Check Out the Poker Training Videos

The proven way to learn how to play great poker is by playing, reading and now watching videos about poker that are made by some of the great professional players.  Seeing a hand played from beginning to end is a terrific way to learn how to play.   The explanations at each point in the hand are eye opening and make a player think and the light goes on in their head.  Understanding the play of the hand is a visceral and mental way to learn.  There are many choices available for students and from different pros.  As with any product, look at the reviews on the Net of these programs.  One of the reviews will make sense to you the player and this would be a good place to start.

Amazon, on the net would be another place to find out what is out there for your consideration.   Ask around on poker sites and see what program gets mentioned the most by other players.  The point is you do not need to take a blind leap of faith and buy one from your favorite player.  Not all good players can make good videos for learning how to play better poker. [Read][more][...]

Are Poker Books Worth The Read

Poker players learn how to play through different ways.  Some learn early in life by watching the friendly Saturday night game at their home.   Some play a number of hours and days on free Internet sites for play money.  Players that are use to learning a subject by reading about it are likely to buy books on poker.

The quantity of books on poker has grown like mushrooms after a warm night of rain.  Doyle Brunson's book started the fad of big time players writing books on the subject.  Brunson's book was a bible of how to play and made many bad players better than average.  Barry Greenstein's book has thoughtful ideas on how to play in a logical manner that many would consider tight play of a hand.

Many players could not write a book about playing as they are a little crazy in their play and that would be hard to emulate.

A relatively new and inexperienced player would be wise to read any book on starting hand values with their ranking among hands.  [Read][more][...]

The final stage of any Holdem Tournament

Almost without exception the final stage of a Holdem tournament comes down to two players with a ton of chips playing Heads Up.  This is far different than at the beginning of the tournament when each player had the starting stake.  Heads up is different in play and starting hand value.  Players try to take away the power of the other player's hand by betting aggressively.  The starting hands are not even noted in poker books in many hands, as they are so low in quality.  The play at times seems to be a card version of the game of chicken and who is the best bluffer.

If a player gets a quality stating hand, they can only hope that their opponent has one too, only of lower value.  At this stage of the game, the players are ready to end it as quickly as is possible.  A lowly pair may generate a rather large bet after the flop and the other player never knows for sure whether the better is bluffing or they have a hand.  To make it worse, give the caller a small pair that is just a bit higher than the better.  This is the way the final part of tournaments usually goes. [Read][more][...]

Huck Seed the new Half Millionaire

Huck Seed was the victor in the 64 player National Heads Up Championship by beating a pair of Tens with a pair Kings.  Vanessa Rousso, the latest female poker all-star, held the Tens.  Her score was only a cool quarter of a million for finishing in second place.  Huck Seed has been a familiar face in many big tournaments in recent years.  His WSOP main event win and three other bracelets are testimony to his playing skills   A Montana native who gave up being an Electrical Engineer, an a Graduate of Cal Tech, is one large gambler both in bets and his 6 foot 7 inch frame.  Next time you see him in a TV tournament, watch for the laid back, few words, fellow at the table.  That is his natural style of play and is in sharp contrast to a player like Hellmuth.

Math and poker go together and Huck Seed is another example of the natural combination of the two skills.

Mean while Vanessa is having some kind a run playing poker these days.  She is Gods most dangerous creation, a good-looking woman with brains.  She also is a college player and a Law School student. [Read][more][...]

Heads Up Update and a Mish Mash

The NBC Heads Up Championship has eliminated more than half the field.  Some of the big name players have been turned out and some are still alive and playing.  The Miracle player Blandino Gines was eliminated the first day by Barry Greenstein and now Barry has joined him on the sidelines.  Others are still in the fight like the well-known Daniel Negreanu.  Skill is at a premium, but getting some good cards at the right time will go a long way.  The interesting story about this tournament is it will not be aired on TV until April of 2009.  By then it will be over and the new champion will be known for over a month.

Another news bit is the coverage of the latest lady poker player in the pro ranks doing so well playing in the tournaments and getting an offer to be in the Swimsuit Edition of Sports Illustrated.  Vanessa Rousso is hot in more ways than one as a poker player, still alive in the Heads Up Championship, as a very nice looking woman and as a Law Student at the University of Miami.  This lady has it all going in the right direction.  That is a lot of activity going on in one person's life male or female. [Read][more][...]

Connectors Suited or Otherwise

Talk about a starting hand that has believers and non-believers.  Watch any tournament and you will soon see who is willing to play this hand and who folds it immediately.  The point is this: some very good players are willing to play this hand all the time out of the gate.  Others would never do it at any time.  Being of the playing school, these are the reasons for it not being that bad of a starting hand.

It can be discarded after the flop if it is totally missed and it can be a great trapping hand if the flop falls friendly toward the two cards.  An opponent with a big pair will think they have a lock on the hand.  Slow play a set or two pair and this hand can score big time.  A straight or a flush is even better although not as well hidden.  Some very big name players play this hand all the time from the start.  Farha and Negreanu do it all the time in tournaments and cash games.

Big pairs and Ace King get beat all the time in poker games.  As often as not it is a small set or two pairs that cuts the head off.  The very best players use this starting hand a great deal early in tournaments when the anties are small and less painful when lost.  [Read][more][...]

Meet Mike Sexton

Mike Sexton will be 62 In September of this year as he was born in September 1947.  His birth state makes him a Hoosier although he and his brother went to the University of Ohio on a gymnast full scholarship.  He has been playing card games since he was a youth and his skill at the games was evident early in his adult life.  He played in college and even more when he finished a two-year hitch in the Army as Fort Bragg.  His after service job was as a Dance Instructor and working with a friend in a company the friend started.  The company sold articles to bases in North and South Carolina.  Along with his work he spent many hours playing variations of poker in the local card rooms.  His marriage ended and he lost the job, so he stepped up his poker playing for a few years and then he headed for Vegas to try his hand as a professional poker player.  One of the players that was his good friend growing up, and a player he learned from, later became a world-class seven-card stud player.  His friend from his youth was Danny Robinson. [Read][more][...]

Calling Stations and Automatic Raisers

When you are in a poker game online or in a live poker room, you will run in to these two types of players.  The Calling Station is a player who has to see every winning hand that he plays against.  This player is just not able to fold any hand although he knows he can only beat a bluff or a very poor hand.  The automatic raiser is the player who just likes to raise no matter what cards he or she is holding.  This type of a player is great to have in the game, as they will constantly make the pots bigger with their raises.

A good player can use both of these players to advantage, and let them help you get more for a good hand.  Just remember, they may really have a hand from time to time.  But let them do their thing when you have a good hand.  Slow play or bet heavy and let them call or raise as they please.  This kind of player, with this serious defect in their game, can be of terrific financial help to a good player. [Read][more][...]

Winter Weather and Live Poker

With spring just around the corner, live poker rooms and casinos are waiting for the players that have been holed up at home to come out and play.  The players have had a belly full of the bad weather and being stuck playing in front of a computer are getting restless and ready to play in a live game.  The difference in a live game and one on a poker screen are like honey is to vinegar.  There is no comparison for players that like the feel of a real table and reading players that is part of poker in a live game.  The winter months have kept them stuck playing in the virtual world where there is no sound or smell or anything remotely like the game over a felt table.

Each year as the snow melts these computer poker players come out to see if the real game of poker still exists in a real poker room or a real casino.  As they soon learn, the real game is alive and well.  The poker room managers have been waiting for winter to unleash their missing players that were captives of the computer world.  [Read][more][...]

Holdem tournaments vs Ring Holdem

What is the major difference between a ring or cash game and a tournament in the game of Holdem?  The games are technically played the same and the card values are the same, so what is different in the games.  The one difference is the player can rebuy as long as they want and never be forced out of the game even if all the chips in the present stack are lost.  When the stack is lost in a tournament, the player is knocked out of the game permanently.  The fear of being knocked out of the game can be a determining factor on whether a player will call or raise or not.

Online you see a great many all in bets as the game is played with a great deal of pressure.  In live tournaments the online players play the same and the old timers took a while to get use to the pressure these young online players brought to the game.  They still do not fold if they think they have the winner, no matter what is bet.  However the fear of getting knocked from the tournament is an ally in the betting sequence.  [Read][more][...]

Next Page »