The many-opponent bluff is not advisable but it can sometimes work if you catch the players who are last to act shaking their heads and muttering.

Here’s why: The first players to act don’t think you would bluff into this many players [sometimes known as a “protected pot”]. Since they also have to worry about the players still to act behind them, they may fold stronger hands. The next players may be only moderately strong, and they may also fold [fearing the final two]. And the final two may be weak and drop.

This doesn’t have to work every time – just often enough to show a profit.

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Here’s some good news.

Freeloading Bill Frist will finally stop clogging the pipe with his crooked and underhanded deals by NOT, repeat, NOT running for president in 2008.

Who can forget his recent un-American midnight moves to make poker illegal, or rather, to make his special-interest backed gambling games protected.

The culture of corruption king has wrapped himself in rhetoric, the bible, world causes, and anything else that he thinks will perfume his poop, and announced the return to his professional roots as a ‘healer’. Must be a misprint - should read ‘stealer‘.

Good-bye and good riddance to the delusional destroyers of America. Don’t call us - we’ll call you, for the indictment. Oh, that’s right - you’re already under indictment. Anyway, we hope the door hits you on the ass on your way out.

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When playing in a game against average opponents, and bluffing, keep all your bets within the same timing range, like a rhythm. This will show that your betting isn’t just an idea that suddenly came to you but is in response to a good hand you have held all along.

When you use the same timing of bets on each card [and the same betting motion], it ties the rhythm together for an opponent. It gives him the reason he is looking for to believe that there is a pattern here – and he should fold.

Play Well and Win Money at Scarlet Poker

There’s one other benefit of making your betting appear as a rhythm. If you have a good hand and win, the next time you start this same betting rhythm, opponents may feel a little foolish calling bets, remembering how it came out last time, and will fold. Its a little memory trick – for them.

Throw your opponents - keep the same betting rhythm.

“I always say I hope (Internet poker) stays up, because I think it helps us a lot.”

Jack McClelland, Bellagio Poker Tournament Director

As the poker tournament director for the Bellagio, industry veteran Jack McClelland’s opinion on the matter carries more weight than just about anyone’s.

The real question is not HOW the un-American UIGE Act will affect poker, but HOW MUCH and for HOW LONG.

Sure, the public companies are leaving the U.S., but that just opens opportunity to those who would find another way to maintain online poker service. TV coverage of the game is increasing, not decreasing. Brick-and-mortar casinos can’t build poker rooms fast enough. And the explosion of tournaments both online and real world continues.

So is the un-American UIGE Act just a temporary blip? Yes. Why? Look to history.

Prohibition did not last. No injustice survives in this country - especially not one that infringes on personal freedom. Freeloading Bill Frist and his special-interest politico-punks are the necessary evils of a democratic system that welcomes all, but ultimately stands with the majority. Their shenanigans remind us of what makes this country strong - Freedom. In the end, their brand of fascism is always defeated. Always. That’s history.

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Yes, we’ve got a poker industry playing musical chairs right now. But that will pass. Services will settle down. And we’ll all get back to playing the great American game.

Talk Poker. Play Poker. Poker is America.

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In general, it’s not a good idea to show your cards when you’ve bluffed somebody. Doing this not only gives free information about your play and the kinds of cards you are playing, but it can also produce emotions that muddy the waters on future hands.

An example of the latter is this: You bluff Joe Player out of a pot by making a bet on the end, and then you turn over your cards to show him that you had absolutely nothing. Now, how are you going to read this player on upcoming hands?

Suppose that a few hands later you have a slightly better-than-average hand, and you bet into him, and he raises you? Now: Why is he raising you? Because he’s mad about the earlier hand? Because this time he’s going to give you a dose of your own medicine and try to bluff you? Or because this time he’s got a really good hand and he’s got you trapped with it?

Scarlet Poker - Are You In?

Showing him your bluff earlier makes it harder to read him on subsequent hands and identify his motivation.

Keep it simple. Don’t show your bluffs.

In order to play the game, you have to be in the game.

American Gaming Association President Frank Fahrenkopf Jr.

American Gaming Association President Frank Fahrenkopf Jr. is definitely in the game. And his recent move to stage one of the 2008 Presidential Debates at the University of Nevada, Reno, is a very good play. Sure, a Presidential Debate would shine a light on Nevada - a state already well-experienced with elaborate lighting - and bring many notable politicians back to the American adult playground known as Reno.

But his underlying agenda is clear: get the next group of Presidential contenders into the national epicenter of gaming, and get them active in the concerns of the gaming industry. This would be a brilliant opportunity to involve and educate the leading politicians on the issues that face us all – the most obvious one being the un-American UIGE Act. More importantly, it would be a fantastic opportunity to propose plans for the USA to re-take the leadership of the international gaming market.

President Fahrenkopf - we stand with you in this effort. We encourage everyone to fully support a 2008 Presidential Debate at the University of Nevada, Reno, and do everything possible to make this a reality.

 

Play Poker.  Talk Poker.  Poker is America.

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This might seem like odd advice, but trying too hard to catch up in poker often leads to disaster. It can result in overplaying and further exaggeration of your losses. You become like the basketball team that gets down 10 points and starts throwing up 3-pointers from the “hope zone”, turning the ball over, giving the other side more hoops and an ever-growing lead.

ScarletPoker.us - We are American Poker

Take a step back and re-group.

If you are going to lose, you are going to lose. But don’t magnify the disaster. Go home a $150 loser, if you must. But don’t go home a $550 loser because you went crazy.

“Avoid going on tilt. Resist the urge to recoup, pull even, make up lost ground, or you will wind up chasing rainbow pots, throwing good money after bad.” ~ Doc Holliday

As flip as that may sound, it’s what needs to happen PDQ.

An article from the Poker Gazette points out that casino executives and a poker lobby group said that they hope a change in power brought by the midterm elections will help them overturn an Internet gambling ban rushed through Congress while Republicans were still in control.

Other notable: recently, officials from more than 30 countries attended a half-day conference near London to discuss ways to regulate the global internet gaming industry.

The gathering - held in the wake of a decision by the United States Government to effectively ban online gambling - was hosted by Britain’s Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, who has been harshly critical of the US move to crack down on online gaming, likening it to a new form of the 1920s prohibition on alcohol.

Even New Zealand officials attended - little New Zealand - and a feedback on the discussions is expected to be prepared for their Internal Affairs Minister Rick Barker, who may have to decide next year whether to let the Lotteries Commission sell tickets over the internet.

And of course US officials declined an invitation to take part in the gathering at the Royal Ascot race course, which is the first international summit to discuss the global effects of internet gambling.

But here’s a way around the current lame-duck, last gasp culture-of-corruption that will try to run things [into the ground] for the next couple of months:

Instead of working with the outgoing losers, spend time working with the friends and possible friends of the industry, getting them up to speed on the true nature of the international gaming market, walking them through the benefits and phenomenal growth – highlighting such upsides as the “well-paying careers”.

At the very least, copy the crib notes from New Zealand and start to use those in an information-assault for a 6 month media blitz.

Even Senator Harry Reid stated – although he’s rejected online gaming in the past – that he’d be open to looking at the results of a new study on the industry.

So Terry Lanni, Chief Executive of MGM Mirage and high profile industry spokesman - hook up with Tessa Jowell, Britain’s Culture Secretary and outspoken UIGEA critic. Drink tea, trade notes, and let’s get to work on killing this corrupt, Freeloading Frist, special-interest edict – otherwise known as the un-American UIGE Act.

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One of the dangers of a cold streak is that your growing anger can begin to cloud your ability to evaluate hands. This might seem impossible, that you could literally lose the ability to look at your cards and tell if they are any good or not, but it can happen. It’s possible for rage and confusion to mess up our vision so much that we can’t see what we’re looking at anymore.

A second problem with a cold streak can be vanity – our pride kicks in and convinces us that we’re good enough to ‘play our way out of it’. We’re different from other people. When other people have cold cards they have to tighten up and pull in the horns – but not us. We have the skills to play our way out of it. This kind of thinking can be a trap.

And finally, the third problem with going through a rough patch in poker is that you can’t turn to your friends for sympathy because they’re usually the ones who are doing it to you.

Are You In? - Scarlet Poker

Take a break. Take a walk. Change your game. Change your pants. Tighten up your play. Chalk it up to experience.The good thing is that cold streaks never last.

Now that the party’s over, let’s get down to business.

Meet the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid

• Hails from Nevada
• Was the Chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission from 1977-1981
• As Chairman, Reid ushered in a new era of responsibility, paving the way for Nevada’s almost epic economic development
• Was awarded an Industry Leadership Award from the American Gaming Association in 2001
• Was not happy with Frist’s tactic of sneaking the UIGEA into the Safe Ports Act

Seems like a good candidate to put American poker back in the game, right?

As with any politician’s election, Senator Reid came with attachments - chits used to back his successful campaign - and those backings are soon to be cashed in. The land-based gaming industry is a major supporter of Harry Reid. That sole interest will be relying on the Senator to promote its agenda.

This is where common ground can be struck.

The land-based gaming industry, like every industry, is made up of a wide range of business interests. These interests run the range from conservative to progressive. And while they may not agree on the how’s and when’s of the internet, they all recognize the potential. The advancement of the international gaming market brings technology, management and expertise, which translates into well-paying careers and growing digital industries. Also, they know that money talks loud.

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This is the mission: Poker players, related gaming bodies, and poker businesses must now assist the New Senate Majority Leader in understanding the role that American Leadership and American Entrepreneurship can take in the growing international gaming market.

Use the daily coverage of the international markets from the UK, Europe and Asia as verified proof that American Poker is conquering the world. Frame the discussion smartly so that it convinces before it has even begun. Stop using negative, tainted phrases such as “online gambling” and “offshore”. Start using positive phrases such as “international gaming market“, “leadership“, “ingenuity“, “well-paying careers“, and “entrepreneur“.

Senator Reid can pave the way to overturning the underhanded UIGE Act. He can open opportunities for American Poker to regain its leadership. He just needs help from us all - the Poker Players.

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