Humans are designed to think
whether they like it or not.
While animals live to preserve
their gene pool, a huge part
of being human means to
relentlessly think for the sake of
something larger than life, for
the sake of survival.

It goes without saying that in
order to be a victor and survive the game of Poker, sharpness of the mind shall be used.

Being sharp does not mean that you have to be academically intelligent, it means that you have to be knowledgeable. Sharpness in the game of Poker means knowing how to properly deal with your own game, your opponents and most importantly knowing how to deal with your skills.

The line that separates a good Poker player from a winning Poker player is the willingness to constantly learn, observe, and adapt.

Successful Poker players survive because of self control and eyes that carefully read each opponent. Do not bother playing Poker if you do not have self control and is impatient. You will only lose. Self control is about the art of suppressing your emotions so you can carefully analyze the exact situation you are in, which in turn, will help you make wise decisions.

The greatest Poker players are like journalists who are always eager and always on the look out for more information that will lead them to discover something big. For instance, what will you do if you are faced with a player who might be bluffing? Do not make the mistake of stereotyping that player. Instead, what you do is just observe that player until you can gradually see his intentions and his real position. When you observe, you learn. Remember that.

If you think observing is mind reading then you can put it that way. You can attempt to read or decipher the ulterior motive of your opponent by observing both his actions and expressions. Your opponent’s verbal and facial expressions can help you crack the code you are looking for. Once you have cracked his style, you can now freely anticipate each move he makes. But be careful not to draw any conclusions yet.

Though anticipation is critical in a game of Poker, it does not mean that you will not prepare yourself for any backfire. You have to make sure that you can adapt well to every situation you might get yourself into. Losing is not an option and anticipation does not always equate money.

The game of Poker, like evolution, is all about survival. In order for you to survive, you need to observe. Observing allows you to learn and be vigilant to the possible dangers around you. Keep in mind that observing is the only way to learn and learning is the only way to cultivate success.

France announced, last Friday, that it will
soon open its market for Online Poker,
online betting and gaming market.

Two days after a meeting with Charlie
McCreevy, the European
Commissioner
for Internal Market and Services, French
Budget Minister Eric Woerth reportedly
communicated the guidelines in which
France will undertake a “controlled
opening” of its online gaming market.

The meeting highlighted on the European
Commission’s infringement procedure
against France, the possible methods or measures in implementing the opening of online gambling market in France, and the period of time for the measures to be approved by the French legislature.

Woerth said that he will discuss the guidelines with the French Government on a cabinet meeting scheduled Wednesday.

Taxation levels for online gambling firms, according to Woerth, had not been set for the reason that he wanted to consult first the different parties involved in the sports and betting industry.

Other than the taxation levels, the sports team sponsorship issues has not yet been discussed.

Woerth also wanted to make sure that the technology, they will use in electronic data processing and financial transactions , is well secured.

By autumn, the bill to open the online gambling market will be presented to the French parliament.

The regulatory body is said to start setting up during the first half of 2009, awarding of licenses will take place before 2009 ends.

Operators or parties are required to obey any decision that will be handed down by the present legislative set up.

As of the present day, online games or any promotions related to them are still forbidden.

According to Woerth, the operator’s behavior concerning promotions about online gambling will be considered and evaluated before the awarding of licenses.

Anyone who will disobey the present rule will be accountable and will pursued by French authorities.

Referring to the monopoly and competition of online gambling sites in other countries, Woerth proudly said that it is for the sake of “realism” that France decided to open its doors for the online gambling market.

He was reportedly happy to announce that his dialogue with State Secretary for European Affairs Jean-Pierre Jouyet, was successful.

Since Commissioner McCreevy said that guidelines Woerth presented to him was positive, the bill will be presented to the commission before presenting it to the Parliament.

If everything is successful, Online Poker, casino games, like roulette and blackjack will be launched.

Awarding of licenses will be done by regulatory authorities to make sure that the young will be protected and to make that safe gambling will be strictly enforced.

Licenses of a five year period will be given to operators with reference to industry sectors; licenses obtained in other European states are welcome to apply for licensing in France.

One thing that symbolizes the booming
industry of Poker is the emergence of
Poker related products that every Poker
enthusiast wants to have.

First there was the Poker pop shirt, then
the Poker shades which is made to
conceal your emotions in the Poker
table, and now comes the coolest
USB Flash
Drive perfectly shaped like your
Poker chips that could serve as a reminder as well as a proclamation of your love for the game.

It is undeniable that the market size of the Poker industry had expanded from a mere casino Poker, to an Online Poker. Most cannot seem to get enough of their love for this ancient game that they are willing to purchase products that will let the whole world know they are into Poker. It is for this reason that another product has once again been reportedly patterned after a Poker chip.

Dane-Elec, one of the largest manufactures of memory modules and boards for computers, telecommunications and digital appliances, had just recently launched their newest product called the Poker mate which will soon to be the envy of everyone who is addicted to Poker.

Do not be deceived because though the Poker mate looks like an ordinary Poker chip, it is actually a flash drive that easily pulls out from the side of the chip. This sleek and compact interface design allows you to safely and conveniently store your document files, images, and music videos.

Poker mate is available in 1gb or 2gb memory capacities at prices not higher than $28. It also comes with a five year warranty that will make you a sure winner when you buy this.

It turns out though that Dane-Elec is not the first one to think of this product. Memorex, now a division of Imation Corp. and is considered to be one of the most widely recognized and respected names in the consumer electronics industry, had earlier launched a very similar product.

Memorex call it the Poker Chip USB Flash Drive offering only up to 1GB of storage capacity. Unlike the Poker mate, the Poker Chip USB Flash Drive comes preloaded with Big Fish Texas Hold’em software on the drive allowing Poker enthusiasts to play Texas Hold’em right on their personal computer.

Both products support Windows 2000/XP and Vista, Mac OS 8.6 or above-Mac OS 8.6 - 9.x USB 1.1 support only- Linux 2.4.x

These flash drives will certainly be put to a good use. Not only will it help you in organizing and storing important files, it will also serve as a constant reminder of your dream to be a Patrik Antonius and rule the Poker world and the need for you to make money for whatever reasons you have.

This has got to be the luckiest
year of David Singer and Eric
Lindgren who both won their first
Word Series of Poker
bracelets in the morning of
June 5.

Considered to be two of the best
Poker players of this generation,
Singer and Lindgren had bagged the most wanted bracelet in the Poker industry. Victory sided with Singer when he participated in the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha event.

Reports said that Singer was not expecting this win because he was already discouraged , earlier in the match, upon reaching the final table.

Singer had the second lowest chip stack of 83,000 when he got into the final table but proved victorious after he played carefully, sticked to his game plan, and chose the correct spots where he could play.

Lindgren reportedly won the toughest final table in the history of World Series of Poker.

He is a victor of $5,000 Mixed holdem Limit/No Limit event and beat other known Poker players like Howard Lederer, David Williams, Justin Bonomo, and Rolande de Wolfe.

According to reports, Lindgren’s had won because of his game plan which was to play tight in the no limit and play loose in limit part of the event.

Lindgren, just like Singer, had to struggle from a low chip count earlier in the match; Lindgren reportedly said that he had already entered another tournament because he thought that winning in this tournament was next to impossible.

Good thing these Poker players did not give up, because if they did give up, they would not have the most coveted bracelet everyone is dying to have.

Lindgren is a team member of Full Tilt and is an American professional Poker player who has several Poker victories behind him; his first major victory was at Bellagio in year 2002.

Singer, on the other hand, is a Poker professional from New York; he used to be an environmental lawyer of a non profit organization working on issues concerning the Long Island Sound.

He earned $1,000,000 last year when he played in the Caesars Palace Classic $9,800 No Limit Hold’em Championship Event.

Reports said that at about 1:00
a.m. on June 3rd Nenad Medic
was named the Pot Limit
Hold’em Champion in the first
event of the 2008 World Series of
Poker at the Rio Hotel and
Casino.

It is said that it was no easy task
for Nenad because he had to fight
his way through a final table that
consisted of well known pros such as Phil Laak, Patrick Antonius, Kathy Liebert, Andy Bloch and Mike Sexton.

Going into the final table Nenad was reportedly 2nd in chips with about 1.2 million and it did not take long for Nenad to bust another player out of the tournament, because on only the 5th hand of the day Phil Laak moved all in and Nenad called and flipped over pocket aces and after the board was laid out Nenad’s aces held up and Phil Laak was knocked out in 9th place. A couple other victims to fall to Nenad were Chris Bell who Nenad knocked out in 6th place and Kathy Liebert who was knocked out in 3rd place by Nenad.

It was now down to heads up action between Nenad Medic who sat at 4.94 million in chips and Andy Bloch who sat at only 2.1 million in chips. It was a long and stressful heads up game which took over an hour of play and on the last hand of the match Nenad turned a heart flush and Any Bloch had a pair of nines. For his win Nenad won is very first World Series of Poker Bracelet and he took home over $794,000.

According to reports, Nenad is a former college basketball player turned Poker professional.

While at the University of Waterloo, Medic has already been playing Poker with his team mates. And after his graduation, instead of playing basketball professionally, Medic started playing Online Poker professionally.

Success is without a doubt in a favor of Medic. He reportedly made his first success in WPT final table at Pokerstars.com and in Carribbean Poker adventure in 2005.

January of 2006 came where he won the final table at the Aussie Millions. He bagged the 3rd place and earned $282,432. He also earned $1,717,194 when he won the final table at the World Poker finals last year.

Reports also said that Nenad is a sponsored pro with Full Tilt, a popular Poker Room.

Medic plays Online Poker under the alias Serb2127, a Poker Review said.

Just who is this hot Poker babe?
For those who are not in the
know, this babe is a successful
actress and also one of the
hottest and greatest Poker
players you will ever meet.

Born on September 7, 1973 in
Houston, Texas, Shannon
Elizabeth Fadal was a cheerleader
and an aspiring professional tennis
player who used to work hard for her sport until she landed a role in a music video that was shot locally. She used that as a motivation and began a modeling career which in turn led to acting jobs on television shows like “Hang Time” and “Arli$$”. Because she did best in portraying these roles, she was chosen to be Nadia in the movie “American Pie”. In addition, she made 35 more films and television appearances in the past years. With all these achievements she had, people consider her a well-seasoned veteran in the showbiz industry.

Similar to other Poker players, Shannon ventured into the world of Poker at an early age by playing games such as 7 card stud with her family as a past time. When Poker was booming and there was a rise in the popularity of televised Poker Tournaments, Shannon got to know the game of Texas Hold’em.

Akin to other Poker celebrities, Shannon had to adopt Poker mentors to help tweak her game and teach her the subtle nuances of the game which led her to play with a proficient and seasoned style that was able to stand up to the best of competitors.

Now that she is already proficient, Shannon found herself playing Poker more often.

She got in the 2005 Main Event at the World Series of Poker with Daniel Negreanu as her guardian.

Since she is said to have a lot of victories in 2006- for instance, she was a sixth placer at the Las Vegas Poker Invitational, Shannon proclaimed a new career as a devoted Texas Hold’em player.

Shannon also finished 3rd in the NBC National Heads-Up Championship in 2007 and won $125,000.

One Poker site said she also stars alongside Jason Alexander, Woody Harrelson and Poker hall-of-famer, Doyle Brunson in an improvisational Poker comedy called “The Grand”. I actually met with one of the producers of the movie back in 2005 so he could pick my brain about being a female in a predominately male industry. He was looking to “round out the female character”. His original email described the movie as “a factious improv comedy in the vain of Christopher Guest’s film Best in Show is the best way to describe it.” I get many emails talking about projects and it’s nice to see one that has come to fruition. It’s even nicer to see some big names including Shannon involved in the project.

It is also said that Online Poker room, Full Tilt once had a sponsorship agreement with Shannon.

Just recently, Poker Reviews said that Shannon joined Doyles’ Poker Room.

Team Full Tilt had announced
that Patrik Antonius is its newest
member during a press
conference of the World
Series of Poker last Sunday,
June 1st.

Representing Full Tilt Poker,
the second largest site Online
Poker site and online Poker
Room in the world, Patrik
Antonius will now join the elite
club of Team Full Tilt
which includes fellow Poker
luminaries; Chris Ferguson,
Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer,
Jennifer Harman, Erick Lindgren,
Erik Seidel, Andy Bloch, Phil
Gordon, John Juanda, Mike
Matusow, Gus Hansen, and Allen
Cunningham who have collectively won 32 WSOP bracelets said Full Tilt in a recent statement.

According to the statement, at 27 years of age, Antonius is the youngest Poker pro to be invited to join Team Full Tilt The EPT winner and Poker icon already boasts career tournament earnings of nearly $2.7 million and is widely considered to be one of the best all-around players, whether it be large tournaments, live cash games, or online.

Team Full Tilt has been uncontrollable on the tournament circuit this year and the addition of Antonius will only add to this threat.

The Team’s 2008 momentum began in January with Howard Lederer winning the $100K No Limit Texas Hold’em event at the Aussie Millions for a first place prize of AU$ 1.25 million, followed by Erik Seidel’s second place finish at the main event where in took home AU$ 1 million.

Not to be outdone, in February, Phil Ivey added a World Poker Tour title to his already impressive resume by winning the $10,000 No Limit Texas Hold’em Championship Event at the Los Angeles Poker Classic, taking home $1.59 million.

And in March, fellow Team Full Tilt member Chris “Jesus” Ferguson established himself as the world’s premier heads-up Poker player by winning the $20,000 buy-in National Heads Up Poker Championship at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, claiming the title and $500,000 in prize money.

According to a Poker Review Patrick Antonius is a model, and a tennis coach, but most importantly is one of the best high stakes cash game Poker players out there in live games and online as well.

Does the live and Online
Poker community have its luck
candidate? According to some
Poker Review sites that
candidate may just be
Barack Obama.

Obama just won the democratic
nomination. Should we vote for
him or should we opt for
McCain? A Poker Review site points us in the direction of a Telegraph article that details Mr. Obama’s Online Poker background.

Toby Harnden writes:

“When he was a young state politician in Illinois, Barack Obama played his cards right. “He had the stone face,” said Senator Terry Links, who hosted weekly Online Poker games at his home. ‘He didn’t stay in hands if he didn’t think he had a chance of winning.’

Links told Harnden:

“Barack wasn’t one of those foolish gamblers who just thought all of a sudden that card in the middle was going to show up mysteriously. He’s as competitive in politics as he is in Online Poker. It’s not like he’s going to go into something without a course of action mapped out.”

So would Barack Obama rally behind the Online Poker playing community who today feel like castaways thanks to a few choice politicians? Probably not. But we cannot help but wonder if Mr. Obama would have requested the removal of an attached measurement to curb Online Poker attached to that port security bill.

Anyway, i have read in Doyle Brunson’s blog that that he’s backing Sen. Barack Obama:

“I have come to the conclusion that Poker players have to support Obama. We cannot possibly let McCain be our President because he supports most of George W. Bush’s views. Hillary has lots of experience but I do not think she is ready to lead our nation. Imagine her trying to talk to the leaders of the Islamic world? I wish we could have her husband back, but we cannot. Jennifer Harman and I have emailed Obama and asked what his position is on internet gaming. Hopefully we will get a response from his camp.”

You can also count CardPlayer columnist and Poker author Bob Ciaffone as an Obama backer.

Hmmm. Whether or not i will vote for him, the real question that really intrigues me is, How does Obama play his cards? Earlier in the campaign several journalists looked into that.

Aside from Harnden’s report, Christopher Wills also filed a report for the AP in September about Obama’s Poker playing as a state legislator in Springfield, Illinois:

Obama was a regular at the low-stakes games - sometimes stud Poker, sometimes draw - designed to break up the tedium of long legislative sessions. Poker, beer and cigars were staples; Democrats and Republicans, lawmakers and even the lobbyists who Obama sometimes rails against dealt the cards and placed their bets.

The traits Obama displayed around the card table those many nights are ones he brings to his presidential bid and are certain to be evident — and analyzed — if he wins the White House.

By his Poker buddies’ accounts, Obama is careful and focused. He is not easily distracted and doesn’t give away his intentions unless it’s to his advantage. He’s not prone to taking risky chances, preferring to play it safe. But he’s also serious and competitive: When he plays, he plays to win.

“It’s a fun way for people to relax and share stories and give each other a hard time over friendly competition,” Obama said by e-mail. “In Springfield, it was a way to get to know other senators — including Republicans.” …

Though Obama is one a strong presidential candidate, i am still thinking if he will look back and help the Poker industry if in case he wins.

Many less experienced Poker
players are likely to take for granted
their ways to handle the
pot. Though live or Online
Poker players naturally do not
bet a thousand chips into a
hundred chip pot, they still fail to
practice the fundamentals of
managing the pot size and making suitable bets that will eventually lead them to success.

Reading and choosing the best tips and strategies in Poker Reviews may help you maximize your profits and minimize your losses but the trick is still about how you manage the pot size.

One will notice frequently that Poker players make large sized bets for what they want to earn, and because of this mistake, they tend to lose control of their hand. For instance, consider you are in a free game where rules are loose, and you are in possession of K-10 which is not suited in the button. A player limped before you, you called, tiny blind also called, and the huge blind checked to see the free flop.

The flop came as 10d-7c-3h. You are in possession of the leading pair and tend to be holding the best of the best hand, even if it there is a chance that a single player with A-10 would’ve called the pot preflop. The action is then to check you, what are you going to do now?

Apparently, you are going to bet. But the question is, how much? One may be tempted to place a large bet here but, considering the situation, a large bet can easily backfire. One can easily beat a top pair, if someone is holding an ace and hits it on the turn. In addition, considering that the game has been lenient, one should expect callers.

Placing a smaller bet is indeed advisable in this situation since it will make one to escape the hand cheaply if the turn card helps one of your opponents.

“Placing a bet signals that you have a hand, making it possible to take the pot on the turn if nobody improves their hand, and your bet will not commit too many chips to the pot, making it painful to let go of the hand that you have if one of your opponents shows aggression on the turn.If you make a bet near the size of the pot, you’re going to want to continue with the hand even if an ace comes on the turn and the chances become very good that you are beat, simply because the pot is large and contains a lot of your chips,” said PokeronaMac

Betting too many chips is a good example of how you are forcing yourself into making painful decisions that you could have avoided by making a smaller bet. Again, tailoring the size of your bets to your situation is what should be done.

No matter what or how many Poker strategies you employ but if you do not match your bet to the pot size, you will lose. You have to be aware of the strength of your hand compared to the likely holdings of your opponents. The game of Poker is about making wise decisions and doing the correct plays at the right time.

If there has got to be who you will call the
hottest Poker babe, it has got to be
Jennifer Tilly.

Jennifer Tilly is not a new household name.
She is in fact a Hollywood actress who
preferred playing Poker than waiting for her
next scene when shooting for a movie.

When celebrities started to show up in
Poker Tournament, event promoters
were overjoyed; and, the Poker fans
fascinated. We all wondered, though - could
these Hollywood script-jockeys hold their
own against a field of seasoned pros and
rabidly hungry - and
aggressively competitive newcomers. Could they play the game of Poker? The answer, it seems, is a resounding yes!

Born as Jennifer Chan, Tilly has been in the Hollywood spotlight for over twenty years. She ventured into the Poker world and again made her mark playing in the World Poker Tour television show, Hollywood Home Game.

Tilly was reportedly on the Celebrity Poker Showdown, GSN’s Poker Royale, and the third season of Poker Superstars. Fans can also track her on High Stakes Poker where she is almost always seen with professional Poker player, Phil Laak.

It is said that Tilly and Laak started dating while her gaming career is booming. Poker. Also, some Poker sites also state that Laak taught Tilly everything she knows.

She told one of the reporters that Phil Taught her everything she knows about playing great in Poker , “through osmosis”. She also said,

She is also said that the bracelet is way better than Oscar.

Phil reportedly celebrated her victory as he won a second place finish in the $2500 Pot Limit Hold’em event. In this said event Johnny Chan was reportedly the player who booted out Phil earning him the tenth bracelet he now has.

Tilly is sure not to give up on playing Poker while she still has money.

A true perfectionist, who always wants to achieve the perfect performance and always wants to do the best in everything she does, Tilly proved the world that she is not only an award winning actress but also a great Poker player.

This actress is the first woman to hold both of these prestigious titles in women’s Poker. The victory earned her a seat in the $25,000 buy-in WPT Championship at Bellagio, and a specially-created pink Poker set with the WPT logo and Breast Cancer ribbon. The WPT and the Bicycle Casino donated $10,000 to Breast Cancer Research in honor of Tilly and the other competitors at the Final Table.

As an actress Tilly vamped it up in Liar, Liar, screamed it up as the Bride of Chucky, and landed more than a few cameo roles in Marvel comic books and as a voice over character on the Family Guy cartoon series. She’s an Academy Award nominee for 1994’s Bullets Over Broadway.

You can more of this Poker babe in live or online Poker Rooms.

She definitely rocked the Online Poker, and live Poker industry. Certified to be the hottest of the hottest, that is Jennifer Tilly.