One Round of Omaha

Omaha is played with blinds and dealer button which means that the positions are fixed throughout the whole hand. The dealer button is a white plate that marks the dealer position. The blinds are two mandatory bets made before the cards are dealt. The blinds are used to open play and force action. The first player to the left of the dealer posts the small blind and the second player posts the big blind. The small blind is the size of half a big blind.

The dealer gives the players four cards face down, the first betting round begins and turn goes clockwise starting with the poker player to the left of the dealer. The players may do one of the following actions depending on what is possible at the moment: check, bet, raise, call or fold.

When the first betting round is finished the dealer places three cards open on the poker table, these are the flop cards. Betting resumes and remaining players make their move.
When the second betting round is finished the dealer places one card face up on the table. Betting resumes as usual. This is the turn card.

When the third betting round is finished the dealer places the fifth and last card open on the table. This is the river card. Betting resumes but when the last person has acted it's a showdown of the cards. The person who bet or raised last shows the cards first. The other players may choose to show or fold their hands depending if they have a better hand. The player with the best poker hand wins the pot. (In Omaha high-low the pot is split into a high hand and a low hand pot if there is a low hand qualifier)

To determine the best poker hand a player has to use two of the four hole cards with three of the five community cards.

The dealer button is moved one step to the left and a new hand may begin.

Spring Cleaning for my Blog

The sun is shining with selflessness on this cozy spring morning. I just strung out six pairs of socks along the washing line. Maybe the mattress needs to be aired too. And the timing is perfect to start my blog renovation project.

Colors and fonts are changed. I add some purple this time, maybe brown next time.

Abundant widgets are deleted so they won't scare off new visitors. It's a hard choice but I think it hurts more to have a turtle-speed website. Though I try to follow some example to conceal some useful but not so nice widgets, the code part is just beyond me so I give it up.

Underlines of hyperlinks are removed to make text layout more smooth. Besides, I think these lines are really urrrrrgly. I went to numerous professional sites for the magical tip. Finally, I add the code "text-decoration: none" in the Edit HTML section. And Bingo!

The sidebar part needs to be better organized. And I should look for a nice background picture …

Anyway, I will keep trying to post articles of updates I'm doing and add a bit more non poker stuff to give my blog a bit more variety.

Top 10 Interesting Blackjack Facts

1. There is great dispute amongst the Italians and French as to who first invented the game of blackjack, although most think it to be the French.

2. The game was originally called vingt-et-un (French meaning 21).

3. It is well documented fact that Napoleon loved the game of 21 and played it when he had time to kill on his exile in Elba.

4. The name Blackjack came about due to a variation in the rules of the original game where payouts were given if a player held the black Jack of Spades.

5. Blackjack was banned in the US at the turn of the 19th century and went "underground" until 1939 when the state of Nevada removed its bans as it gave birth to Las Vegas.

6. In the early 60's Edward O. Thorp wrote a book entitled "Beat the dealer" detailing the mathematical workings of this casino game and is known as the father of card counting.

7. The publishing of Thorp's book lead to increased player attendance and winnings at casinos. The casinos then altered some of the standard rules, bringing about new variations of standard games.

8. Al Franesco was the inventor of blackjack team play, earning him and his team millions of dollars and resulting in the formation of many famous card counting teams over the years including the famous MIT card counting team document in the movie "21".

9. The seats positioned around a dealer at the poker table in blackjack are called "bases", and referred to as "first, second or third base", however these are the only baseball terms that appear in the game.

10. There is a Blackjack Hall of fame. It was launched in 2002 and honours blackjack experts, authors, and professional poker players who have made significant contributions to the game.

Speed Hold'em—Fast Game

What's it like? Let me put it this way. It's Ferrari in F1; It's running back of NFL; It's 100-m sprint on the Olympic track …

We call it Speed Hold'em. You know what? The gaming software engineers have instilled the essence of fascination into the game. That is, Quick, Fun and Convenience.

First of all, quick gaming is what we promote and honor at the poker table. The time limit for every move of every player is largely reduced—30 seconds compulsory. You don't have to wait endlessly before the monitor for one of your components is involved in his templation or in worse case, he is stuck in a time-consuming non-poker-related business. So, Speed Hold'em saves us time and energy.

"Have fun" is the ultimate priority of all human entertainment activities. For Speed Hold'em, it's no exception. You don't have to doubt any change in the poker rule itself. Speed Hold'em is nothing but Texas Hold'em. But quicker, and that's what we throw in for your interest!

Last but not the least, Speed Hold'em is devoted to convenient user experience. HINT signs pop up 3 times to warn it's your TURN now. "Pre-select" button is set at your service so you can decide your action before other poker players even act. when emergency comes, it won't bother you anymore.

Join me in this game, cowboys. Speed has no limit.

Useful Game Tips in BlackJack

Blackjack is a simple game—the closest to 21 without going over wins. In reflection, there are four steps to improving your online gaming experiences. They are based on the value of the dealer's up card.

1, if the dealer's up card is 7 or higher, continue to draw cards until you have a hard count of at least 17 or higher, or a soft count of 18 or higher. (A "soft" hand is one that has an Ace that is counted as 11. A poker hand that either contains no Aces or the Ace is counted as a 1 is called a "hard" hand.

2, if the dealer's up card is 6 or lower, draw cards until you have at least 12. Stop when you have 12 or higher.

3, double down when your first two cards total 10 or 11, If the dealer has a 9 or lower. To double down simply means you can double your original bet after you receive your first two cards. If you decide to double down you will then receive only one more card.

4, always split aces and eights. Do not split any other pairs. To split a pair simply means that when you receive any pair on your first two cards, you can split them into two separate hands. You can then play each hand as individual hands.

Let's start practicing what you've learned today at those online poker rooms.

Position Q&A

I've always wondered why the big blind is in 2nd position instead of first, where it would seem to make sense to put the poker player with the largest forced bet in the poker hand (and it would follow that the poker player with the 2nd worst position places the half blind).

Why the blinds are placed how they are?

Big blind before small blind would get funky because the amount of money put into the pot preflop would no longer be ascending (or nondescending). If the small blind acts before the big blind, he has to put in the proper amount or fold; if the big blind acted first, what would he do, check or raise every time?

In short, small blind before big blind can be interpreted as a forced bet of 0.5 big blind, followed by a forced mini raise to 1 big blind.

Poker Talk

Your best chance to get a Royal Flush in a casino is in the bathroom.
~V.P. Pappy

I must complain the cards are ill shuffled till I have a good hand.
~Jonathan Swift

There are times when I don't care if I'm dressed to impress. One of those times is when I'm playing online poker.
~Doyle Brunson

I guess if there weren't luck involved, I'd win every time.
~Phil Hellmuth

Luck never gives; it only lends.
~Anonymous

In the game, I can put other poker players' souls in my pocket.
~Anonymous

People come and go, while the game continues.
~me

4 Cons

In Texas Hold'em, there are 4 kinds of trouble you should avoid:

Loose Start Hand Selection
I recommend simply avoiding specific poker hands you feel uncomfortable playing.

Failing To Release After Start Raising
I start to play super tight pre flop, and as I play so few hands to begin with, I start pushing my hands too hard after the flop. Playing too tight and too aggressive can therefore be a recipe for disaster.

Failing To Respect Raises
Passive poker players seldom raise after the flop with less then two pair. If the pot is small when the raise occurs, you should dump unless you have a monster yourself. You know that even if you have pocket aces your poker odds are slim. Whether you should call it down or muck it right there depend on the size of the pot. If the pot is huge, you should probably call it down.

Failing To Make Timely Decisions With Unpleasant Outcomes
It almost always pays to play tight, and it's on the flop more then prior to the flop that you should evaluate your degree of tightness. Fold those losers, and rest assured that much better opportunities will arise later on. They always do.

Two Things

Texas Hold'em is no mystery nowadays—people all over the world play it with enthusiasm. And it may seem silly to be reminded of the following fundamental facts, but it's surprising how often players get immersed in the excitement of the game and forget the basics.

So, always remember these two things:

1. The two cards you hold are the only cards that set you apart from the other poker players and give you the chance to win.

2. All of the face-up cards are community cards, shared by you and every other player. It's vital that you focus on what those cards could mean to someone else at least as much as you focus on what they mean to you. In particular, keep your eyes open for your opponents' straight and flush possibilities.

For me, the above count for the basic poker strategy and it's just these little ideas that keep my head up in my daily poker experiences.

Screen Name Matters

If you're thinking that intelligent people won't usually be fooled by a screen name, you're right. But, despite people's conscientious attempts to keep from being swayed, they might occasionally be more inclined to call a poker player who presents himself with the screen name "Loose Tom" than if the name were "Tight Jerry".

Although many intelligent players won't be fooled, enough players will be occasionally influenced by a playful or reckless sounding nickname so that you'll get more calls and earn more money—if calls are your primary goal. If you believe you'll make the most money by bluffing rather than applying sensible poker strategy, then I'd recommend you choose a neutral-sounding screen name or even a conservative one, such as "Frugal Leo".

In online poker, where every extra edge helps, you should decide on a screen name that is most likely to influence your opponents the way you want, even if it only amounts to winning a few extra dollars now and then. By the way, it's been suggested to me that you might get dual advantage by choosing a loose-looking icon and a tight-sounding nickname or vice-versa. I'm sure that might confuse the opposition, but I am not convinced that would be effective, because you don't know yourself what online image you were trying to convey.

My Choice

Games are so diverse and numerous nowadays that it's hard to pick up "the one" that topples everything else for us. I choose Texas Hold'em for various reasons.

First, it's a poker game. Poker cards are available all over the world and a kind of household game device.

Second, the game takes roots in America. It's becoming very popular in the English-speaking countries and those under heavy influence of western culture. I won't exaggerate its status in poker game industry, but you can imagine that when globalization is on the way and modernization keeps head up, what's popular in the developed country surely would find its followers in other countries.

Third, my own situation guides to the game. I am fairly good at English. I make my choices when concerning different products or services on the basis whether it's "in" in the western world. I won't deny it's kind of vanity style. However, that's a style I can live with, and I live with it happily. HOHO.

Journey Back Home

It's a long journey home. On the train, we are bored with sleeping and eating. There is little privacy for chatting for total strangers are around within inches in this crowded place at this festival season. So we play poker.

Just between the 2 of us, we play the game "24". It's about showing 4 cards on the poker table, excluding the jokers. And the person who calculate by addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division to get 24 with least time wins the game (note: all 4 numbers indicated by the cards must be involved).

Basically, we play it only on special occasions like this one. We don't have notebook computer so no movie; my MP3's battery is dead before we get our butt on our compartment seats. Even not, it can't last for a 50-hour trip; no other entertainment can come up in my mind to kill the time. I try to inspire my GF to experience the magic of Texas Hold'em. But the game loses its attractiveness when there is no money or punishment involved. So I quit myself before she gets bored too.

Playing Against a Weak Player

Supposed that you are in the tournament and there is a particular player who enters a poker tournament for the first time and it becomes obvious that he is a weak player. In that station, it won’t take us very long to recognize the type of player he was.

If you are an experienced poker player, you can quickly decide that if you are in the pot with him and to show him a hand. If he gets lucky enough to beat you, he is going to beat a hand.

Meanwhile, there are other very good players in this tournament who tries to run over him and force him out of a pot. They will bluff at him constantly and be rarely successful…

What they should not have done is try to bluff him because you simply can’t bluff a bad player as a bad player will call when he’s got any kind of a hand and pass when he doesn’t.

When playing with a weak poker player, show him a hand and you do very fundamental, even obvious things against him---no tricks, no strategic play, nothing fancy…

Play straightforward poker against a weak poker player!

Hiding Your Poker Tells

As everybody knows, poker is a combination of skills and strategies, which means when we play poker, we should not only pay much attention to skills but also we should also know psychological factors.
A professional poker player could know what you have in your hand by observing your facial expression, some unconscious movements or whatever. So what we should do is to hide your poker tells as much as possible.
Following video would let you know how to hide your poker tells.

Hooray

"Luck is the residue of design."
-- Branch Rickey

The harder we work, the luckier we get.

Outside poker, good luck is often the result of deliberate planning and hard work. It works this way in poker too, to a large degree. But, luck in poker is somehow also different.

We all appreciate luck in poker, and wish we could bottle it and save it for future days, but in many ways luck is the enemy of a good poker player. First let's look at luck from the perspective of the bad player. At least half the time when a bad player wins a pot, he will have gotten lucky to do it. The bad player comes from behind, sucks out when not getting pot odds, makes miracle perfect-perfect catches, spears a kicker on the river card, fills up bottom two pair against an opponent with top two pair. The bad player has a million ways to get lucky. And, like Branch Rickey said, this is by design. Bad players try to get lucky. So, it's no surprise that bad players are generally luckier than good players.

On the other hand, good players are playing with the best of it. Sure, they still get "lucky" sometimes, like making a flush draw on the river card, but they will have been getting pot odds on that draw and will have built the pot correctly too. Good players habitually do the mathematically correct action in any given situation. It's not "lucky" for AA to beat J9. The good player actually tries to avoid being lucky, except to the extent that it would be lucky if the flop came AJ9.

One way that I often get accused of being "lucky" is when an opponent says: "You are so lucky I threw away my hand." Well, duh, that's why I raised, to get you out. My luck here was again the residue of design. This is the sort of luck that good players manufacture all the time. But it's not at all the same kind of luck that happens to the bad player. The bad poker player makes his own luck happen to him; the good player often makes other players give him good luck.

Alpha→Omega

My online poker experience has a really interesting trajectory. Enjoy!

1, Learn poker rules
So far, I still remember my exclamation the first time when I combined a Full House

2, Practice poker with play money
At that time, I had to restrain myself from the impulsion of throwing all in. My mentor told me seriously that the play money is not for play.

3, Learn basic poker strategy
I finally learned I should better be a tight poker player than a calling station.

4, Play low stakes with real money
$0.02/$0.04 Limit is my sweet home.

5, Join No-Limit Tourney
For me, this would be Final Fantasy & Mission Accomplished (my first thought is Mission Impossible).

6, Try other poker games other than Texas Holdem
Following the same cycle in Omaha, or whatever it is, is essential.

Take Your Position

Manipulating position is a skill that Texas Holdem players need to focus on developing more deeply when moving to other games.

In Texas Holdem poker, the value of position is generally self-evident. You want opponents to make their decisions before you do, and then you want the final say, the last word. On top of that, Holdem is a game where it is common that nobody has much of anything. You are making decisions based on whose "nothing" will outplay the others to win the pot. While superior position doesn't automatically win hands, it does make it more likely you will make better bets—in the same way that a general who positions his troops on terrain he is familiar with will have an edge.

But position in Texas Holdem is simplistic. Last is basically best, particularly when only two players are in a pot. First position, or second position behind a maniac, or position in front of a maniac … sometimes these will offer positional advantages too, but for the most part, just being last to act is such a significant edge that all good players will tend to play more hands when they are in late position and less hands when they are in early position.

But the greatest difference in positional complexity comes in comparing Omaha Hi/Lo to Texas Holdem. Last position continues to have some general advantages, but it comes with disadvantages too. For example, bluffing from last position is suicide against good players. The bluffing arrow is almost removed from your quiver when you are last. In Texas Holdem having middle position seldom offers any advantages but middle position is the prime bluffing position in Omaha.

Turn Over Your Shoulder

A stranger walks into a saloon and gets a drink. He sees a poker game and asks if he can play. He's told to take a seat. It's a no limit 5-card draw game and he's a pretty good poker player. After about an hour of so-so hands, he draws Aces full and makes a sizable bet. The old guy across from him raises all-in and the stranger calls. The old guy lays down 23457o and reaches for the chips.

"Whoa, there. I've got Aces-full."

"Yeah, but I've got a wild cat.", says the old guy.

"A wild cat? What the hell is a wild cat?"

"A wild cat is 23457 off-suit." Like this, "Says the old man."

The stranger starts to burn and says, "I've played a lot of poker, but I've never heard of a wild cat."

"Well, if you've played a lot of poker, you oughta know that you should learn the house rules before you play. And this here's a house rule."

At that, the old guy points to a sign just over the stranger's right shoulder. The sign says,

"House Rule - Wild Cat is a 23457 off-suit and it beats everything"

Being a gentleman and an honorable gambler, the stranger takes his lumps and settles back for more poker.

Several hours later, the stranger is dealt 23457o. He bets and the same old guy raises him the pot. Without the slightest hint of a tell, the stranger raises all-in. The old guy calls and lays down an ace high flush, and reaches for the poker chips.

"Whoa there! I've got a wild cat.", says the stranger as he lays down his cards.

"Nice hand.", says the old guy as he scoops up the pot. "What did I tell you about house rules?", as he points to a sign over the stranger's left shoulder.

"House Rule -Wild Cat - Only Good Once a Night"

Poker Championship Final Results

A Canadian not named Gavin Smith wins the 2008 North American Poker Championship in Niagra Falls, Ontario.

Gavin Smith's effort to win his first major poker title on his home Canadian soil came up one spot shy of the target. He found himself head's up with Glen Witmer for the title but facing an uphill battle with a near 3 to 1 chip deficit. Down to two players, the HU battle went nearly as many hands as the entire final table of the 2008 Borgata Poker Open. Smith eventually lost a coin flip (55 versus AK) which would have switched the poker chip stack into his favor but the small pair did not hold up.

When it was three handed, Witmer found himself with a nice stack but going up against Smith and Kathy Liebert, the all time leading women's poker tournament money winner. Even with the big stack, poker odds seemed against him but he held out and took down the top prize of $1,254,152 CAD.

Final table results (in Canadian dollars):
1. Glen Witmer - $1,254,152
2. Gavin Smith - $612,427
3. Kathy Liebert - $319,337
4. Ryan Fisler - $262,469
5. Marc Karam - $196,851
6. James Trenholm - $153,107

Search for the Unexpected

A group of unicorns is called a blessing.

A group of kangaroos is called a mob.

A group of owls is called a parliament.

A group of ravens is called a murder.

Mozambique has an AK-47 assault rifle on its flag.

Camels have a straight spine despite their hump.

One in 10 Europeans is allegedly conceived in an Ikea bed.

A surfer once sued another surfer for "stealing his wave." The case was thrown out because the court was unable to put a price on "pain and suffering" endured by the surfer watching someone else ride "his" wave.

The = sign was invented by 16th Century Welsh mathematician Robert Recorde, who was fed up with writing "is equal to" in his equations. He chose the two lines because "noe 2 thynges can be moare equalle".

NASA boss Michael Griffin has seven university degrees: a bachelor's degree, a PhD, and five masters degrees.

27% of female lottery winners hid their winning ticket in their bras.

In eighteenth century English gambling dens, there was an employee whose only job was to swallow the dice if there was a police raid.

In ancient Egypt, killing a cat was a crime punishable by death.

In ancient Greece, where the mouse was sacred to Apollo, mice were sometimes devoured by temple priests.

In a deck of poker cards, the King of Hearts appears to be sticking his sword through his head.

In Calama, a town in the Atacama Desert of Chile, it has never rained.

88 is used as a symbol. The 8th letter of the alphabet being H, Neo-Nazis take 88 as salute code (HH as "Heil Hitler").

In China, due to sound resemblance, 88 is used as a shorthand for "goodbye" in IM chats.

If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib. If you try to suppress a sneeze, you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die.

On the door to Tutankhamen's tomb, so goes the legend, was inscribed a curse: "Death shall come on swift wings to him who disturbs the peace of the king..."

When Columbus landed on U.S. shores in 1492, his men plucked wide leaves from trees, marked them with images, and played the first round of poker game on New Continent.

In the country of Turkey, in the 16th and 17th centuries, anyone caught drinking coffee was put to death.