Featured PokerSoup BlogsWe're back! Now featuring 0 certificate errors!Ethan2020-11-16T17:20:56Z2020-11-16T17:20:56Z<p>Sorry for the recent SSL issues everyone. Jason and I have things patched up with a slicker, more secure, and more maintainable setup. Thanks for sticking with us!</p>Ethan2020-11-16T17:20:56ZTimeline of the San Mateo County Poker LeaguePhil2018-04-06T14:55:07Z2018-04-06T14:55:07Z<p>October 2008:<br/>Phil Travisano answers an ad on CraigsList recruiting new players for a long-running 1-table tournament at Behan's Irish Pub in Burlingame. The ad was placed by Alan Gorman who had been running the game there since 2003.</p><p>December 2010:<br/>With the approaching holidays, the Behan's game starts to fizzle. No games are held for a few weeks. After the new year Alan gives Phil the OK to take over running the tournaments.</p><p>February 2011:<br/>Phil gets in touch with Behan's owner GG who decides he no longer wants to host the games.</p><p>March 2011:<br/>Phil has landed a new location: Ausiello's Tavern in Belmont; and the new league is born.</p><p>January 2012:<br/>Eddie, the owner of Ausiello's, has decided to end the games because he is seeking a full liquor license. (The bar later becomes McGraw's Bar and Grill.)</p><p>January 2012:<br/>Phil lands Bucky's Cocktail Lounge in San Mateo as the new home for the league. The games grow and thrive there for the next six years. Phil moves to Portland, Oregon in April of 2017. Leadership is taken over by Troy Soult, Elaine On, Jefferson "JD" Dong, Jacob Moussa, and James Ruigomez.</p><p>March 2018:<br/>Due to remodeling by new owners, the games at Bucky's come to an end (for the time being). Games resume at Hugo Gonzalez's workplace in San Francisco, and later at Fiddler's Green in Millbrae. Leadership is taken over by Santana Thienviwat, Jessie Nungaray, David Soto, and Alex Munteanu.</p><p>April 2020:<br/>In reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, the league seamlessly transitions to playing exclusively online using PokerStars' home game feature while communicating vocally via Discord. This enables their founder, Phil, to rejoin the weekly tournaments.</p>Phil2018-04-06T14:55:07ZWant a blog? Let us know!Ethan2017-08-31T16:14:54Z2017-08-31T16:14:54Z<p>Sadly, in an effort to keep the spam down, we've removed the ability for people to create a blog on their own. Too many BS posts about gold sneakers and long term elder care.</p><p>If you'd like a blog, just message us using the Feedback link at the bottom right. Tell us who you are and what you'd like to blog about. You don't have to write about poker all the time, but keep it related to the theme of this site. And no mentions of Florida vacation destinations, please.</p>Ethan2017-08-31T16:14:54ZSSL EverywhereEthan2016-07-08T00:59:38Z2016-07-08T00:59:38Z<p>An awesome benefit of our recent migration is that Pokersoup now uses SSL everywhere, throughout the whole site. This means all of your interactions and browsing on pokersoup are encrypted can't be viewed by a 3rd party (at least, not without a whole lot of effort. Hi NSA!).</p><p>We're using free, simple, and highly recommended certificates provided by <a href="https://letsencrypt.org/">Let's Encrypt</a>, whose mission is to get every website to use SSL all the time. A mission Jason and I completely support.</p><p>Enjoy!</p>Ethan2016-07-08T00:59:38ZMigration Complete!Ethan2016-07-06T00:46:35Z2016-07-06T00:46:35Z<p>Pokersoup.com is now running on a fresh new server! This brings to an end our old server hosted at Rackspace Cloud that had been running since 2008. It served us and you well: at one point the server had an uptime of over 3 years, and the server process itself had been running for over 1 year without restarting. Pretty good!</p><p>Unfortunately, Rackspace mandated that we migrate this old beast to their new architecture, and it wasn't going well. Faced with a fresh server build, we decided it was time to say bye to Rackspace for good.</p><p>Now we're moving on to a fresh new setup with Linode. We're running a modern Linux distro with SSD disks, Xeon E5 processors, and quadruple the RAM of the previous system.</p><p>Oh, and it's half the price of Rackspace. Suck it, Rackspace.</p><p>Jason and I have done a lot of testing, but we're hoping to hear from our users if anything goes wrong. Just hit that feedback link in the lower-right and let us know if you're having problems!</p>Ethan2016-07-06T00:46:35ZWeekly Home Cash Game Elk Gove Florin & CalvineWinternova222014-10-18T13:46:00Z2014-10-18T13:46:00Z<p>I am interested in starting a weekly cash game for poker players in the Sacramento and surrounding areas.</p><p>OPEN TO ANY WEEK NIGHT- please contact if interested in attending</p>Winternova222014-10-18T13:46:00ZOpening Handadub792014-01-23T20:28:10Z2014-01-23T20:28:10Z<p>Hey all. I'm Andy and this is my blog. Sure, it's on a poker site and it will be about poker often, I'll also infuse a variety of things that might be in the news, or just on my mind. </p><p>Tonight is one of my regular poker nights, and typically the biggest of the week. I usually play Tuesday and Thursday nights at a pub near my home. They run a freeroll game that typically gets 40 players. The purse is $110 ($75 for first, $25 for second and a $10 bounty on the tourney operator.). Most of the players are regulars, so I know how they play for the most part. When I started playing there about 4 years ago, I made the final table on a very regular basis (I'd say 80%). I won 5 times within the first 6 months. Then I had a long cold spell which I snapped a few months ago. The last few weeks have seen a couple final table appearances, and a 4th place finish last week.</p><p>I'll post again after tonight's game and track my hands, etc. Hopefully, it's not a short night.</p><p>Take care and good luck!</p><p>A-Dub</p>adub792014-01-23T20:28:10ZWhat The Next Few Months HoldsNick L2013-11-18T19:27:30Z2013-11-18T19:27:30Z<p>Hey everyone, after much thought over playing Magic The Gathering more then poker over the last couple of years. I am ready to sell my collection I am going to hold onto it until about Feb. With this in mind and discussing with Jason. I am ready to play more holdem and focus free time towards that. I just wanted to make a quick post with what is going on lately, With an approximate bankroll starting around 1,500 I will be playing as much as I can once everything is sold and figured out. So expect more posts on my progress after everything settles down. </p><p>Take care and may all your pots be monster.</p>Nick L2013-11-18T19:27:30ZSeason 6 FinalNemo2013-10-28T16:30:56Z2013-10-28T16:30:56Z<p>Rob ALMOST wins. That is all. </p><p>J/k. Rob may be submitting an article/recap soon. Check back for updates. </p>Nemo2013-10-28T16:30:56ZThe Most Successful Poker Players AroundKCasey2013-09-30T12:48:30Z2013-09-30T12:48:30Z<p>During the 20th Century poker has transformed from a recreational activity played by male enthusiasts, to a widely popular spectator activity with huge prizes and an international fan base <a href="http://www.manorgaming.com/">full of online casino fans</a>. The World Poker Tour gives players the chance to win huge prizes. Below are some of the most successful poker players around.</p><p>Antonio Esfandiari<br/>The Iranian Magician is the undisputed king of poker. As of July 2013 his total tournament winnings exceed $25.5 million. At the age of 26 he won his first World Poker Tour title in L.A. taking home close to $1.4million. He has placed first in six tournaments and has three World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets. His most recent price was a cool $329,339 for a fourth place finish in the Five Star World Championship Event in December 2012.</p><p>Sam Trickett<br/>Nottingham born Trickett is the most successful British poker player of all time. He has eight first place finishes and three bracelets. Trickett made his name in 2012 when he scooped a colossal $10,112,001 in the WSOP Big One for One Drop. With total prize winnings of $19,752,481, he is the second most successful poker player of all-time.</p><p>Erik Seidel<br/>New Yorker Seidel is a veteran on the poker tour; he finished second in his first major tournament, the 1988 WSOP. With an impressive 23 first place finishes as well as eight WSOP bracelets; it???s no surprise that he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010. Seidel total winnings come to $17,285,021.</p><p>Daniel Negreanu<br/>Another veteran of the tour, the Canadian has amassed an impressive $16,532,751 in winnings, placing first in 34 tournaments and collecting four WSOP bracelets. He has also taught a variety of celebrities the game, notably actor Tobey Maguire.</p>KCasey2013-09-30T12:48:30ZOnline Poker Website Researchkalli2013-06-24T21:35:40Z2013-06-24T21:35:40Z<p>Hi everyone. I am a grad student doing research as to what drives people to specific online poker sites. I have heard that there are lots of different reasons and am really interested in learning the major points. Please rate the following factors/elements (giving one to least important, 10 to the most important).</p><p>company reputation?<br/>sign up bonus?<br/>loyalty program?<br/>banking safety?<br/>who the room was "endorsed" by?<br/>Table/Room Interactivity (with other players and/or poker pro via chat)<br/>Social Media aspects?<br/>Private room (ability to play with your friends)<br/>Immediate cashout capability?<br/>"Clean" game? (clean meaning no bots, no third party spyware, etc)</p><p>Finally, could you please list which site/s you play at?</p><p>Thank you.</p>kalli2013-06-24T21:35:40ZPot Odds in PokerKCasey2013-05-28T10:15:13Z2013-05-28T10:15:13Z<p>The mathematical aspect of poker can be a little unnerving for some players, but with a little bit of practice, a sound understanding of the fundamentals can go a long way. </p><p>One of these fundamentals is pot odds.</p><p>Pot odds are a mathematical expression that presents you with your risk-to-reward ratio for calling a bet. It is a quick calculation that you make when you are deciding whether to call a bet, particularly connected to action when you are holding a drawing hand. </p><p>The calculation of pot odds takes into consideration the ratio of the pot relative to how much it is to make the call. </p><p>Example: The action folds around to you in the small blind. At this time the size of the pot is your opponent???s big blind and your small blind. </p><p>If you choose to call it is going to cost you another small blind. If you break your opponent big blind down into two small blinds then you can see that your cost of a call is 3 to 1.</p><p>Now let???s imagine that you do make the call and after a series of plays you and your opponent find yourselves at the river. The pot is now $1,000 strong and you have one pair. You check and the big blind bets $200. The pot is now $1,200 and it costs you just $200 to call. 1.200/200 = 6 to 1. </p><p>So, you should call if you believe these odds are good enough to justify the money that you put into the pot. The key criteria being do I have a better than 6 to 1 chance of winning this pot should I call? Or put another way, does your opponent have a hand that is worse than yours 14% of the time?</p><p>Improve your <a href="http://betting.betfair.com/poker/strategy/">Poker Strategy</a> by participating in the latest Betfair events. Click here for more information <a href="http://poker.betfair.com/en/how_to_play/5_card_draw.php">http://poker.betfair.com/en/how_to_play/5_card_draw.php</a></p>KCasey2013-05-28T10:15:13ZTable Selection in PokerKCasey2013-05-23T09:38:16Z2013-05-23T09:38:16Z<p>Table selection is one of the key principles when it comes to cultivating a winning poker game. It???s vital because the better poker player will achieve that mantle by making fewer mistakes than his, or her, opponents. </p><p>To increase the likelihood that this becomes a reality, you need to make sure that you avoid playing with people who are better than you. </p><p>To create a good strategy for table selection you need to create a colour coding system to identify different player types. Most online poker sites offer this facility, and it allows you to quickly browse the lobby to see if there any tables that are top-heavy with weaker players. </p><p>So how do you know who is a good player?</p><p>The two main ways to ascertain whether a player is talented, or not, is to pay attention when you play, or alternatively, use tracking sites like Sharkscope or Official Poker Rankings. Then create a colour for each type of player: Top quality, break even, fish and the jury is out.</p><p>Once you have a system to categorise the strength of your opponent?<cite>s it</cite>?s time to choose a table. A good rule of thumb is to find tables that possess at least three weak players on a nine-handed table, but this is easier said than done. If you can???t find that Golden Goose then try to find tables that contain one fish and then a consistency high in break even players.</p><p>If this all seems a little too much for you then you can always simplify things by collecting a <a href="http://betting.betfair.com/poker/betfair-poker-no-deposit-bonus.html">Betfair free poker bonus</a> and purchasing table selection software. Products like TableScan Turbo and even your Heads-Up Displays (HUDs), like PokerTracker and Hold???em Manager, possess table-scanning software that does the hard work for you.</p><p>Keep up with the latest from the poker circuit or download the latest gaming software at <a href="http://betting.betfair.com/poker/">http://betting.betfair.com/poker/</a></p>KCasey2013-05-23T09:38:16ZThree Types of Tournament PlayKCasey2013-05-22T13:32:02Z2013-05-22T13:32:02Z<p>The game of poker is evolving all of the time. At this years World Series of Poker (WSOP), the Carnivale of Poker mini-series is going to hold an Open Face Chinese event, which if successful might be a bracelet event in 2014. Nobody would have thought this was possible a few years ago, but tournament poker is an ever-changing feast these days. </p><p>Here are three very different forms of tournament poker, all of which can be experienced with <a href="http://betting.betfair.com/poker/">Betfair Online</a>:</p><p>#1 Ante Up</p><p>An Ante Up tournament is a form of tournament poker that doesn???t see any increase in the blind levels. They may begin at 5/5 and remain that way throughout the tournament. Instead the antes increase each blind level. So if you were playing 5/5 with an ante of 4.5k there would be 36,010 in the pot to play for, each orbit, and only 5 to limp into the pot.</p><p>#2 Crazy Pineapple</p><p>Crazy Pineapple is a tournament format where each player is given three hole cards and a pre flop round of betting ensues. The flop is then laid and another round of betting ensues. Each player must discard one of their three cards to leave them with a two-card hand and play resumes as in standard No-Limit Hold???em (NLE).</p><p>#3 Irish</p><p>There are different variations of Irish, but the commonly found game on the Internet is one where players are dealt four cards face down. There is a round of betting, a flop, another round of betting before players must discard two of their cards before continuing like in NLHE.</p><p>Read more about playing poker online at: <a href="http://betting.betfair.com/poker/betfair-poker-no-deposit-bonus.html">http://betting.betfair.com/poker/betfair-poker-no-deposit-bonus.html</a></p>KCasey2013-05-22T13:32:02ZPlay TightKCasey2013-04-29T09:54:42Z2013-04-29T09:54:42Z<p>Imagine you are walking into the casino and are about to take your seat in your local game, or you are on line playing <a href="http://poker1.betfair.com/how-to-play/speed-poker/">Betfair Speed Poker</a>. You have a friend who is desperate to play, but they have never played poker in their life. You have about two minutes to offer some advice. So what is it going to be? What few words can give the maximum impact in just a few minutes? </p><p>PLAY TIGHT#</p><p>Those two words are the best pieces of advice that you could give to a beginner and there is a lesson to be learned for the experienced player as well. Poker is a game that takes you on a journey and the experienced player can sometimes lose their way. They too once received this advice but now find themselves playing far too many pots. Becoming a coach can often help you screw that head on the right way around.</p><p>If you are on the <a href="http://poker1.betfair.com/">Betfair iPoker Site</a> and teaching someone to play poker for the first time, then teach them that they can only play a strict number of hands irrespective of what position they are in. Limit their options to any pocket pair, KQs+ and AQs+ and let them loose. </p><p>At least this way they are always going to have a fighting chance when in the pot. It also gives them the vital lesson of learning to fold, whilst affording them the time to focus on what else is going on in the game. How much are people betting? What are they showing down? When, and why, are they raising?</p><p>Playing tight is a great foundation from which to start your poker learning. </p>KCasey2013-04-29T09:54:42ZUnderstanding Player TypesKCasey2013-04-24T09:39:57Z2013-04-24T09:39:57Z<p>Poker is a game of incomplete information and your job is to piece as much of the jigsaw together, look at the incomplete picture and take your best shot. Your opponents are an important part of this jigsaw, and so you need to make sure that you eyeball them at all times. Put down that iPhone, place the iPad in the bag and throw that <a href="http://betting.betfair.com/poker/">online poker tips</a> book underneath the chair. The only time your eyes should avert from the table is when the pretty lady comes around to ask you if you want a drink.</p><p>But what should I be looking for?</p><p>Be is in a friend???s front room or at one of the <a href="http://betting.betfair.com/poker/wsop/">WSOP 2013 Qualifiers</a>, the first thing you should be trying to determine is how experienced they are. You should be able to piece together what you have in front of you to make a decent informed decision. Their mannerisms and moves at the table will paint a pretty accurate picture of how experienced they are. </p><p>Next you need to understand if they have a handle on position. Who seems to be opening up from early position too often? Who is only opening from early position sparingly? When you pick up on the positional knowledge of your opponent???s it helps assign more accurate hand ranges.</p><p>Another area you should be creating a judgment on is how loose or tight are they playing? Once again this allows you to set your own hand range when deciding to call or three-bet. Lastly, always try and remember the little nuances that stick in your mind. Maybe you saw a player check-raising the flop and then always check/folding the turn? Maybe you saw a player squeeze from the same position three times in the last six or seven orbits?</p><p>Collating information on your opponents is vital. Save your electronic gadgetry for your spare time at home.</p>KCasey2013-04-24T09:39:57ZYay!! The Monday, April 15th sign out sheet has been located .Margie S2013-04-23T13:22:39Z2013-04-23T13:22:39Z<p>Points are now updated thru Tuesday,April 16th. I Still have a problem with Don Lynn's points, I'm going to research his before I post Mondays points. I know he said he had a First and another final table, sometime this month. Sorry about the mix-up, I will triple check from now on!</p>Margie S2013-04-23T13:22:39ZMonthly Final TournamentMargie S2013-04-21T22:14:16Z2013-04-21T22:14:16Z<p>The Monthly Final tournaments are now scheduled for the 2nd Monday of the month,with a 6:30 starting time.</p>Margie S2013-04-21T22:14:16ZHand Reading in PokerKCasey2013-03-28T10:03:35Z2013-03-28T10:03:35Z<p>When the super heroes all gather around Spiderman?<cite>s house for their Friday night game of poker, there is always one person who fails to make the list. Poor old Superman is stuck with Friday night TV as the rest of the guy</cite>?s battle it out for pot after pot. It?<cite>s not that they don</cite>?t like Superman. In fact, they think he???s a nice guy, but he does have x-ray vision.</p><p>If you could see what hand your opponent was holding then you would win all of the money. But normal human beings are not blessed like the man from Krypton. But the understanding that Superman would win most of the money, if he could see the other persons hand, it one worth examining in deeper detail, and this is where hand reading skills come into play.</p><p>Poker is a game of incomplete information. The job of the poker player is to acknowledge the pieces of information that are available to him, and then by using his skill and experience, fill in the missing pieces. The better you become at this art, the closer to the red and blue cape you become.</p><p>A lot of beginners don?<cite>t understand how to hand read. They spend their time trying to identify their opponent</cite>?s particular holding, instead of widening their perspective. In poker, it?<cite>s not the exact hand that you are after (although that would be nice); instead it</cite>?s the range of hands an opponent is holding that is most important, especially in <a href="http://poker.betfair.com/en/promotions/betfair_poker_live_prague.php">Betfair Poker Live Prague</a> events. </p><p>Starting pre flop, each time your opponent makes a play, ask yourself what possible hands could he be holding to make him want to act in that way. Then as each street progresses remove or include hands that make even more sense. </p><p>By the time you reach the river, you should have a pretty good handle on the type of hands your opponent is holding. This is the process of great hand reading.</p><p>Read more about the professional poker circuit on the <a href="http://betting.betfair.com/poker/wsop/">Betfair WSOP</a> website.</p>KCasey2013-03-28T10:03:35ZDan Smith Slips From ViewKCasey2013-03-15T15:57:06Z2013-03-15T15:57:06Z<p>The poker world is a fickle thing, especially the <a href="http://betting.betfair.com/poker/wsop/">WSOP Qualifiers</a>.</p><p>In 2012, the poker world belonged to Dan Smith. The Rick Moranis look-a-like walked away from the tables of world poker with $3.7 million and change, whilst winning three back-to-back $5k events at the EPT Grand Final at Monte Carlo, and two seven-figure scores in the Aussie Millions and EPT Barcelona High Rollers. </p><p>That feat of magic placed him at the top of the Global Poker Index (GPI) for most of the latter part of the year, and he was deservedly crowned the GPI Player of the Year.</p><p>What a difference a year makes?</p><p>Well not quite a year, but you know what we mean. It???s 2013, and despite cashing at the NBC Heads-Up Championship in January, Smith has yet to cash in anything. </p><p>If you add the fact that his final table appearance at the 2012 Partouche Main Event has since waned from the figures, then you will not be surprised to learn that he has slipped out of the top ten.</p><p>The man who was snapping at his heels throughout that barnstorming run, <cite>?Mad</cite>? Marvin Rettenmaier, has taken his place in the number one spot. The London-based, German pro, has maintained a steady pace in the first few months of the year. </p><p>No huge scores to speak of, but a series of cashes and a final table berth at WPT Baden showing that the flames that light his heater have not been fanned just yet.</p><p>The GPI waves bye-bye to last years WSOP National Championship winner Ryan Eriquezzo and the former WSOP Main Event final tablist Alexander Kravchenko. The highest riser is Barry Hutter who climbs 40 places into 256th place. Olivier Busquets and Salman Behbehani also make some big moves this week.</p><p>If you find the regular poker game too ponderous, why not try your hand at speed poker online at <a href="http://poker1.betfair.com/how-to-play/speed-poker">http://poker1.betfair.com/how-to-play/speed-poker</a></p>KCasey2013-03-15T15:57:06Z