The Robo Pope

Let’s hope this small victory is just the beginning of legalized online poker everywhere. An important victory in the battle to legalize online poker in the United states took place last week. A House of Representatives committee in late July approved legislation that would legalize some Internet poker gambling, allowing U.S. residents to place online wagers with companies the Treasury Department has licensed. According to Bloomberg News, The measure, sponsored by Representative Barney Frank chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, would roll back a law designed to block such betting. Let’s hope this small victory is just the beginning of legalized online poker everywhere. That four-year-old law, which took effect in June, bars banks from processing payments to offshore gambling websites. Frank and other proponents, such as the Poker Players Alliance and Everest Poker say licensing and regulating online gambling will protect consumers who are placing a growing number of bets with offshore operators. A separate measure that depends on full House passage of Frank’s plan would impose taxes on online poker and other Internet gambling, bringing the federal government as much as $42 billion over 10 years, according to a congressional analysis. Let’s hope this small victory is just the beginning of legalized online poker everywhere.

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Dinner parties are a classic and good way to entertain at home and can have a homemade menu, a potluck feast and even a fun theme. A dinner party can be an economical way to celebrate a special event. Even if you’re not a outstanding chef, great dinner party ideas, themes, easy recipes and embellishing tips are simple to do yourself and make your next party a success.

If your dining table is too little for all your friends, have an inside picnic. Put some blankets and pillows on the floor close to a low coffee table to create an atmosphere that is laid-back and festive. If there is absolutely no time to prepare a menu, order take-out. Your friends will understand there was no time to plan a meal. Create a easy centerpiece for the table, set out the food buffet style and allow invitees fill their plates prior to sitting down. You’ll save time setting the table and guests will not have to fret over exquisite china or extra forks.

Create a mix by changing up the style every few songs. Start with a mood/lounge mix, go to popular music and rock-and-roll, and end the night on a high note with high-energy music guests can dance to. It doesn’t have to be a dance party - it is the energy of the music you’re going for, not the intent to get guests shaking their hips! If you seem worried or are worrying things won’t go well, your guests will pick up on it as soon as they walk in the room. If you are laid back and have a good time, everyone else will follow too.

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Often unpredictable, new poker online players play with an inconsistency that makes them difficult to read. One hand, you’ll find a newbie checking to the river with a flush, and the next hand you may see him go all in, only to reveal an unpaired Ace-9. These inconsistencies aren’t intentionally misleading; they are the hallmarks of a player who’s trying to find his game. While it can be difficult to find a pattern in a new poker online players, there is one common aspect that one can find in most players in there first few games-these players are almost always guilty of overvaluing their hands.

Since a new player usually has yet to feel the sting of losing a good hand to an even better one, he’ll usually get pretty stoked with marginal hands like middle to high pair. A lot of newbie players will even find a way to get excited about an unpaired high card. Keeping in mind that new players will often bet with nothing more than a marginal pair, it can be a good idea to loosen up your game when it’s just the two of you in a hand. Hands that you’d usually fold when faced with a large bet like high pair or two pair have much more value when played against a noob. Take them apart at your next poker online tournament.

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Playing scared at poker is almost exactly what it sounds like. This is the term that is used to describe when a player appears to be scared of something, either because they are worried about getting yet another bad beat or because they are fearful of losing their pot. I am sure that you can think back to someone you say playing scared. Remember how obvious it was that the player was not thinking straight? It is up to you to avoid playing scared if you want to be a truly top notch player.

In a perfect world, you would never play scared because you would be in complete control of your emotions at all times. Sadly we do not live in a perfect world. There are times when we all lose control. If you find yourself losing control at the poker online table, the trick is not to let it show. While you may be playing scared in your head, there is no reason to let the other players know. Keep your emotions under control so that the other players cannot sense your weakness. The last thing you need is a swarm of poker online sharks circling you as they smell the fear at the table. Avoid the feeding frenzy by keeping a brave face.

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In the not so distant past, friends and colleagues would meet each other over a weekly poker table. No one was very good at the game, but the charm lied in the camaraderie and a chance to get away from the wives for a night. We have lost this kind of home game with online poker and big business casinos. The lingering nostalgia for cigar smoke and a folding table, however, reveals an even deeper issue for the poker online world: we have lost the average man.

There are no longer players who pick up the cards for a casual game among friends. Now we have sharks and fish, donkeys and ox, and a whole assortment of other animal themed nicknames. Everyone is expected to either be a pro, or actively working towards pro status. As a new player, you are expected to study strategy and playing guides before you even get to the table. You would be laughed out of the casino if you sat down at the felt and asked your buddy next to you to explain the game.

Personally, I resent the gradual eradication of the Average Man poker player. I think that there was a certain charm to taking poker as a game that is lost when you see it as a money making business. The loss of the Average Man shows more than anything that poker today is not the same game that I grew up on.

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The quickest way to see a great poker player get dominated by his peers is when he allows his emotions to overcome his game. Even the most experienced, well honed poker players will at times find themselves affected by the gravity of a situation. On TV, players like Phil Hellmuth and even the usually unflappable Phil Ivey have been seen in rough spots to get a little edgy about bad beats or bad plays made by people at their tables. Letting this turn into tilt, or into simply a bad outlook on the game, will only resort to letting that bad streak go longer.

Maintaining emotion is a supreme key to playing your best game. Keeping stoic about beats and knowing that you are making good plays, or that you are learning from when you mess up, is vital to the longevity and good bankroll building methods. If you find yourself in a spot where you are too worked up or angry over a situation, get up from the table. The quicker you get up and dismiss it from your mind, the quicker you can return with the clear brain to get back what’s yours. But if you can stay on in the moment, and learn to incorporate that flattening of emotion into your moment, your results will be all the better for it when you play online poker.

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Despite its not being the prettiest of poker hands, I actually like the eight ten quite a bit for how it is able to coordinate with a lot of different flops. Besides hitting pairs, the 8 10 also can end up with developing straight draws (open ended, belly buster, or double gutted), while also being less predictably frequented as other middle connective hands like ten jack or even nine ten. Because it is less likely that you would go to the flop with this poker online hand, a lot of players will find it difficult to put you on it. A wide range of middle flops play well with this board, and small flops leave you often with overs that are different from overs that your opponents might be playing. There is a lot to be said for camouflage in the game of poker. In fact, to many, it is the name of the online poker game. The more you can act in different ways than your opponent expects, the more often you will be able to get him to give you his money. Uncommon connectors like this hand are even more out of the box than the usual connectors, and when played for the right value, can lead to great reward.

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When you’re the middle stack, the odds are you won’t be drawing a lot of attention to yourself, and that’s a good thing. Think about it-how many times have you seen an opponent do nothing all game and then suddenly become the big stack? Use your anonymity to sneak up on your online poker opponents. The less they consider you, the better off you are.

When you play poker online, the attention of the table is usually directed two ways-to the big stack and to the smallest one or two stacks. Everyone’s looking at the big stack in fear of being bullied or called all-in, and they’re also eyeballing the small stacks in hopes that they’ll get knocked out and move everyone else up the prize ladder a notch or two.

While the attention is on these two extremes, use the obscurity of your middle stack to make a few moves quietly. Steal a few blinds here and there with a well-timed raise, win a pot or two, and quietly wait for your hand. When you finally hit a killer like an Ace flush on the flop, everyone who’s been eyeing the big and small stacks will have no idea what you’re holding and how you’ll play it.

When you take over as the big stack, and you hear a poker opponent say “Where did he come from?”, you know you did your job.

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The Gambler, in vast opposition the Rock, plays poker because he likes the thrill of the act, and the chance to win a lot of money or get a rush in losing it all. Gamblers enjoy playing cards in the same way they enjoy blackjack or crapsit’s a pastime, a way to blow off extra money and maybe make some in the process of playing online poker. They don’t care so much about odds and numbers as they do playing the cards the way they want to.

Against this type of player, you will often find yourself not quite knowing where you are in the hand. Even the craziest of donkeys picks up hands as regularly as anyone else, and since they tend to bet a wide range, you could be up against the nuts as quickly as you could against a stone cold bluff. Proceeding carefully, and being even more selective about the hands you bring to a showdown, is important then in making sure you aren’t overcompensating their loose play by loosening your own when you play poker online.

Gamblers will often make a scene. They want to have fun, so they will make conversation, get loud, jump when they win, etc. They can be frustrating to compete against, but are also good sources for padding your stack when you are on point.

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