M.J. Morgan asked:


Our 4-part article series will offer you an extensive guide to detecting the different ways cheaters may invade and clean up your home poker nights, even if they are friends or acquaintances you have trusted over the years. If you read our first article, you will now be more wary of dealing irregularities; now read on to find out other methods used at home games.

Collusion:

Requiring minimal skill and preparation, collusion is definitely the most used and the easiest way to cheat. It consists of an agreement between two or more players to signal each other at different times of the game how their poker hands are standing and when winning, they split the pot between them.

Maneuvers: Each player agrees on discreetly giving each other signals about the strength of their hands, and when one of them is dealing, the other distracts the other players. Some of the signals to share hand information involves turning the cards faced down after dealing outwards, thus showing their numbers in a split second, but if paying attention, the colluding players can see the cards. In addition, the colluding players may agree to speak using a code that is imperceptible to the other players.

Angling:

Although allowed in some casinos, angling consists of acting when it is not the player’s turn, thus influencing the other players’ actions, and when it is finally the player’s turn, taking back the anticipated action, thus affecting the others’ fate in the hand. Players who use angling are called “angle shooters” and some say it is more unethical than plain cheating.

Marked Cards:
Cards can be marked obviously, noticeably up close, or imperceptibly. In order to mark the poker cards, the cheating player has to own the deck or have at least plenty of private time with it before playing.

For vigilant players, card markings can be classified in 4 types:

Shading. Manipulation of the card design with very fine ink applied with extreme precision, making it almost imperceptible.

Daubing. Available in magic stores, a special ink only visible with special sunglasses is applied to the marked cards, and the cheater plays the poker game wearing the glasses.

Corner Crimp. The cheating player peeks at the wanted card (top or bottom) and discreetly pushes it a small distance away from the rest of the cards, subtly bends the corner closest to the thumb or index finger. The cheat can do this with all aces or kings.

Thumbnailing. This technique consists of inserting the thumb nail inside one of the edges of the card, barely splitting the card but leaving a mark that is visible to the trained eye. 

Misrepresentation of a Hand:

Also called bad calling, a cheat misrepresents a hand by reveling it at showdown but calling it something better than what it is. If unnoticed by the rest of the players, the cheat gets the money; if caught, he/she will innocently pretend to have made a mistake and laugh it off. If not careful, too many of these mistakes can reveal the true agenda of the cheat.

Pot interaction:

Cheating can very easily occur when putting money into the pot or “making change” off of it, which can allow the cheat to take small but frequent amounts of money that favor his/her bankroll.

To avoid inappropriate handling of the pot, players should keep track of the expected pot amount. If the amount is less than expected, each player’s bankroll must be counted.

Prepared Deck:

A cheat can prepare a deck by putting the wanted cards in strategic places before shuffling, and the cheat would usually say the deck has already been shuffled. This trick is frequently used in angling. The most basic deck-preparing includes cards whose back designs are not symmetric, and if the position of the design of some cards differs from the others that will help the cheater figure out which cards those are during the game. However, if he players move the cards or the deck is shuffled again before the next hand, the cheating would lose its course.

Phony Chips:

After a player purchased phony $100 chips from the Rio souvenir shop during the 2005 WSOP, the chips were used by that player for the tournaments, and since then, it has been a cheating trend. The red engraving that identifies a chip as an official WSOP chip is not easily visible in all chips, especially when stacked up, which confuses them with fake ones.

Players may bring phony chips or steal them from previous games and introduce them to the game. In order to avoid this, the host must be very protective of his/her chips and when possible try to purchase unique-looking chips, different from standard color denominations, and keep them locked at all times. The game should be played with the house chips and no one should be allowed to bring their own; unique-looking chips prevent phony chips from being secretly introduced in the game.

Learning about all the ways you can expect a cheat player to boycott your home game creates awareness about how deceitful some of your acquaintances can be. However, detecting cheating and demanding justice in a home game can be difficult and challenging. In our next article, we will show you the ways you can protect your home from poker cheats.

Next: Home-Game Cheating Awareness, Part III: Important Facts about Poker Cheats



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Nick Laurrell asked:


Sometimes poker players seem to be speaking in a different language. Here is a list of commonly used poker slang and terminology beginning with letters C - E so you can get acquainted with what players are actually saying.
Calling Station: A calling station is a player who calls (rather than raise, bet or fold) unusually often. They are considered to be the worst type of players. “I love playing with calling stations.”

Call-me bet or Sucker bet: This is a very small bet which seems to cry out to the opponent “Call me.” It is made when a player has a very strong hand and wants to be called. “He bet $1 on the river, how could I not call?”

Card Rack, Rack or Rush: When a player picks up a number of premium hands in a short period of time they are said to be a card rack, a rack, or on a rush. “He raised 12 hands in a row, he was just on a great rush.”

Check-raise: A check-raise is a high profile poker move where a player first checks then raises when someone bets. It is considered to be the strongest move in poker. “I had him trapped so I check-raised a sucker bet and had him priced in.”

Cold Deck: A single hand with several different players all possessing unusually strong cards. It is said to be a cold deck because poker cheats have been known to replace a live deck with an illegitimate pre-arranged “cold” deck to trick other players. “I had a full house, the lucky idiot had four-of-a-kind! How am I going to fold?! What a cold deck!”

Community Cards: These are cards that are put face up on the table and belong to everyone still in the hand at once. “I don’t like Hold’em because it becomes too inexact with all of those community cards.”

Computer Hand: The Queen-7 is referred to as the “computer hand” because it is mathematically the hand with the most average pre-flop strength in Texas Hold’em. “I usually call with anything better than the computer hand from the big blind.”

Cowboys: A pocket pair of Kings. I don’t know the epistemology behind “cowboys” but Kings are called cowboys just the same. “I love to look down and see cowboys.”

Crack Aces: Whenever you have beaten someone holding pocket Aces you are said to have “cracked Aces.” “Sure I lost the tournament, but I was holding Aces, sometimes they just get cracked.”

Dead Man’s Hand: A pair of Aces and a pair of eights to make two pair. This is referred to as the Dead Man’s Hand because Wild Bill Hickok was holding it when he was shot dead at the poker table. “I’ve made a lot of money with the Dead Man’s Hand, I don’t get what all the fuss is about.”

Defender or Protector: This is a player who calls most raises when he or she is a blind. They are said to be defending or protecting their chips which have already gone into the pot. “Phil Ivey is a famous defender.”

Deuce or Duck: A two. “Deuce on the flop means nothing.”

Dime: A dime is a $10,000 chip. “I’ve only ever bet a dime in a tournament.”

The Dolly Parton: 9-5 in the Hole. This nickname stems from Dolly’s song “Working nine to five.” “How does Dolly Parton have a poker hand named after her?”

Donkey: A bad player is referred to as a donkey. “The guy was such a donkey he called me with middle pair.”

Double Belly Buster Straight Draw: To have two inside straight draws simultaneously. “I was holding 4-5 and by the time we got around to the river the Board read A 2 7 8. I was looking for a 3 or a 6.”

The Doyle Brunson: The Doyle Brunson is an unsuited 10-2. It is called the Doyle Brunson because Doyle won two consecutive WSOP Main Events holding 10-2. “I love Doyle Brunson but I **** Doyle Brunsons.”

Drawing Dead: When a player has no outs which could come to make a winning hand, they are said to be drawing dead. “Turn paired the board and I was drawing dead.”

Early Position: Players who are amongst the first to act post-flop are said to be in early position. “Early position is the best position to bluff from.”



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Vikram Kumar asked:


Going into a poker game without a good poker strategy is like asking to lose money.  You are better off to just turn your money over as other players will have a poker advantage over you.  In order to be successful when you are playing the game of poker, you need to have a good poker strategy.
 

Many players play off the cuff and take a lot of chances when they are playing poker.  Some players are more risk taking than others.  Poker does involve a great deal of risk and many players are inclined to bluff their way through a game to try to get others to drop out.  This is a very risky strategy and is not recommended, especially for the beginning poker player. 

 

If you want to have a poker advantage, the first thing that you need to do is to have a good understanding of the game and how it is played.  The strategy that you use for each game should depend on the game that you are playing.  Some games will have consistently higher winning hands than others.  If you are playing a game like Texas Holdem, you have more of an opportunity to have a poker advantage than in other games.  This is because the community cards that are gradually flipped up in the center of the table can be spotted by everyone. You actually know three of the cards that are going to be included in the hands of the other players.  The problem is that you do not know which three cards and what the other players have as their down cards, or pocket cards. 

 

A good rule of thumb when you are looking for a poker advantage is to have at least a pair in the beginning of the game.  This is conservative playing but usually works well.  Instead of hoping to get something and staying in the game, putting more money in for bets, you can drop and wait until the next deal.

 

You should also be sure to keep watching what other players are doing for your poker advantage.  Betting is always done in sequence for this purpose.  If you see a lot of players are simply calling bets or dropping and you are holding two pair, you have a chance to win.  However, if you see constant raising and no one leaving the game, then it is more probable that someone has a better hand than you. 

 

If you want to develop a good poker strategy, learn how to play the game, practice often and watch how other players bet.  Having a good strategy clearly gives you a good poker advantage no matter what type of poker game you are playing. Read the 100 Essential Texas Holdem Poker Tips and take your game to the next level.



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Brian Konradt asked:


There are many popular casino-style games, but nothing matches the growth and popularity of poker and how poker influences society. Poker writing covers limitless topics in the gaming world; and poker writing can be a blend of journalism, feature writing, sports writing, entertainment writing, travel writing, food writing, technical writing, and so on, depending on what you choose to write.

WHAT DOES FREELANCE POKER WRITING INCLUDE?

You might think “freelance poker writing” is exactly that: writing about poker games. You might also think poker writing is about writing for one specific market: poker magazines. This might have been true years ago, but not so today. The expanding market of online and offline poker and gaming magazines is one small fragment, out of dozens of paying markets, to find freelance work. The Internet has spawned many online writing opportunities, such as blogging, writing for poker and gaming websites, self-publishing, and writing SEO articles for companies and affiliates. And “poker writing” is more than writing about the games of poker. Poker writing encompasses the influences of poker, such as entertainment, technology, psychology, law, lifestyle, money, travel, and so on. Writing about poker and gaming, along with their influences on society, is limitless.

Many successful freelance writers tap into an arsenal of online and offline media outlets to sell their work, not just to poker and gaming magazines. Their recipe for success is simple: they write varied topics related to poker and gaming that don’t just fit into a specific poker magazine, but also fit (with some reslanting) into many other non-poker magazines and media outlets (i.e. trade magazines, regional magazines, newsletters, tourism guides, newspapers, websites, blogs, ebooks, etc.) that cover varied subjects (such as gambling, gaming, professional sports, sports betting, travel, lifestyle, women’s issues, money, finance, real estate, hobbies, and so on).

WHY POKER IS ON THE MINDS OF SO MANY PEOPLE

To write about poker, you need to know why it is on the minds of so many people. Why all the excitement? What do players see in a little game of cards? Many people fall in love with playing poker because it challenges the mind; poker games are thrilling and competitive; and let’s face it, we love the winnings. The winnings in poker games, even online, can trail with many zeros. What other game can you play with a $40 entry fee and win a couple of hundred thousand dollars, or as with WSOP winners, several million? It’s what lures the crowds to the game. Once players begin to play, everyone is a legend in their own mind. The enticement and excitement of winning drives players to want to play more. Typically, players just play more and more once they discover Texas Hold’em.

Even if you aren’t playing poker for the money, you will quickly become aware of the jackpots of money that poker players play for online and offline. Many people play poker because of the great challenges of the mind. Amarillo Slim (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amarillo_Slim), another legendary poker player once said, “Poker is a game of people….It’s not the hand I hold, it’s the people that I play with.” Most of the older players do play with dollar signs glinting in their eyes. On the other hand, if you read some of the articles written about Slim in the past, you’ll discover he enjoyed beating his opponents as much as anyone else.

Guru.com, CraigsList.com and Elance.com showcase job postings for many different freelance opportunities. If you have the skills to write on gambling, specifically poker, then you’ll never be short on writing gigs.

In fact, a search on a handful of job boards produced many writing opportunities, from blog posting, to writing articles on poker games and strategies.

POKER WRITING OPPORTUNITIES

If you want to write about poker and gaming, the opportunities are there. If you are educated about poker and you can write well, the opportunities will be endless. However, you have to be better than average to earn a decent income as freelance poker writer. You must know your “stuff” in this field.

Writing about poker and its players requires you to learn about the games of poker and about the players whom people want to read. For instance, Doyle Brunson and Amarillo “Slim” Preston are two old timers who many consider two of the last living legends of the game. However, Brunson pulls a crowd more so than Preston. People look for articles, books and information on Doyle Brunson because he is still an active player in Las Vegas. Furthermore, Brunson lives where poker rooms are on every corner, whereas Amarillo Slim lives in, well, you guessed it-Texas!

A freelance poker writer has many opportunities. For starters, a poker writer can write from home because of the online games and tournaments. The online poker rooms (the ones offering the large satellite tournaments) are newsworthy as are many of the sit and go tournaments that offer large purses. Writers find ample topics and stories to pull from in this capacity alone. People want to read what’s going on in the online poker rooms. As a new writer, you need to write as much as you can on the subject of poker no matter where people play it.

In addition to the newsworthy opportunities online, web content is a huge marketplace for freelance writers. Writers who can write content-rich articles related to poker and gambling are in high demand.

To succeed as a poker writer, you will need to find your niche. However, you don’t necessarily have to stay within your niche market. Many writers will write on poker and cover online and offline games. They’ll cover the World Poker Tour for an offline gambling magazine one day and write an informative “How to Spot a Poker Cheat” article the next day for an online website. Poker writers like the ability to remain diverse but it pays to have a niche.

For example, there are several writers on Elance.com who write web content for gaming websites but still pick up a couple of writing gigs offline in magazines and for newspaper articles. Respectively, several notorious authors and professional poker players write primarily as book authors and authorities on their game but occasionally they will snatch a writing column for an online poker website.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking the gigs you have online will allow the offline writing jobs to fall in your lap. You have to keep your options open. You will need to apply for most of the work you get, even after you become well-known within the industry. However, if you’re good, you’ll very seldom face competition for the writing jobs you want.

When you become established in your niche, clients, editors and colleagues will willingly generate referrals for you. In fact, if you are well-informed and can stand out as a leading authority on poker, you can create your own jobs if jobs don’t randomly come your way. You’ll be able to query an editor with ideas and convince the editor to publish your articles. You may be able to query a book publisher with a manuscript idea and have it accepted for publication.

In addition, the offline writing jobs on assignment are often lucrative. Most of the writing jobs on assignment will allow you to live like a high roller, or at the very least, a low roller with some great perks. Poker writers normally stay where the action takes place, which is commonly in a casino. If you’re covering a World Poker Tour event, you’ll likely stay in upgraded casino accommodations; after all, the casino knows you are writing on the event and they’ll likely want you to plug their plush rooms and their many amenities.

On assignment writing jobs will enable you to eat in marvelous dining restaurants, stay among the upper echelon of poker players in suites or upgraded rooms and enjoy hosted parties among poker players. Writing on assignment as a poker writer enables writers to stay in some of the most elegant resorts in the world while enjoying the lifestyle of the pampered poker player. And trust it when you see it in magazines and hear about it online, these professional players are pampered.

Before you obtain your first job assignment as a poker writer, you need to learn all you can about poker. Read everything there is to read. Listen to everything and anything you can on the subject. Flip on the TV set and watch some live game coverage and learn the terminology. Poker tournaments and poker coverage are constantly on TV, especially in the evenings and on weekends.

PERKS OF A FREELANCE POKER WRITER

Poker writers who travel to some of the casino destinations hosting world events such as the WSOP (http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com) or the WPT (World Poker Tour - http://www.worldpokertour.com ) find they can enjoy a lifestyle many freelance writers dream about. Not every freelance writer can endure the schedule of these writers. However, if you are a writer who can face the unpredictable scheduling of events in the World Series of Poker, have a great personality and excellent people skills, then your chances to live a jet-set lifestyle in the world of poker is better than what many writers might think.

Life is better as a poker writer than it is in most areas of writing. You will be rubbing shoulders with people in Sin City and many other casino destinations where money is no object. Remember, money is no object to a great number of poker players. Stakes are always high. With that in mind, remember who you are and where you are. Remember to capture the story, and not the party.

You will get a free ride pass as a poker writer if you can achieve a name for yourself in the poker world. You will have the things only high rollers can get just because the right people want YOU to remember their name. Naturally, this will only happen after you become recognized as a poker authority. If you strive to achieve it, you will know what the inside of the suites at the MGM and Paris Las Vegas look like because you’ll be staying in them. You won’t walk or hail a cab in Vegas. You’ll be riding in a limo, free of charge. Best of all, when you are on a job, you will drink and eat what you want and never see a bill. Welcome to success. Revel in it and know you’ve worked hard for it.



Online Poker Tips

peter asked:


 

Poker bankroll management is one of the master poker tips that one should learn before they learn anything else about poker. Poker is a game of gamble and without a set high limit for losing and a decided bankroll for a certain period of playing the betting practice can ruin one to bankruptcy.

There are many ideas and poker tips available in plenty to calculate a proper poker bankroll for any player playing poker games for limit and no limit games. The bankroll should be allotted based on the limit the player is likely to play. There is going to be no point in allotting a poor bankroll for a high roller, similarly there is any point in having a high bankroll for a limit player. Per a number of poker tips the bankroll should be allotted based on the high limit of low limit game that the player plays and also taking in to consideration the average number of tournaments or ring games that the player will be playing.

The answer to the amount of bankroll for a player per poker tips should be closely related to the life style and real wealth and the job prospects of a player. A million dollar man will not feel serious about a $1000 bankroll because he will least be bothered about losing it. Whereas another normal man will feel that even a $100 I slot of money for poker. Therefore the financial background of the player should be taken in to consideration; however, a good player is serious about even a single dollar he invests in poker.

Per poker tips if a player is not having any other job and is playing professionally then they need to have their bankroll and some solid assets set aside for their living. In many cases if the living expenses are related to poker winning there can be fluctuations in playing style when there is need for money crunches and can cause a dwindle in bankroll discipline; however, there are some players that play well with money crunches for their personal needs. The player should delineate their own control lines in making their play rather than depending on just poker tips. All poker tips should be applied and modified per real time situations.

The worst thing that can happen with bankroll ideas is that a layer will be forced out of action in the most favorable lay due to lack of bankroll limits. This is the worst thing that can happen to any player and the player will have to set a bankroll cross limit to play in such situations. However, this cross limit should not be used always.



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