ninarantala

Poker Absinthe

Nina — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 08:49:21 +0000

Absinthe- the liquor that was claimed to be a dangerously addictive psychoactive drug- was banned in most European countries and in US by 1915. Alleged to cause hallucinations and deteriorate the human brain, this drink was branded as “the cause of all evil” and a heavyweight campaign to criminalize Absinthe and the people who drank it, however notorious they were like Oscar Wilde or Vincent Van Gogh, was spread around the globe. This campaign was lead by few conservatives who really didn’t take the time to investigate if Absinthe really was as bad for humans as accused to be. And as you can guess it- Absinthe turned out not to be more harmful than any other drink and all the allegations were proven wrong. In fact, in 2008 more than 200 different brands of Absinthe are produced in several countries around the world.

Online Poker seems to be under same type of scrutiny- hovering between legal and illegal. We see campaigns for and against online poker every day- but have the ones opposing online gaming ever bothered to see how harmless it really is? What is the difference of winning/losing money in Stock Exchange or winning/losing money in online poker? The fact remains that there are people who are good at it and there are people who are bad at it- should they be restricted and told this is where you can or cannot invest your money in? Simple answer: no.

Is Poker today’s Absinthe?

(This post is in reply to a post in Hells Cold Day.)

Scandinavian Stud aka Sökö

Nina — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 07:43:03 +0000

I got stung by a “sökö” bee (Scandinavian Stud) last week, when couple of my Finnish friends reminded me about this card game- a card game that is considered almost as the national game back in my home country Finland. After being familiarized with the game rules again I convinced my friends that this is the game to play, we sat down around the table and started dealing. After only few rounds I noticed that this is the game for the hard core players, as the 2 players that play regularly poker games had swept clean all rest of us and we we’re left with no chips at all. I was surprised that they got the strategy down so quickly, as this game is mostly played just by Scandinavian players…and I was the only Scandinavian in that group (!).

So, I asked them to list their strategies to me… what made them to steal all the chips in just couple of rounds?

Tip #1: Bet strong in the early stage, even a small pair in sökö is a good hand, played from any position. Don’t let the rounds get to the 4^th Street if you don’t believe you have a hand to win or playing a low pair- if you’re going to bluff you should do it before the 4^th or else it is wiser to fold. Scout your opponents and keep notes on how they do their betting in the first rounds.

Tip #2: If your visible cards are strong enough to beat anybody else’s (and your whole card does not make your hand any stronger) you should ALWAYS check on the river. (My note! I am not quite sure why my friends say you should do this, but I believe it had to do with getting the pot bigger instead of risking that everybody folds when you choose to bet on the river).

Tip #3: ALWAYS play with a good starting hand; fold right away if you’re starting hand is not strong. When playing with fish, this is the quickest way (in addition to bluffing) to get all their chips.

Tip #4: Never play drunk- under any circumstances! And this rule is universal when played any poker or casino game, or when betting in sports, or when placing props.

(You can see the game rules on my “The Games”-page)

Play the man, the game or both? Part 2

Nina — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 08:19:39 +0000

Can the saying “play the man, not the game” be applicable in other instances as well, apart from poker? Can you assure your own game by “playing the man”? In business world at least, you have to be aware of your competitors and be one step ahead of them, as you would have to be in a poker game. You should know the man (or the company) you’re dealing with, and I’d suggest studying well. Poker skills will come very handy when deciding if to continue with a business deal or to drop it (Poker Rule 1: Know when to fold), in money management (Poker Rule 2: never play more than you can afford to lose) or even when deciding on what course of action to take next (Poker Rule 3: Plan ahead, have a clear strategy for every play).

But bluffing…I am not sure. How ethical would it be in business settings?

Play the man, the game or both?

Nina — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 11:04:07 +0000

Maybe I have watched few too many Poker movies, but most of the movies proclaim the same; do not JUST play the game – meaning knowing that my two kings IS the strongest hand possible after the cards are dealt- but play the MAN playing the game. Playing the man requires strong people reading skills and the most effective way to take advantage of that and win the pot is by bluffing. Bluffing has been considered as something of a sinful thing to do- in the world outside our industry of course- when it really is a set of skills knowing how to read your opponents body language, personality, ticks and tell signs WITHOUT letting the opponent to read yours. Bluffing requires SKILLS, self-control and guts to bet or raise even when knowing your hand may NOT be the strongest.

So, hell, I got excited of all the tips and tricks in the Art of Bluffing I got from my friends who have played on real live tournaments and I decided to test them out. A while back, on a Friday night, I got a group of friends together to use as my guinea pigs. I had carefully thought out my strategies, but as the game advanced I realized that in order for me to posess the required skills (meaning bluffing skills) I would have to play more… a LOT more.

In conclusion, poker is NOT a game of chance, as you can play the game and WIN even when not being dealt with the best set of cards. If winning would depend on chance, then how you explain the fact that pro poker players get consistent earnings by playing. It can’t all be by chance, can it?

After long silence

Nina — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 10:40:18 +0000

A lot has happened lately, new things have been added to the plate, productivity has grown- and all work is been done with an ease.

Expect more. Ask more. Demand more. That is what 2009 will be for me.

(Fire)Walls

Nina — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:21:17 +0000

How can I work efficiently if every second website I want to visit has been blocked by the (Chinese) government?

Duh… everywhere there are restrictions, laws, rules and regulations to say the least. It all springs from the need/want to control people; to protect the leaches of the society and to stop the producers. Everything that could be seen as a “threat” to the society has been eliminated. But who decides what a threat is and what it not? That regulating body, whatever it is; politicians, the president, the government in general…your family; they make the decisions for the people, leaving the person unable to decide for himself.

Now the decision has been made for me, I cannot access 90% of the websites I need to during my workday because the industry I am in has been blacklisted by some politicians and executed by their IT nerd in some murky government office. HAH! Gaming and gambling has been around for centuries! Now they think that just by blocking sites that mention any of the tags SEO guys love (poker, online poker, gambling, i-gaming and so on) is enough to stop us who are in this business and who consider this equally clean/legal way of making money as would a soap production company make.

So, a stop to this nonsense. I can break the (fire)walls just by using proxy setting bypass sites.

/Start off.

Nina — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 07:47:49 +0000

Simplicity at its finest.

I’ll tell you how things are; EXACTLY how things are and nothing less. The games broken to their core, the hat tricks revealed and the philosophy behind it all; I’m exploring behind the scenes.

Gambling; a lifestyle, a hobby, a profession, an addiction, a pleasure giving sin, good times spend with friends…

…whatever your take on what gambling is, you’ll be loving, or loving to hate, to read about the evolution it’s going through.

–nina