Most poker players make a mistake of participating in huge buy-in tournaments, the end result being a trail of losses. With the fast approaching WSOP, most players are going to make this fatal mistake and it is highly likely they will be financially “cut to size”. If you are planning to attend the WSOP, here are 5 reasons as to why you should play smaller tournaments. #1 It is way easier to make the final tables Making the final tables for World Series of poker is always a mammoth task and can only be achieved by the elite few. To that end, you have a higher probability of making it to the final table of a smaller tournament, especially if you are an average player. At the WSOP 2018, there is more to the tournament other than the main event. Some tournaments have a buy-in as low as $365. #2 You don’t have to be insanely good at poker Making a final table at WSOP calls for insane poker skills; That is, you should know the perfect time to bluff, when to fold or when to raise to even stand a chance at the “high table”. However, in smaller tournaments, […]

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Is Poker a game of skill or chance has been one of the most divisive questions in the history. Recently, a judge in India ruled that Poker is a game of “pure chance”, reiterating the oft-repeated but baseless claims about the dynamics of Poker. In this article we will establish, with arguments, that Poker is a game of skill. Poker is a Game of Skill Not Chance Online poker rooms magnetize millions of players who try to assess and polish their skills to land in reality. Of course luck plays a part too, there is no doubt but it would be inexplicable to refuse that skills must be involved else why would some player constantly win more than their opponent? A survey from a database of players reveals significant indication of the role of skills for a successful poker game. A survey was conducted from a data of one year. Players that were best-performing for first six months of the year had twice the chance than others to remain best for next 6 months too. On the other hand, players who performed poor from the beginning continued to lose and never reached the best performers. Thus, this proves that in […]

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At World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit in Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas, Ben Zamani continued to steamroll his way by winning the main event and increasing yet another award to his ever growing records of career. He took down 610 entrants by outplaying a star-studded final table including many accomplished poker pros like Joseph Cheong, Ben Palmer, Barry Hutter and Jesse Yaginuma and wonderfully took hold of the first prize worth $192,152. For the past three years Ben Zamani has won $1.16m, $992k and $788k. He kept up the pressure in the final table by starting with third in chips and when the action reached four-handed, he occupied 85% of the chips in play. At one point in game, his stack was increased to over 10 million while his three opponents had less than two million total chips between them. Thus, taking advantage of the situation, Zamani was able to score a double knock out. A WSOP reporter declared his performance as one of the most dominant and influential performance in recent memory. Ben Zamani Ben Zamani is a 31-year old full-time poker who started playing poker with his friends in high school. Zamani is a professional American poker player […]

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What a crazy new docu-series on netflix! I’m almost at a loss for words about how many aspects of our humanity are challenged and illuminated in this incredible re-telling of the events in the 80’s of the Rajneesh commune in Wacco County Oregon. The 6-part documentary, entitled Wild Wild Country on Nextflix, is about the followers of the spiritual guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, is a perfect microcosm of the U.S. and world’s primary struggle for peace. Peace among communities, peace among countries, and peace within yourself. The questions raised in this documentary are many, and so vitally important, especially in the current U.S. political climate. The story begins by foretelling the coming of the people in red to a small town in Antelope, Oregon (population 40). The followers of the Indian guru Rajneesh purchased 140+ miles of land in Wacco County, called “Big Money Ranch”, with the idea of setting up a utopian like community from scratch. Though they told local residents they were purchasing it only for farming, their plan was to build the society they always thought was possible. And, to their credit, they did a lot of great work. Everything from their own power grids, to shops, […]

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HUDs (heads-up displays) are of indispensable importance in Poker. Heads-up displays inform a Poker player about his and his opponents’ performance based on key statistics and data. In the modern Poker ecosphere, you cannot survive without a good Poker HUD. DriveHUD is one of the best Poker HUDs available in budget. The tool, which is currently available for free for a 30-day trial period, is not only useful in showing stats and data for a quick analysis, it can also process large chunks of data and perform efficient reporting. As an example, DriveHUD can load and analyze millions of hands and show you reports for every Poker player based on his moves and bets. Features of DriveHUD Perhaps the best feature of DriveHUD is its “Bumper Sticker System”, which notifies players about the exploitable patterns in their opponents’ game and strategy.  You can create different trackers and get alerts regarding their key moves and weaknesses.   Using DriveHUD, you can analyze your hands by position at the table, stack size, time and several other metrics. You can also “replay” your hands to see what went wrong or analyze your strengths or weaknesses. In the updated version of DriveHUD, you can […]

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Poker is a constantly evolving industry. If you are a Poker fan, taking part in Poker events is always fruitful. You get to meet different people and see exciting stuff. Below is the list of the biggest poker events and matches to be held in 2018, both physical and online.   DeepStack Extravaganza II The DeepStack Extravaganza is one of the famous Poker tournaments worldwide. The guaranteed prize pool is more than $1,200,000. It is going to be held in The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino, Las Vegas, USA during March 26 to April 15. WPTDeepStacks – Thunder Valley It will be held during March 29 to April 9 in Thunder Valley Casino Resort, California, USA. Its guaranteed prize is $500,000. It’s a no limit hold ’em tournament with three starting flights & single re-entry per flight until the start of Level 10. Partypoker MILLIONS Grand Final Barcelona The millions tour final is being held in Casino Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain during April 7 to April 15. The prize pool is a huge €10 million for the main event. It compromises of three stages: satellite, day one and day 2 onwards. It is going to be held both live and physical. DeepStack Extravaganza III […]

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There’s a nuanced factor about the gun debate in America that’s really difficult for the media to try and capture. It doesn’t fit into neat 5 second sound bites, and it doesn’t make for clever social media graphic memes. It’s not talked about on social media, at least from what I’ve seen, and I don’t hear it in personal discussions. Before I give away the punch line, let me tell you a story that illustrates this overlooked factor. Last week, my wife and I went to go see the new movie, The Shape of Water. While sitting back in our reclining chairs, watching opening credits to the movie, the person directly on my left was talking to his wife or girlfriend rather loudly. I thought to myself, “well, I’m sure he’ll stop once the actual movie starts.” Of course that didn’t happen. Now in a situation where you’d think most people would understand social norms, and that it’s rude to talk during a movie (you know, they have big messages to remind people to turn off their cell phones and shut their traps before the movie begins), I guess this fact had escaped my friend on my left. Being the […]

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Learning poker is essential if you are really looking to make money playing poker and not just wasting time, betting on mere luck. poker is a skill-based game. You can learn the complexities of poker and become a pro. Expert poker players have given almost all of their basic knowledge and experience about poker in the form of online courses. Following are some of the best courses you can take to master poker. 5 Best Poker Courses Fundamentals of Exploitative Online Poker This poker course is as interesting as its name sounds. The course is basically based on Alton Hardin’s book with the same name.  In this course you will learn the basic structure of No Limit Texas Holdem, tricks on using poker tracking software, reading and interpreting HUD Stats and much more Conquer Micro Stakes Poker This is one of the best poker courses available online. This course, available for just $11, will teach you everything about micro stakes poker. You can learn the tricks to win at Texas Hold’em poker. This course not only teaches you about the psychology of poker theory, it also tells you about the detailed concepts regarding specific moves played during the game. Crush […]

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Yes, you’re correct. The online games are getting tougher. Crack down by government’s throughout the world have reduced large markets, such as the U.S., and Australia. The reduction in the player pool is always going to reduce the potential number of new bad players coming into the market space. The increase in poker knowledge, poker tools, poker training sites, have all played a roll in the increased difficulty. Yet, despite all of this, the games are still very beatable. And here’s how:   Re-think your poker knowledge If you’ve been playing for awhile, like myself, you can witness that people understand the game much better. I’ve been playing online for over 13 years now. For over a decade I talked about when to check top pair, middle pair, and essentially how to effectively balance your range. Most people just bet all of their good hands all of the time. This was the common mantra in poker. Just bet. Be aggressive. More aggression = more money. Not to toot my own horn, but I will, you can watch videos of me from 10 years ago talking about how important balance is. Now that people have caught on, you can’t always assume […]

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Cryptocurrency is the talk of the town these days. The digital currency is the future. It is the mode of sending and receiving payments in a digital format, without any central authority. Cryptocurrencies have been making a foray into the poker world for quite some time. CoinPoker is a new poker website which offers a complete digital currency solution for poker players.  CoinPoker has free apps for smartphone using which poker players can transfer their funds without any hassle. CoinPoker is transparent and offers competitive rates. CoinPoker has published a detailed white paper outlining the feasibility and details of the platform. The paper says that CoinPoker is not just a concept. It has been fully developed and is ready to launch post ICO operations. The paper also said that “millions” have already been invested in the project. CoinPoker’s white paper begins to base its rational on the assumptions that the modern poker system is not transparent, and users are not in control of their money. CoinPoker is solving the problem by allow every poker player to buy and use the designated cryptocurrency (CHP) and be in control of it.  The working dynamics of the platform could be read in the […]

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