Articles

Video Poker Tips – Getting Started

By Paul Graham for SmokePoker.com · Leave a Comment

Video poker is admittedly one of the most attractive features in many casinos – both online and offline. Who can easily resist all those brightly colored flashing lights and the large signs predicting a WIN? Yet for those of us who have actually given in to the video poker machine’s allure, we know that the promise of the bright lights is not all that we expected it to be. Then again, I would have to admit that the chance of winning and the actual losing is part of video poker’s image. It just seems to keep on giving you enough to make you want to do it all over again. With... [Read the full story]

Stories

Kirill Gerasimov – Russia’s Top Poker Player

By Paul Graham for SmokePoker.com · Leave a Comment

At a young age of 35, Kirill Gerasimov has reached a level of popularity that many aspiring poker players have dreamed of. This young poker player was born in Moscow and used to be an insurance salesman. Whether or not that day job had any bearings on his poker skills, it is clear that Gerasimov is one of the more well known members of the poker world. Gerasimov’s success as a poker player is nothing short of phenomenal. In his own country, poker is not the popular game it is in the US. However, he became interested in poker and is now probably the only “real” professional... [Read the full story]

History

What Is The Appeal Of Poker?

By Paul Graham for SmokePoker.com · Leave a Comment

Poker is one of the most popular card games in the world. Like other “vying” games, players make bets which are combined into a central pot. This money is then given to the player with the best hand (or, as is often the case, the player who manages to bluff everyone despite having a lousy hand, and wins because of his uncalled bet). There are several hundreds of variations of poker. The most recent, video poker, combines the game with the slot machine. Other games adopt the poker hand rankings but use different game play. In most cases, however, the players go through several... [Read the full story]

Insights

How To Vary Your Playing Pace In Poker

By Paul Graham for SmokePoker.com · Leave a Comment

Since playing styles are so crucial in poker, you really have to vary your playing pace and occasionally throw a wrench into your opponents’ expectations of you by suddenly shifting your strategy. Here are some ways to avoid being boxed in and categorized… First of all, pay attention to where you bluff. Let’s say you always, always bluff at the flop. The smarter players will catch on, and start calling you on the flop so that you are forced to reveal your strength on the turn. To avoid this, simply vary where in the pot you typically bluff, switching occasionally so... [Read the full story]

Players

Kirill Gerasimov – Russia’s Top Poker Player

By Paul Graham for SmokePoker.com · Leave a Comment

Tournaments

Jamie Gold – Poker “Talent” Wins $12 million

By Paul Graham for SmokePoker.com · Leave a Comment

Jamie Gold, former Hollywood talent agent, pulled an Oscar-worthy acting job and bluffed his way to winning the World Series of Poker in the 2006 event. He won $12 million. Gold was a sterling example of good psychological warfare. By convincing Paul Wasicka—a former restaurant manager—he had a weaker hand, he convinced him to push all his chips in the pot. Then, the moment of truth: Wasicka’s pocket 10s versus his pair of queens. Gold spontaneously screamed for joy. Gold was a master of bluffing during the entire tournament, and it literally paid off at the World Series... [Read the full story]

Poker Articles

3 Tips To Give You An Edge In Poker

Everyone acknowledges that poker is a game which combines both luck and skill. The idea is that each and every poker player at the table has an equal chance of winning based on the cards dealt. It is their skill that gives them the edge to win. Of course, this is all in view of the long run. In a single hand,...

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Kirill Gerasimov – Russia’s Top Poker Player

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The History Of Poker Chips

In a recent post, I talked about how you can start your own home game. One of the requisites of doing this however, is having the right equipment and what is the most vital piece of equipment for poker? Chips, poker chips that is. For the uninitiated, once you’ve seen poker chips (even on TV), they’re all...

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