Chris “Jesus” Ferguson sits down with Adam Schoenfeld and Diego Cordovez on Card Player TV for this week’s edition of The Scoop (sponsored by Full Tilt Poker). He analyzes why he’s been so successful at heads-up no-limit hold’em and talks about how he has transformed his game in recent years.
Found this good acticle on Poker Tips. It’s about trash talking at the poker table, but done for increased EV. Check it out.
Immediately, when you enter the site a quick sales pitch from Daniel begins, whether you want it or not. Now I’m sure the training on this site is topnotch but is it me or does this seem a little like selling out? I mean, it’s like those guys who tell you how to make millions on the internet. Why don’t they just use their own method and make all those millions. I guess the difference is we know Daniel’s done it already, when those guys on TV, we don’t know if they are real.
Most of the professionals make there money from the bad players and the more good players there are, the harder it will be to make a living. So, isn’t Daniel and the others selling there knowledge basically saying, “Making a living is going to get hard for all of us, so I’m going to make my money now before it becomes impossible.”
The appearance of his site is wonderful. you can take a tour. This isn’t really a tour but more another sales pitch. A tour would be some examples of what you will find, many a demo ot two, or a sample lesson. This tour is a Daniel video in which he tells you know what you will find on the site. When, however, you get to the Feature section, there are a few samples.
The pro’s on the site include Paul Wasicka, JC Alvarado, Justin “Boosted J” Smith, Adam “Alunglen7” Junglen, Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, and Prof. Charley Swayne (a math expert).
The site feature Daniel’s Custom Course on Hold’em and him Hand Analysis Lessons, Online Poker Training from Winning Pros and Know the Math.
You can test you knowledge for free and I got the first 6 right and the last 4 wrong. Maybe I could use this course, but that’s why this test is there.
I have read that the dig difference in this site over other on line training sites is the live play action in which Daniel and other pros play with amateurs. During the game, they will stop, discuss action, look at hands, and make it a learning opportunity.
Right now they site is only for Hold’em players but I hear more games are planned.
Membership Cost Are: $149.99 to sign up and $29.99 a month after that. I worry when there is both a sign up free and a monthly fee. It’s sort of like they are saying, “Hey if you don’t like this site, go ahead and cancel, we still got your $150! Ha ha!”
Here is Underbelly’s 10-step guide to becoming a better poker player. Feel free to contribute to this is you have something to add. Every once and a while I’ll update this, hopefully with some help for you.
1. Favorite Hands:
This is such a bad habit to get into. Mine use to be king-eight. I don’t know why but I always would play it. Your preferred hand should be a pair of aces, followed by a pair of kings and so on. If it’s not, than you have a flaw in your game.
2. Feeling It:
I know so many people who look at two bad cards and call a big pre-flop bet because “they were feeling it.” Poker is a game of math and numbers, not mystical forces driving the action. Use your head, not “feelings”
3. Any two cards:
Yes, Doyle says any two cards can win, and he’s right but that doesn’t mean always playing every hand. Seven-two off-suit will win once in a while but if you play it every time, you will lose far more than you win. Get that cliché’ out of your head!
4. Daniel Does It:
Yes, I know the pro’s you see on T.V do a lot of unorthodox things. I know it seems Daniel plays a lot of garbage hands and wins but you’re not Daniel. You should understand that the pro’s are doing this for reasons you can’t possibly understand and until you do, don’t try to play like them.
5. Curse of the Pocket Aces:
No, there is no curse. Usually when I see someone lose with them, it’s because they played them bad. Even if you play them correctly, there still only two out of the seven cards you have to make a five-card hand. They might be them best starting hand but the average pot is won by two-pair or better,
6. I Don’t Get Bluffed:
Everyone gets bluffed! You must learn that it will happen to you. Fear of being bluffed will cause you to lose more chips them you know.
7. Bad Poker Players.
If you think you can win because of the bad players, maybe you’re the bad player. A good player will take advantage of the bad.
8. I Knew You Had Me Beat:
I hear this all them time, “I knew you had me beat but I had to call.” Huh? If you know your beat, well save the chips on fold.
9. You Call Me With That?:
Don’t let bad players know they are bad players. I know it’s frustrating when a player does something stupid and wins but in the long run, it will be better for you. If he calls your big, pre-flop raise with a four-eight off-suit and the flop comes Eight-Eight-Four, congratulate him. Tet him how well he played. Trust me, it will be to your advantage in the long run.
10. I Have The Worse Luck:
Take responsibility for your own results. Yes, you will lose now and again because of a bad beat, or an unlucky flop. Even so, think about your play after it’s over and be honest with yourself. For instance, you go all in with kings pre-flop when you are short stacked and get called by pocket five. A five hits and you gone. Bad luck? Maybe the guy with fives wouldn’t have called you if you were not short. Why were you short? Usually people who are constantly unlucky are unlucky because of there own actions.
I’m not a professional poker player. I wanted to get that out of the way before I
write anything else. I am a happly married father of two who works a 9 to 5 job and tries to play poker whenever he can with the money I can afford to lose. That being said, this is not a column on poker strategy. If I was good enough to write stuff like that, I wouldn’t have to, if you know what I mean.
I can, however, right about something that I know about and that may help you. How to handle bad beats!
The best place to start is the definition of the term. Is it considered a bad beat anytime someone draws out on you? I don’t think so. I believe a bad beat is where you are a clear dominating favorite and have played the hand correctly but you still lose. I remember a tournament in which I was just on the fringe of being short stacked. I had enough to play with but not enough to feel really comfortable. I ended up going all in with pocket kings pre-flop and was called by a bad player who barely had me covered with pocket fives. Needless to say, he drew a five on the river. To be honest, I didn’t handle this situation as well as I should have. This, in my opinion, was a bad beat.
The term, “bad beat” is over used and probably not all that accurate in most situations. Let’s say you’ve got a good hand, like trip jacks and only minimum raise after the flop. Someone who has a flush draw calls you and he gets his card. That’s not a bad beat since you gave him the proper odds to call, that’s just bad poker.
So, before you get all Phil Hellmuth on another player for his actions, ask yourself if there was anything you could have done to prevent this unfortunate situation. Did you play the hand right?
Another thing to think about is in Texas Hold’em is that luck’s a bigger factor than any other card game played. That’s why it’s so popular. Dumb luck is always going to be a factor in the outcome of the game. ALWAYS! No player has ever made the final table in any large tournament and not has got lucky once or twice. Always no player has ever played a huge tournament without making a few mistakes. Again, before going all ape about a suck-out, ask “How many times did I get lucky” and “Did this guy just make one bad play or is he really a bad player.”
Let’s now get to what I started writing this about, how to handle bad beats. When they happen, close your eyes and take a deep breath, slowly let the air out, and move on. If you have to yell and scream, leave the room and go it with the smokers outside. In other words, have class and dignity. Remember, you’ve been on the other side, have you not?
And while we are on the subject, lets talk about the bad beat story. NOBODY WANTS TO HEAR IT! No one at all! Not the players at the table, the tournament director, the folk on rail, your spouse, friends, realities, or the bum sitting on the sidewalk outside the casino. If you need to get it off your chest, buy a little diary and scribble down how runner, runner spades gave the goofball at the end of the table a flush over your trip aces. It happens! Better yet, start a blog and document it there like I did.
