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Drudge Report Mentions Poker
28 Aug 2008 at 3:34am
The Drudge Report is an online report published by Matt Drudge, a former conservative radio talk show host, that has been responsible for breaking a great number of important stories in the United States, such as the affair between former President Bill Clinton and his intern Monica Lewinski, and now Drudge has pulled poker onto his platform. On the Drudge Report a link to a People Magazine article about actor Ben Affleck playing in a charity event was posted. The event was the same time as the Democratic National Convention (DNC) and was held in Denver, Colorado.

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Republican Party Backs Off Online Poker Attacks
28 Aug 2008 at 3:12am
The grassroots organization known as the Poker Players Alliance has led a coup against the Republican Party in the United States, getting their members to flood the party websites with requests to remove wording in their legislation that attacks online poker. Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina was one who spoke out about the decision of the political party to remove the wording in their platform that called for flat out bans on online gambling, saying it should help to add to their party more than if they left the words in.

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Italians Love Their Online Poker
28 Aug 2008 at 2:40am
According to a recent report nicely timed to coincide with a vote regarding online gambling by the Italian Parliament, the average Italian spends some 600 euros every year playing online poker. The report was put out by the Consumers Defense and Orientation Association which determined that at the established rate this meant that as a country Italy spends around 350 million euros on online poker each year. Poker has been booming in the country for years, but with the great showing of online sensation Dario Minieri at the last two World Series of Poker events it has grown all the more.

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Poker Charity Event for Paralyzed Vets
27 Aug 2008 at 3:29am
Comedians attended a charity Celebrity event at Coors Field yesterday called “Poker at the Ballpark”, an event hosted by the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) as well as the Paralyzed Veterans of America. Actors Paul Rudd, Sarah Silverman and Seth Myers (who had taken a turn on the show Celebrity Poker Showdown) were in attendance, along with Ben Affleck. Pro poker players such as Erik Seidel, Barry Greenstein and Andy Bloch also joined in to help raise money, with all proceeds going to the Paralyzed Veterans of America…

Doyle Brunson Signing Books at APT Macau
27 Aug 2008 at 3:19am
When the Asian Poker Tour first got underway last year its organizers were hoping to draw a big group of poker pros to get the word out, and this year it looks like they got their wish. Not only has Doyle Brunson showed up (along with fellow pro and son Todd Brunson) to play in the event, he is holding a book signing session for all his fans. He may also play in a special Celebrity Poker Challenge event hosted by former World Series of Poker tournament director Matt Savage.

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Doc Holiday giveaway in poker tournament
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WSOP Academy and Los Angeles
27 Aug 2008 at 2:40am
The World Series of Poker Academy is coming to LA with a host of top notch poker instructors, giving the players of Los Angeles a chance to learn from the pros. Coming September sixth and running through the next day, the WSOP Academy will feature instructors such as Annie Duke and Kenny Tran, both World Series of Poker bracelet holders, as well as former FBI profiler and poker tells expert Joe Navarro. At the end of the first day of training a private poker tourney will be held to test players’ skills, with a huge prize up for grabs - a $5,000 seat to a WSOP Circuit event.

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Doc Holiday Giveaway in Poker Tournament
26 Aug 2008 at 3:06am
The upcoming Labor Day weekend poker tournament will be offering a very unique and special prize to the eventual winner, something to commemorate another winner at poker and a legend besides - an expensive print of Doc Holiday. The former dentist turned gambler and pal of Wyatt Earp, who turned from dentistry to gambling after contracting tuberculosis, was born John Henry Holliday, but picked up his nickname from his profession, and has been immortalized in films such as “Tombstone”. Prints of the famous pose of Holiday holding dental extractors - the only such image of him from his days in dentistry, typically go for thousands of dollars.

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Attendance Dips for World Poker Tour Legends of Poker
26 Aug 2008 at 2:56am
While the poker boom’s continued existence has been a matter of debate in some quarters, in some ways things are going exceptionally well for the poker industry; but the attendance at the main event of the 2008 World Poker Tour Legends of Poker isn’t one of them. Last year 485 players paid the $10,000 buy-in to play, but this year there were only 373 entrants. Of course the players who made it are not likely thinking about the economy, as long as they make it into the money, and the winner is going to get a huge payday of $1.1 million.

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Poker Run for a Cure
26 Aug 2008 at 2:48am
Boaters and poker players alike were running on water on Sunday’s Leukemia Cup Series, the annual aquatic poker run to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s National Capital Area Chapter. In this event boaters traveled to various spots via boat to pull together the best poker hand, collecting playing cards. In addition to the chance to earn prizes, participants enjoyed a BBQ hostd by the Old Dominion Boat Club…

Swimming Superstar Offered Poker Seat
25 Aug 2008 at 2:52am
The story about Michael Phelps, the hotshot US swimmer that ended the 2008 Olympics with more Golds than any athlete in history, had just gotten out regarding his interest in playing the World Series of Poker and already he is being offered a seat in another poker tournament. This time it is for the Asian Poker Tour in Macau, with the APT offering the seat to Phelps. The APT already has a number of legends ready to play, including Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson and his son Tod Brunson…

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The online poker rooms, such as Full Tilt Poker, find ways of scamming players. I recently made a deposit at Full Tilt and after winning a couple of tournaments, I wanted to make a withdrawal. They make you jump through so many hoops that it takes forever to get your money back. The deposit process in instant but in order to get your money you have to fax or email them your drivers license and proof of your address i.e. phone bill and in 15 business days (3 weeks) you might get a check.

No wonder the U.S. Congress wanted to outlaw these sites!

One of the fascinating aspects of playing online Texas Holdem is that you can apply psychological principles called “tells” to determine the subconscious intentions of other players.

Two of the more common tells are:

1. The speed at which the player is making decisions
2. Changes in conversation, including the rate of speech, the quantity of speech, and the words utilized.

People who are excited tend to move faster than those who are dis-interested or in-decisive. People engaging in mental processing of their situation (such as calculating the odds of their hand, contemplating how much money they have already lost, or who are unsure of their abilities) typically slow down. If you watch any of the televised Poker Tournaments you will notice that competent and confident players more or less take action at the same rate of speed regardless of their hand, unless they specifically are engaging in a bluff or distraction technique.

Conversation is another example of speed with some additional considerations. Of course when someone suddenly either becomes talkative or becomes silent it is an indication of some change in mental processing. Other conversation tells include the use of profanity or other words which are expressing internalized stress or anger, and/or words which describe their losses (especially if they repeatedly discuss how they don’t care about the money).

Tells are an intricate and I have only briefly touched on two areas. Like all other poker skills, tells take practice to utilize effectively as a part of your strategy. Until the next posting, good luck and good winnings!
Jim Floyd, M.Ed.

Hello Everyone!

I would like to introduce to a new website “Where To Play Holdem”.

I have looked around the internet for sometime to find a website that you could go to and find Holdem Tournaments in my local area and could not find any, so I decided to start one myself and here it is.

I encourage everyone to register and list your local tournaments, I believe it will help your favorite tournament site to grow by letting others know about it.

If you have any comments about the site or additions you would like to see please shoot me an email and I will see what I can do.

Thanks for viewing,

Steve