On Poker: A Main Event, final table primer

Enough with the waiting, it is time to shuffle up and deal.

After a four-month hiatus, final table play of the 2009 world series of poker is set to resume at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Penn & Teller Theater at Las Vegas' Rio Hotel & Casino.

Here is a preview of things to watch for:

The lineup: Chip leader Darvin Moon will occupy Seat 1 with $58.9 million in (rounded) chips, followed by James Akenhead ($6.8 million), Phil Ivey (9.75), Kevin Schaffel (12.4), Steven Begleiter (29.89), Eric Buchman (34.8), Joe Cada (13.2), Antoine Saout (9.5) and Jeff Shulman (19.6) in clockwise seat assignments around the table.

Where the action stands: Players will be welcomed with minutes to play in Level 33 of the tournament structure with blinds of 120K/240K and a 30K ante, leaving everybody outside of Akenhead reasonably well stacked.

Odds favorite: Bookmakers back the big stack, which is why Moon is the favorite with 2-1 odds despite his clear amateur status. The Maryland logger has never played a hand of online poker and qualified for the tournament by winning a $130 satellite in West Virginia.

Gamblers looking for value may eye former Bears Stearns executive Begleiter, who despite entering play with the third-largest stack has 11-2 listed odds.

Fan favorite: Ask any professional whom they fear most, and the answer is consistently the same — Ivey. No Main Event since its numbers entered the thousands has had a player of Ivey's star power run this deep.

Yeah, former champion Dan Harrington's back-to-back final tables in 2002 and 2003 were impressive, but he doesn't have legendary stories of $10 million single-day wins or 72-hour playing sessions without sleep bantered about like Ivey does.

But does Ivey have enough chips to make a run and play creatively?

Watch out for: Shulman and his stack of nearly 20 million, which is dangerous enough to chop the chip-leader in half or send five others to the rail. This is Shulman's second Main Event final table in 10 years, but he'll be more prepared this time around. Shulman hired Phil Hellmuth, arguably the best tournament player in poker, to coach him in the months leading to Saturday.

Shulman is also riding a bit of a family rush. His father, Barry, recently won Europe's World Series of Poker Main Event.

Money talks: The $8.5 million check to the winner will be the third-largest award in tournament poker history. Second-place money is $5.2 million, with payouts trickling all the way down to $1.25 million for ninth. Every player at the table received that money when play was halted in July.

Tune in time: ESPN will air a two-hour telecast of the action on Tuesday at 8 p.m., mere hours after the champion has been crowned. In response to criticism of last year's broadcast, expect to see more than two heads-up hands played for the championship.

Predictions: Moon will play quiet and ride his starting stack to the final three. Ivey will be brilliant but will flame out in the middle. Shulman will be photographed in front of the cash at the end.

Poker - Which are the Easiest to Play

Here is a guide to the best online games. Find yourself winning, or at least not necessary losing in the long run. The best casino games are games that have a low house edge or games where by practicing your skill you can have an advantage over the casino.
Those with the lowest house edge are blackjack and video poker. By improving the skill with which you play poker and blackjack, you gain an advantage over the other player or over the casino. This is an exceptional casino game. It is the only casino game where you play against the other players instead of competing against the casino. There is not a house edge in poker. Instead, most casinos ensure their profits by collecting a rake, which is a certain percentage of the pot used to cover expenses. Other casinos charge each player by the hour.

Choosing A Site To Play Poker With

These days most people know at least one person who likes to play poker online or offline. Texas Holdem Poker is just one variation of poker amongst several, for most people learning to play poker this is the first game they try.

Texas Holdem has never in the past had such a large following of players, this is thanks to extra publicity from late night poker shows. There are literally hundreds of online poker sites and choosing a site to play poker with may be overwhelming if you are a complete beginner.Firstly you should make sure the site is respected and trustworthy, picking a well known brand name is usually a good move.

There are some really big well known names out there to choose from such as party poker, titan poker, full tilt poker and poker stars just to mention a few. Pick a site that allows for free play, this way you can practice and tone your skills on other variations of poker, to master poker it is a good idea to play poker of all variations. It can also help alleviate boredom if they have other games to choose from and you fancy a change.

The Right Way to Play a Pair of Tens

A pair of tens is one of those hands that looks great at first glance, but in reality isn't that strong. A lot of hands can beat a lowly pair of tens and you should usually play your pair aggressively to chase out all the limpers and hopefully play the pot against only one or two opponents.

The first thing you want to consider when you are dealt a pair of tens is your position. Are you in early, middle or late position? Another important consideration is your opponents - are they aggressive or passive - are they weak or strong poker players? If you are playing against strong players and you are in early position, you may even consider throwing your tens away. The earlier your position, the more aggressively you want to play your tens. The later your position, the better your chance of trapping with them. If you manage to hit a flop of all low cards, you most likely have the best hand at the table and you shouldn't much around - start betting aggressively - about half to three quarters of the pot.

If you hit your set (three of a kind), you have the opportunity to slow play. Only slow play if there aren't any straight or flush draws on the board. You don't want to give your opponents a free card to beat you.

If the flop comes and there are cards higher than yours (J, Q, K or A) Don't panic - you're not beaten yet. Put out a feeler bet of about half the pot to gauge the other players reactions. They will hopefully fold straight away. If they call or re-raise you, be careful - you are most likely already beaten.

However you decide to play your pocket tens, make sure that you pay attention to the reactions of the other players at the table. Don't let them push you around and don't miss the opportunity to take down the pot when they show weakness.

Become a Good Poker Player

Your chip stack is dwindling - you just can't catch any cards or you've been mauled. The blinds are rising and eating your stack even further. You're dropping behind. You can't keep folding or if you do the blinds will take you out. What do you do?

Point number one is that being "short stacked" is going to happen to you a lot.You play poker, you do get short stacked. Period. And old cliché but a very valid one "you can't win 'em all."

But - with poker, the saying goes that you always have a chance as long as you have "a chip and a chair." One famous story to reinforce that goes back to the World Series of Poker in 1982. Jack Straus went all-in and lost the pot. He thought he was on his way home. But a dealer spotted a $500 chip under Straus' napkin. Remarkably, Straus came back to win the title from just that $500 chip.

So - never give up. You've always got a chance of making the money as long as you're in the game. But when you find yourself becoming short stacked and your chances getting slimmer, the best form of defense is attack! You must make a move - and do so while you still have enough chips to make a difference. It's no good waiting until you have a couple of hundred chips and everyone else has a couple of thousand. They can easily call you with anything and you will find yourself with multiple callers and little chance. The big stacks will take you out.

Play To Win Online Poker

If you are going to play online poker you might as well “play to win” otherwise you might just as throw your bankroll down a sewer grate. The poker rooms (especially the really popular ones like Party Poker) are full of people who are just there to “see what is like” especially because people really like the idea of playing with animated avatars. However these are people that are usually losing an entire bankroll in just an hour a play! A savvy Texas Hold 'Em or Omaha player should be able to steadily accumulate between $8 and $10 an hour if they stick to using winning strategy.

Each poker game has its own strategy when it comes to how to win, but here are some general strategies for making money playing online poker.

KNOW what the hand rankings are. Hand rankings differ from game to game and more people have needlessly lost money because they didn't realize an Ace Low beats an Ace high.

Women in Poker

No longer is Poker a game played in a back room filled with cigar smoke, whiskey served by busty women in small costumes to rotund men. Even in the most fashionable manors, minus the busty waitresses, the smoke-filled rooms held only the men.

Today, poker is seen as a game of high fashion to which all the wild girls flock, including celebrities of all types and stars of stage and screen. And many of them are playing to win seats at high profile championships.

Take glamour model Abi Titmus for instance. She has signed on for this year's Ladbrokes Poker European Ladies Championship. She'll be in good company with 49 other women who will take part in the Championship in May. Titmus may be the most surprising addition to the lineup, but Ladbrokes Poker spokesperson Samantha Alleyne called the completion "the FA cup of the poker circuit...an unmissable tournament guaranteed to deliver a few shock results".

This tournament boasts many celebrity competitors. Many have proceeded to succeed at the highest levels of poker competition in the past, which speaks well of their abilities and the validity of this venue. Shannon Elizabeth, for example, went on to finish third at a National Heads-Up Poker Championship and Soccer AM's, Helen Chamberlain, came in an impressive second at the Ladbrokes Poker Million.

First Time Playing Poker

With the growth of the internet the growth of online poker players has also increased around the world. Online poker has provided people with a much easier and more convenient way to play poker games. Due to this convenience the majority of the games players prefer to play online poker rather than take the time and make the effort to visit a casino or other land based poker room. Playing poker games in real life or at one of the hundreds of online casino and poker sites for the first time can be overwhelming to a complete beginner. You may feel like a small fish amongst the sharks with no real idea what you are doing and losing chips fast. Before playing poker for the first time it is advisable to at least get a basic understanding of how the game is played.

You can do this several ways; the first is to read about the game. By searching online you can find hundreds of articles and pages explaining the rules of poker. The second way to learn about poker is by watching it on the television. There are several late night poker shows you can tune into, watching the pro's play can give you plenty of tips. The TV shows also like to explain why each hand wins with nice computer graphics.

The third method of learning about playing poker for the first time would be to actually play the game, you could play against your friends or even online. Online practice tables are not uncommon and good poker sites are happy to provide you with some dummy money or "fun money" chips. You can use these pretend chips to play for fun against others and practice your game. If you do decide to actually bet for real money make sure you have the money to spare, playing poker is easy but mastering the game is not. Practice is the only thing that can make you better at playing poker.

Online Heads Up Poker

Online heads up poker is a very hard field to get into, although I do know several players who play the $50-100 stakes and win a good percentage of the time. They are not your average gamblers though; they have strict routines and probably tilt 1/100 games if they are having an incredibly bad streak!

That is the key anyway, take it match by match, but overall you need to be hitting somewhere between a 58-60% win rate to be profitable overall, and have the bankroll to take your downswings in online heads up poker. Do not think that 100 games is a good enough sample either, I'd be looking at around 500-1000 games before you will see a clear indication of where your game is with online heads up poker, mainly due to the variation of results.

Playing online heads up poker is slightly different to offline, mainly due to the fact that you can't see the opponents face. If you give off your emotions fairly easily, then this is definitely a good thing, as they can't see your face either.

Poker to play For Free and For Fun

Poker is an popular card game that is known worldwide, it has a large following and there are many games in the poker family to choose from. Many people have individual preferences when it comes to playing poker, which is the most exciting fun to play, which game they are best at and which games give you the best odds and highest wins etc.

There are many different reasons why people enjoy playing poker. Playing poker for fun is a great way to learn the game and improve your skills, however because the other players are also playing for fun the game might not reflect the true choices a person may make when playing for real money.

Some view gambling online as inferior for them it doesn't compare to playing in a real game and playing for fun isn't the same as playing for real money even small amounts. I think as long as you're having fun it doesn't matter - Everybody's different.

Learn to Play Winning Poker Online

Poker has been played for many years by many people all over the world. For many people poker has become something as a passion not because they know how to win games. These people are doing this for the thrill. This game can raise the level of adrenalin to any poker gamer. This game has many advantages to be played online. This is due to the fact that the home atmosphere is much better than the field with smoke poker rooms. But let's take a closer look at the benefits of playing this game online:

Justify FullPlan your moves calmly: If you were playing in a room and you are a beginner you would feel completely nervous because of the bearded, with black glasses and imperturbable high-experienced players who are pro-s in bluffing. But when you play at home, this problem does not exist.

Play in free or real money games: It is your choice whether you want to play with real money or simply to train and improve our skills in free games.

Create your unique strategy easily: The strategy is not something that can be created with just 2-3 games. You will need to practice a lot before you can say I have a great strategy to play poker.