Altameroy Blog

Newcomers to poker are prone to make some common mistakes. Players who make mistakes lose at poker, and seasoned players look for opportunities to prompt rookies into making mistakes. There are a lot of nuances and strategies to understand, so avoiding rookie errors will help you improve your game.

When you play poker online, follow these cautionary rules:

* Don’t bluff too much. Bluffing is a strategic tool that should used sparingly and only after careful consideration with a definite plan.

* Be patient. Newcomers to the game are often eager for lots of betting action so they play lots of hands. Adopt a disciplined attitude about waiting for good starting cards. Amateurs are usually nave about some of the more subtle nuances of online poker, so by sticking to good cards and sound poker principles, you will come out ahead more often.

* Don’t play in poker games you can’t afford. Stick to lower limit tables where you won’t be betting your whole bank roll in one session.

* Don’t drink alcohol or consume other intoxicating substances while playing. You need to be able to think clearly. Save the intoxicants for after the game when you may be in the mood for celebrating a winning session.

* Leaving a game once you make a small profit. If you are winning at a table, then stick with it. Just the fact that you are winning makes you an intimidating presence.

* Do not seek out tough opponents or games with seasoned veterans. Get all the practice you can at games you can win. Practice will prepare you for eventually taking on tougher opponents.

* Keep your ego in check. Lots of amateur poker players think they can win beat anyone because they have a few winning sessions under their belt. Ego interferes with decision making, so don’t let it drive your action at the poker table.

* Do not play too many hands. Learn the value of folding when a hand gets raised in front of you. A-J may look good as a starter, but what if the raiser has A-K. If you’re not invested in the pot, lay it down.

* Don’t play when you are on “tilt” - a state of fatigue, frustration and general bad mood. Take a break and leave the table.

* Set some limit as to how long you’ll play. Too many hours spent sitting at a poker table is not good for your mind or body, so recognize when to call it a day.

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An interesting report came out this week that stated British poker online players are spending less money playing online poker this year than in year’s past.

According to research firm Mintel Compremedia, after impressive growth of 72% between 2004 and 2007, last year the online poker market stagnated, in the U.K. with gross gaming yield valued at £265 million in 2008. What is more, in 2009, online poker is expected to decline by 7% to £247 million. Indeed, exclusive research from Mintel finds almost a third of players admit to having changed their poker habits as a result of the impact of the recession - playing the game less often or for smaller stakes. Average spend per year has fallen by almost 20% in the past 2 years, down from £345 in 2007 to £281 in 2009.

And while the online game has been hit, its effects have been much less than for the live game played in commercial venues like casinos, clubs and pubs. Player boredom has played a part in the decline in live poker, suggesting that site refreshment is needed as well as more innovation. By contrast, a real strength of the online poker world is the diversity of sites available, which allows players motivated by various forces to find a site or room that appeals to them.

All in all, some interesting findings.

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In online poker tournaments, aggressive play is the route to building a chip stack. Every hand you get, you should view through a framework of whether or not you should play it aggressively right away. There are a few questions you can ask yourself to clarify if the time is right for an aggressive play.

First, your position at the table is key. From late position you have more latitude for aggressive online poker play. You must also consider your opponents and whether there are any loose aggressive players behind you.

Even you are up against loose aggressive types, you are still going to have to seize some opportunities to be aggressive yourself. Here are a few things to think about:

* What range of hands does a raise represent here? If you have been playing tight, then your opponents will put you on a strong hand. If your play has been erratic and unpredictable, they won’t know what your are representing.

* What is the range of hands your opponent is likely to call with? Are you up against a rock or a loose player?

* If your hand gets called, what are the actual chances of it winning?

The first two questions helps you determine if you will get fold equity - the ability to make other players simply lay down their hands. If you think your fold equity is good based on what you have observed, then aggressive play could be correct. The third question makes you examine how well your hand is likely to play against a call. Then you can make a judgment about your fold equity vs. call probability from your opponent.

Give some thought to aggressive play and try to incorporate more of it into your poker online tournament play.

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Mike Caro on Favorites. Tip number one. A good winning poker player should make the game fun for his opponents. Ponder and roll this one around in your head. If I’m nice to you when you enter a pot with me, and I’m still nice after I take your money and tell you, “Aw man, you almost had me,” with sincerity, wouldn’t you be more likely to try to get me the next time with a weaker hand. As compared to this: You joker, you called me with a 2 outer, really, hahahahaha, you should just leave now. It’s obvious that by making it fun and seemingly a gamble for a weaker poker online player, you’re going to get that player to enter more pots with you with weaker hands, and will pay off in the long run. This is the wisdom of Caro and thus one of his favorite tips. Next is playing against bullies. One who raises more than is mathematically possible to have a good online poker hand. Caro’s favorite strategy: call them more often than you bet into them and suck out on them. Sure it sounds fish like and calling station-y, but it’s a profitable strategy against the bully simply because you’re exploiting his lack of knowledge of the maths of the game. Finally, picking a seat. Let the loose players and the aggressive good players sit to the right, and the tight players sit to the left. This way, you get to see the action of the loose and good, and exploit the tight from your position.

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Almost daily I meet a recreational bowler eager to approach this intricate sport with improved precision and consistency. If that’s your situation, this is important rebirth in growing as a true bowler. This “Next Steps” handbook to bowling can help get you there. Pros in a nearby bowling pro shop can help bowlers tap bowling skills. It’s no surprise, aim the balls at the pins and let them roll. That’s a joke. Fine, bowling is a simple game with not-so simple details. It’s all good, we can have you rolling down the right lane.

Most importantly, get a knowledgeable friend to help you purchase custom fit bowling balls, bowling ball bags, and shoes needed to do this right. You’ll notice a difference with your own stuff. It’s no joke, get your own ball fitted, and you’ll never go back. A well selected bowling ball can make a substantial improvement in your game. The same goes for sliding out your final step in quality bowling shoes that haven’t been worn out by a million people!

Since you already bought good bowling ball and shoes, now it’s time for the second best piece of bowling advice: aiming the ball. While you stand, try not to focus on the back of the lane. Line up using the points about 15 feet down the lane, like a sight on a firearm. Ever noticed them? It is easier to roll through a point a good deal nearer. To get the most out of your aim, it should be your habit to stand in the precise location 4 steps from the foul line with every roll. With that consistency you can fine-tune your aim using the arrows in the lane.

Do we have any tips for hooks, to get their desired pin action? That makes our next best piece of bowling advice. They get traction with the ball type. Most us who were bown to bowl travel with at least two bowling balls to pull off aggressive pin action, depending on where they are. However greenhorns should keep it simple, and avoid a ball that weighs a ton. A lot of serious bowlers roll bowling balls featuring reactive materials. However you should know these special-made balls can make even decent players look like they don’t know what they’re doing. And that does it for our first three bowling tips. A pro from our bowling shop will return next month.

~Edward Hundley

My family and I play for the recreational league made up of the operation at Bowling Pro Shop here in Kansas City. I chime in with guidance to aspiring bowlers on the web and at the lanes. Finally, I must say hi to all my heavy rollers heading into tournament play. Best of luck.

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A new, first-time champion bracelet winner emerged at the 2009 WSOP Seven-Card Stud event. Freddie Ellis, a 74-year old real estate broker from Brooklyn, NY took the honors. Ellis was born in Miami, FL and moved to NYC to become professional singer. He did appear in many popular nightclubs and actually recorded some records on the Decca label. Once he married, he stopped touring and turned his attention to real estate, where he made a fortune. Ellis became a regular weekend online poker player in Atlantic City, his favorite game being the $600-1,200 cash limit “Mixed Game” at the Borgata, instead of playing at the casino online. The buy-in was $10,000 and drew 142 entrants, with a prize pool total of $1,134,800. The final table took a grueling 13 hours to complete before Ellis was the last player standing. There were three former WSOP bracelet winners at the table, Max Pescatori, Hasan Habib, and Jeffrey Lisandro. It was his first WSOP entry ever and he took home $373,751 in addition to the bracelet. Ellis outplayed several well-known online poker pros, including Daniel Negreanu. The runner-up was Eric Drache from Las Vegas, who is an acknowledged expert in seven-card stud and was in the hunt for his first bracelet. The two finalists played heads-up for more than four hours. The match drew lots of onlookers, with many famous poker celebrities stopping by to check out the action.

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There are many weeks in the year, the weeks usually have work from Monday through Friday and then the weekends are time off. We have our immediate family close to us and we spend the majority of our time during the weekends with them. There is also our family that is not right there with us each weekend and we see them mostly on holidays.
There is a way to keep close with some of the non-immediate family members that is not on the holidays, and it gives time to talk and keep close.

Mom and her daughters can meet up two times per year at a place where there is all kinds of fun things to do. It is a place where there is shopping, a place to exercise and see the beautiful scenery, and many places to eat. This time is spent laughing and having fun, time away from stress. Don’t forget to take along the Acceletrim product so it can assist with the exercise and help you eat less of those tempting foods. Mom and daughters can keep their relationship very strong with doing this get away just two times per year. It can help everyone feel better and appreciate life as much as possible. Everyone can benefit with improved health because of the relationship benefit and the exercise benefit, both are great.

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In Limit Hold ‘Em poker , a lot of the rules that you’ve come to know and love in no limit poker online go out the window. The limited betting structure changes the values of your hole cards and makes a lot of hands that you would normally fold pre-flop start to look pretty good. In a $5-$10 limit game, it will cost you $5 to see the flop, and depending on the table that you are sitting at, usually no more that $10. That means that you can be pretty certain that you won’t be face with losing half your stack before you even see the flop. With the cheaper flops, it makes more sense to chase the longer shots, like a low pocket pair or a King-3 suited. Depending on how your poker opponents act and your position, may start to find a lot of hands to be playable in limit hold em. At a 3-6 limit game, I got dealt a 4-5 of diamonds. In no limit, I would have folded in disgust, but I was in the dealer position and I knew that the blinds wouldn’t raise me, so I called and prayed to hit the flop. It came out Ace-2-3 of diamonds.

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When you sit down to a poker game, I bet you think more about what’s in the pot at the casino than what you hold in your hand. Playing cards tend to be the ignored heroes of poker- after all; you do need them to play. Those little pieces of plastic, paper, and pasteboard make the whole poker world possible. So here it is: homage to the playing card.

Most modern playing cards are made of multiple layers of paper that is glued together in an industrial process. By gluing layers and layers of paper together, the end result is much stronger than just using a thick paper. The glue adds stability so that the card won’t wear down easily. Paper cards are the least durable of all playing cards.

A step up from paper cards is cards made out of semi synthetic polymers. These are basically forms of plastic that are extruded in thin sheets. The sheets are then glued together in a process similar to the one used for paper cards. Plastic cards like this tend to last much longer than paper cards. They are the kind of card used when a deck is expected to see a lot of play, like in a tournament. They also have a bigger price tag to go with their larger life span.

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Halloween season is upon us and no Halloween party is complete without amazing cocktails. But it’s Halloween and if the party guests will be donning costumes, the cocktails should as well! Check out these easy Halloween cocktail recipes. They’re simple to whip up and serve and only require a few ingredients. These great recipes can be used for parties, small gatherings, Halloween party games, etc.

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