Call me old fashioned, fuddy duddy, whatever I don’t care.  But I hate the Transformer movies, they are just too way out and unrealistic for me.  What next??  We’ll have video poker machines transforming themselves into fighting machines taking on the aliens and defending the planet… lead by the one armed bandito…

What a load of cruck!

We already have machines playing a more active role in war and now many of them are unmaned flying machines and robots etc.  And, I am sure that in the future whole battles will be faught by machines, guided by humans.  But the transforming thing just goes too far for me.

Luck comes and goes…

You’ve heard it all before, but how true it is.  So no matter how bad things are going or how bad your cards are, you have to hang in there, because it will turn.  Psychologically it is very tough to hang in there, whilst everyone else is getting the cards or whilst you are trying to play with marginal hands… but you have to do it!

And, it can also go the over way, when you are riding a rich run of luck, use it to your full advantage because it wont last forever.

Patience is one of the toughest things to learn at the poker table.  You cant push your luck, or force your luck too much… wait for it to come!

Heh isn’t this a blog about video poker?  So where are the video poker tips?

Ok lets talk about a few tips if you are a video poker player.

First lesson is to forget all that you have learnt from playing real poker!  All you need to know is the hand rankings.

1. In video poker don’t hold the kicker card, get rid of it.  A kicker only decreases your chances of making a winning hand in video poker.

2. The ace is not the best card in the deck when playing some video poker games, because the best card is actually the lowest card that qualifies for a pair - then it can be used in more straights.  Example a jack can be used in any straight from 7,8,9,10,J through to 10,J,Q,K,A.  But the ace can only be used in two straights A,2,3,4,5 and 10,J,Q,K,A.  So sometimes in video poker you will want to get rid of an ace when you have three mixed suited high cards.

The exception is that bonus games can put a higher value to aces.

3. Remember, in video poker, a hand’s worth is determined only by the payment schedule.  A pair of jacks is just as strong as a pair of aces.

4. Always consider the possibility of making a royal flush in video poker, even with two or three cards still to go.  You would never do that in normal poker.

Thats a few video poker tips to keep you going for now.  Satisfied?  More to come…

Ok I know video poker and poker are what you like, but its great fun trying out some new casino games and learning some new winning strategies in the casino.  It opens the mind and allows you to apply some new thinking to the way you play casino games.

The other thing is that you should always keep an eye on what is happening out there, lets face it the online gambling and online casino industry is a very competitive place - they will do anything to attract customers, especially during these harder times.

Its worth searching for better bonuses and free games, because they out there, all you have to do is find them.  Good luck.

There are some poker players who have a huge presence at the table or even online you still get a feeling of what kind of player is playing - tight, aggressive, loose…

When watching High Stakes Poker, I really enjoyed these last few episodes that have Tom Dwan and Patrik Antonius playing.  Dwan seems to rattle the others a bit, he does get lucky but he also seems to intimidate them.  He plays aggressive yet controlled poker, but you just never know with him, because some of the time he turns up the cards.  Sometimes you watch his play and think how can he get away with that?  And, yet somehow he does - not always, but most times.

Then there is Antonius who just sits there solid as a rock not giving anything away, actually this is probably the most I have ever seen him smile and talk!  Only he could pull off that huge bluff against Dwan right at the end (whoops sorry giving it away…).  Notice how he decides early on that he is going to bluff his way through and his aggressive style bullies his opponents.

Interesting to hear that Antonius has never read a poker strategy book and has just learnt the game by playing and learning from his mistakes.

I have just received my CardPlayer magazine in the post and have been glued to the poker magazine for the last 24 hours solid.  Learning poker from the pros is the quickest way to improve your poker skills.  What I really like about CardPlayer is that they have so many informative articles on how poker pros have played certain hands.  So when you are faced with a decision to make, you can think, how would Daniel Negreanu have played this hand?…

One good thing is that it looks like the old boys in Congress might be getting closer to reversing the legislation.  Barney Frank and Jim McDermot Inc…. say that online poker players could expect to see some changes in the near future… sounds like a safe politician’s statement… non-committal and just enough to get everyone’s hopes up… but staying positive lets hope there will be change to the legislation, enforced soon.

I guess what I like the most is the quality of the articles in CardPlayer.  From the poker strategy through to all the listings of poker tournaments and how the players performed - its got it all.  Most magazines I just flip thru, read a few lines here and there, look at the pictures… but not CardPlayer… just cant put it down.

We have this Jack Russell Terrier who is the craziest little guy.  He has been spoilt a lot, so we have our hands full trying to control him.  More than once he has sent the chips flying at a home game of poker!

Thing is that he is central to our lives and we have probably given him too much attention.  If any of you have ever had a Terrier you will know all about how hyper active they are and what a handful they can be.  At least he is small and not a big Labrador like Marley in “Marley and me“.  Now that dog really is out of hand, humping the dog trainer, had me in tears…

We’ve been watching “The Dog Whisperer” on television, he is brilliant!  He is so calm and in control, the dogs obey and understand him.  In fact Cesar Millan is so good, that I bought his book “Cesar’s Way” and I haven’t put it down since the weekend.  He even has his own website for those that are interested in learning more or getting one of his books.

I have tried some of the techniques, but you have to be patient and keep trying them.  We have to do something to stop the cards and chips flying around during a poker game.  Otherwise my mates are not going to come around anymore!

After watching these guys on High Stakes Poker, you realize what good actors they are.  It helps that you know exactly what cards they have and what they are trying to do, whilst the other players just get to see the poker actors…

Episode 7 of High Stakes Poker came out a few days ago.  They have a new crew and although all of them are good poker actors, this time they have thrown in a couple of writer/producers to liven things up - do you know them?

Did you know that The Simpsons has run for 20 seasons?  Thats amazing!

Mind you Antonius doesn’t act, he just doesn’t show any emotion at all what so ever… but then you would struggle to get a word in at this table - no-one shuts up, there’s talking all the time.

The Magician, Antonio Esfandiari, or kid as they keep calling him, wins a part in a Nick Cassavetes movie and does ok for himself at the poker table, in this clip at least.  Would you feel comfortable playing against a magician?

And suddenly Antonius starts to talk… wow… maybe the producer of the show told him to speak up.  They start a side bet on Cassavetes rating of Pulp Fiction, the poker must be boring them…

Ok so you wanted something more current from the world of poker entertainment.  This is the latest poker play I could get off the net…

Some more High Stakes Poker for you… its split into four clips, have you seen this poker game?

Its the best way to learn poker or improve your poker game.  Watching the poker pros and what they do in the various situations teaches you poker strategy.

Daniel Negreanu doesn’t have a lot of luck trying to get his flush.  When he does flop the nuts, no-one wants to play… Barry Greenstein challenges Elezra but he wont take the bait… and Tom Dwan continues to get some cards even though Sahamies doesn’t believe him…

Watching High Stakes poker, its never a dull moment!  Episode 5 is out now, but I want to show an old clip from Episode 3, to point out how the pros bet.

There’s a nice mix of some new faces on these latest episodes, together with some of the old favorite poker pros.  Brian Townsend and Paul Wasicka join them.  Its got some great bluffs, they split a pot before even seeing a flop and the comments flow as normal…

Look carefully at how the poker pros bet after the flop, they make strong statements about what they have, or what they want to bluff.  The other players read these bets and then decide whether its worth staying in the game or getting out whilst they can.