Becoming a professional poker player

Becoming a professional poker player
One of the perks of writing a poker column is the many opportunities it gives you to discuss the subject with people of disparate opinions. With my e-mail address displayed in the footer of every column I publish, people often write to ask questions. One of the most common has to do with what it takes to go pro...

Keeping records

Keeping records
Many poker players, especially recreational ones, have no idea where they stand in terms of overall winnings or losses. And if you're a recreational player with all the money you will ever need, that's fine. But for everyone else, it's a good idea to keep track...

Poker news highlights for March 2012

Poker news highlights for March 2012
Ever since Black Friday (April 15) last year, poker news has been a somewhat depressing experience for the players. In the last week, though, a few things have happened worth noting.

Poker and Sun Tzu

Poker and Sun Tzu
Fifteen years ago I bought a copy of the 1996 translation by Ralph Sawyer, at a time when I was self-employed as a software development consultant. I can tell you from experience that studying this text is a great way to clear the fog of uncertainty and find an unencumbered approach any problem...

Six ways your brain works against you at the poker tables

Six ways your brain works against you at the poker tables
The most dangerous element at play in a poker game is human stupidity. (Or the world for that matter, just ask any former resident of Chernobyl.) It turns out the human brain is inherently bad at interpreting data and is instead predisposed to making decisions based on emotional input. As a result, your poker game is hampered by logical fallacies, like...

Gamble responsibly

Gamble responsibly
Gambling addiction is real and if you or someone you know suffers from it, they need your help. I encourage you to contact Gambler's Anonymous to find out what you can do...

Playing for fun

Playing for fun
I started playing poker full-time online in March of 2009. By that time, I'd taken up LHE as my game of choice, having decided that I had not yet developed the proper mindset for withstanding the big swings of no-limit games. You'd think that after playing for real money for so long that my days of playing for "play" money would be over. But in fact, I still play at the play money tables three or four times a week...

Table talk

Table talk
One of the fun (and useful) things about live poker is the table talk. I'm not talking about the socializing or the commiseration over bad flops or bad beats. I'm talking about verbal exchanges between players during a hand.

Tulsa's freeroll poker tournaments

Tulsa's freeroll poker tournaments

If you love to play poker but can't afford the tournament buy-ins at casinos, don't sweat it. You can still play the game you love for cash prizes, without the buy-in fees. A tournament is hosted most every night of the week with anywhere from $100 to $200 paid out to the winner(s). A larger freeroll has been held monthly or bi-monthly (depending on venue participation) where the prize pool climbs as high as $1000...

UB.com responds to data leak

UB.com responds to data leakFive days have passed since I sent an email to UB.com to inquire about the leaked customer information published on the internet. You may read the backstory here and here. Today I received their response, as follows...