Vegas Poker Blog

David Williams, age 26, has had one of the most meteoric rises in poker. At his first WSOP, in 2004, he qualified via an online poker room and went on to place 2^nd �.walking away with $3.5 million big ones.

Sounds lucky, right? Of course, there had to be a little bit of luck, but Williams is one of the smartest players on the circuit. He entered university at age 16 majoring in math and by the time he was ready for graduate school, every Ivy League school was after him. He enrolled at Princeton, but decided to go back nearer home in Dallas�. studying economics at Southern Methodist University there. Quite simply, hes brilliant and hes a perfectionist.

Interestingly, Williamss first love was for Magic: The Gathering where he played worldwide tournaments and was very well known in the game, but switched to poker after an accusation of cheating during a tournament. Reading the details of the allegation, its still up for debate, but Williams backed away from Magic professionally. His great analytical skills transferred perfectly over to poker, and although he still plays Magic for fun, poker has become his livelihood.

It was at a Bodog table where he earned his 2004 qualifying seat at WSOP and hes now been signed on with them �joining Evelyn Ng and Josh Arieh. Williams is a very serious player who sets very high goals for himself, and as one of the truly elite African American players, its hard not to compare him to Tiger Woods. Poker is his personal challenge and hes determined to be as good at it as Woods is at golf. The focus he brings to a table is certainly comparable to the way Woods plays golf. The combination of intellect and focus make him a very interesting player to watch.

Hes done plenty of television stints and, of course, can be found at Bodog too. Apparently, in the trivia department, theres still a bit of gossip about a porn video he appeared in years ago. Woo hoo �hes cute too!

Theres a lot of speculation about whether Williams will stay with the game or whether hell go on to other pursuits, but from what Ive seen and read about him, I think were pretty lucky to get to watch him �even if its for just a while.

Even if youve played in a friendly neighborhood or home game for years, entering the world of online poker takes a bit of extra knowledge.

If youre new to online poker, the most important thing is to pick a table you can afford. Stay away from no-limit tables because if theres one all in game, you may well have blown your whole budget for the session. As a rule of thumb, you want to sit down at a table with at least 5 times the upper bet limit. This will give you some game insurance on even getting into the game. If its a $5-10 table, sit down with no less than $50.

Watch a table for a bit before sitting down if its possible. You can get a pretty good idea who the aggressive players are and who the more timid ones might be. This is a great thing to get in the habit of because you can then choose your seat based on this knowledge. Always try to have the more aggressive players on your right because you can fold quicker if your hand isnt great. Lesser players on your left play to your advantage because theyll fold quicker on your bluffs.

Dont be afraid to lose! Theres nothing worse than sitting down and just feeding into blinds at the minimum amount and watching your budget slowly slip away into losses.

Take a chance on the good hand. Go for it! There are plenty of times you can fold lousy cards.

Online play allows you to keep notes too. Not only on your own strategies �what works and what doesnt, but on players you might meet time and time again. These are great things to be able to refer to if a player looks a little familiar. It saves a lot of time in working out how they play too.

Most importantly, dont just pop into an online room for a quick game. Set aside an hour, or even better two. You cant get a feel for the other players and what kind of game is going on unless you do, and in playing poker you always to try to win �not just contribute to the pot for a few hands!!!

If you know good poker basics, transferring that knowledge online isnt hard and if you watch, youll learn that there are advantages to it too. Happy poker!

Okay, there are times when its fun to throw a new wrench into the weekly game, and this is a good one.

Assassin played much like 5-card draw with five cards dealt to each player. The variation on this one is that deuces are wild (you can use jokers if you want to), but hardly in the normal way wild cards are usually used!If you receive a deuce in the deal, you can trade it in before the second draw. It can be placed face up during the trade-in, but you definitely want to get rid of it and take the extra card. If you have two deuces in your first hand, you dont get two extra cards �just one. Now, it might seem like holding on to a deuce might be a good idea in the end, but thats not allowed. You have to declare them.

So, the player with a deuce will end up with six cards for the final hand. In the showdown, its poker as usual in that you have to make the best 5 card hand that you can.

Now, if you have a deuce in the last hand, you can do a couple of things because if you get caught with it youre ˜assassinated �youre automatically out of the game

If youve got a deuce in your final hand, you dont have to reveal it. If you think you can get all the other players to fold and not have to reveal your hand, you might want to go for it. But if that fails and you have to show your hand and theres a deuce, its bye bye, baby.

Interesting twist on this variation is that if all the players have a deuce, no one wins and the pot is carried forward to the next ga

When I looked at this variation, I decided it might be great for those times when theres a real smart alec at the table who needs a little bluffing comeuppance! Sounded like fun to me anyhow.

POKERROOM.COM

The Facts

Pokerroom.com was formed in 1999 and is based out of Costa Rica. They offer the top no-download games on the net. They are user friendly to both Mac and PC users and the downloaded version is 3D. The list of games is the standard limit , no limit Texas Holdem; Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo; 7 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo; the new standard BlackJack option; and they are one of the few to offer 5 Card Draw. They have an associate casino that offers all the typical casino games as well.

The Tournaments

Pookerroom.com has a daily schedule of tournaments that flow from $3 to $30 buy ins. They have a good assortment of qualifiers and satellites into larger tournaments and daily freerolls. They have a feature tournament board that offers probably the biggest selection of any poker room. The weekly welcome series is for new depositors and the Centurion Cup is a series to gain points as well as cash on a weekly basis. They offer guaranteed tournaments with minimum prize pools of $4000 to $50,000. On Saturdays they have a $300+20 buy in called the Big Deal that guarantees a pool of $80,000. They also have Bounty tournaments and weekly features that get good crowds so the pay days are more than up to other sites pay outs.

Deposit/Withdrawal/Bonus Info

Pookrroom.com has a first time deposit bonus right now that is capped at $300 for a 50% add on to your first deposit. Methods of deposit are Visa, Mastercard, NETeller, Firepay, 900Pay, PrePaid ATM, MoneyBookers, Delta, Switch, and Instacash. Cash out options are NETeller, Firepay, PrePaid ATM, and check. They are considered one of the top 5 poker rooms as far as security and have no documented problems since they opened their tables. They have a rewards points program that pays back cash or re buys to players that earn 100 points or more. Points are earned for every raked hand played.

Competition

The player competition is basically soft under the $5/10 no limit tables but above and in the bigger tournaments you cant expect to do a lot of fishing. In some of the lower tables the flop shown percentage runs in the 40s and in some cases at full tables can reach as high as 60. It is good place to learn and practice with easy graphics and tools that keep the games as equal as possible, depending on the experience at the table. Peak hour traffic at the ring tables can reach over 4000 players and the tournaments have gotten over 15,000. Most of the ring traffic is in short handed tables 5-6 players and concentrated in the Texas Holdem games. The rakes are slightly above average because of the traffic at short handed tables but the max is right on average at $3.

Misc.

Pookerroom offers the standard tools for tables; all in security, chat options, 4 color decks, notes, etc.. but they are trying harder than most to build a community. They offer a poker school and area for players to interact off the tables. They also offer information on land based home games and poker friend finder information. They have a good poker news section and try to keep up with all the big happenings and events. They have a store which is now becoming a standard feature to poker rooms. Pookerrooms Help and Support are good and by comparison to some newer sites, superior. It is 24/7 with good speed and the knowledge of the reps is average. Your best method is email support but they do not confirm your requests until they answer them.

Summary

Pokerroom.com is and should be considered one of the top 10 poker sites on the net. They have an above average dedication to the game and show that they may be a business but that they care about keeping players and not just making the money. The software is good and the support you get is worth the download but the java script is still good if you cant or dont want to take up the space on your hard drive. The ring games are worth playing but if you like tournament play, this is the site. The variety of styles surpasses other sites and is something all serious on line tournament players should look at. Pokerroom has come a long way in the 7 years it has been around and at the rate they are going with their philosophy of improvement for the players, they will keep growing as other top sites get stagnate.

I SEE DEAD PRESIDENTS 80 MILLION DEAD PRESIDENTS


Can you really conceive it? Do you grasp how much money that is? $80 million in chips up for grabs in one single event. We are talking about 80 million double cheeseburgers off of the value menu at McDonalds. That my friends is a lot of fake beef. That my friends is a lot of fake beef. For anyone that hasnt caught on to what I am talking about, that is the estimated total prize pool for the 2006 WSOP Main Event. Harrahs, the sponsor of the WSOP, has capped the main event with only 8000 seats. Ok, look at that too. They have capped it. That means that they are restricting it to 8000 seats. With the boom in poker, there could easily be more players that simply do not get in because the seats are all filled. And then the œonly 8000 seats œ, 8000 players in the main event is pretty amazing if we go back 10 years. I know in a few smaller land based tournaments and a lot of on line freerolls you see that number of entries and more but we are talking about a $10 thousand buy in.

It is so unbelievable that last night Nikolaus Sheppard was giving me a preview of what TCG-Global has planed for the WSOP this year. They are not only announcing a poker pool in which you can buy a number of a seat and if that player wins you win the pool but they are laying odds on the top players in the world to not even make the final table let alone win. 50 to 1 odds that no top 25 player wins the main event and even on one specific player they are laying 50 to 1 he doesnt make the final table and 100 to 1 he doesnt win the main event if he did. They are not only announcing a poker pool in which you can buy a number of a seat and if that player wins you win the pool but they are laying odds on the top players in the world to not even make the final table let alone win. 50 to 1 odds that no top 25 player wins the main event and even on one specific player they are laying 50 to 1 he doesnt make the final table and 100 to 1 he doesnt win the main event if he did. I wont bore you with the details of the largest prizes in history or the most players in a tourney like this but you have to understand something, each player is in a seat that is valued at $10 thousand. That there are going to be 8000 of them and more than likely over a thousand that will be holding entry fees but can not get in. It is going to be a big show, bigger than ever and I am waiting to see which non network puts it on television live. Im personally think I need to know someone in the pay per view arena because I want in on this. So, hey out there, if you know anything about putting on a pay per view event, call me and lets do the entire main event this year live as it happens. It may sound like I am rambling and being silly but let me tell you, I have been around this event and poker for more years than half the players in the event have been alive and I have been in it religiously not as a week end arm chair œ I play a little œ kind of around. If I had said that there would be 2000 players wanting in let alone 8000 and the entry stayed at 10 grand , a few years ago I would have been told to go home and sleep it off. I am now beginning to wonder if poker isnt going to become a shooting star and burn its self out by moving to big too fast in too many directions. This is going to be an interesting summer in poker so lets all stay tuned and see if blind ambition can really pull you through.

If you are like me and like to play fix limit poker, sometimes you need the betting controlled, when you jump back to no limit table , the bets can throw your game off. It is easy to get used to small bets on big cards so when you see a large number of chips being tossed around and all you have is maybe a face card, it can unnerve you. Remember where you are. For instance, you have been playing limit holdem and the average bets have been $1 a card with pots around $6, do not be surprised at $5 preflop bets when you move to a no limit table. Do not be so quick to fold that K-10. The bettor maybe holding Q-8. On the no limit table that bet is not big.

Take a few hands to get readjusted to the game. While the rules are the same, the way it is played is different. Bluffing is like flirting with death on a no limit table. A large chip stack can make that sort of a play , but on a good table anyone that is scraping the bottom or hanging out with a medium stake is not going to be so quick to make a foolish play. Watch the players and adjust your game to the table. If after a few hands, about 4 or 5, you still are not comfortable, leave. At a table, as apposed to tournaments, you can always get up and walk away at any time.

At on line rooms, a lot of times, you will sit down and someone with a good stack has to test you early. Remember your cards and think of what the board can be giving the other player. To help with this, I watch a table for a few hands before I put my chips on it. Doing this lets me see how the players bet and what kind of cards they are betting on. Any pro will tell you that the more information you have about players and their styles will help you play them better.

For most beginners, the thrill of the œall in œ play in a no limit game draws them to poker but they quickly learn that to sharpen there game and learn, fixed limit tables are a lot safer. This is even truer for those with very limited funds. Nothing hurts more than to have a good hand and have a large stake raise you out of it. That is a strategy some players use and it works. Even with middle of the road cards are all they are holding, a semi bluff bet of good size will win it for them. Its more of a transition period for beginners going from fixed limit tables. The next step, as outlined in the book œ3 9 Off Suit�, is pot limit. There you get a feel for bigger bets and raises and eventually graduate to a no limit table. After that it is higher and higher stakes.

When choosing the NL table, you may want to make sure it has a limit buy in and that no one seated has a stack very far above that. If the maximum buy in is $10 and you have a couple of stacks there with $20 or more, you may want to skip it and find another table. The two most important things to remember are know where you are and be comfortable. The rest is just poker.

While Benny Binion gets credit for starting the World Series of Poker, its two poker players who should have a lot of the credit as well. After all, the game, which gave WSOP its origins, lasted five marathon months.

Nicholas œNick the Greek� Dandolos was, in 1949, the most famous poker player in the U.S. He was a well-educated player from a well-to-do family, but early on found a love in gambling. He played numbers, he played the horses, and he played poker. Although, he emigrated from Crete to Montreal, he really began his poker career in Chicago with a half million dollar stake hed won betting the horses during one season. Once in Chicago, it was as if he suddenly absorbed the game of poker and all its tricks. The casinos loved him and loved the action he brought to them. Consequently, œNick the Greeks reputation grew and grew and he was ˜the man in poker. Oh, as for the $500,000, Nick lost all that shortly after getting to Chicago �learning the finer points of the game.

Meanwhile, a little more out West, there was a man from Texas who had also amassed a great reputation as a player. Johnny Moss was a street kid who learned to play poker at age 10. He learned all the cheats but he practiced and practiced and practiced. When he decided on a life of poker, he wanted to use no cheats and it wanted it to be an honest job. He maintained that attitude his entire life and is still looked up to as the pinnacle of a gentleman player.

Moss was considered by Binion to be the best player in the world, so when œNick the Greek� approached Binion because he wanted to best Moss, the famous game was arranged in Las Vegas. It was time for the two of them to duke it out at the table with the winner taking the title.

Binions Horseshoe, of course, was the scene of the game, which ended up lasting five long months. They played every variable of poker, only slept during short breaks, and the world was hearing about the two best players going at each other. In the end, it was Moss who took it all. Dandolos left in the end several million dollars lighter.

Dandolos didnt quit playing but by the time he died on Christmas Day in 1966, he was not only considered one of the greatest gamblers in history, he was penniless.

Moss went on to win three WSOP tournaments (70, 71, and 74) and was a living legend until he died in 1997. He maintained his aura of being the quintessential gentleman, and played poker until the day he died. It was said that poker was the only thing that brought a gleam into his tired eyes.

Both of these players own a huge piece of WSOP history. And while Dandolos may have lost the biggest event, neither of them could ever be considered losers.

Josh Arieh is a player who you might learn a lot from playing against, but you might want to observe him first. He is one tough customer!

The Atlanta-based Arieh started out playing in the back rooms of pool halls when he wasnt a courier for a law firm, and became a professional because he stayed so passionate about the game. He admits to becoming obsessed! He never stops trying to understand the game and it makes him a very dangerous opponent because he has so much in-depth knowledge and experience.

He refers to himself as a ˜new breed of player who plays with extraordinary aggression backed up by both skill and intuition. With his constant and subtle gear changes, he keeps his opponents guessing so much that the winnings keep amassing. Career wise, hes up to almost 5 million right now. Hes got bracelets (the first in 1999) and hes a familiar face on television.

Ariehs philosophy is that you should be more serious about the game than your opponent is and play aggressively. One of his favorite expressions is œprey of the week�. Scary! And, Arieh isnt an ˜all talk kind of player. He puts his philosophies to use quite well by putting enormous pressure on other players �especially the weaker ones at any table.

Not all for Josh Arieh has been so rosy thought �hes been caught in a couple of poker fracas, which cost him big in the nice guy department. He once criticized an opponents losing hand for which he apologized, but he also has been caught saying some pretty rough things not knowing there was an open television mike nearby. Even with apologies, its meant Arieh has a tough reputation for other than poker. Whether or not the unsportsmanlike conduct has cost him in fans is unknown, but it hasnt affected his game. Hes a street player and a trash talker and he uses it to his advantage. Oddly enough, hes popular with other pros on the circuit.

His favorite game is a No-Limit Holdem and is deadly at that one. He plays upwards of 50 hours a week online plus tournaments and a Team Bodog contract, so hes a busy guy these days. If you think you can stand up to Arieh, he even has his own table at Bodog.

Playing Arieh might take some guts, but its tempting, isnt it?

When you first started playing poker, did you just jump right in and learn as you went along, or did someone teach you the basics. As more and more people are making the leap into poker, there are a lot of places available for learning. So, if youre a novice, where do you go first?

The Dummies series of books have long been a popular resource for first-timers in any field. Ill admit to buying œInternet for Dummies� many years ago and it was good! So, I got œPoker for Dummies� just to see what the beginner was likely to get from it.

This one was written by Richard Harroch, who, if one does a bit of research, turns out to be an attorney specializing in start-up companies, but who also plays a bit of poker and has won a few smaller tournaments. The book covers fundamentals, rules, and basic strategies primarily for HoldEm games with other forms of poker getting a short shift at the back.

The Dummies book will give you in-depth rule analysis, great tips on etiquette in a casino, online or home games, and more importantly, how to bet and keep a strategy going. I particularly appreciated the sections on poker lingo and slang along with how to keep a poker face! Even for the intermediate or advanced player, theres something to be learned, and this book provides plenty. It provides a needed overview for the beginner and tips for improving your game if youre already a player. There are great pointers on how to use online poker to improve your game, bluffing and how to keep good records for your winnings. Now, thats a positive thought, right?

Also available is a Poker for Dummies dvd, which is hosted by Chris Moneymaker. This is one you definitely want to rent rather than buy though. While the book is a good thing to keep on the shelf as a good reference tool, the video is pretty lackluster with Chris being pretty monotonous and offering up little in the way of guidance. Its like he got paid to make the video but not quite enough to make it interesting. So, skip this one or get ready for some fast forwarding.

So the long and the short of this review is that Poker for Dummies, the book, is well worth owning, but dont bother with the dvd unless you just adore Chris Moneymaker!

NAPALM is a regional poker game from the Northeast U.S. Although its exact origin isnt known, it became popular at Brandeis University (Massachusetts) but has now filtered down the coast to the Maryland and Virginia areas as well. How it came by the name, Napalm, isnt known either and its sometimes referred to as Whipsaw, but there are differences in the two.

This unusual game calls for frequent bluffing and moves a lot of money very quickly.

If youve got some timid players in your weekly game, this is a sure fire way to get them moving!

Its played with a standard 52 card deck and chips, but you also need something to use for tokens. Although the tokens have no monetary value, they do determine the winner and are kept in a central store for allotments and awards for specific circumstances. First person to collect five of the tokens wins the pot.

The objective of this variation is to win the most number of tokens, and to also win side bets (which match the pot amount). The game is played in three stages.

First stage: After an ante, two cards are dealt to each player. Starting at the dealers left, each player must declare œyes� or œno� as an indication of whether they think theyre holding the best hand. Standard ranking is used but, of course, flushes and straights have no value in a two card hand. This is a one shot call unless everyone at the table has said œno� and the dealer says œyes�. Then everyone is allowed a second turn to declare.

At this point, four things can happen. One, if only one player says œyes�, they are awarded a token. Two, two players have said œyes�, and they privately show their hands to one another with the best hand taking a side pot. The table pot is unaffected. Three, in the case of a two or three way tie, the loser(s) pays into the side pot. Or fourthly, if theres no œyes� at the table, no chips or tokens change hands.

Second stage: Players are dealt three additional cards. This time the declarations are based on having the lowest hand. Aces still count as high, and now flushes and straights count. Example: the best lowest possible hand would be 2-3-4-5-7. At this end of this stage, tokens are awarded and side bets resolved exactly as in stage one.

Third stage: Each player is dealt two more cards, and this time the declarations are made based on the best five-card poker hand. The game is handled the same as in the other stages with tokens awarded and side bets settled.

With every new dealer, players add a chip to the pot and as soon as one player has collected five tokens, they win the table pot.

This sounds more complicated than it really is, and its a great way to give some new interest to your weekly game. Just round up some tokens!