The FTP balances

Christmas bonuses are not really relevant for professional poker players.  Even recreational players don't equate the holiday season with poker unless there happens to be a great tournament they can make around that time or the extra time off they might get from their day jobs gives them extra playing time.

This year, however, anyone who has a balance on Full Tilt Poker (formerly known, at best, as a balance in limbo) might be feeling like a Christmas bonus is coming their way.  Many, if not most, of the on-line players who had money on FT when the ground fell out from under us courtesy of the U.S. Department of Justice shut-down, had gradually stopped thinking of their balance as real money as the reality of the big freeze took hold.  The loss sank in more quickly for some, but it was painful for all.

And now, TA DAH!  The official announcement has finally come that balances will be repaid, and we can be done with hints, inklings and speculation at long last - at least regarding the legitimacy of the PokerStars/Full Tilt deal.  International players have the most clear-cut information at this point: www.pokerstars.co.uk  will be repaying balances in full.  U.S. players have to apply to the U.S. Department of Justice, which is quite a bit more daunting.

But any online player who had a balance on Full Tilt now finds their balance changing colors - again.  If they had money on the site, they were in the black.  Losing that balance put them in the red.  Now come the shades of grey.  Some view it as 'found' money and have said they'll splurge with it.  Some have 2010 tax debts that must be paid (or repaid).  Many are saying they plan to leave their balances on Full Tilt because 'the best poker software in the world run by the best poker business in the world' will be their best bet.  But the resounding feeling from all players is 'Tis the season to be jolly!'.

Poker in Prague

The city of Prague is home to many wonders, ancient and modern.  Some of the newest:
The infamous Ice Bar atop the Hilton Hotel - where the customers all look like Jedi knights once they're wrapped up in the hooded cloaks the bar provides.  Though I'm not sure Yoda would approve of the 'Minus 9', the most popular cocktail the bar serves: vodka, cranberry juice and elderberry syprup, served in a beaker made entirely of ice, as is most everything else in this balcony bar overlooking the city.

Fancy hurtling down a mountain at 62km?  The Prague Bobsleigh track begins gently enough but the pace picks up very quickly as you ride on your little sled down and down through eight looping curves.  There is a handbreak and helmet provided for the more sensible adventurist.
But possibly the most exciting experience Prague offers in 2012 is the MindSports Festival in November/December.  On offer will be Scrabble, eSports, Backgammon, Bridge, Risk and a stunning three weeks of poker events.

The Prague Poker Festival will take place 26th November through 16th December at the King's Casino and 5-star Corinthia Hotel.  Numerous titles are on offer here including World Poker Tour, PokerStars European Poker Tour and the Grand Series of Poker Live.

The WPT main event will start with day 1A on 3rd December and run through the 9th.  They've included 3 starting days for this 3300euro entry event.
The EPT main even will follow starting on 9th December through the 14th - a six day event with an entry fee of 5300euro for which structures will be published later this month.

The GSOP live begins their 1000 + 100 euro main event on 12th December for four days of play ending on the 15th.

The World Sit 'n' Go Masters kicks off the Prague Poker Festival on 27th November with a 2,200euro entry, four day event.  Another notable is the Kings High Roller two day event with an entry fee of 20k euro running 7th and 8th December.  888, win365 and PokerTraveller all have events lined up as well (many of which have entry fees around 500euro) to make this festival a fantastic reason to visit Prague and experience as many wonders as you can handle.

Carl "The Dean" Sampson plays poker at www.pokerstars.co.uk

Value betting is the key

One of the key areas where players fall down in no limit play is by not extracting the full value from their hands or as much value as they possible could. Let us say that the total possible losses in poker amount to $500,000 per year while the total possible gains amount to the same.

A good player may reduce those losses by $100,000 over the space of a year and come close to maximising their value and have $450,000 in gains. This leaves them with a net plus of $50,000 in profits. Poker is about maximising the value that you get from winning hands. If you do not try to do this all the time and you are merely "satisfied" with winning pots then you will stagnate as a poker player.

Quite often you will need to value bet in spots where other players may fear to bet at all. Like for example if you have 10c-10d and the board is 9-5-2-A-5. If you bet the river then there are many hands that can call you that called on the flop. Hands like top pair or 8-8, 7-7 and 6-6. If you do not like the thought of betting fully for value then you can dovetail the number of hands that beat you to the size of your value bet. So however thin or thick your value is can be tailored to your value bet size.

Come and play poker with The Dean at www.pokerstars.co.uk

Making a living from poker

Is it possible for a player to make a living from poker with almost no money? Well that depends on the player and how good they are. The answer to the question is "yes" but that comes down to how good the player is and not how much they have has a bankroll.

A strong NLHE player will be able to use a 20 buy in bankroll at say NL50 which is only $1000. Even a mediocre winning reg who won say $5/100 hands would make $15/hour plus rakeback and sign up bonuses.

Adding rakeback and sign up bonuses would add another $5/hour and so a mediocre winning player could make $20/hour. For a 50 hour working week then this equates to $1000/week and $50,000/year. This is not the kind of money to make you rich but we are talking about money that at least 99% of the online poker playing population couldn't earn.

In fact there is no way that even 1% of the playing population were earning $50,000+. With a global poker population of around 50 million then 1% is 500,000 people. So if 500,000 people were taking $50,000 or more from the economy then the entire online industry couldn't sustain those losses. That equates to $25 billion. I would be surprised if even one player in a thousand made $50k from playing online poker.

Carl "The Dean" Sampson plays poker at www.pokerstars.co.uk