Note to self: Fix blog so it doesn't crash when there's an apostrophe in the title. Would save hours of wasted re-typing.

Anyway... hello! Yes it is indeed pretty. If you hadn't noticed, the blog has had a bit of an overhaul, with some fairly sizeable improvements:

1. Design - isn't it lovely? Check this weeks poll in the right navbar to let me know what you think. Speaking of which...

2. Polls - in the right navbar. Please do vote on them, it'll be great to run some decent surveys of consumer opinion.

3. Search - it actually does something useful now! Like searching the blog!

4. Hand replayer - a bit smaller, much prettier and will sit 10 people. I'm also hoping to have it handle many many more sites, but I'm waiting for some people to get back to me on that.

5. RSS - there's now loads of little webby buttons that technies can click to syndicate, aggregate and combobulate the blog posts.

6. Er... - that's it. Oh, I added... more.

After yesterday's rather all too serious post about the psychological and emotional side of poker at the tables, today is a bit lighter.

Here's a list of fun stuff that's poker related for you to look at. So enjoy, laugh, wet your pants (if that's your thing), then go back to work!

Blind Man's Bluff

Chris Moneymaker takes down another prestigious WSOP title.

A Short History Of Fish

A hilarious read from a poster at 4KingPoker. It's a nice forum, ... more.

Poker is a funny old game isn't it? Some days I love it, some I hate it. Some I can think of nothing I'd rather do than sit and play for hours on end, and some days I can barely stand the thought of looking at another deck of cards.

But, I want to make something from my poker "career" (hah!), so I'm sticking to playing as often as I can for now. I (still) don't really have large enough chunks of time to play tourneys, so I'm stuck with the cash. Today wasn't too bad, but it had it's ups and downs.

It's really hard to avoid the mindset of "Oh balls, nothing is hitting. I have a bazillion outs and, typical, I missed them all. I'm destined to lose, and I'm constantly scared that even when I have a good hand I'm going to get drawn out on". This sort of thing leads to passive scared poker, which is seriously detrimental to my bankroll.

Over the last few sessions, I've let myself get a bit too concerned over the money, and so I become wrapped up in how much I'm losing. As I ... more.

Ooooh, two posts in one day! Well, I had to share this: I've had a couple of readers ask about RSS feeds.. but since I wrote this blog software myself, there wasn't one.

Well now there is. I was going to save this for the upcoming facelift that we're having, but I couldn't resist it. You can see a nifty new button at the bottom of the navbar that says "Entries RSS", with a flashy little orange icon. Click it!

The savvy among you will have noticed that it says "Entries RSS", implying that there will be more different RSS feeds later on. Indeed there will, clever reader :)

I've also set up "automatic feed discovery" on this page, plus I've subscribed to FeedBurner, so my new burned URL is http://feeds.feedburner.com/All-InPokerBlog. I'm not sure what this does for me, but everyone else seems to be doing it.

If you haven't noticed already, I'm a bit new to this wh... more.

Had a bad beat? Why not sue someone? Everyone else is...

Shana Hiatt sues WPT

Shana Hiatt is undoubtedly one of the hottest poker presenters around. She's gorgeous, natural in front of the camera and can make interviews with even the most dull players exciting. Unfortunately, we haven't seen her on our screens since Spring 2005 when she left WPT claiming that her colleages had created a "hostile working environment" by spreading rumours about her.

Well now she's back. And trying to get a job with NBC, until WPT's CEO Steve Lipscomb stepped in and contacted NBC on her behalf, stating that she was still under an anti-competition contract and so was not legally allowed to work for direct competitors to the WPT.

Shana has filed her complaint (to be heard on October 17th this year) stating that a) she never signed such a waiver, and b) her contractual obligations... more.

Hands up those who read poker magazines regularly.

You don't? But they're so cool! They tell you about current poker news - what's going on in the live and online worlds of poker all around world, legislation, about recent large tournament results - so if you had a bet on someone you can see if you won or not, they give you special offers into private tournaments usually with large added value prize pools... and so on.

There are a few around - Inside Edge, WPT Magazine and even a new one called Woman Poker Player, but my favourite is definitely PokerPlayer. Firstly, is so cheap! Secondly, it always give an honest view of anything it's journalists cover - if a new site or card room is rubbish, they'll ... more.

I've lost count of the number of times I've seen new (and old!) players claim that poker rooms are rigging their shufflers. The wide and varied range of reasons why they must be doing this includes:

• Someone lost a 4 outer... on the river. Twice.
• Someone lost money to a really bad player.
• Someone always loses at certain limits.

The list of reasons as to why the poker sites would want to do this is even crazier:

• It encourages action, so the site earns more rake.
• It teaches cocky players a lesson.
• It favours certain seats so affiliates win more.

And so on...

While it seems unobvious to these players that poker sites are earning enough money as it is without resorting to shuffle fiddling, rational arguments cannot successfully dispel this urban legend and repeated attempts just give me a headache.

But anyway - there is perhaps light at the end of the tunnel. Or more accurately... more.

Just a quick note to say I've been mighty busy with work and univeristy, and haven't had time to play any poker in the last few days. Hopefully I will get a lot done over the weekend and over next week when we have a break from lectures, so I'll be able to get back into a decent routine of playing every day.

I've noticed a few mentions of the whole, "I'm going to build a bankroll from scratch" thing that I'm trying to get off my fat can and do. There's a mention of someone who lost a large chunk of their bankroll and so is going back to the penny tables over at PokerForums.org, and I found a new blog today called The $25 Challenge. One to keep an eye on!

Oh god I had to share this one. Tuff Fish is an online player and is well renowned for his funny little videos, but this one is truly comical. He just hates getting beat! (The video is slightly NSFW)

Before he calls on the end, he puts the guy on a hand that beats him, then calls anyway! I'd be just as angry if I did the same thing.. ha ha. I wonder if he reloaded and kept playing afterwards?

There loads more of his little clips all over the place. You might not get much work done if you start watching them all though!

Tilting, steaming, chucking a mental - all comm... more.

Either my cash game is improving, micro limit is full of donkeys, or I got a bit lucky. Either way, my cash roll is now up to a healthy ~$14.50, and I have renewed optimism for actually building a useful amount of money from it.

The first hand today is a bit of fun really (View this hand in the hand replayer - it didn't come out quite right, still a few bugs that need clearing up obviously. It's still viewable though). I had JJ UTG+1 and raised plenty, only to be re-raised. I decided that the chance he had a bigger pair than me was pretty good, but getting almost 3-1 on the call, I made it.

What happened next was poetry in motion. Firstly, the third J came on the flop. Secondly, I checked, and thirdly - the villain goes all in. Beautiful! Watch the replay for the full glory :)

Anyway, so the second hand is a bit more serious. In t... more.

Online poker is becoming ever more advanced. New fancy graphics and smoother clients are being replaced by 3D representations of the players (with customisable gestures! I only wonder where that can lead...) and chips, tables, cards etc. But now, a patent has been filed for what can only be described as "remote control poker".

The patent describes the idea below:

"A technique is described where on-line players may participate in a table game involving physical elements such as a gaming table, players at the table, dealers, croupiers, betting chips, cards, dice, a roulette wheel, etc ... Electronic sensors in the table, or other detectors, sense the dealt cards and bets, and the data is communicated to the remote players. The remote players enter commands via a network (e.g., the Internet), and those commands are carried out at the physical table by the dealer placing bets for the player, dealing cards, or any other action ... At the end of the ses... more.

I'm talking about poker software today. There seems to be a wave of it washing over the online pro world - odds calculators, player note takers, hand replayers, statistic producers and even... bots. There's been speculation for a while now as to whether they exist or not, and now we have proof. It's all there with promises of improving your game, making you a better player, making it more fun, and ultimately - increasing your profits.

So what about bots? For the tiny sum of just $199, you can get your hands on a program that will earn you a "risk free $750-$1500 every day". And, it's tax free apparently. I don't think this can be true in the USA though, since gambling is tax deductable. Lie #1. They promise 100% guaranteed success (lie #2), no more losing days (lie #3)... blah blah blah.

Of course, it's all a bit dodgy. The "screenshots" page shows only one capture, and it looks entirely unconvincing. Before I part with almost $200, I want good hard proof that ... more.

In the spirit of my recent post on Karma in poker, I thought I should share this.

I came across this thread on a forum I visit today. It's a real example of why slowrolling and generally being a prat at the table is going to come back and bite you in the end.

Slowrolling is not a nice thing to do. Why do people do it anyway? Because it makes them feel big? Because they enjoy playing with someone else's emotions? Building their hopes of winning up, then smushing them like a paper cup.. it's unsportsmanlike, ungentlemanly, and a malicious thing to do.

Well, this guy got what he deserved, and with any luck he'll learn his lesson and stop being a git.

On an unrelated note, I'd normally post a hand history of mine in the Pokerstars Hand Replayer today, but I don't have any interesting ones to share, and something rather interesting has cropped u... more.

Is online poker getting old? Reading around the poker blogosphere this week, I see more and more people saying how they're moving from online poker to live poker, mainly because live poker is becoming boring for them - it's become as much a job as the ones they left to get into the poker scene.

The novelty of sitting at home in your pants and being able to play card games and win money for 10 hours a day has faded away, and we're now left with a new poker term - "the grind". It's an obvious one really, since playing poker online professionally can feel like a regular 9-5 office job.

You're stuck behind a desk for a vast majority of the day (and sometimes night!), staring at a computer screen, playing a very repetitive game to eke out a small profit each month. It's a solitary, slow and monotonous job - hence the term "grind".

I think also the nature of the beast is changing. Online poker is becoming more popular, or at least more new players are filling the... more.

I've been playing more cash games. It was a good session today - I'm up 1.25 buy ins ($2.41), after a couple of interesting hands. The majority of the session was grinding, but I'm pleased to have regained Wednesday's losses. Two hands leapt to my attention today, and are well deserving of further attention.

Hand 1 - the unlucky one

Firstly, an unlucky hand (view in the Poker Stars Hand Replayer) against a monkey who clearly has money to burn.

Preflop: no raise. I'm out of position on the BB, with an almost premium hand, against a wide field of limpers. I am happy to let this one go when it misses most of the time. Luckily, I hit, and bet plenty.

The two callers confuse me slightly, so I bet again on the turn. Not as much relative, but still enough to slash their odds. One caller calls.

The min-raise on the river is horrible. At this point, I'm almost sure I'm beaten, but I can't... more.

If you've ever considered building your own poker table, check our this short video. It *is* possible, and you *can* build a sweet table, complete with cushion rail for you and your buddies to play on!

Once you've watched the video, check out Will Dowie's poker table build site for more info on what, where, when, why and how. And how much, heh.

I've always wanted to have a crack at building a table. The small, sharp cornered, way too low coffee table at my old house just didn't cut it. I want something that makes me feel like a king when I push all in, and is strong enough to take a beating when I don't get to rake it all back again. ... more.

View hand in the Poker Stars Hand Replayer.

Argh! Every time I log on to PokerStars, it seems that they're having a server restart in 5 hours time, and no SNGs will start until after then. So what am I supposed to do with my time? Something useful!? No.

I decided that now would be a good time to play some cash games. I load up a few tables, have some uneventful hands, then this beast happens.

I hate it when this happens. And it happens remarkably often. Some plank raises out of position with a mediocre hand, and my good one gets destroyed. Or, I raise in position with a premium hand, get called by everyone, and get destroyed. Or lastly, I raise with a premium, and everyone folds.

Phew.. I think my rant is over now. But seriously, did I go massively wrong with this hand? I didn't want to re-raise preflop, since I know I get called and the hand would proceed exactly as it did, only there'd b... more.

There is another side to poker, that isn't just about playing the game and being a better player. The other side is becoming more and more prevalant, and harder to escape from. Want to get rich quick?

I'm talking about the get rich quick fiends that are moving into poker territory, and starting to pray on us. Here's an example: The Micon System. Now, Bryan has undoubtedly had some success, but can he really guarantee that following his guide will provide the same successes?

He provides lots of "proof" of his capabilities by listing the tournaments he's had big cashes in, but he gives no details of his ITM or ROI figures, or how many hours a day he plays, or other income from cash games etc. He talks of using a cheat sheet for starting hands and position, then bangs on about "little known" secrets of how to be a player, as if it's as easy as making a really tasty apple pie.

Finally, he charges $127 for his eBook guide, and eve... more.

I thought I'd share one of my favourite books with you today, since the question "Which books would you recommend?" often gets asked on many of the forums I visited.
I bought HOH vol 2 (The endgame) first, but soon realised that vol 1 could help my game just as much. It teaches you about starting hand selection, position, pre and post flop plays, the psychology of your opponent, timing and everything else you need to know about the early and middle stages of MTTs.

Dan is entirely qualified to write about these subjects too - he won the WSOP ME in 1995, made the final table in 2003 AND 2004. If that's not good credentials, I don't know... more.

Who would've thought it, eh? Check out the navigation links on the right hand side of this page - see the new addition at the top? "Poker shop!".

That's right, you can now buy all your poker products - cards, chips, tables, dealer buttons, clothes, books, dvds and the rest - straight from us here at All-In.

It's completely safe since all orders go through Amazon's secure servers, and you'll get some of the best deals on the net for these products. I would especially recommend the "Harrington on Hold'em" series of 3 books. I haven't seen them cheaper anywhere else.

There's also an electronic dealer button which is a fantastic addition to your home game - just click on the "Poker shop!" link on the right for all this and more. Enjoy!

View hand in the replayer.

Bah.

Final table of a 5 table SNG, I'm the short stack but have been playing very tight. The table is tightening up, but we've just burst the bubble so I expect things to go mental any second.

One limper, then folded round to me in the BB with AQo. This is great, and I'm shoving regardless. If not now, when? The limper could have small to medium pairs (50/50), couple of broadway (KQ,QJ,AK,AQ,AJ,AT) but that probably would've warranted a raise from a stack his size. The last remaining (and likely) option is middling suited cards, which low stakers love to limp on the FT...

If that's the case, I really expected to pick up the blinds here. But he called. What would you have done in his situation? What would you have done in MY situation? Was I right to push?

Hand history.

First hand, JJ UTG. I raise sensibly, then get re-raised all-in as so often happens in these micro limit festivals.

I reckon he's got a big ace, and I don't want to toss up for all my money on the first hand. So I fold...

Check out the hand replayer for the rest of the story.. I'd love to hear your comments (and that doesn't mean spam about tramadol, whatever the hell that is!!).

I found a post on sirio11's blog which intrigued me greatly, as I've been meaning to write about payout structures for a while now.

What sirio11 is basically saying, is that the structure of 2006's WSOP ME was "steeper" than that of 2005. This means that a higher percentage of the prize pool was awarded to the higher finishers - the payouts were more top-heavy.

Now in satellites, the payout is perfectly flat, because everyone who wins, wins exactly the same. In short handed STTs, the structure is a little less flat, but the payouts are still relatively close together in terms of percentages. In MTTs, the payouts become much steeper, but generally are fixed (by an unspoken agreement amongst operators) at a sensible level.

In the both the 2005 and 2006 WSOP ME, the top 10% were paid, with the winner achieving roughly 14% of the prizepool. (2005: 560/5,619 paid, $7.5m for 1... more.

I've been tidying up a bit round here. Most notably is the comment system (which I switched off for a couple of days while I spruced it up).

Now it will filter comments with certain words, and all comments are moderated. Installing a CAPTCHA system (little images filled with wobbly letters for you to type in to prove you're human) was a little overboard and would've taken years to install.

So, if you're a spammy spammer and you're reading this, take note.

1. My readers aren't interested in the first place.
2. You're wasting your time, bandwidth and breath.
3. All comments are filtered and moderated.

So it's really not worth your effort trying to spam here any more. Thankyou.

I'm also hoping to fiddle with the replayer a bit in the near future too. Maybe give it a few more capabilities, like 10 seats, multiple hand histories, a speed control and maybe even comments on each hand. Let me know what you'd like to see using the (... more.

I've just realised it's September, so it's probably time for a summary of how my August went.

Badly.

I just didn't have time to play.. I must've squeezed in about 5-6 SNGs, which isn't really worth mentioning.

I did get in some cash games, since I'm still trying to turn $2 into $1000. Last month it went from $10.31 to $12.42, and I must say that the 6 seaters on Stars are much easier than the 10 seaters on Paradise.

So.. 5-6 SNGs, 4 sessions on the cash tables = a rubbish month. This September I'll be trying to get in more time at the tables, whilst keeping my better half happy about it. Not an easy juggling act to perform!

Gambling is addictive, but why?

For me, it's all about winning. But what is it about winning that gets my knickers in such a twist?

When you win, you earn money, fame and respect from other players, not to mention the satisfaction of a job well done. For me, this is what it's all about - tangible gains (the cash) and admiration from my peers. The money aspect of the game means that the idea of playing it professionally is always nagging at the back of my head.

Of course, for many, the risk taking is the exciting part. The adrenaline rush of risking money on the turn of a card, of potentially winning big if luck goes your way. Many people say that the anticipation is better than the sex, and it's this anticipation in poker that brings such excitement. The thought of what could be, if only it goes your way.

There are some people that who play because poker has a bit of a dangerous image. It's still a bit taboo, and has connotations of being seedy, macho and a b... more.