Poker Concorde

With each WSOP a main event champion is crowned, and there are always those who will look to this player to help the game continue to grow and prosper, and rightly so I feel. Some players who win the event, decide to remain very private, and that is each players choice and should be respected as such also.

PLAY NOW

I do feel though, that the game needs players who stand up and look to nurture the game and ensure it continues to prosper. With legal changes in America causing a great many problems with online American players, it is important that someone protects both the game, and the peoples right to play it. The household names of poker often do much for the game, probably without even having to try sometimes. Every aspiring poker player feels spurred on to improving their game when they see the best of the best in action, and this helps to make sure people continue playing poker across the world.

In terms of the image of the game, much has changed for the better, and with the majority of players accepting their sometimes cruel exits form tournaments with such good grace, the game can only continue to be seen in a better light.
The same goes for players that donate portions of their winnings to charities, which is great to see.

All in all, I feel that most professional poker players have helped the game a great deal. With the continual gentlemanly conduct and generosity of players like Barry Greenstein, amongst others, hopefully the game will continue to rid itself of any remaining shackles of misconception.

Bet sizes are important in poker and can often tell you much about the strength of an opponents hand. You must be aware of course that bets can often be made with the intention of misleading your judgement on an opponents hand strength, but where there is rational planning and thought behind betting, the truth of a situation can be uncovered.

PLAY NOW

Generally speaking, small bets would seem to indicate uncertainty. The fact that a player is not commiting more chips to their hand would appear to indicate that they are unsure if they are winning, but this is not always the case. Sometimes a player can feel it is best to bet small in order to ensure they don’t force players out of the pot when they have a very strong hand. Consistent bets of a average size on each round of betting will generally mean that your opponent is trying to build a pot, and so be wary of this type of bet, because if you call the first bet, and another one is made on the next betting round, it is unlikely to be an outright bluff, although it could be a big draw of some sort.

The large bets are always the most exciting in poker. All in bets and ones which commit a large amount of chips, always show strength and are most likely to force a fold. If a bet such as this is made without any prior betting, you would be tempted to think a bluff is being made, but you have to consider the card which has provoked the bet and how it might have made an opponents hand. I would say that most often, a strong hand has usually been developing on the flop, and has often been completed on the turn or river. This will mean there is a betting pattern leading up to the final big bet to give you guidance. No matter what the obvious situation is wit a large bet from an opponent, it is always best to keep an open mind about the possibilities.

Almost everyone who follows the World Series of Poker will formulate their own opinions of who the best players are, and more often than not, will follow that players progress. I certainly did that this year, even placing bets on a few players to make the main event final table. One of those was Mike Matusow who eventually finished 30th after a terrible beat, but there were others who I followed, simply because I wished to see them do well.

PLAY NOW

Most of the big name players struggle in the main event, and I feel this is due to the fact that there are several thousand players in the tournament. Figures for entrants approaching the 7,000 mark, are too many I feel, and even the best players in the world will get very unlucky twice in a row, at some point during the proceedings. In poker, that’s all it takes to be out of a tournament, but it was good to see the big names having more success this year than the previous couple of years.

Most of these big names have been around for many years now of course, and there are new names being spoken of in high regard as the next generation of players come through. One of these who deserves a mention is Ivan Demidov, who finished 3rd in the WSOPE main event, and 2nd in this years WSOP main event. That is a unique achievement, and I am sure there will be more great results from both these young players, and the veterans on this years poker circuit.

For Poker click the link