The World Poker Tour got its start in 2002 largely as a made for television event. It was recognized that poker was growing in popularity and that there was a demand for television programming featuring the top players in the world. The problem was that the only time that the top players got together to play was at the World Series of Poker which was a once a year event. The World Poker Tour was therefore created in order to have events year round so that the demand could be satisfied. Since then the WPT has become one of the biggest poker events in the world.

One of the reasons that the World Poker Tour has become so popular is that it gives anybody who wants to the chance to play against the best players in the world. You do not have to win your way into the event nor is entry by invitation only. All you have to do is pay the buy in and you can play. Of course the buy in can be quite hefty ranging from two thousand to twenty thousand dollars depending on the event. This naturally limits the number of people who play in the tournaments.

Over the years the World Poker Tour has started to adopt satellite tournaments in order to give more people the chance to participate. Players can enter these events for a low fee with the winners being able to compete in the main tournament. Initially this was done just to give players the chance to get into the main tournament but it has since been recognized that these events are an important part of building the tour’s brand and have really helped to make events more popular.

The World Poker Tour is a little bit different from some of the other major tournaments in that the only game played is Texas Hold’em. The main reason for this is that this is the game that people want to see on television. The event has grown to become a major event and one that any player would be proud to win. The fact that the bigger events have prizes of well over a million dollars is also a major factor in this.

Soft 17 against an upcard

A lot of players who get a soft 17 ( a hand that makes use of Ace as 11 and a 6) commit the error of standing. The common notion is that like on a hard 17, the strategy will be to stand since there is a good risk of busting in case the dealer has an upcard. But if the dealer will not have a 3 thru 6 then the chances of raking in with a 17 is very slim. So it is always a better move to hit or even double down when you have a soft 17 to up your chances of winning.

Soft 18 against Ace,, 9 or 10

Another commonly misplayed hand is a soft 18 versus an upcard Ace, 10, or 9 of the dealer. Most players tand when they get a soft or hard 18. Look at the probability though and the chances of winning against the dealer’s upcard Ace, 9, or 10 is very slim. It is true that you have a good risk of busting when you hit after getting a hard 18 but when you have soft 18 , you should always ask for more cards and try to get more than 18 .

Splitting pairs

A lot of blackjack players are not sure what to do with their pairs. Most will split their Aces and then stand when they get 10s. How about a pair of 9 or 8?

A pair of 8 is 16 so it is really risky to hit but you know that this is not good enough to win unless your dealer will go busted. So the wises move is to split the 8s when the dealer gets anything beside bust cards. Splitting 9s is also the best move when the dealer has an Ace, 10, or 9.

The brain and its food

Your brain is just about 2% of your total body weight but it consumes about 20% of the total energy. It makes use of energy more than your liver, your kidney, your heart, and the other organs you can think of.

The body makes most of the energy it derives from all the carbohydrates that we consume. And so loading up carbos is essential for our cognitive functions. The brain however makes use of the glucose which is the end product of the processed carbohydrates in our body. The brain does not have big reserve of glucose so it depends on a steady in flow of glucose. Lack glucose and in card game terms you will have poor reads, bad decisions, and of course no chips in the end.

The truth about carbohydrates

So, it will be best to eat and drink carbos while playing blackjack or poker. Wrong! Since these are fast acting carbohydrates which floods your blood stream with sugar causing your body to react and level everything off by releasing a huge amount of insulin. So you end up with a dropping blood sugar.

You need to pick carbohydrates which are low on the GI or Glycemic Index. This group will release sugar in small amounts to your blood stream, causing a steady flow of supply for your brain. Examples of low GI’s are vegetables, grains, and fruits.  So this healthy bunch is your perfect poker or blackjack food.

Energy drink

The energy drinks, just to emphasize, contain fast acting carbohydrates which is actually detrimental to your game. Drink a can and your body will compensate to lower the sugar in your blood stream and your brain ending up hungry for glucose as it calls and folds.

The key is to eat healthy and have a balance of carbohydrates which will help with your attention, focus, and overall mental well-being.

The hand signals in blackjack will be different if you are playing a game where the cards are dealt facing up or facing down.

When you are playing a face up blackjack game here are some tips you can follow to signal the dealer what you want to do:

• Point at your cards if you like another card or a hit
• If you feel like standing then wave you hands over your cards, parallel to the game table
• If you want to split your card or maybe double down, place your 2^nd bet just near your original bet and never atop your original bet

Let’s say you are playing a face down Blackjack, here are some common signals you need to learn:

• Lightly scrape your cards on the table if you want a hit
• Place your cards under your bet and the dealer will understand that you want to stand
• Doubling down or splitting? Turn the hand face up and then put your 2^nd bet near your original bet

Click on the video below to learn how it is properly done.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The “If win, press your bets. If you lose, bet less.” is basicly playing the Parlay system.

More info on these betting systems can be found in my post titled “Blackjack Betting Systems: a Method to my Madness“.

Good luck at the tables!

A few things:

1. I am hitting a casino once every week, basicly to play poker, and never play over one hour of table games. I’m proud of that. I know this sounds like I still gamble 1 day out of seven, but basicly I gamble like an hour every week. As I’m a winning poker player, I’m actually in the plus for this month, and it’s steady! Same goes for December!
2. I went to Las Vegas, and I didn’t gamble nearly as much as I did last time. I did one of those Las Vegas Exotic Car Rental things and rented myself an Aston Martin Vanquish and it was great. Drove to the grand canyon, drove to Hoover Dam. All the time I didn’t feel like gambling at all.

I’m happy. I really am. Please pray for me, I appreciate it a lot!

I’ll keep you posted of how I do NOT playing — I hope I can post here again in January telling you I’m still “clean”.

Pray for me, will you?

In the Online Casinos and online Poker rooms there is not a big setback yet but maybe it will come very soon. The casinos en ligne and the poker online rooms have to put overlays on the tournaments. There are far less players that register in a Casino online or Poker on line room even though nothing changed to the online casino bonussen. So the deutsche online casino also feels the effect of the economic crisis and they will react. The normal Casino are already giving rooms away for free and the online casinos will give more money away in the future.

So if you wanna play in a online casino or online poker room the now if the chance to win some big money.

I’m up $9400 in about two weeks, taking a break now to make sure I can keep playing the boat in the future…