Poker Tips and Poker Bonus Codes

Stud Hi-Lo Poker Tips

2008-02-19T03:17:00.000-08:00

Stud Hi-Lo Poker

Often players approach Stud Hi-Lo from completely the wrong angle. They will often adopt a very Omaha Hi-Lo approach of looking to scoop both the high and low.

Obviously that would be nice in Stud Hi-Lo as well, but it isnt the best basis of your strategy. In Stud Hi-Lo it is much more important to clearly go for one or the other, and a direction that isnt getting heavy competition from your opponents.

Lets illustrate with a few examples.

AK2 - looks a theoretically attractive starting hand, whereas it isnt particularly. With 4 cards to come you'd need to hit 3 lows for a low hand, and the 2 is essentially worthless to the high hand. You are going for both high and low, but not really going for either.

234 - With everyone else looking like they are going for high - great, push the betting

AAK - With everyone else looking like they are going for low - great, push the betting

357 - With everyone else looking like they are going for low - put the breaks on, or muck the hand on 4th/5th street

KQJ - With everyone else looking like they are on high hands - put the breaks on, or muck the hand on 4th/5th street if it doesnt improve

Stud is a lot about comparisons, and there is no point getting yoursef into expensive battles for half the pot. Sure in an ideal world we'll start with A23 suited, and we will clean up on a flush and a low, but in reality the margins are made not on hope, but on being alert to the upcards to the board and playing for the half pot that isnt getting the competition.

Enjoy your Stud Hi-Lo poker, it is a great game, with often great margins for those more savvy players

EPT Germany

2008-02-19T03:10:00.001-08:00

EPT Germany 2008 - Main Event Result

1 € 933,600 Michael "Timex" McDonald
2 € 528,500 Andreas Gülünay
3 € 307,000 Torsten Haase
4 € 234,200 Diego Perez
5 € 193,000 Claudio Rinaldi
6 € 152,000 Johannes Strassmann
7 € 120,200 Thibaut Durand
8 € 85,500 Christian Harder
9 € 52,200 Alexander Milanov
10 € 52,200 Danny Ryan
11 € 41,100 Tyler Friederich
12 € 41,100 Daniel Carter
13 € 31,700 Manfred Hammer
14 € 31,700 Jiri Kulhanek
15 € 22,150 Aniol Alcaraz
16 € 22,150 Marco Liesy
17 € 17,400 Raul Paez
18 € 17,400 Peyman Mohammadzadeh
19 € 17,400 Jan Heitmann
20 € 17,400 Christopher Rossiter
21 € 17,400 Marcel Cesarz
22 € 17,400 Marcel Luske
23 € 17,400 Hugo Felix
24 € 17,400 Syikrai Istafan

Tunica 2008 Main Event Result

2008-02-19T03:04:00.000-08:00

1 $ 428,210 Bart Tichelman
2 $ 236,163 Donald Nicholson
3 $ 129,760 Giovanni Maracci
4 $ 103,808 John Devia
5 $ 77,856 Ben Sabrin
6 $ 64,880 Mark Garner
7 $ 51,904 Ryan Young
8 $ 38,928 Tom Schneider
9 $ 25,952 Jordan Rich
10 $ 18,166 Jesse D. Maupin
11 $ 18,166 Tom Franklin
12 $ 18,166 Jeremiah Vinsant
13 $ 15,571 Dustin Bailey
14 $ 15,571 Charles Horvath
15 $ 15,571 Charles Cardin
16 $ 12,976 Tim Frostad
17 $ 12,976 Josh Arieh
18 $ 12,976 Jesse Dean

Chip Reese dies

2007-12-06T04:01:00.001-08:00

Very popular pro Chip Reese has died at the age of 56. He died after a bout of pnemonia.

Reese was widely regarded as the best Stud player in the world, and was a regular at the biggest Las Vegas cash games.

In 2006 he won the WSOP 50K HORSE, a win which got him many accolates of being the best poker player in the world. Reese, always polite and modest, would've no doubt disputed this, but with the 50K HORSE win, and 2 other WSOP bracelets he was certainly right up there with the best.

He will be sadly missed by the broad poker community, particularly his friends and regulars from the Bellagio.

Tony G Moscow Millions

2007-12-06T03:56:00.001-08:00

Tony G has won the first ever Moscow Millions, an event which looks likely to grow quickly over the forthcoming years.

Tong G, infamous for his "Bring on the Russians" tirade against Ralpe Perry, really did put his money where his mouth is, taking down the event against a small, but high quality field.

A great win for Tony. Just over 200K. Well done

EPT Dublin Result

2007-12-06T03:51:00.000-08:00

The Result of the Dublin EPT Main Event

1. Reuben Peters €532,620
2. Annette "Annette_15" Obrestad €297,800
3. Reijo Manninen €178,680
4. Trond Eidsvig €127,630
5. Daan Ruiter €105,510
6. Anders Pettersson €83,380
7. Michael Durrer €66,370
8. Thierry van den Berg €47,650
9. Casper Hansen €30,630

All prize amounts are in Euros, which currently exchanges broadly at the same value as the US$

EPT Dublin - Main Event

2007-10-31T12:08:00.000-07:00

221 players pitched up to play Day 1a of the Main Event

48 players survived from Day 1a, with Andy Black amongst the leaders. Here are the chip leaders

Mike McDonald 67250
Dave Colclough 59350
Phidias Georgiou 55475
Kristian Kjøndal 53150
Jacques Zaicik 48225
Andrew Black 45675
Simon Christensson 45000
Christoffer Egemo Hansen 43050
Kevin Vreeswijk 42725

Eric Seidel, Barny Boatman and ElKy have all busted

Prizes up for grabs

1 € 532,620
2 € 297,800
3 € 178,680
4 € 127,630
5 € 105,510
6 € 83,380
7 € 66,370
8 € 47,650
9 € 30,630
10 € 30,630
11 € 23,820
12 € 23,820
13 € 20,420
14 € 20,420
15 € 15,320
16 € 15,320
17-24 € 10,210

Potripper Controversy

2007-10-28T07:48:00.000-07:00

Things have been raging about the Potripper controvery for a while now.

To summerize, a long term internet pro CrazyMarco came second to Potripper in Absolute Poker's biggest tournament (the $1000 buy-in). He was so suspicious of his play, which included some outrageous calls, that he asked for the hand histories.

The hand histories sent included a little more than perhaps Absolute would normally send out, in fact it contains IPs of players, email addresses of players, and similar for the observers as well.

One of these observers tracked Potripper for the entire tournament. You'd have to say that was unusual.

After considerable investigations it transpired that this observer ID belonged to a consultant of Absolute, who had somehow managed use his high status position to breach elaborate security to create a superuser account which count see the hole cards. He ran this ID alongside (railing) his Potripper ID (part of his cover-up), so he could see the cards as he was playing.

If we fastforward to the present, Absolute has done initial investigations and confirmed the breach and have compensated players, and people who had there personal information leaked.

Security has been tightened, but they are also undergoing a far more detailed investigation and review to ensure that any person affected isnt out of pocket and to ensure the matter doesnt happen again.

The problem with employing systems experts is probably always this sort of temptation to them, and the online industry will have to learn a little from high cash volume activities in the real world. Activities such as the elaborate security at bricks and mortar casinos, where all employees with potential access to minipulating events to steal money are monitored by an elaborate chain of security levels, where huge numbers of people would have to be in cahoots for activities to go undetected. Similarly, high level IT professionals need to have similar monitoring by others who do not "touch the money", and in turn those doing the monitoring need to be monitored. It is too much to expect to be able to just trust employees/consultants with access to core code in a "cash" industry. Many more levels should, and inevitably will, be put in place to prevent a repeat of these events.

TheV0id stripped of WCOOP title

2007-10-28T07:33:00.000-07:00

He appeared from nowhere to take down the biggest tournament in online poker history (the 2007 WCOOP Main Event), winning over a million dollars, however almost as quickly he has been consigned to history as the biggest cheat.

TheV0id, it is heavily speculated (and lets face it, very likely) was running several IDs in the tournament. This doesnt really give any edge hand to hand, but what it does mean is that he could play each ID very loose aggressive, knowing that if one or more busts out be is still alive in the tournament. What this breaks is PokerStars "One Person per tournament" rule, echoing what is obviously the case in live poker.

Whereas in MTTs two players can come from the same IP (eg you and your brother are playing the same tourney), those two IDs must always be different people. Pretty hard to check sometimes, but as a matter of policy checks are made on final tablists in all big tournaments.

The problem for TheVoid was that in a tournament of such size, PokerStars naturally got straight on the phone for a bit of an interview and to wrap the story, but when a person confirms their identity and then shows no idea whatsoever about the tournament, that can only lead to one thought, that being that players with the same IP are not the people listed, but in fact the same person.

TheV0id was stripped of his prize, and everyone was bumped up a spot. Whereas I do not condone what TheV0id did, he did however win the tournament based purely on ability, and on that aspect alone I feel sorry for the outcome. The one good thing to come of it is that it is a great warning to others players, and hopefully they can all learn from his lesson.

World Cup of Poker

2007-07-27T11:53:00.000-07:00

PokerStars is currently hosting the World Cup of Poker, which is free to enter and has all the countries of the globe competing against one another. Which country will triumpth? Only time will tell.

Also forthcoming on Pokerstars is the annual World Championship of Online Poker, which features huge prizepools and gold bracelets for the winners

Bad Beat Jackpot for US customers

2007-06-28T07:34:00.000-07:00

Within one day of releasing its new Bad Beat Jackpot game, Absolute Poker dished out nearly $78,000 to five lucky Absolute Poker players after the very first jackpot was hit.

Less than 48 hours later, it happened again. Christmas really had come early.

"When you can lose a hand and walk away with tens of thousands of dollars, it’s pretty amazing.” Said some bloke high up.

The first Bad Beat Jackpot was won early Saturday morning by CGA11 who lost quad tens to NEDKELLY’s straight flush. In traditional Texas Hold’em, CGA11 would have walked away from the table with nothing but a whole lot of anger. However, at a Bad Beat Jackpot table, when a player loses a hand holding four eights (8888) or anything better, they win the largest piece of the Bad Beat Jackpot. In CGA11’s case, that meant nearly $40,000 for his losing hand. All players who were seated at the table where the bad beat occurred also shared in the jackpot. Sounds pretty sweet to me.

History repeated itself early Monday morning when MARKM3451 lost four of a kind to WHITETAIL0’s king high straight flush, losing the hand but winning nearly $13,000 by hitting the jackpot.

Absolute Poker is the only online poker site open to U.S. players to feature Bad Beat Jackpot tables. If you want to give it a go, you get a 100% sign up bonus using this link 100% Link, Entering bonus code OAKTREE

Negreaun signs for PokerStars

2007-06-11T13:24:00.000-07:00

Daniel Negreanu has signed for the PokerStars team and will be playing there under the ID 'Kid Poker'. PokerStars will also be hosting Negreanu's own poker tournaments such as his prodigy tournament, designed to find a promising young player for him to personally mentor.

Party Poker

2007-05-31T07:45:00.000-07:00

Party Poker are offering a great bonus of 120% for new players. Some of their features such as buddy tracking, final-table deal making, badbeat jackpot accumulators, make this one of the best sites around. They dont accept players from the USA, but this has barely stopped them, and the Sunday Tournament is already up to a guaranteed $300K, as they concentrate on Europeans, Canadians, Aussies, Kiwis, etc.

FTOPS May

2007-05-07T07:49:00.000-07:00

Full Tilt are hosting a Fourth series of Poker in May 2007. There are 10 events in total and some great guaranteed prize pools, including $1.5 million in the main event. Most events are No Limit Holdem, but there are also events in Omaha Hi-Lo, Omaha, and HOSE.

Tips for the WSOP

2007-04-19T10:23:00.000-07:00

JC Tran has continued unchecked in 2007, making final table after final table. He has to be considered a good bet to place in some WSOP* events.

Humberto Brenes cashed a massive 8 times in the 2006 series, and has generally been running very well.

Jeff Madsen, the wonderkid of 2006, is sure to get alot of respect at the tables and therefore his "table-captain" playing style is likely to give him a good chance of going deep again.

Phil Hellmuth, who could argue against him getting an unprecedented 11th bracelet. He has the appetite to play a large volume of events, and he seems to have a little more momentum than Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan in the tournaments recently.

Paul Wasicka, rapidly becoming a well respected, and very successful tournament player.

*World Series of Poker and WSOP are trademarks of Harrah’s License Company, LLC (“Harrah’s”). Harrah’s does not sponsor or endorse, and is not associated or affiliated with this website or its products, services, promotions or tournaments.

LA Poker Classic gets to the Final Table

2007-03-01T05:28:00.000-08:00

At the end of Day 5, here are the chip counts of the 6 remaining players

1. JC Tran $3.47M
2. Paul Wasicka $3.39M
3. Jacobo Fernandez $3.37M
4. David Bach $2.27M
5. Eric Hershler $2.16M
6. Chau Giang $1.37M

How they fell, ten down to six :-

10th Position :-

Tran limps from middle position with 4's and Jay Chang pushes all-in for 210K more. Tran calls.

Chang spikes a set, and Chang (KQ) has an inside straight draw. The draw doesnt come and Jay Chang is out in 10th place winning $91,125.

9th position :-

Ben Johnson gets all-in with pocket QUeens and David Bach calls with the nut flush drawn. David hit the flush on the river and when they count up they chips, Ben Johnson as exactly ONE CHIP. lol, poor guy. Feeling sorry for him, most of the others folds their hands, Chau Giang without even looking at his.

Johnson is anted-in, but Edler from the small blind wins with A9, after him and the big-blind check it down. Ben Johnson is out in 9th place winning $121,500

8th position :-

Paul Wasicka raises to 1,060,00 and Vincent Procopio moves all-in for 1,020,000. Vincent has QQ, Paul has AKos. Paul spikes a king and Vincent Procopio is out in 8th place winning $151,870.

7th position :-

Bill Edler launches with 34os, he is called by JC Tran with AK hearts. Flop comes 3 hearts and Bill Edler is out in 7th place winning $189,840.

And then there were 6

Footnote :- This event was won by Eric Hershler, with JC Tran finishing 2nd

LA Poker Classic

2007-02-28T05:09:00.000-08:00

The L.A. Poker Classic is currently taking place at the Commerce Casino. 1st prize up for graps is $2million. Every player reaching the final table wil get at least $257,00

Some big name pros are left like Chau Giang, JC Tran, Nick Shulman and Nam Le. Also some big internet stars are left in, such as Bodog Ari, and Strassa2.

At the end of Day 3 they have reached the money so they can all relax a little

During Day 3, as the bubble approaced (54 players get paid) the action slowed down considerably and it took almost two hours for ten players to bust out. Chau Giang entertained his table by telling gambling stories involving high stakes betting on a round of golf. He flew to Mexico with Bobby Baldwin, Phil Ivey, and Doyle Brunson. They played golf with NBA legend Michael Jordan for 50K per hole.

As we got right to the bubble the mood in the room was apprehensive with all eyes on Jimmy Sachindis tiny stack. He eventually pushed all in against Markus Stranzinger as a sea of media, floor staff, players, and railbirds hovered over their table. Although Sachindis held the dominant hand, Stranzinger flopped a five to seal Sachindis' fate as the Bubble Boy. The Aussie headed to the rail in 55th place as the remainder of the field advanced into the money. All 54 remaining players are guaranteed to win $22,780.

Some of the big eliminations on Day 3 included: Barry Greenstein, Erik Seidel, Minh Ly, Ted Forrest, and Steve Dannenmann

The Chip Leaders as we enter the start of Day 4 are :-

EDLER WILLIAM 696,000
STRASSER JASON 677,000
SUNG SUK 668,000
TRAN JC 636,000
ALVARADO JUAN 634,000

Aussie Millions Event 8

2007-01-13T15:44:00.000-08:00

18 men turned up for Event 8 of the Aussie Millions, all with $100,000 in change burning a hole in their pockets.

Event 8 - $100,000 Buy-in, Texas Holdem, Results

1st Erick Lindgren - $1,000,000
2nd Erik Seidel - $550,000
3rd Masaaki Kagawa - $250,000
4th Phil Ivey
5th Tony G
6th Michael Sampoerna
7th Tony Bloom
8th Joe Reina
9th Jeffery Lisandro
10th Jason Gray
11th John Juanda
12th Gus Hansen
13th Lee Nelson
14th David Benyamine
15th John D'Agostino
16th Daniel Negreanu
17th Roland DeWolfe
18th Kevin O'Donnell

This was a mixed format game with Pot Limit only pre-flop, and then NL post flop.

With such a huge payout this was the event for any spectator and the place was absolutely heaving with those wanting to check out the action.

It took around an hour of heads-up play for Lindgren to finish off Seidel. A7s beating Seidels KJs when the board showed Ah 8d 9h 6d 5c.

PCA 2007 Result

2007-01-11T08:33:00.000-08:00

Jesus couldnt pull of a miracle this time, and the timely agression of Ryan Daut saw the huge chip lead of Isaac Haxton gradualy twindle. Ryan started off his poker career with a $45 deposit. It is now looking like a sound investment by this particular youngster.

The PCA 2007 Result

1) Ryan Daut $1,535,255
2) Isaac Haxton $861,789
3) Robert Ford $550,980
4) Robert Mizrachi $409,703
5) Jonathan Little $317,873
6) Frank Rusnak $247,234

PCA Final Table

2007-01-10T06:52:00.000-08:00

And then there were six.

1) Issac Haxton 9,216,000 chips
2) Jonathan Little 2,366,000 chips
3) Robert Ford 2,324,000 chips
4) Ryan Daut 2,300,000 chips
5) Robert Mizrachi 1,450,000 chips
6) Frank Rusnak 1,166,000 chips

Jesus Haxton keeps the 2 Johns at bay, but Mr Little has still got his eye on a big comeback. Haxton's stack is starting to take Jamie Gold like dominance over his rivals and if he can keep up this agression his opponents may struggle to contain him.

With Roberts now outweighing Johns at the final table it looks likes the Johnathan clan may have peaked too early. Nevertheless I still back the Little Man.

PCA Latest

2007-01-09T05:37:00.000-08:00

Well, self-styled Jesus look-a-like Isaac Haxton steamrollered through the field to take the cheap lead by the end of day 3. Sixteen men with a twinkle in their eye now remain. Jesus Haxton only started playing poker 9 months ago, so lets expect him to blow the chip lead all-in pre-flop with 72 offsuit.

On a side note from the Johnny Cam, we can see two John's still lurking. The littilest of the two sat with the biggest of the stacks.

1) Isaac Haxton 3,754,000
2) Jon Little 2,084,000
3) Robert Mizrachi 1,798,000
4) Antonio Ribeiro 1,532,000
5) Robert Ford 1,313,000
.
.
.
11) Jon Friedberg 792,000

Pokerstars PCA

2007-01-08T09:45:00.000-08:00

The fourth annual PCA (Pokerstars Carribean Adventure) is currently running. We have reached the end of day 2 and it is very much the 'tournament of the Johnathan'.

Currently chip situation :-

1st Justin Bonomo 475,000
2nd Steve Paul-Ambrose 408,000
3rd Johnathan Drane 386,000
4th Johnathan Hart 368,000
5th Johnathan Little 352,000
6th Johnathan Friedberg 345,000

There is a 7 million dollar prizepool up for grabs, and despite the amazing Johns, there is also another juicey little fact. Steve Paul-Ambrose was last years winner, taking home a small matter of $1.4m. His younger sisters were all there to cheer him on, perhaps hoping a few presents were coming there way.

When this tournament first started in 2004 it was very much a big pros hangout, with Gus Hansen winning and Daniel Negreanu coming 3rd. Now the internet boys (and girls) are steam rollering it, and the big faces are struggling to keep up. Nevertheless a few "names" remain. We shall just have to see if the can halt the Ambrose man.

Private Freeroll

2006-12-14T14:28:00.000-08:00

I have set up some private freerolls on Titanpoker for anyone signing up with bonuscode 'ELEPHANT'. They are on Sundays and are listed as 'Sunday Private FR'. The prizepool for each is $250.

The 'ELEPHANT' bonus code will also get you a signup bonus of 100%, and $10 for free.

Good Luck to anyone choosing to give it a go.

Titan Million - Only 13 places left

2006-11-17T16:51:00.000-08:00

LATEST ON THE TITAN MILLION :-

An update on this tournament. 7 people have now qualified, so just 13 places left.

To summerize, they have a tournament for 20 players with a Million dollar prizepool. For finishing last you get $25,000. Not bad. First place gets something like $200,000.

You need to get 3 consequtive final tables to get entered as one of the 20 players.

If you go to www.titanpoker.com and use bonus code 'ELEPHANT' you get 100% sign up bonus, $10 for free, and some entries into some funded freerolls also for free. It is worth a shot as playing in a tourney where you areguaranteed $25,000 (for last place!) is virtually unheard of. The standard of players is pretty soft.

Absolute Bonus Code added

2006-11-14T12:41:00.000-08:00

Latest Bonus Code Summary :-

AbsolutePoker 100% Bonus using code 'OAKTREE'

Titan Poker 100% Bonus using bonus code 'ELEPHANT'

JunglePoker 200% Bonus using bonus code 'LIONHEART'

Full Tilt Poker 100% Bonus using bonus code 'SUNSHINE'

Doyles Room 25% Bonus using bonus code 'TREEHOUSE'

Private Freeroll with $250 prizepool

2006-11-07T11:34:00.000-08:00

I have set up a Private Freeroll on TitanPoker for Sunday 12th Nov 2006 at 6pm EST.

It will be a small tourney, It is free to enter, and has a $250 prizepool.

Anyone signing up to Titanpoker using the bonuscode 'ELEPHANT' or via the Titan link (to the right) will be allowed to enter. The tournament will be listed as 'Sunday Private FR'.

Hope to see some of you there.

The Mob League on Full Tilt

2006-10-04T14:14:00.000-07:00

The Mob Forum League starts on Tuesday October 3rd at 8pm (BST). It will be on Full Tilt and some fantastic prizes are being given away, including a seat at the 2007 WSOP Main Event. You can sign up to www.fulltiltpoker.com using bonus code 'SUNSHINE' for a 100% bonus.

There will be 26 league events altogether taking place every Tuesday at the same time. It includes some new games like PLO and HORSE. The buy in is only $10+$1 to allow more of you to take part.

Although there are 26 events in total only your best ten results will count. The winner of the leader board will win a Full Tilt Poker table (signed by the Mob if you wish) as well as a solid gold Mob lapel badge.

The top nine players in the league will battle it out in a one table tourney for a 2007 WSOP Main Event entry. Not just an entry, but a $12,000 package (10k buy-in and 2k for expenses).

The Mob will of course play in various events as may other FT Pros. Knock one out and get your buy in back plus a commemorative shirt saying ‘I busted Ram’ or whoever. There are also bonus points for bounties.

There will also be a number of prizes given out for making final tables, winning events or
even going out on the bubble. These will be announced from time to time.

The tournaments :-

All tournaments are on Tuesdays at 8pm London time.
October 3rd - $10+$1 NLH
October 10th- $10+$1 NLH
October 17th - $10+$1 NLH
October 24th - $10+$1 NLH
October 31st -$10+$1 HORSE

November 7th - $10+$1 NLH
November 14th - $10+$1 NLH
November 21st - $10+$1 NLH
November 28th -$10+$1 PLO

December 5th - $10+$1 NLH
December 12th - $10+$1 NLH
December 19th - $10+$1 NLH
December 26th -$10+$1 HORSE

January 2nd - $10+$1 NLH
January 9th - $10+$1 NLH
January 16th - $10+$1 NLH
January 23rd - $10+$1 NLH
January 30th -$10+$1 PLO

February 6th - $10+$1 NLH
February 13th - $10+$1 NLH
February 20th - $10+$1 NLH
February 27th -$10+$1 HORSE

March 6th - $10+$1 NLH
March 13th - $10+$1 NLH
March 20th - $10+$1 NLH
March 27th -$10+$1 PLO

Titan Million Dollars

2006-10-04T14:07:00.000-07:00

LATEST NEWS :- Titan Poker are doing a great promo. They have a tournament for 20 players with a Million dollar prizepool. For finishing last you get $25,000. Not bad. First place gets something like $200,000. I am trying to qualify for this. You need to get 3 consequtive final tables to get entered as one of the 20 players. So far there are 2 players qualified.

If you go to www.titanpoker.com
and use bonus code 'ELEPHANT' you get 100% sign up bonus, $10 for free, and some entries into some funded freerolls also for free. It is worth a shot as playing in a tourney where you are
guaranteed $25,000 (for last place!) is virtually unheard of.

The standard of players is pretty soft. I managed to get 2 final tables (in $10 tourneys with about 200 players) but I messed up on the 3rd one. Which was annoying. I am going to keep trying. I'm just being very selective about going for the ones with the least entries! For the 3rd one next time I think I will play the rebuy, and play very aggressive during the rebuy period :)

Bonus Code Summary

2006-10-04T14:05:00.000-07:00

Bonus Code Summary

Titan Poker 100% Bonus using bonus code 'ELEPHANT'

JunglePoker 200% Bonus using bonus code 'LIONHEART'

Full Tilt Poker 100% Bonus using bonus code 'SUNSHINE'

Doyles Room 25% Bonus using bonus code 'TREEHOUSE'

WCOOP Results

2006-10-04T14:02:00.000-07:00

WCOOP 2006 Results:-

WCOOP #1 Razz
1297 Entrants
1st Nabokov $58,365
2nd TS Long $35,019
3rd solody $22,827

WCOOP #2 NLHE
4495 Entrants
1st Rambo5 $365,218
2nd LUNOID $205,646
3rd polpolpol $119,117

WCOOP #3 PL Omaha w/rebuys :-
Entrants 773
1st thegiant $151,260
2nd Bebob86 $92,927
3rd nomoballer $61,250

WCOOP #4 NLHE Matchplay
Entrants 2048
1st spawng $69,632
2nd K-nuts $36,864
3rd YdotheyPLAY $22,528
4th Beautiful Man $22,258

spawng, won a WCOOP Omaha bracelet in 2005. This win in 2006 makes him the first player ever to win 2 WCOOP braclets. Congratulations.

WCOOP #5 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo
953 Entrants
1st Kwob20 $103,161
2nd n47j25s $63,851
3rd Just*AA*pair $40,502

WCOOP #6 NL Holdem w/rebuys
2081 Entrants
1st AustinLewis $221,445
2nd aStupidDream $134,995
3rd bad_beat_bad $78,157

WCOOP #7 Limit Holdem
1872 Entrants
1st yaaaflow $70,012
2nd UH BigTex $42,681
3rd dalzini $24,710

WCOOP #8 HORSE
1798 Entrants
1st F.Briatore $79,112
2nd fat&50 $46,748
3rd p1oker $30,566

WCOOP #9 PL Holdem
1095 Entrants
1st uncforte $114,427
2nd remen $70,901
3rd InSpirtu $43,854

WCOOP #10 NL Holdem
2458 Entrants
1st strassa2 $442,440
2nd thugmoneymkr $266,693
3rd BarnyBoatman $155,345

Jason 'strass2' Strasser, who we saw chip leading the WSOP Main Event for a period in 2006, only to see his friend Doug Kim outlast him to take home a big final table win. Jason gets his own back with this win, and sure makes the limits of their home games a little above average. Well done to Jason, and also a mention to long term pro Barny Boatman, congratulations in keeping up with the youngsters :)

WCOOP #11 7 Card Stud
657 Entrants
1st nikstar $46,219
2nd sassenage $26,845
3rd hurricaneace $16,950

WCOOP # 12 PL Omaha Hi-Lo
1303 Entrants
1st Mr. Shhhhhhh $78,766
2nd kdhspyder $48,667
3rd 011180 $29,552

WCOOP #13 PL Holdem Shorthanded
1741 Entrants
1st dnkid $109,683
2nd spaceMe $64,765
3rd lenny $40,687

WCOOP #14 Stud Hi-Lo
581 Entrants
1st kwob20 $68,267
2nd TroppoBravo $40,089
3rd Evelyn $25,302
Kyle Bowker (kwob20) taking home his 2nd bracelet of the year.

WCOOP #15 PL Omaha
867 Entrants
1st Trabelsi $93,852
2nd Humberto B. $58,089
3rd trollguttn $36,847

WCOOP #16 HORSE
175 Entrants
1st stelladora $223,125
2nd Hold_emNL $152,425
3rd ILuvKittens $102,812

WCOOP #17 Limit Holdem
695 Entrants
1st laurentia $154,985
2nd amichaikk $95,215
3rd Pike528 $62,758

WCOOP #18 NLHE, The Main Event
2510 Entrants
1st area23JC $670,194
2nd hannibalrex $400,581
3rd Lefort $417,734

Winner area23JC is poker pro JC Tran.

The pot was chopped at 6 players remaining (based on chip count), leaving just 50K more to play for for the overall winner. Hence hannibalrex and Lefort received just the money at the time of the chop despite there overall placings.

WSOP Chip Count Mistake

2006-09-10T11:21:00.000-07:00

8773 Players entered this year's WSOP Main Event. All, no doubt keen on a victory. Each started with 10,000 chips, meaning the total chips in action were 87,730,000.

However at the end of the final table when the chips were counted there were 90,140,000.

Harrah's seemed at a lose in terms of how to explain the extra chips.

Even when you take into account that some variance can occur due to chip race-offs, it is impossible for the race offs to account for such a large variance.

Either the dealers cocked up with some chip change overs or someone has been a little naughty. I'm sure security and monitoring will be extra tight next year. Certainly didnt effect the end result though. Jamie Gold proved unstoppable with a fine display of poker.

WSOP

2006-08-26T11:28:00.000-07:00

The WSOP (World Series of Poker) is the major event of the poker calender.

Originating at Binion's Casino in 1970, it has run every year on an ever increasing scale.

Harrah's bought Binion's in 2004 and moved the event to their casino The Rio (for the 2005 & 2006 events).

The WSOP is a series of poker tournaments of various formats and of various buy-in levels (ranging most recently from $1000 to $50,000). Winning any of these poker tournaments earns you not only lots of money, but also a very prestigious WSOP Bracelet. Winning several bracelets is often seen as the benchmark of success for professional poker players.

The players with the most bracelets are Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, and Phil Hellmuth, all with 10 bracelets each.

The main event of the WSOP is a $10,000 buy-in tounament of NL Holdem. In 2006 this event attracted over 8000 entries and the 1st Prize was $12,000,000

Recent Previous Winners of the Main Event :-

2006 :- Jamie Gold
2005 :- Joseph Hachem (online qualifier through Poker Stars)
2004:- Greg Raymer (online qualifier through Poker Stars)
2003 :- Chris Moneymaker (online qualifier through Poker Stars)
2002 :- Robert Varkonyi

The most expensive buy-in at the WSOP is the $50,000 HORSE event. This is almost exclusively entered by poker professionals (mainly due to the high buy-in). Winning this HORSE event is much coveted by poker pros. The 2006 winner was long time pro Chip Reese.

Razz

2006-08-26T10:40:00.000-07:00

What is Razz? How do you play razz ?

Razz is a Poker game similar to 7 card Stud, but where you are trying to get the lowest possible hand. Each player first gets 2 down cards and 1 upcard. There is then a round of betting. Then a further 3 upcards are dealt (each followed by a round of betting), then a final downcard is dealt (followed by a final round of betting).

1) Best starting hand is A23, Worst is KKK

2) Ranking is from high card down, not low card up. IE 6,5,4,3,2 beats 7,5,4,3,A, because 6 is lower. (therefore 234 is a better starting hand than A27)

3) Generally speaking you dont want to start too many hands that dont have 3 lowish cards (eg 8 x x or 9 x x, where x is lower than 8 or 9), this however does not include short-handed play or baby-bluffing.

4) Pairs are always bad. Two pairs or sets are awful. If you 2 pair your board with at least 1 pair high then you probably need to get out of dodge fast. (the highest pair will always top your low). Simarly a high set will top your low (eg with A56QQQ2, you hand is low to your Queen).

5) If 3rd street is low, and you have a look and get a low 4th street (with others drawing high, or pairing) then this is pretty much always bluff-able, regardless of your whole cards (ie bluff you baby upcards if they look ahead of other upcards)

6) If you are sat to the right of the bring in and it is folded to you, it is almost always worth raising (ie it is an easy steal) (Note :- the bring-in is always the highest card in Razz). This is just another version of bluffing with the baby 3rd street (ie when your 1st upcard is the lowest of any players left to act)

7) Unlike Omaha H/L and Stud H/L, there is no min requirement for the eligibilty of a low hand, so you always will have a hand, it is just how it compares to opponents. Keep a close eye on their upcards

8) Your opponents 3rd highest face-up card is going to top their low. eg if they are showing 4TJK, their low will go at least to the ten. This can be highlighted by some recent ridiculous calls people have made against me :-

Example A) Opponent shows upcards of xKKT, I show A269. I know a low to the ten is their best. I opened the betting, but when it comes to 6th street he still calls. Now I would have to have both hole cards, and 7th street higher than a ten to lose (or a very unlikely combination of pairs/trips). As I opened bidding, or even stayed in the pot, he should know he simple cannot win, and should have got out of the pot on the 2nd king at the latest.

Example B) Opponent shows upcards 378T, I show 2345. I have 68 in the hole. So my hand is low to the 6. His 3rd highest upcard is 7, therefore I know it is impossible for my hand to be beaten. (ie I can bet freely)

9) Try to count the key lows, namely A's and 2's which are dead. On a crucial 6 or 7 high, knowing how many of these are played could be enough to know you're are safe. IE if you have counted all A's and 2's as played (including what you still have), then you know your 7 low cannot be beaten (ie his best hand is 34567). If you have counted all the Aces, then you know that your 6 low cannot be beaten (ie 23456 is his best hand).

Good Luck, You can play razz at Full Tilt Poker (Bonus Code = 'SUNSHINE' will get you a 100% bonus)

Inside Straight Draw

2006-08-26T09:52:00.000-07:00

Otherwise known as a Gutshot

A standard Gutshot has 4 outs.

From the flop (2 cards to come) there is a 16.5% chance of hitting it.
From the turn (1 card to come) there is a 8.7% chance of hitting it.

To put this in perspective :-
If the pot is 500, and he bets 100, then it costs you 14.3% to call (ie you could call this amount from the flop)
If the pot is 500, and he bets only 60 chips, then it costs you 9.7% to call. (Even for such a low amount from the turn you still get negative equity as there is only a 8.7% chance of hitting your out)

Open Ended Straight-Flush Draw

2006-08-26T09:16:00.000-07:00

A standard open ended straight-flush draw would be 15 outs

From the flop (2 cards to come) the odds are 54.1%
From the turn (only 1 card to come) the odds are 32.6%

So from the flop you always have positive equity for any call

And from the turn it would have to be a bet of below the pot size to justify the call (bet pot would cost you 33%)

Open Ended Straight Draw

2006-08-26T09:07:00.000-07:00

An standard open ended straight draw would be 8 outs

From the flop (2 cards to come) the odds are 31.5%
From the turn (only 1 card to come) the odds are 17.4%

So from the flop the bet would definately have to be less than the size of the pot in order to have positive equity for a call (if he bets pot, it is 33% for you to call)

And from the turn it would have to be a low bet to justify it eg If pot is 500, and he bets 100, then it costs you 14.3% to call and thus you have postive equity (lower call cost than the 17.4%)

Flush Draws

2006-08-26T08:29:00.000-07:00

Moving along from Positive/Negative equity, lets take a look at it in action on a flush draw:-

A typical flush draw in holdem is 9 outs. (ie you have suited hole cards, and 2 cards of this same suit come on the flop, leaving 9 cards of that suit)

Now, you have a 35% chance of hitting one of your 9 outs if you are drawing from the flop.
So, if someone bets the pot (which will be a cost of 33% for you to call), then you have positive equity for a call ('I have the pot odds to call')
However, you only just have it. Therefore if the pot was say 3000 chips, and he went all in for his remaining 6000 chips, you should know immediately that this would be a negative equity call.

Once the turn comes, this changes. Your chance of hitting one of 9 cards is now only 19.6% (because only river to come). Therefore any bet in the region of the size of the pot should instantly ring alarm bells (to call a pot size bet is 33%). If you call here for this amount you are getting massive negative equity.
If the person above had checked the flop, and then launched his 6000 chips in on the turn, then obviously I do not need to state how bad a decision this would be to call. (Just to ram it home, it is a 40% cost for a 19.6% chance of winning).

Positive/Negative Equity

2006-08-26T08:09:00.000-07:00

Positive and Negative Equity are terms in Poker which relate to pot odds.

Positive equity is basically when you are being given a good price for your call
eg the liklihood of you winning the pot is 40%, but the cost of calling the bet is only 30%

Negative equity is basically when you are getting poor value for the price of the call
eg the liklihood of you winning the pot is 11%, but the cost of calling the bet is 33%

In poker, if you are able to spot correctly the positive and negative equity calls then you are at a distinct advantage.

Outside of poker, Negative equity is essentially how all bookmakers make money. They take an event where the actual liklihood of it occurring is say an estimated 20-1 chance. They then offer odds at a margin below this. eg they offer odds of 9-1. In a simple 2 possible outcome event they might offer 4-5 on one outcome (the favourite) and evens on the other, thus giving the book (as a whole) positive equity for them, but negative equity for the punter.

What is HORSE?

2006-08-24T11:55:00.000-07:00

Horse is a mixed format game combining 5 different forms of Poker, namely the following :-

H = Holdem
O = Omaha Hi-Lo
R = Razz
S = Stud
E = Eights or Better (which is basically Stud Hi-Lo)

These are all LIMIT games.

In cash games you normally change format after a set amount of hands or rotations. It is often changed every 8 hands (which is one rotation at a full table). Sometimes mistakes occur in the transistions between games, particulary from Razz to Stud (so pay attention to what game you are actually playing :)).

In tounament play the game format usually changes accordinng to a fixed time interval. With live poker that interval is often 30 mins. With online poker it is often every 15 minutes. In reality the time interval for the changes could be anything from 5 minutes (for more speed/turbo events) up to 1 hour (for the WSOP Horse Event).

In some tournaments the final table will just be played in one format (in the WSOP Horse, for example, the final table has previously been played only in NL Holdem).

Not many online sites offer HORSE. But currently 2 that do are Full Tilt and Poker Stars. You can get a 100% bonus at Full Tilt Poker (up to $600) using bonus code 'SUNSHINE'.

I will be writing an article on Razz in the near future for those keen to learn

As well as HORSE, you may also see HOSE or HOE (same acronyms as above). Sometimes you will also here the expression HALF-AND-HALF, which is usually half holdem and then half stud or omaha, depending on preference.

A Female Winner of WSOP 2007 ?

2006-08-23T20:04:00.000-07:00

My other half has been getting hooked on poker recently. She has played a lot of Poker Stars $1 45-seater SNGs. Quite successfully. She also plays on Jungle Poker as they have a ladies freeroll (a free tourney with prize money)

Jungle Poker is a good looking site, and they do a weekly depositors freeroll, and other weekly freerolls

You can get a 100% deposit bonus using Bonus Code = 'LIONHEART'

Good Luck.

Omaha Hi-Lo

2006-08-23T19:34:00.000-07:00

Omaha Hi Lo Basics :-

Each player starts with 4 hole cards. You must play exactly 2 of these hole cards to make a low hand, and exactly 2 of these hole cards to make a high hand. The board gets dealt the same as holdem, and the hand ranking is the same.

Playing exactly 2 cards means that if 4 clubs are on the board, and you have one club in your hand, then you dont have a flush, because you must play 2 cards, not just 1. Similarly you cant play 3 or 4 cards from your hand. It must always be 2.

Example of playing only 2 cards :- If trips come on the board eg KKK74, then 55QJ wins over A247 (the first hand has KKK55, but the second hand does not have a boat, it only make AKK77). Neither hand has a qualifying low hand.

A low(lo) hand is one of five different cards all of 8 or below (eg A2347). Flushes and Straights do not count against your low. Therefore the best low hand is a wheel (A2345). You will always have a high hand. High hands are the same as in holdem (using 2 of your hole cards)

The best starting hand in Omaha Hi/Lo is AA23 (AA is good for your high and A2, or A3 is good for your low)
The worst starting hand is 2222 (because you cannot make a low, and your hole cards for your high are 22)
Any trips in the hole are bad, with the possible exception of AAA2.

The ideal hands to bet are if you have a good or nut low AND a good or nut high. Obviously waiting for the ideal world of having a nut high and nut low might not always be the best strategy, however as a starting point it isnt that bad as A234, A237, A246 type hands obviously have a better chance of making it than many others.

Some Further tips :-

1) Most newcomers to Omaha will invariable start along the lines of playing A2xx type hands. Alot of players often stick to this almost relentlessly. The net result is that if a pot is going to be quartered then it is often more likely to favour the high hand.

2) Dont go crazy on the flop just because you have hit 2 pr or a set, getting out drawn in Omaha is so much more likely than Holdem, for very obvious reasons. If you are going to bet your set heavy, then make sure you do it on flops with the least possible potential draws.

3) If your going to move a large volume of cash in to a pot, then probably the best time is this :- There are 4 cards on the board, 2 of which are low. You are sat on the nut high, of a type which is statisically very unlikely to get outdrawn. Then move your chips in now. Often you will get calls from someone solely on a nut low draw, which obviously means you are a great chance of pulling the whole pot, not just half.

4) Remember the rake. If you are in a pot with one other and it is very likely (from the board and the betting) that you are going to split the pot (half to one player with high, half to one player with low), then remember your bets will simply increase the rake and you will be left with less than you started with.

Doyles Room

2006-08-23T16:22:00.000-07:00

Have been playing quite a bit at Doyles Room lately. It is a good looking site, and there are bountys on the heads of Doyle Brunson himself, and Todd Brunson and Mike Caro. (ie knock them out of the tourney and you get a cash prize, plus bragging rights :))

You can get a 25% bonus from them using bonus code = 'ELEPHANT'

World Championship of Online Poker

2006-08-23T16:07:00.000-07:00

Poker Stars are doing there own equilvalent to the WSOP. It is called WCOOP (World Championship of Online Poker). All Events have a high guaranteed prize pool. Some of the buy-ins are quite high if you are starting off, but they do offer fairly cheap qualifiers to each event. The WCOOP schedule is below. Good Luck for those who enter.

Event.......Date...........Game.....................Buy in
1.............Sep16..........Razz......................$215
2.............Sep17..........NLHE.................. .$530
3.............Sep18..........PLO w/rebuys........$320
4.............Sep19..........NLHE Matchplay....$215
5.............Sep20..........Limit Omaha Hi/lo..$530
6.............Sep21..........NLHE w/rebuys......$215
7.............Sep22..........LimitHoldem..........$215
8.............Sep22..........Horse.....................$215
9.............Sep23..........PL Holdem..............$530
10...........Sep24...........NLHE...................$1050
11...........Sep25...........Limit Stud.............$320
12...........Sep26...........PLO Hi/Lo.............$320
13...........Sep27...........6h PL Holdem........$320
14...........Sep28...........Limit Stud H/L......$530
15...........Sep29...........PLO.......................$530
16...........Sep30...........Horse....................$5200
17...........Sep30...........Limit Holdem........$1050
18...........Oct01...........NLHE (Main Event).$2500