Beware when Running Bad

February 23rd, 2010

Running bad has it own set of dangers that can completely derail your poker game. If the cards have gone dead on you, and you are growing frustrated, then be on guard against making these mistakes:

* Too much loose aggression - although aggression is a key component to winning poker, it is a tactic to use selectively based on logical conclusion about the board, your cards and your opponent. Don’t let desperation drive you to play too loosely. Only make aggressive bets based on board texture, the pot odds and your opponent’s tendencies and position.

* Making the crying call - your gut instinct and logical conclusion tells you that your hand is beat and that your opponent completed a better hand, but you still call anyway, simply because you “have to see it” or to keep your opponent “honest.” This is nonsense. Don’t bet if you believe your are beat.

* Resorting to all-in shoves - this is akin to a suicide wish. Don’t go all-in unless you honestly believe you will win the pot with this move, either because you have the nuts or your online poker opponent is a tight player.

* Allowing too many free showdowns - you make to the river, your opponent checks and you’re tempted to check also out of fear. Don’t give away the river card every time you make it to showdown. You have to charge and put your opponent on a tough choice here sometimes.

* Playing too long - you feel stuck with a loss and can’t bear to leave the game that way, so you keep playing but keep losing more. Recognize your game is sub-par, you can’t beat the table and call it quits until another day.

Is a Poker Table a Good Gift?

February 4th, 2010

I was looking for a gift for a online poker playing friend the other day and thought of giving him a new poker table. I am sure that you have been in the same situation. You know that your friend plays poker online; you know that there old table is getting a little ratty, so you think you have found the perfect present. I thought so too. Little did I know that there are hundreds of different types of poker tables. There are all different types of shapes, colors, and covering options. The problem with giving a poker table as a gift is that I don’t actually know exactly what he wants. Even though it is a online poker table, it’s still a sizeable piece of furniture. Would you buy furniture for someone without knowing exactly what they wanted? I definitely would not. I am sure that a poker table would make him happy, but there is just too much room for error. What if I get him the wrong shape? Or the wrong covering? Or the wrong color? Then he would be stuck with a really large piece of furniture that he didn’t choose. A poker table would not be a good gift. I’ll stick to the more accepted poker gifts for something that is guaranteed to be appreciated.

Who Can You Trust to Hold Your Money?

January 4th, 2010

U.S. based poker players are face with a particularly sticky conundrum. Because most of the American based credit cards and banking institutions will not allow themselves to be connected to online poker gambling, players are forced to find alternative ways to funnel funds into their online accounts. As with any niche market, there is no shortage of companies out there that offer to hold your money for you. They claim that you can access it anytime you want, that the websites are safe, and that there is no reason for you to worry about handing over a small fortune to a stranger. I don’t know about you, but this raises some eyebrows for me. I don’t like handing my money over to anyone, let alone some fly by night website that I don’t know will be there in the morning. I like assurances that I am dealing with people I can trust. But, how, in this present conundrum, can I find a reputable electronic money service? I strongly believe that the best route is to shop for electronic financial services by comparing products. Take your time comparing rates, service plans, and customer reviews before you make a decision. There is no reason to be hasty when making this important decision. Take your time, and find someone you can really trust with your poker money.

Lucky or Good?

December 17th, 2009

“I’d rather be lucky than good” is a comment commonly heard at the online poker table. It’s the lament voiced by those who have experienced bad beats and seem to lose hand after hand. They operate under the belief that luck has everything to do with their game, and that skill is secondary to winning.

This is nonsensical thinking for any online poker player. Naturally, there are times when you experience a run of bad luck, just as there are times when fortune continually goes your way with a winning rush. Over the long term, luck always balances out. Skill, however, is a characteristic that has to be acquired, continually refined and applied with discipline.

Poker players who study and play the game regularly will inevitably become stronger players, who can make the disciplined lay downs. They learn how to recognize different players’ styles, and to leverage position, and assess chip stack strength at the table.

By taking time to acquire the right skill set to play smart poker, a player can neutralize the effects of luck in the game. There will still be the occasional bad beats and the welcome lucky streaks that bring big pots. In the long run, a skilled poker player recognizes these occurrences of luck for what they are - rare, inevitable and irrelevant to one’s game over time.

When you continually strive to improve your game through observation and study, you learn how to exploit the lucky opportunities unseen by less skillful players.

Serious Bowling Steps: Ditch the Used Bowling Rentals

July 28th, 2009

I regularly hear from a recreational bowler ready to take on this intricate sport with improved precision and consistency. If that’s your goal, you’re in the midsts of a key rebirth in learning the game as a true student of the game. Our guide to bowling can help get you there. An expert in a nearby bowling pro shop can help bowlers develop bowling skills. A wise bowling wizard once said: aim the balls at the pins and let them roll. Just kidding. I admit, bowling is a simple game with not-so simple details. It’s all good, we’ll make sure you’re bowling with the proper steps to bowling greatness.

No use putting it off, buy your own custom fit bowling shoes, balls and bowling ball bags. Fit is important. It’s no joke, have your favorite ball drilled for custom finger holes, and your game will benefit. A well fitted bowling ball can make a substantial improvement in your game. It’s also important you’re enjoying comfortable bowling shoes which smell fresh, look good and help your foot work.

If you already purchased good bowling ball and shoes, here’s the second best bowling tip: aim how the pros aim. If you face the pins, don’t actually aim for the pins. Aim for the the arrows like a barrel of a gun. The reason? You’ll find it more effective to aim for a an aid marker much nearer. To take full advantage, include it as part of your routine to stand in the precise location 4 steps from the foul line with every roll. If you do it the same every time you can make small adjustements on your marksmanship.

What about hooks, for ten pin explosion? That’s our bowling tip #3. They get traction with the their expensive reactive resin balls. Might be surprising that us who were bown to bowl pack at least two bowling balls to pull off ridiculous pin action, selected precisely for the type of game and lane. But greenhorns might want to not try to be fancy, and avoid a ball that is too heavy for you. A lot of pro bowlers invest heavily in bowling balls with extra expert grip. But these balls might make even moderately good players appear like beginners. That’s our first 3 bowling tips. A pro from our bowling shop will return next week.

–Michael Rogers

My family and I play for the recreational league made up of morning shift for Bowling Pro Shop just outside Las Vegas. I provide guidance to beginning bowlers on the web and at the lanes. Also, I have to wave hello at my bowling buddies back home. Best of luck.

Holding a Big Hand in the Big Blind

May 13th, 2009

Sometimes you’ll be dealt a big poker hand in the big blind, and it’s important to know what to do with it. There’s nothing worse than getting a great pocket poker hand and losing with it because you didn’t protect it. I once got pocket Kings in online poker in the big blind and decided to try to keep the pot bigger by not chasing anyone else out. Since I didn’t raise pre-flop, people with marginal hands stayed in the pot and I was clueless as to what anyone else had. The flop came out 4-6-7, and I raised, figuring that even if anyone else paired, I’d still have the best hand. Everyone else folded except one player, who re-raised me. After I lost half of my stack I learned that he stayed in with a 5-8 unsuited and flopped the straight. If I had raised beforehand, I would most likely have scared him out and saved myself a lot of self-loathing. If you get a good starting hand in the big blind position, don’t let it go to waste. Protect it with a large pre-flop raise and some aggressive betting, and you won’t be drinking yourself to sleep after you lose.

Live Poker Commentary

January 29th, 2009

As poker is becoming increasingly televised, more and more viewers are becoming aware of the role of commentators to the viewing experience. Before looking at the role of the modern poker commentators, it is important to remember that commentators have been involved in poker since the earliest days of televised poker. The earliest commentators occupied their, and the audience’s time, by speculating on the possible cards that a player could be holding. Of course, this was before the appearance of the hole cam.

After hole cams went into widespread use, commentators were sidelined. Since they no longer had the role of predicting cards, commentators began to provide their views on the actual playing style of the players, the way that the game was progressing, and evaluating the success of each move. Modern poker commentating is very similar to other televised sports, like football or soccer. There are typically two commentators for every televised poker tournaments, one of which is usually a former poker player. This format makes the poker tournaments blend seamlessly with other large events covered by the networks. Another cause of this sports type coverage is the fact that ESPN has become one of the largest supporters of televised poker. It is only logical that their poker coverage should mimic the formats for other events.

Really great plasmas to be won at Dutch Windeprijsvraag.nl this week

October 20th, 2008

Its great to win swimming pools worth 6025 euro and that simple. That’s why there are absolutely fantastic tools to win at online game contest and easy sweepstakes this year. Cyber sweepstakes are mostly much easier and much more faster to enter than fun websites. Lots of more online game contests are choose up to enter online sweepstakes. Internet sweepstakes are also legally differently from the online contests in Lakeland Florida. Online actions advertised as contest websites, still, can involve an entry fee or testimonial of purchase. Entering online sweepstakes by mail is declining in online popularity now.

Translated in Dutch: Leef jij in Smallingerland of Bellingwedde en wilt u een prijs winnen’ Met Windeprijsvraag.nl winnen is nergens zo eenvoudig. Geweldige prijzen winnen met de formule van windeprijsvraag.nl‘ Op zijn minst 439 prijzen om de dag. Van Hardinxveld-Giessendam tot Zeist, winnen met Windeprijsvraag gaat hier altijd. Een mevrouw van 33 heeft zojuist nog een Porche weten te winnen.

Internet sweepstakes and online promotions are proscribed from needing a buy to enter. Funny online contests are hardened much more differently than the winners who are not chosen by run of risk but by an fine element of difficult skill. 3 days ago also a European dutch online company took of a online contest and is also legally different. Really everybody can win realy terrific laptops now every 23 months even if you live in Bellflower California or in Augusta Georgia, isn’t that super.

Hot and Cold Poker

August 22nd, 2008

There’s nothing worse for a pokern player who starts off a tournament circuit hot, and then hits a wall. Getting that first poker win can be a real high, but it can also block rational thinking and make it appear as though the game of poker is easier or requires less luck than it really does. The odds can get a bit odd in the mind of a dopamine enhanced poker player, unfortunately, especially if that first win is a big one.

So when a player doesn’t fare as well on the second round of a tournament, it can be a bit more jarring than it might have been otherwise. This can lead to a cascade effect as the negative, irrational emotions resulting from that high and low dynamic begin to change the player’s playing style. What was once a level-headed poker player has now become an unhinged, ill-betting player, and that can soil the game for them in the long run.

Your best bet is step back and remember that odds play a huge role in poker, and the best players are aware that odds never change, unlike emotions. So next time you feel the game getting away from you, pause, take a breath, and maybe fold a few hands even if it doesn’t feel quite right. Your bankroll will thank you.

Camping in Switzerland

July 5th, 2008

Switzerland is the land of the Alps, chocolate and watches and of course it is a perfect place for some wonderful camping time. Camping in Switzerland is simply magnificent, especially when considering the wonderful mountains and the different natural parks that can be visited and explored. Lakes and rivers are everywhere and camping out there makes it a unique experience. There are many hiking excursions that can be organized and some wonderful pictures to be taken.

Camping in Switzerland is also a nice cultural mix, as the Italian, the French and the German language allow a different flavor, just in a few hundreds miles radius. Switzerland shares the Alps with Italy and of course the Black Forest with Germany, where nice walks can truly rejuvenate you and your family. Do not forget the possibility of mushroom picking, a fun experience that can lead to cook some delicious food while camping, just make sure not to eat poisoned ones and make sure to always consult an expert before eating wild mushrooms. You can then wash all of that with some great fresh milk, generated by some of the healthiest cows in the world. This is really a great place to camping in.