Party Poker Blog

Phil Ivey & Evelyn Ng Poker Blog

"You know what luck is? Luck is believing you're lucky....to hold front position in this rat-race, you've got to believe you're lucky."
Stanley Kowalski, A Streetcar Named Desire

From the Poker Comic:
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Luck never encounters my mind when playing poker. People that believe in superstitions and say "I hope it's my lucky day" before sitting down at a table are never going to become good poker players until they release these false notions of fate. The vague state of being "lucky" can only exist on one single event at a time. Will I hit my flush draw on the river this hand? Mathematics say it will happen once every 4.5 times, but in this lone situation, it is pure chance that it will occur just this time. This is the only version of luck I believe in.
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Amen, brother. Running bad is a state of mind. I know a lot of players who, while "running bad", will loosen up, play some questionable hands to hit a big pot and will either: #1: hit a nice run and reinforce their poor play or #2: dig themselves a deeper hole. Guess which happens more often?

Short-term luck has a great deal more impact in no-limit tourneys, my game of choice as of late. As I primarily am a grinder, I don't even perceive of luck as a factor in poker play. I take my beats in stride and take my wins as affirmation. In the long run, tight, solid playing with the odds will get the money. But this no-limit mentality is an entity unto itself.

So, no, I'm not going to wax poetic about a bad beat (that's for later in this post) but I *am* going to answer a question that one of my favorite bloggers recently asked me: which game is better to learn first - limit or no-limit hold em?

Hands down, limit poker. I know some of you may disagree, but for me it's clear - by grounding yourself in the basics of limit play, your fundamental understanding of no-limit will deepen. Obviously, there are tools and moves that you can use in no-limit that are not applicable in limit, but all the same, any serious student that begins his poker playing with no-limit instead of limit is doing a disservice to both games.

Sound limit play is mechanical. The decisions to call, raise or fold aren't nearly as important as in no-limit, when your entire stack is in jeopardy on every hand. Learn the basics first.

And more importantly, limit is a much more popular way to play here in the States. The Euro's primarily play pot-limit, which is the most difficult of all. But if you are hitting a casino to play hold em here in the US, you are likely to be sitting limit, not no-limit.

I can see why many new players LOVE playing no-limit, especially given the explosion of poker on TV, but damn, I see too many guys cutting their teeth on NL.

/end rant

Poker blog link list is updated on the right.

Good God, 33,000 players on Party Poker right now. If you are playing anywhere else, you are a stubborn fool.

It seems the bonus whoring loophole is closed (I prolly shouldn't have posted so vehemently about it) but still, the second unique player identity on Empire makes it more than worthwhile to play on both - especially if you diligently track the fish ala PokerTracker. Sign up with my damn bonus code! It makes these long Guinness-fueled posts worthwhile.

The Bluegrass Poker Series (see prior posts) is this weekend. Not sure if I'm gonna attend. Unlimited rebuys for the first hour.

I'll possibly attempt another tourney this spring. I'll keep you posted.

My high school is running a 300 person no-limit tournament next month. They will take in 30k in entry fees and pay out 9k. Not a bad charity gig, eh?

Damn, you are only as good as your last post. And I keep pounding em out. It takes effort to put these rambling posts together. I may need a sabbatical soon.

That being said, here's your latest poker linkage:

Yet another new poker blog with a fine post:
Cardplayer's journal
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HOW TO BE A TOURNAMENT IDIOT AND LOSE ALL YOUR CHIPS
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Excellent article from MSNBC.com about poker. Read it now.
No bluff — poker is the real TV deal
Televised poker quickly is becoming hottest craze
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"Poker passed the Larry Test in the biggest way possible, which is to say Larry showed up one day babbling about the game he’d watched the night before the way a 12- year-old tells his friends about discovering the Playboy magazine in his father’s closet. Poker, it seems, has gone mainstream."
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Interesting article about wagering on the SuperBowl and online gambling, in general.
BetonSports.com expects record number of American consumers betting on Super Bowl.

Consider the following BetonSports.com statistics:
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