History of Poker

The name of the game likely descended from the French poque, which descended from the German pochen ('to knock'). Yet it is not clear whether the origins of poker itself lie with the games bearing those names. It closely resembles the Persian game of as-nas, and may have been taught to French settlers in New Orleans by Persian sailors. It is commonly regarded as sharing ancestry with the Renaissance game of primero and the French brelan. The English game brag (earlier bragg) clearly descended from brelan and incorporated bluffing (though the concept was known in other games by that time). It is quite possible that all of these earlier games influenced the development of poker as it exists now.

English actor Joseph Crowell reported that the game was played in New Orleans in 1829, with a deck of 20 cards, four players betting on which player's hand was the most valuable. Jonathan H. Green's book, An Exposure of the Arts and Miseries of Gambling (G. B. Zieber, Philadelphia, 1843), described the spread of the game from there to the rest of the country by Mississippi riverboats, on which gambling was a common pastime. As it spread up the Mississippi and West during the gold rush, it is thought to have become a part of the frontier, pioneering ethos.

Harry Truman's poker chips- Soon after this spread, the full 52-card English deck was used, and the flush was introduced. During the American Civil War, many additions were made, including draw poker, stud poker (the five-card variant), and the straight. Further American developments followed, such as the wild card (around 1875), lowball and split-pot poker (around 1900), and community card poker games (around 1925). The spread of the game to other countries, particularly in Asia, is often attributed to the U.S. military.

The game and jargon of poker have become important parts of American culture and English culture. Such phrases and cliches as ace in the hole, ace up one's sleeve, beats me, blue chip, call one's bluff, cash in, high roller, pass the buck, poker face, stack up, up the ante, when the chips are down, wild card, and others are used in everyday conversation, even by those unaware of their origins at the poker table.

Poker Room at the Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City, New Jersey Modern tournament play became popular in American casinos after the World Series of Poker began, in 1970. Notable champions from these early WSOP tournaments include Johnny Moss, Amarillo Slim, and Doyle Brunson. It was also during that decade that the first serious strategy books appeared, notably Super/System by Doyle Brunson (ISBN 1-58042-081-8) and The Book of Tells by Mike Caro (ISBN 0-89746-100-2), followed later by The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky (ISBN 1-880685-00-0).

Poker's popularity experienced an unprecedented spike in the first years of the 21st century, largely because of the introduction of online poker and the invention of the hole-card camera, which turned the game into a spectator sport. Viewers could now follow the action and drama of the game, and broadcasts of poker tournaments such as the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour brought in huge audiences for cable and satellite TV distributors. Because of the increasing coverage of poker events, poker pros are becoming more and more like celebrities, with poker fans all over the world entering into expensive tournaments for the chance to play with them. This increased camera exposure also brings a new dimension to the poker professional's game-the realization that their actions may be aired later on TV.

Poker journey In India

Interest levels in the game of poker in India started picking up after poker was broadcast on Indian televisions. It was in the latter half of 2004 that Indian audiences were first exposed to the World Poker Tour courtesy of Discovery’s Travel & Living channel. Another factor which increased player numbers can be attributed to returning Indians who brought back the game with them after a study/job stint abroad. Though such players got the game back to India way back in the early 90s, it was only after friendly games could be played by people online (mainly facebook) that the masses started to learn the game from 2008 onwards. The internet is proving to be an effective catalyst in bringing together poker enthusiasts locally as well as from all over the country.

The only major international tournament which was held in India was the Asia Poker Classic held in 2007.

The popularity of the game is still fairly scattered at the moment due to the legalities in question, despite the fact that there are plenty of underground poker games which are taking place all across the country. While there are many poker groups in various metros that organize tournaments and cash, even the smaller towns have shown marked interest levels in the games. Besides home games and tourneys organized by poker groups, the only place right now one can experience poker action is at the casinos in Goa. While land-based casino gaming is strictly electronic, there are ‘floating’ casinos which are moored on the Mandovi river which provide the live gaming experience to players. These casinos somewhat mirror the riverboat style of casinos prevalent in Mississippi and other places in the United States. Poker was first offered on one of these floating casinos in mid-2009. Slowly but surely it has begun to grow with more and more players coming from within and outside the state to get their kick out of this game.

We would soon get you an interview of the key people involved at the 2 said floating casinos of Goa who were the pioneers to get the game on their live tables.

Few Tournaments have also started to be held at these casinos of Goa, which is adding to the popularity of the skill based game.

The game’s popularity in India is growing day by. Texas Hold ’em as a game appeals to the Indian gambler as well as the savvy Indian card player who knows there is much more skill to this game than what is presumed. After conquering the Americas and Europe and more recently Asia (till now in Macau), poker is all set to take on the biggest destination – India because India has a huge population and also has traditionally been a country where people love to keep themselves entertained during evenings and weekends and holidays.

Indian version of POKER How popular is it ...

There is an Indian version of the most popular card game  also called the "blind man's bluff " . It is a popular variation of classic poker that many people have seen in movies. It’s also typically played during parties, where beer is often considered a requirement for ultimate gameplay (but you didn’t hear that here!) There’s virtually no limit to the number of players, but usually 6-10 work best. Ace is high card.

So here’s how it’s played: each player puts in an ante (usually one dollar) to play. Using one deck of cards, the dealer deals a card, face down, to each player around the table. The players then place the cards on their foreheads with one hand, so all players except themselves can see what they’re playing with. The card stays held there until the end of the round. If a player looks at their own card, they’re out of the round, and lose their ante.

Next, one-by-one, starting with the dealer, each player puts in their bets or folds. Decisions are based on what a player believes their unseen card is compared to others’ seen cards. Once all bets are in, everyone sees their hand. High card takes the pot.

To continue the game, the next person to the left deals out from the remaining cards—setting aside the cards played in previous rounds. This continues round-after-round until the entire deck is gone.

Many people love this game because it takes a lot of reading faces (literally!) and can be quite a riot. Plus, it can drive you crazy trying to bet when there’s no limit and you don’t know what you have.

The online gaming dispute between U.S.A. and Antigua-Guest post by Vijayaraghavan

The impossibility of enforcing a ban on online gaming was once again apparent when U.S.A blocked gaming websites, seized .com domain names and seized funds of online gaming companies, while however, promising to return participants funds put up on those websites. Perhaps the futility and difficulty of blocking online gaming websites (as participants in U.S.A. can still access certain popular gaming websites) should remind the Indian State governments to regulate and allow this activity.

U.S.A. has continually blocked offshore gaming websites and paid a heavy price for disallowing it. Vijayaraghavan, student of NUJS throws some light on the nature of the W.T.O. dispute between U.S.A. and Antigua and Barbuda and takes us throw the various stages of the W.T.O’s decision.

There has been considerable debate as regards to the legality of online gambling and offering of licensed online gaming facilities from an offshore destination to countries like U.S.A where online gaming is illegal. This discussion has found a new outlet in the form of the Antigua-USA dispute.

The Dispute: While it is a known fact, that gambling is largely prohibited across the United States of America, the status of Online Gambling in USA was ambiguous (until the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006). Antigua and Barbuda is a recognized centre for online gambing, there were a number of online gaming sites licensed and hosted in Antigua and Barbuda. However, in 2003, the United States started blocking gambling sites hosted in Antigua and elsewhere, thus impeding the business of the websites hosting from there.. This led to severe losses to the Antiguan economy, to the tune of $3.44 Billion as per Antiguan accounts.

On 12 June 2003, Antigua and Barbuda requested the establishment of a panel. According to Antigua and Barbuda, the measures at issue may be inconsistent with the US obligations under the GATS and the US Schedule of Specific Commitments annexed to the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), relevantly pointing out that the US permits online betting on State-Regulated Horse Racing.

Dispute Panel Decision: The Dispute Settlement Board of the WTO (DSB) established a panel at its meeting on 21 July 2003. Canada, the EC, Mexico and Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) reserved their third-party rights. The Panel found in favour of Antigua, and held the United States to be in violation with its commitments. It held that firstly, 3 of the American Federal Laws (the Wire Act, the Travel Act, and the Illegal Gambling Business Act) as well as 4 State Laws were contrary to the commitments of the United States, contrary to Article XVI:1 and Article XVI:2 of the GATS (which deals with market commitments). Secondly, the Panel held that the United States would not be able to invoke the exception provisions, this as the Panel did not believe that the Wire Act, the Travel Act, and the Illegal Gambling Business Act, would come within the ambit of “necessary”, under XIV(a) and XIV(c) of the GATS(clauses pertaining to exceptions). In Response to the Panel’s decision, the United States notified its intention to appeal, and did so on January 7, 2005, this being met with a cross-appeal by Antigua.

Appellate Panel Decision: The Appellate Panel made 4 Key Rulings;

Firstly, the Appellate Body ruled that the US had made a commitment to free trade in betting and gambling services in its schedule of commitments to the General Agreement on Trade in Services (“GATS”), the existence of such a commitment was question by the US, however The Appellate Body disagreed, holding that the commitment was made in Section 10.D of the US’s GATS Schedule, under the heading “Other Recreational Services (Excluding Sports).

Secondly, the Appellate Body ruled that the US had adopted “measures” that interfered with its obligation to provide free trade in betting and gambling services with Antigua. It ruled that Antigua established that the 3 Federal laws, which prohibited Antigua’s gambling services.

Thirdly, the Appellate Body found that the “measures” established by Antigua – the three federal statutes – violated Article XVI of the GATS.

Finally, the Appellate body ruled that the US, could not invoke the “moral defense” to its violation of the GATS. In order to establish its so-called morals defense, the US was required to meet a two-part test: (1) prove that the three federal statutes were necessary to protect public morals or maintain public order and (2) satisfy a legal balancing test (also called the chapeau). The Appellate body determined that the first criterion was met, for the laws were made to protect public morals and safety. However, with regard to the second criteria, it was determined that, the US failed to establish a chapeau, because the US either sanctioned or permitted “remote gambling” in the US, primarily in the form of off-track account wagering on horse races. The Appellate Body noted that there were several companies in the US that provided telephone and Internet betting services on horse races. These companies were sanctioned to provide these services by the Interstate Horseracing Act (“IHA”).

The appellate body concluded that the US could not justify why it permitted US-based companies to offer remote gambling ,while the US prohibited Antiguan companies from offering the same type of service were not By making this finding, the Appellate Body held that the US could not prevail on its morals defense – technically known as its Article XIV defense.

While the Dispute Panel report was wholly in favour of Antigua, the Appellate Panel’s decision did provide the Americans with a certain amount of leeway. It laid down a simple procedure by which the US could bring itself in compliance with the GATS, by either allowing Antiguan operators access to the US market or prohibiting all forms of remote gambling in the US- foreign or domestic (including horse racing).

Compliance of the Decisions: Under the WTO rules, the US had a “ reasonable time” to correct is laws, so as to be in compliance with the WTO rules. The parties were unable to agree upon a time period. In 2005, the Arbitrator issued a ruling in which he gave the US a little less than a year to comply, and this period passed on April 3, 2006 without any laws being adopted by the US to implement the rulings.. The US now claimed their compliance with the panel’s decision, relying solely on a statement made by the Department of Justice, which stated that it , “views the existing criminal statutes as prohibiting the interstate transmission of bets or wagers, including wagers on horse race”.

WTO Compliance Panel Report: In June, 2006, Antigua again sought recourse under the WTO rules, by claiming the non-complianceof the USA to the Orginal rulings. Antigua made a request for another Panel to be formed, to discuss the compliance, this was met by an extra-ordinary claim by the US of being in compliance with the WTO rulings. This was claim of the USA was slammed by the European Union ( a third party), that what the US needed to do was to bring inconsistent measures into conformity, while what it had done was present the same “old” measures again in a compliance proceeding.

The report of the WTO was multi-pronged: Firstly, it was held that there had been no action taken by the US to correct the laws, to come in compliance with the report (recomendations as well as findings) of the Dispute Settlement Board. The mere statement by the Department of Justice could not be take as a measure taken. Further the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, was no argued about by either party. Secondly, it was held that the US was not entitled in to reargue the case that failed before the first panel and the Appellate Body. Thirdly, it was held that even assuming that the US was entitled to reargue its failed case, based upon the evidence presented the US “morals defense” case would still fail.

Further Developments: In response to the adverse decision of the Compliance Panel, instead of ensuring compliance, the United States, decided to withdraw its commitment to allow the cross-border provision of gambling and betting services.
Under WTO rules, before the US can withdraw the commitment, it must find means of compensating “any affected” WTO members as a result of the withdrawal of the commitment. If the parties cannot agree on the “compensation”, then there is a procedure for arbitration of any dispute in that context. As a result of the US announcement, in addition to Antigua, the EU, Costa Rica, Canada, Macau, Canada and Australia filed claims for compensation with the US. In its response, Antigua, said that it could retaliate by suspending that amount annually in intellectual property rights held by U.S. Firms to the extent of $3.44 billion a year.

The Arbitration decision came out in December, 2007. It proved to be an extraordinary decision. While, it reduced the amount from $3.44 Billion, to $21 Million, it gave Antigua the right to violate copyright protections on goods like films and music from the United States.This includes the distribution of copies of American music, movie and software products.

However, there seems to be no end to this dispute. In April, 2011, there are signs of a new chapter in the dispute. The further closing down of another 3 online gambling sites, has got the Government of Antigua, itching for another round at the WTO. This ruling comes when various allegations of fraud and money laundering are leveled against the gaming sites.

Sit and Go Strategy - Discipline

Sit n Go’s are one of the most popular forms of poker tournament online. The tournament format is a one-table game with usually nine or ten players in the game and it starts as soon as the table is full.

Prize money is the total buy-ins from all the players and usually the top three places are paid out in the ratio 50%/30%/20%. So for example if it’s a $5+$0.50 tournament with ten players, the total prize fund is $50 split $25 for first place, $15 for second and $10 for third. The $0.50 is the fee to the poker room from each player.

Sit n Go’s represent a terrific opportunity for the savvy poker player to make a good regular income. Each tournament lasts between half an hour and an hour so it’s possible to play quite a few games in a day and if you follow this basic strategy you will certainly win a lot more money than you lose.

In each Sit n go the ten players sitting at the table will typically be made up as follows:

Between 1 to 3 TOTAL novices, these are the players who have seen some poker on TV and think it looks easy so they are having a go. They are in for a rude awakening!

Between 6 and 8 POOR players, Depending on the time of day they might be drunk, or they are just simply not very good at the game.

Between 0 and 2 GOOD players, there might not be any good players; there are rarely more than two at this level. That means that there is almost always a very good chance that you are going to finish in the top three and in the money, just by following these simple rules.

The way to win consistently at Sit n Go’s is, above all, to be disciplined. Once you know what to do, stick to the plan and don’t be tempted by table conditions to have a go. The name of the game is survival. Your ONLY job is to get into the last three and leave with more money than you started with. Nothing else matters so your philosophy must be based on limiting your risk as much as possible.

You must only play premium hands. That’s pairs, suited connectors, AK, AQ and sometimes AJ and A10 suited but only if in late position in an un-raised table. It’s not much to go on and you will be tempted to play A8 or K10 etc, but don’t. There are just too many hands you can lose to and you’ll be playing against players who will call ANYTHING and will get lucky far too often for your liking.

When you hit a good hand; bet it don’t call, make your bet large enough to scare off anyone hoping to get lucky with their J7. You will take most pots by doing this, but if you get a call you will be well placed as you will probably have the best starting hand.

If you get a big re-raise against you and you don’t have AA or KK, fold.

By adopting this simple but very effective game plan you will find yourself in the money more often than not at the Sit n Go’s.

Rush Poker - New Format and New Strategy

Full Tilt Poker has changed the face of online poker by introducing a new breed of game: Rush Poker. As if the pace of 6-max games weren’t already blazingly fast, the team at Full Tilt has taken it upon themselves to turn up the speed.

Sitting at a Rush Poker table is kind of like hitting the highway at 150 miles per hour. Except when you’re driving a car, you don’t have a chance to win some cash. Rush Poker gives you both the thrill and the money; it’s a revolutionary new way to play.

Rush Poker: What Is It?

Put simply, Rush Poker is poker without the waiting. You will be dealt new cards as fast as you can click fold, and you’ll only see hands you’re involved in.

Obviously, this changes the game dynamic in a huge way. If you’re the type who hates sitting through 2 minutes of boredom, watching two opponents play a hand you aren’t even a part of, then Rush Poker is the game for you.

How it Works

Here’s how it works. To play Rush, make sure you’re seated at a table under the “Rush Poker” heading in the game filter.  From there, it goes like this:

1. You’ll be entered randomly into a large pool of Rush Poker players.
2. You’ll be seated at a table with a random group of opponents, who are part of your pool.
3. You’ll be dealt a hand, and you’ll decide what to do with it. Here’s the cool part: if you decide to fold preflop, you’ll be automatically removed from the table, and re-seated at a fresh one with other players from the pool.
4. From there, you’ll be dealt a new hand immediately, against new opponents.

Needless to say, this allows you to play an incredible amount of hands in a very short period of time. You can go from having a crappy J5 offsuit on one table, to folding, and to having an awesome AA on a new table in less than 10 seconds.

If you hate waiting in between hands, you no longer have to wait. Simply sign up for a Rush Poker game, and let the hands flow at your convenience. Play as quickly as you like, whenever you want. This really does change the face of online poker as we know it.

Advantages

Playing Rush Poker instead of regular poker offers you, the player, some huge advantages. Here are some:

1. No more waiting! This is the big one. Are you the type of player who gets bored or distracted in between hands? Rush Poker solves that problem by making sure you always have a hand. This game format will help prevent boredom-induced tilt, making sure you’ve always got action!
2. No more datamining! Because you’re seated with random players after each hand, software like Poker Tracker and Holdem Manager become useless. Sharks who once relied on gathering player statistics will be forced to rely on their actual card-playing ability from now on. Rush Poker shifts the edge from the stat-bot players to the casual player significantly.
3. No more abuse from “regulars”! Since you never know who you’ll be playing against in any given hand, you can’t rely on personal reads to get you through a hand. This means that sharks who make most of their money by exploiting opponent’s strategies are out of luck; they’ll never be able to track down which player is using what strategy! Even if they do getsome idea of how you play, they’ll never be able to fully pin you down.
4. Overall, Rush Poker EVENS OUT THE PLAYING FIELD! By making poker faster and more anonymous, Full Tilt is making a statement to semi-professional HUD grinders: NO MORE EXPLOITATION! Rush Poker keeps the games FUN by giving the edge back to the casual player.

Tips for Winning

As you probably guessed, playing Rush Poker profitably requires some specialized knowledge. You can’t expect to sit down in a Rush game, using the same strategy you did at the normal tables, and win automatically. Here are some adjustments you’ll need to make:

• Know your betting patterns. Since you won’t be able to make player-specific reads like you could in regular games, you’ll need to know some general betting lines and how to interpret them. For example, a turn bet, no matter who from, is generally an indicator of real strength. A 3-bet from a player on the button can go either way, depending on the situation. Knowing betting patterns will help you make reads.
• Don’t forget about position. I’ve heard a lot of players on poker forums saying stuff like “oh, position doesn’t matter in Rush Poker”. Wow! That’s so wrong. You’ll still need to play position, and know how to exploit other player’s positional tendencies. Keep loose in late position, and tighten up in early position. Beware of people abusing the button raise after folds around. The standard positional rules apply; don’t forget about them.
• Tighten up! You’ve got no excuse for impatience in a game of Rush Poker. You’re dealt a new hand whenever you want one! Don’t play crappy hands. Fold the garbage. I’ve heard people on poker forums saying things like “rush poker will cause everyone to play tighter poker”. This is crap. The bad players will still play all their hands, because that’s how bad players play. They’ll just be playing bad hands more often. You won’t be playing at tables full of nits; therefore it will be profitable for you to stay tight.
• Know when to quit. This will be very important for Rush Poker players. The ability to be dealt a new hand every 10 seconds can be great, if you’re winning. However if you’ve taken a streak of bad beats, it can magnify the effects of tilt tenfold. Think about it: you haven’t been dealt a good hand all night, and you’ve had sets cracked by runner-runner flushes 3 times. You start playing sub-optimal hands (which you’re getting every 10 seconds instead of every 2 minutes). The potential for you to lose your cash very quickly is incredibly high. Thus knowing when to call it a night will be very important.

All things considered, Rush Poker is an incredibly exciting development in the world of online poker. This is not just another “version” of poker, like 6-max or full ring. This is an entirely new game. Now is the time to get in, to learn how to play, and to master the game.

Remember the Hold’em boom, after Moneymaker won the Series? Think of Rush Poker as the new poker boom. Everybody is loving this game, and the tables are absolutely jammed with players. You can only play at Full Tilt poker, and the time is now!

Poker Odds

Many poker players forget why they play poker- to make a profit. It’s easy to get caught up in winning and losing, streaks and ruts, big hands and great moments. But amidst all the excitement, some lose sight of the fact that they need to play a fundamentally sound game in order to consistently win. Poker, like many games of chance, can be reduced to mathematical expressions and calculations with relative ease. Give a skilled player the basic picture of a hand you’ve played at some point in your career, and he can tell you exactly what your expected value was on all streets of play. In other words, he can tell you, mathematically, whether or not you should have won, whether or not you played to maximize your profit, and whether or not you could have done anything differently. All because of math.

Don’t get discouraged. It’s easy to get a picture stuck in your head of a nerdy guy, sitting alone in a dark basement, pouring over complex algorithms and calculations in order to tell you if you play poker well or not. Most people assume that the math behind poker is complex, and as such don’t even bother learning it. This couldn’t be farther from the truth- poker math is easy as pie! To illustrate just how easy it can be to play a profitable game, let’s take a look at the concept of pot odds.

What are pot odds?

Pot odds are the ratio of the amount of money in the pot at a given time in a hand, to the amount of money you need to pay to call a bet. It’s really very easy. Let’s look at an example. You are heads-up with John in a game of $600NL. John is in middle position. You’re in late position, and it’s John’s turn to act. The pot before any action is $100. John decides to bet $50 into the $100 pot, making the pot $150. It’s now your turn to act. For the purposes of this example, let’s say your only options here are call, or fold. Let’s analyze.

Bet you need to call- $50
Pot- $150
Pot Odds- $150:$50, or, 3:1.

Your pot odds on this turn are 3:1.

Let’s take another example, under the same assumptions. You’re playing with John again. He’s in middle position, you’re in late position. On the flop, the pot is $60 before any action. John acts, and bets $50 into a $60 dollar pot, making the pot $110. You need to call a $50 bet in order to potentially win a $110 pot. What are your pot odds?

Bet you need to call- $50
Pot- $110
Pot Odds- $110:50, or 2.2:1

Your pot odds on this flop are 2.2:1.

How does this help me?

The basic ideas behind pot odds are that they will help you determine whether or not a play is profitable according to the laws of probability. How can you determine this? Again, very easy. All you need to do is compare the pot odds you’re given to the chance you have of making your hand, or winning.

How do you calculate your chance of winning? Basically, you can just count your outs. If you already think you’re ahead, you don’t need to bother counting outs. At least not at this point in your poker career. But when you’re drawing to your hand, comparing your outs with your pot odds is critical.

An out is defined as any card that helps your hand become better than your opponent’s hand. For instance, let’s say you’re in another hand with John. You two are playing a heads-up game, with no other players involved. You hold an open-ended straight draw on the turn, and you’re pretty sure John has a pair. The pot is $100. John is in late position, you’re in early position. You check to John. John bets $60 into the $100 pot, making it $160. Can you profitably call John’s bet hoping to draw to your straight?

Well, you have eight outs. There are two cards in the deck that help you, and four of each of those cards. That’s where we get the eight outs from. We need to compare the outs to the total cards left unseen in the deck in order to determine our chances of winning. We were dealt two cards, so we count those as known. There are four seen on the board. Fifty-two total cards in a deck. So, 52 minus 6 equals 46 cards left unseen. 8 out of 46 cards help make your hand a winner.

Chance of winning:   8/46, or 5.75:1.
Pot Odds: $60:$160, or 2.66:1.

Your pot odds here are much less than you would need to draw to your straight, and you can fold profitably. If you do not fold, in the long run, you will lose money by calling. Nobody likes to lose money, and the surest way to do so is to play poker ignoring expectation!

In sum, compare your pot odds to your chances of winning at all times, and act in whatever way results in the most profit for you. You’ll find that winning is easy when you play according to the math!

3 Factors for MTT Success

I could write a whole library’s worth of books dealing with poker MTT strategy. The situations that can arise in a poker tournament are almost infinite, so there’s no shortage of spots to analyze. That said, there are a couple of key points every player should know about MTT strategy that I’ll outline quickly here.

Playing a solid MTT game comes down to adaptation. You’ve got to be able to adapt — to the game structure, to the different blind levels, and to your opponents. If you can play a dynamic game that takes these three factors into account, you can win poker tournaments.

Let’s analyze these factors one by one, and see how mastering them can help our game tremendously.

Factor 1: Adapting to Game Structures

I’m always amazed at how players will play a turbo MTT just the same as they would a regular MTT, or play a bounty tournament the same as they would a freezeout. What a huge mistake!

The structure of whatever tournament you’re playing will always change the optimal strategy you should play. So if you want to play a +EV game, you’ve got to adapt your tactics to suit the structure.

Turbo tournaments have shorter levels, and thus devalue your stack very quickly. This means it’s correct to play a bit looser at all levels of the game; at least looser than you would in a regular speed tournament.

Bounty tournaments pay out extra when you knock out a specific person. So it makes a lot of sense to gun for that person’s stack. Because you’ll have a bit of added equity in the game by virtue of the bounty, your preflop hand threshold vs. the mark should decrease. If a player with an M of 7 pushes from middle position in a regular freezeout during the 4th level, and your M is around 12-15, it wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense to call. But if there’s a bounty of 5x the tournament buy-in on that player’s head, calling is probably correct.

Always adapt to the structure of the tournament you’re playing. Playing a single game across every type of game is a recipe for disaster.

Factor 2: Adapting to Blind Levels

I could have also titled this factor “adapting to your blind/stack ratio”, but it’s easier to conceptualize if you just think in terms of blind levels. The concept is simple: as the blinds in a tournament get bigger, relative stacks generally become smaller, and thus playing a looser game becomes correct.

Imagine you’re playing a regular freezeout with a $10+1 buy-in, and it’s the 2nd level — blinds are 20/40. Your stack is 1500, and your opponents’ stacks range from a low of 1200 to a high of 1700.

In this example, you’re in no danger of being blinded out. Your stack can handle around 25 orbits without your even playing a hand. So you can afford to wait for decent holdings — either premium hands, or some well-disguised speculative hands like suited connectors. It’s actually a mistake to play loose when your stack is so large relative to the blinds!

Now imagine that it’s the same tournament, but it’s now the 5th level — blinds are 100/200. Your stack is still 1500. The stacks at your table range from a low of 1400 to a high of 7000, with the average stack being around 4500.

In this scenario, it makes sense to open up your starting requirements, and to start shoving hands you wouldn’t even have considered playing in earlier rounds. You’re at risk of being blinded out (only 5 orbits until you’re broke), and you can pick up some pots because you’ve got some fold equity. So it becomes correct to push your stack into the middle with hands like A-5 and K-8; hands you wouldn’t even raise if the blinds were 10/20.

Adapting your play to the blind level is critical to playing a solid MTT strategy. To sum up the above with a slogan: big stack and small blinds, play tight; small stack and big blinds, loosen up.

Factor 3: Adapting to Opponents

This factor isn’t only applicable to MTT strategy; it’s a cornerstone in any game of poker you’ll play. You’ve always got to adapt your strategy to the strategies your opponents are using. That way, you can exploit their mistakes, and maximize your winnings.

In a tournament, you’ll want to keep an eye out for players who call too much. A loose-passive player will be either your worst enemy or your best friend, depending on how well you adapt.

Consider the following: you’ve got a marginal hand and there’s a player in front of you who never folds preflop. You want to try and steal the blinds preflop. Should you raise?

No! Not unless you want to engage in an extremely thin-value situation in which you’ll have no idea where you stand.

Against loose-passive types, which are pretty common in early tournament levels, you’ll want to tighten up your game. You know they’re going to call with anything, so you might as well raise, raise, raise when you’ve got the nuts.

At the other end of the spectrum are players who play way too tight. These are the guys who will only enter pots with the top 10% of their hands, even on the bubble. This strategy of maximum tightness is pretty obviously terrible, and you can probably guess how to exploit it: loosen up!

You can steal blinds and pots from nits with ease. Play small ball with these guys. Throw out little raises whenever there are nits in front of you, and watch them fold; it’s no way to double-up, but your stack will grow steadily and without much risk.

Pre Flop Poker Strategy

This blog hasn’t been strategy-oriented for quite awhile, which was a direct consequence of me realizing that there was a lot of better strategy content out there on the web than what I, a small stakes hangaround, could offer. However, there are a few things to be said about that, and they are

* my strategy views aren’t “bad.” I’m not Ed Miller, but I do occasionally think something through and can make pretty coherent arguments for them. Or so I’d like to think.
* I like to keep book on poker theory “discoveries” I make, as it helps me with my learning process, and
* perhaps people like occasionally getting tips and pointers from someone who plays at their own level.

So after playing exclusively no-limit for about five weeks (whoop-de-doo, Mr. Paulsson) I’ve had three stages that I have gone/am going through. They are:

1) Get experience. This means play lots of hands. I started out 6-7 tabling to just try to amass a lot of hands. I also played a style that was more showdown bound than would perhaps be optimal, because I wanted to know what people “meant” when they did certain things. This stage was actually wildly profitable for me, despite going against popular wisdom that you shouldn’t be a calling station. What I found was that people were bluffing. A lot.

2) Identify my primary weaknesses. This went on in parallel with getting experience, and really, what I discovered was that I can get myself in some really difficult situations now and then. My primary strength is hand reading and feel for the game (in limit, you go to showdown roughtly 40% of the time that you see a flop, so with about a hundred thousand showdowns lodged in the back of my head, I have a decent feeling for how often different combos appear), and my big weakness is finding myself playing a big pot out of position.

3) Practise, which is what I’m doing now. This is not at all the same as just getting experience. I’ve now moved down to only four tables (and will likely keep it that way for at least the rest of this month) because I want to give every decision a little more time. Playing my opponents more, opening up more in position, and sizing my bets better.

Now, really, if I were to pick one skill that could single-handedly transform someone into a winner at small stakes NL, it would be bet-sizing. Sizing your bets (and raises) in such a way that you will stack your opponents when you have a big hand, keeping the pot small when you’re vulnerable, and making your future decisions easy (as opposed to hard) is such a key feature of NL that it makes starting hand selection seem completely unimportant.

So what’s to it?

Really, it starts preflop. Deciding what kind of pot you’d like to play with the hand you’re holding is the first step. Pocket pairs can often play big pots, because they can flop sets. Suited connectors also. Big aces (e.g. AK) will often find itself being on the wrong end of the stick when all the money goes in postflop, so they should avoid being in situations where all the money goes in. I’m not going to give you a chart to follow that states how much you should raise with hand X, but let me give an example of why it’s important, starting with how the preflop raise size sets up the whole hand:

$100 stacks, $1 blinds. You’re on the button with QQ. A player in middle position opens to $3, and it’s folded to you. Let’s see what happens with three different scenarios: One small, one medium and one big. For simplicity, we’ll test what happens when one bet goes in on each street, and this is to show just how powerful and important the preflop bet sizing is.

Scenario 1: You just call. Blinds fold. There’s $7 in the pot. With three bets going in, each being roughly 3/4ths of the pot, we’ll find that…

flop: $7 + $5 + $5
turn: $17 + 13 + 13 = $43
river: $43 + 33 + 33 -> final pot = $109.

Scenario 2: You minraise to $6. There will be $13 in the pot before the flop.

flop: $13 + 9 + 9
turn: $31 + 21 + 21 = $73
river: $73 + 54 + 54 -> final pot = $183. Here, you’re virtually stacking each other with just regular bets.

Scenario 3: You raise the pot to $10. The pot is $21 before the flop.

flop: $21 + 15 + 15
turn: $51 + 39 + 39 = $129
river: $129 + all-in + all-in = $201.

The relatively innocent decision between raising preflop and calling - which on the surface seemed to be a $7 difference - caused a total cumulative difference of $50. Of course, you have the option of raising big preflop and then checking one of the streets after the flop. This is the most efficient way of keeping the pot smaller, but it carries with it an inherent problem: What street will you check, and will your opponent cooperate? If you bet the turn with the intention of checking behind any river card, what will you do if your opponent check-raises all-in? Etc.

The cumulative effect makes some fairly counter-intuitive plays good. For instance, it’s perfectly okay to make a “pot sweetening” raise with some speculative hands if you think it greatly increases your chance of stacking someone postflop, despite the fact that you will often fold when you miss. Making a small raise with small pocket pairs on the button after several limpers, for instance, is a play like that. Because of the same cumulative effect as above, four people putting in $3 instead of four people putting in $1 can mean a great deal of difference in the size of the final pot. And being in position, you have a great chance of making sure that bets go in on every street when you flop something big.

Try to make the cumulative effect your friend rather than foe. You don’t have to make a huge overbet to get all your money in with a monster, unless you attempt to slowplay and your opponents won’t cooperate. If you just bet three streets, starting with a pot sized bet on the flop, you typically shouldn’t have to make any huge bets anywhere along the line in order to get every dollar into the middle. Your opponent might call every bet, being offered 2.5:1, but still find himself without a stack at the end of the hand. By the time they realize that they’re probably beat, it’s “too late,” so to speak. They’re committed to calling that last bet because the pot odds are too good for them to fold now.

If you’re looking to build a commitment-sized pot - a pot where the effective stack size means that both you and your opponent get such attractive pot odds that folding is out of the quesiton - take a look at what your opponent’s stack sizes are, determine how the cumulative effect can work in your favour, and size the preflop raise accordingly. For practise, look at some common stack sizes in the games that you play. For instance, if you play $25NL, find out how big of a preflop investment means you will get it all-in with three bets, if your effective stack is…

1) $25.
2) $15.
3) $40

… etc. Furthermore, also calculate how much you need to get in preflop in order for only TWO bets to get all the money in postflop, for the same stack sizes. Calculate it, and memorize it. Then start playing with different raises accordingly, and I think you will find that your postflop decisions will become much easier.

After Failed Legislation, What is Next for Online Poker?

With the surprise of the online poker industry over the possibility of legalized poker in the United States over, I thought I would take a look at where legislative efforts will go from here, and what online poker players can expect going forward.

Many people are under the assumption that online poker will just return to the status quo –which it never actually left—and this is true to a certain extent. The real problem is that the online poker industry in the US was moving in the wrong direction prior to Harry Reid’s attempts at regulating the industry, so much so that groups like the PPA and even online poker sites were willing to face a 15-month blackout period in order to get the legislation passed.

The downfall of online poker began in 2006 with the passage of UIGEA legislation, and contrary to what you may think the poker community in the US could have dealt with Party Poker, the Cryptologic Network, and other poker sites leaving the market; what really started the descent into darkness was the loss of Neteller.

Neteller made it easy for players to shuffle funds between their bank accounts and the online poker sites, and without Neteller the waiting period for a withdrawal went from hours to days, and even weeks! This was the first blow to the industry, as the instant gratification of winning at the tables disappeared, and with it went a lot of the casual players: AKA the fish.

If 2006 was the descent, then June 2010 –when UIGEA was officially enacted—was the coup de grace, as the Department of Justice started tightening the noose around the necks of other payment processors servicing the US online gaming market. Almost weekly we here of a payment processor being shut-down, prosecuted, or both; and more and more online poker players are seeing checks bounce, withdrawal times grow longer, and deposit and withdrawal options dwindle.

If the status quo is what we have to look forward this is not a good sign for online poker players in the US. It was already difficult to deposit and withdraw from online poker rooms, but if it continues there will only be two groups of players that will continue to bother –top-notch pros who can wait weeks for withdrawals or have other ‘foreign’ options to use, and absolute degenerates which is a very small segment of the online poker population. Even small stakes winners will likely throw their hands up in frustration.

Legality of Poker Online United States

This article appeared in at poker-in-india blog but talks about state of online poker in USA. It feels sad that this should happen in a free country like US



The current state of poker online United States is going through a bad roller coaster ride. To put things in perspective, it’s just not fair for those who believe in a free spirited democracy. Thanks to the demented politicians, the American people are on the losing side when it comes to playing online poker in United States.

Are they ever going to wake up? Probably not! Let’s hope that the new democratic government led by Obama will make poker legal in USA. My sources are telling me that the unlawful gambling bill will be re-introduced to the senate early next month. Now, that’s certainly a positive thing as far as the American online poker roomscommunity is concerned.


Thanks to the Gambling Gods, there is still a way for Americans to play online poker. If you are just coming out of hibernation, then you would realize that most of the well known poker sites don’t allow American credit cards or any kind of bank transactions. That’s a bummer if you ask me! If you are thinking to yourself “the hell with the gambling bill- I want to play anyways!!”, then you have come to the right place.

Real Money Poker Accepting US Players

As they say “Every problem has a solution”, let me guide you to a simple solution that will drive you back to poker ecstasy. You can start playing online poker accepting US players within just a few minutes while enjoying the thrill of real money betting. The only way American players can play real money poker is by registering on sites that specifically allow bank transactions or credit/debit cards deposit options within America.

On the flip side, there are alternate ways like the Visa-All access gift card option but I don’t recommend it at all. Basically, it’s an international credit card that allows online purchasing. If you are thinking about any other gift cards, trust me they won’t work at all! You are better off playing sites that legally allow poker online United States.

So which poker sites still accept American players? Among the US allowed poker sites that I highly recommend is Rumble Poker. So far, its one of the best online poker sites that accepts USA players to compete in cash winning tournaments. They offer different card games and depositing options, so you will be at ease by becoming a registered member. With 24/7 customer support and live jackpot tournaments, Rumble poker truly redefines the poker betting platform.

Here are some of the features offered:-

* Guaranteed poker tournaments played out daily
* Freerolls tournament starting from $25 to $100,000
* Guaranteed $20,000 jackpot every Sunday with re-buys
* Daily Sit and Go Tournaments
* Other Exclusive Games- Caribbean Stud, Blackjack, Video Poker, Backgammon

So if you are planning to play poker online United States then look no further! Let the games begin…

Horse Racing Betting Now Few Clicks Away On EasyBets.com

This blog appeared in Wat Blog, written by Clara. This is an interesting read. 


What flashes first in front of your eyes when you hear the word ‘racecourse‘– decked up high socialites and cocktail parties. But if you are a beginners and interested in horse bettingEasyBets.com, online betting site is the answer.


EasyBets.com offers online betting service as well as casino services with secure and safe environment. But the professionals behind EasyBets are worked up to provide best services and that is why they tend to assist enthusiasts 24*7 for live casinos and online betting. According to one of the source of the EasyBets, “EasyBets Strive to keep common attributes for navigation and we offer a spectrum of products and services that encompasses online betting as well as betting online services“. If you are enthusiasts better all you have to do is create an account on www.easybets.com and start betting. But any which way it is gambling so while betting on the racecourse field or Online– hold onto your horses always.

West Bengal Laws regarding Poker

The following interesting article (written by Jay Sayta) appeared on June 1st in glaws.in. Invite comments on views regarding monetization and permits required.

The popularity of poker in India has been increasing every day. Most people view it as means of socializing and recreation. Thus, quiet a few upper-middle class Indians have started weekend poker-evenings with friends and acquaintances. Some view it as an analytical indoor sport and a good-way of spending time rather than going to clubs or parties.

However, despite the increasing popularity of poker in India, the legal atmosphere is not conducive for poker to grow as an indoor game. There are various floating casinos having poker as a game in Goa and various casinos in hotels and other places in the North-Eastern State of Sikkim. There is a new huge resort-cum-casino coming up in the Union territory of Daman.

What however, has seemed to escape the notice of poker-lovers and entrepreneurs is a favourable and conducive legislation in the Eastern State of West Bengal which might be superb news for the poker industry in South Asia.


Is Kolkata the next Vegas?

While, the West Bengal Prize Competition and Gambling Act, 1957 prohibits almost all forms of gaming and betting, Section 2 (b) iv of the Act has excluded ‘skill-based’ card games like poker, bridge, rummy and nap. Since there is a Supreme Court decision in State of Andhra Pradesh v. K. Satyanarayana , classifying rummy as a game of skill; it is very much possible that Courts in India would use the West Bengal Act, the Satyanaranya judgment and various research studies to interpret poker as a game of skill.

Insofar as poker in West Bengal is concerned, the exemption of poker form the West Bengal Prize Competition and Gambling Act, 1957, clearly indicates that conducting poker games in West Bengal, even for cash would be permitted. Given the fact that it would be possible to have poker in the Kolkata-the largest city in Eastern India where a lot of enthusiastic poker lovers are situated, should be the greatest news for the gaming industry and poker-lovers in recent times.

However, one would have to be cautious while starting poker events, even in West Bengal. Section 12 of The West Bengal Prize Competition and Gambling Act, 1957, requires permission from the Police Commissioner of Kolkata or the Judicial Magistrate of the concerned district for any ‘game of skill’ to be held in a public place. Whenever, card games are conducted, police assume it to be gambling and arrest owners, organisers and participants. Thus, to be on the side of caution (and since it can be inferred that poker is considered to be a game of skill, atleast in West Bengal after considering the Supreme Court judgment on rummy, referred earlier and the mention of poker along with indisputable skill-based card games like rummy and bridge).

Additionally, since poker is considered to be a legitimate form of gaming, it may be necessary to have appropriate ‘entertainment’ or ‘amusement’ license from the appropriate authorities as per the Bengal Amusements Act, 1922. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation issues entertainment licenses for games like pool-tables, video games etc. While neither poker nor rummy is mentioned in the list of games for which entertainment license is granted, it is still assumed that such a license would be required for carrying out any kind of poker game where cash is collected from participants.

The over-riding West Bengal gaming statute would require the police authorities, district magistrate and Municipal authorities to grant the license (if they do not anticipate any law and order or other problem- state government can also prohibit any game if it is causing a law-and-order problem under the Bengal Amusements Act). However, in any case if permission for hosting poker tournaments is rejected by any Court, there is a strong ground to challenge the same in Higher Courts.

Thus, to cut a long story short – a large poker market with potential for enormous amount of growth remains untapped. Poker in one of India’s largest state would be a dream-come-true for gaming enthusiasts and the gaming industry in South Asia and would have domino effects in other States of India-where relying on this West Bengal Act and Supreme Court decisions on rummy-Courts could be used to start large-scale poker events.