How annoying songs stick

Brain Itch Songs

Posted Fri Jan 30, 2009 7:01am PST by Shawn Amos in GetBack

Beyonce has finally infiltrated my house. My kids and my wife are all singing "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)." Nonstop. Every day. It's the answer to every question and the response to every statement. It's worse than waterboarding. I'd leave, but I know they'd follow me.

There are songs you wish you could forget but can't. They're like a virus that won't leave your system no matter how hard you try. You're in the shower, and before you can stop yourself "Y.M.C.A." pops out of your mouth. You catch yourself chanting, "Who let the dogs out?" in the car. You respond to a friend's recent troubles with "I get knocked down but get up again."

You try to erase these unwelcome melodies by thinking about something else. Nothing. You sing them ten times really loud and fast, hoping to push them out of your head. No luck. They won't leave you. You're afraid to go out at night. You used to be so much cooler than this.

Go easy on yourself. You're not to blame. There's a name for the affliction, and it's called "brain itch." And the type of song that causes the brain itch? That's an "earworm." Dr James Kellaris of the University of Cincinnati has studied the phenomenon (for real). It seems the combination of repetitive words and unchanging melody makes for the perfect earworm. We're helpless against its power.

Here are the all-time itchiest of the brain-itch tunes. You can rest easy knowing that it's not really you singing that song. It's that earworm dug into your mind, like in the movie "Scanners." At least now no one can blame you when your friends ask what you want for lunch and you say, "I want my baby back, baby back."

THERE'S MORE: See our gallery of all 10 of the worst brain itch songs.

RIGHT SAID FRED: "I'M TOO SEXY"
The British group's 1992 tribute to fashion models gives a big brain itch. The most offensive part of the song? Copping a Jimi Hendrix riff (from "Third Stone from the Sun") for the instrumental break. Why ruin a perfectly good riff with such a punishing song? Jimi is too sexy for bad '90s dance tunes. Ah....brain itch!!!

CHUMBAWAMBA: "TUBTHUMPING"
This is probably the most ironic of all brain-itch tunes. The English band is made up of anarchists and punks who would bristle at all of the jocks who have appropriated their song over the years. They even turned down $1.5 million from Nike, who wanted to use the song in an ad. Proof that dudes who write bad tunes can still take the high road.

LOU BEGA: "MAMBO NO. 5"
This song didn't create a brain itch in 1949 when Perez Prado originally recorded it. However, Bega's 1999 cover version dug in deep. It also made anyone named Angela, Pamela, Sandra, Rita, Monica, Erica, Tina, Mary, and Jessica introduce themselves by another name when sitting at bar near a jukebox.

BAHA MEN: "WHO LET THE DOGS OUT"
Don't let the fact that this song won a Grammy fool you. It's hands down the most annoying brain itch song EVER! No, scratch that. It's the most annoying SONG ever. And I can't get it out of my head, ESPN be dammed.

HANSON: "MMMBOP"
Produced by the Dust Brothers (the dudes who brought us some of Beck's, the Beastie Boys', and Tone Loc's best work), this tune from the Tulsa brothers' major label debut was originally written as a ballad. Definitely not the tune to seduce a date.

Raising with a Draw in Seven-Card Stud

Play Online Poker
Starting February 4th, choose a tournament from the FTOPS XI Schedule of 25 events and win your share of over $15 million in guaranteed prize money.

Make a plan today to take up February's Iron Man Challenge. You'll be rewarded with Iron Man medals for the Iron Man Store and special Freerolls worth up to $100K in additional prize money.

Earn Triple Happy Hour Points during the Super Bowl this Sunday. Just play between 16:00 (ET) and 23:59 (ET) on February 1st and you'll be credited with three times the number of points you'd normally receive.
Full Tilt Poker's Keith Sexton is an expert when it comes to Seven-Card Stud. In this week's tip, he advises on drawing situations on Fifth Street, where playing aggressively can often lead to success.

Play Online Poker

176

Playing Fifth Street in Seven-Card Stud

Keith Sexton

January 29th, 2009

Fifth Street is the big decision point in Seven-Card Stud because that’s the critical juncture in the hand when you have to put in your first big bet. While it’s nice to have a made hand at this point, you don’t always need one to put in a raise on Fifth Street. If you have a big draw, that can be enough to warrant raising your opponent. Some players don’t think like this, and I believe that’s a costly mistake.

Here’s an example of a situation where I believe raising with a draw is the correct play. Let’s say your opponent is showing an Ace, and you have a 7 of diamonds up and a 6 and 7 of spades in the hole, giving you a pair of 7s. You and your opponent are the only players involved in the hand, and he opens with a raise. You call.

On the turn your opponent catches an offsuit Jack and bets. You catch the 9 of spades. You have a pretty nice hand at this point. Not only do you have a pair of 7s, but you also have three cards to a flush and three cards to a straight so there are a lot of cards you can catch that will give you a big draw. You definitely want to call in this spot.

On Fifth Street your opponent catches a 6 so now he has an Ace, Jack, and 6 showing. You catch the deuce of spades, which is a very interesting card. You now have a pair of 7s and four spades to a flush, but your opponent is unaware of how strong you are because one of your 7s and two of your spades are hidden.

Your opponent leads out with a bet once again. Now here’s the question. Should you simply call or should you raise? Even if your opponent has two Aces, I would prefer to have two 7s and four spades in this situation so you should be aggressive and put in a raise. You should do this for a couple of reasons. First, even if he does have a pair of Aces, you’re still the favorite. You are about a 58 percent favorite to win the hand so you’re getting the best of it right now.

The other reason you should raise is that it will get you a free card if you fail to hit your draw. Let’s say you go ahead and raise on Fifth Street, and your opponent calls. Since he called your raise, you can be pretty certain he has a pair that can beat your 7s. Then on Sixth Street he catches a 4 and you catch the 3 of diamonds, a card that doesn’t help your hand at all.

If your opponent is a weak player, he is probably going to check it to you because he’s going to be scared of that raise you put in on Fifth Street. If he does in fact check, then you succeeded in accomplishing exactly what you set out to do. You got extra money into the pot on Fifth Street when you had the best of it, and now that you missed your draw and don’t have the best of it anymore you’re happy to get a free card. Now you have one more shot at drawing out on him.

This is a clear example of why it pays to be aggressive on Fifth Street in Seven-Card Stud. Some players would just call in this situation, but I think that’s a big mistake. Being aggressive and sticking in a raise has two clear advantages over simply calling. It will get more money into the pot those times you do make your hand, and it will get you a free card those times you don’t. The bottom line is that you need to be aggressive when playing Seven-Card Stud because it’s the aggressive player who usually wins.

Play Online Poker

Doyles Room $5,000 FREEROLL!!!!

Click my banner to get in the freeroll!!

Doyles Room $5,000 FREEROLL

CLICK THE BANNER AND DOWNLOAD DOYLES ROOM SO YOU DO NOT MISS THIS FREE ROLL!!!!!

DoylesRoom $5,000 Launch Party Freeroll - Saturday, Jan. 31st @ 5pm ET.

DoylesRoom welcomes you to our brand new poker network with all new table design, bigger guarantees and better rewards than ever before. With over $5 Million in monthly guarantees, you can play in our giant $250,000 monthly and our $100,000 weekly guaranteed tournaments that you can satellite to absolutely free using our new rewards currency, Gold Chips!

Start your engines for our Gold Card 500 where Gold Cards are randomly awarded at all of our new ring games. Cash in your cards daily in our Gold Card Lottery or stockpile your cards and you could claim $52,000 for collecting the whole deck!

We're giving you 5,000 reasons to download our new poker software and play absolutely free! The $5,000 Launch Party Freeroll kicks off on January 31st at 5pm ET so don’t miss your free shot at $5,000!

From our new lobby go to:

Tournaments > Freeroll > $5,000 Launch Party FREEROLL

Click on the banner and download Doyles room now and get in this free roll!!!

Limit Hold Em 101

Television forever changed the game of poker and is solely responsible for the resurgence of no limit Texas Hold’em. Before that, limit hold’em was the name of the game.

I started my poker career grinding it out in limit games just like many other of today’s big name professional players. Few of us had any experience playing in no limit games.

These days, however, most people learn to play hold’em by starting with no limit. Now, don’t get me wrong, that’s not necessarily bad. But I do believe it’s better for beginners to learn the game by playing limit poker, or at least by playing both variations of the game.

One reason is that limit hold’em is a much faster game. In limit hold’em, you’ll rarely see a five minute delay before a player decides to make a big call on the river. In that respect, beginners will play a lot more hands, thereby gaining valuable experience much faster.

Here are a few other reasons why I think it’s so important to learn how to play limit hold’em.

You’ll learn to play with more aggression, both before and after the flop. In limit hold’em, acting aggressively in marginal situations isn’t nearly as dangerous as it is in no limit where you can risk all of your chips on any given hand. All great poker players understand the importance of playing aggressively. Limit hold’em teaches you to do just that. At the same time, the game’s structured betting protects your bankroll from monster swings.

You’ll also get to play more flops in limit hold’em. In no limit hold’em, when another player makes a pre-flop raise, it will often be so large that it will force you to fold your hand. That doesn’t happen in the limit game, so you’ll see more flops and gain more valuable experience. You’ll learn how to play a variety of hands based on position, flop texture, and your ability to get reads on your opponents.

Most importantly, you’ll learn to read your opponents’ betting patterns by playing limit hold’em. In the no limit game, creative betting is often rewarded. That’s not always the case in limit hold’em where a skilled player’s bets generally have a clear purpose. Focusing on your opponent’s betting pattern can often reveal critical information about their hand.

Here’s an example.

You’re playing $10-$20 limit hold’em and raise in early position with A-J. The player on your immediate left reraises to $30 and you call. The flop comes As-9c-2h. You check to the raiser. He bets, you check-raise, and he calls. The turn card is the 7d.

Now, let’s assume that you know your opponent is a tight player. His initial reraise from early position suggests he probably has a pocket pair, or a hand like A-K or A-Q.

Go ahead and bet the turn hoping that your opponent has a hand like pocket kings. Warning: If he raises, be prepared to fold!

Despite the fact that you have a powerful hand, when this type of player raises on the turn, he’s probably holding pocket aces, A-K or A-Q. If so, you’ll need to catch a miracle jack on the river to win the pot.

Well, that’s a pretty simplistic example of how to read an opponent’s hand. But the key point is that you’ll have plenty of opportunity to practice this skill in limit hold’em. And when you do master that skill, you’ll be a much stronger player in no limit hold’em, seven card stud, Omaha, or whatever game you choose to play.

© 2009 Card Shark Media. All rights reserved.

Online Poker Bankroll Management

he following principle is key to becoming a successful poker player. Without the proper money management skills, the best players in the world would go broke. For all you skim-readers, here are the basic rules of bankroll management for Texas Hold'em.

• 40 buyins for NL Hold'em.
• 300 Big Blinds for Limit Hold'em.
• 40 buyins for SnG Tournaments.

Bankroll management is where you play at certain limits to avoid losing all of your bankroll due to bad runs of cards, which any poker player must expect from time to time. This is called ‘playing within your bankroll’. Subsequently, if you play at higher limits where there is too great a chance of losing all of your poker money, you are ‘playing out of your bankroll’.

The reason why you should choose your limits carefully in poker is due to the variance. Variance is a term used to describe the ‘ups and downs’ of poker where you fluctuate from having bad runs of cards to good runs of cards, resulting in varying profits and losses. If you play poker for long enough there are going to be periods of time where you will consistently lose money, not because you are playing badly, but because the cards are not falling your way. This means that if you do not have enough money in your bankroll to absorb these downswings, it is likely that you will lose it all.

Therefore every time we sit down at the poker table, whether it be live or online, we want to give ourselves the best opportunity to win a maximum amount of profit whilst keeping the risk of going broke minimal. This is where the rules of bankroll management come into play.

So what limits should I be playing at?

• Cash Games
  If you are playing Pot Limit or No Limit poker, the safe recommended size of your bankroll is 20 times the full buy-in of where you want to play. This means that if you want to have the best chance of making money at a $1/$2 game where the maximum buy-in is $200, you should have a bankroll of at least $4000. Another way of applying bankroll management is by only putting a maximum 5% of your entire bankroll on the table at any one time, which works out the same as having 20 times the buy-in for the game.
  
  If you like to play limit Holdem however, you should have 300 Big Bets as a minimum for the limit you wish to play at. Therefore to play $1/$2 limit Holdem, you should have a bankroll of $600 at least.

• Tournament Games
  It is recommended that you have a bankroll that will give you 40 buy-ins to the level of tournaments that you wish to play at. Therefore if you want to play at the $10+$1 Sit n Go’s you should have a bankroll of $440.

NL Holdem			Limit Holdem			SnG's
Blinds	Bankroll		Blinds	Bankroll		Stakes	Bankroll
5c/10c	$200		5c/10c	$30		$1+$0.1	$44
10c/20c	$400		10c/20c	$60		$2+$0.2	$88
25c/50c	$1,000		25c/50c	$150		$5+$0.5	$220
$0.5/$1	$2,000		$0.5/$1	$300		$10+$1	$440
$1/$2	$4,000		$1/$2	$600		$20+$2	$880
$2/$4	$8,000		$2/$4	$1,200		$30+$3	$1,320
$5/$10	$20,000		$5/$10	$3,000		$50+$5	$2,200
$10$/20	$40,000		$10$/20	$6,000		$100+$10	$4,400
$25/$50	$100,000		$25/$50	$15,000		$200+$20	$8,800
$50/$100	$200,000		$50/$100	$30,000		$500+$50	$22,000

Find out exactly which limit you should be playing at. Try the new Bankroll Calculator!

The guidelines noted above are very general rules that should give you the best opportunity to make money from playing Texas Holdem poker without going broke. However there are going to be some exceptions and alterations depending on how and where you play.

Bankroll management for pro players.

If you intend on taking poker up as your main source of income, the bankroll you would require will be substantially larger than 20 full buy-ins for cash, or 40 buy-ins for tournaments. This is because your living expenses will constantly be taken out of your bankroll and so it has to have the ability to withstand both variance along with the living expenses.

If you are constantly dipping into your bankroll to pay for bills and groceries, you may find that you may sometimes not be properly rolled for the limits you are playing at. Furthermore, there may well be times of emergency when you will need to take a big chunk out of your roll, and you should always be prepared for these situations.

Bankroll management at short-handed tables.

If you play at shorthanded tables there, you may notice that there is greater variance than at full ring games. The fact that you will be involved in a greater number of pots per orbit and playing against your opponent's weaknesses more than to your cards strengths will result in greater fluctuations in wins and losses over short periods of time. This means that you may consider slightly increasing your bankroll up a few buy-ins if you want to withstand the variance of these games.

Style of play and variance.

The style of your play can also determine what limits you should play in relation to the size of your bankroll. If you are a tight player then you should expect to receive a slightly reduced variance to that of a loose player, therefore you may be able to afford to reduce the amount of buy-ins in your bankroll.

This is because tight players will often only enter pots with strong hands and regularly go to showdowns with winnings hands, thus reducing the chances of seeing big losses. Consequently, if you are a loose player and play a large number of pots, you may want to increase the size of your bankroll to absorb the extra variance you may receive.

Absorbing losses and moving on.

A second reason for why you should exercise good bankroll management skills is to help you deal with the psychological impact that losses can have on your game. If you have a bankroll of 10 full buy-ins for a cash game at the $200 NL game and lose 4 buy ins, your bankroll would deplete from $2000 to $1200. Because of your small initial bankroll this looks like a big loss and may cause you to tighten up your game and play ‘scared poker’, because you are afraid to lose more money.

Now if you had 20 full buy-ins for the $1/$2 game, your bankroll would change from $4000 to $3200. Immediately you can see that visually this does not look as bad as the loss in the first instance. Therefore you will feel more comfortable that you have the ability to win back the lost money without feeling the need to change your game.

Moving levels and taking shots.

As already mentioned above, there will be times when you have bad runs of cards and good runs of cards. This means that at certain times your bankroll will be too small or too big for the limits you are playing at. Therefore if your bankroll drops below 20 full buy-ins, then you should also drop down a level so that you are playing within your bankroll until you have built it back up enough to play at the next level. In addition, if your bankroll is big enough to handle the next limit up, then it makes sense to move up to that limit if you feel you can beat it. Just be sure to drop back down to the lower limit if you experience significant losses.

At some points in your poker career you may fancy moving up a level just to test it out and to see how well you do. This is called ‘taking a shot’. There is no harm in trying this as long as you stick to good bankroll management for most of the time you play poker.

Be careful not to get carried away by big wins at the higher level because your bankroll may still be too small to support continued play there. A useful tactic that you can use when ‘taking a shot’ is to not buy in for the full amount at the next level up. This way you will not be risking too much of your bankroll in any one game and you are essentially still playing within your bankroll if you do not put more than 5% of it on the table.

If you intend to make money from playing poker, it is essential that you exercise good bankroll management skills. If you do not then you are setting yourself up for frequent losses that you will find hard to prevent, no matter how good you may be at poker. Once again, the safe bankroll requirements to remember are:

NL Holdem Cash:	20 buy-ins
Limit Holdem Cash:	300 Big Bets
Tournaments:	40 buy-ins

It should be noted that if you are a losing poker player, bankroll management is not going to help you win money. The guidelines mentioned above will only apply if you know that you are a winning poker player in the long run.

Full Tilt Poker Lesson 175: Semi Bluffing

Play Online Poker
2 times the tables, 2 times the play, 2 times the points: Take 2 at Full Tilt Poker by playing two tables simultaneously and earn double Full Tilt Points at both tables.

Play in as many FTOPS XI daily satellite tournaments as you can. Winning a satellite will get you closer to the $15 million in prize money guaranteed over 25 events when FTOPS XI starts on February 4th.

If there's a decent chance you can steal a pot by semi-bluffing, you should usually take it. But how do you decide when the time is right to make this move? Team Full Tilt's Andy Bloch advises you on picking the right spot to pull off a semi-bluff.

Play Online Poker
175
Semi-Bluffing
Andy Bloch
22nd January 2009

The semi-bluff is one of the most powerful weapons in any poker player’s arsenal. If there’s a decent chance you can steal a pot by semi-bluffing, you should usually take it. But, as with any play you make at the table, the semi-bluff is always most effective when you use it at the correct time in the correct situation. Semi-bluff too much and your opponents will know when you’re on the draw; semi-bluff too little and your opponents will know to fold whenever you bet. The key to semi-bluffing is to always mix things up and never become too predictable with your betting patterns.

Let’s say that you’ve flopped the nut flush draw and are pretty certain your opponent has connected with the flop in some way, be it top pair or maybe even a set. A lot of players like to check-raise as a semi-bluff in this spot. There are a couple of problems with this play: first, if you always check-raise in this spot then your opponent will be able to put you on a draw very easily. Second, if your opponent really does have a hand, there’s no need to check-raise here because there’s no way he’s folding and there’s a good chance he’ll pay you off anyway if you hit your hand.

A better move in this spot might be not semi-bluffing and just calling instead. This way, if you hit your flush on the turn, your options are wide open – checking, calling or raising are all viable plays − and your opponent won’t be able to put you on a hand quite as easily. By not semi-bluffing, you increase your chances of winning a bigger pot when your opponent actually has a strong hand. There are players out there who’ll assume you’re not on the draw if you don’t semi-bluff, so use that to your advantage.

Now, if you don’t think that your opponent has a strong hand or your draw isn’t that strong (say a low flush draw), this is the perfect time for a semi-bluff. The semi-bluff should be used as a tool to steal pots when the opportunity arises, not as a means of building big pots.

Another good way to mix up your semi-bluffing game plan is to wait until the turn to semi-bluff rather than always doing it on the flop. This can be a dangerous play because you’ve only got one card to come on the turn and you’re not getting the same odds. But it also means that your opponent is less likely to think that you’re semi-bluffing and put you on the draw. It looks pretty strong if you call on the flop and then raise on the turn; your opponent might think you’ve flopped the nuts and throw away a pretty strong hand.

Another advantage to semi-bluffing on the turn rather than the flop is that you could pick up additional outs on the turn. Say you have a gut-shot straight draw on the flop and then pick up a flush draw on the turn. You’ve just gone from four outs to about 12, which might be worth a shot at taking down the pot right then and there. A lot of players will also have trouble putting you on the flush draw in this spot; it’s just harder to see that flush draw on the turn than it is on the flop.

Once again, the key to a good semi-bluff is picking the right spot to pull it off. Choose poorly and you could stand to lose a good portion of your stack; choose well and you could throw your opponents off balance and hit them where it hurts when you make your hand.
With Take 2, discover why playing two tables at once is easy and fun - while you earn double Full Tilt Points on both tables. So if you earn 60 points playing at Table A and 40 points playing at Table B, we'll reward you with 100 points for your play plus 100 bonus points.

If you've never multi-tabled before, Take 2 is a great way to get your feet wet and experience the thrill of multi-tabling.

You can take part in Take 2 at any time from 00:00 ET on Monday, January 26th to 23:59 ET on Sunday, February 1st.

To qualify for this promotion, you must elect to participate by logging in to the game and clicking on the Cashier and then the My Promotions button. Select the Take 2 box and follow the instructions on the Take 2 My Promotions page.

Play Online Poker
Win a guaranteed seat to any FTOPS XI event by entering any daily satellite tournament for as little as $1 or 50 Full Tilt Points. You can win entry to any event on the FTOPS XI Schedule, including six events which offer more than $1 million in prize money.

If you win a satellite, there's every reason to continue playing. You can win as many FTOPS XI tournament entries as you like by taking part in the FTOPS XI Satellite Challenge. For every additional satellite you win to each event, you'll receive T$ equal to the tournament entry. Plus, if you place first or second in satellite wins for each event, you'll receive an extra bonus.

To play in any FTOPS XI satellite, go to the FTOPS tab in the Tournament Lobby.

Good luck at the tables,

Full Tilt Poker

Play Online Poker

The most important aspect of game design.

I feel the most important aspect of game design is, gameplay. If a game does not have good gameplay then it will not be enjoyed by the consumer. If the person that buys a game or plays a game, and does not like the gameplay then he or she will not be attracted to the game any longer. Gameplay is the most important in game design because if you miss in the gameplay department it may kill the game right from the start. All classic games, video games, and board games, have had amazing or great gameplay.

Street Fighter IV Character Trailer From Capcom

New youtube video, subscribe!!

Reading People

Reading People
Once you’ve learned to interpret a player’s betting patterns, try to figure out how his personality traits might reveal the kinds of poker decisions he will make. Focus on poker fundamentals first. Then learn to get inside other players’ heads and use the information you gather to make solid decisions. Here’s how to do it.

When you watch me play on television, you’ll notice that I engage my opponents in conversation by asking routine questions: Where are you from? How long have you been playing poker? Do you play on the internet? What do you do for a living?

Every answer reveals a little information that helps paint a picture of who they are and how they play. Asking these questions is the first step in reading people.

Sometimes you’ll notice obvious character traits. A brash person, for example, rarely plays poker conservatively. He’s far more likely to play a lot of hands and play them aggressively. A soft-spoken person, on the other hand, will usually play cautiously.

Another important consideration is what your opponent does for a living. It’s what I call The Lawyer vs. the Sunday School Teacher syndrome.

Play against a lawyer and you can safely assume that she’ll be smart. Her profession requires that she’s able to spin a tale in order to win a case. Well, in poker, that’s called bluffing! I consistently find that lawyers are apt to play their hands in a tricky fashion. They really do tend to be big time bluffers.

Okay, how about the Sunday school teacher?

Well, you can be reasonably certain that lying isn’t in their nature. And while bluffing an opponent out of their money isn’t exactly lying, the act of deceiving another player might be more difficult for this type of player. The truth is they’re often conflicted about bluffing. So when a Sunday school teacher makes a big bet on the river, you’d better think about folding -- unless of course you’ve got a monster hand yourself.

Now, the best way to get into another player’s head is to ask a question that seemingly has nothing to do with poker. A pointed question about their hand could cause them to tighten up. They’ll (correctly) fear that their answer could reveal telling information about their cards.

So instead, try talking politics. Ask them if they supported Obama or McCain.

As I mentioned, conservative people tend to play a tight style of poker; liberals like to play it loose. Yes, these are broad generalizations, and, no, you can’t base your actions entirely on your opponent’s political preference. But the answer to this question can reveal a piece of a puzzle that must be solved in order to make a fundamentally sound decision.

It’s time for a quiz.

You’re playing against an arrogant attorney who is out of shape, smokes cigars, drinks whiskey and keeps talking about his penchant for firearms. What might that tell you about his poker game?

Let’s review.

He’s a lawyer so he’s apt to bluff. His arrogance indicates that he thinks he can outplay you after the flop. His big gut and taste for stogies and whiskey reveal a certain lack of discipline which might translate to impatient play at the table. And his interest in guns might just mean that he’s got plenty of ammo in his poker arsenal; he’s just not the type of player to back down in a battle for chips.

Remember, first concentrate on trying to decipher how your opponent plays his hand. Focus on his betting patterns. Once you think you’ve got him figured out, complete the picture by studying his character traits. At the poker table, that’s how you go about reading people.


© 2008 Card Shark Media. All rights reserved.

Ultimate Bet Review

FULL REVIEW - Ultimate Bet (8.71)

Ultimate Bet is one of the world's leading poker rooms and a real innovator in the business, with many new software features added over the years and a nice, sleek look and feel.

It’s also the home of several poker pro endorsers – most famously 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke – who can be found at the tables at all levels.

The biggest news lately, however, is UltimateBet finally completing its merge with Absolute Poker in Nov. 2008 to form the new Cereus poker network, making it one of the busiest poker rooms in the world.

Ultimate Bet has always featured massive promotions and a great frequent player program, and with the added clout of the Absolute Poker player base, player perks will only get better.

Traffic is now much more consistent 24/7 and complements the great game variety, which includes ultra high-limit games and tons of exotic game variations, from Pineapple and A-5 Triple Draw down to real-money Rock, Paper, Scissors.

The Ultimate Bet software is very good and very fast, with quite a few innovative functions. The graphics are also crisp and clean and offer a great playing experience.

With the Absolute Poker merge, the two have also merged their graphics a bit, making for a more consistent experience across the sites and picking the best of each to carry forward.

Overall, it’s a top notch playing experience, with the added bonus of now being able to upload your own personal image for your avatar – a nice feature, plus an occasional tip off to the biggest fish at the table.

With the merge, traffic volume is in now in the top five of the industry and essentially double what it was before. Real-money player statistics as of January 2009 show 2,100 ring-game players at peak hours and 14,000 tournament players at peak hours.

Play Online Poker

Play in Full Tilt Poker’s biggest monthly tournament this Sunday for a chance to win your share of a prize pool guaranteed to be at least $1 million. The $1 Million Guarantee starts at 18:00 ET on Sunday, January 18th - buy in directly for $500 + $35, or satellite your way in for as little as $1 or 50 Full Tilt Points.

Win your seat to the World Poker Tour LA Poker Classic Championship Event through our WPT Qualifiers. We’ll be awarding packages worth $12K each week starting January 15th. Don’t miss your chance to be part of this premier poker event.

There are many different strategies for approaching the early stages of a tournament. In this week’s tip, Aaron Bartley discusses the implications of being aggressive early in the game.


174
The Pros and Cons of Being Active Early
Aaron Bartley
14th January 2009

Deciding how active you want to be at the beginning of a tournament depends heavily on what type of tournament you’re playing in. If it’s a standard Sit & Go, I always recommend playing tight and conserving chips early. If it’s a Multi-Table Tournament or a Shootout Tournament then you should consider a more active style in the early phase.

Part of the goal in doing this is to accumulate chips. But another part of the goal is to establish an image that will help get you chips later. It can be a rewarding way to play, but you need to understand that there’s also a downside to the image this type of play will create.

When you put constant pressure on other players, it’s eventually going to make them fight back. You don’t have to raise large amounts and you don’t have to get involved in huge pots, but by raising with a lot of hands, your opponents are going to play back at you with a wider and wider range of hands. They’re going to start calling and three-betting with more marginal hands, and that’s going to open them up and make them susceptible to giving you their chips more often.

If you’re looking to accumulate chips, you don’t want your table locked down in super-tight mode. You don’t want to have to grind out a few chips every orbit – you want to get into your opponents’ heads and provoke them into spewing chips. You’ll find that once one player at the table does it, it tends to have a domino effect and lead other people to start making mistakes.

The downside, however, is that your bluffs won’t work very often, and that’s something you have to be aware of. For example, let’s say I’ve been playing a lot of pots and developed a loose image in a six-handed table, and I’m dealt A-Q suited under the gun. That’s a good hand at a full table, and it’s even better six-handed. So I make a pot-sized raise, and the big blind calls. The flop is J-10-6, which isn’t exactly a hit for me, but it isn’t a total miss; I have a straight draw and two over cards. I’m going to make a normal continuation bet and I figure my opponent can’t call me without a decent hand. In this case, I bet, he calls and the turn is a three, so I decide to give it one more shot and raise my bet a little bit because I want him to fold. Instead, he calls.

A four now falls on the river. I didn’t hit anything and he’s clearly shown that he’s ready to call anything; I can’t expect to bet him off the hand. In my mind, I’m putting him on a hand possibly as weak as 10-2, but I don’t think I can get him to lay that down, so I check, give up the pot and he wins with 6-7.

Of course I’m going to be a little frustrated to learn that he called twice with third pair. He had to have put me on A-K or A-Q or thought I was raising under the gun with rags and, the truth is, people will begin to think that way because I’ve raised a lot of pots. Because of this, people are going to start calling me extremely light.

In the short-term, that can be a bad thing; but in the long-term, it should be good. If the same hand happens later but I have A-J or Aces or Kings, or even some trash hand that connects, I’m going to get paid off.

This is why the positives of playing an active style early ultimately outweigh the negatives. Even if you lose a pot because your image keeps people hanging around, it can set you up to win an even bigger pot later on.


Play Online Poker

Late Stage MTT Play

Late Stage Tournament Play

It’s in the late stages of a tournament when the men are separated from the boys. Players who consistently win on the poker circuit do so by taking full advantage of the opportunities available to them at this time.

One particularly important tactic they use to reach the final table is focusing on opponents who tighten up their play.

Playing tight late in a tournament turns out to be a fairly common mistake even among skilled players. Yes, adjustments need to be made in terms of hand selection in later rounds. But too often players take it to the extreme and fold hands they should be playing.

While a hand like 6h-7h is well suited for early rounds when blinds are low and chipstacks are still high, don’t automatically abandon this type of hand late in the game just because the blinds and the cost of playing are more substantial.

For example, if the players in the blinds are tight and you’re in late position with no other players entering the pot, it would be a mistake to fold a hand like Jh-9h. Recognize the fact that many players tend to tighten up late in a tournament. As that happens, your success rate at stealing blinds will increase. This is simply not the time to reduce the number of hands you attempt to steal blinds with.

On the contrary, this situation frequently presents a raising opportunity specifically designed to exploit tight players.

If you do elect to raise, the small ball approach will be most effective against tight opponents. These players will often neglect to focus on the amount of your raise. Instead, they’ll zero in on the fact that they just don’t have a strong hand themselves.

Let’s look at another example.

With blinds at 400-800 and a 100 ante, most players will fold a hand like 9-7 offsuit regardless if you make it 2,000, 2,200, or 2,400 to go. With that in mind, you can safely reduce your risk by choosing to raise the lower amount.

For the most part, if you continue to use the same game strategy late in tournaments as you would early on, the adjustments your opponents make will actually render the small ball approach even more effective. Why? Because winning blinds and antes becomes increasingly more valuable as a tournament progresses.

That’s not only because the value of blinds and antes continue to escalate. It’s also because stack sizes in relation to the blinds decrease.

The blinds in a typical big buy-in event may start out at 25-50 with a 10,000 stack. By the second level, however, blinds would increase to 50-100 whereas the average stack would be much less than 20,000 -- probably closer to 12,000.

The deeper you get into the tournament, the more extreme this imbalance becomes. So, when the blinds get to 500-1,000, the average stack will likely be around 50,000. On a percentage basis, that’s a significant increase when compared to early stage conditions.

Here’s the bottom line: Paranoia is likely to set in among tight players late in a tournament when blinds escalate to a point where they represent a large percentage of their stack. These players will tend to sit on their hands while more aggressive players rob them blind by relentlessly attacking the blinds with a barrage of small raises.

Tight players simply get gun shy late in a tournament. Don’t make that mistake. Instead, be the player who takes advantage of opponents who play not to lose. Playing to win is the name of the game.

© 2009 Card Shark Media. All rights reserved.

Pokerstars Review

FULL REVIEW - Poker Stars (8.47)

PokerStars is the largest poker site in the world, offering massive volume in cash games and tournaments and action at almost any game and limit 24 hours a day.

It really sets the standard in the industry as far as tournaments go, with an unmatched selection and sit-and-gos at all stakes starting up virtually every second.

PokerStars also offers good promotions and an exceptional loyalty program, with a huge selection of merchandise, special events and qualifiers to all major poker tournaments.

The software is also top-notch and offers fast play, high reliability, great multi-table options and a high level of customization - it pretty much sets the bar for the industry there as well.

If you're looking for a downside, though, it's probably the inconsistent competition. Because of the huge player base, the opposition can range from super soft at one table to unbelievably aggressive just the next table over.

Lower limits and tournaments are still flush with bad players, say up to the $6 and $11 SNG level, but there are literally thousands of strong players trolling PokerStars daily looking to make a living, so expect some tough competition scattered throughout your games.

If you like more obscure poker variations, PokerStars is for you, with a wide spread of games offered - Texas Hold'em, Omaha and Seven-Card Stud in all versions, H.O.R.S.E., H.O.S.E., 2-7 Triple Draw, Five-Card Draw, Razz, 2-7 Single Draw Lowball, Badugi, 8-Game, Mixed Hold’em and Mixed Omaha Hi/Lo. By the time you read this, they've probably added more.

Overall, PokerStars keeps its spot at the top of the industry for traffic by offering a real "feel for poker" and responding rapidly to player feedback.

Bottom line, it does what it does very well, and if the competition wasn't so tough at the higher stakes and there wasn't the occasional inconvenience that comes with such a huge site, it would be tough not to rank PokerStars higher.

Real-money player statistics as of January 2009 show 22,500 ring-game players at peak hours and 155,000 tournament players at peak hours.

Rebuy MTT Strategy

Play Online Poker
Play in Sit & Go Madness this weekend and win your share of $75,000 worth of additional cash and prizes while playing in your favorite single-table Sit & Gos.

FTOPS XI is coming and now is the time to win your entry to any of the 25 events by playing in daily satellites tournaments.

Playing in a rebuy tournament requires a different strategy from playing in a regular freeze-out tournament. Full Tilt Poker pro Michael Gracz advises on how to get to the post-rebuy period with a large chip stack, and how to use maniacal opponents to your advantage.

Play Online Poker

173
The Rebuy Tournament Game Plan
Michael Gracz
7th January 2009

Going into any rebuy tournament, you should know before the first cards are dealt how much money you’re willing to invest. Whether you’re playing with a single bullet (not planning to rebuy at all), enough money to rebuy 50 times, or somewhere in between, you should have a number in your mind. You need to know from the start how many risks you can afford to take, and play accordingly.

For me personally, I don’t believe in playing with a single bullet or with unlimited ammo. If you’re only planning on making one buy-in, then why not play a regular No-Limit Hold ’em tournament? Playing a rebuy tournament with only one bullet, you have no safety net and you’re giving the other players a significant edge over you because they’re able to exploit your reluctance to gamble.

If you’re pushing your stack in over and over, looking to accumulate chips and willing to go broke repeatedly, there’s a certain amount of upside to that, but I don’t believe it’s the best expected value play. Yes, that maniacal approach can sometimes get you into the post-rebuy period with a large chip stack, which of course provides an edge for the rest of the tournament. The problem is that if you’ve spent something like $25,000 in a $1,000 buy-in tournament, you have to finish that much higher in the money to come out ahead. A lot of times when you’re rebuying that many times, just making the money doesn’t cover how much you’ve invested into the tournament.

My personal rule of thumb is that I like to be willing to invest in the tournament in accordance to the payout amounts. I don’t ever want to get to the point where I’m investing significantly more money than the lowest money place pays. So in a $1,000 rebuy tournament, I’m willing to put about $8,000 into it. Some days, it’s just not your day, the cards aren’t falling your way and you have to leave and come back and play another day. It’s foolish to sit there and keep putting your stack in the middle when you have no edge and often times you’re up against a better hand.

When you’re playing this middle-of-the-road strategy, it’s important to identify the maniacal players from the outset because they’re going to be very dangerous, but they’re also going to provide you with your best opportunities to chip up. These players are actually the prime reason to play in a rebuy tournament, because you can feast on them. They’re going to open with all types of hands from all different positions, so you can call with marginal hands in position such as 10-9 suited, 8-7 suited, 3-4 suited, even one-gappers such as 6-8 suited. I also want to put a lot of pressure on this type of player before the flop if I have a big hand like Aces, Kings, or Queens, simply because this is the type of player who’s really willing to gamble and might just go ahead and ship the rest of his stack in right there.

In the last 10 to 15 minutes of the rebuy period, if you’ve been able to acquire a stack, this is a critical time in the tournament to play smart. If the hyper-aggressive players don’t have a lot of chips, they’re going to be pushing it all in almost every hand to give themselves a shot at a big stack heading into the post-rebuy period. If you have an edge in a given hand against these guys, use it, but you don’t want to gamble too much. Remember that you’ve acquired a stack now and it’s your goal to maintain that stack in and after the rebuy period.

Play Online Poker

If you want to learn poker/Calling all music makers!

Youtube Video

Limping In

Limping In

Common wisdom in Texas Hold’em suggests that you should raise before the flop if you’re planning to play a hand. The saying goes, “Raise or fold,” but is that correct? Well, it’s not the worst advice but limiting yourself to one of these two options would be a mistake.

Limping in -- entering a pot by calling rather than raising -- is more complicated than raise-or-fold poker because you’ll end up playing more hands. Also, it’s difficult to put players on a hand when they’re in the pot without making a pre-flop raise. The big blind, for example, could have any two cards. Trying to determine his hand can be very tricky.

In certain situations, the best players in the world will limp in rather than raise to disguise the strength of their hands. Follow these guidelines to add this deceptive tactic to your game, too.

Limp to Set a Trap in Aggressive Games

Trap plays work best when there’s lots of raising before the flop and other players have already limped in.

You’ll need to have a premium hand to set the trap, something like pocket aces or kings, or maybe A-K. Then, call rather than raise, and hope that an overly aggressive player behind you will interpret your limp as a sign of weakness. If the trap works and he does try to bully you with a raise, go ahead and re-raise when the action returns to you.

If the trap fails and no one raises before the flop, proceed cautiously because you’ll have no idea what cards your opponents might have. Any flop could give any player two pair or better. You’d even have to consider folding your pocket aces if the action gets too heavy after the flop.

When setting a trap, be careful not to get trapped yourself.

Limp from the Small Blind

The small blind is the worst position to play from after the flop. At the same time, since you already have half the bet in the pot, it’s usually correct to call the other half of the bet.

An interesting situation occurs, though, when you find yourself in the small blind versus the big blind, with everyone else out of the hand. Too many players in this scenario make the mistake of thinking, “Only one blind left, this should be an easy blind to steal.”

In fact, this is probably the toughest blind to steal because the big blind will suspect larceny. Even more important, you’ll be out of position throughout the entire hand. Playing from the small blind, your goal should be to minimize losses rather than to try to bully a player who has the power of position.

Limp in First to Change the Pace of the Game

Sometimes you’ll feel that the game is too aggressive pre-flop, making it difficult for you to outplay your opponents post-flop. In these situations, you can slow the pace of the game by limping in first, hoping that other players will adopt your style of play. This tactic works particularly well if you’re a solid player with strong hand reading skills.

Limp Behind Other Limpers

Your choices are definitely not limited to raising or folding after other players have limped into the pot. Say that two players have already limped in and you’re holding pocket threes. In this case, limping in to see a cheap flop is the best approach.

While limping in isn’t a tactic for everyone, the play definitely enhances poker deception. That’s because the more willing you are to shift gears, the tougher it will be for your opponents to get an accurate read on you.

© 2009 Card Shark Media. All rights reserved.

FULL TILT POKER REVIEW

Play Online Poker
FULL REVIEW - Full Tilt Poker (8.76)

Launched in 2004, Full Tilt Poker is now by far one of the biggest and most famous poker sites online, growing daily and always pushing to build its reputation as a market leader.

Adding to its visibility and prestige is of course "Team Full Tilt," the site's main sponsored pros and the bulk of its ownership group, including poker legends Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, Allen Cunningham, Phil Ivey, Mike Matusow and Andy Bloch.

The site's famous catchphrase is "Learn, chat and play with the pros," and they definitely live up to it, with the main sponsored team plus with a growing list of Full Tilt "red pros" found playing regularly at a variety of limits.

For the regular player there's action at virtually any game and limit 24/7, with games offered including Texas Hold'em, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, Seven-Card Stud, Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo, Five-Card Draw and Razz.

Full Tilt Poker is also one of few sites with mixed games like H.O.R.S.E., H.A. and H.O.S.E. in both cash games and tournaments, making the game variation one of the most extensive and impressive online.

Full Tilt Poker's software has some very innovative functions, is very stable and features excellent graphics - definitely measuring up as one of the best in the industry. The cartoon avatars are a bit tiresome to look at after a while, but not a huge obstacle to overcome.

Same goes for the perpetual spamming and $5 transfer requests in the chat wherever the pros are, but that can also easily be turned off.

For those that want to look like the pros, the points shop is excellent, offering players all sorts of FTP merch that can be bought with their Full Tilt Poker points.

Overall, Full Tilt delivers what you expect - plenty of tables and games to pick from, a strong pro presence to give you the cool "poker experience" and a chance to watch some super sick games at the marquee $500/$1,000 No-Limit Hold'em tables.

The hard work and huge advertising budget has definitely paid off, as real-money player statistics as of January 2009 show 10,500 ring-game players at peak hours, and 70,000 tournament players at peak hours.

Play Online Poker