Day 117 ... UltimateBet $ 23.83

I really like UB site and in fairness I'm playing so badly at the moment it comes as no suprise that I've managed to blow the remains of my $44 dollar deposit today - True I don't quite feel at home on the site like I do at PokerRoom but desperation and distraction are the enemy of all poker players me included.

$10 NL CASH 0.1-0.25 ... $0.00 ... - $10.00

$5+0.5 NL SnG Full ... 8th ... -$5.50

I got a bit carried away with A8 when the flop came down AAJ made the right move all-in to try and protect my trips against a straight draw but inevitabily the other guy had more chips and could justify a call with KQ hitting the 10 on the 4th.

$ 5 NL CASH 0.1-0.25 ... $0.00 ... -$5
$ 3.78 CASH 0.05-o.1 ... $0.00 ... -$ 3.78

So there we have it a great example of how not to play and how not to get even close to clearing the points to get the deposit bonus ... Until I have got 4kingpoker setup how I want it and I'm just tied up with day to day maintenance and link building I am just going to stay away from playing poker. It's one thing to be sat there with a clear mind and a cup of tea - but another to be sat in front of 3 screens trying to do something poker related on all of them and expect to play a half decent game out of the corner of your eye - what a waste of $44 and it's not as if my PokerRoom account is good shape either.

At least I have the freerolls Im sorting for 4kingpoker to look forward to - We're entering up a team for the "Poker Forum Challenge" at Royal Vegas Poker and The 4kingpoker Tour will be having a new $100 freeroll at Titan Poker next month ... I've been working on the homepage to bring all the tournament info up to date and easy to find.

Day 117 ... $ 23.83 ... - 23.83 ... $0.00 ... (total -$44)


Poker Article of the Day ...
Poker Starting Hands - Playing AK Big Slick - by Scrawnybob

Ace King ... It's monster hand and you plan to get as much money out of everyone as you can.

Big Slick is called Big Slick for a reason. Yes its a monster drawing hand but it is a drawing hand all the same.

IF you hit either an Ace or a King on the flop then you've got yourself top pair with the best kicker. You might get lucky as is connected to get the nuts straight, if its suited you have got the table crippled if you draw that flush. It's worth noting A-K suited is 5th best starting hand but A-K off is 9th best.

But this is the thing - when you haven't seen any cards what have you got really ? An Ace high ... with a King kicker, just about any starting hand could beat it.

Top players know AK is a great drawing hand but they also know its can be a killer if it just doesn't work out. In the hands of a new player it has 4king bustout written all over it, quite simply they fall in love with it. Now here is the next problem with playing AK - OK it's a drawing hand so your thinking - don't play it too hard until you see the flop and then you can work out how your doing ... Wrong.

Limping in with Big Slick is going to make you a big underdog - It is an easily beaten hand if you let lots of players see the flop, that ragged looking board could have given any of them trips, two pair, straights - allsorts.
However AK doesnt fair so badly against a couple of player with other high cards. You have to play big slick hard before the flop if your playing it. Get rid of all the players with low pairs, big draws and junk - With a big prefop raise you can be fairly sure the one (ideally) or two players left only have something high or decent pairs. Then you have the added advantage - you made the raise and you took control ... again.

Dont make the mistake of trying to keep more people in to make a bigger pot for your "great hands" - thats how to make your own bad beats. With most of the players in to see the flop your as good as giving your chips away - Play it aggressively, raise pre-flop and then hold yourself back when you see the flop.

But DO NOT go all-in before the flop - remember you've got an Ace high nothing more.

In this situation the only hands that are really going to cause you concern are AA and KK - but if someone had that they'd have come right back at your big raise with an all-in before the flop. Chances are unless they hit trips with there good pair (see what they do) you can fire at them once you pair either the King or the Ace infact you should fire out a good size bet even if you dont - remember you've already as good as shouted at them "my hands is a winner".

Then see what they do - if they come back at you know they've got something, probably trips - then you need to slow down accept your beat and try to see the rest of the cards cheap. The chances are they will lay down just about most things that dont hit.

Now this all works well if you were easily able to take control of the table ie. you had good position to get a big raise in after you had seen what everyone else did but remember preflop this is - on the button and the two blinds. The worst postion to be trying to play AK from and indeed any other big hands like AA KK QQ is when your under the gun - this is the first seat after the blinds.

Why ? well your first to act before the flop and first to act after the flop. This seat is tricky especially if you dont hit an Ace or a King on the flop. Again the temptation is to flat call and see what happens ideally hoping someone else cuts the field down for you - thats risky - dont do it. Not only are you risking players limp in, your letting other players get control.

They will sense weakness and have position over you so you could very easily end up facing an all-in decision after re-raising a bet and someone coming back at you over the top all-in with a half decent pair. Then its become a tough decision with that Ace high of yours (lay it down). No by raising even in early position you will take control and narrow the field and against one, maybe two players you have a good chance to avoid AK becoming that Big
Slick.

Poker Articles, Poker Tips & Strategy for Online Poker and Texas Hold'em by Scrawnybob at http://www.4kingpoker.com

Day 116

No Play today ... plenty to do on 4kingpoker

Poker Article of the day ...
What Is Luck and What Is Skill in Poker? - by Gunnar Bengtsson

There seems to be quite a bit of confusion on what role luck and skill plays in poker. What is most important, luck or skill? This article will debate the subject by beginning to look at different peoples perspective. It will then enter into why the question is not as easy to answer as it may seem at first, moving on to the sensible answer and why this answer makes poker popular.

Many slanderers believe that poker is just about luck. That is not very strange. Poker has a history of a mysterious image and is intricately mixed with other casino games. Those with merely a faint interest in poker might stand by this belief even if they have played poker themselves, as they have not been introduced to the profoundness of the game. A concept such as poker professionals - which should be inconceivable unless skill is a part of poker - does not convince the disbelievers as such a profession instead is obscurely mingled up with images of swindlers and crocks.

Tiresome Poker Players' Perspective

The tiresome poker player is certain that both factors effect the game. Whenever the player wins a larger pot, skill was the lone contributor. Every loss is deducted as luck, or rather bad luck. It is easy to attribute all losses as bad luck or bad beats, easy on the ego that is. Especially if that ego is boosted from all prior winning decisions. Of course a player with this adamant faith will not be long lived at the poker tables unless the funds backing up this belief is unlimited.

Both Luck and Skill Are Factors

The poker player described above is right about one thing, poker does involve both luck and skill. It is hard to say in what proportions they come, it varies between different poker variants. Sometimes it is also tough to say what is what in a specific situation. The edge or the advantage a player has on another player in a particular hand may be small, not the least bit insignificant, but small. So when the underdog wins that hand, it was most certainly not an unlikely scenario. Still you can say that the underdog was lucky because in the long run, if that situation comes up many times, the underdog will lose in the end.

Why It Is Hard to Distinguish Them

Now if we say that a specific hand is only played once. Then it can be difficult to say if the win should be attributed to luck or if the winning hand did have the odds on its side. The number of factors that should be calculated and approximated are at times to difficult for that. Sometimes it is very straightforward to see what the right decision was, at other times it is all to easy to lure oneself into saying: "Oh my, I made a good play there" or "Oh my, that must have been unlucky", after a win and a loss respectively. Life is easier that way. After a winning session at the tables it can be difficult to answer: Was I playing well or did I get lucky? The better you know what you are doing, the easier it is to answer. Anyhow, one can certainly not rely on luck in poker.

Time Is the Divider

Luck and skill are both are both elements of poker. Skill can be relied upon. Good decisions can wind up losing, in fact they will lose a certain percentage of the time. The important thing is that if it indeed is a good decision, then the expected result is profitable. Let the same situation come up often enough and the good play will be the long run winner. Luck will not stand a chance. Give it some time and luck will not be factor. That is what separates luck and skill, time. Luck is going against the odds. Eventually math takes over. A bad beat or an unlucky session will not change that. That might disturb your peace of mind, but it will not eliminate the skill factor from poker.

The Complexity of Poker

That is poker. It actually adds to the fun. Most of the time professionals and serious students of the game will come out on top. But in what other game would someone who started six months ago stand a chance against the worlds top ranked players? Imagine that tennis or chess game! There is a nice balance between luck and skill in poker. Sure it is frustrating at times and there is no real substitute to skill but when was the last time someone said "good skill to you"?

Lars Bengtsson is the editor of www.reviewed-online-poker.com which features reviews of the top poker rooms, interesting poker articles and a comprehensive poker school.
This article is part of the poker school at Reviewed Online Poker.
EzineArticles.com

Day 115 ... Home Game results

Bit of a last minute affair playing this 4kingpoker home game - Lots of the lads had prior commitments but managed to get table of 4 sorted - Just happened to be the 4 players who are actually up on their money so this shorthanded game was bound to prove interesting.

Rimmer ... + 111
Scrawnybob ... +35

Crazylegs ... -28
Fatboy ... - 118

Interesting night Rimmer managed to get out of his square or 17 up routine - then he really did get dealt some cards right when someone else (generally fatboy) had made a decent hand. I stuggled up and down like a yoyo - lost couple of big pots against rimmer. And fatboy really suffered - had a cold and dont think he was playing his best - not sure the wine helped either, still in the overall scheme of things we are all still net winners so even with his bad night fatboy is doing well. As for Crazylegs well still getting hands when he needs them and if he had folded a couple of times I'm sure he would have gone home up instead of me.

Overall

scrawnybob +465pts
fatboy +224pts
crazylegs +202.50pts
rimmer +185pts

frazer -13pts
professor -154pts
the echo -168.50pts
hello ginger -222pts
haven -246pts
shrek -273pts

Poker article of the day ...
Playing Online Poker For A Living - By Oddvar Pettersen

Playing online poker for a living is absolutely doable, but it takes a combination of talent, dedication, patience, discipline and disposition to succeed.

You must study and constantly work on the weak parts of your game. Reading a book like "Texas Holdem for Advanced Players" once, will not be good enough. You will have to read it over and over, and you must truly consume, study and learn it. You must take the game seriously at all times, maintaining your focus and always continue to learn, even when you are away from the table.

Knowing where and at what times the the loosest middle and upper limit poker games are played are the number one secret for those that play professional poker online. Online poker professionals win most of their money from the weak players(fishes-suckers), so finding a table with two or three fishes on it, is extremely important if you want to succeed at this game. Tight and conservative poker tables are not profitable to play on, even for the professionals.

Finding the right table to play on will take some time and effort from your side, but will definately be worth it if you are serious of making a living playing this great and complex game.

There are some great benefits playing online poker for a living compare to live casino poker.

*No intimidation from other players.
*No waiting around for a table.
*You can play wearing your socks only.
*No travelling expences.
*You pay no tips to the dealer.
*The rake is much lower.

TO BE SUCCESSFUL AT ONLINE POKER YOU HAVE TO:

Constantly change your style of play. Don't be predictable in your betting patterns.
Keep reading and practicing the game as often as possible.
Playing interactive poker on a Turbo Software program combined with reading a great poker book like Hold'em for advanced players is the best way of improving your game."
Only play in poker rooms that has a few fishes at the table.
Only play with money you can afford to loose. Have a poker bankroll and keep a record of your wins and losses.
Always give the game 100% of your attention when you are sitting at the table.
Take some time away from the poker table if you have suffered more than three consecutive losses.
Win more by playing fewer hands. A bet saved is the same as a bet won. Play quality hands and fold the junk, and you will see your bank-roll increase.

Webmaster for TRUE POKER GUIDE A website providing information on rules and strategies for all poker games played at home, online and in casinos today.
Article Source:
EzineArticles.com

Day 114 ... PokerRoom $56.30

$5+0.50 NL SnG Full ... 3rd ... +$4.50
$5+0.50 NL SnG Full ... 9th ... -$5.50
$5+0.50 NL SnG Full ... 7rd ... -$5.50

Dreadful - OK so I go a place in the first game but generally I wasn't playing well at all.

I've got a home game on tonight round at a mates - hopefully picking up real cards will sort my game out but I really have to stop playing until I've got the site going well enough to cut down on the hours I'm putting into it - It has really messed my game up - I'm even thinking poker sites in my sleep now - can't be healthy.

Day 114 ... PokerRoom 56.30 -$6.50 total $ 49.80 (-$170.20)

Poker article of the day ...
Made Hands, Monsters to Mice - By John Porter

After the flop, much of the strength of your hand depends on the character of the flop. Obviously, if you start with a pair, and make trips, a full house or four of a kind, you have a big hand, these are the Monsters. What is not so obvious is how the strength of your hand changes when you hit a fair hand, but get a flop that may have helped one, or more, of your opponents.

In the rare situation where you have a monster, hope that someone either bets, or catches a card on the turn so they can call your bet. You have an almost unbeatable hand, and the other players are going to be scared off by the flop. Your goal in this situation should be to keep as many players around as possible, and to get as much money in the pot as possible.

With your biggest hands, you may want to slow play and entice someone else into betting. But, in those rare cases when you have the best hand and other players are betting and raising, join in and help to build the pot. After all, it is almost certainly going to be yours. If the board later pairs, and there us any betting, you may be facing a full house.

Two Pair

Flopping top 2 pair when you have 2 different cards in your hand, is a very strong hand. Top and bottom pair is also a very strong hand. Since you will usually be playing premium cards, top 2 pair will often give someone else a straight draw, and/or a flush draw.

As a result, you should not slow play these hands. Your goal is to force players out of the hand, and charge those that stay. While this hand warrants raises and re-raises, lots of action could mean they have a set. If so, or a straight or flush is possible, you could be drawing to only 4 outs.

If the pot has already gotten large, you should call it down. If the pot is not large, or you are positive that the other player has you beaten, with 4 outs you need pot odds of 11:1 to make the call profitable.

When you have 2 pair, and 1 is on the board, your hand is not as strong as the split 2 pair. Another player may already have trips, or a higher 2 pair. If a card higher than your pair hits the board, it could make someone a higher 2 pair. There could also be other draws out that may beat your 2 pair.

This is another situation to play aggressively, to chase players out, win the pot immediately, or at least make it expensive for players to draw. If you are raised, or check raised, on the turn, you may be up against trips. But, by now, the pot has gotten big. You may want to back off and call, but you shouldn’t fold unless you are sure you are beaten, or you are facing 3 bets cold.

Top Pair

Top pair, good kicker is a very strong hand. This is 1 reason to treat Big Slick, Ace and King, as a strong hand. With a flop of King, Eight, Three, and 3 different suits you have an excellent hand. The only card higher than the flop pairs your Ace, giving you top 2 pair. There are no flush or straight draws, so you are only worried about Ace, Ace, King, King, or a pair of Eights or Threes in the hole.

You have a strong hand with top pair in the hole when the flop is 3 cards lower than yours and is un-coordinated. If you are the only one who raised with your pair of Kings before the flop, and the flop is Queen, Eight, Three, 3 different suits, you have a very strong hand. There are no straight or flush draws, it is unlikely that someone has a pair of Queens, so you are worried only about an Ace, or another Queen falling, a pair of Eights or Threes.

With hands, and flops like this, you want to get as much money in the pot as possible, since you are a favorite to win.

If you have Jacks, Queens, Kings or Aces in the hole, and get a flop such as Eight, Nine, Ten, or 2 of 1 suit, or the board is paired, your hand is not as strong. Your hand is vulnerable to many cards that can come on the turn or river. Now, instead of a limited number of hands that may beat you, you may be facing a flush draw, a straight draw, or both. With a pair on board, you may be facing trips a full house, or a draw to a full house.

In these situations, you want to eliminate players, and try to win the hand immediately. If you think that someone after you will bet, you should check and raise, to face several players with calling 2 bets. If you are not sure that someone else will bet, you bet. You can not afford to give players a free draw.

When you start with Ace, Queen, Ace, Jack or Ace, Ten, and pair your Queen, Jack or Ten, you have a hand that is mediocre to somewhat strong, depending on the flop. If your pair is the top pair on board, and the flop has no draws, you have a fairly strong hand. But, it is vulnerable to over cards on the turn or river. Ace, Queen, with a flop of Queen , Six, two, or Ace, Jack, with a flop of Jack, Six, Two, the further down you go with this, the more hands that can beat you. With an Ace, Queen, and an Ace on the flop, you are beaten by someone with Ace, King. With an Ace, Queen, and a Queen on the flop, you are beaten by anybody holding a King if a King falls. With Ace, Jack, and a Jack on the flop, you are beaten by any King, or queen, that pairs someone.

Once again, you want to eliminate players, or win the hand immediately. If you think that someone after you will bet, check and raise. If you are not sure that someone will bet, bet out. You can not afford to give players a free, or cheap, draw in this situation.

If you make top pair, such as a pair of Eights, or Sixes, with your second card when you have an Ace, you have one of the mice. There are many cards that can fall on the turn and river that will give one of your opponents a higher pair. In addition, if all 3 cards on the flop are lower than a Ten you are often facing straight and/or flush draws.

Another mistake made by low limit players is to treat a pair of Aces, with a bad kicker, as a strong hand. It is one of the mice. You have an Ace and Five of hearts in the blinds and get in the pot cheaply hoping for a flush draw on the flop. Instead, you pair the Ace, and there are no hearts. You have top pair, but the more opponents you have, the more likely it is that someone has an Ace with a higher kicker.

With these hands, if someone bets, fold and save some money. You have 5 outs that will improve your hand, the 3 Aces, and 2 of your pair, or the 3 remaining of your kicker, and the 2 remaining Aces. In order to call a bet in this situation, you need to be getting pot odds of at least 8.5:1. Since you could improve your hand and still lose, you probably want odds of at least 10:1. If there are players to act after you, you need higher odds, to make up for the times that a player to your left raises.

With a pair of Tens or lower, you will usually only have a strong hand after the flop if you hit the third card for your set. Occasionally, the flop will all be lower than your pair, and be un-coordinated. Also, occasionally, you will hit a straight draw with your pair. Most often however, you will hit a card higher than your pair, face some betting, and should fold.

If you do hit your set, you have a very strong hand. You should bet out, or raise if someone else bets. In low limit games, players will often not believe you have a set if you bet, or raise, on the flop. They will expect you to slow play such a strong hand, and not raise until the turn. They will therefore often call all the way with as little as one small pair.

Second or Bottom Pair

These are more mice. In low limit games, someone who bets, normally has at least top pair. If you have 2 different cards in the hole and paired 1 of them, you have 5 outs to improve, 2 more cards of the rank you paired, and 3 of your second card. With a small pair in the hole, you only have 2 outs to improve. Even if you include implied odds, it is unlikely that you will have the odds you need. To make matters worse, you really need better odds to make up for the times you hit 1 of your outs and still lose. You also need higher odds from the pot if there are players still to act after you.

The only time you should call a bet with second or bottom pair is when the pot is big, your second card is higher than any of the cards on board, and you also have a backdoor draw, 3 to a straight or flush.

Copyright © 2005 A1-PokerInfo.com. All rights reserved. This article may be freely distributed and published, providing it is distributed and/or published in its entirety, including the contact information and copyright.
For more detail, or similar articles, contact the author at http://A1-PokerInfo.com.
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

Day 113 ... PokerRoom $56.30

No Play today - just lots of pondering about where Im going with the website - At the moment as much as I tell myself I'm expecting too much too soon it still feels like I'm running up hill to be going backwards. So much so I can't be bothered to think of anything to say here.

Poker article of the day ...
100 Best Poker Freerolls and How to Make Money From Them – Part 1- By Ian Mcintosh

Poker freerolls are what’s really hot right now in online poker with everyone wanting to get in on the act.

Just in case you’ve never played one, a freeroll is a poker tournament with free entry that pays out prizes in real cash to the winning players. They are not to be confused with “play money” tournaments that you can also play for free but do not pay out cash prizes.

Some poker freerolls have thousands of players in every tournament and are almost always full. It’s the idea of getting something for nothing that appeals to people and although the freerolls have relatively small prizes and although they require a lot of patience and skill to win, they remain the first port of call for many online poker players.

So how do you win at poker freerolls?

The most important strategy to adopt to have any chance of success is survival, you need to stay in the game no matter what. There are no second chances, when you lose all your chips you are out. You might have been sitting for four hours but if you get knocked out before you reach the money positions it will all have been for nothing.

Don’t be tempted into bluffing too much, you will almost always find someone who’s willing to call you - especially in the early stages of the tournament. Also use your all-in calls sparingly, only when you are absolutely sure you have the best hand and preferably when you have more chips than your opponent so that you don’t get knocked out even if you lose the hand.

On the other hand to win a Texas Holdem freeroll tournament you need to win chips, so when you get a good hand bet it aggressively and take out the “limpers”. Don’t let somebody call you with a 8 3 and flop 8 8 3!

This is a slog and you need to be prepared for the long haul. Four hours is a long time to play poker online and although there is normally a break every hour it is mentally very taxing keeping up a level of concentration for that length of time.

However if you do manage to stay focused on the game, you will be at a great advantage over most freeroll players. The psychology of poker freerolls means that most people don’t treat them with as much respect as they would a tournament that they had paid to enter.

Easy come easy go is often the motto.

So if you maintain full concentration throughout, adopt a strong survival-based strategy and play only good hands betting aggressively, you will do better than 90% of the entrants in a freeroll tournament.

Beating the other 10% is up to you!

Click the link to read part 2 of this poker freeroll article and to see the 100 Best poker freerolls.

Article by Ian McIntosh of www.primepokersites.com
Article Source: EzineArticles.com