Episode #91 recap
MAIN TOPIC
We scoured every tube on the Internet to bring you a motley group of 10 great poker blogs and 10 great poker Web sites. Hopefully a few of them are new to you. Check 'em out, and let us know what you think, and let us know what ones we missed:
BLOGS
hammerplayer.blogspot.com is the blog of Hoyazo, from New York. He's a key member of the WPBT and a fine player. What I like about his blog is he talks a lot about theory as he weaves in his results and daily thoughts. He has a nice following and there are a lot of comments. He is the Hammer Player. He also has an index of poker strategy posts.
guinnessandpoker.blogspot.com is the blog-father of poker, but Chris still doesn't understand it.
taopoker.blogspot.com: Dr. Pauly is good for circuit updates, photos and articles of current news.
loukrieger.blogspot.com: Poker author means good writing; good writing means good reading.
pokerati.com: It's the complementing site to the show Beyond the Table, and the blog is current, keeping track of news, for instance, the Texas bill HB3186 to make Texas Hold Em legal was introduced on March 8 and it's up on the blog the same day.
fullcontactpoker.com/poker-journal.php: Daniel Negreanu doesn't blog every day, he averages a post every 3-4 days, but he's very honest and holds no punches. He also has a poker video diary.
joesebok.com: Chris likes the site as a whole, but the blog, like Daniel's is honest and funny. It's a whole multimedia experience, from music to photos.
kickasspoker.blogspot.com is a fun blog by someone named Haley, and it mixes news with an edgy but humorous voice. The site is pretty complete with a forum, leagues, news, etc.
1struleofpoker.com is an interesting blog in that the owner of the site offers his hands up a lot for evaluation. It's not about news, just his opinions and explorations of rules. If you like to analyze hands, etc. this site is pretty good.
apairandadraw is a blog that is from a guy named Patrick who plays pretty high stakes in Vegas. His site has some "strong" stuff on it. And a lot of blogs seem to do that, and that's the beauty of blogs, you can't be censored. But most if not all of the blogs mentioned are pretty clean.
WEB SITES
worldpokertour.com: Search for videos of every hand of every broadcast on the WPT, and get information on when tournaments are, how to qualify for them and how to watch them in person.
pokertop10.com: Large collection of Top 10 lists, from easy ones like Top 10 Starting Hands and Top 10 Online Poker Rooms, to fun ones like Top 10 Poker Movies (Cincinnati Kid!) and interesting ones like Top 10 Resources to Avoid Poker Cheats
homepokertourney.com: Great resource for setting up a home game, with links to chips, tables, cards and clocks, advice on how to run a tournament, such as seating and moving players, and Scott's favorite - how to build a kegerator
wizardofodds.com: Best site you’ve never heard of. Loads of terrific info on all forms of gambling. In fact, if you’re going to play any other casino game besides poker, this is the ONLY site you should be visiting. But Michael Shackleford has recently added a lot of valuable calculations on Texas Hold’em, including power rankings based on how many players are left at the table
pokerpages.com: Everything-but-the-kitchen sink type of site, with up-to-date news, articles, player profiles, etc., but what we like best about it is the Cardroom and Tournament databases. You can quickly find details about all the big rooms and tournaments
allvegaspoker.com: Great reviews of every Las Vegas poker rooms, with amazing detail (not only types of games, but how regularly they’re spread). Lots of trip reports and competing and complementary reviews are also posted, too, giving you a very good idea of what to expect before stepping foot in any of the rooms.
pokereh.com: All things poker in Canada, from a cardroom directory, to tournament listings and information on laws. Forums and profiles of Canadian pros
holdemhumor.com: Has submitted jokes, one-liners and cartoons, as well as links to other poker stuff. One timely joke: Nicky OD was playing 10-20 hold'em and was stuck about 300 dollars when he looked down beside the table and saw a little green leprechaun. Quit playing poker forever right now and I'll give you a pot of gold worth a million dollars, said the little fellow. Nicky replies, Let me get even first.
pineapple-poker.com: Dedicated to teaching the basics of a great hold’em variant where you’re dealt three cards and have to discard one. Can be played hi/lo, too. Stock up on Tylenol
gambling-law-us.com: Run by Colorado lawyer Chuck Humphrey, it has a very easy to use search of state laws concerning poker. He’s posted comments on the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, as well.
OTHER TOPICS
THE STREETS OF ST. PETERSBURG: Chris "Evel Knievel" Cosenza almost rubs Scott off the road on the commute to work. Scott wonders how Chris has time to shower and catch up to him.
MOOSE: As if we didn't already have enough nicknames for the lesser host, here's a new one
TIMES, THEY ARE ACHANGIN': Sadly, we lost the services of our amazing producer Dave, so we're doing the best to pick up the pieces. Look for Ante Up! every Friday now.
AIPS: Don't forget - Saturday (March 10) at noon Eastern on FTP, PLO!!!.
SARASOTA SLIM: Chris takes his spare tire to One-Eyed Jacks in Sarasota on Monday to meet up with Ante-Upper ChicagoMike. Join 'em if you have the time.
THE MAD GENIUS OF PINELLAS PARK POKER: Chris finally managed to convince some ladies he was teaching that it's OK to peek at your cards when you're in the "blinds," and some of them actually did pretty well in a tournament he ran.
CRUISIN' WITH DA FISH: Jake from Boston phoned in to ask how to strategize for playing poker on a cruise ship. Our advice: Don't bluff. You'll get called.
ONE-MINUTE MYSTERY: Columbo returns with what appears to be an easy decision concerning AK. But what we love best about Columbo is the decision is never as easy as it might seem. What would you do?
HAND OF THE WEEK: Amy from New York graciously agrees to sacrifice herself on the altar of Omaha education by sharing a hand from the Omaha Hi/Lo portion of a HORSE tournament. Amy readily admits she's learning the game, so we gave her some important pointers when playing O8:
Starting hands are critical: With four cards, winning hands are going to be stronger, so your starting requirements need to be tighter. You want four cards that work together, and in O8, you preferably want low and high cards so you can scoop.
Be wary of any flush that's not the nuts: For that matter, be wary of any hand that's not the nuts. With so many cards out, it's very likely you're beat if you flop just a Jack high flush. And when the board pairs, very likely someone has a boat, and when three low cards are on deck, you'll be splitting the pot if you don't have a low, so factor that into your pot odds calculations.
- SCOTT
Christopher Cosenza is co-host of the longest running poker podcast on the planet, Ante Up! He started playing poker seriously in 2003 and his favorite players are Phil Ivey and Kenna James, though he tends to act like Phil Hellmuth if you make a bad play against him.
Scott Long, Ante Up!'s other co-host, is the author of the monthly Bet on It column in tbt*. He began gambling way too young (don't tell the fuzz!) and in the seventh grade, named his state "Gambleland" for a school project (State Animal? Loan shark, of course).
60mb file is too big for an hour long audio podcast!
Posted by: MrDonkee | March 09, 2007 at 06:26 PM
Yeah, I have to compress it. My default setting made it too big. I have it fixed now. I'll see if I can have it changed at work, but I won't be returning until Tuesday.
Posted by: Chris Cosenza | March 09, 2007 at 06:48 PM
Great topic. Even though borne from necessity, I love your review of the blogs. This is what the internet is today. And cross-promotion is great, it is exactly what MySpace is doing and what everyone else is trying to copy the success of (like Yahoo!).
I have several forum and other accounts and I´ll put Ante Up! in my signatures etc. What would be better, a link to the blog or the podcast (I guess the blog).
This is called viral promotion and it´s teh cool thing to do.
About MySpace, you might want to create blog entries there that consist of a link to these blog entries. I´ll do that on my MySpace blog too, which I otherwise don´t use.
If I think of other stuff, I´ll post it here.
Posted by: Erwin Blonk | March 10, 2007 at 04:55 AM
Is it just that my web surfing skills are lacking or is there no direct download link to the current podcast?
Posted by: Atomic | March 10, 2007 at 11:35 PM
Here's how I create blogs with liks to the Ante Up! blog (and my own :D :
http://blog.myspace.com/ante_matter
You can also include a podcast enclosure. I'll have to figure out what they mean by that (one show or the complete series) and I'll include that with either every post, or just the show recaps.
Posted by: Erwin Blonk | March 11, 2007 at 09:23 AM
Almost forgot, I was browsing a Dutch pokerforum some time ago and I guy asked if I was THE Erwin from Ante Up! :D
I said yes and used in a subtle way to promote the blog and podcast. And I have a fun time finding ways to get the word out without coming off as a j-a$$ 419-style or penny stock scamming spammer. Actually I spent more time figuring out how to promote than playing poker :D
I think it should be possible to hit 10K on the blog sometime soon.
Posted by: Erwin Blonk | March 11, 2007 at 04:57 PM
Chris, you sounded like Lerch on this episode. You OK?
Posted by: JLBSox | March 12, 2007 at 09:16 PM
Two more for ya!
http://betting.betfair.com/annette_15/ - She should be on your Famous Poker Players Sites list!
And for some poker satire try the excellent if occasionally a bit sick http://www.meltedfelt.com/
Posted by: apal | July 10, 2008 at 08:07 AM