Poker Legend "Amarillo Slim" Preston Passes Away

Poker Legend "Amarillo Slim" Preston Passes Away
The 83 years old poker legend "Amarillo Slim" Preston has passed away after a lengthy illness. The legend was the winner of 1972 World Series of Poker Championship Event, four-time WSOP bracelet winner and Poker Hall of Fame member.
Earlier it was reported that Preston was battling cancer and heart problems and last weekend he was taken to a hospital. His many poker companions, including his old "Road Gambler" running mate Doyle Brunson, accompanied him to the hospital where he seemed to have improved over the past week. But he could not survive the passing days and his death announcement was provided to poker player Scott Clark. Later, the Preston family released following statement through Nolan Dalla, the Media Director for the WSOP:
"We hope everyone will remember our beloved Amarillo Slim for all the positive things he did for poker and to popularize his favorite game - Texas Hold'em."
Texan Thomas Austin Preston, Jr. became "Amarillo Slim" for his fondness for making outlandish prop bets as well as his tremendous skills on the field. Preston with Brunson and another former World Champion-to-be, Brian "Sailor" Roberts formed Texas "Road Gamblers". The trio would often tour the southwest for poker games and make their living. But according to Brunson, which he stated in interviews, their relationship unfortunately broke up after they lost their bankroll in Las Vegas. However they continued to remain friends and make their living during the early years of the World Series of Poker.
"Amarillo Slim" earned his first fame during the 1972 WSOP Main Event, where he took down the championship for his first ever bracelet. Quickly, he built a celebrity status and made appearances on talk shows including The Tonight Show and several movies to promote the game of poker. With his excellent performances on the tables, he won three more WSOP bracelets, and his last victory came in 1990 in a $5000 Pot Limit Omaha tournament.
Preston is also admired for his other poker endeavors. He contributed his experiences for several poker books, including Amarillo Slim's Play Poker To Win. In his autobiography "Amarillo Slim In A World Full Of Fat People" received a lot of popularity as he enlightened his career on the tables and with his prop bets.
During his entire tournament poker career, Preston cashed in tournaments around the world such as eleven times in the WSOP, finished in fourth place in an event on the Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza and Chris Moneymaker's historic 2003 WSOP Championship victory.
A number of condolence messages have been received by social media regarding Preston's passing.
Poker pro Bernard Lee tweeted, "RIP Amarillo Slim, one of the first poker superstars."
Brunson also recalled a story on his personal blog of a robbery the duo went through in the early 1960s.
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The State of Online Poker

Every poker player over the age of 23 I think really understands the effect that Online Poker has had on the game in general. Just the quick pace and tournaments that are always readily available have made for more aggressive games. I think what players spend less time thinking about is the game within the game and how the online phenomena has effected poker decisions in the static environment of one particular tournament...
And by that, I mean that because of Online Poker, these MTT sharks do not, or very rarely, think of one tournament as a static situation or this isolated poker vacuum. If you play a live tournament, and go with some kind of borderline decision, you make that decision with the understanding that if you are on the wrong end of it, you will be powering down the IPOD, wrapping up the ol' headphones, saying your goodbyes, and leaving the casino - the next opportunity to cash in on some dough being unknown hours away.
Obviously, if you bust out of the Nightly Hundred Grand on Pokerstars, yeah your bankroll is dented but so what? More than likely you will still be battling away in 6 or 7 other multis at the same time.
And even more obviously, if you were playing the Nightly on your last bullet, then you have no business playing in the first place.
So what does all of this have to do with the earlier point? How does Online Poker and the format effect in game decisions strictly because of its format?
I argue that the MTT shark is not that far off from the average MTT grinder in terms of pure skill level. Especially in 2010 where the average poker player knows all the basics: when they should be shoving, generally when it makes sense to call, pot odds, and the like. But what that MTT shark has mastered is how to make VOLUME of games work in his favor. Also, the shark makes the format of Online Poker work for him as well. How?
Let's say the shark opens in MP with 4c4d. The button 3 bets with whatever. Air, or a monster. Who knows? The shark sure doesn't.
As a poker purist and long time player, I am no longer at all one bit surprised to see the shark shove all in knowing he is getting called in this spot. Or see the shark snap call a 3 bet shove. It happens over and over and over again. The railbirds all chime in about how sick the shark is.
Is he really that sick?
Or has Online Poker made it actually kinda easy to make this kind of move? If you win what turns out to be a coinflip, you look like a genius. You went in with the best hand, it held, and you won a ton of chips. If you lose, oh well that's poker, they'll say. If you get your chips in dominated, well, they say you need to get lucky to win MTTs and its actually right to get your money in bad, or rather, if you never get your money in bad, then you are in fact, PLAYING bad.
So what's the shark's trend? Play multi after multi in this type of reckless fashion and odds are he will snap off at least ONE if the poker run-good gods are on his side.
So what does all of this mean to the average player?
Realize that the trend is THERE. These players are obviously erring on the side of aggression online. They are GETTING IT IN. And they don't care. A lot of these online players look sick in the moves they make, but the fact is they are just taking advantage of the format. There is, in my opinion, way less REGARD for these actual moves than what you might expect. How can the shark really know where those pocket 4s stand when he gets 3-bet? The answer, more often than not, is he quite obviously cannot.
Just know when you consider your next move, that he doesn't care.

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On Minimizing the Risks of Online Poker

Playing poker has become not just a hobby, but a profession for a lot of people. You see more and more people playing poker every minute of the day. Of course, being a seasoned poker player requires more than just knowledge of the basic know-how's and rules, it also necessitates concentration, skills and discipline.
Since a lot of people have started playing poker everyday, online poker has gained more popularity. Not only is it convenient because you don't have to leave the house to meet with your opponents, it is just as fun as the real poker game. Millions of people have even started making a living playing online poker. Of course, to achieve this level, you need time, patience and of course, some money to start with. It is an investment thus it also involves risks. It's just like any gambling game in existence. You need a little money to invest and you know that when you do, you also acknowledge the fact that you might not always win with your investment.
But I can teach you how to minimize the risk and have the unfair advantage. Do you want to know how?
Two of the most popular websites for poker players are Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker. These are legitimate websites, take note. Both of these sites have communities of tens of thousands of members playing everyday and making big bucks every single day that they play. A lot of these members have even quit their jobs and played poker for a living. Yes, that's true! Join these sites and you are sure to meet people who have started to make a living out of poker.
Now, how nice it is not to work for anybody anymore? No more bosses, no more annoying co-workers, no more deadlines and projects. You can work at the comfort of your home and not worry about getting up early in the morning. You are your own boss and you call the shots. What can be better than that? You can have the life that you've always dreamed about while doing the things that you love most doing-playing poker.
You can find online products like ebooks and software that will permit you to cheat poker legally. Using math and a little computation, you will be revealed of your opponent's hole cards. This program (or hack) will also allow you to program your very own automated poker bot which will ultimately perform these tasks and serve as your autopilot. The best thing about this product is that even beginners can just start playing poker and reap the big bucks. Yep! You do not have to be a seasoned poker player to get the rewards. You may be wary about this product and think that it is illegal or shady, but let me assure you that it is quite legitimate. If you learn these techniques and live the real world of poker, it would be like going to Vegas and Vegas and counting into a six deck shoe!

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How to Make a Living Playing Online Poker

Believe it or not, but there are thousands of people around the world who play online poker for a living and they don't need to work a normal job. If this sounds like something that you might want to do then you will need to consider some factors as to how you'll make a living playing online poker. There is nothing that you can do in order to become a professional online poker player other than make sure you practice a lot.
Becoming a full-time poker player isn't always as good as most people will make it sound so you will want to make sure that you're considering the facts before you make the move to doing this full-time. You will typically need to play long hours of patient poker every single day in order to make the money that you normally would at a real job. Some days you'll get lucky and win a lot of money quickly, but then other days you might lose a lot of money quickly.
One of the biggest skills you need to learn apart from playing poker is how to manage your bankroll. If you don't have a good day you need to cut your losses before you lose too much of your bankroll. If you can't control your bankroll then you're never going to make it as an online poker player. One other myth that a lot of people think about becoming a pro is that they need to play the higher stakes available too them. This is completely wrong and you need to ensure that you don't play on limits you're not comfortable with.
You can easily make enough money on a $1/$2 table so you really don't need to play high stakes in order to make a living as a poker player. When you play higher limit games you will be able to make more money, but you'll also need to risk more money at the same time and this sometimes will hurt your poker game.

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How to Play Poker to Become a Winner

Undeniably, winning the poker game would be the ultimate goal of every poker player. To achieve the winning state, a player should first master the gaming moves. There is a set of rules and guidelines of the game so if you are a novice, you would have to learn  the basics before maneuvering into a larger scale of the game and strategies.
Learning how to play poker indicates a starting step to understand the card values and combinations. The game is systemized in a way that the player with the highest value of card will win the game. Poker uses 52 cards in five draws where the Ace holds the greatest value. Other variations such as Ross Perot Poker may use lesser cards although Ace still holds the highest value followed by King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9 up to 2. Any players who wish to play poker should know very well the values as well as the symbols of the cards such as Hearts, Spades, Clubs and Diamonds.
Besides, you should understand well the different combinations in the poker game such as four of a Kind, Flush, Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Straight, Two Pair, One Pair, Three of a kind and High Card. Then you should learn about how to place the ante. The ante is actually the token bets either in the form of coins, chips or bills depending on the players' preferences. The placement is done at the center of the table and other players will place the bets according to the value placed by the first player. The winner of the game will grab all the bets. Next is the dealing section. Every player will receive a deal of five cards facing down while the rest of the cards will be placed on the center of the table.
If you wish to know how to play poker, you should master the skills of card analysis. This is the moment where players apply the strategies of tricks and lies. One common way is via telltale signs such as eye movements and holding of breath. Then each player, often beginning from the player sitting left to the dealer can choose to call, also known as see, fold or also known as quit or raise. Upon the selection, players can begin making draws. A draw indicates the disposal of cards that you do not need, done by placing the cards face down. The last step is exposing, meaning all players expose their cards and the player with the highest card value will win.

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Rush Poker on Full Tilt

I have had several emails from players asking my opinion on the new "Rush Poker" on Full Tilt. In case you don't play on FT or have not heard, this is a new cash ring game that you can sit down at, where you are whisked to a new table after every hand. In fact, not only do you change tables after every hand, you can change tables right in the middle of a hand if you simply fold. The effect is that you are basically involved in a hand constantly, at all times. Of course, once the flop comes down and the subsequent turn and river, the game slows a bit while betting takes place, but you get the idea.
Just to be perfectly clear, Rush Poker bears about as much resemblance to the actual game of poker as checkers does to chess. That is, Rush Poker is simply not poker. It is a game for action junkies who feel like they want to have a part of every hand. What you will get (and I have tried it to prove my point) is players who are willing to play anything and try to suck out any hand because you won't be sitting next to them in 3 seconds anyway. What this game does is bring more 'luck factor' into the game than it should ever have.
Part of learning how to play poker is learning patience. Part of the game is watching your opponents and their betting patterns. Seeing what cards they will take to showdown, what they will open with from early position, how they defend blinds, etc is a huge part of the game and a huge part of being a successful poker player. Rush Poker takes away all of those elements and pretty much creates a game of Bingo. While Bingo can be fun if you win, it ain't poker folks!
So, for those of you wondering, by all means go ahead and try Rush Poker, it is fun as a diversion. Maybe like putting $10 in a slot machine on your way to the tables at a casino; its kind of cool if you win, but you don't really expect your money back!

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How to Win at Texas Hold'Em - How to Make Money in No-Limit Texas Hold'Em by Bluffing

Learning how to bluff properly when playing No-Limit Texas Hold'em is a crucial skill if you expect to have any chance of becoming a profitable poker player. Unfortunately sometimes are bluffs don't always go the way we planned for them to and they suddenly face a check raise from a tight aggressive player. In most cases you would probably quickly fold this hand cursing your luck and wait for another opportunity.
However, what if the situation were different? Let's assume you raise with two painted cards and only get called by the big blind. If the flop only brings rags, than nine out of ten times the big blind will check to you as the aggressor in the pot. Normal strategy calls for you to make a continuation bet of about half to two-thirds of the pot in an attempt to end the hand right there with you as the winner. But what if the big blind doesn't go away so quietly and decides to call you?
On a flop full of low cards you have to always be careful of what they big and small blinds might have as those are the types of flops that usually hit their cards. Of course, your opponent may also have a made hand or two painted cards much like yourself. It is situations like this where bluffing at the pot will provide you the additional information you need in order to determine how to play out the hand the rest of the way.
After the turn if your opponent checks to you again and you make a substantial bet at the pot in the form of a bluff and he calls you then it is a good sign you may be behind and should probably cease your attempts at stealing the pot. If your opponent check raises you then the likelihood that your attempted bluffs failed is evident and you should immediately fold.
Giving up on a hand is never easy and the reality is folding to another player that has turned the tables on you is a very difficult decision to make but if you went in to the hand knowing you were bluffing then the decision to lay it down should not be that difficult to make.
Late position aggression using the occasional bluff is a common strategy when playing poker. The ability to fold your bluff in the face of an even more aggressive player is more often than not, the sign of a really good poker player. Ultimately, you want to learn how to time your bluffs properly so they end up being profitable for you instead of costing you chips. To find out how to maximize your poker winning percentage with using bluffs continue reading!

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