So what do you go for, when choosing an event to enter at the 2009 WSOP?  Big prize money, even if you don’t finish as the winner vs Fame of winning a bracelet.

It probably depends on who you are and how big your bankroll is.  Everyone wants to win a bracelet at the WSOP, but if you already have a few chips in your back pocket and your mortgage is paid off, then you would probably go for the fame and not the fortune.

Some may say, well I’ll go for the fame, because the fortune will follow… hmmm but I would disagree on this point.  Just because you are famous it doesn’t guarantee that you will make lots of money.  So, I would probably go for the money first… fame is not that important to me…

Then I would go for an event with the type of poker that I am best at, so that I would be confident of my ability and of winning.

But heh… thats me, different strokes for different folks.

What would you go for?

It was really interesting to listen to the poker pros on High Stakes Poker the other night, commenting on how aggressive some of the young online poker players are. They will think nothing of raising $50,000 and watching the other players squirm.

It may be that they have made easy money and have lost a bit of respect for money, so to throw $50 K into a pot is nothing to them. To the more experienced and battle hardened pros, when someone raises by $50 K, they sit up in their seats and think twice about calling or re-raising.

Many times they will frighten off other players and they have probably been getting away with it playing poker online. I wonder, if they are face to face with some of today’s poker pros, whether they would still be able to get away with such aggressive poker play. Sometimes yes, but all it takes is a few calls and aggressive play back at them, and if they lose a few hands in a row, their stacks will take a knock… and then what?

Play poker too loose and too aggressive, it can backfire on you. Its all about being selective and turning on the aggression at the right time. Some of the young guys have made a very healthy bankroll, by making money playing poker online. By developing a big bankroll they can now afford to play aggressive online poker.

It will be very interesting to see the young aggressive online poker players matched against the older, wiser, experienced poker pros in the WSOP – Not long to go now….

Spent my evening getting terrible starting hands and watching the game from the sidelines.  Very boring, to sit their the whole evening watching your colleagues play!  My table had good poker players and I was not too confident to go with a weak opening hand.  Then eventually I thought ahh why not, and went with my five, eight off suited.

I just thought lets give it a try and see what comes out on the flop.  Always remember that your opponents never know what you have, if you’ve been playing tight all night, then they may think ahhh she has finally picked up a good hand, I had better back off for now…

Anyway I got lucky with my five, eight – got another five on the flop and the river card turned out to be an eight.  My two pair ended up being strong enough to take that hand.  But then I tried it again later and got bust, sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don’t – thats poker folks! Better than wimping and limping on the sideline!!!

Ok some of those April Fools pranks I can’t write about and perhaps are best kept to yourselves… but thanks anyway… who needs friends when I see what some of you did to each other…

Played in an online poker tournament last week, was doing pretty well, playing consistent poker and not taking too many unnecessary risks.  Until I lost a big chunk of my stack when my set of kings got beaten – can you believe it?

I was so sure that I had the hand won and there was no ways I was backing out, not with such a strong hand.  Thats poker for you.  You have to back your strong hands because otherwise you don’t win.  But once in a while someone else at the table also has a strong hand!

Anyway I never really recovered from that loss and slowly got elbowed out of the tourney… will just forget that one and move on… it happens!

I have started reading the book “A thousand splendid suns” by Khaled Hosseini.  After reading “The kite runner” and watching the movie, I decided to try his second book.  I enjoy his writing, its simple and straight forward, and his story telling is fantastic!

Reading about life in Afghanistan and what has happened there over history, is quite shocking!  I just cannot understand why or how people can stoop to such levels of violence and ugliness.  It makes me really appreciate everything that I have in my life and just how privileged I have been.

Got completly April fooled by my brother today… the little bugger!

He phones me up and gets me all worried because he says he got desperate and took a chance playing online poker.  Lost a huge bankroll and now can he borrow some money from me because he cant pay his bills this month… the little… (cant even bring myself to say it, I am so mad..).

Just you wait one day he might just get himself into trouble and if he comes to me… ha!  That’ll teach him to “cry wolf with me!”.

He first of all laid on the charm, as only he can do… says he has always admired how well I have done through poker and what poker skills I have etc etc… like the salesman he is, pouring out the compliments, luring me into a false sense of security.

Then he says, “Sis you know you can count on me for anything right?”

What do I say to that?  Of course, thanks, I appreciate it… but it was clever he first offered his help then he hits me with the, “well, actually I’ve got myself into a bit of a tight spot…being playing poker with some guys and it didn’t go so well…”

I completely forgot that it was 1 April, I got myself so wound up and mad, yet also worried about him… then he starts laughing… “April Fools!!”

Gotya big time!

President Obama has now got his $787 billion bailout plan approved (after a bit of haggling..) and the government is blowing hard on the embers of the fire to try and get some economic stimulus going…

No sooner than he has signed and the ink has dried,  what I call the “trickle effect” is starting to happen.  Every state has come up with “shovel ready” projects that will keep people occupied, demand going and stimulate…

Mayors are dreaming up all sorts of public works projects that would have been rejected as “crazy” a couple of years back.  “Shovel ready” means they are ready with their shovels to start digging or whatever…

Apparently Las Vegas could spend $2 million on neon signs!!  Way to go boys!!  Aren’t there enough neon signs glowing in Vegas?

And, where does the power come from, to power up the signs?  Isn’t that on the running expense side of things, which doesn’t help profits… ah no problem we’ll just retrench a few to help pay for the higher electricity bill…

I know that similar public works projects helped get us out of the great depression of the early 30′s.  But are we now just spending for the sake of spending????

Has anyone stopped to think will this help?

I got spoilt last night, I was taken out to a movie, by a nice man…

We went to see “The curious case about Benjamin Button”, what a great movie I really liked the story.

It just makes you think so much about life and the different stages of our lives, what we do when we are young, growing up, maturing.  It was so sad how their lives sort of passed each other on the way.  It must be incredibly hard to live your life backwards.

I didn’t realize that the film was based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald book.  Its well worth seeing, makes you realize how precious time is and how we have to make the most of things whilst it lasts.

Its no wonder it is an Oscar winning movie.  And of course Brad Pitt is just gorgeous!!!!

I just don’t get it!  The guys get so mad when you trick them with some slow play.  Ok I know in poker etiquette you shouldn’t really do it too obviously, but heh an experienced poker player should be awake to the possibility of slow playing.

I think its an ego thing, they hate it when they get deceived… tricked into thinking they are going to win this easy!  Sorry boys but some of us are just not push overs…

You got to use a bit of slow play tactics sometimes to get the chips in the pot, but the trick is not to do it too obviously.  Its a fine line between getting better returns on your investment and upsetting your opponents so much, that you have to change your poker playing name.

The bottom line is that guys hate slow play – they like action everything up front, flat out, full speed.  Now the girls – they don’t mind slowing things down a bit…

Get it?

Many people are always asking me about sports betting and whether I know anything about it.  Surprisingly I don’t really know a lot about sports betting because you actually find a lot of websites that offer both an online casino and sports betting together.

I think it appeals to certain people, who really enjoy their sport and are willing to bet on the outcome.  For me, I find sport too unpredictable, one day a team will do really well and the next time they will do badly – there are just too many unknowns for me.  The human factor plays a huge role, how do you know whether they are going to have an off-day or whether they are going to do extraordinarily well?  Theres just too much left to chance.

But then some people know the form really well and seem to do well out of sports betting.  I think that you really have to know the sports well, the players and what is going on at the time.  You can’t just wander in from the outside and hope for the best.

Anyway take a look at it and see what you think, you never know it may be the thing for you.

Well as the year winds down and comes to an end, its a good time to put your feet up and contemplate life.  The poker and casino; tips and advice have been coming thick and fast.  Today I’d prefer to tone it down a bit and get all deep and meaningful… well just a little philosophical maybe… heh as I said its that time of year… ok… indulge me, please.

Everyone will be charged-up with their new year’s resolutions soon.  I’m going to lose 10kg, I’m going to enter my first poker tournament, I’m going to win the WSOP… whatever.  But why do we wait until the first day of a new year to make this “Great Declaration” about what we want to achieve?  And then forget about them after the first week of the new year.  We should be forming resolutions every month of the year, every week or maybe (if you are really enthusiastic) even every day!

Analyzing how we are doing compared to our list of goals, re-working the list, setting new goals and always working to a plan as we go along through life.  It should be a work-in-progress plan, something we refer to often and adjust to our wants and needs.

But no, lets face it, most of us bumble through life, trying to survive from one calamity to the next – not planning ahead.  Its mostly reactive stuff and not a lot of pro-active.  Suddenly, at new year’s eve someone says, “heh, what are your new year’s resolutions?”.  And you have to think, on the spur of the moment… errr…..damn…. what do I want to do with my life?, what do I want to achieve this year?

My new year’s resolutions are to slow down my life and enjoy it more.  I also want to share my poker knowledge, experiences and skills with whoever will listen or read.  I started off wanting to win big and conquer the world of poker, but now I’ve changed my perspective, I want to have fun and enjoy my life of poker.

Enjoy forming your plans for next year.  Good luck for 2009, I look forward to sharing and engaging with you in the culture of poker.  Until next year!