Poker Blog and Poker Gossip

In all my time playing poker or working as an affiliate I have had a chance to see many cool promotions.  Currently PKR.com is running one for  Valentines Day which easily tops the list as one of the best. PKR is offering it’s players a chance to win a date with Nuts Cover Model, Lindsey Strutt (yes, the one with the huge tits below):

For just $10 you can win the chance to be flown to London, put up in a sweet ass hotel, then sent on a date with the gorgeous 32F-26-32 Lindsey for the night.  The date will start off with a champagne reception, followed by dinner at one of London’s nicest restaurants and if you play your cards right (no pun intended) the night could end elsewhere.

For more pictures of Lindsey including MANY NSFW ones, check out her portfolio on her official website.

To win this date, you will need to come in first in the “Nuts about the Girl” tournament on Sunday, 14 February at 20:15 GMT which can be found in the PKR lobby.

Kitty Lee recently did an interview with UK poker news, and in that article shares her thoughts on life, love and poker.  This interview isn‘t in depth, and it doesn‘t offer really any great poker insights.  Honestly, it kind of looks like somebody’s pro poker friend mentioned that he once dated Kitty, and taught her to “play poker.”  That being said, Kitty is pretty hot, is an “Actress” and model (really, she’s had spreads in Nuts, Maxium UK, Loaded and others) and has tossed some cards around in the one live cash game she’s played.

To see the whole interview click here…here are a few excerpts from the “interview.”

Em: How did you first get into poker?
Kitty: Well my ex was a pro and although I never wanted to learn when I was with him about a year and a half afterwards my friend introduced me to Texas hold em on the IPod touch. It looked like so much fun I downloaded it and was hooked ever since.

Em: Do you enjoy live poker or online poker the most?
Kitty: Well I have only played one live game so far and that was pretty scary so I would have to say online poker for now

And if you want to check out Kitty’s official site, click here, but be warned, her site is nipple friendly (must be a UK thing..)

With the casino business of Atlantic City taking a beating over the tough economic times the New Jersey Government has become the first state to seriously explore online gambling (poker) revenue. Senator Raymond Lesniak introduced the S3167 Senate Bill that would permit Atlantic CIty Casinos to provide online versions of their games. Permitted games would be BLackjakc, Baccarat and of course, online poker.

The New Jersey Casino Control Commission would be the regulatory body for the new iniative under a new division of Internet Wagering. Anyone is able to set up their own online gambling site, but for the with the costs involved only major Atlantic City Casino’s are expected to take advantage of the new proposed laws.

How Much Will It Cost?

Up Front Fee $200,000

Non-Refundable Deposit $100,000

Yearly Renewal $100,000

Problem Gambling Levey $100,000

Benifits

There are barrieres to setting up this type of business, but with little overhead and approx. 500,000 online poker players in New Jersey alone this could be a huge win for online gambling, and for Atlantic City Casinos. Giving it a chance could showcase the amount of revenue that the states have been denying themselves (Senator Lesniak estimates $100 million), as well as profiting from a higher tax rate on online gambling revenue (20% instead of the 8% on gross revenue currently incured by brick-and-mortar profits).

Drawbacks

The new regulations would allow for anyone to play online poker and gambling games, provided they were in a “restricted area of a casino hotel or a secure facility off the premises of the casino hotel.” Terminals would also be placed at racetracks. Sadly, not all New Jersey residents will be able to get their hands on legal online poker, should the bill pass. The law only applies to those people “within the territorial limits of the Atlantic County.”

With the blessing of the Quebec cabinet, and the go ahead from Loto-Quebec CEO it appears that Quebec will be the first Canadian province to have a government regulated online poker site. For the record, BC has online gambling, but the games are casino like games and pseudo-poker games, not the true poker game that is being proposed in Quebec. But wait, can’t we already play online poker in Canada without regulation? Isn’t it “Legal?” Has this worked in others places around the world? And wont there be too many barriers for existing players to make the jump to a publicly run site?

The “Illegal” Question

It always makes me laugh when i read stories like this and there are learned men and women speaking about the legality of online poker, and getting the complete wrong end of the stick. For example, during the press conference the Finance Minister Raymond Bachand spoke about the legitimacy, regulation and protection that provincially run online gambling would offer consumers. “Inasmuch as this is a sector that is developing exponentially in an illegal way, Loto-Québec is being given the responsibility of working to redirect this … to a site that is secure, legal and trustworthy.” I don’t know if he’s speaking about illegal live poker clubs (a huge problem in Quebec), or if he’s alluding to the “illegal” gambling site that have been allowed to run in Canada. The fact is, while it is illegal for someone to run a gambling site in Canada, it’s perfectly legal to frequent a site run on foreign ground. I dislike the vilification of people playing “illegal” games and simply by saying “look at us! we made a site and it’s LEGAL now, come play on it!” doesn’t sway me in the slightest. Quebec, you’ll need to make a GREAT online poker site and offer some GREAT rakeback and incentive offers to come close to enticing players from the already well established online poker sites like Full Tilt and Poker Stars.

What Happened in Sweden?

Okay, so there is president for this. When Sweden launched is publicly owned Swedish lottery corporation online poker offering it took %25 of the market share in four hours. I’m not sure how they came to that conclusion, or if it has been sustained over a long period of time, but in 2008 it generated $600,000 million so it looks to be a viable option. Of course, with the widespread offerings and few barriers to those offerings (you just need an internet connection and a way to get cash on the site), i maintain it will be difficult for a “Regulated” online poker room that’s state run to succeed in the way the politicians are expecting.

Barriers?

C’mon, you didn’t think that adding red tape and government control would mean an easy way to get online to play poker.

The Quebec site will be open only to Quebec residents who are physically within the province, but those players will be able to engage players in the other participating jurisdictions. Age verification will be done by an outside firm using a process that could take days and, in some cases, require the player to show up in person.

GREAT. I’m totally getting rid of my illegal online accounts to wait a few weeks to be told i have to go down to some private firm to verify my age (hello…i pay taxes, you seem to know how old i am on there..eh?).

All in all, i think their intentions are good, but you can’t all of a sudden change the rules and expect people to be excited about it. If this were happening in the states, it would be really exciting. In Canada, it seems ill conceived and not well thought out. I’ll stick with my “illegal” option thank you very much.

I have done many articles lately about powerful hands, and mistakes poker players make.  And after thinking long and hard about this, it comes down to one thing really: Do you have a plan?  Now, i could go very general, and talk about a plan for the tourney you’re entering, or the major MTT, or even the 2 hour multi table cash game; i’d like to get a lot more narrow.  Do you have a plan, hand for hand?

Pre-Flop

Most people who read poker books are bombarded with charts, and scales, statitstics and probabiltiy about every starting hand combonation out there.  AK is really good, A6 is not so great, 72 is the worst hand in poker.  We all know those basics, but many poker books are sorely lacking in outlining exactly how to formulate a plan hand for hand.  What happens if you have AK and miss your flop entierly?? Fold, right? It really depends….

An Example

Your opponent raises from middle position and you call with pocket nines on the button. The blinds fold and now it is just you and your opponent left in the hand. The flop comes Kc-6s-10d and your opponent leads out for a two thirds pot sized bet and you fold. In this situation then your entire plan for the hand revolved around hitting a set and getting paid off. But this was such a narrow line of vision in how you are playing the hand that you have actually played the hand badly. Your opponent held A-J but their pre-flop aggression and flop continuation bet forced you to fold.

What to Do?
Is folding a bad option here?  The way the hand was played, it was the only option, really.  But, with the only plan for the hand being to hit a set on the flop and get paid off you’re short changing yourself (and there is no guarentee that your opponent will pay you off enough to make the risk worth it!).

A much better play would be to re-raise with your 99′s preflop, that way when you do hit your set, your opponent is more pot commited, and you have a much better chance of stackign them.  It also signals to your opponent that you’re stong and instead of them being in control of the hand post flop, they will likely check to you for you to put your continuation bet in.  If you held AJ, missed your flop and checked to an aggressive button, you’d probably be folding as well.

In Conclusion
Develop your post-flop skills by having a plan.  Close up the leaks of putting in a great pre-flop bet and not backing up your play with a plan of how to finish the hand; dont be afraid of letting it go if you know you’re beat, plan be damned!

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