Archive for January, 2009
Confessions of a rookie webmaster
Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 | Poker News | No Comments
Granted this article series has nothing to do with poker, but since this is my blog I have freedom to post whatever I want:-) I have been experiencing a lot of WordPress associated problems lately and this made me think that other people might be sharing some of my problems. In addition I figured that newly born WordPress webmasters could benefit from some of the skills and problem solvers I have learned along the way. I am by no means a WordPress expert; my goal with this article series is to give you an idea of the possibilities within WordPress, how to solve simple WordPress problems and where to go to get information on tougher problems.
How to get started with WordPress:
If you like me have no clue about programming and running websites in general you will probably benefit from paying someone else to set up your WordPress blog. In this case all you need to do is come up with a good name for your blog and check that the url is not already occupied (if it is and you really want the url, it is sometimes possible to purchase it from the owner). Once this is done you can post your WordPress project on Guru which is the world’s largest online service market place. If you have a bit of patience and don’t accept the first bid on your project, you should be able to find someone who will set up your blog at a reasonable price. Once your blog has been set up with hosting, passwords etc. and is finally online you can start writing posts and customizing the appearance and functionality of your blog.
Customizing your WordPress blog:
Customizing your WordPress blog is very much like building a house and the best thing is that all the building materials are free to use. A WordPress house is made up of basically 3 components:
- WordPress Themes – the construction plan; determines the overall look of your blog
- WordPress Plugins – the bricks and fixtures; add functionality to your blog
- WordPress Widgets – the communication lines; let you strutt your stuff and interact with others
The first thing you need to learn in order to customize your new WordPress blog is how to access your Wordpress files on the host server. This can be done in two ways. Usually your hosting company will have a control panel interface with a file manager function where you can access your files. However when transferring large files to the server this can be a rather slow solution. Another way to access your WordPress files is to use a file transfer protocol or in short a FTP (figuring out how this worked has been one of the biggest revelations during my short time as a Webmaster:-)). Simply click on the “This Computer” icon on your desktop and overwrite “Documents” in the address field with the following code:
In my case it looks something like this:
Simply type in the code and press enter and your WordPress folders will appear below. You install plugins by first downloading them to your desktop, unzipping them and then copying them to the wp-content/plugins folder that you have gained access to through the FTP protocol. Themes are installed in the same manner by first downloading them to your desktop and then copying them to the wp-content/themes folder.
Now what’s left to do is to log in to your online WordPress control panel and activate the plugins and themes that you have just installed….more about this and the essential plugins you will definitely want to install in my next article.
You could be posting your articles on the Poker Bankroll Blog. Read all about it here.
Entering an event with the right mental approach
Sunday, January 11th, 2009 | Poker Articles, Poker Strategy, Poker Tournament | 3 Comments
Submitted by Mitchell this article belongs to the Poker Tournament series.
Mitchell Cogert is the author of “Tournament Poker: 101 Winning Moves.” It is the only reference book to reveal the plays the Pros use to win a poker tournament. These plays are based on reviewing 20 years worth of tournament poker strategies and by actual play against Daniel Negreanu, Erick Lindgren, David Pham and other top pros. The book is available on amazon and rated 5 out of 5 stars by customers. Find out more about Mitchell Cogert by visiting Tournament Poker or his website APokerExpert.
Do You Have The Right Mental Approach to Win a WSOP Bracelet?
The first skill to win a WSOP bracelet or any tournament is:
Entering an event with the right mental approach to tournament poker-playing to win and not just to cash.
Before you enter a no limit poker tournament you must put yourself in the right mind frame. If you are like most poker players you have heard expert players tell you: “In order to win, you have to survive.”
In fact, you may have read many books and articles telling you over and over again that you want to play it safe early on, avoid confrontations without a big hand, try to wait out and survive to make the final table. This is the advice that will keep you a loser. Guaranteed.
Here is a simple test to see if you have what it takes:
You fly into Vegas with friends to watch the WSOP Main Event with a $10,000 buy-in. After a night of partying, you wake up in the afternoon and discover a ticket to enter the tournament. You suddenly recall that last night you got drunk and paid $10,000 to compete in the WSOP Main Event!
You rush to the Rio and take your seat as the director announces, “Shuffle up and deal.” You are on the big blind with the blinds at $100-$50. You have $20,000 in chips. The player under the gun shoves all-in, and the small blind moves all-in as well. With two players all-in on the first hand, you are ready to muck when you look at your cards and find pocket Aces. What should you do?
Play it safe and fold, or risk all your chips and your $10,000.
If you hesitated, you need to adjust your mental approach to tournament poker. You must push. You must take the risk of getting knocked out on the first hand. You are even a favorite to triple up!
Tournament poker is not about survival. Tournament poker is about accumulating chips and winning. Usually one win in a tournament pays for months of buy-ins for the same event.
Ok, that was an easy test.
But ask yourself this question:
“Are you one of the typical players who plays tight early-on in an event, or waits for premium hands before raising pre-flop, or believe you can always outplay your opponents, or calls pre-flop raises with A-K rather than risk getting knocked out or thinks that you got knocked out only because of a bad beat?”
If any of the above sounds like you, you are not alone. Because that’s how most players approach the game. It is why most players never win a no limit poker tournament with 100 or more players. It is why most players never have enough chips to get past one bad beat.
Have you heard the expression, “Making the wrong play at the right time?”
It means that someone made the wrong decision on a hand of poker, but still won. It happens all the time. It is why poker is a game of chance.
The next time you play in a tournament focus on the rewards of winning, not the penalty of losing your buy-in.
In his book Making the Final TableErick Lindgren wrote:
“You want to be a great poker player? Stop thinking you’re better than the randomness of the game. Embrace the randomness. Let people think you’re a wild risk taker. And start taking advantage of those afraid to risk their own chips.”
Get out of your comfort level. You are not a WSOP bracelet winner yet.
But you can be one if you understand that the way you are playing now is not the right way to win a poker tournament. Use your chips as weapons. Make bets that will put fear in the mind and heart of your opponent. Be a risk taker, not a safe player. And maintain that aggressive mindset throughout the tournament.
Next in my series of articles: Entering a tournament poker event with a plan–when will you play tight, loose, aggressive, solid, etc
You could be posting your articles on the Poker Bankroll Blog. Read all about it here.
My 2009 Poker Goals
Thursday, January 8th, 2009 | Poker and Life, Poker Articles | 6 Comments
Submitted by McTap03, this article is a part of the Poker and life section.
With the new year now upon us, and me starting to play again (I took a brief unplanned hiatus over the holidays), I thought I would jot down some goals for the rest of this year. Since this is my first attempt at actually trying to plan long-tern (specifically for poker), please bare with me as I try to get all my thoughts onto this post.
Increase my BR
For me this would have to be my biggest goal for the year. I’m not planning on making so much money that I can quit my ‘day job,’ but if I can play steady smart poker each and every month, then my bankroll should go up. As for a final number, I would like to hit $2000 by the end of this year, which works out to about $125 per month, or around $40 per week. In order to accomplish this, I plan on sticking to my online bankroll management rule of a 25 buy-in minimum before moving up and 18 buy-in minimum before dropping down. I think these rules constitute playing it smart and safe which are key when trying to build a bankroll.
When it comes to my live BR, well that is just fictious money. I know I’ve mentioned how much I have made playing live at Mohawk Bingo Palace Poker Room (MBP), but all the money has gone to pay bills and other things, so there really isn’t a BR to talk about (unlike my online money which is on the site until I withdraw it). In order to increase my live BR, I will stick to tournaments under $100 unless my stats (I keep a log of all the money I’ve won/lose to know if I’m up or down) start to show that I’m going to be losing money if I play in a certain live tournament. In reality, I will mostly play at MBP where they max most of their tournaments at $58, with some in the mid $30 range.
Increase my knowledge/skill of the game
In order to increase my BR, I will definitely need to increase my knowledge and skill of the game so that I become a better player who can successfully play at higher levels. I plan on doing this by reading and re-reading all my current poker books before venturing off and purchasing any more. I will also look into joining a site that offers videos and training (possibly cardrunners or stoxpoker) so that I can have help in becoming a better player. I’m currently involved with PokerStrategy, whom offer videos, so I will also spend time there trying to improve my game. Another thing I will do this year to increase my skill is purchase Poker Tracker 3. This will allow me to analyze my hands, afterwards, and be able to start labelling my opponents so that I can adjust my play accordingly. I’ve used PT3 for several months, during it’s free trial, and feel that since the trial expired, my game has dropped. I will also look into other software options, possibly Tournament Indicator, that can help me make better decisions during SNG’s.
Blog/post more
Although this is a moot point, as all I would have to do is post about anything and could increase my posts, what I really want to do is post more topics that require analysis and/or feedback. This would include hands that I have played poorly and/or greatly so that people can review them and critique my style of play so that I may become better. I’m also looking to finish my “Why the cards matter least” series, as I only have a few more points left to discuss. The interesting part about wanting to blog/post more is that it doesn’t necessarily have to happen here. I currently belong to several forums (see links on the right side) where I get to provide and solicit feedback to many poker situations and increasing this will help me gain a better understanding on how to play this game.
Games to play
Since the day I started playing, I’ve been predominantly a tournament player. I’ve tried on several occasions to play in the online cash games, but have only bled money. On the other hand, tournaments, mostly SNG, have been nice too me, but when it comes to online MTT, I’m still waiting for my 1st cash. The same can be said for my live action, except that I have never played a live SNG and have managed to cash in several MTT (under 50 players), all the while bleeding money in the cash games. For this year, and in order to expand my poker skill, I’m thinking I should try to play some cash games and enter 1 MTT per month, at the least. This should broaden my abilities as they both require a different perspective on how to play according to the table dynamics. Another thing I will look into is trying to qualify for this years WSOP. This will only happen if I can increase my online BR to over 600 by the end of March, otherwise, my skill set is probably not at the level of play required to survive the WSOP. When it comes to live games, MBP offered a WSOP qualifier last year, and if they offer it again this year, I will try up to 4 satellites ($48 SNG) to see if I can make the qualifying tournament ($420 MTT). Note: I haven’t played there in 2009, so I don’t know if they are offering it again. Will know more when I finally make it over there.
Where to play
Currently I play solely at Mansion Poker and have been since last summer. The problem with playing at Mansion is that I really get nothing for playing there, except Bonus points that I can use to get into tournaments or for some of their merchandise. I’m coming to the end of my Bonus hunting and after that I’m not really sure I want to stay on Mansion as I have had some issues with their support team while trying to get something resolved. I’m thinking that this year I should probably try to deposit on a site that offers some sort of rakeback deal in order to get back some of the fees I pay. I know that PokerBRB and PokerSource offer some nice rakeback deals, so I will have to take some time to decide which one to go with, if I decide to go that way. Either way I decide to play, I will focus on increasing my player status so that I may get better rewards from the site.
Side projects
Some of you may know, the ones that I’m involved with, but I have several side projects relating to poker that I would like see come to reality. I’m not going to speculate on the details, but once they are finally in motion I will gladly shout it out loud. In the meantime, I’m planning on devoting several hours per month on each in hopes of making all of them a reality before the end of the year.
So there you have it. A decent list which I think I can reach success with. Hopefully all goes well this year.
Good luck at the tables.
You could be posting your articles on the Poker Bankroll Blog. Read all about it here.
How To Improve Your Chances of Winning A No Limit Poker Tournament
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 | Poker Articles, Poker Strategy, Poker Tournament | 4 Comments
Submitted by Mitchell this article belongs to the Poker Tournament series.
Mitchell Cogert is the author of “Tournament Poker: 101 Winning Moves.” It is the only reference book to reveal the plays the Pros use to win a poker tournament. These plays are based on reviewing 20 years worth of tournament poker strategies and by actual play against Daniel Negreanu, Erick Lindgren, David Pham and other top pros. The book is available on amazon and rated 5 out of 5 stars by customers. Find out more about Mitchell Cogert by visiting Tournament Poker or his website APokerExpert.
What really sets apart the winning players in no limit tournament poker?
Here is a list of 20 key skills that sets apart the tournament poker winning players from the rest.
You should review each of these areas, evaluate yourself on a scale from
1 to 5 (with 5 being the highest) and work on improving your tournament poker game for 2009.
1. Entering an event with the right mental approach to tournament poker–playing to win and not just to cash
2. Entering a tournament poker event with a plan–when will you play tight, loose, aggressive, solid, etc
3. Embracing the risk in the game and realizing that you can’t beat the luck inherent in poker
4. Identifying betting patterns of your opponents
5. Identifying tells of your opponents
6. Identifying your own betting patterns
7. Identifying the tells in your own game
8. Your skill at how to play pre-flop based on the strength of your hand
9. Knowing the importance of chips stack sizes on your decisions
10. Knowing how to adjust your game based on your position
11. Knowing how to make plays when you are card dead
12. Realizing the importance of and frequency to bluff successfully
13. Knowing the right time to push all-in
14. Knowing the right time to fold and realizing that sometimes it s right to fold when you are ahead.
15. Accumulating enough chips so you can survive at least one bad beat
16. Knowing how to play at the final table
17. Knowing how to play heads-up poker
18. Knowing the 101 winning moves you can use in tournament poker
19. Not letting your emotions influence your decisions and not going on tilt.
20. Making the best decision for every situation that comes up in tournament poker
- If you scored each area, what is your total score?
- Which areas do you feel you are weak and which ones do you feel you are strong?
- Now take your total score and reduce it by 20%. Why?
You are not as good as you think. Almost every player over rates their own abilities in tournament poker.
In the coming weeks, I will write articles that will address each area with the objective of helping you improve your tournament poker game.
You could be posting your articles on the Poker Bankroll Blog. Read all about it here.
Online Poker Tournaments
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 | Poker Articles, Poker Tournament | 1 Comment
Submitted by Mr. White, this article belongs to the Poker Tournament series.
What’s the big advantage of online poker? That you can play any kind of tournament anytime you want! Fixing a cash game at home isn’t that difficult, find a couple of players, get some chips and a deck of cards and you’re playing poker. Try organising a tournament for a change: you’ll need a certain amount of players to be there on time, some kind of software that serves as a tournament clock and a blinds structure. By the way, people will get bored once eliminated and the blind levels will never be long enough because you’ll notice that you aren’t playing that many hands while talking about what everybody did last week.
Instead, sit down behind your laptop, log in to a poker room and start a tournament of any kind within a few seconds. Of course, the time it takes before a tournament has enough contenders varies per room. Anyway, you’ll find the largest choice and shortest waiting periods on Pokerstars. You can choose between shorthanded or longhanded tables, tournaments with 9, 45 or even 180 contenders, default or ‘double or nothing’ prize structures or play the big multi-table tournaments (MTT’s), starting on a fixed time. Whatever you choose, keep some things in mind while playing tournament poker.
If you really want to play some ‘quality poker’, you better avoid the so called ‘turbo’ sit and go’s. The blind levels move up a lot faster than in regular tournaments, so you’ll be short stacked a lot earlier. You can’t really wait on a hand in such circumstances anymore and will have to move all-in with some kind of a decent hand, hoping it will hold up. On the other side you’ll find the ‘deep stack’ tournaments: you’ll start with more chips than usual and blind levels will move up somewhat slower. In that case you can play some poker which doesn’t differ much from cash games during the first couple of hours.
Most tournaments are always somewhere in the middle. In the beginning (one, two blind levels) you can try to limp with a wide arrange of hands (especially in late position). With your premium hands, you should raise a little more than usual just because a lot of players would like to see a flop cheaply. So 4-5 times the big blind instead of 3-4 times. Of course, you can also just limp and wait for a big chips explosion in front of you, like this guy did 
. Anyway, if you become short stacked (that happens when you’ve less than ten big blinds in front of you), you should start to play very aggressive and bet all your chips with a decent hand, but pay attention: you should best do this with a tight player in the blinds (big chance you can pick up the blinds) and not after a raise in early position (you’ll probably get called by a better hand).
When the next person to be eliminated will be the bubble boy, it’s the ultimate timing for some short stacked tournament aggression. Few players will risk their position ‘in the money’ by calling your all-in’s. Finally, when the tournament becomes shorthanded and it’s just the three or two of you, stay very focused and concentrated: don’t waste a bigger cash-out by playing impatiently because you’re ‘already in the money’. If you kind of pay attention to this simple rules you can improve your bankroll in a relatively short time period just like we did, which you can read on our blog. Good luck at the tables!
You could be posting your articles on the Poker Bankroll Blog. Read all about it here.
Poker bankroll blog has possibly been hacked
Monday, January 5th, 2009 | Poker News | No Comments
This post belongs to the Poker News series.
It has been brought to my attention that the Poker Bankroll Blog has possibly been infected with malicious code. I am currently doing all I can to secure the site but until then please to not install any components or follow any links if you are prompted.
Damn hackers!!
Regards
Mark
Update: I have followed the instructions given by the blog host and think I have successfully deleted the bug. Please let me know if you see something suspicious on the site. In my quest to kill the bug I have learned a bunch of stuff about MySQL and FTP, which have confirmed my previous suspicion that I will never become a computer wizz.
Do you have a gambling addiction?
Sunday, January 4th, 2009 | Poker and Life, Poker Articles | 3 Comments
This article belongs to the Poker and Life series
All poker players and gamblers in general run the risk of developing a gambling addiction for the same reason that all people who enjoy a drink once in a while run the risk of becoming alcoholics. I guess it’s human nature to crave more of whatever makes you tick.
One of the most important steps towards treating any kind of addiction is realizing that you have an addiction. Now I’m fairly confident that my gambling is under control, but every addict will probably say the same, so to make sure I thought I would answer the 20 questions presented by Gamblers Anonymous and post the result here. Wish me luck:-)
1. Did you ever lose time from work or school due to gambling?
I usually check my Poker Bankroll Blog and PokerBRB emails when I’m at work, but I have never skipped work to play poker. I have also made a New Years resolution to cut down on my time spent checking non work related email, so things are under control.
2. Has gambling ever made your home life unhappy?
Yes, sometimes when I bust out of tournaments I get really angry, and my girlfriend doesn’t like it one bit. I’m working on some anger management techniques……
3. Did gambling affect your reputation?
I don’t think I have a reputation, so there’s nothing really to affect.
4. Have you ever felt remorse after gambling?
Yes, once I entered into a 100$ buy-in tournament with a 141$ poker bankroll. I wasn’t even motivated for the tournament….felt really bad afterwards.
5. Did you ever gamble to get money with which to pay debts or otherwise solve financial difficulties?
Nope, I’m loaded so I never experience financial difficulties:-) In all seriousness I never play poker beyond my financial capabilities
6. Did gambling cause a decrease in your ambition or efficiency?
Yes, sometimes I feel a lot less motivated to build a bankroll when I’ve been bad beated by some noob fish.
7. After losing did you feel you must return as soon as possible and win back your losses?
No, I usually uninstall all my poker clients and take a vow of poker celibacy.
8. After a win did you have a strong urge to return and win more?
Stupid question really. When you are on a roll and playing your A-game you continue playing. My answer is yes.
9. Did you often gamble until your last dollar was gone?
Nope, never gamble for more than I can afford.
10. Did you ever borrow to finance your gambling?
Never
11. Have you ever sold anything to finance gambling?
I once sold my soul to lady luck, but it didn’t help so I bought it back.
12. Were you reluctant to use “gambling money” for normal expenditures?
Yes, my poker bankroll is my precious…..
13. Did gambling make you careless of the welfare of yourself or your family?
I can honestly say no.
14. Did you ever gamble longer than you had planned?
Yes, I am always caught by surprise over how long tournaments actually take to finish.
15. Have you ever gambled to escape worry, trouble, boredom or loneliness?
Yes, sometimes I like to play poker while I write articles, comments on other blogs and other Internet related work.
16. Have you ever committed, or considered committing, an illegal act to finance gambling?
Never….honestly.
17. Did gambling cause you to have difficulty in sleeping?
Yes, sometimes I can stay awake for some time considering whether I should have played a hand differently.
18. Do arguments, disappointments or frustrations create within you an urge to gamble?
I can’t say they do.
19. Did you ever have an urge to celebrate any good fortune by a few hours of gambling?
Usually any good fortune (except for my monthly pay check) I experience is gambling related and more precisely related to tournament wins. After winning a tournament (yes it has happened on occasions McTap) I am completely nackered and all I want to do is go to bed. Therefore my answer is no here.
20. Have you ever considered self destruction or suicide as a result of your gambling?
I sometimes consider self mutilation, but nothing more serious than that.
I answered yes to 8 out of 20 questions which according to Gamblers Anonymous indicates that I could have a gambling addiction (if you answer yes to more than 7 questions you are in trouble). When reviewing my answers I was happy to see that I have answered no to the most important questions. I think any dedicated poker player will answer yes to more than 5 questions which just goes to show we all face the risk of becoming addicted.
How many questions can you answer yes to?
You could be posting your articles on the Poker Bankroll Blog. Read all about it here.
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