Regarding Poker

If you haven’t heard already there are some big changes coming to thepokerdb starting on August 21st, 2007 that was initiated by PokerStars mandate for a change for all online poker tournament database sites.

PokerStars mandated that websites displaying player’s rankings and ratings require players to opt-in before displaying certain data. Within thepokerdb this only pertains to PokerStars data.

PokerStars’ Policy Regarding “Rankings/Ratings” Services

To ensure player privacy regarding certain player statistics and financial information gathered by websites (hereinafter “Service Operator”) that collect and organize PokerStars players’ results by various means, PokerStars has devised the following rules with which such Service Operators must comply:

1) No player profitability data (i.e. ROI, net profit, etc) may be displayed on any player unless the player has explicitly opted into such display by transferring $0.03 to a prominently published PokerStars account owned by the Service Operator. This request must be acknowledged by the Service Operator by sending the $0.03 back to the player as confirmation within a reasonable time frame not to exceed 5 days.

2) Any player may choose to completely opt out of having any information about them displayed on the Service. To do so, player will transfer $0.01 to the service operator’s PokerStars account. This request must be acknowledged by the Service Operator by sending the $0.01 back to the player as confirmation within a reasonable time frame not to exceed 5 days. Note that the amount here is different, in order to distinguish an opt-out request from an opt-in request.

3) The use of the “transfer from user to Service and back again” method for opt-in and opt-out is required. This method permits these requests to be handled privately and securely without the disclosure of the player’s Email, real name, or other private information. Only the player’s PokerStars User ID is required.

4) Both the opt-in and opt-out options must be prominently displayed on the main / front page of the Service (at minimum, a normal-sized link on the front page to a more complete description elsewhere).

5) If the service’s operation pre-dates the establishment of these guidelines (December 2006), there shall be no “grandfather clause” for existing data. 100% of historical profitability data must be removed from view until such time as a player explicitly opts in as above.

Any Service Operator found to be in violation of these rules risks having their access to PokerStars’ game client restricted and/or the service impeded, including but not limited to the warning of players who access the Service while the PokerStars client is open.

For more information on this please visit thepokerdb website.

I came across Mark Junell’s free poker table design plans a while back ago and figured it should be mentioned here. It’s an absolute gorgeous design and would really impress your poker pals.

Many of us host private home tournaments, so why not have a beautiful poker table when we do? The trend these days is to buy those cheap, unstable folding poker tables for a couple of hundred bucks or less. You could easily build Mark Junell’s table for under $150.00 and end up with a custom table a whole lot nicer than those cheap store bought ones.

Of course, you would need to build it, and hopefully you have some carpentry skills to make it all happen! If you lack some carpentry skills, don’t worry, Mark provides easy, step-by-step instructions with pictures.

My friend made two of these tables and they look, feel, and play great!

So if you ever want to try and build your own poker table, then I highly recommend that you head over to Mark Junell’s site for complete instructions on how to build this awesome poker table.

Be sure to email Mark Junell pictures of your completed poker table as he would love to see them.

Click here for Mark Junell’s table design instructions.

Good luck!

When I sit down to play some online poker I am always watching the other players whether I am in a hand or not. I am looking to see what kind of players they are; do they bluff a lot, what their starting hands are in certain positions, are they weak players, etc.

When I have some useful information on a player I make notes on them. All online poker rooms offer the ability to make notes on players. Make use of this powerful feature, because not only will these notes help you with the game you are currently in, but also when you play with that player again sometime down the road.

I currently have notes on over 10,000 players on PokerStars. Usually when I sit down at a table I will already have notes on one or more players. This small advantage will give you that extra edge and in turn, win you more money (or save you money!).

When I make notes I use my own system of abbreviations and meanings. I usually don’t make notes on players who are in late position or who are in the Blinds (we all get creative in these positions) or who are low-stacked.

My Player Notes:

AA (Any Ace) – A player who plays any low card (10 and below) with an Ace from early to mid position. Add an exclamation point when players play any Ace with a baby card from early position.
AS (Any Suited Cards) – A player who plays any two suited cards
SC (Any Suited Connectors) – A player who plays any suited connectors
CS (Calling Station) – A player who is a Calling Station and will call your bets with any made hand, regardless of what’s on the Board
RR (River Rat) – A player who calls any bets to the River (River Rat) who is looking to catch a card to make a hand
20 – A player who plays any two unsuited face cards
T – A Tight player
1 – A weak player who is new to the game or is simply a bad player
2 – A player who check-raises frequently
3 – A solid, good player
B – A player who Bluffs often
J (Jackal) - From Phil Hellmuth’s Animal Types: a reckless and unpredictable player
SP (Slow Plays) – A player who often slow-plays big hands
LF (Limps/Folds) – A player who limps in a lot and folds to any raise pre-Flop
SS# (SharkScope rating) - SS + a number between 0 and 5, with 5 being a very good player

These notes are generally for Texas Hold’em games. When I make notes on players in games other than Hold’em, I will add an abbreviation for the game next to the notes, e.g. a RR (River Rat) in Stud would look like, RR – Std, in Razz, RR – R, in 7-2 Triple Draw, RR – 7-2, and so on.

If I suspect that a player falls under one of the abbreviations above I will add the note along with a question mark next to it. When I am certain about the player’s style I will remove the question mark, and treat the note(s) as fact.

I believe that’s most of the ones I use. I also scribble miscellaneous notes on players when none of the above apply.

Making player notes will not only keep you busy in the game when not in a hand, it will also certainly help you make tough decisions when playing these players. There is nothing better than knowing who you are up against before you even start playing a hand!

The odds of being dealt specific Hold’em hands before the Flop (odds against):

AA – 220 to 1
2 Kings through 2 Jacks – 72.7 to 1
AK suited – 331 to 1
AK offsuit – 110 to 1
Ace Queen or Ace Jack suited – 165 to 1
Ace Queen or Ace Jack offsuit – 54.3 to 1
King Queen suited – 331 to 1
King Queen offsuit – 110 to 1
Any Pair – 16 to 1
Any two cards suited – 3.25 to 1
*Unsuited Connectors (stretched) - 14.8 to 1
*Suited Connectors (stretched) - 46.4 to 1

*Two connecting cards allowing for maximum chances for straights.

You hold AK suited and the probability that you will Flop…

4 of a Kind – 9,799 to 1
Full House – 1,088 to 1
Flush (excluding Royal Flush) – 119 to 1
Straight – 310 to 1
Any Flop with an Ace or King – 2.08 to 1

Absence of Aces before the Flop (nine handed):

The probability that no player has an Ace (including yourself) – 17.13%
If you have one Ace, the probability that no other player has an Ace – 30.53%
Your hand will have no Ace 85.07% of the time.

Hold’em Long Shots (odds against):

If you hold suited cards, a Flush will Flop – 118 to 1
If you hold a pair, Four-of-a-Kind will Flop – 407 to 1
Heads-up, both players dealt pair of Aces – 270,724 to 1

More Hold’em Odds:

If you hold any pair you will Flop Trips - 7.51 to 1
If you have four parts to a Flush after the Flop you will make it - 1.86 to 1
If you have four parts to an Open-End-Straight-Flush after the Flop you will make a Straight Flush - 10.9 to1
If you have four parts to an Open-End-Straight-Flush after the Flop you will make at least a Straight – 0.85 to1
If you have Two-Pair after the Flop you will make a Full House or better – 4.97 to 1
If you have Three-of-a-Kind after the Flop you will make a Full House or better – 1.99 to 1

Now the hard part; memorize the above!

Poker-Spy

I came across a very interesting online poker tool, Poker-Spy. This tool offers many of the same features that most online poker tools offer, but it offers one extra feature that I think can dramatically improve your poker game.

Poker-Spy can show you, and only you, the mucked cards from your opponents if the hand went to Showdown. Think about this; it shows you their mucked cards! This can give a player a huge advantage and information about your opponents that no one else has privy to.

Imagine, you play a hand with one or more players till Showdown; now you get to see what hands they were playing with. Now you’ll know if they play Ace/rag in early position, how they play suited connectors and small pairs in early and mid position, if they are Calling Stations or River Rats. This kind of information is potentially worth a lot of money.

So I asked myself if this program is considered cheating or illegal. So I visited the PokerStars web site to see if it is indeed illegal to use there. To my surprise PokerStars lists the Poker-Spy tool as “acceptable”, meaning you ARE allowed to use this at PokerStars.

Well, if PokerStars says that Poker-Spy is ok to use, then why wouldn’t a player take advantage of this software? The way I see it is if you are playing for real-money poker then you should take advantage of any legal online poker tool you can get your hands on. Programs like these can only help a player to win more pots.

Poker-Spy Features:

Game Tracker

Game Tracker monitors all the action at your table:
“ Recently played hands
“ Opponents mucked cards
“ Player information and statistics
“ Player Alerts
“ Table Conditions

Game Tracker also gives you one click access to key information:
“ Review of recently played hands
“ Alert Window
“ Player Analysis Report
“ Hand Review Report
“ Player Graphs
“ Player Statistics

Alerts & Alerts Review Window

Real Time Alerts notify you of opponent behavior so you can immediately determine how your opponents are playing. The Alerts Review Window shows you, in detail, what happened and with what cards.

Questionable Hand Selections:
“ Algorithm factors number of opponents, whether the hand was played first-in, multi-way or in a pre-flop raise situation. 

 Aggressive Plays:
“ Player raised with unconventional hand. Algorithm factors if raise was first in or a steal blind situation (see below)
“ Hands re-raised and call-raised 

 Passive Plays:
“ Player did not raise a hand normally raised in that situation
“ Calling and cold calling two or more bets 

 Plays involving the Blinds:
“ Player attempted to steal blinds with unconventional holdings
“ Player defended blind with unconventional holdings
“ Player called a raise with unconventional holdings
“ Player completed the small blind with unconventional holdings

Post flop behaviors and observations : Alerts on plays that occur in post-flop situations.
“ POSSIBLE BLUFFS your opponents may be making on the river by betting.
“ POSSIBLE BLUFFS your opponents may be making on the river by raising.
“ Loose calls on the river opponents are making with weak holdings.
“ Incorrect value bets and raises opponents are making on the river.

Reports

Analysis Report (new):
“ Categorizes pre-flop play in over 15 categories
“ Shows predictable patterns in opponents
“ Highlights hand selection errors

Hand Summary Report:
“ Identifies losing hands
“ Identifies hands performing below expectation.
“ Identifies winning and losing players

Player Report:
“ Detailed statistics on all players
“ Compares how you are performing relative to opponents.

Additional Features:
“ Easy to navigate; works just like a web browser
“ Print, copy, send to Excel or email to friends

Hand Review

Hand Review Window let’s you review any hand you have on record. Key features:
“ Play by Play of previously played hands
“ Hand Analysis
“ Opponent’s mucked hands

The Hand Review Window also gives you one click access to:
“ Player Analysis Report

Graphs

“ Graphs are available for all players
“ Colors highlight current session versus historical performance
“ Six zoom levels to view information detail
“ View player graphs in same window to save screen space
“ View player graphs in separate windows for side by side comparisons

Odds Calculator

“ Automatically reads hole cards
“ Odds of winning or splitting
“ Odds and percentages of completing poker hands
“ Odds of your best opponent holdings
“ Pocket Rank
“ Pocket Group
“ Color coded for easy reference
“ Supports multiple simultaneous tables

Click here to learn more about Poker-Spy.

Supported Online Poker Rooms:

PokerStars
Absolute Poker
PartyPoker
FullTilt Poker
Doyle’s Room
TruePoker
William Hill Poker
Caribbean Sun Poker
Empire Poker
Littlewoods Poker
Multi Poker
Poker Fun Club
PokerNow
PokerPlex
ProCappers
Ritz Club London Poker
Score Poker
totalbet poker
ukbetting poker
Poker Host  New!
Blue Square
Golden Palace Poker
VC Poker
High Rollers CardRoom
Paddy Power Poker
World Poker Arena 
Poker In Europe
Pocket Rockets Poker
Bowmans Poker
Racing Post
Poker Daddy
RedRoom Poker
UK-Poker.net
RealPoker.co.uk
Proper Poker
Vegas Queens Poker
PayDay Poker
Tiger Poker
Good Gambling Guide
UK Pokerstars
Poker.fr
Blue Lizard Poker Room
Wide World of Poker
Thanks for the Action
Fish Pond Poker
Avalanche Poker
GamTrack Poker
Victory Poker
Royal Blue Poker
High Stakes Poker
W Poker
Francite Poker
Pure Gold Poker
Crazy Parrot Poker
Casinos of Mayfair Poker
Page 3 Poker
Skin Poker
City Poker
Gaming Floor Poker
Aspinalls Poker
Platinum Poker
EasyOdds Poker
Ladyrose Poker
Poker Aces Club
Winners Only Poker
Street Legal Poker
World’s Best Poker
Trish’s Room
Platinum Poker Club
Commodore Poker
Daily Star Poker
Jennings Poker
Poker Republic
Premier Bet Poker
Svenska Odds Poker
Vertical Poker
Viking Bet Poker
World Super Poker
Blue Diamond Poker
Loveable Rouges Poker
Hacketts Poker
Poker Barkada
All-In Canada
Arsenal Poker
BetUS Poker
Full On Poker
GG.com Poker
Gamble Poker
House of Deeb
Jazz Poker Room
Jonny Texas Poker
Liverpoolfc.tv Poker
Maximus Poker
Ministry of Sound Poker
PokerInAmerica
The Rivercard
Rob’s Poker Room
Southern Cross Poker
VC Student Poker
The Sun Poker
Score Poker
Times Online Poker
Bruce Betting Poker
Blonde Poker
College Rivalry Poker
Dollarclub Poker
GoodLot Poker
Love2Play Poker
My Poker Dream
University Poker League
Pokerola
Ubet2win Poker
ZPokerClub
Cigar Room Poker
Jill Ann Poker
BetSafe Poker

Click here to check out the online poker tool: Poker-Spy.

I’ll keep you posted on Poker-Spy… If you have any comments on this program I would love to hear from you.

As you may know there is not too much information on the Internet about Razz. So anything that I find that is helpful I will post here.

Winning Razz tournaments takes a great deal of patience. You want to have good starting hands before getting involved in a pot. By good hands I mean no pairs and a baby, or no face card and two babies. Of course there are always an exception, you may be bluffing or you raise out the Bring-in.

Here are the probabilities of being dealt certain starting hands in Razz:
(View table in full)

Patience, discipline, waiting for good starting hands, and knowing when to fold will take you a long way in doing well in a Razz tournament.

Wanna play online Razz tournaments? I recommend PokerStars.

Roy Rounder (AKA Rory Monahan) is a poker professional for more than 15 years. His free poker newsletters offer a wealth of insight into the game of poker, especially No-Limit Texas Hold’em.

Joining his poker newsletter is absolutely free and he’ll discuss:

• A simple three-step method for avoiding up to 90% of the “bad beats” you take playing online poker.
• How to calculate poker pot odds quickly without complicated math formulas.
• How to spot poker tells online and in live poker games. He also includes audio and diagrams to make his point understandable.
• How to improve your position to ’steal the button’, good for getting an extra one or two pots an hour.
• How to manage your poker bankroll and much more.

I personally enjoyed and learnt a lot from Roy Rounder’s Newsletter and highly recommend it to any poker player that wants to improve his or her’s poker game.

Click here to get your free Roy Rounder Email Newsletter.

You’ve probably seen him on TV playing in a poker tournament or heard of him somewhere in cyberspace. Bryan Micon is a top online and live poker tournament player and people either hate him or love him.

There is no denying his success in live and online poker tournaments; he is a force to be reckoned with. So why do some people hate him? Probably because he comes off as a cocky person, you know, the kind you love to hate.

Bryan Micon has his own web site where he sells his inside secretes to winning online poker tournaments. He recently launched a much improved system, as his first attempt was not done very professionally and a lot of people felt that they didn’t get their monies worth; another reason why some hate him.

Here is a short video of Bryan Micon in the 2006 WSOP Main Event:

Well, to everyone’s surprise his second attempt at discussing his tournament strategy is much well received this time around. The Micon System 2: Full Disclosure system offers over four hours of lecture and takes his system presentation much more seriously and presented in a much more professional manner then his first poker system attempt.

Bryan Micon:
Lives in Atlanta, Georgia
Born in 1978
Full-time Online Poker Professional
Developed the “Micon System”
PokerStars Player Name: Micon
Bryan calls himself the “King of the Degenerates”

Recent Finishes:
2006 WSOP NL Main Event $10K - 63rd - $123,699
2006 WSOP NL Holdem - 9th - $74,620
2006 WSOP NL Holdem - 111th - $2,902
2006 WSOP Pot Limit Holdem - 40th - $6,017

For more of his accomplishes go to his web site where he lists his online tournament results and more.

If you want to know his winning secrets and strategies then this system is for you. You will certainly learn some things and it will give you some more insight on what it takes to win a poker tournament. There is a 100%, 30 day money back guarantee, so if you don’t like it you’ll get your money back.

Click here to visit Bryan Micon’s web site.

Remember, success in winning poker is absorbing as much knowledge as possible, even from players you may hate!

I want to mention two great online poker tools that can help your game in more ways than one.

The first one is a website called thepokerdb. This website is a free tool that lets you search any known poker player’s tournament results from PokerStars, FullTilt Poker, UltimatePoker, PartyPoker, and Bodog. Although it is limited to only showing you the winnings of any given player and not the losses, it still gives you enough information on the looked up player to get an idea of their overall tournament performance.

The information given is the type of tournament they entered, how much they spent on the buy in, their results, the amount of entrants and other useful stats.

Use this tool to look up players when you are in a tournament and use it to see your own online poker tournament stats.

Click here to visit thepokerdb.com.

The other online tool I want to share with you is called Sharkscope. This tool covers: PokerStars, FullTilt, CryptoLogic, Ongame, Pacific Poker and Poker.com networks. Support for Party Poker is in Beta test.

Sharkscope allows five free database searches a day, and if you need more than that, then you can buy additional searches.

Sharkscope is similar to thepokerdb.com, but is specifically for sit and go tournament results. When you do a player search in their database it will give you their wins and losses. Sharkscope will also provide charts and graphs, which gives you detailed stats on any sit and go player.

Click here to go to Sharkscope.

Try these tools out, search your player name to see what your stats are and use them when you need more information on the players at your table.

You can refer to these online poker resource tools under Pages > Poker Resources in the right sidebar for future access.

Arm yourself with knowledge!