Watch the final hands of the  WSOP no-limit texas holdem main event from it’s beginning in 1973 to the present.

If high stakes poker gives you a warm fuzzy feeling, this is the place you’ve been looking for. Using the player below you can watch every episode from all seasons 1-5 starting with episode 1 of season 1. The best thing is there are no commercials so the show only last for about 45 minutes.

The videos are also posted on GSN’s Youtube Channel.

Doyles room is offering one of the easiest ways to get your seat at the main event of the world series starting on July 3rd. The new coinflip satellite series awards 50% of the field a seat into the next tournament. Here is the structure of the series

WSOP Coin Flip Series 

I get a lot of emails about special promotions. I can tell you that this promo is a very good deal. I don’t care to waste your time thats why I don’t talk about these things often, but this I may even open a new account just to take advantage of the opportunity. I’ve been itching to visit Vegas for a while now this may be my ticket and who knows maybe I will see you at the final table in November.

The total prize package includes $10k for Buyin and $3k for expenses. The series is running daily for the next few weeks so take advantage before it overwith. For more info on the coin flip series or other world series satellites at Doyle Room follow the link below.

If you know me you know that I hail from the LP of Michigan. So I was just looking for some new places to play live and decided to create a map of poker rooms in Michigan using Google Maps. I will try and include the rooms website, hours of operation, address and other details. If there are rooms I missed go ahead and add them to the map.

View Michigan Poker Rooms in a larger map

#1 – Getting involved in too many hands

 This is a very big mistake players make which leads to them wasting countless numbers of chips. 

They play hands out of position, hands which are not worthy of a call pre-flop and calling raises 

with average hands. 

Stick to the best hands and play the average hands when you have a good position e.g. the button. 

This will save you chips and help you win more chips when you have a good hand as you will not 

have a table image of a “Calling Station”.

#2 – Play money is far different to Real Money

 If you have done what we said in the first part of the e-book and played a few play money tables, 

please do not think the type of play that you faced there is anything like that of which you will face 

at a real money table. 

Players on play money table have nothing to lose and will stick all their chips in with the worst 

hand possible because there is no benefit to them winning. If you are playing play money I would 

advise you to only play for a short while whilst learning the rules of poker and to not get it into your 

head that this is the type of play you will face.

To ensure you are not left disappointed after you lost your first deposit within an hour, watch a few 

real money tables at your chosen limit before you deposit to get a feel for the play and to see the 

difference between play money and real money.

#3 – TILT!

 All beginner players will experience the dreaded tilt mode. Once you have taken you first bad beat 

you will be so angry with the stupid move your opponent made you will push all your chips in 

because, at that precise moment, you couldn’t care less if you lost. 

Of course this feeling soon drifts away but by then it is often too late and you are staring at the 

computer screen with your balance at $0.00. The best way to deal with tilt is to stop playing as soon 

as you take the bad beat which will take you over the edge. Do something that will help relax you, 

such as a walk or reading a book, then come back to the computer refreshed and ready to take on 

your opponents with a clear mind. 

Eventually players come to terms with bad beats and know they are inevitable. But until then you 

need to protect yourself from them until you have taken so many you are immune to the pain.

#4 – Thinking about the short term 

Of course it is down hearting when you made a great play but you still manage to lose to that one 

outer on the river but you always have to think about the long term. Your luck will even out and the 

next 20 times your opponents has a one outer he will probably not hit it and you will be left with the 

rewards for your great play. 

I hear many players say they are going to fold Kings pre flop because they have been beat with 

them 3 times in a row. You cannot think like this, KK is the second best starting hand and more 

times then not, if you get your money in you will come out on top.

#5 – Attaching yourself to hands

 This can also waste a huge amount of chips to new players. When you look down and see AK, sure 

it is a great hand. If you do not hit with that AK on the flop and you are facing a big bet, you must 

always fold. Players get too attached to the hand because they just cannot see how such a good hand 

like AK cannot hit. They still feel they are in front and waste numerous chips on a hand which is 

going nowhere. 

Stay focused and play smart. Sure these sorts of hands are great pre-flop but if you completely miss 

with the community cards, you will almost always be behind.

#1 – Raise and Fold

 There is no doubt the best two options a poker player has is the raise and fold button. These should 

be the most used actions for any tight-aggressive player and by using these more then anything else, 

you should see your earnings rise. 

If you have a marginal hand you should always fold. This gives the table an image that you are a 

tight player. If you then raise instead of calling it shows your aggressiveness and will strike fear into 

your opponents. Your table image will then be tight-aggressive, the most fearsome image a poker 

player can acquire.

#2 – Start Small 

When starting out you should always start at micro limits. Even if you have money to burn it would 

be foolish to deposit a big amount of money the first time as there is a great risk you will lose it. 

Also start by playing smaller limits to get a feel for real money tables and to gain more experience 

and skill which is needed when tackling the higher limits. 

#3 – Position

It is a great advantage if you learn about position early on in your poker career. Position is vital in 

poker and it determines when you are going to act in each hand. The best possible position is on the 

dealer button as you are last to act and can see all the action before you and can then make a 

calculated decision on how you should play your hand. It also makes bluffing a hand a lot easier. 

More marginal hands become playable if you are in a later position and you have the right pot odds 

to call. 

 The worse possible position is under the gun. This is the seat immediately after the big blind. It is 

the worst position because you have to act first and cannot gain any information from other players 

before making a decision. It will make betting a lot harder to judge as you may well have to deal 

with a re-raise from one of the players in later positions. Better hands become less playable from 

early position as you have no idea on how the play will continue and whether you will be facing a 

raise pre-flop.

#4 – Play somewhere you feel comfortable

 To be able to fully focus on the game you have to have minimal distractions. The optimal place to 

play is in a nice, quiet room without annoyances. If you are easily distracted playing in a room with 

a TV is not a great idea. Also if you have children playing after they have gone to bed will probably 

be the best time.

If you are not fully focused you will not be able to pay attention to your opponents and find 

information and tells to use against them. Also you will find yourself calling hands you normally 

wouldn’t and chasing hands down to the river which you know you shouldn’t.

#5 – Buy informative poker software

There are all types of poker software available now to record all sorts of stats and information about 

each session of poker you play. The best is possibly Poker Tracker. It will keep almost every stat 

you can think of and shows where you have leaks in your game. After a few thousand hands have 

been tracked using the software you will almost certainly be able to improve your game by looking 

though the information available and seeing where you are going wrong and also where your 

strengths are and capitalising on them even more. 

They also provide you with graphs showing the amount of hands you have played and the amount 

of money won or lost in those hands. Another great feature is the ability to replay single hands or 

even whole sessions. This is a great tool to improve your game and looking at how you play again 

without being involved in the hand can show you obvious faults in your game.

Software such as Poker Tracker is a great investment for any player looking to further develop their 

poker skills and is a certain way of increasing profits.

The new version of poker tracker has just been released. Version 3.00 Build 4 updates will include:

• New Supported Sites: Boss Media and the new Cereus Network
• Selective purging of sessions/tournaments
• Tournament result entry improvements
• New stats and filters
• Further improvements to performance (including HUD issues)

This month I was pretty busy do to the holidays and working so I haven’t played a ton of poker. I did have a winning month however in the few hands I have played. Online I played only 1k hands of cash games and 135 Tournament (mostly turbo SNGs). Here are the results from Poker Tracker 3. 

I’ve also played some 1/2 games at the casino with a small profit of about $150. Hopefully next year will be even better than 2008. I haven’t made any resolution for 2009 but I plan on playing more and moving up in stakes online soon. Keep an eye out for more You Tube videos in the next few weeks.

Just as they can ruin a player’s game in a real world setting, poker tells can effectively destroy an online players stack in no time. By knowing the tells, you will know what to watch for, as well as know what not to do while playing online yourself. Here are some of the most common online poker tells:

• Speed of Play

Just as the rules of opposites works while playing a face to face game, it also works while playing online. If a player is slow to make a decision, he is trying to portray weakness in his hand. He wants you to think that he’s uncertain of what he should do next. The rule of opposites tells us, however, that he likely has a good – or winning – hand. Be weary of players who seem to take just a little longer than expected in making their decisions; they could be trying to mask good cards.

On the opposite side of things, however, if a player makes a very quick call or raise, he may be behind in the hand and is trying to steal it away by portraying an image of strength. If a player makes a rather fast action during a hand, he is likely in a position of weakness, trying to show strength. Don’t be intimidated by his quick play; just play your hand like you should, and take the pot – along with the chips – away from him.

• Instant Buttons

Unlike when playing in a brick-and-mortar establishment, such as a casino or bar, players online have the option of checking an action that will ensue once the turn comes to them. These buttons are called instant buttons. Instant buttons offer great tells on bad players. You can spot whenever a player has checked an instant button because their action comes within the blink of an eye.

When a player instantly checks, you can often surmise that the player has a weak hand. The fact is, players seem to get lazy online. When they have a weak hand, especially early on in play, they become uninterested. Often times, they’ll use the instant check so they can move onto something else – perhaps another table or game they’re currently playing at. If you notice a player who has instantly checked, they are probably weak, and will fold to any bet made.

In a player has checked an instant call button, he may be on a nut draw. If you notice that he may have completed his draw, you may want to back off on the betting.

When a player instant checks on the next round of betting, they may have either picked up a draw, or, if it’s on the river, not completed one. Even if you’re bluffing, it may be a good idea to make a bet and try to steal the pot. Every little bit helps.

• Chatbox

This tell works just as it does around the poker table. Generally, if a player who is usually very chatty becomes quiet very quickly, he may have picked up a good hand and is trying to get maximum value for it. On the opposite side of things, however, if you notice a player who is betting becomes very lively in the chatbox, he may be trying to show confidence, hoping you’ll fold.

Also, be on the lookout for players who are venting just after a bad beat. When players become emotional at the table, they lose their concentration. If a player is excessively and apparently angry, he may be on tilt. Use this to your full advantage.

A serious poker player with the goal of winning should start a bankroll to keep track of their progress.  A bankroll also will help you absorb those bad beats you will no doubt take at some point. Poker is a gambling game at heart but when you make good decisions and have a proper bankroll to back them up, poker turns into a game of primarily skill.

When starting a bankroll you should set some rules for what limits you should be playing. A standard rule for managing your bankroll for limit cash games is 500 big bets. If you want to play no limit cash games or tournaments you should have 40 buy ins. Now these are just my guidelines you can adjust how much risk you are willing to handle by playing with less or more if wanted.

The following chart will give you a good idea of what you will need to play at the various limits based on your level of risk. You should drop down a limit when you don’t have enough buyins or big bets.

 It is ultimately up to you how you manage your bankroll. Remember that poker rewards the tortoise more often than the hair. The conservative route has been taken over and over again by many of the professional players today. Those who continue to subject themselves to higher risk by playing outside of their bankroll will go broke. 

So respect your roll or be prepared to kiss it goodbye