How to Play the Blinds in Texas Holdem Poker

One of the worst positions to play in Texas Holdem Poker is the blinds. The position to the left of the dealer. The blind position is the player who has to make the first move without assessing any body language of any player. And all players can look at the blind positioned player for clues about their hand and force a call. But there is strategy to deal with this situation.

The blind player should always be ready to fold and hand.The risk versus the reward is often low.If a player raises pre-flop , then it is best to fold.You have to do assessment of your fellow players . Is the player whistling dixie or have a nice smile. It may be a clue he has a good hand.Conversely , he could have been checking out your body language and sense you have a lousy hand.

Playing the blinds is where tight aggressive poker strategy comes into its own. Fold poor hands quickly and if you get a good hand , a high pair for example, call and raise.If you follow this strategy , your fellow players will sense a good hand and will more often fold than risk their chips.If you win , you might feel lucky to just made it through the blind position as a winner.

Late position players often pick on the blinds . It's called blind stealing and is a preflop raise. However if you re-raise , then it may be assumed you have a good hand. The late position might just fold.

Always assess your stack as well as fellow players.Putting up enought chips make it look like you think you think you may win and are committed to the pot.The right size bet can go along way in image at the table.And in Texas Holdem Poker , image is just as important as the right cards.

In conclusion, playing the blinds is never the best place to be as contrast to late position at the table. The blinds position player is the first to act and everyone gets to read his body language . The sizing up by an experienced player might indicate if he has a good or poor hand and everyone can adjust their playing style accordingly. The blind position is the worst position to bluff also because more players with try blind stealing and force the blind to re-raise.But with a tight strategy of choosing to play the best cards , a blind position player can still do well increasing small stakes into a larger stack.

Antonio Esfandiari Wins the Big One Series of Poker and collects $18.3 million

Antonio Esfandiari Wins the Big One Series of Poker and collects $18.3 million. He's one of poker's top players.

In 2004, he won close to $1.4 million and his first World Poker Tour title at the L.A. Poker Classic. He won his first World Series of Poker bracelet a few months later in pot-limit Texas Hold 'em.

Antonio Esfandiari appeared in the second and third seasons of the Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament. After finishing last the previous year, Antonio was able to redeem himself with a second place finish the third season. He was also in each season of GSN series High Stakes Poker and each season of NBC's Poker After Dark.

On April 17, 2008, Esfandiari made the final table at the 2008 PokerStars.com EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo finishing in eighth place, winning €168,000 ($266,004). On July 14, 2009, Esfandiari made his deepest finish to date in the World Series of Poker Main Event, finishing 24th on day 8 of the tournament, earning $352,832. In 2010 he won his second World Poker Tour title by winning the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World for over $870,000. On July 3, 2012, he won the the largest buy-in tournament in history, the Big One for One Drop, a $1,000,000 buy-in live event. After beating 47 other players, he earned $18,346,673, the biggest cash prize in poker history.

Antonio Esfandiari's total live tournament winnings exceed $22,800,000.Other results for the Big One for One Drop Tournament are below.

Event 55: The Big One For One Drop

Buy-in: $1,000,000
Entries: 48
Prize pool: $42,666,672
Players in the money: 9
1. Antonio Esfandiari ($18,346,673)
2. Sam Trickett ($10,112,001)
3. David Einhorn ($4,352,000)
4. Phil Hellmuth ($2,645,333)
5. Guy Laliberté ($1,834,666)
6. Brian Rast ($1,621,333)
7. Bobby Baldwin ($1,408,000)
8. Richard Yong ($1,237,333)
9. Mike Sexton ($1,109,333) The WSOP continues until July 16th. For tips on Texas Holdem poker tourneys

Russian businessman Mikhail Smirnov Folds Four of a Kind

During the Big One for One Drop poker tournament, Russian businessman Mikhail Smirnov folded four-of-a-kind, commonly referred to as quads, against another businessman, John Morgan. The play took place during the first day of thd Big One for One Drop Texas Hold ‘Em tournament, where players fork over the highest buy-in in World Series of Poker history, $1 million.One million clams buy-in that's right.

Smirnov, who was holding an eight of hearts and eight of diamonds in his hand, entered into the hand with Tom Dwan and Morgan. The flop revealed a seven of spades, jack of spades and eight of clubs. Smirnov, with three eights, bet $50,000, Dwan folded and Morgan called the bet.

The turn showed an eight of spades, the fourth for Smirnov, and created a potential straight flush on the board. Smirnov bet $200,000 and Morgan again called the bet, which was approximately the size of the pot.

The final card, the river, was a king of spades. Smirnov again led out with a bet of $700,000 before Morgan came over the top and went all-in for about $2M more. Smirnov then folded his four eights, face-up, giving Morgan the pot. He folded and no one knows what Morgan had in his hand.

Smirnov’s four eights could only have lost to a nine and ten of spades. Morgan did not reveal if he had the straight flush, but Smirnov defended his play. Morgan never revealed his hand.I would have held on just because of probability.
I wasn't at the table so I couldn't see the poker clues that Morgan must have read. But I'm assuming he read his fellow player well and knew Mikhail Smirnov was a lucky player not a skilled player and that he was so rich his experience might have been lacking. Let's see how the final table goes which is July 3 , 2012. This tournament is a charity event to raise awareness of need for clean water.

The Big One Poker Tournament - the largest buy-in in Poker history - Wsop

This special tournament is to heighten awareness of water crisis in Africa.There's a pool of 48 players including
Jonathan Duhamel ,in 2010 Jonathan Duhamel was the first Canadian to ever win the World Series of Poker Championship. Since, he has been a consist winner.
Tom Dwan , better known by the player handle "durrrr", is a living legend of online poker. One of the most prolific players in the history of the game, Dwan is more than an online star; he has already established himself as one of the world’s best live high-stakes ring game players, as well as a formidable tournament player. With a buy-in so large , only the best will be at this tourney. The grand prize is over $18,000,000.

Short Stack Strategy in a Sit and Go Poker Tourney

With a short stack , your options are limited than if medium or big stacked. Can you afford to raise not always.

Do you have to fold ? Sometimes.Let's look at some potential scenarios and the best plan of action.

If you've assessed your fellow players , you might be able to spot a new player , often playing every round even with a poor hand.You may be able to bluff or bully this player into folding.Unless they have a sure hand you might .

The other aspect is the hand you have.Having a pocket pair and face cards are reasons to stay in the game. Less than that you might consider folding and keeping whatever chips you have left.

In summary , short stack strategy key points is to assess your fellow players for experience , assess your hand for strengths.Like the song says "You've got to know when to fold'em"

America's Card room has Sit and Go Poker Tournaments every day. Apply your knowledge to the game of texas holdem poker and win big.To find the poker tournaments , download the software to your cmputer,find where it is on your computer ie. in a folder called downloads or documents. Click it and it will install itself.Register and find the tournaments tab at the top of page. Click it and you will the types of tournaments available.Click and register and you're in.

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Sit and Go Poker Tournament Strategy in a Nine handed Ring Game

In a Sit and Go ring game with nine players , the most important period is when there are four players left.Three of the four will make money.If you made it this far in the poker tournament why not go all the way?

There are some strategies for the Sit and Go tournament . They vary per how many chips the player has and other factors.

The first play winner get 50% of the pot , second 30% and third place 20%.You've taken your small stakes and increased them to this table.Simply put you never want to fold . You want to be in all the action.Take the chance and put your chips on the table with each raise.The goal is to finish in the top three and it's an all out focus at this point in the game. Every which way including Loose!!

After that you can rest , either three ways in the final table you'll get some money.There will be more strategy for Texas Holdem Poker Sit and Go's

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Online Poker Freeroll Tournaments at America's Card Room

Every Saturday America's Card Room has cool casino comp for new depositors. You get 100% deposit bonus and also get a free seat in the weekly $250 new depositor freeroll.Deposit and sign up between Sunday and Thursday for that week's Freeroll Tournament and between Friday and Saturday for the next week's Freeroll Tournamnent.

In this Freeroll , you're not only playing for a share of $250 but also buy-ins for larger events.

To join the Freerolls , you have to download the software . It wll read americascardroom.exe.Go the location where you have it downloaded . It may be downloads or documents in your computer and click americascardroom.exe. The application will install itself.You need to create a username and password and fill in your personal details.

When you get to the main screen with a menu of everything , click tournaments tab at the top of the screen. It might be hard to see read because its off white color but if you click it a new screen will popup.You will find the types of tournaments available including Guaranteed , Live Events and Freerolls. Click Freerolls tab will give a list of the Freerolls available as well as types of poker No limit holdem , Pot limit , Omaha.On that page you will also find the register link as well at the bottom right of the screen. Click the link to sign up and start playing.

Every day there's a Freeroll but the $250 New Depositor Freeroll is only on Saturday's.America's Card Room also has a Freeroll each day for the Punta Cana Classic this year will take place in Peru.

The New Depositor Freeroll poker tournament is each Saturday at 12:05 Est. and your starting chips are a total of 1400 chips.

Join America's Card room here or the link above

Carbon Poker is Adding More Poker Tournaments to its Weekly Tournament Schedule

The past several months have seen Carbon Poker work hard to improve their tournament lineup. This is really apparent when you look at the fact that they’re now offering a $150,000 Guaranteed Poker Tournament every Sunday. The $150k is one of the biggest weekly poker games tournaments in the industry, so it’s definitely worth looking at closely.

Getting to the main point, Carbon has added some more impressive events to their tournament schedule. Dubbed the “7 Weekly,” these tourneys give players a chance to compete for major prize money every night in a variety of different events. That said, here’s a quick look at the 7 Weekly schedule :

Monday @ 19:00 – $15,000 Guaranteed No Limit Holdem Freezeout tournament, $60 buy-in

Tuesday at 19:00 – $15,000 Guaranteed No Limit Hold’em Heads-up, $109 buy-in

Wednesday at 19:00 – $25,000 Guaranteed “Midweek Monster” No Limit Hold’em, $60 buy-in

Thursday at 19:00 – $15,000 Guaranteed “Thursday Pot Limit Omaha”, $109 buy-in

Friday at 18:00 – $15,000 Guaranteed No Limit Holdem Short-handed tournament, $109 buy-in

Saturday at 18:00 – $15,000 Guaranteed No Limit Holdem Turbo tournament, $109 buy-in

Sunday at 16:00 – $20,000 Guaranteed HORSE tournament, $215 buy-in

If the buy-ins for these poker tournaments are a little out of your range, don’t forget that there are plenty of satellites running for each event. To play in these satellites, make sure to sign up at Carbon Poker – which puts you in line for a 100% Carbon Poker Bonus up to $600 – then visit the lobby. Once here, go to the Tournaments and Satellites tabs, which will bring up the full list of satellites.

No matter whether you’re an Omaha specialist or just somebody looking to work on heads-up play, you should find a 7 Weekly tournament that suits your tastes. More importantly, you’ll find a ton of money available in these events, which could give your bankroll a major boost!

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Sit and Go Poker Tournaments

A Sit and Go Poker Tournament is also called a Sit n Go or Sit & Gos , is tournament that starts when the required amount of players are at a table. The amount of players vary from casino to casino . At America's card room for example , a Sit n Go requires two people and the table goes up to twelve at one table.Other online casinos , require nine players , each casino has its own requirement.

First you have to download the free poker software, register to play by looking in the casino lobby and checking out tournaments. You will find the types of Sit n Gos and the card game being played.Most of the tourneys are No Limit Holdem Poker but you will find Omaha , Lowball tourneys , HORSE and more .Every thing is a series of click throughs to get to where you want.

Some Sit n Go strategy is to be patient. The experienced players can make out well here since Sit n Gos tend to attract new comers who play many hands and creating a larger payday for the winner.This is especially true with small poker stakes tournaments. At America's Card Room and some other online casinos, Sit and Gos also have satellite tourneys where your win is a buy-in to a larger tournament.

Assess your hand carefully each round and if it looks good call and raise. Remember many of the fellow players aren't seasoned pros.To play at America's Card Room click the link at the top of the page.

Bad Beats in Texas Holdem Poker

Bad Beats are in short you should have but didn't win a game.

For example , a lower pair beating a higher pair. In the case of a pair of threes beating a pair of aces because on the draw a three comes up.Two aces is enough for anyone to feel confident about winning and bet big and a pair of threes isn't but in a Bad Beat this is what occurs.

I played no limit holdem poker and limped through with King and 10 of Diamonds.My opponent had two Queens.The board was Ace and nine of Diamonds , Jack of Spades and Eight of Hearts and Seven of Clubs.I won making a straight. But the opponent was confident his two Queens would win he was all-in.

The chances of this occurring is slim but they do occur and this what Bad Beats are about.Fortunately some online casino realize this and have Bad Beat Jackpots.

At America's Card Room you are entered in the Bad Beats Jackpot as a player when you play at a table marked BBJ , short for Bad Beat Jackpot.If a bad beat occurs on one of these tables and meets the requirements , then the jackpot is hit. One recent jackpot is featured below:

April 9, 2012 - It’s every poker player’s nightmare to lose a hand of Hold’em while holding quad 8′s. But for BingoTroy at Americas Cardroom, it was a dream come true. On April 8th, the online poker player popped Americas Cardroom’s Bad Beat Jackpot just one week away from the Liberty Quarter Million tournament on April 15, where $250,000 will be guaranteed in the largest online poker tournament available to US players.

It happened at a Low Stake No Limit Hold’em table in a faceoff against online poker player DoyleFlush, who won the hand with a straight flush. BingoTroy takes home $49,564.36, and the winner of the hand, DoyleFlush, left the table with a solid $33,039.57.

But it’s not just the recipient of the bad beat who walks away a winner when the jackpot hits. The winner of any Bad Beat Jackpot losing hand stands to win 20% of the jackpot, and those who participated in the dealt hand will share 10% of the jackpot (30% of every jackpot goes to reseed the next big one). Sharing in the 10% was Coin22, EZTILT67 and Sdgrinder who earned $5,508.24 each for participating in the hand. Americas Cardroom paid a total of $99,128.65 in Bad Beat Jackpot winnings this weekend.

Bad Beats are at least insurable to some extent .

Play at America's Card Room and don't forget to get a table marked BBJ

Texas Holdem Bonus Poker

Texas Holdem bonus poker is the game that most online casinos have as a download. It's a great way to learn the real game and become familiar with concepts of texas holdem poker such as the dealer button , blinds and rounds of betting - flop, turn river and so on.

This poker game is downloadable and can be played for free or real money.When I was learning Texas Holdem Poker , I found this invaluable to gain some mastery of the game. Of course there is so much more to Texas Holdem Poker with pros adding new topics every day it's a learning experience for everyone all the time. But this is great play to start.

To download Texas Holdem Poker click this link install to your computer and you're good to go and familiarize yourself with texas holdem poker.

How To Play A Big Draw in Limit Holdem Poker

Playing Limit Holdem Poker , you'll often find pots with multiple players angling the pot. Playing an aggressive game can make the difference.

For example, say that you're dealt K spades and 9 of spades on the button. Three players limp or hang in,before the betting gets to you, and you decide to limp as well. Both blinds call, so a total of six players see the flop of 3 of spades 7 of spades,Jack of clubs. This hand is a potential nut flush draw. A nut flush draw is a hand waiting a single card to make a flush.

On the flop, the small blind bets and three players call. The best action here is raising. Raising in this situation gives the pot and you better value. The pot is getting large and it's likely that all your opponents are going to call. Players who have nothing more than second pair or a gutshot straight draw may feel that their pot odds are favorable enough to justify calling the second bet. If your raise gets called by four people, you'll be getting a good deal.

This raising strategy also works well on the turn and river. By acting after the flop, there's a chance that the other players will check to you on the turn. This gives you the option of checking and taking a free card if you don't make your flush.

If you're the big blind you best action is to call not raise. Raising might force other players to fold . A bold blind player is confident about something right? The goal is to get a fat pot.This strategy also works for the small blind position as well.

Playing draws in Limit Holdem Poker is a great way to make money. But even with great hands winning is better with a large amount in the pot. Don't force others to fold because they think you are confident about winning.Keep fellow players contributing to the pot and getting a larger payday turning small poker stakes into larger poker stakes.

America's Card Room has Satellite Seats to the Latin Series of Poker Peru

San Jose, Costa Rica – May 25, 2012 - For those of you looking for a different flavor of poker tournament there is still time to qualify for this year's inaugural Latin Series of Poker Peru. The $500,000 Guaranteed No Limit Holdem poker tournament takes place in Lima Peru, from June 6th to 10th at the Atlantic City Casino.

This year is the first year that the LSOP will be making a stop in Peru. Organizers of the Latin Series of Poker decided to expand the tournament series after an overwhelming positive response to last year's Punta Cana Poker Classic. "We've realized that there is a huge demand for players wanting to explore countries in Latin America while playing in a world class environment." said spokesperson Michael Harris. "We're excited to be able to offer players a massive guarantee, exotic locale, and great value with the LSOP Peru stop."

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Players can now qualify via super satellite for as little as $7 to win their way to a dream poker vacation.

Here's what the $3,500 package includes:

$1,500+150 Main Event buy-in

Roundtrip airfare up to $800

5-night hotel accommodations in Lima, Peru

Airport-Hotel-Airport transportation in Lima

Breakfast at the hotel

WiFi Internet at the hotel

Welcome gift bag

Welcome Party

Recent satellites have seen sizable overlays so those who are still trying to qualify are facing shorter fields and better value for their entry fees

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Payout Structure in a Ring Poker Game vs. Tournament

Poker tournaments vary from ring poker games in that in a ring game your winnings are based on how long a player stays in the game.In a poker tournament , winning is based on how many chips the player finishes with.And folding in a ring game folding and keeping chips are equally important and more so in a poker tournament.

Payout Structure Differences

For example a $100 buy-in tournament with 100 players the first place is worth $4000 out of $10,000.All players have 100 chips with a total value of $100.In a ring game the winner will have $10,000 or 10,000 chips.In a poker tournament , the winner will have $4000 and the pyramid of winner comes in to place with subsquent winners getting a lesser amount.
Considerations are , when you are running low on chips or short stacked be careful with calls.

And if you have a big stack you can nearly bully short and medium stacked players.These players can't afford to risk the chips especially in no limit holdem games.And also the blinds and antes can be bullied as well.

Medium and Small Stacked Players

For medium and small stack players, you have to be more careful all around especially with raises and calls.It's rare to be dealt a royal flush so you don't want to push it unless you know your hand is solid.

The Final Table is where you continue the advice above - big stacked players should try to knock out smaller and medium stack players. Small and medium stack players be extra careful trying to turn small stakes in to larger stakes.In a poker tournament you get rewarded for lasting so long. In a ring game it's a heads up situation with the winner taking all.Still the game play is still the same.Texas holdem poker is a great game with lots of layers where you can come out ahead.

How To Play Poker For Beginners

Poker is a card game and for the most part follows these rules ;the highest hand wins unless playing low ball where the lowest hand wins.To keep it simple I'll write about how to play poker for beginners with highest hand winning. The highest hand is the Royal Flush . That is ace,king,queen,jack and ten of the same suit.That is the ultimate goal. To get there is the game of poker. The player is dealt cards for the most part , the player has to make a hand from five cards.Various games have various rounds with the last round the showdown where players find how their hands have faired. This is the game of poker in a nutshell.
There are variations : No Limit Holdem , Limit Holdem , Pot Limit Holdem and Omaha Poker , Seven Card Stud and more . They all follow this sequence but have variations.

Poker Tournaments are a Way to Win Big

Poker tournaments have exploded by way of the internet. Many of today's top poker winners got started by playing in online poker games.Satellite Seats are a way to enter a larger poker tournament. The winner gets a seat or buy-in to larger poker tourney event.Some players have started from freerolls and made it to major positions in the poker tourney world. Leron Washington , a boxer turned poker winner , did just that winning over $100,000 in the World Poker Tour.
Most online casinos have a variety of poker tournaments including Bounty, Sit n Go , time based , freerolls and more. Check the casino lobby of the online casino you're playing at to find out.Most of the tournaments offer no limit holdem poker but you will find other kinds of poker as well.Get right on with online poker and win big.

Texas Holdem Poker the Surge in Popularity of the Game

Texas Holdem Poker was a type of poker game invented in the early 1900's.It was brought to Las Vegas in the 60's by Doyle Brunson and Amarillo Slim among other poker players.For many years only the Golden Nugget Casino offered the game.
The first poker tournament came about after it was added as kicker to establish a gambling fraternity convention.Several games were offered much like today's WSOP.Brothers Jack and Benny Binion bought the rights to the convention and renamed it the World Series of Poker.With help of journalist word spread of the tournament and interest grew.
Doyle Brunson wrote a book Super/System.It's one of the first books on Texas Holdem Poker as a result.
During the 2000's the popularity of Texas Holdem Poker increased dramatically mostly for the cable tv series that covered the WSOP.Several other series and tv shows have added to the popularity of the game as well as the huge jackpots for prize winners.
In short , the popularity of Texas Holdem Poker was brought by media exposure and now the huge jackpots winners take home.The most recent WSOP the winner took home over $8,000,000.