Archive for the ‘General Poker’ Category

While not a necessity for online poker, the use of sunglasses is causing a bit of a storm in the world of Texas Hold ‘Em and many think the use of dark glasses is an unfair advantage and want their use outlawed in all tournaments.

Personally I just think they look slightly ridiculous and, being someone who does not like to stand out from the crowd, I would be too embarrassed to wear them. I always get the feeling that the players who sport poker spectacles are suffering from some sort of mid-life crisis or I am just deeply suspicious of them.

Leading professional Annie Duke agrees with me. Speaking at the launch of her new computer software poker game, she said: “I would like to see sunglasses banned. I think that part of the game is exposing oneself to the other players and part of the skill is to not give yourself away. I think allowing people to hide behind things, which is what I consider sunglasses to be, is not very courageous and I don’t think at the top professional level people should be allowed to do it. I think that you should have to show your eyes.”

Duke believes players should be able to maintain a statue like pose at all times and cites the fact that many great players including her brother Howard Lederer don’t wear sunglasses - although she does concede that she finds it hard to read her own cards when wearing shades.

“I don’t wear sunglasses because I don’t believe you should and because I can’t see the cards if I do. I’m hiding my eyes but I have no idea what my hand is. So I think on balance it’s probably better not to have them on my face. But you know my brother doesn’t wear sun glasses. Phil Ivey doesn’t wear sunglasses. There are a lot of players who just don’t wear them because they really do obscure your vision.

“What you have to do is be very aware of how players perceive you at the table. If you look at the top players, it has to do with sitting like a statue. It’s just a matter of disciplining yourself to make your face blank, completely relaxing every muscle in your face and just sitting there until the hand’s over. It takes a while to get it, but hopefully I’m not giving away too much information. I seem to be doing OK without the sunglasses. I think there are some moves now to get rid of the sunglasses which would be something I’d really like to see.”

Next week, Lizard sunglasses – they have to be seen to be believed!

Barry Greenstein is unique amongst poker players – he gives away all his winnings to charity.

The 46-year-old mild-mannered professional has donated more the $1 million since deciding to part with his earnings and most of it goes to children’s charities.

Born in Chicago, the young Greenstein started playing at an early age and as a teenager was already earning more than his keep. Having put himself through University, family circumstances meant he was unable to finish his PhD in mathematics but it did not stop him landing a plum job in Silicon Valley.

In the early 1990’s Greenstein turned professional playing most cash games rather than playing on the tournament circuit. Having made a substantial profit in these cash poker games, Bernstein turned his attention to playing in the major tournaments and is now a regular on many of the TV poker shows which seem to dominate the airwaves these days.

The player came to more notice when releasing his first and to date, only book Aces On The River which quickly became a best seller. Dealing about the life of a professional poker player rather than discussing too much strategy, his offering is a useful insight into the day-to-day life on the circuit. Greenstein will sign a copy of his book and give it to any player who knocks him out of a tournament.

His quiet nature and philanthropic ways have made him a popular member of the poker world tour and although his demeanour means he does not get the TV exposure his skills deserve, he is possibly the most respected player on the green baize.

Greenstein has also had the chance to help two other players reach the professional circuit. During the 1990’s he helped Mimi Tran to establish herself by educating the young star about his style in return for Tran teaching him Vietnamese.

His adopted son Joe Sebok has also been influenced by Greenstein and the young player is slowly rising through the ranks of world poker.

His personal website is one of the most interesting and informative on the web with his analysis of rival players one of the most useful and insightful on the site.

The intelligent Greenstein is a refreshing character in professional poker and is affectionately known as the ‘Robin Hood of Poker’.

Poker, gambling and horse racing have always been closely linked and it is no surprise there are plenty of poker-related horses over the past few years but giving a horse a poker-related name is not always a sure-fire route to owning a successful racehorse.

Poker (2001 chestnut gelding)

The Poker Players partnership must have been overwhelmed when they found out the name Poker was available to name their first horse.

The chestnut ran three unimpressive races before being gelded by trainer Willie Haggas and sent to a maiden handicap at Southwell. Slower than most horses but faster than his opponents, the three-year-old scooped the pot for his connections scoring by just under two lengths from Jomus.

That, however was the last decent hand the horse would play and the son of Hector Protector never managed to reach the final table again let alone scoop a major prize. Great name but very disappointing racehorse.

Career record of Poker – 8 runs 1 win.

Texas Holdem (1999 bay gelding)

Born in 1999, Texas Holdem failed miserably to live up to its illustrious name. The gelding began life in an Irish bumper but failed to impress either its trainer Margaret Mullins or its owners by finishing 6th of 16 at Roscommon.

The Irish-bred remained potless until wining a Thurles maiden hurdle on his seventh career outing.

More disappointing runs followed and the six-year-old was bought by owner/trainer Michael Smith to race in England. The gelding fared a little better winning two races at Catterick and Hexham before being outclassed at Aintree on his final start and was never seen again.

Career record of Texas Holdem – 19 runs 3 wins

Chip Leader (2004 chestnut gelding)

Although Richard Hannon’s three-year-old has ‘led’ in some of his races, the gelding never quite managed to lead at the important part of the race – the finishing line.

Despite coming from a distinguished family which included Lammtarra and Bosra Sham, Chip Leader proved a dismal failure on the racetrack, managing to finish stone last in three of his eight starts and beaten by double figure lengths on more than half of his starts.

The presence of leading jockeys Ryan Moore and Richard Hughes did not help the cause of the hapless Chip Leader who was ’folded’ by his trainer at the end of his three-year-old career.

Career record of Chip Leader – 7 runs 0 wins.

Most online Texas Hold ‘em players will at one time or another get to play in the flesh - that is play in a non-online tournament or game.

For the first-timer it can be a little intimidating and below are a few rules of etiquette, which although they won’t make you a better player – they will make you a more agreeable opponent to play against and you should have no problems being accepted by your new ‘friends’

Some poker dos

The first rule is to act quickly. Nothing upsets other players than slow play and if people are continually waiting for you to make up your mind, it creates a bad atmosphere.

Be friendly. A friendly poker game is a better poker game. At the end of the day poker is a game and although the object is to win, you can do so in a friendly manner.

Try to be gracious in both victory and defeat. The only thing worse than a sore loser is a bad winner. Take your highs and lows with equal grace.

Treat others as you want to be treated yourself. This makes for a friendlier and ultimately better game of poker.

And some poker don’ts

Concentrate at all times and try not to play out of turn. Playing when it is not your turn can give vital clues to the relative strengths of hands left in the pot. Also, do not fold out of turn for exactly the same reason.

Don’t let anyone else see your cards. Check your holes card carefully, making sure you do not ‘flash’ them to other players. Not only does this obviously weaken your position but it affects other people’s chances of winning the pot.

Never throw your cards back at the dealer. This is just plain bad manners. Would you throw your bills back at the postman?

Never ‘splash the pot’. When you want to call or make a raise in a tournament poker game, move the amount you want to bet to the front of your stash so every player can see the amount that you intend to play with. Some players thrown their money into the pot making it unsure how much you have added. This can lead to problems and some players may even try to suggest you have short changed the pot.

If you are using Mozilla as your browser of choice then this could be for you. If you are not, then perhaps you should.

It’s time to grow up and get yourself a decent browser. Ok, I’m a fan of Firefox and have been for a long time and it was the ability to, quite literally, add add-ons that made me a fan.

I’ve found a poker extension which some people might find helpful, especially those who have trouble evaluating pot odds i.e. the chance you have of winning the hands compared with the amount of money in the pot. If the odds are in your favour then over a period of time you should come out on top.

That is what the clever people know about Texas Hold ‘Em Poker. There are bluffs, semi-bluffs, blinds and antes but the most important thing to know is whether you should be playing a hand after you’ve seen the flop, seen the turn and ultimately got a look at the river.

The extension I found was developed by Poker Eval (not Poker Evil, which is something completely different) which can be downloaded from their website and seems an excellent help, especially to those new to poker.

The interface is easy to use and it gives you options regarding your seat position and the number of opponents still in the hand.

It is quick to calculate the odds on winning a hand and looks, at first sight, a nifty tool.

On the downside you need to be pretty quick off the mark to enter all the cards into the system and it can get pretty tricky as the game wears on and the speed you need to play quickens.

This is definitely not a Texas Hold ‘Em tool when playing turbo or lightning poker as you need the speed and eye co-ordination of an expert gamer to use it properly. It seems a cool tool to have if you are starting to learn about probability but seems more for the novice than the accomplished player.

User Tip

Poker Eval can provide recommendations based on your two pocket cards. This recommendation only appears when both hole cards are selected, all flop/turn/river cards are face down and the feature Starting hand info in the configuration dialog has been set to Sit & Go or Tournament.