The best starting hands in Texas holdem poker – Part 5

I’ve been playing poker for about 5 years now and I can safely say that AA is not the best starting hand in Texas Hold’em. Statistically it is certainly the best. I always keep my position at the poker table of utmost importance. This is key especially in no-limit play.

For example: Let’s say your dealt AA under the gun and you raise 4 times the big blind and everybody around the table calls your raise. Yes, you may be thinking right now, “I’m sitting at a table with a bunch of donkeys!” You are correct my friend. The more frustrating fact is that the table has been extremely tight the entire evening! Anyways, your AA is now the worst starting hand in Texas Hold’em. You want your AA to be up against one or two opponents, not the whole damn table!

Now, if you were in late position with this starting hand, now you have the power to come over the top of the donkeys and more than likely win the pot.

In my opinion, the best starting hands are by far suited connectors and semi connectors. These hands can bust so many people that it’s not funny. I know most people start with pairs and two high cards. So when I play suited connectors, say a 6-7h and the flop comes 7, 5, 2 rainbow. You better believe I will be playing aggressively as you should when you enter any pot.

Commentary: How the news industry sold integrity to pander for profits

Journalistic Dumpster Diving

Heralded as a perfectly acceptable alternative lifestyle by MSNBC, a series of articles by staff writer Allison Linn has angered and infuriated many advocates for the poor across the land. The articles, hawked as a ’special report’, include the disgusting notion that it’s perfectly acceptable in these days of hard times, to go ‘dumpster diving’ or foraging through garbage cans for the essentials one needs in life, including food.

Written in a writing style that tries to be cute in the way the people that were followed tell their stories, the series chronicles the adventures of a group of people who describe themselves as ‘freegans’, people who choose to go through other people’s garbage, in an attempt to avoid what they call rampant American consumerism.

No viewpoints were given throughout of doctors or other professionals, such as mental health, as to the dangers of eating food that has been mixed in with other garbage. Foods such as produce, fish, bacon, or open bags of rice were among some of the things touted as being edible by the articles. Universal in thinking, the American Medical Association says this practice is like playing Russian Roulette due to the chances of eating tainted, rotten food. Or that bringing home clothing found in the garbage can be the harbinger of all types of unwanted pests and diseases. And how about all of those little sharp things, like, oh say, discarded needles that you can poke yourself with?

Also not mentioned are the laws in some states and cities against dumpster diving. Due to the rash of medical and bank records that were being used by some unscrupulous divers for identity theft purposes, there are many locales that have strict anti-garbage picking laws. One extreme case would be the city of Las Vegas, where not only is dumpster diving a crime, but helping a homeless person in public is a crime punishable by fines and/or prison time.

Getting back to the articles themselves, it is pointed out that many of these so called ‘freegans’ aren’t poor and actually have no need to do what they are doing. In the days of old, these people would have been called mentally ill, not held up in esteem as an example that others should follow. Because this series doesn’t just tell the story of a group of sad individuals who have opted out of society in favor of a dangerous and gross lifestyle, but goes on to show the ins and outs of how you too can be a dumpster diver, as though this were some

Poker Tips: Multi Tabling for a Rake Race

There are a lot of excellent Rake Race promotions running at top online poker sites at the moment such as the Ultimate Rake Race at LTDPoker where online poker players compete in a leader board format based on the amount of rake they earn at selected online poker rooms.

Well there is also a lot of poker strategy tips out there so I thought hey why not give the average poker player some help on how to achieve success in a rake race.

This is the Second part of my “How to Win a Rake Race” article found at LTDPoker and this section covers poker tips on Multi Tabling techniques.

My first poker tip is not to mix games. Keep it to the same type of game such as Texas Hold’em or Omaha, or at least keep the same betting structure (No Limit/Pot Limit/Fixed Limit etc.) If you mix your games you have introduced an element of complication by choosing to play on several tables at once. Don’t make it more complicated by playing games with radically different betting strategies. Mistakes are too costly as you may lose an important hand simply because in a moment of lost concentration you have made the wrong decision.

My second poker tip when Multi Tabling is to get yourself an onscreen display. If you’re multi-tabling you’re bound to miss some of the plays at one table while you are focused on another. Software will enable you to review your opponent’s play much more efficiently. There is some excellent software like pokertracker that monitors your online play, as well as the play of your opponents. This is very helpful as it is watching the tables even when you are not.

Here comes poker tip number three. Invest in a good monitor – Get a 21” high resolution screen supporting 1600×1200 resolution. If you play more than 6 tables, consider getting a second monitor. Most poker sites now support table resizing, but you’ll still want to be able to see chip counts and the cards in crisp detail.

Be honest with your ability – Multi-tabling is a great option for players looking to increase their hourly earn rate, to become more competitive in a rake race, or to focus their poker skills. Not every poker player can multi-table, however. It takes some skill and experience. It is recommended that you ease yourself in by playing 2 tables at first, and then increase the number of tables as you become more comfortable with playing at numerous tables.

Beware of burnout – Poker is fun and a good way to earn money. The LTD Poker Rake Race is another great way to have fun while growing your bankroll. Just be careful not to become too fatigued as you play. If you’re forcing yourself to cram in hands and hours, it’s probably time to step away and re-evaluate your poker goals.

My biggest poker tip, actually more of a commandment is to concentrate on playing poker. Seems obvious but if you’re one-tabling you can probably read e-mails or poker articles or participate in a poker forum discussion group. But when you’re multi-tabling do not let yourself get distracted by these things. Turn the chat off as you need to be able to focus, and chat becomes an unnecessary distraction. Turn it off or use the feature that enables you to view something useful like stats or player notes.

I hope you have found these useful of course one of the main advantages of playing multi tables in online poker rooms is that you not only build your rake faster but you also increase your poker skills. Doyle Brunson recently remarked that the average online poker player plays more hands in a month with multi tabling than he used to play in a year. This is probably why the poker community is producing younger big prize winners than ever before.

For more Poker strategy on winning Rake Race Challenges check out online poker community sites such as LTDPoker.com or LivetheDreamPoker.com both have excellent poker strategy guides.

Hollywood actor biography: Don Cheadle

Don Cheadle has been acting steadily on the big screen since 1984. The award-winning, forty-something Don Cheadle has garnered most of his critical acclaim and fan following for his roles in more recent films, most notably the Oceans trilogy (Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Twelve, and Ocean’s Thirteen), as well as Hotel Rwanda, Crash, and Reign Over Me.

Don Cheadle was born on November 29, 1964, in Kansas City, Missouri, and after graduating from the California Institute of the Arts, started off in show business as a dancer. His first breakthrough role on film was Rocket in Colors, in which Sean Penn and Robert Duvall also starred, in 1988. Cheadle also made his name known in television with a hit role as a district attorney, John Littleton, on the series Picket Fences from 1993 to 1995.

Cheadle never worries about making good films. The ‘Hotel Rwanda’ actor doesn’t “waste time” thinking about how his films will turn out, he just focuses on getting his part right.

Don said: “When doing anything, any film, I try not to waste brain power on what the eventual thing is going to be like. Yes, you think this is a very good film – but, when making it, the only thing you have any control over is what you bring to your own character. Once the editing starts, that is all you can do.”

The ‘Ocean’s Thirteen’ star insists he is pleased with nearly all the films he has appeared in.

Don – who has starred in a host of hit films, including ‘Traffic’, ‘Swordfish’, and ‘Rush Hour 2′ – said: “I’ve been fortunate not to have been that disappointed with the end result most of the time. There are many films I passed on and when I finally saw them, ‘Well, there but for the grace of God.’ ”

Cheadle followed that up with prominent roles in the films The Family Man in 2000, with Nicholas Cage and Tea Leoni; Swordfish in 2001, alongside Hugh Jackman, John Travolta, and Halle Berry; and Ocean’s Eleven also in 2001, co-starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, and Julia Roberts. Ocean’s Eleven played the main hand in propelling Cheadle him into stardom.

The year 2004 was a big one for Don Cheadle, when he landed leading roles in the films Crash, with Sandra Bullock, Tony Danza, Matt Dillon, and Jennifer Esposito; Hotel Rwanda; After the Sunset, co-starring Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek, and Woody Harrelson; and Ocean’s Twelve. In fact, Cheadle earned a coveted nomination for a Best Actor Academy Award for playing the lead character Paul Rusesabagina in Hotel Rwanda, and Crash won an Academy Award for Best Picture in 2005.

More recently, Cheadle starred as Alan Johnson in the critically acclaimed film Reign Over Me in 2007, in which Adam Sandler, Jada Pinkett Smith, Liv Tyler, and Donald Sutherland also starred. The film features Sandler as a grieving man who lost his family in the September 11, 2001, attacks and runs into his old college roommate, whom Cheadle plays. Rekindling the friendship is the one thing that appears able to help the man recover from his grief.

Cheadle is also active in promoting the NFL (National Football League), starring and appearing in a number of NFL commercials; is considered an expert player in both Go as well as poker (he’s participated in pro poker tournaments, most recently defeating Phil Ivey and getting knocked out by Scott Fischman); and is also co-authoring Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond with John Prendergast.

Romantically, Cheadle is involved with actress Bridgid Coulter, with whom he has two daughters, Imani and Ayana

The best starting hands in Texas holdem poker – Part 6

Accepting the idea of a best hold’em starting hand is a player’s first step towards failure! Granted, you cannot do better than pocket aces to start off the hand but get rid of the concept of “best” or you will lose money in the long run and the long run is where you should always have your focus!

Wired aces, kings or queens are GOOD hands to start off with but they can quickly turn into worthless rags. Your position, chip count and the intensity of action before you are all indicators that must be considered before you assess the true value of your “best hand.” The game format is also a critical element for consideration. Are you playing in a live game or in a tournament? Your pre-flop playing of the hand will also contribute to the likely value of the hand as well.

Pocket aces is the highest ranked starting hand possible in hold’em poker. This is no guarantee that they are going to win each and every time you catch them. In fact, I have even folded pocket aces before the flop based on my assessment of the indicators described previously. I was playing an online tournament that started with 800 players and we were down to the last 44 players. The tournament paid down to 40th place so I needed another 4 players to bust out to make the cash. My chip count was healthy and I was assured a payout if I could just avoid any train wrecks.

Having prime table position on the button I am dealt pocket aces. With the blinds already posted there are seven players to act before me. I anticipated making a large raise and picking up the ante and blinds. To my delight the first player to act moves all in so now I stand a good chance of busting another player. The value of my hand quickly diminishes when a second player calls and a third then moves in over the top.

So now I am faced with one player all-in, a second player that called the all-in for two thirds of his chips and a third player that moved all-in over the top. Everyone else folds around to me. Heads up my aces are favored to win but in a hand with 3 other players committed to the hand I know there is a high probability that one of their hands will run my aces down by the river. My long run goal is to make it to the pay window so I fold.

As hard as it was, the fold turned out to be a smart move. The first all-in player was holding pocket jacks. The second player bet his future on suited Big Slick (A/K) and the third player made a loose play with A, Q suited in hearts. Once the hands were turned over I quickly noted the remaining two aces were gone and my hand would have had little chance of improving. The flop brought a third jack for player one but brought two hearts for player 3. The river delivered another heart making the lowest starting hand in this instance a winner.

Had I stuck with the idea that my aces were “the best” my chip stack would have been seriously depleted and a slim chance of making the pay. As it was I went on to finish a respectable 4th place and collected a tidy sum.

So, the moral is NEVER allow the term “Best Hand” to enter your mind until all the cards have been dealt and you are holding the Royal Flush!

Player Profile: Paul Darden

After an inauspicious adolescence, Paul “The Truth” Darden, Jr. has come a long way. Born October 27, 1968 in New Haven, Connecticut and raised in a ghetto, in his teen years he hung out with thieves and drug dealers. In fact, at the tender age of 15, Darden was accused of murder but was lucky enough to be acquitted due to mistaken identity.

As a high school dropout, there were not many career options open to him and he says that the game of Poker helped him turn his life around. Darden states that one of his goals is to bring poker to the African American community and commented in one of his interviews “There is going to be salt and pepper all over the casinos when they see me win a big event.”

Paul Darden began playing and winning at the local Foxwoods Casino as well as in the Stud Games at Atlantic City where they were very popular. He tells us that his father had a small poker club many years ago and taught Paul to play.

A positive event in his life was meeting up with Phil Ivey who became his friend and mentor. Although Paul’s favorite games were Five Card and Seven Card Stud, Phil encouraged him to branch out into other games, especially Texas Hold’em No Limit – due to his aggressive style of playing.

Paul has learned to be patient when playing and has become a master at reading “tells”– the movement and body language of other players. Different players react in different ways when playing a winning or losing hand and learning to recognize these actions is very helpful to his game.

Paul also has one World Series of Poker bracelet. As of this writing, his total live tournament winnings are in excess of $1,700,000.

Paul is married to Vicky and they have one child. He also has three children from different relationships. One of his important goals is to provide for his family so that his children will have a better life than he did while growing up.

He appears to be on a winning streak in Poker as well as in his life and we wish him well.

Aruba 2006 Poker

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It’s guaranteed to be the hottest poker event south of Vegas!

Make sure you can win your way to Aruba with UltimateBet’s $10,000 prize package that includes the $5,200 entry plus air fare and hotel accommodations for two!

-> UltimateBet’s weekly $200,000 Guaranteed Sunday tournament paid out $202,400 in cash after the most recent event! Make sure you get in on the action every Sunday at 5pm EST, with the chance to win buy-ins for as little as $5.50, or get your buy-in back if they knock out one of the listed pros!

Ecobika pokertips: as good as it looks.

Best poker rooms in Las Vegas – Part 5

I am content playing cards in a smoke filled garage with a few of my biddies. However, I realize there are some of us out there that are yearning for something a bit more. Something with a little glitz and glam, and maybe even a few cocktail waitresses. A trip to Vegas can satisfy these whims and more. There are many excellent poker rooms scattered throughout Vegas, but there is one that stands out above the rest- The Bellagio Poker Room. Everything from the decor and furniture to the staff employed by the Bellagio is superior quality. The Bellagio poker room is a smoke free, sophisticated yet laid back atmosphere that helps keep players comfortable while they continue to push chips into the middle of the table.

The Bellagio offers several types of poker such as Seven Card Stud, and Omaha, however Texas Hold ‘em appears at the majority of the tables at the Bellagio. Limit and No Limit Hold ‘em, for the deep pockets, are available. The minimum blinds for limit are $4/$8 while for no limit the minimum blinds begin at $2/$5. However, there are tables that feature blinds much higher, and if you can’t find one high enough there is always the “Big Game.”

Because of the prestige and atmosphere of the Bellagio, World Poker Tour stars such as Daniel Negreanu can often be found playing in the “Big Game,” with other high rolling poker sharks. The “Big Game” is actually open to the public – the public that can afford bringing one hundred thousand dollars to the table. The players in the “Big Game” play within a glass enclosure in the back of the room.

Just visiting this famous poker room would be a dream come true to many poker fans. However, if you do decide to play show up early. Because of the popularity of the room it is difficult to find an empty seat at a table. However, even if you find yourself waiting the attentive wait staff will not hesitate to serve you one of the excellent cocktails featured at the Bellagio. Once you do find a seat at a table, you will see that there is actually a mixture of poker newbies and experts playing together. Although the stakes are relatively high for the ordinary Joe, many new players jump in just for the experience, so don’t feel overly intimidated by the prestige of the room. However, if you find yourself sitting across from the likes of Daniel Negreanu, I would consider looking for a new seat.

Aside from the Bellagio there are several other top notch poker rooms scattered along the strip. I will close with a short list of other great poker locations.

- Caesar’s Palace

- The Wynn

- The Mirage

- The Venetian

- MGM Grand

- The Palms

Annie Duke – Professional Poker Player Review Series

Annie Duke is a very renowned name in the world of poker. Though Annie is often referred to as an author, she is popular as a Professional Poker Player. She is best known for having won two million US dollars in the inaugural World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions in September in the year of 2004. This page will let you know about the life and achievements of Annie Duke as a poker player.

Annie Duke was born on 13th September in the year of 1965 in Concord in New Hampshire. Her father, Richard Lederer was a linguist as well as a writer. He was also a teacher at St. Paul’s School. She has a brother and a sister, Howard Lederer and Katy Lederer respectively. Howard also happens to be a Professional Poker Player while Katy is a poet and also an author. Her best known work is Poker Face: A Girlhood Among Gamblers, a book about the Lederers.

She studied in Columbia University with double majors in Psychology and English. She came to be awarded with the NSF Fellowship that permitted her to attend classes in the graduate school under the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied psycholinguistics.

Annie Duke got married to Ben Duke who used to be a very close friend of hers during her university days. After their marriage, Annie moved to her husband’s house at Columbus in Montana. It was in the year of 1992 that she decided to give up her studies at school. From this period of time she took up poker as her professional career. The help and support of her brother gave her a real boost to grow more and more in the world of poker.

The fact that She had a true passion for the game of poker is clearly revealed from the steps that she took in her life. Putting an end to her student life, she started playing poker in the legal card rooms in Billings. When she had had enough of help and guide from her brother, she moved with her husband to Las Vegas with the purpose of taking poker as a full time profession.

Annie Duke has bagged a good number of awards in her professional career as a poker player. Her achievements that cannot be described a titles or awards, are also no less in number. In addition to winning two minion US dollars in the inaugural World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions in the year of 2004, she also has the credit of the maximum number of ‘in the money’ finishes at the WSOP in the year of 2008.

Annie secured the 88th place in the Main Event of the World Series of Poker in 2006. She also has the credit of winning a World Series of Poker Bracelet in Omaha HiLo. She has earned more than three million US dollars in the tournament play. Annie Duke has also found to be writing and speaking on subjects related to the game of poker. At present, Annie feels reluctant to take part in the women only poker tournaments stating that in this game, the women can equally compete with the men.

Full Tilt Poker Referral Code "pokerdeal14" Exclusive Bonus $600 Free

Full Tilt Poker was designed and launched in 2004, this virtual online poker room was developed with the input of knowledgeable and professional poker players, some of these poker masterminds which provided useful feedback for the creation of this great online poker room are: Jennifer Harman, Andy Block, Chris Ferguson, Phil Ivey, etc.

This game has been spit into two major web addresses, one has the .com TLD and the other a .net, the main difference between these two full tilt poker sites is that the dot net site is for players who want to play with fake money while learning each game and then the dot com domain is for those players who want to take the game to the next level, this site plays with real money.

This game is actually played using a downloadable application which players must install in their computers in order to have access to the poker rooms, the application is adware and spyware free and the security system utilized is very tight, the entire application uses proprietary systems to make sure gamers are secure throughout each poker session. The application has actually been tested across several operating systems such as Windows, Mac and even Linux, however users who have this last operating system need Wine (program compatibility app) to make the poker application work.

Full Tilt Poker is one of the few poker gaming rooms that actually offers great sign up bonuses such as 100% credits after depositing money in your gaming account, these bonuses go as high as $600 which ensures players have a real shot at success while playing the many poker styles available and played in Full tilt. In order to be credited this amount after your initial deposit you need to make sure you enter the referral code “POKERDEAL14″ otherwise your deposit will not be doubled. Some of the card games played are: H.O.R.S.E., Texas and Omaha HA, Omaha High and Hi-Lo, Texas hold’em, Stud Hi-Lo, etc. all of these games are usually referred to as Ring games.

This card game attracts people with different expertise levels, peak hours and tracking systems report as many as 100K players logged in at the same time, so it is impossible to classify one specific group within the room.

Tournaments:

There are many tournaments played throughout the day but for the most part each tournament includes the participation of one of the Full Tilt professionals. Some tournament examples include: Freeroll and Sit-and-Go. Freeroll tournaments are quite common, however Sit-and-Go tournaments can be set among one, two, five, ten and even twenty tables; the tables are organized to sit a maximum of nine players.

These tournaments are usually top of the line since they include daily qualifiers and even satellites to the world’s largest card playing events such as the World Poker Tour, WSOP, the Irish open, etc.

Anyway you see it, Full Tilt Poker is one amazing, secure and top of the line room which has a large base of recurring players from all parts of the world as well as expertise levels you can leverage from.

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