Category Archives: Poker

The coronavirus didnt kill off live poker like some pessimists projected a year ago. In fact, its clear the poker industry is crushing it right now. And theres plenty of evidence to back up that claim.

Alright, so were still wearing face masks at the poker tables and sitting behind those annoying plexiglass dividers (in most US casinos). And quite a few poker rooms, even in Las Vegas, still havent reopened. But the poker industry has gotten as close to its pre-coronavirus days as its been in over a year. Baby steps, folks. Baby steps.

The first sign that things are getting back to normal around these parts is live poker tournaments are attracting huge crowds. Just take a look at some of our recent Big Winners of the Week articles and see for yourself the size of these fields.

The $5,000 buy-in WPT Venetian in Las Vegas finished with a field of 937 entries, 203 more than it had the last time it took place (2019). Down in South Florida, the $3,500 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open had a whopping get this 1,573 entries back in January.

It isnt just the major live poker tournaments drawing in massive fields. Riverside Casino in Eastern Iowa is having a banner weekend with its $1,100 MSPT Regional Main Event. The $300,000 guarantee was completely obliterated as 862 players signed up. In Las Vegas, the recently completed Wynn Spring Classics 16 events had more than 4,700 combined entries.

We could go on and on listing tournaments that attracted huge fields in recent weeks, but you get the point. Cash game attendance all across the country has been on a steady rise since casinos reopened last summer. If youve paid attention to the Bravo app recently, youve probably noticed the lengthy wait lists at many card rooms in the US, not just in Las Vegas and other poker hotbeds.

On Saturday Night, the MGM National Harbor Casino Resort in Maryland had over 30 games running. The nearby Maryland Live casino had over 25 cash games spread after midnight. The Seminole Hard Rock in Tampa, Florida was absolutely packed with 31 tables full, with a wait list, late into the night.

With thousands of Spring Breakers heading to Las Vegas and the 70-degree temps this time of year, most of the card tables have been packed this weekend. Aria, Bellagio, Wynn, The Orleans and Venetian all had wait lists running late in the evening on Friday and Saturday.

As exciting as it is to see live poker rebound from the COVID-19 closures in 2020, everything isnt roses. Masks are still required in nearly every poker room, and plexiglass dividers are still separating players in most card rooms. On top of that, there are numerous poker rooms around the country, including 11 in Las Vegas, that still have yet to reopen. Many of those rooms will likely remain closed permanently.

But considering where the live poker scene was just eight months ago non-existent there isnt much to complain about right now.

Written by

Jon Sofen

Semi-pro poker player with 17 years experience on the felt and more than five years working as professional poker media.

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Positive Vibes: Live Poker is Officially Back (To an Extent) - CardsChat.com

31st March 2021 - PokerMatch, the largest poker room in Eastern Europe, has recently become the main newsmaker in the world of gambling. In ten days, the company managed to surpass the long-time market leaders and took first place in the highly respected ranking PokerScout, which includes traffic of all online poker platforms in the world.

PokerMatchs successful innovation has allowed it to attract thousands of poker players to the game, while the costs for product's promotion were minimal. The key was the idea and successful implementation.

This case reaffirmed the thesis that in today's highly competitive environment, it is innovation that gives an advantage. In addition, understanding the profile and demands of the consumers plays a crucial role in success. PokerMatch marketing has always been highly focused on the current market needs, and this has yielded results.

PokerMatch intends to build on its success. The company's marketing is keeping abreast of the latest trends in the gaming industry and offers non-standard approaches for development. And this means that all PokerMatch users will find new promotions and offers that will bring positive emotions to players and tangible dividends to the company.

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Daring and successful: PokerMatch has become the world's most popular poker room! - Gambling Insider - In-depth Analysis for the Gaming Industry

09:4227 Mar

Numerous stories and features to celebrate International Womens Day this month prompted us to look into that most poker of all statistics who has won the most money and heres the top 3 in our top female players countdown

The memory plays tricks over time, and players you thought were top ten or top five proved to be no such thing. Double EPT winner Victoria Coren-Mitchell only makes it to number 14, while former poker prodigy, Annette Obrestad, ranks at number six.

For some reason, we had also tagged the following Canadian poker queen as the winningest female of all time. A quick double-check with The Hendon Mob and a speedy correction later, weighing in at number three is

Born on the shores of Lake Ontario, 34-year-old Bicknell followed a common route into poker, picking it up at college and turning her enjoyment of the game into a hugely lucrative career, spurred on by the successes of the likes of Jennifer Harman.

A true grinder, within 5 years she had picked up SuperNovaElite status on PokerStars, something shed manage a further twice. In fact, in what is a highly unusual stat for female players, Kristen has made more money online than live.

More than 2000 online cashes and over $6million in winnings brings her very close to our number one female player in overall money won.

Her big live wins started in 2013, when she picked up her first WSOP bracelet, taking down the Ladies Championship title for $173,922. A few years later, Bicknell had moved from one of the leading female players to one of the leading players, full stop.

A $290k payday accompanied her second bracelet win (and a 3rd would be added in last years Online WSOP) while she added a WPT title late in 2017.

By now a partypoker sponsored pro, Bicknell added three 6-figure cashes in 2018, then began 2019 with deep runs in both the PCA and the Aussie Millions series.

She would end the year with a highly significant Poker Masters $25k title victory, proving once and for all she belonged in the elite group of poker players.

With her partner, Alex Foxen, also among the worlds best players, Kristen Bicknell could quite conceivably take over the number one female spot in the future, although even that would likely only be a stepping stone to greater things.

For the modern-day poker fan, the name Kathy Liebert might be rather less-known, but to a certain vintage, the Tennessee pro was among the first women to prove herself equal to many and better than most men at the game.

When she started out on the pro circuit in the 1990s, Liebert was ploughing a lonely furrow for women, explaining to PokerListings a decade later:

Liebert would go on to change many players perceptions about what women were capable of in poker, becoming the first female to lift a $1million prize.

Unofficially, she admitted to only pocketing about half that sum for the 2002 win at the partypoker Million CardPlayer cruise event, following a final table deal with the likes of Phil Hellmuth and Chris Ferguson.

More success was to follow for Kathy, a WSOP bracelet in 2004 for winning the $1500 Limit Shootout, and then a Battle of the Sexes victory the next year, taking down Layne back-to-back- Flack heads-up in the Grand Final.

Barely a year went past for a decade that didnt see Liebert regularly cashing for 5-and 6-figures, close runs for further WSOP and WPT adding to her $6million lifetime tournament earnings.

Now happier playing mid-stakes tournaments, Liebert fully deserves her place as one of pokers greatest pioneers.

No other female has come close to matching Vanessa Selbsts live tournament successes, the 36-year-old Brooklyn-born pro posting almost $12million in cashes before retiring from full-time play a few years ago.

As the only female in the overall top 100, reaching as high as 20th at one point, Selbst burst onto the scene with two six-figure cashes at the WSOP, in 2006 and 2007.

She followed that up with her first gold bracelet in 2008, pocketing $227,933 for her $1,500 PLO victory, and a further two bracelets would come.

In 2012 she took down the $2500 10-game 6-handed title, and in 2014 she bagged her third WSOP gold, a massive $871,148 cash in the Mix-Max NLHE event. More than just the money, these wins proved she was an expert at different variants, a good sign of an excellent poker pedigree.

The years 2010 and 2011 saw her lift back-to-back NAPT wins, worth a combined $1.2million, and in between times she had scooped the Partouche Poker Tour title in Paris, a victory worth 1.3million ($1,823,430) ahead of Europes best pros.

By 2013 she was one of the most feared players on the circuit, and proved her elite mettle once again by scooping the 2013 PCA SHR for more than $1.4million. In 2015 she bagged another 7-figure score when she won the invite-only Super High Roller Celebrity Shootout.

Selbst first overcame her pro table consisting of Doyle Brunson, Antonio Esfandiari, Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth, and then went on to defeat actor and comedian Kevin Pollak heads-up.

Vanessa Selbst officially retired from professional poker at the end of 2017, turning to hedge fund trading as a career. Like Liebert before her and Bicknell since, Selbst proved that women can compete against the very best in the world.

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The Top 3 Female Poker Players of All Time - PokerTube

Many during the COVID lockdown, when it comes to their poker viewing and streaming options, have reached that signpost on the internet that says, Dont you have something better to do? Poker options have been especially sparse as the usual outlets have been bereft of programming. That, in this case, is a good thing because I otherwise would not have stumbled across Poker Night at The Lodge, a welcome and surprisingly quality addition to the poker television and streaming landscape.

Poker Night at The Lodge Provides Quality Poker Entertainment

While searching through YouTube for something to watch on Wednesday night, I came across Poker Night at The Lodge, completely by chance. The program is the offering from The Lodge Poker Club and Card House in Round Rock, TX, featuring cash game play at their facilities that has been going on, from appearances, for the last six months. This excellent hidden secret of the poker community covers stakes that seem to range from $1/$3 cash games up to a larger, $5/$5 game that, if it is anything like the game I saw on Wednesday, should be bonkers.

Wait, you say. Its not legal to play poker in Texas. Well, you would be partially right. According to the states Constitution, it IS illegal to gamble in the Lone Star State. In fact, recent actions in Austin are attempting to change this situation so that there can be legalized casino gaming in the state, but they are not anticipated to be able to effect much change. But there is a gray area that some entrepreneurial souls have tapped into.

Texas has seen an influx of membership clubs have sprung up that provide an outlet to play poker. These clubs do not take a rake from the play on the tables but charge a membership fee to allow people to come in the doors. While some areas have tried to shut these clubs down (the most notable failed effort was in Houston), they have been able to thrive because 1) people want to play poker, and 2) law enforcement cannot find a way that these clubs are breaking the law.

This is the arena that The Lodge operates in Round Rock. From all appearances, The Lodge and its poker room would rival anything that you would find in Las Vegas or even Los Angeles. Their 20-table room is replete with everything you would expect in a poker room high quality HDTVs for sports viewing, a bar and food service, and waiting areas if you are waiting for your game to be called. But it is Poker Night at The Lodge that sets this Texas poker club apart from the pack.

Excellent Work Across the Board, Strong Play Equals Great Show

Wednesdays and Saturdays are the normal days that Poker Night at The Lodge streams their program (there is also supposed to be a Ladies Night game on April 11), and it appears that the program starts around 9PM Eastern time. Across the board, there is excellent work by the staff at The Lodge for putting the show on. Additionally, the players themselves are of high quality and they provide a great show for the viewers.

The announcers for the show are Rick Epstein and Mike Reisman and both do an exceptionally good job of explaining the action on the felt. It is not your traditional play-by-play/color man setup as both have some poker skills to their credit and they easily slip between providing insight into the players minds while keeping the action on the table in the forefront. They also have the unenviable task of keeping engaged with the YouTube chat that runs with the program; as someone who has played in and broadcast online poker tournaments and had to keep up with a chat room, this is incredibly difficult. But Epstein and Reisman do this outstandingly with the banter they provide during the program.

Production-wise, Poker Night at The Lodge also hits all the right marks. They run what looks like a three-camera system that allows the table to be covered thoroughly and their RFID to identify the cards and chips did not have one flaw in the evening. In fact, the only mistake that occurred when I watched was the dealer accidentally pulling four cards for the flop, which was quickly rectified by the floor (and, I must add, this was the ONLY mistake the dealer made while I watched). They provided all the statistical information that you might have wanted, something for the poker stat geeks in the audience. The show was also not marred by any streaming issues, something that is critical to putting on a great product.

The players on the table also deserve their kudos. Some of them got into the spirit of the show, using colorful nicknames (Chi-Town Cat, The Spaniard), but they all showed a high level of skill on the tables. Surprisingly, one of the best moves of the night went to a player called The Fish, who pushed all in with only a 6 5, a gut shot straight draw and a dream against a player with Big Slick who was leading overall. That player CORRECTLY laid down their Ace-high hand, something that is extraordinarily difficult even in the upper echelons of poker.

Poker Night at The Lodge also conducted their chatroom on YouTube in a highly excellent manner. One of the things that I despise about YouTube chat rooms is that they usually become a cesspool of spam, off-color language and boisterous macho measurements from keyboard warriors. There was NONE of this in the chat on the Poker Night YouTube chat room everyone was quite pleasant, discussing the action, interacting with the hosts and generally acting like adults. Dont know if it is The Lodge that deserves credit for monitoring this or the people who were taking part in the chat room acting in an adult manner, but it was very encouraging and enjoyable.

If there were one EXTREMELY nitpicky point to downgrade Poker Night at The Lodge, it would be that you could not hear any interaction between the players. With the lack of microphones, you could not tell if the conversation on the felt was cordial or whether there were some actual rivalries building on the felt. This is, as stated at the start, a very nitpicky point, as it seemed that Epstein and Reisman were able to keep a pulse on the table through informational relays from the floor.

With the lack of streaming poker content right now (sorry, PokerGOwe can only watch so many reruns), Poker Night at The Lodge carries on in the tradition of the old Live at the Bike by providing excellent cash game action between players that people can identify with, the average Poker Joe and not the professionals that make up other games. If youre looking for something new in your poker streaming schedule, Poker Night at The Lodge hits all the high points and is well worth your time to check out.

Link:

Streaming Poker Show Poker Night at The Lodge A Welcome Addition - Poker News Daily

Entain, the parent company of partypoker, has announced incredible figures from 2020 showing 50% growth. When the lockdowns started exactly a year ago the online gambling industry got a much-needed shot in the arm, with major platforms reporting five-year high traffic figures.

By: Mark Patrickson

By the end of the year the boost had started to wane, but not so much at partypoker, apparently. Online poker was by far the biggest contributor to this growth with the management team saying it was driven by an increased focus on the recreational customer base and targeted marketing.

One slight niggle towards the end of 2020 was the new German Tolerance Policy. Operators were given very little time to adjust to the new legislation framework to remain legally able to service customers resident in Germany, and hence the Q4 figures took a hit.

We heard that partypoker now expects weaker growth in the German market during 2021 with a potentially super high tax rate on the horizon.

Chris Moneymaker is often credited with being the man who made poker what it is today. The accountant from Tennessee famously qualified for the WSOP Main Event via a satellite tournament, and then went on to win the big one. Observers around the world thought that if a regular guy like him can do it then why not them.

Moneymaker has now been brought into a team of poker pros acting for a marketing agency called Above the Felt Entertainment. Faded Spade founder Tom Wheaton intends to use the poker icon to help promote poker within the world of business, along with Jamie Kerstetter, Matt Berkey, and Darren Elias.

Wheaton explains that his new project is a: new-age experiential talent and marketing agency focuses on connecting poker players, fans, and businesses across industries.

And added: Above the Felt combines leading poker personalities and influencers with a specialized ability to elevate events, businesses, and more through innovative partnerships.

Moneymaker said he has known Wheaton for many years and is impressed with his business skills.

As a person, I cannot wait to see what he does in this space with Above the Felt. The poker community has an enormous amount to offer, and Im thrilled to be working with Tom and the team at Above the Felt to expand pokers reach to companies around the world.

Matt Berkey is excited that there will now be third parties active on the business side of poker who have the best interests of the players in mind. This, he thinks, is something that is sadly lacking right now.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. has finally sold up their remaining properties in Las Vegas and will now concentrate on the Asian market in Macau. The iconic company name will now even change its name to Sands Corp. to reflect the beginning of this new era.

This new direction was already in place before the recent passing of Sheldon Adelson, the long-time CEO. Adelson didnt think the future was looking so bright for Las Vegas, even before the start of the COVID-19 disaster. But he did think the Lone Star State had potential.

Always an active political donor, Adelson was lobbying for legalised brick-and-mortar gambling in Texas, a position Sands Corp. will continue to push for.

After selling the Venetian Resort, Palazzo and the Sands Convention Center to a private equity firm and a real estate investment trust, Sands Corp. may once again rise to be a power in the gambling industry of the United States. For now, the company who proved to be a long-time enemy of online poker, will no longer have a presence in the country.

The WPT is to finally complete the three outstanding events that were shelved during the 2020 lockdowns.

The WPT Gardens Poker Championship finished on Sunday night after a whopping 422 days. The chips were last bagged up on January 14, 2020 and Markus Gonsalves put the story to bed by winning what is the longest-running poker tournament in history.

The WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open and WPT L.A. Poker Classic will now finish up between May 16-18 in Las Vegas.

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partypoker Posts Incredible Growth for 2020, Can Chris Moneymaker Start a Second Poker Boom?, and Las Vegas Sands Sell Up on The Strip - HighstakesDB

March 25, 2021Jason Glatzer

Women's History Month is nearly over but there is still at least one big poker event for female players to look forward as the women-led company Poker Powher teams up with the World College Tour to bring the Poker Powher Global Women's Poker Tournament on March 27 at 3 p.m. ET at the free-to-play social gaming site PokerStars.net.

The tournament is free to play for women that are at least 18 years of age anywhere PokerStars.net is available including the United States.

Win Tickets to This Year's SCOOP in the Women's Sunday!

The entire nine-player final table will win some amazing prizes including a vacation package to Cancun, one-on-one lessons with top poker pros Jonathan Little and World College Pokers head coach Alex Fitzgerald, as well as a ladies-only poker night courtesy of Poker Powher.

The Global Women's Poker Tournament kicks off on March 27 at 3 p.m. ET but you must register by midnight on March 25 to get involved.

Simply follow these easy steps to get registered in this free tournament.

The event itself will be an action-packed affair with players starting off with 30,000 in chips and blinds increasing every five minutes. The final field size will be known as soon as the first cards are dealt since this is a free event that requires advance registration.

PokerStars, who host many real-money games exclusively to women to players around the world on its dot-com site couldn't be more thrilled to host this unique event in partnership with Poker Powher and World College Poker.

"We are very passionate about empowering women in poker and bringing more women to the game, so we are excited to host this one-of-a-kind tournament on PokerStars.net and help pave the way for more women to get involved in the game," Associate Director of Consumer Engagement and Public Relations at PokerStars Rebecca McAdam Willetts said.

Read About: Vanessa "Niffller" Kade Wins PokerStars Sunday Million 15th Anniversary ($1,514,920)

"We have held numerous activities to shine a spotlight and celebrate our female community over the years including the launch of Our Voices earlier this month, a female insights community for all women in poker to engage in discussion and give us feedback to help ensure the game is as inclusive and engaging as possible for every player.

"We know theres an amazing community of women who love poker and we look forward to seeing everyone battling at the tables in conjunction with Poker Powher and World College Poker."

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The Poker Powher Global Women's Poker Tournament will be streamed live on the World College Poker Youtube channel. The channel will also broadcast a poker 101 webinar to help players prepare for the poker event.

Female poker pros in Poker Powher Strategic Advisor Melanie Weisner and Poker Powher Instructor Xuan Liu will not only be the hosts but also will be big targets in the event itself with organizers placing bounties on their heads.

Related: International Womens Day 2021 - Growing the Game Internationally

Poker Powher, an organization led by women for women with the goal of teaching one million women how to play the game, believes that the upcoming event will bring poker more on the minds of women around the world.

"Poker Powher is committed to helping women stack their skills through teaching and practicing the game of poker," said Managing Director and General Manager of Poker Powher Erin Lydon. "This tournament will bring leading female poker pros and teachers to the table to inspire women everywhere to play this game-changing card game."

World College Poker typically organizes free online poker tournaments for college players only. While this event is an exception and is open to all ladies, it isn't the first time they have teamed up with Poker Powher, who is the exclusive provider of female-focused poker education via the World College Poker EDU website with four, eight, and 12-week free poker lessons.

"World College Poker is thrilled to work with Poker Powher to expand their reach globally with the upcoming tourney in honor of Womens History Month, said co-founder of WCP Craig Tapscott. "Together, we can flip the table on this male-dominated game and inspire dedicated female players to leave their mark."

The Stars Group is a majority shareholder in Oddschecker Global Media, the parent company of PokerNews

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Get Involved in this Weekend's Global Women's Poker Tournament on PokerStars.net - PokerNews.com

Photo: Contributed

The casinos are still closed, which makes PokerLake the perfect place to get your poker fix.

The casinos remain closed, and group gatherings are still banned.

That makes playing poker with living people a tough endeavour, especially if you dont want to go up against professionals that dominate the well-known online sites.

Geoff Herzog and Jesse Sjoquist have found a perfect alternative in PokerLake, a recreational online poker club that is local to the Okanagan, affordable, fun and secure.

There are other online poker clubs, but their fees are too much for the recreational player who is simply looking to have a good time and not face the threat of losing too much money. The well-known online sites are affordable, but thats where the professionals from all over the globe go to earn a living.

Were the first private club to have low fees, Herzog says.

You can set up a game featuring people you know, or you can test your bluffing skills against strangers in games that have a wide range of stakes, from 10 cents to hundreds of dollars per hand. PokerLakes Instagram page alerts players about giveaways and details on their weekly, free-roll tournaments with cash prizes offered every Sunday. They are also sponsoring a $500 giveaway on March 31 for @ketokanagan.

Herzog would be able to handle himself in any virtual room, given his professional experience, but Sjoquist prefers to play for entertainment purposes.

"I dont mind losing ten bucks," Sjoquist says. "I like to play for the fun of it, and to get some practice and learning to improve my game. All in all, playing a night of poker with PokerLake costs me less than a night out, and its just as entertaining."

Each tables stake is an effective way of ensuring strangers with similar skill levels are competing against one another. The better players will seek higher-priced games, leaving the recreational players to enjoy themselves at the more affordable tables.

Everyone winsexcept those who try to bluff their way out of the 2-7 off suit, of course.

We want our customers to know that what theyre doing is legal, safe and secure, Herzog says.

Anyone wishing to play on PokerLake should download the Social Poker app through Google or Apple, create an account and use ID number 5703491 to become a member.

This article is written by or on behalf of the sponsoring client and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.

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PokerLake, the Okanagan's first online poker club, now dealing - Think Local - Castanet.net

Live poker has been essentially shut down for the last year due to COVID, but casinos in many parts of the world are starting to re-open. Here are three tips that will give you the best chance for success when you return to the live arena.

Take Advantage Of Opponent Mistakes

Whenever poker has a lot of hype surrounding it either because a major tournament series is in town or because everyone is getting to play for the first time in a year, local recreational players flock to the casino to test their luck and hope to turn a little money into a lot. This results in the games being much softer than normal because there are proportionally more recreational players in the field.

You make money when your opponents make mistakes that you adjust to take advantage of. While many players see their opponents making mistakes, they forget to take advantage of them.

For example, suppose you raise with A J from middle position and a loose, passive calling station calls from the big blind. The flop comes J 9 6. Your opponent checks, you bet, and your opponent calls. The turn is the 2. Your opponent checks, you bet, and your opponent calls. The river is the Q. Your opponent checks.

While the Queen is certainly not a great river for you, you should make another small value bet, expecting your calling station opponent to call with worse jacks, nines, and perhaps even some worse made hands. If your opponent raises your river bet, make the disciplined fold unless they are known to check-raise bluff the river.

Embrace Variance

When playing against lots of recreational players, you will see all sorts of interesting plays. Recreational players will frequently make erratic moves. They may even get lucky on you. Instead of being disgruntled when this happens, realize that every time they make a mistake, their equity goes straight into your pocket.

Suppose you raise with A A from middle position and the big blind calls. The flop comes A 7 6. Your opponent checks, you bet, and your opponent calls. The turn is the 2. Your opponent checks, you bet, and your opponent goes all-in. You call with the nuts and your opponent turns up 9 8 for an open-ended straight draw.

Whether you win or lose, your opponent just tried to give their stack to you. When you happen to lose, realize that if the bad players never won, they would quickly quit playing, making the game unprofitable. In exchange for them getting to win from time to time, the game of poker gets to thrive forever.

One helpful way to view bad beats is to consider how the casino feels when someone gets lucky and hits their number on the roulette wheel a few times in a row. When someone gets lucky against the casino, they celebrate them, comp them, and do everything they can to keep them playing/coming back in the future. They certainly do not get annoyed or berate them. The casino realizes that every time someone makes a bet, they are losing little bits of equity.

When someone plays poorly against you, they are losing little bits of equity to you. Sometimes they are going to beat you, but in the long run, if you play better than your opponents, you will win all the money.

Enjoy Yourself

Poker is a game, and games are supposed to be fun. While I fully understand that tensions are high right now, make a point to enjoy yourself. It is always amazing to me how after a few days of losing, most people look completely worn down. They walk the casino like zombies. Instead of being sad and depressed about standard variance, remember the great opportunity that you have to play the awesome game of poker.

If you find that your mind wanders to a dark place when you are on a downswing, do not forget that you came into this world with nothing. If you have the ability to play poker (or read this article) then you are one of the most fortunate humans to ever live. It is all about perspective!

Good luck in your games, and stay safe!

Jonathan Little is a two-time WPT champion with more than $7 million in live tournament earnings, best-selling author of 15 educational poker books, and 2019 GPI Poker Personality of the Year. If you want to increase your poker skills and learn to crush the games, check out his training site at PokerCoaching.com/cardplayer.

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Poker Strategy With Jonathan Little: Three Tips For Crushing Live Poker - Poker News - CardPlayer.com

By Ben Hamill - March 21 2021

A Poker world literally starving for news and entertainment resulting from the big hiatus on every form of live action that was 2020 has resulted in the rise of a strange and peculiar set of circumstances. And among those at the very top of the list ranks something of a Poker pantomime: the heads-up grudge match.

It isn't as if all of that has been in any way devoid of entertainment value, either. Who will forget Andy Beal taking on The Corporation? Or Doug Polk bashing out keyboard threats about having to back up his truck to Daniel Negreanu's backdoor to load up the Canadian's fortune?

The message soon became clear: heads-up grudging was back in vogue.

Read More...Polk Celebrates Grudge Match Win

Much of what's been happening on the heads-up grudge scene originated from a different kind of Poker era one not yet embraced out of need. One such grudge match was Beal taking on The Corporation back in 2001.

The billionaire banker had agreed to play against not only one or two Poker champions of the day, but against an entire collective of Poker masters of the day. The money was in the kitty, the entertainment value lacked absolutely nothing, and it soon became clear that that it was a winning combination and all that was really needed to grab the world's attention.

It would be difficult to beat or even recreate that type of showdown. It was Beal against the likes of Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Chip Reese, Doyle Brunson, Tod Brunson, Jennifer Harmon, and Lyle Berman. And even though Beal would eventually be forced to throw in a $16 million towel, kudos to him for having stuck it out for as long as he did.

Cut to 2020, and it would be Phil Helmuth strutting his stuff in very much the same way as what Beal did way back. Granted, he'd be up against a single contender only, but then again, that contender was Antonio Esfandiari, one of the biggest names in modern Poker.

Plus, it would effectively set the spread for what would have to be the grudge match of all time: Doug Polk vs Daniel Negreanu. 25,000 hands of grudge-style action, live streaming of the proceedings via Twitch and YouTube, and the ultimate finish few would have seen coming, Polk taking the beloved Kid Poker for a rough-and-tumble $1.2 million.

And best of all, especially since we've now all developed an appetite for ultimate grudge Poker, is that Negreanu and Phil Helmuth will be going at it next.

March 31 is D-Day.

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2021 Heralds The Return Of Grudge Poker - Gaming Post

Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Wall Street hasnt been this bullish about lithium in years.Investors are betting on a comeback in the metal key to rechargeable batteries as the worlds biggest automakers ratchet up their electric-vehicle lines. Miners once shunned amid supply overhangs have raised almost $3.4 billion in equity offerings in the Americas this year, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Thats seven times the total amount raised from 2018 to 2020.The change breathes new life into an industry that saw prices of its main product plunge by more than half from a record high reached in 2018. It also highlights a bullish wager thats still available on the EV frenzy as sentiment toward electric-vehicle stocks, which surged last year, sours.Talks with investors and discussions on potential supply agreements with automotive-equipment and battery manufacturers which were only in my dreams a year ago are now filling my calendar, Robert Mintak, chief executive officer of Vancouver-based Standard Lithium Ltd., said by phone.Interest in the industry is resurgent as electric-vehicle targets set by big automakers and a change in the U.S. administration signal that a battery boom is finally gathering momentum. After the punishing three-year sell-off, prices of the soft silvery-white metal have started to rebound, and analysts including those at BloombergNEF expect further gains on rising demand and tight supplies of battery-grade lithium.A lithium price index compiled by Benchmark Mineral Intelligence jumped 32% this year through February, after plunging 59% from mid-2018 to mid-2020. The metal reached an all-time high in May 2018.Bigger PoolThe investor pool is expanded to technology investors and others, said Mintak, as major automakers determination to deploy hundreds of billions of dollars to electrify their fleets gives investors that safety that theres going to be a supply pinch.The majority of the financing has been done by the worlds top two lithium miners -- Albemarle Corp. and SQM, or Soc. Quimica & Minera de Chile SA, as its known formally -- as they took advantage of their recent stock surges. Albemarle completed a larger-than-planned equity offering of $1.5 billion in early February, while Santiago-based SQM raised $1.1 billion in January.Junior miners, most of which have yet to produce substantial amount of lithium, are also attracting strong interest from investors. Take the case of Standard Lithium, which opened its first direct lithium extraction plant in El Dorado, Arkansas, in September, with the facility using a new technology that allows for a 90% lithium recovery rate. It raised C$34.53 million ($27.6 million) in an over-subscribed share offering in December. Investor interest was so strong that it had to turn away offers for more, said CEO Mintak.Lithium Americas Corp., which is developing the Thacker Pass mine in Nevada, raised a total of $500 million through two primary share offerings in October and January, respectively.Turning TideThe tide is finally turning, and much faster than I thought, Chris Berry, president of House Mountain Partners, an industry consultant, who said Wall Street hasnt been this bullish on the lithium industry since 2017. You see that with Lithium Americas being able to raise a total of half a billion dollars recently. This is for a pre-revenue company regarding lithium.Sigma Lithium Resources Corp., which is developing a hard-rock lithium project in Brazil, had to upsize its private placement and increase offering price, which says a lot about investor demand for lithium exposure, that asset, and that companys vision, said Berry.Junior lithium miners raised $529 million this year, Bloomberg data showed. Thats about $63 million more than the total amount raised from 2018 to 2020.Ford Motor Co. announced last month that its passenger-vehicle range will be all-electric in Europe by 2030. General Motors Co. plans to sell only zero-emission models by 2035. Volkswagen AG went further, announcing plans this week to build six battery factories in Europe and invest globally in charging stations, as ensuring scaling battery production has become a key in the EV race.Batteries make up about 30% of an electric cars cost. And automakers around the world look to pivot to EVs, with hopes to get batteries at the cheapest price possible but also secure enough supply to meet those ambitions.Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden has pledged to build back the economy after the devastation of Covid-19 with cleaner energy and a lower carbon footprint. The administration said in late February it would conduct a government review of U.S. supply chains to seek to end the countrys reliance on China and other adversaries for crucial goods.The election of Biden is a very favorable signal to investors as it boosted confidence that the switch to clean energy will accelerate, which along with existing favorable subsidies and regulations in Europe and China bodes well for raw materials needed for that energy transition, said Seth Goldstein, an analyst at Morningstar Inc. The U.S. is the second-largest EV market, after China.Andrew Bowering, a director at Vancouver-based American Lithium Corp., called the U.S. review on supply chains huge for the lithium industry as it shows the governments realization that in order to meet clean-energy goals, its important for the U.S. to have a security of supply of raw materials such as lithium.All of a sudden, after three years of downturn, youve got the price of the commodity starting to go up again and a change in the administration in the U.S. thats pushing a green new deal and support big money going into the green automobile industry, said Bowering. That leads investors into the space.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P.

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