Las Vegas Vegas Rates Your Home Game

Las Vegas Vegas Rates Your Home Game Read Part One Here... Our ex-wife talked us into painting our dining room that shade of burgundy back when we were getting laid, and it took two coats of primer and four of...

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http://www.lasvegasvegas.com/pokerblog/archives/002623.php

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Letter to Congress

Card Player Magazine has one of those fill-in-the-blank letters that you can have sent to your representatives opposing the bills that propose outlawing online poker playing for money. Do your part - contact your representatives. It literally takes less than 2 minutes to fill out. Maybe even less than a minute.

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http://hellaholdem.blogspot.com/2006/04/letter-to-congress.html

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CelebPoker Now Available in 4 Languages

As online poker grows by thousands daily the range of players is becoming broader. The phenomenon that poker has become in America and Europe has spread quickly in Germany and Turkey. The presence of CelebPoker.com in these countries has created demand for a poker language client to be created. While most online poker sites and software are only available in English, CelebPoker is available for download and fully functional play in German and Turkish.

?Germany and Turkey both have seen the emergence of poker being played in casinos and card rooms for years. The presence and availability of poker online in these markets has been limited by the language barrier almost the entire time of popularity growth? commented Greg Powell Marketing Director. ?CelebPoker feels now was the time meet these demands and coordinate our popular poker software into both German and Turkish to make play easier and more enjoyable to the player? commented Powell. Turkish and German poker players are encouraged to visit http://celebpoker.com/download.asp and click on their countries flag to start the download. German Poker Online can now be played at CelebPoker.com

Play Poker CelebPoker.com is an exciting online poker room that is quickly becoming the favorite for many players. CelebPoker's realistic and player-friendly software offers a wide range of tournament and ring game play, including sit 'n' go tournaments offering prizes as high as $100,000.

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http://celebpokerclub.blogspot.com/2006/04/celebpoker-now-available-in-4.html

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Turn Around

I?d been through this before.

****

How do you come down from a rush?  To be sure, a rush is that fortuitous combination of playing well and having a little luck thrown in for good measure.  Not getting sucked out on when you?re ahead and coming from behind when you?re not.  But sometimes, maybe even just a little, you aren?t looking at your play objectively any longer.  You could be playing worse than you think - even poorly - but the luck of the rush is still with you and it masks your true performance.

Late last November, I was on a rush.  Then came Vegas.  And then went my bankroll.

It only took a few days, but I decimated my live game cash roll by playing horribly.  My final day in Vegas was spent playing at some lower limits, concentrating more on having fun than anything.  I basically threw in the towel.  My losses were too large and I couldn?t turn things around.  I fell off the horse and watched it ride away.  My self-confidence was in tatters.

****

This past February and March, I went on another rush.  There was a stretch of about thirty days of playing poker where I posted winning days on all but five.  The online and live rolls were at all-time highs and I was playing well.  At least I thought so.  Because I was on a rush.

****

Thursday night the wheels came off.  I played poorly at the medium game and dropped $180.  The following night at the local underground raked game, I dropped $420.  After I drove G-Rob home, I hopped online and proceeded to drop another $400.  Saturday morning I woke up to flush over flush and set over set, dropping another $450.

In the span of about 36 hours, I lost nearly $1500.

****

If you can?t learn from past mistakes, then you shouldn?t be playing poker.  If you don?t have the willingness to take a step back and objectively look at yourself and your playing abilities, then you shouldn?t be playing poker.  If you?re going to let results dictate the levels at which you play, then you shouldn?t be playing poker.

****

I took a break in the mid-afternoon and hung with the kids.  During that time, I thought about the past few days.  I could choose to hang my head low, tuck my tail between my legs and crawl back to some lower stakes and rebuild.  That?s what I did in Vegas.  Sure it worked, but to me, it was almost like giving up even if it was for only a while.  I?m too damn stubborn for that.  I chose another option.  I chose to go back and play.  I chose to do my best to put the losses aside and just play good poker.  This was another personal test for me.  I had to leave the losses behind and ignore them, not let them affect my play.

****

Saturday mid-afternoon session: +$200.  Saturday late-afternoon session: +$200.  Saturday late-night session: +$300.  Sunday morning session: +$200.  Sunday night session: +$550.  Total winnings?  Equal to the total losses.  A wash.

****

For some readers, the dollar figures are but a pittance while for others they are significant.  For me, it?s within bankroll management guidelines, but it still represents a healthy chunk.  But the results aren?t important.

What?s truly important to me was the fact that I was able to turn my play around so quickly in the face of recent, significant losses.  That is the test that I passed this time.  Yeah, this is all rah-rah-rah BS, me patting myself on the back.  But it does represent somewhat of a milestone for me.  It is a step up the ladder in improving my own game, a rung that I?d tripped over before.



Read The Full Article:
http://badbloodonpoker.blogspot.com/2006_04_01_badbloodonpoker_archive.html#11446
8459626055600

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An Unexpected Source

I started the poker day yesterday with high hopes. Wifey Kim was on Long Island helping her mother find a dress for an upcoming party. That left me home alone with a list of chores and a portable laptop.

The day started with a $10 MTT. I lasted until about 21st place out of 63 or so until I succumbed to my fate. I followed that up with another $10 MTT. Again, I lost. Hoping to turn it around, I played a $20 MTT on Absolute. Yep. Lost again. Specifics escape me, but it wasn't poor play, at least not primarily. It was a little bit of the ole variance. My suspicions regarding sir variance was confirmed when I decided to play a $20 SNG on Absolute. A single table tournament with no distractions...this should be a piece of cake. And it was. That is, until we were down to 4 people. Then, on the bubble, I confidently call someone's all-in with my AK. He held A6...and flopped a 6. Not one to sulk, I played with my uber short stack until I got it to a somewhat threatening level, think 900 when all other players have 2k plus. I pushed all-in trying to hold onto the momentum, but my A3 was called by AQ. A 3 on the flop made me glad that variance had come around, until the turn and the river showed QQ.

So, with all of these losses, I was down $75. Don't waste your time with the math. I may've left something out, but whatever the case, $75 by about 2pm was a near 10% loss of my bankroll. With a heavy heart, I went to play some Literati on Yahoo Games. My mind still wanted a challenge, a little interaction. I whooped some serious Scrabble-like ass, hitting 7-letter words like it was my job. I then settled into the couch for another episode of Jack Bauer. I've just started watching 24 from the DVDs ala NetFlix. I'm on the 2nd disc of season 1, and I've got about 4 seasons to go. Joy of joys.

The laptop looked at me with a wistful eye. "Play with me, Jordan. Play with me!" I tried to look away, recounting to myself how it just wasn't my day. "I've got other games Jordan," it said. "Softer games. Lower variance games." Damnit! With nothing but time on my hands, I eventually gave in. But I was done with those damn tournaments. It was time for a change of pace. It was time for a ring game.

I signed onto Noble poker (home of some of the softest action ever), and decided to see if anything was happening at their Omaha and Omaha hi/lo tables. To my surprise, there was a near-full .25/.50 PLO8 table calling my name. I sat down and considered short-buying, but in the end decided on the full $50. I had work to do, but I resigned myself to playing smart, playing tight, and accepting points toward my bonus, if nothing else.

And then it happened. It wasn't anything particular. I was just playing well. If I have a hand in PLO8, I max the pot. Usually, I wait until I have the nuts, or near the nuts. Hand selection is generally: any four cards from A through T, any three cards from A through 5, any three cards from A through J with a suited low card, and random other hands where they are doubled suited or have a suited Ace with a two. It's not exactly a science, but more of an art. I just had to remember the mantra: middle cards are crap.

As an example, if I held four cards from Ace through Ten, I'd bet the pot. I'm hoping that no low comes, and I'm also hoping to bet out those seeking a low. If I hit the flop (and not just a piece, like a pair of aces), I max it again. It was amazing to me how many people would call with crap. They were drawing to the low, or some other crap.

The joy about hi/lo is, there is just more strategy. I was looking for scooping hands. I wasn't just going for the low. But at times, I knew that I could save myself with my low if my high hand wasn't good enough. At other times, I was able to read from my opponent that they were going for the low, so my top pair was good. OR, when my high lost, my back up low hit.

In the end, in less than an hour, I had won back $63 of my $75 in MTT/SNG losses. I was ready to take a break when I saw Veneno online. We chatted a bit before she asked if I was still looking for a HU rematch against her. I hate to say it, but Veneno is like my personal ATM. I currently lead her by 5 games after yesterday's win, making me one of, if not THE, most profitable players against Veneno HU. She's a HU specialist, and I'm a Veneno HU specialist. Once again, her suckout poison was a factor, saving herself twice before I was able to give the death blow. If you are looking for a good time though, a HU match with Veneno can't be beat. With that win ($5 game) I was inches from a positive day. But, I decided that it was time for another break and more time with Jack Bauer.

Wifey Kim came home and we spent some time together. Time passed and bed time came for the wifey. I lurked back into the living room, like a crackhead looking to score. My crackhouse, the laptop, was waiting for me with plenty of Noble poker soft action.

After my earlier success, I decided to return to the PLO8 table. The .25/.50 game was full, so I put myself on the watilist. But a shorthanded .10/.20 game was going, so I hopped in. Long story short, about 10 minutes later, while I played at the .10/.20 game and chatted with DP (aka Fluxer), the .25/.50 table openned up. I was already ahead about $15 (with a $20 buy-in) at the .10/.20 game, so I decided to play in both games. The end result, up about $25 at the .10/.20 game and $15+ in the .25/.50 game. It was like printing money. I finally called it a night when I saw myself slipping due to fatigue. I called down some crappy hand in the .10/.20 game, losing about $4. That was enough of a sign. I hadn't been losing any showdowns in the PLO8 games , so I decided to wrap it up.

Omaha 8 or better, my new cashcow. Who woulda thunk it? Not me. I can't wait for tonight!

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http://highonpoker.blogspot.com/2006/04/unexpected-source.html

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Another Slowplay Question

© COPYRIGHT 2006 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED



Yes, poker and drugs do mix, at least my limited sample size showed over the weekend.



After having my root canals done on Friday, I took some vicodin and logged on for some $2/4 LHE action. The results were good, as I booked a profit of $101 on Friday playing at Imperial Poker ($15 profit, 226 hands) and World Poker Exchange ($85 profit, 157 hands).



On Saturday, I was feeling much better and decided not to take anymore of the vicodin and ended up with a loss of $15 for the day at WPE over 167 hands dealt.



I guess I should have stayed on the "vike"(LOL). And for more than one reason. As good as I felt on Saturday, I felt just as bad yesterday (and played no poker, of course, for the day). I guess it's safe to say that I flunked pain management 101. When you start taking the pain killers, you need to stay on them, so it ended up taking about 12 hours to get the pain under control yesterday. Ugh.



The Rake Free Poker Experiment

Playing at World Poker Exchange has proven to be interesting. For now, I'll be keeping it in my rotation.



Rake really is a silent killer. Just playing 470 hands of $2/4 LHE in my first week at WPE netted me a 100% rakeback return of $46.84. That's 2.5 BB/100 at $2/4 LHE.



Playing in tight and aggressive games can be profitable (even without 100% rakeback). Including my play this morning ($16 profit over 153 hands), I'm running at 4 BB/100 over 623 hands at WPE's $2/4 LHE tables (sure, it's a small sample size). Just because the WPE games have a bunch of 2+2ers in them, it doesn't mean I am playing against world class players. Far from it. And there are usually a couple of weak players at the table who are loose.



Playing in tight and aggressive games is actually fun and a nice change of pace. I actually get to use my brain a bit more and use more poker weapons (bluffs, semi-bluffs, etc.) instead of playing the usual low limit "you have to showdown the best hand" poker.



I have never played at a site where there is so much preflop limp-reraising as there is at WPE. So far I think the limp-reraising there only indicates AA or KK about 10% of the time, if that much.



Reading 2+2 posts on WPE has been fun, too. I have seen where posters are offering $100 to anyone who can craft a hand converter to allow WPE's hand histories into Poker Tracker. Are you kidding me? Whatever happened to using that thing called your brain? Poker Tracker can be a good tool, but it's no substitute for using your mind. It really seems that for most people that it's a crutch.



To Slowplay, Or Not To Slowplay, That Is The Question

Here is my favorite question once again, slowplaying. Here is a hand I played over the weekend. It was a tight and aggressive game with a lot of blind defense. I had been at the table for 25 hands or so and all I can read about my opponent so far in the hand is that he appears to be selective when playing hands:





World Poker Exchange

Limit Holdem Ring game

Limit: $2/$4

8 players



Pre-flop: (8 players) Michael is EP1 with [K? K?]

2 folds, Michael raises, 4 folds, BB calls.



Flop: [K? T? T?] (4.5SB, 2 players)

BB checks, Michael ???



Do you (1) check behind and slowplay or (2) bet here hoping that the BB has caught enough of the flop to proceed and what are your reason(s)?









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http://countingmyouts.blogspot.com/2006/04/another-slowplay-question.html

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2006 World Series of Poker

Will the Bodog girls be at the 2006 WSOP Expo Show? World Series of Poker for 2006 is only sixty days away. The mother of all poker tournaments, the WSOP, will start the '06 run of almost fifty days...

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http://www.lasvegasvegas.com/pokerblog/archives/002622.php

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