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Articles by George Epstein
George Epstein: Amid stops and starts, remain hopeful for progress
Let’s celebrate all the good that can shine forth following our bleakest moments. The loss of Jayson Tatum has enabled former benchwarmers for the Celtics to thrive. The miserable performance of the quarterbacks who followed Tom Brady’s departure brought the Patriots the superb Drake Maye. Dawn follows the darkness. Our undermining of the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people against Russian aggression damages America’s credibility as an ally, but there is one positive outcome.
RecPoker | Episode 489 – Sean McCormack - Cardplayer Lifestyle
This week Jim Reid and the RecPoker RECing Crew interview Sean McCormack, the “Poker Strategist” (great title, Sean) from MGM Resorts! The interview starts with breaking news – this year’s RecPoker WSOP Meet Up Game will be at the MGM Grand on June 28th! More details to come about that soon. In the meantime, Sean talks about his start as a dealer, and goes on to share some stories and thoughts about his time in the industry.
The Future of AI in the Workplaces: Forecast, Risks and Opportunities
Since ChatGPT embarked on its journey to answer all our queries in a conversational format, people have been going crazy over AI. Many are saying the need for human intelligence may be at risk. But how true is that? Can AI replace real workers? In this post, we’ll dive deep into the workings of modern artificial intelligence, what the experts are forecasting, the risks involved, and the opportunities that may come for people. What Is Artificial Intelligence?
Poker Tips by George: Maniac to My Right
The effective use of aggression by raising while playing poker can be a very profitable skill. There is a right time and way to do so. But it can be overdone, and that can be very costly. Some players are just too aggressive. We call them “maniacs.” It takes considerable skill to play effectively against such an opponent. However, when done well, it can be very profitable. I had just such an experience.
3 Reasons Why Live Dealer Poker Games Are So Popular
Live dealer poker games have surged in popularity this decade, with hundreds of games spread simultaneously by social casinos around the globe. While live dealer poker may be a bit counter-intuitive given the massive amount of players that a major brick & mortar tournament series can attract – or the 24/7 availability of traditional online poker games – live dealer poker games have etched-out a niche market that continues to grow.
Poker Tips by George: All-in vs. All-in
We can play poker for chips or cash. (It was pennies in my youth.) As explained in a previous column, on those occasions when you push all of your chips into the pot, you are said to have gone “all-in.” During the rest of that hand, you cannot bet further, and a side-pot is set up for the remaining players. You are in the original pot only. Nor can you go into your pocket to buy in for a new batch of chips – at least not until the next hand is about to be played.
How Do Casinos Make Money On Poker?
It doesn’t take much research to figure out that casinos make money hand over fist. Seemingly endless rows of slot machines net millions of dollars per year one penny at a time. Table games constantly take chips from players as sevens are rolled and 18s are beaten. Slots and table games have something in common: players are betting against the house. It’s clear that when the house wins they are taking the player’s money, and when players win they get the casino’s money.
Poker Tips by George: Starting Hands and More
Hold’em players often struggle over their starting hands selections. And well they should; it may be the most important decision they make at the poker table. Should I invest my precious poker chips in these two hole cards? Or should I wait for a better hand? No matter how good a player you become at poker, perhaps the best skill to continuously work on is decision-making, as making the wrong decisions can be costly to your bankroll.
Basic Skills and the Importance of the Mental Stack
No matter what card games you enjoy, there’s always more to learn and master to be the best. From newcomers to veterans, this is an element of play that we all understand, but can still tend to overlook. As we grow comfortable with a game we can fall into bad habits, or chase early strategies that worked for us that no longer help at the higher echelons of play. To be your best, skills need to be built from a solid foundation and worked on until they become second nature.
WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
On Tuesday, May 2, the final table of the 2023 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown was set at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The tournament began on April 28th with a $3,500 buy-in and a guaranteed prize pool of $3,000,000. It only took one opening day to reach the guarantee, which was achieved during the dinner break.
The Psychology of Poker: How Understanding Human Behavior Can Improve Your Gambling Skills
Poker is a game of skill that requires more than just dealing cards. Players must possess a sharp mind to outsmart their opponents in this game of wits and cunning. Understanding the psychological principles that govern poker is essential to achieving this. Mastering the game’s psychological intricacies increases a player’s chances of winning. Also, poker players should observe their behavior and that of their opponents. Doing this allows them to better control their emotions and make wise decisions.
Poker Tips by George: All-In and All-Out
The expression “all-in” means that you are totally committed to something; it is frequently used in playing poker. Presumably, it originated with the game of Texas hold’em to describe when you bet all of your chips. You may be calling another player’s bet or raising the pot. When you put all of your chips at risk during a hand, you are said to be all-in. But the hand continues. For subsequent bets made by the other players during that hand, the dealer creates a second, separate pot.
Popular Online Slots in Canada and Beyond
The world of online slots is vast and diverse, with different regions exhibiting unique preferences. From traditional fruit machines to complex online slots for real money featuring rich graphics and storylines, there is a game out there for everyone’s tastes. This article will explore the trends in popular games worldwide while focusing on top-rated picks among Canadian players.
Most Entertaining Live Dealer Games to Play at US Online Casinos
The launch of legal online casinos in certain American states has changed the gambling industry from the ground up, with players in such states offered a whole new way to play their favorite games from the comfort of their homes. Typically speaking, online casinos offer virtual games that are powered by RNGs, including video slots, virtual table games, instant win games, and much more.
Poker Tips by George: Small Cards Can Be Dangerous
Selecting starting hands when playing Texas hold’em is your most important decision. In that regard, small cards in the hole spell danger. These are the cards ranging from seven down to deuce. To be clear, we’re talking about situations in poker played among your fellow players as opposed to table games poker vs. the dealer in live casino games. Let’s look at typical situations involving small hole cards at full (or nearly full) tables: Most hands dealt to you are not playable.
How to Get the Most Out of Every Poker Book
Poker books are great sources of useful and profitable strategies. But people don’t get the most they can out of the poker books they read. This is probably due to: Reading for entertainment and not really trying to use books as a tool for learning. Reading in hopes the information is absorbed into our mind so we can use it all in-game. Reading about strategies, but not getting concrete ideas on how to use them in-game.
Top 10 Poker Biographies
Poker books are great, but there’s a sub-niche within that I’ve come to greatly appreciate, namely poker biographies. Over the years I have read several of them, and what I specifically like about them is that they are based on real events, they are very entertaining, and they allow us to know personal aspects of the protagonists.
Poker Tips By George - Why Online Poker is Not for Me
Online poker is relatively new to the poker world. The first virtual poker hand was dealt over the Internet on January 1, 1998, when the online poker site, Planet Poker, was launched. Endorsed by the famed celebrity, Mike “Mad Genius” Caro, it gained the attention of the poker world. The first virtual real-money poker game was Texas Hold‘em with $3/$6 stakes. Despite attempts to rule it illegal, online poker has enjoyed a steady growth, and several legal and well-established sites are available.
PokerGO Monthly Preview: April 2023
Another big month of is set for April on PokerGO with the completion of the U.S. Poker Open March, followed by the continuation of the seasons of High Stakes Poker and No Gamble, No Future. U.S. Poker Open The fifth installment of the U.S. Poker Open plays down with the final three events of the series taking center stage from inside the PokerGO Studio.
RecPoker | Episode 469 – Wesley Cannon - Cardplayer Lifestyle
This week Jim Reid and the RecPoker RECing Crew interview Wesley Cannon. You may have heard of Wes from his solver work for another great podcast, The Breakdown (I mean…it’s no RecPoker, but whatever) but he’s also making a name for himself in both the live and online poker arenas.
Discover the Excitement of Australian Wild Card Casino
Many casinos are now expanding beyond the local market, which is limited by geographic space, and into the international sphere due to the obvious factor of crowding within a certain area. Today, we are taking a look at Wild Card City Casino, which is quite striking and surprising. We will cover this casino from various angles in this Wild Card City Casino review.
Poker Tips by George: The History of Texas Hold'em
Today’s poker games can be traced back to a Persian betting game called As Nas which was introduced into France in the late 16th Century and led to the French and German games Poque and Pochen. Later, these games came to the United States with the arrival of European colonists, evolving into modern-day poker. Currently, Texas Hold’em is the most popular poker game in the country.
Pokies or Card Games: What is Better for Playing for Real Money?
There has always been plenty of criticism surrounding the casino industry, and more so around betting games. If you’ve heard from someone that these platforms are not safe, their personal experience might not have been positive. However, it doesn’t mean that online pokies real money NZ options are scams. There are many who enjoy casino games at online gambling sites. Playing online pokies for real money has been a favorite pastime for Kiwis. Card games are not far behind either.
Poker Tips by George: Using the Fish
When playing Texas Hold’em, you will often find a “fish” or two at your table. What’s a fish in the game of poker? It’s a very loose player who often sees the flop with a starting hand he should have tossed into the muck before he invested a single chip. If he has even the smallest chance to connect on the flop, he is prone to chase all the way. He may not even take the trouble – or doesn’t know how – to count his card outs, never mind figuring the pot odds.
20 Years Since the Moneymaker Boom – Where is the Poker Industry Now? - Cardplayer Lifestyle
During the 2003 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, Chris Moneymaker made history. The then 27-year-old accountant qualified online via PokerStars and parlayed his entry into a payday of $2.5 million, becoming the world champion and firmly etching his name into the history books of the card game. His victory sent the world of poker into a frenzy and triggered a global boom which has often been referred to as the “Moneymaker effect”.
Poker Tips by George: The Curse of a Second Best Hand
One of the worst things that can happen to a skilled hold’em poker player is ending up second best. An opponent scoops a big pot that you had hoped would be yours. You were so confident, but he was lucky. Much like not getting the best NFL odds on a sports bet, turning up with the second best hand in a poker showdown can be costly – very costly. You start with a good starting hand and stay to see the flop.
RecPoker | Episode 465 – LoriAnn Persinger - Cardplayer Lifestyle
This week Jim Reid and the RecPoker RECing Crew interview recreational poker player LoriAnn Persinger! LoriAnn shares some stories about her time in the military, becoming an expert on winning game shows, what changed (or didn’t change) after her big WPT score, why streams are so important to her learning about poker, and how her enthusiasm and positivity has opened doors for her in the poker world and in life! Plus we give away a free prize at the end for folks in the YouTube chat.
Mixed Game Festival IV Day 1 Recap: Poker, Pizza and Prizes
Cardplayer Lifestyle’s Mixed Game Festival IV started off yesterday with a flurry of players coming from all over the country to enjoy the camaraderie, mixed games, and Resorts World Las Vegas premier poker room. Robbie Strazynski, owner and founder of Cardplayer Lifestyle, is hosting the festival from March 19-23. It will include cash games and two tournaments, a $260 Omaha 8/Stud 8 tournament starting at 2pm today, and a $260 H.O.R.S.E. tournament on Thursday March 23rd.
The Pachinko Obsession: The Popular Japanese Game Explained
The Pachinko game is one of the most popular leisure activities in Japan. The game is a form of gambling that has become prevalent among most Japanese adults and has also garnered interest beyond the borders of Japan. Also, many tourists in the country are always eager to explore the people’s love for the game, so most visit pachinko parlors to try it out. Pachinko is a mixture of slot machines and the classic pinball-type game.
Poker Tips by George: Are You Having Fun?
As you play poker, ask yourself this one simple question — Am I having fun? You are at the casino playing low-limit Texas Hold’em. You have been playing that game for many years. You have played in home games, but for the last 20 years you’ve played only at your local casinos, with occasional visits to Las Vegas. In the long run, you are a bit ahead. So, what do you say? Are you having fun? What is fun? It is something that brings you pleasure or enjoyment.
What is a Crypto Exchange
Even if you’ve not yet dabbled with cryptocurrencies, you’ve no doubt heard about the hype surrounding them. Bitcoin and its contemporaries are disrupting the world of finance in a big way, and crypto exchanges have helped to make digital assets like this more accessible to the masses. So what is an exchange, what does it do, and which one of the many competing platforms should you choose for your own crypto trading and investment activities? What is a Crypto Exchange?
Poker Tips by George: Correcting Your Outs
In this article we will analyze a particular Texas Hold’em hand situation and then extrapolate from that to better understand how to “correct your outs”. So let’s say you’re playing hold’em in a brick and mortar casino or perhaps online or on your mobile device via one of the Pennsylvania casino apps. After the flop you may find yourself holding a draw to a flush – four cards of the same suit – or a draw to an open-ended straight – four cards in sequence open at both ends.
MTT Poker Basics: Small Blind Fundamentals
Ed. note: This is the third in a series of articles designed to help recreational tournament poker players build their hobby into a profitable endeavor. Poker is a game all about positions and advantages. To be successful, you always need to be asking “What hands would they raise from that position?” Once you have that part nailed down, you have to get serious about understanding how those hands interact with the flop.
Take a Break and Make a Change to Avoid Poker Tilt
Recently I returned to the tables after a 14-day break from poker. I had to take a break because of what happened in the prior four sessions I played. They were pretty rough: My bluffs weren’t working no matter the bet sizes I used. My 3bets were ALL getting called (and I love 3bet bluffing, so that was terrible).
Poker Tips by George: Bluffing From Late Position
My book, The Art of Bluffing, focuses on poker skills for successful bluffing. I estimate that a skillful bluffer can expect his bluffs to succeed about 60 percent of the time. What’s more, a successful bluff will gain you many more chips than you would lose over time should your bluff be called. That ought to hold true both in live poker games as well as if you’re playing poker online at one of the popular sites listed on https://www.topaustraliangambling.com/online-poker.
Poker Tips by George: Betting Patterns Plus – Put It All Together - Cardplayer Lifestyle
In a previous column I discussed betting patterns and described many patterns that your opponents may be using. Knowing that and other supplementary information about your opponents, you will be better prepared to defend yourself. Our focus today is on low/middle-limit hold’em where the bet size is limited, as contrasted with no-limit and high-limit games. For the greatest advantage, combine all your information sources. First, decide what to look for regarding your opponents’ betting patterns.
PokerCoaching.com Advanced Tournament Course Review
The PokerCoaching.com Tournament MasterClass is just that, a masterclass, and an outstanding training course. As we all know, poker strategy is always evolving, so too is PokerCoaching.com’s training content. Enter the Advanced Tournament Course, the latest massive multi-lesson endeavor from Jonathan Little and his outstanding team of coaches.
What is the Rake in Poker?
Most online casinos that offer player-versus-player poker also charge a rake fee, which is used to offset the cost of hosting the game and facilitating the tables to their players. It is put in place as a measure to make a profit in a game where the house edge is non-existent, as players wager money among themselves and never against the casino. Thus, the rake is only present in player versus player (PVP) poker tables.
Poker Tips by George: Skills That Yield Poker Success
It was February 24, 2000, well over 20 years ago, when Poker Digest’s Mason Malmuth identified five skills as essential to achieving success in poker. I will list them in the same order as he did: 1. Hand Selection 2. Check-Raising 3. Reading Hands 4. Semi-Bluffing 5. The Ability to Vary Your Game I would agree that all of these poker skills are essential to survival at the poker table, especially Hand Selection. But these five skills will not necessarily make you a winner.
A Poker Interview with David Costabile
David Costabile‘s face is one familiar to fans of Billions, Breaking Bad, Suits, and numerous other Hollywood TV series and feature films. While he’s used to being on camera, he experienced a different kind of being under the TV lights during the 2023 PokerStars Players Championship (PSPC). Sitting at the featured table of the one-of-a-kind $25,000 buy-in event in the sun-drenched Bahamas, Costabile put forth a valiant effort before his run came to an end in the final level of Day 1.
Poker Tips by George: Special Poker Terminology
The game of poker has a terminology all its own – some words adopted from our common language, some you have probably never heard of, some that are just plain interesting, and some that go way back in modern times. In many respects, that special lexicon is something that sets poker apart from other popular card games. To be sure, games like blackjack also have their own words unique to the game; e.g., split, stand, hit, etc.
Poker among the most entertaining casino games
Gambling has been popular for centuries and remains so today. People like to gamble for many reasons, from the opportunity to win big prizes to the thrill of taking a chance. For many people, casino gambling is an escape from everyday life and a form of relaxation and fun with friends. Whether it’s playing hot casino games or placing bets on sporting events, there are many ways to gamble and thousands of reasons why people really enjoy it. But what about online gambling?
2023 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure is a Rousing Success
The 2023 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure attracted thousands of poker enthusiasts to the Bahamas in what has been a memorable live poker tournament series that has awarded millions of dollars in cash prizes to poker players around the world. Early Sunday evening local time, a heads-up deal was reached between Michel Dattani and Pedro Neves of Portugal in the $10,300 buy-in PokerStars PCA Main Event.
5 Things I’m Looking Forward to at the 2023 PokerStars Players Championship
Tradition dictates that prior to a major poker event where I’ll be in attendance to provide in-person coverage, that I pen and publish my “5 things” article. The 2023 PokerStars Players Championship (PSPC) is no different, and the first huge event of the year will be one for the ages. With 400+ Platinum Pass winners set to add over $10 million to the prize pool before the tournament clock even starts, a massive turnout is guaranteed, and I’ll have a front row seat to all the action at the felt.
Poker Tips by George: Best Poker Books
I must own over 100 poker books, some written by top poker celebrities. On occasion, I have been asked to name my favorite book. Which is the best poker book ever written? Which poker book ought you take on your next trip to a casino for some fun or interesting reading? After writing my third book, that thought garnered more than an occasional ponder. Maybe someday. . .
Poker Tips by George: Taking Notes – Part II - Cardplayer Lifestyle
In Part I of our discussion on note-taking, we discussed taking notes on the ways that each of our opponents plays his hands. Now, in Part II, we will primarily focus on your own playing, with due regard for your opponents’ playing traits and other factors. The information gathered will be of value both during this session and later as you seek to improve your results at the table. As before, use a small piece of paper that folds over to fit into your shirt pocket.
Why Card Players Can Expect to See Bingo Improve in Popularity in 2023
As a card player, you may subscribe to an online service for table games. If so, over the last few years you may have noticed that in the spirit of competition, most of them have begun to offer more and more games. Be it variations of poker, games from around the world like Andar Bahar, or even increased numbers of slot games. Yet in the coming year, you can expect to see one area flourish: Bingo.
Cambodia's Most Glamorous Casinos
Cambodia is a stunning country, one that would be more than worth visiting even if you weren’t a casino fan. With the cultural mecca of Pnom Phen as the capital, the rich marshy wetlands of the Mekong Delta and the glittering coastline that looks out to Thailand, there is endless possibility for exploration. What’s even better though is that if you enjoy casino gaming, Cambodia is practically heaven.
A Recreational Poker Player’s WPT World Championship Experience
The World Poker Tour World Championship Main Event has just gotten underway and there’s a distinct “Big Event feel” in the air that’s typically reserved only for the most exclusive and top-tier happenings in the poker industry.
Inaugural WPT Prime Championship Smashes Attendance Record
More than 5,400 entries. A prize pool exceeding $5.2 million. Over 650 players to be paid out, with a first place cash award that will surpass $700,000! These figures represent the official tally published by the World Poker Tour for the Prime Championship 2022 No Limit Hold’em tournament. The numbers are five times greater than the previous “WPT Prime” series attendance record of 1,050 entrants set in Cambodia in August of this year.
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