered up by Durrrr (Tom Dwan) who pretty much said that he would take on anyone, with the exception of Phil G, for a heads up 50k hand match of minimum 4tables playing at least 200/400 PLO or NLHE. If, after the rake, PA is up at least $1 Durrrr will pay him $1.5 million plus PA keeps anything he's won. If Durrrr is up PA will pay him $500k and he keeps anything he's won. When this was first mentioned late last month the online world was non-stop about this. Barry Greenstein has a site pokerroad.com and has a segment with Phil Ivey where they spoke about it. Ivey has stated that he too wants to play Durrrr but will have to wait till after PA plays him. However, Ivey and BG think that it is possible for a player to loss upwards of $8-10 mil in such a match, Durrrr himself has said that the swings will be/could be immense. Now rather or not they will be is obviously to be determined but as long as Durrrr is up $1 then he wins $1.5mil from PA so that's pretty +EV. The match has already start earlier this week and after only two sessions Durrrr is up $135k after 1,500 hands. It is expected for this to take about two-three months to complete. What is interesting is the press that Full Tilt is giving this. They've created (8) 200/400 PLO heads up tables, (1) 500/1000 PLO heads up table, (1) 500/1000 6 max NLHE table, and a PLO/NLHE 500/1000 deep stack {min 200k buy in} 6 max table all for Durrrr. Also they've set up a link that will publicly track the results during this match. This is all interesting since Dwan isn't a FTP Pro like PA and Ivey so it's only a guess as to what all this is leading to for Dwan.

Here's some links if interested:

http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/durrrr-plays-full-tilt-pros
http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/durrrr-vs-antonius
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29/news-views-gossip/results-durrrr-v-pa-challenge-416117/

Another quick story about Durrrr is this one that he tells himself:

"i had no charger for my laptop, but was in 500/1k games on my flight from vegas to nyc. This was about 2hrs ago. I decided to ask the guy in front of me to borrow his. He was super nice abt it and said ok before even asking y i needed it. I then asked a friend what i should give him in exchange. Before she answered i decided a .5% freeroll. Now i need to give him 900$, im wondering if he will laugh **** or go blind. I think 2 and 3.

sik life."

Wow! Imagine some 22 year old asking you to borrow your charger and then you walk away with $900! Durrrr does live a sik life!

Btw, did I mention that Tom is only 22? Oh to be a multi-millioniare many time over and to live such a life...

The right play...

Hmmmm. What a subject! For the most part, my feeling is, and always has been.... you'll know if you made the right play or not because you'll be dragging the pot. Maybe, maybe not. How many times have you seen a donkey make the wrong call, the wrong bet and drag the pot? LOL. I always tell them it was a great play, the right call, the right bet because I want them to keep making those donkey moves because in the long run that donkey call will bust them. It is painful however to see the donkey doing very well in the here and now.

Now having said that, the only "correct" way to play poker is the way that consistently wins you money. Even if that goes against what you see on TV, in the books and magazines and from your friends. There appears to be some people, some circumstances where, for whatever reason, you feel compelled to make the play and, more often than not, it works out. Well, I'd do it if I were you....

Online at Absolute

I was playing some $5/$10 Omaha 8 at Absolute and ran into a young man who liked to raise every time the action got to him... I watched him a couple of rounds and figured I would catch a decent hand and try to isolate him. And (I'm certain that Rick would probab argue with me) but I floped a monster!

Blinds are $3/$5 and I'm in early position and know that Maizito bets every time so I just call to with double suited connectors. The other players aren't blind and have picked up on M's aggression. So pre-flop there's about $90 or so in the pot.

My hand:






Maizito:








The flop:

I love this flop... it gives me an open-ended straight draw, 3rd nut flush draw and runner-runner low possibilities. So I lead out with with a $5 bet and M raises, Palos re-raises and I cap it at $20.

The turn:






Now that gives me open-ended straight draws to go along with my flush draw and an Ace gives me the wheel. So lead out with a $10 bet, its raised, re-raised and I cap it again.

The river:






The river is beautiful giving me the nut high and a decent low so I lead out with a bet and get 2 callers including M, of course.

But the good news is that, fortunately for me, I was apparently behind right up to the river when I got the nuts. Whee! And the scoop!

Let the suck outs begin!

The Man Rules

The Man Rules

At last a guy has taken the time to write this all down
Finally , the guys' side of the story.
( I must admit, it's pretty good.)
We always hear " the rules"
From the female side.
Now here are the rules from the male side.
These are our rules!
Please note.. these are all numbered "1 " ON PURPOSE!

1. Men are NOT mind readers.

1. Learn to work the toilet seat.
You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down.
We need it up, you need it down.
You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.

1. Sunday sports: It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides.
Let it be.

1. Crying is blackmail.

1.. Ask for what you want.
Let us be clear on this one:
Subtle hints do not work!
Strong hints do not work!
Obvious hints do not work!
Just say it!

1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do.
Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.

1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument.
In fact, all comments become Null and void after 7 Days.

1. If you think you're fat, you probably are.
Don't ask us.

1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you
sad or angry, we meant the other one .

1. You can either ask us to do something Or tell us how you want it done.
Not both.

If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.
1. Whenever possible, Please say whatever you have to say during commercials...
1. Christopher Columbus did NOT need directions and neither do we.
1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings.
Peach, for example, is a fruit, not A color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.
1. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.
1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," We will act like nothing's wrong.
We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.
1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, Expect an answer you don't want to hear.
1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine...
Really .
1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as baseball or golf.
1. You have enough clothes.
1. You have too many shoes.
1. I am in shape. Round IS a shape!
1. Thank you for reading this.

Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight; But did you know men really don't mind that? It's like camping.

Pass this to as many men as you can -
to give them a laugh.
Pass this to as many women as you can -
to give them a bigger laugh.