Apparently Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho forgot they are also representing the game of poker as well as their families when they signed up for this show. I gotta tell you after watching the first episode their performance was pathetic. They came off as extremely superficial, know it all and slimy.

First, they start off by lying about what they do for a living and then IMMEDIATELY get caught! What part of BOTH OF YOU HAVE BEEN ON TV BEFORE don’t they understand? It was an ill conceived and deceptive plan that had them looking stupid in rather short order. I won’t bore you with the lame details of their first episode caper other than to tell you that they did not get eliminated.

That’s too bad.

I am going to start off this book review of “Check Raising the Devil” (CRD) by Mike Matusow and say it was plain fantastic. To be brutally honest with you I was not a big fan of Mike Matusow a few years ago. I thought he was loud and obnoxious for the sake of being loud and obnoxious. However, long before reading his book, I did hear him mention several times about having a mental disorder and almost instantly I had compassion for him the more I learned about his condition.

CRD takes you through the life and times of one Mike Matusow. From his humble beginnings in a trailer park to his fast rise to fame and fortune playing high stakes poker and living the high life. His entire poker career happened on a complete and utter fluke. Mike details his addiction to meth and other drugs and how he attempted to medicate  his condition on his own.

Eventually Mike lands in jail and has an epiphany and begins to piece his life back together again when he is released six months later. I won’t give you all of the juicy details but I will tell you that I could not put the book down. If you are looking for great poker stories form the high stakes and poker tournaments you will find a few. However, the book is not about poker at all. This book is about life and overcoming our shortcomings to make better choices and be better human beings. In my opinion, at least so far, Mike Matusow has done that. Just as he does at the poker table Mike lets it all hang out in his book. His “straight no chaser” approach works very well.

Love him or hate him this book is a great read. BUY IT!

I picked up the latest edition of BluffMagazine to find a featured article about another new poker show called Two Months Two Million. Basically it is a reality show based upon four online poker players that move to Las Vegas and attempt to fulfill the title of the show. The objective is fairly obvious. These guys are trying to win $2 Million dollars in a window of 60 days give or take a day or two. Before I go any further I gotta tell you that this is a rather tall order considering that you have to play at high stakes just about 24/7 to achieve this goal. The problem is that these guys are already known entities in the online poker world and they admit that it will indeed be a tall task. It is going to be tough for them to get action above the $50 / $25 limits because of their previous success.

If you thought these guys were just internet poker players think again. They also have fared well in live poker tournaments too with one of the players taking down $583k so far in 2009  thanks to a WSOP 4th place finish. Honestly, I do not expect any of them to achieve the goal they set at all. However, I do believe that they can do something even more important and that is they can help dispel the myth that online poker and poker in general is simply a game of luck with no strategic value. If the show can convey that message to the audience over the long run it will be another small step in the right direction.

The show is set in a gorgeous Las Vegas spread with the obligatory monster wide screen HD display on the main wall that projects their PC’s screens in quadrants for all to see. The war room is setup so that each of the players can sit side-by-side while going at it online with their opponents. They also do interviews and their is plenty of footage of their every day life as well to balance out the poker playing and poker talk. The show has got a shot and I believe the non-poker playing viewers will genuinely be interested in it. It’s worth a look.

I had to sit down and watch the latest offering from our friends at Full Tilt. Admittedly I was skeptical about this show from the get go. Unfortunately, after the first five minutes it turned out to be exactly as I suspected. Basically the show is an on-going commercial for Full Tilt. Don’t get me wrong I happen to play on Full Tilt and enjoy it. However, poker in a “game show” format simply does not work and that is how it is presented.

First, the average schmoe (me) has to win a Turbo Satellite on Full Tilt. The good part is that these satellites are absolutely free and require no deposit. Second, if you should be lucky enough to win your way into the Super Satellite for the trip to Las Vegas you will play a normal Full Tilt tournament against others that have done the same. The winner gets a 5 day package and $500 spending money at the Golden Nugget in down town Las Vegas.

I have been to the Golden Nugget several times and it is a very nice hotel indeed. Once you arrive you will be interviewed by the shows producers and then if you are picked for the show you will air on prime time.

The game goes like this:

You are introduced and asked to pick a Full Tilt Pro that is hidden behind doors with an Spade, Diamond, Heart or Club on the front. Lo and behold the guy picked Phil Ivey. Damn! He then proceeds to sit down and gets deal Pocket Aces the first hand and wins a small pot. Then he is dealt Pocket Queens the second hand. Ivey picks up [A][8] and pushes and the schmoe insta-calls. Game over and $40k in hand.

The next match is worth $200k but if you lose you got home with nothing. The last match is worth $1 Million with the same consequences. Ali Nejad does a decent job as the host but the other guy is simply fluff with really bad jokes. Of course there is the obligatory eye candy to escort the Full Tilt players from their doors to the table.

Overall, I give the show a life span of three weeks max. It’s pretty lame to me.

I just got done reading Poker Wizards by Warwick Dunnett.  This book is not your typical poker book and I welcome Warwicks approach to bringing you useful information in a very easy to read manner. You will not find a whole lot of number crunching algorithms or anything of that nature in Poker Wizards. However, what you do find is a wealth of knowledge from some of the best No Limit poker professionals in the world.

Yes, Warwick Dunnett sat down with the likes of Dan Negreanu, Mike Sexton, Kathy Liebert, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson and many others and asked them to share their thoughts at length on how they approach the game of poker. Just the idea that you get that kind of in site is extremely appealing and informative. Warwick chimes in at the beginning of each chapter introducing each of the “Poker Wizards”  with a brief bio and how they started on their journey.

Lastly, Warwick himself chimes in with his own take on playing in poker tournaments and cash games and the various facets of play such as:

• Discipline
• Strategy
• Money Management
• Online Poker

Again, this book is an extremely easy read and one that has plenty of meaningful content with no fluff. I particularly enjoyed the sections on Mike Sexton and Kathy Liebert as they explored various levels of thinking and the “why?” in how they approach No Limit poker tournaments. I recommend this book for intermediate and advanced players as the reader should have a good understanding of poker concepts and fundamental strategy and play.

If you are looking for software that will track your play and crunch numbers on your game inside and out then Poker Tracker 3 is the application for you. At a reasonable $55 bucks Poker Tracker 3 gives you a myriad of analysis on your poker game. You simply import your hand history into this application and it does the rest. Here are a few features you get with Poker Tracker 3 :

• Faster imports, faster stat retrieval, and threading so that you can multitask within PokerTracker™.
• A modern graphical user interface (GUI). New look but the same great layout of data and ease of use!
• A re-designed database: more Stats, more filters, and very scalable so that less databases are needed
• A built in HUD for increased performance with your table overlay.
• Hand Re-Play

That ought to be more than enough for even the most scrutinizing of players. There are other products available such as Poker Office but Poker Tracker 3 is the best of the best in my opinion. I downloaded the demo and installed it in minutes and was ready to rock and roll. This is a great piece of software particularly for those that are cash game players. Poker Tracker 3 only supports hold’em at this time. I rate this software an 8 out 10. The reason is because it only works with Hold’em and Omaha is becoming more and more popular online. Otherwise, I would give it a solid nine.

Poker Tracker 3

Another player has entered the online poke training arena. PokerSwat is the latest entry into the world of online poker training. PokerSwat has gathered some of the freshest and most successful online talent and made their thoughts on the game available to subscribers. PokerSwat has a tiered membership structure for potential customers.

A Silver membership is $13.99 per month and includes plus a $23.99 setup fee. Basically this will get you all of the micro-limit cash and tournament videos but no higher. A Gold membership will cost you $19.99 per month plus a $39.99 sign-up fee. This will get you everything up to the mid-level cash games and tournaments. Lastly, there is the Premium membership which will run you $24.99 per month plus a one-time fee of $49.99. This gives you access to all of the videos on the site. Discounts are available for players that sign up for 3,6, and 12 months.

These prices are awfully steep compared to the other poker video training sites. I am not so sure that this is the best way to enter the market as a newbie. However, they do seem to have all of the right players available that have been successful online tournament players. Only time will tell if these guys survive or not. You can find PokerSwat at the link below.

PokerSwat Video Training

Alright everybody. I know everyone has got to be pretty fired up to hear what this book is all about. I was ecstatic when I bought the book and just as happy to read it. What a fantastic and insightful read! I thoroughly enjoyed every single page.

The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King basically is a real life account of the highest stakes poker cash game ever played. Andy Beal is a billionaire that happens to have an affection for the action that poker can bring him while attempting to appease his ego that he can actually compete and win against the best poker players in the world. The book has its amusing moments as well as times when you just shake your head pondering what you have just witnessed.

I highly recommend this book. Not just because of the big names involved like Doyle Brunson, Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch, Jennifer Harmon and many other professional poker players. I recommend it because it is an extremely well documented account of how the high stakes poker players mind works and what drives them.

I picked up my copy brand new for $14 bucks. It is one of the best books I have read about poker in a while.

Poker Wingman is the latest in odds calculation software. Most of you know that there is a myriad of poker software products that provide odds calculation in real-time. Most of the software is specifically setup for online poker players and Poker Wingman is no different. Basically this product provides an odds calculator and recommends the “correct” play based upon position and pot odds.

Wingman works on both play money and real money tables and even displays your hole cards for you after you have folded although Pokerstars newest version allows you to see them without this software. There is a Pro version which handles bankroll management and will calculate just how much you need to play in a given cash game. This comes in very handy indeed. However, you can simply enter the calculation from almost any web site into an excel spreadsheet and do the same thing for absolutely free. The Pro version will run you $40 bucks.

Ultimately, I would not recommend this software to an advanced player as they are likely to already know what odds are involved in a hand. However, poker tips are plentiful in this application for those that are not as familiar with the game. If you are new to the game it can definitely help you learn the basic calculations and how to best apply that knowledge.

This is a tough one as there has been a bit of an onslaught of really good female poker players lately. However, we do need to take recent success and longevity into the equation as well. Obviously, as with any best of list we will likely miss a few that rightfully belong.

1. Jennifer Harmon – Jennifer plays in the $8000 / $4000 big game on a regular basis and more than holds here own. That feet in and of itself ranks her amongst the best in the world as far as cash games go. Jennifer has also done well in tournaments as well and has a WSOP bracelet.
2. Kathy Liebert- Kathy, is one of the best tournament poker players around male or female and has been a regular at World Poker Tour final tables.
3. Annie Duke – Annie took down her first WSOP bracelet in Pot-Limit Omaha and then stormed on to win the Tournament of Champions for a cool million with a table full of poker elite.
4. Annette Obrestad – The European sensation has shown no signs of slowing down since winning the Euro World Series of Poker last year. She is still one of the best online players and remains a force to be reckoned with live too.
5. Vanessa Rousso – This brainy and drop dead gorgeous young lady dispels all of the myths about women and poker. She uses her high level intellect to help her make the correct decisions in crucial hands. Rousso is also engaged to former Hollywood hunk Chad Brown.

There is a new sherrif in town and it may just be a female.

Professional poker player Jennifer Harmon is one of the best cash game players in the world. She regularly participates in the “Big Game” and has done well in tournament formats as well. Harmon won her first bracelet at the 2000 WSOP in Deuce to Seven Lowball on a complete fluke. She didn’t even know how to play the game before entering the tournament and got lessons from Howard Lederer just moments before the tournament started.

In 2002 Harmon took down the Limit Holdem bracelet making her the only female poker player to take down 2 bracelets in WSOP open events. In addition to her bracelets harmon has cashed 22 times in the WSOP and has also made 2 WPT final tables and cashed 11 times in WPT events.

Jennifer has $2.2 Million in tournament winning to date.

Harmon is married to former stylist Marco Traniello and they have twin boys.

Annie Duke is a professional poker player. Duke is considered to be amongst the top echelon of female poker players. Duke is the sister of Full Tilt Poker President Howard Lederer. It was Howard that initially staked Annie and provided his council when duke decided to leave her graduate studies to pursue poker on a full-time basis. Since then Duke has gone on to win a bracelet in the WSOP Omaha Hi/Lo $5000 buy0in event. It marked the first time a woman had won a bracelet in the event.

Duke also has gone on to win the 2006 WSOP Tournament of Champions for a cool $2 Million dollar pay day.

Duke is probably best known as a poker coach to the stars as she tutored Been Afleck, just before he won the California State Poker Championship, and several others helping them to fine tune their game.

Duke can be a bit abrasive at the table and has consistently gotten into scrapes with players and authority throughout her poker career. She is devoutly loyal to her brother Howard Lederer almost to the point of being creepy.

PokerStars is pulling out all the plugs in attempts to further their already size able market share. If you haven’t logged in to play today then you are in for a treat. You will proceed as usual and accept the update. Once the download is completed you are launched into an entirely new world of PokerStars.

Everything in the new software is based on a stylish black theme. If you insist on staying with the Classic look you can always click view / lobby themes and select the old one. It’s really that simple. So make sure you login and check out the new digs.

Later!

Professional poker player Kathy Liebert is a long way from Dun and Bradstreet where she started her career in business and finance. Liebert is now one of the most respected tournament poker players in the game.

With lifetime winnings of over $4.5 Million dollars there is no doubt that Kathy has made a name for herself in the poker world. Initially Kathy began playing as a prop player in Colorado. Her success there led her to the tournament trail where she became the first female poker player to win a $1 Million dollar prize by taking down the Party Poker Millions in 2002. Since then Liebert has cashed no less than 27 times in the WSOP and has made 4 WPT final tables with 12 cashes.

Not too shabby for a finance major. Kathy enjoys martial arts in her spare time and possesses a blue belt in Karate. Kathy Liebert is one of the best female poker players in the world.

Now you can play poker on your Blackberry PDA. Aces Texas Hold’em for the Blackberry is the best poker software for the popular Blackberry hand held. This particular poker pda game has the best instincts of any of the hand held pda poker games. Aces Texas Hold’em is intuitive and the competition actually is worth pursuing.

Here is what you get with it:

• Excellent sound effects!
• Play up to 22 different opponents
• Customize your options with up to 4 game speeds
• Use nicknames for yourself and other players
• Easy to read display
• Best artificial intelligence of any poker PDA game

This is well worth the $15 price to download it. I would give this software an 8 out of 10.

Recommended Resources

Playing on your blackberry can be fun, but it won’t make you win big. Visit an online casino like Casino Bellini today and start winning for real!