Final Table Strategy Article Link By Jason Mercier

Todays link is to a strategy article in the high-quality bluff magazine, it is by sicko pro Jason Mercier... who as many readers will know kills final tables both online and live! These magazine articles have to be reasonably short in length (hardly going to be a 5-page feature now, is it), however I thought that many of the points were made really well in the space provided, especially the stuff about confidence!

No big waffle today, just get on with giving you the link!

Final Table Play By Jason Mercier

Remember, you can suggest links via the comment function!

Ask Rizen... A Link To An Archive

Quick reminder of what this blog is about for new readers! The Poker Frog is the only blog focused exclusively on other people... yes we link out to stuff, good stories, blogs, articles and just about anything else which is worth a recommendation... you can not bribe me (I have a great job and don't actually need the money, haha!), but you can suggest links - in fact suggestions are great - since there is so much poker on the web that one man (or should that be frog) can not possibly keep up with it all.

Anyway, enough waffle, todays link is retrospetive... a blog which I used to enjoy seems to have ground to a halt, yet is still worth a link since it actually contains some good stuff. Rizen (aka Eric Lynch) is still going strong and is now with Lock Poker (who either have or are about to become a part of the Merge Network). The straight forward replies he gave to his 'Ask Rizen' section appeared to come from a genuine drive to help out less experienced players - for me that is a good enough reason to link, even though the updates have dried up.

Ask Rizen

Lee Jones On Game Selection

Here is an article that I would categorize as a 'must read', it is by Lee Jones, not only a great poker player (invented the SAGE system you know!)... but an industry leader too, having been the cardroom manager for Pokerstars before joining Cardrunners for a while and now having some kind of Senior position at Cake Poker.

Of course you know - logically speaking - that there are a lot of poker players worse than you, and also a lot who are better than you. Of course you know -logically speaking - that even in the games you play there will be better and worse players... yet many people practice zero game selection, even though this might only take a few minutes before you sit down... and even more importantly, even though you know (logically speaking!) that this could improve your average win rate significantly.

So Lee spells it out for us, game selection is a key area, no need to try convincing yourself that those 7 seconds spent scanning for tables with big pots before sitting down is enough either... we know that you know thats not enough!

Here is the link:

Lee Jones On Game Selection

By the way... you are always welcome to suggest links!

Interesting Debate On Online Poker Legalization - Or Not!

Back, and determined to bring you more interesting poker links and stories... with the 2010 World Series of poker about to start and some hearings in congress this is an interesting time indeed to be the worlds only fully outward looking poker blog!

Going to start with an interesting debate over at 2+2, which was triggered by an even more interesting editorial piece by industry insider Bill Rinni on his blog... unfortunately you have to skim through a few of the unsocialized kids who have no idea how grown-ups interact to get to the real debate... Though for the fact that this is thought provoking it is worth while.

Bill paints a starkly different picture to the 'exactly the same as now, only legal' view that many players seem to hold. Tax is a big issue, and clarified by Bill during this discussion.

Here is the link (you can see the link to the original post in the first entry)

Discussion On Future Poker Legality

Oops - Life In The Way Of Poker Links - iPoker Rakeback... Hmmm

Since this is an outward looking blog I will not go into the reasons for not posting, for 10 weeks (time flies when you are having no fun!). But anyway, will get back to the tough job of providing the best poker links today with something for fellow non-US readers....

After years of being the network which did not offer rakeback it seems that a new site on the iPoker Network is offering what they call a 'VIP bonus' which is the equivalent of a 40% to 55% return on your play - so basically rakeback but called VIP Bonus to you and me.

No affiliate links here at the Poker Frog Blog - instead I'll give you the link to a site which has summed up how it works very well. Remember to pop back soon for more of the webs only outwards looking poker blog!

iPoker Rakeback

iPoker Rakeback

PokerStats Go Russian With New Poker Tour

Bit more of a news item than a standard strategy outbound link today... this really shows (as if it needed showing) that online poker is no longer something American like it was a few years ago - but a truly global phenomenon.

Two tournaments are scheduled in Russia this winter under the heading 'RPT' or Russian Poker Tour... these take place in St Petersburg at the end of Jan ($5k buy-in) and in Moscow at the end of Feb ($10k buy-in). You can win your seat at PokerStars by entering one of a number of sub-qualifiers or a supersatellite - had a quick look and not too many available at the moment, however we expect these to come in once the Aussie Millions and PCA are underway in just a few days time.

PokerStars RPT Info Page

Enjoy!

Poker Probability - All You Need To Know!

Math, so dull... except when it can help you win bucketloads of money of course! All of a sudden the numbers seem more significant, right??

Anyway, if you are looking for a good grounding in the basic poker probability then look no further than the wikipedia. The great thing about this site is that you will not be bombarded with pop-ups / banners etc (though the outbound links at the bottom of each article do sometimes look a little suspect!)

So, todays outbound link is for those who want to know the exact chances of hitting that straight-flush with 2 cards to come!

Poker Probability

Enjoy!

How To Build A Big Pot - By Rizen

Today's link goes to CardPlayer magazine... home of more strategy and news articles than it is possible to shake a stick at... it is from a now-defunct column of Rizen, also known as Eric Lynch.

Building a pot, or managing the size of a pot in general, is a key poker skill - after all assuming we all get the same cards over time then winning more when ahead and losing less when behind is a key factor. This article looks at how to build a big pot depending on several factors, the key ones being your stack size and position at the table. Rizen uses some examples to show what he means in this excellent poker article. While you are there why not check out some of his other pieces.

How To Build A Big Pot

Enjoy!

Oldy But Goody From Fox Sports

Funny how 2006 seems like decades ago - metaphorically speaking of course. Todays link does go back that far though (well, december at least). It concerns Sit N Go tournaments, the advice is pretty standard by todays reconning... stay tight early and push a lot later on. The reason for making this a link is that Fox is the mainstream as far as sports media is concerned... this shows that something which was once as obscure as SNG strategy has been considered a legitimate subject for mainstream sports media since 2006... as we head into 2009 this is a good time to relect on how much the game has changed and indeed matured over that time period.

Fox Sports SNG Strategy Article

Enjoy!

Bond Is Back On P5's

A new article to link to on Pocket 5's today - this is by one of the frogs favorites, Bond18. The multi-table tournament player has seen great success both online and live and has managed to create himself a niche of explaining some of the concepts and tournament strategies involved clearly.... making his articles a consistant good read.

The one we are linking to today is actually part one of two (the second part might be ready by the time you read this!). It concerns the evolution of poker strategy... by examining some of the poker 'moves' which used to be effective - but are now to well understood and over-used that they have completely lost their effectiveness.

Stop-N-Go, Squeezing and the Go-N-Go are familiar terms to many tournament professionals, I'm afraid that if you are not already using them then it is a little late - at least according to Bond18 they are on their way out already!


Poker Trends And Plays By Bond18

Enjoy!

2+2 December Magazine - Creating Bet Sizing

Linked to the 2+2 Magazine before - always a source of some thought-provoking poker articles, even if some of them are a little too heavy-duty for me.

Todays outbound link is to an article on 'creative bet sizing', which in short is anything outside of the accepted standards of 2.5x to 4x pre flop and up to pot sized on the flop. Thus was by a gentleman called Andrew Brokos and includes an excellent look at overbetting, underbetting and just why these are useful additions to your game.

Creative Bet Sizing

One other thing to mention - this is centred on NL Holdem... but there is really no reason why the concepts can not be adaped to many forms of poker.

Enjoy!

More On The 60 Minutes / Washington Post Story

Poker News is one of those sites I am not so sure if I actually want to link to... and the strange thing is there is no particular rational reason why this should be! It is not as if they did anything to offend me personally, on the contrary really, they are pretty good at what they do - providing poker news.

Hmmm, maybe it is the old 'support the underdog' philosophy which stops me wanting to help the behemoth to grow...

But, they have produced a comprehensive article which is more than worthy of a link - and so a link they shall have. It is actually on the same subject as yesterday, but since this is the 'story of the week' that should not be a problem.

60 Minutes Outline From Poker News

Enjoy!

60 Minutes Poker / Washington Post Story

Well - can hardly get away with posting anything else today - with the whole poker world digesting the impact of last night's 60 minutes episode on the Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker scandals.

Me? Well, actually had a better offer, a meal out with family, I will watch it, its on my recorder - maybe tonight after work if the coast is clear.

Ah, but Frog - you are forgetting - this is the blog that looks outwards - and not in. We give the info rather than trying to become the story ourselves... so where exactly are we going with this here post?? Out!

Haha, the link is actually an obvious one, no-body else in the poker world covers the Washington post / 60 minutes and any other saga better than one Nat Arem - you can read his blog via the following link.

http://www.natarem.com/

Enjoy!

Link #4 - Firing The Second Barrel

Today's link is to an article by the poker writing legend Ed Miller... this one is on a tricky topic and one that, to be honest, I have more than a little trouble with myself - when to fire that all-important 2nd barrel in No-Limit Holdem.

I believe that with today's 'fashion' for floating that this is more important than ever. For those readers who enjoy a variety of poker articles, news, pro-blogs and tools - Cardplayer is actually an excellent place to check out (without sounding too much like an advertisment please Frog...).

Anyway, here is the link: When To Fire That 2nd Barrel

More outbound links soon!

Link #3 - First Blog Link... The Gnome!

First blog link today... to the excellent high-stakes cash game blogger known as the Surley Poker Gnome. Not scared to give opinions and always packed with excellent insights into cash game strategy and the thought processes behind poker... what you will really notice about the Gnome is that the quality of the writing is excellent too. A tripple whammy!!

Anyway, plan on having a proper blogroll here eventually - but need to become established a little more before setting this up. In the meantime enjoy the surliness of the gnome!!

http://surlypokergnome.blogspot.com/

By the way, if you see a good article / blog or even an interesting forum thread that would be worth sharing here then please let me know via comment - thanks!

More outwards links soon!

Link #2 - Tricky Implied Odds Situations

Well, we all know that implied-odds are the core of no-limit holdem (well, at least I hope we do!!). This link is to an article at the excellent (if a little mathematical) 2+2 monthly magazine. Specifically this one looks at implied-odds when there are short-stacks in the hand, a common situation at the tables - especially in tournaments.

I have a feeling that these articles will disappear after 3 months (some wierd authors rights thing that they have at 2+2) so enjoy this one while you can.

Short Stack Implied Odds Article

More outwards links coming soon!

First Link! Expectation In Poker Tournaments

Drumroll please... it is time for the Frog's first link!

This article is at Pocket 5's and looks at expectation in poker tournaments. Sure, we all like to win 'em - but coming back down to earth how exactly do you approach assessing the value of a tournament to you? What is tournament A worth (on average) when compared to tournament B.

Interesting article really, especially for those who like to take poker above and beyond the 'strictly for fun' ideology.

- Tournament Expectation

More outbound links from the world's only outward-facing poker blog soon!

Croak!