Monday, 17 October 2011

Celebrities Who Play Poker

Poker undeniable is probably the most popular and most desired game of millions, as well as many celebrities. And even if usually, a quite big amount of money is at stake, people have several other reasons than playing your money can buy exclusively. Poker is an activity of strategy that requires skills honed after awhile. And it is no easy game to succeed. Here are some of the notable celebrity poker players of your time:

Ben Affleck gained the 2004 World On-line poker Tour $10, 000 tournament situation held in Commerce Gambling establishment, California with his income totaled $356, 400. He'd to credit pro Annie Fight it out as his mentor designed for his wonderful poker livelihood. He stars in blockbuster films including Dare Devil, Saving Private Johnson, and Armageddon.

Gabe Kaplan can be a well-known actor and comic, before he turned seasoned. His professional poker career which started in the '70s has reached a lot more than $1 million in contest winnings. He also hosted it show "High-stakes poker".

Tobey Maguire of "Spiderman" is probably one of the many strongest celebrity poker members today. And he was clearly commended by poker starlet Phil Hell muth by winning first place in the 2004 Phil Hell muth Invitational through LA, worth $95, 480 scheduled at Holy wood Park Gambling den. He was also quoted cashing on the planet Series Poker winning around $10 million in gifts.

Elizabeth Shannon is one of many actress-pro poker players currently. She appeared on a Celebrity Poker Showdown, plus joined in several World tournaments. She won that 2005 Nicky Hilton's online poker Tournament, won 6th place in Calvin Klein's Celebrity Aid organization Poker Tournament, and the final four in 2007 NBC Champion. She was one of your cast in the window films American Pie 1 & 2 as well as Scary Movie.

Laura Prepon usually represents in Hollywood home game and LA casinos and in some cases hosted the TV reveal "Hollywood Hold'em". She's best known in the "That 70's show" sitcom.

Shiny Damon, 2007's "Sexiest Guy Alive" by People paper, is also an avid poker player, mentored by pro Phil Hell muth, and plays poker through major tournaments too with his friend Affleck. He plays Jason Bourne inside the "Bourne" trilogy.

Jennifer Tilly is one of the most notable female poker player celebrities around. She won the two major titles in 2005 - World Line of Poker's Ladies Event and also World Poker Tour's Gals Night Invitational. She's any voice behind Monster Inc. 's Celia, along with Family Guy's Bonnie. She's also an Oscar nominee to the film Bullets over Broadway.

Jason Alexander plays George Costanza role while in the popular Seinfeld comedy set. He won 1st put, winning $500, 000 within the final tournament of Bravo network's online game show Celebrity Poker Showdown, a televised poker tournament where celebrities find showcase their poker talents and play for a good cause. The prize pool which unfortunately started from $250, 000 to $1 million dollar in the 7 tournament series shown 2004-2005. Among the months winners too are Nicole Sullivan, Maura Tierney, Seth Meyers, Brad Garrett, Kathy Najimy, together with Steven Culp.

Ladies Poker Particular date

Ladies Poker is not a word that can be explained as being masculine or gynaecoid. However, when the message poker is spoken, 2 from 3 will tell you it ends up in images of men being seated around a table getting a guys night, usually having beer and or cigarette smoking a cigar or two.

This however, is not the case at all. And to prove it so, the adventure of Poker has taken by using an entirely new shape, enter in women only leagues. Yes they still use a traditional clay chip pieces, not pretty pink products wrapped in bows! Women took this card game by means of storm.

Live tournaments have witnessed massive turn outs. One of the most recent of these occured on December 10th 2008, around London England. This was the following Women's world open to happen in the history associated with ladies only live take up.

This tournament saw your turn out of some of the biggest names in ladies Poker. Players were saddled up next to makes Erica Schoenberg, May Macerias, Katharine Hartree, Jackie Meecham, and also Shelley Rubenstein. 36 women every one didn't bat an eye lash when throwing down $3, 000 for that buy in, and a go at the take household prize of $50, 000. That's a large amount of chips!

While some are bashing the matches as sexist and illegal triggering certain forums to tumble their endorsement of web host such events. Women's live tournaments will still be going strong globally. Recently, the east coast has grown into host to HHP, or the Ladies high heel sandals Poker tour.

A women's only group founded by a Hollywood Florida wife in addition to mother, it allows women to sense safe at the Poker desk. Not all women will be intimidated being surrounded by a gaggle of men. But quite just a few have said that that makes them somewhat unsafe, and unwelcomed as if he or she is inferior to even be playing with the same chips.

Offering women’s only setting is one way to ease the unnecessary too much tension already felt whilst playing a round of Hold'em. With only a simply 6 percent of existing casino tournament players to be female, companies like this one are hoping to draw women who may have always been interested, but apprehensive about getting involved from the game being overwhelmingly men's dominated.

In a "guy's are going to be guy's" atmosphere, where an individual is singled out and at once made a target due to their gender. It is of utmost importance that women are equally given time to engage in the rush of your game that is a single part chance, by the cards you happen to be dealt, and one part skill, depending upon your own Poker strategies. Bottom line is the game was not created with a specific gender at heart, and as with all other sport in American History, should be recognized and respected being a valid form of play perhaps the players are all men, or in this claim, all women.

Friday, 14 October 2011

Growing Up With Michigan Football

Let me start out by saying I am an avid sports fan. I have to admit I am interested in some sports more than others. How many of you can remember back to when you first became interested in something sports related. Think about the thought process you go through trying pin down your age at that time. In my case I have determined I was 10 when I first became acquainted with Michigan Football. I remember watching Bob Timberlake lead Michigan to a Rose Bowl victory over Oregon State in 1965.

Those definitely were simpler times back then. Picture a kid playing football with his friends across the front lawns of his neighborhood. Dropping back to pass, I always liked being the quarterback, the voice inside my head saying "Timberlake back to throw.....Touchdown!!" That is how I tie my earliest memory to that time.

This is not a story about any great exploits on my part. Truth be told I only played Parks and Recreation football for a year then on to CYO football for 7th and 8th grade. By the time I got into high school my personal endeavors had switched to hockey and baseball. Still I followed Michigan Football.

Saying I was not interested when Michigan State played Notre Dame to that famous 10-10 game in 1966 would be a lie. I will be honest with you I watched it with great interest. The real interest though was Michigan. By 1968 that kid was thinking he was Ron Johnson in the game that played out in his mind. High school memories were of Bo Schembechler coming and beating Ohio State in his first year. I had not attended a game yet at the 'Big House'. I only remember high school friends going and telling me how cool it was. Can you picture that kid knowing at that time he was missing something special.

By 1974 I was out of high school and had become acquainted with a great group of guys I met through hockey and softball. We were all Michigan fans and decided at that time to purchase season tickets. Our purchase located us in Sections 8 and 11. There were 12 of us; 6 in each section. I spent probably the next 16 years going to games. During this time that kid from neighborhood lawn football grew into a man throwing the ball around the golf course where we tailgated before games.

He would probably be thinking of names from Rob Lytle, Rick Leach, and Anthony Carter to Jim Harbaugh, John Kolesar, and Jamie Morris. But as one ages times sometime change. Other things like raising a family now come into the picture. The interest does not diminish. It just comes with a different perspective. That kid from back then now wishes to watch Michigan football vicariously through the children of today.

This past year, 2008, was a difficult year to watch Michigan play. It was hopeful at the start but the season just did not pan out. Through my life I know there are always hills after valleys. I know those kids of today, on the neighborhood lawns or schoolyards, will soon be picturing the successful Michigan football players of tomorrow.


Thursday, 13 October 2011

What It Takes To Play Poker For A Living

Obviously you need to know how to play the game, so grab a book and start reading if you don't. I could tell you all about the odds calculations and game strategies, but that would make this post way too big. There are many great books available and almost any book has covered at least the foundations of the game. I would recommend any books written by Doyle Brunson (Super System), Barry Greenstein (Ace on the River), Dan Harrington or David Sklansky.

Most people think you have to be a genius player to be able to make a living of poker, but it's not necessary at all. There are so many bad players (called donkeys or fish) around, so if you are a basic conservative player you have potential to play poker for a living.

So what does it really take to be able to become a "professional" player? Everything is based upon these two factors.

Poker Discipline and Bankroll Management

The more disciplined you are the more likely you will make steady wins. Without discipline you will go broke sooner or later and more than once, even if you're the luckiest person in the world. So stick to these rules.

    Play only if you are focused and fit.
    Don't play too many hands with crappy cards.
    Don't drink too much while playing, or better don't drink at all.
    Play within your limits and avoid "gambling" when the odds are against you.
    Know when to change tables or stop playing for the day.
    Be ruthless on the table and hold no prisoners.
    Stick with your bankroll management.

Bankroll management is just as crucial and also takes a lot of discipline. Most players forget about this because they play for other reasons than to make a steady income. Many players play for fun, or love to gamble, play above their limits to get more excitement, or they believe they can beat the game at any stakes. But bad runs are inevitable in any poker game so you need to be able to recover from these. So keep your "personal" money and your poker money separate. Play only a small percent of your bankroll and if you might run into a losing streak, lower the stakes. As your bankroll grows, you can crank it up a notch and see if you can beat the higher limits. I won't go into the technical stuff as it is covered in most of the books.

Just keep in mind, poker can be a very tough game as you can do everything right and still lose. But if you honor these two elements, you'll be making money in the long run. Every player will face a bad run at some time, it's not uncommon and you need to pull yourself through this. In the long run we all have about the same amount of luck as we have bad luck. So only the players who can handle them self during these swings will survive.