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Poker: It's important to bet the right amount
Article Launched: 04/18/2008 01:37:19 AM PDT
Poker is a game of mistakes. The object is to put your opponent in a position to make an error that gets you his chips.
One of the spots where mistakes are frequently made is on the river. Often it involves a value bet, a wager sized to get an
opponent to call with the second-best hand. The key is to find the right amount so you get paid off with your good hands, but
sometimes even the best players make a mistake.
At the $15,000-buy-in main event of the 2006 Five Diamond Poker Classic at Las Vegas' Bellagio, Erick Lindgren drew 6-7
offsuit in middle position. With blinds at $200-$400, Lindgren made the minimum raise to $800, throwing some deception into
his play.
"I can't wait for something big or something suited," Lindgren said.
The button and the big blind called, so three players took a flop of ace-4-5, two hearts, giving Lindgren an open-ended
straight draw.
After the big blind checked, Lindgren bet $1,100. He hoped to take down the pot there, or at least determine if a caller was
holding flush cards. The button called. The big blind folded.
"When he called, I was pretty sure he had an A-Q or something in that area," Lindgren said. "He's a pretty tight player and he
made a pretty quick call, so I had him on an ace there. He didn't think about it. He called real quick, which is the sign of a
pair."
The turn came the 8 of clubs, making Lindgren's straight. He
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bet out $3,000. The button called.
"I punished him there with the bet," Lindgren said, "and I'm loving his call because I built the pot up pretty good, and I
think I can punish him on the end pretty good if the flush draw misses because he might think I was betting the flush draw."
The river came the 6 of diamonds. The flush draw missed. Believing he had the best hand, Lindgren needed to size his bet so
someone holding an ace would call to see if his top pair was good.
Lindgren bet $6,000. Too much.
His opponent folded.
"I wanted to bet enough that he thought I was bluffing, but I should've been more careful to price him in," Lindgren said.
"The moral of the story is, if a scare card comes on the end, you might want to bet about $3,000 in that situation. It looks
like you might be bluffing, but you wouldn't scare him for his stack. The $6,000 is a big portion of his stack. You have to
get paid."
Guide to Online Poker Screen Names Mon May 14, 2007 11:35AM
You finally opened up an online poker account and could not decide upon a screen name. All the good ones are taken, so what do
you do? Do you choose a common nickname like "Sully" or a not-so-common moniker like "Dr. Pauly?" Most online poker screen
names break down into a few categories.
Rounders' Characters: Some poker players are obsessed with the film Rounders and it's the source of inspiration for their
screen name. You've seen them at your tables: Worm69, MikeMcD23, and JoeyKnish80. It's sad and not very creative. So many
players have adopted these names that if you try to signup on PokerStars for TeddyKGB, and you'll end up getting
TeddyKGB6280441. Outside of poker, no one understands those obscure references, but inside my apartment I poke fun at you and
label you a big Rounders geek in my notes. Hey, Worm69, try slowplaying a flopped straight against me and I'll shove every one
of Teddy KGB's Oreos up your least favorite orifice.
Poker Pros: There are a bunch of online players who take on the persona of their favorite pro: AnnieDuke76, TexasDolly102,
JamieGold44, and Fossilman666. Unfortunately, sharing the same online name with a pro is about as close as those newbies are
going to come to making a final table at the WSOP, especially when they play like a donkey and call all-in re-raises with
bottom pair. I salivate when those players sit down at my table.
Poker Terminology: There are some cool poker phrases that are incorporated into screen name: RiveredAgain, FloppedQuads, and
JacksUp. Although a few of them are cheesy, he majority of them are some of the more creative names out there. Clever people
tend to be more intelligent. Watch out for those players. Can I Buy a Vowel: Maybe they're from Finland, or from a new
republic that was formerly part of the Soviet Union, or perhaps they're just plain weird. Those folks use an odd mixture of
letters and numbers as their names: ksjtk474kfrvk or dhdmggt2831142. Good luck getting support on the phone and spelling out
your account name if you ever run into a glitch and your table freezes.
Fictional Characters: I used to play on Party Poker under a name of a popular 70s TV character. These days, there are lots of
random James Bond references and a slew of witty literary ones are out there too. The Simpson's references always make me
laugh such as DuffMan765 or Apu711. Then there's also ClaireDanes72, AllyMcBeal33, Turtle420, Frodo99, and KilgoreTrout4.
Inside Jokes and Nicknames: Some players use their real world nicknames, like BigMike33, SmellyEd, or AlCantHang. I always ask
them the origin of their name in the chat. It makes for stimulating conversation. Hometown: Those are folks who can't come up
with an original name, so they use their city or state as part of their screen name such as AmarilloLou, PeteNM, HawaiiBetty,
or CincyTom. I always ask them how the weather is.
So what should you pick? A friend of mine who is an online pro suggests picking something common and ordinary so as not to
draw too much attention to yourself. He thrives on anonymity and would rather not let the public know that he's a pro.
Although some pros play at Full Tilt under their real name, they often have secret screen names on other sites. And if you
play on PokerStars, he suggests not posting a picture of yourself and leaving the icon blank altogether, in order to fly below
the radar. The creative person in me wants to tell you to pick something off-beat but similar to your personality, perhaps
something to do with your favorite book or band. Biblical names are also fun. Next time you are stuck, thumb through the bible
or if you just recently had a kid, dig up that old book of baby names.
NeTeller no longer allows US gambling transactions
Thu Jan, 18 2007 10:00AM
Effective Immediately
Due to recent US legislative changes and events, effective immediately, US
members are no longer able to transfer funds to or from any online
gambling sites.
All US members will continue to be able to use their NETELLER e-wallet
account to safely transfer funds to and from non-gambling merchants and
are not required to close their account or withdraw their funds.
Middle
pairs can be full of tricks Mon Dec, 18 2006 10:05AM
Here's the thing with middle pairs: They will win and lose you tournaments. A lot of times when you flop a set against
aces and kings, you can win big pots. But they are tricky hands to play to the river.
At the L.A. Poker Classic at the Commerce Casino in February, poker pro Mark Gregorich drew pocket 8s in late position.
With blinds at $150-$300 and a $50 ante, he raised to $900. The button called, and the flop came Q-10-3, two diamonds.
Both players checked.
"A lot of times people check a decent hand in that spot, trying to induce a bluff from an opponent on the next card,"
Gregorich said. "It tells me he probably has a strong enough hand that he could check it rather than a pure bluff. If
he had an ace-rag type of hand, I'd expect him to fire in a bet to win the hand."
The turn came an offsuit 6.
"I decide to make a feeler bet, about half the size of the pot, just to see what's going to happen. He calls me
immediately, which tells me he has me beat," Gregorich said. "The hand I put him on is A-10
The river came the jack of hearts.
"A very interesting card," Gregorich said, "because if he does have the A-10 that I put him on, all of a sudden this is
practically the worst card he could see. I could very likely have a hand like A-J or A-K, and I could beat him with
that hand. So, I decide he has me beat for sure, but I decide it's worth a bluff here with the two 8s because I think
there's a very good chance he would fold A-10, if that's his hand."
Gregorich bet $2,500, about half the pot, making it look like a value bet to get a call from an inferior hand. The
button called and turned over K-Q suited to scoop the pot.
"The lesson in that hand is, for him, when you have a medium-strong hand, sometimes you can win more by checking, which
is what happened," Gregorich said. "If he had bet the flop, I would've given up the hand.
"Usually it's not a good idea to bet two 8s on the end as a bluff, because a lot of times if they can call you, they'll
beat you, and if they can't beat you, they're going to call you anyway. There's not usually a lot of value in betting
that way. But in this case, because of what I put him on, I thought there was."
Pamela Anderson's poker palace goes titsup
Sat Nov, 11 2006 12:56PM
The collapse of internet gaming activity following the recent enactment of
anti-gambling legislation in the United States has claimed another victim-
Pamelapoker.com, the online poker website founded by none other than
Pamela Anderson.
Pamelapoker.com was the latest attempt by a Hollywood celebrity to cash in
the Texas Hold.em craze that has swept across the US in the last few
years, but unfortunately for the artificially enhanced Canuck, her timing
proved even worse than her acting.
Pamelapoker was started about four months ago by the buxom sex kitten as
an adjunct to the Doyle Brunson Poker Network, and, according to her
online diary at pamelaanderson.com, everything was going swimmingly until
the United States Congress got its panties in a bunch over the easy
accessibility of online gambling to Americans, where wagering is generally
illegal. Her diary that had been full of eager plans for revealing photo
shoots and online poker games with horny fans took a pouty turn yesterday:
Poker site should have been shut down last month. I have nothing to do
with it anymore. Too many shady areas. I really don't want to encourage
people to gamble. This must be turned off. It just didn't work out. Even
in my heart. Good luck to Doyle.s Room. I love him. He is authentic to the
game. I made a mistake getting involved in something I know nothing about
for a quick buck! Yuck. So unlike me. Glad it's over.
Doylesroom.com, the site run by John Huston look-alike and self-proclaimed
poker legend Doyle Brunson, has taken over the operation of
Pamelapoker.com - a development that only underscores her rather strange
and unstable relationship with the gaming industry. According to the
gambling news site Gambling911.com, Anderson and her entourage had a
meltdown a couple of months ago at a party for the aforementioned
impresario Brunson.
Comedian Brad Garrett, formerly of the hit American sitcom Everybody Loves
Raymond, emceed the evening and repeatedly hurled sexually charged
comments such as .you don.t play at the table - you play under the table.
at the former Playmate and Baywatch star. Notwithstanding that this was a
celebrity roast, where such comments are part of the tradition, all hell
broke loose and Anderson.s manager challenged Garrett to a fight. As
Anderson stormed out of the party with manager and friends in tow, Garrett
tore into her one last time, yelling to her that she .still had enough
time to blow all the members of Whitesnake..
Nothing personal, of course. Although the pressure group Poker Players
Alliance has vowed to get an exemption from Congress to the recent
legislation - claiming that poker should be reclassified as a game of
skill, not chance - the decline of Pamelapoker.com bodes ill for the
online poker community.
Attempts from the online poker community to elect sympathetic members to
Congress met with decidedly mixed results, and yesterday.s capitulation by
Betonsports.com to civil penalties by the DOJ indicates that the tide is
still going against them. The days of Chris Moneymaker parlaying an online
tournament victory into a World Series of Poker Championship are long
gone.
Net gambling sites pulling bets off table
Sun Oct 15, 2006 10:50AM
Internet gambling sites are folding their American operations after a new
law threatened to take them offline in the U.S. yesterday.
PartyGaming, the world's biggest online poker business with 62% of its
customers in the U.S., said the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act
had made the stakes too high to continue.
The bill, signed by President Bush as part of the Safe Ports Act, makes it
illegal for banks and credit card companies to process payments to online
gambling companies.
The British-based company Sportingbet.com reacted by selling its
multimillion-dollar U.S. business - for only $1. World Gaming said the
U.S. crackdown had it struggling to avoid bankruptcy.
But others promised to gamble with the law, betting that a distinction in
the wording would pay out and let them continue the big bucks enterprise.
"Our business continues as before, open to players worldwide including the
U.S.," the world's second biggest Internet poker firm, PokerStars.com,
said in a statement.
The bill defines gambling as the act of staking something of value on "a
sporting event or game subject to chance."
But PokerStars.com's statement said, "[We] believe that poker is a game of
skill."
Online gambling is already illegal in the U.S., but offshore companies
outside U.S. jurisdiction make millions taking bets from inside the
country.
Recent crackdowns saw David Carruthers, CEO of BetOnSports, arrested as he
made a layover in Texas and Peter Dicks, former chairman of
Sportingbet.com, held as he touched down at Kennedy Airport.
"The companies that are taking the bets are already acting illegally,"
said Gregory Wierzynski, a spokesman for the bill's sponsor in Congress,
Rep. James Leach (R-Iowa). "This new law gives a new tool to enforce the
existing law."
He said individual bettors would not be breaking the law, but
representatives of financial institutions processing payments to online
gambling companies could face up to five years in prison.
They have nine months to update their systems to take account of the bill,
he said. Companies promised bettors yesterday they would not lose existing
accounts. Payment processing firm Neteller said there was no risk to money
already deposited.
And Juliet Clarke, a spokeswoman for PartyGaming, said, "There is no kind
of freeze on money. Customers will definitely be able to get it back.
VIP Online Poker Cuts off U.S. Residents from 11 States
Sat Oct 14, 2006 12:35 PM EST
As a current member of the Microgaming poker network, VIP.com Poker
regrets to inform you, effective immediately, that players that reside in
the eleven U.S. States listed below will no longer be able to gain access
to VIP.com Poker:
Michigan, Illinois, Louisiana, Oregon, Wisconsin, Washington, Indiana,
Nevada, New York, New Jersey and South Dakota
The blocking of players from these select U.S. States is a result of
Microgaming's response to the recent Unlawful Internet Gambling
Enforcement Bill in the U.S. Affected States are those that have specific
legislation banning online gambling or States that have represented that
their conventional anti-gambling laws would cover online gambling.
VIP.com Poker sends its sincere apologizes to all players affected by this
recent development and confirms that they are busy working to find a
long-term solution that will allow players from around the globe access to
their poker room. VIP.com continues to provide all of their other services
to all customers, including the quickest payouts in the industry, sports,
casino and horse wagering, as well as 24/7 access for customers to their
funds.
Players from these States that have a balance in their poker account and
wish to make a withdrawal are being asked to contact VIP.com Poker Support
at poker@vip.comor 1.800.300.BETS (2387).
Thank you for your patience and continued loyalty as we carry forward
working through the recent obstacles. We will continue to keep you
informed with regards to the availability of VIP.com's poker product to US
players.
Other Online Poker providers, like Absolute
Poker, have chosen to
disregard the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act under legal advice that the Act doesn't
cover online poker. Absolute
Poker continues to cater to U.S. residents
without restrictions.
Unmatched Poker announces news of new US Legislation
Fri Oct 13, 2006 3:45 PM EST
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The President of the United States signed a bill on 10/13/06 making
financial institutions comply with the "Unlawful Internet Gaming Act". The
following poker rooms have issued press releases saying they will continue
to support American / USA players.
Click Here for sites where Americans can
play.
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PokerStars says U.S. gaming ban does not cover poker
Thu Oct 12, 2006 6:45 PM BST
By Pete Harrison
LONDON (Reuters) - PokerStars, the world's second-biggest Internet poker
firm, said on Thursday that a looming U.S. ban on online gaming would not
apply to poker, as it is a game of skill, and its business would continue
as usual.
The gambling industry was left reeling this month after the U.S. Congress
unexpectedly approved a bill that would make it illegal for companies to
accept Internet wagers or for banks to process payments to online gaming
companies.
The bill defines gambling as the act of staking something of value on "a
sporting event or a game subject to chance" and is expected to be signed
into law by President George W. Bush on Friday.
"These provisions do not alter the U.S. legal situation with respect to
online poker," privately-owned PokerStars said in a statement.
"Our business continues as before, open to players worldwide including the
U.S.," it added. "You may play on our site as you did prior to the act."
The stance contrasts with that taken by rival PartyGaming the owner of the
biggest online poker site PartyPoker, which last week said the act made it
"practically impossible" to provide poker for money to U.S. players.
PokerStars said: "It is important to emphasise that the act does not in
any way prohibit you from playing online poker. PokerStars believes that
poker is a game of skill."
PokerStars, said by media reports to be owned by the Israeli Scheinberg
family, was considering a $3 billion (1.6 billion pound) flotation earlier
this year, before prosecution of gaming companies in The United States
sparked share price falls across the sector.
About $6 billion was wiped off online gaming shares after the arrest of
BETonSPORTS former Chief Executive David Carruthers in July on gambling
charges, signalling the start of a crackdown.
And a further $7 billion was lost last week after the U.S. Congress
approved the anti-gambling legislation early on September 30.
But while many London-listed companies are pulling out of the United
States, analysts say most privately-owned companies will be able to
continue.
PokerStars is registered in Costa Rica and processes payments through
subsidiaries in the Isle of Man and Cyprus.
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