Rec.Gambling.Poker Newsgroup - RecPoker.com: The Player�s Voice!

Rec.Gambling.Poker Newsgroup - RecPoker.com: The Player�s Voice!: "BigSlick Software, Inc. is proud to announce that Pocket Rockets Pro, a Texas Hold'em poker game for the Pocket PC, was selected as one of three finalist today for Pocket PC Magazines Software of the Year - Casino Game. Read more at http://www.pocketpcmag.com/awards/category_2004.asp?catid=38#Casino If you have a Pocket PC and have yet to try Pocket Rockets Pro head over to www.bigslicksoftware.com BigSlick Software, Inc."

Online Poker to Get the eCOGRA Seal of Approval

Player Protection for Top Poker Sites LONDON, Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- On the back of a boom in online poker, top quality poker rooms and networks will now be able to demonstrate their adherence to best practices by undergoing a rigorous independent assessment designed to give more protection to the player and improved efficiencies to operators. eCOGRA (eCommerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance) is introducing a set of generally accepted practices for online poker rooms on the same basis that have been successfully implemented at 44 top Internet casinos over the past two years, developing practical inspection and monitoring regimes through independent and outsourced professional services in the process. "The online poker sector is growing at an unprecedented rate, and there is a clear need for sensible and properly implemented regulation that will improve poker room performance and service to the playing community," says eCOGRA CEO Andrew Beveridge. "Improved service means more customer satisfaction and better business. "This is the first self-regulation of online poker, and we have been active for the past year in consulting with a wide range of experts to frame a range of Generally Accepted Practices (eGAP) that are relevant and effective. These embrace operational imperatives like fast and efficient payouts, player dispute procedures, fair gaming tenets, efficiency in customer support and relationships, marketing and operator probity. "The next step will be for software providers and operators prepared to commit to the Poker eGAP to submit to eCOGRA's compliance inspections that are independently carried out by an audit panel including globally respected firms like PricewaterhouseCoopers. If they are successful in passing this, the eCOGRA Seal will be awarded but ongoing monitoring and reviews will be regular occurrences. "We expect that, as is the case with casinos, players will recognise the benefits of playing at regulated poker rooms where they have independent dispute facilities in the unlikely event of any difficulties." Already various prominent poker software companies and operational poker rooms have expressed a strong interest to submit their systems and procedures for assessment. eCOGRA is a non-profit, non-partisan body with a full time staff in London, England. Founded by major online software and casino operator groups in early 2002, the organisation spent considerable time researching the concept of player protection with experts throughout the world before constructing a working set of requirements essential to fair and efficient gambling operations, together with an independent inspection and monitoring system for enforcement. The first online casinos were accredited early in 2004, and since then a steady stream of online casinos has committed to the eCOGRA ideals and achieved Seal status. The eGAP requirements, inspection and monitoring and the award of Seals are the responsibility of independent directors on the eCOGRA Board, all of whom are well known and highly respected gambling industry personalities. For full details please visit http://www.ecogra.org

Being first woman to win poker title a big deal to Duke

LAS VEGAS - Annie Duke, a mother of four, outlasted nine poker legends - including her brother - to win the first-ever World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions and its $2 million prize. Duke, who holds a double-major from Columbia University and did graduate studies in cognitive psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, is the first woman to win a multimillion-dollar payday in poker. "This was an unbelievable opportunity, and the biggest win of my career," Duke said. "I hope that a lot of women will now enter this game and realize it's not just your husband's, boyfriend's or brother's Wednesday night poker game - that this is something that you can do on an equal footing with men." Duke, the only woman to play in the tournament, beat the biggest names in poker, including her brother, Howard Lederer, who finished third. Duke took the title after knocking out 1989 World Series of Poker champion Phil Hellmuth. Two-time World Series of Poker champions Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson ('76, '77) and Johnny Chan ('87, '88), 2004 champion Greg Raym, and T.J. Cloutier, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu and Chip Reese rounded out the competition. The Daily News profiled Annie Duke in May. To read Mark Kram's story, go to our Web site at http://go.philly.com/poker

Some sure ways to lose in texas hold'em

Some sure ways to lose in texas hold'em The following is some pitfalls that most players fall into when playing texas holdem. By reading these tips hopefully you can save some money by not doing the same. Poor hand selection: Playing too many cards, often at the wrong time, is the biggest flaw in the losing hold'em players game. The opposite of this is being able to play good cards and weaker hands when the game, position, and pot dictates. You may not think that playing looser changes that much but it gets you into a whole host of problems that you could avoid if you played a little tighter. This especially applies against a raise that you think means the person has a quality hand. If you bring KJ and KQ against AK and KK all the time you're in for a lot of losing. Imagine if you play 89 off suit everytime you get it how quick you'll be calling for the chip runner to bring you another rack. It is hilarous because everytime you'll play there will be people who even play hands like J2 off suit! Don't be one of them, unless you want one of the other readers here to take your money home. Gutshots: A gutshot is a straight draw where only one card makes your hand. For example if you have JT and the flop is AK. If a Q hits then you will have the nut straight. People routinely draw to the river for this. You are only 1/11 to hit it on the turn and 1:5.8 to hit it by the river. To make it a profitiable play to draw to, you need to make sure that whatever you have to bet to get to the river will be better then 1:6. Sometimes that is the case, but most of the time it isn't. In low limit games you can sometimes draw for one card to the gutshot if the pot is very large and it will be the nuts but doing it consistently is another sure fire way to lose more then you have to. To keep you away from rigid rules, I'll throw in another exception. Let's say you have AK and the flop is QT4. Now you have a gutshot and two over cards. That means you have 10 outs instead of 4. If an A, K, or J comes you have a pretty strong hand. Extra outs change your hand. Backdoor Flushes: Even worse then the gutshot is the backdoor flush. This is when you need two perfect cards of the same suit to complete your hand. An example would be if you have JdTd and the flop is Qd6h5h. Notice that you'll need to diamonds in a row to win and this is worse then 1/20 to hit. To draw to that you'll have to have extra outs. Small Pairs: Having a hand like 55 in a loose game is great because if you hit on the flop you'll have a very strong hand. What if you don't hit? Is it worth trying to catch that other 5? On the flop it is about 1/8 to hit the 5 but after the flop to draw to it the odds are 1/23 on the turn and if you want to go all the way to the river it is worse then 1/10. So unless it is a pair that could hold up without improvement, drawing to it isn't a great idea. General Chasing: Most players you will run into will go to the river trying to catch their Ace and most of the time not hit it. They will also call with the lowest pair hoping to catch another one or two pair. All of these plays can be correct if the odds justify it but usually they don't. What you'll find most of the time is a calling station type player that draws to just about anything (gutshots, an A, small pairs hitting sets, backdoor flushes, etc). Avoid this like the plauge. Reraising Weak Hands: At low limit hold'em, unless you against a maniac, a raise usually means something. When you reraise your hand has to be even stronger then the initial raise because what you are saying is that you know he has a good hand, but yours is even better. To put in that third bet you should definitely have a very good hand (nuts or close to it). It's rare in low limit that a player will reraise you without a great hand either. For example you wouldn't want to cap it with someone if you have a flush and it isn't the nuts. If you raise and they reraise, just call. Or if you raise with a non nut hand and they three bet you should take a harder look at your hand add see if it is worth calling and paying off.

PokerFaces.Net community launches unique web communications services for online poker players.

A new online poker player search service has recently been launched at PokerFaces.net . It is a cross poker room player community which will allow players to find other people to play against around the world. (PRWEB) September 22, 2004 -- A new type of website is being launched at PokerFaces.net this month. It is the first of a kind of new sites whose aim is to bring the faceless monster of online poker, into the real world. PokerFaces.net is achieving this by providing a complete tool set which enables poker players to communicate with each other via email and messenger service. Furthermore the ability to post photographs, video clips and audio clips will enable players to promote themselves and build their own poker profile. Essentially it is a poker player community site which spans across all online poker rooms. The power of the site comes in being able to find other players around the world using specific poker criteria. For example, you can find players within 15 miles of your zip code in the US, who play at $2-$4 limits and plays Omaha style. Spokesman for the project indicated many future upgrade plans as the site grows, with big plans to provide live link up facilities for players. Scheduling services to promote real games will also be introduced, as well as potential PokerFaces tournaments, and even webcam service to allow players to see each other. Initial response from the industry has supported the idea behind the site and hopes to enjoy in it's success. Online poker has welcomed this fresh take on creating an online poker player community. As online poker grows, services like PokerFaces.net will be required to help bring the faceless world of online poker into the real world, by promoting real communications between players globally. If the site is successful, there is no limit to where this concept can be taken. Visionary plans even include sending top player profiles to real life tournaments and holding their own PokerFaces world tour. Visit www.pokerfaces.net to learn more about this site.