February 2010 Archives

Full Tilt Poker has launched a new, innovative form of poker called Rush Poker.

In essence this speeds the game up dramatically, meaning the action is continuous – almost like an arcade game.

The player pool is continually scrambled meaning each hand is played against a random selection of players. This negates the use of automated tracking software.

The minimum buy-in has also been increased to prevent boring short-stackers spoiling the game.

What this means is many more hands per-hour, which for rake-back earners means more money earned in the same time. Effectively a free pay rise!

Initially player reaction has been extremely positive. Players will no doubt evolve their own strategies for this new poker format over time, but for now, here are a selection of suggested Hints and Tips For Rush Poker:

• Raise limpers lots as they will often give up easily.
• Make small 3 big blind raises a lot, as many people will auto-fold.
• Always bet the flop after pre-flop raising, as many players will simply pass and move on to the next hand unless they flopped a monster.
• Don't limp small pairs in early position to flop sets. Raise to elicit folds.
• Disable the graphics if multi-tabling otherwise your eyes may hurt!
• As auto tracking software will not work, take manual notes. Open the note box while players are still to act, so it remains on screen once the hand is concluded and the players are scrambled.
• Before starting a session, take note of player names who are multi-tabling (their seat count is 2 or more). They are likely to be playing extremely tight.

Be lucky!

Betfair Poker are giving away up to $2,000 in cash bonuses for simply earning Betfair Points.

There is a $25 bonus that releases at $5 per 150 Betfair Points, a $100 bonus that releases at $10 per 400 Betfair Points, a $500 bonus that releases at $25 per 900 Betfair Points, a $1,000 bonus that releases at $50 per 1,850 Betfair Points and a mammoth $2,000 bonus that releases at $100 per 5,000 Betfair Points.

You earn one Betfair Point per £0.05 (approx $0.07) paid in rake and have until midnight on January 31st to earn as many points as you can.

This equates to an extra 25-41% rakeback for the month of January.

Sign up for Betfair now to take advantage.

Not a British poker player, but a popular and familiar face on the UK poker scene - due in part to his 2002 victory in seminal poker program 'Late Night Poker' - Padraig Parkinson has added the inaugural Galway heat of the UK and Ireland Poker Tour to his list of honours.

Parkinson forms a hilarious and insightful commentary team with poker commentator and author Jesse May, and will no doubt have added a few new anecdotes to his collection during the course of this event.

The UK and Ireland Poker Tour is sponsored by PokerStars.

The Western in London has announced finalised details of their Christmas Cracker event.

The £250 freezeout commences on Friday 11th December at 8pm, and will conclude on Saturday 12th December.

There are 20,000 starting chips and a 45 minute clock.

Anyone wishing to satellite in can take part in a £20 rebuy super sat, on the Friday afternoon from 2.30pm.

The club can be contacted by phone on 0208 896 0033

Get up to 40% rakeback at Betfair Poker.

PokerStars has announced a new tour covering the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The UK & Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) commences next month in Galway, with further events as follow:

Sign up for PokerStars now, and get entry to a special $10,000 freeroll as well as the opportunity to enter the tour.

It's that time of year when we are required to exercise our imaginations to find an appropriate present for the special people in our lives. In olden days this entailed hours of misery traipsing through the winter storms and hordes of equally desperate shoppers.

Fortunately we now have the internet to assist us and, as many on-line retailers do not use the Post Office for delivery, we can buy with a reasonable expectation the gifts will arrive before the New Year. With that in mind, here are some helpful ideas on Christmas gifts for a poker player...

A cynic might suggest the best thing you could give a poker player is cash, as many are often broke.

An arch cynic might say the WORST thing you could give a poker player is cash, as they'd likely just gamble it all away. Better, they would say, to pay their rent or buy them food.

All of which is a pretty miserable and unromantic way to approach the joy (or is that chore) of picking Christmas presents for a poker player. Though if all else fails, there's always the gift voucher option at Full Tilt.

To make it a bit easier, here are a few fun options that should fit every pocket.

Poker Table

For the poker enthusiast looking to run his own home game Drinkstuff.com have the perfect present, an awesome dedicated poker table. Available for £299.99.

For those with a more modest budget, their poker table top costs a mere £5.98. Worth it to protect your table from scratches or stains.

Playing Cards

Poor quality playing cards are the bane of any serious poker players life. That pack you bought from the corner shop to play Snap with the kids won't cut it in a proper poker game.

For the authentic professional experience, Kem Playing Cards are widely recognised as the number one brand.

Alternatively, the keen on-line poker player may prefer the internet friendly Copag Four Colour Cards. These mimic the option presented by many on-line poker sites to view cards in four, rather than two, colours.

Books

Many players dedicate themselves to self-improvement. Often through reading strategy books. As this is a fast moving field, and there are many specialisms, it would be impossible to recommend a specific book without knowing more about the games the gift recipient plays. Instead, why not buy them a book that focuses on the rich heritage and culture of the game of poker.

Two classics in this genre are The Biggest Game In Town by Al Alvarez - which tells the story of the World Series Of Poker in the days where the average poker professional was a 60-something from Texas, rather than a 20-something from Sweden – and Big Deal: One Year As A Professional Poker Player which recounts the adventures of author Anthony Holden in his time on the poker circuit.

Computer Game

Poker is not a sport that lends itself greatly to computer games. However for the enthusiast caught on a long plane or train journey, Play.com stocks World Championship Poker: Deluxe Series for the Nintendo DS. As good a way as any to while away a few hours.

DVD

For a bit of fun, there's no harm in shooting for the stars. How To Become A Poker Millionaire costs £10.99 and will surely be the best investment you ever made, if it lives up to the title. Particularly if it's a gift for your husband or wife!

Mobile Broadband

Many poker players will have at some point experienced a strange ritual. A phone ringing in the middle of the night, a familiar voice talking in urgent tones. “I'm on the final table of the £50,000 guaranteed on Betfair and my broadband has died. Can you log into your PC and play it for me!?”

The feeling of dread and despair as several hours hard work – and a possible four or five figure win – slips away on the back of a broken broadband connection, is not an experience to be wished upon any friend.

So, why not guarantee yourself a full night's sleep and buy them the security of a pre-paid mobile broadband dongle. No recurring costs, but a perfect insurance policy against internet crashes. Vodafone offers the fastest connection on the market.

Netbook

Alternatively if they need an ultra portable laptop for playing on-the-road, PC World has the award winning Samsung NC10 for only £269. Seven hours battery life being enough to see out all but the biggest tournaments.

Smart Shirt

Anyone who has visited the poker room of a casino will be painfully aware that poker players are, in general, a scruffy bunch. Why not smarten up their table image with a funky but smart shirt from TM Lewin. Maybe dressing for success will help them up their game and bring home first prize.

Aftershave

One of the great benefits of the UK smoking ban has been that poker players can now enjoy a game without suffering streaming eyes, coughing, or the unpleasant sensation of returning home stinking of other people's smoke.

One of the great drawbacks of the UK smoking ban is the smoke is no longer there to mask the smell of your fellow players. Which, in a game where seating location is mandatory, and you may be sat beside the same person for many hours, can have unpleasant consequences.

Ensure your player is never the Stinking Bishop of the poker room, with some help from Mankind. A particular favourite of mine is John Varvatos.

NB The last two ideas may not be the best suggestions if buying for a boyfriend or husband!

Gift Vouchers

Full Tilt Poker is one of the biggest poker sites in the world, and will supply electronic gift vouchers in denominations from as little as $25 (roughly £15). Buy now and the email will be in your Inbox in minutes. Perfect as the last minute gift for a poker player.

As keen poker players, we at British Poker Players are always interested in stories that are related back to the game, and do worry when there's any negativity about them.

With that in mind, it's quite concerning to see one Marcus Bebb-Jones - a 'professional gambler' apparently - linked to the murder of his wife in the USA.

After which, the US police allege, he went on a wild playboy-style spree in Las Vegas.

It sounds the stuff of fantasy, and indeed if proven to be correct we'd imagine a book and movie would inevitably follow.

Having checked his details online he does seem to be a more than useful poker player, though if the photos are anything to go by it is doubtful Johnny Depp will be on stand-by to play him in the movie.

If you'd like to be a poker player, may we respectfully suggest Betfair Poker or Full Tilt Poker as ideal places to learn the game.

The Circus Casino, Edinburgh will host a £40 + £4 Pot Limit Omaha freezeout on Saturday 5th December with an afternoon start time of 1.00pm.

There will be 10,000 starting chips and a 30 minute clock. PLO is a fun, action game, and a nice variation from the usual No Limit Hold Em events.

Congratulations to Joe Cada for winning the WSOP 2009 Main Event and associated $8.5 million prize fund.

Cada becomes the youngest player ever to win the tournament, which will not please the puritanical prohibitionists who continue to campaign against online poker in the USA.

Congratulations to British poker player James Akenhead who made the final table of the WSOP 2009 Main Event.

Although James will no doubt be disappointed not to have won the competition, a 9th prize of over $1.2m (roughly £720,000) is the sort of tax free consolation that should make the loss bearable.

The Argleton Casino is holding a £100 + £15 freezeout on Friday 13th November at 7.30pm.

There will be 10,000 starting chips and a 30 minute clock with a slow structure. Dealers will be provided.

The Grand Final of the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) 2009 takes place in London later this month at the world famous Grosvenor Victoria Casino aka The Vic.

A range of side events including No Limit Hold Em, Pot Limit Omaha and Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo commence from 19th November 2009.

The Main Event, a £3,000 + £150 No Limit Hold Em tournament, runs over four days from 26/11/2009 to 29/11/2009

Contact The Vic for further details on 0207 262 7777.

The countdown is almost complete to the final table of the World Series Of Poker 2009.

The 'November 9' will do battle for the legendary WSOP bracelet, with final table coverage provided courtesy of PKR Poker.

30% Rakeback from PKR:

http://britishpokerplayers.co.uk/PokerPKR.html

Live final table streaming:

http://www.pkr.com/en/wsop-live/

It has been reported that Pokerstars has accidentally debited money from a number of players bank accounts.

This appears to relate to players who had legitimate withdrawals made on 29th October 2008. Exactly one year later duplicate withdrawals have been made from their accounts.

The money is not lost as it has been transferred to their online poker accounts. However this is clearly a major inconvenience, and a worry, for many people.

Pokerstars is generally regarded as having the best customer support in the online poker world, so I would expect them to take imaginative action to protect their reputation. Refunding double the amount taken would be a good idea!

Poker can be a great game to play simply for fun with your friends or on-line However, while most hobbies inevitably have a cost, poker is unusual in that it can also be used to make a profit. Which, in the UK, is tax free.

Most players will not win money, however someone who happens to be a break-even player, or even a loser at the tables, can actually turn a profit through carefully managing their rakeback and bonus arrangements.

To do so, there are a few simple steps to be observed, which should help you at very least break even, and ideally build your bankroll and allow you to move through the limits.

1. Set up your finance facilities.
2. Learn the basics of rules and strategy.
3. Find a site that will reward you for playing.
4. Practise with play money.
5. Play poker.
6. Chase bonuses.
7. Make use of the 'tools of the trade'.
8. Analyse your performance and improve your game.
9. Repeat steps 5 to 8

First things first. Before you start playing poker for money, get some sort of on-line wallet. Among the best known are Neteller, Click2Pay and Moneybookers.

The reason you need an on-line wallet will become apparent later.

When setting up an account be careful what currency option you choose. Some of the biggest sites still deal exclusively in US dollars, however more and more sites offer both UK pounds, and Euro, options. Transferring cash between sites in different currencies can incur wasteful transaction fees.

So if you live in the UK and plan to play on UK Pounds sites, go for base currency UK Pounds, if you plan to play on US Dollar sites, go for the dollar base currency. Similar thoughts apply to Euroland residents and Euros.

Deposit some cash in your on-line wallet, and off we go.

Before playing for real, at least learn the basics. Playing poker should be fun, maybe even rewarding. You don't need to view it as a charitable enterprise!

There are plenty sites which offer rule guides and tips. It's also worth reading at least one book.

Don't go for a heavyweight Sklansky book to start with. It will just confuse you, and probably make your head hurt. Try a simpler book to start with that will give you an idea of starting hands to play and the basics of concepts such as 'position'.

Next step is to choose a site to start playing on. This is where some research may be called for. Most sites offer some sort of sign up bonus. These can vary over time and will generally offer a bonus as a percentage of your deposit, to a maximum amount. For example 20% bonus to £100 would mean a £500 deposit is credited with a £100 bonus; £200 deposit is credited with £40 bonus. So, it makes sense to focus your financial fire-power on one site to maximise your initial bonus, then move onto the next when the bonus is earned, etc.

Generally bonuses have to be earned by playing a certain amount of hands, often at a certain level. So there's an overhead, but playing is the best way to learn!

Once you have worked off your first bonus, look elsewhere for new sites to sign up to so you can gain more bonuses. Always making sure you sign up with a rakeback arrangement. Once you have registered with a site it is not usually possibly to get rakeback retrospectively, so you MUST arrange it at the point you first apply.

This is where the on-line wallet becomes so useful. Most sites will only pay out to the mechanism by which you deposited money, up to the size of your initial deposit. If you deposited by credit card, they want to refund your credit card. They may wish to pay out anything beyond your initial deposit by a mailed cheque. This can be cumbersome and time consuming, and cost more in fees.

If you funded your poker account by, for example, Neteller, you can cash out all your money to Neteller. Thus Neteller becomes the central repository for your bankroll. Note that while deposits from Neteller to a poker site are instantaneous, cash outs can take some time to process. Anything from 24 hours to around 5 days.

It makes sense to keep the minimum you need deposited with a site, and the majority in Neteller - ready to chase those bonuses. Do not miss out on a great bonus offer which lasts only a few days, when most of your bankroll is stuck with another site.

Whichever site you settle on, try playing with Play Money first, to get the hang of the flow of the game, and understand the mechanics of the software. Don't play on these tables for too long. The play isn't properly representative of a real game and you will not learn a lot. So once you have the hang of the software, it's time to go to the real tables.

This is where the most important rule in the gambling world applies: DO NOT bet what you can't afford to lose.

If you have raised a £50 deposit, stick to the micro limit tables til you have built up some cash and experience. Even if you have a lot more cash, it's probably best to stick to the 10p/25p or 50p/£1 tables until you are sure you can play at a higher level.

Maintain a reserve for losing streaks. Even the best players have unlucky runs, so don't play at a limit where two bad sessions will leave you broke. Manchester United or Chelsea can still occasionally lose to Hull.

Once you have some experience, try to improve your game. You may want to read a book which goes into more detail on playing the low limits. Make sure you choose a book appropriate to your favoured game type. Do you play Single Table Tourneys (Sit'n'Gos), Multi Table Tourneys, or cash games?

Action junkies who play 6-max rather than full ring games can find specialist literature for their games.

What is your favoured poker variant? Most people start with No Limit Hold Em, as seen in many TV shows, but there are many other variants – Omaha, Stud, Razz, etc. - and Fixed or Pot Limit, as well as No Limit.

Be aware, not everyone plays the way the books advise. Some people play downright stupidly. While this can be frustrating in the short term, remember the more stupid players there are at your table, the more money you are likely to end the night with!

If you are sure you want to continue and improve your poker game, look into acquiring some 'tools of the trade'. This software will allow you to download hand histories, analyse and store the performance not only of you, but of all the players you compete against. Thus you can delve into your results, understand where you make and lose money, and track the style of other players.

After that, it's all a matter of playing, learning, and hopefully earning a few pounds extra, as well as having a lot of fun.

The following links may be useful to you.

Sites With Great Introductory Bonuses

Betfair

Full Tilt

Devilfish Poker

Virgin Poker

On-line Wallets

http://www.neteller.com/

http://www.click2pay.com/

http://www.moneybookers.com/

Poker Software

http://www.holdemmanager.net/

http://www.pokertracker.com/

Poker Books

http://tinyurl.com/britishpokerplayerbooks

The Circus Casino, Liverpool will be running the three day main event of their Winter Festival from Thursday 29th October.

The £40,000 guaranteed No Limit Holdem tournament has two day 1s with 15,000 starting chips, and 60 minute levels, meaning there should be plenty play.

Buy in is £500 + £50 fee.

Telephone the casino on 0151 702 7610 for further information.

When it comes to bling, some poker players can give the average gangsta rapper a run for their money.

High stakes and hard cash often seems to give younger players in particular the aura of professional footballers.

Now one site is giving true hardcore poker players the chance to earn a piece of uber bling through putting in some heavy hours at the table.

Fugu Poker is offering a range of awards for high rakers between now and the end of 2009, with the pinnacle award being a Rolex watch with a value of around £2700.

Sign up now at: Fugu Poker

The Grosvenor Casino, Walsall is hosting a two day event on Saturday 31st October/Sunday 1st November 2009.

Buy in is £150 + £15 fee. 10,000 starting chips and a 45 minute clock should make for a good event, which is dealer dealt and limited to 140 entrants.

Contact the casino on 01922 645222 for more information.

In laymans terms rakeback can be considered exactly the same as cashback.

To a British person who is not a poker player it could be seen as the same as cashback on your credit card; collecting Tesco clubcard points, or Airmiles.

But while you may have to wait a year for the cashback on your Egg credit card purchase, or months to use your Tesco vouchers, rakeback is paid into your account on a frequent - often weekly - basis, and is immediately available to be used.

You wouldn't go to Tesco and NOT swipe your clubcard, so why play poker without rakeback? It makes no sense. It's stupid.

Only an idiot says 'no' to free money!