Apr 16 2010

Poker Blogging Update

Category: Poker Blogmalcolm @ 2:23 pm

The top poker blogs in the world continue to churn out content at a steady rate. These blogs are maintained by willing and dedicated authors who are not paid for their work, usually earning money through additional writing contracts and advertising. The professional poker players who blog give a great insight into their day-to-day thoughts and the blogs below are my favourite examples of these types of post.

As a reader you can read their work for free, and learn plenty about how to play online poker effectively. It is always a good idea to read about other people’s experience of poker and pick up some good tips that you can use to improve your own poker game.

Bwin Poker Blog

As you would expect from a poker room affiliated blog the bwin poker blog really hits the spot when it comes to design and you know you are in a bwin.com site when you read the content. The blog focuses specifically on happenings on bwin.com and in particular coverage of their satellite tournament winners. The big story this month was Bibaxxxx winning the WSOP package and thus guaranteeing himself a return trip to Vegas on behalf of bwin.com, having represented the team in 2008 at the World Series of Poker also.

Bwin.com will have a specific WSOP poker blog which will be updated regularly throughout the upcoming World Series of Poker, so be sure to keep your eyes open for that.

Full Contact Poker – Daniel Negreanu

My own personal opinion of Daniel has grown over the past few months. I do feel for him because he lost his mother and I hoped we would not get a whole host of memories of his mother in his blog as this would be difficult to connect with when the majority of readers knew of her but did not have the connection a son would. To his credit, Daniel has handled his grief in a very dignified way which has certainly impressed me and I am sure his many fans.

His blog has discussed his efforts to return to being one of the best in the world at poker. He said he locked himself in a room for four days straight and only saw the room service lady. In that time he said he worked solidly on his game. His blog post said that he wanted to challenge Patrik Antonius, Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey to a one million dollar no limit texas holdem freezeout match, but then revealed that was an April Fools joke!

What is very true is Daniel is going to be working extremely hard both mentally and physically preparing for the World Series of Poker. He always does and it usually pays dividends for him.

Doyles Room

The poker blog of Doyle Brunson is always keenly read, particularly now as he is on an R and R break after dental work. Doyle reports that apart from looking after his cats he is going crazy living the slow life, he is a man that is used to being in the action. In Bobby’s room he laments that games are now usually $400/$800 mixed games which is exactly 10% of the stakes they used to play. Unfortunately with Chip Reese passed away and the realities of the economic recession and the high standard of poker playing these days, it is little wonder. I wonder if we will ever see a return to the nosebleed stakes in Bobby’s room when most of the online poker action is the only place the high stakes action seems to happen these days.

Look out for more poker blogosphere updates in the near future.

By Malcolm Clarke

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Mar 08 2010

When Will They Learn?

Category: Texas Holdem FAQmalcolm @ 8:24 pm

Doyle Brunson used Twitter to make a great response to the EPT Berlin Armed Robbery scare that has the whole of the poker world in shock this week. He said “Welcome to my ex-world. 800,000 euros….nice score.” Doyle is certainly not condoning what happened in Berlin and was very careful to say ‘ex-world’ but this was a throwback to a different age of Poker where there was a constant threat of being robbed because of the security issues in playing with a large amount of money in an unsecured environment. The robbers even had public advertising telling them where the money will be and when! Can we really be surprised such a robbery has taken place?

There were security issues already at the venue and unfortunately they were proved to be accurate when the casino erupted in mass panic when armed robbers broke in and started demanding money. According to many eye-witness reports, players ran for cover under tables then crawled across the floor and made their way through the various fire exits to safety. Although unconfirmed, there are rumours that a hotel doorman intercepted the gunmen and saved some of the money. Considering he will not be getting the money as a reward, my feelings are he should have left them to it. There were no gunshots fired as far as I can tell from reading witness accounts, which is something positive. Someone could have lost their lives.

Stuart Rutter was quoted today as saying he noticed when you bought in for cash the large amounts of notes were stacked next to the teller and when asked about security they simply said not to worry. The poker tournaments must respond as players said that although they understood buying in with cash is not the best way to operate there was little choice for the EPT tournaments. In my opinion, because some events can be €10,000+ to enter it should be done through bank transfer in all cases. If a poker player prefers to deal cash in hand for either tax or personal preference then unfortunately they cannot take part. If they really wanted to play they would find a way even depositing into a friends account and having them swipe their card for the buy-in. Having €1 million in cash at a venue (and having advertised this often guaranteed) and yet still be surprised when a robbery is attempted is very naïve.

It is bizarre to think this heist has not taken place earlier. In the USA there is gun protection at the WSOP when large amounts of cash are placed on the table when the tournament reaches its heads up match. The sight of gunmen can look a little theatrical and unnecessary, but the EPT has learned just why the security is taken so seriously. If you are lax there are people out there willing to make you pay for that lax attitude.

Hopefully Poker can respond and tighten security so the live game is not affected. Cash is not a great way to operate in my view with anything other than the smallest amounts of money. I remember working in the betting Industry when one bettor was known as the “hip bag man” because he wore a hip bag rammed with cash for his betting. I was told his nickname by other customers! The risk of robbery must have been high for this man and the stash on offer for any would be robber was over £10,000. As Doyle said in his tweet – nice score.

Do not fear, however, as online poker can be the answer. If you play at a great site like bwin.com, your money is safely stored in their accounts and you are as safe as you can be in your own home. Your risk of robbery is not increased in the same way it would be by playing in an environment where millions of dollars in real cash could tempt an assailant into trying to get their hands on it. Perhaps this episode will remind people of the benefits of online poker.

Sign up to bwin.com today if you want to play poker in a safe environment.

By Malcolm Clarke

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Nov 12 2009

My Top Three Poker Books

Category: Texas Holdem FAQmalcolm @ 10:35 am

When visiting my local Waterstones or Ottakers I invariably drift to the section that has the card game books and flick through the poker books on offer. Most of them are, dare I say it, not up to standard. There are a bunch of “Destroy Online Poker” titles that offer little in the form of actual ideas on multi-tabling or real online poker strategies instead offering abstract advice on playing draws, trying to read your opponents hands and the usual stream of information found in most other poker books. We live in a world where information is society’s addiction and poker now being part of the mainstream culture means every reasonable poker players sees opportunity in collating their advice and offering literary lessons on winning. This has flooded the market with poker books.

Fortunately for well meaning family members planning their shopping for Christmas there are a number of poker books that outshine the rest. Here are my top three.

1. Doyle Brunsons Super System I and II : A Course in Power Poker

There are two books in the series with the second book being the updated version which was reprinted in 2005 at the height of pokers boom. After 2005 the online poker player started smartening up, was this book a factor? It is certainly good enough. In the original book, Bobby Baldwin’s section on Limit Holdem was considered the most important piece of poker literature ever printed. Jennifer Harman’s Limit section in the updated book is also very highly regarded. There is an online poker section in the newer book and information on Omaha poker. Most dedicated poker players own a copy or have access to a copy of this book as a reference to how to play poker correctly. Each chapter is written by a selected professional of Doyle Brunsons choosing.

2. David Sklansky : The Theory of Poker

I have read other reviews of this book that states without reservation that this is the most important book that has ever been written on poker. This book teaches you a foundation of general concepts that must be read numerous times before you can truly grasp the concepts offered to you. Anyone wanting an introduction to general poker theory should look no further than this book. Sklansky is a theorist whose “Sklansky Minutes” on the 2+2 pokercast debate such things as asking the name of an operator on the telephone to get better service. Definitely an eccentric character, he channels his deep thinking approach to life into the theory of poker and creates a masterpiece. Coupled with Super System I and II you will have a fantastic grounding of the key concepts of winning poker.

3. Mike Caro’s Book of Tells

By reading this book, according to many reports, it will give you a significant edge over your opponents. This book does not try and teach you what you will learn in Theory of Poker or Super System; it focuses on the psychology of poker and turning that into profit. I place this at number three because this book will be the first building block after you have grasped the general theory required, which you learn in the above two books.

It teaches you to look for weaknesses in your opponent to win the hands that they do not merit and by focusing on body language or other signals you can win some hands you may otherwise have folded if you relied solely on poker theory. It even focuses on identifying deliberate tells from an actor to the person who is unwittingly giving genuine tells. This is another essential poker book for your library.

Obviously these book rankings are just my opinion however you will find few players that will criticise any of the above books. There are more specialised books on most of the concepts covered, but without a classic grounding in poker theory you will struggle with more complex texts. I would highly recommend you purchasing one or all of the above books as it will really improve your poker game.

By Malcolm Clarke

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