RascoHeldall

Hi all,I'd be really grateful if you could help. I'd like to try and qualify online for one or two of the pot-limit omaha events on at the WSOP (especially event 19 - the $1,500 freezeout) but as far as I can see, all that sites offer is entry to the main event. These typically have ridiculously large fields which turn it effectively into a lottery, but I know how to play omaha and feel it would be worth stumping up the money for. Does anyone know of ANY sites offering qualifiers into any of the pot limit omaha events?I'd be really, really grateful if you could help.Many thanks,Rasco

OK, $5 buy-in tourney on bet365, 1060 runners, top 100 places paid. Pretty much on the bubble. Blinds 1,250 / 2,500. I have 26K in the small blind, find A-Q o/s and everyone folds to me. Decide not to get cute and raise to 8,000. Am smooth-called. Flop: A-K-5.I check. Villain bets 4,800.What do I do?

Belief in God is the ultimate form of paranoia - that your life is being judged by some sort of cosmic dictator who will tot up the good and bad things you do and 'reward' or 'punish' you accordingly. Obviously that is worse than not believing in God, which is after all just a sensible response to the fact there is not the slightest evidence or reason to think such a being exists.

**** Poker Analogy Alert! ***If you are the sort of person who genuinely thinks there are “Poker Gods” which determine how the cards fall then you probably aren’t going to impress many people (or win many games). Of course, no-one really does believe in Poker Gods. But it is no less daft, I’m sorry to say, than believing that evolution by natural selection could have some kind of “guiding force”.As any good player knows, poker is not all about luck. It’s also, amongst other things, about understanding probabilities and how these affect the plays you make. The cards you are dealt in any given

Thanks, both of you.

Hi thereI was just wondering if anyone could tell me of an online source for Daniel's syndicated poker column - I couldn't find it with Google and am in the UK so can't buy the paper.Many thanksRasko

Surely only call the raise on the flop rather than re-raise?

If I were in this spot I'd probably lead for about $10 just to make it harder for the villain to go for an outright steal: if he raises in this spot you know you're beat, if he calls you might (somehow) still be good (if he's an idiot). I realise that's quite an expensive play but I guess the way I'd look at it is, if I was somehow good (looks unlikely, I'll freely admit), my only hope of getting what's in the pot would be to bet. Certainly, I know that if I was the villian and still had nothing on the river, but you checked, I'd find a pot-sized bluff irrestible!

Occupational hazard.

Yeah, I agree, never be annoyed about making the right play. On the other hand, sometimes if I make a bad call and suck out I feel bad about that as I know I don't 'deserve' the money.

Quite a generous reading that - this guy was just one of those ridiculously inept players that will bust out in 10th most times but, very occasionally, get massive chip stacks as a direct result of not knowing what they're doing and calling down bluffs with king high. Another example from the same player - in a different hand, I was quite short-stacked and limped in with A-8, deciding to make a desperation push if an ace flopped. The board duly came 2-A-6 and this guy called me - for 600 or something - with Queen high! Fortunately the turn brought an Ace that time. Oh and on another hand he ca

OK, 10 euro 10-player sit and go, Virgin Poker (pretty good site actually). Down to the last 3, I am dealt 8-7 suited, limp in on the small blind. Blinds 200/400. Flop 8-10-10. I do a feeler bet of 1000. Am called after some apparent hesitation (already established villian too stupid to do a 'bluff pause'). Turn brings 9, giving me a straight draw to go with bottom pair. I fire all-in for 2400, on the basis that my opponent seemed weak and the chances are the 9 didn't help, and even if it did I have outs. Villian thinks for ages then eventually calls...with A-Q!!!???!!!???!! OK, the guy's a to

Only sometimes. I don't mind sick beats so much as idiotic plays - because if someone doesn't have a clue what they are doing and still takes your money through outrageous luck, what can you do? It's no use saying "that's poker", because it isn't! Really? Wow - I never considered that. Having said that, seeing as this dude was the sort of 'player' to call an all-in raise post-flop with King high, I find it hard to imagine he would understand why he had any sort of moral obligations!

I am a complete moron then... Why do so many players have this obsession with pushing all-in at the first opportunity - especially when the fold equity is poor? True donkage aside, with J-J you will often be called by over cards, so it's almost always going to be a coinflip. Why not try and win the tournie through skill, rather than relying on the toss of a coin? It really annoys me TBH - i'll be down to the heads up and the opponent won't bother to try and outplay you, they just keep shoving until you are forced to call with a (semi) strong hand.I have to say, I used to be an insta-shover, b

That is obscene. What? I mean - WHAT?!?When I see stuff like that it REALLY makes me suspicious about internet poker - I know it shouldn't, but I just can't help it. Seriously, anyone with a basic cognitive funcition could see that 2-5 was not going anywhere with that flop. What ON EARTH was the thought process behind calling your re-raise?! Backdoor wheel draw? Unless this freak simply had some sort of uncanny intuition that his hand was going to be good... I just don't get it otherwise.