12.28.2006 05:31 PM In early October, 2006, SpadesLounge.com went offline, posting a notice they were closing for a major structural and software update and would be reopening under new management on October 12th, 2006. As of November 9, the site was still up, but nothing worked. Now, the site is gone entirely, leaving in its wake numerous angry players, owed money when they locked the poker room down.
Unanswered questions remain. Did they really intend to reorganize? To update their software? To hold player funds in trust until they came back online with a new and better platform? Or, did they put ...
Author: Mike Firment
11.08.2006 09:34 PM “What do you mean you need to see some I.D.? I haven’t done anything wrong. I’ve been a good customer of your poker site for quite a while!”
When poker players get an e-mail from their poker room asking for identification, their first response is usually to get defensive. It provokes an uncomfortable feeling when you’re asked to submit documentation, and it normally happens at the worst possible time: when you’re trying to get some money back.
“Sure, they were happy to take my deposit, but now that I want a withdrawal, they want me to jump through ...
Author: George Brooks
10.03.2006 10:23 PM New players are often frustrated when they lose to someone who won’t fold. Well, it’s not just a “new player” problem. The calling stations can drive all of us crazy.
This is not a bad beat story; I wouldn’t do that to you. Nobody’s a fan of bad beat stories because normally you can’t learn much from reading them. In fact, normally you finish reading one and decide that the author hasn’t a clue why he lost the hand. About the only thing they’re good for is to reaffirm that bad luck happens to everybody.
Let’s climb inside my mind ...
Author: George Brooks
09.27.2006 06:49 PM If the “poker boom” is over, nobody alerted the organizers of the 2006 World Series of Poker. The recently completed series was the biggest in the history of the game of poker, and undoubtedly one of the richest contests in any sport or game. Forty-seven separate tournaments played out over the course of 47 days, from June 26 to August 11. The contest with the fewest entrants was the Tournament of Champions held to kick off the WSOP. It was a by-invitation only event featuring winners of WSOP Circuit Events, last year’s final table, and a handful of legends chosen ...
Author: George Brooks
08.31.2006 07:28 PM The recent World Poker Showdown tournament held August 18-27 at the Raddison Hotel / Casino Europa in San Jose, Costa Rica, turned out to be a learning experience for some, while the winner, Henrik Alin AKA Harry Potter, walked away over $61,000 richer. The Main Event had 86 entrants who battled over 3 days, ending in one of the shortest final tables in recent memory, which began at 7:30 pm and finished at 9:19pm when Henrik Alin called an all in with pocket Jacks.
Prize Structure
Place Prize Player
1 $ 61,175 Henrik Alin
2 $ 40,085 Mike Lasanti AKA: lesaint_1
3 $ ...
Author: Mike Firment
08.12.2006 02:42 PM Playing online poker is usually a solitary affair. Wives do not necessarily know which rooms their husband may be playing, the size of his bankroll, or any of the passwords to his poker accounts.
Some may not even be aware of Neteller, or any of the other choices for funding online poker accounts.
This may be intentional secrecy on the husband’s part, or, in a lot of cases, merely lack of interest.
No matter what the reason, should the husband die, his beneficiaries may stand to lose an additional chunk of their inheritance due to being in the dark regarding the ...
Author: Mike Firment
07.21.2006 08:13 PM Whether you do a search for problems with Casinos, Sportsbooks, or online Poker Rooms, one name virtually leaps out at you: FutureBet.com.
No other organization appears on so many blacklists, and no matter which category, every complaint you research has the same ring to it.
FutureBet licenses the site, the site attracts players, the players have problems cashing out. Over and over again, this game is played out, with some sites going under and others reappearing to take their place. What is truly amazing is that this has been going on for years, and they continue adding sites regularly, with ...
Author: Mike Firment
07.11.2006 07:13 PM Most of the time, poker is fun, especially for new players.
You’re learning all the time, seeing situations you haven’t seen before, and trying to keep all your newfound knowledge straight as you negotiate each hand.
But there are some things that just make the game unpleasant, and having to face a table bully is one of the worst.
How can anybody play a smart game when there is some lunatic raising, re-raising, 3-betting, and trying to intimidate you every time you have anything worth playing in your hand?
I’m going to show you how in this article. You don’t need a ...
Author: George Brooks
06.07.2006 07:36 PM Finally, we get to the good stuff! Part 1 was all about recognizing burnout so you can do something about it, and Part 2 was “first aid” for an ailing game.
Part 3 is the NL ‘Phoenix,’ rising from the ashes of my emotionally bankrupt fixed limit game. Make no mistake, this worked for me. I’m back to enjoying poker and turning a nice profit at the same time.
Let’s get started.
First, let’s go over a few general considerations. We’re done with band-aids and psychology…
Now we’re going to use a method that I’ve tested thoroughly to build a winning strategy at ...
Author: George Brooks
05.27.2006 12:00 AM Part 1 identified ways to recognize some of the signs of burnout and a method to bring your game back if it has gone stale on you.
But what if the problem has festered and you have gotten to the point where you just hate to play? Forcing yourself to sit down at the tables may not be a strategy that will work, so it’s time to consider major poker surgery..
I’ve done it, so rather than providing a survey of the literature, I’ll just describe what I did to change my game..
Typically, a drastic change ...
Author: George Brooks
05.25.2006 12:00 AM I speak from experience when I say there is nothing more demoralizing than an extended breakeven streak.
To my mind, it’s far worse than a losing streak. But how can that be?
At least you aren’t losing any money, right? Wrong. You are. But not in the way you think.
Once you start complaining about things like breakeven streaks, it is the first indication of burnout.
Your whole bankroll may be in jeopardy, and there isn’t a more important task facing you than finding a way to revitalize your enjoyment of the game.
By its nature, burnout won’t affect a casual player. If you ...
Author: George Brooks
05.02.2006 12:00 AM The break in the action gave everybody about 15 minutes to mill around. Todd, the floor manager who had helped earlier, found me and told me that Mike Ward had suggested that I be given a tour of the brand new Foxwoods card room.
We walked out of the tournament room and began talking. I asked Todd if anything out of the ordinary had happened at the tourney. He said,
“No, not really…except for that.”
We were walking by a section of a wall that had been freshly painted. I resisted the urge to make a crack about poker being as ...
Author: George Brooks
04.27.2006 12:00 AM If the public is getting too complacent with televised poker, it’s probably because most people never get a chance to witness the drama when people’s lives are changed forever, or their spirits are absolutely crushed, all on the turn of a single plastic card.
Those moments never happen at the final table, which is the only part of the tournament that the viewers see, because everybody who makes the final 6 (at a WPT event) is assured of a fat paycheck.
The horror and the majesty happen earlier. Long before the lights are set up, the cameras are turned on, ...
Author: George Brooks
04.21.2006 12:00 AM Welcome everyone to Professor Johnny T’s first public lecture on poker etiquette. In this course, we will be covering table talk, poker etiquette guidelines, and sportsmanship in general. Today we will deal specifically with poker etiquette online.
I’ve noticed over the past year that the general demeanor of the newer player is leaning toward bad taste. Now I’m not saying that every new player is behaving this way, but there are enough of them out there to prompt me to write this article and try to help everyone out.
Perhaps the problem stems from these new players never being taught, and ...
Author: John Tokar
04.20.2006 12:00 AM The World Series of Poker has come a long way since Thomas “Amarillo Slim” Preston won $8,000 playing against 8 others in 1972.
The year after Chris Moneymaker played in a field of 839 in 2003 and took home the top prize of $2,500,000 million, the WSOP really took off, with a 2004 prize of double that amount, and the 2005 event netting Joseph Hachem $7,500,000.
This year, it will be even higher. The field has grown as well, with this being the first year they will limit the entrants to 8,000.
It will be staged at Harrah’s Rio All Suite Hotel & ...
Author: Ekim Tnemrif
04.10.2006 12:00 AM As someone who’s been in the industry and been a player for the last twenty years, I’ve seen it all, including the huge boom poker has experienced over the past four years. It’s kind of strange that the number one question on everyone’s mind is, “How long will it last?” While it’s a valid enough question, it’s one I personally am tired of having to answer.
Poker has gone through a mind-boggling explosion that few could have predicted. This phenomenon is largely due to televised poker and the ability to play online.
These two factors alone were catalysts vaulting poker to ...
Author: John Tokar
04.06.2006 12:00 AM Sometimes I feel as if I should have business cards. Maybe then, people will just believe me the first time I tell them that I play poker for a living. It would probably make me popular at Chamber of Commerce mixers; I would be a refreshing change from the hordes of Amway representatives that are usually found there.
But these days you wouldn’t catch me at a C of C mixer if they were giving away free $100 bills at the door. Like most poker players, I feel that the lower my profile is the better off I am. A ...
Author: George Brooks
03.28.2006 12:00 AM Okay, I’m no Ivey, alright? Let me say that upfront. Not quite a pro yet, but I make my living playing online. I’m more like a prospector.
The net is crowded with sharks gobbling up the fishies on all the big sites you’ve all heard of. But me, I look for something entirely different. If you are a small fish, what do you do if you are going to survive? You hide from the bigger fish, right? So where would you hide? That’s where I go looking.
Small, overlooked poker rooms or rooms that have just opened. Out in the ...
Author: Jimmy the Pest
03.22.2006 12:00 AM Last week we discussed the general theory of Small Pot Poker (SPP). This week we’re going to look at a real life example of the SPP style I used in the last tournament I played. In case you didn’t catch last week’s article, here’s a brief summary of SPP:
1. Increase the number of starting hands you play.
2. When you do come in, raise the minimum or just a little more.
3. Take a shot at the flop, even if you miss. If you’re played back at, get out.
4. The majority of the hands you take down will be on the flop, ...
Author: Johnny Tokar
03.10.2006 12:00 AM No one can deny that no-limit Texas Hold’em is the premiere poker game being played right now, so this week I thought we’d look at a new strategy dubbed “small pot poker”
While the name itself may be catchy, it doesn’t sound very exciting. I know, you’re thinking, “I want to win BIG pots! I want to go all-in!” And while there have never been two sexier words in poker than “all-in,” just about half the time you go all-in you’re going to lose.
Coin-flip situations, they’re called; you’ve seen them on TV with the classic match-up - A-K all-in versus ...
Author: Johnny Tokar
03.09.2006 12:00 AM Hi Everybody—I’m New.
When you first sit down at a poker table, do you have a strategy for winning? Most New players will answer, “Play good cards strongly,” and figure that’s enough to get the job done.
After all, isn’t that what every entry-level poker book teaches? Sure, but that’s like saying if you want to get somewhere quickly you should drive fast. You need to be able to do a lot of things well before you can start driving fast. Poker operates the same way.
Let’s take one small aspect of the game, the first 30 hands, and look at ...
Author: George Brooks