Lately I have noticed an influx of pre-flop All-In plays in the early levels of my Sit N Go tourney. This poker tournament has 180 players maximum with a $4.40 buy-in. These players are making these kinds of moves from the first card usually until the first break. I take very careful mental notes of what hands are being shown by these players and most times they are turning up middle pairs and lower. So how do you deal with this kind of aggression?

You trap that’s how!

Laying down pocket tens or worse is one thing but if I pick up pocket Jacks or better there is a good chance that I will be calling against this kind of player. It takes a bit of heart to do that early in an online tournament but if you have a good read / profile on a player you are likely to be well ahead pre-flop and that is exactly where you want to be. So, once you have flagged a player as being “over the top” with his All-In pushes don’t be afraid to call him down with Jacks or better. Somebody’s got to do it. It might as well be you.

Curtis III

Yes! Your pocket sevens just flopped a set with a rainbow board. Now what? You bet that’s what! Bet your set! One of the most common poker tournament mistakes players make is not betting there hand when they flop a set. Why should you bet? Because it can become very obvious when you call a large bet by your opponent post flop when he has an over pair. He may then slow down on the turn and you may not see a dime on the river.

Not good!

If you bet out your set, especially with a raised pot pre-flop, it is likely your opponent will not put you on a set, particularly with low cards on the board, and ultimately pay off your value bet on the river. This allows you to maximize your profit on a well played hand and that is what poker is all about. Maximum profits! Bet your set and you will be glad you did.

Curtis III

Looking for more RSS traffic to your poker site? Well look no further. You can register with rssHugger at http://www.rsshugger.com/ for free.

This site allows you to add your poker blog to there database for free with very little effort at all. Once you are setup you can be specific in what search words are used and how your blog is categorized so that users can find your poker blog quickly and sign up to your feed. It’s as simple as that. In less than 5 minutes you are up and running.

Deuces,

CIII

Andy Beal is the Millionaire banker that plays poker against “The Corporation”

Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:HET) said today the 2008 World Series of Poker Presented by Milwaukee’s Best Light and televised exclusively on ESPN will – for the first time ever – begin and end with $10,000 buy-in World Championship events and feature a total of eight $10,000 championships. In addition, the 55-event schedule for 2008 includes a total of eight $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournaments, which traditionally draw the largest fields except for the Main Event. The WSOP has also added a second start day for the first of the $1,500 no-limit competitions to accommodate the expected number of entrants.
“This is our most exciting schedule yet,” said Jeffrey Pollack, commissioner of the WSOP. “Both amateur and professional poker players will have new opportunities to compete for a WSOP bracelet and can choose from the widest variety of games and buy-ins ever offered in one poker tournament and certainly at the WSOP.

“We’re holding steady at 55 events this year,” said Pollack. “But, we’ve mixed it up a bit to keep it interesting for our players and fans.” The 2008 WSOP starts May 30 with the $10,000 buy-in World Championship of Pot-Limit Hold’Em and ends July 16 with the Final Table of the $10,000 buy-in World Championship of No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em – best known as the WSOP Main Event.

The six other $10,000 buy-in events – all World Championship competitions – include: Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’Em; Seven-Card Stud; Limit Hold’Em; Omaha Hi-Low Split Eight or Better; Pot-Limit Omaha; and a new Mixed Event. The Mixed Event will feature eight variations of poker: Limit and No-Limit Hold’Em; Omaha Hi-Low and Pot-Limit Omaha; Seven Card Stud;
Razz; Seven Card Hi-Low Split; and 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball.

The second event of the 2008 WSOP is a $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament with two starting days – May 31 and June 1. Pre-registration for the 2008 WSOP can be made beginning in February on-site at the Main Cage of the Rio® All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas or at http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/. In addition to the largest cash prizes in poker, winners of each of the 55 events will receive an exclusive World Series of Poker gold bracelet crafted by the luxury Swiss watchmaker CORUM. Last year, 54,288 entrants who ranged in age from 21 (bracelet winner Steve Billirakis) to 94 (Main Event contestant Jack Ury) competed for the poker world’s largest total prize pool of nearly $160 million.

The 2008 WSOP will be staged inside the Rio Convention Center from May 30 through July 16. WSOP officials plan a “soft opening” of the tournament room on May 28 and 29 for players to register early and play in satellite tournaments and cash games. “The poker tent is gone,” said Pollack. “We heard folks loud and clear last year, and there will be no tents used for tournament play at the 2008 WSOP.”On July 2, and in conjunction with the WSOP, Oscar nominee Don Cheadle and poker professional Annie Duke will host the second annual Ante Up For Africa charity tournament at the Rio.

Last year’s AUFA event featured dozens of Hollywood celebrities and poker professionals and raised more than $700,000 for charity. Ante Up For Africa is a non-profit organization founded in 2006 by Cheadle, Duke and Norman Epstein and is dedicated to raising money and awareness for Africans in need. July 3 is the first of four start days for the 2008 Main Event. Last year, a total of 6,358 entrants competed for a Main Event prize pool of $59.8 million. Players may choose their Main Event start dates as long as seats are available on the selected dates.

More information about the World Series of Poker is available at the Web site http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/.

Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. is the world’s largest provider of branded casino entertainment. Since its beginning in Reno, Nevada, nearly 70 years ago, Harrah’s has grown through development of new properties, expansions and acquisitions, and now owns or manages casinos on four continents. The Company’s properties operate primarily under the Harrah’s, Caesars and Horseshoe brand names; Harrah’s also owns the London Clubs International family of casinos. Harrah’s Entertainment is focused on building loyalty and value with its customers through a unique combination of great service, excellent products, unsurpassed distribution, operational excellence and technology leadership.

For more information, please visit http://www.harrahs.com/.

(Courtesy of Poker Source Online)

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PokerStars announced this week that the payTru Visa debit card, an account funding method it introduced in February, will no longer be offered as of December 14.

Deuces,

CIII

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Still looking for a poker tools that makes sense? Well look no further. Poker Academy Pro has all the bells and whistles you want and more! I’ve tried them all from Hoyle Casino to WIN Texas Hold’em and none of the others compare to Poker Academy Pro. Poker Academy Pro is the best poker simulator on the market. With Poker Academy Pro you can simulate any tournament or cash game structure. Poker Academy’s AI is modeled after the world renowned “Vex Bot” created by the University of Alberta’s Poker Research Team. Poker Academy also allows you to choose from several different bots of varying degrees of aggression to customize your tournament or cash game table for the maximum poker challenge. Poker Academy also comes with an “advisor” that will tell you what your best play is at that time against your opponents based on there history and tendencies at your table.

How many programs can do that?

The software is easily downloadable via the Poker Academy site at: http://www.poker-academy.com/

System Requirements: Windows ME, XP, 2000, NT or MAC OS 10.2.8 (Jaguar) or higher. 128MB RAM, 200MB Hard Drive, and 800mhz CPU or better.

Once you are done installing the software you will then be able to enter your registration code and you are ready to go. Poker Academy automatically downloads any updates necessary and will continue to do so as updates become available.

Another feature that makes Poker Academy a very useful tool is it’s endless ability to analyze your play. The more you play Poker Academy the more it learns about your game. It actually will adjust it’s AI to maximize it’s strategy against you. Those other programs can’t quite make that claim.

Still want more?

How about importing your cash game hand history so you can really see where your tendencies are taking your game? That’s right. You can import hand histories from the most popular poker hosts directly into Poker Academy and get instant feedback in a matter of minutes. Poker Academy breaks down every hand for every player at your table giving you useable information to maximize your profits every session. If your having a few guy over for a home game it even has a built in tournament clock to help manage your game. You setup the structure and Poker Academy will do the rest!

If that isn’t enough you can try out Poker Academy online and test your newly learned skills against other Poker Academy owners for FREE! Want to sharpen your heads-up game? Play against the advanced heads-up specialist bots.

So how much does this power package cost?

Well, Poker Academy only run you $129 (US) and is well worth the price. Consider the money you spend entering tournaments and playing the typical session at a ring game and it is a nominal fee compared to what you will earn and learn with this product. I highly recommend Poker Academy Pro. It has improved my game and it will help improve your game too. I give this product an 9 out of 10 overall. Excellent buy for those looking for quality poker analysis software.

Deuces,

CIII

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Phil Ivey is up over 800k in winnings online. Most of his winnings have been won playing No Limit and Pot Limit Omaha.

No surprise to this writer as Phil Ivey is one of the best High Stakes cash game players in the world.

Deuces,

CIII

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I got back to the “promised land” with a mediocre stack around 13k. I was able to double up immediately when my AQs sucked out against AK. A much needed chip boost and it allowed me to stay in contention. I busted out 5th when my AKs ran into KK. A bit unfortunate but I was short stacked with only 19k in chips and the blinds coming down on me. Buy-In: $4.00/$0.40
180 players
Total Prize Pool: $720.00
Tournament started - 2007/12/09 - 11:42:06 (ET)

Dear Curtom,

You finished the tournament in 5th place.
A $46.80 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

You earned 97.70 tournament leader points in this tournament.
For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site at

http://www.pokerstars.com/tlb_tournament_rankings.html

PokerStars now has a real money version of it’s host software available to Mac users. Previously they only had a play money version available. This gives the Mac users the ability to play real money tables.

Here are the Mac minimum system requirements:

• PowerPC G4 or G5 or Intel Mac
• 512MB RAM
• 1024×768 screen resolution or higher
• 60MB free disk space
• 56k dial-up Internet connection

Here are the Mac recommended system requirements:

• PowerPC G4 1Ghz or faster, PowerPC G5 or Intel Mac
• 1024MB RAM
• 1024×768 screen resolution or higher
• 100MB free disk space
• 128kbps or faster DSL or Cable Internet connection

Complete installation procedures are available at:

http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/download/mac/

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