Set of Jacks

One of the great things about the World Series of Poker Main Event is that unknown players can do well and really build up a reputation. In 2004 this actually happened to two players. Greg Raymer would go on to win the event after getting in through a satellite tournament. In second place was David Williams who had qualified in the same way. Both have since gone on to have considerable success as poker players.

David Williams is one of the bright young poker players in the world today. Before getting into poker he was one of the top ranked players in world in the card game Magic. Born and raised in Dallas Williams proved to be very smart and began attending college at SMU when he was just sixteen years of age studying economics. It was while he was at college that he started to play poker, at first with friends and later in small local tournaments. After finishing college Williams decided to pursue a career as a poker player.

The year 2004 proved to be very good for David Williams as a poker player. He won a satellite World Series of Poker event which earned him an entry into the main event. He would go on to make it to the final table and although he eventually finished in second place he will still earn three and half million dollars. That year he would also finish second at a World Poker Tour event and get his first major win at the World Poker Classic.

Since 2004 David Williams has just kept on winning big events, he got a WSOP bracelet when he won the seven card stud event in 2006 and in 2010 he would win a World Poker Tour event pocketing one and a half million dollars. In addition there have been a string of money finishes that have helped to push David Williams up near the top of the money winners list in tournament play.

While he has continued to have success in poker tournaments David Williams has started to follow the lead of other top poker players and started to focus on cash games. The reason is that there is a lot more money to be made for good players this way than there is in tournament play. This has reduced the number of tournaments that he plays in but he does still participate in the big ones.

One other thing that has started to take up a lot of David Williams’s time is that he has started to get into online poker. In large part this is because of his sponsorship arrangement with Bodog. Although he plays in online games and does quite well in them it seems unlikely that he would ever give up live games to focus on playing online poker like a lot of players have done.

Most players who are new to poker may find multi-tabling, playing on multiple poker games at once, to be daunting. It is normal to feel that way but there are some things that you can try so you can make most out of multi-tabling from the start.

Arranging your tables

True there will be a lot of things happening at one time like bets to consider, tells to look for, and things which might win you more chips. It will help a lot if you arrange the poker tables on you computer monitor properly. I personally like tiling the multiple tables so you can see clearly what is happening on each of them. You can also try to cascade the games especially when your monitor is a bit small. Try which arrangement is best for you.

Hand Replayer

A hand replayer can give you a lot of insight and foresight when you play with certain players. Take note of how they handled their cards at certain scenarios. Jot down if they are aggressive or overly careful with their hands or if they bluff a lot. You can use this information so you can avoid getting into trouble when you play against them again in the future. There’s a good replayer at Full Tilt Poker.
Online Poker: Learning how to multi-table continued »

Collusion can take the face of many different things. After all, in the wilds of the internet world, there are plenty of opportunities for two people to work together anonymously. They can be talking in instant messages or emails, they can be talking on the phone or texting, they can even be in the same room, side by side. And remember, it does not have to be just two people.

The players may just share their cards and pool their knowledge to judge everyone else’s chances, or one play may somehow distract the rest of the room. Stacking the deck can be possibly in this way. This can be done in a bricks and mortar casino, of course, but it is far easier to pull off during an online game.

Players who are working in collusion can even take the opportunity to use a different language from the rest of the players. That can allow them to discuss the game. Again, this too can be done in live play, and these days, it is not even necessary in online play, when players can talk to one another in any number of ways.

As we all know, the internet is a great thing, whether you are playing poker or ordering something. However, we also know that with the advent of the technology behind online casinos, there are lots of opportunities for cheating in online casinos. People do things that would never be allowed in bricks and mortar casinos. Playing poker online can be a helluva lot of fun, but you do need to be aware of the pitfalls.

You will run into cheaters in online casinos. The best thing you can do is familiarize yourself with some of the most basic types of cheating (or play the free games, which are usually safe!).

Collusion is probably one of the easiest and most common types of cheating found in online casinos. What is collusion? Succinctly, at least two players will come together to play — and cheat — at the same table. Collusion is very easy to do on the internet, and it is notoriously hard to catch because it is difficult to prove.

In the next post we will cover some of the most common types of collusion.

For the third and final installment of this series, we are just going to take a look at some of the most used but most potentially confusing poker terms used in the game.

All-In: this is when you put all of your chips into the pot. A lot of players loudly announce it so as to seem unaffected and cool. It does not work. Don’t do it.

Back Door: not what you’re thinking. This term actually applies to any hand that you made during the Turn or the River. Donks, or even DITs — donks in training — usually make these hands.

Which brings us to — Donks: diminutive of “donkey.” Refers to a player who is blatantly bad and/or weak.

Big Slick: used in Texas Hold ‘Em most often; refers to any hole cards of A through K, whether they are of the same suit or not.

You know, looking at things from a different perspective, the language of poker probably really does seem like a foreign tongue to those who are new to the game.  Since, as we have said before, Texas Hold ‘Em and similar poker variations are undoubtedly the most populer versions, I thought it would be helpful to introduce novice and inexperienced players to some of the most common terms found in those games.

The Flop: the term “the Flop” refers to three community cards.  In Texas Hold ‘Em, they are dealt after all the players receive their two cards, face down.  These three cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table.  The players can use the cards to create the best hand in conjunction with their own hand.  They are collectively referred to as the Flop.

The Turn: this is the fourth community card dealt during the game.  Like the Flop, a betting round follows its appearance.

The River: this is the fifth and final community card dealt.  Again, it is dealt face up, and a betting round follows.

You know, there are a lot of new poker players coming out of the woodwork, especially on the internet.  Before you can ever get to Full Tilt or any other advanced games, you need to know some basics.  Like, it’s recently come to my attention that the language even semi experienced players speak sounds kind of like a foreign language to novice cardsharks.

Now, now, I know it might be tempting to take advantage of that fact, but c’mon, we were all new once.  Besides, it’s way more fun to be someone skilled.  We ought to let the newbies in on the more confusing aspects of your secret language.  But don’t worry, I won’t give ‘em the secret password just yet.

“Blinds,” for example.  We’re not talking about the Venetian variety here.  Blinds are actually forced bets.  They’re kind of a replacement for the amount usually placed in the ante at the beginning of a game.

There is nothing today that stops women from trying out new things. From baseball to wars there are women who represent the female gender in all fields of life. They play sports. They join the army. They are all over the place and doing a good job at it all too. But can women play poker?

For the past many years we have been witnessing a good increase of women in various poker events. They keep coming. Ask Barbara Enright, 14 years back she became the first woman to get inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame & Senior’s Poker Hall of Fame. She is the only woman who could ever make it to the final table at World Series of Poker. She made her way through the male dominated series to finish 5th in the event of 1995.She has many more recognitions and awards and prizes in her kitty.

Can Woman Be Good Poker Players? continued »

Erick Lindgren getting very lucky in the FTOPS on Full Tilt. He makes some legit plays though, and I’m not agreeing with some of the comments on the vid saying Full Tilt favours its online pros.

Full Tilt Poker really is the home of ultra high stakes online poker, isn’t it? What a great push by Patrik Antonius, and what a SICK call by Tom Dwan calling down Patrik without a straight on a 4-card straight board… Pure online poker genius sickness…

It’s a great game, isn’t it?