May 2009

Staying in Good Games

Marcus Bateman / 29 May 2009 / Leave a comment

Most poker players tend to play shorter sessions when they win, and longer ones when they lose. This is simply because the desire to get even is very powerful when losing, and the satisfaction of winning tends to lead players...Read more »

Poker Blog Round-up: Kakitee, Amy, Andre3w321, Boomtown Poker and Rosie

Matthew Pitt / 29 May 2009 / 1 Comments

When my dad uttered those words every son or daughter hears at some point in their life, I thought to myself, "yeah, whatever, you silly old sod" and got on with my day. He was of course telling me that...Read more »

Hero Calls

Marcus Bateman / 28 May 2009 / Leave a comment

Sometimes in poker, you just simply feel compelled to call in a situation that makes very little logical sense. Be it a twitch in the way someone throws their chips into the pot, or simply that you are fed up...Read more »

Lots of study, not much play

Matthew Pitt / 27 May 2009 / Leave a comment

Mrs P has kept me busy these past couple of days after demanding that I finish painting the bedroom by the weekend. Thankfully all that is left to do is a coat on the woodwork and then the ceiling then...Read more »

Importance Of Creating A Good Atmosphere in Live Poker

Marcus Bateman / 27 May 2009 / Leave a comment

Creating a good atmosphere at the table is one of the most important things you can do when playing with weak players. Many people, and quite legitimately, do not play poker to make money. Instead, they like gambling, enjoy the...Read more »

Some Tilt Control Methods

Matthew Pitt / 27 May 2009 / Leave a comment

No matter how high or low a player's skill level and experience is and no matter how cool they are under pressure, all will suffer or have suffered from tilt at some point during their careers....Read more »

Check Raise Bluffing

Marcus Bateman / 26 May 2009 / Leave a comment

Throwing in the occasional check raise bluff is essential to a well balanced poker game. As check raising is a tool that is very useful for extracting extra value from a hand when out of position, it is crucial that...Read more »

Black Belt Poker Grading - Week Four with Steve Holden

Dave Allan / 25 May 2009 / Leave a comment

Popular poker blogger Steve Holden returns with the concluding story from his four-week stay in the Black Belt Poker House....Read more »

Fur King Hell As Pagey44 Wins $1 Million Freeroll Week 6

Dave Allan / 25 May 2009 / Leave a comment

Sunday night (May 24 2009) saw 108 players sit down for the Weekly Million Dollar Freeroll on Betfair Poker with the prize an entry into the 27 player Live Regional Qualifier in August and a shot at winning a cool...Read more »

Training sites and collapsing beds

Matthew Pitt / 25 May 2009 / 2 Comments

On Saturday Pudding Parents had baby Pudding over to sleep so Mrs P and I were looking forward to a relaxing night in and a long 10-12 hours sleep. However, since I run bad at life this wouldn't happen, not...Read more »

Fatigue

Marcus Bateman / 22 May 2009 / Leave a comment

With the WSOP just around the corner, it is worth thinking about one of the key differences between live and online poker - that of endurance....Read more »

Poker Blog Round-Up: Joppa, Kev Stevens, Mike Saban, Whitelime and FoxwoodsFiend

Matthew Pitt / 22 May 2009 / 1 Comments

It's poker blog round-up time once again, meaning another week has flown by and the weekend is almost upon us. This week's summary actually contains little in the way of poker content in the posts I'll mention but they are...Read more »

The Kitten Charity Poker Tournament - Official Report

Dave Allan / 21 May 2009 / Leave a comment

A total of 95 players, of very different standards, lined up for the tournament on Tuesday 5th May. A few players never actually played although they had registered, which was great news for me - the theory being that if...Read more »

Clairvoyants, birthday wishes and winning streaks

Matthew Pitt / 21 May 2009 / 2 Comments

When I was just 17 years young I had a reading from a clairvoyant who my parents had used previously and highly recommended. At the time I thought a lot of what she told me was way off but when...Read more »

Attacking Unraised Pots In HUSNG

Matthew Pitt / 20 May 2009 / Leave a comment

There have been a number of articles on this site recently relating to heads-up games but a topic that has not yet appeared is betting the flop when the action has not been raised preflop....Read more »

Varying Time Tells To Beat Weak Players

Marcus Bateman / 20 May 2009 / Leave a comment

One of the key things you need to understand about the psychology of poker is what people's drives and motivations are when in groups. All human beings seem to have an innate desire to conform to how those around them...Read more »

Raise Folding

Marcus Bateman / 19 May 2009 / Leave a comment

One of the first signs of a new player's ability when you first start playing with them is if they have the tendency to raise and then fold to a re-raise....Read more »

Black Belt Poker Grading - Week Three with Steve Holden

Dave Allan / 18 May 2009 / Leave a comment

It's Week Three in the Black Belt Poker Grading and we are once again delighted to welcome back popular blogger Steve Holden to the Betfair Poker Blogs. This week the stakes are up to $0.50/$1 NLHE 6max/HU, PLO or $30+3...Read more »

Digging myself out of a hole

Matthew Pitt / 18 May 2009 / 3 Comments

Over the past week I have been feeling down in the dumps and a little sorry for myself. I can't 100% put my finger on anything specific but I think I need to make some drastic changes if I am...Read more »

Poker blog round-up: Teamdobbs, The Main, Ben Grundy and Brian Townsend

Matthew Pitt / 15 May 2009 / Leave a comment

It's Friday once again which not only means it is the weekend where most of you lucky buggers get 48 hours off from the world, but it also means it is poker blog round-up time. When I write this round-up...Read more »

Easy game

Matthew Pitt / 13 May 2009 / Leave a comment

Whilst I have lacked quantity in my play so far this week, I've certainly made up for it in quality and I am progressing nicely. Playing $5.25 HUSNG is never going to make anybody rich but if I continue in...Read more »

Understanding The Ante

Marcus Bateman / 12 May 2009 / Leave a comment

If you think of the two extreme possibilities of the ante structure in poker, with the first being no ante, and the second being an ante the size of your stack every hand, you can easily see how important the...Read more »

Live Tells - Shaking Hands

Marcus Bateman / 11 May 2009 / Leave a comment

This is a useful tell, as it nearly always indicates strength from your opponent. Due to human physiology, when we look down at a monster hand, the excitement of knowing that we are about to win a big pot releases...Read more »

Black Belt Poker Grading - Week Two with Steve Holden

Dave Allan / 11 May 2009 / Leave a comment

It's Week Two in the Black Belt Poker house and we once again are delighted to welcome back popular blogger Steve Holden to the Betfair Poker Blogs...Read more »

The Evolving Game

Matthew Pitt / 10 May 2009 / Leave a comment

Poker mirrors life in many ways, none more so than the fact that it is continually evolving. Those who do not change with it, will be left by the wayside. A survival of the fittest if you must. That is...Read more »

Blood diamonds

Matthew Pitt / 10 May 2009 / 4 Comments

For some reason, unknown to me, most events and happenings around the world do not seem to affect me. I don't know why it is but I seem to be desensitized to most things reported in the media or depicted...Read more »

Going Broke In An Unraised Pot

Marcus Bateman / 08 May 2009 / Leave a comment

There is an old poker saying (I believe coined by Doyle Brunson but don't quote me on it) that a player should: 'Never go broke in an unraised pot'. This simply refers to the notion that you should not be...Read more »

Poker blog round-up: Poker Grub, Dangerlion, Andy Ward and SNGNik

Matthew Pitt / 08 May 2009 / 6 Comments

It's been a long and tiresome week in the Pudding household but today is Friday, which doesn't just mean it is almost the weekend, it also means it is time for the weekly poker blog round-up....Read more »

Surviving The Credit Crunch

Matthew Pitt / 07 May 2009 / Leave a comment

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past year, you will be more than aware that the entire planet seems to be in financial meltdown, with no signs of it letting up in the near future....Read more »

Live Tells - The Hands

Marcus Bateman / 07 May 2009 / Leave a comment

The single most important area to look at when playing live poker is your opponent's hands. Most players go to great lengths to keep a straight poker face and limit the movement of their body when playing, but hardly anyone...Read more »

Live Tells - The Chip Glance

Marcus Bateman / 06 May 2009 / Leave a comment

This is the single most useful tell in low stakes poker games in my opinion. It can easily give you a complete idea of the strength of a weak player's hand, and it is very rare in poker to get...Read more »

Taking shots and failing

Matthew Pitt / 06 May 2009 / 3 Comments

Ask any of the big name pros if they have ever gone bust on their way to the top and the majority will answer with a resounding yes. In that case, it looks like my quest for poker greatness has...Read more »

Knowing When To Quit

Marcus Bateman / 05 May 2009 / 2 Comments

With the ever expanding popularity of heads up games, many of the best spots to play in are now one on one games. Weak players seem to be attracted to these games because the variance is extremely high, which means...Read more »

Black Belt Poker Grading - Week One with Steve Holden

Dave Allan / 04 May 2009 / 1 Comments

We are delighted to introduce popular blogger Steve Holden to these pages who will over the next few weeks chart his progress at Black Belt Poker. In this week's post, Steve explains the Black Belt Poker concept, talks about how...Read more »

Adapting Your Play In Heads Up

Marcus Bateman / 02 May 2009 / Leave a comment

Most of heads up play comes down to trying to quickly adapt to your opponents playing style(s) if and when they change. This is because heads up poker is primarily a game of bluff and marginal hands, where any predictable...Read more »

Poker blog round-up: Kanchu, Badblood, Katitude, Starlight and Red White Army

Matthew Pitt / 01 May 2009 / 2 Comments

I am sorry if I am starting to sound like a stuck record but my God how quick this week has passed! I think it is because I am so jacked up on caffeine at the moment that everything is...Read more »