Saturday, February 14, 2009

Improve Your Poker Reads... From Television!


There have been many different articles and opinions written about how people can improve their poker reads at the table. I've written a few about how to catch a liar at the poker table. Your should check them out.


The science I applied has since been put into a television show called "Lie To Me." It is a new show starring Tim Roth. Roth plays a doctor who is hired by various agencies to come in and investigate suspects and witnesses to crimes and try and tell if they are lying. It is a fun show.


What is more interesting is that the show is based upon the work of Dr. Paul Ekman. In a nutshell, he studied thousands of people and their expressions in an attempt to determine their state of mind, emotion and whether or not they were being truthful. The work is fascinating.


Even more interesting is how the information can be applied at the poker table. If you are one who enjoys talking to your opponents during play, this is an incredible tool. It is not to say that you can become a master of reading after reviewing the material one time. In fact, it will probably take you a considerable amount of time to get a grasp of it. Regardless, there are countless tidbits available that can help you to improve your reads.


Who knows. Maybe you can become the next "Dr." of poker reads. Enjoy and good luck.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Onlie Poker Tournaments Love The Pocket Pair


As far as the online poker tournaments go that I have engaged in recently, there appears to be a truly remarkable phenomenon the likes of which I have not experienced in my many days of playing poker. The online poker tournament experience, seems to have the market on this particular phenomenon.


For some reason that I could not even begin to explain, there are a remarkable number of times during sit and go poker tournaments that play online, that I see multiple players being dealt pocket pairs at the same time. It is truly remarkable. I can't remember that last time I sat in a casino and saw so many pocket pairs in a poker tournament in such a short period of time.


I know that some of you may be thinking, well, there are way more hands dealt to you online when you are playing in a poker tournament than when you play a tournament in a casino. This may be true. However, I doubt that you can remember that last time you saw three or more players pick up pocket pairs in a casino tournament at the same table multiple times during the same session.


I'm not talking about it happening once during the entire tournament. It happens several times. It really does amaze me how many times it happens in a single sit and go. In any event, it has either resulted in my quick exit from these tournaments or my quick tripling up. Both have happened several times.


I would love to know if anyone out there is having the same experience. I'm not quite sure what to make of it. At the very least, it is keeping things interesting.

Bellagio Has Best Poker Room in Las Vegas


It wasn't too long ago that I was out in Las Vegas having the time of my life, as I usually do there, going from hotel experience to hotel experience. While in a poker game with a buddy of mine we got into a debate about which poker room in Vegas is the best.


This is clearly one that will cause considerable debate. For me there was virtually no question. I will favor the Bellagio ten times out of ten. The hotel for starters is spectacular. Not that most of the hotels on the strip are not, but the Bellagio really has its you know what together.


My buddy is more of a nostalgic kind of player. He claims that without any debate, the best poker room is at Binions. He loves the history of the room. It is a good size with a decent number of games going at any time. It is located in old town, which is always a fun place to visit. And who doesn't like the shady stories attached to that place.


For me, you can't beat the environment at the Bellagio. You have a huge choice of games available to you and who knows who you might see there in the way of pros. You might even get to pick up a few tips. I like Binions but the environment makes me laugh. The floor seems to suck your shoes down as you walk across the room and I'm always afraid to brush up against the walls there. I'm not quite sure what is on them anymore.


I'm sure there are many opinions on this topic but I for one will forever be a Bellagio type of guy. That room has been very good to me.

Chris Ferguson Poker Challenge... Slow going for now


For of those who continue to follow my escapades, this Chris Ferguson accomplishment online is still one that I deem remarkable. However, I am not giving up. I am of the firm belief that if any one person can accomplish an online poker achievement like that, so can another person. Maybe even another person.


The games continue to be a challenge. Playing poker in the lower levels on most sites is incredibly difficult to move forward since the rake is so high in comparison to what you can win and so many players choose to play out they're entire hands to see what happens.


There are definitely certain games that I find somewhat easier poker as opposed to others. That is not to say any one game is easier than any other in general. However, there are definite factors that seem to arise in online play that seem to make certain games easier to move forward in than other games. I will discuss more of this in the future if I somehow manage to continue moving forward.


The good news is that no poker game in this remarkable Chris Ferguson challenge has yet to take my minuscule bankroll away as of yet. I will continue to fight and hopefully come out the poker champion of building a roll from nothing. Only the bizarre world of online poker holds the answers.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Full Tilt Poker Gets Amended Complaint From Clonie Gowen


The fight between Full Tilt Poker and Clonie Gowen continues. For those of you not familiar with the legal battle that has been going on between Full Tilt Poker and Clonie Gowen, it has all been laid out in her complaint and is available to the public. Here it is in a nutshell.


Clonie Gowen alleges that in exchange for her promoting Full Tilt in a variety of different ways that she was promised a 1% share in the company which she values at four billion dollars and as such believes she is entitled to a forty million dollar pay out. Full Tilt and their affiliates claim there was no such agreement. Clonie Gowen was at one point supposedly offered a six figure settlement which she refused. She also claims that other members of Team Full Tilt, of which she was a member, had received disbursements in accordance with their deals but she did not.


The battle continues. What is most interesting is that she was obviously promised something in exchange for the promotional work she did. I dont' think she offered to work and promote a gambling company for the goodwill and warm feelings it would have given her. Then again, I don't really know her. I suppose anything is possible.


Regardless of the deal, it should be interesting to see how this one plays out.

Party Poker Not What It Used to Be


The party seems to have really left Party Poker. It is one of the sites that I am experimenting with trying, much to my dismay, to repeat the great Chris Ferguson's 10k accomplishment from nothing. It is not easy going.


First off, the micro games where I am forced to dwell until I get any kind of roll started are brutal. Everyone is obviously playing for fun and doesn't really care about blowing a buck or two. I can't really blame them. There isn't much in terms of any real poker playing going on and who can expect anything different at that level. It is fun but there doesn't seem to be much hope in moving the roll forward.


The real unfortunate part about Party Poker now seems to be the incredibly lower membership. They just don't seem to have many players there at all any more. What is worse is that if you are interested in playing any other game besides Hold Em, there are very few games available. This kills me because Party Poker is where I used to make the most money online but now it is hard to keep a game going. For instance, if you enjoy playing stud, you will see at Party Poker tons of vacant tables. There just isn't any interest.


When I used to make money at Party Poker, I used to only enjoy playing the ten player tables. Now, those tables are few and far between if you want to play anything higher than $2/4. As such, even if I do manage to get some kind of roll started and want to rise up out of the micro limits, unfortunately, there isn't many games to go to.


What I have noticed in the games I have played now at Party Poker is a phenomenon that never used to occur. If you play at Party Poker now you will experience your game breaking up. That never used to happen before. So in addition to struggling to find a game that I enjoy, there is no guarantee that game will even last for long. The whole experience is unfortunate and I would love to know why so many people have left or choose not to play at Party Poker now. It isn't as if the federal legislation limiting American money transfers is the only reason. Americans are still playing at other sites. Poker Stars doesn't seem to be experiencing the same drop off. I'm sure Americans are still playing there.


If anybody knows the reason that Party Poker seems to have become so unpopular, I would love to know. I would also love to know how I could get more games going that I enjoy playing over at Party Poker but I suppose that would mean more players would have to come back to Party Poker. Therefore, somebody tell me what has happened to the party at Party Poker. I will keep you posted as I try to duplicate Ferguson's incredible achievement at Party Poker even if they only have one or two tables going.

Excalibur Hotel in Las Vegas Electronic Poker Should Fold


I get that we're living in the electronic age when it comes to poker. I understand that hotels like the Excalibur in Las Vegas want to usher in the electronic era and welcome new technology. I get it that poker players at the Excalibur in Las Vegas may be predominantly beginners. This is no excuse for the poker room at the Excalibur in Las Vegas to have gone completely electronic. I tried it. I really don't get it.


You play poker to make money. No question about it. However, a big part of the experience is watching your opponents. You watch how they handle their cards and their chips. You watch their reactions to the dealer and how the cards are laid out. You study how they interact with the dealer when things go well and when they don't. Perhaps you just enjoy interacting with a dealer. You use the interplay to see if you can affect the others to do as you please. Maybe, you just enjoy the company.


At the poker room of the Excalibur Hotel in Las Vegas, all of the above are gone. You become one of the mindless, sitting at another video terminal that could basically be anything. You have no connection to the cards or the chips. You never really know much of anything because the program owns you from the moment you check in. This is what online poker is all about and I don't go to Las Vegas to play online poker.


When I go to play poker in a casino, I want to know that everything is as I see it. I don't want to be a part of a computer program, which is what we all become when we play online. I want to see the dealer. I want to know that he or she is a real person. I want to see that deck of cards. I want to see the cards come off one at a time and skim across the felt. I want to see how the chips go in. Every bet is a little different from the last but each will tell me something. The poker room at the Excalibur hotel in Las Vegas wants to take that away from me. I won't have it.


It is a real shame because I always enjoyed visiting the Excalibur hotel in Vegas. It was one of the first ones I ever stayed at and I love the way it is connected to the Luxor, Mandalay Bay and New York New York. I can only hope that this electronic trend for the world of poker will not catch on with the rest of Las Vegas. I could hardly imagine the Belaggio poker room ever going electronic. If that sad sorry day ever happens, I guess I'll be spending a lot more time in Atlantic City.