Looking for poker player statistics?

Official Poker Rankings keeps poker player statistics for rooms like PokerStars, FullTilt and several others with 15 hour updates. The registration is free and you would be hard pressed to find this service elsewhere for the price. All of the statistics you can want like ROI, Average Buy-In, In The Money, etc. etc. They are all here for absolutely FREE!

You can track your tournament success all the way back to the previous years, months, and even weeks. It’s a nice way to know exactly how well you are running at the tables. The site can be a bit slow at times which can be annoying but you cannot beat it for the information it has available for poker players. All forms of poker are tracked from No Limit and Limit Hold’em to Omaha Hi/Lo and Stud.

Check out Official Poker Rankings

The following sites are places where poker players can be staked. You will most likely need to provide your statistics to potential backers. You can easily do this via Bluff Magazine, Official Poker Rankings or Shark Scope.

Here is the list in no particular order:

   1. www.teamstakeapokerplayer.com

   2. www.premierstaking.com

   3. www.rounderauction.com

   4. www.westakeyou.com

   5. www.stakeashark.com

   6. www.roundersparadise.com

   7. www.neverbeg.com

   8. www.psstakes.com/forums

   9. www.cardsharkfrenzy.com

 10. www.pokerstaking.com

Good luck!

Using position to your advantage is an absolute must in online poker and live cash games. Each time I see limper’s and weak players enter a pot and I have position my first thought is to RAISE. Now that doesn’t mean that I want to raise with absolutely nothing but it does mean that if I have a small or middle pair, suited connectors or KQ I want to put pressure on them. Why let the weak players enter the pot when you can potentially take it down immediately uncontested? That is the kind of question you need to be asking yourself when you sit down at a table or play online poker.

Position equals leverage in my book. Position means that I am the last to act and by raising the pot I put the pressure back on those that limped in. So what happens if I get re-raised? Well, you then need to make a decision as to what kind of hands and what kind of player is re-raising you? You need to be able to put them on a range of hands and act accordingly. You also need to ask yourself how much is it going to cost me to call? What kind of chip stack do I have if I decide to make the call? Lastly, you need to determine what are the implied odds of making the call and I hit my hand?

All of these are legitimate scenarios to consider in your decision making. Poker strategy comes in all kinds of shapes, forms, and sizes. Position is one of those tools of poker that you must learn to use to your advantage to be successful. When used wisely by good players it makes a world of difference and allows you to accumulate chips throughout the poker tournament or cash game against weaker players.

CIII

Here is precisely why you should almost NEVER minimum raise. You have no idea of where you are at in the hand. My opponent, “Tattoo”, had no business making the call with A9os to begin with. I raised it up because I honestly did not believe anyone had a hand. Sure enough my intuition proved correct. I also caught a ridiculous flop with the quad fours. You will notice that I bet out immediately knowing that my opponent had no choice but to put me on a high pair or AK at worst based on my pre-flop re-raise.  The next hand I flopped the nut flush and took the rest of his stack.

PokerStars Game #15265234283: Tournament #77329107, $4.00+$0.40 Hold’em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2008/02/13 - 17:05:06 (ET)
Table ‘77329107 15′ 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: Rene_Rogelio (5865 in chips)
Seat 2: dimmenschox (2840 in chips)
Seat 3: wsray (1520 in chips)
Seat 4: mwdd (1560 in chips)
Seat 5: GaUUUUs (2100 in chips)
Seat 6: tirouge77 (2600 in chips)
Seat 7: nonjeton (4710 in chips)
Seat 8: Curtom (1610 in chips)
Seat 9: bauchtattoo (2155 in chips)
Curtom: posts small blind 15
bauchtattoo: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Curtom [4h 4c]
Rene_Rogelio: folds
dimmenschox: calls 30
wsray: folds
mwdd: folds
GaUUUUs: folds
tirouge77: calls 30
nonjeton: folds
Curtom: calls 15
bauchtattoo: raises 30 to 60
dimmenschox: calls 30
tirouge77: calls 30
Curtom: raises 180 to 240
bauchtattoo: calls 180
dimmenschox: folds
tirouge77: calls 180
*** FLOP *** [4d 4s 3h]
Curtom: bets 120
bauchtattoo: raises 1795 to 1915 and is all-in
tirouge77: folds
Curtom: calls 1250 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [4d 4s 3h] [2h]
*** RIVER *** [4d 4s 3h 2h] [7d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Curtom: shows [4h 4c] (four of a kind, Fours)
bauchtattoo: shows [Ad 9h] (a pair of Fours)
Curtom collected 3520 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3520 | Rake 0
Board [4d 4s 3h 2h 7d]
Seat 1: Rene_Rogelio folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 2: dimmenschox folded before Flop
Seat 3: wsray folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 4: mwdd folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 5: GaUUUUs folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 6: tirouge77 folded on the Flop
Seat 7: nonjeton (button) folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 8: Curtom (small blind) showed [4h 4c] and won (3520) with four of a kind, Fours
Seat 9: bauchtattoo (big blind) showed [Ad 9h] and lost with a pair of Fours

Remember to always read your cards from the highest to the lowest to avoid misreads.

Here are the Razz hand rankings from A2345 to 23578:

CIII

Doyle Brunson, also known as Texas Dolly, (born August 10, 1933 in Longworth, Fisher County, Texas) is an American poker player who has played professionally for over 50 years. He is a two-time World Series of Poker main event winner and the author of several poker books.

The first player to earn $1 million in poker tournaments, Brunson has won ten World Series of Poker bracelets throughout his career, tied with Johnny Chan for second all-time, one behind Phil Hellmuth’s 11. He is also one of only four players to have won the main event at the World Series of Poker consecutively, which he did in 1976 and 1977, and one of only five players to win both the WSOP Main Event and a World Poker Tour title. In January 2006, BLUFF magazine voted Brunson the #1 most influential force in the world of poker.

An argument can certainly be made that Doyle Brunson is the best all-around poker player to have ever played the game.

CIII

Here are the best poker forums that I like to visit from time to time. I would consider them amongst the best poker forums available.

1. http://www.twoplustwo.com/: This is the best poker forum on the web in my opinion. It is headed up by David Sklansky, Mason Malmuth and Ray Zee. Tons of activity and verbal sparing about the game we all love.
2. http://www.cardschat.com/: Good forum with very active threads and energetic readers. Poker Strategy, Poker Articles, and Poker Reviews.
3. http://www.thepokerforum.com/: Very active threads and community. Online Poker, Poker Strategy, Tournament Strategy. The readers can be very feisty at times so be prepared for some heated discussions.
4. http://www.flopturnriver.com/: This is one of my favorites. The community is spirited and quick to contribute. They also run 2 weekly tournaments and dish out a very nice trophy to the winner at the end of the “tour” on PokerStars.

There you have it my favorite poker forums.

I am in the money tonight. Only a few bucks but I was able to squeak out a cash in my nightly $4.40 (180 Max Players) tournament. Things started off really slow. I didn’t play a hand until after the first break believe it or not. There has been a definite change in the typical aggressive nature of the players in this tournament. I will get to that later.

I was able to double up when I pushed with and hit quads.

Sweet!

From there I double up again with a set of eights and then petered out after the second break. I had pocket against and the flop came down with a king. It was all over but at least I cashed. I had about $5600 and either I was going to double up or get up. No since in toying around when I am already in the money.

Anyhow, the play over the past 3 months in this tourney has really gotten hyper aggressive. That is one of the reasons I am so selective in my starting hands. Before I would call small raises in position and with small pairs. Now everything is ALL IN pre-flop. Don’t know when or how this started but it seems to be the norm now. Makes no difference to me either way. I still cash at my normal rate and if I pick up some cards early it’s a great way to accumulate chips even faster.

I’ll be back at it tomorrow night just the same though. What a crazy game.

CIII

When should you fold? This is the single toughest question players ask themselves on a daily basis. The inherent problem is that the answer is not always the same. Different situations, tactics, and people tend to blur the lines. There is no straight answer for this question because there are so many variables involved. However, the one constant that I try to stick to is discipline. In other words, when my “instincts” kick in and tell me, “You are beat!” I know it’s time to muck my hand. Too many times I see players that know they are beat pay off the big bet on the river or completely bust out when it could have been avoided.

It is not always easy to do the “right thing” but you need to train yourself to do it regardless. Not losing money is every bit as valuable to you as winning a big pot. When you begin to think of your stack as an investment and money you do not lose as a savings you begin to understand this concept much better.

Remember, some of the best hands ever played were folded in the end.

“Discretion is the better part of valor”

There is no shame in that.

CIII

Lately, I had a very good poker buddy of mine offer to stake me in the WSOP. I kinda laughed until I realized he was dead serious. We worked together for a few years and talked about poker almost every day at lunch.

Recently, I took a peek at my tournament statistics over the past 3 years and indeed they are above average and even impressive for an online tournament player. I cash in a little over 18% of the large Multi-Table tournaments with 180 or more players . A “good” player cashes anywhere from 10 - 12%. So, I am above the curve for sure. Out of those cashes I make the Final Table around 5% of the time which is an outstanding rate considering I do not play that often.

A few of the staking sites are appealing to me although I am still doing my homework on them. The biggest thing for me though is that my statistics prove out my ability and are easily seen online for any potential stakers. I am primarily looking to enter the larger $200+ buy-in tournaments with a 50/50 split to the backer.

Only time will tell if I decide to get staked or not but I am defintely up to the challenge. I will keep you posted as I move forward on my journey into the world of being a staked player. In the mean time I have an interview with www.westakeyou.com that I will be posting very soon.

Take care,

CIII