Online Poker Blog

PokerNews is incredibly excited to announce this year-long $10,000 Guaranteed Tourney Series thanks to our friends at Poker770...

Day 1 of the World Poker Tour LA Poker Classic main event got underway Friday afternoon, and although he is second to last in chips after the day, Gavin Smith was the day's biggest winner. Smith, along with Joe Sebok and Jeff Madsen had a prop bet...

The final 24 players returned to The Salon at the Mantra on Friday to battle it out on Day 3 of the PokerStars.net LAPT Punta del Este. It took about eight hours, but the final table was reached, setting the stage for Saturday. After dragging the...

PokerNews is bringing you an exciting $23,000 WPT Race on PartyPoker! If you come in in the top spot of the WPT Race Final, you'll win a package to the WPT Grand Prix de Paris, which takes place May 8 - 13 at the Aviation Club de France. To...

Yet another tournament got underway today, so we'll be bringing you some news on that and its Fantasy Draft, the MiniFTOPS is just around the corner, so expect a little something on that, and some other news. It is the Nightly Turbo after all.

While you've been doing work at the poker tables, others have been busy at the boardroom table. Good thing PokerNews is skilled at multi-tabling. Every Friday, we'll get you up to speed on what's new in the gaming business. This week hasn't been...

The 2010 PokerStars.net NAPT Venetian wrapped up in the early hours of Fridy morning after the $25,000 High Roller Bounty Shootout final table was completed. After nearly 12 hours of play at the final table, it was youngster Ashton Griffin who...

Let’s talk about bankroll requirements a bit. My advice to you is to have no less than 20 entry fees in your account. So, if you begin with $5+$.50 SnGs (avoid the $5+$1 SnGs that are out there), you should have at least $110 in your account at the poker room where you’ll be playing. I speak from experience; during my worst losing streak, I ended OTM in 9 straight matches! It happens, but that’s poker. Play the SnGs for a while, at least 3 or 4 months and see if you can add to your bankroll, or at least not deplete it. Then and only then, give some thought to playing regular “ring” games of NLHE. Remember, in tournament play (SnG or otherwise) you can lose only your entry fee. In ring games you can lose every $$$ you have on the table. Notice that I said “every $$$ on the table”, not “every $$$ you own.” I suppose you could eventually lose everything at NLHE, but the way it usually works at the on-line poker rooms, you may start at the table with only a set amount, like $25 or $40 in a $.50-$1 game. Having such a rule keeps some clown from coming to the table with $10,000 and going all-in on every hand; it’s just not any fun. By restricting the amount you can start with, they’re also restricting the amount you can lose.

I mention the ring games only because your tournament experience, coupled with a disciplined use of the Matrix you see here, will turn you into a devastating “cash” player. A lot of the poker books out there say, “Great cash game players are often lousy tournament players” and/or vice-versa, but in my experience they’re wrong. Think about it. In a tournament (SnGs or MTTs), the blinds are constantly rising, so you cannot be overly patient and wait to play only good hands. But in a cash game, the blinds remain the same, so you can afford to wait for the premium hands. A lot of “experts” will say playing only premium hands will not get you much action – everyone will fold when you raise – but the “experts” aren’t playing the $.50-$1 games. The turnover of players is huge in those games, so even though 1 or 2 of the other players may think you’re a “rock”, the vast majority will give you plenty of action. For me, it’s now a case of playing the ring games to get the $$$ for the MTTs I’m playing, or for the occasional venture into the $100+ SnGs. In all of my years as an “advantage player”, I’ve never seen a situation as lucrative as playing $.50-$1 NLHE ring games; pound-for-pound, dollar-for-dollar. Sure I know how to make a hundred bucks an hour at Blackjack, but it takes a minimum of $20,000 to do it right. I can easily make $20 an hour at NLHE on a $400 bankroll. That’s a return of 5% an hour, folks!

Okay, one more comment, then let’s discuss the Matrix: Where to play SnGs, MTTs and NLHE cash games. Although I dearly love Party Poker for all of the “soft” competition there, I do not like their SnG format. They’re the ones who charge $1 for the $5 SnG, which is way too much. Their other levels have a 10% fee up to the $50 level and actually less than that at the highest levels. But, and this is a big “but”, the SnGs at Party start with only 800 tournament chips and I think 1000 should be the minimum, at least for those of you just getting into NLHE. The ring games are very beatable, though so I’ve kept my account there. I guess it’s fair to say that I play mostly at Poker Stars, but I also make the rounds to InterPoker, Royal Vegas and Pacific Poker, primarily for multi-table tournaments. PokerStars.com is a good spot, both for SnGs and cash games, even if they don’t advertise here. Fair warning: the competition there is tough, real tough. But their SnGs start you with 1500 chips and the blinds rise slowly (except in their “Turbo” tournaments, which are basically crapshoots), so skill is a definite factor in their tournaments. The cash games are tough, but not impossible and I like that. Besides the $$$, I want a good challenge when I play. But at the end of the month, I ultimately want the $$$ and I’m getting them at Poker Stars. By the way, my “handle” there is Canada Bill. No, I’m not from Canada. Canada Bill Jones was a riverboat gambler who said: “It’s immoral to let a sucker keep his money.” I kind of like that and, because someone else already had Aceten, my usual handle, I went with the Canada Bill approach. Say hello if you see me.

(Source: GameMaster)

For the first time, legislation to license and regulate Internet gambling has been tied to a bill with larger implications. The Bipartisan Tax Fairness and Simplification Act introduced Tuesday by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Judd Gregg (R-NH)...

It took roughly eight hours for the 24 players who started Day 4 of the PokerStars.net North American Poker Tour Main Event to play down to the eight-handed final table. The player who played the most fearless poker throughout the day was Sam...

In tonight's Nightly Turbo you can find the entire list of invitees to the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship, the PokerStars SCOOP schedule, and more. Oh yea, and Kristy Arnett has killer basketball (water bottle) tossing skills, just ask...

Andrew Robl, feared online poker player, will be jumping into action tonight at the PokerStars.net High Roller Bounty event. Before heading down to the Venetian tonight, Robl sat down with PokerNews to analyze each table and give his picks on who...

The PokerStars.net North American Poker Tour High Roller Bounty Shootout event is under way today at the Venetian Resort & Casino, and players have been eagerly anticipating this unique format and competition. Unlike high-roller events in the...

There are reasons to believe a key senator is beginning to come around on the issue of online poker. Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has long been thought to be on the fence with his legs swung over the side opposing Internet gaming. Though he's still...

Day 3 of the PokerStars.net North American Poker Tour Venetian got under way Monday with 149 players. Out of those 149, 128 players would earn some cash for their efforts, and by day's end, only 24 would still be in the running for the first-ever...