How to Play Poker

WSOP Main Event 2013 Payout Structure

2013-07-21T10:40:00.000-04:00

1st
$8,359,531
2nd
$5,173,170
3rd
$3,727,023
4th
$2,791,983
5th
$2,106,526
6th
$1,600,792
7th
$1,225,224
8th
$944,593
9th
$733,224
10th-12th
$573,204
13th-15th
$451,398
16th-18th
$357,655
19th-27th
$285,408
28th-36th
$229,281
37th-45th
$185,694
46th-54th
$151,063
55th-63rd
$123,597
64th-72nd
$102,102
73rd-81st
$84,786
82nd-90th
$71,053
91st-99th
$59,708
100th-162nd
$50,752
163rd-225th
$42,990
226th-288th
$37,019
289th-360th
$32,242
361st-432nd
$28,063
433rd-504th
$24,480
505th-576th
$21,495
577th-648th
$19,106

A Poker Players Backpack(Sneak Peek Twitter Exclusive)

2012-01-16T13:59:00.002-05:00

Whats In My Poker Backpack?
Going to the casino is all about being prepared. Some people are fine with playing a five to eight hour live poker session and holding everything in their pockets. This is why I bring a small back pack. I usually have a number of things on me that I don't want in my pocket or coat. My local casino, Hollywood Casino Indiana, can have reasonably long waits on any given day of the week, even if I reserve a seat ahead of time. So let me go ahead and share a few things I tend to bring.

Backpack
This is the small backpack from North Face that I bring with me on every trip to the casino. I can load with all of sorts of things that I may need or desire while playing a love live poker session. Things to fill it with can include; cash, headphones, identification, magazines, etc. A small backpack is as big as you should go when picking one out. I recommend getting the one below at amazon because of the great price.

Headphones And MP3 Player

Any good poker session can get boring, especially if you have nothing to discuss with the other players at your table. I am typically a quite poker player that sits back and listen to a little music as the chips come my way. I bring two different sets of headphones to use on my android phone. One is a over the ears headset that provides superior sound for every poker session. The second pair is a smaller earbud style with pretty good sound quality.

My Local Casino: Hollywood Casino WPT Poker Room

2012-01-09T17:28:00.002-05:00

This is the daily tournament schedule for Hollywood Casino Indiana Poker!

While I am promoting Hollywood Casino Indiana Poker room, lets go ahead and list why you should play live poker here.

Official WPT Poker Room
Offers great poker action with a superb poker environment
Lots of Fish and Passive players(watch out for the sharks)
Well organized with a great staff
Easy to cash tournaments with decent structure
Comfortable room with a great bar and servers. Check out the dollar per minute massages by a great masseuse staff
Non-smoking
Cash players receive $1 per hour on their players card, which is a great way to buy some drinks

Hollywood Casino Indiana Poker is the best you will find in the Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky tristate area. Friday and Saturday nights are the best time to take advantage of the drunks playing. If your on your way give them a call at 812.539.MYPK (6975) in order to get on the list for a cash table. This alone will save you at least twenty minutes because Hollywood Casino Indiana Poker is hot and will get packet during the evening hours.

Poker In 2012; Touching Base With All Of My Followers

2012-01-09T16:32:00.001-05:00

December of 2011 was a busy time for me, so I would like to apologize to my fan base for being very inactive. The truth is I stopped playing online poker completely and moved over to the live play part time. In fact, I made over 3,000 dollars in the month of December playing twice a week. I played a mixture of tournaments and 1/2 cash tables. So far in the new year, I have netted 1,000 dollars. So as you can see I feel like live play is a more profitable experience over the possible U.S online field. On top of that, College studies have also been consuming much of time that is normally used to work on my fledgling little blog.

I feel that the status of this blog will be rejuvenated with my current live poker success. I should also stress that I will be removing most of my U.S poker room endorsements to just one room. The one room that I will still highlight is Carbon Poker! This blog will no longer support poker rooms like Bovada or Cake. In fact, I now despise Bovada because every player is anonymous and you are only permitted to play 4 games at once.

My motivation for this blog is in all honestly to produce a supplemental income. However, I do love this game and want to promote it to the best of my ability and with honesty. Considering two events really discouraged me from the poker business in 2011; Poker Player Accademy's theft of my money and Fulltilt's theft of everyone's money. I will be promoting the honesty that should and better be installed into the poker business. Kudos to Pokerstars for paying all of their fans back in a reasonable amount of time!

Please look to this blog for more information in 2012 and I wish all of you a great year in the poker world. May the shove be with you and also a large stack of bills!

To Any Players Signed Up To Carbon Poker Through My Site

2011-11-10T19:28:00.000-05:00

I just want all of my players to know that I have signed us up for a an extra freeroll on Carbon Poker. Make sure you take advantage of this opportunity in order to help you learn more about MTT and to start a bankroll! I hope you enjoy this offer!

Every month on the second Saturday and Sunday of the month CarbonPoker is offering a $500 freeroll and a $500 Added Value- $2.20 Buyin for our players - Join Now!

Here are the details to this months exclusive tournament series.

Name: Exclusive $500 Freeroll
Where: CarbonPoker Lobby
When: November 12th @ 15:00 CarbonPoker Server time.
Location: CarbonPoker>> Tournaments>> Private>> Scheduled.

Name: Exclusive $500 Added Value – $2.20 Buyin
Where: CarbonPoker Lobby
When: November 13th @ 15:00 CarbonPoker Server time
Location: CarbonPoker>> Tournaments>> Private>> Scheduled.

Optimisim From a US Professional Poker Player!

2011-11-04T14:52:00.000-04:00

I decided to let my buddy Marc write about his poker success and experiences! I thought it would be a great way to promote himself and keep other American poker players motivated to keep playing hard!! Enjoy his letter!

Hello Guys,

My name is Marc I live in Pompano Beach Fl right now. I have been playing poker professionally for 6 years. I started playing in 2004 after watching the main event on T.V. I was so clueless at the time I didn’t even know that they put up there on money. I thought ESPN just gave out those prizes. I have obviously come along way. I played play chips on party poker for 6 months or so. I actually started with 5,000 chips and built it up to 1 billion chips. Yes I had no life. I deposited $100 and lost it and another $50 and lost that. I decided to take one more shot and I did and never looked back. I started on 0.10/0.25 and made around $1,000 after that binked a $1 tourney for $500. After that I skipped 0.25/50 and played 0.5/1 and made around $2,000 or so. My semi break came when I jumped up to $2-4 one night and won $1,500. I ended up pounding out $17,000 more on 2/4. After that the government shut it down (2006 ) shut down. I took a most of the year off and didn’t play much probably made $10,000 on FT and Bodog. In 2008 I was making around $3,000 a month playing .5/1 and was somewhat content. Something really motivated me and I decided to start 8 table and did pretty well and ended up winning $40,000 which ranked me first on Absolute Poker 0.5/1. In 2009 I clocked in around 1,000 hours mostly 9 tabling and made around $80,000 which was second for my limit. 2010 started great and made around 30,000 the first 5 months. I had a rough break up which caused my to play less. During the government shutdown I luckily only had $1,500 on AP. I decided to play full time live and did that the last 6 months or so. I am waiting for government to legalize before I play again. I have never worked a day in my life and I thank the game of poker for that.

Add my Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/marc.kleinman

Follow my tweets: http://twitter.com/#!/Six3off

Hand Review: I made a terrible play but it worked out! Deep discussion required!

2011-11-03T17:07:00.002-04:00

Alright this is my first hand review! I decided to put a terrible hand on here that way I could get a lot of in-depth discussion and criticism. A lot of Reddit readers also wanted to get some deep poker discussion going. Hopefully this satisfies and opens a lot up of talk!

So let me explain my play in this hand. I was BB and called the pot odds despite being out of position to call as well. I hit my five and bet putting this guy on over cards. I was re-raised on the flop, however this villain likes to re-raise a lot more then they should. So I went over the top! I bad beat the bastard and probably paid for it the next hand because I got KK and lost to QTo.

Questions
What is the estimated loss of equity making this play long term?
What are other potential options when PLAYING this hand?
Anything else is up for discussion as well!

Merge - $.50+$0.10|<> NL - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3: http://www.pokertracker.com

MP+1: 1,387.00
LP: 1,030.00
CO: 1,420.00
BTN: 1,675.00
SB: 3,765.00
Hero (BB): 1,015.00
UTG: 1,510.00
UTG+1: 1,686.00
MP: 1,512.00

SB posts SB 25.00, Hero posts BB 50.00

Pre Flop: (75.00) Hero has Kd 5d

fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to 100.00, fold, Hero calls 50.00

Flop: (225.00, 2 players) 5s Td 7h
Hero bets 112.00, BTN raises to 224.00, Hero raises to 915.00 and is all-in, BTN calls 691.00

Turn: (2055.00, 2 players) Kh

River: (2055.00, 2 players) 4s

BTN shows Ts Jh (One Pair, Tens) (PreFlop 43%, Flop 75%, Turn 5%)
Hero shows Kd 5d (Two Pair, Kings and Fives) (PreFlop 57%, Flop 25%, Turn 95%)
Hero wins 2,055.00

How to Build a Poker Bankroll

2011-11-02T15:28:00.006-04:00

Introdution

To be entirely honest, starting a bankroll from scratch is pretty difficult. Sure there are freerolls floating around the net all the time. You can try and win one of those in order to start your bank roll but I prefer my method better. The merge network allows players to enter into a series of steps tournaments for free everyday. Each member gets ten tickets for entry into the steps. There are three steps. If you win the third step then a dollar will be deposited into your account that can be used towards real money poker games.

This is the exact method I used to create my bankroll. I only did the steps SNG tournaments until I reached $25. Once I hit that I grinded out real money sit-n-gos. I then hit an MTT for around $90. My account is now around $150 and my goal is $10,000 before I withdraw. Hopefully this article shows you something you didn't know before!

Join a Merge Poker Site

In order to start a poker bankroll from nothing you will be required to join a poker site. My method involves the merge network. You can sign up for my promoted merge site, Cake Poker . In order to do this you will not have to deposit at all. Just sign up and download the client. All the merge clients are the same so follow the pictures in order to get your free steps tickets.

First click Player Admin

Then you will need to click Play Money Top Off in the left hand column.

Refer to the picture above and click exchange play money for sng coupon.
You will now have 1 ticket to enter the steps tournaments under the Sit N Go tab in your poker client.

Now What

Now you will need the discipline to keep playing the steps every single day until you have won around 25 dollars worth. Why 25 dollars? Because bankroll management is one of the most important strategies used in poker. It offers you loss protection and helps you play the correct poker stakes.
From here on out I suggest playing the 1 +.10 turbo SNGs on your poker site. You have saved up around 25 buy ins and more then likely learned a lot from the steps on how to play SNGs. The $1 turbos have very soft play and with a good ABC and decent ICM strategy you can turn this small bankroll into much more.

Conclusion

My method explained above is a great way to learn how to play single table tournaments(Sit n Go) and a great way to build a small bankroll for Free. I enjoyed playing the steps when I started my bankroll challenge because it really helped me freshen my SNG game without spending any of my own money. Granted the step 1 and 2 are REALLY soft games but still the refresher was nice. I hope you enjoyed this simple article on bankroll building. If you enjoy Micro Cash Games, keep on the look out for a strategy guide soon!

My Second Royal Flush Ever

2011-10-26T16:50:00.000-04:00

Attention!! New York, Kentucky, Washington DC, Maryland, Washington, Missouri and Louisiana Poker Players

2011-10-22T01:42:00.002-04:00

New York, Kentucky, Washington DC, Maryland, Washington, Missouri and Louisiana Poker Players! Carbon Poker and all of the Merge Network Poker Rooms will not accept players from your state.
Most likely because of legal issues. I do not condone breaking state law if this is the case but there are other rooms that might allow you to play online poker. I defiantly suggest trying some of the other rooms that I promote on my blog! Personally I would try Bodog! Its one of my favorite Poker Rooms available for US players.! It was the first poker room I joined when I first started playing online. It also happens to be the place I made the most money!

Is online poker rigged? Real answers – not just theories.

2011-10-19T12:13:00.009-04:00

This is a guest post by Ryan over at onlinepokerwatchdog.com. We hope you enjoy his article!

Is online poker rigged? Real answers – not just theories.
Browse any online poker forum and you’ll come across a number of threads where this ‘million dollar question’ is debated. You’ll see a whole spectrum of opinions, from the spectacularly neurotic: “just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get me”, and the devil’s advocate: “I’m not saying it’s rigged but it would be possible to rig a game by… ”, to the staunch believer: “there is simply no reason why a poker site would want to rig the game – it makes no sense”.

What you are unlikely to find is evidence to back up any of these opinions. It has been impossible to find any definitive answers… until now.
Statistical Testing
Large scale tests have recently been performed on some of the major poker sites and networks.
These tests have become known as ‘bad beat tests’ and were performed by Online Poker Watchdog who are dedicated to independently monitoring online poker for fairness. They analyse hands from real games that have been played at major online poker sites and networks.
The sites and networks tested were: PokerStars, Party Poker, Ongame Network, Entraction Network, Merge Network and Bodog Poker. These sites comprise over 85% of all online poker traffic.
For the results to have meaning it was necessary to use very large samples of hands, so over 6 million hands were purchased from hand history providers that ‘track’ hands from online poker sites.
The most recent tests have looked at flop all-ins. Pre-flop all-ins were also examined a few months ago. The tests compare the number of hands that are expected to win in a perfect world with the number of hands that actually won in reality. Due to variance, these numbers will always be slightly different but the tests measure the difference and see whether it falls within reasonable limits.
The tests then singled out all the hands that were the underdog at the stage when the all-in took place and checked to see whether there was any bias towards the underdog.
Results & Conclusions
In all cases, results showed that the actual number of hands won was reasonably close to the expected result. It was therefore concluded that no evidence of rigging was found at any of the sites tested.
For the full details of these tests and the complete results you can visit ‘Is Online Poker Rigged’
It is true that these tests only look at one potential way that rigging could take place. However, it seems that the old theory that ‘good players get more bad beats than they should’ isn’t true after all.

Poker Tracker 3 Basic Setup

2011-10-17T16:34:00.002-04:00

This is the first video of my Video Blog. Please let me know what you think. This didn't come out like I expected but I wanted to share it anyway in order to learn from the video myself.

Carbon Poker Is Now Accepting New US Players!

2011-10-12T16:19:00.005-04:00

Carbon Poker is very proud to announce that as of Wednesday, October 13th at 12:01AM Server Time CarbonPoker and PDC Poker will be accepting new players worldwide!

Signup through Foldshovepoker and get an 100% bonus up to $600. Use this exclusive bonus code: SHOVEPOKERBONUS

This means most players from the US will be able to sign up and deposit from Carbon Poker! I am probably more excited then anyone else because this is my favorite online poker room available for US poker players! Please contact me for any information matsdawson@gmail.com

Below is a redacted email I received from the company today! Please take note that some US players from certain states will not be able to join.

ChipSplit is excited to announce that as of Wednesday, October 13th at 12:01AM Server Time CarbonPoker and PDC Poker will be accepting new players worldwide.
With two premiere brands in CarbonPoker and PDC Poker now available to players everywhere, and Aced Poker targeting North and South American countries outside the U.S., ChipSplit affiliates have never been better positioned to increase their monthly commissions.

Regards,

The ChipSplit Team

Note: ChipSplit brands do not accept players from the following countries and states: Australia, France, New York, Kentucky, Washington DC, Maryland, Washington, Missouri and Louisiana.

I am looking forward to working with all future Carbon Poker players while offering great promotions and private tournaments! Good luck guys!!

Carbon accepts all major credit cards and bank wire!!

Carbon Poker Is Still Not Accepting New US Players

2011-10-07T18:09:00.005-04:00

THIS ARTICLE IS NO LONGER APPLICABLE! CARBON POKER AND THE MERGE NETWORK ARE NOW ACCEPTING US PLAYERS IN ALMOST ALL US STATES. THANKS FOR BEING SO PATIENT!!!

I want to apologize to all of my potential clients that were excited about my offers and promotions for Carbon Poker which is located on the Merge Network. As a poker player over on Carbon Poker and Players Only, I was able to continue playing poker. However Carbon stopped accepting new American players back in July. I knew this but was misinformed about the situation. I was told that they only paused US poker service for 4-6 weeks and then would resume American player acceptance. I was then told by several good sources that they were now accepting Americans. However his is not true. For the time being Carbon Poker is not accepting any new American poker players! I will be updating my ads and reviews to reflect this knowledge. Cake Poker and Bodog are still currently accepting American players until I find out otherwise. This error will not happen again and I appreciate all of the positive feedback from my blog. If your still interested in online poker or even live casino please continue your readership! I more then appreciate just having people stumble upon my blog and read my little bit of knowledge. In other news my zero to 10k challenge is going very well! I have 100 dollars in my account after one week. Hopefully variance does me well and I can continue my positive progress with some expected ups and downs!

My new online poker room promotions will be updated in the next few hours! I promise to highlight the best poker rooms available for all you great Americans out there! For those of you going to the Casino tonight, good luck and may the Donk be with you, always!!

****UPDATE*****

Carbon Poker has said to check back in two weeks for those still interested.
Just to let everyone know I also play on Bodog under Potheadwoman

Tribute To Steve Jobs From A Poker Player

2011-10-05T23:11:00.003-04:00

Dear Players,

One of the most iconic men in the past 30 years passed away today, October 5th 2011. His name is Steve Jobs and nearly every single person in the modern world has been touched by him in someway. In every electronic device you currently own there is influence from Steve. Jobs gave us the most important tool we will ever use, the computer. Without the Apple and Jobs, how would we have ever have moved our Wagon and family across the Oregon Trail? We as poker players should be most happy with Jobs. Without him, poker would still be in Vegas or in a smoke filled Veteran Hall. We owe him for bringing the personal computer to the world and allowing us to play online poker. Without him and his influence on every single device you own, we wouldn't be playing poker in our pajamas at five in the morning. The WSOP and other venues would not be broadcast on ESPN or NBC. In fact most of us would have never learned the game if it were not for his innovation that dominates the modern world. To keep this short and sweet, thank you Steve Jobs! You were never a perfect being but neither are we. The world is blessed by your intellect and forward thinking. Mankind will be eternally great-full because of the Modern Computer. Everyone please take a moment to reflect on what that man gave us! We owe him that much.

Sincerely,
Matt Dawson

Exclusive Floptober Poker Tournament at Carbon Poker

2011-10-04T16:22:00.002-04:00

The first ten people to sign up with the awesome bonus code SHOVEPOKERBONUS at Carbon Poker in October and deposit a minimum of $10 will be invited to a private tournament at the end of the month. I will be adding my own personal stake into this in order to sweeten the prize pool! Remember to email me at matsdawson@gmail.com(personal email) and I will give you the date, time, and password. Remember this is an exclusive tournament for the first ten people to sign up over at Carbon Poker. Make sure you use the bonus code SHOVEPOKERBONUS

Not only am I going to throw an awesome and exclusive poker tournament, but I'm going to give the winner 6 hours worth of poker coaching via Skype and hand review. And on top of that I'm going to also give the player with the most rake at the end of the month 3 hours worth of a free poker coaching. That's a $600 and $300 dollar value on top of the tournament prize pool(to be determined soon.

Carbon Poker Review and Updates for October

2011-10-03T14:59:00.005-04:00

Carbon Poker is a relatively new poker room based on the Merge Gaming network. The biggest and best advantage of this online poker room is that they accept deposits from U.S. players, therefore offering a large player volume, especially during peak hours. Carbon Poker frequently has outstanding promotions, stylish and very stable software and more then enough loose games. The game variation is also very impressive – players will find all popular poker games. This room is also growing daily, so I highly recommend you get in on the fast action!

Signup through Foldshovepoker and get an 100% bonus up to $600. Use this exclusive bonus code: SHOVEPOKERBONUS

Carbon Poker Highlights

Here are the biggest highlights of Carbon Poker:

Outstanding game variety
stable, fast, and reliable software
Accepts deposits from U.S. players
Outstanding Multi-Table-Tournament Leader Board program
Outstanding Steps freeroll system
Site, lobby and software design are top of the industry
Flexible deposit and cashout options
Lots of satellite tournaments with smaller fields to top live events
Rooms fill up fast

Carbon Poker Game Variety

Carbon Poker is the best US poker room when it comes to game variety. They offer Texas Holdem, Omaha, Imaha Hi-Lo, Seven Card Stud Hi and Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo, Five Card Stud, Five Card Draw, A-5 Lowball, 2-7 Lowball, H.O.R.S.E., Razz and Badugi poker. Although Texas Holdem and Omaha are the biggest games offered in tournament format, you can also enjoy great tournaments running in Draw Poker and Badugi Poker.

Carbon Poker Customer Support

They have top notch customer service that will only get better with time.

Carbon Poker Deposit and Withdrawal Options

Carbon Poker uses US dollars. You can deposit money via ePassporte, Entropay, MoneyBookers, eWalletXpress, NETeller, ECOcard, Fast Checks, 1-Pay, InstaCash, Click2Pay, PINdebit, Wirecard, FoneLinx, iBankG, Citadel and credit card. The minimum deposit amount is $25. You can withdraw money to your MoneyBookers, Click2Pay and Citadel accounts, or request a check.

New for October:

CarbonPoker is happy to roll out some great new action for our players. You may have seen it in the client, but here is a summary of the new ways to win. We’ve got guaranteed action, SnGs and satellites into some of the best value tourneys online. Check it out:
Tournaments:
Dollar Frenzy Turbo – $3000 Guaranteed at 19:25 SERVER TIME (Get into this great rebuy tourney. Levels start at 20/40 and increase every 5min – lots of action).
$11 Rebuy with $2.5K Guarnateed at 19:00 – The new evening rebuy features an hour of unlimited rebuys. Levels start at 10/20
Satellites:
We are now offering daily Satellites to both the Daily High Roller tournament and the $100,000 Guarantee on Sundays. These tournaments run in the Dollar Frenzy Turbo configuration and can provide you a chance to win up to $20,000 from as little as .50c! Listed below are the new Satellites and run times.
$100,000 Guaranteed Satellite – 50 Cent Unlimited Rebuy – 1 ticket guaranteed running daily at 13.25.
$100,000 Guaranteed Satellite – $1 Unlimited Rebuy Frenzy – 1 ticket guaranteed running daily at 17:25.
$100,000 Guaranteed Satellite – $1 Unlimited Rebuy Frenzy – 5 tickets guaranteed running Saturday and Sunday at 09.25
$100,000 Guaranteed Satellite – $2 Unlimited Rebuy Frenzy – 2 tickets guaranteedrunning Saturdays and Sunday at 16:25.
$100,000 Guaranteed Satellite – $3 Unlimited Rebuy Frenzy – 1 ticket guaranteed Monday to Friday at 09.25.
$3 Daily High Roller Satellite – Unlimited Rebuys and 20k Addon – 1 x entry guaranteed at 15.25 daily.
SnGs:
$1015 Super Turbo HU
$507.50 Super Turbo HU

The first ten people to sign up with the awesome bonus code SHOVEPOKERBONUS at Carbon Poker in October and deposit a minimum of $10 will be invited to a private tournament at the end of the month. I will be adding my own personal stake into this in order to sweeten the prize pool! Remember to email me at matsdawson@gmail.com(personal email) and I will give you the date, time, and password. Remember this is an exclusive tournament for the first ten people to sign up over at Carbon Poker. Make sure you use the bonus code SHOVEPOKERBONUS

Staking Poker at Cake or Carbon Poker

2011-10-01T14:20:00.002-04:00

I am looking for one player who wants to be staked full time. I have been on many sites looking for players to include Part time poker and a few others. I have only found several players who have lied about stakes and stats and have not really shown me anything yet. If you meet these few qualifications and want to play staked for a minimum of 12 months. Please consider my offer. This stake is for a player who is willing to prove himself or herself. Not just try and get some free money to play for the short term.

1. You must be willing to play Sit N Go's or MTTS

2. Be willing to set up a new account on either Cake, PDC Aced, or Carbon poker

3. Play a volume of atlest 75 games a month.

4. Be a serious player not a recreational player

Terms of the stake.

If you win the spot and are selected you will be staked by me for 12 months. The stake is for lower limits (Max 25.00) Sit N goes and 15.00 MTT's. The stake can be terminated by me or the person being staked at any time. My intent is to find a player who wants to build a bankroll and learn to play the game to earn an income. To be considered for this stake you will have to open a new account on one of the three sponsored poker rooms.

I have had to set up my Stake oppertunities this way becouse the other Staking sites do not offer any protection or way to get rid of the players who are just begging and not willing to play to learn. Anyone can sit down only those who are dedicated to the game and have self discipline can be successful.

Steps to earning the stake.

Players part. ( This is my way of seeing who just wants to get free money or is serious in playing this game)

1. Click on one of the banners for the site you want to play on the right of the home page.

2. Set up a free poker account using the initial deposit code of SHOVEPOKERBONUS

This will get you a bonus of 100% of your deposit up to 600.00.

3. Make a minimum deposit of 10.00 my code will get you your money matched up to 600.00 so you will be doing this for free basically. The bonus will be paid out as you play to insure that you don't just withdrawl my money back out.

4. Play Sit N Goes or MTT's with the monthly volume of minimum of 75 games.

5. Email me your user id that you signed up with to matsdawson@gmail.com . This way I can track your stats.

How will the person be chosen for the full time stake.

There will be several deciding factors that will determine who gets the stake.

1. Volume this is big to me. If your not playing atleast 75 games a month than you will be wasting both of our time.

2. Being Consistent is the next big thing. I am not looking for someone who can hit one big tournament and not make the money again.

3. Winnings will be consider at the bottom part of my equation. Winnings is important but not the most important part of the game. So to make it fair to someone who chooses to deposit the minimum versus someone who deposits the max is to use it based off the ROI (return on Investment)

4. I will post the standings each month so you can see how you compare to the other players.

FAQ

How many players will be chosen?

I will guarantee that I will choose one player, however I have the right to choose as many players that I feel meet my qualifications.

Why Do I need to sign up for a Promotion to be considered for this stake?

I have staked many players and have found that it is impossible to figure out who is serious, who is lying about there stats, who really can play. I have tried just giving people low limit stakes and have found that players will just take the money play what ever they want and have no discipline. I have found that players who really want to learn the game and be staked will be willing to show they deserve the shot.

What will I get while I am trying to qualify for the stake?

I offer free coaching to all members who are trying to qualify or get staked from me. I offer no guarantees that you will be chosen at the end of the stake. However if you play for the whole time you will get coaching for the whole time. Most coaches charge between 50 and 100 dollars an hour you will be getting this for free. So you will be able to ask questions at any time you need and get answers.

How Much will the stake be for if I am chosen?

Your stake will be comparable for the level of play you chose to play during your qualifying. If you play mostly 25.00 DONS your stake will be the amount you need to have a bankroll to sustain that. Remember you are applying for a stake. So you play the level you feel the most comfortable at doing the best. Bankroll management will be very important as well.

When will the person start the stake if chosen?

My offer starts Jan 1, 2012 My offer and intention is to stake a player for a year. So it would be easier for me to keep records to start on the first of the year. I will announce the people who are going to get the stake on Dec 24, 2011

I am sorry that I had to set up my search for players with a promotion system however this the only way i can get serious players to play for me.

If you have any questions you can post them on the Forum if you are a registered member of my site or email me at matsdawson@gmail.com

888 Poker Review for September/ October

2011-09-28T14:34:00.002-04:00

Get $8/£5 FREE to try the new 888poker
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Apart from the new 888poker being the first major web-based 3D poker experience, their revamped software is also packed with new features like a quick-click beginners’ lobby, customized view tabs for personalized play, extra rewards and a buzzing, interactive poker community platform.
Here's what 888poker has in store for players during the month of October. You can take advantage of all these value-for-your-money offers with your free $8/£8!

8¢ Buy-in, BIG prizes
8 x 8¢ tourneys to win $10,000, 3D laptops, iPads, $100 vouchers & more.
Sit & Go Go Go!
Play 10 Sit & Go tourneys above $1 in 1 week and get a free seat to the $10K Freeroll.
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Win a Vegas, Prague or Monte Carlo casino trip for you and 2 mates with a $1 Buy-in! Plus loads more!

Invite your friends, get a chip set & more
Invite 5 friends to 888poket and get a chip set. Invite 10 friends and get a poker table too! Plus get $50 for you & $25 for your friend.
Plus, new players get to double their cash with a 100% up to $400 Welcome bonus on their first deposit. So all-in-all, this is definitely a worthwhile offer to check out. Head over to 888poker now.

Find the best poker tournaments at 888poker!

Hollywood Casino Indiana Poker Promotion

2011-09-28T12:01:00.003-04:00

Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg, Indiana is now offering Ohmaha Tournaments starting in October. The current times are:

7:15 pm Tuesday
11:15 am Sunday

The current promotion that I am completely in love with is the Poker Tournament Vouchers Program. For every 25 hours playing poker at the casino you will be given a $100 voucher good towards any poker tournament at Hollywood Casino. This promotion runs from Sunday - Thursday (Gaming Day 6 am to 5:59 am) Oct 2. through Oct. 31 2011.

Indiana Power Poker Course
Friday November 18th there will be a $500 dollar course involving poker pros like, Matusow, Lee, and Mizrachi. Anyone who signs up also has a chance to win a seat to the $1600 BI HFC Main Event. Register at the poker room or at deepstacks.com

Hollywood Casino Indiana Poker is the premiere place to play in the Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana tristate! Stop in when you get a chance! You will be very impressed by the great comp deals, staff, and general donk-fest that occurs every night!

How to Poker: Poker Odds Charts

2011-09-28T11:37:00.003-04:00

	Hand Win Percentages Against A Random Hand
	A	K	Q	J	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2
A	0.851	0.669	0.662	0.654	0.647	0.629	0.621	0.611	0.601	0.599	0.590	0.581	0.573
K	0.654	0.824	0.633	0.624	0.617	0.599	0.583	0.575	0.568	0.557	0.549	0.540	0.532
Q	0.644	0.615	0.798	0.602	0.594	0.577	0.561	0.544	0.537	0.528	0.518	0.511	0.502
J	0.636	0.605	0.581	0.775	0.575	0.558	0.540	0.522	0.506	0.499	0.490	0.482	0.475
10	0.628	0.597	0.572	0.553	0.748	0.539	0.524	0.505	0.490	0.473	0.465	0.457	0.448
9	0.607	0.577	0.554	0.532	0.516	0.720	0.507	0.491	0.474	0.457	0.438	0.432	0.425
8	0.599	0.560	0.536	0.515	0.497	0.482	0.691	0.478	0.463	0.446	0.427	0.409	0.402
7	0.589	0.552	0.517	0.496	0.479	0.463	0.450	0.662	0.453	0.437	0.419	0.401	0.382
6	0.577	0.542	0.511	0.478	0.461	0.446	0.433	0.424	0.631	0.432	0.414	0.396	0.378
5	0.578	0.533	0.502	0.472	0.442	0.426	0.414	0.405	0.401	0.603	0.415	0.397	0.378
4	0.567	0.524	0.492	0.462	0.435	0.407	0.394	0.386	0.381	0.381	0.569	0.387	0.369
3	0.558	0.514	0.484	0.453	0.426	0.400	0.374	0.366	0.361	0.362	0.351	0.536	0.361
2	0.550	0.506	0.473	0.444	0.417	0.391	0.368	0.346	0.341	0.343	0.333	0.323	0.503

	Hand Win Percentages Against Top 25% of Hands
	Againts Any Pair, Any Suited Ace, Any 2 Broadway Cards, AKo-A6o, 10-9s, 98s, 87s
	A	K	Q	J	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2
A	0.847	0.634	0.608	0.583	0.560	0.510	0.487	0.468	0.452	0.453	0.447	0.439	0.433
K	0.619	0.757	0.500	0.477	0.455	0.423	0.411	0.407	0.398	0.399	0.392	0.389	0.384
Q	0.587	0.471	0.716	0.449	0.430	0.408	0.392	0.377	0.375	0.373	0.368	0.362	0.355
J	0.561	0.447	0.420	0.672	0.411	0.395	0.382	0.370	0.358	0.357	0.356	0.349	0.339
10	0.534	0.426	0.395	0.383	0.626	0.398	0.386	0.368	0.357	0.345	0.346	0.339	0.330
9	0.483	0.391	0.373	0.365	0.367	0.588	0.394	0.379	0.366	0.356	0.341	0.340	0.335
8	0.459	0.375	0.358	0.351	0.351	0.362	0.561	0.384	0.371	0.361	0.345	0.330	0.325
7	0.436	0.372	0.343	0.336	0.336	0.347	0.350	0.536	0.376	0.364	0.353	0.333	0.319
6	0.419	0.368	0.341	0.320	0.319	0.331	0.337	0.343	0.512	0.375	0.359	0.343	0.323
5	0.420	0.365	0.340	0.322	0.311	0.320	0.326	0.332	0.340	0.492	0.373	0.355	0.339
4	0.412	0.359	0.334	0.316	0.305	0.303	0.307	0.315	0.323	0.335	0.474	0.348	0.331
3	0.408	0.353	0.327	0.310	0.299	0.300	0.291	0.299	0.305	0.319	0.313	0.453	0.326
2	0.401	0.347	0.319	0.304	0.293	0.294	0.288	0.280	0.288	0.301	0.294	0.288	0.435

	Hand Win Percentages Against Top 14% of Hands
	Against AA-66, AKs-A7s, KQs-K10s, QJs, AKo-A10o, KQo, KJo, QJo
	A	K	Q	J	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2
A	0.847	0.612	0.566	0.526	0.471	0.436	0.423	0.412	0.406	0.410	0.412	0.405	0.404
K	0.599	0.747	0.458	0.420	0.392	0.376	0.365	0.359	0.354	0.353	0.348	0.349	0.348
Q	0.542	0.431	0.676	0.375	0.368	0.359	0.341	0.330	0.324	0.325	0.325	0.319	0.313
J	0.498	0.385	0.344	0.610	0.359	0.352	0.340	0.325	0.315	0.312	0.314	0.313	0.303
10	0.440	0.357	0.326	0.328	0.554	0.365	0.354	0.334	0.324	0.314	0.316	0.313	0.309
9	0.403	0.341	0.319	0.320	0.331	0.521	0.362	0.349	0.340	0.327	0.314	0.315	0.315
8	0.389	0.325	0.306	0.303	0.317	0.329	0.494	0.352	0.343	0.334	0.320	0.311	0.305
7	0.375	0.320	0.290	0.289	0.300	0.314	0.321	0.462	0.345	0.338	0.326	0.308	0.299
6	0.369	0.320	0.292	0.276	0.288	0.301	0.309	0.315	0.441	0.349	0.335	0.321	0.304
5	0.377	0.317	0.291	0.278	0.278	0.291	0.299	0.303	0.315	0.428	0.349	0.335	0.320
4	0.375	0.315	0.288	0.272	0.276	0.276	0.282	0.291	0.298	0.309	0.422	0.330	0.317
3	0.372	0.312	0.283	0.272	0.272	0.277	0.268	0.277	0.283	0.298	0.296	0.415	0.312
2	0.370	0.310	0.279	0.267	0.269	0.274	0.269	0.261	0.269	0.282	0.280	0.275	0.412

	Hand Win Percentages Against Top 6.2% of Hands
	Against AA-88, AKs-A10s, KQs, AKo, AQo
	A	K	Q	J	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2
A	0.839	0.529	0.438	0.387	0.350	0.333	0.322	0.322	0.324	0.330	0.332	0.320	0.323
K	0.513	0.703	0.358	0.353	0.352	0.330	0.313	0.313	0.308	0.315	0.304	0.305	0.300
Q	0.407	0.325	0.610	0.343	0.343	0.318	0.297	0.293	0.292	0.292	0.286	0.287	0.282
J	0.348	0.319	0.312	0.538	0.348	0.330	0.315	0.301	0.293	0.293	0.295	0.297	0.286
10	0.317	0.311	0.301	0.313	0.480	0.330	0.314	0.303	0.291	0.285	0.284	0.285	0.275
9	0.291	0.291	0.281	0.296	0.296	0.436	0.314	0.309	0.296	0.289	0.273	0.274	0.278
8	0.279	0.272	0.264	0.277	0.276	0.278	0.384	0.306	0.302	0.283	0.280	0.263	0.261
7	0.279	0.272	0.254	0.267	0.264	0.272	0.272	0.366	0.303	0.297	0.286	0.264	0.256
6	0.279	0.277	0.257	0.259	0.258	0.262	0.264	0.275	0.370	0.315	0.294	0.287	0.266
5	0.292	0.272	0.255	0.260	0.245	0.250	0.254	0.263	0.279	0.367	0.320	0.299	0.284
4	0.287	0.272	0.252	0.254	0.244	0.237	0.239	0.249	0.263	0.273	0.362	0.293	0.281
3	0.285	0.269	0.247	0.252	0.241	0.237	0.221	0.239	0.247	0.262	0.261	0.351	0.275
2	0.281	0.263	0.242	0.250	0.238	0.232	0.225	0.218	0.231	0.246	0.244	0.238	0.346

	Hand Win Percentages Against Top 2.5% Of Hands
	Against AA, KK, QQ, JJ, 10-10, AKs
	A	K	Q	J	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2
A	0.808	0.405	0.365	0.328	0.291	0.298	0.304	0.292	0.299	0.304	0.314	0.298	0.305
K	0.379	0.651	0.326	0.291	0.287	0.269	0.265	0.260	0.254	0.269	0.257	0.257	0.252
Q	0.323	0.296	0.505	0.294	0.263	0.259	0.242	0.243	0.249	0.243	0.237	0.238	0.224
J	0.295	0.258	0.250	0.376	0.234	0.243	0.237	0.230	0.205	0.206	0.217	0.221	0.211
10	0.267	0.235	0.217	0.201	0.240	0.228	0.218	0.218	0.199	0.187	0.186	0.188	0.179
9	0.256	0.231	0.214	0.201	0.183	0.227	0.231	0.226	0.210	0.206	0.184	0.188	0.186
8	0.255	0.221	0.212	0.196	0.181	0.189	0.227	0.235	0.222	0.209	0.205	0.190	0.179
7	0.257	0.218	0.198	0.188	0.169	0.184	0.203	0.235	0.226	0.232	0.218	0.192	0.181
6	0.256	0.223	0.204	0.177	0.163	0.174	0.186	0.207	0.233	0.245	0.220	0.212	0.186
5	0.268	0.221	0.205	0.179	0.146	0.162	0.179	0.192	0.206	0.228	0.250	0.226	0.218
4	0.270	0.223	0.201	0.176	0.144	0.143	0.161	0.176	0.189	0.204	0.229	0.223	0.206
3	0.265	0.219	0.195	0.168	0.145	0.145	0.143	0.162	0.173	0.187	0.189	0.218	0.204
2	0.263	0.207	0.192	0.162	0.137	0.141	0.147	0.144	0.156	0.170	0.166	0.159	0.218

WCOOP 2011 Poker Main Event Results

2011-09-27T12:21:00.004-04:00

1 Kallllle Denmark $1,260,018.50
2 Vojta_R Czech Republic $710,000.00
3 goleafsgoeh Canada $560,000.00
4 BackDoorovic Sweden $650,000.00
5 VadziMoney Belarus $750,000.00
6 WhySoSrsSon United Kingdom $222,085.50
7 jle90 Mexico $162,700.00
8 OU THE NICK Germany $122,025.00
9 dan82mur Romania $81,350.00
10 LoneHixx Canada $53,691.00

How To Play Texas Holdem Poker

2011-09-27T11:31:00.002-04:00

I will be using the wikipedia.org article on how to play poker for now until I have the time to write my own.

Betting structures

A standard hold 'em game showing the position of the blinds relative to the dealer button
Hold 'em is normally played using small and big blind bets – forced bets by two players. Antes (forced contributions by all players) may be used in addition to blinds, particularly in later stages of tournament play. A dealer button is used to represent the player in the dealer position; the dealer button rotates clockwise after each hand, changing the position of the dealer and blinds. The small blind is posted by the player to the left of the dealer and is usually equal to half of the big blind. The big blind, posted by the player to the left of the small blind, is equal to the minimum bet. In tournament poker, the blind/ante structure periodically increases as the tournament progresses. (In some cases, the small blind is some other fraction of a small bet; e.g., $10 is a common small blind when the big blind is $15, and still other tables may use two equal blinds. The double-blind structure described above is a commonly used and more recent adoption.)

When only two players remain, special 'head-to-head' or 'heads up' rules are enforced and the blinds are posted differently. In this case, the person with the dealer button posts the small blind, while his/her opponent places the big blind. The dealer acts first before the flop. After the flop, the dealer acts last and continues to do so for the remainder of the hand.
The three most common variations of hold 'em are limit hold 'em, no-limit hold 'em and pot-limit hold 'em. Limit hold 'em has historically been the most popular form of hold 'em found in casino live action games in the United States.[19] In limit hold 'em, bets and raises during the first two rounds of betting (pre-flop and flop) must be equal to the big blind; this amount is called the small bet. In the next two rounds of betting (turn and river), bets and raises must be equal to twice the big blind; this amount is called the big bet. No-limit hold 'em is the form most commonly found in televised tournament poker and is the game played in the main event of the World Series of Poker. In no-limit hold 'em, players may bet or raise any amount over the minimum raise up to all of the chips the player has at the table (called an all-in bet). The minimum raise is equal to the size of the previous bet or raise. If someone wishes to re-raise, they must raise at least the amount of the previous raise. For example, if the big blind is $2 and there is a raise of $6 to a total of $8, a re-raise must be at least $6 more for a total of $14. If a raise or re-raise is all-in and does not equal the size of the previous raise, the initial raiser cannot re-raise again. This only matters of course if there were a call before the re-raise. In pot-limit hold 'em, the maximum raise is the current size of the pot (including the amount needed to call).
Most casinos that offer hold 'em also allow the player to the left of the big blind to post an optional live straddle, usually double the amount of the big blind, which then acts as the big blind. No-limit games may also allow multiple re-straddles, in any amount that would be a legal raise.

Play of the hand

Each player is dealt two private cards in hold 'em, which are dealt first.
Play begins with each player being dealt two cards face down, with the player in the small blind receiving the first card and the player in the button seat receiving the last card dealt. (As in most poker games, the deck is a standard 52-card deck containing no jokers.) These cards are the player's hole or pocket cards. These are the only cards each player will receive individually, and they will only (possibly) be revealed at the showdown, making Texas hold 'em a closed poker game.
The hand begins with a "pre-flop" betting round, beginning with the player to the left of the big blind (or the player to the left of the dealer, if no blinds are used) and continuing clockwise. A round of betting continues until every player has folded, put in all of their chips, or matched the amount put in by all other active players. See betting for a detailed account. Note that the blinds are considered "live" in the pre-flop betting round, meaning that they are counted toward the amount that the blind player must contribute. If all players call around to the player in the big blind position, that player may either check or raise.
After the pre-flop betting round, assuming there remain at least two players taking part in the hand, the dealer deals a flop, three face-up community cards. The flop is followed by a second betting round. This and all subsequent betting rounds begin with the player to the dealer's left and continue clockwise.
After the flop betting round ends, a single community card (called the turn or fourth street) is dealt, followed by a third betting round. A final single community card (called the river or fifth street) is then dealt, followed by a fourth betting round and the showdown, if necessary.
In all casinos, the dealer will burn a card before the flop, turn, and river. Because of this burn, players who are betting cannot see the back of the next community card to come. This is done for historical/traditional reasons, to avoid any possibility of a player knowing in advance the next card to be dealt due to it being marked.

The showdown
If a player bets and all other players fold, then the remaining player is awarded the pot and is not required to show his hole cards. If two or more players remain after the final betting round, a showdown occurs. On the showdown, each player plays the best poker hand they can make from the seven cards comprising his two hole cards and the five community cards. A player may use both of his own two hole cards, only one, or none at all, to form his final five-card hand. If the five community cards form the player's best hand, then the player is said to be playing the board and can only hope to split the pot, because each other player can also use the same five cards to construct the same hand.
If the best hand is shared by more than one player, then the pot is split equally among them, with any extra chips going to the first players after the button in clockwise order. It is common for players to have closely-valued, but not identically ranked hands. Nevertheless, one must be careful in determining the best hand; if the hand involves fewer than five cards, (such as two pair or three of a kind), then kickers are used to settle ties (see the second example below). Note that the card's numerical rank is of sole importance; suit values are irrelevant in Hold'em. The last player to bet is the first player to show their hand.

Misdeal
If the first card dealt is exposed, then this is considered a misdeal. The dealer then retrieves the card, reshuffles the deck, and again cuts the cards. However, if any other hole card is exposed due to a dealer error, the deal continues as usual. After completing the deal, the dealer replaces the exposed card with the top card on the deck, and the exposed card is then used as the burn card. If more than one hole card is exposed, a misdeal is declared by the dealer and the hand is dealt again from the beginning."

This Article may be found under the Creative Commons

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_holdem#Rules

Poker Hand Ranking

2011-09-26T17:53:00.002-04:00

This is actually something that I get asked all the time. So here is a quick look at the Poker hand guide.

Royal Flush

A straight from a ten to an ace with all five cards of the same suit. In poker all suits are ranked equally.

Straight Flush

Any straight with all five cards of the same suit.

Four of a Kind

Any four cards of the same rank. If two players share the same Four of a Kind, the bigger fifth card (known as the kicker) decides who wins the pot.

Full House

Any three cards of the same rank together with any two cards of the same rank. Our example shows "Aces full of Kings" and it is a bigger full house than "Kings full of Aces."

Flush

Any five cards of the same suit (not order). The highest card of the five determines the rank of the flush. Our example shows an Ace-high flush, which is the highest possible.

Straight

Any five consecutive cards of different suits. Aces can count as either a high or a low card. Our example shows a five-high straight, which is the lowest possible straight.

Three of a Kind

Any three cards of the same rank. Our example shows three-of-a-kind Aces, with a King and a Queen as side cards - the best possible three of a kind.

Two Pair

Any two cards of the same rank together with another two cards of the same rank. Our example shows the best possible two-pair, Aces and Kings. The highest pair of the two determines the rank of the two-pair.

One Pair

Any two cards of the same rank. Our example shows the best possible one-pair hand.

High Card

Any hand not in the above-mentioned hands. Our example shows the best possible high-card hand.

Do You Possess These Great Professional Poker Player Qualities

2011-09-16T21:34:00.003-04:00

Let me go ahead and say that I am not a professional poker player. Its very unlikely that I will every become one. Despite that let my ego slide in and say, I posses all of these qualities and many of you also have these qualities. The difference is how often you call on them to help your game day in an day out. Lets jump right in here and lay out the qualities all of the greats have.

Emotional Composure

Without the ability to consistently control your emotions will quickly turn you in my favorite kind of tilting fish. With out this quality your ability to reason and make strong analytical decisions will diminish and in the long run will create -EV(expected value). The human brain has the ability to function well and with reason with discipline. Learn to control your emotions and you will soon learn that you can control the table.

Study Habits

Poker is a game of study. Much like your college macroeconomics class, poker requires constant study through coaching, peer review, reading material, and the ability to apply the knowledge learned everyday. I have once heard that the path to poker success requires one hour of study for every two hours of play. I personally know people that follow this rule because they play online poker full time. The time they spend reviewing hands is what makes them such strong players.

Social Ability

Having a social personality and the ability to seek out stronger players is a great tool. I used to play a lot of paintball and the one thing I learned that I can apply outside of the sport, is to always seek better opponents. You will reach a peak if you keep playing the same people all the time. To get better you must play better players. Seek them out and make sure you also manage that bank roll at the same time.

Time In and Seniority

What I mean to say here is that must posses the patients to keep playing poker. There are people out there right now that play millions of hands every month. Nothing beats experience. However you have to draw on another quality in order to make that experience valuable. Study habits! You must be able to learn from your experience in order to apply it to your game. Have the patience to keep playing lowers limits while you learn, but make sure that experience is reflected upon.

Conclusion

There are many qualities that great poker players have like intelligence and cunning. However, lets just get started with these qualities. Work on them and they will take your game to the next level. Constantly challenge your game and your own person qualities. Look deep down inside of yourself to find these characteristics in yourself.