PokerBrit’s Blog

Yesterday, SCKenny gave me a great recommendation – start a poker journal! A poker journal is a great way to track your progress and winnings. Here are a couple ideas to start your own: document what tournaments, times, and style of play you are undertaking. Note how your feeling before you play, this will help you when deciding whether you’re up for it or not. Calculate buy-ins versus winnings to see what you’re walking away with at the end of the day. If an interesting hand or play comes up in a tournament – write about it. Remember, this is for you. Modify it how you want, this is just to get you started. I’ve started mine, and after the first day (wins and loses) I’m still up  Great feedback for a newbie like me.

One great place to keep track of your poker game is by using the Poker Analyst on Card Player Using the Poker Analyst, you can enter cash games or tournaments and record a variety of details about your performance. Later, you can analyze your performance, filtering the results of your past games by game type, winnings or a variety of other criteria.

PokerBrit and SCKenny teach you how to calculate your odds to win the hand.

PokerBrit talks with the first VIP winner, George “Ares” Ali. To learn more about him, and how he plans to prepare for the main event visit the news page on www.SpadeClub.com!

Joe Hachem is best known for taking down the World Series of Poker main event in 2005 for $7.5 million, as well as his 2006 win for more than $2 million at the WPT Five-Diamond World Poker Classic. This tournament record has made Hachem one of the best-known poker players to come out of Australia. During the 2008 Five-Diamond World Poker Classic, Hachem sat down with me to share his poker expertise and give advice to new poker players looking to take their game to the next level.

PokerBrit: What advice would you give to a brand new player?

Joe Hachem: Be careful. This game can really consume you. It consumed me. It’s consumed many people. Initially, it’s kind of like golf. When I first started playing golf, it just consumed me. I wanted to play every spare moment I had. And that’s what was fun, it’s such an addictive game. You’re playing against people and trying to out wit them, and sometimes things don’t go your way.

PB: What the most common mistake brand-new players make?

JH: It’s the same old thing; brand new players find it hard to fold big hands.

PB: Can you give me an example?

JH: A person has a pair of kings, flop comes 7-4-2, and now, suddenly, he thinks the guy who check-raises must have only one pair. Be careful. Be prepared to get away from big hands. I think that’s the biggest mistake new players make. Your one pair of aces, kings, or queens before the flop may have been the best hand, but once the flop comes out, you need to re-evaluate the strength of where you are. Just because you’ve got a pair of aces, it doesn’t mean you still have the best hand. And, there’s no shame in folding. You actually make more money folding then you do by playing.

Hachem’s advice is key for beginners like me in understanding the dynamics of poker. Remember to re-evaluate your big hands, and even your smaller hands, after the flop. Make sure they still carry strength, and are still the best hands, by reviewing the community cards and trying to put your opponents on realistic hands. Never feel ashamed to throw away big hands, especially if the flop could add strength to an opponent or weaken your own hand. This habit will save you money. Saving money can help fund bigger pots when the strength of your hand isn’t in question. In the end, you’ll make more money by folding than you would by playing out big hands with a risky flop.

-PokerBrit

Watch the entire poker strategy interview with Joe Hachem, right here on PokerBrit.com.

PokerBrit and SCKenny answer questions sent in by members

Tomorrow’s the big day for many players on our site, SpadeClub. It’s the chance of a lifetime to play for millions in this summer’s World Series. That’s right, it’s the best way to get your seat to the WSOP**! If you haven’t gained access into this event – what are you waiting for? Become a yearly Exclusive member (just over $14 per month) by midnight tonight (02/10) to gain immediate access into the big event. Play starts 21:00 ET tomorrow (02/11). Also, the final two tables will receive SpadeClub apparel for their accomplishment. Good luck to all! Get rest and bring your best game to the tables tomorrow! I’ll be meeting the winner in Vegas this summer – hope its you!

PokerBrit talks with WPT Champion Martin de Knijff about poker and life.

Being a poker newbie, I pretty much keep my style of play the same – tight and aggressive. So, yesterday when I played a 10 point buy-in S&G, and then a 100 point buy-in S&G I found that the player’s styles changed drastically based on the point buy-in of game they were playing.

Obviously, this isn’t for every player of every game but I definitely noticed a change in playing styles between the two tournaments. In the 10 point buy-in game I saw crazy hands being played, for the most part players played loose and overly aggressive. It wasn’t hard to read most of them, but I wanted to have the best hand before I took on the quest for a pot. So, I had to wait for my spot. The game ended 25 minutes after it began which, to me, that was quick. In the 100 point buy-in - where I found the level of play to be more skillful. I played for over an hour, and for the most part players were much tighter. Players were going in with strong hands and using their position more. It really showed me that the level of play on SpadeClub is quite good. I really enjoy playing with this caliber of players, and I think it makes me a better player to play alongside them. I’m going to try to play a few more mid-high point buy-ins versus many of the lower point buy-in events to improve my game. I recommend this to any other poker newbies, like me, wanting to get to the next level

I’ve recently gotten into finding slang terms for starting hands. I thought I would share in case some of you haven’t heard these. All four of these made me crack up:

1) A-K - Anna Kournikova (“looks good, but rarely wins”)
2) Q-3 - Gay Waiter (”Queen with a tray”)
3) J-4 - Flat Tire (”What’s a jack for?”)
4) 6-9 suited - Prom Night (“Probably shouldn’t explain this one ”)

If you know some more that are crazy, hilarious, or just merely entertaining send them my way. I’d love to learn them all.

PokerBrit talks poker with CardPlayer Player of the Year, John Phan.