Party Poker Blog

Party Poker Blog

If you're no longer a novice, but not a professional player, game selection may be the key to winning money. Without using any selection, you'll probably lose dramatically. By using selection moderately, you'll probably lose a little or break even. But by using game selection prudently and consistently, you probably will be a winner from now on.
Mike Caro

/PartyPoker rant

Can you guess what poker site offers the greatest table selection? Of course, you can. Lord, I've been reading tonight about players playing on True Poker, on PokerStars and am shocked. Hell, there's one "respectable" shill site out there currently ranking poker sites and they ranked Paradise Poker #1. WTF - are you kidding me? I feel sorry for any poker newbies that hit those sites and actually believe them.

That being said, if Mike Caro were objective, I'm quite certain he would recommend Party Poker, if only for the sheer number of players. 24,000, as of this moment. 24,000. Does Paradise or Planet Poker even have 1/5 of that number?

Oh the humanity.

Thanks to anyone who wisely took my advice and signed up for Party with the bonus code 'Iggy'. I'm not doing this to get referrals - it's easy enough to sign up with any of the hundreds of bonus codes being spammed on RGP, but seriously, please don't play on a site where game selection is made for you, rather than vice-versa. Do the math.

Sorry for the shilling above but it seemed to match up with the Caro quote and what I saw on the web tonite. I mean, read this:

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#1
Paradise Poker

Billed accurately as the "World's Premier Online Cardroom", Paradise offers the standard variety of games, including tournaments 24 hours a day. The action is always found at this site, 24 hours a day. Pleasing interface. Most importantly, if you are concerned about security and credibility; Paradise is the only poker site to have been reviewed by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (the world's largest professional services firm). Highly recommended.
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Holy shit - it has a pleasing interface? 24 hours a day? Damn, sign me up. It was reviewed by PWC? Wow, I'm shure glad they finally stopped packs of players from playing on shared bankrolls and colluding in games!

Cripes, shouldn't game selection be part of the criteria in reviewing an online poker site? Why not talk about that, eh? That's all I've *ever* cared about, frankly. That, and the sites' ability to allow tracking of hands through software like Poker Tracker or StatKing (I used the latter in the old days). For example, I always liked the passive players at True Poker but hated the fact that I couldn't track hand histories. Especially when you are playing against the same guys, night after night, and you can only play one table at a time. It's paramount to compile a book on players in that situation and arguably less so at Party Poker, with 24,000 freaking players to choose from.

/end rant

Blame the Guinness. Plus I'm up $82. :)

Shifting gears, I wanted to thank anyone reading this humble blog right now, and also, thanks for the kickass emails. Poker players are brighter than your average bear so I'm lucky in that regards.

On that note, I'm looking forward to our inaugural tournament, if it can be done. I've emailed Party asking about a private SNG, which I've never seen on PartyPoker. We may need a backup plan.
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Right now we do not offer private tables for No Limits games. We will sure forward this to our Management who will take your inputs and decide the best course for action.
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K, time for poker linkage:

Tiltboys. I completely forgot about this site - I love it. Phil Gordon and great trip reports, what more could you possibly want?
Highly recommended.
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"For a few good belly laughs, read these true tales by a bunch of poker-loving Stanford graduates, the 'tiltboys.' Amidst their PG-13-rated stories of ribaldry in Las Vegas, there is a surprising amount of intelligent discussion of poker. One of the tiltboys even won a World Series of Poker event last year."
New York Times
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Enjoyed this column in the Fort Worth Star Telegram about poker on TV, especially when they bashed Vince Van Patten. This is also the first time I've heard about Mark Burnett's new show on Fox.
'WORLD Poker Tour' hits the jackpot
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What's missing here? Oh yes, Fox. It'll step to the table this summer with Mark Burnett's latest reality show, The Casino, which probably won't follow poker exclusively, but we'll give it points for the theme.
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How can it keep growing? Will Party ever hit 30,000? I giggle just thinking about it.
World Poker Tour Events Continue Dramatic Growth
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The Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Bellagio in Las Vegas, NV, which is currently in progress (PokerWorks is dealing there), is the latest event on the WORLD POKER TOUR to demonstrate the domino effect of the television show's huge popularity. Tour records have been set in each of the stops and the Five Diamond World Poker Classic is no exception with a huge increase in players, prize money and first place payout over the previous year's tournament.

Lou Krieger offers a fine column on attitude and willpower in poker.
Preparing to Win
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How can I keep applying the winning strategies I've learned? What can I do to continue to prepare to win? How can I increase my winnings by recognizing and eliminating the "leaks" in my game?
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Take five minutes and read this 20-something Iraqi dentist blogger's post on the events of this past weekend.

On the other side of the linking spectrum:
Link of the Day:
The Rugs of War
WarRug.Com offers the finest select of Afghan rugs woven in response to the Sept. 11 attacks. One review: "There are no people falling out of this one, and the drawing is not as graphic as most 9/11 war rugs."