Poker Freerolls Blog

Satellite games to 2009 WSOP

2009-04-27T10:53:00.001-05:00

Are you looking for a cheap way to get a seat at this years World Series of Poker? Try some of the online poker rooms here to see who is offering players a chance to freeroll their way to the Main Event this year!

Big Changes at Carbon Poker!

2009-04-03T08:12:00.002-05:00

Carbon Poker just released its latest software version.

Version 4.5 Software features include:

Poker Game Personalisation - allows players to customize their table, card backs and user interface.

Poker Game Mini Mode - a minimal interface and is still legible at small resolutions, allowing multi-tablers the ability to run more tables on the screen at the same time and still have them all visible.

Poker Game Grid Mode - has been overhauled to allow players to specify any grid combination with up to 5x5 games.

Heads Up Sit'n'Go Rematch - now offer the ability for players to rematch immediately after the end of the game.

Network Diagnostic Tool - brand new tool that is built into the client and is offered to users when they get disconnected or are unable to connect.

As a part of 4.5 they are also launching ther brand new VIP points system! This doesn't just replace their current comp points system, it also opens up a myriad of new uses for these points.

VIP Points can be used:
• to enter guaranteed tournaments • to exchange for cash
• to enter real money SnG's • to enter Live Seat satellites
• to purchase items from the NEW store • enter exclusive VIP level Freerolls
• to enter VIP point MTT's & SnG's • to clear deposit bonuses

Freeroll Changes:
The $50,000, $10,000, $2,000 & $1,000 freerolls will cease to run as of Wednesday 1 April @ 00:00 (Server Time). The current freeroll schedule will be canceled to make way for the all new $50,000 weekly guaranteed tournament and the new exclusive freerolls for each level of the VIP program.

Download Carbon Poker today!

The secret to online betting: Secure Gambling

2009-04-03T08:11:00.000-05:00

The Internet has changed how we live. With the click of a mouse we can get the day's news, shop for books, buy groceries, and play in online casinos. I like to gamble and I place my bets at JackpotCity.com, the best casino online. JackpotCity.com is great because it offers hundreds of slots, all the classic casino games, and the biggest prizes of any virtual casino. But it is the best because it is a secure casino. JackpotCity.com takes pride in offering its players from around the world safe gambling. State of the art security lets visitors concentrate more on their bets and worry less about hackers stealing credit card information. When you place your bet with JackpotCity.com you can do so knowing that your bank account and your identity are in safe hands.
Don't risk your money or your identity at any virtual casino. For real protection and safe gambling go to JackpotCity.com today.

Good bye 2008, hello 2009!

2009-01-05T07:20:00.003-06:00

Another year has passed and we move into 2009 excited about the chances to play more poker.

In reflecting over the last year, I am thankful that I have a loving wife and 5 beautiful children to keep me motivated and young at heart.

We plan on going to the WSOP again this year to meet and greet and play in some games :)

Hope everyone had a safe new years!

Please stay tuned for notices on freerolls coming up for our members.

For faster notification, visit Poker-freerolls.net and sign up for our newsletter.

Aced Poker Delivers to US players!

2008-11-10T08:06:00.001-06:00

When playing online poker at Aced.com, you almost feel like you are in a live poker room. We offer some of the latest and greatest poker features that go above and beyond what other poker rooms offer. Our poker features are what separates us from others.

Poker Features
Bad Beat Jackpot
Our bad beat jackpot is one of the biggest on the internet. Make sure you are sitting at one of the bad beat tables to qualify.

Quick-Start
Stop wasting precious time that could be used to win money! Our quick start feature gets you to the table of your choice fast!

Rabbit-Hunt
Want to know what the river card was? Now you can with our rabbit-hunt feature.

Multi-Table
One of the best poker features online is the ability to play more tables then just one, at Aced we let you play as many as you want!

Expose-1-Card
You can now expose one card when you are the last player to act to really tilt your opponents.

Accolades
Show off your skills with our accolades system.

Emoticons
To make our poker tables as life like as possible, you can show your emotions via our emoticons.

Deal-it-Twice
For those that like to gamble, you can now choose to deal it twice just like on TV!

Player Icons
You can choose from one of our many player icons or upload your own!

Poker Hand Histories
Saves all of your hand histories so that you can review them later

Download Aced poker below:

Cool Hand Online Poker Offers Freeroll Frenzy

2008-10-16T08:00:00.001-05:00

Sign Up Now and Get Up to $350 in Sign-Up Bonus
Cool Hand Online Poker is looking to attract new players with its week-long freeroll frenzy. From Oct. 15-22, the site will offer one freeroll tournament every hour. There will be four $500 freerolls, four $200 freerolls, two $40 freerolls, and 14 $20 freerolls every day.

Players can also take advantage of the $350 sign-up offer that allows players to earn a $10 bonus for every 100 raked hands, up to $350.

Cool Hand offers some of the softest games around, because unlike most poker rooms, the site limits players to two real-money tables and one tournament table, an attribute that likely discourages highly experienced players.

PDC Poker - New site and $2500 freerolls!

2008-08-20T07:16:00.000-05:00

PDC Poker launches with 2 great no requirement freerolls

$2500 Welcome to PDC Poker Freeroll

Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th August at 14:00 EST

Find the tournament in the lobby:
PDC Poker-->Tournaments-->Scheduled-->Special

PDC poker also offers 12 $50 freerolls every day for all players

PDC Poker accepts players from the USA!

Visit PDC Poker today!

Local poker players to be put to test in Sydney

2008-08-07T12:08:00.000-05:00

Australia --
Two Narromine poker players will head to the Australian Poker League (APL) Tournament of Champions in Sydney this week.
Josh O’Hara and Dwayne Mann qualified for the three-day poker event by playing in free rolls and pro games in the region.

Mr O’Hara won his ticket by qualifying in the Friday pro game in Wellington on June 27. Mr Mann got his ticket in the APL regional finals, held at the Narromine USMC last year.

They will join 15 other people in the region vying for their share in $600,000 prize money. Last year’s APL Tournament champion Rodney Davidson from Southern NSW walked away with the $300,000 first prize, after qualifying at a free poker event in Bega.

Before the tournament Rodney had only $20 in the bank and had to borrow money for his train fare to participate.

The event, held in Campbelltown on August 8 to 10, has free entry and will feature a Shannon Noll concert, a celebrity poker tournament (featuring Jeff Fenech, JP from Australia’s Next Top Model and Greg Bird), live bands each night, a learn to play poker

area and sit and go tables.

Anybody wanting to play poker or test out their skills can be part of the action with poker games at the Narromine Hotel on Thursday nights and the Narromine USMC on Saturday nights.

Great bluff by scotty

2008-05-09T09:22:00.001-05:00

Talk about balls! pushing humberto around with 83 off!

Check out...

2008-04-30T09:40:00.002-05:00

Drawdead.com for a list of freeroll and satellite games to this years WSOP events!

SunPoker.com Offers UK Pound Cashier

2008-04-03T10:02:00.000-05:00

SunPoker.com announced today that it has now made it easier for players from the UK and all of Europe to play at their online poker tables. The long-awaited British Pound cashier is now available to SunPoker.com players, aptly named SunPoker.com (GBP). Customers are now able to play their favorite poker games like Texas Hold'em and 7 Card Stud using the new Pound cashier, without having to worry about exchange rates.
Players from the UK have long known about the great action on the poker tables at SunPoker.com, in fact British players make up a significant portion of the player base at this International poker room. The tables will see even more action with an influx of new British poker players that are now able to easily deposit and withdrawal using Pounds.
"One of our main priorities over the past several years was to make it as seamless as possible for our customers to play at SunPoker.com using their local currency," says Rob Gallo, Marketing Director at SunPoker.com. "With the addition of the Pound cashier, players from the UK will not have to worry about making withdrawals or deposits from Pounds to US Dollars ($). This certainly shows our commitment to making SunPoker.com the BEST place to play."
There are certainly plenty of additional reasons UK players have enjoyed playing at SunPoker.com. With millions in guaranteed tournaments, monthly bonuses, freerolls, EPT, WPT, and WSOP qualifiers, this is just one additional feature that truly makes SunPoker.com a perfect place to play for new and experienced online poker players.
About SunPoker.com
A licensed poker room through MPP Ltd. (Malta in the EU), SunPoker.com is one of the largest poker rooms on the Internet, with thousands of players from around the world playing Texas Hold'em, Seven Card Stud, Omaha, and other exciting poker games, 24 hours a day. SunPoker.com is run on the Cryptologic (NASDAQ: CRYP) network, and has securely dealt billions of hands of poker since 2000.

Sun Poker Repeating WSOP Promotion

2008-03-17T08:55:00.000-05:00

SunPoker.com is gearing up to give away some big prize packages. The online poker room will give away $300,000 in prize packages to the 2008 World Series of Poker that begins this July.

Sun Poker offered this promotion last year, and because of its popularity, they will repeat it this year. There will be 25 players who get the chance to compete in the WSOP’s Main Event.

There are several other online poker rooms that will offer freerolls and satellite games, but SunPoker will be sending more players to the Main Event then almost all the other online poker rooms.

However, SunPoker.com stated that what makes its promotion different is that players only have to collect ten to 20 MyPokerPoints in a day to be eligible to buy-in for free at one of its satellites for the daily final. Players acquiring more points are able to buy-in direct to the daily satellite or even the daily final if they acquire 200 points. Players with 2,000 points are eligible to buy-in direct to the weekly final with the final WSOP Mega Freeroll being held on May 11.

Canadian wins Full Tilt Poker freeroll

2008-02-11T09:01:00.001-06:00

These winter days may seem cold but the online poker world is heating up at Full Tilt Poker: another PokerListings.com player walked away with free cash last weekend.

This time around it was Lance Murray, a 26-year-old player in Nova Scotia, Canada, who topped the weekly $3,000 freeroll for PokerListings.com players at Full Tilt Poker.

The tattoo artist has been playing poker since he was 13, and plays poker daily now. That experience paid off with a $780 win on Saturday after he climbed his way to victory from a short stack.

"I lost most of my chips really early, so I played very conservatively to stay in," Murray, who plays as drumandbass11, said about the tournament. "On the last hand, I had pocket aces, which I slow-played, and luckily sucked him in for all of his chips. I got lucky quite a bit too."

The Top 10 players in the freeroll were:

Place Name Prize
1st drumandbass11 $780
2nd Darkangel71 $495
3rd Tyfoon777 $375
4th TMDAN $292.50
5th dglizda $217.50
6th takotako $157.50
7th RODDOG23 $105
8th mick skittles $82.50
9th sonnystorm $63
10th Sapo ITA $37.50

So what does Murray plan to do with that extra $780 padding his bankroll? Play more poker, of course. It's more than likely that that play will also take place at Full Tilt Poker since he already plays there daily.

"It's the best site online without a doubt," Murray said when asked about Full Tilt Poker.

He's also a fan of PokerListings.com, which he visits when he wants to check out a new poker site.

"I love it," he said. "It's the only place I use to look for new poker rooms."

For your chance at weekly free cash at Full Tilt Poker, sign up at the poker site through a PokerListings.com link and then start playing to earn 150 points during the seven-day qualification period.

This looks really cool

2008-01-09T08:39:00.000-06:00

Annie Duke

2008-01-07T08:59:00.000-06:00

Saw this great video with my all time Fav Poker Pro Annie Duke! Watch it for yourself.

Bodog Poker Offering Free Seats in $100K Guarantee

2008-01-07T08:24:00.000-06:00

Bodog Teams Up With Card Player to Offer Card Player Readers a Free Shot at $100K Prize Pool
Bodog Poker is looking to give free entry into its $100,000-guaranteed tournament to up to 27 Card Player readers. The site is holding exclusive freerolls for Card Player readers - wherein one out of every 20 entrants is guaranteed entry (worth $109) into the site's flagship tournament - to celebrate the end of the college and pro football seasons.

The first freeroll tournament will be held tomorrow (Saturday) at 5 p.m. ET, and it is limited to 540 entrants. One $109 entry will be awarded for every 20 entrants in the freeroll. Those who win free seats can play in the major Sunday event the very next day. The freeroll, called the CardPlayer Football Freeroll, can be found by clicking on the "Scheduled Tournament" tab, then the "Daily" tab, and then the "Private" radio button. The password to register for the first tournament is "bowlseason" (all lowercase). Bodog plans to hold the private freerolls every weekend from now until the end of the NFL playoffs. CardPlayer.com will announce the password for each freeroll on the Friday preceeding the event.

The $100,000-guaranteed event, held every Sunday at 4 p.m. ET, has been showing an increased value as of late with overlays reaching nearly $40,000. The overlays mean more bang for a player's buy-in buck (or, in the case of Card Player readers, more bang for free), as the lower turnouts mean less competition for the paying spots and larger payouts for most of those who cash in the events. A representative from Bodog said that it is likely that the lower turnouts are because of the site's major demographic: sports-lovers who are pumped and tied up watching the wrap-up games of the football season.

Interested in playing? Click here to download Bodog and start winning!

CakePoker's Million Dollar Freeroll Series Under Way

2007-12-06T09:24:00.000-06:00

Eight of 10 $100,000 Main Events Left to Go
The Million Dollar Freeroll Series at CakePoker is providing players with eight more chances to get a piece of a million-dollar pie by hosting a $100,000 freeroll tournament every month.

There are three ways that players can qualify and one way is absolutely free. The top five players of each Million Dollar Freeroll Series satellite will advance to the monthly final. Players can find these qualifiers under the freeroll tab. Cash satellites are also available and start as low as $2. They run on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sunday. One seat is awarded for every $50 in the prize pool. Finally, players can buy directly into the monthly final for $50.

One of the unique aspects of this promotion is that the top prize is so enormous. Of the $100,000 given out each month, $75,000 of it goes to first place. The following are the payouts:

First place -- $75,000
Second place -- $10,000
Third place -- $5,000
Fourth place -- $2,500
Fifth place -- $1,000
Sixth-10th place -- $500
11th-20th place -- $300
21st-30th place -- $100
The next monthly final is Dec. 2, and the rest of the remaining dates are Jan. 6, Jan. 27, March 2, April 6, May 4, and June 1 of 2008.

Win Tickets to Super Bowl XLII at Absolute Poker

2007-11-07T09:09:00.000-06:00

Choose Your Favorite Team and Represent Them in a Series of Tournaments in the Absolute Touchdown Promotion
The NFL regular season is nearly halfway over, and teams are still vying for a coveted spot in the playoffs. At Absolute Poker, NFL fans representing their teams are also competing to make the playoffs for a chance to win tickets to Super Bowl XLII in the Absolute Touchdown promotion, and it is not too late for players to join in.

First, players must choose their favorite team and use their Absolute Poker registered e-mail account to do so. (Click here to pick a team.) Players who do not have an account must download the software and register before picking a team. (Players who need to register for a new account can click here.)

At noon ET every Saturday, teams will go head to head, according to the real NFL schedule, in a no-limit hold’em tournament. For example, this Sunday in the NFL, the Dallas Cowboys are playing the Washington Redskins, which means that players representing the two teams will all play in the same tournament for the Absolute Touchdown promotion. Points are awarded at the final table with nine points going to first. Players need to register by noon on the Wednesday before the game, but once registered, players can compete in every tournament.

The tournaments include freerolls as well as real-money buy-in tournaments. Leader boards can be found at Absolute Poker’s website to keep track of how the teams are playing.

At the end of 17 weeks, the top 16 teams, according to points, make the playoffs. The teams will battle in a knockout-style competition. The two teams that accumulate the most points at the final table of each tournament will move on to the Absolute Poker Bowl.

Players representing the final two teams will all be eligible to play the last tournament. Points no longer matter. First place in the Absolute Poker Bowl will receive tickets to Super Bowl XLII in Arizona on Feb. 3, 2008.

For more information on this promotion, or to take advantage of a deposit bonus on Absolute Poker through Card Player

Annie Duke's live freeroll fills fast

2007-10-15T08:42:00.000-05:00

Rigid qualifications didn't stop the limited seats available in the Annie Duke $100,000 Hold'em Freeroll Poker Tournament from filling up in record time.

Less than two weeks after the qualification period began, all 1,000 were claimed for the Oct. 25 tournament at the San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino in California.

With Annie Duke as the master of ceremonies and a free shot at a piece of the $100,000 prize pool, plenty of people were willing to put in the time it took to meet the qualification.

To secure a spot in the tournament, players had to earn six dreamcatcher stamps on a tournament qualifying card. Stamps were earned by getting a full house or better or jacks full or better in Omaha at San Manuel.

According to a press release, poker players from all over Southern California headed to San Manuel to try to secure a spot in the tournament. Players ranged from semi-professionals to amateurs, and even a few people attempting to use beginners' luck.

Poker enthusiasts who didn't qualify in time to play in the tournament can still come ride the rails and see who wins, as well as still meet Annie Duke.

Along with her emcee duties, Duke will be appearing at the San Manuel the evening of the tournament and be available to the public from 7-10 p.m. in the Yhaviatam Room.

Duke began her rise to fame in the mid '90s when she moved to Las Vegas to play professional poker. Prior to that she'd been honing her skills in Montana.

Since then, she's established herself as one of the best poker players in the world, winning a World Series of poker bracelet in 2004 as well as cashing deep in other WSOP events over the years and on the World Poker Tour.

DEAL ME IN: More colorful poker quotes

2007-09-21T09:00:00.001-05:00

Poker is full of interesting characters and occasionally they utter an amusing quip or two. Here are a few more of the more interesting comments on the game:

“There are few things that are so unpardonably neglected in our country as poker. The upper class knows very little about it. Now and then you find ambassadors who have sort of a general knowledge of the game, but the ignorance of the people is fearful. Why, I have known clergymen, good men, kind-hearted, liberal, sincere, and all that, who did not know the meaning of a ‘flush.’ It is enough to make one ashamed of the species.”

— Mark Twain

“The commonest mistake in history is underestimating your opponent; happens at the poker table all the time.”

— General David Shoup

“Patience. And shuffle the cards.”

— Cervantes, “Don Quixote”

“I must complain the cards are ill shuffled till I have a good hand.”

— Jonathan Swift, “Thoughts on Various Subjects” (1728)

“Poker is the game closest to the western conception of life, where life and thought are recognized as intimately combined, where free will prevails over philosophies of fate or of chance, where men are considered moral agents and where -- at least in the short run -- the important thing is not what happens but what people think happens.”

— John Luckacs

“Cards are war, in disguise of a sport.”

— Charles Lamb

“I believe in poker the way I believe in the American Dream. Poker is good for you. It enriches the soul, sharpens the intellect, heals the spirit, and, when played well, nourishes the wallet.”

— Lou Krieger

With spots quadrangular of diamond form,

Ensanguined hearts, clubs typical of strife,

And spades, the emblems of untimely graves.

— William Cowper

“The poker player learns that sometimes both science and common sense are wrong; that the bumblebee can fly; that, perhaps, one should never trust an expert; that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of by those with an academic bent.”

— David Mamet

Size a limp in on the button

2007-09-09T11:13:00.001-05:00

By Steve Rosenbloom
A lot of poker literature offers suggestions on starting hands from various positions, but so much of the game is situational based on stack sizes, opponents, betting amounts and position, among other things.

While the guidelines on starting hands are solid, sometimes the worst hole cards make the best hand in no-limit hold 'em. At the World Poker Tour's $15,000-buy-in Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Las Vegas' Bellagio in 2006, the blinds were $500-$1,000 with a $100 ante when action folded to a player in late position, who just limped in.

Cliff Josephy, the online terror known as "Johnny Bax" who has taken to live play, looked down to find 5-3 suited, not the starting hand you want when your stack is below average at $35,000.

But because he was on the button and no one had shown strength by raising, Josephy also limped in, figuring both of his cards were live and hoping he could catch a flop. The blinds also played, so four players saw a flop of 10-6-2, two clubs.

Both blinds checked. The late-position limper bet $4,000 into a pot of $5,000. The action was on Josephy, who held a flush draw and a gutshot straight to the 4.

"I wasn't just going to flat-call," said Josephy, who won a bracelet at the 2005 World Series of Poker in the $1,500-buy-in seven-card stud event. "I wanted to take the pot right there and sort of advertise what I had."

So, Josephy moved all in for his remaining $34,000.

"It's most likely that I had a draw if I was going to shove in for more than the pot there," Josephy said. "At least that's what people are going to deduce, but they're not going to want to call me with Q-10, K-10, which is what I sort of had him on."

The blinds folded, and the player in late position whom Josephy figured to be his remaining opponent had a bigger hand than K-10, which gave him a bigger decision, especially having Josephy covered.

"He said, 'I'm not good enough to fold it,' " Josephy said. "So, he called me and showed two aces."

The turn came the 3 of hearts, and the river came the jack of clubs, completing Josephy's flush and allowing him to more than double up.

All because he could limp in with small suited cards when an opponent who should have raised him out of the pot pre-flop tried to slow-play a hand that plays best heads-up.

"Don't be afraid to push in, and don't be afraid to play 5-3 from the button," Josephy said. "If I'm in position on the button, and it's only going to cost me as much as the big blind, sure, I'm going to limp in and play it."

new bonus codes for poker and casino sites

2007-09-04T12:52:00.000-05:00

Check out the newest bonus codes for poker at
Drawdead and casino at Casino-Chart.com

Did you know that by using our exclusive bonus codes found at the pages listed above you can literally get thousands of dollars in free money to play your favorite casino and poker games? Most rooms that offer a bonus to new depositors will have their cash out conditions clearly available to you. For instance, if you deposit $25 at a new casino, odds are that you will need to play through at least $400 before you can cash out. So choose wisely!

Fox Baseball World Series Tournament -- Free Roll This Saturday -- Poker Tournament Champion to Win

2007-08-29T08:26:00.000-05:00

Playing poker while watching baseball could be a multitasking nightmare for some, but the boys at PlayersOnly.com are mastering the art of poker between pitches in free-roll poker tournaments held every Saturday during MLB baseball broadcasts. Grand prize is a trip to the World Series.

St John's, Antigua (PRWEB) July 26, 2007 -- Playing poker and watching baseball on TV simultaneously could be a multitasking nightmare for some couch potatoes, but the boys at PlayersOnly.com are mastering the art of poker between pitches. The grand prize winner of the Fox Baseball World Series Free Roll Tournaments will win an all expense paid trip to the World Series this fall. Free roll qualifiers began last weekend and continue this Saturday at 3:30 p.m. EST -- just as Fox Television broadcasts Saturday afternoon games.

The top 10 players in this weekend's free roll will advance to the Fox Baseball World Series Tournament Final on September 22nd. Those that don't win their way to the final table can buy into the $50.00 + $5.00 buy-in freeze-out tourney.

"We've always got tournaments happening. Tournaments are a great way to get poker experience," said PlayersOnly.com Manager David Anderson. "All you risk is the buy-in fee -- so in a free roll you risk nothing. Everyone starts with the same stack of chips. And you play until one player has them all."

This Saturday and every Saturday this summer, players will start with 1,500 chips and advance through 8-minute levels. The top ten players -- the Final Table -- will automatically win a seat at the Grand Final Tournament on September 22nd. The winner of the Grand Final tournament will receive a deluxe travel package to attend the World Series including two box seats to Game 1, first class air for two, hotel suite and limo to and from stadium. The runner-up will receive two field level seats, coach air for two, a standard hotel room and limo to and from stadium. The Third Place player can watch the game from home on his new Proton 37" LCD TV.

For those extreme multitaskers that can play poker, watch TV and predict who'll take the pennant this fall, as of today the PlayersOnly.com Sportsbook favors the Detroit Tigers at 7-2 to win the World Series, followed by the Boston Red Sox at 4-1, the New York Mets at 6-1 and the Los Angeles Angels at 8-1.

In the recently re-designed PlayersOnly site, players enter the trendy, up-scale Poker Room, Sportsbook or Casino from the sexy, ultra-realistic Main Lobby where they're greeted by site host Carrie Stroup and the ladies of PlayersOnly.

In addition to this Saturday tournament series, PlayersOnly.com is also presenting a Sunday free roll series where the winner will play in the WPT in Turks & Caicos. WPT Turks & Caicos satellites are held every Sunday.

PlayersOnly.com will award more than $25,000 in cash and prizes during this summer's online poker free roll tournaments.

For further information contact:

Larry Colcy, Lyceum Media

(604) 685-6240

Absolute Poker & UltimateBet Launch Intersite Fund Transferring

2007-08-28T09:03:00.001-05:00

Miami, FL (PRWeb) Aug 22, 2007 – When it comes to cashing out of one poker room and stacking your chips in another, the online poker withdrawal process hasn’t exactly mimicked the convenience of moving cash from one casino on the Las Vegas strip to another. But two online poker sites are aiming to change that.

Absolute Poker and UltimateBet today announced a new partnership that allows players on both sites to transfer funds between Absolute Poker and UltimateBet accounts without incurring any charges.

“We’re opening the doors between two of the most popular poker rooms,” said UltimateBet spokesperson George MacLean in a joint statement with David Clainer, senior vice president for Absolute Poker. “Our new payment option allows funds to seamlessly flow from one poker room to the other.”

While the withdrawal system can be used to transfer funds from one player to another, Clainer and MacLean note that the system really comes in handy when a promotion or tournament on UltimateBet catches the eye of an Absolute Poker player or vice versa. Players with accounts on both sites can instantly move their money without having to make a new deposit.

Full details on the new funding solution are available at www.absolutepoker.com and www.ultimatebet.com.

About Absolute Poker

Team Absolute is dedicated to providing players from around the world with the best online poker game experience that is second to none. Players worldwide can access Absolute Poker online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from any PC or Mac and experience the best multi-player game online poker has to offer. Absolute Poker is committed to remaining the most trusted and best online poker experience, created by poker players for poker players.

About UltimateBet

Designed with the assistance of the best poker players in the world - Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke – UltimateBet provides the best poker games available on the net. Players can download the free poker software, play in free ring games and tournaments and get tips from these pros to learn the sport or to enhance their playing strategy. UltimateBet currently has over 2 million registered players.
Author: Jo Priam

PokerListings.com and Pacific Poker Roll Out Wave of Freerolls, Clear Sailing to London Epics

2007-08-23T11:11:00.000-05:00

As the poker world prepares to congregate in London for two epic poker events, PokerListings.com players can be assured of two things: seats front and center at both, and a pocketful of cash to go with them. Now on the table at Pacific Poker for PokerListings players only: A $25,000 freeroll for a massive WSOP Europe prize package, monthly $5,000 cash freerolls and a private shot at the upcoming U.K. Open.

Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles (PRWEB) August 14, 2007 -- This fall, all poker roads are leading to London, England for two of the most prestigious events in Europe - the inaugural World Series of Poker Europe* and the 888.com U.K. Open.

PokerListings.com, the world's largest online poker guide, and 888.com flagship Pacific Poker, are ensuring their players are in the diamond lane all the way there, with two massive prize packages for the events up for grabs and a wave of cash freerolls along with them.

First up: A $25,000 World Series of Poker Europe* freeroll, open to all PokerListings players that earn just 50 comp points at Pacific Poker between June 1st and August 20, 2007.

The freeroll goes August 25, with the winner awarded a huge $22,000 prize package for the history-making WSOPE* Main Event starting Sept. 10. An extra $3,000 in cash will also be spread from position two down to a deep prize pool.

Shortly thereafter: A private $8,500 U.K. Open freeroll comes along for all PokerListings players who earn just 30 comp points by August 30, 2007.

That freeroll goes Sept. 7, with the winner taking a seat and travel expenses for the renowned 888.com U.K. Open in October.

"We know the WSOP Europe* is going to be epic," says Camilla Sundell, press secretary for PokerListings.com. "That's a given. With a relatively small field, a $20,000 buy-in and probably the most star-packed lineup poker has ever seen, that bracelet is going to be one of the most esteemed and sought-after accessories ever."

"So we're excited one of our players can be a part of that, absolutely," Sundell adds. "But don't sleep on the U.K. Open. It's a killer tournament in its own right, with a very, very solid line-up of European pros… and I wouldn't be surprised if a few of the heavy hitters from the WSOP stick around for the action too."

Also now on the table at Pacific Poker: Exclusive $5,000 monthly cash freerolls, open to all PokerListings players, new and existing, who collect 20 comp points in any given month.

Earning those points automatically qualifies you for the following month's freeroll, with the next scheduled one set to go September 16, 2007. There's no limit on how many you can play either - just keep collecting 20 points each month.

And, as always, for players who aren't yet members at Pacific Poker, signing-up through a PL link guarantees the biggest sign-up bonus in the industry - up to $150 at 50% match.

"This is definitely another win/win situation for our players," Sundell says. "Two wicked prize packages for two fantastic events, and even more free cash at one of the loosest and juiciest poker rooms going.

"The more our players can take advantage of it, the better."

About PokerListings.com

PokerListings.com was launched in 2003 and quickly became the largest online poker guide in the world. It provides poker players with in-depth analysis of all major online poker rooms, the world's best sign-up bonuses and promotions, breaking poker news and detailed content on strategy, tours, tournaments and the game's best players. PokerListings.com also has the best live poker tournament reporting on the Web, including unparalleled year-round coverage from the WSOP, the World Poker Tour, the European Poker Tour and more.

*World Series of Poker Europe and WSOPE are trademarks of Harrah's License Company, LLC or its affiliates (collectively "Harrah's"). Harrah's does not sponsor or endorse, and is not associated or affiliated with, PokerListings.com or Pacific Poker or its products, services, promotions or tournaments. Any promotion or tournament on this site will not guarantee your seat or ability to register for any WSOPE event or any WSOPE affiliated event which is at the sole discretion of Harrah's.

PIC-Club.com and Dynamic Gaming Systems Announce Business Affiliation

2007-08-22T11:04:00.000-05:00

Author: www.pic-club.com
"PIC-Club.com will be providing both our PIC-Club and PIC-PAY services to all 13 poker rooms that are current members of the Dynamic Gaming Systems (DGS) network, as well as the four additional rooms that they will soon be activating" says Chuck Kidd, founder of United States Poker Players Inc. (USPPINC). “This will provide explosive growth for our company, allowing us to expand even further the unique services that we currently provide our membership,” he added.

PIC-Club.com is the branding recently created by Players Investment Company (PIC), a USPPINC subsidiary, to re-open the U.S. market to on-line Poker Rooms. PIC is poised to become the preferred method of deposit, both for U.S. and international players, by offering a range of financial services never before available.

Mr. Joey Jevaney, President of DGS, recently stated, “Other networks pulled out, but we made a commitment a year ago to support the U.S. market - the home of Texas Hold’Em. Because so many poker sites and networks abandoned the market we know there is room for tremendous growth there.”

Mr. Kidd responded, “… and we made a commitment to re-open the market to U.S. players. By making their deposits through the PIC-Club U.S. poker players will be using securities based transactions for banking, following the guideline for exemptions created by UIEGA last year. Simply put, we will be the best method for U.S. players to play on-line poker at these sites.” Jevaney and Kidd echoed similar sentiments in stating that their biggest job will be to secure the trust of the U.S. players. Both companies have pledged to be responsive to player’s needs. PICClub and PIC-PAY currently offer 24/7 support services to their respective clients.

PIC-Club.com members will manage their on-line bankrolls with features such as Instant Transfers between Poker Rooms, Player-to-Player Transfers, Members Only Freerolls and Tournaments, deposit bonuses and more. The company also has plans to add branded ATM cards, an on-line bill pay service, investment portfolio management and other financial services.
Kidd also stated that PIC would offer other services and features that no other company currently provides specifically to the on-line poker community. He said that even brick and mortar poker rooms will have reasons to affiliate with his company as on-line players will be able to pay for their play at traditional casinos with their branded ATM debit cards, a product that will create immediate access to funds.

“While we have seen a steady growth in membership these first three months of operation, this month has shown a marked increase in our rate of growth,” Kidd continued. “People are liking what we offer now, but when they have ten times the number of places to play, they will really appreciate the services of the PIC-Club!”

PIC-Club software and hardware are currently in use by both Eurolinx Poker, a member of the MicroGaming Network and Wingows Poker, on the DGS network. Besides the impending influx of DGS rooms, two others have already signed contracts with PIC and several more are in earnest negotiations to use this securities based system of transactions.

With software integration already underway, DGS and PIC are both aiming at a mid to late August launch for all DGS network rooms to be utilizing both the PIC-Club and the PIC-Pay services. Meanwhile, those who wish to play and try out the new banking software at PICClub. com, are invited to sign up now and test their poker skills at either Eurolinx Poker or Wingows Poker.

Several well-known on-line poker sites have already partnered with DGS on their poker software platform. DGS is best known for their poker software and principal franchise, Jungle Poker. Well-known and colorful U.K. poker personality, Bob “The Butcher” Clarke, also has a site at DGS called Butcher’s Poker.

Among the poker rooms on the DGS network are Wingow’s Poker, 444NutsPoker, 10 Large, Big Juicy Odds and Live for the Flop. Some of the sites have recently moved to DGS from previous poker software platforms in an effort to increase their player base, while others have been affiliated with DGS since it’s inception.

Other on-line poker rooms or networks that would like more details about Players Investment Company, The PIC-Club or the PIC-Pay service should visit www.pic-club.com, or contact Mr. Kidd directly at chuck@usppinc.com. A live, on-line support staff is available 24/7 to answer all questions for players who may wish to join.

Online Poker FreeRoll Tournament Tips

2007-08-21T09:35:00.000-05:00

One of the luxuries of playing online poker is the endless number of freerolls offered by poker rooms on daily basis. A freeroll is a muti-table poker tournament which requires no entry fee and awards a set prize pool paid by the sponsoring room. The poker room may also give away various other prizes such as gifts and entries into other real money tournaments. Freeroll prize pools vary from site to site as the larger more well known rooms tend to offer smaller prizes compared to the new rooms looking to expand their player databases. You will find most freeroll prize pools range between $100 to $1,000. Depending on the popularity of the room, you will be up against a filed of 500 up to 3,000 players.

Below are some tips you should follow when entering a freeroll tournament.

1.) Time is Valuable: Even though a freeroll costs you nothing, your still investing several hours of time into the contest- therefore treat the event as a real money tournament. Many players are carelessly pushing all-in with marginal hands and simply try to double up early to build a large chip stack for the later stages. You should respect your opponent’s raises and be aware that many of them are going to commit their hand and push all-in. Unlike a real money multi-table tournament, instead of players starting out tight and conservative early in the game you will notice a loose aggressive style in the first couple of rounds.

Every Monday night Bodog.com has a $40,000.00 Guaranteed with a $50+5 buy-in at 8:30 PM EST.

2.) Selective Aggression: Keep in mind you will be seated at a full table for the majority of the tournament with players being knocked out left and right. More importantly there will be new players moved to your table often and you be moved from time to time. This leaves little time pick up on your opponent’s playing style, strengths, or weaknesses. For this reason it’s important you play your hands strong and be prepared to be tested. If you’re playing pocket Kings or Queens and see a flop which helps, don’t slow play. Keep pushing the aggressive momentum with strong bets and if you are re-raised be ready to put your opponent all-in. Most players are willing to put their tournament life at risk on a draw and if you put them to the test they will likely pay you off.

3.) Table Position is Important: Anytime you are able to limp in from a strong table position you should take the opportunity. Say for example your dealt 10 J suited and you are last to act. Only one player has limped in, the rest have folded and the action is over to you- take the opportunity to limp in here. The small blind and big blind are most likely holding weak hands so your chances of being raised pre-flop are slim. Now if you are first to act holding the same hand with the betting just under way, best you fold your hand and not take the chance of being raised into a pot your have a marginal chance of winning. Position is critical as blinds increase fast and chip stacks are drastically changing, you should look for cheap flops throughout the tournament.

4.) Don’t Bluff: This is not the time or place you want to start showing off your bluffing skills. Most of the advanced players participating in a freeroll are often playing at multiple sites, several freerolls at a time. They are willing to call you down to the river with just about anything. If they are involved in a hand, they are most likely holding top pair, or better. If you are able to make the final table, and you’re holding a solid chip lead- then you are free to make some positional raises, semi-bluffs, buy pots, etc. Until that point, I highly recommend you stay away from the bluffing strategy until most of the field has been knocked out and you are down to the final stages of the tournament.

5.) Avoid Chasing: Keep in mind- being knocked out of a freeroll doesn’t come with the same sting as being felted from a $200+20 tournament. Instead of taking a financial hit and being limited with future tournament play, all you have to do is sign up again. For this reason avoid chasing. Players are playing in all-in mode most of the time. Chances are you will miss your draw and you will end paying the price on the river. If you feel you must chase, be ready to commit your entire stack to the hand and limit yourself with this dangerous strategy. In the end chasing during a freeroll will result in an all-in raise from your opponent putting your tournament life at risk on a draw.
Written by Dan Cooper

Effective Freeroll Poker Play

2007-08-19T06:48:00.000-05:00

Poker freeroll success hinges on a few aspects that are not always apparent in high stakes poker. Understanding the differences in play between freerolls and cash entries can increase your bankroll over time.

Freerolls versus Cash Entry Poker
Even with a basic or advanced knowledge of poker, playing in a freeroll is very different then a cash entry game. Since freerolls are predominantly multi-table tournaments, that will be the focus of this article. However, most of the advice can be used for single table or cash games as well.

Freeroll is just as it sounds – there isn’t anything, cash or otherwise, required to play. Most freerolls will offer a small cash prize pool. Unless it is a large promotional tournament, prize pools typically range from $2 to $50 and are split based on the amount of players (normally the top 10 percent receive prizes). Freeroll tournaments may be limited from 80 to 100 players in live casinos while online tournaments may be limited from 300 to 5000 players or beyond.

This article will assume that you have had a small amount of exposure to the game of poker (in particular, Texas Hold’em). Poker terms will be used that should be elementary to a beginning player before he steps up to the table. If there are items that do not appear clear, it is suggested that you consult a beginner’s guide on poker and return to this article when you are comfortable sitting down at a tournament table and knowing the process and lingo used.

Concepts to keep in mind while playing in a freeroll
The main point to keep in mind at any freeroll is that anyone can attend. It’s true that the total amount of players may be limited but the average skill level will be relatively low as new players are less likely to spend money to play and higher skill players prefer not to mix with lower skill players. Beginning players are more likely to desire to play for hours with little to gain but the experience. Highly skilled players can go to a cash tournament and make those hours pay off more.

The number one reason for higher skilled players to shy away from freerolls is that the predictability of players is very difficult. With highly skilled players, the starting hands they are willing to play or raise with will be premium hands. In a freeroll with lesser skilled players, any two cards could be in the hand of your opponent across the table. Having at least a small hint of what your opponent’s cards are can help decide whether to call or fold.

Concept #1: In freerolls, any two cards look good to a beginner and can be sitting in front of them.

The next concept in making a freeroll pay off is to play mostly premium hands. In my own experience, I tend to play poor starting hands when the blinds are very low. I will attempt to catch a monster hand that will net me a sizeable amount of chips. However, by playing poor starting hands, even if I catch a good flop or turn, there is still the possibility of a premium hand catching a winner on the river. Therefore, even though I will admit to playing poor hands early, I still stand by my recommendation to only play premium starting hands. And make sure you have patience. You may get six to eight poor hands in a row before getting cards that are right to play.

If you aren’t sure what premium hands are, we are talking about AA, AK, KK, etc. - hands that are going to be statistically ahead of your opponents’ most of the time before the flop. Playing premium hands does not just mean calling any bet. It means evaluating your hand, the current blinds, your position at the table, and your opponents. You will learn how to put all of these together as your skill level grows. If you are at a beginning level, then my suggestion is to raise at least 4 times the blind (e.g. the big blind is $50, your bet should be at least $200) regardless of the situation. As your skill level grows, you will learn when to make it an even higher bet.

The purpose of a raise before the flop is to attempt to move out as many of the players as you can. As mentioned before, there will still be players who are calling with their poor cards. But at least this means that you are going into the flop with an advantage.

Concept #2: Very rarely, if at all, should you limp in (e.g. just calling the big blind) prior to the flop. Your raise should be a minimum of four blinds.

Once you have reached the flop, the next concept you should understand is that freerolls will bring a lot of bluffs. When you see a good hand in front of you in a freeroll, you should assume that you are going to make some money from it. When players are bluffing, they are going to be walking right into your hands.

Bluffs are usually spotted with “overbetting the pot”. If your opponent truly has a great hand, they’re going to want to bet a smaller amount to get you to call. If their hand is shaky, they will be going “over the top” with either an all-in or a huge bet in an attempt to get you to fold. If you have nothing, it is easy to fold. However, depending on the rank of your hand (did you go in with a premium hand and do you have a pair, trips, straight, or better), you will either want to call an all-in or go all-in yourself to force their hand. This advice is not 100% foolproof as there will be times that your opponent does have a better hand or will catch a miracle card before the hand is over. But poker is a game of percentages. The best play is to get your chips in when the percentages favor you.

As you play, you will also get to know some tells that will help you determine if a player is bluffing. Again, with freerolls, there will be more beginners who don’t realize that they give off tells. Some of these can be strange behavior they haven’t displayed before in the tournament when they have a great hand; making calls out of turn because they are nervous; refusing to look at you; etc.

The final reason for more bluffing is the entry fee – nothing. Players are much more likely to bluff knowing that if they are knocked out of a tournament, they won’t lose anything but a little pride. So take a look at them and then your hand before deciding to muck. It may be that you stand to win a sizeable pot.

Concept #3: Bluffing is more prevalent in a freeroll tournament. Work to determine any patterns of players at the table that may help you decide whether to risk it all or not. And remember that the reverse is true – don’t bluff too much yourself because there will be more players willing to call your hand.

Now that you’re rolling along in the tournament, there is one final concept that may not seem logical but read on – you should not be worried about winning the tournament. While it is a great feeling to win a tournament, whether there are 15 or 2000 players, your goals in freerolls should be twofold. You should want to learn and you should want to build up a bankroll.

If you aren’t patient or you are trying to build up your chip stack too quickly, you are going to be subject to leaving a tournament too early. Many players feel that they need to build up a large chip stack early in order to win and in the process will go out prior to the winning group. If you just look to build your stack steadily and hang around until the winnings begin to be paid, you will see that your overall bankroll will continue to grow.

Part of this concept is to fold hands later in the tournament that you may wish to play. However, as you approach the bottom of the winnings and the blinds are going up, you should be keeping as many chips as you can. This will allow others to play themselves out of the tournament and allow you to reap the benefit. By all means, if you have an exceptional starting hand, play it. But bet large, most of the time all-in, and attempt to take down the larger blinds. If you are called and are holding an exceptional hand, you are likely to win and improve your standings that much more.

But if you are near the “bubble” (the few spots just before winning any prizes), don’t be afraid to just ride out the blinds and take a smaller guaranteed prize versus trying to build up your stack and ending up on the rail with nothing.

Concept #4: Play to get into the prize range rather than trying to win it all. In the long-run, several smaller prizes will be better then one first place finish. And you will have gained more experience by seeing more hands played.

Get comfortable with your own style of play
I have given you some steps to building a consistent bankroll using freerolls. However, no one plan will ever be perfect for everyone. You should take these basic concepts and mold them to your playing style and personality as you gain experience.

My final caveat is to make sure that you do not decide to raise the stakes prematurely. Many players decide to jump into cash entry tournaments too early and will lose much more then they gain both in money and experience. Be patient and make sure you are ready before jumping in with the sharks at a cash entry tournament.

Good luck and may the cards flop your way.
BY WAYNE GRAY

Strip Poker: Retro Is Making a Comeback

2007-08-17T15:26:00.000-05:00

It is a new idea for old games. The poker room at the Stratosphere Casino in Las Vegas has been known to run freerolls for players who log in a certain number of hours at cash games in their rooms, but this is the first time a “retro” freeroll has been offered.

This is a chance for players to compete in regular cash games as they normally would, but then be rewarded with a freeroll tournament played in the style of one of the many nearly forgotten games.

Kicking off the first month is a pineapple tournament. For those who don’t know, pineapple poker is played just like Texas hold’em, except that players are dealt three cards instead of two. At the beginning of each hand, every player must immediately discard one card and continue the hand as if it were hold’em.

Players are given exactly one month to qualify for a seat, worth $110, into the tournament. The freerolls are scheduled for the first Monday of each month, and players must log in at least 40 hours in a cash game before midnight on that day. Not only is the casino putting up the buy-in, but it is also doubling the first-place prize. Players can also buy directly into the tournament for $110.

August 6 at 12:01 a.m. is the time and date of the first retro freeroll, so players still have a few days left to qualify. They can play any of the cash games offered, which mostly include a low-limit no-limit hold’em game with $1-$1 blinds and a $40 minimum and maximum buy-in, and a $1-$2 no-limit hold’em game. An occasional $2-$5 no-limit hold’em and $3-$6 limit hold’em is also played. The Stratosphere poker room is open for any game as long as there is demand.

The next freeroll is scheduled as a crazy pineapple tournament.

For more information about the freerolls or to contact the poker room at the Stratosphere, call 702-944-4915.

$50,000 Prize Money at the Summer Series of Freerolls Finale at DoylesRoom

2007-08-16T10:59:00.000-05:00

www.DoylesRoom.com is giving online poker players the opportunity to face poker legend Doyle Brunson in a big money heads-up online cash game. The top poker site concludes it Summer Series of Freerolls with a no buy-in $25,000 Grand Finale event, where the winner will play poker legend Doyle Brunson for an additional $25,000!

Yes, it’s true - the winner of the Grand Finale will get the opportunity to play heads-up against the great Doyle Brunson, the biggest name in poker. The Grand Finale Freeroll will take place at 8.30pm (7.30pm GMT) on Wednesday September 19th.

To play, simply register at www.DoylesRoom.com, where you will find the $25,000 Finale Freeroll, labelled in green under the Freerolls list option of the multi-table tournaments (MTTs). To get into this fantastic freeroll simply play 25 raked hands (minimum 25 cents in rake) in the ten days before registering for the tourney. The winner of the Finale Freeroll will not only win the first place prize money in that game but will go forward to a heads-up match against Doyle Brunson on September 30th. If he or she can beat Doyle heads-up, in addition to the ultimate bragging rights, they’ll walk away with a further $25,000.

DoylesRoom.com has received numerous industry awards over the years for its innovative tournaments, responsive customer service and the unique opportunity to play against the Godfather of Poker. To become part of this exciting and fast growing online poker community, simply go to Doylesroom.com and register.

Online Poker: Interview With Annette 'Annette_15' Obrestad

2007-08-15T11:39:00.000-05:00

The screen name Annette_15 has been legendary since the first time it blipped on the radars of big-buy-in Internet poker tournament results. As the story goes, the 19-year-old Norwegian poker prodigy behind the name, Annette Obrestad, started her meteoric rise without ever having deposited a single dollar on a site. She made her way up from freeroll tournaments to small-buy-in sit-and-gos to eventually playing in the biggest tournaments online, and she is now one of the most recognizable names in poker.

Obrestad furthered her legendary status when she accomplished two outstanding feats recently. First, about three weeks ago, she played an entire 180-person sit-and-go without looking at her cards — and she took it down. Then, she went on to win one of the most prestigious tournaments out there, the Full Tilt $500,000 guarantee, just last week. She got on the phone with Card Player to talk about her recent achievements and to share some strategy:

Shawn Patrick Green: There was an incredible series of hand replays posted recently on PokerXFactor.com that shows an entire $4 buy-in 180-person sit-and-go that you played in completely blind (covering up your holecards). You took it down, of course. Have you played tournaments blind before?

Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad: Yeah, I’ve not looked before. When I used to play $30, $40, or $50 sit-and-gos I did it all the time. I dropped down to lower levels just to practice, but I didn’t take it seriously enough, I think. This was the first time I’d done it in a while. I really just did it for fun, and that’s why I peeked on one hand; I didn’t think I was going to take it seriously enough. But when I got deeper, I wanted to win [without looking] to show everyone that it was possible.

SPG: I had read somewhere that you did peek once in hand No. 47 before calling when an opponent went all in on flop with three spades. So that is true, then?

AO: Yeah, I did. I was getting such good odds that I figured “if I have a spade here I’m just going to call him.”

SPG: So you didn’t peek even once during heads up?

AO: No, I didn’t. I mean, it was really hard because I could never call a bet when he kept shoving all in on me almost every hand. There was nothing I could do about it. If he knew that I was playing blind, he would have shoved all in every hand. [Laughing]

SPG: What did that exercise prove? Or what can people learn from your experience with that?

AO: Just how important it is to play position and to pay attention to the players at the table. Like, if you knew that someone was weak you’d attack him.

SPG: It’s also a testament to how much you should play your instincts rather than your cards.

AO: Yeah, that too, definitely.

SPG: So, you won the Full Tilt $500,000 guarantee just last Sunday. Congrats on that. What got you to that final table?

AO: Oh, man, that was such a long tournament. I was doing really well in the beginning, but I screwed up in the middle stages. I think I was down to one big blind at one point. Then I doubled up and I was back in it again. I had very weak tables the entire time and I just kept running them over. And then I was a card rack at the end.

SPG: Speaking of which, you eliminated the final two players in back-to-back hands, the first of which you flopped quad sixes and he was betting aggressively until he was all in on the turn. What were you thinking when you flopped the quads?

AO: That was such a big hand. I knew right away when he reraised [preflop] that he had a huge hand and I was just hoping to nail that flop. When the flop gave me two more sixes I thought, “Oh my God, I’m going to win this tournament.” [Laughing]

SPG: You basically let him dig his own grave in that hand.

AO: Yeah, you know, I really could have just shoved the flop because he had an overpair. It was pretty stupid of me to just call, in case he had jacks or queens and an ace or king came [and scared him off]. But I don’t know, it could have worked either way, I guess.

SPG: How often is it correct to play quads at face value (i.e., very aggressively)?

AO: If you’re playing against an aggressive player, you want him to bluff at you, but if you think he has a big hand you can just shove it in and hope you get a call.

SPG: But if he has a big hand, he’s going to be doing the betting for you, anyway, so is it ever worth the risk to play quads aggressively?

AO: It just looks more suspicious if you just call, basically. It looks like you’re trying to trap him.

SPG: I assume that you’re going to play in the World Series of Poker Europe?

AO: Oh, yeah, definitely. I can’t wait for that.

SPG: How many events do you plan on playing?

AO: I have no idea. Probably just the main event and maybe the pot-limit Omaha event, too. I don’t know, I kind of suck at PLO, but it’s a fun game. I just don’t know if I’m going to spend €10,000 to buy into it.

SPG: Do you change your game up at all when you play live?

AO: Eh, not really. You just have to pay more attention, which isn’t really that hard when you’re only playing at one table, except when you get bored. Just listen to music and pay attention, that’s all you can do.

SPG: There hasn’t been a single final table that you’ve been at where railbirds haven’t asked if you’d marry them and/or bear their children. Are they all just gold diggers?

AO: [Laughs] Oh, I don’t know. I think it’s just become a joke since everyone does it all of the time.

SPG: So, no serious romantic interests from the rail that you’re going to pursue? [Laughing]

AO: No, no, none.

SPG: Which online player have you learned the most from, and what was the most valuable lesson that they taught you? You’re going to have to play favorites, here.

AO: Hmm … I think that I haven’t really learned a lot from players, so far. When I started playing, I didn’t know anyone else who was playing, so I just had to do my own work. And now that I can play at higher stakes, I’ve gotten to know the people who know how to play and it’s a lot easier to get in touch with them. It’s only been lately that I’ve started to tear apart hands with other players. I just had to stand by myself before.

But I’ve always been a big fan of JohnnyBax [Cliff Josephy]. He’s just a role model, I think. He’s a really good player and he handles himself really well.

SPG: With all of the lore behind your rise to poker stardom by starting with freeroll tournaments, do you have any strategies for tournaments with freeroll-like blind structures and players?

AO: You just can’t bluff if you’re playing against weak players. Just be patient.

SPG: Well, can you even play position against weak players? Because they aren’t going to be paying attention to or respect position as much.

AO: It depends, really. I mean, if you have three calling stations behind you, you don’t want to be raising with king-deuce. You might, however, raise with seven-six suited and hope to hit a flop. You don’t want to get too tricky, though.

SPG: So in a situation like that where the blinds go up really quickly and your opponents may not be as educated, do you think you depend more on your cards than anything else?

AO: Yeah, I really think that you do. You can’t do too much unless you get cards in that situation. Like, when you get shortstacked and you have 10 big blinds, if you shove queen-deuce you’ll get called with queen-jack. You can’t do much without getting cards because their calling ranges are so huge.

SPG: So, is there an argument to be made that skill plays a smaller factor in tournaments with worse players?

AO: Oh, no. As long as you bet your hands hard enough, you’re going to get paid off when you hit. So, just be patient with them.

SPG: Thanks for taking the time for this interview, Annette.

Table image

2007-08-13T14:03:00.000-05:00

In high limit/high stakes poker, displaying the right table image is a very important part of the play. While at lower limits you may consider it unimportant, at higher ones, you will need to learn to learn how to go out there and generate value for yourself by misleading your opponents.

By and large, there are three basic types of images you can project: maniac, tight, and crazy (impossible to read).

Which type of image you want to show off, depends on the texture of the table you play at. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at giving your opponents the “maniac” treatment.

Looking like a maniac may seem extremely easy at first glance, but remember one thing: you don’t want to lose all your stack while doing it. On the contrary, your aim is to make money, so how simple does it look now?

In order to look like a maniac and hold on to most of your bankroll in the same time, you have to understand the following thing: it is fairly easy to appear like an action-hungry lunatic to the other players if you raise a lot pre-flop. Just be careful not to take it too far, and fold lots of hands on the flop. People will have you cataloged as a loose-aggressive player if you raise preflop about 5-6 times in a row, no need to prove your point beyond that.

After you have done the preflop raising several times, just sit back, tighten up and enjoy the fruits of your labor. The table will usually become much looser, due to your pre-flop antics, and you’ll be able to fully benefit from it, having exposed yourself minimally, during your brief preflop-raising period.

Besides managing to sink your loose aggressive image in with the other players, you might also get lucky during that time, and catch someone on an all-in.

One more thing you should keep in mind when you’re trying to convey this image is the following: it’s only lucrative in a cash game. By their nature, tournaments are about survival. Not only will being recognized as a maniac provide you with less value, it’ll be much more difficult to make the others loosen up, too. In this respect, I wouldn’t recommend you try to push this image in tourneys. Stick to cash games, do it right and you’ll be all right.

Now for the big question: just how exactly will you benefit from the fact that the others see you as a maniac? For one thing, you’ll get many more calls than before, however, that is not necessarily a good thing, or a bad one for that matter… All that means, is that your bankroll will take wilder swings, but doesn’t give you any good value in the long-run. On the other hand, your opponents will make more faulty assumptions about your play than before, and that is where you’ll get your long-term value.

Again, come in strong preflop, raise about three times the BB, that alone will provide you some value already. I bet you’ve read and/or heard how poker was supposed to be a post-flop game. Well, it is, and that’s exactly why you have to raise preflop. Not only will it pass you as a maniac, it’ll make some opponents fold and others leave dead money in the pot for you, instantly increasing your odds.

The real key to successfully pulling the whole outfit off, is to play it extremely tight on the flop. Whenever you get re-raised on the flop, or you suspect that someone has the nuts, muck’em. If the flop misses you completely, muck’em.

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AdWords Ads Now Free?

2007-07-31T13:22:00.000-05:00

A new breakthrough secret is all you now need in order to get your Google AdWords pay-per-clicks FREE!

A gentleman from New York discovered what he calls an "oversight" on the part of 99.9% of all marketers that allows him to get otherwise paid-for advertising at Google as well as all other search engines that allow sponsored ads.

And no, nothing about his "secret" is illegal - nor does it require that you know someone on the "inside" at Google, Yahoo, MSN, Overture and others.

Instead, the New Yorker boasts proudly "...this is something that I caught onto just before 2000 when there was so much search engine craze running around, and started doing small just to test things at first ... but which I later expanded on after getting the hang of it."

This same fellow went on to start and operate sixteen separate online companies selling everything from pet food, DVDs, children's toys & games, books, software, and sold not only his own manufactured products but became an affiliate for other web businesses - all the while applying his mastermind secret.

Over the course of nearly eight years the New Englander confesses "I've actually gotten over $87 million in advertising that using my secret I never had to pay for ... and the largest share of which was more recently in Google pay-per-clicks as well as other forms of pad advertising at search engines ... all of which I got for free ..."

So powerful is his secret that he's able to monopolize any niche online, and can always secure the top premium spots just above the usual organic results featured at most search engines.

He still has to set up an account with the search engines - but after applying his secret he is removed from having to pay for all the costs otherwise involved.
Again, nothing about his secret is either illegal or robs from the search engines.

One spokesperson from one of the most popular search engines said chuckling after being made privy to this amazing secret "Wow! Ha! This is really unique ... and in my expert opinion it would only serve to enhance and bring more business to us at [name of search engine withheld for legal & confidentiality reasons] and not cause us to lose business in the slightest. Amazing!"

The northerner revealed that in this nearly eight years' period of time since applying his secret he's done well over $300 million in sales revenue with a most diverse line of products, and most recently in the last two years netted nearly $166 million after really "buckling down and pressing my secret to its fullest potential."

Now to everyone else's fortune, the city slicker is releasing his secret for getting an unlimited amount of pay-per-click ads to the general public. But he's not promising any of us for how long.

A bit of an eccentric, the gentleman says "We'll see just how long I can make it available before it saturates things."

One famous public web guru pointed out that although this man may gain economically more so as a result of the publication of his secret "he's already so amazingly rich that whether he continues or discontinues its sale will neither make nor break the man, but not grabbing it for yourself while it's still available could prove disastrous for you as you may only have one chance, and a very limited one at that, to get this."

It is currently available at:

Here

...so you may want to head on over there now and get it.

It's in a very easily readable format and is quickly and readily understood and mastered by anyone with even a 4th grade reading level.

While you're there, why not scroll down and review for yourself the huge successes others are now having with this incredible breakthrough in targeted advertising now made freely available to the rest of us?

To your success,

-Holis

New site and short update

2007-07-31T08:21:00.001-05:00

Well its been a while...

My latest site is a fan site for Jerry Yang, 2007 WSOP main event winner... Ya its not much yet.

I plan to make a real site there when i get back from my Cruise

Mamadiva and I are taking two of our kids on a 5 day cruise in a bit over a waeek!

I cant wait :)

Mac Does it again!

2007-01-26T15:01:00.000-06:00

Our very own MacMuckalot (playing as el looso) scores in the eurotvpoker game :)

Mac eventually came in 3rd Thanks for the shout out sir!

Final Table Shout Out :)

2007-01-19T13:46:00.000-06:00

Our very own member MacMuckalot tore it up with an impressive 2nd in this pokerhost game.

Kudos and thanks for the shoutout!

gambling is now one of the seven deadly sins?

2007-01-19T07:59:00.000-06:00

The witch hunt is on for those of us sinners who gamble! It seems that there has been quite a bit of focus on finding those US citizens that are gambling online in the privacy of their own homes, that they work hard to pay for. I asked this question months ago - What the hell is wrong with this country? *jumps on soapbox

This is not prohibition! That didnt work back then why in the hell would it work now? There has been much talk about how online gambling is addicting and destroys homes and families. Well Mr Washington big shot - let me clue you in here - Alcohol is addicting, so are cigarettes and as I see it some people are addicted to online games (world of warcraft, everquest, etc.), my kids are addicted to myspace, just to name a few random addictions. So to hell with it - start banning everything - let's see how close we can come to having this country run by dictatorship or communism.

I say work on one bigger addiction before taking our rights to play online poker. illegal drugs - get them off the streets, they are killing our kids - not a full house on party poker!

the US govt can find Calvin Ayre, the Neteller founders but where in the hell is Osama bin Laden????!! Let's focus on something that is more important like getting ALL of our troops home to safety. And that's another thing - there are lots of military personnel that play poker online when stationed in other godforsaken countries like Iraq - again our boys at 18 can die for our country have a smoke while they are die but OH no they can't have a beer or play poker before they die.

These self righteous bastards in our US government need to look around themselves - I think the corruption in Washington is far worse than people gambling online. And then - you can play the lottery online, that's legal - and skill is SO needed to hit a button that randomly selects numbers for you.

*off soapbox

America - take back what little freedoms we have left in our 'land of the free and home of the brave' . Fight for your rights! Freedom is choice.

poker.com plans huge upgrade

2007-01-11T06:44:00.000-06:00

Poker.com will be upgrading the software on Thursday January 11, commencing @ 02:00 (Poker.com Time).

Download Poker.com here :

Use our EXCLUSIVE poker.com bonus code :

DRAWDEAD300

and get 100% match to $300 on you initial deposit.

Here is a list of the changes coming :

* 7 Card Stud
* 7 Card Stud hi/lo
* Omaha hi/lo
* Razz
* 5 Card Stud
* 5 Card Draw
* Badugi
* 2-7 Lowball (Triple Draw)
* A-5 Lowball (Triple Draw)
* Hand Histories Stored Locally on Hard Drive
* New Lobby Interface
* Moneybookers Payment option
* Lots of backend improvements
* A new Poker.com Website

Poker.com is one of my favorite sites! These new games will continue to set them apart from the other available poker sites on the net.

A new year for poker!

2007-01-09T08:17:00.000-06:00

Well, we are 9 days into the new year and i've yet to win a poker game! I've been playing some freerolls on several sites and it's amazing what kind of foolish play you see in them. It's also amazing that some people go on tilt so badly when they are playing freerolls.

Anyway - I didn't come here today to talk much about poker freerolls, wanted to reveal my New Year's resolution and how I plan to succeed at it. I didn't resolve to quit smoking (although at almost $5 a pack I probably should), I didn't resolve to lose weight ( I still look good in my skinny jeans :), I decided to make a resolution that would be easy to keep! Actually I have 2 resolutions: the first one was to get myself a bit more organinzed, you know - make sure house gets picked up (dammit I should have resolved to hire a maid! %#$@$) but my main resolution and the one that is most important to me has nothing to do with poker. I have resolved to bring more joy into my life -I mean, dont get me wrong - i'm not unhappy with my life - I have a fantastic hubby, great kids and a great job - I think I just haven't taken as much time to enjoy all that I have.

I think today will be a very joyous day - my baby girl starts preschool today - or as she calls it 'pringle school' won't she be shocked and dismayed when they have no pringles there. So I should have at least 4 hours of uninterrupted time to catch up on everything else I need to do, like shopping - damn I haven't bought any shoes since before Christmas.

Well that is about all the rambling I'm up for today so everyone who reads this - you should consider adding my resolution of bringing more joy to your life, to your own list of resolutions and make this world a little happier every day. Uh oh I think I've just started singing the Carpenters - On top of the World - ladyz don't get me started .

Have a fantastic day!

Not too shabby...

2007-01-04T08:09:00.000-06:00

Ive been tring to sneak in a few poker games here and there (between our freerolls and my other projects)

I have been playing on www.pokerstars.com mostly due to the larger prize pools.

While I continue to get into some very unlucky situations (My KK runs into AA Preflop - only an 18% favorite now :) I still like the action.

Last night I played in a game for a seat to the $215 Sunday warmup - Results are below :

Dear Holis,

You finished the tournament in 1st place.
You qualified to play in Tournament #39200555 and are automatically registered for it.
See Tournament #39200555 Lobby for further details.

I am looking forward to this game on Sunday :)

Happy new year!

2007-01-04T08:07:00.000-06:00

Just a quick update to wish everyone a happy new year.

We hope 2007 turns out to be a great year for everyone!

We have been busy with the kids and family over the holidays and look foward to getting back to work on the best poker community on the net :)

Last poker.com blogger event this weekend!

2006-12-12T11:08:00.000-06:00

Event #7, the final regular event of the second season of the Blogger Poker Tour kicks of this Saturday at 15:00 Poker.com time. Hosted by BPT regular imjusthere4thebeer at The Poker Pub, as its the last event of season 2 its called Poker Pub's Last Call. As always the password and updates are available from his blog, and for up to the second results you can go to the results page.

Tournament: Blogger Poker Tour - Season 2 Event 7
Date: 16 December
Time: 15:00 Poker.com Time (EST)
Location: Tournaments > Scheduled > Special tab
Structure: 10 min levels, 5000 starting chips
Entry: Free to Blogger Poker Tour Player s
Prizes: $500

Dont have poker.com yet ?

Use the banner below to participate!

One Sick Promotion!

2006-12-04T11:00:00.000-06:00

This has to be the best promo ever :)

SunPoker.com Launches One Sick Promo
WILLEMSTAD, Curacao--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Is it too early to start thinking about the WSOP? According to SunPoker, the answer is a resounding no. They are currently preparing to launch one of the largest and unique World Series of Poker campaigns ever seen.

The promotion, aptly named “One Sick Promo” will give away 100 WSOP packages to the top 100 MPP (My Poker Points) earners from December 1st to May 31st. What really makes this promotion so “SICK” is that these are not free roll tournaments that someone would have to qualify for, if they are among the 100 top SICKEST poker players, they get the packages.

Keeping in tune with the name and theme of the promotion, the top five finishers of SunPoker’s One Sick Promo will be flying to the 2007 WSOP on a Gulfstream IV. In layman’s terms, a Gulfstream IV is the SICKEST private jet you could imagine. And as if this wasn’t enough, SunPoker has also let its top five finishers invite a friend on the trip to Vegas where they will enjoy three weeks in the SunPoker.com luxury mansion during the WSOP.

Some might call this type of luxury overkill, but not the masterminds of One Sick Promo. Adam Smirnis, Poker Room Manager at SunPoker, had this to say, “This promotion is all about going above and beyond expectations. If a player thinks its fair to get their airfare covered, we’ll charter a private jet. If they want a hotel room, we’ll rent them a mansion.”

It certainly seems that the people at SunPoker are willing to do WHATEVER it takes to make their players happy. And that includes the players that fall outside of the fabulous five. The top 30 players in the promotion will all receive extra WSOP Chips so that they can play more than just the WSOP Main Event, as well as exquisite accommodations in three other separate huge villas.

“The WSOP is not just one event and it should not be treated as such. For a lot of the Internet players, this is the only time they play live all year.” Smirnis added, “They should be given the opportunity to experience more of the WSOP. After all, it isn’t just one tournament, it’s a series.”

It seems that the philosophy at SunPoker has become either crazy or brilliant, but either way the players that decide to play at SunPoker this year will see an enormous payoff.

About SunPoker.com
SunPoker.com is one of the largest poker rooms on the Internet, with thousands of players from around the world playing Texas Hold’em, Seven Card Stud, Omaha, and other exciting poker games, 24 hours a day. SunPoker.com is run on the Cryptologic (NASDAQ: CRYP) network, and has securely dealt over 1.2 Billion hands of poker since 2000.

Poker.com bloggers tour this weekend! Event 6

2006-12-01T12:16:00.000-06:00

Event #6 of the second season of the Blogger Poker Tour kicks of this Saturday at 15:00 Poker.com time. Hosted by It's Flopilicious's blog, its Flopilicious's Where's My Flop BPT Tourney.

As always the password and updates are available from his blog, and for up to the second results you can go to the results page.

Tournament: Blogger Poker Tour - Season 2 Event 6
Date: 2 December Time: 15:00 Poker.com Time (EST)
Location: Tournaments > Scheduled > Special tab
Structure: 10 min levels, 2000 starting chips
Entry: Free to Blogger Poker Tour Players
Prizes: $500

Get ready to play some flops, we are back to basic for the penultimate round in the Second BPT season, 10 seat Texas H old'em. With the final round of the season being Omaha Hi-Lo this could be your last chance to really push for that top 20 spot on the leaderboard.

Download Poker.com and register your blog to play today!

First of its kind...

2006-11-28T09:24:00.000-06:00

Im not normally into casinos, I prefer to play live if Im going to play at all.

Having said that, I find this new site interesting :

We are extremely pleased and excited to introduce Dublinbet.com Dublinbet.com is the world’s FIRST and ONLY Live Online Casino!

Playing on Dublinbet.com is the closest thing to actually playing in a live casino! So you can see why we are very excited to launch Dublinbet.com’s brand new affiliate program!

Using patented proprietary software, Dublinbet.com webcasts live video, audio and game results across the internet to online players from the Fitzwilliam Casino and Card Club in Dublin, where members are simultaneously wagering on the same games. Live games include Roulette, Blackjack, Punto Banco (Baccarat) and Texas Hold’em. Unlike competitor’s games which use Random Number Generators (RNG),

Dublinbet’s Live Games provide visual transparency in real time, instilling trust from its player community.

DublinBet.com offers a wide variety of new and ongoing player promotions, including the current 100% up to €200 first deposit promotion and a €400 bankroll for spending only €200! DublinBet also offer a fantastic Refer-a-friend promotion with unlimited Referrals!

Happy belated turkey day and sigh my bday!

2006-11-28T09:08:00.000-06:00

Yep, its official! I am 39 years young as of November 23rd.

I am considering just staying at 39 with different versions (sic)

Freerollerz is going strong (now over 4000 members!) but we have lost some of our staff to Real Life (TM). Papahun has decided not to continue as our league manager due to the league being mostly on hold now... Sara and I appreciate all his hard work over the last year and hope he keep in touch with us.

ICBM has left us as well, probably burn out or whatnot. I consider both of these fine fellows good friends and hope to see them once in a while on the forums....

Stay tuned as we have some really BIG NEWS coming soon :)

New AP skin vegas poker 247!

2006-11-07T09:26:00.000-06:00

We have just added vegas poker 247 to our list of sites to play on :)

We have games scheduled for later this month, hope to see you there!

NOTE : As this is a skin of absolute poker, you must use a new email address to open an account.

Poker.com bloggers tour reschedules game #3!

2006-10-27T08:41:00.000-05:00

Event #3 of the second season of the Blogger Poker Tour which was scheduled for 21 October was shutdown due to technical difficulties.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused our fellow blogging community.

Event #3 has now been re-scheduled for this coming Saturday and will feature host blogger: www.UltimatePokerForum.com.

The password is the same as the cancelled event and can be located at our host blogger.

Re-Scheduled Tournament Details:
Tournament: Blogger Poker Tour - Season 2 Event 3
Date: 28 October 2006
Time: 15:00 Poker.com Time (GMT-5, ET-1)
Location: Tournaments > Scheduled > Special tab
Structure: 10 min levels, 20 00 starting chips
Entry: Free to Blogger Poker Tour Players
Prizes: $500

Hope to see all you bloggers there!

ladyfreerollerz Poker Blog

2006-10-21T12:27:00.000-05:00

I got a email for poker.com saying had to re-reg for the PBT today . some problem with the servers and game had to be re-created .

The Ladyfreerollerz have over 600 members now and growing rapidly.

Ready for the next wave ? Check out Tournament BlackJack!

2006-10-19T13:41:00.000-05:00

Golden Palace has launched Tournament BlackJack!

Hurry and be one of the 1st 100 downloads to get $10 Free!

This looks interesting to me, but Im horrible with math :(

Bettybet would probably clean house playing....

TonyG Poker exclusive offer

2006-10-18T07:29:00.000-05:00

Tongypoker is offering 50% rakeback to freerollerz members :)

Use the banner below to take advantage of this exclusive offer!

50% rakeback is huge!

Blogger poker tour Game 3

2006-10-17T05:33:00.000-05:00

Game 3 of the 2nd season poker.com blogger tour runs this sunday!

Tournament: Blogger Poker Tour - Season 2 Event 3
Date: 21 OctoberTime: 15:00 Poker.com Time (GMT-5, ET-1)
Location: Tournaments > Scheduled > Special tab
Structure: 10 min levels, 2000 starting chips
Entry: Free to Blogger Poker Tour Players
Prizes: $500

Have a blog and not entered yet ?

I play poker at Poker.com

Check out the Great Prizes

Visit http://www.bloggerpokertour.com/ for more info.

Be sure to tell them freerollerz.blogspot.com sent ya :)

Other Projects - Screwed by the new law

2006-10-16T07:19:00.000-05:00

With the state of online poker, I have been diversifying into other industries.

Take for example the following few sites :

1) http://www.forex-learning-center

This site helps visitors understand more about FOREX trading. This is an example of me working on a site that interests me. I dont have the experience in forex trading that I have with poker but its an interesting topic.

2) http://www.toprankdvds.com

This is an amazon store focused on dvds. It updates the best selling dvds from amazon daily.

This is my 1st real try at ecommerce. I really dont think this site will be my last in the area. I know it wont match the income potential of promoting poker but it will teach me more about marketing real products.

3) http://www.mypokervideo.com

This site is my 1st try at social type traffic, It allows users to upload videos (ALA YOUTUBE) and/or watch the ones we have already uploaded. The niche is staying focused on poker as this is where i feel strongest. I have high hopes that this site will grow into something more than a pet project.

Its not too late!

2006-10-05T06:53:00.000-05:00

While the law that will end our freedom to do what we want with our money in the privacy of our own homes has passed, it has not been signed yet.

It is not too late to make your voices heard!

Please watch this video and do what you can to spread the word on this attack on our constitutional rights.

What has this country come to?

2006-10-02T12:05:00.000-05:00

Never have I been more embarrassed to be a citizen of this country (I was a baby during the Vietnam war otherwise this would be 2nd on my list) . I am completely disgusted with our law makers today. As I sat Friday evening watching CSpan til the wee hours of the morning I almost wept. For these sleezy lawmakers, who can only get a the bill to ban internet gambling to pass - attach it to something as critical as the port security bill fills me with disdain. What in the hell does online gambling have to do with port security? In my opinion this senators and representatives that are pushing this are no better than school yard bullies. Too scared to make a ban on internet gambling its own bill? Why, because you know it won't pass! How dare you put that on a bill that will keep America safe from nuclear weapons coming into our ports.

Nevermind the fact that this bill SHOUTS unconstitutional! Should we as Americans expect our constitutional freedoms to be upheld by those officials in power that we elected? You're damn right we should! I would much rather have a popup for a online poker room come up than one that advertises underage porn. God forbid the lawmakers push harder to get that crap off the internet!

So - Poker players of the world unite! Not only are we seeing the effects of this bill (not even a law yet) hit hard in the US, we are seeing it all over the globe with the falling stock prices of those publicly traded gaming companies.

Senators and Representative - ask yourselves this- Do you feel better now that you are making more room online for porn sites by taking away gambling sites? Do you feel better taking away our rights as Americans? Well let me tell you that is not why we elected you! You all were elected to uphold our freedoms and the constution - not tear it down.

Well - off my soap box now -

btw - Doyle Brunson for President 2008! Write him in and kick these beauracratic buttheads out!

Are you gunning for the wrong guy?

2006-09-28T09:10:00.000-05:00

A major mistake that I see players make is "going after" another player after a bad beat or if that player made a remark that the other player didn't like. Folks, this is a mistake that can only HARM your bankroll, not help it. I found myself in this exact situation not long ago after a player called me down to the river only to hit his gutshot straight draw against my top two pair (AK). I lost a considerable sum in the exchange and began to focus on this "bad" player in an effort to show him just how bad his play was. I wanted to prove that I could outplay him and at least win my money back. An interesting development then took place...

You see I was mult-tabling at the time with four 1/2 NL tables on Full Tilt Poker and before I knew it I was tangling with another player at a different table. With the board paired and three hearts showing, he called my all in reraise on the river with only one pair. Folks, I hope I don't need to tell you that if your opponent reraises you all in on the river and the board has paired AND there are three of the same suit showing, you'd better fold if you're only holding one pair! I had the big hand with the nut full house and took down a $231.00 pot (breaking him in the process). After a few minutes, he reloaded and the circus was back in town! This guy proceeded to lose over $600.00 over the course of three re-buys and about 1.5 hours. I was the benficiary of almost half taking him for just north of $275.00 in short order.

Who did I forget during this exchange? The original "bad player" who I thought was sooo bad and would certainly lose more money to me. What happened after the original bad beat I mentioned at the start of this article? He tightened up BIG TIME and by the end of my session when I left the table he was down exactly $14.00 from his rebuy of $200.00. Meanwhile on the other table we had a live one who dropped $800.00. Here's the moral to the story, had it not been for the big pot he lost to me I may have not noticed his multiple re-buys, I may have remained focused on the "bad player" who was going to lose so much money to me and the other players ( I was convinced of this!).

The moral to this story is that you may be looking at the wrong player for the wrong reasons to make your session a profitable. You have to be aware of what each player is doing at a table and make the right reads over the long term vs. the short term to be a profitable player and truly build your poker bankroll.

Propping for Profit

2006-09-27T07:26:00.000-05:00

If you ask many poker players what a prop player is, you're going to get a few different answers. Many people will look disgusted and call them "shills," say props are a bad thing. Some will look confused and say they think they're people who the poker room pays to play. You'll find plenty of people who don't know what it means to be a prop player.

Proposition players, or "props," are players hired by the casino or poker room to help keep their games full. They play with their own money (a "shill" is a player who's on the casino's dime) and keep all their profits, and have to deal with their losses, too. Prop players aren't all "professionals" in the game trying to beat the other customers. They are everyday players who are willing to follow some seating rules to earn money while they play. Their skill level can range from terrible to excellent, from beginner to seasoned player. You don't have to every worry when you're playing with a prop that the house is giving them any sort of extra edge or favors them at all. In fact, props sometimes could be said to lose a slight edge because they often do not pick which game they sit in and when they leave.

In Brick and Mortar (B&M) casinos, props are typically paid an hourly wage of $6-7 per hour. They are given a schedule like a regular employee and are expected to show up for their shift ready to play. You'll find them in smaller rooms and ones that need a little extra boost to keep their games alive. In Las Vegas, many of the off-strip and "local" casinos employ props. Finding job openings for props in a B&M casino is as easy as finding any job listing with a B&M casino. Simply visit casino websites or inquire in person in a poker room you know uses props and if they have openings, you can apply/

Online props are paid in the form of rakeback. The rates range anywhere from 60% all the way to 165%, but most often online props get about 100% rakeback. There are also a few sites out there who will pay props on a per-hand basis, but they are becoming less frequent. There are frequently special incentives, bonuses, and freerolls to reward props through the various sites they work for. Because online play allows for multi-tabling, online props have the chance to make very good money. A top prop playing 4 tables of $5/10 Limit Hold 'em can earn upwards of $50 an hour.

To obtain a job as an online prop, visit a site like Prop Team and fill out an application. It's simple, fast, and there are plenty of openings. A caveat for the potential prop: many sites who employ props do so only for certain stakes or games. You will be able to find a prop position at any stakes in any game, it's just a matter of on which site. The sites will not release their identity to props until they have signed up with the prop agency. They provide a summary to their potential employees of their pay rates and which games they need props in. You select which rooms you're interested in, and then let the prop agency know, and you get signed up from there.

Online props also have the advantage of being able to play whenever they what. Very few rooms limit the hours of the day that props can play. Most sites no longer have weekly hand requirements for their props, so if you need to take a week off and don't play a single hand, that's find. Conversely, if you want to play 10,000 hands in a week, that's fine, too! Propping online allows for much more flexibility than B&M propping. However, being a prop player is not for everyone. Many players experience burn out or have trouble beating the game consistently. Props are often pulled away from good games to start new tables, and some who are winning players at full handed games are not winning players short handed. With all this said, propping is a great way for some players to earn a phenomenal living. If you're willing to follow some simple seating rules (props usually cannot take the last seat in a game or play heads up with another prop for an extended period of time, etc.) and want to earn incredible rakeback, Propping could be the perfect job for you!

Play in a Poker League to improve your game.

2006-09-26T07:27:00.000-05:00

Often times, organized competition brings the best out competitive individuals. People enjoy testing their wits and skills against others over a set period of time and within a structured system. For years people have been playing in pool leagues, tennis leagues, bowling leagues and a whole host of different organized league competitions. Now that online poker has became popular, the past few years have lead to the emergence of poker leagues.

Poker leagues have became very popular, partly because first of all poker is popular and secondly that anyone can win any particular tournament at any given time (need we mention Moneymaker?), but winning a season long league points race in an organized and structured poker league is a much truer test of your relative poker skills. Combine that with poker players being very competitive and you get the foundation for poker leagues popularity.

Online poker has made joining a poker league easy. There are all sorts of poker leagues out there, ranging from the free roll poker leagues up to the buy-in real money online poker leagues, similar to the Poker League I’m currently playing in hosted at Mansion Poker.

There are many reasons I believe that playing in an organized poker league can greatly improve your poker play. First you have a pre-set schedule of table time that you are commitment to playing. Table time is important for anyone wanting to improve their game. If you know that every Wednesday 9PM you need to be sitting at your computer and ready to play in the league game then you will be sure and do so.

Just ensuring table time is only the start, league table time is typically more valuable as a learning experience than an average session at the tables.

League games will typically play more like a high dollar buy in event, even if the buy in modest. This is especially true if you make it deep into the tourney. League players are playing for more than the monetary value of the prize pool for the individual tournament. They are looking at what winning this tournament means to their overall standings and the ever present points race, and of course for pride and bragging rights.

League players are often times playing as much for pride and bragging rights as they are for the monetary prize pools. This leads to good poker.

Here is a direct quote from one of our league members:

“Nothing helps one's poker game more than going up against good competition (and Bill, too ), for lower stakes, when the competition is actually taking the game seriously (as opposed to the donk-fests these things often become.) It's like an Emory education at GA Perimeter College prices. Clark Howard would love it.”

~Der Fleisch

Playing with quality competition over a series of tournaments also gives you the opportunity to work on reading players and learning different player styles.

Simply put, if you plan to compete in the league you are forced to learn how to play against these different styles of players. If a league member is constantly raising your blinds, tournament after tournament, you are going to have to learn how to combat this. Once you figure out what to do to stop him from blind stealing, you can do the same the next time it happens to you at the poker table in a normal tournament. You are forced to adapt, and you have time to figure out what the best counter-move is for a player who is always stealing.

Keep in mind that not all poker leagues are created equal and make sure you find one that is right for you. What makes up a good poker league? That’s mostly personal choice, but here are a handful of things you should investigate before joining a league.

The first thing I like to do when finding a poker league is to do some league research and find out what leagues are available. One of the first things to look for is finding one that meets your bankroll requirements. If you are a high roller then you want to play in a league that keeps your interest, with substantial buy-ins, but if you are a beginner or if you are just working on your game then look for a freeroll league or a modest buy in. Leagues run from free up to expensive, just do some research to see what works for you.

If you’re like most of us, just find a league somewhere in the middle with a modest buy in that keeps it interesting enough for you to commit to play.

Next look for a league that uses a quality league structure and scoring system, not one that is arbitrary in length or that is unbalanced on how it calculates points. Look for a league that uses a competitive / fair league scoring system and that is updated regularly. Also make sure the timing schedule works out where you are able to play in the league.

After you decide that you like the league structure and buy in amount of a particular league, see if they have an active community. If so, join it and ask questions about the league. If the community looks like one you would like to become a part of, then join away. Most leagues have a forum, browse it and see what you think.

Finally, take a look and see what kind of league prizes and rewards are offered for the players. If they offer some kick ass prizes, all the better!

So, if you are looking to play in high quality poker competition and to seriously improve your game, consider joining a poker league and seeing why they are quickly becoming some of the most popular forms of organized competition taking place today.

Poker.com blogger tour game 1 results

2006-09-25T09:17:00.000-05:00

Well...

I came in 32nd and made a few points, not sure how our other members did.

Here are the top 10 :

1	ReplicantPoker	$125.00
2	Michael1965	$100.00
3	Irongirl	$75.00
4	BobbyOlsen	$55.00
5	JCL514	$45.00
6	natsdad	$30.00
7	Quackpot	$25.00
8	Hacksaw2000	$20.00
9	astinaguy	$15.00
10	brodoughno	$10.00

I expect ill try to play a bit more aggressive in the next game, as I laid down some mid range hands early on when I had position to take control.

See everyone next game!

- H

Poker.com Bloggers Tour Season 2 kicks off this weekend!

2006-09-19T14:25:00.000-05:00

Tournament: Blogger Poker Tour - Season 2 Event 1
Date: 23 September
Time: 15:00 Poker.com Time (GMT-5, ET-1)
Location: Tournaments > Scheduled > Special tab
Structure: 10 min levels, 2000 starting chips
Entry: Free to Blogger Poker Tour Players
Prizes: $500
Host Bounty: The same number of leaderboard points as the winner for whoever knocks shane@poker.com out.

If you have a blog and are not in this yet, visit http://www.bloggerpokertour.com/ and join up! Make sure you tell em drawdeadcom sent ya :)

Good luck and pray that you dont land on my table!

Implied odds

2006-09-19T08:34:00.000-05:00

Implied Odds is often a concept that many poker players struggle to fully understand. You are most likely to here the term mentioned in situations where a player has caught an unlikely draw for a very high price and states 'implied odds' as their reason for the high price call. Here we will attempt to explain the intricacies behind the mysterious 'Implied Odds'.

The Basics of Implied Odds :-

Implied Odds basically means that you are attaching some value to the future pot size, rather than the amount that is currently in the pot. You are using this future pot size as the basis of your call. This is why it is not an exact science.

The easiest example of Implied Odds is a flat raise at a table full of limpers. If you are due to act behind the flat raise it is usually safe to imply that all the limpers in the pot are going to call. eg 4 Limpers for 100 chips each. The cutoff raises it to 200. You are on the butten and the situation is this 50(SB)+100(BB)+400(limpers)+200(raiser) = 750. To call with regualr pot odds it is 200/950 = 21%. However to call taking into account implied odds it is different: 750(pot so far)+400(limpers calling) = 1150. To call would be 200/1350 = 14.8%.

Well that in itself makes a big difference. If you have a pocket pair, the chance of spiking your set on the flop is 12.2%. This already is starting to look a lot more attractive.

If we compare it to an example of no limpers, pot is 50(SB)+100(BB)+200(raiser) = 350. Cost of calling = 200/550 = 36.4%. You cant imply any callers from the blinds, so this is it 36.4% COST. Now those low pocket pairs dont look so attractive now do they.

Lets Crank it up a level :-

Let us look at a very active pot pre-flop 100+200+600+600+600+600 = 2700. Two of the 600 betters only have roughly 1900 left after their pre-flop bet. Now you are looking at rubbish (7,2 offsuit). A routine fold yes? Well lets look. Cost of call 600/3300 = 18.2%. Chances of spiking 2 pair or trips on the flop is 7.2%. Not very attractive. But...

Do you think both players with 1900 are going to lay their hand down with a pot of 3300 sat in the middle. Probably not, especially if you check it to them. Therefore we imply some odds... we imply that if we hit our cards, the win-able pot is likely to be 3300+1900 = 5200. Therefore we can imply our odds as 600/5800 = 10.3% ... looking a little more attractive. If from their previous play you are convined that neither player will back off the pot with 1900 left, we can say that the "win-able" pot is 3300+1900+1900 = 7100, therefore we apply the value as 600/7700 = 7.8% WOW, we have almost manufactured a justification for calling with 72 off in this situation.

What we need to appreciate here is what we are saying is, we definately WILL win the pot if we hit our 2 pr or trips. Obviously you should be slightly cautious in that case. But the next time your raise gets called with rags and your KK gets snapped when you go all-in remember this. If he has labelled you as very much a never-wavering TAG player he can probably imply that he will get your whole stack if he hits the flop, because he knows you simply wont contemplate putting him on rags or backing off when the flop comes low.

So, what is safe to imply and what is not :-

Well one of the safest hands for implied odds is a low/middle pocket pair. If there are several pre-flop raises you can assume there will be some action on the flop. If you spike your set then this will nearly always be a very safe hand to commit the rest of your stack on. This doesnt mean with only one very conservative player in the pot who raises it 5 times the blind pre-flop that this is good value. Remember the examples above. You have to be able to imply that the total winnable pot is enough to justify the initial call cost VS the cost of hitting the set.

What isnt really that safe is low, not connectable off-suits. You're very rarely going to have a decent post-flop draw, and if you spike the 2 pair they are a little vunerable to being counterfitted.

Implied Odds with post flop draws :-

Now, implied odds arent always something which will improve the odds of calling. If we look at some standard draws from the flop. If you have flopped a flush draw, you may quite happily call a pot size bet feeling that you have the pot odds to call. Well you would be almost right. Now if the player was all in for just less than the size of the pot, then by all means you have the odds to call. However, what about if he bets the same amount, but isnt all-in, well here is a very common mistake. You can usually imply that he will bet again on the turn, therefore you arent really getting the odds to draw 2 cards as you think, what you are getting is odds to draw 1 card, and you therefore should be folding because of implied odds.

This article was written in conjuction with my friends at Surfers Poker who have several pro-players on their team.

I hope this helps in understanding the beast that is Implied Odds. Now dont all go running out there and calling with every 72 offsuit you see

Sit n go Strategy for the masses!

2006-09-18T09:21:00.000-05:00

Sit ‘n Go tourneys are fast-paced and fun to play in. It’s like playing in a microcosm of a big multi-table tournament. The structure of SnG’s at an online poker room such as PartyPoker.com is usually that of a one-table freezeout and the top 2 or 3 places pay out. Since you’re going to be starting out with at least 9 or 10 players at your table, it makes sense to play pretty tight in the early stages of these tournaments. The logic is simple: many of your opponents will be wild and tend to gamble early on. For whatever reason, these folks just don’t feel comfortable unless they get a quick double-up under their belt. This puts you in a great situation if you’re holding pocket Aces or Kings, but you generally want to stay out of the action early on. You get rewarded for just surviving, so let others get knocked out before you take your shots. If there’s enough gamble in your opponents early on, you might not even need to win many pots to get into the money.

The second reason to play only your premium hands early on is to look at the risk/reward model for your play. The blinds start off pretty low in these tourneys, so what do you have to gain by bluffing, or even playing a mediocre hand at all? You’re not going to be picking up much if you win the pot, and you might get raised to the point where you’re paying much more than you’d like to. Especially in early position, I wouldn’t play anything worse than A-Q suited or a pair of lace w:st="on">Queenslace>. Wait until you’re table is a few opponents short and the blinds are higher. You’ll have more to gain by your aggressive play.

Especially at tighter sites, a SnG is a great place for the continuation bet. A continuation bet is making a bet after the flop after you’ve raised the hand preflop. You’ve taken control of the hand, preferably with position, before the flop so your opponents will usually check to you. At this point, you make a bet anywhere between half the size of the pot and the full size of the pot. Since you raised preflop, your opponents will tend to put you on a big hand, possibly a big pocket pair. When the board comes out with 3 rags, or they only got a piece of the flop, and they’re facing another bet on the flop, they’ll usually throw their hand away.

For example, let’s you raised 4x the big blind from late position with A-K and 3 callers stay in. When the flop comes out 9-2-5, regardless of the suits, you’re going to bet at least half the pot when your opponents check to you. If one of your opponents calls your bet, he obviously has something to stay in the hand, even if it’s only a draw. If he checks to you again on the turn and you don’t hit your Ace or King, you’ll have to check behind him. Also be aware that many opponents like to slowplay or check-raise the preflop raiser. They know that you’re likely to bet again on the flop, so they’ll often wait until you bet and raise you. If you get raised and you don’t have a big pocket pair or hit the flop in some way, you should just release your hand.

As the blinds begin to increase further into the tournament, you’ll need to open up your play a bit. Your stack will be severely crippled if you only wait for the premium hands at this point. You’ll need to learn who you can steal the blinds from, and since you’re usually playing shorthanded at this point, the blinds are going to come around faster. Start off the tourney focusing on playing your cards and position. As it progresses, start to focus more on playing your opponent and your position. Following this guide should lead you to success at Party Poker and other poker sites

Poker.com Royal Flush and a new reload code!

2006-09-12T08:38:00.000-05:00

Are you ready to multiply your celebrations by 100 when you get a Royal Flush at Poker.com?

If the answer is yes, then let us know about your next winning hand and receive...

100 x the Big Blind in FREE cash!

That means if you were playing a ring game with blinds of $5/$10 and hit your Royal Flush, then Poker.com would give $1,000 in bonus cash.

The higher the stakes the bigger your bonus!

To claim your cash simply visit the player admin and click the 'Royal Flush Bonus' link, complete the required details and submit your request.

Once your hand has been confirmed the Royal Flush bonus* will be issued directly to your player wallet.

If you would like to maximize your bonus by trying your hand at some higher stakes, but your bankroll needs a boost, then Poker.com have the answer.

When making your next deposit visit the cashier and enter the coupon code '"RELOADSEP06"' and receive a 50% Reload Bonus up to $250 (max. $500 deposit)

Fair poker wants to send you to the WPT!

2006-09-11T11:35:00.000-05:00

The World Poker Tour has arrived at Fair Poker and we want you to be there!

Make your first deposit at Fair Poker before the 23rd September and you will gain entry into a fantastic freeroll in which the top 2 places will win free entry into our WPT **"PYT" on the 24th September

( Don't forget, a first deposit bonus is also waiting for you )

For existing Fair Pokerplayers, earn just 200 Fair Coins from 10 Sept up to 22 Sept and you will also get in.

The WPT "PYT" package is worth $12,000

Only the first 150 players will be eligible, so don't delay and deposit today!

**(Pick Your Tournament)

Tournament Details

Name: WPT Freeroll
Start Time: 23 September 22:30 CET (16:30 server time)
Prize pool: Top 2 each win a WPT Super Satellite ticket valued at $300+15

Use the banner below to download Fair Poker and make your 1st deposit today!

Papahun posts on changes in September!

2006-08-31T14:46:00.000-05:00

Dear Freerollerz,

September will mark somewhat of a fresh start here at Drawdead.com / Freerollerz.com.We will be kicking off the long due buy-in league on September 2nd at Titan - in addition to the already established weekly buy-ins at Absolute and BetFred we have added Titan and later Poker.com to the lineup.

All our Titan buy-in will be deepstacked (2K stacks and 15 minute levels) and starting October we will kick off MultiTableMondays on Poker.com.It's time to expand your attention span by simultaneously playing our 25K ticket game and the weekly buy-in game at Poker.com.

Details and signup/username stuff to be found in the forum - buy-in section.

We will of course continue the FLOP league (freeroll league) and additionally there will be open for all freerolls (20 posts required) at Jungle (a nice new room that I honestly can say I really like) and Poker Ocean (ipoker room with the best ipoker skin IMHO),Please stop by the forum and contribute your hands, thoughts, suggestions and wins/beats. Any nice, not safe for work images are also always appretiated.

Well met in Septimmmmber!//ClappaNun

Big Freerolls on Dreampoker - Open to all!

2006-08-15T09:21:00.001-05:00

Hi Guys, I just wanted to let you know that DreamPoker is hosting 2 Freerolls this month and it won't be like the 50K where you have to make DreamPoints.

This time it's "first come first serve", no requirements are needed to be in the pound seats.

On the 16th. August - $2500 Freeroll, open to all - 15:00 EST

On the 23rd. August - $5000 Freeroll, open to all - 15:00 EST

Be sure that you register in time before each one because the seatsare going to fill up quickly. So tell your friends, family, neighbours and colleagues because I hope to see you all there.

Use our banner to support Freerollerz!

Bought another site

2006-08-11T11:39:00.000-05:00

While this url isnt poker specific, I have a deep interested in all things related to Las Vegas.

The url is http://www.streamingvegas.com

I plan to add travel and show information and maybe even information on moving to Las Vegas!

Congrats to bettybet for winning the FLOP League!

2006-08-11T11:36:00.000-05:00

Bettybet won Season 7 of our FLOP league. On top of her winnings from the season games, we are happy to award her a cool $50 for her efforts!

Why not drop in and join us at http://www.freerollerz.com and participate in our freeroll leaguge games!

Cake Poker giving away 1% ownership !

2006-08-10T09:35:00.000-05:00

Check out cake poker by clicking on the banner below!

Own a Piece of Cake… For Life
Cake Poker is giving away a once in a lifetime chance to win 3% of Cake Gaming N.V.

How does owning a piece of the hottest up-&-coming poker site on the internet today sound? In keeping with our philosophy of always giving more to our players we thought we should do something that no poker site has ever done - hold a tournament where the winner becomes an owner. Until Dec 31st, 2006, Cake Poker will be holding qualifiers to our "Own a Piece of Cake" Final Tournament in January, 2007, with a minimum guaranteed prize pool of $40,000 & a first place prize that could make you a millionaire!

3 Ways to Win

1) Play to Win 1% of Cake
In January, 2007, CakePoker will be holding our “Own a Piece of Cake” Final Tournament. Along with a cash prize from a minimum $40,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool, the 1st place winner of this tournament will receive a stock certificate representing 1% of the outstanding common shares of Cake Gaming N.V. Entry into this tournament is a Buy-in of $4,000 + $250 fee.

10 Ways to Earn a Seat at the Own a Piece of Cake Final Tournament

1) Open an account before our July qualifier & you’re already halfway there! When you open a real money account and make a deposit we’ll give you 1 free Cake Slice. Redeem only 2 Cake Slices in July, 2006 to compete in the July, Own A Piece of Cake Qualifier where the winner gets a $4,250 seat at the Own a Piece of Cake Final Tournament

2) The first player to contact support@cakepoker.com with an Ace of Hearts, Series 1 Gold Card can redeem it for a $4,250 seat at the Final

3) The player who earns the most Cake Points until 12:00 a.m. EST, December, 31 2006, will be awarded a free $4,250 seat at the Final

4) The player who has the most total Share Cake points in 2006 (including all sub-tiers regardless of the tier’s state) will be awarded a free $4,250 seat at the Final

5 – 10) Starting in July, 2006, and running through December, 2006, CakePoker will be holding a monthly, Own a Piece of Cake Qualifier. This tournament will have a $425 Buy-in + $35 Fee. Satellites will run throughout the month and cost as little as $5 + $.50 to enter.

CakePoker also wants to reward the people who refer others to play with us. Along with our generous monthly rewards, we’re also giving Affiliates and players who refer their friends through our Share Cake program, a chance at 1% of CakePoker for life.

2) Share Cake to Win 1% of Cake
At the end of 2006, CakePoker will calculate the revenue we’ve paid to each player in our Share Cake program and award them with 1 contest entry ticket for every one hundred dollars of revenue earned. On Jan 8th 2007, an independently licensed third party will draw one ticket from the lottery pool and that player will be awarded with a stock certificate representing 1% of the outstanding common shares of Cake Gaming N.V.

3) Be an Affiliate to Win 1% of Cake
At the end of 2006, CakePoker will calculate the revenue we’ve shared with each of our Affiliates and award them with 1 contest entry ticket for every fifty dollars of revenue earned. On Jan 8th, 2007, an independently licensed third party will draw one ticket from the lottery pool and that affiliate will be awarded with a stock certificate representing 1% of the outstanding common shares of Cake Gaming N.V.

The state of the poker union

2006-07-31T13:04:00.000-05:00

So -the arguement to online gambling not only stems from the something in the original Wire Act (no bet making over phone lines basically) to elected officials saying that online gambling is a source of huge debt in this country. Originally when people (in the US) were allowed to use credit cards to play - some of those gamblers took advantage of the fact that it seemed like 'free' money to them - you know - buy-in for $500 in credit - dont pay your credit card bill kind of thing. So the fact that you can't use a credit card to put money on an online gambling site - I see the point. But for the government to say that those millions of people in the US that enjoy responsible gambling can no longer play is absurd. Especially when there are some other major issues going on here - Any one of those Washington DC folks been back to see how (not!) improved New Orleans is? Or - dont we have a little thing called a WAR going on where thousands of US troops have been killed?! I would think that the lives of your fellow Americans are way more important than someone playing a little poker online. Call me crazy!

My WSOP experience

2006-07-24T21:14:00.000-05:00

Well, as you may have guessed, my WSOP experience didn't quite go as well as I would have liked! I didn't win, not even the final table and not even in the money, but it was a lot of fun while it lasted.

So, we left home Saturday the 8th and got to Vegas around 10am - Being that it was my first time in Vegas I was ready to be overwhelmed with bright lights and movie stars! We did see dozens of pro players and got to see the lights downtown but I took it all in stride.

Saturday afternoon we took a taxi (which we would do about a hundred more times over the weekend!) to the Rio. And as soon as we walked in we saw Hasan Habib. We decided that we would make our way to the cashier and pay the entry fee for the Ladies Event that I played in on Sunday. Standing in line, we started talking to this man behind us, it took a moment to realize that it was Minh Nguyen (2-time WSOP bracelet winner) and he gave me some good tips about playing against some of the female pros, especially Kathy Leibert, who I later met and talked to.

We walked around for a while in the Amazon Room where all the WSOP games are held and pointed out to each other such celebs as Daniel Negreanu, David Williams, Joe Hachem, Clonie Gowen, Kathy Leibert,Sammy Farha and Greg Raymer, just to name a few. Then we walked around to the different hospitality suites sponsored by many well known online poker sites. While walking out of one, I spotted a familiar face - my all time favorite pro - Miss Annie Duke! I went back inside that room and talked to her, got a picture taken with her and got an autograph. Later that weekend, I sat at a poker table with her and got a lesson on the differences between pot limt and no limit Hold'em betting strategies!

On to my game - Well it started out good - Table 51, seat 2 - no big time pros at the table. My second hand was pocket Queens- I raised 3 times blind (after 3 had already called the big blind) and everyone folded. Couple hands later I got pocket rockets! I bet and everyone folded again! This time though I flipped the cards so that everyone could see what I had been dealt. So anyway, a couple hours pass and I am getting dealt hands like 9d3c over and over again, and my stack dwindles down. We get a break after 2 hours and I go back to the table ready to double up. Still being dealt bad pocket cards. Eventually, well into the 4th hour I go all in with my last 600 chips - I have A3 and get called by a woman with Cowboys - neither one of us improved our hand with any of the community cards and I was out in 531st place. Not too bad for my first WSOP. Dissapointing but not bad.

I did redeem my self esteem the following day at the Excaliburs daily tournament where I came in 5th out of about 80 people. And the rest of the weekend we spent walking around to different casinos, seeing poker pros and eating lots of food! We had a great last night there at the craps table. Spent about 7 hours there and made 10x our initial buy-in! Lots of noise at that table with almost everyone rolling point after point, including myself - I made 3 points (#5 each time) in a row, than another point before rolling a 7.

Then it was back to reality and work the next day. So needless to say we are hooked on the WSOP and will be back there next year. I'm not so sure about playing in the Ladies Event next year, too many women with something to prove. Besides that it's easier to take money from the men!

Just 2 days until my WSOP debut!

2006-07-06T22:26:00.001-05:00

Well it's just 2 days now until I head out to Las Vegas to make my World Series of Poker debut in the Ladies Event on Sunday the 9th. I've been reading book after book and articles galore about all kinds of strategies for playing in this size tournament. So here's hoping that I money in this one and have a good time doing so.

Poker.com bloggers final

2006-07-03T13:48:00.000-05:00

Well, I had the worst luck ever :(

Not 30 mins into the game, we lost power... I finally decided to go to a friends house to play (after losing an hour of playtime) I came back right after the 1st break with a little more than 3000 in chips. I did have some decent luck and moved upt to 9k at one point, but went cardless for a long period and ended up pushing with 22 vs qq. I went out in 13th.

I had hoped for a better performance, but what can you do... the cards were not there, the power outtage left me low stacked and I was out of beer :(

Also of note, our league manager PAPAHUN finished shortly after me in 11th.

Kudos to poker.com for running this event, it was a blast!

Pokerstars World Bloggers championship!

2006-05-30T10:22:00.000-05:00

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!
This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 4225615

All you poker bloggers out there, come register -- be sure to list us as your referral

Celeb poker - New fun on a skin I normally hate!

2006-05-30T09:52:00.000-05:00

I had the pleasure of meeting up with Greg from Celeb Poker in Miami during the Cap Spring Break.

I decided to give Celeb Poker a run this weekend and came out way ahead. I dont normally like boss skins but the environment here was different for some reason. Anyway, to the meat of the matter...

Up 420% from deposit in 5 hours of playing.... Quite soft here!

The 1/2 limit is easy money :)

Check it out.

Still looking for my ticket

2006-05-25T12:22:00.000-05:00

Okay - it's getting too close to July now and I'm starting to get a bit worried. It's not that my game is bad right now - actually I've been playing very well lately. And I am one step closer to the ladies WSOP game thanks to winning a ticket to the final on Poker.com. I entered into the 1st finals game and came in 10th place. I got sucked out on the river. I had flopped trip queens and the other lady had a gut shot straight draw. And wouldn't you know it that she hit here straight on the river. Now it probably wasn't a call that I would make, being that close to the top, but hey, we all play our game differently.

So now- I guess I'm going to read every poker instuctional book available and try to gleen some useful knowledge from each one of them. But until then - it's back to the tables to practice by bluffing skills!

Freerollerz.com coming up on 1 year live!

2006-05-18T07:26:00.000-05:00

Its been a great year! Freerollerz turns 1 year old next month, and to celebrate we have upgraded our forums to vbilletin. The conversion was painful but worth it!

If you havent seen our new skin and layout, head on over to freerollerz.com and check it out.

I want to think each and every member (closing in on 3,000 of them) for helping us grow over the last year.

A special thanks also goes out to our mods : bettybet, Papahun, ICBM, tomonbass,lil fizz, and nivek for all the hard work they put in to keeping the community moving forward!

New Projects - What do you think?

2006-05-18T07:18:00.000-05:00

Just a quick update to list some projects I have going other than freerollerz.com

I posted recently how I won Online Poker Coaching in a freeroll. Well, I have converted this site over to my links and changed to focus to sites I prefer. I plan to spend quite a bit of time developing relationships with some of the well known poker coaches and hope to see some good returns from the traffic here.

Another project site is Poker News Today... The intent here is to gather compelling and interesting news about poker and provide a feed to sites that are interested. We plan to add 3 to 5 stories a day, all related to our passion --- POKER!

poker.com blogger event #5 set for this weekend

2006-05-11T10:33:00.000-05:00

Yep, its on again! Poker.com is having event #5 of the Bloggers Poker tour.

If you have an active blog, Its not too late to sign up!

Dutch Boyd has been selected as the hosting blog this week.

As I have already won 2 tickets to the finals (btw im the 1st person to do that!), there is no pressure for me in these games :)

We have a number of Freerollerz.com members in this tourney, I am confidant that we can bring home the win!

If you have been living under a rock for the last year and have not played on poker.com yet, use the banner below and see how a poker site is supposed to be run :)

I predict yet another in the money finish this weekend, we shall see!

What an odd night...

2006-05-02T10:56:00.000-05:00

Last night Poker Affiliate World held a freeroll for members of the forum for an existing website - Online poker coaching.

About 25 players showed up and battled it out. I played a bit more aggressive than I usually do and ended up making the final table. At one ooint I made a gambling call after flopping open ended straight draw and called an all in on the turn. I hit my card and took a good portion of another players chips (I think his name was fattysomething).

When we got down to 3 players, it was determined that the chip leader was not even a member of the forum that was hosting the website giveaway.

The other member, Ethomps, finally went all in and was called by the non member. ET lost and it was now heads up, me vs. the non member.

I ended up winning the game, the site and a ticket to a wsop satelite. As a token of good will I agreed to give ET one of my project sites -

pokerz.net

I strongly feel that anytime I can do something that makes me feel good (in a karma kinda way) things will eventually return to me in the same light.

As I type this , the transfer of my new site is completing and ET will have his new site soon too.

A renewed faith!

2006-04-29T19:19:00.000-05:00

So, if you haven't noticed I've been in one of those "I hate poker, and I suck at it" modes. But, today I played at the Poker.com blogger game and I got 3rd place! Which won me $55 and a ticket to the final. Although I already had a ticket - it's still a good feeling to "get my groove back".

So, if you haven't already done so - check out freerollerz.com and get your own blog and entry into this awesome freeroll, where the top prize is a ticket to the WSOP main event game!

New path for my WSOP Mission!

2006-04-27T07:25:00.000-05:00

I have decided to take a new path on my quest to play in the Ladies WSOP game this July. A bit of an advertising path. Yesterday I put an ad up on Ebay that for a nominal (to some) fee, I would tattoo a companies logo on my back and keep it there for a year. Have I gone completely mad? I have seen a good deal of ridicule about my auction from other gaming affiliates and it really is making my question my idea. I keep telling myself that they are jealous that they didn't come up with the idea first. One person said he wouldn't 'let' his wife be tattooed for any amount of money. Others have said, 'she better be a hottie, or you won't get any bids'.

Now that second statement makes one seriously concerned about the ideals of todays society. One in which I am trying to teach my children that it doesn't matter what someone looks like as long as they are a good person. So, maybe since I'm not supermodel hot I won't have anyone wanting to send my to the game.

So, as I sit here contemplating whether or not to cancel my ad, I guess I'll go back to playing some qualifier games at my favorite online poker room!

Still chasing the dream

2006-04-13T11:57:00.000-05:00

Well - here I am a month after my quest to win a seat at the Ladies WSOP game started, and I still have no seat. That is probably due to the fact that I've played in only one satelite game so far. I have just been too busy with everything else going on in my life. I have 5 kids, and one got braces this week, another broke an arm playing soccer and yet another is having surgery tomorrow, so I have felt much like a taxi/ambulance the last few weeks.

I promise myself that I will start playing more today (yeah right, just like I was gonna start my diet this past Monday, and the Monday before and the Monday before!)

But in all seriousness, I guess the excuses stop here and I either win my seat or I don't go to the spa for the next 2 months and use that money to buy my seat. And lord knows that I need a pedicure!

1st game of the poker.com bloggers league

2006-03-25T18:06:00.000-06:00

The 1st of many poker.com bloggers tourneys was today!

51 hopeful players entered tryging to win a portion of the $500 Prize pool...

Poker.com created new tables just for us too!

What a nice looking table eh ?

anyway down to the good stuff!

Congrats to our own PAPAHUN for coming in 1st and yours truely came in 4th. We both now have tickets to the season final game for a 1 in 50 shot at the WSOP package!

Doubting yourself? I am

2006-03-21T07:32:00.000-06:00

So I'm thinking that we have all had a time that we just think to ourselves "why in the hell am I still playing poker, I suck!" And the majority of the time it's just a run of losing games that makes us feel that way.

I guess my feeling that way started when I signed up for a double shootout on Pokerstars. I should have read about what a double shootout was before I signed up! I'm sitting there thinking to myself - last the first hour. Well for any of you who have played on of those games - that strategy will not help! It's kind of like sink or swim in those games. So I lost that game, proceed to loose a $10 rebuy game after rebuying 4 times, then I lost a $5 SNG. Well as you can see, my game wasn't going that well.

I played in a Drawdead Shoot game though and finished 1st, now that boosted me back up a wee bit. Then last night I played in a Pot Limit Omaha freeroll of PokerStars. Wow - you thought that the Hold'em freerolls were crazy. All these people thinking that any starting hand in Omaha is a good one! Of course I lucked out a few pots with a boat or a flush on the river. Anyway, I didn't win (or get in the top 27 to win a spot in another freeroll) but I played well, of course I made a dumb call here and there but I recovered, and overall I did well and finished in the top 100 (yes 98 is in the top 100!) and there were almost 5000 that started the game.

Well, as far as I can tell, all poker players doubt themselves at some point (right Pele ;-) and some even go as far as to say 'I'm never playing again' but I guess as the saying goes 'you can't win 'em all'

So I'll keep working on my game and getting ready for my little trip to Las Vegas in July.

Btw, I am working on sponsorship to the Ladies Game and thought that I would offer tatooing a company logo on my body for sponsorship - you all think that is a little over the top?

My Quest for a seat!

2006-03-15T22:20:00.000-06:00

Well - I know it's probably a little late to get started on this, but I am now on a quest to win my way to the WSOP Ladies Game in July. I am going to try to play in every online qualifier from now until June - or as soon as I win my seat! I will be going either way. So - check back often and I'll be letting you all know how my progress is going!

FLOP Seaon 3 League Event 6 Results

2006-03-14T03:20:00.000-06:00

Here are the results from our league game @ Poker.com March 13th 2006

Good Game All !!!

And good luck to gotdanuts who also wins a ticket to the weekly 20K game at Poker.com !!!!

FLOP Season 3 League Event 5 Results

2006-03-10T10:04:00.000-06:00

Here are the results form our league game @ Titan Poker 9th March 2006

Good Game All !!!

FLOP Season 3 Leauge Event 4 Results

2006-03-10T10:01:00.000-06:00

Here are the results form our league game @ Absolute Poker 8th March 2006

Good Game All !!!

FLOP Season 3 League Event 1 Results

2006-03-02T05:08:00.000-06:00

Here are the results form our league game @ Absolute Poker 1st March 2006

Good Game All !!!

Return Of The Jedi...............moose??? FLOP Season 2 winner announced!!!

2006-03-01T06:25:00.000-06:00

Hello again people I am pleased to announce our FLOP Season Two winner ......

JEDIMOOSE

woot!!!!!! WTG Buddy Great season.....

Anyway here are the final top ten ......

1. Jedimoose (326,68PTS)
2. Holis (286,37PTS)
3. Iasnok (280,83PTS)
4. Slots (246,91PTS)
5. ReadChomsky (211,34PTS)
6. Mjr Jojo (202,78PTS)
7. Tomonbass (200,31PTS)
8. Luv2pokeher (200,19PTS)
9. Rgchan (199,23PTS)
10. Bettybet (192,22PTS)

A Big Thanks To Everyone For Making Season 2 So Much Fun!!!!!

See You At AP Tonight For The First FLOP Season 3 Event .. Good Luck To All For Season 3!!!

FLOP Season 2 League Event 10 Results

2006-02-26T05:53:00.000-06:00

Here are the results our league game @ Betfred Poker 24th Febuary 2006

Good Game All!!!

FLOP Season 2 League Event 8 Results

2006-02-26T05:49:00.000-06:00

Here are the results from our league game @ Absolute Poker 22nd February 2006

Good Game All!!!

FLOP Season 2 League Event 7 Results

2006-02-26T05:45:00.000-06:00

Here are the results from our league game @ Titan 18th February 2006

Good Game All !!!

FLOP Season 2 League Event 6 Results

2006-02-18T14:12:00.000-06:00

Here are the results our league game @ Betfred Poker 17th Febuary 2006

Good Game All!!!

FLOP Season 2 League Event 5 Results

2006-02-16T05:46:00.000-06:00

Here are the results from our league game @ Absolute Poker 15th February 2006

Good Game All !!!

FLOP Standings

2006-02-13T11:15:00.000-06:00

Here are the top ten in the FLOP league after our 4th event this season.....

1. Iasnok (146.31 PTS)
2. Slots (142.71 PTS)
3. Holis (141.55 PTS)
4. Mjr Jojo (129.28 PTS)
5. Justa7 (112.12 PTS)
6. Tomonbass (104.84 PTS)
7. Readchomsky (103.43PTS)
8. Bettybet (102.93 PTS)
9. Untwisted (102.12 PTS)
10. Arjonius ( 95.49 PTS)

I think we need more challengers guys thats 3 mods in the top ten lol :)

FLOP Season 2 League Event 4 Results

2006-02-13T11:10:00.000-06:00

Results from our 4th league game @ Titan February 9th 2006

Good Game All !!!

FLOP Season 2 League Event 3 Results

2006-02-09T03:51:00.000-06:00

Here are the results from our 3rd league game @ Absolute Poker February 8th 2006

Notice that familiar name on the top of the pile there :)

Good Game Guys!!!

FLOP Standings

2006-02-08T06:53:00.000-06:00

Here are the top ten in the FLOP league after our second event this season.....

1. Going For Broke(78.53PTS)
2. Holis (76.82PTS)
3. Mjr Jojo (74.83PTS)
4. Iasnok (65.53PTS)
5. Readchomsky (65.47PTS)
6. Jedimoose (54.66PTS)
7. Bettybet (52.54PTS)
8. Hard2resist (49.26PTS)
9. Untwisted (47.42PTS)
10. Justa7 (46.54PTS)

Well Done Guys I got some catching up to do lol

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