Just Poker Talk

Today the commissioners of the World Series of Poker held a teleconference. Unfortunately I was not given permission to listen to the conference first hand. Not that I’m bummed out about it or anything. From reading Cardplayer.com’s recap, nothing important or exciting was said. The recap can be read here.

One point that interested me was about how Harrah’s planned to handle the dealers. Harrah’s plans to train and certify 300 dealers for the WSOP, and the dealers will all be based in Las Vegas. Unless I have misinterpreted this news, it contradicts Casino College’s bet that they can get 100 of their dealers into the WSOP, since Casino College’s dealers will not even be considered. Not to mention that Casino College has locations in Arizona and California, among other states not named Nevada. What would happen to some poor sap who registered and paid money just for the chance to deal at the WSOP?

The other interesting point was that Harrah’s will not allow players to wear logos from US friendly poker sites, which makes sense because online poker rooms like Poker Stars and Full Tilt will be paying big bucks for advertising space. I wonder how Howard Lederer or Chris Ferguson will feel about this change, now that they can’t wear their customary Full Tilt Poker gear. Or what about Phil Hellmuth’s Ultimate Bet windbreaker and hat?

I for one will find the change unsettling at first, to not see Full Tilt and Poker Stars logos everywhere. I used to count how many players were representing all the different sites and always counted a high percentage for Full Tilt Poker. At least I can still count on Doyle to wears his Doyle’s Room cowboy hat, which, by the way, can be purchased for 294,001 Action Points, if one decided that they want to be like Doyle.

WSOP teleconference, Harrahs, Full Tilt Poker, Poker Stars, poker dealers

Most have probably heard about the lawsuit filed against WPTE by Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch, Annie Duke, Phil Gordon, Chris Ferguson, Greg Raymer, and Joseph Hachem.

Nothing has been heard about the lawsuit for weeks, but today, as reported on PR Newswire, the players have filed for a motion which, if granted, would end the case quickly and without a trial, citing that the WPTE’s contract constitutes “per se” and “quick look” violations. If you are not familiar with the lawsuit, here is a summary of it:

From PR Newswire:

Specifically, the Plaintiffs seek a summary declaration by the Court that WPTE and the casinos which host WPT events have unlawfully conspired to force poker players to sign non-negotiable “releases” that require those players to grant WPTE the right to use their valuable names, likenesses, voices and images for zero compensation so that WPTE can exploit these rights to promote its own products and services. The Plaintiffs contend that the undisputed facts establish that WPTE and the casinos have agreed to boycott and exclude from WPT events any poker player who does not sign such a “release.” The Plaintiffs have also offered undisputed evidence that WPTE and the casinos are conspiring to restrict the number of poker tournaments in competition with the WPT by agreeing that the casinos cannot sponsor any televised non-WPT events. The Plaintiffs contend that these agreements constitute “per se” or “quick look” violations of federal antitrust laws. The “per se” and “quick look” tests apply to conduct which is so inherently anticompetitive that a court may summarily decide that such conduct violates U.S. antitrust laws without the need for full discovery or a trial.

My take on the case is that the poker players are right, even if I disagree with their true motives. The WPTE is a corporation and has people invested in their stock, so making a profit is of the utmost importance.

Poker News is reporting that the WPTE will lose 1.1 million dollars for the fourth quarter, which is an improvement from last year at this time when they reported a loss of 1.4 million. Total net earnings, however, was 7.8 million dollars, mostly due to the 10.2 million dollar sale of PokerTek stock. This news doesn’t make me confident that the WPT will remain profitable in the long run, especially if they can’t generate a profit from the Word Poker Tour television show, which one would think should be the main cog in their business model.

The WPTE’s earnings report makes it clear why the company has resorted to the practices mentioned above, not to mention the the lawsuit filed by Shana Hiatt in September 2006. My conclusion is fairly obvious, but the WPTE needs to make money to survive, and if they are not making a profit off the show, how can they afford to pay the players for the use of their likeness and image?

WPTE, WPT, WPTE lawsuit, WPTE earnings report

[This is part two of Job Searching. To read the first part of the story, click here: Job Searching (Part 1)]

I sat down near the dealer, who had on a black vest with a patch that said, “Morongo Casino,� in hot pink. Chili ran down the wall, which was yellowed from cigarette smoke. It looked fresh and I followed the dripping mixture of beans and ground up beef down to the blue carpet. The stuff, looking like vomit, bubbled. It interrupted the up and down pattern of little stars that lined the carpet. Star. Star. Vomit. Star. Star. I wondered what the story behind this chili stain was. What kind of bad beat caused someone to launch their food into the wall?

“This is 80/160NL, kid. Are you sure got the right table?� said the dealer. One of his front teeth was missing, and he had a thin mustache that curled at the ends. “Sure you’re not looking for 1/2?

I told him I wasn’t and put my money on the green felt. Money speaks louder than words. The dealer shrugged, and started counting the money. I could hear him, under his breath in a whispering grunt, counting 1,2,3.

“This guy’s a pro,� said a man in a yellow polo shirt with a beer in his hand. He was talking to his buddy, who sat on the other side of the dealer.

“How do you know?� he asked. “You sure, Mike?�

Mike shook his head.

“What you can’t tell? Champ over there, he’s a shark. Just look at him.� said Nelson. Nelson, he dressed like a street bum. He wore a blue beanie that had little twigs sticking out from the wool. His green jacket had holes up all over. “Welcome to the table, Champ.� He raised his hand up, and held out it over table. “High five, man.�

I gave him a high five.

“The name’s Nelson. Probably the only famous Nelson you know.�

“So this guy’s really a pro?� said Mike’s friend.

“Can you guys shut up? I’m trying to read here,� said a man, who wore a cowboy hat. He was reading from a book called,
“How to make money: Selling/Buying on EBay.�

The dealer shoved fifty green chips over to me, each worth $80. I started stacking them in piles of five, while the dealer dealt the cards. I threw in two chips because I was the big blind. Playing with chips instead of cash took away some of the pressure of losing money. It was psychological. It didn’t seem like losing money at all.

I peeled my cards up on the edge, just enough so that I could see the number and the suit. Qs-8d.

Nelson called, throwing two chips into the center.

“I raise. Eight chips.� said Mike.

The guy in the cowboy hat folded. He continued reading, only looking up to check what cards he had had. I folded. I made up my mind that I wasn’t going to force things. Although that was contrary to my style of play. I liked seeing flops and bluffing. Playing the man as they say.

The flop came up 2h-Js-8h. Mike shoved into the center a tower of eight chips, and Nelson called without much hesitation. He just counted out the chips in his pile and threw them in. The next card was a six of hearts. Again it was checked over to Mike. He rubbed his nose, and I could see his sweat stained armpit. This time he bet sixteen chips.

“How many chips is that?� asked Nelson. “Sixteen, huh. Hmm. I call.�

The way he called, with this aura of confidence, made me think he had hit his flush. Mike seemed to know, but bet anyways. I looked over to his chip stack; he had about half left and I couldn’t see him folding if Nelson bet on the next card. And that was exactly what happened. Nelson put him all in, and he called. Nelson with the flush and Mike with two pair, Aces and Jacks.

His face turned red, and he held the bottle as if he intended on throwing it at the wall. He shook his head. “SHIT man, how could you play that hand. After I raised!� said Mike. Only a few hundred bills left in his wallet. Not enough to play in this game. “Hold my seat. I’m going to the atm. Don’t leave, alright. I want to get my money back.�

(more…)

[My flash drive with all my writing inexplicably died today. Luckily I backed up my files else where and only lost a few important pieces. When I was digging up my old files, I came across this poker story I wrote about two years ago. Here is part 1]

I sped along interstate 10, my truck rumbling over potholes as Mariachi music played on the radio. Almost all the channels were in Spanish. The others were white noise. It was not much worse than anything in English. Besides, the clash of sounds from the violins, guitars, harps, and trumpets playing at the same time were growing on me. I was starting to appreciate the speed and precision of the guitar riffs; a skill that I admire in guitar players. They came off as smooth ripples, each note running into each other like dominoes.

It made me want to start a Mariachi band. We would wear black studded charro outfits, wide brimmed hats, and red handkerchiefs wrapped around our collars with big triangular flaps sticking out. We would play at all the Mexican restaurants, traveling the world and getting free food and a few dollars as compensation. We would be called, “Los Hombres en Negro.�

I felt like I was headed nowhere.

Outside there was not much scenery, just miles and miles of crumbling asphalt sandwiched between cinnamon sands. I focused on the road ahead. A billboard was approaching. The Morongo Casino. Family Fun. Exit on Cabazon in 2mi. The picture depicted a family playing at a craps table. All of them were smiling and giving each other high fives.

And in a blur it was gone.

I wanted to turn around and head home. The dishwashing job was still open to me. I just had to call them up and ask, but I didn’t go to college for four years to do menial jobs like that. I wanted to be a writer. The irony was that I hadn’t written anything in months; I couldn’t stand the failure of rejection. One after another, after another.

I had even entered this contest for grammar school kids. You’d think I’d win. Hands down. No contest. On the form, I had faked my age and pasted a picture of me when I was younger. Someone named Sally Baker had won for her story about Fred the Frog and his quest around the world to find the princess, so he could turn into a prince again. And live happily ever after. How cliché. How stupid. Even I could have thought of that.

Today was my first day of work. My new job as a professional poker player. I felt like I was forced into this endeavor out of desperation. When I was in college, I was lucky enough to have had parents who supported me with cash as I worked on a degree. Money had been no issue then, just take out the credit card and swipe. Now with no money and no job, the affects were starting to wear on me. I didn’t want to leech off my parents anymore. I was no baby anymore or even in college. I needed to get out. My mother refused to give me any more money unless I got a job. I still got breakfast and dinner for free though. No one could be that cruel.

I took the exit on Cabazon and drove down a thin a stretch of road. From the opposite direction, cars hurtled past me. A few came close to a head on collision with my truck. Half of me wanted one of the smaller vehicles to crash into the front headlights or the grill. I could use the insurance money.

A big sign in the parking lot flashed, “Free lobster!� Then flashed, “Buy one get one free.� Then flashed, “Kids eat free.� Then flashed, “Free lobster!� I could use some free lobster. If I wore my hat so that it covered my face, and talked in a soft voice, I thought I may be able to get myself a free dinner.

After finding a parking spot under a swaying palm tree, I opened the glove compartment, where I had stashed $4000 in one hundred dollar bills. I had wrapped them in a rubber band, the color of uncooked spaghetti sticks. The money, which I was saving to pay off my loans, was from my savings account. For two weeks I had been withdrawing $400 a day. The bank wouldn’t let me take it all out at once.

To make me feel better about this, I told myself that this was like an investment. The stock market for example. That even though I was risking $4000, that I had the opportunity to make millions. If I had left it in the bank, the safe way, I would be earning interest at .008 percent. This was what people do when they want to live the rest of their lives in mediocrity. I didn’t want to be one of them. Everyone who was a somebody took risks to get where they were. This was my big risk.

I was following the American dream.

(more…)

When I first read Kriedler’s article D’Amato Shows Poker Face, I found the sarcasm amusing more than anything. I never expected the uproar and negative responses from other poker players. In the end, Kriedler’s article has little significance in the big picture of getting the UIGEA repealed. The main purpose of the article was to rile up readers.

Sportswriters tend to take controversial stances in order to generate buzz and attention to their writing. In this case it was poker players. And he succeeded in doing so, it appears.

If Kriedler sided with the D’Amato no one would care about his article, since his intended audience, the poker players, would be in agreement and there would be nothing to discuss. Poker prohibition, as some call it, is not a major issue to the general population, and therefore it would be futile to target them as an audience, hence Kriedler’s stance on D’Amato.

In reality the article is not Krieder versus D’Amato, but Kriedler versus online poker players. D’Amato is seen as a savior to some poker players. He is the one hope that to get UIGEA repealed. By attacking D’Amato, Kriedler is hitting poker players where it will offend them the most.

In terms of Kriedler’s article contradicting ESPN’s stance on poker, one has to realize that ESPN’s first goal is to make money and draw an audience. ESPN doesn’t care if poker is a sport or not, and it makes little difference to people tuning into the WSOP.

Shows like Sportscenter, PTI, Outside the Lines, Rome is Burning, and Around the Horn all focus on sports news and debate. The draw to all these shows except Sportscenter and Outside the Lines, are the onscreen personalities and candid opinions. The more controversial and heated debate gets the more interesting to the viewer.

In essence this is what Kriedler is trying to achieve. His opinion in no way hurts poker on ESPN. And even if the article did have this effect, the alternative of not reporting and debating about controversial news is negative to ESPN since the broadcasting of sporting events is not the main moneymaker. Drawing viewers to their cheaper shows is where ESPN makes the most profit.

In terms of Kriedler’s arguments on D’Amato’s prohibition analogy, it can be argued either way. I found D’Amato’s prohibition argument weak because it sounds absurd and exaggerated. He sounds too righteous. It’s funny because D’Amato says that Congress should focus on more important issues like terrorism, but when he talks about poker, he makes the issue sound enormous. At least that’s how it sounds to me.

That’s my problem with D’Amato. It just sounds too much like politics and spin. Which it is. Kriedler is doing the same with his article.

Kriedler, D’Amato, poker legislation, poker prohibition, ESPN

The stereotypical view of schoolyard dynamics usually involves bullies beating up nerds and taking their lunch money by holding them by the legs and shaking the money out. An article on gambling911.com called Better to be the Bully suggests that being aggressive is key to winning in poker.

This idea is nothing new. Most poker players concur, though not all follow through with this advice. Poker analysts, pros, and amateurs have been saying this for decades. In Doyle Brunson’s Super System, arguably the Bible of poker, there is a section on No-Limit Hold’Em which revolves around the concept of pushing people all-in and forcing them into a decision.

As the article points out, there is a difference between being a poker maniac and being a poker bully. In real-life, a bully would turn out to be decent person with a regular job, but a maniac would, in all likelihood, turn into some kind of deranged serial killer.

From gambling911.com:

[A poker bully and poker maniac] may seem similar but they are not. A maniac will bet anything at anytime and make stupid decisions. The bully bets aggressively and intelligently. He doesn’t make bad decisions. Keep that foremost in your mind if you are looking at playing aggressive poker. It is one thing to bully the table and win chips, but quite another to just be a maniac and bet everything in sight. The bully will win chips in the long run. The maniac will eventually make a mistake and lose all of his chips as he runs into a bigger hand.

All of this is pretty straightforward. The hard part is figuring out the right balance of aggression and passivity, knowing when to fold, bet, call, raise, and reraise.

Here are two ways you can practice or force yourself to be aggressive at the poker tables.

The first involves choosing a rag hand such as 6-4 that you will play in late to middle position almost every time. The reason you don’t play the rag hand under the gun, is that you need position to make your play. You will play the hand like aces and kings, betting and raising preflop. You will then make a pot-sized continuation bet on the flop if you’re facing one or two opponents. If there are more than three you should check the majority of time. When contemplating a continuation bet, also take into account the flop. Half the time you should check if there are two face cards on the board.

The second involves following your gut. If you believe that you have the best hand or that your opponent is weak, force yourself to bet strong. Large raises and check raises are especially effective against opponents with weak holdings. The key to this exercise is following your gut and not your mind and reasoning. At first you may lose money on bad reads, but the point is to make you feel more comfortable wagering a large portion of your stack. Being afraid to lose money is not conducive to winning poker. The other thing that this exercise will help you with is folding a hand after making a big raise and getting reraised by your opponent. Do this enough and gets to the point where losing two dollars at a 20NL table doesn’t phase you one bit. Instead you will have the knowledge that you can win that back later with a few successful bluffs or by getting paid off with a big hand.

Previous Poker Tips:
Poker Tip #4: The Lay Down
Poker Tip #3: Faith in the Rush
Poker Tip #2: Check Raise
Poker Tip #1: Starting Hands for NL Texas Hold ‘Em

poker tips, poker strategy, bullying, aggressiveness in poker

I don’t have anything interesting to write about today. No news. No nothing. Plus it’s a Friday. Most of the time I don’t agree with the mantra that Friday’s are for relaxing and fun, but today I agree.

The Donkey Test was posted on Pokerdog a few days ago but I didn’t have time to take it. I got through five questions before I scrolled down and realized it was 52 questions long. Needless to say I hurriedly clicked the back button and attended to more pressing matters.

Today I read Poker Penguin’s post on the Donkey Test and decided right then and there that I would take the test no matter what. I was not curious about whether I was a donkey or not. I already knew that I wasn’t. I didn’t need to take a mind numbing test to confirm that I was a poker genius. My main reason for taking the test was to gain bragging rights over my fellow poker bloggers at Pokerdog and Poker Penguin.

Before I reveal my score, I want to say that the Donkey Test is a poor evaluator of poker skill, and should not be taken seriously. After taking the test, it became clear to me that I would be ranked as a poker genius if I chose only the aggressive answers. The problem for a poker genius like me is that I tend to out think my opponent, and end up choosing fold for half the answers.

Anyway I scored a 96. I’m proud to say that I got the worse score.

For those that are unfamiliar with my dry humor, I wrote this post in jest. Although I wouldn’t take the results of the Donkey Test too seriously, it’s still a worthwhile way to spend 20-30 minutes of your day. Plus you get bragging rights amongst your friends. Everyone knows that the Donkey Test is the ultimate truth.

I encourage everyone to take the Donkey Test. Post your scores here so I can feel more depressed about my poker IQ.

Donkey Test, poker IQ, poker skills, poker odds

Earlier today I was reading a paper called Game Theory and Poker by Jason Swanson. The paper focuses on optimal bluffing strategies in a simplified game of poker. The author calls it One Card Poker. By taking the game to its barest form, the author is able to explain game theory without having to worry about the complications and nuances associated with normal poker games. His ideas on bluffing strategy apply to any form of poker. Of course the the player must take into consideration the different complexities of each game.

The author concludes that game theory is a paradox since the “optimal strategy” leads to neutral EV. In his game of One Card Poker using the “optimal strategy” neutralized the opponent. Therefore, to achieve a positive EV, the player must make plays that go against the “optimal strategy”.

It should be noted that the “optimal strategy” can lead to positive EV. This applies when the opponent is making what the author calls “stupid mistakes”. The simplicity of One Card Poker does a good job illustrating the concept of “stupid mistakes”, which are plays that are always negative EV. If this concept is applied to more complicated games of poker, it becomes easy to see why an “optimal strategy” can be effective against the average player.

After reading the article I programmed my own game of One Card Poker. The AI, however, is not programmed using the “optimal strategy”. I planned to do so, but forgot the link to the paper when I was creating the game. Also aces are low in this game.

One Card Poker, poker theory, flash poker game, game theory

By now supporters of online poker should be familiar with US Senator Alfonso D’Amato. For the first time in my life the mention of a politician did not make me think cynical and all too conventional thoughts. For instance I did not immediately think that D’Amato’s sole motive was power and money, nor did I think that he was looking out for his own interests. Of course that is far from the truth. D’Amato is getting paid big bucks to lobby for the Poker Players Alliance (PPA). Plus he is also a longtime poker player.

In short D’Amato is the same as every other politician. My readiness to view him as the one good Senator in Congress stems from him supporting my beliefs, in this case the freedom to play online poker without the hassles created by the UIGEA. My interest in this issue worries me.

My fear with politics is that I will take an interest in the issues and drama, and more importantly side with other politicians, and therefore form an allegiance with them so they can support my interests whether it is good or bad for the general public. When I reach my thirties, I fear this will be inevitable, that I will soon become civic minded for myself. Somehow I feel it’s better to play apathetic and uncaring. That way I can put the blame on others and make fun of Bush’s intelligence as much as I want, not that I do the latter. I don’t do the latter because it’s hypocritical to the former. My hobby is to blame bush bashers for the sad state of politics. In other words, I’m a hypocrite whether I choose to be civic mind or not.

But with a choice, I’d rather be apathetic. At least that way I will be only indirectly to blame if the country elects the next Stalin, and I wouldn’t have to deal with the guilt of my selfishness. With D’Amato, I’m not sure I can support someone that relates the online poker ban to the prohibition of alcohol in the 1920’s.

Overall it is a weak argument, almost comical like Mark Kriedler points out in his article D’Amato Shows Poker Face. Kriedler also pokes holes in D’Amato’s statement that poker is America’s favorite sport. D’Amato is quoted saying “You don’t have 70 million people playing baseball,” when the PPA, the group he is lobbying for, estimates that only 23 million people play online. In the end these arguments may be persuasive.

Politics is about spin, and I hate spin, so I’m debating on whether or not I should support D’Amato. In more general terms the debate is on whether I should support my interests through any means or not.

[source Gambling911.com]

Poker Player’s Alliance, D’Amato, political apathy, poker, UIGEA

This is a quick tip, but one that will save micro limit players a lot of money. When playing at these limits, it is a good idea to fold to a check raise or a raise. Almost every time that means a player has a strong hand, usually a set or better. There are players that will make a continuation bet after the flop if they missed their hand, but few will check raise or raise with nothing. As always it comes down to reading the player, but when in doubt, fold the hand. The best part about ring games is that folding the winning hand does not hurt as much as in a tournament.

There is also no fear that a player will pick up on a tendency to fold to check raises and raises. The players at the micro limits aren’t that crafty. Avoid out thinking yourself. That has happened to me a lot. Sometimes I fear that the my opponent may be trying to bully me so I pay them off to see their hand. Most of the time they have the better hand and I lose money unnecessarily.

Folding hands to raises becomes much more important if you are loose player, since you will be forced to make more marginal decisions, and that is the time where it can be easy to out think yourself. In my experience at the 20NL tables and lower, most players will just call down a loose player unless they hold a monster, a sure winner. Then they will raise or check raise. Again few will raise with nothing or bottom pair.

Previous Poker Tips:
Poker Tip #3: Faith in the Rush
Poker Tip #2: Check Raise
Poker Tip #1: Starting Hands for NL Texas Hold ‘Em

poker, poker tips, folding to a raise, folding, strategy

I admit this is a shameless plug for one of my favorite poker writers, James McManus. I’ve been a fan of his writing since I read Postively Fifth Street, so I was happy to hear that he has a new poker book coming out in 2009. Excerpts can be read on CardPlayer.com. If you’re interested in the history of poker, enjoy good writing, or both, check out A History of Poker.

James McManus, Positively Fifth Street, History of Poker

Today I read that Casino College is offering a special Poker Dealing course. The aim of this course is to give student dealers an opportunity to deal at the WSOP. Casino College is adamant that they can get 100 of their students hired to deal.

The course teaches prospective dealers how to deal a dozen variations of poker. They have even arranged for a WSOP insider to give insider tips and advice. I wonder how dealing in the WSOP differs from other professional settings, like dealing ring games at my local casino.

The whole deal amounts to publicity and a gimmick to attract more students to College Casino. The prospect of dealing at the WSOP, however, does sound enticing, though not for the same reasons I had a few years ago.

More than once the thought of becoming a poker dealer has entered my mind. Two years ago, I went to the Morongo to play some poker. It was my first time playing for real money. Up until then I had only played online for play money.

On that day I skipped Calculus and British Literature for a trip to the casino. I brought a hundred dollars, none of which I was willing to lose. I had taken the money out of the ATM earlier in the afternoon. Taking out five 20 dollars bills while a security camera caught my every movement, made feel deviant, like a criminal who had taken someone’s ATM card and who was now withdrawing the owner’s money. In these situations I always feel a degree of moral responsibility, a feeling that I’m doing something wrong. Of course I was doing nothing wrong by withdrawing my own money or playing poker at a casino. All that was perfectly legal, yet there was a feeling that I was doing something socially reprehensible.

The Morongo is an Indian Casino located in Cabazon California, a place that is all freeway, billboards advertising strip clubs, and desert in every direction. The casino and the adjacent upscale outlet mall are the only signs of life in an otherwise deserted town. On either side freeway you can see billboards advertising the Morongo’s luxurious food and relaxing spas, not to mention hundreds of slot machines and Pai Gow poker. The billboards grow more frequent as you get closer and seem to create a sense of anticipation and excitement before arrival. In my case I was thinking about how much money I would win and how I would bluff everyone at the table.

When I arrived at the Morongo, I noticed, in several parts of the casino, a help wanted sign for card dealers. This job opportunity appealed to me for a few reasons. 1) It was better than my job tutoring math and science to middle schoolers. 2) Meeting other poker players and learning from them. 3) I had an image of card dealers as rebellious anti-capitalistic renegades that dealt in the shady underworld of America.

My image of dealers came from the idea of Las Vegas, gambling, and casinos as sinful. This image was reinforced through movies, commercials, television, and books. Las Vegas is shown as both deviant and hip. A month before I had read Bringing Down the House, a book about MIT students who developed a system to beat blackjack. The descriptions of life in Vegas and casinos had an impact in solidifying that image in my head.

My image of card dealers turned out to be untrue, at least at the Morongo. Most of the dealers were middle-aged and looked nothing like the renegades I pictured. In fact the dealers were just ordinary people with polished shuffling and dealing skills, nothing that I could emulate without practice. That was the main reason I never applied for the job.

[via Pokerpages.com]

WSOP, dealing poker, casino college, Morongo

When I started searching for US friendly websites, I thought it would be pretty easy to find. The difficulty I ran into is that close to none of the sites mention whether they accept US customers or not. Basically this forces people to do one of three things. 1) Download their software and attempt to register. 2) Contact support. 3) Go to poker website that lists US friendly poker rooms. All three options are a hassle. Although option three sounds like the best idea, the information is not always up to date, as it is difficult to keep track of new policies. Your best bet is to go with option, especially if the website offers live chat. It would be much simpler to somewhere on the site, maybe the terms and conditions or at the bottom of the website whether or not said poker room accepts US customers or not.

Here is a comprehensive list of US friendly poker sites. I have provided links to each site. None of them are affiliate or referral links. I have just provided the links for easy access to the sites and information about them.

1. Full Tilt
2. Poker Stars
3. Ultimate Bet
4. Bodog
5. Absolute Poker
6. Poker.com
7. Cake Poker
8. BetUS
9. Straight Flush
10. OK USA Poker
11. Jungle Poker
12. Full Contact
13. Poker World
14. TouchStone
15. Bugsy’s Club
16. Tiger Gaming
17. Third Bullet
18. True Poker*
19. Poker in Canada
20. Poker Host*
21. BattleField Poker
22. Pharaoh’s Poker Palace
23. World Poker Exchange
24. Dream Poker
25. Poker 4 Ever
26. Pitbull Poker
27. Poker Knights
28. Golden Riviera Poker
29. Holiday Poker

*Site allows all US players except for those who reside in - Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, and Wisconsin

US friendly poker rooms, list of US friendly poker rooms, online poker rooms

Now that Doyle’s Room has left the US market, I am in the process of finding a new online poker room. Yesterday I took Doyle’s Room up on their offer to transfer my bankroll and Action Points over to Full Tilt, so for the time being I will be playing at Full Tilt. I see my move to Full Tilt as a temporary move, as I’ve been warned about the large number of HUD users and Bots on the site. However if I’m successful, at least by my standards, I will stay at the site; the hassle of depositing money into poker sites is not worth it for a recreational play like myself.

My decision to switch to Full Tilt was simple after I realized that withdrawing by check would take months due to the exodus of US customers from Doyle’s Room. The alternative solution was to sign up at an affiliate website that offered $100 free to play at Absolute Poker while I waited for my check. I still like that idea, but decided against it after discussing this with one of my poker buddies.

For US players there are not many poker rooms to choose from. Many will be familiar with Ultimate Bet, Poker Stars, Full Tilt, and Bodog, but there are other alternatives that still welcome US customers. For example Michael from Counting My Outs recently mentioned to me that Cake Poker is US friendly. Before he told me I was under the impression that the big four were my only choices. In a few days I will compile a full list of US friendly poker rooms.

According to Gambling911.com, BetUS.com and Straight Flush Poker will be accepting US customers again. Both poker rooms have joined the Cake Network which is US friendly.

Straight Flush Poker and Doyle’s Room were both on the Tribeca Network. Ironically it turned out that Doyle’s Room, after months of saying that they would remain open to US customers, would be the one to remain with Tribeca as they merged with the Ipoker Network.

Personally I would be happy if Doyle’s Room joined the Cake Network since they do not allow the use of PT and HUDs. They also also allow you to change your screen name every seven days. This makes it difficult for other players to track you, but at the same time this can be seen as an advantage much like the use of PT and HUDs. This is because when you are playing live poker, there is no option to change your identity every seven days.

BetUS.com and Straight Flush Poker’s decisions to remain open to US customers is a good sign, even more so because the UIGEA has become official now. Hopefully other sites will follow suit and bring online poker back to where it was at the height of the poker boom.

[via gambling911.com]

[image from Cakes Victoria]

Cake Poker, Cake Network, US friendly poker rooms, BetUS.com, Straight Flush Poker

Omaha/8 is also known as Omaha Hi/Lo or Omaha eight-or-better. This game is a variation of Omaha (High). The games are identical in structure. The difference is that there can be two winners in Omaha/8, one with the high hand and one with the low. This small tweak or twist to the game adds new layers of complexity and opens the door for a variety of new strategies and approaches.

Omaha(High) was covered in a previous post, so I suggest reading that post if you are unfamiliar with regular Omaha. I plan to focus solely on the showdown, since determining the winner is the only stage that is different, though that is not to say that one would approach the flop, turn, and river in the same manner. There are new conditions and factors that need to be taken into account, however I will not be covering those factors since they fall into strategy rather than rules.

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