Using Obvious Plays to Your Benefit

There are certain situations where it can be more than beneficial to take obvious plays and turn them into your favor. Have you ever called down a bet that was so clearly a bluff only for your opponent to showdown the nuts?
This may very well have been an example of a time where someone exploited their hand’s perceived strength in order to achieve the maximum payout. This sort of understanding is not important when you have an obvious hand, but instead when your opponents are likely to misread your hand as being obvious.

Decisions In Poker Based On Circumstances…The Hansen/Deeb “Big One” Agreement

The world of poker sometimes presents mind-boggling conundrums that even the most brilliant astrophysicist would have trouble wrapping his or her big brain around. The World Series of Poker is one of the arenas where that can come into play and, in particular, the biggest ever buy in poker tournament, the “Big One For One Drop.” That tournament presented some of the myriad of complexities that would have every poker player wondering what they would do in that position.
One of those situations appeared before the first cards were in the air for the “Big One.” Prior to the start of the million dollar buy in tournament, a mega-satellite was held on the floor of the Rio that offered a prize that anyone could get behind. For the princely sum of $25,000, players had the opportunity to get into one

Scientific American Picks Up Poker’s “Skill Versus Luck” Argument

It is a question that has been debated since probably the dawn of the game of poker (whether you believe it was invented in Turkey, France, Louisiana or on the riverboats of the Mississippi River). What is the skill element of poker versus that of luck? Leave it to a top science magazine to wade into the waters and attempt to answer that age-old debate.
In an article on the Scientific American website, writer Jennifer Ouellette pens an intriguing look at the “skill versus luck” debate, featuring input from a few of poker’s more notable names. In an article entitled “Knowing When To Fold’em: The Science of Poker,” Ouellette begins her piece by discussing the latest ruling in federal court that overturned the conviction of a Staten Island man for running a “game of chance,” in essence saying poker was a game of skill. Ouellette also points out the contradictory

WPT to Host Tournament in Honor of Dr. Jerry Buss

In February, one of the most popular “non-poker” poker celebrities, Dr. Jerry Buss, passed away. The former owner of the Los Angeles Lakers had been battling cancer for quite some time, finally losing the battle at the age of 80. This Sunday, August 25th, the World Poker Tour Foundation will hold a tournament in his honor at his home casino, the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California.
The Frank Mariani & Jerry Buss No-Limit Hold’em Poker Tournament will require a $365 buy-in and will feature a guaranteed prize pool of $20,000. 25 percent of the prize pool will be donated to the Los Angeles Lakers Youth Foundation, which, according to the Foundation’s website, focuses on “on the use of sports to promote education, teamwork and self-esteem among Los Angeles area youth.”
In addition to the prize money, all players who reach the final table

Alexey Rybin is right where he has been for the entirety of the 2013 bwin World Poker Tour (WPT) Merit Cyprus Classic Main Event: on top. With 2.698 million chips, he holds the chip lead going into the six-handed final table by more than 1.1 million over his nearest competitor. Just one more day remains for Rybin to achieve one of the rarest accomplishments in tournament poker, leading wire-to-wire.
Rybin grabbed the lead on Day 1A, the first of two starting flights, and has yet to relinquish it. In today’s game, it is unusual to see the same person at the top of the leader board for two consecutive days, let alone four, as Rybin has done. The fields are just too big, the tournaments are just too long, and enough luck comes into play to the odds of it happening extremely remote.