Great poker on TV keeps on coming! I just learned that the seventh season of the World Poker Tour will air its first episode starting January 4th on Fox Sports Net. The seventh season will feature 26 different episodes and will also feature a format change for the new season.

All of the final tables will air in not one but two one-hour shows so that a wider range of hands can be shown to give viewers a better idea of exactly what’s happening, instead of just showing the bust-out hands, forcing us to guess at the strategy. Apparently someone at the WPT’s been watching the ESPN WSOP 2008 Final Table footage, which featured almost nothing but the hands that knocked the “November Nine” out of the tournament.

If you’ve been watching since the first season like I have, you’ll know that this is the second time that the WPT has switched stations. Originally aired on the Travel Channel for its first five seasons, the WPT found a home on the Game Show Network for one year, and now has been picked up by FSN for what will hopefully be a long run.

A new hostess has also been selected, as the show has been having difficulty finding someone to replace the void left by original WPT Girl Shana Hiatt. Amanda Leatherman will be joining returning commentators Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten. Hopefully she does a better job than her predecessor’s, who never really could find their on-camera personality.

Exact premiere dates of all episodes have not been confirmed yet, so everyone pay close attention to your local listings so that you don’t miss an episode!

Knowing that SB is playing a big pocket pair, and MP could be playing any two cards, there are three ways to play this hand. 1. Fold and wait for a better position. 2. Call and hope to hit your 7 for a full house. 3. Prepare yourself to play a big pot in which you can bluff your opponent off his hand. In my opinion, option 2 should never be an option. I would fold here if I thought that the SB would not be able to lay down his over pair. If you thought you could represent a hand that he could fold to, you still have to get MP off her hand hoping that she does not hold a 5.

At this point, it is imperative that you consider what your image is at the table. Have you shown to be the type of player that will play any two cards for a raise? If so, you have a good chance of taking down this pot off of a bluff. Or have you only been showing big hands like high pocket pairs, AK, AQ for a raise? If this is the case, you need to fold because you will not be able to represent having a five, and the image of you playing a flush draw is low. However, if you have an image like MP who plays any two cards, that is a dangerous image to have, and you can exploit it in this position because the other two players can put you on having a 5, a flush draw, pocket duces, or a full house. If this is the image you have, I would raise hoping that you can get MP to fold creating heads up action between you and the SB. If you can create heads up action, then you can use the turn and river as scare cards to bluff at. Be careful of high cards like an A Q or K that could give your opponent a full house.

I recently had someone e-mail me a question about a hand they were involved in; this hand really shows the importance of being aware of what your image is and what the other players on your table are doing. If you stay aware of the way that they play in hands you are not involved in, it can give you a lot of information about a hand you do tango with. The e-mail begins as follows:

I’m playing 5/10 NL Hold’em and the small blind is a professional player who is a regular at the casino I am playing at. He knows a lot of the players in the high limits, so it gives me the impression that he has been playing for a living for some time. He is tighter than most pros. I’ve seen him fold AQ suited, AQ off suit, and A10 suited in early position to a raise 2-2.5 times the BB. Middle Position is very loose. I’ve seen her raise 10 7 suited in early position and make similar loose plays.

In this hand middle position opens for $30, and I raise to $80 with 7s 7h. It folds around to the tight guy in the small blind and he makes it $180 to go. Middle position calls, I call. Flop is 5s 5c 2s. Small blind bets, middle position calls, what should I do?

The first clue on how to proceed with this hand is knowing that SB is a smart player who does not like to play hands out of position. This being the case, we can conclude that he has a big hand like a high pocket pair or AK which he is raising with in early position. The fact that he bets the flop lets us know he thinks he is ahead and/or he is trying to protect his hand from a flush draw. At this point, I would definitely put SB on an over pair. Since MP is known to play a big range of hands for a raise, and seems to like suited cards, it is important to make her pay for a flush draw, or to get information on what kind of hand she might be on.

I reported on here awhile ago that the new season of “High Stakes Poker”, which for my money is the best poker TV show available anywhere, had made some changes leading up to their new season, including the minimum buy-in for the game being raised from $100,000 to $200,000. With the details finalized and out of the way, the producers have now announced some of the new faces that we can look forward to on the fifth season.

Some of the fresh meat taking a seat for the first time will include some pretty well known poker celebrities, such as WSOP 2008 Main Event winner Peter Eastgate and Dario Minieri, the quirky Italian professional poker player known for his ultra high-stakes online cash game play. Joining them at the table will be Hollywood TV and Film personalities Sam Simon (Co-creator of “The Simpson”) and Nick Cassavestes (Director of “The Notebook”), both of who are known as avid poker players in their spare time.

Familiar faces making their way back to the felt include Doyle Brunson, Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Barry Greenstein, and Daniel Negraneu, all of which have played in every season of “High Stakes Poker” thus far. Filming of season five has already wrapped at the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino.

While you may not be as aware of names like Dario and Eastgate as you are names like Hellmuth and Ivey, the fast, aggressive play styles of these two is something that I am very excited to see added to the mix of the already huge cast of characters. As for the non-pros like Sam Simon, he carries the advantage of being so mega rich that the stakes themselves shouldn’t play into his decision making, and he is widely considered to be one of the best amateur players in Hollywood.

The first episode of “High Stakes Poker” will air on March 1st on the Game Show Network. Check your local listings for exact timings.

As the original host to the World Series of Poker and home to countless legendary poker players, the poker room inside Binon’s Horseshoe Casino is considered by practically everyone to be the most important card room in the world. They’ve even dubbed themselves “the place that made poker famous”, and it’s hard to argue that point, as the infamous Moneymaker WSOP victory that launched the poker boom was in fact held at Binion’s, which allowed the casino to enjoy much of the insane press that came after the rest of the world learned that a no-name accountant could win millions of dollars in a poker tournament.

Still, the poker room for a long time was considered old-school in both look and feel, a far cry away from the glitz and glamour poker rooms found on the main Vegas strip. While many old-timers enjoyed the classic nostalgia of the original poker room, it came across as too hardcore and unfriendly for new players, one of the reasons poker had trouble gaining popularity before the boom. Finally, Binion’s has decided to update with the times and has unveiled a gorgeous new room on par with any in Vegas.

The new 10-table poker room was built out an old lounge that resided within the Binion’s Casino, though according to poker room manager Brad Thomte, none of the original materials survived the update. “Everything in this room is brand new, built from scratch,” said Thomte. “It was built entirely based on the recommendations of our players.”

Additional modernizing of the room included adding 11 plasma TV’s and a vastly updated look, meant to entice new and returning players to remember why poker legends for years choose Binion’s as their poker room of choice. Still, some of the old-school flavor exists, as a number of black and white photos adorn the walls all around the room, each photo capturing a different major moment in poker history.

I’ve already scheduled another poker trip to Vegas just for an opportunity to play in the new digs. The original Binion’s poker room was where I first sat down on my 21st birthday to play my opening legal hand of poker. If you haven’t had the chance to take in a few rounds of hold’em at the ultimate in classic poker destinations, you’re truly missing out.

I’ve mentioned it before but it definitely bears repeating, and that’s the fact that when it comes to instructional poker, there’s really nothing that can stand up against learning from the pros in person, such as at a poker clinic. Words from a book can be misinterpreted and most poker DVD’s focus on the basic fundamentals of poker, leaving more experienced players unsatisfied. And when it comes to cash games, the list of good non-clinic methods of learning drops to almost non-existent levels. Worry not however, as the WSOP has just recently announced a new series of cash game based academies for 2009 designed to help those that don’t put 100% of their time and effort into tournament play.

The Cash Game Academies will include live-play workshops, seminars, hands-on instruction, and will end with cash game competition. Topics taught at the event will cover different aspects of the game such as making the transition from tournament play to cash games, bankroll management, and ID’ing opponent hand ranges. Students will even be treated to video analyses of cash games, with instructors breaking down hands at each stage and discussing different strategies.

The first WSOP Cash Game Academy will be held at Harrah’s in Atlantic City from January 24th-25th, with a stop at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas just two weeks later on February 7th-8th. Professional poker players Mark Seif, Paul Wasicka and Alex Outhred are among those scheduled to teach at the Atlantic City event, with Seif and Outhred meeting up with Michael Gracz two weeks later to instruct students at the 2nd stop at Caesars Palace.

Entry fee, as is the case with many high-end poker schools, is fairly expensive for the casual player, with each event carrying a price tag of $1,899. Still, for those who make their living at the tables, the benefits of such a course could in return bring a substantial gain in money made during further sessions.

I wouldn’t recommend such an intense course for a hobbyist poker player, but those that view poker as more of a lifestyle and profit center should strongly consider sitting down at a WSOP Cash Game Academy. You can find more info at www.wsopacademy.com

I was recently sitting say anything in the event that the players didn’t catch it. After another minute of consideration the opponent called the $500, and after a weak bet from Tim on the river, went all in to take the pot down. Tim was fuming and proceeded to at a 5/10 live game in Las Vegas. For the sake of this story, I have given some of the players fake names to make it easier to understand. Player Tim had gotten into a bit of an argument with Jill and her boyfriend about the mandatory straddle that was in place when the couple sat down. Jill didn’t want to do it, but the couple wouldn’t take the open seats on the other tables. A few hands later Tim was involved in a hand with someone across the table. Tim was a pretty aggressive player who was known to raise with any two cards. Preflop Tim raised $50. He had one caller to the flop. The flop came out 6s 7d 6h. Tim bets $100 and his opponent says, “You don’t want to lose all of your money on this hand. I call.” The turn comes a 7c. Tim bets $500, and his opponent goes into the think tank. It seemed pretty obvious to me that Tim was bluffing, but his opponent was really struggling with the decision. He began to run through the hand out loud and then stated, “I shouldn’t call this because I really think you have a 7.” From this Jill, who was not in the hand said, “Well there is only one way to find out.” EEeeeks! I immediately knew her comment was out of line, but didn’t chew Jill out for opening her mouth and influencing his opponent in the hand.

Of course, Tim was right to be upset because in the end Tim’s opponent confessed that he was thinking of folding on the turn. Jill’s comment influenced Tim’s opponent to make a decision that he probably wouldn’t have made on his own. Jill’s comment also influenced Tim’s play. Had Jill not said anything, Tim could have made a better betting decision on the river. However, the comment put Tim on tilt and caused him to be distracted from the hand. The moral of the story is: If you are not in a hand and there is one in progress don’t say anything regarding the hand or its players until the hand is over. I regularly run into the situation where a flop comes out 6 6 2 and someone says, “Oh man! I threw away a 6.” As disappointing as that might be, it is not ok to announce this to the table because it inhibits an involved player’s ability to bluff at the pot. It could also induce someone to call a bet, knowing the chances of a 6 in hand is slimmer, though in actuality they are calling into a set. For this reason, it is bad etiquette to comment on a hand when you are not involved and/or if it is a multi-way pot. When the chips are being pushed to the winner, it might be ok to open up about your hand or add commentary. Just remember that comments that you make about a hand might influence someone’s decision in the end, and you wouldn’t like it if you lost money because another player influenced your opponent.

If you’ve played tournaments, you’ve probably run into the situation where you are short stacked and have to make a move soon. In these situations, you are looking for any two big cards or a pocket pair. I’ve been in this situation a million times, just praying that my next hand will bring me pocket aces. Instead, I will look down at pocket 3’s and have to make a decision. My first instinct is always to push in. My thinking is, “Hey, at least I have a pair. If I get called, hopefully my opponent won’t hit his cards.” This is the wrong line of thinking, and I’ll tell you why…

In an all in situation for your tournament life, pocket pairs should be off limits. Excluding the situation where you are on the button and it folds around to you, and even then this play is subject to debate. I don’t like the play of going all in with your small pocket pairs because at best you are going to be in a 50/50 situation. Granted, when you are short stacked, you don’t always have the luxury of waiting for a better spot than 50/50, but I don’t view this as the best 50/50 situation to be in. By this I mean that your small pocket pair is extremely vulnerable. Technically you might be 50/50 against over cards, but in reality they have a better chance of their hand holding up. If you are called, it is most likely going to be by over cards or a bigger pocket pair. If you are called by over cards your opponent might be behind, but they have 6 outs against you preflop to hit a higher pair. This could increase to several more post flop, taking into account their draws.

Remember, your chances of hitting a set on the flop are roughly 11.76% on the flop, so you have to hope that your pocket pair holds up. For me, a better 50/50 situation is going all in with live cards or suited connectors if I don’t run into a big hand. Theoretically, with live cards you have just as good of a chance to win the hand by hitting a pair as your opponent does when they have a higher non-pocket paired hand. This being the case, why not put your money in with K 7 suited which gives you the chance to hit a K, 7, and gives you an opportunity at a flush draw. This hand has more possibilities than a pocket pair has. The reality of going all in is that at some point you are going to be called, and you will have to run the hand out. This being the case, I prefer to get my chips in with the hand that has the highest possibilities after the flop.

Small ball poker is a method that has been made famous by poker pro Daniel Negreanu. I first became interested in the theory because I was having trouble with managing my chip stack in tournaments. In the beginning rounds I would bet my big hands substantially, and somehow people would still draw out on me. In the later rounds, I was having trouble compensating for the growing blinds, and I would tighten up the range of hands I would play when I was supposed to be opening them up. The problem for me was not that I didn’t realize what I was doing wrong, but it was hard to come up with a way to change my habits and implement a new playing style for tournaments. The small ball method seemed to be a great way to alleviate my problems without totally changing my playing style.

Small ball poker is designed to minimize your investments while still putting pressure on your opponent. It allows a player to have better control of the pot and the pot size, as to not risk as much of their chip stack and be pot committed. The general rule of thumb is to raise 2.5 times the big blind. The trick is to keep it consistent so that your opponent can never put you on a hand. In tournaments, the raise of 2.5 times the BB is going to give you the same results as raising 3 times the BB. Why not save some chips when you are going to be called anyway? This theory carries over to post flop play as well. There are often situations where one has to put in a bet to find out where their opponent is in the hand. Most of the time, the tendency is to put in a sizable bet that gathers information and leaves your opponent to make a decision on whether to invest more into the pot. This often leads to bigger bets than what is needed. Small ball teaches a player to minimize the bet in a way that you can gather the same amount of information without investing as much. Overall, small ball allows you to better control the pot.

Since tournament play requires a player to maintain and grow their chip stack, any bet is viewed as a threat. This is the reason why small ball works so well. A minimal bet to you, is still considered a risk to another player. As long as you don’t price someone in, these minimal bets will allow you to accomplish the same thing as large bets will.

In Part II, I will share with you my experience of implementing this small ball tactic in tournament play.

I’ve previously written about avoiding bad games, and finding profitable cash games where you can gain maximum value. Though this is the ideal situation, it is not always the case that you will be able to find an action packed game every time you want to play. For this reason, I wanted to write an article on things you can do to change the structure of a dull game. One thing that can be done is to get more aggressive with your play. This is always a good rule of thumb when playing in any situation. If the players are passive, you become aggressive. However, I find that in cash games, noticeable action comes from preflop play. By this I mean that games tend to be better when there is preflop raising. This means that players are more willing to take chances and gamble. They are not just going to play the nuts. This also creates more action post flop and creates bigger pots. The goal is always to be in situations where you are going to get paid for your big hands. So when you are trying to induce action by become more aggressive and loose, try raising all your marginal to high hands 3-4 times the big blind. At first you might just end up taking down the first few pots with your preflop and post flop aggression. Soon after, people will start to catch on and call you preflop. Hopefully this will help to move the game towards more action. The only problem with this method is it will give you a loose image at the table. For some people this fits with their method of play. For others, they prefer to contain a tight image so they can easily bluff people out of big pots.

To change a stagnant game, I prefer to use the straddle method. If you sit down at a game and realize that it is slow and unprofitable, most other players will realize it too. In this case, try to get the table to agree to a mandatory straddle. Usually I try to get the table to agree to a mandatory straddle for one round. If the players all agree to it, one round usually turns into 3 or more rounds of straddle. This really puts the game into action because players realize that there is more money in the pot per person on a limped pot, and the chips are worth fighting for. If the chips are worth fighting for, there will be action on the flop, turn, and/or river. This method is preferable to me because it costs me little to invest an extra big blind per round, it does not affect my image, it makes the other players invest in a better game for the table, and it gives players a reason to take action post flop. Instead of the table collectively aiding in a game that has no action, everyone gets involve to create action on the table.

If you cannot get the table to agree to a mandatory straddle, then the next best thing is to straddle yourself. This will at least build the pot so if there are limpers, the pot becomes big enough that action will occur post flop. Usually the right way to play straddles is to raise your straddle when you have the option, however, be careful with this when you are only trying to invoke action on your table. For one, if you are aggressive with your straddle, you might be investing more money than you should if someone wakes up with a big hand. If you are aggressive every round, someone will probably take notice and check reraise you. Notice, that this method for straddling is not to push people around at the table, it is to induce action and build pots. Therefore, you have to be careful about investing more money than it is worth

There have been several times in my poker career where I am in the small blind and look down at 4 6 of hearts and say, “I hope I can see a flop.” Inevitably, someone will raise and I end up folding the hand, wishing I could have seen a flop.

Lets imagine, that we are playing 2/5 No Limit Texas Hold’em. In this scenario, we are the small blind with a hand like 4 6 of hearts, facing a raise of $25 dollars. There are 6 callers and the action is on us. What are we going to do?

Though 4 6 of hearts is not the best hand we can hope for, our cards are live with that many callers ahead of you. Since we are in the small blind, the pot is laying us $23 to $150, or roughly 6 to 1. There are several possibilities that we have with your hand, so there is no reason not to see a flop. We decide to call the $23 and the flop comes 2h 5d 7h. Not only do you have a heart draw, but you also have a double gut shot. That gives you 15 drawing outs to hit a flush or a straight, and probably four more outs to go runner-runner 44 or 66, giving us a total of 19. This would be a great opportunity to raise $75 to see where you are at.

As the scenario plays out, everyone folds except the original raiser who just calls. There is a wide range of hands we can put our opponent on, so lets try and narrow down the choices. A big pocket pair, 9-9 to Q-Q is most likely. Q-Q become questionable, but if he had a pair like AA or KK he defiantly would have reraised on the flop. He could possibly have a bigger flush draw, like AK suited to QJ suited, so with our flush we will have to play accordingly. As well he may have that same range of hands but unsuited, looking to turn an over card. From this point on, it is important to use any scare card to bet on in order to get your opponent off their hand.

This means if you put your opponent on an medium to medium large pocket pair, you bet at the turn if an A, K, or Q comes, and if you put them on a big pocket pair or overcards, you bet any small connecting card. So in this case we could also bet a 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8. If you do hit your straight you bet in order to gain the maximum value out of the hand. If you hit the flush, and still put your opponent on a possible higher flush, you will have to use your reads to evaluate if you have the best hand.

The key to playing a raise out of the blinds, is the deception you gain from the hand. Most people put you on garbage to begin with, so you have more opportunities to bluff at boards you expect no one has hit.

They say that practice makes perfect, but I’m a firm believer that being a student of whatever your trying to master is the fastest way to reaching your goal. Luckily for poker players, there exists a sea of helpful instructional materials to help you along your poker path, whether you’re trying to bust your buddies’ home game or take down a major tournament.

So which training methods are best for you? Over my next three posts I’m going to share with you the three best ways of learning poker, and explain which kinds of players should use specific tools and ignore the others. Lets get started.

Books

Before the poker boom, there was a little book called “The Super System”, written by Texas Dolly himself, Doyle Brunson. Considered the unofficial bible of poker by the majority of the poker community at the time, “The Super System” was the best textbook available anywhere when it came to playing against the types of players you were likely to find in a card room before thousands of 20 year olds flooded the scene.

For the most part now though, the original Super System isn’t nearly as effective against today’s young, fast action players as it was when originally written. Instead, there now exists a giant library of books that cover everything from math-based play to tells and everything in-between. Here’s what I recommend:

• Harrington on Hold’em:
By Dan Harrington and Bill Robertie

Written by 1995 world champion Dan Harrington, “Harrington on Hold’em” is widely considered to be the best of the new breed of poker books. Not only has Dan won the WSOP, he also made the final table back to back in 2003 and 2004, which featured two of the biggest fields in Main Event history.

Unlike books by players/authors like Phil Hellmuth, which include a lot of personal commentary, “Harrington on Hold’em” is very straightforward and wastes no time hitting you with big strategic theories and gamesmanship. Co-written by Bill Robertie, a backgammon expert, this book is ideal for players that enjoy diverse hand discussions and poker scenarios that make the reader really think about what’s going on in the lesson.

Considered a very conservative player, Harrington likes to focus on teaching his students how to make the right move at the right time and how to use smart, strict hand selection to capitalize on loose, aggressive players. Each chapter begins with a general discussion on the chosen topic, and then moves towards situational poker problems that tasks readers to try and work out a solution. Afterwards, Harrington gives his opinion on how he would’ve handled the scenario.

A second volume, one that focuses on endgame strategy, has also been released, and pairing the two together will be more than enough reading material for any one player to sift through.

• Kill Everyone:
By Less Nelson, Tysen Streib and Kim Lee

The follow-up to the very popular “Kill Phil” book, “Kill Everyone” moves away from the long-ball style of play primarily taught for use against expert players, and instead focuses more on short term tournament play.

Refreshingly, “Kill Everyone” makes a point to mostly focus on two specific segments of tournament play, the early game and the endgame. Basically, you are taught how to quickly accumulate chips early on in a tournament, and then how to change gears and adopt a more “move-in” style of play.

The trio of writers here understand better than most that far too many tournament players will let themselves be blinded off while waiting for top premium hands, when in many cases they should be moving in, forcing action, and focusing on making it to the final table instead of just surviving to the later rounds.

Although some of the strategies taught require a fair command of poker knowledge, most players will be able to benefit heavily from this very straightforward manual geared towards playing a “I’m here to win” style of tournament poker.

• Every Hand Revealed
By Gus Hansen

You can normally learn more from your bad plays than your correct plays in poker, and this is the method of which poker pro Gus Hansen elects to teach you with his book. Rather than being a straightforward “When the pot odds are right, call” type poker editorial, Hansen instead dedicates his entire work to recalling and discussing his plays during a live tournament.

Hansen is known for walking away from a table occasionally and speaking into a tape recorder. Until now no one ever knew just what the heck he was saying into that thing. With “Every Hand Revealed”, Gus lets the reader in on his mindset during almost every hand he played during the event, commenting on gut feeling, tells, emotionally dealing with bad beats, making the wrong play at the right time, and other interesting insights that can only come from one of the most eccentric pros of our time.

Hansen is also notorious for changing gears and playing styles on a moments notice, which is explains and comments on throughout his narrative. On top of all this, the book is just flat out interesting to read. Instead of being feed dead panned poker tips, readers are instead given a light-hearted retelling of a real player in a real poker tournament. There’s almost no better way to learn.

• Ace on the River
By Barry Greenstein

Most poker authors stay away from the super high-level and high-limit strategy’s that are usually reserved for poker experts in order to avoid alienating too much of their potential readership. Barry Greenstein apparently could care less about avoiding such topics, as “Ace on the River” is aimed almost directly at established players who are either attempting to make a living at poker, or at the very least are competing in high-limit games.

Outside of professional game theory, Greenstein also openly discusses maintaining a disciplined lifestyle that he feels is necessary for pros to adhere to, from staying away from other types of gambling like sports betting, to even how to manage your attitude and family life while still finding the time to grind out a living.

First time poker players will have no idea what Greenstein is discussing in this book, but I strongly believe in having a wide range of tools to draw upon in your poker workbench, which is why I highly recommend that even novice level players give this one a chance. If nothing else, it will help you decide just how serious of a poker player you want to become.

Wrapping it up

Now that we’ve talked about some of the best poker books out there, the question is, are poker books right for you? Most poker players play the game casually in their spare time and don’t have the opportunity to thumb through an extensive 300+ page book, especially one that requires them to focus on and remember strategy. For those looking for a quick dose of poker tips, you should consider turning to poker DVD’s and even poker clinics, both of which I’ll be discussing in future blogs.

But, for avid poker players that are willing to really put the time in, you simply can’t compare DVD’s and clinics to the amount of information you can absorb from one of the four books listed here. Read 10 pages a day or a chapter a week, and start to slowing implement the techniques you learn into your future poker sessions. You won’t regret it.

See you next time!

I can’t tell you how many times I have seen my friends grinding it out at the 5/10 tables, and I notice that they are playing against 8 other players that play poker for a living and there is no action. I’ve been victim to sitting down at games that were no good, just waiting for the action to liven up. This is not the strategy for a winning poker player. To be a winning player, you not only have to be a good player, but you also have to know how to gain maximum value out of your hands. Part of this is knowing when a game is profitable or not. If you are catching cards all night, but no one is giving you action, then that is not the best game for you to be sitting at. For example, I was sitting on a particularly dull game one night and got pocket Aces three times in two rounds. In this 5/10 game I only raised it $40 (which was the standard raise in this game), and it was folded around each time. Needless to say, my profit on that particular table was hardly enough to cover my dinner for the night.

If you live in a place that is scarce on live games, don’t feel like you have to play a game that is not profitable. Instead, go home and play online. If you are playing online, there is no excuse for you to be playing in a bad game because there are plenty of tables to choose from. If you are playing at a casino, check out the other tables and ask to be transferred into a game with more action.

When World Poker Tour Enterprises announced almost two months ago that the company was facing dire economic strain, one of their upcoming aces in the hole that they hoped would dig them out of the recession was their China edition of their World Poker Tour TV show. Now at last, the show was arrived.

WPT China debuted on China’s Nanjing Entertainment Television channel and is already making history, as the program represents the first time a government-sanctioned poker tournament has been aired nationwide in the country. The series has 16 planned events to take place within China, but most interestingly enough, the main game of the tournaments will not be Texas Hold’em, but rather Traktor Poker.

Basically, Traktor Poker is a cross between bridge and gin, where teams of either two or four players play against each other. Traktor is dealt using two full decks complete with jokers, and is actually considered an official sport by the CLSAC (China Leisure Sports Administration).

Filming has already been completed on the entire first season and four tournaments of season two, with the first episode appearing this month in the Jiangsu province. Broadcasting will then be expanded into additional provinces in the months to come. The grand finale will be played in Beijing in June.

As an avid WPT fan, I’m definitely on the bandwagon of supporting any and all things WPT, and so should any international players that have the ability to watch the WPT China episodes. If nothing else, you get to see what team-based poker is like! Check it out!

I recently posted an entry explaining my dislike of many of the aspects of the new method of showcasing the WSOP Final Table that ESPN undertook this year. Well, apparently I’m not alone, as a number of pokers best and brightest have voiced their criticisms of the program as well.

In an interview with Card Player TV, Mike Matusow explained, “If I was a fan, it’d be a big letdown. As far as that, I think it was a failure. As far as Harrah’s and ESPN, I think it was a major success.”

He’s right on the success part when it comes to ESPN. The final table program garnered 46% more viewers than in 2007, despite the fact that fans had to wait four months after the rest of the Main Event had ended in order to watch it. But for purists, it’s the content that matters, not the hype, and the fact that the final table, which ran for 17 hours total (the longest in WSOP history), was edited down into a two hour elimination montage, continues to be severely disappointing.

“They just never showed any hands,” said Matusow. “They just showed everyone’s bust-out hand.”

Over 274 hands were played at the final table, 23 of them made it to air. With just nine players at the table, that means that almost half of the hands shown were the ones that knocked players out of the tournament. And in an almost criminal fashion, only two hands total were shown during the final heads-up action, when in fact over 105 were played between winner Peter Eastgate and runner-up Ivan Demidov.

Chris Ferguson has come out and said, “The one glaring omission was that the heads up lasted two hands on television. It really didn’t show the entire battle between these two great players.”

The Mouth, as usual, also had an opinion on the lack of heads-up footage, saying, “It’s a shame the rest of the American public didn’t get to see that. It would’ve been so sick to watch.”

With the next WSOP still over half a year away, we’ll have to wait and see if Harrah’s and ESPN decide to stick with their new formula. Hopefully, they heed the advice of the pros and make some important and needed changes.

I received an email recently asking me if I listened to music while playing poker, and if doing so actually helps my game or detracts from it. Much like the sunglasses phenomenon, the trend of wearing headphones and listening to music at the card tables is definitely a result of the poker boom and the insurgence of millions of young players into the game.

Typically when asked such a “yes or no” type question, my go-to answer is to just say “do what the pros do.” Now what do I mean by that? Look at it this way, the top flight professional poker players have been playing cards for money for decades. They’ve tried literally everything to try to give them an edge at the table, from superstitious artifacts to funky wardrobes. In most cases, such as wearing sunglasses at the table, the results are universal, as most poker pros have gathered that wearing them at the table can’t influence their results enough to warrant wearing them, which is why in general you don’t see many full time pro poker players wearing sunglasses at the tables.

Music on the other hand is a different beast altogether. While sunglasses are a physical change to your poker persona, listening to music can often induce an emotional or mental change to a players mindset, myself included, which is why I do in fact listen to music at the table more often than not.

Grinding away at a table for hours on end can get very taxing on ones state of mind, and really the only kind of breaks we can take at a casino without physically leaving for the day is to go outside for some fresh air or stop to eat. I actually don’t like to take breaks that involve me leaving the game, which is the reason I listen to music. If I find myself starting to lose focus and not following the action as intently as I should, I’ll pop in one or both earbuds and put on some mellow mood music. The sounds keep my mind active, and helps remove some of the staleness from the game.

Now the question becomes, what about being able to hear the other players, who may be giving away important information while they play? It really all depends on the scenario. If I’m playing a very loose game and am simply just waiting for the right moments to strike based on tight card selection, then my listening habits can be a little more accommodating and I might have both my earbuds in. But if I’m playing with very experienced players, such as in a tournament, then I’ll either just have one earbud in, or none at all, and even if I’m still listening to music, the volume is very low as to not allow me to miss a important comment from a opposing player.

But as always, it comes down to preference. Can you listen to music and focus on another task at the same time? Some people can’t. How do you know what kind of person you are? Look at other areas of your life. Can you listen to music while you work and stay focused? If so then you can probably do the same at the table. But if you need to turn off the stereo whenever you’re trying concentrate on something, then maybe you need to leave the iPod in your car.

As usual, practice makes perfect, so experiment with some different types of music in different poker settings and see if you can find a combination that works for you.

One of the great things about internet poker is the number of games going at one time and the ability to jump into a game in a matter of seconds. With the ability to choose from many different games, there is no reason to jump into a game without selecting the most profitable one. When scrolling down the list of games available, take some time to observe the possibilities. This will give you a chance to see what the action is like, so you can decide if it is going to be profitable to play at that table. Also, this observation time is going to give you the chance to see how each player on that table plays before you sit down. This is going to give you a great edge by having information about the table when the table has no information about you. Resist the urge to just jump in and start playing. The ultimate goal is to make money, and the best thing you can do for yourself is to take the time to find a profitable game.

For a poker player, it is extremely difficult to move down limits after being accustomed to playing higher. There are several factors which make it hard to move down. One big reason is ego. It is easy to say, “I’m too good to play with the players at that limit.” Then there is the problem with people recognizing that you’ve moved down limits which usually indicates that a player is not winning at the limit they were playing at. No one wants to be noticed as a losing poker player. Even though it is almost impossible to convince yourself to ignore these instincts, if you want to be a successful poker player you might have to at some point. Poker is a game of longevity and endurance. If your bankroll cannot take the stress of losing buy ins at larger limits, then you should move down. If you are losing more than you are winning, you should move down. Don’t let your ego get in the way; think of it as business. Sometimes you must sacrifice yourself to sustain your business, and this includes finding a way to let your bankroll flourish. If you are worried about playing against players who are more novice than your skill set, remind yourself that you wont have to think as hard to win. If you are worried about people noticing your downsize, realize that you are managing your bankroll successfully and the odds are that they won’t be around in six months. Remember, if you are making poker your career, success isn’t measured by a few sessions but

One of the things I get asked the most from beginning and intermediate players is whether or not they should “dress the part” at the poker table, including wearing sunglasses. My answer to them, as it is to you, is always the same. If you know why you should wear sunglasses, then wear them. Otherwise, you’re going to just look like someone at the table who has sensitive feelings about the color of their eyelashes.

I’m not sure exactly what started the sunglasses at the table craze, because it certainly didn’t exist to anywhere near this degree just ten years ago. One of the common pieces of bad information that you’ll hear is that pro players wear shades at the table to disguise their eyes from the other players. There is some truth to this, but to be honest, only the most elite of card players in the world are going to be able to read someone simply by the actions of their eyes, and when was the last time you played with someone of that caliber? So if your sitting at a basic $1-$2 limit ‘hold-em game at your local card room and half the table has Oakley’s on, you know your playing with a bunch of wannabe’s.

The truth? The real reason to wear sunglasses, if at all, is so that you can give the illusion of disinterest at the table, allowing you to observe your opposition from relatively hidden state. By wearing sunglasses, you can give the illusion that you’re not really paying attention to every move your opponents make, that maybe you’re not looking in their direction when in fact you actually are. They won’t bother to cover up any nervous gestures, facial expressions, betting patterns or anything else of the sort if they don’t think your paying attention.

If done correctly, you’ll have the table fooled that your one of these “pretenders” that wears the glasses simply because your favorite pro does, or because you think that it’s a important tool to shield your eyes from observant players. Again, only the best know what to do with the information they can get off your eyes, but EVERYONE can benefit from silently observing the other players at the table.

So which brand should you wear? If you’re trying to maintain your ninja-esque presence, don’t pick a flashy pair that will naturally draw the eye of another player, and most certainly do not throw on some holographic monstrosities like the one Greg Raymer walks around in, because that’s just begging for attention. The more casual the glasses, the more casual your table presence, and trust me, your visual look plays a very important role in how intently the others at the table will watch you.

There are some that say sunglasses are strictly for rank amateurs and have no place at a real card game. Well guess what, you probably are a rank amateur who has about as much a chance at sitting at The Big Game at the Bellagio as you do playing for the Lakers. If you think wearing glasses will give you an edge, the CORRECT edge, then go for it.

Confidence is a weapon that most poker players overlook when they go to the tables. However, it will directly affect the way you play and how other players perceive you. Having confidence in your playing ability and the level you are playing is going to give off a vibe to players that you are in control and a force to reckon with. If you are apprehensive mentally, other players will catch on and try to push you around. Having confidence will give you an edge in bluffing more because players are going to see the confidence in your body language and the way you are betting. Unknowingly, if you don’t have confidence, you are more susceptible to giving off tells. Confidence pertains to knowing your playing ability, bankroll, and the level that suites your skills. If you are playing outside of your comfort level in these areas, it will greatly affect your ability to make money.

For anyone looking to combine two fine sports in one vacation its worth taking a look at the next stop on the PokerNews World Cup roster.

The next event will be held atop the Austrian Alps in Saalbach-Hinterglemm in a five-star luxury ski resort, the Alpine Palace. The 2009 PokerNews Cup Alpine is set to feature of total of eight events running through March 21st-28th, with a €1,500 Main Event as the priority attraction.

PokerNews hopes to attract players with the promise of over €400,000 in prize packages that include private helicopter transfer from the airport to the resort, main event entry, hotel accommodations, ski and spa passes, and spending money for their pleasure travels.

"It is our aim to take poker tournaments to the next level by providing qualifiers and guests with more than just a poker tournament," says PokerNews Ltd CEO, Damon Rasheed. "As such, PokerNews is delighted to have the next leg of the PokerNews Cup held at The Alpine Palace, the most exclusive venue to ever host a poker tournament."

My only question is whether anyone can handle an 8am skilift after an all night table or if I should simply look at this as a very cold place to play poker?

In Las Vegas there are tons of tournaments running every day with different structures, buy-ins, and starting chip counts. Cities across the world are starting to increase their tournaments as well, and it can sometimes be hard to evaluate which tournaments are best to play in.

There are several factors to take into consideration when finding a tournament to play in. For starters, players need to find tournaments that are easy on their bankrolls. Some poker pros recommend that you do not play a tournament that is more that 5% of your bankroll. Once you find tournaments that are in your budget, you should look at what the starting chip stacks are. Some tournaments offer 1500 in chips, while there are deep stack tournaments that will give 20,000 chips or more. Some players like to have a lot of chips so they have time to sit and wait for better hands. Other players like to have smaller chip counts so the tournament doesn’t take as long.

Players should then look at structure. If a tournament has a bad structure then there is no point in playing it. Most tournaments publish a structure sheet which can be looked at prior to registration. Another element that players often forget to research is the player count and registration. If a reoccurring tournament has the best buy-in and structure, but they are not getting very many players, then it might not be worth your time to play.

After taking these factors into consideration it should lead you to a more profitable tournament experience.

If you’re like me, you’re a fan of the Game Show Network (GSN) hit poker show High Stakes Poker because it showcases some of the best cash game players in the world, all playing super high no-limit poker with their own money at risk. Pots regularly get up into the hundreds and thousands of dollars, and it’s not unusual for someone like Doyle Brunson to buy into the game for a cool $1 million.

For the fifth season though, the minimum buy in for players will be raised. As soon as the first cards are dealt in the new season, everyone must put up at least two hundred thousand dollars to even be able to sit down at the table. The previous buy in limit for the other four seasons was set at $100,000, though due to player demand, the buy in was raised for a short period to $500,000 towards the tail end of the year.

“High Stakes Poker, by a wide margin, has become a must-see on Game Show Network for poker players and poker fans all over the world,” said Henry Orenstein, an executive producer of the show.

Production for the new season will commence on Dec. 19th – 21st, and the game will continue to take place at the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with GSN in filming their fifth season of High Stakes Poker,” said Brett Kellerman, the chief operating officer for the Golden Nugget. “It is a perfect fit for the players, the fans, and the Golden Nugget.”

Just how big could the play get with the new table minimum? If past seasons have been any indication, there is going to be small fortunes won and lost during each episode. Just make sure to check your local listings for the start of the fifth season of High Stakes Poker.

Even when you know intellectually that you need a few days away from the table iIt is never easy to convince yourself that it is time to take a break from poker in order to preserve your bankroll. However, if you come to the conclusion that it is time for you to take a break from poker, there are several things that you can do with your time to be productive.

Look at this time off as an opportunity to study and reevaluate your game. There are tons of resources out there and new concepts and theories are being published every day. Poker players should always be trying to stay ahead of the game, and this is your opportunity to get caught up.

Also, it is a good time to think about what has been going wrong in your recent losing sessions. Maybe it is time that you change up your game.

When you return from your break, you should think about playing at another casino or another limit. If you are a cash game player, maybe you should play some small tournaments for a change of pace. If you are a tournament player, try playing another game like Omaha.

Since the industry is constantly changing, poker players should always be reevaluating their game and preparing new business plans that fit the games that are played.

It is often hard to evaluate how long to take a break for. I recommend taking a break for at least a week. This will give you time to relax, distress, and find time to study your game. For serious poker players, poker can become our lives and we forget how to have fun without cards being involved. Make time to have some fun with friends or family during this time off and force yourself to stay away from playing poker even for fun.

Once you feel the stigma of your losing streak fading away, it is time to head back to the tables.

Every poker player goes through those sessions of bad beats, poor concentration, or inability to play well. This is a part of the game and it is imperative that a poker player protects their bankroll from bad runs. Sometimes, it is necessary for poker players to ask themselves if it is time that they go on a break. Most of the time it is hard to for a poker player to convenes themselves that they need to take a “forced vacation,” and it is even harder to know if that is the best decision.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself if you are on a bad run:

1. Am I chasing cards just to get even?
2. Am I bluffing more than normal because I’m trying to get even?
3. Am I being impatient?
4. Have my cards been running bad the last 4 out of 5 sessions?
5. Am I worried about my bankroll because of my last few sessions?
6. Are my reads off more than 50% of the time?

If you answered “yes” to more than two of these questions, it is time to take a break. Perhaps your cards are running bad; maybe it is mental fatigue, but it is important to get your head on straight to you can get over your bad run.

So perhaps it's time to take a break but you can't live without poker? Tomorrow I'll look at ways to convince your poker addicted brain that you do need to step away from the table.

The 4th annual British Columbia Poker Championship has been won my Daniel Negreanu. Being the top poker event in Western Canada, the BC Championship draws many of the world class Canadian professionals to the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond BC. The $2,500 buy-in main event drew 689 players and even though this is way below the buy-in level most pros will play, Daniel and other professionals made it to BC for the event.

The list of name players at River Rock included: Brad "Yukon" Booth, Gavin Smith, Lacey Jones, Mark Napier, Gabe Kaplan, Dennis Phillips, Steve Paul Ambrose, Isabelle Mercier, Maria Ho and Liz Lieu.

Daniel takes home the top prize of $371,910 and a Canadian Championship.

"Being Canadian myself, playing and winning the BC Poker Championship is extra special to me. The tournament was extremely well organized and my opponents were very good. It may have been a smaller tournament but I would say this has been the best $2500 buy-in event structure I've ever played."

With all my hobbies, I have become an avid collector of memorabilia and one of a kind items, poker included. Unique poker items though can be hard to come by, but thanks to Harrah’s, it looks like myself and other poker player across the globe will get the opportunity to grab some great World Series of Poker (WSOP) items.

Over 30 items are being placed into eBay auctions, with the crème a la crème being a very special poker table, complete with LED and blue-glass lighting, which was used to host the final table for both the 2007 and 2008 WSOP Main Events. The table was manufactured by Diamond Tables of Las Vegas. The starting bid for the table is $25,000, and also includes free shipping to anywhere in the continental U.S.

For those with smaller wallets, you can find relatively inexpensive items such as decks of cards used at the final table for as little as $50 (the price the card auctions started at), and even the dealer button used in the televised event. The winner of the dealer button will also receive a special certificate of authenticity signed by WSOP Commissioner Jeffery Pollack.

Whether you’re looking for the exclusive Milwaukee’s Best Light neon poker sign that hung above the WSOP poker set or one of a dozen “main table” felts, there should be an item to grab everyone’s attention.

Better hurry though, as many auctions end within’ a day. Happy hunting!

It seems that Penthouse Inc. is seeking a presence on the Las Vegas Strip.

For several years the Playboy brand has been on the Palms Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. There is the Hugh Hefner suite, the Big Bunny logo on the side of the 1st Palms Tower and several other Hefner/Bunny/Playboy promotions and tie-ins. Now the "other men's magazine" Penthouse is looking to buy a casino/hotel in Vegas.

Penthouse Inc. is seeking an already operating casino on the famed Las Vegas Strip. The Palms is not actually on the Strip but about a mile west of the strip in a group of hotel-casinos with the Rio and the Gold Coast.

"We have no intention to rebrand the name of the hotel. We would like to see a Penthouse casino presence and a Penthouse pool presence."

There clearly is the intention to buy while the market is weak, the real question is what property or properties might be on the block. Statements would suggest that a major remodel of the casino and pool area to bring those pieces of the property into line with a Penthouse theme are part of the package.

One has to wonder if the properties known to be available (Riviera or Tropicana) are simply too old to be the type of situation that would interest Penthouse. In any case, it does appear that the move of Las Vegas back to a more adult theme and away from the "family orientation" of the 90's will continue. Imagine bringing your focused "A" game to the Penthouse Pet Poker Room. Can you hear the pocket rocket jokes already?

So what's the buzz floating around the poker world these days?

Clonie Gowen, who is suing Full Tilt poker and others for $40 million, was not just offered a settlement. She took $500,000 and still filed the lawsuit.

Two of the November Nine were booked for national televison appearances. One on the Tonight Show and the other on Ellen DeGeneres and they both turned down the offers.

The European Union Commission will act after the first of the year against one member nation to open its markets to online gaming.

The Tropicana poker room in Las Vegas will close down on November 30th.

The European Poker Tour will add several more venues for next season and will begin a "All Around Champion" points competition.

The WSOP Tournament of Champions will be back next year with an expanded qualification system, including WSOP Circuit Event winners and runners-up, the WSOP and WSOPE final table members and yes there will be "Sponsor's Picks", so Johnny, Doyle and Phil can play.

The black market for Attention Deficit Disorder medication on the poker circuit has come to the attention of at least one major narcotics investigation unit.

The Netherlands Bankers Association (NVB) have told Dutch Justice Minister Hirsch Ballin that the current legislative plan to ban online gambling by using Dutch financial institutions as internet police is simply impractical and, in fact, probably illegal.

The Justice Ministry immediately dismissed the sound advice of the NVB.

"Justice bases itself on Dutch law in fighting illegal internet gaming and there is no room for free choice on the side of the banks.”

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Don't you just love the phrase: "There is no room for free choice." Ain't democracy great!

The governmental spokesperson went even futher, by distancing the Netherlands from the ongoing European Union Commission actions on internet gaming, when he said:

"European law has no influence on this."

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The Ministry did, however, admit that this reaction from the NVB would delay any legislation currently under consideration.

“The comments made in the consultation phase, as well as other events which took place in the first half of 2008, have led me to further re-examine the Dutch system. I refer to the Senate’s rejection of the bill regulating online gambling, the EC’s Reasoned Opinion, and the questions referred for a preliminary ruling by the Administrative Law Division of the Council of State and the Supreme Court. I have come to the conclusion that the policy needs adaptation on a number of issues, not just to increase support therefore, but also to ensure consistency and coherence with European law.”

Sounds like another social moralist is finding it hard to legislate how a free individual conducts their private life.

Dutch officials might do well to observe the regulatory mess the United States has gotten itself into by trying to enforce social policy through its banking system. The U.S. legislation remains unenforceable a full two years after its passage.