What would you do? (Please Comment)

I am turning to the IPP nation for help with my game. I'm truly in crisis here. It seems, for the last couple of weeks anyway, every time I bet big or go all-in I lose. Here's the Texas Hold 'em situation that prompted this post.

Four out of the five cards on the board are Hearts. I have the King of Hearts and one caller. I'm slowplaying my high pair of K's with a decent kicker. So far I have checked then called every one of his bets which have been respectable amounts but nothing scary. This is a small stakes game and neither of us have big stacks.

Be my poker caddy and tell me what I should do. Please hurry. The clock's running (on my sanity).

--PB--

Small blind play can lead to big mistakes

Chuck Blount on poker

"Poker is a game in which danger lurks around every corner, and one of the game's more devious aspects is the temptation to enter too many hands from the small blind."

Absolute Poker's 'Win Your Tuition' College Finalists Move on to the Final Table

Live Tournament and Free Party August 8 at Crobar in New York City

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, June 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Absolute Poker, the fourth largest online poker website in the world, recently announced the six finalists of its 'Win Your Tuition' Spring tournament. The six college students, who beat out thousands of others, will now advance to compete in a live tournament to be held in the VIP room of Crobar, one of New York City's hippest dance clubs on August 8, 2006 and Absolute Poker will be hosting a free party for college-goers at the club.

"We want to congratulate our six finalists on making it this far," said Mike Edwards, Absolute Poker marketing manager. "These players beat out thousands of other players in the Spring tournament which was one of our most successful college tourneys to date. The final event at Crobar is going to be one of the hottest parties this summer - we really hope that the college crowd can join us for the free celebration."

The six 'Win Your Tuition' finalists include:

David Wood from Purdue University, Fort Wayne, IN

Jim Pappas from Bradley University, Mount Prospect, IL

Kyle Garis from the University of Delaware, Lansdale, PA

Justin Rausch from Penn State University, Scottdale, PA

David Wilke from Southeast Missouri State University, Saint Louis, MO

Jamie Webster from Georgia College and State University, Marietta, GA.

College students:

Register for the Fall "Win Your Tuition" tournament

Get on the guest list for the 'Win Your Tuition' Final Table Event at Crobar on August 8 in New York City.

Absolute Poker Begins ‘International College Model Search’ for College Spokesperson

Costa Rica, May 22, 2006: Absolute Poker, the fourth largest online poker website in the world, today announced the start of the ‘Absolute Poker International College Model Search’, its competition to find the new face to represent its extensive college marketing programs around the world.

The winner will represent the company around the world by featuring in a variety of marketing activity including television spots, print advertising and live events and will also be flown to New York City to host the final live game of Absolute Poker’s Spring 2006 ‘Win Your Tuition’ tournament which gives college students around the world the chance to win one semester’s tuition.

“Absolute Poker’s founders met playing poker in college so this is an area we feel pretty passionate about,” explained Absolute Poker Marketing Manager Mike Edwards.

“We have a great relationship with college students around the world and they have been asking us for more tournaments such as Absolute Poker’s ‘Win Your Tuition’, programs like our college internship program and event sponsorships. We’re excited to find the perfect face to represent all of these efforts.”

The search, which kicked off today, will run for six weeks before the winner is selected and announced.

Interested applicants can submit their resume, photograph and a brief statement explaining why they would be a good ‘Absolute Poker College Model’ to spokesmodel@absolutepoker.com.


More information about the model search


From PRWire News Release /2006/02/28:

"Absolute Poker's semi-annual 'Win Your Tuition' tournament kicked off in 2005 to great success with more than 8000 students from over 300 schools across 17 countries participating. Last year's tournament lucky students included Derek Dilberian from University of Florida Law School and winner of the Spring 2005 tournament and Jeremy Olisar, a student at Carnegie Mellon University who won the Fall event.

Responding to university students' building passion for poker, Absolute Poker has established a strong campus program aimed at supporting college students around the world. The program includes:

Absolute Poker Fantasy Internship Opportunities: Absolute Poker offers three two-month internship opportunities each quarter in their Costa Rican headquarters. Learn how to run a world-class business and enjoy the sun and beach -- all at the same time!

Fundraising Support for campus charities, groups or organizations. Students need only email fundraising@absolutepoker.com with details.

Rep-for-a-Day Program: students can find out what its like to be a representative of Absolute Poker by getting friends involved in the Win Your Tuition tournament. With no application process, self-registration, and no minimum requirements anyone can easily become a 'Rep-for-a-Day' and get paid for telling their friends about our college offers. Email agents@absolutepoker.com to receive registration instructions."

Poker Therapy

Play poker online long enough and it will happen to you. You've got cards, position, a stack and confidence. You play the hand perfectly and put your opponent all-in.

Only to find they are completely mindless, went all-in with 82 off and, what's more, have flopped 882.

You sit there shocked. Then they have the gall to LOL and/or act like they did it intentionally.

This actually happened to me this morning.

Share your horrible bad beat and/or poker imbecile stories with your fellow IPP's. You'll feel better and we might get a smile out of it.

--PB--

The Fundamental Theorem of Poker...

Support Wikipedia

..."is a principle first articulated by David Sklansky that he believes expresses the essential nature of poker as a game of decision-making in the face of incomplete information.

"Every time you play a hand differently from the way you would have played it if you could see all your opponents' cards, they gain; and every time you play your hand the same way you would have played it if you could see all their cards, they lose.

Conversely, every time opponents play their hands differently from the way they would have if they could see all your cards, you gain; and every time they play their hands the same way they would have played if they could see all your cards, you lose."

"The Fundamental Theorem is stated in common language, but its formulation is based on mathematical reasoning. Each decision that is made in poker can be analyzed in terms of the concept of expected value. The expected value expresses the average payoff of a decision if the decision is made a large number of times. The correct decision to make in a given situation is the decision that has the largest expected value. (Although sometimes it is correct not to choose this decision for the larger goal of long-term deception.) If you could see all your opponents' cards, you would always be able to calculate the correct decision with mathematical certainty. (This is certainly true heads-up, but is not always true in multi-way pots.) The less you deviate from these correct decisions, the better your expected long-term results. This is the mathematical expression of the Fundamental Theorem."

While there are a couple of things I would disagree with myself this is an extremely powerful couple of paragraphs. In the light of the rash of bad beats I have taken in the last few weeks I would suggest we keep in mind that every once in a while you can do everything right and still get squashed as the poker gods joyride laughing across your table. --PB--