POK(EH)ER- The Art of Optimization of Luck, Strategy and Tactics.

2008-12-07T22:53:00.001+03:00

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

The WBCOOP is an online Poker tournament open to all Bloggers.

Registration code: 474598

PokerStars.com APPT Sydney Grand Final: Martin Rowe Claims Championship

2008-12-07T22:02:00.000+03:00

John 'Falstaff' Hartness
After a solid week of high-power poker at the Star City Casino in Sydney, the final nine players in the PokerStars.com Asia Pacific Poker Tour Grand Final took to the felt to determine the champion and new millionaire yesterday. The final table included a student, a retired engineer, several poker pros and a racehorse owner from Canada. When the last pot was pushed, it 34-year-old local player Martin Rowe, a Star City regular who bested fearsome pro Jason Gray heads up to claim the trophy and the AU$1,000,000 first prize.

Antonio Fazzolari held the chip lead going into the final table, and started the day swinging his chip stack like a club. After taking down several of the first pots of the day, he also created the first elimination when he sent Tom Rafferty to the rail in ninth place (AU$39,200). Rafferty, who started the day with one of the biggest stacks, raised preflop with . Fazzolari called, and the flop came down . Rafferty led out with his nut flush draw, and Fazzolari put out a stiff raise. Rafferty moved all in over the top without hesitation, and Fazzolari called just as quickly. Fazzolari tabled for top two, and Rafferty needed a club to stay alive. The on the turn was no help, and when the hit the river, Rafferty hit the rail. That hand left Fazzolari the massive chip leader with eight players remaining.

Hai Bo Chu came into the final table on the short stack, and the Melbourne marketing executive finished in eighth place (AU$53,200) when he ran afoul of eventual champ Martin Rowe. Rowe limped in from under the gun, and saw a three-way pot with Antonio Fazzolari and Chu from the blinds. The flop came down , and Rowe led out. Fazzolari folded, and Chu moved all in over the top with for the inside straight draw. Rowe snap-called with for the overpair, and needed to fade a nine to send Chu packing. Chu picked up additional outs when the came on the turn, but the on the river was no help and he was done.

Daniel Kowalski played tight at the final table, but still busted in seventh place (AU$72,800). In the first hand he raised all day, Kowalski found two callers in Frank Saffioti and Antonio Fazzolari. The flop came down , and Saffioti led out. Fazzolari and Kowalski both called, and the turn brought the . Action checked around to Kowalski, who fired at the pot. Saffioti check-raised all in, and Fazzolari went into the tank before folding. Kowalski quickly called with , but found himself way behind Saffioti's . Only a nine on the river would save Kowalski, and it was not to be as the landed to send him to the rail.

Fazzolari seemed destined to hold the chip lead throughout the final table until he and Martin Rowe tangled in a huge pot. Rowe and Fazzolari saw a three-way flop with Frank Saffioti of , and Fazzolari led out. Saffioti and Rowe both called, and the came on the turn. Fazzolari fired again, and this time only Rowe made the call. The river brought the , and Rowe called once again, tabling for two pair, kings and threes. Fazzolari could only muster for sevens and threes, and Rowe took over the chip lead.

Frank Saffioti lost a coin flip he didn't know he had made when he busted in sixth place (AU$100,800). Jason Gray raised preflop with pocket sevens, and Saffioti and Martin Rowe both called. Gray fired at the flop, and Saffioti moved all in over the top. Rowe called, and Gray quickly tossed his hand. Saffioti's made two pair, but Rowe had flopped a set and was firmly in the lead. The on the turn added to Saffioti's outs with a flush and full house draws, but the on the river was the end of the Day 2 chip leader. With that hand, Rowe moved into the commanding chip lead, with more than a million chips more than his nearest competitor.

Young Timothy English made a good run in his first major poker tournament, picking up AU$140,000 for his fifth-place finish. After a raise from Martin Rowe preflop, English re-raised with . Rowe called, and the flop came down 9h-. English led out again, this time for all his chips. Rowe thought briefly before making the call with for two overs and an open-ended straight draw. English was slightly ahead when the money went in, but the on the turn gave the lead to Rowe. The on the river was no help to English, and he headed to the rail as his chips added to Rowe's massive stack.

With English's elimination, the remaining four players headed off to dinner. Martin Rowe had the rest of the field covered, as the chip stacks at dinner break looked like this:

Martin Rowe - 5,580,000
Jason Gray - 1,630,000
Tony Basile - 1,095,000
Antonio Fazzolari - 1,095,000

Post-dinner play began slowly, but after more than an hour of jockeying for position, an explosion of quick eliminations thinned the field to two. Antonio Fazzolari found himself in an unfamiliar position for the final table – the short stack. He woke up to , and quickly shipped the last of his chips into the middle. Martin Rowe took one peek and his and called without hesitation. The board ran out , and Rowe's ace-king high was enough to take down the pot and send Fazzolari packing in fourth place (AU$182,000).

Before Fazzolari's chair was even cold, Tony Basile joined him at the payout table in third place (AU$266,000). Rowe raised from the button, and Basile three-bet from the big blind. Rowe moved all in without a moment's thought, and Basile went into the tank for a minute before making the call with . There are only two hands that Basile really didn't want to see, and Rowe tabled one of them – pocket kings. When the board ran out , Basile headed to the rail and Rowe was headed into a long heads-up match with the dangerous Jason Gray.

Rowe took a big chip lead into heads-up play, with the counts as follows:

Martin Rowe - 7,805,000
Jason Gray - 1,595,000

Even with a huge chip advantage, it took over two hours for Rowe to dispatch Gray and claim his first major tournament victory. After two hours of small ball, Rowe began to apply the pressure. With liberal raises and three-bets, Rowe rebuilt the big stack that Gray spent two hours chipping down, then all the money went in on a final confrontation. Gray limped in preflop with , then moved all in over the top of Rowe's preflop raise. No one knew if Rowe had been raising light earlier, but this time he certainly wasn't. Rowe quickly called with , and Gray needed help to stay alive. The flop brought plenty of excitement as it came down , giving Rowe top two against Gray's bottom pair, and even more excitement followed the on the turn, which gave Gray two pair of his own and outs to a full house. After a breathless moment, the river came down the anti-climactic , and Gray was finished in second place (AU$476,000).

Martin Rowe outlasted 477 competitors and survived a tough heads-up match to earn his first APPT title, the Grand Final trophy, entry into the APPT Tournament of Champions, and the AU$1,000,000 first prize. Join PokerNews at 1:30pm Sydney time for live coverage of the Tournament of Champions.

Turkpokerpro.com & poker forum

2007-08-02T00:30:00.002+04:00

The new site of winning poker for Turkish Poker Players has been launched - Kazanan Pokerin Yeni Adresi Açıldı. http://www.turkpokerpro.com

Sun Poker is running a unique promotion for omaha players

2007-03-03T01:14:00.000+03:00

$15K WSOP Omaha Challenge

In the month of March SunPoker is giving you the chance to play in the WSOP World Championships of Omaha.

The top ten SunPoker players who play the most PL Omaha High hands (0.50/1.00 PL Omaha and above) in March will play in a 10 handed free roll for some amazing WSOP prizes.

10 Handed Free Roll Prizes

1st place – A seat in the $10,000 WSOP Omaha World Championship + $1,500 cash
2nd place- A seat in the $1,500 WSOP Pot Limit Omaha event + $1,000 cash
3rd place - $500 in cash

One Sick Promo
November 23, 2006 01:07 AM Eastern Time

SunPoker.com Launches One Sick Promo

WILLEMSTAD, Curacao--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Is it too early to start thinking about the WSOP? According to SunPoker, the answer is a resounding no. They are currently preparing to launch one of the largest and unique World Series of Poker campaigns ever seen.

The promotion, aptly named “One Sick Promo” will give away 100 WSOP packages to the top 100 MPP (My Poker Points) earners from December 1st to May 31st. What really makes this promotion so “SICK” is that these are not free roll tournaments that someone would have to qualify for, if they are among the 100 top SICKEST poker players, they get the packages.

Keeping in tune with the name and theme of the promotion, the top five finishers of SunPoker’s One Sick Promo will be flying to the 2007 WSOP on a Gulfstream IV. In layman’s terms, a Gulfstream IV is the SICKEST private jet you could imagine. And as if this wasn’t enough, SunPoker has also let its top five finishers invite a friend on the trip to Vegas where they will enjoy three weeks in the SunPoker.com luxury mansion during the WSOP.

Some might call this type of luxury overkill, but not the masterminds of One Sick Promo. Adam Smirnis, Poker Room Manager at SunPoker, had this to say, “This promotion is all about going above and beyond expectations. If a player thinks its fair to get their airfare covered, we’ll charter a private jet. If they want a hotel room, we’ll rent them a mansion.”

It certainly seems that the people at SunPoker are willing to do WHATEVER it takes to make their players happy. And that includes the players that fall outside of the fabulous five. The top 30 players in the promotion will all receive extra WSOP Chips so that they can play more than just the WSOP Main Event, as well as exquisite accommodations in three other separate huge villas.

“The WSOP is not just one event and it should not be treated as such. For a lot of the Internet players, this is the only time they play live all year.” Smirnis added, “They should be given the opportunity to experience more of the WSOP. After all, it isn’t just one tournament, it’s a series.”

It seems that the philosophy at SunPoker has become either crazy or brilliant, but either way the players that decide to play at SunPoker this year will see an enormous payoff. If you think you have what it takes to compete in One Sick Promo visit www.onesickpromo.com.

About SunPoker.com

SunPoker.com is one of the largest poker rooms on the Internet, with thousands of players from around the world playing Texas Hold’em, Seven Card Stud, Omaha, and other exciting poker games, 24 hours a day. SunPoker.com is run on the Cryptologic (NASDAQ: CRYP) network, and has securely dealt over 1.2 Billion hands of poker since 2000.

Bowmans Strip Poker +18 !!!

2007-02-20T11:48:00.000+03:00

Interactive Free Video
Clicke here / Burayı Tıkla
Stripper lady teaches you how to play draw poker and a very important lesson: Know your opponent!

Legal Poker Cheating: CalculatemPro Makes U Win.

2007-02-11T03:56:00.000+03:00

In my previous posts I wrote about how useful sitngoshark is. And CalculatemPro, my favorite odds calculator is no less useful. It is not only an odds calculator but also a teacher and an advisor. The best thing is that you can get and try it free. The picture is from one of the tournaments I won with the help of CalculatemPro. Since the beginning of 2007 the Mutatum Ltd., the professional poker software company (legal and effective softwares!), agreed with Titan Poker to promote their softwares. If you sign in to Titan Poker you can use CalculatemPro and easily can get at least even (can get back the minimum deposit of 20$ I mean) after a few sit and gos or ring games by just playing tight. So instead of buying CalculatemPro for 60$ smt. you make it free and start to profit with that. By just tight play and correct odds calculation. It even warns you when to bluff and how possible that you may be bluffed etc...So not a an plain oddscalculator indeed.

The tournament that I just won is a "Maui - JackPot sitngo" (10 players, top 3 get paid). If you win 5 in a row you share the JackPot of 32.500$. 5 Top 2 finishes get 200$ consolidation (which was an awesome experience for me). But this time I will complete the row!!

NOT: Yazının Türkçesi ve bu yazilimla ilgili ayrintilar www.turkpokerpro.info ve www.turkpokerpro.com sitelerinde deçıkacaktır. Linklerden 100% legal olan bu yazilimi temin edebilirsiniz. TitanPoker ve diğer anlaşmalı sitelere kayıt olunması halinde yazılım bedava. Ancak artan ödemelerden dolayi Titan Poker'in bu yazilimin kullanımını haziran itibarı ile sitesinde yasaklayacaği aldiğimiz duyumlar arasinda. Yazıda kısaca bahsedilen CalculatemPro, herhangi bir müdaheleye gerek olmadan kartlarınızı, rakiplerin hareketini, masadaki kartları otomatik algılayıp size ne yapmanız gerektiğini söyleyen faydalı bir programdır.

Play strip poker with a playboy girl for free

2007-01-29T00:33:00.000+03:00

While surfing on the net I came accross with that link. May be you know but I give for those who are interested:

http://www.playboy.com/girls/funstuff/strippoker/index.html

g2gpoker has been launched!

2007-01-25T17:24:00.000+03:00

WSOP - Historical Overview

2007-01-08T17:40:00.000+03:00

Below are the past winners of the main event of WSOP, together with brief information about each year's main event.

Note: ♦ is diamonds

Year Winner / Winning Hand Prize (US$) Entrants Runner-Up / Losing Hand

1970 Johnny Moss * n/a 7 n/a
1971 Johnny Moss 30,000 6 Walter "Puggy" Pearson
1972 Thomas "Amarillo Slim" Preston K J 80,000 8 Walter "Puggy" Pearson
1973 Walter "Puggy" Pearson A♠ 7♠ 130,000 13 Johnny Moss K♥ J♠
1974 Johnny Moss 160,000 16 Crandall Addington
1975 Brian "Sailor" Roberts 9♠ 9♥ 210,000 21 Bob Hooks A♣ K♦
1976 Doyle Brunson 10♠ 2♠ 220,000 22 Jesse Alto A♠ J♦
1977 Doyle Brunson 10♠ 2♥ 340,000 34 Gary Berland 8♥ 5♣
1978 Bobby Baldwin Q♦ Q♣ 210,000 42 Crandall Addington 9♦ 9♣
1979 Hal Fowler 7♠ 6♦ 270,000 54 Bobby Hoff A♣ A♥
1980 Stu Ungar 5♠ 4♠ 385,000 73 Doyle Brunson A♥ 7♠
1981 Stu Ungar A♥ Q♥ 375,000 75 Perry Green 10♠ 9♦
1982 Jack Straus A♥ 10♠ 520,000 104 Dewey Tomko A♦ 4♦
1983 Tom McEvoy Q♦ Q♠ 540,000 108 Rod Peate K♦ J♦
1984 Jack Keller 10♥ 10♠ 660,000 132 Byron Wolford 6♥ 4♥
1985 Bill Smith 3♠ 3♥ 700,000 140 T. J. Cloutier A♦ 3♣
1986 Berry Johnston A♠ 10♥ 570,000 141 Mike Harthcock A♦ 8♦
1987 Johnny Chan A♠ 9♣ 625,000 152 Frank Henderson 4♦ 4♣
1988 Johnny Chan J♣ 9♣ 700,000 167 Erik Seidel Q♣ 7♥
1989 Phil Hellmuth Jr 9♠ 9♣ 755,000 178 Johnny Chan A♠ 7♠
1990 Mansour Matloubi 6♥ 6♠ 895,000 194 Hans Lund 4♦ 4♣
1991 Brad Daugherty K♠ J♠ 1,000,000 215 Don Holt 7♥ 3♥
1992 Hamid Dastmalchi 8♥ 4♣ 1,000,000 201 Tom Jacobs J♦ 7♠
1993 Jim Bechtel J♣ 6♥ 1,000,000 220 Glenn Cozen 7♠ 4♦
1994 Russ Hamilton K♠ 8♥ 1,000,000 268 Hugh Vincent 8♣ 5♥
1995 Dan Harrington 9♦ 8♦ 1,000,000 273 Howard Goldfarb A♥ 7♣
1996 Huck Seed 9♦ 8♦ 1,000,000 295 Bruce Van Horn K♣ 8♣
1997 Stu Ungar A♥ 4♣ 1,000,000 312 John Strzemp A♠ 8♣
1998 Scotty Nguyen J♦ 9♣ 1,000,000 350 Kevin McBride Q♥ 10♥
1999 Noel Furlong 5♣ 5♦ 1,000,000 393 Alan Goehring 6♥ 6♣
2000 Chris Ferguson A♠ 9♣ 1,500,000 512 T. J. Cloutier A♦ Q♣
2001 Juan Carlos Mortensen K♣ Q♣ 1,500,000 613 Dewey Tomko A♠ A♥
2002 Robert Varkonyi Q♦ 10♠ 2,000,000 631 Julian Gardner J♣ 8♣
2003 Chris Moneymaker 5♦ 4♠ 2,500,000 839 Sam Farha J♥ 10♦
2004 Greg Raymer 8♠ 8♦ 5,000,000 2,576 David Williams A♥ 4♠
2005 Joe Hachem 7♣ 3♠ 7,500,000 5,619 Steve Dannenmann A♦ 3♣
2006 Jamie Gold Q♠ 9♣ 12,000,000 8,773 Paul Wasicka 10♥ 10♠

From Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia

Poker Player of the Year Awards

2007-01-08T17:39:00.000+03:00

Since 2004 a Player of the Year Award has been given to the player with the most points accumulated throughout the World Series. Beginning with the 2006 World Series of Poker, the Main Event had no effect on the outcome of the winner of the Player of the Year award.

Year Winner Bracelets Final Tables Money Finishes
2004 Daniel Negreanu 1 5 6
2005 Allen Cunningham 1 4 5
2006 Jeff Madsen 2 4 4

From Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia

Who is Jesse May?

2006-12-26T14:43:00.000+03:00

Nickname(s): The Voice of Poker
Hometown: Denmark

"The Voice of Poker" Jesse May is an American poker commentator and player.

Jesse May was raised in Madison, New Jersey, where he first became hooked on poker playing with friends. In 1988 he started the University of Chicago, but he found that classes were clashing with his poker games, and so dropped out. For six years Jesse travelled the world playing poker.

May found fame presenting the Late Night Poker television series. He also appeared in a season 1 episode under the pseudonym Mickey Dane. This pseudonym is in fact the main character in his poker novel, Shut Up and Deal (ISBN 1-901982-56-4).

May has continued to be involved in poker commentary on other shows, including the William Hill Poker Grand Prix, PartyPoker.com Football & Poker Legends Cup, 888.com Poker Nations Cup, Poker Million, Victor Chandler Poker Cup, Celebrity Poker Club, and The Poker Show.

He often commentates alongside Padraig Parkinson, who has said that it surprises him that May plays so little poker when he is such a good player.

In 2006, May signed an exclusive contract for presenting televised poker with Matchroom Sport.

May is married and currently lives in Denmark.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Final Hand of The Tournament With Sitandgoshark

2006-12-13T14:48:00.000+03:00

***** Hand History for Game 5500687020 *****
1200/2400 Tourney Texas Hold'em Game Table (Limit) (Tournament 30746023) - Tue Dec 12 17:43:39 EST 2006
Table Speed 1312276 (Real Money) -- Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 2
Seat 3: TOMTOM178 (1540)
Seat 5: RiverJAQK (18460)
TOMTOM178 posts small blind (600)
RiverJAQK posts big blind (1200)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to RiverJAQK [ 6c, 7h ]
TOMTOM178 bets (940)
TOMTOM178 is all-In.
RiverJAQK calls (340)
Creating Main Pot with $3080 with TOMTOM178
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 5c, 4h, 9h ]
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 8d ]
** Dealing River ** : [ Jh ]
** Summary **
Main Pot: 3080 Board: [ 5c 4h 9h 8d Jh ]
TOMTOM178 balance 0, lost 1540 [ Tc 3h ] [ high card Jack -- Jh,Tc,9h,8d,5c ]
RiverJAQK balance 20000, bet 1540, collected 3080, net +1540 [ 6c 7h ] [ a straight Five to Nine -- 9h,8d,7h,6c,5c ]

And a critical hand...

***** Hand History for Game 5500592898 *****
100/200 Tourney Texas Hold'em Game Table (Limit) (Tournament 30746023) - Tue Dec 12 17:03:42 EST 2006
Table Speed 1312276 (Real Money) -- Seat 7 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: matoons_pp (1640)
Seat 2: BustAM2 (2640)
Seat 3: TOMTOM178 (2350)
Seat 4: Atrois (3160)
Seat 5: RiverJAQK (2470)
Seat 6: sham69333 (1720)
Seat 7: OLYMPIQUE111 (880)
Seat 8: erltorres (1620)
Seat 9: hakanper (1920)
Seat 10: SteNan (1600)
erltorres posts small blind (50)
hakanper posts big blind (100)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to RiverJAQK [ 9d, Td ]
SteNan folds.
matoons_pp calls (100)
BustAM2 folds.
TOMTOM178 folds.
Atrois folds.
RiverJAQK calls (100)
sham69333 folds.
OLYMPIQUE111 folds.
erltorres folds.
hakanper checks.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 7s, 5h, Kd ]
hakanper checks.
matoons_pp checks.
RiverJAQK bets (100)
hakanper calls (100)
matoons_pp folds.
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Ks ]
hakanper checks.
RiverJAQK bets (200)
hakanper calls (200)
** Dealing River ** : [ 2c ]
hakanper checks.
RiverJAQK bets (200)
hakanper folds.
** Summary **
Main Pot: 1150
Board: [ 7s 5h Kd Ks 2c ]

matoons_pp balance 1540, lost 100 (folded)
BustAM2 balance 2640, didn't bet (folded)
TOMTOM178 balance 2350, didn't bet (folded)
Atrois balance 3160, didn't bet (folded)
RiverJAQK balance 3020, bet 600, collected 1150, net +550
sham69333 balance 1720, didn't bet (folded)
OLYMPIQUE111 balance 880, didn't bet (folded)
erltorres balance 1570, lost 50 (folded)
hakanper balance 1520, lost 400 (folded)
SteNan balance 1600, didn't bet (folded)

Victory at the first try!!

2006-12-13T01:46:00.000+03:00

An hour ago I finally purchased SitandgoShark and tried it in a sit & go tournament in PartyPoker. A few minutes ago it finished and I won!. To be honest, I was not expecting so much help from sitandgoshark. I am full of swindlers on the net but this guy (He calls himself Roy) is smart enough to earn and to teach. I requested a tournament report so you will see the details in the following days. You can find sngshark at the end of the right corner of this page. LET THE ACES BE WITH YOU:)) (What was that exactly?)

P.S. Leave a comment for the sake of holy crap. Will Skinski be the only one who has written a comment before I close this blog and switch to a website? Is that what you want? May the crap oops Aces be with you! (Unless we are at the same table:))).

Event #7 - December 16 2006

2006-12-09T10:03:00.000+03:00

The final event of the second season of Blogger Poker Tour will be hosted by imjusthere4thebeer from the Poker Pub.
To celebrate the release of the new games in the Poker.com software this event will be Omaha Hi-Lo with regular 10 seat tables. With the fun that was had in Irongirls Omaha a Go-Go this should be a great way to wrap up the regular season before the top 20 on the leaderboard battle it out for their share in over $25,000 in prizes.
Check out his blog for the password and updates as well as some very interesting BPT coverage.
Blog your way Down Under with the Blogger Poker Tour!

Bad Beats All Around

2006-12-05T00:56:00.000+03:00

I was surfing around the blogs and read so many bad beat stories from favorite players of Blogger Poker Tour. I also suffered from a bad beat this week and finished 22nd. I sensed a weakness and pushed all in with the BigSlick. XaqNautilus showed A6 suited, I was winning until the last card hit a 6 and I got rivered and said bye bye. With the stack he won and eventually got a big advantage and finished 4th.

Riverjaqk in TRIPLEJACK

2006-12-01T12:14:00.000+03:00

An alternative site for those who want to play without wagering money but winning cash prizes!

No deposit required free bonus 25$ !!! at g2gpoker

2006-11-30T16:25:00.000+03:00

Holdem Poker & Chess is proud to announce its affiliate partnership agreement with g2gpoker.com and presents its readers a 25$ bonus. Click here, fill in the details and write the refferal as ekayar@msn.com . G2gpoker.com will be launched after December 10 and you will be able to start with 25$ free. No deposit, no credit card, nothing is required. Absolutely free!! Don't miss it!! (Don't forget to write the refferal as ekayar@msn.com)

Event #6 - December 2 2006

2006-11-29T10:02:00.000+03:00

Flopilicious's Where's My Flop BPT Tourney

The penultimate event of the regular season will be hosted by It's Flopalicious.

After a couple of different events in the BPT this season, this event gets back to basics and will be a standard 10 seat Texas Holdem tournament.

Check out the blog for password and updates.

For up to the second results you can go to the tournament page.

Blog your way Down Under with the Blogger Poker Tour!

There are still 3 more events with 1500$ + other prizes!!

2006-11-25T16:43:00.000+03:00

Welcome to the second season of the BPT.
To earn your place in the BPT Grand Final this season, and take your shot at over $25,000 in prizes, you will need to make it to the top of the BPT Leader board.
How it Works
BPT Leader board points are awarded as the reverse of the field, so if 100 players enter a tournament, the first player out will be awarded 1 point, and the winner will be awarded 100 points. As a bonus those players that make the final table will have their points for that round multiplied. Click here for more details on how the BPT works.

Get Flash

I play poker at Poker.com

As a bonus for hosting a round, the host will receive the same points as the winner of that round, so the more players in the tournament you host means the more points you earn.
There is also a bonus of 20 points for every player you refer to the Blogger Poker Tour.
At the end of the season, the top 20 on the BPT Leader board will take their place in the BPT Grand Final and share in over $25,000 in prizes.

Iyatoni takes down BPT S2 Event 5!

2006-11-21T23:39:00.000+03:00

Going one better than his second place finish in Event 2 Iyatoni beat out a strong finishing host in Skinski to take first place in the second event.

Host Skinski stormed to the top of the leaderboard after finishing second in his own event which also happened to have a record number of entries with 116 bloggers battling it out.

It was quite a final table with several Event winners and final table regulars.

Great job to everyone who played, there was some great poker.

The top ten looked like this.

Standings
Place Player Chips/Winnings
1 iyatoni $125.00
2 skinski $100.00
3 JayNYC $75.00
4 freeroll26 $55.00
5 Enortone $45.00
6 winaa2233 $30.00
7 cerberi $25.00
8 astinaguy $20.00
9 luckylulo $15.00
10 ReplicantPoker $10.00

To get the latest on the who's looking good to make the Grand Final next month head over to the BPT Leaderboard.

Shane @ Poker.com
BPT Commissioner

Event #5 - November 18 2006

2006-11-14T11:05:00.001+03:00

The House of Blues

Event 5 of the second season of Blogger Poker Tour will be hosted by Poker.com regular Skinski and his The House of Poker Blues blog which can be reached from the links section on the left column.

In the words of Skinski "something that will let all know they are in a house with the blues being played on a guitar. Something with that mississippi bayou feel..."

It will be a shorthanded 6 seat Texas Holdem Tournament

Check out the blog for password and updates.

For up to the second results you can go to the tournament page.

Blog your way Down Under with the Blogger Poker Tour!

Back to Schedule & Results

SIT & GO STRATEGY

2006-11-14T11:03:00.001+03:00

SIT & GO STRATEGY BY CHRIS MONEYMAKER

1. Early in the tournament, don’t gamble. You’ll see other people around you gambling, but you shouldn’t get involved unless you have a big hand. Big hands are AA, KK, QQ, AK. For the first 3-4 blind levels, you shouldn’t be playing any other hands except these (with one exception, listed next). If you have AA, KK, or QQ, try to get all-in before the flop. Your preferred plan with AK is to re-raise a raiser all-in and have him fold. If you see a flop with AK and you didn’t hit a pair, you probably need to get out.
2. You can call with a pocket pair (e.g., 88) if what it costs you to call is less than about 1/15th of your chips. For instance, if you have 1000 chips, if you can call for less than 60-70 chips, do so. Your plan is to flop a set or an overpair. If you don’t flop a set or an overpair, you get out. If you flop a set, try to get all your chips in the middle. If you flop an overpair, you may be willing to get all-in - you may not. Tread carefully.
3. If you’re the second person to put in a raise, it’s usually not correct to raise the minimum amount. A good rule of thumb is to raise about the size of the pot. For instance, suppose everybody has 1000 chips, and it’s 20 to go. One person calls, the next makes it 40. If you have KK, you should not raise to 60. There are a few options here:
Raise the pot. That would be a raise of about 130 chips (including the 10 and 20 chips blinds that are already in).
Raise a large amount that will really commit your opponent to the pot after the flop. For instance a raise to 400-500. When the flop comes down, if there’s no dreaded ace, then move the rest of your chips in.
Raise all-in right there. If somebody wants to call you with AJ or QQ, fine.
4. When betting after the flop, your bet must be some reasonable fraction (perhaps not less than 1/3 or 1/2) of the pot. Otherwise, you are giving drawing hands the correct pot odds to call. If they hit their draw, they can now put you all-in. Unless you have an unbeatable monster (for instance, you flopped a full house), it’s rarely correct to “suck people in.” You want them out.
5. When you make a bet with what you believe to be the best hand, bet enough so that an opponent with the most obvious draw would be making a mistake to call. For instance, suppose you have QQ, and the flop is J-7-3 with two spades. You are concerned about the possibility of a spade flush draw being out against you. The probability of that person hitting a flush is about 20% (one in five times) on the turn card. Make sure you bet more than 1/5th of what somebody could win from you if he hits his flush on the turn.
6. Conversely, don’t call with a draw unless you can get the right pot odds. Suppose there are 100 chips in the pot on the flop. You and your opponent each have 800 chips. If he bets 400 chips on the flop and all you have is a flush draw, you can’t call - you’re not getting the right price.
7. It is almost always better to be the bettor or raiser than the caller. Particularly in all-in situations, you would much prefer to have “fold equity” - that is, your opponent folds and you don’t have to have a showdown. So in general, you need a much stronger hand to call all-in than you do to bet (or raise) all-in.
8. If you’re going to make a bet or raise, and you will be “committed” to the pot after that bet or raise, then go ahead and put all of your chips in. That is, suppose you and your opponent have 1000 chips each. If you bet 900 before the flop and he calls, there will be (at least) 1800 chips in the pot after he calls. There is virtually no flop that would make it correct to fold for your last 100 chips. So go ahead and bet all 1000 right now. The only time this might be correct is if your opponent will make the analogous mistake. That is, he won’t call all 1000 chips right now. But he will call 800 chips now, and then feel obliged to call his last 200 after the flop. If he’s that kind of player, it might be a correct play with a huge hand like AA.
9. As you get near the cash, and particularly on the bubble (one more player to bust out before everybody is in the money), many players will become extremely tight and play very conservatively, unwilling to be the last one to bust out before the money. Take advantage of this - you should be able to steal blinds frequently. This will set you up with a good stack once you’ve gotten into the money.
Chris Moneymaker

Me, Myself and I...

2006-10-25T03:07:00.000+04:00

My aim is in this blog to provide you honest tips and ideas. Your contributions are wellcome! Unlike the online swindlers, the events in this blog are based on real life experiences.
Please sign the guest book and write about anything - and leave your e-mail if you wish to be in touch about bonuses and news :))

HOW TO RUN A BUSINESS WITHOUT A CAPITAL

2006-10-20T20:13:00.000+04:00

HOW TO RUN A BUSINESS WITHOUT A CAPITAL

Do you know that it’s possible for anyone to make money by just playing online poker? Well, I am making; I am not a professional and I just learned poker a couple of months ago. I am a candidate master of chess(my peak elo rating was 2245). The idea of making money thru poker first suggested to me by my friend Balasz(he is a poker pro) from Hungary. I had a prejudice on playing online(or live) poker because of two reasons: 1. It is gambling 2. You can't win consistently, you even risk of losing all your money. What I did to overcome those prejudices is basically to read lots of books and search through internet and to look for bonuses and sponsorships. In the following lines I will explain my system of the strategies for making money without a capital. I don’t guarantee a success for anybody. It doesnt mean that it works for you because that it worked for me. But I strongly believe that you can be successful using my system, even more successful than me.

YOU CAN NOT MAKE MONEY BY GAMBLING
In the begining I thought exactly the same and I still didn't change my mind. Wait a minute! I told you could make money by playing online poker and now I am telling you that you can’t make money by gambling. Am I not contradicting myself? No!

TEXAS HOLDEM IS A SPORTS
If you throw away your money recklessly without any calculation and pure decisions, yes this is gambling. But if you use your knowledge and skills to give correct decisions to outplay your opponents (the other players at the poker table), than this is not gambling but art of making money. It is just like to give an entrance money for a chess tournament and then to be able to win the tournament. Do you know that world poker championships are broadcasted by EuroSport TV Channel? And why are ceartain names are always succesfull all the time like Caro, Helmut, Sklansky, Mortensen etc. If poker based merely on luck then we must have heard different names for every different contest.

What I am talking about is a special kind of poker: Texas Holdem. This is currently the most popular poker type. The reason is that it is very easy to learn and seems deceptively easy to be successful. But it is not as easy as it seems! Learning how to play is easy, mastering how to play strong is difficult like it is in chess. But not as difficult as you think, especially if you play chess. The system is also applicable to other variants of poker such as Omaha Hi, Omaha Hi Low, 5 Card Draw etc.. I started to win slightly later on in other variants also.

DO THESE 5 THINGS TO MAKE MONEY BY PLAYING TEXAS HOLDEM.
This is my system which made me successfull in a couple of months:

1- Learn how to play. For sure! This is the first thing you must do:)). Read books and articles. You can find lots of material on the internet. As a beginning I suggest you to read ''Winning Low Limit Holdem'' by Lee Jones or ''Play Like The Pros'' by Phil Helmut. You can find their e-books on internet. If you can’t, tell me and I can send you by e-mail for free. Or/and watch tutorial videos which you can find on internet. I suggest you to visit party.com and watch partypoker.tv videos. Also use poker porgrams and poker coaches assisting your play. These are free to play programs. I suggest you to use: CoachRoyRounder and CalculatemPro
2- Find a sponsor. If you don’t want to risk even a couple of dollars then find a sponsorship site which gives you free money (usually it changes between $10-$100). It is for the sake of advertisement. You don' need to deposit anything! I suggest: Pokerposted. (Today my mp3 player has just arrived and I've received 40 bucks in my TitanPoker.com account just because I signed thru pokerposted!).
3- Start playing in freerolls (multi table poker tournaments which doesn’t require an entrance fee. You must just be a member of the site) and make some money. (In my first week at poker.com I made nearly $200 by winning prizes in their new player freerolls) But you should play in restricted freerolls. Because in the free ones every body goes all in, and it is harder to use your skills although possible to get some prizes. With the bonus money you get, you play some raked hands and be able to get in those tournaments. Or just play in the free ones and at least get some experience and some prize if you are on a lucky stream.
4- Use Refer A Firend Bonuses If you refer your friend during registration, both you and your friend can get bonuses and you can split the money. You can ask my screenname of that site before you make your first deposit and we can share the money. For instance you can sign thru http://Osssss.friends.poker.com. Feel free to contact me. Also if you decide to open an account in neteller.com, contact me and you will get 10% of your deposit as a free bonus money.
5- By using the money you earned from the sponsors and the freerolls, clear the bonus that the sites offering for new players. To clear a bonus: to play required number of hands to earn the bonus. For example the bonus is %150. You deposit $100. The required number of hands is 200. After you play 200 hands, you earn $150 which makes your money $250. You don't need to follow all these steps except step 1(which requires learning holdem). Any of the steps 2-5 plus step 1 is enough to make you earn some money.

Playing for bonuses is not always easy, though. Each site has unique terms and requirements in order to clear the bonus. Poker bonuses can be confusing. Just because a site has a big bonus does not mean it’s better than another.

The sites listed first in here are the easiest sites to beat and the easiest sites to clear a bonus at. I have listed them in order of my experience. You can use a different order for sure.

Securing Your Funds
Naturally, you need an account to take the money you earn or to make a deposit. You can simply use your Visa/MasterCard which takes usually a longer time to transfer money. I first started using my credit card. Later on I opened a Neteller.com account, which is a worldwide known electronic money transfer account, and then things become faster and easier.

First Site to Sign Up With

1. Poker.com
Poker.com offers a 100% up to $100 bonus. Players must play 10 contributed raked hands for each $1 in bonus money. The bonus never expires.
Total Bonus: $100
Sign Up: Poker.com
Winning freerolls is easier than other sites. During my first month my freeroll earnings was about 500 dollars.
Pokerposted offers 25 dollars as a free bonus. So that you can start playing in poker.com without investing any money from your pocket. But be careful! First read, study holdem and have some experience in freerolls or play money games. Don’t risk your money immediately in the ring games.

If you sign thru my referral website of poker.com you can get the following promotions:
100% Bonus on your first deposit, up to $100 Free
Deposit and get entry to a $500 Depositors Freeroll
Sign Up: http://Osssss.friends.poker.com

They offer very promising reload bonuses as well.

Total Bonus: $200
Estimated Annual Reloads: $1,200

2. Poker Room
Poker Room offers a 40% of up to $200 for new players. They frequently offer reloads, which include 15% up to $150 Neteller deposits. A player accumulates 0.07 of a point for each $0.10 in rake that is taken. You must earn 10x times the amount of the bonus in points. The bonus is not released partially. Bonuses are stackable. Bonuses expire after 60 days.
Total Bonus: $200
Estimated Annual Reloads: $1,400
Sign Up: Poker Room

3. Noble Poker
Noble Poker offers a very lucrative sign up bonus of 100% up to $250. In order to clear the bonus players accumulate crowns, which are accumulated dependant on the blind structure you are playing. 500 crowns are needed for each $10 in bonus money. Contact live support in the client for updates on your crown count. Sign-up bonuses and reloads (which are plentiful) will usually expire after 90 days.
Total Bonus: $250
Estimated Annual Reloads: $1,200
Sign Up: Noble Poker

4. Titan Poker
Titan is currently offering a 100% bonus up to $500. Players accumulate Stars (Titan Poker's unique player points) per hand played at $.25/.50 minimum stakes. For each 1000 Stars a player earns, a $10 bonus will be issued.
Total Bonus: $500
Sign Up: Titan Poker

5. Pacific Poker
Pacific is currently offering a 25% bonus up to $100 and a total of $4500 freerolls for the new depositors. Even easier to get some prize than it is in Poker.com
Total Bonus: $100
Sign Up: Pacific Poker

6. Absolute Poker
Playing for bonuses can be very rewarding if you enjoy Absolute Poker. This signup bonus is 100% up to $750. You must use 'AP750' as the bonus code. The bonus is released $10 at a time for each 100 raked hands raked over $0.25.
They offer reload bonuses very frequently to a point now where they are being offered every weekend. The bonuses are stackable. However, your bonus will expire after 60 days if it is not cleared.
Total Bonus: $750
Estimated Annual Reloads: $18,000
Sign Up: Absolute Poker

Estimated Income from the Sites:
Amount from Sign Up bonus: over $2,000
Amount from Reload bonus: over $3,200
Potential Annual Income: over $38,400 + winnings
Over $5,200 in bonus money! Just by breaking even!

Fell free to add your comments. If you have questions don’t hesitate to contact me.
Good luck!
Riverjaqk.

Disclaimer: I do not promote illegal, underage, or gambling
to those who live in a jurisdiction where gambling is
considered unlawful. The information within this blog and
article is being presented solely for entertainment
purposes and presentation of my experiences. I will not be
held responsible for any personal loss of wagers or damages
you may incur. Anyone concerned about having a problem
can contact Gamblers Anonymous for further information.

Room Of The Week: Titan Poker

2006-10-16T06:48:00.000+04:00

Titan Poker is an exciting online poker room that is quickly becoming the favorite for many players. Titan Poker's realistic and player-friendly software offers a wide range of tournament and ring game play, including progressive jackpot sit 'n' go tournaments offering prizes as high as $100,000. Titan Poker has awarded many of its qualified players with entries to the Main Event of the 2006 World Series of Poker, and holds regularly scheduled tournaments with incredibly high prize pools.

Room Of The Week: Noble Poker

2006-10-15T02:01:00.000+04:00

Noble Poker is giving 50% bonus to players in their first deposit. Click Noble Poker, open a new account and you will be awarded 50% bonus. This is a somewhat smaller poker room with some unique promotions and relatively soft no-limit games. In addition to their signup bonus, Noble Poker has several promotions. They have both daily and weekly freerolls. Some of their other promos include sit-and-go jackpot tournaments, where players win an additional prize if they win a certain amount of sit-and-go tournaments consecutively. For example, if someone wins four consecutive $2+$.35 "Dirty Dozen" SNG tournaments, he or she would win an additional $2,000 prize. Noble Poker also has a bad beat jackpot, as well as a high hand of the day promotion.

Vladimir Kramnik wins unified title!

2006-10-14T22:20:00.000+04:00

Elista Tiebreak: Vladimir Kramnik wins unified title!
14.10.2006 The dramatic tiebreak finish of the World Chess Championship in Elista ended in a victory by Vladimir Kramnik, who won two games and drew one to take the unified World Chess Championship title.

Final standing (regular games)
Player Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Tot. Perf.
Veselin Topalov 2813 0 0 ½ ½ (1) ½ ½ 1 1 0 ½ ½ 6.0 2702
Vladimir Kramnik 2743 1 1 ½ ½ (0) ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ ½ 6.0 2844

Tiebreaks results
Player Rating R1 R2 R3 R4 B1 B2 Ar Tot.
Veselin Topalov 2813 ½ 0 1 0 2.5
Vladimir Kramnik 2743 ½ 1 0 1 3.5

Blogger Poker Tour Event #3

2006-10-14T22:16:00.000+04:00

The next event of the Blogger Poker Tour will be taking place at Poker.com. The Ultimate Poker Forum Open will take place on October 21 at 4:00 PM EST. To join this tournament all you need is an account at Poker.com and a blog.

This Freeroll tournament will have a prize pool of $500 and top ten get paid. In the last Blogger Poker Tour event, there were a total of 72 players.

Participate in the Blogger Poker Tour and you can also win a seat into the 2007 Aussie Millions. There are also a lot of other great prizes.

To play in this freeroll tournament, go to Blogger Poker Tour and sign up. If you don't have an account at Poker.com, goto the Poker.com website and register.

To find the tournament on the Poker.com software:

Click the Tournaments tab

Select the Special tab

Look for BPT S2E3 Ultimate Poker Forum Open

World Chess Championship: 12th Round

2006-10-12T23:59:00.000+04:00

Final game 12 drawn, score 6:612.10.2006 The twelfth and critical game of the World Chamionship match between Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov has ended in a very tense, hard-fought draw. It was watched by a large number of visitors on the Playchess server, where GM Yasser Seirawan provided live audio commentary. Express report.

Interview With Karpov

2006-10-03T04:13:00.000+04:00

Karpov: I wouldn't have continued the match02.10.2006 The twelfth world champion and five-time opponent of Garry Kasparov has great experience in world championship matches. And in Appeals Committees. In the Russian chess magazine "64" Anatoly Karpov commented on the situation on the Kramnik-Topalov match. Interview.
Anatoly Karpov: I would not have continued the match
The 12th world champion comments on the situation in the Kramnik-Topalov match
[The interview took place before it was known that Kramnik would play game six]
Karpov: I would like to say that the problems Illumzhinov is wrestling with are of his own making. This is because in recent times, serving on an appeals committee has become a reward for past services rendered. But in reality, this is a job for specialists, who have proven themselves to be above reproach. In my day, the procedure for appointing members of an appeals committee was as follows: the international federation presented a list of five people, with suitable qualifications; and the participants each listed them in order of preference. Each was given points, and the ones who got the most, went onto the committee.
And there were no protests?
There were protests. But the Appeals Committee was comprised of people who could be trusted, and were of unimpeachable reputation. And specialists, naturally. There is no need to speak of Azmaiparashvili, and particularly of his reputation. Thanks to the fact that the players were given no say in the matter, you end up with “operators” like him on the committee. Work on this committee is paid, and paid very well, so of course, there are lots of people wanting the job. But only those who are reliable and deserving should get it. It seems clear that Illumzhinov realised that they had messed up, but he was unable to clear up all of the mess. And if Kramnik continues the match, it means that they have simply stolen a point from him.
Perhaps Kramnik’s team did not do things quite right? They could have protested before the game.
In general, frankly speaking, I do not understand all of these goings-on%2

Basics Of Backgammon

2006-10-03T04:06:00.000+04:00

Object of the Backgammon GameThe object of the game is for each player to bring all his checkers into his home board, and then to bear them off the board. The first player to clear all his checkers off the board is the winner.
Using Online Software
Backgammonis a game for two players, played on a board of twenty-four narrow triangles called points. Each player has fifteen stones of one color (light or dark) that are placed along the boards' 24 points. Points alternate in color and are grouped into four quadrants of six points each. Quadrants are referred to as a players' home board and outer board. The board is divided in half by a center partition called the bar. All points on a backgammon board are distinguished by numbers. A players' outermost point is the twenty-four point, which is also his opponents' one point. A doubling cube, with the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64, is used to keep track of the current stake of the game.
To start the game, each player rolls a single dice. This determines both the player to go first and the numbers to be played. If equal numbers come up, then both players roll again until they roll different numbers. The player who throws the highest number moves first according to the number displayed on the dice. After the first roll, the players throw both dice and alternate turns. The roll of the dice indicates how many points (or pips) a player can move his stones. Stones are always moved forward, to a lower-numbered point. The following rules apply: A stone can only be moved to an open point (one not occupied by two or more opposing stones).
The numbers on the two dice constitute separate moves. For example, if a player rolls 5 and 3, he may move one stone five spaces to an open point and another stone three spaces to an open point, or he may move the one stone a total of eight spaces to an open point, but only if the intermediate point (either three or five spaces from the starting point) is also open. A player who rolls doubles plays the numbers shown on the dice twice. A roll of 6 and 6 means that the player has four sixes to use, and he may move any combination of stones he feels appropriate to complete this move. A player must use both numbers of a roll if legally possible (and all four numbers of a double). When only one number can be played, the player must play that number. If either number can be played, but not both, a player must play the higher one. When either number can't be used, a player loses his turn. In the case of doubles, when all four numbers can't be played, a player must play as many numbers as he can.
Playing Backgammon Online for Play Money Play and practice Backgammon for funand enhance your skill at the game. Once you've mastered the basics of the game you can move up and play to win real money.The game rules are exactly the same as they are in Real Money
Playing Backgammon for Real Money Playing Backgammon on Online Backgammon Gamesis exactly the same as in real life, only you get to meet exciting people from all over the world and play against them for Real Money.Before playing Backgammon for Real money, you need to deposit money into your account. There are two ways to start playing for Real money after depositing money; joining an existing table or creating a table. In both ways there is a stake involved in the game and the winner takes everything and pays a small fee.
Hitting and Entering A point occupied by a single stone of either color is called a blot. If an opposing stone lands on a blot, the blot is hit and placed on the bar. Anytime a player has one or more stones on the bar, his first obligation is to enter that stone(s) into the opposing home board. A stone is entered by moving it to an open point corresponding to one of the numbers on the rolled dice. For example, if a player rolls 4 and 6, he may enter a stone onto either the opponents' four point or six point, so long as the prospective point is not occupied by two or more of his opponents' stones. If neither of the points is open, the player loses his turn. If a player is able to enter some but not all of his stones, he must enter as many as he can and then forfeit the remainder of his turn. After the last of a players' stones has been entered, any unused numbers on the dice must be played.
Bearing Off Once a player has moved all of his fifteen stones into his home board, he can begin bearing off. A player bears off a stone, by rolling a number that corresponds to the point on which the stone resides, and then removing that stone from the board. If there is no stone on the point indicated by the roll, the player must make a legal move using a stone on a higher-numbered point. If there are no stones on the higher-numbered points, the player can remove a stone from the next highest point. A player is under no obligation to bear off if he can make an otherwise legal move. A player must have all of his active stones in his home board in order to bear off. If a stone is hit during the bear-off process, the player must bring that stone back to his home board before continuing to bear off.
The Doubling CubeBackgammon is played for an agreed wager (or number of points in the tournament play). During the course of the game, a player who feels he has a sufficient advantage may propose doubling his stakes. He may do so, only at the start of his turn, and before he has rolled the dice. A player who is offered a double may refuse, in which case he concedes the game and pays the original wager. Otherwise, he must accept the double and play on for the new higher stakes. A player who accepts a double becomes the owner of the cube and only he may make the next double. Subsequent doubles in the same game are called redoubles. If a player refuses a redouble, he must pay the wager that was at stake prior to the redouble. Otherwise, he becomes the new owner of the cube and the game continues at twice the previous stakes. Redoubles can increase upto 64 times the original wager.
Gammons and BackgammonsAt the end of the game, if the losing player has borne off at least one stone, he loses only the value showing on the doubling cube (the original wager or one point if there have been no doubles). However, if the loser has not borne off any of his stones, he is gammoned and loses twice the value of the doubling cube. More so, if the loser has not borne off any of his stones and still has a stone on the bar or in the winners' home board, he is backgammoned and loses three times the value of the doubling cube. We strongly recommend to download Online Backgammon Games software to learn more about the game. Try it now, it's easy and free! To download,

The Blogger Poker Tour Is Back!

2006-09-29T18:47:00.000+04:00

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Texas Holdem Tips

2006-09-22T02:04:00.000+04:00

Texas Hold'em Strategy
GENERAL CONCEPTS
Due to the effect of community cards, hold'em is a game of "domination," a term coined by Roy Hashimoto. A hand is dominated if it has 3 or fewer outs against another, like AJ against AQ. Second best offsuit hands are what make you money in hold'em - when other players play them. With the flip of a card, pairs and suited hands can transform from dominated to dominating. Lure your opponents into playing dominated hands while avoiding dominated situations yourself.
Big and small pairs, suited hands, and offsuit hands play differently.
Small pairs, suited cards, and zero and one gap hands (examples: 22-66, A6s, and JTs and QTs respectively) thrive on "implied odds", a term coined by David Sklansky, meaning they will frequently be folding after the flop unless they flop big, and so they normally want to see the flop cheaply.
Offsuit hands have "reverse implied odds", since they cannot usually bet and raise with confidence towards the end of the hand. Normally, an offsuit hand likely to be best should make it expensive to see the flop, in order to harm the hands that would have good implied odds to see the flop cheaply. A strong offsuit hand is still strong when facing several opponents, between its chance of making a AKQJT straight, two pair (usually using a low pair on the board) or a top pair that holds up.
Big pairs have reverse implied odds as well, but they are much more robust, since they can win unimproved, or by making two pair with a low pair on the board, or by making a set or full house.
The flop is the nexus of the hand; limiting raises preflop goes far towards disguising your hand.

The next sections detail strategy for opening, playing against limpers, playing against raisers, and defending the blinds. Six representative hands, namely QQ, 55, ATs, 76s, AQ, and JT, will illustrate preflop strategy for each of these situations. However, if you think you know better for your particular situation, you probably do, as "it depends." In any case, this simple desert nomad does not claim to be always correct, only always thought provoking.
To facilitate finding particular hands, the columns for suited and offsuit hands sort the hands into the following categories: aces, kings, queens, zero gappers, one gappers, two gappers, "other". When a hand is "missing", it belongs to the lower position. For instance, in the table there is A9 and then there is A7; the missing hand, A8, belongs with A7. Xxs denotes all the rest of the suited hands. Jx denotes J2 through J7.
SB stands for the small blind position, while 0 off the button means on the button, of course. 6 off the button corresponds to being under the gun (first to act) at a 9-handed table. For 7 off the button, use the 6 off the button hands.
An easy way to refer to a whole group of hands is by listing the minimum pair, suited, and offsuit hands. The hands that are in bold face in the table can be used as an index. So the minimum hands 5 off the button are 77/QJs/AJ caliber hands.
The minimum openers table assumes your opponents are a tad on the loose side, which forces you to open with less hands than normal. You can open with more hands if your opponents are either very loose or too tight or even properly tight. In early position you can usually open one caliber looser (e.g., 88/KQs/AQ becomes 77/QJs/AJ), and if your opponents are extremely tight or loose you can go two calibers looser. In late position, open with fewer hands against very loose opponents, due to your inability to steal the blinds. However, against overly tight players in the blinds, you can open with any hand listed in the ranking table.
In early position you have to play fairly tightly, even in loose games, since you don't know how many raises there will be, and you will be out of position for the whole hand. Consider how likely you are to be raised by weaker (or stronger) hands if you limp, how likely you are to be called by weaker (or stronger) hands if you raise, and how likely you are to steal the blinds if you raise.

Under Construction...

2006-09-21T15:14:00.000+04:00