How Much Are My Poker Chips Worth?

So I'm seeing a lot of traffic from people searching for "how much are my poker chips worth?" and "how much is a red poker chip worth?" so I guess I'd better put some notes up here about poker chips' standard denominations based on colors. I'm here to help my visitors, after all.



First off, your poker chips can be worth anything you and the other players in your home game agree to. But I recommend sticking with the standard values, because it will make things less confusing for you and your poker playing buddies.



The most common colors of poker chips and their standard values are listed below:

• Black chips are generally worth $100 each.
• Green chips are generally worth $25 each.
• Blue chips are generally worth $10 each.
• Red chips are generally worth $5 each.
• White chips are generally worth $1 each.

There are other colors of poker chips in use, but you'll probably only see them rarely. If you see them in a casino or at a buddy's house, and you need to know what they're worth, no one's going to give you a hard time for not knowing what the chips are worth.

Low Chicago and High Chicago - Stud Poker Variant

We played a lot of Low Chicago and High Chicago in our home games back when I had an apartment in North Dallas. Chicago poker is simply seven card stud with a couple of minor variations. In High Chicago, the highest spade in the hole splits the pot with the winner of the hand. In Low Chicago, the lowest spade in the hole splits the pot with the winner.



It's a pretty common and pretty simple variation on 7 card stud, and it's a lot of fun, especially when you're catching the ace of spades or the 2 of spades. In fact, if you're a rock, then you might consider waiting until you have a high or low spade in the hole before even playing, although most of the home games I've played in haven't been very tight at all. Which makes this strategy even better.



Just to sum up the strategy for Low Chicago and High Chicago--if you don't catch a spade when the cards are dealt, fold it up. Even if you wind up with the best hand, you'll still wind up splitting the pot with the person who has the spade. And don't think you'll play it through to the end, catching the spade on the last 'down and dirty' card. The odds just aren't good enough for you to make and call all those bets during the betting rounds.

How Many Poker Chips Do I Need for a Home Poker Game?

Been reading my referral logs, and I saw that someone found this poker blog by searching for how many poker chips do I need for a home poker game, so I thought I'd write about that a little bit. Heck--it's a good question. If you don't know how many chips you need, then you don't know. So here's some thoughts.



First of all--don't buy the plastic poker chips. (I'd be surprised if any readers of this blog would even consider it, but you never know who'll turn up here.) Plastic poker chips suck. It seems like a silly distinction to someone who hasn't played poker, but the fact is that lightweight, cheap plastic poker chips don't have any significance. They don't way anything, you don't feel them in your hand, and they're harder to take seriously. All of which leads to a lack of relevance and a lack of reverence.



Buy clay poker chips. You can get them almost anywhere on the internet now, including eBay, and they're available at nicer game stores. I've even seen decent sets of clay poker chips for sale at the drugstore. (Which is where I bought mine.)



You'll need no fewer than 500 chips of different colors. (And more is better. In fact--you can't have too many poker chips, IMO.) You should have about 150 each of red and white chips, and 100 each of green and black chips. Some sets might have different colors, but these colors are pretty standard. White chips are typically worth $1. Red chips = $5. Green $25 and black $100. Make sure everyone knows what the different colors are worth when they buy in.



So there's the short answer: you need 500 chips to host a home poker game. And while you're at it, buy some decent playing cards.

Teens Playing Poker

Will Teens Know When to Fold in the Popular Poker Craze?



Interesting article today in the Christian Science Monitor about more teens playing poker, which included lots of quotes from members of the National Council on Problem Gambling. Lots of hand wringing about what an awful effect the national popularity of poker is having on our youth. The article also mentioned that a lot of people seem to forget that poker (and gambling) can be an addictive behavior.



I have big problems with the whole 'addiction' mentality. There are so many organizations in existence right now who want to protect me from my own behavior that it's downright scary. I can understand a physical dependency on drugs or alcohol. I even understand that there is such a thing as compulsive behavior and mental illness. But there are far too many people in this world who like to over-indulge in whatever their vice is (be it sex, alcohol, drugs, or gambling) who want to blame it on some kind of illness.



This isn't a popular attitude to take, but I think people need to pull their acts together and start taking responsibility for their behaviors. We have a victim mentality in this country like never before. Heck, a woman is sueing Wal-mart because they sold her daughter a shotgun. Guess what! It's legal to buy a shotgun in the US, in spite of all the well-meaning but ill-advised attempts to stop such a thing.



It sounds like I'm rambling or ranting, and maybe I am, but gee whiz. We're talking about poker for goodness sake. It's not that big a deal. Yes it's a game of chance. Yes there's a skill element. But these people who want to prevent people from playing poker would be better off encouraging people to play poker better and stay away from lottery tickets. Lottery tickets are the real problem in this country--they're specifically aimed at lower income America, and they have a worse payback percentage than any other gambling game available. If you bought $1 million worth of lottery tickets, you'd have $500,000 in winnings the next day. If you reinvested that $500,000, you'd be left with $250,000. And if you kept that up for a full month, you'd have no money left before the month was out.



And people want to complain that poker is bad for kids? That it's going to lead to drinking and (heaven forbid!) sex...



People need to get real. Teens are going to do things. And sometimes they're going to do things like play poker or have a drink or get laid. Some of them will do it sooner, and some of them will do it later. Our job as a society, and as parents, should be to give them the real scoop on the possible consequences of their behaviors.

Four of a Kind

Last night I played two tables of pot limit Texas holdem at Party Poker. ($25 buy in.) Did pretty well. For me, the trick when playing pot limit is the better implied odds that come from playing pot limit. It took me a few games to understand this, but the pot tends to build much faster in pot limit than it does in either limit holdem or no limit holdem. In limit holdem, the pot is pretty much only going to grow at the limits set in the betting. And in no limit, people are always running others out of the pot by making big bets.



But in pot limit, you can get in pretty cheap, but then turn around and make a big raise or someone else will make a big raise, and a lot of times I'll wind up with a caller or two that shouldn't be in the hand because they felt like they were pot-committed.



Anyway-I played two tables for a couple of hours, and the only big pot I played in was the one where I hit four of a kind, four's. Went from $22 to $54 immediately.



Sorry I haven't blogged much lately. I haven't played much poker lately either, so I haven't had much to write about. I have been playing a lot more ring poker and a lot fewer tournaments lately. After my trip to Vegas my confidence improved a lot.

Playing Poker for a Living Online

I was reading about people playing poker online for a living here. I think it's great that there are people good enough at this game to make $100k a year playing it. And I wish I was one of them. I also hope they all play at some other table besides mine.



I got a great compliment from a friend of mine. (T.) He and I were talking about playing online, and I mentioned that I wasn't going to sit at his table anymore. I told him that I wanted to play at tables where I was the best player at the table, so there was no real point in playing at a table with someone who was so much better than me. Especially since I know he's so much better than I am.



His reply? "Don't even pull that with me. I've seen you walk out of the poker room in Richardson up 800% for the evening."



Anyway--coming from T., who is one of the best (and tightest) players I've ever seen, I took that as a huge compliment.

Rebuilding my Poker Bankroll

After my pot limit tilt session last Friday night, I've found myself in the position of having to rebuild my poker bankroll. My bankroll was down to $25, but I've built it back up to $112 over the last few nights playing NL at the $25 buy in tables. It's slow going, but I'm working on it diligently, and I'm committed to playing for at least an hour or an hour and a half every night. Last night I made $2.50 for my time, but I'd done allright a couple of nights before that. Not supposed to focus on short term results anyway.



I thought this was neat: Nothing brings a family together like a game of poker.

Some Gambling and Poker News

Bettors are risking millions the outcome of the presidential election.



This is interesting to me, because in my mind there's a lot more riding on this presidential election than millions of dollars. There are lives at stake in Iraq. There are civil liberties at stake here at home. The environment is in constant danger.



There's an interesting article about students not needing campus jobs because they're making money playing poker in the Harvard school paper.



There were some big poker games going on when I was in the dorms in the late 80's and the early 90's too. I don't remember there being a lot of press about how dangerous gambling and poker are to our youth back then, but maybe that's because there wasn't a bunch of televised poker going on in those days. It's funny to think that the sports betting industry is so huge, but since the government continues its gambling prohibition almost everywhere, the only people profiting from sports betting are involved in organized crime, at least on some level.

The Difference Between Party Poker's $25 No Limit Tables and Party Poker's $100 Pot Limit Tables

At first I thought the difference between Party's $25 no limit tables and their $100 pot limit tables was about $20 per hour, because that's what I win, on average, at the $25 no limit tables. (So far anyway--believe me, I don't have great records or tons of data yet.) And I lose at the $100 pot limit tables. (At least so far--again--I don't have enough data.)



But to calculate the real difference, I have to calculate how much I lose at the pot limit tables and add that to the difference. That makes the picture much different. I only played about 5 hours at the pot limit table, but I probably lost $500 or so. That's $100 per hour.



So the real difference between the $25 no limit tables and the $100 pot limit tables at Party, for me anyway, is about $120 per hour.

SportingBet buys Paradise Poker & Other Poker News

Poker's such big business now that poker companies are actually being bought and sold. SportingBet just bought Paradise Poker for $297 million.

Poker Conversation

This is a transcript of an actual poker conversation I had recently.



T - Man, I'm going to play poker all weekend.



Me - Yeah?



T - Yeah. And I'm going to play hard too.



Me - (Pause)



T- Are you going to play this weekend?



Me - Yeah. I'll probably play a little.



T- Are you going to play hard?



Me - Hell yeah.



T- Man--I've been winning about $50 per hour on Party Poker lately at the pot limit tables.



Me- Yeah--I've done allright for the past couple of days. Maybe $40 an hour.



A few hours after this conversation, I went on tilt and dropped about $400. One of the first times I'd ever been on tilt that I know of, and the funny thing about it is that I didn't even realize I was on tilt til I lost a bunch of money and quit and thought about it.



My new goal is to be like David Sklansky. He never tilts.

Poker at the Monte Carlo in Las Vegas

I know I was supposed to write about my experiences in the different Vegas casinos already, and I know I'm only now getting around to it, and I'm sorry. But here goes.



Poker at the Monte Carlo was nice. The poker room was intimate and classy without feeling crowded. The staff running the place were very nice, and the cocktail waitresses were appropriately busty. (I like busty cocktail waitresses when I play poker. I probably shouldn't worry about that, but I do.)



The game there was also surprisingly soft. I played limit hold em there, and I don't remember the stakes, although I think it was $2/$4. But I remember that I did very well, and that I left after maybe 3 or 4 hours winning about $100. The Monte Carlo poker room was about as nice a poker room as I played in while I was in Vegas. I thought it was as nice as the Bellagio poker room, even if it did lack the famous players and the big high roller room.



And it was a lot less crowded than the Bellagio room. I'm a big guy, over 400 pounds in fact, and I hate crowded poker rooms.

Phil Hellmuth Jr. Interview

No, I didn't get to interview Phil Hellmuth. But I did read an interesting little interview with Phil Hellmuth and wanted to share the link here. Evidently he's promoting a new book about bad beats and stuff. (Interestingly enough though, one of the surgeons who performed open heart surgery on my dad saw that I was reading Phill Hellmuth's first book, Play Poker Like the Pros, and mentioned that his father-in-law played professional poker, and he had actually met Phil Hellmuth. I got the impression he wasn't too impressed, but who knows.)



Anyway, here's the Phill Hellmuth Interview. And for those of you out there who don't like him, I don't really care. I think he's funny as hell. I've got a buddy who's a webmaster who has a very strong resemblance to Phil, and he was a lot of fun over drinks and taught me a lot about search engine optimization. Kevin, if you're reading this, you know that I'm talking about you.

More on the Richardson Poker Room Bust

I wrote about the poker room in Richardson getting busted by the police the other day, but I found another article about it on another blog. Pokerati's article on the Richardson bust is available here, and he prints the email letter that we all received. And here's the link to my original article about the Richardson, TX poker room bust too.



I'd just like to say that I agree with Dan about this place having the best food in town for a poker player like me. The meatball subs on Friday nights were terrific. And quite frankly, the guys running the place were really cool to me every time I was there, and made me feel really welcome.



I don't know anything else about this event, but it was a disappointment, to say the least.

Stu Ungar Movie - High Roller: The Stu Ungar Story

Originally titled "Stuey", "High Roller - The Stu Ungar Story" is a movie about Stu Ungar's life. I didn't even realize they had made a movie about Stu Ungar until the other day when I was surfing a discussion board and someone mentioned it there. Anyway--I love the movie's tag line: "Gambler. Addict. Loser. Legend."



A.W. Vidmer won the best director award at the San Diego Film Festival for this movie. As near as I can tell, the movie has not been released to the general public yet, and it has only been showing at film festivals. I'm hoping it will be released soon, because I'd like to see it.



Here are a couple of links: Stu Ungar Movie Official Site and Rotten Tomatoes Stu Ungar Movie Page. And I wrote an article about Stu Ungar here.

Richardson, TX Police Raid Poker Club

A poker club in Richardson, TX is now closed until further notice. The club was raided by the Richardson police on the night of October 20. From what I understand (I wasn't there) nothing really happened to any of the players, but the same can't be said for the gentlemen who ran the club. The Richardson police confiscated all the poker chips, the poker tables, and the playing cards. The owners of the club are waiting for a court date to see what they're going to be charged with.

Hoyt Corkins - Poker Player Hoyt Corkins

His name is Hoyt Corkins, and he is a rancher. (With a name like Hoyt, really the only other profession he could have would be a poker player or a country music singer.) But come to think of it, Hoyt Corkins is also a well respected and aggressive poker player. Phil Hellmuth Jr. called him "Mr. All-In", which he meant in a derogatory way, but I don't think anyone else has taken in that way. In fact, from what I can tell from the other articles I saw on this guy on the other websites, everyone thinks of that "Mr. All-In" moniker as a term of respect and possibly even endearment.



From what I've read on some other sites, Hoyt Corkins is one of those old school gentlemen who you can't even provoke into saying something bad about someone else, not even Phil Hellmuth. This is the biggest thing that impressed me about him. (That and the big black cowboy hat--I just love that whole cowboy hat and sunglasses look he's got going on.) On a side note, it's almost fashionable to dislike Phil Hellmuth Jr. I guess I go against the grain, because I like him very much, and even liked his book, Play Poker Like the Pros.



Anyway--Hoyt Corkins is my kind of poker player. I admire aggression, and I admire big black cowboy hats too, although I haven't worn a cowboy hat myself since I was in my early teens. (And I mean early, like 13 or so...)







Here are some more articles about Hoyt Corkins:

• World Poker Tour Winner Hoyt Corkins (This is the best article I've seen online about him. She apparently kept trying to get him to "dish the dirt" on Hellmuth, and he just wouldn't do it because he's such a class act.)
• Poker Player Profiles - Hoyt Corkins
• World Poker Tour Final Table Players - Hoyt Corkins
  
  

Doyle Brunson and Me

Doyle Brunson is arguably the most famous poker player alive today. (With the possible exceptions of Amarillo Slim, or Chris Moneymaker, or Greg Raymer. And I guess Gabe Kaplan is pretty famous too, or at least he used to be, but he's famous for more than just being a poker player. I digress.) I have a special place in my heart because Doyle Brunson and I have a few things in common.



Doyle Brunson is a big man. Tall and a little bit overweight. (Much like myself.) But he's not just physically big. He's also a big player and a big name. He's contributed as much if not more to the game of poker than just about anyone else living. If the only thing he'd ever accomplished was the publication of Super/System, that would probably still be enough to earn him a place in poker's hall of fame.



Like me, Doyle Brunson is from Texas. Unlike me, he was quite an athlete growing up--he played lots of different sports. Basketball, baseball, track. Heck, he was such a good basketball player that he was drafted by the Laker's. A knee injury ended his professional career as an athlete though. (Unlike Brunson, I've never had a career as an athlete, but I do have a bit of arthritis in my right knee.)



Another big difference between me and Doyle Brunson is our level of play. Doyle's a legendary poker player. He's won at least nine gold bracelets at the World Series of Poker; I've never even played in the World Series of Poker. Another cool fact about him: he has a hand named after him. A "Doyle Brunson" is a T2.







You can read more about him here:



Doyle Brunson Biography and Interview at PokerPages



Doyle Brunson Bio at Poker Babes



Doyle Brunson's Super/System

Poker Hobgoblins and Ben Affleck

"Trick or Treat! We're the Poker Hobgoblins!"



My god but this article made me laugh. I'd love to see my kids want to dress up as famous poker players for Halloween.



I saw another article today about Ben Affleck being on the cover of All In magazine. My aunt brought me a copy of the magazine when she was in Vegas this year. She was there visiting her son, but the WSOP was going on at the same time, so she picked up a copy for me. I thought I'd heard a rumor that the magazine was already in financial trouble, but I can't imagine that's true, considering poker's tremendous popularity right now.



One of the things that I like about Ben Affleck, aside from him being a poker player, is that he's not only a handsome guy, but he's thoroughly likeable too. I could easily see hanging out with him and having a beer and shooting the breeze. From what I understand, he's one of these really good celebrity players too.



I've been playing a lot at Party Poker lately. It's funny though--seems like every time I sit down at a table, it gets really tight really fast. And I'm not playing really high stakes at all; I'm just playing $2/$4 limit holdem.



I was coming up really high in Google for Clonie Gowen until recently. I'm like any other webmaster, I guess, even poker webmasters need traffic. And I was really pleased I was getting between 3 and 5 visitors a day who were searching for her name. But now I'm nowhere to be found for that term any more.



Not much else to report today. I'm doing well at Party's $2/$4 tables lately, and will probably swing by there tonight to play a bit more.

Poker at the Excalibur Casino in Las Vegas

I haven't written latey because I've been in Las Vegas for the Casino Affiliate Convention. While I was there, I played a lot of poker in the cardrooms at the casinos there. I'm going to write about each cardroom and experience separately, and I'm going to start with my experience playing poker at the Excalibur Casino.



I arrived in Vegas at 9am at the Boardwalk on the strip. They wouldn't let me check in early because they didn't have my room ready yet. So I walked over to the Excalibur to check out their poker room and play a little poker. I was hoping to play $1/$2, but the only table where they had an open seat was at a $2/$6 spread limit Texas Holdem table. It was full of a bunch of older men.



I wound up playing until about 4pm in the afternoon at the same table with the same old guys. We occasionally had people sit down and get up and leave, but the core of the table were these same six fellows.







At the end of my 7 hours of play, after tipping the dealer and the cocktail waitresses multiple times, I was only down $20. I started talking with a railbird when I finished playing, and he explained to me that I'd been playing at the table with all the local regulars--apparently they play poker every day at the Excalibur at that table, and most of them play really tight and really well. He said that having only lost $20 for 7 hours with those guys was actually pretty darn good.



I did overhear one of the players muttering to another player that I never had the hole cards they expected me to have when we got to the occasional showdown. I think that's a good thing.

Friday Night at the Local Poker Club

After losing almost every game of poker I played in for a week on the internet, I finally managed to get down to the local poker club and play live for a while. I learned last night that you can be on tilt and not even realize you're on tilt, which was quite an ah-ha moment for me. I thought I was playing really aggressively and making some masterful bets and raises, but in retrospect ($200 later), what I was really doing was betting on bad hands that should have been thrown away and overplaying hands that were only marginal.



So today, after staying up until 4:30am and getting only 3 hours of sleep, I'm licking my wounds, taking care of kids, and getting ready to go to my son's football game. And tonight I play in the Saturday Night $200K Guaranteed at Party Poker. I only pray that I can get a nap in before then.

My Bluffing Strategy

I don't bluff often. My bluffing strategy involves semi-bluffing a lot more often than it involves straight up bluffing. Semi-bluffing just makes more sense to me. I've read that it's impossible to do well at poker if you never bluff, and maybe I'm just conservative, but I just don't know if that's true. I think if you're aggressive enough when you have good cards, and you semi-bluff occasionally, you don't need to pull too many bluffs to be profitable.



Most people's bluffing strategy has a lot to do with position. If you're acting in late position, you have the opportunity to see what the other players are doing before you act. So if you see a raise, a re-raise, and another re-raise, then you probably know that it's not a very good time to try to bluff your way into a pot. You also consider who's stayed in the hand up until that point--it's hard to bluff down a calling station, but it's easy to bluff a rock sometimes.







On the other hand, if no one behind you has a really strong hand, you can come out with a really strong bet in early position and look even more believable with your bluff, especially if you're playing online and make a quick large bet. Problem is, someone behind you might have AA or KK. But if you catch a scare card or two on the flop, your bluff still might work. A check-raise is often a really good bluffing strategy too.



Semi-bluffing is when you bet a hand really hard when it's not the strongest hand on the board, but has a good chance at making a draw. I like to semi bluff when I have four to a flush in Texas Holdem. Especially if there are scare cards on the flop. Even if my opponent doesn't fold, I still have a reasonable chance of picking up the flop in that situation. Especially if I have other outs.



Something else to consider when bluffing or semi-bluffing is the odds that the situation offers. Your bluffs must work a certain percentage of the time for them to be profitable, but they don't have to work all the time, or even most of the time. Also--if you get caught bluffing, you might think it's embarassing, but it's probably good advertising for later in the game, because you'll get more action after you've tightened up. Most players will remember that you played 10-2 really hard earlier in the evening, but won't have noticed that you've folded the last 20 hands in a row.



My bluffing strategy usually works like this: I bluff early in the evening when I start playing. It gives everyone reason to believe that I play loose or that I might be bluffing. I might bluff a couple or three times in the first hour or so. Then I tighten up significantly for the rest of the evening, and count on my earlier bluffs to get me the action I need with my really monster hands.

Playing Poker and Winning (For a Change)

Here's my poker report from yesterday. It's nice to be playing and winning for a change.



I've fallen completely in love with Ultimate Bet. It is now officially the preferred poker room for Poker Chip's Poker Blog. I'm going to post a full review of why I LOVE this site so much a little later today--probably after I take Mrs. Poker Chip to lunch.







As you may have already gathered, I played poker online at Ultimate Bet yesterday. First I played a $20 + $2 SnG with 10 players, no limit holdem. Placed third place, which put me in the money and made me profitable for the day. A little later, while my twins were napping, I tried another $20 + $2 SnG there, but this one only had 6 players, and 1st and 2nd were the only places that paid. I doubled up twice in the 1st level and wound up in 2nd place for the tournament.



So I'm doing allright. Then I decided I'll play in the $50 + $5 multitable tournament last night. Was doing very well--busted three people in the first hour and had a big stack. There were 109 players and I was between 7th place and 17th place for the next hour or so. Top 20 places payed, and first prize was $1600 or so.



Then came my poker devastation for the evening. I get dealt pocket AA's. I'm in early position, so I check it around. A couple of folks call, and then another guy puts in a pretty decent sized raise--maybe 300 or so chips. It gets folded back around to me and I reraise to 700 chips. My opponent goes all-in, and I call.



He has pocket kings. Of course he gets dealt a third king on the flop and I'm busted out of the tournament in 41st place. Ever since the one big 5th place win I had earlier this year, I haven't been able to do very well in any of the multtable tournaments I've played online.



So I'd just about hung up and decided not to play anymore when my friend calls me wanting to know if I can go out. I told him sure, I'll meet you at the club in 30 minutes. Then I called my other friend, and he said he was already on his way. So I stopped at 7-11 and picked up some Vivarin and about $300 in cash from the ATM, and I was on my way.



Down at the local poker club, there was some crazy action going on. Everyone had HUGE stacks of chips. I bought in for $200, and I was short-stacked compared to just about everyone else at the table. Most of the had $400 or $500. And they were all playing really loose and aggressive. So I sat down and decided to play my best game and take a little bit of money home with me.



I had no idea how quickly a pot could get huge playing pot limit. I lost quite a bit the first couple of hours, maybe $100 or so, but I reloaded for $100 in chips.



Then things started going my way. I started making flop after flop and pulling in huge pots. By the time I left at 6am, I was up over $850. It's the most profitable winning session I've ever had. Made me feel pretty good, like I'm starting to learn how to play poker or something.



As Fast Eddie points out in The Color of Money, "Money won is twice as sweet as money earned."

Poker Bankroll Considerations

I've been thinking about bankroll and what limits I should be playing lately. I've also been thinking about keeping better records of my win rate, etc. So I've looked in a couple of my poker books, and I've done some searching on some poker forums, and read some articles on some websites I like, and this is more or less what I've determined about my poker bankroll.



As far as ring play goes, for my poker bankroll to be large enough to avoid what they call "risk of ruin", I need between 300 and 500 BB's, depending on who you ask. A standard win rate for ring games in holdem is 1 or 2 BB's. I really would prefer to not have to make any more deposits in any more poker rooms, so adding up my bankrolls at the different rooms gives me the following total:



Party Poker $236.02

Pokerstars $ 4.20

Ultimate Bet $ 86.00

Interpoker $173.25

Grand Bay $ 40.00

____________________

Total $539.47





So for ring play, I have enough bankroll to cover a $0.50/$1.00 holdem game, and if I play well and get fairly lucky, maybe even a $1.00/$2.00 game. If I stick with the lower of those two limits, I should be able to generate an earn rate of $2/hour. In theory, if I earn that win rate, in 230 hours of play I should be able to move up to $1/$2 games and double my earn rate.



I've also done some studying on SnG bankroll requirements. Again, depending on who you ask, you need between 25 and 100 buy-in's to avoid risk of ruin. So I'm sufficiently bankrolled for the $20 + $2 SnG level, if I play really well and am really aggressive with the bankroll requirements. From what I've read online, win rate for these SnG's should be about 30% to 50% of the buy-in, and most SnG's take a little over an hour. So my earn rate for SnG's should be between $6 and $12 per hour.



Those numbers are based on an ITM % of between 30% and 40%. My ITM percentage for SnG's has fluctuated between 30% and 40% for a while now, so I feel pretty confident I can maintain this. My guess is that after about 23 hours or so of play I can move up to $30 + $3 level at the SnG's.



So my plan is to stay focused on the SnG's for now, because my earn rate for that is definitely higher. Interesting thing that I've been reading about SnG's too. Some folks think that the skill level at the $10/$20/$30 level is approximately the same, and then goes up significantly at $50/$100/$200. Other folks are of the opinion that the people playing at the $200 level are generally playing a lot worse than the people at the lower levels, with the exception of a professional or two at the table who is usually pretty easy to spot.



My bankroll's at such a level that I can't play a higher buy-in tournament right now realistically, but I have played in one or two in the past, and there was some pretty bad play going on.



The best observation I've ever seen about bankroll reqirements by the way was from Steve Badger on a discussion board somewhere. He said that if you're a losing player, your bankroll requirements are infinite.

Poker Report from Party Poker Last Night

I played $1/$2 limit holdem at Party Poker with some webmaster friends of mine last night. I drank entirely too much Crown Royal while I was playing, but I got lucky and played okay. Interestingly enough, I got dealt pocket AA's five times in an hour, and won with them every single time. That's a new one for me. Won about $75 total and played for almost four hours. Like I said, drinking Crown Royal the entire time.



Boy does my head hurt this morning.



Got an email yesterday from another webmaster who I traded links with who turns out to live just ten miles from me. The poker world is a small one. He told me that he wasn't sure what linking to or from a blog would do to his SERP's, but I sure did look like I was having fun with my blog. And I guess I am.



Should probably put more personal poker logs and stuff up here, and I will, but I'm enjoying researching and doing some writing about some real topics too. Researching Stu Ungar for the profile I posted today was really fun.



That's about all I have to report this morning.

Stu Ungar - Poker Savant

I never met Stu Ungar, but boy I wish I had. Here’s what I know about him though: he was a phenomenally successful cardplayer and a real poker tragedy. Stu Ungar won the World Championship three times and had a total of five WSOP bracelets. He was also the winner of ten major NL Holdem tournaments with buy-ins of over $5000 each. Since he only played in 30 of these championship events in his life, this make his ten wins that much more amazing.







Stu Ungar was not only a brilliant no limit hold'em player, he was a world class gin rummy player. He’s famously know for the following quote: "Some day, I suppose it's possible for someone to be a better no kimit hold'em player than me. I doubt it, but it could happen. But, I swear to you, I don't see how anyone could ever play gin better than me."



Stu Ungar was well-known as a genius with a photographic memory. He was barred from playing blackjack nearly everywhere in Las Vegas because he was so good at counting cards. He won $83,000 playing blackjack at Caesars before the manager there barred him. Stu’s response was to correctly predict the next 18 cards that were coming out of the shoe.



He never had any other job in his life than gambling, and he became a professional gambler at the age of 14. His specialty as a teenager was gin rummy, and he consistently beat the best players in New York City over and over again. He made and lost over a million dollars at least four times during his short life, and he gambled on everything, not just cards, but also horses and golf.



Like most tragic figures, Stu Ungar had tragic flaws. Besides being infamous for being hateful to poker dealers, he was also a drug addict. Stu Ungar died broke at the age of 42 on November 22, 1998, in a room at the Oasis Motel in Las Vegas.



You can read more about Stu Ungar:



Poker Pages: Poker Greats: Stu Ungar



Stu Ungar - Poker Great



Know Your Poker Legends: Stu Ungar

How Sales is Like Poker (and vice versa)

I'm a sales manager during the day, and a webmaster and poker player when I'm not being a husband and a father. One of the things I do as a sales manager is figure out how to make my sales team more productive. As I learn more about poker, I've started using it as a metaphor for the sales process.



Sales leads are like starting hands in poker. If a sales lead is qualified, it's like a good solid starting hand. The more qualified a lead is, the better the starting hand. A really qualified sales lead, someone who calls you, knows exactly what she wants, and even demonstrates that she knows how she wants to pay for it, is very much like pocket kings or pocket aces.



Good poker strategy says you should get away from poor starting hands as quickly as possible. The longer you stay in with a hand that's going to get beat, the more money you're going to lose on the hand. Same thing with a lead that isn't qualified. If a sales lead wants to buy something you don't offer, you can spend a lot of time trying to get them to buy something they don't want, but at the end of the sales process, you're going to likely have spent a lot of time (chips) on a losing hand.



Good poker strategy says you should play tight but aggressive poker. Tight means you don't play many hands. In sales, that equates to not spending a lot of time on poorly qualified leads. Aggressive means that you raise more often than you call. In sales, that equates to going for the close, soon and often.



Good salespeople should make good poker players, and vice versa.

Phil Hellmuth Jr Seminar

Phil Hellmuth Jr will be the guest speaker at an online seminar sponsored by Ultimate Bet on Tuesday September 14 at 9pm ET. I guess Ultimate Bet offers these online poker seminars every Tuesday, which gives me one more reason to consider Ultimate Bet my favorite online poker room. And any chance to get to interact with Phil Hellmuth Jr is okay in my book!



The online poker seminars from Ultimate Bet are free and easy to enter, but they do require a real money player's account. You need to be on the website 30 minutes prior to the event to be able to actually register for the event. I'll be there, because I can't wait to see what Phil Hellmuth Jr is like in a seminar. (I love his book Play Poker Like the Pros, even though I know that some of the other poker experts online are less than impressed with it.)



If you don't already have an account with Ultimate Bet, you can sign up using the link below:

3 Poker Tournaments Tonight

Played in three poker tournaments tonight. Place 1st in one tournament, and 9th and 10th in the other two. Been playing very tight on the bubble and loose when I'm in the money. Seems to be working okay for me. Didn't have much luck in the first two games, but that third tournament where I hit 1st place sure was a treat!



I'll be in Vegas later this month, so I might try to play a little live poker while I'm there.

Phil Hellmuth's Top Ten Starting Hands

Phil Hellmuth's top ten starting hands are listed in his book Play Poker Like the Pros. The top ten starting hands are for hold em games, and Phil's recommendation for beginning players is to play these hands and only these hands when you're a beginner.



The top ten starting hands are any pair of 77's or better, plus AK and AQ, regardless of whether or not they're suited. Phil also recommends playing some additional hands when you get more skilled in holdem. The additional hands he recommends playing are suited connectors, 66's or smaller, and Ax suited.



The starting hand recommendations that Phil Hellmuth makes in this book were the easiest way for me to learn pre-flop play. I know a lot of folks are big believers in Sklansky's starting hand groups, and they certainly further break down what's playable and what's not, but Hellmuth's guidelines made it a lot easier for me to get my arms around what good hole cards were compared to what bad hole cards were.

Clonie Gowen - Wow!

I have a huge crush on Clonie Gowen. Was looking at Full Tilt Poker today and saw Clonie Gowen was part of the team there, and holy smokes is she pretty. Apparently Ms. Gowen lives here in Dallas, much like myself. She's married with kids, so she's off limits to me (not that she'd be interested in my 400 pound lousy-poker-playing self anyway), but since I'm married too, it would have never worked out.



From what I've read on the internet, Clonie Gowen has done very well in several poker tournaments in Costa Rica, and she won a World Poker Tour Ladies Night Invitational Tournament.



Here are a some sites about Clonie Gowen if you'd like to learn more about her:



Clonie Gowen's Official Site



Clonie Gowen in the World Poker Tour Ladies Night



Incredibly Gorgeous Photo of Clonie Gowen



Clonie Gowen's Biography at Full Tilt Poker



Poker Face - Clonie Gowen Featured in the Dallas Observer

Anaconda Poker

Anaconda is one of my favorite poker games to play at Christmas-time with my in-laws. It's a variation of seven card stud, and it's a heckuva lot of fun. Anaconda has basically the same rules as seven card stud poker, but with the following variations:



All cards are dealt face down before there is any betting.



Everyone bets.



Then everyone passes three cards to the player on his or her left.



Everyone bets again.



Then everyone passes two cards to the player on his or her left.



Everyone bets again.



Then everyone passes one card to the player on his or left.



Then there's a final round of betting.



Anaconda is also called "Pass the Trash".



As far as a legitimate strategy goes for Anaconda, I don't really know of one right offhand. It's definitely a kitchen table game.



You can read more about Anaconda Poker:



Rules of Anaconda Poker



You can read more about 7 card stud variants, including Anaconda, at:



Mike's Rules to 7 Card Stud Poker Variants

High School Senior on Poker

The Changing Face of Poker

Well written article by a high school senior about poker and its popularity. Very nice piece of work, and I thought folks might be interested in it.



As far as teen poker goes for me, I played penny ante poker with some buddies in high school. One of my friends swore up and down that his uncle was a card shark and had taught him to play. Naturally he lost every hand he was dealt and received no end of derision from me and my friends. His uncle apparently was also a pool shark. My friend fared little better playing pool, and he received an equal amount of derision about that too.



I listened to Eric Clapton for the first time during a poker game with my buddies. The album was Timepieces. I also listened to Robert Cray for the first time when we were playing poker. We were 17 or 18 years old at the time.



In college I had some friends who played poker in the dorms, and they played for real money, not the penny ante stuff we were used to playing for. It was controversial and the subject of much gossip in the dorm. One of those guys now occasionally joins me at some of the local poker clubs in Dallas.



After college, when I was in my early and mid twenties, we still got together for nickel ante games at my apartment, but I never seemed to improve as a player at all. These games were all excuses to drink whiskey and beer, socialize with friends, and eat junkfood. One guy we used to play with regularly was a pretty well off salesguy, or so he let on, who had once dated Playboy playmate Stacy Sanchez, or so he said. He was an awfully good poker player to be sure whether or not he was telling the truth.



Now I play online most of the time, for real money, and occasionally play in a cardroom. I've witnessed firsthand the changing face of poker in my own life and experience. The changes I like the most involve more profit from my play. The changes I like the least involve less interaction with my friends. And of course I seldome drink when I play anymore.

Poker News

Been reading the news online about poker--here are a few links to what I thought were interesting articles.



Poker proves a hot hand for the gaming industry

Online and off, card game draws players with money, competition.



Local businesses are cashing in on television poker craze

Metro-east retailers are cashing in their chips as poker's popularity has reached beyond Las Vegas and into American homes via televised poker tournaments.



‘Scotty Warbucks’ Wins

Article from Phil Hellmuth at Cardplayer

Thursday Night Poker in Dallas

Thursday night I played poker in Dallas. The poker scene in Dallas is a lively one, and I understand that there are over 30 cardrooms here. (I think that might be an understatement.) I've also read that if you can beat the poker games in Dallas, you can beat the poker games anywhere, because the players in Dallas are good. I don't know if that's true or not, but I took my $400 bankroll down to the club and sat down.



I met my friend Todd at Wizard's before going over to the poker club. Wizards has free poker tournaments on Tuesday and Thursday nights at 7pm and 10pm. Looked like they had about 100 or so players this last Thursday night, so it's obviously doing well for them. Had two shots of Crown Royal before heading over to the poker room.



I played in a single table tournament first, and busted out on my very second hand. I had pocket Q's and played them aggressively before the flop. I was heads up with a very attractive Asian girl who had suited connectors (hearts I think). She flopped her flush, and I flopped a set of Q's. She went all in and like a fool I called her. I keep forgetting that it takes a stronger hand to call a raise than it does to make a raise.



The cash game after the tournament went pretty well though. I won about $230 and seemed to make every draw that I attempted. This was a good thing too, because it made up for the $40 entry fee to the tournament, and it also made up for the $200 I lost there a couple of weeks beforehand.



Not much else to report, other than that I've been checking out some more poker rooms online, and I'll be writing some reviews of the different place soon. The online poker room I like best now is Ultimate Bet. Check it out--great software, and I won 2nd in my first SnG there too.

Poker Chip's Return

Okay. So I haven't written anything in a while.



I'm sorry.



But I'm back now, and I want to say that I've been on a poker bender.



Playing way too loose, and not willing to fold no matter what. I've been on an almost two month long tilt.



But I'm back. Cuz I've been re-reading a book called Zen and the Art of Poker. It's worth checking out.



I'll write more tomorrow. Tonight I'm pretty tired. And I want to go play poker over at Poker Stars.

Poker Tips from Poker Chip

Okay--so like I keep saying, I'm new to online poker, but I'm learning. Some of the lessons have been tough. I'm going to share a little bit of what I've learned so far.



1- Holdem is a fast game. Slow down and pay attention. Fold a lot before the flop.



2- Position is critical. You have more information about your opponents' hands when you're in later position, so you have an advantage. So you can play more hands in late position than you can play in early position.



3- Fold a lot.



4- Learn to figure out what the nuts are. The nuts is the best possible hand that can be made using the cards on the table. You have to be able to identify what the nuts are so you'll know whether or not you're holding them.



5- Fold a lot.



6- Play good cards. High pairs (10 or higher) are almost always good to play. Small pairs are sometimes good to play. Suited connectors are sometimes good to play. Big pairs prefer fewer players, and drawing hands, like small pairs and suited connectors, prefer more players.



7- You really are going to have to fold a lot. Pretend that every time you fold before the flop you're hitting your opponents over the head with a huge club, because in a way, that's exactly what you're doing.



8- The saying "Any two cards can win" is for suckers. Stick with good cards and good hands.



9- If you don't fold before the flop, a LOT of times you'll have to fold on the flop. It's just part of the game.



10- Get your emotions under control.



These are all things I wish I'd learned before I'd started playing instead of after.

Texas Holdem

Texas Holdem is a new website published by a good friend of mine. Please have a look. Texas Holdem is an information source about Texas Holdem online, and it includes online texas holdem tournament information, low stakes texas holdem game recommendations, and a complete texas holdem strategy section.



The gentleman who runs this site is a good friend of mine and is one heckuva good poker player too. We play online together almost every Wednesday night, and he pretty much helped me learn how to play. So check his site out.

Real Poker in a Real Cardroom

I was invited to play poker Monday night at a real cardroom for the first time. The first game was a NL Holdem Freeroll tourney with 20 players. 1st place got $75 and 2nd got $25. I placed 9th or so.



After that was the real money game. It was NL Holdem at $1/$2. I bought in for $100 and cashed out with $143, so I was pretty happy with booking a winning session. Especially since it was my first time to play in a real cardroom, as opposed to playing online.



At one point I had $350 or so in chips. This was after going all-in with AJo and flopping another AJ. The other two players had AQo and AKo and called me.



I lost all of that and more with a 2nd best flush with a Q high. The other player had the K. The ace was on the board.



All in all, very exciting time playing cards. Definitely going to try to play more face to face poker.

Sklansky's Hold Em Starting Hands

I took a beating last night. My plan is to focus really on hard on mastering the concepts in Sklansky's Hold Em Poker and Sklansky's Hold Em Poker for Advanced Players. I'm losing way too much money.



David Sklansky seems to think that if you master pre-flop play, you can break even. And that if you master play after the flop, then you can become profitable. I don't think I've come even close to mastering pre-flop play, so I'm going to focus on that for now. I'm going to be doing some studying before I even log back on to play. Playing poker online could become a very expensive habit if I don't take it seriously enough to actually learn how to play well.



I will share a success today though. A couple of months ago I won a satellite into the Wednesday Night Super Special at Party Poker. I came in 5th out of 811 players and won $6000. So even after all the losses I've posted about here before now, I'm way up for my poker career.



I think my eventual goal will be to make a side income of some sort playing poker online.

State of the Poker Bankroll

I've been playing a few SNG's at both Party Poker and Poker Stars. Last night I won 2nd in an SNG at Poker Stars, then today I lost one. My bankroll at Party Poker is currently $121.88, and at Poker Stars it's $88.00.



This of course keeps me involved in the fairly low dollar events, which is probably for the best. I'm in a learning and growth phase right now.



Sorry I haven't posted anything in a couple of days. Things have been hectic chasing after the twins. And work's been crazy!

Tournament Poker

Poker tournaments are great! I'd just about run my bankroll down to 0, so I deposited another $100 tonight. Bringing me to like $108. I played in 4 SNG's and hit first place in one of them, so my bankroll is now $176. My immediate goal is to run that up to $200, and then to $300. Baby steps. Little baby steps.



Anyone else with a poker blog who wants to trade links, please let me know.



Chip

Down Again

$45.13 Been playing ring games and trying to get my raked hands played so I can get my bonus money.



Been reading John Vorhaus's excellent book, Killer Internet Poker. LOVE it! Especially the section on data management. I've been trying to get a better hold on my statistical play and on my opponents.



Also--I signed up with PokerStars today. That's where Chris Moneymaker plays, I understand. Interesting software. Much smaller community of players too. Tried to sign up for Aloha Poker but had trouble logging in. I was going to play in a Free Roll with the gang over at Poker Analysis, but just couldn't make it happen.



But I've done okay so far at PokerStars. I think I'm up about $15 or so. I'll have to doublecheck.



Chip

A Little Bit of Profit Today

I decided yesterday that I need to get a little more basic and learn a little more and maybe change some of my thinking. So I started re-reading Sklansky's Hold Em Poker. Very early in the book Sklansky writes that NL holdem is not at all friendly, and no beginner should even play.



I decided that I'm still a beginner so I shouldn't play NL anymore for a while. So this morning I played in a Limit SNG for $10 and took 3rd, then I played some ring tables at 0.50/$1.00. I have some money in my bonus account that won't be released until I've played a certain number of raked hands, and I've only got until May 28 to do so. So that's going to be my focus for a bit.



Bankroll currently sits at $89.38, so I'm a little more than 1/10th of the way toward doubling up this week. The $39 bonus for playing the raked hands will help with that too.



Gotta go right now. My daughters are about to get up from their nap.



Chip

Poker Bankroll

Is now only $80.38. Had a horrible day. Lost just about every time I played. I'm going to spend some time studying and stick with the $10+$1 SNG's for a while now. And I think I might take tomorrow off entirely from poker and just concentrate on taking care of my twin daughters.



I lost today because I made a lot of bad decisions, and I had a run of bad luck.



My goal over the next week is to double that $80 bankroll of mine.



Chip

I placed 423 out of 747 Entrants

I made a really bad all-in with a flush and the other guy had the nut flush. I don't know why I'm compelled to make bad bets. $124.38.

More Tournaments

I hate second place. Bankroll is now $124.38. Playing in a $50 multi-table NL holdem tournament, since I couldn't win my way into the Saturday night special. Sigh.



Will let you know how this one turns out. After this, I'm done for the day though.



Chip

Another Lost Poker Tournament

I finally got the chance to play again this afternoon. My daughters made a big mess, and I had a helluva time getting them fed, but my wife returned and took over so I could play a little more.



I came in 4th. Went all in with 7's and some gal called me with A6o and flopped an A.



Bankroll is now $285.38.



Chip

Okay--Lost another Poker Tournament

I went all in with a pair of 7's in my pockets. Someone else had 9's, and a big stack, so he took me out quick. 6th place.



I'll try another poker tournament this afternoon. My twin daughters (20 months old) are up now, and my wife's out of the house, so I have to feed the girls and then entertain the girls.



My bankroll is currently at $311.38. I'm going to start posting the details of my bankroll in here too. I read somewhere that somebody's got a goal to make $100k in 7 days at Party Poker or something like that. I don't have a goal right now, but I AM going to post my bankroll figures in each post so everyone will know how I'm doing.



Chip

Welcome to Poker Chip's Poker Adventures

I'm going to be going by the name Poker Chip here, and I'm going to be describing some of my poker adventures playing online poker.

Today I'm trying to win my way into the Saturday night $200k multi-table tournament. I'm playing single table qualifiers to try to get in. My wife won't let me pay full price to enter a tournament, and I'm of the opinion that if I can't win my way in, I probably don't deserve to play in the big tourney anyway.

I just placed 7th in one qualifier (NL). And I'm going to play another one as soon as the table fills. Wish me luck.

Poker Chip