Posts filed under 'Fun Place'
The way that poker online is represented in the modern media, it is a game for pros that want to make it big by winning the WSOP. You either see the celebrity winners on the television, or the hordes of adoring fans out there who are desperately trying to turn into the pros. This can pose a dilemma for the family man/ online poker player. Some people don’t want the limelight; they just want the game they love. One way to tackle this situation is to integrate poker as part of your home life. Obviously not cash poker if you have young ones around, but still some form of the game. You could play three card draw with your kids to teach them math skills, or seven card stud to teach them reasoning. Or if you have an empty nest, you and the wife could jet off for a romantic weekend that just happens to be near a thriving casino. The most important thing is to make sure that you include your home life with your online poker life. You never want to feel alienated or alone when you play poker. Those are the dangerous feelings that make people go on tilt. So keep sane, remember your priorities, and never forget you can always go home.
March 8th, 2010
There’s so much information about the game of poker in the world today, it’s almost inexcusable to be a cruddy player. Between the internet, the TV broadcasts, the countless books, the big name examples, the poker online forums, poker magazines, poker paraphernalia, and whatever else poker attached that you can think of, there is literally so much out there that to be ignorant of the game now you have to have pretty much crawled out of a cave.
This wasn’t so much so five years ago. The game, though decades old, was still a thing the random passerby probably had little to no knowledge of. A player with average to decent skills in a casino could take on most any poker online sightseer and get his money in the end. Now it’s harder and harder to tell who’s a chump and who’s on top of his game.
In the midst of all that catching up, it’s really nice to have a community of poker players and information out there for your access at any time. It’s not only good for the game, it’s good for the human mind, and that’s something we need a lot of right now. Staying active and connected feels good, and is good for you. It’s a nice time to be a poker player.
February 26th, 2010
Beer of the Month Clubs
Beer of the Month Clubs are numerous throughout the country. These include are men with some women who meet once a month at one of the member’s homes. Each month a new beer is chosen as the beverage of choice for the party. In winter football is watched and in the spring and summer the sport of choice is baseball. During the 2 plus month gap between football and baseball season, improvisation is required with hockey and basketball as the interim sport.
Each month a different nation is represented, other than the United States, since their beers are well-known. Besides, Budweiser in not American any longer. Twelve nations need to be found and in most cases they are covered over the twelve months.
For example January could be Holland month with Heineken as the brew of choice. Beck’s will be February’s beer giving Germany its time in the sun. March will have Ireland represented with Harp Beer. April and the baseball season comes in with LaBatt of Canada in the lead. May arrives with Red Stripe of Jamaica as the choice of brews. June and the summer come in with Dos Equis of Mexico.
July and the hot weather brings on Bavaria of Costa Rica, and August displays San Miguel from the Philippines. September and the coming World Series are welcomed with El Presidente from the Dominican Republic. October is represented by Pilsner Urquell of the Czech Republic, November by Cristal of Peru and December by Kirin of Japan.
It seems to make watching sports more interesting while educating the fans about geography. This reminds some of President Obama’s Beer Summit. Then too, the nationalities of the beers were discussed.
January 4th, 2010
I got $10 free on Pokertime. I’ve never put money on this site, but every year or so they throw some kind of offer at me. I went on at 11 pm and it was way too late for much action on this predominantly European online poker site. There were many games with euro buy-ins as well. For my $10 USD, I cold register in a tournament of up to about 7 Euros. The site took over where Royal Vegas Poker left off. Though it’s been physically updated, the layout is nearly identical. When I logged on at 11 PM EST it showed 04:00 GMT on their clocks. No wonder there was no action! It was 4 in the morning in Europe. The tournaments were few and far between, and the sit and go’s were only registering at extremely low limits. So, I decided to take a look at the casino online cash tables. What better way to try and run $10 up than at a cash table. Here I hit another roadblock. The only tables that had action were the .02/.04 USD NLHE 6-handed tables. There was no action at 5c/10c, one table of .25/.50 and one at .50/$1. To play at the .25/.50 I needed $25 minimum. So, I couldn’t short stack it. The only thing I could do was play .02/.04. These stakes are ridiculous to play at. At the end of a short session, I left up 2 cents. Now, at 1pm, I log on and it is 18:00 BST. That would make it 6 PM in Europe. The action is a little heavier, with 12 cash tables running, the highest stake one being 1/2 Euro. I find I am able to buy into a .10/.20 Euro game. My $10 gets me 7.10 Euros. The problem is if I run this up, I’m not returning the same USD profit that it appears I am making at the poker online tables. Cashout seems to be available to US players at $50 minimum through various processes.
October 9th, 2009
Are you a Nintendo Wii bowler ready to treat the game of bowling more seriously. Since this is the case, you’re in the midsts of a important cross-roads in growing as a real bowling competitor. My introduction to the Top 5 Bowling Tips may take your game to new levels. An expert in a local bowling pro shop want their customers tap bowling zen mental toughness. A wise bowling wizard once said: the bowling balls do all the work (after you roll them). I kid. I admit, if only it were that simple. It’s all good, we can have you throwing down the right lane.
First, buy your own properly-fitted bowling balls, bowling ball bags, and shoes needed to do this right. It’s not a sales pitch, it actually matters. It’s no joke, have your private ball drilled, and you’ll bowl more consistently. A precision weighted bowling ball can make a substantial improvement in your game. It’s also important you’re having well-made bowling shoes that haven’t been worn out by a million people!
Now that you already bought good bowling ball and shoes, you’re ready for the second best bowling tip: aiming the ball. If you hold the ball, don’t actually aim for the pins. Use the arrows like a barrel of a gun. What’s the point? You’ll find it more effective to aim for a mark that rests nearer. To get the most out of your aim, it should be your habit to stand in the same position 4 steps from the foul line every approach. If you do it the same every time you can make small adjustements on your accuracy and angle.
What do you make of curves, for proper speed and ball control? It is the third-most essential bowler tip. They get traction with the their expensive reactive resin balls. Might be surprising that professional bowlers carry two or three bowling balls to pull off ridiculous pin action, according to many factors. But begginers should avoid putting on a show, and steer clear of a ball that weighs a ton. Some serious bowlers invest heavily in bowling balls made for special resin surface. But these special-made balls might make even decent bowlers appear like they don’t know what they’re doing. That about raps it up. A pro from our bowling shop will return next month.
-James Hundley
My friends and I roll strikes for our team (the “Strykers”) for morning shift for our marketing business just outside Cincinnati. I offer guidance to professional and amature bowlers at my blog and in the pro shop. Also, I should plug my bowling buddies at the center.
July 30th, 2009
On PokerStars at 7pm every night there is an $11 (one rebuy, one add-on) poker event with a $15,000 guaranteed casino prize pool. My good friend plays it a few times a week. One particular night this week, it had almost 900 players in it. I got home from work and popped on PokerStars and did a user search for my friends and found him deep in the tournament, about to reach the final table.
He had an average sized poker stack, and there were some short stacks at the table. 9th place was about $250 and 1st place was $3500. He, like most people, spent $33. On $33, $250 is a pretty good return, but the disparity between 1st and 9th was so large that it seemed a bit ridiculous. All of the players at the final table beat about 900 players, and now they will be shoving all in and coin-flipping for up to a $3,300 pay difference. Now, I certainly think that first deserves a large payout, but I think final table payouts could be a bit more leveled out. I think anyone at the final table should get, say, $500, and the jumps could be relatively small until it reaches the top 3.
Anyway, he was guaranteed $250 and had a shot at $3500, so my brother and I decided to bring the laptop out on the deck, have a cigar and a scotch and watch him play. As opposed to typical rail-birding, we didn’t want to make our presence known and make the guy nervous, so we just watched.
A small stack was going all in a lot, giving action and getting it. He beat 99 with K, 8 off suit and kept getting involved in coin flips, taking a play out in the process. My friend had been playing pretty tight. This loose mid stack made a raise and my friend went all-in over the top for a huge raise. This player called, as he had been doing with a wide range of hands, obviously willing to gamble. This time he had 55. My friend had Ad Kd and flopped the flush. He had to evade a runner-runner straight flush, which he did. This hand eliminated a player and put him in first place.
May 6th, 2009
If you want to lose weight and keep the weight off for good, you might be a viable candidate for fitness workouts that burn fat and build muscle. Studies show that people show more results when there is an exact routine they need to follow instead of going to the gym without a game plan. Truthfully, you can get fit in just minutes a day. It doesn’t take hours and hours of spending time in the gym. Often, fitness workouts can be sculpted to fit into your free time and they will help you feel better and more energetic all day long.
Losing weight boils down to a simple math equation. If you burn more calories than you consume, you will lose weight. This means that fitness workouts combined with a low calorie diet will have a person losing weight in no time. What’s more, losing weight by working out is actually building your body’s muscle. Muscle burns more calories at rest than fat, so this is another element that can work in your favor. Remember that there is no quick fix to losing weight. There is no magical pill or plan that will make you drop all the weight at once. What it will take is a gradual lifestyle change on your part to ensure that losing weight and staying slim is part of your long term solution.
Go through your cabinets today and donate all unhealthy food to a food pantry. Get serious about losing weight now and you will be much healthier in the long run. Remember that it is possible to drop that unwanted weight with a little time and effort. You can reach your goals!
April 30th, 2009
Beyond all the “how-to play” poker books, there are some other terrific and informative memoirs that put poker at the center of the story. These real-life narratives offer insights about strategy, and interesting perspectives on player psychology.
If you love to play and read about poker, then check out these great stories:
Positively Fifth Street by James McManus This best selling page-turner reads like a suspenseful mystery novel. McManus is a bona-fide journalist who was sent to cover the WSOP simultaneously with the Teddy Binion murder trial. It is a fascinating look at Las Vegas history, poker characters, and a lurid crime. The authors details how he cagily turns his advance money into a seat at the final table, and relates his progress through the ranks hand by hand. A truly terrific book! The Professor, The Banker and the Suicide King by Michael Craig The story of the biggest game ever played. It’s high stakes with some of the best players, including Chip Reese and Ted Forrest, and the money and plays simply boggle the mind. The Biggest Game in Town by A. Alvarez An engaging first-hand look at the World Series of Poker and players, with plenty of ups-and-downs, surprise victories and frustrating defeats. Big Deal, A Year as a Professional Poker Player by Anthony Holden The author of a biography about Prince Charles, and a regular at Alvarez’s (above) home game, Holden does want every poker junky dreams about, and takes a year off from other commitments to play professional poker in exotic locales around the world. The sharp wit and poker action both entertain and educate the reader.
Practice is everything for improving your game — but a little reading helps too. These titles all offer pure pleasure and treasures of wisdom for any avid poker player.
September 23rd, 2008