The British Poker Awards are back!

There are many ways to cast your votes again this year but there are two categories you are not allowed to have your say in unless you are Jesse May - the much loved American poker commentator and player or one of the five other members of this year's Judging panel. which include Bluff Europe, Poker Channel Europe, Poker Listings, Poker News or PokerStrategy.com.  These categories are Player of the Year and Best International Player.  While the three other awards you have to leave to 'Pro's Choice' are Best Card Room, Best Card Room Manager and Best Tournament Director.

But there are eleven other opportunites to have your voice heard as voting is going on.  The first thing you'll probably notice when you check in to cast your votes is Neil Channing's face - not a bad way to go really as he was voted the Best Cash Player in the inaugural British Poker Awards.  Neil is part of a video clip highlighting the 2010 event.  James Akenhead is there as the Best Tournament Player as well, while Sam Trickett was voted Best New Player.  The online side of the game saw awards go to Chris Moorman as Best Online Player while Best UK Poker Forum went to the Hendon Mob.  Best Contribution to Poker went to Vicky Coren and The Player of the Year honours went to Praz Bansi.
 
The 2011 awards saw some some players receiving second awards.  Vicky Coren was awarded Best Social Media User, Neil Channing got Best Blogger, Chris Moorman repeated as Best Online Player and Sam Trickett took Best Cash Player.  The faces changed for the other big categories with Jason Mercier awarded Best International Player, Kara Scott was recognized as Poker Personality of the Year and Jake Cody scooped as Best Tournament Player AND Player of the Year.

This year Sam Trickett is up for Best Cash Player again as well as Best Tournament Player, Chris Moorman is back as a Best Online Player nominee (can he three-peat?) and Neil, Kara and Vicky are also on one nominee list or another for their contributions to the game.

The awards ceremony takes place on 17th September aboard the Yacht H.M.S. President - for a very reasonable £21.85 including fees you can buy a general admission ticket which gives you an invite to the VIP player's cocktail party with live music and entertainment as well as your seat at the ceremony.  The historic yacht is docked on the Embankment in the City of London, so no anti-nausea medication required unless your favorite player loses.

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

Latest Poker News

Starting in July of this year, after the news that Shuffle Master cancelled its agreement to purchase the online poker company Ongame Network, mutters and whispers began to emerge regarding a Zynga/Ongame deal.  At the time the Shuffle Master/Ongame Network deal fell through, bwin.party issued a statement that Ongame Network was "re-engaging with other third parties that have expressed an interest in acquiring Ongame" after both itself and Shuffle Master "mutually agreed not to proceed with the proposed transaction".  Zynga's name came to the forefront of the rumours when Chief Executive Officer and founder of Zynga Mark Pincus stated that Zynga was actively exploring the real money gambling market internationally.

Having recently been beat to the Facebook real money gaming punch by Gamesys, it seems that if these current rumours are true and Zynga is no longer one of the companies touted to be in negotiations with the Ongame Network, they've lost out on another real-money gaming plum. Ongame is the second largest online poker network, with 30 faces including Hollywoodpoker, bwin, FullDeckPoker, Gala Casinos, Coral and Betfair.  Of course, the Ongame Network skins base their online gaming on more than poker, offering casino games, slot machines and sportsbetting among other real-money action.  They have skins aimed at Denmark (Scandic Bookmakers), Greece (Poker.gr), Russia (Fonbet) and almost every inch of the rest of Europe, and are heavily supported in the UK by multiple outlets.

However, the plum has been pruning a bit in the harsh climate created for online real-money gaming by the events surrounding the shutdowns of several major sites such as PokerStars and FullTilt poker by the U.S. Department of Justice which began in April 2011, just one month after Ongame went on the market.  Like many if not all of the other competing networks, Ongame has seen its player traffic down a hefty chunk over this last year and is surely hoping that the recent news of the PokerStars settlement with the U.S. authorities for itself and FullTilt signals a change in the weather for the better.

Come and play poker with Carl at www.pokerstars.co.uk  

The WSOP main event favourite?

He's been chosen as the favorite by betting sites to take down the 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event at 3-1 odds, and the man himself, Jesse Sylvia seems to agree with this by reportedly saying, "I will be the next champ."  The odds, and most likely a lot of Sylvia's confidence, are based on his chip lead.  He'll be sitting down in seat 6 at the Rio, Las Vegas on 28th October with a stack of 43.8 million chips.

Sylvia says he's learned a lot from fellow final tablist Russell Thomas, whom he roomed with in 2010.  Since that time, Thomas went on to a full time job as an actuary while Sylvia turned pro.  They had many conversations during the first 10 days of the 2012 Main Event, about chip counts and hands played and a few jokes about the impossible dream of them both making the final table.  But by the time they got to 10-handed they both just looked at each other, too speechless to do anything but shake their heads in wonder
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Jesse started playing with friends in home games during in his final year of high school in his home town of Martha's Vineyard.  He moved on to on-line play once he was in college, making small deposits and learning the game.  It was in his senior year that he stunned fellow students and himself by cashing in a big Sunday online tournament for over $100,000 - playing in the university's math lab because his own laptop was broken.  He's had many peaks and valleys since he started playing, but Jesse says he needs those in his life, not just working a regular job in an office.

Though Sylvia says he can live on no money and be very happy, and in just making the final table has made a lot of money, he does recognize that it's not the kind of money to do whatever you want for the rest of your life.  But still his gut instinct tells him that come 28th October, Jesse Sylvia will be 'going for the glory' and the WSOP Main Event bracelet.

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

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