Woman Poker Player is pleased to announce their latest promotion for women. They have partnered with PokerStars.net Luxury Ladies Poker Club to award one woman the opportunity to compete at the EPT finals in Monte Carlo. An exclusive freeroll open to all females will be held on April 10th where one woman will win a packge to play poker in Monte Carlo absolutely free. The prize package contains a $1100 buyin to the women’s main event, 5 days accommodation at the coveted Columbus Monaco Hotel, entry into Vanessa Rousso’s Big Slick Bootcamp, and funds to cover airfare. The complete prize package is estimated at 3500 euros.

“Pokerstars is going all out for women with their series of Luxury Ladies Poker Club events.” said Maryann Morrison, editor of Woman Poker Player. “We look forward to working with them to provide further opportunities for women and poker. It’s wonderful that PokerStars is heading up the movement toward encouraging more participation of women in our favorite sport.”

All women are invited to this opportunity to win their trip by signing up at the Woman Poker Player Community where they will be given instructions on how to preregister. Women must pre-register for the tournament by April 6th, in order to participate.

PokerStars is also giving women a chance to win their way for free or through low buyin satellites each evening. See the complete schedule of satellites at the PokerStars.com website or at WomanPokerPlayer.com.

This new European TV show will be featuring 32 players selected among the best live and online poker players in Europe. They will play heads-up poker, the most competitive form of modern poker, in front of Eurosport cameras in a Knock-Out tournament and will fight for a 160K€ prize pool.

The tournament will be directed by Matt Savage and broadcasted on Eurosport international TV channel (59 countries in Europe, 120 million homes) in a 52 min program in April.

Two amateurs will have the unique chance to qualify on EurosportBET website for this prestigious event and compete against the best poker players. Online qualifiers will run from 1st-7th March 2010 for a package valued at €7,000.

I am going to start by discussing the ‘tight’ style of play. Playing tight can be an effective way to win a tournament, but it also has its downfalls. By playing tight, players are more probable to getting their hands into the middle of the pot with the best hand. They don’t put themselves in risky situations so when they finally do make a stand with a hand, odds point to them having the edge to win the hand. In early stages of the tournament this isn’t a bad way to play. Since the blinds are so small there is no need or hurry to enter the pot without having a monster starting hand. They want to wait until the blinds mean something to their stack. Yet if a player is playing tight and they don’t pick up a quality starting hand in the first several levels, they may become a short stack without even playing hand. So let’s say you finally pick up a hand to play and it happens to be AA. If this is the only hand you have played all tournament, and you happen to lose this hand to set, two pair, or whatever the hand may be; then you have ultimately put your whole tournament into the results of one hand even if you are holding AA. This is where being more aggressive early on can pay huge dividends as the tournament goes on.

I am usually a fan of playing tight early, but I do see the benefits of playing aggressive early on in the tournament. One of the reasons to play aggressive early on is because the quality of play is weaker early in the tournament. It may be smart to try and take chips from the ‘donkeys’ before they are all eliminated. As the tournament goes on these players will most likely be eliminated and the competition will only get stiffer as the tournament progresses. Another reason to play aggressive and play a little risky is the reward of a big stack. If you are able to obtain a big stack early in the tournament, you bought yourself some time to pick your spots wisely as well as have the chips to take some hits along the way. A big stack can help you bully around the table throughout the tournament and it allows you to play more hands. In the process of playing more hands the odds will point to you losing small and big pots along the way. If you have a big stack then you can afford to take those losses while still having chips to spare. Yet by playing aggressive you can put yourself in sticky situations, and you may get caught by a better hand when being too aggressive. With anything in poker and in life, there are pros and cons to everything. Find out whether the tight or aggressive style is for you and hone that style, or simply just run good. J Good luck at the tables my friends.

Craig Fleck

The point is that whether or not you play the best poker you can play you must be able to overcome all the obstacles along the way. It doesn’t matter if you get your hand in dominating your opponents hand, because they can always come out on top when you least expect it. I mean you could be cruising along two hours into the tournament without a flinch, but out of no where your chip stack gets rocked by an unfortunate bad beat. With the fields that online poker presents to us today it’s essential that players build big stacks so that they can take hits along the way. There is a major difference in taking a bad beat when holding a 25 big blind stack and 50 big blind stack. Though this may seem obvious it’s very tough to overcome bad beats when you have a short stack to begin with. I am starting to become a big believer in trying to acquire big stacks when you can get them. It may not be the worst idea in the world to take a risk once in awhile to obtain a big chip stack. If you choose to play tight and wait for big hands to come along you may not have a stack that can afford to take a hit. If your one big hand ends up getting beat then you may be out of the tournament.

I always had the mentality to play conservative and play tight early in a tournament, but I do see the benefits of playing aggressive. For one the beginning of the tournament is a good time to gain chips by attacking the weaker players’ chips. This will help build a stack that can afford to take losing hands when you are in a big tournament. It won’t always be easy sailing in a tournament and anyone that has played poker should know this by now. I am going to start looking to build a big chip stack early in a tournament, so that I can afford to take unfortunate mishaps along the way. Good luck avoiding the bad beats, and good luck at the tables my friends.

Craig Fleck

Because of the fact that you instantly receive a hand every time you fold then there is really no need to become inpatient. I prefer to play very strong starting hands when I play Rush Poker. I fold my small pairs unless the price is excellent and I avoid playing out of position. I believe it is smart to play position poker and stick to playing the strongest starting hands in the game. You’ll quickly find out that other players may not feel the same way and they choose to donk off their stack with weak hands. If you sit back waiting on your spot you will be rewarded, and most of the time you will not go through many blinds in the process of finding your hand. I picked up another tip from my friend and thus far it has worked at least 80% of the time.

When you are sitting in the small blind while playing Rush, and let’s say everyone folds to you. In this spot we have found that making a 4x raise on the big blind proves to be effective. Since you are moving tables every time there is no way for players to pick up on this move. Every time it’s folded to me in the small blind, you can believe I will be making this raise, because like I said it has worked upwards of 80% of the time. Maybe I have been lucky on the times I have raised and maybe over time this move will prove to be a losing play. Yet as of right now I have only had positive experiences with this play. Rush Poker is definitely worth checking out and it can quickly improve your poker game. By seeing more hands than ever you can improve your game faster than ever. Good luck at the Rush tables my friends.

Craig Fleck

It’s tough to argue both methods, because they both have their strong points. By not switching up your raises you are not giving any information out to your opponents. It’s tough for them to put you on a hand, because you are raising the same amount whether you have AA or 10 9. This is an effective way to play as long as you are not becoming too predictable to your opponents. Even though you are raising the same amount pre-flop they can still judge whether or not if you are being over aggressive. Nonetheless by raising the same amount, say 3x every hand, you are keeping your opponents guessing of whether or not you have a quality hand. Now let’s take a look at situations where switching up your raises can help and hurt your game.

By changing your pre-flop raises every hand you are either confusing your competition or you are letting them know what you have. Let’s say that you are raising your quality starting hands by 3x and then 4x the big blind when you are raising with mediocre to weak hands. Though you are mixing up your pre-flop raise you are telling the table what type of hands you are raising with. Good players will be able to pick up this tell. Every time you make a 3x raise players will know you have a quality hand and then vice versa when you make a 4x raise. It becomes too predictable. The best way to mix up your play is to vary your pre-flop raises. If you are holding a quality hand then use the 2.5x raise, the 3x raise, the min raise, or whatever the raise the may be. The same would go for weaker starting hands. Mix up the pre-flop raises so you can leave your opponents guessing, and if they are guessing then you have them right where you want them.

Whether or not you prefer the mixing it up or keeping it the same; the idea is not too become predictable to your opponents. If you are too predictable then you really don’t stand a chance. Give both methods a try to see what works best for you, and you may find out that both can be used very effectively. Also pay attention to your chip stack and of course your position on the table. Pre-flop decisions can ultimately decide your fate in a poker tournament so make those decisions wisely. Good luck at the tables my friends.

Craig Fleck

When playing online poker on a daily basis, it is very easy to fall into ‘auto pilot’ mode. ‘Auto pilot’ mode is when you are making decisions without thinking the hand through. A player is setting themselves up for failure when they are going through the motions at the poker table. This could be because you think you are playing solid poker, but in reality you are missing situations you would normally pick up on when playing your best. Playing poker just to play poker is the worst thing a player can do. In order to succeed in poker you have to be hungry, and you have to be motivated to win every poker session you sit down to play. If you lost your motivation or desire to play your best, take some time off from the tables to clear your mind. I have cleared my mind of poker and I have not played the game in the last week. I am becoming more anxious to hit the tables as times goes on, and the motivation to play solid poker is returning. This doesn’t just go for poker either. A break from any type of activity is helpful to clear the mind.

This technique may not work for everyone, but I know from experience that a break the game makes me remember why I love playing poker. If yoga or exercise is all you need to trigger the poker mind then by all means keep doing it. Taking a break is what I need to help my poker game during certain times. Find out what it is that helps your poker mind, so that you can play solid poker when sitting at the tables. Good luck at the tables my friends.

Craig Fleck

Mixing up your play can come in many variations. If you are the player that checks the flop if you miss and only bet when you make a hand on the flop, you are too predictable. For instance say you make a pre-flop raise, you miss the flop so you decide to check, your opponent fires a flop bet, and you fold. If this is a constant for you then you could be laying down the best hand in most situations. Let’s say you raise with AK, you get one caller, and the flop comes 3 9 3. You proceed to check and your opponent fires a bet that forces you to fold yet again. If your opponent knows that you check on the flop then they could be forcing you to fold with a weaker hand. He could be holding AQ, AJ, A 10, and if your opponent knows you check when you miss, they could be calling your pre-flop raise with hands like J 8 if they know your tendencies. To change this you must have the guts to fire a continuation bet on the flop when you don’t have a hand or simply trick your opponents by checking the flop when holding a monster. In the same token you don’t always want to fire a bet on the flop when you have a hand, because the other players will pick up on this and shy away from the hand. If you have been check folding on the flop then try checking when you have a hand to keep your opponents on their toes. This is prime example of mixing up your game that will help throw your opponents off guard. Now let’s take a look at a different scenario.

When you are deep in a tournament it’s tough to sit around waiting on pocket aces to come to you every hand. It is essential to mix up your play in order to confused your opponents. If you are only raising monster starting hands, and by monster I mean AA, KK, QQ, JJ, and AK. If this is the case then your opponents will know you have a strong hand, and they’ll be more likely to fold resulting in you just taking the blinds. Unless you get these hands every other hand of course. It’s okay to mix it up and play more hands deep in tournament. If you happen to get 3-bet then simply fold your mediocre hand. The next time you pick up a big hand to make a raise the other players might try to re-raise you again, and this is where you pick them off. I’m not saying play every hand, but you have to know when to mix it up. Simply put, play some poker. Try mixing up your play in different situations and with different hands. Poker is best learned by playing, because players have to have the ability to get the feel for their tables. Good luck mixing it up at the tables my friends.

Craig Fleck

I realize that we all can’t have that Hollywood ending like Moneymaker did, but online offers us an opportunity to compete in some of the major tournaments around the world. The majority of the online poker websites available present opportunities for every player to live their dream. These poker sites allow players to ‘satellite’ from online tournaments into the major live events. There are some occasions where players can win $10,000 packages for as low as a $1. It’ll take some time, but players win these packages on a frequent basis. There are satellites available to tournaments that occur all over the world, and low limit players have the opportunity of playing in these events through satellite tournaments. After that there is no telling what can happen. Chris Moneymaker turned a $43 satellite tournament into a $10,000 seat to the WSOP Main Event, and this is essentially is when the poker boom began as Moneymaker won the main event for $2.8 million. Anything is possible once you are entered in the big one.

Another way to obtain these seats from playing online is through a series of sit ‘n’ go tournaments called ‘steps’. Steps are available on some poker rooms and they are a very effective way to gain entry into a major tournament. There some occasions in which sites allow you to play in a bigger tournament on their site instead of continuing in the step process. Steps work as follows. Let’s say we are playing in Step 1 and it’s a 9 man sit ‘n’ go (results vary by poker room). The top 2 finishers of the sit ‘n’ go will earn tickets toward step 2, the third place finisher will receive a step 1 ticket, and everyone else leaves with nothing. If you can make your way through a set amount of steps then you will find yourself as the winner of a very nice package. Packages mostly include tournament buy-ins, travel fees, hotel accommodations, and other various prizes. I really recommend satellite tournaments and steps to players that want to play in the major events all around the world. Good luck at the tables my friends.

Craig Fleck

Over time players can accumulate a bundle of player points that will reward them with excellent prizes. Some of the prizes include branded merchandise from the online poker room you play at. Players can purchase items such as hats, t-shirts, jerseys, bags, drink ware, dart boards, and so much more by using their player points. If players can save up enough points for the ‘finer’ things that are available. The ‘finer’ items I am speaking of are iPods, televisions, cameras, laptops, home theater systems, GPS navigation system, and the list can go on and go depending on the poker site. For the true poker grinders out there that have the ability to earn millions upon millions of points; they have the opportunity of purchasing the most prestigious items on the market. Players that can earn millions of points can eventually purchase their own avatar, a Harley-Davidson, or if two wheels aren’t enough then even cars are available (depends on poker room once again). If the merchandise doesn’t interest you, because you are more interested in making money then use your points to buy into tournaments. Not every tournament accepts players using their points to buy-in, but there are tournaments that do allow it. Find these tournaments and use your player points to earn extra cash for your bankroll.

Players earn these points by playing in cash game hands or buying into a mutli-table/sit ‘n’ go tournaments. This is well known, but players that want to earn more points should take advantage of the promotions being offered by the poker rooms. Often times poker rooms (I won’t say who) offer promotions such as ‘Happy Hour’ or ‘Power Hour’. During these hours, let’s say for instance 2-4 P.M., players can earn up to double or even triple the amount of player points. If players are focusing on earning points then they cannot afford to miss these opportunities. These promotions are offered daily on some sites, and hours vary that will help match any players schedule. Take advantage of these promotions and start your grind during these set hours. Watch your points accumulate like never before, and while you are winning money you are earning points that you can use to reward yourself. That’s all I have to say on the power of the points, and now it’s time to watch the Super Bowl. Everyone enjoy the game and best of luck at the tables my friends.

Craig Fleck