Online Tournament Result Summary:

• Poker Site: Full Tilt Poker
• League: X-Files Poker
• Day / Date: Sunday, 11/22/2009
• Game: X-Files Poker Nightly No-Limit Hold’em 9:00pm (#119437250)
• Buy-In: $2 + $0.50
• Rank: 2nd place
• Field: 6 players
• Notes: $3.60

I got off on a good start with someone new in here.  I had pocket K’s and that guy kept on trying to bet me out of that pot.  The board didn’t have any draws… he had pocket 6’s.

Then after doubling up, Kim took most of my money… but I came back up and tightened up.

I saw Tom, get beat by Rezzz’s ALL-IN call, Quad Tens!

Had pocket KKs twice in a row, eliminating Dale.

I lost to Rezzz, a very long heads up match.

Tonight in Vilamoura, Portugal, a guy was 3rd in a European Poker Tour (EPT) tournament winning  € 156,170. He didn’t win, yet in the poker world this result will be noted. In his previous EPT tournament he was 10th for €30,705. He’s reached 4 final tables this year, he is  a very good player. 

Yet I find myself willing Jeff Sarwer to fail.

Jeff was a child chess prodigy with an amazing talent and easy-to-like personality,  a media star at the age of seven. When he was eight a chess grand master played him and told him he could be the greatest chess player of all time. He excelled particularly at speed chess and simultaneous chess, in a televised games the ten year old Sarwer took on forty adults with a smile on his face, and no hesitation as he picked out the moves to beat them.

In the film of his early life he seems to have it all. He’s a chess genius, he’s confident and happy, his Wikipedia entry uses the word ‘charismatic’ in the first line.  But this media attention turned sour,  Vanity Fair published an article* suggesting Jeff and his sister Julia were abused physically and psychologically by their eccentric father. They were made wards of court and taken away from their father, but they ran away and joined him, to live in hiding in Europe using false names. Jeff could no longer pursue his ambition to play competetive chess.

This was the last the world heard of Jeff Sarwer until he appeared at a poker tournament in Poland and did rather well. His first poker cash was a minor place for €7,000 but in his next few tournaments he was talked about as chip leader in the early stages, and then built on that success to achieve  final table finishes – if not that elusive win.

It’s hard not to compare this remarkable poker prowess to the scenes of his freakish prowess as an eight year old playing speed chess against all-takers in Washington Square Park. You can watch a video of his early years as a chess star on his website. There’s something not quite human about someone so young who can make decisions that good, that fast, and that right. You have to admire it as an amazing example of mental ability – the word genius is the only word to do that justice.

And I don’t want that genius in my poker world. That kind of mental athleticism can’t succeed at poker, can it?

Can Jeff Sarwer really beat every poker player in town, with his super human mind, just as he beat all who played him at chess as a whizz-kid genius?

Maybe he can…

But I don’t want him to.

Chess is a game of logic, of perfect decisions, but to me poker is an art.

We have enough  maths genius players with their law degrees, or black belts in very clever studies (I’m not bright enough to understand their education) and of course they do well at the game, they make the right decisions regularly. Well hey, they studied game theory.

I want to believe tournament poker is more than just maths, I want my perfect poker hero to be the full deal. I want the maths, I want the people skills too. So where’s the reads in chess?

When I heard Jeff Sarwer had made the EPT Vilamoura final table I was sure that he’d crash and burn. I could see that he had a talent for getting a big chip stack early in a tournament, but that to me is poker maths. You get chips, you run over the little guy. I’m bad at the stats side of things, but even I know you play percentages with frequent canny re-raises when you have chips to stay in the game if they call. When I hear about players who get a big stack early in a tournament I blame the weakness of the opposition rather than crediting the chip leader’s skills. All-in ‘ya wimps! (Qualifiers…)

So, yeah, I had this vision of some guy with some off the scale IQ playing good maths poker to reach his  final tables. I hoped that when he got there he’d be found out against the cream of the crop  players - the kind who knew good poker was more than calculated agression with a stack powerful enough to take a knock.

I thought all this, I hoped all this. I decided you couldn’t be a poker genius like you could be a chess prodigy, with a rating figure in black and white that would tell you whether you’d win or lose. If you were a chess grand master you’d be guaranteed  to beat weaker opponents, but you  couldn’t be some kind of poker grand master and automatically make two final tables in a month**.

Could you?

So then I started thinking. I started thinking about Jeff Sarwer’s unusual personal life and how that might have effected his personality, I started thinking about his smile and his wit as he charmed all around him, I started thinking of his unconventional background and his father who didn’t believe there needed to be any rules, I started thinking of the comment he made as as an eight year old as he played a grand master, “”I should never have tried E4 on you, you’re a tactical player.”

Is that a read?

Before I looked Jeff Sarwer up I had this idea of a near-autistic chess genius, someone  all brain and no soul. 

Now I wonder if he has the mind and understands the art too. I wonder if he might be the greatest poker player of all time.

I hear he might go back to chess to try for that grand master ambition finally. And now I want him to stay in my sport. Poker must be the tougher game, but he’s overcome so much, surely he can handle this harder challenge? 

I started out thinking I’d write  about my expectations for a poker hero and how this guy fell short, I finished up wondering if I might have found a new hero.

Next game’s in a week.

* Jeff and his sister Julia are reported to have sued Vanity Fair for libel.

**Jeff Sarwer was 3rd at EPT Vilamoura, 10th at EPT Warsaw so strictly speaking it’s not 2 final tables – but pretty darn close.

On a warm summer’s evenin’ on a train bound for nowhere,
I met up with the gambler; we were both too tired to sleep.
So we took turns a starin’ out the window at the darkness
‘Til boredom overtook us, and he began to speak.

He said, “Son, I’ve made a life out of readin’ people’s faces,
And knowin’ what their cards were by the way they held their eyes.
And if you don’t mind my sayin’, I can see you’re out of aces.
For a taste of your whiskey I’ll give you some advice.”

So I handed him my bottle and he drank down my last swallow.
Then he bummed a cigarette and asked me for a light.
And the night got deathly quiet, and his face lost all expression.
Said, “If you’re gonna play the game, boy, ya gotta learn to play it right.

You got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you’re sittin’ at the table.
There’ll be time enough for countin’ when the dealin’s done.

Ev’ry gambler knows that the secret to survivin’
Is knowin’ what to throw away and knowing what to keep.
‘Cause ev’ry hand’s a winner and ev’ry hand’s a loser,
And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep.”

And when he’d finished speakin’, he turned back towards the window,
Crushed out his cigarette and faded off to sleep.
And somewhere in the darkness the gambler, he broke even.
But in his final words I found an ace that I could keep.

Everyone knows this song, right?  One of a few songs you will never hear in a casino. You’re more likely to see a clock on the gambling floor.

This thought has been niggling at me for a while. To provide the back story of ‘why’, there was a trivia game with the answer included this song among others with “songs about cheating.” I calmly and respectfully disagreed: “Are you crazy? That song is NOT about cheating!!!!!”

And since then? it’s kinda boggled me how anyone could think the song was about that. As I surfed around the net to back up that position, I saw a lot of crap and rhapsodizing bullshit about this song. Mostly about “metaphors for life” and all that. Ok, yeah. whatever. I see it. But it’s also a song about exactly what the song says it’s about:

A younger guy and an old man are bored and idly chatting on a night-time train ride. The old man tells the younger man that he can tell he’s in a bad way and if he gives him a smoke and a drink, he’ll give him advice. The man receives his payment, advises the younger man, and then falls asleep and dies. Seems very straight forward so far, yes?

A sip of whisky and a cigarette was very small payment for the lesson that young man got that night.  And in my opinion, everyone who has aspirations of a ‘career’ at poker or even a serious hobby should play this song on a loop as they sleep. For years.  In my personal experience, I agree with every single “rule” in this song.

You got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em:  the key to that sentence is “WHEN” to hold ‘em.  Every hand should not be played; in fact, most should not. If you aren’t tossing the majority of your hands, you are doing something very wrong. But you also need to know which hands to play.  I am not even going to get into that. That would be a book on poker, not an ocd little blog post.  Besides, you are the one that wants to play poker. It’s your job to figure that out. 

Know when to walk away, and know when to run: I think this is the line that actually triggered the “CHEATING” response. Knowing when to walk away is simply having the self-discipline to say “ok this is NOT working for me today.” And simply leaving the game rather than staying for the inevitable “crash and burn” , that intermediate step that bridges directly to making the walk of shame back to the cage.

“Knowing when to run” is like the other side of the coin: it’s about the awareness. A streak only lasts so long. It’s going to end. Ideally, you can feel the tide turning. THAT is where you *run.* You pack up your shit and you go have a cheeseburger.

“You never count your money when you’re sittin’ at the table, there’ll be time enough for countin’ when the dealin’s done:  Firstly, it’s just incredibly bad etiquette to sit and ass with your chips at the table. Remember, every dollar you have above your original stake is someone else’s money.  And it’s just sort of shitty to ‘rub his nose in it.” There will be a day when it’s you looking at your money over in Joe Blow’s stack. Secondly, I would say, if you don’t know basically how much money you have, you shouldn’t even be sitting there. You need to know how to follow the pot.

So there you go;  a little poker lesson from me to you. I will give you an exception to my last rule, though. My amendment to the “Don’t Jack With Your Money” rule is the “Cute Poker Tricks” exception.  There are many of them. Walking a chip down your knuckles. Shuffling your chips. That’s my favorite. Being able to take two 4-7 chip high stacks of 2 different colors and with one fluid movement, turning it into one stack of chips alternating perfectly. Even more advanced, is the ability to reverse it so you are back to the 2 stacks again.

As a dealer, I should have never touched the pot aside from making change, taking a rake, when necessary splitting it, and most importantly: delivering it.  I can’t tell you how many hours I spent sitting there watching the game and practicing my shuffle. I wanted to be able to smoothly press the chips together and apart with one flick. I can, but I never mastered it to where it was fluid.  Clearly, I took full advantage of the “Poker Tricks” clause. 

Pues ya llevaba tiempo queriendo abrir un blog… simplemente por desahogar cuando la varianza me da fuerte.. que no es poca veces…. y despues de un dia perdedor como el de hoy… pues ya es hora…

en el blog posteare las manos que mas por saco me den… en las cuales la varianza pueda conmigo .. hoy se me olvido guardar las manos… pero fue un dia en qeu perdi AK vs A3, QQ vs 7 2 y AA vs 55…

juego en dos salas…. paradise y everest, 80€ y 18$ respectivamente….

juego generalmente 3 horas diarias, y a partir de ahora ademas intentare actualizar el blog con las cosas que me parezcan mas interesantes del dia espero no tener esto abandonado, y que me lea alguien

ya os contare que tal mañana… hoy acabe 4€ abajo en paradise y 2 $ arriba en everest, despues de ir perdiendo 5…., a partir de mañana empezare ya a postear manos, y mas adelatne, cuando lleve 10k manos jugadas en estas dos salas, grafica

un saludo a todos

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One of my favorite diversions is Texas Hold’em Poker. About once a month we get together with friends, potluck it, and have a friendly little Hold’em tournament. It’s usually just six or seven people and a pretty short game, so it’s mostly about fun and luck and less about skill. I place in the money more often than not.

Last night there were six of us with $20 each in the pot. First place paid $60, second $40 and third $20. I came in third. Not too shabby I guess.

For such a short game, we do see some pretty weird stuff. The most spectacular was a hand I wasn’t involved in. One player had “fishhooks” (pocket Jacks) and another player had “cowboys” (pocket Kings). In a short-handed game pockets like that can seem huge. So it wasn’t surprising they both went all-in. The player with Jacks had more chips than the Kings, which meant Kings was at-risk of elimination. At this point Kings were a strong favorite to win.

The “flop” (the first three community cards) were deal and fishhooks popped a Jack right off the bat. That was some bad luck for Mr. Kings. Jacks take the lead!

Then came the “turn” (the fourth community card) and lo and behold: It was a King! Wow. That’s some excitement. There was about a 4.4 percent chance of that happening. Kings are back in the lead. (Both Jacks and Kings are holding three of a kind at this point.)

Finally came the dreaded “river” (the fifth community card). BOOM! Who should show up by the final Jack? That’s makes four of a kind and Jacks win the hand! That was the one and only card that could have sunk Mr. Kings on the river, what we also call a “one-outer.” The odds of hitting a one-outer on the river are about 2.2 percent. And that’s how Mr. Kings became the first one knocked out.

The hand that eliminated me wasn’t quite as exciting. I was heads up against the same lucky son of a bitch who had knocked out Mr. Kings. I was holding the 5 and 6 of Hearts or what we like to call “suited connectors.” These can be good hands to play because they have a chance of hitting a straight or a flush and can surprise your opponent if you get lucky. The blinds (forced bets) were pretty big at this point so I had to make a move. I picked up two hearts on the flop. Now I had a flush draw. The turn was non-eventful and the river was a heart! I had made my flush. I raised, got re-raised and thus, I went all-in. I was called without a moment’s hesitation.

We  both showed our hands and I immediately saw why. My opponent was holding the “nuts” (the best possible hand). When you have the nuts you know you can’t be beat. My opponent showed two hearts (the one thing I was afraid of) including the Ace of hearts, which was the best possible hand in that situation. Argh, we were chasing the same heart flush! What looked like a lucky river card for me turned out to be my demise!

Anyway, that’s my poker post for this month.

An obvious one but I thought I would share it.

Quando em 2002 veio cá para casa o primeiro PC, que corria o Windows XP, costumava jogar ao Pinball. Foi nessa altura que tive o 1º contacto com a palavra “Tilt” (quem já jogou pinball, sabe do que estou a falar ).

No entanto, na altura não entendia o seu real significado.

À dois anos, comecei a jogar Poker, e este termo veio novamente à baila, por razões óbvias. Ao modo que fui procurando familiarizar-me com o léxico Pokeriano, “Tilt” e “Gestão de banca” eram sempre daqueles conceitos que apareciam sempre sempre sempre em cada artigo que lia.

Eu julgava que já sabia o que era estar Tiltado! Até esta semana…

História longa, tornada curta:

Depositei 80$ na Goalwin, rede Ongame. Eu entretanto formatei o PC novamente, e instalei o novíssimo Windows 7 (estou satisfeito com o novo SO) e agora aquela rede já não fica tão lenta no meu computador.

As coisas estavam a correr massivamente bem, chegando a estar UP uns 270$, em espaço de uma semana(!), e a jogar HU e algum 6 max. Já podem imaginar a minha alegria.

Na terça feira (dia da semana em que pelos meus horários, chego mais cansado a casa), em vez de apenas ter ficado quieto, fui experimentar jogar (asneira) e tive uma má sessão. Fiz uma pausa, voltei a entrar na sala, mais asneiras. “Porra, ainda vou ficar positivo hoje!” Mais uma pausa, mais uma sessão, ainda mais asneiras…

Bah, em 2 dias foi todo o que tinha na sala. E tudo porque naquela primeira sessão, apenas tinha ficado down uns 20$.

Há uma coisa chamada “Teoria do Caos” (pesquisem por ela, pois eu não tenho qualidades literárias para a explicar por palavras). Nunca estive tão de acordo com essa Teoria, como nesta semana que passou! Se me tivesse faltado a luz na altura, p. ex., já não tinha perdido tanto dele…

Está assim encontrada a maior falha que tenho no meu jogo. Indisciplina. Observem toda esta cadeia:

Indisciplina -> jogar limites fora da banca -> Jogar desconfortável -> Erros nas mesas -> Downswing -> TILT! -> Mais erros nas mesas -> Downswing ainda maior -> TILT! -> Irritação -> Frustração -> Ainda mais erros nas mesas! -> TILT! TILT! TILT! -> Tentativa final -> Busto.

O aspecto psicológico é o mais difícil de ser trabalhado. As “bases de jogo” a nível conceptual, digamos assim, já as tenho. Agora tenho de trabalhar no meu “Mind Game”.

E como o vou fazer? Não percam o próximo episódio.

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I wake up Sunday morning, and it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. I decided to try my luck in a game I don’t even know: HORSE This game, for starters, I played with Tom and Dale. Online Tournament Result Summary:

• Poker Site: Full Tilt Poker
• League: X-Files Poker
• Day / Date: Sunday, 11/22/2009
• Game: HORSE Limit (ID# 117877880)
• Buy-In: $2 + 0.50
• Rank: 3rd place
• Field: 3 players (lol)
• Notes: I never even got to the Razz part of it. Dale killed me and Tom at Omaha.

I should’ve been getting ready for Church.

Ta gra jest niesamowita. Zrobiłem małe doświadczenie.
Rozegrałem 4 turnieje sit&go na 4 graczy. Grałem agresywnie z lekkim naginaniem własnych wypracowanych zasad.
Efekt: 2 zwycięstwa, 1 drugie miejsce, 1 czwarte.

Później rozegrałem 4 takie same turnieje. Tym razem grałem 99% wg własnych zasad i z dużą dozą cierpliwości. Lekkie nagięcie (1%) dotyczyło rozdania w którym była szansa wyeliminowania tanim kosztem rywala (3-4 razy).
Efekt: 3 zwycięstwa, 1 trzecie miejsce.

To uświadomiło mi jak ważne w pokerze jest trzymanie swojej ramy, dodatkowo do tego cierpliwość i… agresja.

To prawda – wszystko pięknie bo to wirtualne pieniądze. Jednak podoba mi się to jak poker na mnie działa – człowiek uczy się pokory. Tak jak w życiu – niby masz w ręku AA a ktoś 77. Na flopie dojdzie 7 i nic ci po tak silnej ręce – przegrywasz three-kind na twoją parkę.

Cierpliwość. Jeśli zaczyna Ci się grzać głowa, szybko się otrząśnij i powiedz w duchu ‘cierpliwości!’. Niby już kończyłeś rywala, licząc wygrane żetony i zaczynasz naginać zasady. Przegrałeś! (albo co najmniej doprowadziłeś do balansu w żetonach)

Agresja. Pamiętaj, że przebijając, masz przewagę 2:1 w stosunku do rywala. On aby wygrać musi mieć lepsze karty. No i zawsze może się wystraszyć…

There are three things in this world that I have a great affinity for.  Cheese, poker  and cake.  When I can have all three in one sitting, that’s the ultimate trifecta.  Okay, maybe not ultimate, but it sounds so dramatic.

Le Grand Fromage

I invited some of the kitchen staff and their significant others over to my crib to eat and play poker last Monday night.  For our cheese feast, I  laid out four cheeses courtesy of Benton Brothers Fine Cheese. [2104 West 41st Ave, Vancouver, (604) 261-5813]   I called the ”Benton Boys” up the day before, asked them to surprise me  and pick four special cheeses for our little soiree.  They picked an Epoisses de Bourgogne (one of my faves), Valencay Vernuil, Marechal and Colston Basset Stilton.  Overall, they made some great picks.  Unfortunately, I thought the Valencay was too young, but the other three cheeses were outstanding.  The Epoisses was perfectly ripe and the best I’ve tasted in a long while.  The Marechal was so tasty and complex and paired amazing well with the 2005 Golden Mile Black Arts 5th Element Red.   The Stilton was delicious; I only wish I had some old Port to drink with it.  Along with the cheese, we also had a nice mix of charcuterie items, warm bread, crackers and varied accoutrement.   I really love eating like this, though “Monk” seemed so nervous that our guests did not have enough to eat.

Le Charcuterie!

Crispy Raspberry Cake. A Classic.

Milk Chocolate Passionfruit... Yum!

When our first poker game ended and the suitable champion was crowned, it was time to get  into a little cake.  I asked “Superstar” to bring  over a couple of my favorite Thomas Haas [ 128-998 Harbourside Drive, North Vancouver, (604) 924-1847] cakes for dessert.  The crispy raspberry and the milk chocolate passion fruit have been two of my favorites for quite some time.  “Boomtown” and the “Great Wall” have never had the pleasure of tasting these cakes, so it was a treat to introduce these to them.  “Godfather” and “The Girl” have been enjoying Thomas Haas cakes for a while and even set up a cake tasting for “Jazzy” three weeks after her arrival.   I just love the flavors, the colors and particularly the textural differences in his desserts.  Since I’m not a classically trained pastry chef by any means, I am always intrigued and excited by dessert excellence.

What a fun night; good  friends, good food, good wine and pocket aces.  Can’t wait till next time.

Money is easily the most misunderstood concept in all of poker. The young player feels like they are a winning player and therefore they can play poker for a living. Playing as a professional and having poker as your sole source of income is one of the toughest things a player can attempt. I will take a few moments and share some of the challenges, my own personal struggles, lessons learned and successes.
I played for almost five years where poker was the vast majority of my income and for a couple years it was my only income. I am not proud of that fact. I had a college degree and an engineering license at the time. I had an easier path to follow. Pride and ego carried me down that tougher path. I survived and transitioned back into a normal life working as an engineer. I have some great memories, both good and bad, and those memories are what I share with people today.
In poker money is the tool of your trade. Players buy chips and the chips do not seem like money but they are actually just that an easier way to keep track of the money. Players use the chips as weapons during the play of the hand. The point is that you must have money to play poker. I will say it again, because I can not stress it enough, you must have money to play poker. If you run out of money you can not go to work tomorrow.
The question always arises, “how much money do I need?” Nobody can give you a simple formula for how much money you need to have. I will do my best to lead you to the answer. I like to have a bankroll of at least 16 buy-ins and at least four buy-ins on me every time I sit down to play. I know it seems like I am giving you a formula for minimum bankroll. These are my guidelines and I know that I am one of the tightest and most disciplined players around. Almost everyone I know will need more than this to play poker as a professional. When I play limit hold’em I use 50 times the big blind as a buy-in. In no-limit I use 100 big blinds as a buy-in and occasionally will use 150 blinds if the blinds are one and two. These are absolute minimums. In order to play $1-$2 NL, I feel $1200 in your pocket and $5000 in your poker account are the absolute minimum.
I feel my friends all over the world starting to think, I have $5000; I can play no limit for a living. You can sit down and take one shot at a $1-$2 NL game and if you win you need to plow that money into your new business. Your chances of success will be almost zero. I would feel more comfortable if you had $25,000 to start. When you build that $25,000 to $30,000 you can take your profit and use it to cover your living expenses. If your living expenses are paid you should set your profit aside in a separate rainy day account that includes six months of living expenses. If you were smart you already had that separate account tucked away with a minimum of six months expenses. Bottom line is to even consider playing full time you need at least $25,000 and six months to a year of living expenses.
The biggest mistake I have made and others continue to make is to spend too much money while on a winning streak. The money is an absolute necessity in this profession. An auto mechanic that successfully fixes a car does not go out and celebrate by throwing half his tools away. There is no need to behave foolishly just because you are winning. Act like you have done it before.
The second problem is the players need to always play in too large of a game. Play in the game you can afford. Play at the limit that is comfortable for you. Play against players you can beat. Put your ego in check and just grind out that steady income. These points seem so obvious. I better never catch you sitting at the table in a game you can not afford to play.
The third issue that needs to be addressed also seems like a no-brainer; do not use your living expenses to fund your poker game. Set up separate accounts and be religious about never mixing the two. Your life needs to be solid and no part of your life can suffer because you are playing poker or worse yet losing at poker.
As a way to help you get started I am laying out the road map for you to begin your poker journey. Sit down with an accountant and detail out all of your living expenses and set up a budget. I would love to tell you that my family can live on $3000 a month but a look at my bank statements leads me to believe that I need close to $5000 a month to continue living in the lifestyle I have become accustomed. My budget is $5000 a month. I need to set aside $60,000 for living expenses before I can consider playing poker. This is something that only the true professional players will be able to do.
Now that I have established a budget for my living expenses, I can begin to focus on the game I need to play in order to make that money consistently. Poker is a game of opportunity and good games are not going to be available every day. The weekends will be the best time to play. A schedule of 30 hours a week is very rigorous a professional. Playing 125 hours a month I will need to make $40 per hour to cover my living expenses. That is a substantial amount of money to make on a consistent basis. A good $5-$10 NL or an average $10-$20 NL game will produce those results. Those games exist in very few places, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. The cash required would be a buy-in of $2,000 and a bankroll of $25,000 to $100,000.
I tried to focus strictly on the financial side of starting out as a poker player.
If you are an action player you may need three or four times as much money as I have detailed here.
Please do not quit your day job.

A Érica veio me cobrar um novo post aqui, então aí vou eu. xD

Gaah, eu queria ir pra uma balada hoje. :/ A Érica e a Bruna foram na aloca hoje e eu nem pude ir por razões monetárias (sim, a bolsa de valores afeta a minha vida e -n). Ando gastando muito dinheiro indo e vindo de SP e não posso ficar abusando, já que semana que vem vou visitar a rê em Ribeirão Preto e vamos a um evento de anime por lá.

Deixe(m)-me contar sobre semana passada, quando fui visitar o Iggs lá no Itaú Cultural. Cheguei atrasado (pra variar), mas como ele estava trabalhando e eu tinha avisado que ia, ele adiou um pouco a hora de intervalo dele pra gente poder ir junto. Ele disse que já previa o meu atraso e a gente riu. Fomos até o Shopping Paulista (que fica ali pertinho) e ele decidiu comprar um lanche no McDonald’s. Sentamos na mesa e ficamos conversando (ora falando, ora não). Ficamos de mãos dadas boa parte do tempo e meus olhos encheram de lágrimas por estar ali do lado dele. Eu tava realmente feliz de estar ali e tava bem carente, haha. A gente não chegou a se beijar; só um selinho que foi praticamente um acidente. Nos tornamos bons amigos, com um quê a mais.

Hoje acho que foi um dia bom até, apesar da minha má sorte estar ativada (quebrei o vaso que a minha mãe tinha me dado, perdi várias vezes por sorte no Poker e o Gun Bound entrou em manutenção quando eu fui jogar). Teoricamente eu deveria estudar Cálculo e Programação, já que tenho prova dessas duas matérias na próxima 4ª feira, além de ter um trabalho de Programação para amanhã. Ando totalmente meio viciado em jogos; talvez por estar chegando o final do ano e eu ter perdido o meu pique. A prova disso é que tenho jogado compulsivamente o Happy Harvest (app do orkut) e o Mafia Wars (app do facebook), além do Gun Bound e do Poker (orkut também). Pelo menos limpei a casa e tirei o dia pra refletir/descansar.

Falando em orkut, o rii-chan me convidou para a ‘nova versão’. Não achei que demoraria tanto para receber um convite, já que muitos dos meus “amigos” já estavam com o novo orkut há séculos, mas aparentemente me enganei sobre a consideração de tais pessoas por mim. Tinha que ser o rii-chan mesmo pra não me esquecer. Eu estava um pouco empolgado com a novidade de poder mudar a cor do perfil, mas é só uma coisa tosca e mal-feita; além de ser uma cópia na cara dura do facebook. Acabei voltando para a versão antiga mesmo e só vou trocar quando for necessário. Espero até lá já ter tido tempo de desenvolver uma skin nova que funcione no novo orkut.

O bom de ter ficado em casa sozinho nesse final de semana foi que eu pude ficar de camiseta e cueca o dia inteiro; sem contar que fui dormir tarde, acordei tarde e fiz as coisas no meu tempo, sem ser incomodado por barulhos de outras pessoas. Silêncio é uma coisa da qual eu gosto muito. Bateu até um pouco de carência amorosa, mas não vem ao caso. Espero encontrar alguém pra mim logo… O complicado é que as minhas redes sociais em São Carlos são um tanto quanto limitadas.

Sexta-feira fiquei na UFSCar durante mais tempo, fazendo trabalho de Introdução à Probabilidade com a Cintia e ontem joguei no Magic Workstation com meu vizinho e foi bem divertido, se você descontar o fato de que ele é muito chato pra regras e tem umas manias irritantes. Ele ganhou de mim 2 de 3 partidas, mas eu tenho como desculpa o fato de meus decks estarem se comportando de uma maneira estranha; sem contar as cartas malucas que ‘não deveriam estar ali’ . Pretendo ter uma revanche com ele assim que possível.

A tendência de final de ano é eu atualizar menos e menos por aqui, visto que terei cada vez mais provas e trabalhos pra fazer. De qualquer forma tentarei aparecer com mais freqüência e, caso não apareça, você pode atualizar também, Érica.

Abraço forte!

Pokerprotip

Playing Ace King

Ace King, also called Big Slick or Anna Kournikova, is one of the most overrated hands in the history of no limit holdem. It’s exactly as the pityful sidename Anna Kournikova refers too: She looks good but doesn’t win alot. Playing Ace King is very hard. How in hells name do you play this hand? How in gods name can you make sure you always win Ace King?

AK ?! When you get it in a cash game or tournament of whatever it is you are playing, you get a little bit of goosebumps. Serious research has pointed out that most people go broke or die at a tournament because ofoverplaying Ace King, especially Ace King suited.

Before we go further with the analysis of AK, please hold in mind that not only with Ace King, but with all suited cards, against unsuited cards the increased winning percentage that comes with suited cards is only a percent!

Ok, so if most people loose more than they win with Ace King, and loose at especially crucial times, then what is it that they are doing wrong playing AK? First of all we are going to take a look at the potential of AK, after that we will follow up with how Ace King, in conclusion, actually should be played and how it should not be played.

AK is the best drawing hand. AK can beat EVERY HAND, it is only a big underdog against AA and KK.

The rest of the hands is either just as strong or slighty stronger or a lot worse than AK. Hence you would say, AK is one of the best hands. This is, mathmatically said, true. But it is one of the most complicated and tricky hands too. AK is no

favourite against 22. 33 is. But then again, it is not much more of an underdog against QQ, one of the strongest hand in NL Holdem.

Poker Rules …. Poker Position …. Poker Strategy …. Poker Bonuses

How should one play this complicated hand then?

Ace King should be played with caution, but also with aggression. Being aggressive in poker is a good overall strategy anyhow, but especially when you hold AK. In tournaments you can be ultra aggressive with AK. But only as long as YOU push. NEVER call an all in with AK in tournaments as you are no favourite against all pairs and only a slightly favourite against other drawing hands like QJ and 10J. But if you are the one that is raising or … read the full article at PokerBG.Net

Check out also articles … How to play QQs and JJs and How to play pocket pairs

So though there was much speculation by many accounts as to the purity of Shahaf’s invite, I boarded the plane to Vegas after dosing my mocha latte with dewars. And drinking a margarita in flight. Me, my little backpack, and my alcohol arrived safely in Vegas, and Shahaf immediately ordered me to take a cab to the hotel. I was quickly struck by the interesting buildings all over the city as we drove, and the entrance to the Venetian definitely made me gasp. Everything is just lavish and the ultimate of cool.

Shahaf made it quite clear right away, too, that I was not going to spend a penny while I was there. Definitely a relief since I am the ultimate of broke. I got accustom to poker, I loved sitting in the poker room, ordering countless coffee with baileys, (only after he doubled the pile of coins in front of him…because that was when I could finally breathe easily)…and picking up the inklings of the game. He’s really good at it. But since I was there to distract him, we definitely explored the strip too. The first night we walked quite a while down the strip, saw some of the treasure island show until I got claustrophobic and annoyed, and saw the water show at the Bellagio (which we saw a few more times while I was there). We bought tickets to see Love for Monday night. I was also able to clear the air about any “funny business” easily that first night because we were at the poker table and the woman next to us said something about us being a cute couple. I quickly answered how that would be creepy since he was like my brother. I saw him pause for a minute and comment about us being like cousins, but I was able to brush off any possibility of ‘that sort of thing’ happening. Perfect.

Monday was amazing. We played some poker, and went to run some errands at the mall before getting ready to head over to see the show. The show was out of this world. I literally had my mouth gasped opened right at the start of it, and was strung along equally as dumbfoundedly impressed throughout the entire thing. It was such a treat. Tuesday we went to see 2012 across town in XD. I cried about every five or so minutes. It was about the end of the world. It was also the first movie I had seen since New Years Day. We went to Sushisamba later and walked around a bit more. I was already starting to get bummed about returning home. That night as we lay in bed watching TV Rosi’s JC Penney commercial suddenly came on and I freaked out with happiness freaking Shahaf out even more. I was so proud. And then I left early in the morning. At 4 a.m. I shared a cab with a lovely older couple who come every year. And just as I was glowing with satisfaction that I hadn’t spent any money, they told me they lost a lot this trip. Oops. I’m glad Karma didn’t attack me on the flight home. I landed safely back in NY after listening to Regina Spektor on repeat. I feel so lucky. I feel so blessed.

So i found out that Cola send the xbox i won from Denmark so i have to wait, probably getting it Monday – Thursday. yes, maybe posting a review or something.

And gues what ! i won the facebook zynga poker shootout and now im qualified for a xbox elite so i sat there for 1 hour at the final table took out 3 rtards at the first hand. then played and won some more. then the last 3 pussys took a long time. had to wait for the blid to kill them..

its late 3:08 AM !!! lol

GN

Die Online Pokerwelt besteht aus vielen verschiedenen Anbietern. Nach Pokerstars und Full Tilt Poker ist das Netzwerk iPoker am größten. Es handelt sich also um das größte Pokernetzwerk überhaupt. Dementsprechend attraktiv ist es auch. Denn die Tatsache, dass es an die 100 Skins davon gibt macht es natürlich möglich, dass viele verschiedene Angebote vorhanden sind während man bei Pokerstars oder Full Tilt Poker nur 1 Angebot hat. Das heißt es herrscht auch ein ordentlicher Konkurrenzkampf unter den iPoker Skins! Und Konkurrenz belebt bekanntlich das Geschäft und kommt immer dem Kunden, in diesem Fall dem Spieler zugute!

Aber dennoch gibt es auf iPoker kein legales Rakeback Angebot. Wobei damit noch nicht alles zum Thema gesagt ist, denn eigentlich gibt es schon Rakeback, es heißt dort nur anders und wird anders verpackt. Nämlich mit Loyalty Programmen. Der Hintergrund ist der, dass man Rakeback nur an Spieler geben darf, die auch viel Rake erspielen. Und je mehr man erspielt, desto mehr bekommt man wobei selbst das noch nicht wirklich viel ist.

Jedenfalls gibt es dennoch die Möglichkeit auf anderem Wege Rakeback auf iPoker zu bekommen. Das ist auch inzwischen Gang und Gebe und die wirklich guten Spieler bei denen sich das lohnt genießen diese Deals auch sehr. Wir möchten an dieser Stelle gar nicht zu sehr ins Detail gehen. Denn es gibt eine Seite, die sich ausführlich zum Thema iPoker Rakeback äußert: iPoker Rakeback 24. Jeder, der mehr Informationen rund um iPoker Rakeback sucht, sollte sich diese Seite näher ansehen.

Jeder Pokerraum nimmt eine Gebühr aus jedem Pot. Damit erzielt der Pokerraum überhaupt seine Einnahmen. Ganz im Gegensatz zum Casino verdient der Pokerraum nicht wenn der Spieler verliert, sondern wenn er spielt und Geld setzt. Das Rake greift sich der Anbieter automatisch aus jedem Pot. Dies beträgt meist bis zu 5 % des Pots, wird aber nur unter bestimmten Bedingungen zum Beispiel wenn ein Flop gezeigt wird, eingezogen.

Der Pokerraum bietet neuen Spielern meistens einen Bonus an um das Spielen attraktiver zu machen. Der Bonus gilt aber nur für eine kurze Zeit und kompensiert meist nur wenig. Rakeback ist anders: Beim Rakeback bekommt der Spieler auf Lebenszeit einen Teil des erspielten Rakes zurück erstattet. Der Prozentsatz, also was letzendlich vom Rake zurück an den Spieler geht ist beim Rakeback meist höher als bei einem Bonus. So ist es ziemlicher Standard 30 % Rakeback zu bekommen. Erspielt der Spieler in einem festgelegten Zeitraum 100 Euro an Rake, so werden ihm 30 Euro zurück erstattet.

Facebookinfo – Texas Holdem Poker yang dikembangkan oleh Developer aplikasi Zynga merupakan salah satu aplikasi di Facebook yang sangat diminati oleh facebooker indonesia.Kita bisa saksikan demam poker ini diwarnet-warnet,di warung kopi,dikost,dan hot spot area lainnya.Banyak diantara Poker mania yang menjadikan aplikasi ini sebagai sumber pengasilan sampingan bahkan utama.Saat ini telah banyak website yang melayani penjualan dan pembelian chip poker seperti :

• http://jualchipspoker.com
• http://www.belijualchipspoker.com
• http://belichipspoker.com

Berikut beberapa referensi harga chip poker saat ini

pembelian 1 – 100M Rp. 10.000,- / M
pembelian 100 – 500M Rp. 8.500,- / M
pembelian 500M ke atas Rp. 8.000,- / M
membeli 50m = Rp.450.000
membeli 100m = 800.0000
membeli 1B Rp.8.000.000

Melihat fenomena perjudian online ini MUI pun tidak tinggal diam dan sangat mengecam keras permainan ini,Silahkan klik disini untuk baca artikel sebelumnya tentang pendapat MUI kota tanggerang tentang permainan Poker ini. Lalu pertanyaanpun bermuncunlan dari para Facebooker: “Kalau jual beli sih udah nggak ragu lagi kalau itu adalah Haram,tapi kita kan main Poker cuma sekedar iseng dan tidak memperjualbelikan Chip gimana hukumnya? “

Adapun yang tidak pakai uang ternyata diharamkan pula menurut situs islamqa.com, situs ini berisi tanya jawab tentang Islam. Alasannya, karena termasuk jenis permainan kartu, yang digolongkan sebagai dadu (an-nardu atau an-nardasyir). Permainan dadu itu baik pakai uang maupun tidak tetap dinyatakan haram. Karena dalam hadits:

روى مسلم (2260) عن بُرَيْدَةَ بن الحُصَيب رضي الله عنه أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ : ( مَنْ لَعِبَ بِالنَّرْدَشِيرِ فَكَأَنَّمَا صَبَغَ يَدَهُ فِي لَحْمِ خِنْزِيرٍ وَدَمِهِ ).

وعند أبي داود (

4938) وابن ماجه (3762) عَنْ أَبِي مُوسَى الْأَشْعَرِيِّ رضي الله عنه أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ : ( مَنْ لَعِبَ بِالنَّرْدِ فَقَدْ عَصَى اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ ) وحسنه الألباني في صحيح أبي داود.

Muslim meriwayatkan (nomor 2260) dari Buraidah bin Al-Hushaib radhiyallahu ‘anhu bahwa Nabi shallallahu alaihi wa sallam bersabda: “Barangsiapa bermain dadu maka dia seperti mencelupkan tangannya ke dalam daging babi dan darahnya.”
Dan bagi Abu Dawud (nomor 4938) dan Ibnu Majah (3762) dari Abu Musa al-Asy’ari radhiyallahu ‘anhu bahwa Rasulullah shallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam bersabda: “Barangsiapa main dengan dadu maka sungguh dia telah bermaksiat kepada Allah dan Rasul-Nya.” (Hadits dihasankan oleh Al-Albani dalam Shahih Abi Dawud).

Al-Lajnah ad-Daimah (Komisi Tetap Dewan Fatwa Saudi) yang terdiri dari para ulama besar di Saudi Arabia telah berfatwa (15/ 231) dengan pengharaman permainan kartu walaupun tanpa pakai uang. Dan Syaikh Shalih bin ‘Utsaimin berfatwa seperti itu pula (haram). sumber: nahimunkar.com

Berikut kutipan Fatwa tentang Poker dari situs islamqa.com

Fatwa No: 120806

Ruling on playing poker when it is not for money
Is it permissible to play poker on the internet?

Please note that it is just playing for points and not for real money.

Praise be to Allaah.

Poker is a common card game.

It says in al-Mawsoo’ah al-‘Arabiyyah al-‘Aalamiyyah: A card game is a game of chance or skill. It uses rectangular pieces of cardboard, on each of which are shapes and numbers. It is possible to play hundreds of games using playing cards. Different numbers of people may take part in card games. The game of patience may be played by just one person; casino is played by two; pinochle or whist are played by four. Canasta needs between two and six players. In the case of poker, it may be played by as many as ten persons. There are other games that are also preferred by players, such as rummy, poker, black jack, five hundred, pick it, and so on. Each game has its own system and rules. End quote.

If this game is played for money, then it is gambling which is haraam, because it is not permissible to offer money except in contests that were mentioned by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) when he said: “There should be no (money) prizes except for contests in archery, camel-racing or horse -racing.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi (1700), al-Nasaa’i (3585), Abu Dawood (2574) and Ibn Majaah (2878). Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.

Some scholars added to that anything that may help in jihad, whether tangibly or intangibly, such as competitions in memorizing the Holy Qur’aan or Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and competitions in planes, ships, boats and so on. As for playing cards, that does not come under this heading.

If it is not played for money, it is still haraam according to a number of scholars, because it is akin to dice in its dependence on conjecture and guesswork, and playing with dice is haraam, because of the report narrated by Muslim (2260) from Buryadah ibn al-Husayn (may Allaah be pleased with him), according to which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever plays with dice, it is as if he were dipping his hand in the flesh and blood of a pig.”

Abu Dawood (4938) and Ibn Majaah (3762) narrated from Abu Moosa al-Ash’ari (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever plays with dice has disobeyed Allaah and His Messenger.”

Classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.

Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in Sharh Muslim: The scholars said: Nardasheer means nard (dice). Nard is a Persian word that has been Arabized. Sheer means sweet. This hadeeth was quoted as evidence by al-Shaafa’i and a number of scholars as evidence that playing with dice is haraam. What is meant by “dipping his hand in the flesh and blood of a pig” is when he is eating it, so it is likening the prohibition on dice to the prohibition on flesh and blood of pigs. And Allaah knows best. End quote.

Ibn Hajar al-Haytami said in Tuhfat al-Muhtaaj Sharh al-Minhaaj (10/215): It is haraam to play with dice according to the correct view because of the report of Muslim: “Whoever plays with dice, it is as if he were dipping his hand in the flesh and blood of a pig.” And according to a report narrated by Abu Dawood, “[he] has disobeyed Allaah and His Messenger.” Dice games are based on conjecture and guesswork that lead to a great deal of foolishness. al-Raafa’i said: The point here is that dice are an analogy for all other types of games that are similar.

Everything that is based on conjecture is haraam. That includes kanjafah, which are cards on which there are pictures. End quote.

The Standing Committee has issued a fatwa (15/231) stating that it is haraam to play cards, even if it is not for money. This was also stated in a fatwa by Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him). See Qadaaya al-Lahw wa’l-Tarfeeh by Madoon Rasheed, p. 186. See also the answer to question no. 12567.

And Allah knows best.

Demikianlah sedikit kutipan informasi tentang hukum keharamanan permainan Texas Holdem Poker yang sedang buming di Indonesia,Semua kembali pada Facebooker untuk menyikapi hal ini.

Referensi: islamqa.com , Nahimunkar.com , jualchipspoker.com