Thoughts from the Felt: Words of Wisdom

Somewhere among the lewd jokes, angle shooting, bad beat stories and outrageous boasts, I've managed to come away from poker tables with some valuable words of wisdom.
With people from every walk of life converging at a single table, it's inevitable that you will be seated with players who are more knowledgeable than you are about one topic or another juice cards. No matter who you are, every person you meet has the ability to teach you at least one thing.
When it comes to poker, even some of the most inexperienced players can provide valuable insights to the most seasoned pros. Some of the most valuable words of poker wisdom I've received have come from the most unlikely sources.
The funny part is, most of these people don't even understand themselves the concept they managed to convey to me. Here are some of the valuable things I've learned at the table:
"Concentrate on losing the least, not winning the most"

The best advice can come from the most unlikely source.

I consider this concept so greatly valuable that I actually wrote an entire article based purely on the idea alone. In poker, Limit especially, the most valuable state of mind is that of losing the least. When you have the best hand, there is only so much you can do to take your opponents to value town.
You can maybe get a good check-raise in, but more often than not when you're making a bet on each street, your opponent is calling that bet. There is always room for maximizing value, but in Limit that idea is secondary to the concept of minimizing losses.
Basically, you have no control over what your opponent does at the table (or I should say you have very little control). You simply cannot force them to raise you. In a Limit game, where a single big bet won or lost has a direct impact on your final results, the greatest way you can have consistent success is to limit the amount of bets you call away.
Exercise pot control, dump your losing hands and conserve as many bets as you can. When you are losing the absolute least, you will leave your sessions having won the most.
"Never go broke with just one pair"
There's a good chance that the only reason I was talking to the person who said this was that she was a ridiculously sexy girl, but no matter the reason; I'm glad I did. The advice has stuck with me, and has served as the one of the fundamental building blocks of my No-Limit career.
This advice is what solidified the idea of playing for small pots with small hands. If you're getting your whole stack in the middle in a deep-stacked cash game with no more than one pair, chances are you're getting the worst of it.
Unless you have an absolute monster, you want to be playing for a small pot.
This concept is simple to understand, but until it was put into those words, it never really hit home for me. "Going broke" has always been a powerful phrase in my mind, as it is the last thing I ever want to do marked cards.
"You make money in this game by calling with overcards"
While early in my days of playing $4/$8 Limit Hold'em I came across a player who decided to bestow some poker knowledge upon me. His advice was somewhat cynical: the only way to make money at the game was to call on the flop with nothing but overcards, and catch something on a later street.

"Yeah, I'd love to hear more about your cats!"

Although this advice is somewhat retarded, it's the primary reason for learning one of the other building blocks of poker. Obvious hands rarely get paid.  If the board is A♥ A♣ 3♥ 3♣ 5♠ you're almost never getting paid when holding an ace for the full boat. Having the obvious hand doesn't get you paid.
When your hand is hidden, and your opponents cannot put you on it at all, you have the ability to get paid through the teeth. This is a lesson that all advanced poker players use as the foundation of their game. It's why suited connectors and suited one-gappers can be such profitable hands.
The player who told me the line about calling with overcards sort of understood the idea of playing a disguised hand, but wasn't capable of understanding or factoring in basic odds and probability. You want a disguised hand, but at the same time you don't want to be paying for backdoor draws.
"Poker's tough"
Perhaps the most useful words of wisdom I've ever picked up, and by far the most repeated, has to be "Poker's tough." One of the better players I know confided this to me one day, and I just love the expression. Even among the best players I know, the one thing they all have in common is the mind-set that poker really is a tough game.
No matter how hard you work, and how good you get, there are times where you simply can't turn a profit. No matter how hard you work, you can't seem to pull out a win. There are stretches of sessions where it seems like you're always battling back from being four buy-ins deep.
No matter how you look at it, poker really is a tough game. But if it were easy, chances are none of us would have any real interest in it. The challenge, and the ability to outskill our opponents, is the one major reason we all play this game.
But when your chips are low and you can't find a hand to save your live, just remember: Poker's a tough game.

The Brit Invasion

The Brits are descending on the Rio faster than Jenson Button in his Formula One Brawn vehicle right now.

We just bumped into online phenomenon Stephen Devlin aka allinstevie, who is sharing a house with fellow online pros Chris "Moorman1" Moorman and Paul "Leadboots" Foltyn.

Quite the line-up of online talent with over $2.5 million in online winnings between them, allinstevie told me that they were having a pretty balla time in Vegas so far.
"We all regged for a comp the cheat poker other day, then hit the craps tables and the bar pretty hard, winning $5k." Devlin told PokerListings.
"The night continued and by the time we staggered out of Spearmint Rhino at 10am, none of us were in good shape to play so we gave it a miss!"
They won't have been the first young players to have succumbed to the many temptations of Vegas.
The three of them are all business today though, as they shoot for the bracelet in the $1.5k NL Hold'em tournament that started moments ago in the Rio.

Still in Love... With High-Stakes Cash Games

Happy Valentine's Day everyone. I'm still in love, and I have to tell you that it's with the cash games at the Commerce.

The game usually starts off at $200/$400 and consistently moves up to $400/$800 most days, although we've also played as high as $500/$1000. There aren't many of us who are playing these games cheat poker, and it can get a bit desperate if you get stuck.

A few days ago, I jumped into a $400/$800 game that was seven-handed. Two hours later, I was down $19k. If you were playing $4/$8 that would be like being down $190, and swings like this are fairly typical.
That's especially the case as the table gets short-handed, forcing everyone to play more pots. Each player left until it was just me and Kenny from New Jersey playing heads-up. In poker, things can change quickly if you're focused.
Here is a big hand I think shows how well I started playing heads-up. I was in the big blind with K-Qo, and Kenny raised on the button. I called and the flop came A-3-4. I checked, Kenny led out and I called.

Commerce Casino: Pumping out cash game softies like Kenny as the L.A. Poker Classic ramps up marked cards.

I felt like I had a good read on him and didn't put him on an ace. The turn was another blank that didn't help either of us and I checked again. He bet quickly and I went into the tank.
When you're playing, you have to bring in information from all of your senses. The speed of the bet, the force of handling chips, all of these little things start to mean something.
Normally when I go into the tank like that, I muck. Especially in Limit, as there really aren't many options for you. This was a fairly standard fold here as I had nothing but a king in my hand.
Suddenly, Kenny says, "Oh, your king-high is good." Well, that was enough for me and I decided to raise. I had nothing; but that hand, to me, he had nothing as well. He gave me a look and then started laughing as he mucked his hand, and I did as well!
"Show me a bluff!" he said, and I told the dealer to flip over my cards. "King-high; you were right Kenny!"
By the end of our heads-up battle, I'd erased my $19k loss plus grabbed another $35k - a terrific gift for Valentine's Day.

Lieu: Seriously Kenny. "Your king-high is good" is a bit of a tell.

There have also been several players who have taken down some nice scores in the LAPC tournaments the last two weeks. Vanessa Selbst captured the $1k No-Limit Hold'em Ladies Tournament. Vanessa is an extremely aggressive player who was a semi-finalist this summer in the WSOP No-Limit Hold'em Heads-Up event and made the final table of the WSOP Ladies Event.
Paul Darden won the $1k Omaha Hi-Lo event and Men "The Master" Nguyen has won three events - $300 Seven-Card Stud Hi/Lo, $1.5k No-Limit Hold'em and $2,500 Limit Hold'em.
There are still many events before the Main Event starts on February 23. These cash games are just too juicy for me to pass up, though, so you'll probably keep seeing me there.
Stop by www.lizlieu.net and drop by www.Chilipoker.com whenever you have a chance. Or come by the Commerce.
And here's hoping you get something special for Valentine's Day. Cheers!
-- Liz Lieu
Pro Poker Player - Poker Diva

Moving to Malta and Making Poker a Priority

Since making it a goal to play 30+ hours per week, I’ve found out how bad I have become at organizing my time. I’ve also realized that poker has never been my number one priority, even after I quit my job to go pro.
I’m always talking about how I don’t play enough hours of poker, and a big reason for this is that I don’t make it a priority.
I’ve always believed that one of the best things about playing marked cards poker for a living is the freedom it provides. Gone are the days of waking up earlier than you want to and turning down invitations because you have to work a certain night.
You simply get to do what you want when you want.
I took this concept a little too far the last couple of years, though. Being able to play whenever I wanted meant getting up too late every day and missing peak playing hours.
Being able to make my own schedule meant missing the best poker days of the week because people wanted to hang out on the weekends.
Living this way would have been fine if I had worked hard the times I wasn’t sleeping in and hanging out with friends, but I didn’t. I wanted it to be easy.
Working 40 hours per week was for suckers with full time jobs. I wanted to play 15 hours per week, win some MTTs, and have a relaxing life.
Looking back at this, I feel disgusted. I wasted almost two entire years doing nothing. I barely made any money, and I barely improved as a player.
Games are getting more difficult to win every year, and instead of winning as much money as I could while the opportunity was there, I pressed snooze eight times every morning and spent more time on my couch than in my computer chair.

Making Up for Lost Time

I don’t want to waste another year, so I’m finally making poker a priority. It was tough to play lots of hours at the start of the year thanks to issues in my personal life, but the last two weeks have been very good and this week is shaping up to be a good one as well.
I’m reviewing every day and playing trick cards more games than ever before. I just need to keep it up.
Another reason to play as much poker as possible is that I am trying to save for a trip.
Besides going to LAPT Peru last year, I haven’t done much traveling the past few years. Since the opportunity for travel is arguably one of the best things about playing poker for a living, I figured I better do it while I still can.
The plan is to put everything in storage and go to Malta for 3 months. If I like it, I will probably come back to Canada, stay home for 3 months, and then go back to Europe again.
The idea is to have a home base in another country so that I can travel to as many places nearby as possible. I have only been overseas once and it was to the UK, so there are plenty of places I haven’t seen.
I would like to leave in May so that I can be back home by August, so I need to make money as soon as possible. In order to leave for Europe in May I have to give notice to my landlords at the start of April, so the pressure is actually on to make as much money as possible this month.
Wish me luck! Hopefully my next entry here is filled with plans for Malta. If you want to follow my day-to-day poker progress in the meantime, please follow my other blog.

Trip Report: Analyzing My Play at WPT Montreal

Editor's note: Get up to speed with Part 1 of this trip report here.
Day 2 of WPT Montreal started with 302 players remaining. 73 players were scheduled to cash and I thought there was a chance the bubble would happen before the day was over, so I was hoping for another long session of marked poker.
My table was tougher than the table I left at the end of Day 1. I had a couple large stacks to my left, and there was someone I knew to be an online pro to my right.
It wasn’t an extremely tough table, but there weren’t any blatant donators like there had been at my first table.
The thing I noticed immediately after a few orbits was that the tournament had sped up significantly for short and middling stacks. The biggest reason for this was the gigantic antes; the first level of the day was 600/1200 with a 200 ante! Being unable to win pots during this level meant bad things for your stack.
Unfortunately I was among those having trouble winning pots. It was really easy to lose a quick 20 to 30bb just from raising preflop and failing to win post flop, and I only had 60bb to start the day in the first place.
After losing a portion of my stack, I managed to get up to around 75bb after a 3-bet pot where I was fortunate enough to flop a set with 77. It was a heads-up pot and on the flop I check/called when it came AT7.
When my opponent double-barreled 15k into a 30k pot with just 25k behind, I was pretty sure he had top pair, so I jammed. He thought for a very long time and then folded.
Thinking back to the hand, I probably shouldn’t have jammed on the turn. It was a small jam in relation to the pot, but people value their tournament lives a lot, especially live.
After the first break, I was up to almost 100k. The blinds, however, were at 1k/2k, so I had just 50bb.

From Medium to Short Stack

I quickly lost a lot of chips at this point. First I doubled up a short stack with KQ versus his AJ, and then I whiffed a flop against the chip leader with AQ and couldn’t take down the pot after raising his continuation bet. I was down to 28bb, which was the lowest I’d been all tournament.
The next big hand I played involved me raising QJ in early position and getting three calls at 1k/2k. The flop came Q9x with a flush draw, and the small blind donk-bet 6k into the 22k pot. He only had 17k behind, I had 50k, and both stacks behind had me covered marked card tricks.
To ensure that the short stack couldn’t prevent me from going all-in versus the larger stacks, I elected to raise to 23k. The stack directly to my left flatted, and the table chip-leader folded. When the action got back to the donk-bettor, he literally shrugged and tossed the rest of his chips in.
The turn came an off-suit A, and I went all-in, jamming 30k into almost 90k. This caused my opponent to go deep into the tank, which usually would mean that I wanted a call.
In this case, however, I was sure I didn’t because he started saying stuff like, “I am giving you SO much credit if I fold… If I fold and I’m wrong, I’m going to be so mad…” So I sat there and waited and waited, knowing that I was dead if he called.
After what felt like forever, he finally folded. The donk bettor flipped over Q3 and I faded the three-outer on the river, so I won the pot.
The player to my left said that he folded KQ and told me that my jam was good because he otherwise was never folding. I call that hand the “near-death experience” of my poker tournament :P
Sadly, that was the last interesting hand I played for the rest of the event. I just couldn’t get anything going moving forward, mostly because I couldn’t hit pairs and my opponents weren’t folding to post flop bets.
I also lost 30 per cent of my stack in one hand where I three-bet bluffed preflop and continuation bet a flop that I whiffed. My opponent flopped 2nd pair and won the pot after I gave up on the turn.
I had a push/fold stack when we came back for level 5 after the second break. I got a few jams through but ultimately busted after 3-bet jamming pocket deuces over the table chip leader’s CO raise with 13bb and losing a flip to KQ.

Post-Tournament Analysis

Overall I’m mostly happy with how I played both days of the tournament. I didn’t have a lot to work with and lost a few flips, so I don’t think there was much else I could do. I won a lot of my chips without showdown, which I’m pretty pleased with.
I definitely made a lot of mistakes, though. Most of my mistakes had to do with my inexperience as a live player, but my lack of stamina in multi-table tournaments also caused me problems.
I haven’t played full-time MTTs for a couple years now, so I’m no longer used to the long days. I can play nine hours of online poker at home on a given day, but usually it’s with a two hour break in between sessions. I had to work extremely hard to stay alert during the last four hours of Day 1.
Before I wrap up the trip report, I quickly want to say that Playground Poker was absolutely awesome.
The tournament was very well run, the dealers were overall excellent, and the staff was extremely helpful. It makes me wish we had a dedicated venue for poker here in Vancouver. I’m pretty sure I’d play live more often if that were the case!
Now that I’m home, it’s time for me to get back on the online grind. I’ll be back soon to update my progress when it comes to HU SnGs, but feel free to follow my other blog if you want daily post-session reports. Good luck at the tables!

DON’T do it like Durrrr

’s Patrick Leonard talks about the influence of TV poker on the game and asks whether we should all copy Tom ‘Durrrr’ Dwan…

After securing the preflop initiative against Tom Dwan, Phil Galfond makes a mandatory c-bet on the 9-2-3 board for $17,000. Durrrr ponders the decision, staring at the board before announcing, ‘I’m all-in’. This should be the end of the hand as Galfond holds just Ace-high. Instead it’s just the beginning – the beginning of a hero call generation.
Poker on TV became really big and teenagers and young pretenders would soon enter casinos in hoodies, flicking marked cards their chips in nonchalantly while staring at one spot just like their hero Tom Dwan did. Over the last ten years online players have been very dismissive of live players but the one common thing they share is the imitation of their idols from TV. Whenever I see new trends of things I try to find counter-adjustments and ways to exploit the new strategy. For example, it became standard to min-raise on the button in no-limit cash games. For one year people still called the same range in the big blind that they did versus a 3xBB raise. Eventually people realised that if it’s cheaper to call it means they get a better price and can defend a wider range – it is a very simple and easy counter-adjustment.
I think we can exploit people’s willingness to ‘be Phil Galfond’ and as the term quite descriptively says ‘hero’ call. Here are some tips which take into account modern day tendencies.

Attacking a missed c-bet

In no-limit one of the main weaknesses regulars have is they have a very high continuation bet percentage. Generally, if they hit the flop big with top pair, flush draw, straight draw, or an overpair they will bet. If they miss it completely they will try to represent and if they kind of hit with a hand such as middle pair they will check back and bluff catch.

Here is how to exploit this. In a $1/$2 cash game the Villain raises the button to $4. We call in the big blind with J-9 offsuit. The flop is Q♠-8♠-2♥, we check and the Villain checks back. The turn is the 3♣, a total brick. Here are some potential ways for us to proceed…
Plan A: It’s likely the Villain would always bet if he had a Queen, always bet if he had a flush draw and always bet if he had a set or an overpair – this means that he doesn’t have many ‘nut’ hands in his range. The standard ABC attack here would be to bet three quarters of the pot and hope he folds.
However, this move would be a mistake. It’s likely that the Villain would bet this flop with lots of his air hands that perhaps have a backdoor flush draw or a gutshot. We have just called from the big blind showing little strength so he may bet all of his bluffs on the flop. We can probably assign the Villain a range of 8-x. He hit second pair and doesn’t want to see a check-raise on the flop with his weak hand on a drawy board so he pot controls. Other hands that would go into a similar category would be 9-9,T-T, J-J, some underpairs and perhaps A-K that he thinks is good.

Plan B: A superior plan now would be to overbet the turn, putting maximum pressure on a weak range. It’s likely that the Villain auto-checked the flop and would auto-call the turn infrared contactlenses. But he’s probably playing eight tables, has a weak range and will likely fold when facing an overbet in a pot where he has invested little money. The con is that we risk more than the size of the pot meaning it has to work a high percentage of the time. The pros are he will have a weak range and we can expect to pick up dead money a lot of the time.

Plan C: Another good line of attack in this situation would be to bet the turn with the intention of bluffing every river. The Villain will usually call us on the turn and fold to the river bet. The pros are that the Villain will call the turn and fold the river a lot, meaning we pick up some value from his weak play. However, the con is that he will potentially improve his hand to two pair.
You may ask which option is the best? But that’s actually not important. What is important is that you are thinking about ways to adjust to the way your opponents are playing. Think about your player pool and common things that are happening that didn’t happen six months ago.
It’s likely you won’t be the first to spot a population tendency in the player pool you’re in but it’s very plausible that you can be the one making the adjustments first.

Adjustment bureau

When poker first became big with training sites such as PokerStrategy.com and CardRunners the coaches would often tell their players to three-bet with a ‘polarised range’, meaning very good and weak hands. Players eventually made the adjustment to four-bet more as they realised their opponents were often bluffing. The counter-adjustment to this was that the three-bettor scrapped very bad hands from his range and added in hands such as 2-2 to 9-9 and suited A-x, and then went all-in after their opponent made a suspicious four-bet. Perhaps this is because they always saw on TV that A-x suited had 30% equity whenever it was all-in.
Here’s an example of an adjustment I made a few years ago. I raise on the button to 3xBB. The Villain three-bets to 12xBB from the big blind. I four-bet to 26xBB and they go all-in for a total of 100BB to win the 36BB pot. It’s a pretty attractive spot to go all-in and fight for a decent sized pot. The counter adjustment I tried to make would be to make my four-bet sizing a lot smaller to make it unattractive for my opponent to go all-in – he would now be risking a lot to win so little.

For example, I raise on the button to 2xBB, they three-bet to 6xBB, I four-bet to 14xBB and it is now their turn. They now had to go all in for 100BB to win 20BB (instead of 36 previously). This now makes their five-bet all-in very unattractive. Eventually this became ‘standard’ but for a long time I was ahead of the regulars in my games because I was worrying more about me versus him rather than how Tom Dwan played in a sit-and-go against the best six players in the world.
Patrick Leonard writes every month for PokerPlayer magazine, available for free when you sign up to one of these poker rooms.

 

The 5 Best iPhone Poker Apps of 2013

As we've now passed the halfway point of the year we figured it was about time to check in with an updated list of the best iPhone poker apps we've found so far in 2013.
From the brand new version of Appeak Poker to the second chapter of the Governor of Poker saga, we've got five of the best current iPhone poker apps reviewed and linked below.
Share your thoughts in the comments and load up your iPhone via the direct links to the AppStore below each review.

#1. Appeak Poker

Long considered one of the best free poker apps for Android devices, Appeak is now fully compatible with iPhone and iPad thanks to a major update.
The update brought the game to a brand new level by adding new features, fixing some known bugs and refreshing the game interface with new and fancier graphics.
The super essential Texas Hold’em app is today a more “mature” one offering players No-Limit Hold’em cash games or sit-and-gos at four different stakes.
Purposefully created for beginner poker players, Appeak till offers some of the most challenging poker tables for veteran players in an atmosphere and client similar to that offered by real-money online poker marked cards sites.
A hiigh volume of players, daily free chips and a new Facebook app are enough to keep Appeak on top of our list for 2013 so far.
We Like: If you like fast games, this is the app for you. Tap on the App’s icon on your home screen and you'll find yourself with two cards in front of you at the table in literally no time.
We Don't Like: We've all been playing Hold’em for years so it might be about time more apps open their doors to some other poker variations. This isn't an issue only affecting Appeak though.

#2. Fresh Deck Poker

Our first new entry in our list of the best iPhone poker apps Fresh Deck Poker is a surprising application every “social gaming” lover should install on the iPhone.
Less focused on hardcore poker lovers (we'll explain more in the “We Don't Like” part of our review) than Appeak, Fresh Deck Poker offers great support with an enormous number of downloads and a lively Facebook page with over 300,000 members.
As you can see from the pictures the game offers some of the best graphics around and continuously runs different promotions with the precise aim of never letting players' bankrolls run too thin.
Like Appeak, Fresh Deck Poker is also available on Facebook through a dedicated app.
We Like: Great graphics and the fact that Fresh Deck Poker for iPhone was nominated for “best poker game” by Electronic Gaming Review.
We Don't Like Why are those slots even there?! The game would play great if it weren't for the weird inclusion of slots games at the table.
Remember: if poker is a skill game and not a game of luck, a poker player is not a gambler.

#3. All In Poker

Around since mid-2009, All In Poker for iPhone is one of the underdogs that deserves way more downloads than what it has so far.
All In Poker mainly suffers from poor graphics -- and for the fact that you have about the same chance of finding it in the AppStore by typing  “poker” in iTunes than you have of bumping into Phil Hellmuth at your next condo meeting.
That said, the game is great. It’s easy to play, includes both cash games and sit-and-gos and can be played infrared marked cards against real players (Internet connection is required) and against a not-too-bad AI for some good offline games.
Besides that what makes All In Poker one of the best poker apps for iPhone in 2013 is the number of game offered.
Hitting right on the weakest spot of all the other apps All In Poker features Hold’em, Omaha, Seven-Card Stud, Six-Card Stud, Five-Card Stud, Five-Card Draw, Razz and Badugi.
We Like: With 8 different poker games, All In Poker is by far the most complete poker app available in the market. Even its basic interface isn't too bad. After all, all we care about is the way we can use it for playing poker, right?
We Don't Like: All In Poker isn't free and downloading will cost you €4.49. Although we personally find it ironic people will happily pay €600 for a smartphone and then complain about €5 for an app, we know many will never give it a shot because it's not a free download.

#4. Jawfish Poker

Now that we've covered both the best app for playing Texas Hold’em on the iPhone and the most complete one, it's time to introduce the fastest poker app out there: Jawfish Poker.
Although this game won't likely take off with "real poker players," thousands of players appreciate its “All-in or nothing” concept.
Designed by former professional poker player Phil Gordon, Jawfish Poker offers heads-up games in which players can choose only whether to go all in or fold.
No need to think of bet sizes or preflop/postflop strategy here: just sit, look at your cards and decide if you want to put your stack at risk.
It's probably a level below the other apps in this list overall but the heads up tournaments are generally fun and perfect for those little breaks we all have during the day that are too short for a proper sit-and-go but still long enough for some poker.
We Like: Playing on Jawfish Poker you'll get some "help" from Gordon through his in-game commentary and a series of poker tips “he”sends to your email every now and then.
We Don't Like. All in all, the graphics are fairly underwhelming and a game offering only heads-up tourneys where you can only shove or fold won't keep you glued to your iPhone screen.

#5. Governor of Poker 2

Way different from all the other iPhone poker apps in this list, Governor of Poker 2 is an “arcade” game well worth the €3 for its full version.
You don't need to be online to play and it combines a nice storyline – save poker from being banned in the state of Texas – with some of the funniest and more challenging offline Hold’em tables available for iPhone.
Governor of Poker comes with a very well made cartoon-ish interface and does its best to keep players in the game by mixing up a set of rewards, scenarios and adventures one can unlock only by showing its skills at the table.
We Like: It might not be the most objective parameter to consider before downloading this app on your iPhone but, should you ever cross us on an air plane, you will find us playing Governor of Poker 2.
The game is fun, The AI level – especially after playing a few tournaments – becomes more challenging. As we said it can also be played offline and you can put it “on pause” in case the pilot asks you to switch off all electronic devices. A life saver.
We Don't Like. Like All In Poker, Governor of Poker 2 costs some money. The download itself is free but after a couple of tournaments you'll be asked for €3 to keep playing. A lot of players won't like this but if you really want to play some poker against less predictable real players then this app is just not for you.

Your Poker Success is Not in the Cards: How to Peg the Pigeon at Your Table

There’s a television show called Lie To Me, and every week viewers learn how to tell when someone is lying—voice level changes, certain body language, eye shifting, mouth twitches, tiny nuances of movement that indicate an intent to deceive. I’m pretty sure parents of teenagers and suspicious spouses are glued to the screen during every episode for obvious reasons. If you’re an aspiring poker player, you’ll be happy to know that you can identify the weakest player at the table with similar powers of observation, allowing you to, um, clean him out and gain a big chip advantage.

Pro poker player Rory Monahan says you can “spot the sucker” at your table within the first few hands. If you pay attention to Rory’s surefire giveaways, you’ll learn 1) how to spot the sucker and 2) how to avoid being the sucker. Here they are:

1. Arrogance.  When a player keeps bragging, acting cocky and “talking trash,” it’s likely he or she is compensating for insecurities.
2. Immediate Tilt. High-stakes poker is an intense game.  On tilt is the term for a state of mental confusion or frustration, during which a player becomes overly aggressive, which leads to less-than-optimal game play. If a player goes on tilt early in the game, you’ve got your patsy.
3. Ham and Cheese. Commonly known as overacting, if a player gets dramatic with his or her bluffs, calls and holds, chances are you’ve got a weak player in your midst. They’re overcompensating for a lack of skill.
4. World Series of Poker Syndrome. If you’ve ever watched TV’s World Series of Poker, you’ve probably noticed there’s heavy action on every hand. It’s called editing. For the show to fit into the allotted time, dozens of less-exciting hands are cut. If a player plays every pot, you can bet they’ve been watching the show instead of playing real Texas-Hold ‘Em.
5. Showboating. Nobody likes a pompous winner. Players who grandstand after winning a hand are showing their lack of experience. Seasoned poker players know better than to make enemies of the other players. It’s amazing how quickly the showboating stops when all the showboater’s chips are gone.
6. Fear of Risk. An experienced poker player is committed to the game—and to winning. If a player shows a fear of commitment by folding each time he or she is raised, you’ve found your mark—someone who doesn’t have the experience or the “guts” for the game.  Make these calls and watch your chips come in!