20 Feb 06
Play Short Handed for Profit
A SHORT-HANDED poker game is one in which there are six players or less seated at the table.
The way you are required to play in order to be in profit is quite different from tables with more players or multi-table tournaments. Short-handed games give you more action and most professionals prefer playing against fewer opponents as they are able to win more often against less experienced players.
Each person plays more hands in short-handed poker so poor players are soon found out. If you know how to apply different strategies to different situations then short-handed games can be very profitable.
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20 Feb 06
New Face Of The WPT
On a cool early winter evening in Las Vegas, many people were arranged on the balcony overlooking the Bellagio's famous dancing fountains. As the show ended, WPT announcer Mike Sexton approached a lovely young lady, who turned to him and cooed, "Don't you look handsome tonight? And what a nice tie...," as she reached up and adjusted the poker champion's neckwear.
It is obvious that the new hostess for the WPT, Courtney Friel, has found herself a home with the World Poker Tour and the Travel Channel.
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20 Feb 06
Software adds Tourney Training
Minneapolis, MN (PRWEB) February 20, 2006 -- Poker Academy, a leading developer of poker software products (http://www.poker-academy.com), today released Poker Academy Pro Texas Hold'em Version 2.5, which is the first Texas Hold'em poker software game and training tool that allows its users to create, simulate, and host online multi-table tournaments of any structure. A free upgrade to existing Poker Academy Pro 2.0 customers, Pro 2.5 also empowers them to seriously analyze their game play from real world experiences by now being able to import hand histories from popular online poker rooms, including Party Poker, Poker Stars, and Paradise Poker.
“With poker tournaments the rage worldwide, for fun or for money, players of any skill level need help training to win at casinos, online poker rooms, or poker leagues,” said Kurt Lange, president and chief executive of Poker Academy. “Our new version of Poker Academy Pro delivers that in spades. Players can design, simulate and save tourney structures from their favorite local casino or online poker site. We have empowered them with the tools to train to win without taking any risk.”
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17 Feb 06
Congressman Attempts Poker Ban
"The United States government has shown a long history of not being up to speed with today's Internet world. It is well known that, in the international trade arena, the United States has previously been found to violate free trade agreements regarding online gaming in a now famous ruling by the World Trade Organization for Antigua in 2004. Continued efforts to prevent Americans from participating in the poker rooms and casinos of the Internet have come up several times in the past (most notably led by Arizona Senator Jon Kyl) but, as of yet, have been rejected. This hasn't stopped some Congressmen from attempting to pass some law banning it, however."
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16 Feb 06
Does Poker Sharks Have The Bite?
"A new online game called Poker Sharks founded by a 22 year-old from the United Kingdom is set to shock the foundations of the poker world by taking a slice of their billion-dollar poker industry. ... Poker Sharks is unique in the way it fills the gap between online gaming and online gambling. Players can play Poker Sharks and learn the game of poker without the fear of losing money. For players that are worried about going straight in at the deep end, Poker Sharks introduces and nurses total novice players into players that can hold their own against the fiercest of Poker Shark.
Already the site has attracted over 3.8 million hits in the six months online with thousands of players already signed up and playing each day."
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16 Feb 06
UK Poker markets in 2006?
"Recent headlines in the media such as 'Poker is the new gambling sensation' and 'Over a million dollars are staked on poker sites every minute' are typical of the hype surrounding the poker industry. A hype that will burst? Well, no not really! Although some industry experts may have differing views, most agree that the poker business is still set to continue growing at a steady pace."
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16 Feb 06
Andy Beal Has Super Sunday
Contrary to the previous "official statement" it appears that Andy Beal is far from "finished":
"Today’s Corporation representative was Jennifer Harman, who hit the felt about 11 a.m. PST with Doyle Brunson seated to her right. Andy Beal was wearing his trademark white visor and white shirt, with headphones and sunglasses. Michael Craig, the author of The Professor, The Banker and The Suicide King, sat to his right. The blinds were $50,000-$100,000. ... Play ended at approximately 7 p.m. and it appeared The Corporation was not able to recoup their losses of the day. An official number will be posted as soon as it becomes available. It is known that the Las Vegas team was down almost $5 million at one point. They were able to bring themselves back up to a $2 million deficit, but lost a couple of racks by the end of the session."
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15 Feb 06
WSOP Payday Breaks $10M
"February 15 - Poker's monumental surge in popularity, spurred on by the growth of online poker, shows no signs of abating. This year's World Series Of Poker is projecting a first prize of $10,000,000 - far and away the biggest payday in gaming or sports of any kind.
Last year's WSOP winner, Joe Hachem from Australia, pocketed $7.5 million but the tournament directors are confident that the 2006 edition of the World Series Of Poker will attract an even larger field, hence the increase in the first prize."
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14 Feb 06
Top 10 Best and Worst Hands
"Here's a quick guide to the ten best Texas Hold'em poker hands. If you start with any of these ten hands during Texas Hold'em, you are in excellent shape. ... Sure, you know that a pair of aces are the best hand in Texas Hold'em, but do you know the worst starting hands? Knowing that these hands are almost-always-fold'em hands in hold'em is just as important to improving your poker game and not playing like a donkey."
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14 Feb 06
Hellmuth To Defend
One of the most popular poker events in 2005 was the National Heads Up Poker Championship. The tournament, which was held at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas and broadcast on NBC in May, brought sixty four of the greatest names in the game together to determine the best heads up player in the world. Many will remember the epic showdown in the final tournament, which was won 2-1 by former World Champion Phil Hellmuth in a stirring battle over another former World Champion in Chris "Jesus" Ferguson.
Hellmuth will return to defend that hard fought championship when the second annual National Heads Up Poker Championship kicks off competition from March 4-6 at the brand new tournament poker facilities at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
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14 Feb 06
Poker Celebs do the Philippines
"The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) will host some the the world's top poker players for its inaugural World Celebrity Poker tournament, scheduled for February 22. Aside from the main tournament, a cash game, tagged 'The Challenge of Champions,' will also be held.
In honor of the event, poker legend Doyle Brunson as well as his poker-playing progeny, Todd, and several other illustrious players will meet on the felt at Casino Filipino in the city of Cebu. In addition to the poker stars playing in the event, Jack Binion, the legendary former host of the World Series of Poker, will be playing poker host once again for the event."
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13 Feb 06
Naked Truth About Poker
(PRWEB) February 11, 2006 -- ‘Poker 2006: The State of Play’ – a comprehensive survey published today by paddypowerpoker.com delves deep into the hearts and minds of British and Irish poker players and finds that:
• 55% of all poker players have played the game naked or in their underwear.
• 63% would rather play poker than have sex.
• 13% have injured themselves playing poker.
• 33% would stake their partner in a $1 million game.
• 37% have told little white lies in order to play poker.
• 71% have wanted to destroy their computers after a ‘bad beat’.
• 81% believe poker is a game of skill.
• 38% play poker every day.
• 37% think Gerry Adams would make the best poker player amongst British and Irish politicians.
The survey of over 500 poker players across Ireland and Britain also found that most poker players in Ireland will vote for Fianna Fail in the next general election while most players in the UK intend to vote Conservative.
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13 Feb 06
Party to pony up $200M?
Another chapter is about to close in the PartyGaming/Empire Online soap opera. Late last week, rumors began circulating that the online poker operators were close to an out-of-court settlement of their impending lawsuit, pushing the value of Empire's stock up five percent. In response to these rumors, Empire Online released a statement saying that it was indeed close to settling its legal despute with online poker giant PartyGaming. Although Empire Online refrained for offering further details regarding the settlement, stating instead that "a further announcement will be made in due course," various media sources have pinned the settlement at approximately $200 million in Empire's favor.
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13 Feb 06
More women playing poker
PHOENIX -- There will be gambling this night, you can bet on that. ... More than 40 women are gathered at a restaurant in Phoenix to participate in the Hot Damn Lucky Ladies' Poker Club. They're here to eat, drink and socialize, but most of all, to play cards. Many have never played poker before.
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13 Feb 06
LIPS Conference
"The Ladies International Poker Series (LIPS) has to be credited for bringing more women to the poker tables. Through their innovative series of 'ladies' only' tournaments (usually held in conjunction with the World Series of Poker Circuit events), last year's Ladies' Tournament at the WSOP was by far the greatest success it has ever been, bringing in over 600 women to compete for the championship with many of them coming from LIPS events. Now the LIPS Tour wants to help not just the ladies but the men as well with their game with their first annual LIPS Poker Conference."
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10 Feb 06
$500K Online Poker Tourney
Saturday February 11 will see Eurobet’s largest ever tournament with a guaranteed prize pool of at least $500,000. The tournament, called 'Grand Tournament VI', will begin at 15.00 ET on Saturday.
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10 Feb 06
Andy Beal Is Finished
Lisa Wheeler - cardplayer.com: According to the Public Relations Department of Beal Banks, Andy Beal will no longer be playing poker. In a phone call to the Texas billionaire’s office this afternoon, Beal’s PR representative stated for the record: “Andy Beal will not be participating in the 2006 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship (NHUPC) and he’s done with poker for good.”
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09 Feb 06
'Freeze Out': Poker Comes To Indie Films
"Poker has rarely been a part of the cinematic experience. Some may look at 'The Cincinnati Kid' as one of the best poker movies ever but, since the seminal 1998 film 'Rounders' was released, poker has rarely stepped outside of the casinos or television sets. Producer and director of independent films M. J. Loheed is looking to change that with the excellently done 'Freeze Out'.
The film has already captured some notable praise from the independent film community. It won the award for 'Best Feature Film' during the 2005 Westwood International Film Festival in Los Angeles and will also be featured on the website Cinequest Online (cinequestonline.org) during the Cinequest Viewers' Voice Online Festival."
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09 Feb 06
Legends of Poker: Annie Duke
"Annie Duke is a media favorite these days. She has appeared on poker tournament broadcasts countless times, and serves as a spokesperson and advisor to Ultimatebet.com where she can be found playing poker on occasion. Her photogenic face has been splashed across the globe on ESPN playing poker as well as while a featured guest on TV shows such as Good Morning America and The David Letterman Show. Is she a star, or a poker player?"
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08 Feb 06
WPT's film release worries Aces
"A handful of poker pros continue to opt out of playing in World Poker Tour events in a dispute involving the filming release all players must sign before participating in the made-for-TV tournaments that air on the Travel Channel (Cox cable channel 66).
Professional gambler Andy Bloch believes the release is too broad and gives World Poker too much leeway regarding how the organization can use each player's name and likeness for promotional purposes."
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