Scott "SCTrojans" Freeman

Analyze texture of flops for more poker success

2008-09-24T12:31:00.002-04:00

Experienced no limit Texas Hold'em players understand the importance of reading flop texture. So should you. Let's examine how your playing strategy should change depending on the type of flop that hits the board.

OK, assume you're dealt a high pocket pair such as aces or kings. Here's what you need to look for on the flop.

High flops such as K-Q-9, K-J-10 or Q-J-8 are dangerous to pocket aces. That's because these flops will connect with the range of hands that your opponents typically will play, such as 10-J, K-Q, 10-10, or 9-10.

It's best to proceed cautiously if you have an overpair to this type of board. If you play a big pot with this kind of flop, you'll be either way behind or just slightly ahead.

Yes, you might be in the lead after the flop, but not by as much as you think.

Paired flops can be very favorable to a big pocket pair or very risky. Because a flop such as J-J-4 presents no real draws, your pocket cowboys will win this pot a high percentage of the time -- unless your opponent has one of the remaining jacks.

The danger of paired flops is directly related to how high the pair is.

There's less risk in a flop like 2-2-7 than Q-Q-8. Why? Because most players will fold a hand that contains a deuce but will play hands that contain a queen such as A-Q, K-Q, Q-J, or Q-10.

While you're in good shape with pocket kings against a low paired flop, if you're raised on a flop of Q-Q-8, seriously consider folding your hand.

If your opponent has a queen, you're in deep trouble.

Flushed flops that contain three of a suit pose a risk to high pocket pairs, unless your hole cards contain a card in that suit. If you hold red aces and the flop comes 9h-6h-2h, you've got a hand that should be played aggressively.

Change those aces from red to black and you'll find yourself in a treacherous situation. Not only would you be dead against a made flush, a fourth heart on the board would leave you guessing.

Does he have a heart or not? Folding might be the best option.

Play black aces against a red flush draw by waiting for a safe turn card before making a move at the pot. If a fourth heart hits, you can still get off the hook cheaply. If it doesn't, and you think your opponent is on a draw, then protect your hand with a big bet.

Straight flops are scary to high pocket pairs; the higher the flopped cards, the scarier the situation. But even a 4-5-6 board can cause anxiety. Play defensively on a board like this because a 2, 3, 7 or 8 on the turn can beat you or force you to be bluffed out.

Dead board flops are most favorable to big pocket pairs but they can be dangerous.

A board such as 8-2-3, 9-4-2, or 7-5-2 looks good to an overpair but might give your opponent trips if he's playing a small pair himself.

Now, if your opponent raises in this situation, you can usually put him on a smaller pair than yours, two pair, or three of a kind.

You'll be faced with making one of the most difficult decisions after the flop -- call or fold. The right decision will be determined by your ability to get a good read on your oppenent.

(SOURCE)

Tournament Indicator Free for 48hours

2008-08-31T11:23:00.001-04:00

FREE DOWNLOAD
Got a tournament coming up? Just download and install now, then browse the Video Guide. You can try Tournament Indicator for FREE for 48 hours.

Tournament Indicator is unlike any other poker calculator because it is specifically designed for Texas Holdem online tournament play. The indicators used in the software are the same you would use in a real tournament situation, but are quite different from a ring or cash game.

Poker calculator designed for ring games simply cannot offer the critical information used to make correct decisions in tournaments. Correct decision making at game critical intersects is what makes a tournament player successful.

Here are some of the features Tournament Indicator offers an online tournament player:

Instant MZone Calculations
Now you will know what MZone you are in as well as every other players' at your table. Depending on which MZone you are in can drastically alter your strategy, and the same is for your opponents. Only now, you are the only one with ALL the critical information at the table.

Player Profiling
In early tournament play you can learn a lot about your opponents by watching everything they do. Harder said than done, but Tournament Indicator does it all for you tracking VPIP%, Aggression, PFR%, showdown wins, and more. All these combined make for real-time player classifications that you can use against your opponents at the right time.

Tilt Factor Monitoring
New to poker calculator also is Tournament Indicator's ability to provide you with insight as to your opponent's tilt potential. By tracking hand streak in wins and losses and a tally on the player's stack over the last 10 hands gives you even more insight into that players current psyche.

MatchCard Showdown
Different criteria enter into the decision making process as a tournament winds down. Whether you are short stack, big stack or other, in the money or on the bubble, you will be faced with numerous all-in confrontations as part of the normal play of tournaments. What Tournament Indicator's MatchCard feature offers is a quick view of potential hands you might be up against.

Odds Calculations
Holdem Indicator set the standard for quick, easy to understand odds display while incorporating a visual display of comparing win odds to pot odds in each betting round. Tournament Indicator uses that same technology to give users the most relevant information with proven, reliable technology.

MiniView and Customized Settings
You won't feel squeezed on your computer screen as Tournament Indicator can be minimized on the game window. We like our profile settings but if you don't, just go ahead and adjust the profiling, and tilt factor settings to where they make more sense for you.

Video Tutorial Guide
Tournament Indicator introduces the Video Tutorial Guide compiled by Marty Smith. Watch these quick, informative videos and you will be using Tournament Indicator to it's full extent in your very first tournament.

Does Low Stake Grinding Beat a Day Job?

2008-08-30T11:17:00.001-04:00

Originally uploaded by HolyokeHangover

The saying goes that grinding low-stakes poker will suck the life out of you, but playing poker for a living has its obvious benefits. And it doesn't matter if you 17-table $25 NL 40 hours a week or you bust a couple chumps a week at Ivey deathmatch.

Drawbacks are pretty much guaranteed, true, but the positives so outweigh the negatives that it's really no contest. Let's go over the positives, as they are the most fun.

Best of all, you work for yourself. There's nobody breathing down your neck telling you to get stuff done. You are your own boss. You have nobody to answer to but yourself.

This freedom is easily the best benefit by far. If you don't feel like playing one day, guess what? You don't have to. Which brings me to my next point:

You can take time off whenever you want. Oh, your friends are going to be heading out of town for the week and want you to join them? No problem; you can just play more leading up to that week and take the whole week off. No holiday problems; no nothing. You want the time off, you take it. Simple as that.

You set your own hours. Sure, playing poker is a job just like any other. If you don't put the time in, you're not going to get ahead. However, when playing poker you get to decide when you put those hours in.

If the games are no good then you can go for a run and come back or try again in the evening when the games are better. If you are going out at night then get your hours in earlier in the day. Flexibility my friend: it's the spice of life.

You can get up whenever you want. Obviously a huge bonus. Who likes getting up early? Nobody, unless they are sick and twisted. When you bend cards for a living you can get up whenever you want. Sleeping in till 1 p.m. never felt so good. I mean what else are you going to do when you are taking flops till 5 a.m.?

You can work from home. If you don't want to make a trip to the casino, any number of online sites are only a click away. Online poker has brought poker into our living rooms. And me and my 42-inch LCD TV and wireless mouse and keyboard are more than happy to welcome it in from the couch.

You can make serious money. Rarely are you going to be able to make the money that is out there to be made doing anything else for yourself. There are supernovas on Stars making 100k+ a year grinding microstakes.

How sick is that? You need no schooling for poker. Just the will to put in time to get better. Anyone can beat this game; it's just whether or not you want it bad enough.

So there you have it - even if you are just playing microstakes, you get to reap the rewards of the poker lifestyle. Contrast that with working every day in a cubicle getting blinded by fluorescent lights.

(Source)

Omaha Hi-Lo Beginners Guide Part 1

2008-08-29T11:23:00.001-04:00

Omaha Hi-Lo, or O8 as it's commonly called, is growing in popularity both live and online thanks to its heavy action and the complexity of play compared to No-Limit Hold'em.

This article details basic beginner strategy for playing O8 in a loose-aggressive cash-game setting.

The majority of O8 games you will play - especially at the lower limits - will be very active and aggressive games, with upward of five players seeing a flop every hand. This is even common in many higher-limit games.

For the basic rules of how a Hi-Lo game works, refer to this article: More to Poker Than Hold'em Part 1: Omaha.

Key Skills for Winning at Limit Omaha Hi-Lo

>Seldom raise before the flop.
>Remember that your aim is to scoop the pot.
>Be able to fold on the flop very often.
>Play premium starting hands.
>Select your table carefully. Only play in loose games where five or more players see the flop on average.
>Hone your ability to quickly calculate accurate odds.
>All of this advice is very general, but will serve you well if you apply it judiciously. Seldom raising before the flop does not mean it's incorrect to ever raise before the flop.

In a game like O8, with almost-guaranteed high, loose action, raising before the flop with anything less than a premium hand does little more than increase the size of the pot.

Key Advice for Limit Omaha Hi-Lo

Much as Omaha Hi is, O8 is considered to be a nut game. Meaning that if you do not have the nut hand, there is a very good chance you will not win the pot. For this reason, you want to be very selective in the hands you play, only playing hands with "nut" potential.

The most important thing to remember is the scooping advice. Your main goal in O8 is to win both the high and the low. In reality, scooping (winning both the high and low) is a difficult thing to do and, for the most part, rather rare.

When playing Omaha, your goal is to play for the high, with a redraw to the low. If you have the nut high, you are guaranteed half the pot. Holding nothing but the nut low still puts you at risk for being quartered, or worse.

Common Mistakes in Limit Omaha Hi-Lo

>Playing too many starting hands.
>Calling all the way with only a low potential.
>Seeing flops with four middle cards, like 6-7-8-9.
>Raising with A-2 in early position and making players fold instead of seeing the flop cheaply with more players in.
>Starting Hand Guide for Limit Omaha Hi-Lo (full table, 8-10 players)

The best starting hands in Omaha Hi-Lo are A-A-2-3 double-suited, followed by A-A-2-4 double-suited. This kind of hand is very strong because it can be played for both high and low, which gives it great scoop potential. Of course, being suited or (even better) double-suited adds value to every hand.

Profitable starting hands
A-A-2-x
A-A-3-x
A-A-4-5
A-2-3-x
A-2-K-K
A-2-Q-Q
A-2-J-J
A-3-4-5
A-A-x-x
A-2-K-Q
A-2-K-J
A-2-x-x (suited ace)
A-3-K-K
A-3-4-x
2-3-4-5 (fold if there is no ace on the flop)
J-Q-K-A
T-J-Q-K
K-K-Q-J
Q-J-T-9
2-3-4-x (fold if there is no ace on the flop)

Beginners may find themselves getting overzealous with any hand containing an ace-deuce. Although A-2 will make the nut low more often than any other two-card combination, it's a losing-money proposition to be overly aggressive with weak hands containing strictly low possibilities.

You're also better off folding hands that hold two gaps (for example A-4-5-9). The chances of making a straight are under 1% and you seldom win the low.

Hands like 3-4-5-6, 4-5-6-7, 5-6-7-8 and 6-7-8-9 also have a negative expected value. Omaha variants being the nut games they are, these sorts of middle-connected hands are useless. They have a very low possibility of making the nuts and thus should not be played.

High pairs with two random cards like K-K-x-x or Q-Q-x-x are rarely, if ever, playable on a full table, although a high pair with two low cards that also make your hand suited or double-suited is playable in most games.

For example K-K-2-4 double-suited is a playable hand with decent scooping potential. Be sure not to over-value the hand when hitting second nuts.

Part two of the beginners guide to Omaha Hi-Lo will go into basic strategy and play on all five streets, plus how to put your starting hand selection into use.

(Source)

Brian Townsend a LIAR & CHEAT

2008-08-28T13:53:00.001-04:00

brian-townsend-03
Originally uploaded by fulltiltpoker

For the past 6 months I have been playing under the 2nd aliases Stellarnebula on FTP and makersmark66 on PokerStars. I have not used the aba20 account on Stars since I began playing on the Makersmark66 account. I have since gone back to using the aba20 account and will play only that account. During this time I played the 25/50 and 100/200 PLO games. I played under the Stellarnebula account from February until the end of June at which time Lee Jones and I had a discussion and we came to an agreement that I needed to close it.

During this time I was playing under the Brian Townsend account, never at the same table with the Stellarnebula. Under the Stellarnebula account I played 25/50, 50/100, and 100/200 PLO. During this time I played a very small amount of 50/100 PLO and primarily 200/400 PLO under the Brian Townsend account. I wanted to have come forward and make this public sooner, but unfortunately because of certain business relationships I could not do that. What I did was wrong and I am going to be punished by FullTilt poker by having my red pro status revoked for 6 months. I am unsure what action, if any, PokerStars will take. I have also hurt those that I work closely with primarily at CardRunners but also at FullTilt.

To compensate those that were hurt by my actions I am going to be donating $25,000 dollars to a charity to be determined in the future. This money will be removed from my CardRunners distributions. This is by no means me making my actions correct but I hope that it shows some good faith towards those that I work closely with. I am very proud of CardRunners; we are doing something very special. My first reaction when this occurred was to go hide under a rock. I am not going to do that and I will answer any questions that are asked of me. I feel that I have nothing to hide. Those are the pertinent facts. The reason why I created these accounts was because I enjoy anonymity when playing smaller and am very prideful in what I do.

The past two years I have made a lot of money playing poker. This year I have been breakeven. For me it’s correct to play smaller when things aren’t going well. I have never played poker for the money; it has always been a byproduct of my play. Whatever I do I want to be the best at it. For me playing the 200/400 PLO games was not the right thing to do because my results haven’t been good. I think I am a winner in those games and I intend to prove to myself that I am one of the best poker players in the world. I believe what it takes is an incredible amount of focus and work to accomplish this goal. I intend to work harder than anyone to prove this, because I have not been playing my best for the past year. I have something to prove to myself. I have removed what I have online and left myself with 100K. From here I am going to play 25/50 PLO until I have 200K then 50/100 until I have 400K online then 100/200 until I have 800K online. From there I will play 200/400. If things don’t go well when I first move up I will move back down and rinse and repeat until I am at the 200/400 PLO games. I used to think that playing 25/50, 50/100, and 100/200 was a failure because I wasn’t playing the largest limits. I am smart enough to move down when things aren’t going well; I was just too prideful to make it public.

Along with this I plan on continuing managing CardRunners and create the best poker instructional videos. I have put a lot of effort into my past videos and I want my partners to know that effort will continue, as well as the effort I put into running the company. I hope that people can look to me and not only learn about poker and bankroll management, but also how to do the right thing and be a good person.

Poker isn’t about luck or how you are running. It’s about the work and effort that you put into it. I have not had good results this year because of my poor play and lack of focus, not because I have run below expectation. I want to prove that to everyone. If you follow my play as I move up you will see the trials and tribulations that I face. There will be days of intense frustration and times when I will doubt my game. But I know that with hard work I can accomplish the goal I am setting. I hope that people can not only look to me for poker education but also for the way to live their lives. I made a mistake and I am willing to take responsibility for it. I am willing to stand up and face the music. I apologize to entire the online community. I will never partake in this type of activity in the future. This post should act as a full admission of my guilt, and I sincerely apologize to anyone that I've wronged.

(SOUCRE - My Apology)

Beating Low Limit No Limit Hold’em Cash Games

2008-08-28T13:20:00.001-04:00

Online Poker prep, originally uploaded by mojohouse.

For all you grinders just starting a bankroll, let’s discuss a few points on how to beat the low limit no limit cash games online. The games at this level are surprisingly mixed with new poker players who can and will draw out on you, and multi-tabling sharks that play 10 tables at a time and grind out $50 an hour while playing low limit poker and clearing bonuses.
There are few adjustments that need to made to your game, regardless of your level of experience.

Low Limit Poker Strategy: Don’t Bluff
Bluffing works, and it’s very profitable but not at this level. A key concept in using a bluff in no limit hold’em is relying on your opponent being good enough to fold his hand. When you’re grinding it out in the micro no limit games, you cannot do this profitably except for rare situations, very rare situations. The likeliness of your opponent folding a bad hand is not great.
Cash poker games are not like tournaments where you need to steal blinds and antes just to survive. In these games, we are looking to buy in with the maximum allowed stack and wait patiently for the nuts (the best possible poker hand) and someone who will pay it off. Thank you for your whole stack sir, fish again.

Low Limit Poker Strategy: Play Post Flop Poker
Keep in mind, you will run into a lot of people limping in with big hands. Ace King and high pocket pairs like Aces or Queens. All of these hands will be limped a lot both by beginners who are afraid to broadcast the strength of their hand, and more experienced players looking to trap you. While I don’t encourage limping with these hands myself, I definately don’t over commit to them pre-flop either.

Knowing the large range of hands I will be called with, I prefer to put in “value-raises” of 2.5 x the big blind with big hands and see where the cards fall before putting them on a hand to continue the action on later streets.
You can and should fold JJ and QQ, or AK AQ after missing a flop, it simply depends on the reads you make. The exception to this style of play is that if you hold KK or AA, you should raise AT LEAST 4 times the big blind. It is also okay to open shove all in with hands like this, you never know who will wake up and call behind you with a pocket pair of fives!

If you feel you have the best hand, but aren’t quite sure or know that your opponent will call to the river on a strong draw, don’t be afraid to use a small value bet or even check the flop to see if the draw hits. Using the turn to extract value instead of the flop helps insure you won’t be semi-bluff shoved all in by an opponent with a 30% draw that may or may not hit. After the turn, you can evaluate your odds to win much easier by seeing how it may or may not have improved your opponents hand.

These poker tables are a gind and you should treat them as such, for the most part you need to play very tight poker and wait for 80% or greater edges to get your money in with, this will help your bankroll grow at a steady pace without big risks and with the added benefit of clearing your first bonus. Players who can multi-table four or more of these low limit cash game tables find that it is easier to play tight poker as they don’t get “bored” as easy.

(Source)

When To Bluff In No Limit Hold’em

2008-08-27T20:06:00.001-04:00

Bluffed, originally uploaded by PotD.

A well timed and perfectly executed bluff in No Limit Hold’em is a relative work of art, but it is not as easy to do profitably as it may look on the television. Good poker players know that a successful bluff on the river or catching a bluffer in the act can add a lot to a winning players expected value over a players career. Picking your spots and knowing the other players at the tables tendencies (how they react based on similar situations in the past) are key skills, and bluffing is not to be attempted at low limit games with a large number of bad players.

When deciding to bluff, it helps to put your opponent on a range of hands first, starting pre-flop. This will allow you to set-up the bluff, by becoming what the player fears in a hand. I can and do successfully bluff Pocket Aces out of scary boards, but only when I deem the player good enough to be capable of folding (and this is simply not the case at low limit games for the most part). If you are confident in your play, and your read of the opponent – you can represent any hand that is possible on the board. A few tips:

Holdem Strategy: Don’t Bluff On The Turn:
Bluffing on the turn is the hardest to pull off, and I generally don’t recommend it. If a player stayed in after the flop the turn usually improves a hand or adds a draw, so players are simply more likely to call or even re-raise on a draw at the turn, because the potential to make their hand becomes great in their own eyes (straight and flush draw for example). Instead, the one time I highly recommend using this play as by semi-bluffing a big draw – that is, give yourself a lot of outs if you are bluffing on the turn, because it might just turn into a big pot. And when we are playing big pots, we want to have the maximum chance of scooping it as possible.

Holdem Strategy: Do Bluff The River
And do it often, especially versus tight/passive players. A player with pocket queens is susceptible to a river King or Ace, a flush card, or even a gutshot. Become the hand they fear most, and prey on their ability to “make a good fold”. Bluffing on the river can be risky of course, but I swear by it – it works well especially in heads up poker games. In multi-handed pots I only recommend attempting a stone cold bluff if you have position in the hand, thus ensuring you have the most information possible on what the other players might have – but in general a bluff works best in heads up poker situations.

If you haven’t been trying the occasional river bluff, you are losing a lot of pots that you don’t need to. Target players that check behind in showdown situations with hands like top pair weak kicker – just don’t over use the play as this style should fit solidly into your winning tight aggressive image to ensure the highest success rates, good luck!

Annette Obrestad winning a 180 person Sit&Go without looking at her cards

2008-08-27T20:04:00.000-04:00

This 2 part video shows how Annette Obrestad won a 180 person Sit&Go by playing position and the player and NEVER looking at her 2 hole cards. You will see her folding KK and great hands because SHE NEVER LOOKS AT THEM. Its an amazing accomplishment in poker. She played completely blind.

Part 2 of series of video that shows how Annette_15 wins a 180 SNG by playing position and player and NEVER looking at hole cards. BLIND PLAY!!

Poker Stars Sunday Million Ups Guarantee to $1.5 Million

2008-07-31T12:16:00.001-04:00

Sunday Warm-Up Guarantee Also Increases to $750,000

PokerStars, the largest poker site in the world, is staying ahead of the game as it recently announced that its flagship tournament, the Sunday Million, will now have a guarantee of $1.5 million, an increase of 50 percent.

The $215 buy-in Sunday Million runs weekly at 4:30 p.m. ET. Satellites run around the clock for as little as $3. This isn’t the only tournament getting increased guarantees, either. The Sunday Warm-Up is also offering an upped minimum prize pool of $750,000. That event also features a buy-in of $215 and is no-limit hold'em, but it runs just before the Sunday Million at 12:45 p.m. ET. The $1,050 buy-in Super Tuesday tournament's guarantee will now be $300,000 (up from $250,000).

David Benyamine up $910,984 WSOP 2008

2008-06-29T10:26:00.001-04:00

David Benyamine is having a great year!!

WSOP: Phil 'OMGClayAiken' Galfond Wins $817,781 Event No. 28

2008-06-17T14:43:00.001-04:00

2008 39th Annual World Series of Poker
Event 28 - Pot-Limit Omaha with Rebuys
06/16/2008 1 $817,781.00

Galfond Wins Marathon Heads-Up Match for His First Bracelet

In what has been regarded by some as the best final table ever formed at the World Series of Poker, two online players took out some of the game's best to match up in an epic battle. In the end, after nearly 120 grueling heads-up hands, Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond finally got the better of his fierce opponent, Adam Hourani.

Here were the chip counts heading into the star-studded final table:

Phil Galfond -- 1,393,000
Brian Rast -- 1,176,000
David Benyamine -- 1,041,000
John Juanda -- 694,000
Johnny Chan -- 624,000
Kirill Gerasimov -- 558,000
Daniel Negreanu -- 460,000
Adam Hourani -- 300,000
Phil Hellmuth -- 119,000

Here are highlights from all of the action, as featured in CardPlayer.com’s live coverage of the final table:

2008 39TH ANNUAL WORLD SERIES OF POKER

2008-06-10T12:17:00.000-04:00

2008 39TH ANNUAL WORLD SERIES OF POKER

05-30-2008 to 07-15-2008
Rio Suite Hotel & Casino
3700 W. Flamingo Road - Las Vegas, NV

LIST OF EVENTS - CLICK HERE

Lindsay Lohan has a real nice rack!

2008-06-04T15:22:00.001-04:00

David Benyamine up $1.8 million dollars in May 2008

2008-05-23T11:54:00.001-04:00

David Benyamine is currently up over $1.8 million dollars in Pot Limit Omaha games on FullTilt Poker just in May. He just finished a session where he won over $700k, beating players such as "Durrrr" and "Alstonprice" out of six figures each.

David Benyamine in May has played 18,302 hands (in the PLO games) and is up $1.15 million dollars. This works out to an unbelievable $62.83 in profit for each hand that he has played so far in May.

Since the beginning of 2007, according to HighStakesDB, Benyamine's various aliases have dropped $3 million dollars on Full Tilt Poker playing No Limit Hold'em.

On the flip side, since the beginning of 2007, Benyamine has dominated the biggest PLO games on the site like no one else.

If you include his 700k the "David Benyamine" alias has won around $5.3 million in the PLO games on FTP since the beginning of 2007.

Another one of his old aliases, "ballsrider", generated $1.51 million in total profits over that same time period, before being shut down. Yet another one of his aliases, "magicpitch1", is up over $682k from the beginning of 2007 until now. Add those three aliases up, and Benyamine is up around $7.6 million playing PLO on Full Tilt Poker since the beginning of 2007. That makes him by far the biggest PLO winner on the site during that time.

Brandi Hawbaker Dead @ 26

2008-05-21T17:20:00.000-04:00

The Real Truth About Brandi Hawbaker - Two Plus Two Poker Forum
The Real Truth About Brandi Hawbaker News, Views, and Gossip.

Sorel "Imper1um" Mizzi Banned from Full Tilt Poker?

2007-11-29T14:15:00.001-05:00

The online poker world is buzzing about the revelation that there has been another cheater caught in a high profile online poker event.

Let's rewind about a month. Chris "BluffMagCV" Vaughn, an employee of Bluff Magazine, took down back to back Sunday Million tournaments. First he took down the Full Tilt $1 Million Guaranteed tournament, and then the very next week he took down the Sunday Millions tournament on Pokerstars playing as "SlippyJacks."

There were rumblings about possible shenanigans in the Full Tilt Poker tournament, but the story didn't really come to light until Soren "Kongsgaard" Kongsgaard posted that he had received an email from Full Tilt Poker stating that "BluffMagCV had been disqualified from the tournament and "Kongsgaard" would be awarded first place money.

The stated reason for the disqualification? Full Tilt Poker said that an already eliminated player had taken over "BluffMagCV"'s account late in the tournament. Apparently the player that took over the account was promised a % of the total profits in exchange for finishing out the tournament.

This player who took over the account is reportedly Sorel "Imper1um" Mizzi, and apparently he too has been banned from Full Tilt Poker.

If Mizzi did in fact participate in this scheme and he was in fact banned from Full Tilt Poker, it is obviously a huge deal, as Mizzi is one of the most popular and successful poker players online. Mizzi has been noticeably absent from Full Tilt Poker as of late, so it would certainly appear to be true.

Full Tilt has been tight-lipped on the matter. What we do know for sure is that "BluffMagCV" was 100% disqualified from that tournament and banned, and that a high profile player took over his account and was also banned. At this point, the evidence would certainly seem to point to Mizzi as the well-known player who took over the account, but we don't have 100% confirmation as of yet.

Was the "Slippyjacks" victory on Pokerstars tainted as well? Pokerstars closely scrutinizes every player who makes it to the final table of any major event on their site, so there is a good chance that they have already investigated and found nothing to be wrong with the victory on Pokerstars. The "SlippyJacks" account is currently not banned on Pokerstars.

You have to wonder how much of this stuff is going on that is never discovered. If the players who perpetrated this scam weren't so reckless, they probably never would have been caught.

This stuff is just horrible for online poker in general, and sites are going to have to come up with a better solution for dealing with this kind of cheating. I wish that the sites would band together, and if a person is caught cheating on one site, they are banned from them all.

Also, I believe that online poker sites need to stop shielding the identities of known cheaters, and start publicly naming people that have been caught cheating. Why shouldn't the public know about it? If you are caught trading stocks in the USA with insider knowledge, you are publicly named by the SEC. What's wrong with that? There has to be a stronger deterrent to cheating. Right now the reward is far greater than the risk of getting caught.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

2007-11-22T09:25:00.000-05:00

Rankings Update: lilholdem954 still #1, but SCTrojans getting closer

2007-11-16T14:16:00.000-05:00

CHIP TRICKS - INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS

2007-11-12T15:31:00.001-05:00

Here is a great set of videos on various chip tricks. Click here

WHAT IS YOUR POKER IQ? TAKE THE DONKEY TEST

2007-11-09T16:20:00.000-05:00

This poker skill test is the first and only of its kind. Our unique scoring system measures your overall poker skill level and assesses performance in 13 sub categories, revealing key strengths and weaknesses. Developed by poker professionals, this test is for no limit Hold'em cash games and tournaments (MTTs and SNGs).
Click here to take the test.

CARDPLAYER Interview with Scott "SCTROJANS" Freeman

2007-11-08T22:16:00.000-05:00

Stacking Chips: Scott Freeman

In this episode of Card Player TV's "Stacking Chips" Jon Friedberg talks strategy with Scott Freeman.

Player Focus: Scott Freeman aka SCTrojans

2007-11-08T22:13:00.000-05:00

Scott Freeman aka "SCTrojans" is a very high volume player right now - largely because he has to go back to school in a few weeks and won't have time to play as much...

An up and coming pro starting to demand serious respect in the online tournament world is Scott Freeman aka "SCTrojans" (on PokerStars) or “SCTrojans08" on FullTilt. One of the highest volume players on the net Scott has some serious results under his belt already.

Just looking at his results for the month of August 2007 you will find he: won the $100k Pro Bounty Guarantee on Absolute Poker (good for $32,700); came 2nd in the $100 rebuy (widely seen as the hardest daily tournament on the web) on PokerStars for a cool $22,435; and came 4th in FullTilt’s Sunday Mulligan (for $14,212).

Scott’s site of choice seems to be PokerStars - he has taken down tournament winnings of around $370,000 since the beginning of 2007. Although his success on PokerStars alone is incredible, Scott has also taken down one of the hardest challenges in online poker - the PocketFives Triple Crown. Not just once, but three times in just three weeks. He is the only player to have ever done this - taking down three will surely be done soon (Moorman1 looks to be well on his way) but doing it in such a short space of time is surely an achievement that will never be rivalled.

What makes these achievements all the more surprising is that Scott is also a full time student, preparing to go back to university as soon as the holidays end. Perhaps this explains the crazy level of volume Scott seems to put in. Scott has 102 cashes, 41 top tens and 4 firsts in all tournaments for this month, a staggering number of results in such a short time.

As if this was not enough Scott got deep in this year’s $10,000 buy-in WSOP main event, coming 19th (out of nearly 6,500) for his largest ever cash, a mind boggling $333,490. Given he’s only just old enough to play in a Vegas casino you have to say that’s a great performance from one who had hardly any live tournament experience. Clearly Scott is a player that has what it takes to go all the way to the top of the game - both live and online. SCTrojans is a name we will be talking about for a long time to come.

OFFLINE WINNINGS - SCOTT FREEMAN

2007-11-08T21:54:00.000-05:00

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Online Winnings - Scott "SCTrojans" Freeman

2007-11-08T21:50:00.001-05:00

POKERSTARS - CLICK TO ENLARGE

FULLLTILT CLICK TO ENLARGE